FROM NAZARETH TO TIBERIAS. 277 
beheld at an amazing depth below our view, resembled, by the 
various hues their different produce exhibited, the motley pat¬ 
tern of a vast carpet.* To the north appeared snowy summits, 
towering, beyond a series of intervening mountains with un¬ 
speakable greatness. We considered them as the summits 
of Libanus; but the Arabs belonging to our caravan called 
the principal eminence Jebel el Sick , saying it was near Da¬ 
mascus; probably, therefore, a part of the chain of Libanus.— 
This summit was so lofty, that the snow entirely covered the 
upper part of it; not lying in patches, as I have seen it, during 
summer, upon the topsof very elevated mountains, (for instance, 
upon that of Ben Nevis in Scotland,) but investing all the high 
or part with that perfect white and smooth velvet-like appear¬ 
ance which snow only exhibits when it is very deep ; a strik¬ 
ing spectacle in such a climate, where the beholder, seeking 
protection from a burning sun, almost considers the firmament 
to be on fire.f The elevated plains upon the mountainous ter¬ 
ritory beyond the northern extremity of the lake are still called 
by a name, in Arabic, which signifies “ the wilderness ” To 
this wilderness it was that John, the precursor of the Messiah, 
and also Jesus himself, retired in their earliest years. To the 
southwest, at the distance only of twelve miles, we beheld 
Mount Thabor, having a conical form, and standing quite in¬ 
sular, upon the northern side of the wide plains of Esdraelon. 
The mountain whence this superb view was presented, consists 
entirely of limestone; the prevailing constituent of all the 
mountains in Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Phoenicia and Pa¬ 
lestine. \ 
By a steep, devious, and difficult track, following our hor¬ 
ses on foot, we descended from this place to the village of Hat- 
ti$ situated alone extremity of the cultivated plain w r e had 
surveyed from the heights* Here, having collected the strag- 
* The exceeding fertility of this part o£ the Holy Land is noticed by all travellers, 
and all authors who have mentioned this country. Josephus speaks of the extraor¬ 
dinary aptitude, both of the climate and soil, toward the production of all kinds of 
fruit and vegetables; so that plants, requiring elsewhere a difference of tempe¬ 
rature, thrive here, says he, as if the seasons were in a competition which 
should contribute most. Figs and grapes continue in season during ten months out 
of the twelve, and other fruit throughout the whole year. (Vid. Joseph, de BelL 
Jud. lib. iii. c. 18.) 
t The thermometer of Fahrenheit at this time, in the most sb&tiy situation we 
could find, indicated 102 1-2 degrees. 
X The enterprising Burkiiardt, of whom, it is to be hoped, the literary world will 
hear more hereafter, is now travelling, under the auspices of the African Society 0 
in Syria, previous to his journey into the interior of Africa. He has lately visit¬ 
ed the summit of Libanus, and informs the author (by a letter dated Aleppo, May 3, 
1811) that it consists wholly of limestone. He observed a fossil shell upon the top 
of that mountain; but it principally consists of “primitive limestone 
'§ Called Butin b y Tococke, Descript. of the Easl 1 voh II. part I.'p. 67. 
2 D 
