'2§2 CLAEiq^S. TRAVELS. 
logs. Some authors mention a temple, called* aq ae k a © p o k o 
erected upon the spot where it was believed our Saviour mi¬ 
raculously fed the multitude : and other edifices, whereof no 
trace is now remaining. The most singular circumstance con- 
ceruing Tiberias is mentioned by Boniface :f he describes the 
city as not being habitable, on account of the multitude of 
serpentsj This has not been stated by any other author; nei¬ 
ther did any observation made by us upon the spot, concern¬ 
ing the natural history of the country, serve to explain the 
origin of this representation; the more remarkable, as it is 
affirmed by one who resided in the Holy Land,§ and whose 
writings are frequently quoted by autliors toward the end of 
the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries* 
Tiberias at present is much inhabited; principally by Jews, 
who are said to be descendants of families resident there, in 
the time of our Saviour; they are perhaps a remnant of re¬ 
fugees who fled hither after the capture of Jerusalem by the 
Homans. The Christian inhabitants of this town are, how¬ 
ever, also numerous : of this we were convinced, by the mul¬ 
titude we saw coming from the morning service of the church* 
6 Nicephorus, lib.' yin. cap. 3Q, kc. 
7 Bonifacius de Pererini Cull'd Terrse, Sanctas li!>. u. 
% ‘‘ Tiberias civitas omnindinhabitabilis est, propter serpentum muLTdudincvi . n lb; . 
He was superior of a monastery at Mount Sion in Jerusalem, and afterward &e- 
•v^irced to an episcopal see fn Italy. I r i& [ Qime$.krFAuc, tcni. l. lib. S.crt&r : 
