MOUNT CARMEL. 
This view is taken from near the mouth of the River Kishon; and in the foreground 
characteristically lies one of the wrecks which constantly strew this exposed shore. 
Mount Carmel is a ridge of about eight miles in length, rising from the memorable 
Plain of Esdraelon, and terminating in a bold promontory; the principal height of the 
chain being about 1200 feet above the level of the sea; the whole forming a striking 
portion of one of the finest views in this picturesque country. Prom the hill above 
Nazareth the whole prospect opens — a magnificent panorama. Beneath the eye spreads 
the western portion of the great plain, celebrated in ancient times for some of the 
most momentous transactions of Israelite history, and still teeming with fertility. On 
the left is seen the summit of Mount Tabor, with portions of the Lesser Hermon and 
Gilboa, and the opposite mountains of Samaria. The eye then rests on the long line 
of Carmel, with the ££ Convent of Elias’’ on its summit, and the town of Caipha 
glittering at its foot. Below, on the North, extends the beautiful plain El-Buttauf, 
whose waters flow into the Kishon. Beyond this plain, a succession of mountain ridges 
stretches from East to West; and to the right is a “sea of hills,” surmounted by Hermon, 
with its ££ icy crown.” 
The highest point of the ridge is towards the South. Thence it declines gradually 
northwards, and at the Convent has only the elevation of 582 Paris feet above the sea. 
The northern extremity bears N. 58° W. Towards the S.E., Carmel is connected 
with the Mountains of Samaria by a broad range of low, wooded hills, separating the 
great plain of the more southern coast from that of Esdraelon. The neighbouring 
anchorage is good, and Caipha is, in fact, the roadstead of Acre. On the beach are the 
ruins of a Castle and two forts, ancient defences of the port. Towards the S.E. corner 
of the Bay flows a stream, now named Makattam, but more memorable by its scriptural 
name of Kishon. Rising in the hills which border Esdraelon, in summer, scantily 
supplied, it scarcely winds its feeble passage to the sea; but in winter it swells to an 
impetuous torrent, unfordable, and, in this bridgeless country, rendering the road 
hazardous to travellers. From the Convent on the ridge, the celebrated order of 
Carmelites probably took its name. In 1821, at the commencement of the Greek 
Revolution, it was destroyed by the Pasha, under suspicion of an intercourse with the 
insurgents. But permission for its rebuilding has since been obtained from the Sultan, 
and funds alone are required for its proposed reconstruction on a new and larger scale. 
The prospect from the site of the Convent is of the grandest kind. 1 
But it is the memory of the great Reformer of Israel which has bequeathed its 
especial sanctity to Carmel. The actual site of events, however remarkable, may be 
forgotten in the level equality of the plain; but the mountain is itself a monument. 
Carmel stands for ever, the scene of the triumph of Elijah over the idolatry of Baal. 
£i And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah 
the prophet came near, and said. Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be 
known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I 
have done all these things at thy word. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed 
the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the 
G. Robinson’s Travels, 104. 
