PART I. Fosse of Tyre. will learn to look with the respect due to most venerable antiquity upon every stone that has this mark upon it. It would be easy to open a ditch along the line of this wall from south to north, and thus again make Tyre an island. Indeed, William of Tyre says that in his time this was actually done. He calls the ditch a vallum late patens,”—something more than an ordinary fosse; and into it the sea could be introduced from both sides. I regard this section of the old wall as by far the most interesting relic of ancient Tyre. PART II-NORTHERN PALESTINE. [Our travellers now cross the Scriptural boundary of the tribe of Asher, the northernmost of the twelve tribes, and enter the land of Israel. The tour through northern Palestine may be divided into two parts, in each of which the country is crossed from west to east, and from east to west. In the first of these journeys, setting out from Tyre, we traverse the territories of Asher and Naphtali, abounding in picturesque highland scenery. Among other places we visit Dan, now Tell el Kady; Banias, anciently called Panias, and afterwards Cæsarea Philippi; and KedeshNaphtali, one of the cities of refuge. Few of the other places in this district are celebrated in Bible history. The chief interest of this excursion is in connection with the sources of the Jordan, which are in this district. The Jordan has several sources, the longest of its streams being the Hasbâny, but the most interesting that which gushes out of the rock at Banias. A very full account is given of the Lake Hûleh, called in the Bible the Waters of Merom, and of the country around. Leaving the Hûleh, we come by Kedesh-Naphtali, Safed, and other places, in a zigzag direction to the sea at Acre. In the second excursion through northern Palestine, our route lies chiefly through the tribes of Zebulun, Naphtali, and Issachar. The Lake of Galilee is the great centre of interest in this excursion. Striking eastward from Acre (after visiting Carmel), we reach the Lake of Galilee by el Mughar, and traverse its whole margin. Leaving it at Magdala, we come in a southwesterly direction to Nazareth. The mountains on the east of the plain of Esdraelon, and the plain itself are then visited, and we again return to the sea at Cæsarea Palestina, once the Roman capital of Palestine, now an utter ruin.-ED.] Ir is delightful to be again on our journey, and the more so that the region Boundary into which we are about to penetrate is absolutely unknown to me. We are now crossing the territory of Asher toward the Kanah which belonged to that tribe; but it is not probable that the Jews ever had possession of this plain, nor even certain that Kanah itself was inhabited by them. East of it lies the country of the warlike tribe of Naphtali, where Jews always resided from the days of Joshua until several centuries after the destruction * [Kanah, the name of the first place in Palestine proper of which notice is taken in this chapter, is not to be confounded with Cana of Galilee. The present Kanah was in the tribe of Asher, and is probably the Kanah mentioned by Joshua (xvi. 8), as belonging to that tribe.— ED.] of Asher. PART II. Want of historic interest. Hiram's tomb. of Jerusalem; and even yet they cling to certain places in it with invincible tenacity. How beautiful the sea, the city, and the plain, from these hills! and as the eye runs along the sloping declivities north and south, it rests on many a ruin which bears indubitable marks of Phoenician origin. I have wandered from place to place among them, hoping to find inscriptions in that ancient language, but in vain; and since they have no historic interest, it is useless to load the memory, or cram one's note-book with long lists of unpronounceable names. Here, however, is something which merits attention. That singular structure is called Hiram's Tomb,-upon what authority, except native tradition, I know not. But as there is nothing in the monument itself inconsis tent with the idea that it marks the final resting-place of that ancient king of Tyre, I am inclined to allow the claim to pass unquestioned. It bears about it unmistakeable marks of extreme antiquity. The base consists of two tiers of great stones, each three feet thick, thirteen feet long, and eight feet The top stone is a XIV. eight inches broad. Above this is one huge stone, a little more than fifteen CHAPTER feet long, ten broad, and three feet four inches thick. Over this is another, twelve feet three inches long, eight broad, and six high. little smaller every way, and only five feet thick. twenty-one feet. There is nothing like it in this country, and it may well have stood, as it now does, ever since the days of Solomon. These large, broken sarcophagi scattered around it are assigned by tradition to Hiram's mother, wife, and family. Concerning them nothing need or can be said. This whole neighbourhood abounds in Phoenician remains, and it is quite natural that it should be so. The situation is beautiful; near enough, and sufficiently high, to command the then glorious prospect of plain, city, and crowded harbour; and no doubt the summer seats and summer residences of Tyre's "merchant princes" crowned these hills. This village of Hanaweih is built out of the ruins of such palaces, and similar remains lie scattered over all the neighbourhood. Are there any of the cedar-trees which Hiram transported by sea to Joppa still found on these mountains? I do not suppose there ever were any, for Lebanon terminates with Jebel Locality of Rihan, far to the north-east of Tyre. These lower mountains, comprising the the cedars. territories of Asher and Naphtali, are the favourite zone of the oak and the terebinth. Even the pine is rarely seen, and the cedar never. It is only on the loftier ranges of Lebanon that they flourish, and the true Biblical cedar is now confined to a single locality.1 Hiram, I suppose, had the control of these mountains, and brought the cedar-tree to the coast at Tripoli, Batrone, Jebail, or Beirût. Have you ever visited these cedars? Many times. They are situated high up on the western slope of Lebanon, ten hours south-east from Tripoli. Besherrah is directly west, in the romantic gorge of the Khadîsha, two thousand feet below them, and Ehden is three hours distant on the road to Tripoli. In no other part of Syria are the mountains so Alpine, the proportions so gigantic, the ravines so profound and awful. You must not leave the country without visiting the cedars. There are several Romantic routes to them, and all wild, exciting, delightful. One of the most romantic scenery of the neighis to climb Lebanon from Beirût quite to the base of Jebel Knîseh, then wind bourhood. northward around the heads of the stupendous gorges made by the rivers of Beirût, Antelîas, Dog River, Nahr Ibrahim, Nahr el Jous, and the Khadîsha. I have repeatedly followed that wildest of routes, with or without a path, as the case might be, clinging to the shelving declivities midway to heaven, with a billowy wilderness of rocks and ravines sinking away westward down to the The very thought of it at this minute is positively intoxicating. The sea. Those travellers who speak of finding these cedars in abundance on other parts of Lebanon, are simply mistaken in the tree. There are considerable groves of cedar in various places, generally along the very highest range,—for example, north of Tomat Niha, above Barûk, Aphcah, and other similar localities; but they are quite different from the cedar of Lebanon. II. PART platform where the cedars stand is more than six thousand feet above the Mediterranean, and around it are gathered the very tallest and greyest heads The cedar of Lebanon. The forest is not large-not more than five hundred trees, great and small, grouped irregularly on the sides of shallow ravines, which mark the birth-place of the Khadîsha, or Holy River. grove. But, though the space covered by them does not exceed half a dozen acres, yet, when fairly within the grove, and beneath the giant arms of those old patriarchs of a hundred generations, there comes a solemn hush upon the soul as if by enchantment. Precisely the same sort of magic spell settles on the spirits, no matter how often you repeat your visits. But it is most impressive in the night. Let us by all means arrange to sleep there. The universal siSensation lence is almost painful. The grey old towers of Lebanon, still as a stone, stand by night. all around, holding up the stars of heaven to look at you; and the trees gather like phantoms about you, and wink knowingly, or seem to, and whisper among themselves you know not what. You become suspicious, nervous, until, broad awake, you find that it is nothing but the flickering of your drowsy fire, and the feeble flutter of bats among the boughs of the trees. A night among the cedars is never forgotten; the impressions, electrotyped, are hid away in the inner chamber of the soul, among her choicest treasures, to be visited a thousand times with never-failing delight. There is a singular discrepancy in the statements of travellers with regard to the number of trees. Some mention seven, others thirteen-intending, doubtless, only those whose age and size render them Biblical, or at least historical. It is not easy, however, to draw any such line of demarcation. There is a complete gradation from small and comparatively young to the very Number of oldest patriarchs of the forest. I counted four hundred and forty-three, great the trees. and small; and this cannot be far from the true number. This, however, is not uniform. Some are struck down by lightning, broken by enormous loads of snow, or torn to fragments by tempests. Even the sacrilegious axe is sometimes lifted against them. But, on the other hand, young trees are constantly springing up from the roots of old ones, and from seeds of ripe cones. I have seen these infant cedars in thousands just springing from the soil; but, as the grove is wholly unprotected, and greatly frequented both by men and animals, they are quickly destroyed. This fact, however, proves that the number might be increased ad libitum. Beyond a doubt, the whole of these upper terraces of Lebanon might again be covered with groves of this noble tree, and furnish timber enough not only for Solomon's temple and the house of the forest of Lebanon, but for all the houses along this coast. But, unless a wiser and more provident government control the country, such a result can never be realized; and, indeed, the whole forest will slowly die out under the dominion of the Arab and Turk. Even in that case the tree will not be lost. It has been propagated by the nut or seed in many parks in Europe, and there are more of them within fifty miles of London than on all Lebanon. We have seen larger trees every way, and much taller, on the banks of the |