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tions; and having procured from Constantinople the necessary insignia of three horse-tails, contrived to have him sent as his proxy in the annual visit to the shrine at Mecca, and ultimately adopted him as his successor in the Pachalic. It was not, however, till after many severe contests and several turns and revolutions of success and defeat, that he became firmly established in his government. He is now above eighty years of age.

We propose taking the cool hour of the evening for the ride to Nazareth, which I calculate to be about sixteen or seventeen miles from hence.

I trust to the activity of Signor Malagamba to find a conveyance to Europe for this letter, and two others, dated at Tyre. It will probably be some months before I have another opportunity of sending you any account of our movements; you may be assured, however, that I shall eagerly seize the first which presents itself. In the mean time, I remain with much truth and regard, &c. &c.

LETTER III.

To SIR G. E-T, BART.

DEAR E-,

Nazareth, August 10th, 1817.

THE intensity of the heat making it almost impracticable to travel during the day, we set out from Acre a little before sun-set, and arrived at the Franciscan monastery in this place between one and two in the morning. The route runs for about two miles by the edge of the bay of Acre, at the N. E. extremity of which the river Belus discharges itself into the sea. The modern name of this stream is Kardanah: it derives its source, according to Pliny, from a lake called Candeboea, which is at the other side of the hills that bound the plains of Acre and Esdraelon. It is to an accidental occurrence on the banks of this river, that the invention of glass has been attributed. The crew of a merchant vessel

1 Plin. Nat. Hist. lib, xxxvi, cap. 26.

freighted with nitre debarked on the shore to prepare their dinner, but not finding any stones at hand to support the culinary vessels, they brought for that purpose some balls of nitre from the ship. The action of the fire incorporating these with the sand, produced a transparent fluid, which the sailors did not fail to remark, and thence furnished a hint for the ingenuity of their country's artists.

Not many miles from hence is the course of "that ancient river, the river Kishon!" As it was not within the range of our route, and the night was beginning to close in, we were forced to rest satisfied with a transient survey of the district through which it flows. At this season of the year the stream is very inconsiderable; but in the rainy months the greater part of the waters which are collected on mount Carmel, are discharged in a variety of small torrents into this channel; which being insufficient for such augmentation, the current overflows its banks, and carries away every thing within its reach. It was probably during one of these periodical inundations, unless we may conclude that the stars1 had a preternatural influence on the occasion,

1 Judges, chap, v. 20.

that the host of Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude, were swept down as they attempted to force a passage.

The country we had previously passed over was chiefly waste and neglected, though apparently of a rich soil; near the village of Sepphoris it assumes something of a dressed appearance, but the surface is more varied and irregular. St. Anne is supposed to have resided in this place, and there are the ruins of a Gothic church erected over the spot, which her dwelling formerly occupied.

The city of Nazareth consists in a collection of small houses built of white stone, and scattered in irregular clusters towards the foot of a hill, which rises in a circular sweep so as almost to encompass it. The population is chiefly christian, and amounts to 12 or 1400: this is indeed rather a vague estimate, but the friar from whom I received it had no accurate means of ascertaining the exact number. The convent in which we are lodged is a spacious well-built edifice, and capable of affording excellent accommodations for a numerous society; at present, however, it has not more than eight tenants. The church consecrated to the service of these religious is preserved with extraor

dinary neatness; but it has no architectural embellishments, and the painting and tapestry which clothe the walls are such as bespeak a great want of proficiency in the arts. The building comprises within its extent the ancient dwelling of Joseph, and tradition has preserved the identity of the spot where the angel announced to the Virgin her future miraculous conception.

-The mother of Constantine, who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, when she had passed her eightieth year, employed every means which her extensive influence supplied, to rescue from oblivion the records of the holy places. At so advanced a period of life, it is probable that her credulity was frequently the prey of interested imposture; but many objects of veneration, obscured or only partially known, were confessedly brought to light by the timely exertions of her zeal and munificence.

The scene of the interview between the angel Gabriel and the wife of Joseph is marked by an altar, erected in a recess a few feet below the principal aisle of the church. Behind this are two apartments, which belonged also to the house of the reputed father of the Messiah. Their appearance is sufficiently antique to

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