lished itself here, and the name was changed to Scythopolis (2 Mac. xii. 29), and was the chief city of Decapolis, or League of Ten Cities. Finally, it was demolished by

Saladin.

Leaving the Fountain of Jezreel, we make our way across the plain, which is very swampy, after recent rains, to the little village of Sulem, the Shunem of Scripture, a town of Issachar. The village is a great contrast to many the traveller will have seen in Palestine. It has a tidier and more well-to-do aspect, although it would not be thought much of if found-say, in Devonshire. A short distance from the village, which is surrounded with a thick hedge of the prickly pear, there is an enchanting grove of orange, lemon, and citron-trees, with pleasant grassy knolls, and a spring of delicious water. Hither the village maidens, bearing pitchers of water, generally follow the traveller, and there is no pleasanter spot in which to rest and be thankful.

Shunem is where the Philistines had their encampment when they waged war with Saul (p. 272). Another inciIdent will be recalled with interest. Here the Shunamite woman showed hospitality to the Prophet Elisha, and seeing that he was a holy man, she said to her husband, "Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick, and it shall be when he cometh to us he shall turn in thither." Her heart was made glad by a promise -which at first she did not believe would be fulfilled-but by and by her home was made glad by the music of a child's voice. "And when the child was grown, it fell on a day that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. And when he had

taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and went out." Then, swift as anxious love could bear her, she drove across the plain to tell her trouble to the man of God at Mount Carmel. Elisha returned with her, went up unto the room of death," and he lay upon the child and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm (2 Kings iv. 8-37).

St. Jerome speaks of the hill on which the village stands as Hermon. Since his days, it has gone by the name of Little Hermon. It is probably identical with the hill Moreh (Judges vii. 1).

A short and pleasant excursion can be made from Shunem to Nain and Endor. If any travellers of a party are too fatigued to make this excursion, they cannot find a pleasanter place to tarry than at Shunem, while the more robust of the party go on the excursion and return; or, instead of returning to Shunem, they may strike off from Endor into the road to Nazareth.

Skirting the hill in a north-easterly direction, a journey of less than an hour brings the traveller to Nain. It is a shabby little village, with many rubbish-heaps and traces of ruins around; but it stands in a good situation beside the hill, and commands a fine view of the Galilean hills. Above the town are holes in the face of the hill, doubtless rocktombs. The interest attaching to Nain cannot be told better than in the simple language of the Gospel narrative, which has made the spot memorable for ever.

"And it came to pass, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with Him,

and much people. Now when He came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow : and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And He came and touched the bier; and they that bare him stood still. And He said, Young man, I say unto thee Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And He delivered him to his mother" (Luke vii. 11—15). What has Nineveh or Babylon been to the world in comparison with Nain? And this is the wonder constantly suggested by the insignificant villages of Palestine, that their names have become parts, as it were, of the deepest experiences of the noblest persons of every land and every age." -(MacLeod.)

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From Nain to Endor is a ride of about fifty minutes.

There is nothing to be seen at Endor (Arabic, Endûr) -which was at one time a town of Manasseh, and, as late as the time of Eusebius, a large village-except the caves; and these are the principal objects of attraction. It has been supposed that this place was the scene of the death of Jabin and Sisera. "Do unto them as unto the Midianites, as to Sisera as to Jabin, at the brook Kishon, which perished at Endor; they became as dung for the earth."

The Cave in which the Witch of Endor dwelt will be pointed out to the traveller; hither came Saul, the night before the fatal battle (p. 272). He asked that whosoever he should name should be brought before him. "Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. And the king said unto her, Be not afraid for what

:

sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself" (1 Sam. xxviii. 11-—14). Then followed the prophecy of Samuel, declaring his death on the morrow, on hearing which, the terrified, and consciencestricken man swooned away.

The traveller will now return by the same road to Shunem, if he has a party to join there, or if not will strike across the plain direct to Nazareth (p. 279).

Leaving Shunem, we descend into the plain, and have before us Mount Tabor (p. 286), which may be ascended now, or, if time permit, an excursion may easily be made to it from Nazareth, or it can be visited on the road from Nazareth to Tiberias (p. 285), this latter route is not, however, recommended, as in that case Kefr Kenna, the supposed Cana of Galilee, will have to be omitted.

As we approach the high hill, on which Nazareth stands, we notice the village of Iksâl, supposed to be Chisloth-Tabor (flank of Tabor), on the boundary of Zebulun (Joshua xix. 12). Where the rocks are barren, and precipitous, a worthless tradition has given the name Mount of Precipitation, alleging that it was from here the people of Nazareth sought to cast the Saviour down headlong (p. 283). Now commences a sharp ascent, through glens and gullies, over steep and rugged places, where the well-tried Syrian horses pick their way with marvellous sagacity, and at length the town of Nazareth is seen, and is entered in about twenty minutes after sighting it.

NAZARETH.

[Travellers who have not tents can find very good accommodation at the hospice of the Latin Monastery. The usual camping-ground is on the north of the town, in a very pleasant situation.

There is an English medical man, Dr. Vartan, residing at Nazareth.]

Nazareth is not named in the Old Testament, nor by any classic writer. Its history dates from the time of Christ. After that time until that of Constantine, it appears to have attracted little, if any, attention.

The derivation of the name Nazareth is exceedingly doubtful. Some have affirmed that it is taken from a Hebrew word "Nasar ”—a twig. In the time of our Lord, the name of Nazarene was used as a term of contempt, and to this day the boys in Nâbulus and other towns of Palestine still greet the Christian traveller with cries of Noxrāni ! (Nazarene !) The modern name of the town is EnNâsirah.

Since the events which rendered Nazareth famous occurred (p. 281), the town has gone through a variety of vicissitudes. Until the time of Constantine its inhabitants were Samaritan Jews; then it passed into the hands of Greek, Frank, and Arab. The Crusaders built churches here, which the Turks in later years plundered and destroyed. Christians of various sorts endeavoured to establish themselves here, but were never positively successful until about the eighteenth century. Among the remarkable things in the modern history of Nazareth are the circumstances that Napoleon supped here on the night of the Battle of Tabor (p. 270), and that a plot was laid here by Pasha Jezzâr to murder all the Christians in his dominions as soon as the