that the five thousand were here fed with five loaves and two small fishes. * By all the Evangelists, the scene of this miracle is said to have been a desert place, and by all of them it is stated that there was much grass there, on which the people were made to sit down in companies and in ranks. As Jesus is also represented by all of them to have departed by ship into this desert place, it seems probable that it was on the east of the lake. St. Luke, indeed, calls it a desert place, belonging to the city of Bethsaidat, whose site is given by Pliny, under the name of Julias, on the east. St. John, after describing the works of Jesus at the pool of Bethesda at Jerusalem, and his discourse with the Jews in the temple there, says, "After these things, Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias §;" an expression which could only imply his passing from this to the opposite shore on the east. And in describing the return of the boat back again, after the people had been fed, St. Matthew says, "And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret || ;" which land of Gennesaret we distinctly know to have been on the west. St. Mark says, after describing the mira. *St. Mark, vi. 38, + St. Luke, ix. 10. c. 15. § St. John, vi. 1. culous feeding, and the gathering up of the fragments, "And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and go to the other side, before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people *;" but adds "And when they had passed over, (on their return back,) they came unto the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore." + St. Luke mentions nothing of the return; but St. John says, "And when the even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, and entered into a ship, and went over the sea, toward Capernaum." ‡ From most of these testimonies it would appear, therefore, that the scene of the feeding was on the east side of the sea, seeing that Gennesaret and Capernaum were on the west and the north. This supposition is strengthened by the following part of St. John's narration, who describes the wonder of the people at finding Jesus on the other side of the sea, believing him not to have entered into the boat with his disciples; since, if Gennesaret and the point from which they departed were on the same side of the sea, the passage from one to the other would have been as easy by land as by water, and would have excited no surprise. Besides this, it is said, "Howbeit, there came other boats * St. Mark, vi. 45. † Ibid. vi. 53. St. John, v. 16, 17. from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks."* Now the place here fixed on by tradition and bearing the name of Khamsi Khabshaat, is nearer to Tiberias than to any other part of the sea, being nearly two hours from the edge of the lake in a westerly direction, and on the top of a high and rocky hill; so that it does not correspond with the local features of the place described in any one particular, and may be cited as another proof of the bungling ignorance of those blind guides, who so proudly call themselves the guardians of the holy places. † * St. John, vi. 23. ↑ I remember the anger which Chateaubriand expresses against those who dare to examine for a moment into the evidence on which such traditionary localities as these rest, and the implicit confidence with which he would have every one to believe all that might be told him by his spiritual superiors. He asks, "What would be thought of the man who should travel over Italy and Greece, and criticise Homer and Virgil at every step?" I should answer, "He would be thought a tasteless and fastidious pedant.' Yet," says he, "it is thus that travellers go over the Holy Land, which, if only to be examined for such a purpose, is not worth the coming so far to see." But M. Chateaubriand will surely admit that there is a wide difference between the licence universally allowed in a mere poem, and the accuracy required in the Word of God and in those who call themselves the expounders of these writings, and the guardians of the scenes of his Son's miracles. We take up the Iliad and the Æneid as works of taste and genius, and read them as much for amusement as instruction. We take up the Bible as a work which we are taught to consider From Khamsi Khabshaat we arrived, in about half an hour, opposite to Loobee, a considerable village, seated on the top of a high hill. We passed beneath it in the beaten track, leaving the village itself about a quarter of a mile on our left. It now grew dark, and the rest of our way was indistinct. We passed, however, several smaller villages, on our right; and, just as the moon rose, we entered Kusr Kelna, the Cana of Galilee, where water was turned to wine at a marriage feast*; and which was, at one time, the abode of Josephus, the historian †, and, at another, the head-quarters of Vespasian's army. + We halted here for a moment to refresh, and await the higher rising of the moon to light us on our way; and in half an hour set forward again, going by El Misshed, and Arreyna, over hilly and rugged ground. It was about ten o'clock when we entered Nazareth; but the doors of the convent were readily opened to us, and we were kindly received. infallible, and whose contents must be believed; so that we examine all that can tend to its illustration, with more than ordinary rigour, as we know that truth must always gain by investigation, and shine forth with increased brightness, when the dark clouds of error with which human weakness has obscured it are in any degree removed. * St. John, ch. ii. throughout. + Life of Josephus, s. 17. v. 1. p. 14, Wars of the Jews. CHAP. XXVIII. BY THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON TO JENEEN AND SANHOOD. FEBRUARY 15th. The whole of the day was directed to enquiries about the best method of proceeding on my journey to the northward, when I learned that a caravan, with a large escort, would be departing from Nablous for Damascus on Saturday; and it was recommended to me to hasten thither, in order to join it, as the most secure mode of prosecuting my way. It was late at night when we learned this, but as there was still a hope of my being able to reach Nablous in time, I determined to set out on the following day. The road even from hence to Nablous was thought to be so bad, that few people would attempt it without a caravan. By great exertion we procured, however, a man of that town, who was settled here, to accompany us thus far for fifteen piastres; and obtaining from Mr. Catafago a letter to his friend Hadjee Ahmed Gerar, the Chief of Sanhour, we left Nazareth about ten o'clock on our way thither. Our course was directed to the southward, |