cursions from Jerusalem, one especially to the reputed tomb of Samuel the Prophet, and another to the ancient Bethel, the site of which had been satisfactorily ascertained from the mountain inhabitants, and, I believe, visited by the missionaries. These and some other interesting objects, both near and accessible, I was compelled to leave unvisited. The loss of time occasioned by my illness proved to be irretrievable. The Austrian steamer, by which we must leave Syria, was expected at Beyrout early in May, and the prevalence of plague, and consequent enforcement of quarantine regulations in the maritime towns, had so completely unsettled the usual arrangements for travel, that we had no certainty of being able to leave the country by midsummer, except by being early at the point of embarcation, and waiting for opportunities. April the 27th was already fixed upon as the day of our departure from the holy city, and the powerful influence of the already heated atmosphere upon my highly bilious temperament, no less than my wish to make the journey in company with my friends, forbade me to hesitate as to the propriety of hastening to a more northern climate. By using the greatest diligence, I had seen Jerusalem, certainly the point of immeasurably the greatest interest, satisfactorily, though many more days, and even years, might well be devoted to the investigation of its venerable antiquities.

I wished much, however, to see more of the people of the country in their valleys and rural villages. There is almost no opportunity near Jerusalem to judge of the state of agriculture and the general condition of the native Arab population. Not only is the soil less fruitful here than in other parts of the hill country, but there is much less of industry and apparent thrift. The products of the tilled land in this

neighbourhood must, I am confident, be insufficient to support one fifth of the population, and yet there are neither manufactured articles nor money to pay for importations. How do the people live? is a question that is always rising in the mind of the traveller. They must subsist chiefly, for there is no other resource, on the trinket trade with the pilgrims and upon the monasteries. Nearly all the bread-stuff comes from other parts of Palestine and Syria, and sometimes, I believe, from Egypt. The debased state of trade, and the utter want of capital and enterprise, tend, no less than the poverty of the region, to enhance the price of all articles of food to a most unnatural dearness. Living costs thrice as much here as in Cairo, and, besides, is subject to perpetual fluctuations from the arrival and departure of the pilgrims, and the insufficiency of commercial resources to provide for these vicissitudes in demand and supply, which, being nearly periodical, are easily foreseen.

Fruit enters largely into the diet of the inhabitants of Jerusalem as well as of the country, and of this they derive a considerable supply from the olive and fig trees, and vineyards in the neighbourhood. There are also pomegranates, apricots, and, I believe, some peartrees, near the city, but in less plenty. Melons, cucumbers, and some variety of other vegetables, are said to be used as articles of food, but there are no gardens, with one or two trifling exceptions, in this neighbourhood. A good deal of rice is also seen in the bazars. It is of inferior quality, and is imported from Egypt. The mutton, though dear, is of the finest quality, and sufficiently abundant to answer the scanty demand of a people so poor, and not greatly addicted to "animal food. From having seen so little beef in the markets, I was led to infer that few beeves are slaughtered. Cattle are not numerous, but they are in good con

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dition. The oxen are hardy and active. They universally draw the plough, and move with as much rapidity as our farm horses. The mountains about Jerusalem, when not absolutely bare rock, afford good pasturage, and the flocks of goats and sheep which descend from them every evening afford a tolerable supply of milk to the inhabitants. I do not remember to have seen at Jerusalem or in Palestine a single animal of the swine genus. Mr. Lanneau told me that he once, by rare good luck or address, obtained a small supply of pork or bacon from one of the Christian villages. It was a rare sight in Jerusalem, and the little presents which he was enabled to send to his American and European friends were subjects of surprise and gratulation.

Notwithstanding the general want of employment which necessarily results from the absence of an extended agriculture, and of all manufacturing industry, wages are much higher at Jerusalem than in Egypt and some other parts of Mohammed Ali's dominions. Mr. Nicolayson employed a considerable number of Bethlehemites, whom he preferred to city labourers, in excavating for the foundations of his new church, whom he paid, I believe, between three and four piasters per day; a little more than the common price, which was three piasters. This small amount would, perhaps, serve to subsist the labourer and his family in the humble style to which they are accustomed, provided they could obtain steady employment. This, however, is impracticable; perhaps it would not be desired in such a state of society as prevails in this country. The people of the rural districts are reputed industrious; but they did not seem to me to perform half work, taking labour in Europe or the United States as the standard. They spend many moments, and even hours, in standVOL. II.-E E

ing idle and sitting on the ground; and when they work there is a faintness of movement—a want of energy in the stroke, quite unlike the sturdy and determined bearing of a labourer on our farms and plantations. This is, indeed, the natural and unavoidable consequence of ages of misrule and oppression, under which superior industry and thrift seldom fail to provoke more severe exactions on the part of the government, or of the petty tyrants who perpetrate robbery under its auspices for their individual benefit.

The inhabitants of Jerusalem, on the score of their poverty, and of the peculiar sanctity of the place, are exempted from the ferdeh, or ordinary capitation-tax, which amounts to from thirteen to five hundred piasters upon each male subject to it. All natives not Mohammedans pay the karadj, or toleration-tax, which varies from twenty-two to sixty piasters, according to the ability of the subject. A house-tax is also levied upon the inhabitants of the city. Besides the taxes here enumerated, a sum is derived from customs, excise, &c., equal to nearly two thirds of the entire revenue paid by the holy city. This in 1836 was 2,214,000 piasters.*

In addition to these impositions, the rural population pay the miri, which includes a land-tax, and some other items not well settled, and probably variable in the practice of the government. Each olive-tree pays one piaster; a yoke of oxen employed in ploughing, one hundred and fifty; each sheep, one; each mule, twenty ; each camel, forty; other animals, ten. This is a high tariff of taxation, but is said to be less burdensome to the people than the capricious, arbitrary, and fluctuating modes of assessment and collection, the malpractices of the government agents, and the endless and ruinous abuses practised upon the poor peasantry in the management of the currency.

* See Bowring's Report on Syria.

Journey to Beyrout.-Departure from Jerusalem.-Reflections.-Last View from Mount Scopus.-Villages.-Ruined Tower.-Wheat-fields.-Khan. —Ancient Quarry.—Vestiges of ancient Tillage.-Village of Beer.-Ruins.-Fountain.-Rain.-Climate of Judea.-The Rainy Season.-The Summer.-Aspect of the Country.-Bethel.-Einbroot.-Former Cultivation.-New Plantations. —Singil.-Interesting Ravine.—Terraces.— Ruins.-Fountain.-Khan and Fountain of Leben.-Fruitful Plain.-Our Guides.-Village.-Several Villages -Ainboos.-Ovita.-Howara.-Extensive Valley.-Good Husbandry.-Guards at Night.—Syrian Peasants. -Populousness of this Region.-Wady Sahl.-Mount Ebal.-Mount Gerizim.-Vale of Nablous.-Scripture Notices.-A beautiful Fountain. -Ancient Tombs under Mount Ebal.-Arrival at Nablous.-Lepers.-A Guide.-Ascent of Mount Gerizim.- Ancient Road.-Mohammedan Tomb.-Ruins on the Northeast Summit.-Citadel.-Cistern.-Ruins of the Southern Summit.-Vast Quadrangle.-Octagonal Edifice.-Ancient Pavement.—Ruined City. - Holy Places.-Cisterns.-Graves.-View from the Top of Gerizim.-Mount Ebal.-Samaritans.-Their Worship. -Their History.-Conjecture.-Descent from the Mountain.-Enchanting View.-Gardens.-Mountain Stream.-Jacob's Well.-Its Identity.— Narrative of the Evangelist.-Objections considered.-Tomb of Joseph. Visit to the Samaritans.-Jewish Guide and Synagogue.-Samaritan Synagogue.-Chief Rabbi.—Ancient Copy of the Scriptures.-Conversation.-Samaritans and Jews in Nablous.-The present City.-Bazar.Manufactures.-Commerce.-Population.-Christians.-Ride to Sebaste. -Valley below Nablous.-Exuberant Fertility.-Springs.-Aqueduct.— Mills.-The Road.-Cornfields and Villages.-The Hill of Samaria.Petty Disappointments.-Survey of Sebaste.-Mohammedan Bigotry.— Ancient Wall.-Mosque.-Ancient Colonnade.-Ruinous Pile.-Ascent and Summit of the Mountain.-Noble View.-Christian Boy in Trouble. -Ancient Temple.-The Church of John the Baptist.-Private Entrance. -Interior of the Edifice.-Military Defences.-Visit to the Colonnade in the Valley north of Sebaste.-Descent from the Hill.-Traces of the Old Wall.-Strength of this Position.-Form, Extent, and probable Object of the Colonnade.-History of Samaria.-Route to Jennin.-Ascent of the Mountain.-View.-Jibba.- Sannour.-Cultivated Fields.-Jennin.News.-Situation of Jennin.-Signs of Prosperity.-Trees.-Gardens.Fountain.-Good Ruler.-Ginea.-The Plain of Esdraelon.-Extensive Tillage.-Ploughs and Oxen.-Soil of the Plain.-Productions.-Cotton. -Situation of the Villages.-Waste Fields.-Valleys and Mountains