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LUXURIANT GRASS.

Dr. Treadwell of Boston had been present, with his strong magnifying instrument, he would have informed old Jacob at once that this blood was a kid's.

Here at Dothan was fine grazing for Jacob's stock. Not the valley alone, but the hill-sides as well, are even yet clothed with luxuriant growths of sweet feed. Right across this broad plain, and directly along by this ancient pit, is the great thoroughfare leading from Damascus and Gilead, and the country beyond, down to Gaza and Egypt. This was the way which these unscrupulous and trafficking Midianites were accustomed to travel.

Jenin is a small, unattractive village of three or four hundred people. It is surrounded by cactushedges, and shaded by a few graceful palm-trees. It stands on the edge of the great plain of Esdraelon. A clear, rapid brook passes directly through it. Here, just before nightfall, we found our camp on a smooth swale, where the fresh grass was up to the horses' eyes. This camp was very near a mosque (that is, a Mohammedan place of worship); and this mosque was provided with a very tall minaret, or tower. Our arrival here was Friday, which is a Mohammedan day of devotion. According to custom, on that day, a man, just before dark, ascended this minaret to a balcony near the top, and there made proclamation. He did not spare his lungs or strength, but rattled away, in a loud, hurried strain, like an inexperi

A BOISTEROUS SUMMONS.

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enced orator haranguing the whole village. This lasted several minutes. Of course what he said, being in the Arabic tongue was unintelligible to us; but we learned from our interpreter, that the sum and substance of this obstreperous proclamation, repeated over and over again, was, "God is great! Come to prayers!"

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FERTILIZED WITH BLOOD.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. GILBOA. THE END OF SAUL. — – JEZREEL. -THE DOGS LICKED AHAB'S BLOOD. — BATTLE OF MOUNT TABOR. -CARMEL.-GOING UP TO NAZARETH.—THE SACRED PLACES. — CHRIST IN THE SANCTUARY.-THRUST OUT OF THE CITY.-SWEET CHURCH-BELLS. — CANA OF GALILEE. DRIFTING CLOUDS. THE MOUNT OF BEATITUDES. — A WEDDING-MARCH. — HOUSES OF OLEANDER. THE VALLEY OF DOVES.

Ar an early hour in the morning we moved out upon the great plain of Esdraelon, one of the noblest in all Palestine. We were four hours in crossing it from south to north. It is a fertile and beautiful valley, in which we noticed large fields of cotton, millet, wheat, and barley; the whole tract presenting a scene of busy industry, though the harvest had not yet fairly commenced. This plain is not entirely a dead level. I can select tracts of country in Northern Illinois of which this is a complete prototype. Its soil has many times been fertilized by human gore, for the invader has been upon it.

In crossing this extensive plain, we pass along the western base of Gilboa; that mountain being on our right. It was at the foot of this mountain that Gideon confronted the Midianites, when "they came up with their cattle and their tents,

FELL ON THEIR SWORDS.

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It was here

and as grasshoppers for multitude." that he struck terror into the hosts of the enemy, and drove them in wild disorder down the valley to the fords of the Jordan.

Two centuries later the Philistines invaded this country. They marched in and took position on the spot where the Midianites had encamped. Saul gathered the tribes of Israel on the heights of Gilboa. The shock of battle came; and the life of Israel's king, who stood head and shoulders above all the prophets, had a sad and solemn termination. The battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and his two other sons. Then Saul desired his own armor-bearer to run him through with a sword, but the armor-bearer would not. Then Saul took a sword, and fell upon its point; and, when the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. And the next day, when the Philistines came upon the ground, they found Saul and his three sons fallen in Mount Gilboa; and they cut off Saul's head, and put his armor in the house of Ashtaroth, and fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.

Farther on we passed through the present village of Jezreel, which consists of a few dirty huts, made of rough rocks and mud. This was once the seat of Ahab, king of Samaria. He coveted a piece of land that belonged to one

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THE DEAD FOUNTAIN.

Naboth of that city. But the law forbade the Israelites to sell their paternal inheritance, and Naboth declined to part with the land. The wife of Ahab then entered into the work. She concocted a scheme by which the land was secured; but this scheme involved false accusation, perjury, and the murder of Naboth. To Ahab it was foretold," In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood." About two years after this, Ahab was slain in battle, and buried at Jezreel. A great quantity of blood flowed from his wounds; and one washed his chariot in the Pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood. Our guide became enthusiastic over this Bible story; and he took us to this Pool of Samaria, which he says is called the Dead Fountain, and whose waters, he assured us, washed from the chariot the blood of the king.

Still farther on Little Hermon rises, in fair proportions, to a sharp point, four or five hundred feet above the plain. This also is on our right. At its northern base is the village of Nain; and near this is Endor, both of which places are in full view, and both of which are noted in the Sacred Writings. Mount Tabor is also at our right, a conspicuous figure in its physical outlines, and conspicuous also in the records of the past. It is round-topped, and very symmetrical in form. For a long time it stood out before us in all its pleasing grandeur. The crest of this mountain is cov