SUMMER-HOUSES. 247 the town. They are made of the branches and leaves of the oleander. The occupants have a vague belief, that houses constructed of this material are proof against fleas, flies, caterpillars, and every thing of the kind. On our way from here down to the Sea of Gennesaret, we met parties of men, with their donkeys staggering under the weight of the oleander, in full bloom, which was to be used in the construction of these cool, romantic houses. This beautiful plant is found in great abundance in the runs and ravines of the plain of Gennesaret. About two o'clock of the afternoon of this exciting day, we took lunch in a deep mountain gorge, called the Valley of the Doves. Rain was moderately falling, and we found shelter under an overhanging rock. Passing down through this gorge, with its high, perpendicular walls on either side, we came to the plain above mentioned, at ancient Magdala. The soil of this plain has in it every element of productiveness, and in the olden time this section of Galilee yielded rich returns to the cultivator. With only indifferent treatment it would do the like again. But the mellow soil of the plain of Gennesaret is mainly given up to the production of wild, rank weeds. We noticed acres of thistles six feet high. Not only has agriculture fallen into decay here, but cities have disappeared, and population is gone. Josephus states that Galilee alone had more than 248 THE ENCHANTING SHORE. two hundred cities and villages, the smallest of which contained not less than fifteen thousand inhabitants. As the shadows began to stretch across the plain, our horses, as well as ourselves, began to show signs of weariness. The day's work had been long and hard, but every step had been invested with interest. Pressing on, we found our flag waving on the shore of the sea, at the "Fountain of the Figs," and right by the shapeless ruins of old Bethsaida, the city of James and John, sons of Zebedee, who, when in the ship, mending their nets, heard and obeyed the summons, "Follow me." DIFFERENT NAMES. 249 CHAPTER XX. THE SEA AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. BATHING IN ITS DEEPS. BETHSAIDA, CAPERNAUM, CHORAZIN.-SCENE OF THE MARVELOUS MINISTRY. LEAVING THE ENCHANTED GROUND. — ACRES OF BLOSSOMS. — MOUNTAIN VIEWS.AN ARMED CAVALCADE. THE WATERS OF MEROM. —AND HE HOUGHED THEIR HORSES.-WANDERING ARABS. - ANCIENT DAN.-CÆSAREA-PHILIPPI. -"UPON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.". - THE CASTLE OF BANIAS. - OVER A SPUR OF HERMON. THE DARK DAY. FOLLOWING PAUL TO DAMASCUS. As the traveler emerges from the Valley of Doves, he catches an exciting glimpse of an inland sea, shaped like a harp, thirteen miles long, and six or seven miles broad. This is the Sea of Galilee, or of Tiberias, or of Gennesaret; for it is known by each of these names. It is also known both as a sea and as a lake. It is something that attracts, and does not repel. I am far from sympathizing with those who pronounce this sheet of water an uninteresting and dreary waste. It is a charming lake, and would be such in any country. But it is the amazing historic events which have occurred upon its shores that give it name and significance. "If every vestige of human habitation should disappear from beside it, and the jackal and the hyena should howl about the shattered fragments of the synagogues where once Christ taught, yet the fact that he chose it as the scene of his opening ministry will give a sense of sacredness and pathos to its lonely waters till time shall be no more." On the eastern side of this sea, there is a narrow, fertile plain, eighty rods wide, beyond which Bashan's lofty plateau rises as a mountain chain to the height, perhaps, of fifteen hundred feet above the water. These hills are without village, tree, or cultivation. They are furrowed by gray ravines, and are desolation itself. On the west side of the lake is the noted plain of Gennesaret, of which I have spoken. The hills that rise from this plain, unlike those on the opposite shore, are pleasant to look upon in their coating of green, and are fair fields for the grazing of stock. The excessive heat of this valley is accounted for on the ground that the Sea of Galilee is six or seven hundred feet below the level of the ocean. This is not such a depression as the basin of the Lower Jordan and the Dead Sea, but it is low enough to give it intense warmth in midsummer. The beach, on all sides, is pebbly and clean; and the water is so transparent that an object can be seen at almost a fabulous depth. The shores, which were studded two thousand years ago with. no less than ten large cities, are now deserted. The small, decaying town of Tiberias, and the degraded village of Magdala, where the children play stark naked in the street, are now the only inhabited spots. ECSTATIC SWIMMING. 251 On arriving at our camp at Bethsaida, the first duty attended to was bathing, and that in the Sea of Galilee! Our emotions, as we plunged into the wave, may be better imagined than described. It was at the poetic hour of evening. All nature was hushed. There was no tramping of armies to the bloody field, and no shouting of multitudes, doing homage to the Prince of peace. The sea was not specked with the white sails of Galilee's fishermen. A lone pelican was skimming on the main, and there was no sound save the gentle murmur of each wave as it broke upon the strand. "All things were calm and fair and passive. Earth Into a breathless, dewy sleep, so still, Bethsaida, Capernaum, Chorazin,—these are all prominent in the New-Testament history. But where were they situated? On this question authorities do not agree. Even the site of Capernaum is not identified beyond a doubt, — that Capernaum which the Nazarene Reformer made "his own city," which witnessed so many of his greatest revelations, whose marble buildings were mirrored in a limpid sea, the location of that bright and busy place is not determined beyond |