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BRIEF ACCOUNT 
 
 THE COUNTRIES 
 
 At>J0ININO 
 
 THE LAKE of TIBERIAS, THE JORDAN, 
 
 %^t Beab ^u. 
 
 M. SEETZEN, 
 
 CONCEILLER D'AMBASSADE DE S. M. L'EMPEREUR DE RUSSIE. 
 
 PUBLISHED FOR THE PALESTINE ASSOCIATION OF LONDON. 
 
 BATHt 
 
 FRINTED AND SOLD BY MEYLEB AND SON, ABBEY«CHVnCH>YAKO} 
 Airs IN LONDON BY HATCHARO, FICCADII.Z.Y. 
 
 181Q. 
 

s.r 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 JLT has been much the custom of late to pubHsh travels 
 through remote parts of the world; and the more unknown 
 and unfrequented the country described, the more eagerness 
 has been manifested by the pubhc to read and be informed : 
 It is not therefore deemed necessary to apologise for offering 
 the following pages to the English public, since, strange though 
 it be, few countries are so completely unknown to all Europeans, 
 as those parts of the land of Judea which have been visited by 
 Mr. Seetzen. 
 
 Wliilst a new world beyond the Atlantic has been frequently 
 described and delineated in authentic maps ; whilst the unpro- 
 ductive regions of Siberia, and the deserts of Africa, have been 
 pepetrated by modern hardihood and curiosity ; the land which 
 might be called the oldest portion of the globe, or concerning 
 
This Journal of M. Seetzen, too. brief to extinguish our curio- 
 sity, comprehends some of the most interesting objects within 
 the plan of the Association. That gentleman has judiciously 
 directed his principal efforts to the illustration of the remote re- 
 gions beyoad the Jordan, and his success has been oij the whole 
 gre^tpr than might have been expected. The general tenor 
 moreover of the Narrative, and the disinterested manner in which 
 "it has been given to the world, have certainly no tendency to im- 
 peach the credibility of the Writer. 
 
 /loraod 
 
 -• ii 
 
Extract of a Letter from Mr. Seetzen, to Mr. Zach, Grand Mar^ 
 shall of the Court of Saxe Gotha, and Editor of the Geographical 
 and Astronomical Correspondence- 
 
 St. John d'Acre, 1 6th June, 1806. 
 
 Six months have passed since, by my letter from Damascus, I 
 transmitted to you some information regarding the continuation 
 of my journey, accompanied with observations on the country of 
 Hauran, the Auranitis of the ancients, of Jaulan, Gaulonitis, 
 and on the celebrated double chain of mountains called Libanus 
 and Antilibanus. I subjoined to the same letter my astronomi- 
 cal observations made at Damascus, and the sequel to the list of 
 the Oriental works on geography and astronomy to be found in 
 the library of Gotha. I hope that the whole will have reached 
 you by the care of Mr. Hammer, at Constantinople. 
 
 I have since made a fatiguing and dangerous journey, accom- 
 panied with many singular adventures, of which I propose now 
 to give you some details. 
 
 I knew from the most ancient historical works of the Hebrews, 
 that from the most remote antiquity there existed many flourish- 
 ing cities in the country to the east of Hermon, the Jordan, and 
 the Dead Sea. Those cities and their territories were, perhaps 
 
8 
 
 improperly, termed kingdoms ; yet they were justly celebrated 
 for the excellent cultivation of their soil, and for a great number 
 of towns and fortified places. .- .v^-:^..v 
 
 The Romans, who successively extended their conquests in 
 these regions, found there a very populous country, known under 
 the names of Moabitis, Ammonitis, Amoritis,Galaaditis, Batanea, 
 Auranitis, Sec. The places in the southern part of that country 
 were then distinguished by the general name of Peraea, and 
 among tiiem was reckoned the celebrated Decapolis, or ten allied 
 cities ("^ The Romans left there, as in all the countries they con- 
 quered, superb remains of their architecture, the stamp of their 
 genius and of their desire to be immortalized ; and it has not 
 been possible for a series of fifteen centuries to efface entirely these 
 vestiges of their greatness. 
 
 In the time of the Roman empire of the west, and under the 
 Christian Emperors of Constantinople, this country appears still 
 to have subsisted in all its vigour, if we may judge from the 
 great number of Bishoprics, Arciibishoprics, Convents and 
 Churches which it contained, and of which the names are men- 
 tioned in the history of Byzantium (acta Byzantina) ; but on the 
 decline of the Greek empire, the people which inhabited it seems 
 to have been dispersed, or destroyed when the CaUfs extended 
 their conquests over that region. 
 
 I have in vain consulted the geographical books of the Arabs, 
 to discover some light on the modern state of this country.— 
 Even Busching, in his Geography of Syria and Palestine, gives 
 only vague notices. We must therefore conclude that modern 
 travellers have not judged tliese districts sufficiently worthy of 
 their attention, to piosecute their researches there. 
 
9 
 
 The desire of supplying this defect induced me to undertake 
 this journey ,-notwithstanding the opposition of my friends at Da- 
 mascus, who represented to me the execution of it as at once 
 dangerous and impracticable. 
 
 I was told, among other things, that I should find deserts impos- 
 sible to traverse, for want of communication with the inhabitants 
 of the frontiers ; that the Arabs would not suffer me to continue 
 my route, and that even my life would be in danger among these 
 savage hordes, &c. &c. But no one had visited the country in 
 person, and most of the information given me was founded on]y 
 on report, perhaps false, or at least exaggerated. Besides, I had 
 too good an opinion of the nomade Arabs to permit myself to be 
 deterred by such reports ; and I thought it would be rendering 
 service to science, if I became competent to give the public cer- 
 tain intelligence of the present state of Decapolis, its antiquities, 
 plants, minerals, &c. 
 
 But before I commenced this journey, I resolved to visit an- 
 other little district, to the north east of Hauran, and which, ac- 
 cording to public report, should contain some remarkable anti- 
 quities. This district is called al-Lahja, and is of bad repute at 
 Damascus, on account of the Bedouin Arabs who occupy it. — 
 I had already three times engaged guides to accompany me ; but 
 each time, at the moment of departure, their fears made them 
 turn their T3acks. 
 
 I at length found an Armenian, formerly in the service of Jez- 
 zar. Pasha of Acre, where he had opportunity to become familiar 
 with danger. Being well armed, we left Damascus on horseback, 
 the 12th of December, 1805, on the route to Lahja, 
 
10 
 
 We lost the road or>>the first day, and passed the night in a 
 Mohammedan village, where we were received as soldiers of the 
 Pasha. Under this title my conductor assumed a lone of au- 
 thority, which imposed on the iniiabitants, whoare very much in. 
 fear of the military. The following day we pursued the great 
 road to Hauran, and on the third day, as we arrived at the first 
 village of Hauran, we made a detour, which brought us into the 
 road to Lahja. 
 
 I had provided myself with a passport from Abd-allah, Pasha 
 of Damascus, by means of which my conductor, Ibrahim, obliged 
 the Shech of each village to furnish an armed horseman, who ac- 
 companied us to the next. We hved on the road, according to 
 the custom of the country, at the charge of the inhabitants ; 
 which, however, did not prevent Ibrahim from displaying his 
 anger, as often as he thought the presents offered him less than 
 he was entitled to. I saw that 1 had engaged a daring fellow, 
 whose conduct might have endangered my safety, if he had not 
 been taken for a soldier and a Mohammedan. 
 
 The part of Lahja which I have seen, like Hauran, presents 
 nothing but basalt,often very porus^ and forming in many places 
 stoney deserts. The villages, for the most part ruinous, are si- 
 tuated on the sides of the rocks. Their black basaltic colour, 
 the houses, churches and towers crurabling to decay, joined with 
 the total absence of trees and verdure, give them a sombrous and 
 melancholy aspect, inspiring the soul with a kind of terror.— 
 Almost every village exhibits either Greek inscriptions or co- 
 lumns, or some other remains of antiquity. I have copied 
 among others, an inscription of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius 
 Antoninus. The entrances here, as well as in Hauran, are closed 
 
11 
 
 with doors of basaltes. Christians of the Greek ritual are still 
 found in Lahja, as in every part of the east. 
 
 On the l6th December, 1805, we set out for Gerata, a large 
 village, almost destroyed, where remains are still found of the 
 Roman aera, and of that of the Greek Emperors of Constanti- 
 nople. The road which leads thither traverses a rockj soil, 
 arid, and quite uncultivated; in the middle of which there is a 
 round and deep cavity, much resembling the crater of a volcano, 
 being surrounded with black and porous basalt. It was in this 
 cavity, which contains some springs, that we perceived a num- 
 ber of horsemen. We took them for Arabs, and the peasant who 
 was our guide, being of the same opinion, advised us to be on 
 our guard. 
 
 On our arrival at Gerata, we found an Arab Shech, with a 
 small troop which had taken up its abode there for some time. 
 On the presentation of our passport (Boiurdi), he received us very 
 hospitably, and caused a simple and rustic repast to be prepared 
 for us, though it was then the month Ramadhan, at which time 
 the Mohammedans take no food till after sun-set. 
 
 I had scarcely recovered from the fatigue of travelling, when I 
 observed a troop of ten horsemen coming up to us, who were in 
 the service of the Vice-Governor of Hauran/*") Jaulan, Lahja, 
 &c. They were armed with sabres, pistols, spears, and battle-axes. 
 They announced to me in a civil manner, that they came to take 
 me into custody by order of Omar Aga, their master; who hav- 
 ing learned that I had already visited that part of the country in 
 the preceding spring, and supposing that my passports might be 
 false, and that I was no other than a spy, had given them orders 
 to stop me, and conduct me to his presence. 
 
i'2 
 
 -■'I yielded to necessity without any apprehension, though a httle 
 vexed at the disappointment; persuaded that the passport of the 
 Pasha, his superior, would be sufficient to secure me from every 
 kind of violence. 
 
 ' We set out stit"it>uiided by five horsemen, and advanced a day 
 and an half into Hauran, where we found Omar Aga, in the vil- 
 lage of Tostas, near Meserib, situated on the route of the Mekke 
 caravan. He received us at first in a manner somewhat rude; 
 but as soon as he had read my passport, his conduct was changed. 
 I immediately became his guest, and he conducted me himself 
 to see a Greek inscription in the village. 
 
 The following day I was desirous of quitting Tostas, to return 
 to Lahja; but Ibrahim refused to accompany me, in conse- 
 ijuence of a conversation which he had had the preceding even- 
 ing Nvith Omar Aga, whose intentions appeared to him liable to 
 suspicion. This ad\^enture having caused me to lose the time 
 \vhich I had set apart for the journey to Lahja, I yielded, and 
 began to give up my design. 
 
 Omar Aga had promised that I should be accompanied by the 
 Shech of the village ; but this Shech did not shew himself, and 
 we had scarcely lost sight of the village, when two men on horse- 
 back passed by us rapidly. This excited distr^is^t ; and our sus- 
 picions were confirmed, when towards noon we saw before us, 
 in a very solitary place, eight Arab horsemen armed, one of whom 
 came galloping towards us, and brandishing his spear. Ibrahim 
 had just dismounted in order to adjust his saddle. He declared 
 that when he saw the Arab so near, he had called out to me to 
 be on my guard, and that he had pointed his gun at him, order- 
 ing him to stop. 
 
la 
 
 I had been too far off to hear him, and was engaged in observ- 
 ing the other seven Arabs, whom 1 had not yet not'ced. The 
 fiist stopped short, and fixing his spear in the earth, inquired 
 whence we came, and where we proposed to go. The moment 
 Ibrahim had informed him that we came from Omar Aga, and 
 were going to Damascus, they pursued their route without mo- 
 lesting us. It was probably the intention of Omar Aga that we 
 should be plundered ; and the firmness of my guide had pt rhaps 
 restrained the robbers. At length on the 20tii December we re- 
 turned to Damascus. 
 
 It was indeed my intention to commence my journey along 
 the eastern side of the Jordan, and round the Dead Sea to Jeru- 
 salem, immediately after my return. But I Avas detained by the 
 difficulty of finding a proper guide. Several presented them- 
 selves, whose services, howevei'j' I had sufficient reasons for de- 
 clining. My host, the estimable Mr. Chaboceau, a French phy- 
 sician, had before provided an attendant for my excursion to 
 Lahja, whom, on examination, I found very well suited to my 
 purpose. But at the moment of departure, he hesitated, and 
 retracted his engagement. The advantageous offer which I made 
 iiim overcame his repugnancy, and he resolved to accompany 
 me. As I shall often have to speak of him in the sequel, it is 
 proper that I should first give a short account of him. 
 
 Yussuf al Mufki t<^^s born about fifty years ago at Damascus, 
 wliere he is still established in the Christian quarter. He is of 
 the Greek rituah In his fifteenth year he travelled with a mer- 
 chant of Damascus among the Arabs of the tribe of Anaze ; and 
 Itias si ncte ■carried on trade on his own aocouiit with many other 
 •tribes of Arabs, among whom h^* in this manner passed near thirty 
 years. And as during that time he had had oceasion to visit 
 
 c 9, 
 
14 
 
 most parts of the country where I proposed to travel, he was in n 
 situation to render me the most essential services. 
 
 We left Damascus the 19th January, 1806. The whole of my 
 baggage consisted only of a few clothes ; some books that were 
 indispensible; a small provision of medicines, to give credit to 
 my supposed character of physician ; a parcel of paper without 
 gum, to preserve plants ; some provisions, &c. I wore the ha- 
 bit of an Arab Shecli of the second rank, and armed myself with 
 a gun, and a brace of pistols. 
 
 • cThe two districts which I first visited were those of Rasheia 
 and Hasbeia, they being the least known of all Syria. They are 
 situated at the foot of mount Hermon, the summit of which, at 
 that time covered with snow, rises above all the other mountains 
 in the neighbourhood. J^ js, now called Gebel-ez-Shech (the 
 Shech's mountain). 
 
 The season did not permit me to ascend its summit, to exa- 
 mine the nature of the rock which composes it. I have however 
 reason to think that it consists of calcareous stone, like the snowy 
 tops of Libanus and Anti-Libanus, which we were obliged to 
 cross in going to Rashaiad. From the most elevated points of 
 that ridge, we saw the Mediterranean ; and after descending on 
 the other side of the mountain, we reached Asha, a village inha- 
 bited by the Druses and Greek Christians. 1 found there the 
 ruins of a Roman temple, consisting of a single column of the 
 peristyle of the Ionic order, and the best execution. 
 
 In the evening of the second day's travelling we arrived at 
 Rasheia, a village situated on the steep declivity of a mountain. 
 It is the residence of an Emxr, whpse autl^prity extejtids over 
 
15 
 
 twenty other villages, and whom I visited the following day. — 
 Couthiual rain detained us there during two days. 
 
 The 23d January we continued our route to Hasbeia, distant 
 five leagues to the south of RasLeia. The whole territory of 
 these two districts is very mountainous, and there are but few 
 traces of cultivation. 
 
 On my arrival at Hasbeia, I alighted at the house of the 
 learned Greek Bishop of Sur or Seide, for whom I had a letter 
 of recommendation. This village is somewhat larger than Ra- 
 sheia, but like it situated on the steep descent of a mountain. I 
 had a letter for the Emir who commands there, and who inhabits 
 a castle of handsome structure. I paid him a visit the day after 
 my arrival. 
 
 ■^■ff-V - 
 
 The mountains of the neighbourhood are for the most part cal- 
 careous, and in the bottoms of the hills are seen strata of trap. 
 The object the most remarkable in the mineralog}-, is a mine of 
 asphaltes, at the distance of a league west south west of Hasbeia. 
 It is on the side of a calcareous mountain, and has been wrought 
 near two centuries. The asphaltes extracted from it is called 
 al-hommar, and it is used here to secure the vines from insects. — 
 The greater part of it is transported to Europe. 
 
 Two days after our arrival, we left Hasbeia, on our way to I3a- 
 niass, or Panaass, the ancient Cesarea Philippi. This city, for- 
 merly so flourishing, is now destroyed, and on its ruins has arisen 
 a little hamlet of about twenty miserable huts, inhabited hy Mo- 
 hammedans. The circuit of the walls of the ancient city is easily 
 distinguishable; but no traces remain of the magnificent temple 
 erected by Herod the Great in honour of Augustus. 
 
1<J 
 
 The copious source of the river of Baniass rises npar a remark- 
 able grotto in the rock, on the declivity ofwhic*. I copied some 
 ancient Greek inscriptions, dedicated to Pan and the Nymphs of 
 the Fountain. 
 
 The environs of Baniass are very pleasing, especially for a 
 lover of the chace, as there are panthers, bears, a prodigious 
 quantity of wild boars, foxes, jackalls, antelopes, roebucks, wolves, 
 hyaenas, hares, &c. 
 
 - The little lake of Phiala is two leagues distant to the east of 
 Baniass, and now bears the name of Birket-el-Ram. 
 
 The castle of Baniass, situated on the summit of a lofty moun- 
 tain, was built in the time of the Chalifs. 
 
 The ancients gave the name of source of the Jordan, to the 
 spring from which the Baniass rises ; and its beauty might entitle 
 it to that name. But in fact it appears that the preference is due 
 to the spring of the river Hasberia, which rises half a league to the 
 west of Hasbeia, and which forms the largest branch of the Jor- 
 dan. The spring of Tel-el-Kadi, which the natives take for the 
 source of the Jordan, is that which least merits the name.^'^) 
 
 We left Baniass the 29th January, and passed several small 
 branches of the Jordan, in order to reach its western bank ; some 
 particular circumstances, which I shall afterwards relate, having 
 prevented me from examining its western bank as far as the 
 bridge called Jusr-behat-Yakub.* 
 
 * Jacob's Bridge. 
 
17^ 
 
 The surrounding mountains in this place form a valle}', rather 
 extensive, but little cultivated, called el-Hhule, in the midst of 
 which is situated a marshy lake, bearing the name of Baheiret-el- 
 Hhule. It is the lake Meron, or Samachonitis of the ancients. 
 Its shores are frequented by a great number of wild boars, and 
 the huntsmen had just been setting fire to the rushes and reeds 
 which surround it, the flame of which was visible at night. 
 
 We passed that night and the ensuing day under the tents of 
 a village which consists of nomade Mohammedans, who range 
 the country like the Bedouin Arabs, though they at the same 
 time engage in agriculture. 
 
 I sent back from thence my muleteers, who absolutely refused 
 to accompany me to Jusr-behat-Yakub, from the fear of being 
 deprived of their mules. But what more surprized me was the 
 conduct of my guide Yussuf, who declared that he could not pos- 
 sibly follow me to the eastern bank of the Jordan, and the lake of 
 Tiberias ;-f' that he had a wife and children to whom his care and 
 assistance were due, and that if I persisted in my design, he was 
 determined to leave me and return to Damascus. 
 
 Not choosing therefore either to renounce my plan, or to lose 
 my guide, no alternative remained to me but to send him to wait 
 for me at Tiberias, by the high road; while I advanced alone 
 towards Jusr-behat-Yakub, in order to find an opportunity of 
 passing to the eastern side of the Jordan. 
 
 I consigned my money, watch, pistols, &c. to Yussuf; keeping 
 only a bundle of paper to preserve plants, and my gun. In this 
 
 <pi I ii—iwi ■■ ■ ■ mm mil , \ tmmi^mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmam\ u .■■i.iiii..« ■ - ... i —i— gwiw n .a i. iw^^— ^^ n iii i i ■■ ■■ii m ■ i^^ 
 
 •f Baheiret Tabarie. 
 
18 
 
 manner I commenced my pedestrian journey, the Slst January, 
 accompanied by an Arab guide, whom theShech of the nomade 
 village had recommended to me. The road followed always the 
 western bank of the lake Baheiret-el-Hhule, and the foot of lofty 
 calcareous mountains. 
 
 At some distance from the bridge we met a troop of Arabs, 
 who, if my guide had not been present, would probably have 
 plundered me. The bridge over the Jordan is built of fragments 
 of basalt, and well preserved. The river is in that place about 
 thirty-five paces in width. On the eastern side is seen a khan, 
 which was almost entirely demolished at the time the French in- 
 vaded Syria. I found there, however, a little garrison, with a 
 Collector of the Tolls exacted on crossing the river. It was there 
 I passed the night. 
 
 I had but little hope of finding at this place any person who 
 might serve me as a guide, since every one was fearful of the 
 Arabs, and no one would risk his mule or his horse. Good luck, 
 ho\vever, brought an Arab on the following day to the spot where 
 I was, who understanding that I was a medical man, requested 
 me to come with him to see his Shech, who was attacked by the 
 ophthalmia, and who lived on the eastern bank of the lake of 
 Tiberias. 
 
 I readily availed myself of the opportunity which was thus 
 presented, resolved to attempt any thing rather than to abandon 
 my undertaking. I gave myself up therefore to the guidance of 
 this stranger. The country that we passed through was wild, 
 mountainous, and entirely composed of basalt. It was the wes- 
 tern border of the district of Jaulan. After walking about two 
 hours we arrived at a little nomade village, where lived my guide. 
 
19 
 
 Hossein, and where we passed the night. The next day he got 
 me a horse for the httle money which I had remaining, and we 
 continued our journey. From the high ground that we travelled 
 over, I had a very fine view of the lake of Tiberias. We after- 
 wards passed through the little village of Tallanihie, probably the 
 ancient Julias, and situated on the edge of a small fertile plain 
 which extends as far as the lake, and seems to owe its origin to 
 the Jordan. In the village itself I saw a great number of Aloes, 
 which grow there in the open air, a circumstance which I had 
 not remarked before. 
 
 From hence we followed an eastern course which led us to the 
 southern bank of a river called Wady Sammak, which is tole- 
 rably deep at this season, but in summer time completely dry. I 
 saw here some tents, in one of which we found the sick Shech. 
 
 I was welcomed in the Arab manner, and began immediately to 
 examine the eyes of the Shech, but I discovered that a complete 
 cataract was formed, which is almost impossible to be cured with- 
 out an operation. The situation however in which I was placed 
 obliged me to dissemble, and I therefore gave him some cheer- 
 ing hopes. He said to me '^ If you restore my sight, I will make 
 you a present of the horse on which you ride.'* This certainly 
 was not a very noble gift, for the horse was so sorry a beast, that 
 with the greatest difficulty could I get him to a trot. I returned 
 however m}^ thanks to the Shech, and assured him that I wished 
 for no recompense, but that he should allow me to be conducted 
 along the eastern bank of the lake as far as Tiberias; in which 
 route I was anxious to seek for some plants. " Give me, said I, 
 Hossein for a guide, and be satisfied that on my arrival at Tibe- 
 rias, I will give him such remedies, as with the aid of God, will 
 
 u 
 
restore yoiir eye-sight/* The first of these conditions seemed to 
 displease him, but at length I was promised what I asked. 
 
 I mounted my horse next morning, and we set off too-ether. 
 After travelhng half an hour, I perceived that we were retracing 
 our road towards Tallanihie, and I complained of it to Hossein, 
 which indeed was all I could do, for under the pretence of pro- 
 tecting me more fully, he had in the morning got possession of 
 my gun, and we were also attended by another very stout Arab; 
 all resistance was therefore absurd. 
 
 We passed the Jordan near a village, and coasted along the 
 borders of the lake of Tiberias. At a little distance from the khan 
 Beit-Zeide, we passed a brook, the water of which was salt. We 
 stopped near the khan, it was uninhabited, and nearly in ruins. 
 Hossein had lost his cloak, and under the pretence of looking for 
 it, and immediately returning, he took my horse and gun, and 
 left me absolutely alone ; for the other Arab, and the wife of the 
 sick Shech who had been of the party, were also gone off. 
 
 I waited for some time, but to no effect, I vyas yet three leagues 
 from Tiberias; the country was solitary and uninhabited; the 
 little plain which extends from hence to Majdil was covered with 
 brush wood. The night was approaching, and convinced that 
 Hossein had treacherously deserted me, I thought only of es- 
 caping from a place so full of danger. In proceeding a little 
 further 1 was on the point of falling into the hands of two Arabs 
 who were concealed in the wood ; I fortunately however escaped 
 from them, and arrived an hour after sun-set in the little Mahom- 
 rnedan village of Majdil, situated on the bank of the lake, where I 
 passed the night. The next morning I arrived happily at Tiberias, 
 orTabarie of the Arabs, and found there my former guide Yussuf, 
 
21 
 
 Tvho, had been waitingfor me some days, not without apprehen- 
 sions for my safety. 
 
 The town of Tiberias is situated close to the banks of the lake 
 that bears its name — and on the land side it is encircled by a 
 strong wall of hewn stones of basalt, notwithstanding which it 
 hardly merits the name of a town. There are no traces left of its 
 ancient splendor, though the ruins of the old town are discover- 
 able, which extend as far as the hot-baths, situated about a 
 league to the East. The famous Jezzar Pasha built a bath above 
 the principal of these springs. If these baths were in Europe, 
 they would probably be preferred to all others. ('^^ The valley in 
 the midst of which is the lake, assists by the concentration of 
 heat, the vegetation of dates, citrons, oranges, indigo, &c. while 
 the higher land in the neighbourhood is capable of furnishing the 
 produce of temperate climates. But in the present state of things, 
 one can only find a few traces of fruits of the solar regions, on 
 the edge of the lake. The lake abounds also in fish, but we 
 discovered only one fisherman's boat, and that nearly in ruins, 
 at Tiberias. He who farms the fishery of the lakes, only employs 
 his nets along its banks. 
 
 On the 6th of February we pursued our journey, and followed 
 the banks of the lake as far as its southward extremity, to tlie 
 westward of which was situated the ancient town of Tarichsea,^ 
 celebrated for its salt fish, its place is very exactly marked in the 
 map of Professor Paulus.* Some ruins and some walls are 
 still visible, and the place still bears the name of el-Malahha, or 
 Ard-el-Malahha, which is svnonimous to the Greek name of 
 Tarichaea. We observed on the borders of the lake, a considerable 
 
 * The map here alluded to seems to be the sdra« as that of D'Aaville. 
 
 p 2 
 
22 
 
 space without any vegetation, and which is covered in summer 
 with a surface of salt. The inhabitants of Tarichaea probably 
 make use of this salt, to cure the quantities offish, with which 
 the lake and the Jordan supply them. 
 
 Here begins the beautiful plain of el-Ghor, which greatly re- 
 sembles the plain of el-B'kaa, between Anti-Libanus, and 
 Libanus, only that the two chains of mountains that surround it 
 are not so striking as those of el-B'kaa. 
 
 This plain of el-Ghor is little cultivated, nor are any villages 
 to be found in it, except those of nomade Arabs, who move their 
 tents about from one spot to another. 
 
 At a certain distance to the south of el-Malahha is a bridge in 
 ruins on the eastern bank of the Jordan, and after walking some 
 leagues, we passed over the Shariat-Manadra, or Shariah-Man- 
 dra, by a bridge of five arches, which river after flowing through 
 a bed of basalt, here empties itself into the Jordan. 
 
 At half a league from this place we came to the bridge of 
 Jissr-el-Mejamea, built upon the Jordan, to the westward of 
 which is a very large khan, with a small garrison. 
 
 It is here necessary to observe, that the river Shariat-Manadra, 
 is the same as that sometimes called Hieramack, or Yarmak, and 
 that its course is ill laid down in the map of Mens. Paulus, since 
 it does not empty itself into the lake of Tiberias, but into the 
 Jordan, at some leagues below the southern point of the lake. — 
 Some other geographical corrections will be found in the pro- 
 gress of my tour. 
 
23 
 
 We returned to the southern point of the lake without passing 
 ihe bridge of Jissr-el-Mejamea, and spent the night in a Ma- 
 hommedan village. — The next day we directed our course towards 
 the village of Phik, situated on the east bank of the lake of 
 Tiberias, in the district of Jaulan. — This village being placed on 
 a considerable eminence, we were obliged to climb a rugged 
 mountain, on the summit of which we found a khan in ruins, 
 called Ivhan el Akaba Phik»,v7 oiodi t 
 
 '. Comparing the localities of this place, with the picturesque 
 description of Josephus, in his " History of the Jewish War 
 with the Romans," I thought it possible that this was the situa- 
 tion of the town of Gamala, which defended itself with so much 
 obstinacy against the Romans. On the map of Mons. Paulus, 
 the town of Gamala is placed on the southern side of the 
 Shariat Manadra, which (if my, conjecture be correct) must be 
 an error.^^^ 
 
 « * 
 
 The village of Phik is near the middle of the lake; and as, 
 during my visit to the blind Shech, I had never been more thaii 
 a few leagues from it, I had now QOJinpleted my design of visit-: 
 insj the eastern bank, 
 
 I could not obtain any information concerning Hippos, one 
 of the towns wiiich, according to the map of Mons. Paulus, 
 should be situated in the neighbourhood of Phik. I was equally 
 unsuccessful respecting Capitolias and Pella. 
 
 Being at Phik, I was anxious to visit the ruins of M'kess, 
 situated on a considerable mountain on the southern side of the 
 Shariat Manadra. — But I found it impossible to obtain a com. 
 panion, so much are the inhabitants of this county fearful of* 
 
24 
 
 the Arabs. The natives here were acquainted with Amatha, and 
 said it was a place in rains, in the valley of Shariat Manadra, 
 abotft three leagues from Phik. 
 
 fw^Q had determined to go and visit the district of el-Botthin, 
 which the Shariat-Manadra separates from the district of Jaulan, 
 but the river was so swoln by the rain that it was impossible to 
 pass through it, and bridge there was non6* 
 
 '-"We were, therefore, obliged to discontinue our journey till the 
 12th of February, when we directed our course to the spot 
 where the little river Roshat, which flows from the north, falls 
 into the Shariat-Manadra. .iiii^anio to fiv/oj onf i< 
 
 '■'We" forded both rivers, and Yussuf, who was afraid of the 
 rapidity of the current, recommended himself with the utmost 
 fervor to the holy virgin. 
 
 Arrived safe on the opposite shore, we were hospitably regaled 
 by a troop of Arabs.— We afterwards traversed a great wood 
 of beech trees, and arrived on the 15thof February at the village 
 of el-Hoessan, where we lodged with a Greek Christian. 
 
 I had intended from hence to visit the ancient town of Edrel, 
 how called Draa, and the two decapolitan cities of Abila, now 
 Abil, and Gadara. — The first of these places, Edrei, is often 
 mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures, as one of the most impor- 
 tant towns in the territory of the king of Basan, who in the time 
 of Moses lived at Astaroth, the present Busra. But the country was 
 so infected by the nomade Arabs, that I could procure neither 
 horse,-. :nor mule, norassi Yussuf even declared to nie a second 
 time that he could not venture to gg with m^y ],t \^as not with* 
 
85 
 
 out great difficulty that I at last found a guide ; but to save thcr 
 only coat which I had to my back, and which the Arabs would 
 not have failed to have taken from me, I was obliged to 
 make use of a precaution sufficiently strange, which was to 
 cover myself with rags, in fact to assume the disguise of a 
 mesloch, or common beggar. That nothing about me might 
 tempt the rapacity of the Arabs, I put over my shirt an old 
 kombaz, or dressing gown, and above that an old blue and 
 ragged shift— I covered my head with some shreds, and my feet 
 with old slippers. An old tattered Abbai, thrown over my 
 shoulders, protected me from the cold and rain, and a branch 
 of a tree served me for a walking stick. — My guide, a Greek 
 Christian, put on nearly the same dress, and in this trim we 
 traversed the country during ten days, often stopped by the cold 
 rains which wetted us to the skin — I was also obliged to walk 
 pne whole day in the mud with my feet bare, since it was impos- 
 sible to use my slippers on that marshy land, completely softened 
 by the water. 
 
 The town of Draa, situated on the eastern side of the route of 
 the pilgrims to.Meqea, is at present uninhabited and in ruins. 
 No remains of the beautiful ancient architecture could be found, 
 except a. sarcophagus, very well executed, which I saw near a 
 fountain, to which it serves as a bason. Most of the houses are 
 jDuilt with basalt. 
 
 . ■ >'^' - 
 
 The district of el-Botthin contains many thousand caverns 
 made in the rocks, by the ancient inhabitants of the country. 
 .Most of the housesj even in these villages which are yet inha- 
 bited, are a kind of grotto, composed of walls placed against 
 -the projecting points of the rock^, in such a manner that the 
 
walls of the inner chamber, in which the inhabitants live, are 
 partly of bare rock, and partly mason-work. 
 
 Besides these retreats, there are in this neighbourhood a num- 
 ber of very large caverns, the construction of which must have 
 cost infinite labour, since they are formed in the hard rock. 
 There is only one door of entrance, which is so regularly fitted 
 into the rock, that it shuts like the door of a house. 
 ' id \m bsi^'wo i 
 
 ' It appears then that this country was formerly inhabited by 
 Troglodytes, without reckoning the villages whose inhabitants 
 may be regarded as such. There are still to be found many fa- 
 milies living in caverns, sufficiently spacious to contain them 
 and all their cattle. These immense caverns are moreover to be 
 found, in considerable numbers, in the district of al-Jedur, some 
 leagues to the southward of M'kess, where also we met with 
 several families of the Troglodites. 
 
 Besides my guide I had taken with me an armed peasant, and 
 after a troublesome walk we arrived at night at a vast natural 
 cavern, inhabited by a Mahommedan family. After going 
 through a wide and pretty long passage, we perceived at the 
 other end a part of the family assembled round a fire, and em- 
 ployed in preparing supper, which consisted'principally of a kind 
 of bouilli, mixed with wild herbs and gruel made of wheat. I 
 was wet through by the rain, and had walked all day barefooted. 
 This fire was, therefore, insufficient to warm me, although the 
 persons and cattle which came in at sun-set, filled nearly all the 
 cavern. I should probably have passed a bad night, if the old 
 father of the family had not kindly thought of conducting us, 
 after supper, to another cavern at a small distance. After hav- 
 
27 
 
 ing passed a door of ordinary size, we found there all the flock 
 of goats belonging to this Troglodite, and at the end a large 
 empty space, where they had lighted for us the immense trunk 
 of a tree, whose cheerful blaze invited us to sleep around it The 
 fire was kept in all night, and the chief of this hospitable family 
 brought us also a good mess of rice. 
 
 The first appearance of these fierce inhabitants of the rocks 
 had given me some uneasiness, but I afterwards found that they 
 were not more barbarous than the other peasants of these districts. 
 The old father of this family appeared on the contrary to be a 
 sensible and humane man. 
 
 We set off* the next morning (Feb. 23) for M'kess. This town is 
 situated in an angle of a high mountain, formed by the Shariat- 
 Manadra, and the Wady-al-Arab. It was formerly a large and 
 opulent town, proofs of which are still visible in remnants of 
 marble colunms, and of large buildings, in great numbers of sarco- 
 phaguses, ornamented with bas-reliefs, with carved work and with 
 garlands, which are still tolerably well preserved. All these sar- 
 cophaguses are of basalt, which was probably brought from the 
 district of Jaulan. Many beautiful, vast, and very remarkable 
 caverns are still also to be found hereabouts, which serve as 
 places of retreat for five or six families of Troglodite- Arabs. 
 
 We ventured into one of these caverns, where according to the 
 usual custom they gave us some milk, butter, &c. 
 
 I thought there was reason to believe that M'kess was the an- 
 cient Gadara, a town of the second rank among the decapolitan 
 cities. In the map of Mons. Paul us, Gadara is placed on the 
 northern bank of the Shariat-Manadra—- but on that side of the 
 
28 
 
 nVer no one could shew me any place with such a name, and no 
 one could discover any ruins, which might evince the former 
 ancient existence of a large and powerful town. 
 
 If the old geographers do fix the situation of Gadara on the 
 northern side of the Sharat-Manadra, my conjecture is erroneous. 
 Not having, however, any book of ancient geography with me, 
 I cannot ascertain that fact. Nevertheless, as the remarkable 
 natural objects which are found in the neighbourhood of ancient 
 towns,detenninemore assuredly their situation than the transient 
 works of men, I set myself to seek, in the environs of ]Vrkess,for 
 some hot springs, which were found formerly near Gadara, and 
 I discovered them on the northern side, at a league's distance 
 from the foot of a mountain on which M'kess stands, and on the 
 northern bank of the Shariat-Manadra. There are three hot 
 springs at the distance of a league from each other. The first is 
 the most considerable, and is called Ilammet-es-Shech. I was 
 not able to examine these springs, except at a distance of two 
 or three hundred paces, on account of the river being so much 
 swelled by the late rains, that none of the Bedouins who live 
 thereabouts in tents, would run the risque of conducting me 
 across it, although I oflfered them money. They assured me, 
 however, that the first hot spring, about a league from M'kess, 
 contained a great deal of sulphur, which the Arabs made use of 
 cure the mange of their camels. 
 
 There is another circumstance which seems to confirm the 
 opinion that M'kess is the ancient Gadara, namdy, that the 
 southern part of this country, which is filled with caverns, and 
 where we passed the night, bears the name of al-.Tedur, which is 
 probably derived from Jadar, or Gadara. A great part of Jaulan, 
 called Jedur, is situated on the north side of the Shariat-Mana- 
 dra. This part comprehends all the country on the eastern bank 
 
29 
 
 of the River Tloshad, and extends nearly to the road travelled 
 by the Mecca pilgrims, that is to say, as far as Hauran. It 
 seems, therefore, that M'kess, or Gadara, is situated nearly in 
 the middle of the district.^ O 
 
 The ruins of Abil, formerly Abila, one of the principal deca- 
 politan cities, were situated a few leagues from hence towards 
 the east, on the southern side of the Shariat-Manadra ; but all 
 that country was, at the moment, occupied by Arabs, of the 
 tribe of Beni-Sahhar, who had led their flocks there. 
 
 As soon as we had left M'kess, one of these Arabs joined us, 
 he was on horseback and armed with a spear, my guide offered 
 him my pipe that he might smoke, he took it without any cere- 
 mony and carried it off with him, as he would probably have 
 done with any thing we had about us, that had appeared worth 
 his trouble. We met many other Arabs of the same tribe, em- 
 ployed in pasturing their camels and their sheep in the deserts, 
 and who let us pass without any interruption. After a tolera- 
 bly long walk, we arrived after sun-set at a Mohammmedan 
 village, where we passed the night. 
 
 My guide, Aoser, was so much afraid of the Arabs of Beni- 
 Sahhar, that he refused the next day to go on with me to Abil, 
 but by way of consolation, he promised to conduct me to Beit- 
 er-Ras, a place where I subsequently found some ruins. I was 
 obliged to be content with this offer, in the hope that I should 
 meet there with some one to supply his place. But instead of 
 keeping his word, he led me to the little village of Irbid, formerly 
 a considerable town and residence of a chief of this district. 
 This place being only two leagues from his own home at al- 
 Hoessan, he returned thither the same day. 
 
 E 2 
 
30 
 
 With respect to myself, persisting in 1113' determination to go to 
 Abil, I made an agreement with three Mohammedans to conduct 
 me thither. They seemed very wilUng to accept my offers, as 
 long as they thought I was going there to search for hidden trea- 
 sure, but as soon as I honestly explained to them, that 1 under- 
 stood nothing of treasure-hunting, and that my intention was 
 only to seek for plants, they walked off. 
 
 I set off therefore alone for Beit-er-Ras, a village situated on 
 a moderate elevation, inhabited by Mohammedans, and which, 
 from some ancient remains of architecture, appears to have been 
 once a considerable town. Here are also a number of caverns, 
 some of which are inhabited, and others serve for barns and 
 stables. The Shech of the village had the kindness to procure a 
 guide for me, who conducted me to Abil, situated a few leagues 
 from hence to the northward. The road he led me was very little 
 frequented — we were detained some time by two Arabs, who at 
 length let us proceed. A little while afterwards another armed 
 Arab came after us full gallop, but being a friend of the Shech 
 of Beit-er-Ras, he let us go on and wished us a good journey. 
 At last, after losing our way, w^e arrived at Abil. 
 
 The town is situated in the angle of a mountain, formed by the 
 two bases, the higher slopes of which are full of caverns. The 
 town is completely in ruins and deserted. There is not even one 
 single building standing ; but the ruins, and the remnants at- 
 test its ancient splendor, some beautiful remains of the ancient 
 walls are to be discovered, together with a number of arches, and 
 of columns of marble, basalt, and grey granite. On the outside 
 of these ancient walls I found also a great many columns, two of 
 which were of extraordinary magnitude, from which I concluded 
 
31 
 
 that there must have been formerly in this spot, a considerable 
 temple. 
 
 We returned to Beit-er-Ras completely soaked by the rain, 
 and the next day, after a storm of wind and rain, we arrived at 
 el-Hoessan. This excursion had occupied ten days. I had yet 
 a long way to go, and my money began to be low. — I sold my 
 pistols, thinking I could do without them. The route by which 
 I intended to proceed, in order to reach the mountains of Ejlun, 
 was reckoned very insecure, and it became necessary to wait for 
 a more favourable opportunity of commencing that journey. 
 
 An opportunity at last presented itself, on the 6th of March, 
 when a tolerably large party of armed peasants, went to a mill 
 three leagues off, to carry their corn for grinding. I got two 
 armed men also to attend me. — We passed through a forest full 
 of game, and after three hours walk we arrived at a narrow and 
 deep valley, through which runs a rivulet, that uniting with se- 
 veral others, falls into the Wady Jabis, or Wady Moush, which 
 in its turn, opposite to Beisan (Scythopolis) is lost in the Jordan. 
 
 This valley forms the boundary bet^\een el-Bothin and Eglun. 
 The above-mentioned river or Wady, has been confounded, on 
 the map of Mons. Paulus, with the Jabok. The chain of moun- 
 tains of Ejlun, is the ancient Galaaditis; they are covered with 
 trees and brushwood, and many gall-nuts are gathered upon 
 them. 
 
 The next day we came to Kalaat-er-Kabat, a fortress situated 
 on the top of a tolerably high mountain. Here lives the Sheck 
 commanding these mountains. The village of Ejlun is close by, 
 on a little river, and in the neighbouring rocks arc great nura- 
 
32 
 
 bers of caverns. We passed the night in the village Ain Jenneh, 
 where we found some Greek Christians, 
 
 On the 8th of March we passed some mountains covered with 
 snow, which falls here sometimes to the thickness of three or four 
 feet, and we spent the night in the village of Suf, by the side of 
 which a number of springs unite to form a little river, which 
 runs towards Jerrash, to fall afterwards into the Jerka. 
 
 The next day I had the satisfaction of seeing the important 
 ruins of Jerrash, at a distance of two leagues to the eastward of 
 Suf, which ruins may be compared to those of Palmyra, or of 
 Balbek. It is impossible to explain how this place, formerly of 
 such manifest celebrity, can have so long escaped the notice of all 
 lovers of antiquity. 
 
 It is situated in an open and tolerably fertile plain, through 
 which a river runs. Before entering the town I found several 
 sarcophaguses, with very beautiful bas-reliefs, among which I 
 remarked one on the edge of the road, with a Greek inscription. 
 The walls of the town are mouldered away, but one may yet 
 trace their whole extent, which might have been three-quarters 
 of a league or a whole one. These walls were entirely built of 
 blocks of hewn marble. The ground within it is of unequal 
 heigths and falls towards the river. Not a single private house 
 remains entire. But on the other hand I observed, several 
 public buildings, which were distinguished by a very beautiful 
 style of architecture. I found two superb amphitheatres, solidly 
 built of marble, with columns, niches, &c. the whole in good 
 preservation. I found also some palaces, and three temples, one of 
 which had a peristyle of twelve grand columns of the Corinthian 
 order, eleven of which were still upright. In another of the.=^ 
 
m 
 
 temples T saw a column on the ground, of most beautiful polished 
 jEgyptian granite. I also found a handsome gate of the city, 
 well preserved, formed of three arcades, and ornamented with 
 pilastres. 
 
 The most beautiful thing that I discovered, was a long street 
 crossed by another, and ornamented on both sides with a row of 
 marble columns, of the Corinthian order, and one of whose ex- 
 tremities terminated in a semicircle, that was set round with 
 sixty pillars of the Ionic order. At the points where the two 
 streets cross, in each of the four angles, a large pedestal of hewn 
 stone is visible, on which probably statues were formerly set. 
 A part of the pavement still remains, formed of hewn stone. 
 
 To speak generally, I counted about two hundred columns, 
 which yet partly support their entablatures, but the number of 
 those thrown down is infinitely more considerable ; I saw indeed 
 but half the extent of the town, and a person would probably 
 still find in the other half, on the opposite side of the river, 
 a quantity of remarkable curiosities. 
 
 There were some Arabs about. Yussuf began to grow un- 
 easy — and I was obliged to promise a present to my guide to in- 
 duce him to stay another half hour. I cursed the want of bravery 
 in the one, and of civility in the other, which prevented my 
 pursuing my researches. 
 
 Jerrash can be no other than the ancient Gerasa,(^> one of the 
 decapolitan towns. It is difficult to conceive that so much igno- 
 rance of its real situation should exist, as would allow Mons. 
 Paulus in his map, to have placed it to the north-east of the 
 northern extremity of the lake of.Tiberias. 1 do not know 
 
34 
 
 whether any ancient geographer has made the same mistake.— 
 From a fragment of a Greek inscription, which I copied, I am 
 led to conclude, that several of the buildings of this town were 
 erected under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. The 
 Roman History may perhaps furnish some date in corroboration 
 of this conjecture. It is at all events certain, that the edifices of 
 this town, are of the age of the most beautiful Roman architecture. 
 
 After having pasced the night in the village of Kitte, situated 
 
 a league and a half from Jerrash, we pursued our journey on the 
 
 ' 10th of March, and stopped, after three hours walking, at a 
 
 Mohammedan village, where the-only thing we could get to eat 
 
 was the dried pods of the Char 6b, (ceretonia siliqua). 
 
 The principal fast of Christians of the Greek church had 
 just commenced, and as we had announced ourselves as Gieeks 
 it became necessary to conform to it. 
 
 The next day we passed the river Serka, which runs through 
 a deep valley. It is a small stream like the Roshad, and its 
 banks are covered with rushes, (arundo donax. Linn.) It is the 
 Jabok of the Hebrew Historians, which forms the northern boun- 
 dary of the country of the Amorites. 
 
 The Serka rises close to the road of the pilgrims for Mecca. 
 On the other side commences the district of eUBelka. All this 
 country, formerly so populous and flourishing, is now changed 
 into a vast desert, in which there is only one inhabited town, 
 called Salt, where we arrived in the afternoon. 
 
 The town of Salt is built on the slope of a little round hill, on 
 the top of which is a fort. The rugged sides of this hill are cut 
 
85 
 
 out ill terraces, and planted with vines, olive-trees, &c. which 
 brought to mind the beautiful culture of Libanus. The town 
 itself is inhabited by some Mohammedans, and by a great 
 number of Christians of the Greek Church, who are free from 
 every kind of taxation, and acknowledge no master. It appears 
 that Salt must be the ancient Amathusa. 
 
 I had a great desire to visit Amman, once the residence of 
 many monarchs, and which in after times became celebrated 
 under the name of Philadelphia, among the decapolitan towns. 
 It is situated six leagues to the eastward of Salt, on a branch of 
 the Serka, which is called Nahhr-iVmman. As the country was 
 insecure Yussuf stayed behind, and I replaced him by two armed 
 men, with whom I set off on the 13th of March. 
 
 The whole way we travelled, we saw villages in ruins, and met 
 numbers of Arabs with their camels, &c. Before we came to the 
 sources of the Nahhr-Amman, which is divided into two branches, 
 of which the first is the most beautiful, we found in the valley, 
 the town of Amman (civitas aquarum) situated on both sides of 
 the river, the further part, which is the most considerable, being 
 X)n the rise of a hill. 
 
 Although this town has been destroyed and deserted for many 
 ages, I still found there some remarkable ruins, which attest its 
 ancient splendor. Such as, 1st, a square building, very highly 
 ornamented, which has been perhaps a mausoleum. 2ndly — 
 "The ruins of a large palace. 3dly—- A magnificent amphitheatre 
 of immense size and well preserved, with a peristyle of Corinthian 
 pillars without pedestals. 4thly — A temple with a great number 
 of columns, othly — ^The ruins of a large church, perhaps the see 
 
36 
 
 of a bishop in the time of the Gref k emperors. 6thly — The re- 
 mains of a temple, with columns set in a circular form, and 
 which are of extraordinary size. 7 thly — The remains of the an- 
 cient wall, with many other edifices. 
 
 I could only spare a short time to the examination of these 
 objects — and I hope that any other traveller'who may visit the 
 ruins of Jerrasch, will not forget those of Amman — an ancient 
 town which flourished long before the Greeks and Romans, and 
 even before the Hebrews. .^ 
 
 There were formerly in the country of the Ammonites, during 
 the time of the Judges, twenty towns conquerred by Jephtha, 
 (Judges xi. 33,) of which however no trace now remains.<^s) 
 
 Pursuing my journey, I perceived for the first time, from the 
 top of a mountain, the Dead Sea. I was shesvn also, at the 
 distance of some leagues to the south, the ruins of Sar, which 
 was perhaps the ancient town of Jaser — if this latter be not 
 another town of this district called Sir. 
 
 We passed the night with a party of Arabs, and returned the 
 next day to Salt. 
 
 The most difficult part of the journey was still to come: con- 
 siderable deserts were to be passed, and I discovered that my 
 guide, Yussuf, never seriously intended to accompany me round 
 the Dead Sea. He did all he could to dissuade me from under- 
 taking the journey ; but when he found that I was resolved to 
 go without him, and that I was not frightened by the difficulties 
 which the inhabitants of Salt assured me I should meet with, he 
 
37 
 
 complied. To get a little money I sold another of my cloaks, 
 and on the 21st of March, we set out for Karrak, accompanied 
 by two men and a muleteer. 
 
 We carried with us a supply of bread, as the whole country 
 between Salt and Carrak is uninhabited, and as during lent 
 bread and water could be our only food. During our journey 
 we saw several towns and villages in a state of total ruin, the 
 whole country being abandoned to the wandering Arabs. We 
 passed near the springs of Nahhr-Sir, which I take to be the 
 ancient Jazer. Here I saw a few tanks, but no lake. We spent 
 the whole night with a horde of Beni-Sahhar. 
 
 On the 22nd of March we reached the ruins of Elcale, an 
 ancient town of the Amorites, which still preserves its name. 
 On the map of M. Paul us, it is called Elcole, and is placed 
 on the southern side of Husban — two errors to be corrected. 
 Husban is half a league further on; this was the royal re- 
 sidence of the Amorites — the Hesbon mentioned in the Song of 
 Songs — 7? 4. 
 
 Further on we came to Madaba, which in the time of Moses 
 was called Madba. Here I found two columns near the ruins of 
 a temple, and a well-constructed tank of hewn stone. We after- 
 wards saw the ruins of Maein, the ancient Bet-Meon, to the 
 west of which place is seen Mount-Nebo,now called Attarus. A 
 few leagues farther I found some hot springs, which I take to 
 be Callirhoe, and which I intend to examine hereafter. West 
 of Ma6in is the source of the small stream Serka-Maein, which 
 flows into the Dead Sea. I am inclined to consider the valley 
 through which it runs, as the Baaras-Vallis, of Josephus, This; 
 
 F 2 
 
ss 
 
 night like^'^dse we spent with a horde of Arabs, of the tribe of 
 Hattabige. 
 
 The next day we crossed the small river al-Wale, which runs 
 into the Dead Sea: Two leagues and a half farther on, we 
 reached the ruins ofDiban, or Dibon, according to the Hebrew 
 historians. The town is situated in the midst of a fine plain;, 
 but is incorrectly laid down in the map of M. Paulus. 
 
 We came at length to a wild and deep valley, watered by the 
 Mujeb, (formerly Arnon). This valley forms the southern 
 boundary of al-Balka, the ancient country of the Amorites, and 
 the northern boundary of Karrak, that of the Moabites. We had 
 descended iiUo the valley, in company with a peasant of Salt, 
 and some Arabs of the tribe of Beni-Ammr, who had joined 
 us. These last, as soon as we had passed the river, attacked and 
 plundered us, under the pretence of exacting a toll for the right 
 of passage. We went on and spent the night with a horde of 
 the tribe of Haramide. 
 
 The next day we crossed several wide plains, covered with 
 absynthium, and other plants and shrubs. We also saw several 
 towns in ruins, amongst which were those of Schihhan and 
 Chmeimat. Near to this last, we observed a village consisting of 
 twelve tents, inhabited by a few Bedouin Christians of the Greek 
 Church, who live alternately a wandering and a sedentary life, 
 and share with the other families connected with them, the care 
 of their flocks. This tribe of Bedouin Christians, is distinguished 
 by the name of al-Haddadyn from some other Christian tribes of 
 Karrak, who are equally Nomades. 
 
m 
 
 They received ns very well, and treated us vnih coftee and 
 bread kneaded with oil. 
 
 After a few hours rest, we left these good people in order to 
 reach Karrak before sunset. We -crossed the ruins of Robba, 
 (Rabbath-Moob) formerly the residence of the Kings of the 
 Moabites. The extent of these ruins sufficiently proves its an- 
 cient importance ; though I could not partieulaiize any other 
 object than the ruins of a palace or temple, some of the walls 
 of which are still standing; of the peristyle there only re- 
 main two marble colums of the Corinthian order, but without 
 pedestals. 
 
 A& we approached near to Karrak, the country became more 
 mountainous. The town itself, once a bishop's see, is on the top 
 of a mountain, at the entrance of a deep valley. It is com- 
 manded almost on every side by mountains still higher. In its 
 present ruined state it can only be called a hamlet. The fortress, 
 now in a state of ruin and abandonment, was- once one of the most 
 important places of the country. The inhabitants of the city are 
 chiefly Mohamedans, or Greek Christians ; their bishop lives at 
 Jerusalem. It commands a fTne view of the Dead Sea and 
 Jerusalem, which are perfectly distinguishable in clear weather. 
 
 The southern limit of the country of Karrak is marked by the 
 Wady-el-Hessa, which divides it from the district of Jebbal,and 
 which under the name of el-Karahhy, empties itself into the 
 southern extremity of the Dead Sea. Three more villages in 
 Karrak are inhabited by Musselmen. The extent of the country 
 of Jebbal, is about two or* three days journey, but it contains 
 only seven inhabited villages. 
 
^ 40 
 
 I enquired for Petra, or Bedra, (for the Arabs cannot pro- 
 nounce the P) and I was assured that it was at the distance of 
 one day's journey ; but I afterwards learned from the Bishop of 
 Karrak, at Jerusalem, that Petra is two leagues distant from the 
 Dead Sea. Further on, scJuth of Jebbal, is the mountain of 
 Sharah, which is likewise two days' journey in extent, and with 
 only one inhabited village, known by the same name. Several 
 artificial grottos have been worked in the rocks around Karrak, 
 where wheat is preserved for ten years. 
 
 ■J'L 
 
 Yussuf again refused to prosecute his journey around the Dead 
 Sea, and determined to join those of Karrak, who were going 
 to Jerusalem for the Easter festival, and swim, with the help of 
 skins, across the Jordan at the northern extremity of the Dead 
 Sea. I was resolved to take the other road, round the southern 
 extremity of this sea, and I was fortunate enough to succeed. 
 Several inhabitants of PJebron and of Bethlehem, who had pur- 
 chased from the Arabs several hundred sheep, preferred taking 
 them to Jerusalem by the same way. For this purpose they 
 were obliged to hire Arab guides, with whom I also made my 
 bargain. 
 
 We set out on the 3nd of April, across a very mountainous 
 country, where I was often obliged to alight from my horse to 
 keep myself warm. In the afternoon we had to descend by a 
 path into a plain at the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, 
 called Gor-es-Sophia. This path was extremely rugged and 
 dangerous ; we reached the plain in three hours after sun-set. 
 
 The next morning we crossed the small stream of al-Karahhy, 
 which flows from the Wady-el-Hoessen to this place. We were 
 
41 
 
 then on the borders of the country of Jebbal (Gahalene) and of 
 Arabia-Petreea. The climate was entirely changed, and in the 
 summer the heat must be equal to that of the tropics. Soon 
 after we spent some hours in crossing a plain of salt, without 
 a trace of vegetation. 
 
 We then proceeded in a westerly direction with the Dead Sea, 
 to the north on our right. Neither Zoara nor Segor, which are 
 on the map of M. Faulus, were to be found here ; before us 
 was a very considerable mountain composed of several layers 
 of christallized salt. This mountain which appears to be about 
 three leagues in length, impregnates the waters of the Dea^d Sea 
 with their bitter taste, 
 
 On reaching this mountain of salt, we proceeded northwards, 
 and soon after reached the banks of the Dead Sea. I got down 
 from my horse, and looked in vain along the banks for shells and 
 marine plants. Two leagues from the southern extremity of this 
 sea, is the river Futlet, which is only fordable in the summer, 
 and even then you have to wade during five hours through 
 Hvater, so impregnated with salt, as to be injurious to the legs; 
 aiid this, is the reason that this route is seldom taken. 
 
 The western shore of the Dead Sea is thick set with barren and 
 
 •high rocks. I did not observe any pillars of salt, but a large heap 
 
 of stones, which our Arabs were anxious to encrease. If the 
 
 history of Lot's wife be true, it is probable that instead of stones, 
 
 they threw together pieces of christallized salt. 
 
 The map indicates a river on the site of Thamera, I was very 
 sorry it was not to be found, for we were suffering extremely 
 from thirst.. 
 
4& 
 
 Towards evening we followed a path up a very elevated moun- 
 tain, whence I could see the greater part of the Dead Sea; in 
 w^hich I discovered a considerable island. We spent the night 
 on the top of a rock, suffering under excessive thirst. 
 
 On the 4th of April we continued our route over calcareous 
 mountains, and in the evening we reached a village of tents, in- 
 habited by Arabs, of the tribe of Shahalin. 
 
 "Oh'tfie 5th of A'pfil, we were in want bolfh '6f hfdM and 
 of water, and were under the necessity of Hving upon some wild 
 herbs. We only halted a few hours, and went on by moonhght 
 in order to reach Jerusalem, six or seven leagues further on, on the 
 6th. Towards the morning we suffered extreme thirst, and to 
 add to our misery, we descried a band of Arabs from whom we 
 narrowly escaped. 
 
 On the morning of the 6th we reached Betldehem, and got to 
 Jerusalem soon after. 
 
 Iiwafethe only Christian pilgrim in tidropany, and as such I 
 was most hospitably received in the Convent of La Terra Santa. 
 
 I found Jerusalem a much handsomer city than I expected ; 
 but to those who visit it for any other reason than that of devo- 
 tion it must be a tiresome and dull place. 
 
 To keep up my character of a pilgrim, I paid thirty-three 
 piasters and one quarter, for leave to enter into the Holy Se- 
 pulchre, on the eve of the Easter Festival, as kept by the Greeks, 
 and other oriental Christians. It is well known that on that 
 day, the sacred fire is thought to come down from Heaven, and 
 
43 
 
 « 
 
 the Greek bishop who receives it, after a verj; devout prayer, h 
 called the Bishop of Light, (Mattrau-en-Nur), It was on this 
 occasion the Bishop of Karrak. 
 
 The two cities of Jerusalem and of Bethlehem are too well- 
 known to need an}^ description from my pen, I will substitute 
 in the room of it, a few particulars relating to the Dead Sea, 
 which perhaps may be found more generally iat^i:e$ting. 
 
 The Dead Sea is known among the Arabs by the name of 
 Bahheiret-Luth, or Bahharet-Luth, or Birket-Luth. It is pre- 
 tended that remains of ancient buildings are still to be found in 
 this sea. That is not probable. I enquired about it ; None could 
 give me any positive information, and several, who assured me 
 of the fact, differed in their statements. 
 
 i , J.I 
 
 I have however only visited its banks during one day's journey, 
 and its circumference is equal to six days journey. Several 
 travellers pretend to have discovered therein the remains of an- 
 cient buildings, but their relation merit little credit. M. de 
 Neitzschietz indeed asserts that he has seen the shape and form 
 of this sea, from the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem, (Jibbal- 
 el-Tur,) which is absolutely false and impossible. 
 
 The water of the Dead Sea is salt and limpid, but as salt as 
 the water of Saltpans. The salt which is extracted from it is of 
 excellent quality, and is produced particularly on the eastern 
 shore in large lumps, often of a foot thick. This process takes 
 place in those spots which are inundated by the sea in the rainy 
 seasons ; for the Arabs do not give themselves the trouble to dig 
 l^t&jp assist the evapoxatioa pf the water. The stones upon the 
 
44 
 
 *4iore bcconie'covered as in our salt-works, with a calcareous and 
 gypsous incrustation. Tiie salt is only used in one part of 
 Palestine. 
 
 I have above-mentioned the cause of the bitter taste of this 
 water, according to which it should be continually encreasing. 
 It is not perha^ necessary for me to point out moreover, that 
 the many tales respecting this sea are fabulous. Such as that 
 iron swims upon it, and light bodies sink to the bottom — that 
 birds, in their passage over it, fall dead into the sea, &c. 
 
 The asphaltum, which is here collected, differs from that of the 
 mines of Hasbeia,as being more porous, and as having been appa- 
 rently in a fluid state. I was told at Karrak that this bitumen 
 oozes out of some rocks on the eastern shore, and that it gradually 
 forms a thick crust, which, on being detached by the wind, is 
 carried along the surface of the water, and gathered by the Arabs, 
 who convey it in large lumps to Jerusalem. These lumps are 
 so large as to form a load for several camels. However it is 
 only after a lapse of several years, that a quantity of asphaltum 
 can be procured from the shores of the Dead Sea. It is here 
 called Majar-Muzza, or the stone of Moses. When touched it 
 is as cold as any other stone, and its appearance is like that of 
 slate. 
 
 It is very natural that vapours should be continually rising from 
 a surface of water, in the midst of a deep valley, surrounded by 
 high mountains, and in which during the months of June, July, 
 and August, the heat is equal to that under the tropics. Going 
 one day from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, I observed a very thick 
 Muoke issuing from some furnaces of lime, charcoal, and soda,- 
 
45 
 
 which the Arabs had erected upon the banks. These Arabs do 
 not consider the vapours of the Dead Sea, more unhealthy than 
 those of any other lake. 
 
 I did not find in this sea, any kind of sea snails or muscles, 
 only some common snails, which I collected on the banks ; I 
 must however confess that I examined only a small part of it. 
 There are no reeds hereabouts, but they abound at some leagues 
 distant to the east. 
 
 The information which I have been able to collect on the 
 apples of Sodom (solanum Sodomeum) is very contradictory and 
 insufficient; I believe, however, that I can give a very natural 
 explanation of the phaenomenon, and that the following remark 
 will lead to it. 
 
 Whilst I was at Karrak, at the house of a Greek curate of the 
 town, I saw a sort of cotton, resembling silk, which he used as 
 tinder for his match-lock, as it could not be employed in making 
 cloth. 
 
 "J He told me that it grew in the plains of el-G6r, to the east of 
 the Dead Sea, on a tree like the fig-tree, called aoeschaer. Tiie 
 cotton is contained in a fruit resembling the pomegranate ; and by 
 making incisions at the root of the tree, a sort of milk is procured, 
 which is recommended to barren women, and is called Lebbin 
 Aoeschaer. 
 
 It has struck me that these fruits, being, as they are, without 
 palp, and which are unknown throughout the rest of Palestine, 
 might be the famous apples of Sodom.^''^ I &upj:>ose hkewise that 
 the tree which produces it, is a sort of fromager (Bombax Linn.) 
 
4a 
 
 which can only flourish under the excessive heats of the Dead Se^, 
 and in no other district of Palestini^. As to the pomegranates, I 
 very much doubt there being any on the shores of this sea; but in 
 the neighbourhood on the plain of Elgor, and near the surface 
 of the soil, is found a great dealof native sulphur i(i round lumps 
 of the size of a goose's egg. 4iio 
 
 ^ I had intended to have gone directly from Jerusalem 'tb 
 Mount Sinai, and thence to Cairo, but I knew not whether the 
 first of these roads was practicable or not, as all preceding 
 travellers had gone to Mount Sinai from Egypt, or from Suez, 
 except two travellers of old time, who had gone thither from 
 Qsa^r Being unable to get any information on this subject, 
 either at Jerusalem or at Bethlehem, I went to Hebron, (now 
 Chalil) where I had been led to expect I might undertake tli« 
 journey. For this purpose I was told that I must get a few 
 caiT^els, make a provision of water and food, secure a good gwjde, 
 ^^n^ I was assured the journey would occupy from ten to el^vea 
 days. ; 
 
 I was told, likewise, that at thedistanceof two days journey 
 and a half from Hebron, I should find considerable ruins of the 
 ancient town of Abde; but that for all the rest of the journey, 
 through Arabia-Petraea, I should see no place of habitatioii*. .1 
 should meet with only a few tribes of wandering Arabs** ;,'/, 
 
 As this route was very little known, I expected to make several 
 discoveries in mineralogy, as well as on the animals and vegeta- 
 tion of the country, on the manna of the desert, the ravens, the 
 shrub which produces the balsam, the gum arable, the locusts, 
 Mount Seir, cScc. kc. 
 
47 
 
 Perhaps this road which passes through the middle of Arabia- 
 Petraea, was the ancient commercial road, from Jerusalem to 
 Ezion-geber, on the eastern arm of the Arabian Gulf. 
 
 Previous to undertaking this Journey, I proposed to make a 
 second tour round the Dead Sea, in order to examine its situa- 
 tion, nature, &c. and to rectify, by my own experience, the 
 absurd and ridiculous reports which monks and credulous travel- 
 lers had propagated on this subject. But my fates had decided 
 otherwise, for, from having been too long exposed to the sun, 
 in completing my astronomical observations, I fell seriously ill, 
 and during the space of a fortnight, could think of nothing but 
 the means of my recovery. In the interim the favourable moment 
 for making the tour of the Dead Sea went by, and I determined 
 to defer the journey till after the violent heats. 
 
 I left Jerasalem on the 25th of May, 1806, to go to Jaffa, 
 where I embarked a few days afterwards for St. Jean d'Arc, 
 where I now am. 
 
;^ 
 
 oq 
 
 -I. 'JLU 
 
NOTES. 
 
 Note A. pages. 
 
 f. '■'''' , • 
 
 Peraea, from vi^u, extending to all the country east of the Jordan, but more 
 particularly to the district reaching from the torrent Arnon, northward to M. 
 Galaad. Moabitis seems to belong to the country due east of the Dead Sea. 
 Ammonitis to the region adjoining it on the north, to which follow, in succession, 
 Galaaditis, Batansea (still preserved in Batinia probably the Basan of the Scrip- 
 tures) and Aurauitis: The latter separated from the Lake of Tiberias byGaulonitis 
 probably so named from Golun, the city of refuge appointed by Moses, (Deut. 
 iv. 4). Trachonitis belongs to the diverging branches of M. Libanus, between 
 Damascus, Cesarea, and M. Hermon, a rough and mountainous country, as the 
 name imports. 
 
 The Decapolis consisted of Gadara, Scythopolis, Gerasa, Hippos, Canatha, 
 Philadelphia, Pella, Capitolias, Dium, and Abyla. -i 
 
 Note B, page 11,' 
 
 ) 
 
 Hauran in its fe|ility, the depth of its soil, completely devoid of stones, and in 
 the heat of its atsmosphere,; bears a greateS-. resemblance to Egypt than to 
 other parts of Syria. The fertiUty of course depends on the quantity of rain 
 which annually falls there;, and various fables are propagated regarding the 
 multiplication of grain when sown. There is'some authority, however, for believ- 
 ing that the wheat yields 25 fpr i, ,and usually'attainsthe height oi 5i or 6 feet. 
 The district produces wheat, barley, cotton and other articles. 
 
 Ladja is possibly a corruption of Laodicea, which was in this neighbourhood. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 NoteC. page 16. 
 
 The fountain Phiala, has also been regarded as the source of the Jordan, which 
 like most other rivers, has several sources contributing to form its str^aim, 
 Milton assigns it two. 
 
 -Here the double*f«unted stream 
 
 Jordan, true limit eastward. 
 
 Paradise Lost. B. 12. L. 144. 
 
 The Jordan is known to the modern Syrians, by the name of Nahr-es-Sharie; 
 to the Arabian geographers by that of Nahr-el-Arden.^ It is augmented in 
 winter, and still more in spring, by the snow which dissolves on the adjacent 
 mountains ; but its ordinary depth is about 12 English feet. 
 
 Note Jd. page 21. 
 
 i The Thermae, repaired by Jezzar, are probably Emmaus, so named, by the? 
 Greeks from the Hebrew Chammath. Tiberias, accordng to D'Anville from St. 
 Jerome, was built on the site^^ GiaensLh, and^ received its-i^ame from Tiberius, 
 Son of Herod Antipas. vljf;,'- ,,; iiir^'^'^n ? :rv/i;,<..vf lli!^ > nTinn^'^i' .-. 
 
 Note JE, page 23. 
 
 Seetzen having ascertained that the Shariat-Manadra does not. flo,w into the 
 liake of Tiberias," |)ut into the Jordan, it beconi^^ certaii^ that Gamala must have 
 been to the northward of the river; but.as, Josephus,,ia,his.paKtipula;r!accQunt of 
 the seige, mentions that it was near the bottom of the lake, and opposite to 
 Tarichaea, and as Seetzen says, that Phik was near the middle of the lake — it 
 appears more probable that Phik should be the ancient Hippos, rather than 
 Gamala. 
 
 Note F. pages 29, 3^;^;';r*^^- 
 
 These surmises ofM. Seetzen, relative to the position of the ancient towns, ar^ 
 deservingof further investigation. , 
 
 In all the former maps, Gadar*, is placed much nearer th^ lake of. Tiberia?, 
 than the situation of M'kes, 
 
NOTES^ 3 
 
 St. Mark, (c. 5, v. 1.) and St. Luke, (c. 8, v. 26.) also describing the miraculous 
 cure of the daemoniac, by our Saviour, as soon as he landed in the country of the 
 Gadarenes, represent the people as coming immediately out of the city to see what 
 was done, whereby it appears to have been very near the lake. St. Matthew, 
 (c. 8, V. 28,) relates the same story as having happened in the country of the 
 Gergesenes, and to reconcile the two accounts, many persons have supposed that 
 the neighbouring town bore thenameof Gadara, and the district that of the Gerge- 
 senes — which may possibly be the sole reason for the position of Gadara in all our 
 former maps. It is, however, equally reconcileable to the accounts of the Evan- 
 gelists, to suppose that Gergesa, was the name of the place near the lake, and 
 Gadaris, that of the district ; the principal town of which called Gadara, might 
 have been at a considerable distance. Josephus, speaking of Galilee, b. 3, c. 3. 
 says, w§oj iu h Ittwjjuj xxi Tx^ot^n; a7roTE|x»ETa» shewing that a district bore that name. 
 
 With respert to the important ruins; of .Terrasch, (mentioned page 32) which 
 Seetzen supposes to have been Gerasa, much further information is greatly to be 
 desired. 
 
 D'Anville following many other geographers, has placed Gerasa far to the 
 north-east of the lake of Tiberias; but several circumstances induce a belief that in 
 the neighbourhood of where Seetzen found these ruins, a town called Gerasa 
 formerly existed. 
 
 Josephus (b. 2, c. 18) speaks of Gerasa as near to Pella and Seythopolis; and 
 in describing Persea, (b. 3, c. 3.) he says it reached from Machaerus to Pella, 
 having the latter city in its northermost point. He adds, also, xon Ti^ocaoK a7roTe/*»e1«» 
 still indicating that Gerasa and Pella were near together. 
 
 Cellarius and others, to reconcile perhaps these differences, have supposed two 
 places of this name. After placing one in the Batanaja, he adds, Urbem 
 Gerasam, abAmmiano laudatam, in his ons post Bataneam \i\(ivox\ym\xs local, 
 quasi eandem qua; Gerasenorum civitas dicitur, juncta monti Galaad. Et ipse 
 (de Heb. loc.) Arabiae urbem insignem vocat. Sic aliam oportet banc esse a 
 Plolemaji Gerasa. Philadelphia quidem non videtur longius abfuisse, &c. 
 
 Gerasa is mentioned by Gibbon, as one of the walled towns to which the Greeks 
 retired for protection from the Saracens, but its position is not at all ascertained. 
 
 It certainly appears strange that Seetzen passing so near to the situation of 
 Pella should have heard nothing of that town, and it has been surmised that these 
 very ruins of Jerrasch, might have belonged to it. Pella was of considerable 
 importance in the Decapolis, and is mentioned very frequently by Josephus, by 
 Jerome, and many other old writers. To that place, after the destruction of 
 Jerusalem, theNazaienes retired; (Euseb, 1. 3, c. 5.— Le Clcrc, Hist. eccL p.- 606.) 
 
 H 
 
4 KOTES, 
 
 ** Where/* says Gibbon, '^tlietancieatoimreh languished during sixty jreare, in 
 solitude and obscurity." The Bishop and the Chui-ch of Pella xetarned the title 
 of Jerusalem. 
 
 That the ruins disoovered by Seeteen, vveu'e near to the situation of Pella m 
 evident, from the former quoted passage of Josephus (b. 3, c. 3.) but the pce- 
 sent name of Jerrash leads so naturally to Gerasa, that it is hatdly possibly t* 
 attend to any other conjecture. 
 
 Note G. page 56, 
 
 The fact here mentioned by Seetzen, is prpbably true, that no traces re- 
 main of the twenty cities conquered by Jephtha ; but having advanced so short 
 a way into the country of Ammon, our journalist was not in a situation to 
 verify what he asserts. The verse he quotes (Juda;. ii. 33.) runs thus — "And 
 Jephiha smote them (the children of Ammon) from Aroer even till thou come to 
 Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very 
 great slaughter,*' &c. 
 
 Now Aroer was on the bank of the river Arnon, and at a considerable distance 
 from Ammon, or Philadelphia (see Josh. 13 — 9, 10, l6) and since also Seetzen 
 knew not the direction towards Minnith, he knew not where to look for the twenty 
 ciiies. 
 
 It may not here be impertinent to request the reader to turn to the 13th chapter 
 of Joshua, where he will find the country described that was allotted to the two 
 tribes and a half beyond Jordan. He may possibly be surprised to see how niany 
 places are there named, of which traces and memorials, according to M. Seetzen^ 
 are, even at this remote period, to be found. 
 
 Note H. page 39, 
 
 A species of Asclepias, probably the Asclepias-Gigantea. The remark ofM. 
 Seetzen is corroborated by a traveller, who passed a long time in situations 
 where this plant is very abundant. The same idea occurred to him when he 
 first saw it in 1792, though he did not then know that it existed near the Lake 
 Asphaltites. The umbella, somewhat hke a bladder, containing from half a pint 
 to a pint, is of the same colour with the leaves, a bright green, and may be mistaken 
 for an inviting fruit, without much stretch of imagination. That, as well as the 
 other parts, when green, being cut or pressed, yields a milky juice, of a very acrid 
 aste : But in winter, when dry, it contains a yellowish dust, in appearance re- 
 
NOTES, 
 
 i 
 
 •emHlng certain fungi, coraraoa ia South Britaia; but of pungent quality, and 
 said to be particularly injurious? to the eyes. The whole so nearly corresponds with, 
 the description given by Solinus (Polyhistor), Josephus, and others of the Poma 
 Sodomae, allowance being made for their extravagant exaggerations, as to leave 
 little doubt on the subject. 
 
 The same plant is to be seen on the sandy borders of the Nile, above the first 
 cataracts, the only vegetable production of that barren tract. It is about three 
 feet in height, and the fruit exactly answering the above description, &c. 
 
 The downy substance found within the stem, is of too short staple probably 
 for any manufacture, for which its silky delicate texture, and clear whiteness 
 Slight oherwise be suitable. 
 
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