CHAP.

V.

Antelopes.

full of wild animals. Antelopes are very numerous : we had the pleasure to see these beautiful quadrupeds in their natural state, feeding among the thistles and tall herbage of these plains, and bounding before us occasionally, when we disturbed them. The Arabs frequently take them, in the chase. The lake now continued in view upon our left. The wind rendered its surface rough, and called to mind the situation of our SAVIOUR'S Disciples, when, in one of the small vessels which traverse these waters, they were tossed in a storm, and saw JESUS, in the fourth watch of the night, walking to them upon the waves3. Often as this subject has been painted, which combines a number of circumstances favourable to a sublime representation, no artist has been aware of the uncommon grandeur of the scenery, memorable for the transaction. The Lake of Sea of Galilee, or Gennesareth is surrounded by objects well calculated to heighten the solemn impression made by such a picture; and, independently of the local feelings likely to be excited in its contemplation, it affords one of the most striking prospects in the Holy Land. It is by comparison

Lake Gen

nesareth.

CHAP.

V.

alone that any due conception of its appearance can be communicated to the minds of those who have not seen it: speaking of it comparatively, it may be described as longer and finer than any of our Cumberland and Westmoreland lakes, although it be perhaps inferior to Loch Lomond in Scotland. It does not possess the vastness of the Lake of Geneva, although it much resembles it in certain points of view. In picturesque beauty it comes nearest to the Lake of Locarno in Italy, although it be destitute of any thing similar to the islands by which that majestic piece of water is adorned. It is inferior in magnitude, and perhaps in the height of its surrounding mountains, to the Lake Asphaltites; but its broad and extended surface, covering the bottom of a profound valley, surrounded by lofty and precipitous eminences, when added to the impression under which every Christian pilgrim approaches it, gives it a character of unparalleled dignity.

Having reached the end of the plain whose surface exhibited such motley colours to us, when it was viewed from the Mountain of Beatitudes, a long and steep declivity of two miles yet remained to the town of TIBERIAS, situate upon the borders of the lake. We had

here a noble view of the place, with its castle and fortifications. Groupes of Arabs, gathering their harvest upon the backs of camels, were seen in the neighbourhood of the town. Beyond it, appeared, upon the same side of the lake, some buildings erected over the warm mineral Baths of Emmaus, which are much frequented by the people of the country; and, still farther, the south-eastern extremity of the lake. Turning our view towards its northern shores, we beheld, through a bold declivity, the situation of Capernaum, upon the boundaries of the two tribes of Zabulon and Naphtali. It was visited in the sixth century by Antoninus the Martyr, an extract from whose Itinerary is preserved by Reland, which speaks of a church erected upon the spot where St. Peter's dwelling once stood'. Along the borders of this lake may still be seen the remains of those antient tombs, hewn by the earliest inhabitants of Galilee, in the rocks. which face the water. Similar works were before noticed among the Ruins of Telmessus. They were empty in the time of our SAVIOUR, and had become the resort of wretched men,

СНАР.

V.

(1)" Deinde venimus in civitatem Capharuaum in domum Petri, quæ modo est basilica." Itin. Antonin. Martyr. Vid. Relandi Palæstina, in Nom. Capernaum.

V.

CHAP. afflicted by diseases which rendered them the outcasts of society; for, in the account of the cure performed by our SAVIOUR upon a dæmoniac in the country of the Gadarenes, these tombs are particularly alluded to; and their existence to this day (although they have been neither noticed by priests nor pilgrims, and have escaped the ravages of the Empress Helena, who would undoubtedly have shaped them into churches) offers strong internal evidence of the accuracy of the Evangelist who has recorded the transaction: "There met him out OF THE tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling AMONG THE tombs1." In all the descent towards Tiberias, the soil is black, and seems to have resulted from the decomposition of rocks, which may be called pseudovolcanic, from the resemblance they bear to substances that have sustained the action of fire. The stony fragments scattered over the surface are amygdaloïdal and porous; their cavities being occasionally occupied by mesotype, or by acicular carbonate of lime :-the former. became perfectly gelatinized after immersion in muriatic acid. We observed some plantations of tobacco which was then in bloom; of Indian

(1) Mark, ch. v. 2, 3.

V.

corn; of millet, which was still green; of melons, CHAP. pumpkins, and cucumbers. The harvest of wheat and barley ended in June; but the oats were still standing. From Hatti to Tiberias is nine miles: two of these consist of the descent from the elevated plain towards the lake.

As we entered the gate of the town, the TIBERIAS. Turkish guards were playing at chess. They conducted us to the residence of the Governor. Having made as rapid a disposition as possible of our baggage, for the purpose of passing the night in a large room of the Castle, which reminded us of antient apartments in old castellated buildings yet remaining in England, we hastened towards the lake; every individual of our party being eager to bathe his feverish limbs in its cool and consecrated waters.

Proceeding towards the shore, we saw a very antient church, of an oblong square form, to which we descended by steps, as into the Church of St. Sophia at Constantinople and some other early Christian sanctuaries, where the entrance resembles that of a cellar; day-light being rarely admitted. There is reason to believe that this was the first place of Christian worship erected in Tiberias, and that it was constructed