everybody in the company, his wrath dissolved into tears, and when we
left, Mentor had decided to rest a day at Nablous, and let him recover
from the effects of the storm.

We rode down the beautiful valley, taking the road to Sebaste (Samaria),
while our luggage-mules kept directly over the mountains to Jenin. Our
path at first followed the course of the stream, between turfy banks and
through luxuriant orchards. The whole country we overlooked was planted
with olive-trees, and, except the very summits of the mountains, covered
with grain-fields. For two hours our course was north-east, leading over
the hills, and now and then dipping into beautiful dells. In one of these
a large stream gushes from the earth in a full fountain, at the foot of a
great olive-tree. The hill-side above it was a complete mass of foliage,
crowned with the white walls of a Syrian village. Descending the valley,
which is very deep, we came in sight of Samaria, situated on the summit of
an isolated hill. The sanctuary of the ancient Christian church of St.
John towers high above the mud walls of the modern village. Riding between
olive-orchards and wheat-fields of glorious richness and beauty, we passed
the remains of an acqueduct, and ascended the hill The ruins of the church
occupy the eastern summit. Part of them have been converted into a mosque,
which the Christian foot is not allowed to profane. The church, which is
in the Byzantine style, is apparently of the time of the Crusaders. It had
originally a central and two side-aisles, covered with groined Gothic
vaults. The sanctuary is semi-circular, with a row of small arches,
supported by double pillars. The church rests on the foundations of some
much more ancient building--probably a temple belonging to the Roman
city.

Behind the modern village, the hill terminates in a long, elliptical
mound, about one-third of a mile in length. We made the tour of it, and
were surprised at finding a large number of columns, each of a single
piece of marble. They had once formed a double colonnade, extending from
the church to a gate on the western side of the summit. Our native guide
said they had been covered with an arch, and constituted a long market or
bazaar--a supposition in which he may be correct. From the gate, which is
still distinctly marked, we overlooked several deep valleys to the west,
and over them all, the blue horizon of the Mediterranean, south of
Caesarea. On the northern side of