the hill there are upwards of twenty more
pillars standing, besides a number hurled down, and the remains of a
quadrangular colonnade, on the side of the hill below. The total number of
pillars on the summit cannot be less than one hundred, from twelve to
eighteen feet in height. The hill is strewn, even to its base, with large
hewn blocks and fragments of sculptured stone. The present name of the
city was given to it by Herod, and it must have been at that time a most
stately and beautiful place.

We descended to a valley on the east, climbed a long ascent, and after
crossing the broad shoulder of a mountain beyond, saw below us a landscape
even more magnificent than that of Nablous. It was a great winding valley,
its bottom rolling in waves of wheat and barley, while every hill-side, up
to the bare rock, was mantled with groves of olive. The very summits which
looked into this garden of Israel, were green with fragrant plants--wild
thyme and sage, gnaphalium and camomile. Away to the west was the sea, and
in the north-west the mountain chain of Carmel. We went down to the
gardens and pasture-land, and stopped to rest at the Village of Geba,
which hangs on the side of the mountain. A spring of whitish but delicious
water gushed out of the soil, in the midst of a fig orchard. The women
passed us, going back and forth with tall water-jars on their heads. Some
herd-boys brought down a flock of black goats, and they were all given
drink in a large wooden bowl. They were beautiful animals, with thick
curved horns, white eyes, and ears a foot long. It was a truly Biblical
picture in every feature.

Beyond this valley we passed a circular basin, which has no outlet, so
that in winter the bottom of it must be a lake. After winding among the
hills an hour more, we came out upon the town of Jenin, a Turkish village,
with a tall white minaret, at the head of the great plain of Esdraelon. It
is supposed to be the ancient Jezreel, where the termagant Jezebel was
thrown out of the window. We pitched our tent in a garden near the town,
under a beautiful mulberry tree, and, as the place is in very bad repute,
engaged a man to keep guard at night. An English family was robbed there
two or three weeks ago. Our guard did his duty well, pacing back and
forth, and occasionally grounding his musket to keep up his courage by the
sound. In the evening, Francois caught a chameleon, a droll-looking little
creature, which changed color in a mar