that worship Him must worship Him in spirit
and in truth."

III

NABLUS AND SEBASTE

About a mile from Jacob's Well, the city of Nablus lies in the hollow
between Mount Gerizim on the south and Mount Ebal on the north. The side
of Gerizim is precipitous and jagged; Ebal rises more smoothly, but very
steeply, and is covered with plantations of thornless cactus, (_Opuntia
cochinillifera_), cultivated for the sake of the cochineal insects which
live upon the plant and from which a red dye is made.

The valley is well watered, and is about a quarter of a mile wide. A
little east of the city there are two natural bays or amphitheatres
opposite to each other in the mountains. Here the tribes of Israel may
have been gathered while the priests chanted the curses of the law from
Ebal and the blessings from Gerizim. (Joshua viii: 30-35.) The cliffs
were sounding-boards and sent the loud voices of blessing and cursing
out over the multitude so that all could hear.

It seems as if it were mainly the echo of the cursing of Ebal that
greets us as we ride around the fierce little Mohammedan city of Nablus
on Friday afternoon, passing through the open and dilapidated cemeteries
where the veiled women are walking and gossiping away their holiday. The
looks of the inhabitants are surly and hostile. The children shout
mocking ditties at us, reviling the "Nazarenes." We will not ask our
dragoman to translate the words that we catch now and then; it is easy
to guess that they are not "fit to print."

Our camp is close beside a cemetery, near the eastern gate of the town.
The spectators who watch us from a distance while we dine are numerous;
and no doubt they are passing unfavourable criticisms on our table
manners, and on the Frankish custom of permitting one unveiled lady to
travel with three husbands. The population of Nablus is about
twenty-five thousand. It has a Turkish governor, a garrison, several
soap factories, and a million dogs which howl all night.

At half-past six the next morning we set out on foot to climb Mount
Ebal, which is three thousand feet high. The view from the rocky summit
sweeps over all Palestine, from snowy Hermon to the mountains round
about Jerusalem, from Carmel to Nebo, from the sapphire expanse of the
Mediterranean to the violet valley of the Jordan and the garnet wall of
Moab and Gilead beyond.

For us the view is veiled in mystery by the haze of the south wind. The
ranges and peaks far away f