d change beneath the shadow of
floating clouds to innumerable colours of lapis lazuli, and violet, and
purple, and peacock blue.

The old comparison of the shape of the lake to a lute, or a harp, is not
clear to us from the point at which we stand: for the northwestward
sweep of the bay of Gennesaret, which reaches a breadth of nearly eight
miles from the eastern shore, is hidden from us by a promontory, where
the dark walls and white houses of Tiberias slope to the water. But we
can see the full length of the lake, from the depression of the Jordan
Valley at the southern end, to the shores of Bethsaida and Capernaum at
the foot of the northern hills, beyond which the dazzling whiteness of
Hermon is visible.

Opposite rise the eastern heights of the Jaulan, with almost level top
and steep flanks, furrowed by rocky ravines, descending precipitously to
a strip of smooth, green shore. Behind us the mountains are more broken
and varied in form, lifted into sharper peaks and sloped into broader
valleys. The whole aspect of the scene is like a view in the English
Lake country, say on Windermere or Ullswater; only there are no forests
or thickets to shade and soften it. Every edge of the hills is like a
silhouette against the sky; every curve of the shore clear and distinct.

Of the nine rich cities which once surrounded the lake, none is left
except this ragged old Tiberias. Of the hundreds of fishing boats and
passenger vessels which once crossed its waters, all have vanished
except half a dozen little pleasure skiffs kept for the use of tourists.
Of the armies and caravans which once travelled these shores, all have
passed by into the eternal far-away, except the motley string of
visitors to the Hot Springs, who were coming up to bathe in the
medicinal waters in the days of Joshua when the place was called
Hammath, and in the time of the Greeks when it was named Emmaus, and who
are still trotting along the road in front of our camp toward the big,
white dome and dirty bath-houses of Hummam. They come from all parts of
Syria, from Damascus and the sea-coast, from Judea and the Hauran;
Greeks and Arabs and Turks and Maronites and Jews; on foot, on
donkey-back, and in litters. Now, it is a cavalcade of Druses from the
Lebanon, men, women and children, riding on tired horses. Now, it is a
procession of Hebrews walking with a silken canopy over the sacred books
of their law.

In the morning we visit Tiberias, buy some bread