distance northward, that of Kana-el-Jelil; each of which, but
with more probability the latter,1 has been regarded as the
place of our Saviour’s first miracle.
The well-known conical Mount Tabor, the Jebel Tur of the
Arabs, is the highest in this part of Galilee, and its rounded
slopes are richly clothed with the valonia oak, besides fine
myrtles, the wild pistachio, and other shrubs, which partly
cover the ruins on the summit. The elevation of this mount
above the base at the village of Dabura (Debora) probably
exceeds a thousand feet, and the view from thence is both
extensive and pleasing. To the north is the mount of Beatitudes,
with the snowy peak of Jebel-es-Shei‘kh, the greater
Hermon and the highest of the Lebanon range towering above
in the distance. Eastward are the low mountains extending
from Tabariyeh along the western side of the Jordan, with the
blue ranges of the Haouran beyond. On the other side of the
plain of Esdraelon, towards the south and south-west, is
little Hermon, with the range of Gilboa rising to 1000 feet.;
beyond these are the wooded mountains of Ebal and Gerizim,
with the lower parts of Carmel more westward ; and finally,
in the latter direction the sea is seen through the range which
bounds the plain of Akka.
The latter is partly of sand and partly cultivated, and extends
from the bay of Kaipha northward, between the mountains
and the sea, as far as the Tyrian ladder.2 Beyond this
precipitous tongue of land it is renewed, and is almost continuous
from thence, by Tyre and Sidon, to the limits of the
district near Beirut. Its width seldom exceeds three miles,
and it is thinly peopled, though the cultivated spots yield ample
returns of tobacco, cotton, hemp, grain, and fruits ; the rest of
the district is mountainous.
Northward of the river Kasmieh, the offsets of Jebel-el-
Drus cover the districts of El Schomar and El Teffahh, which
present a succession of ridges one above another till they terminate
with the rugged peaks of Jebel-el-Drus itself. The
flanks of these offsets, for the most part, display scattered
1 Biblical Researches in Palestine, by Dr. Robinson, vol. III., pp. 204, 208.
2 A road cut in the side of an almost perpendicular cliff, whose summit is
several hundred feet above the sea.
masses of bare limestone rock, with villages and cultivated
terraces occasionally hanging on their sides, and having now
and then on their narrow crests a large convent, such as Mar
Elias, or a more extensive pile of building, occupied by one of
the Emirs of the district.
Advancing northward into Schaff, in the territory of the
Druses, the mountains assume that bolder character which
has been sketched in describing this part of the Lebanon
mountains.1 In some places huge masses rise abruptly from
the edge of the sea, whilst in others they gradually recede
from it, showing peak above peak, and forming in certain
places rocky basins or amphitheatres, on whose sides are villages
and cultivated terraces shaded by lofty pines or cedars,
with, not unfrequently, a convent or monastery above, overlooking
the whole.
Towards the interior, the slopes of Jebel Riehan, and the
neighbouring part of the Lebanon, are generally formed by a
succession of hogs’-back ridges,, separated by deep gorges or
ravines, with walnut-trees on the lower slopes; and about
midway are villages and hamlets surrounded with terraces, on
which are grown cotton and hemp, besides grapes, olives, mulberries,
and other fruits: higher up are forests of pine; and
oh the summit a profusion of myrtle, with usually a village,
adjoining which is either a convent or an Emir’s serai'. But
occasionally the scenery is of a higher cast—a deep and wide
gorge terminating in an amphitheatre of valleys and ridges,
studded with villages. From the ruined Ionic temple at
Dei'r-el-Kul’ah, for instance, the view presents a great amphitheatre
covered with terraces, amidst which 45 Druse villages
may be counted in addition to Mar Kana, and several other
convents, with the serais of Ras-el-Mittan; beyond these is
Jebel Riehan, with the snow-clad peaks and furrowed sides of
Jebel Sanin.
No sooner has one narrow ridge in this singular country
been gained than another valley or amphitheatre appears
teeming, like the preceding, with villages, to reach some of
VOL. I.