Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1838-10-25

t.ai summit Moses probably had no concern.
South west Of this is Mount ST. Caiharlne,
27OO feet above the plain, aud nearly 1000
feet higher than Gebel Mousa, or Sinai. We
made minute and particular inquiries OF Arabs
and others acquainted with the whole pen
insua, and could not learn that there was so
much room in any other spot among the
mountains, certainly not in the vicinity of
any of the loilier peaks"
Description Of hs Desert.
"Onr journey through The great desert,
this side Of Akaba, was deeply interesting.
Of the nature of the whole region which we
traversed you may Judge from the fact. that
from the borders Of the Nile till we arrived
on the borders of Palestine, we saw not one
drop Of running water, nor single blade OF
grass, except few small tufts in two i'll
stances. The Wadys or water courses OF
Il the desert and mountains, nrc sprinklcd with
II skirts and tufts of herbs, on which the camel
and hocks of sheep and goats browse; but no
| horses or neat cattle are found throughout
| the whole region. II is true, the present Is
a year of dea-th, scarcely any rain having
| now fallen for two seasons. When there is
| rain in plenty then, comparatively, the desert
may be said to bud and blossom, and grass
springs up over great portion OF its surface.
In such season the Arabs say they are
kings"
II .1ncienf Ruins.
"On this route we found the ruins Of the
ancient Roman places, Eboda and Elusa; and
also those of Beersle ba, % miles $. w. Of
Hebron, still called Birseba. There are two
wells Of fine water, over 40 feet deep, one
I2l feet diameter and the other about q,
walled up with solid mason work, the bot
toms dug out of the solid rock. Close by
are ruins AS of large struggling village, cor
responding entirely to the description OF II
by Eusebus and Jerome"
Il antiquities Of Jerusalem.
II "In jerusalem we are surprised to find
how much of antiquity remains, which NO
traveller has ever mentioned, or apparently
ever seen. The walls around the great area
Of the mosque Of Omar are without all qucs-
ton, those built by Herod around the area OF
his temple; the size, position and character
Of the stones, Zone of them 30b feet long, and
many over 90 icct,) show this Of themselves |;
but 1t is farther demonstrated by the fact,
that near the s. w. corner there still remains,
IN part Of the wall, the foot of an immense
arch evidently belonging TO the bridge which
anciently led from the temple to the Nystus
on Mount Sion; Joscphus J. 6. q. = This
no one appears ever TO have seen. In the
castle near the ialxa gate is also an ancient
tower Of stones like those of the temple, cor
responding precisely to Josephus's dcscrip.
'ion Of the tower IIippicus,-B. J. 5. A. B.
which Titus left standing as memcnto; the
ancient part is over 40 feet high, and built
solid without any room within. We have no
doubt that il is lIippicns.
Ia,. tb,,., ,,oI INN Arfa Evn
points fiom which TO start in applying the
ancient descriptions of the city. We have
been able also To trace to a considerable
distance the ancient wall N. w. and N. of
the present city, The pool Of Sloan, at the
mouth of the Tyropecum, (sce Catherwood's
plan,) is without doubt the Sloan Of Jose
plus, and the wall OF Nehemiah, father down,
is the En-. Rogcl of Scripture, where the
border of judah and Benjamin, passed up the
valley OF llinnon. We have found farther
that there is living fountain of water deep
under The mosque Of Omar, which is doubtless
ancient; the wnter has just the taste Of that
of Sloan, and we conjecture Il connection
between them. This point We have yet to
examine. We have not completed the hall
of what we wish to investigate in this city,
and could spend another month or two with
| profit in the link researches here"
\ Farther Researches Proposed.
Il Sour plan is 20 make excursions from this
city to the neighboring sites ofanccnt places
/ to Jericho and the Jordan, and also q lon
Il ger one to GAIA. thence to Hebron, and
thence 10 Wady Mousa, SO as to explore the
north end Of the Ghor. and the region of tho
Dead Sea. ] hope to find some trace Of
kadesh and other cities in that region. From
all the information we can get, it would
seem that in The rainy seasons, when water
runs in the Ghor, it flows northward toward
the Dead Sea, thus contradictng the hypo-
thesis that the Jordan once flowed through
it to the Elapitic Gulf Aflcrward wo hope
to GO North, examine the sources of the
Jordan, and other points as far as Damascus,
and then pass from B,irout to Smyrna. All
this, if the Lord will, aud as he will"