The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1848-01-01

/ ccnd 10 iho hollow way which is considered
/ 20 most dangerous spot of all. Here Sir
/ Frederick lleunikCr was stripped and left
/ Tor d. al 10y robbers, in 1920. Ills servants
/ ucd 'ud bad themselves on the first alarm
7 Whcn they returned, hc was lying naked and
. blccrlug 'u tie sultry road. They put him
/ on horse, and carried him to Jericho. where
/ lac i'Hnd succor Perhaps he was thinking
ut o. o. parable oilhe Samaritan when this ac-
cidcni hci'l him. was thinking oft almost
cyciy step Of the way.
Another Story WAS presently after full in
thy minds beautiful Catholic legend which
VIVA told me toy q German friend IN America,
wHu 'lulr dreamed of ever frageliug over
lh' spot Our road NOW gradually ascend
rd .l' HiGh ridge from which we were soon
10 overlook The plain of Jericho. The track
WIS 80 stony aud difficult as TO make our
progress very slow; aud the white rocks, um-
dee the midday sun, gave on, such heat aud
glare MS made me enter more thoroughly into
Tue story Of Peter aud the cherries than nv
renders can pcrhnpS do. Aud yet the MANY
'1 whom have TOLD the legend in CONVERSE
'u1n IHyr go icli IL, beauty. tits this:
Jy'u- 1ud Two or three ofhis disciples went
down, one summer day, from Jrrllsnlcrn to
Jruruu. Peter lbu urdcur and eager Peter
--ua-, u- usuul, i,y the Teachers side. On
ice road, on Oliver, lay a horseshoe, which
toe Trucher desired Peter to pick up; but
which Peter let lie, rs he did not think it
WORT. the trouble of stopping for. The
Teacher stopped for it, and exchanged it in
iHo village for measure ofchcrrics. These
rheuiC- he carried ,us eastern men now car
'f such thingsl in the bosom fold Of his dress.
When they had to ascend the ridge, and the
raIU lay between heated rocks, and over
rugged stones, and among gariug white
dust Peter became tormcnted with heat aud
thirst and fell behind. Then the Teacher
dropped ripe cherry at every few steps; ard
Peter eagerly stopped for them When they
were all duuc, Jesus turned 10 him, and said
with q smile, "lle who is above STOPPING TO
% small thing, viii have TO bend his back TO
many lesser things"
From the ridge we had splendid view of
toe plain Of the JOrdan-appareu as flat
r- o. table TO the very foot G! The Moab Noun
f1tn, while the Dead Sea hay, II blue and mo-
uuHlcss cNp1use, To the right-(ihe sOuth)-|
-lud buTTcn mountains enclose the whole
] hr near mountains were rocky, brown, and
dr~ui1tc, with here and there the remains Of
Hu alucduct or Other ancient buildings,
marking the sites ofscitemcnts which have
passed away. The distant mountains were
clothed m the soft and lovely hues which
can De seen only through n southern utmos-
phcrc. The plain was once as delicious
region rs ever men lived in. Josephus calls
% divine REGION and tells ofits miles of
gardens and palm groves; and here grow the |
halsam which was worth more than it's
weight ia silycr,and was treasure for which
The kings Of the East made war. Jericho
is called ~ the Scriptures the city of Palm !
Trees and Jericho was but one OF hundred
towns which peopled the plain. Now, all /
near was barren; and equally bare was the |
distant tract At the foot Of the mountains; but
in the midst was n strip of verdure, broad,
sluuous, AMI lhickly wooded, where we knew
thui the Jordan flowed. The palms are gone;
and the sycamorcs, and the honey which the |
Wild bees made in the hollows of their stems
The balsanI, which Queen Cleopatra so COW
ctcd rs Ia send messengers from Egypt for
plants to grow OF lieliopois, has disappear
ed from the face of the earth: and instead of
these, and the fruits and sugar canes which
were renowned in far countries, we find now
little but tall reeds, thorny acacias, aud trees
barren ofbossom or trnit. The verdant STRIP
however looks beautiful from ufar, and shows
tina, the fertility ol'the plain has not departed
There Is enough for the support aud luxury
Of man, were man but there TO wish for and
enjoy them.
We descended, by n road like an irregular
staircase, the steopest hill ever rode down.
The gentlemen dismounted;but the neat was
50 excessive that | ventured 10 keep my seat.
When glanced up from the bottom, and
saw the last ofthc party beginning the de
turu away. We were now at The foot of the
mountain called Quarantauia, supposed by
the monks to be the scene ofthC Temptation.
\ few pilgrims come from nlur, every year,
90 spend forty days on this mountain, barely
suppnriug life during the time by the herbs
they find there. need hardly say, that
there can be no good reason for fixing ON this
mountain as the place and that the choice of
II Is probably owing to its commanding the
plrIn Oithe Jordan and its cities--once no
unfair specimen ofthe ''I<ingdoms OF the
earth, and the glory of them" The caverns
IN the face of this mountain, once used as
dwellings or tombs, are now the aho DIES OF
robbers. When some Of Our party showed
desire To reach the lower ones, the Arab She
ikli, who was responsible for the safety Of
our party, drew lIls sword across his throat,
10 show iie danger. aud barred Iiie way.
IL may he remembered, that the men of |
Jericho complained to Elisha the prophet,
that The water ftheir spring was not good,
either TO drlnk,or to water the land for tllage,
e Kings, ii 1917 and that, though their city |
was pleasant, they could not enjoy it for this |
reason; and that Elisha purified the spring, |
go that the waters healed unto this day"
Beside this spring, now called Ain Sultan,
VIC encauped in the afternoon, and found |
its waters truly delicious. Nothing could be
prettier than this encampment, in Il spot so !
forest like rs TO contrast strongly with all we
had seen for many weeks past. Our tent
was close upon the brink of the clear rush
ing brook but the heat was so excessive that
VIC could not endure the tent, and had our
dinner table placed under n tree, whose roots
were washed 10y the stream. Broud lights
glanced upon the ripping waters. and deep
green shadows lay upOn its pools. Our hor-