New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-08-27
yRox NETWORK TO N1NEvEH,
XIV.
rHR HrLLcouNrRY OF PALESTINE.

We l6It JoIubdiehh Wy tho jana O"s~
because within few months neither travellers no
baggage are allowed to pass the Damascus Gate
On account Of smuggling operations having peer
carried on there. Not far from the CITY wal
there IL a superb terebinth tree, now in the 'ni
xIoyy OF u shining green leaves. Ii appears tt
he bathed in a perpetual dew; the rounded masses
n sla,e sparkle and glitter in the light, and the
srest spreading boughs flood the turf below VIII
. deluse Of delicious shade. number OF persons
-sre reclining on the grass under it, and one o.
Them, very handsome Christian boy, spoke to US
n Italian and English. l scarcely remember @
brighter and purer day than that OF our departure
The sky was sheet of spotess blue every rift and
scar of the distant hills we're retOuched with g
Srmer pencil, and all the outlines, blurred away by
the haze Of the previous few days, were restored
with wonderful distinctness. The temperature
was hot but not sutry, and the air tasted like an
elixir Of Immortality.
Through luxurant olive grove we reached the
Tombs Of the Kings, situated in small valley to
the north of the city. Part of the valley, IT not
the whole of it, has been formed by quarrying
away the crsgs of marble and congiomerIte
lime stone for building the city. Near the eoge
OF the low cliffs overhaDging 1T there are
some illustrations Of the ancient mode of cutting
stone. which, as well as the custom OF excavating
*oznbs in the rock, has evidently been borrowed
from Egypt. The upper surface of the rocks was
frst made smooth after which the blocks were map
ped out and cut apart by grooves chseled between
them. visited four or FIVE tombs, each of which
49, ibpla
The door was low, and the chambers which |
entered, small and black, without sculptures OF
any kind. The tombs bear some resemblance in
their general plan to those of Tnebes, except that
they are without ornaments, either sculptured or
painted. There are fragments of sarcophagi in
some of them. On the southern side of the
valley is large quarry, evidently worked for
marble, as the blocks have been cat out from be-
low, leaving a large overhanging mass, part OF
which has broken of and fallen down. Some
pieces which picked up were of a very fine white
marble, somewhat resembling that of Carrara.
From the long bill beyond the Tombs, we took
eur last view of Jerusalem, far hey ond whose walls
/ saw the Church of the Nativity, at Bethlehem.
The Jewish synagogue on the top of the noun
Palestine, was visible at some distance to the
west. Notwithstanding its sanctity, felt little
regret at leaving Jerusalem, and cheerfu'ly took
the rough road northward, over the stony hills.
There were few habitations in sight, yet the hill
sides we're cultivated wherever it was possible for
ANYTHING to grow. The wheat was just coming
into head, and the people were at work, plantin,
Ca I'D
Birch, little village on hill, with the ruins of
convent and large khan. The place takes its
name from fountain of excellent water, beside
which we found our tents already pitched. In the
evening two Englshmen, an ancient Mentor, with
a wild young Telemachus in charge, arrived and
camped near us.
We rose long before sunrise, and rode off in the
brilliant morniDg-the sky unstained by speck
Of vapor. In the valley, beyond Ell Birch, the
husban Omen were already at their plows and the
village boys were on their way to the uncultured
parts Of the hills with their hocks OF sheep and
goats. The valley terminated in deep gorge,
with perpendicular walls of rock on either side.
Our road mounted the hill on the eastern side, and
followed the brink of the precipce through the
pass, where an enchanting landscape opened upon
us. The village of YebrOod crowned hill which
rose opposite, and the mountain slopes leaning TO-
ward it on all sides were covered with orchards of
fig trees, and all either rustling with wheat or
cleanly plOwed for maize. The soil was dark
brown loan, and very rich. The stones have
been laboriously built into terraces, and, even
where heavy rocky boulders almost hid the soil,
young 6g and olive trees were planted IN the crew.
ces between them. have never seen more thor
cugh and patient cultivation. In the crystal Of
the morning air the very hills laughed with plenty,
and the whole landscape beamed with the signs
Of gladness on its countenance.
The site of ancient Bethel was not far to the
right of our road Over hills laden with the olive,
6g and vine, we passed to Ain el-Haramiyeh, or
the Fountain of the Robbers. Here there are
tombs cut in the rock on both sides Of the valley.
Over another ridge we descended to large, bowl
shaped valley, entirely covered with wheat, and
opening eastward toward the Jordan. Thence to
Nablons, 1.-THE Shechem Of the Old, and Syohar o'
the New Testament,l is four hours through
winding dell Of the richest harvest land. On the
way, we FIRST caught sight of the snowy top OF
Mount Hermon, distant at least eighty miles in
straight line. Before reaching Nablons, stopped
70 drink at q fountain of clear and sweet water,
beside square pile of masonry, upon which sat
two Moslem dervishes. This, we were told, was
the tomb Of Joseph, whose body, after having ac'
companied the Israelites in all their wanderings,
was at last deposited near Shechem. There is
less reason to doubt this spot than most OF the
sacred places of Palestine, for the reason that it
rests, not on Christian but on Jewish tradition.
The wonderful tenacty with which the Jews
cling to every record or mememto of their early
history, and the fact that from the time Of Joseph
a portion Of them have always fingered near the
spot, render it highly probable that the locality of
a spot so sacred should have been preserved from
generation to generation to the present time. 1t