The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-01-01

The four holy cities of the Jews are
Liberals, Safed, Hebron and Jerusalem;
but many hold the former in special
generation as the home of Jacob and
the place to which Christ will first di-
lake at His second coming. To the
south, a little way from the city, are
the hot baths of Emmaus, built by
Ibrahim Pacha when Syria was gov
erned by the Egyptians. The water is
salt, bitter and somewhat sulphurous,
and is much used by rheumatic people,
who take the baths during the sum-
mer season. The temperature is one
hundred and forty three degrees Fahren-
heit, almost unbearable.
You obtain a fine view of the lake
from this point, and according to the
best authority it is about twelve miles
long and six broad, with depth of one
hundred and sixty-fve feet. The sur
face of the water is six hundred and
fifty-three feet below the Mediterra-
mean. The inhabitants believe that the
waters, which are cool and sweet, pos
sess some medicinal qualities. From
Tiberias we follow the western shore
nearly north, and in little while pass
Mejdel-the ancient Magdala and the
birthplace of Mary Magdalen, to which
our Savior once came. We are ap-
preaching, nearer yet nearer, to the
cities where Christ performed His great
est miracles. The lake was here mar
gined with the beautiful oleander-at
this season in full flower.
"All thro' the summer night
Those blossoms, red and bright,
Spread their soft breasts
Ducks and other wild birds could be
seen skimming the surface of the lake.
Soon we descry our camp in the near
distance, and galloping up to it, we find
that our tents are pitched very near the
supposed site of ancient Capernaum.
What a strange charm there is in this
nomadic lifei-how totally different
from anything we have before expert
enced! We bathed in the pleasant
waters of the lake, and then sat down
to dinner of several courses excellent
ly prepared by our Abyssinian cook, to
which our appetites did full Justice.
After dinner, in the cool of the evening,
we walked down to the margin of the
lake. What flood OF memories came O er
us! Within easy distance are the ruins
of Capernaum--Christ's own city-and
you cannot but be impressed with the
fact that Gods anathema is fully ac-
complished: "And thou. Capernaum,
which art exalted unto Heaven, shall
be brought down to hell" Not a
house, scarcely wall or column, re-
mains to mark the site of a once busy
and wealthy city. AS we stood there,
apparently " the world forgetting,
by the world forgot" we recalled
that it was while walking on the
surface of this lake that our Savior
spoke those words which quieted the
trembling disciples and have since COM
forted so many Christian hearts during
eighteen hundred years: cit is l, be
not afraidn' To this sea when great
tempest arose, threatening destruction
to the ship and all on board, Jesus adj
dressed His rebuke, and Immediately
"there was great calm" 1t was on
these shores when the people were bur-
dened with sense of guilt that these
words were spoken: "Come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and will give you rest.''
"How pleasant to me thy deep blue wave,
o Sea of Galilee!
For the glorious One who came to save
Hath often stood by thee!
Leaving camp early the next morn
ing, we took up our line of march to-
ward Mt. Hermon, en- route for DANES
Gus. -San,a4el S. Dennis, in N. Y. o.
server.