The sun., 1883-03-25
1ur CAVES or PAExs11xH
RenarkaSis Expisrstssas iaia Rsses sfHsiis
Near NasareSh.

u
Ia beautifully tmbercd with oak trees. and cut
up into the most charming valleys. Running
almost due north and south. II divides the plain
OF Esdraelon from that OF Acre. Its southern
extremity. terminating abruptly. forms a small
gorge with tho Carmel range. through which
tho Kishon forces Its way to the sea- II was
during heavy rain storm week ngo that /
approached tho ford OF this river from
Hnifa. 1t was not without trepidn-
ton. for the stream had bcen 30 swollen by
recent rains that communication with the In
terror had becn interrupted. 1t was doubtful
whether tho passage OF this river. which almost
dries up in summer. would not involve duck
Ing. therefore prudently requested my COM
panion to precede mo into the yellow swirling
stream and although the water came up to our
saddle bngs the horses managed TO got across
without losing their footing. Then We gal
loped into the oak woods. The sun broke out
from behind the clouds and we determined to
prosecute our search for certain caves. Of tho
existence Of which we had heard and which.
owing TO tho state Of the weather. we had al
most decided to abandon.
Leaving the high rond to Nazareth to the
right VIC followed path for about half An hour
which took us to the village Of Sheik Abreik.
1t was a miserable collection OF mud novels.
in the muddiest Of which dwelt tho shcik,
After much palavcr and promises Of abundant
backshish wo got him to admit the existence OF
tho caverns OF which We we've In search. and
persuaded him to be our guido to them. The
first was called by the Arabs The Cave OF
He'll" It's entrance seemed to justify the Ill
omencd appellation. 1t was n steep sloping
tunnel into the bowels OF the earth just large
enough to admit the passage OF mans
body. To slide into this feet foremost
after heavy rain involved a coating
a S~o, 10 ffnr I'M Aa1xp N fo,v
yar Dis We found chamber in which we could
stand erect. Here we lighted our candle and
looked about us. We found that 1t WAS the first
OF series OF similar chambers opening one
into another. Each contained stone collins.
hewn out OF tho solid rock. The entrances to
these were arched. The pi,asters on ench side
o the h entr"ncS wSre IN @ s"me th @
signs In q yellow pismGnt. These were N
about ton feet long by six foct wide. and on AN
average contained three tonibs ono across the
eaSh side. There ' do not seem ever @ to have
been lids to these stono recoptacss for the
Tho bodies were cmbalmed wrapped in cloths
as we read In Scrpturni accounts 81 burials.
nsaSw os foreSe Sa pq hey
disturbed until rude hands. ages afterward.
rolled away the stone from the mouth OF the
cave" and rilled the contents.
been completely filled up. In such cases the
Some. of the chambers were larger than others.
and there were two TORS Of collins. In order to
necessary to drag yourself along at iull length
upon the ground. In one casc, the, root, had
Ss roSSa lug into chamber above
had not time fully to explore this most
curious and interesting SPOT. Examinations
are very fatiguing. The effort OF scramblina
about on all iours. or after the fashion of tho
haunted by The idea Of not being able to to ind
ne 81 Me
Altogether l entered about fifteen difercnt
chambers, and doubtless the others did not
differ in any important particulars. | am
afraid however. that was not the first to dis
cover them. but TINT this honor rests with
exploration fund. The sheik told us he had
once before guided II foreigner to this locality.
letters X. l.. scratched in red paint on the rock
which under these circumstances can only
'1f This cave cave was @ H much more comfortable one
TO examine. though not nearly SO interesting.
You could walk about it comfortably, but there
larger. but there were only five or ak OF them.
The stone collins had. in many instances. been
columns. or rather blocks. Of living rock which
.supg9rted II the un r9oi We're finer than those in
diiapidated condition to the larReness of its
ea' weh its had iS fnoar5 IN hnGs
times been converted into a Christian
nsasaremeni ob,ained 6y paging t. the nave
was 10 feet by 30. the apse IS by 81. and two
apse-shaped transepts about 20 BY lS; but these
were very much filled with rubbish. The height
ed subterranean church, which in its perfect
condition. when entered from tho hillside, must
6n oSs @ from s eass
was tho carved pedestal OF a granite column.
and near 1t u handsome stone sarcophaRus
InStenl Of gOinn hnck n a Nnzarafh
after finishing our examination Of this inter-
esting spot. We made for Hill on the summit
tokening ruins. Here We came upon a native
excavation. eyiden!ly very recent. Indeed, we
the week before. The en- natives occas @ somaIiy % Ind
an unopened tomb. and div into 1t for treas
ssSa he useless rta's%Di s
as% L sy had Ssv tasy a
also found three iars @ ono eontainina ses sshes "
ones mouth water to hear OF the destruction
Sorsd Them they 70 ound any oFs not to
break them. but to bring them to me. They
aEss ans % rhsy s do are So so saying 1ss;
dnd This nn, saSs So Mas evidsHy
glass and the Iars had blocked up the entrance
again. and had 70 nut on the examination Of
!.
thero were several .snrcophaGi some collins
hewn out OF the, living rock on the surface,
with the stone lid ut the side. At one place
saw huge, stone lid about eight feet long. two
feet six inches broad ut its base, and the same
in height. but coming IN to u ridge which was
evidently still covering the mortal remains
which had originally been placed bsncath It,
The position of this have also marked and
propose. at some future time to remove il by
gnnpowder and see what is below.
HAD u not been necessary 10 push on in order
70 roach Nazareth before night would have
fingered longer at these ruins. which nre called
Iebda by the natives. They are worthy of a
full examination. The whole rocky summit OF
the hill is evidently honeycombed with cave
ttombs, many OF which had not yet been opened
One OF these. some miles further on toward
Nazareth, especially attracted my attention A
huge circular stone about two feet in diameter
had been rolled into tho carved stone entrance
70 the cave and become tightly wedged All
the efforts OF the natives to remove II, and tho
marks of such efforts were visible. had owl
IDENTITY been unavailing. 1t needed very small
charTe OF dynamite to remove the obstacle
which has so successfully resisted the barba.
rian ingenuity OF ages. This had arranged
N m nj a IA l.,I f.,s