Palestine, or, the Holy Land Part 14

The t.i.tular crown of Palestine was worn for the last time by Hugh the Great, the descendant of Hugh, king of Cyprus, and Alice, who was the daughter of Mary and John de Brienne. At a later period, this empty honour was claimed by the house of Sicily, in right of Charles, count of Anjou and brother of Louis IX, who was thought to unite in his own person the issue of the King of Cyprus and of the Princess Mary, the daughter of Frederick, sovereign of Antioch. The knights of St. John of Jerusalem, since denominated knights of Rhodes and Malta, and the Teutonic knights, the conquerors of the north of Europe and founders of the kingdom of Prussia, are now the only remains of those Crusaders who struck terror into Africa and Asia, and seized the thrones of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Constantinople.

Although no expedition from the Christian states reached the Holy Land after the close of the thirteenth century, the fire which had so long warmed the hearts of the Crusaders was not entirely extinguished in several parts of Europe. Edward the First of England, for example, still cherished the hope of opening the gates of Jerusalem, or of leaving his bones in the sacred dust of Palestine. A similar feeling animated the monarch of France; while the pope, who derived manifold advantages from the prosecution of such wars, summoned councils, issued pastoral letters, and employed preachers, as in the days that were past. But dissensions at home during the first half of the fourteenth century, and the general conviction of hopelessness which had seized the public mind respecting all armaments against the Moslems, occasioned the failure of every attempt to unite once more the powers of Chistendom in the common cause.

In the following century, the ascendency of the Turks, not only in the East, but on the banks of the Danube and the northern sh.o.r.es of the Mediterranean, compelled the people of Europe to act on the defensive. The fall of the Grecian empire, too, rendered the intercourse with Syria at once more difficult and dangerous. Egypt in like manner was shut against the Christians, being subjected to the same yoke which pressed so heavily on the western parts of Asia. Hence, during more than two centuries a cloud hung over the affairs of Palestine, which we in vain attempt to penetrate. Suffice it to remark, that it remained subject to the Mamlouk sultans of Egypt till the year 1382, when they were dispossessed by a body of Circa.s.sians, who invaded and overran the country. Upon the expulsion of these barbarians, it acknowledged again the government of Cairo, under which it continued until the period of the more formidable irruption of the Mogul Tartars, led by the celebrated Tamerlane. At his death the Holy Land was once more annexed to Egypt as a province; but in 1516, Selim the Ninth, emperor of the Othman Turks, carried his victorious arms from the Euphrates to the Libyan Desert, involving in one general conquest all the intervening states. More than three hundred years have that people exercised a dominion over the land of Judea, varied only by intervals of rebellion on the part of governors who wished to a.s.sert their independence, or by wars among the different pashas, who, in defiance of the supreme authority, have from time to time quarrelled about its spoils.

From the period at which the Crusaders were expelled from Syria down to the middle of the last century, we are chiefly indebted for our knowledge of the Holy Land to the pilgrims whom religious motives induced to brave all the perils and extortions to which Franks were exposed under the Turkish government. The faith of the Christians survived their arms at Jerusalem, and was found within the sacred walls long after every European soldier had disappeared. The Jacobite, Armenian, and Abyssinian believers were allowed to cling to those memorials of redemption which have at all times given so great an interest to the localities of Palestine; and occasionally a member of the Latin Church had the good fortune to enter the gates of the city in disguise, and was permitted to offer up his prayers at the side of the Holy Sepulchre. In 1432, when La Broquiere undertook his pilgrimage into the East, there were only two French monks in Jerusalem, who were held in the most cruel thraldom.

The increasing intercourse between the Turks at Constantinople and the governments of Europe gradually produced a more tolerant spirit among the former, and paved the way for a lasting accommodation in favour of the Christians in Palestine. We find, accordingly, that in the year 1507, when Baumgarten travelled in Syria, there was at Jerusalem a monastery of Franciscans, who possessed influence sufficient to secure his personal safety, and even to provide for his comfort under their own roof. At a somewhat later period, the Moslem rulers began to consider the reception of pilgrims as a regular source of revenue; selling their protection at a high price, and even creating dangers in order to render that protection indispensable. The Christians, meantime, rose by degrees from the state of depression and contumely into which they were sunk by the conquerors of the Grecian empire. They were allowed to nominate patriarchs for the due administration of ecclesiastical affairs, and to practise all the rites of their religion, provided they did not insult the established faith,--a condition of things which, with such changes as have been occasioned by foreign war or the temper of individual governors, has been perpetuated to the present day.

As the civil history of Palestine for three centuries is nothing more than a relation of the broils, the insurrections, the ma.s.sacres, and changes of dynasty which have periodically shaken the Turkish empire in Europe as well as in Asia, we willingly pa.s.s over it, as we thereby only refrain from a mere recapitulation of names and dates which could not have the slightest interest for any cla.s.s of readers. At the close of the eighteenth century, however, its affairs a.s.sumed a new importance.

Napoleon Bonaparte, whose views of dominion were limited only by the bounds of the civilized world, imagined that, by the conquest of Egypt and Syria, he should open for himself a path into the remoter provinces of the Asiatic continent, and perhaps establish his power on either bank of the Ganges.

It was in the spring of 1799 that the French general, who had been informed of certain preparations against him in the pashalic of Acre, resolved to cross the desert which divides Egypt from Palestine at the head of ten thousand chosen men. El Arish soon fell into his hands, the garrison of which were permitted to retire on condition that they should not serve again during the war. Gaza likewise yielded without much opposition to the overwhelming force by which it was attacked. Jaffa set the first example of a vigorous resistance; the slaughter was tremendous; and Bonaparte, to intimidate other towns from showing a similar spirit, gave it up to plunder and the other excesses of an enraged soldiery. A more melancholy scene followed--the ma.s.sacre of nearly four thousand prisoners who had laid down their arms. Napoleon alleged, that these were the very individuals who had given their parole at El Arish, and had violated their faith by appearing against him in the fortress which had just fallen. On this pretext he commanded them all to be put to death, and thereby brought a stain upon his reputation which no casuistry on the part of his admirers, and no considerations of expediency, military or political, will ever succeed in removing.[180]

Acre, so frequently mentioned in the History of the Crusades, was again doomed to receive a fatal celebrity from a most sanguinary and protracted siege. Achmet Djezzar, the pasha of that division of Palestine which stretches from the borders of Egypt to the Gulf of Sidon, had thrown himself into this fortress with a considerable army, determined to defend it to the last extremity. After failing in an attempt to bribe the Mussulman chief, Bonaparte made preparations for the attack, with his usual skill and activity; resolving to carry the place by a.s.sault before the Turkish government could send certain supplies of food and ammunition, which he knew were expected by the besieged. But his design was frustrated by the presence of a British squadron under Sir Sidney Smith, who, in the first instance, captured a convoy of guns and stores forwarded from Egypt, and then employed them against him, by erecting batteries on sh.o.r.e.

Notwithstanding these inauspicious circ.u.mstances, Napoleon opened his trenches on the 18th of March, in the firm conviction that the Turkish garrison could not long resist the fury of his onset and the skill of his engineers. "On that little town," said he, to one of his generals, as they were standing together on an eminence which still bears the name of Richard Coeur de Lion, "on that little town depends the fate of the East.

Behold the key of Constantinople or of India!"

At the end of ten days a breach was effected, by which the French made their first attempt to reduce the towers of Acre. Their a.s.sault was conducted with so much firmness and spirit, that for a moment the garrison was overpowered, and the town seemed lost. The pasha, renowned for his personal courage, threw himself into the thickest body of the combatants, and at length, by strength of hand and the most heroic example, rallied his troops and drove the enemy from the walls. The loss of the French was great, and the disappointment of their leader extreme. Napoleon was deeply mortified when he saw his finest regiments pursued to their lines by English sailors and undisciplined Turks, who even proceeded to destroy their intrenchments.

Bourrienne relates, that during the a.s.sault of the 8th of May more than two hundred men penetrated into the city. Already the shout of victory was raised; but the breach, taken in flank by the Turks, could not be entered with sufficient prompt.i.tude, and the party was left without support. The streets were barricaded; the very women were running about throwing dust into the air, and exciting the inhabitants by cries and howling; all contributed to render unavailing this short occupation by a handful of men, who, finding themselves alone, regained the breach by a retrograde movement; but not before many had fallen.

The want of proper means for forming a siege, and perhaps the contempt which he entertained for barbarians, occasioned a great deficiency in the works raised before Acre. Bonaparte was not ignorant of the disadvantages under which his men laboured from the cause now a.s.signed; and was princ.i.p.ally for this reason that he trusted more to the bayonet than to the mortar or cannon. He repeated his a.s.saults day after day, till the ditch was filled with dead and wounded soldiers. His grenadiers at length felt greater horror at walking over the bodies of their comrades than at encountering the tremendous discharges of large and small shot to which the latter had fallen victims.

On the 21st of May, after sixty days of ineffectual labor under a burning sun, Napoleon ordered a last a.s.sault on the obstinate garrison of Ptolemais, which had barred his path to the accomplishment of the most splendid conquests. This attempt was not less fruitless than those which had preceded it, and was attended with the loss of many brave warriors. A fleet was at hand to reinforce Djezzar with men and arms; the French, on the contrary, were peris.h.i.+ng under the plague, which had already found its way into their ranks, and were, besides, constantly threatened by swarms of Arabs and Mamlouks, who had a.s.sembled in the neighbouring mountains.

His failure in this effort, accordingly, dictated the necessity of a speedy retreat towards Egypt, where his affairs continued to enjoy some degree of prosperity, and in the magazines of which he might still find the means of restoring the health and vigour of his troops.

The siege of Acre, says the biographer of Bonaparte, cost nearly three thousand men in killed, and of such as died of the plague and their wounds. Had there been less precipitation in the attack, and had the advances been conducted according to the rules of art, the town, says he, could not have held out three days; and one a.s.sault such as that of the 8th of May would have sufficed. But he admits that it would have been wiser in their situation, dest.i.tute as they were of heavy artillery and provisions, while the place was plentifully supplied and in active communication with the English and Ottoman fleets, not to have undertaken the siege at all. In the bulletins, he adds, always so veracious, the lose of the French is estimated at five hundred killed and a thousand wounded; while that of the enemy is augmented to fifteen thousand. These doc.u.ments are doubtless curious pieces for history,--certainly not because they are true. Bonaparte, however, attached the greatest importance to these relations, which were always drawn up or corrected by himself.[181]

The reader may not be displeased to consider the motives which induced Napoleon to persevere so long in the siege of Acre. "I see that this paltry town has cost me many men, and occupies much time; but things have gone too far not to risk a last effort. If we succeed, it is to be hoped we shall find in that place the treasures of the pasha, and arms for three hundred thousand men. I will raise and arm the whole of Syria, which is already greatly exasperated by the cruelty of Djezzar, for whose fall you have seen the people supplicate Heaven at every a.s.sault. I advance upon Damascus and Aleppo; I recruit my army by marching into every country where discontent prevails; I announce to the people the abolition of slavery, and of the tyrannical government of the pashas; I arrive at Constantinople with armed messes; I overturn the dominion of the Mussulman; I found in the East a new and mighty empire which shall fix my position with posterity; and perhaps I return to Paris by Adrianople or Vienna, having annihilated the house of Austria."[182]

Whatever accuracy there may be in these reminiscences, there is no doubt that Napoleon frequently remarked, in reference to Acre, "The fate of the East is in that place." Nor was this observation made at random; for had the French subdued Djezzar, and buried his army in the ruins of the fortress, the whole of Palestine and Syria would have submitted to their dominion. He expected, besides, a cordial reception from the Druses, those warlike and semi-barbarous tribes who inhabit the valleys of Liba.n.u.s, and who, like all the other subjects of the Ottoman government, had felt the pressure of the pasha's tyranny. His eyes were likewise turned towards the Jews, who, in every commotion which affects Syria, are accustomed to look for the indication of that happy change destined, in the eye of their faith, to restore the kingdom to Israel in the latter days. It was not, indeed, till a somewhat later period that he openly extended his protection to the descendants of Abraham; but it is not improbable that the notion had occurred to him during his Eastern campaigns of employing them for the purpose of establis.h.i.+ng an independent sovereignty in Palestine, devoted to his ulterior views in the countries beyond the Euphrates.

During the siege of Acre, the several detachments of the French army stationed in Galilee were attacked by a powerful Mussulman force, which had a.s.sembled in the adjoining mountains. Junot, who was induced to risk an engagement near Nazareth, would have been cut in pieces by the Mamlouk cavalry, had not Bonaparte hastened to his a.s.sistance We have already alluded to the masterly conduct of Kleber, who, at the head of a few hundred men, kept the field a whole day against an overwhelming ma.s.s of hors.e.m.e.n that attacked his party near Mount Tabor. On this occasion, too, the speedy aid of Napoleon secured a victory, and scattered the enemy's troops over the face of the desert. But he found, upon his return to the trenches, that the same men whose columns dissipated like smoke before his battalions on the plain were extremely formidable behind an armed wall, and that all the skill of his engineers and the bravery of his veterans were of no avail when opposed by the savage courage of Turks directed by European officers and supported by English seamen.

The sufferings which the French endured in their retreat across the desert were very great, and afforded constant exercise for the self-possession and equanimity of their leader. "A fearful journey," says one of their number, "was yet before us. Some of the wounded were carried in litters, and the rest on camels and mules. A devouring thirst, the total want of water, an excessive heat, a fatiguing march among scorching sand-hills, demoralized the men; a most cruel selfishness, the most unfeeling indifference, took place of every generous or humane sentiment. I have seen thrown from the litters officers with amputated limbs, whose conveyance had been ordered, and who had themselves given money as a recompense for the fatigue. I have beheld abandoned among the wheatfields soldiers who had lost their legs or arms, wounded men, and patients supposed to be affected with the plague. Our march was lighted up by torches kindled for the purpose of setting on fire towns, hamlets, and the rich crops with which the earth was covered. The whole country was in flames. It seemed as if we found a solace in this extent of mischief for our own reverses and sufferings. We were surrounded only by the dying, by plunderers, by incendiaries. Wretched beings at the point of death, thrown by the wayside, continued to call with feeble voice, 'I have not the plague, I am but wounded;' and, to convince those that pa.s.sed, they might be seen tearing open their real wounds, or inflicting new ones. n.o.body believed them. It was the interest of all not to believe. Comrades would say, 'He is done for now; his march is over;' then pa.s.s on, look to themselves, and feel satisfied. The sun, in all his splendour under that beautiful sky, was obscured by the smoke of continual conflagration. We had the sea on our right; on our left and behind us lay the desert which we had made; before were the sufferings and privations that awaited us."[183]

Since the departure of the French no event has occurred to give any interest to the history of Palestine. The Mussulman instantly resumed his power, which for a time he appeared determined to exercise with a strong arm and with little forbearance towards the Franks, from the terror of whose might he had just escaped. But the ascendency of Europe, as a great a.s.semblage of Christian states, checks the intolerance of the Turk, and imposes upon him the obligations of a more liberal policy. Hence we may confidently a.s.sert, that although the members of the Greek and Latin churches in Syria are severely taxed, they are not persecuted. They are compelled to pay heavily for the privilege of exercising the rights of their wors.h.i.+p, and of enjoying that freedom of conscience which is the natural inheritance of every human being; but their property is held sacred, and their personal security is not endangered, provided they have the prudence to rest satisfied with a simple connivance or bare permission in things relating to their faith.

The actual state of the Holy Land may be known with sufficient accuracy from the topographical description which we have given in a former chapter. With regard, again, to the civil government of the country, it has been remarked that the pashas are so frequently changed, or so often at war with each other, that the jurisdiction of the magistrates in cities is so undefined, and the hereditary or a.s.sumed rights of the sheiks of particular districts are so various, that it is extremely difficult to discover any settled rule by which the administration is conducted. The whole Turkish empire, indeed, has the appearance of being so precariously balanced, that the slightest movement within or from without seems likely to overturn it. Everywhere is absolute power seen stretched beyond the limits of all apparent control, but finding, nevertheless, a counteracting principle in that extreme degree of acuteness to which the instinct of self-preservation is sharpened by the constant apprehension of injury.

Hence springs that conflict between force and fraud, not always visible, but always operating, which characterizes society in all despotic countries.

In the minute subdivision of power, which in all cases partakes of the absolute nature of the supreme government, the traveller is often reminded of patriarchal times, when there were found judges, and even kings, exercising a separate dominion at the distance of a short journey from one another. As an instance of this, we may mention, that on the road from Jerusalem to Sannour, by way of Nablous, there are no fewer than three governors of cities, all of whom claim the honours of independent sovereigns; for, although they acknowledge a nominal superiority in the Pasha of Damascus, they exclude his jurisdiction in all cases where he does not enforce his authority at the head of his troops: The same affectation of independence descends to the sheiks of villages, who, aware of the precarious tenure by which their masters remain in office, are disposed to treat their orders with contempt. Like them, too, they turn to their personal advantage the power of imposition and extortion which belongs to every one who is clothed with official rank in Syria. They sell justice and protection; and in this market, as in all others, he who offers the best price is certain to obtain the largest share of the commodity.[184]

This chapter would not be complete were we to omit all allusion to the Jews, the ancient inhabitants of Palestine. Their number, according to a statement lately published in Germany, amounts to between three and four millions, scattered over the face of the whole earth, but still maintaining the same laws which their ancestors received from their inspired legislator more than three thousand years ago. In Europe there are nearly two millions, enjoying different privileges according to the spirit of the several governments; in Asia, the estimate exceeds seven hundred thousand; in Africa, more than half a million; and in America, about ten thousand. It is supposed, however, on good grounds, that the Jewish population on both sides of Mount Taurus is considerably greater than is here given, and that their gross number does not fall much short of five millions.[185]

In Palestine of late years they have greatly increased. It is said that not fewer than ten thousand inhabit Saphet and Jerusalem, and that in their wors.h.i.+p they still sing those pathetic hymns which their manifold tribulations have inspired; bewailing, amid the ruins of their ancient capital, the fallen city and the desolate tribes. In Persia, one of them addressed a Christian missionary in these affecting words:--"I have travelled far; the Jews are everywhere princes in comparison with those in the land of Iran. Heavy is our captivity, heavy is our burden, heavy is our slavery; anxiously we wait for redemption."

History, says an eloquent writer, is the record of the past; it presumes not to raise the mysterious veil which the Almighty has spread over the future. The destinies of this wonderful people, as of all mankind, are in the hands of the all-wise Ruler of the universe; his decrees will certainly be accomplished; his truth, his goodness, and his wisdom will be clearly vindicated. This, however, we may venture to a.s.sert, that true religion will advance with the dissemination of sound and useful knowledge. The more enlightened the Jew becomes, the more incredible will it appear to him that the gracious Father of the whole human race intended an exclusive faith, a creed confined to one family, to be permanent; and the more evident also will it appear to him, that a religion which embraces within the sphere of its benevolence all the kindreds and languages of the earth is alone adapted to an improved and civilized age.[186]

We presume not to expound the signs of the times, nor to see farther than we are necessarily led by the course of events; but it is impossible not to be struck with the aspect of that grandest of all moral phenomena which is suspended upon the history and actual condition of the sons of Jacob.

At this moment they are nearly as numerous as when David swayed the sceptre of the Twelve Tribes; their expectations are the same, their longings are the same; and on whatever part of the earth's surface they have their abode, their eyes and their faith are all pointed in the same direction--to the land of their fathers and the holy city where they wors.h.i.+pped. Though rejected by G.o.d and persecuted by man, they have not once, during eighteen hundred long years, ceased to repose confidence in the promises made by Jehovah to the founders of their nation; and although the heart has often been sick and the spirit faint, they have never relinquished the hope of that bright reversion in the latter days which is once more to establish the Lord's house on the top of the mountains, and to make Jerusalem the glory of the whole world.

CHAPTER IX.

_The Natural History of Palestine_.

Travellers too much neglect Natural History; Maundrell, Ha.s.selquist, Clarke. GEOLOGY--Syrian Chain; Liba.n.u.s; Calcareous Rocks; Granite; Trap; Volcanic Remains; Chalk; Marine Exuviae; Precious Stones.

METEOROLOGY--Climate of Palestine; Winds; Thunder; Clouds; Waterspouts; Ignis Fatuus. ZOOLOGY--Scripture Animals; The Hart; The Roebuck; Fallow-Deer; Wild Goat; Pygarg; Wild Ox; Chamois; Unicorn; Wild a.s.s; Wild Goats of the Rock; Saphan, or Coney; Mouse; Porcupine; Jerboa; Mole; Bat.

BIRDS--Eagle; Ossifrage; Ospray; Vulture; Kite; Raven; Owl; Nighthawk; Cuckoo; Hawk; Little Owl; Cormorant; Great Owl; Swan; Pelican; Gier Eagle; Stork; Heron; Lapwing; Hoopoe. AMPHIBIA AND REPTILES--Serpents known to the Hebrews; Ephe; Chephir; Acshub; Pethen; Tzeboa; Tzimmaon; Tzepho; Kippos; Shephiphon; Shachal; Saraph, the Flying Serpent; c.o.c.katrice Eggs; The Scorpion; Sea-monsters, or Seals. FRUITS AND PLANTS--Vegetable Productions of Palestine; The Fig-tree; Palm; Olive; Cedars of Liba.n.u.s; Wild Grapes; Balsam of Aaron; Thorn of Christ.

Every one who writes on the Holy Land has occasion to regret that travellers in general have paid so little attention to its geological structure and natural productions. Maundrell, it is true, was not entirely dest.i.tute of physical science; but the few remarks which he makes are extremely vague and unconnected, and, not being expressed in the language of system, throw very little light on the researches of the natural philosopher or the geologist. Ha.s.selquist had more professional learning, and has accordingly contributed more than any of his predecessors to our acquaintance with Palestine, viewed in its relations to the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms. Still the reader of his Voyages and Travels in the Levant cannot fail to perceive, that some of the branches of natural knowledge, which are now cultivated with the greatest care, were in his day very little improved; and more especially, that they were deficient in accuracy of description and distinctness of arrangement. Dr. Clarke's observations are perhaps more scientific than those of the Swedish naturalist just named, and particularly in the departments of mineralogy and geology to which he had devoted a large share of his attention. But even in his works we look in vain for a satisfactory treatise on the mountain-rocks of Palestine, on the geognostic formation of that interesting part of Western Asia, or on the fossil treasures which its strata are understood to envelop. We are therefore reduced to the necessity of collecting from various authors, belonging to different countries and successive ages, the scattered notices which appear in their works, and of arranging them according to a plan most likely to suit the comprehension of the common reader.

SECTION I.--GEOLOGY.

At first view it would appear that the ridges of Palestine are all a ramification of Mount Taurus. But the proper Syrian chain begins on the south of Antioch, at the huge peak of Casius, which shoots up to the heavens its tapering summit, covered with thick forests. The same chain, under various names, follows the direction of the eastern sh.o.r.e of the Mediterranean, at no greater distance, generally speaking, than twenty-four miles from its waters. Mount Liba.n.u.s forms its most elevated summit. At length it is divided into two branches, of which the one looks westward to the sea, the other, which bounds the Plain of Damascus, verges in the direction of the desert and the banks of the Euphrates.

Hermon, whose lofty top condenses the moisture of the atmosphere, and gives rise to the dews so much celebrated in the Sacred Writings, stands between Heliopolis and the capital of Syria. The latter ridge received from the Greeks the denomination of Anti-Liba.n.u.s,--a name unknown among the natives, and which, being employed somewhat arbitrarily by historians and topographers, has occasioned considerable obscurity in their writings.

The hills in this part of Syria are composed of a calcareous rock having a whitish colour, is extremely hard, and which rings in the ear when smartly struck with a hammer. The same description applies to the ma.s.ses that surround Jerusalem, which on the one hand stretch to the River Jordan, and on the other extend to the Plain of Acre and Jaffa. Like all limestone strata, they present a great number of caverns, to which, as places of retreat, frequent allusion is made in the books of Samuel and of the Kings. There is one near Damascus, capable of containing four thousand men; and it must have been in a similar recess that David and his men encountered the ill-fated Saul when pursued by him on the hills of the wild goats.

The mountains that skirt the Valley of the Dead Sea present granite and those other rocks which, according to the system of Werner, characterize the oldest or primitive formation. Mount Sinai is a member of the same group, and exhibits mineral qualities of a similar nature, extending to a certain distance on both sides of the Arabian Gulf. It is probable that this region, at a remote epoch, was the theatre of immense volcanoes, the effects of which may still be traced along the banks of the Lower Jordan, and more especially in the lake itself. The warm baths at Tabaria show that the same cause still exists, although much restricted in its operation,--an inference which is amply confirmed by the lavas, the bitumen, and pumice which continue to be thrown ash.o.r.e by the waves of Asphalt.i.tes.

Dr. Clarke remarks, that in the neighborhood of Cana there are several basaltic appearances. The extremities of columns, prismatically formed, penetrated the surface of the soil, so as to render the path very rough and unpleasant. These marks of regular or of irregular crystallization generally denote, according to his opinion, the vicinity of water lying beneath their level. The traveller, having pa.s.sed over a series of successive plains, resembling in their gradation the order of a staircase, observes, as he descends to the inferior stratum upon which the water rests, that where rocks are disclosed the symptoms of crystallization have taken place, and then the prismatic configuration is commonly denoted basaltic. Such an appearance, therefore, in the approach to the Lake of Tiberias is only a parallel to similar phenomena exhibited by rocks near the Lakes of Locarno and Bolsenna in Italy, by those of the Wenner Lake in Sweden, by the bed of the Rhine near Cologne in Germany, by the Valley of Ronca in the territory of Verona, by the Pont de Bridon in the state of Venice, and by numerous other examples in the same country. A corresponding effect is produced on a small scale on the southern declivity, of Arthur Seat, near Edinburgh, where the hill overhangs the Lake of Duddingstone; and numerous other instances are known to occur in the islands which lie between the coast of Ireland and Norway, as well as Spain, Portugal, Arabia, and India.

When these crystals have obtained a certain regularity of structure, the form is often hexagonal, or six-sided, resembling particular kinds of spar, and the emerald. Patrin, during his travels in the deserts of Oriental Tartary, discovered when breaking the Asiatic emerald, if fresh taken from the matrix, not only the same alternate concave and convex fractures which sometimes characterize the horizontal fissures of basaltic pillars, but also the concentric layers which denote concretionary formation: It is hardly possible to have a more striking proof of coincidence, resulting from similarity of structure, in two substances otherwise remarkably distinguished from each other. In this state science remains at present, concerning an appearance in nature which exhibits nothing more than the common process of crystallization upon a larger scale than has usually excited attention. Suffice it to remark, that such a phenomenon is very frequent in the vicinity of very ancient lakes, in the bed of all considerable rivers, or by the borders of the ocean.[187]

In a country where there are so many traces of volcanic action, the rocks of the lower levels cannot fail to bear marks of their origin.

Ha.s.selquist relates, that the Hill of Tiberias, out of which issues the fountain whence the baths are supplied, consists of a black and brittle sulphurous stone, which is only to be found in large ma.s.ses in the neighborhood, though it is commonly met with in rolled specimens on the sh.o.r.es of the Dead Sea, and in other parts of the valley. The sediment deposited by the water is also black, as thick as paste, smells strongly of sulphur, and is covered with two skins or cuticles, of which the lower is of a fine dark-green, and the uppermost of a light rusty colour. At the mouth of the outlet, where the stream formed little cascades over the stones, the first cuticle alone was found, and so much resembled a conferva, that one might have taken it for a vegetable production; but nearer the river, where the current became stagnant, both skins were visible, the yellow on the surface, and under it the green.[188]

There are observed, in the same hollow, small portions of quartz incrusted with an impure salt, and nodules of clay extremely compact.

Near the edge of the valley there lie scattered on the sand considerable portions of flinty slate; and amid the common clay, which forms the basis of the soil, are perpendicular layers of a lamellated brown argil, a.s.suming, as it were, the slaty structure. Dr. Clarke noticed among the pebbles near the Lake of Tiberias pieces of a porous rock resembling the substance called toadstone in England; its cavities were filled with zeolite. Native gold was likewise found there, but the quant.i.ty was so small as not to draw from the travellers a suitable degree of attention.

The Vale of the Asphalt.i.tes is further remarkable for a species of limestone called the fetid, the smell of which, as its name imports, is extremely offensive. It is still manufactured in the East into amulets, and worn as a specific against the plague; and that a similar superst.i.tion existed in regard to this stone in very early ages is rendered manifest by the circ.u.mstance, that charms made of the same substance were found in the subterranean chambers under the pyramids of Sakhara in Upper Egypt. The cause of the fetid effluvia emitted from this rock, when partially decomposed by means of friction, is now known to be connected with the presence of sulphuretted hydrogen. All bituminous limestone, however, does not possess this property. It is not uncommon in the calcareous beds called in England black marble, but it is by no means their characteristic. The fragments obtained in the valley of the Jordan have this savour in a high degree; and it is admitted that the oriental limestone is more highly impregnated with hydrosulphuret than any hitherto found in Europe.[189]

According to Dr. Shaw, the upper strata of rocks on the hills along the coast are composed of a soft chalky substance, including a great variety of corals, sh.e.l.ls, and other marine exuviae. Upon the Castravan mountains, near Beirout, there is a singular bed, consisting likewise of a whitish stone, but of the slate-kind, which unfolds in every flake of it a great number and variety of fishes. These, for the most part, lie exceedingly flat and compressed, like the fossil specimens of fern; yet are, at the same time, so well preserved, that the smallest lineaments and fibres of their fins, scales, and other specific properties of structure are easily distinguished. Among these were some individuals of the squilla tribe, which, though one of the tenderest of the crustaceous family, had not suffered the least injury from pressure or friction. The heights of Carmel, too, present similar phenomena. In the chalky beds which surround its summit are gathered numerous hollow flints, lined in the inside with a variety of sparry matter, and having some resemblance to petrified fruit. These are commonly bestowed upon pilgrims, not only as curiosities, but as antidotes against several distempers. Those which bear a likeness to the olive, usually denominated "lapides Judaici," are looked upon, when dissolved in the juice of lemons, as an approved medicine for curing the stone and gravel,--a specific, we may presume; which, after the fas.h.i.+on of many others, operates upon the body through the power of the imagination.[190]

The miserable condition of ignorance and neglect into which every thing connected with industry has fallen under the Turkish government, prevents us from obtaining any information in regard to the mineral stores of that country, "whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayst dig bra.s.s." Volney indeed relates, that ores of the former metal abound, in the mountains of Kesraoun and of the Druses, in other words, in the extensive range of which Liba.n.u.s is the princ.i.p.al member. Every summer the inhabitants work those mines which are simply ochreous. There is a vague report in the district, that there was anciently a vein of copper near Aleppo, but it must have been long since abandoned. It was also mentioned to the traveller, when among the Druses, that a mineral was discovered which produced both lead and silver; though, as such a discovery would have ruined the whole district by attracting the attention of the Turks, they made haste to destroy every vestige of it. A similar feeling prevails respecting precious stones,--the branch of mineralogy which first gains the attention of a rude people. From the geological character of the Syrian mountains, there is no doubt that Palestine might boast of the topaz, the emerald, the chryso-beryl, several varieties of rock-crystal, and also of the finer jaspers. The Sacred Writings prove that the Jews were acquainted with a considerable variety of ornamental stones, as may be seen in the description of the mystical city in the book of Revelation, of which "the twelve gates were twelve pearls." But the present inhabitants of Canaan, regardless of the natural wealth with which the hills and the valleys abound, trust to violence for the means of luxury, and to the most unprincipled extortion and robbery for their accustomed revenue. From them, therefore, neither knowledge nor elegance can ever be expected to receive any attention.

SECTION II.--METEOROLOGY.

Under this head we include the usual properties of the atmosphere which minister to health and vegetation, for it has been justly remarked that Syria has three climates. The summits of Liba.n.u.s, for instance, covered with snow, diffuse a salubrious coolness in the interior; the flat situations, on the contrary, especially those which stretch along the line of the coast, are constantly subjected to heat, accompanied with great humidity; while the adjoining plains of the desert are scorched by the rays of a burning sun. The seasons and the productions, of course, undergo a corresponding variation. In the mountains the months of spring and summer very nearly coincide with those in the southern parts of Europe; and the winter, which lasts from November till March, is sharp and rigorous. No year pa.s.ses without snow, which often covers the surface of the ground to the depth of several feet during many weeks. The spring and autumn are agreeable, and the summer by no means oppressive. But in the plains, on the other hand, as soon as the sun has pa.s.sed the equator, a sudden transition takes place to an overpowering heat, which continues till October. To compensate for this, however, the winter is so temperate that orange-trees, dates, bananas, and other delicate fruits grow in the open field. Hence, we need hardly observe that a journey of a few hours carries the traveller through a succession of seasons, and allows him a choice of climate, varying from the mild temperature of France to the blood-heat of India, or the pinching cold of Russia.

The winds in Palestine, as in all countries which approach the tropics, are periodical, and governed in no small degree by the course of the sun.

About the autumnal equinox, the north-west begins to blow with frequency and strength. It renders the air dry, clear, and sharp; and it is remarkable that on the seacoast it causes the headache, like the north-east wind in Egypt. We may further observe, that it usually blows three days successively, like the south and south-east at the other equinox. It continues to prevail till November, that is, about fifty days, when it is followed by the west and south-west, called by the Arabs "the fathers of rain." In March arise the pernicious winds from the southern quarter, with the same circ.u.mstances as in Egypt; but they become feebler as we advance towards the north, and are much more supportable in the mountains than in the low country. Their duration at each return varies from twenty-four hours to three days. The easterly winds, which come next in order, continue till June, when they are commonly succeeded by an inconstant breeze from the north. At this season the wind s.h.i.+fts through all the points every day, pa.s.sing with the sun from east to south, and from south to west, to return by the north and recommence the same circuit. At this time, too, a local wind, called the land-breeze, prevails along the coast during the night; it springs up after sunset, lasts till the appearance of the solar orb in the morning, and extends only a few leagues to sea.