experience, what the holy Psalmist means by the CHAP. V. dew of Hermon, our tents being as wet with it, as if it had rained all night.

But to return to the coast or border of the Holy Land. As that branch of mount Lebanon, which bounded the country beyond Jordan northward, was peculiarly called mount Hermon; so that other branch, which ran from mount Hermon southward, along the eastern coast of the country beyond Jordan, for a considerable way, namely, along the eastern coast of the half tribe of Manasseh, and great part of the tribe of Gad-this other branch or spur of mount Lebanon is in Scripture denoted by the name of mount Gilead, for the reason assigned Gen. xxxi. 48. and above spoken of, Part I. of the Geography of the Old Testament. Hence we read of some places lying in this tract or country, that were distinguished by the name of Gilead added to them, as Jabesh-Gilead, Ramoth-Gilead. It is also observable from Gen. xxxi. 49. that this mountain or mountainous country had also the name of Mizpah, or Mizpeh, imposed upon it. And hence we read of the Land of Mizpeh under mount Hermon, (Josh. xi. 3.) this being the same that is otherwise called the Land of Gilead, and so denoting the mountain and adjacent tract that lies next to mount Gilead, or Mizpah, and reaches up as far northward as mount Hermon. And on the same account I think it is not to be doubted, but that Ramath-Mizpeh (mentioned Josh. xiii. 26.) was no other than that city which in other parts of Scripture is called Ramoth-Gilead. Lastly, the word Gilead seems in some places of Scripture to denote, if not all, yet the greatest part of the country beyond Jordan, namely, all the half tribe of Manasseh, and the greatest part of the tribe of Gad.

36. Of mount

Gilead.

37.

But besides this mount Gilead on the east of the half tribe of Manasseh and the tribe of Gad, Of mount beyond Jordan, there is mention made (Judg. vii. 3.) of a mount Gilead, as lying west of Jordan in the

Gilead on the west of Jordan.

PART II. monk, in his Description of the Holy Land, chap. vii. makes mention of a mount Gilead, lying towards Jezreel, and so towards the mountains of Gilboa, which agrees well enough with the history of Gideon; in reference to which history, we shall speak more of this mount Gilead, supposed to lie on the west of Jordan.

coast of the

Holy Land.

38. In the south part of the country beyond Jordan On the lie the mountains, called in Scripture the mountains mountains of Abarim; part whereof was distinguished by the of the south names of mount Nebo and Pisgah: and of these I have spoken enough already; as also of mount Seir, lying to the south of Canaan, and inhabited by the posterity of Esau, or Edom. Beyond mount Seir westward runs a ridge of mountains, which part Canaan from Arabia, and which seems to be denoted in Scripture by the name of the mountain of the Amorites; some spurs or branches whereof run up northward to Hebron.

39.

Carmel.

On the western coast of the Holy Land, the Of mount only remarkable mountain is that of mount Carmel, lying on the sea-coast at the south end of the tribe of Asher, and frequently mentioned in Scripture. Mount Carmel is, as Thevenot tells us, ten miles from Acre, or Ptolemais. At the foot of it stands the village Cayphas, which was formerly a town. Here is a convent of bare-footed Carmelites, a sort of monks so named. Thevenot found here two French fathers, and an Italian brother, who had been twenty years there. They observe a very severe rule; for beside that they are removed from all worldly conversation, they neither eat flesh nor drink wine; and if they need it, they must go to another place. Nor do they suffer pilgrims to eat flesh in their convent; only they allow them to drink wine. This convent is not on the top of the mount, (where was once a very fine monastery, before the Christians lost the Holy Land, the ruins whereof are still to be seen); but it is a very little one, somewhat lower, and needs no more than three monks to fill it; who would have much ado to subsist, if they had not some alms given them by

the French merchants of Acre, that often go thi. CHAP. V. ther to their devotions. They have possessed this place thirty years, says Thevenot, since the time they were driven out of it, after that the Christians lost the Holy Land. It is the place where the prophet Elijah lived, and their church is the very grot, where some time he abode, which is very neatly cut out of the rock. From this convent they have an excellent prospect, especially towards the sea, where there are no bounds to their sight. About their convent they have a pretty hermitage, very well cultivated by the Italian brother, who has brought thither all the earth that is in it. And indeed it is very pleasant to see flowers and fruits growing upon a hill that is nothing but rock. Though the convent be very little, yet they have made a small, commodious, and very neat apartment for to lodge pilgrims; but they must not exceed the number of six. At a good league's distance from the convent is a well that the prophet Elijah is said to make spring out of the ground; and a little over it is another, said to be no less miraculous: the waters of both are very pleasant and good. The Arabs say, that all the while the monks were absent, after they had been driven hence, these wells yielded no water. Close by the last fountain are stately ruins of the convent of St. Brocard, who was sent thither by St. Albert, patriarch of Jerusalem, to reform the hermits that lived there without rule or community.

40.

lous.

Not far from thence is the garden of the stonemelons, concerning which they tell you, that Elijah Of the passing that way, desired a melon from a man that stone-mewas gathering some; who in contempt answered the Prophet, that they were stones, and not melons; whereupon all the melons were immediately turned into stones. Le Bruyn has obliged us with the figure of these melons in two forms, one melon being represented whole, the other opened in the middle. Le Bruyn tells us withal, that these stonemelons have the same shape on the outside as the

PART II. same cavities as in the true ones: they have also

41. Of other

mount Car

mel.

some smell, which is pretty pleasant. There are also to be seen (adds the same writer) capotonde, as the Italians call them, or stone-oysters; and also stone-olives.

Near to the convent are shewn the grots of the prophets Elijah and Elisha; there is also a third, particulars but it is walled up. Lower down towards the about foot of the mountain is the cave where the prophet Elijah instructed the people. It is all cut very smooth in the rock, both above and below; it is above twenty paces in length, fifteen in breadth, and very high; and I think, says Thevenot, that it is one of the finest grots that can be seen. The Turks have made a little mosque there. Mount Carmel, and all the country thereabouts, is commanded by a prince named Emir Tharabee, says Thevenot, who pays yearly to the Grand Seignior a tribute of twelve horses.

42.

Of the

other mountains

or hills of

the Holy Land.

43.

The conclusion.

As for mount Tabor, and the mount of the Beatitudes, and some other lying in the Holy Land, they have been already spoken of in my Geography of the New Testament. And as for mount Gilboah, I shall speak of it in the history of Saul ; and so what other mountains are worth taking notice of lying in the Holy Land, I shall speak of them, as they come in my way, following the series of the sacred history.

And thus I have in this chapter laid before the reader what I judged proper to take notice of to him, concerning the division of the land of Canaan, and the country beyond Jordan, among the twelve tribes of Israel; as also concerning the Levitical cities, and the cities of refuge; and lastly, concerning the mountains or hills lying round or within the Holy Land. And hereby I have brought the series of this my geographical undertaking as far as to the end of the book of Joshua. I shall now proceed to the geography of that part of the sacred history which is contained in the book of Judges.

1

CHAP. VI.

CHAPTER VI.

Of the remarkable Places mentioned in the Book of Judges, and not before spoken of.

1.

AFTER the death of Joshua, by the direction of God the men of Judah went up against the Ca- Of Bezek, naanites, and slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. Here they found Adonibezek, whose thumbs and great toes they cut off, he having treated (as himself confesses) threescore and ten kings after that barbarous manner; after which being brought to Jerusalem, there he died, Judg. i. 1-7. There is likewise mention made of Bezek, 1 Sam. xi. 8. as the place where Saul mustered the army, wherewith he gave the Ammonites a signal overthrow there related. These are the only two places of Scripture where Bezek is mentioned. And since Eusebius and Jerom tells us, that there were in their days two towns so called, and near one another, and distant seventeen miles from Neapolis or Sichem, as one goes down to Scythopolis or Bethshan; and since either of these places (which perhaps were both but one city in former times) was well enough situated for the army of Saul to muster at, in order to march to the succour of the men of Jabesh-Gilead; hence it may be probably enough thought, that the Bezek mentioned 1 Sam. xi. 8. stood here; and I see nothing of moment to hinder, but that the same might be the Bezek taken by the men of Judah in Judg. i. without supposing another Bezek to lie within the tribe of Judah.

In the remaining part of Judg. i. we have several places mentioned; but either such as are spoken of already, or will more fitly be spoken of hereafter, when we come to the passages of the sacred history, which have rendered them remarkable; or

2.

Of Bochim.