west from Gibeah, and two hours north of Jerusalem. Ramah was again inhabited after the exile; and in the days of Jerome was a small village. In the thirteenth century Brocardus speaks of it correctly as a village south of el-Bîreh, situated on a hill east of the road leading to Jerusalem. But notwithstanding this distinct notice, the place seems to have been again forgotten in monastic tradition for centuries; and of course is not mentioned by travellers. Cotovicus saw the spot, but held it to be Gibeah of Saul.3 Quaresmius speaks only of Ramah as at Neby Samwîl; and hence probably even the sharp-sighted Maundrell failed to notice er-Râm, and saw Ramah only at the prophet's tomb. Indeed, I have been able to find no further mention of er-Râm until the present century, and that only in one or two travellers."

3

Jeba', half an hour east of er-Râm, is not visible from it, on account of broad intervening swells of ground. We went out upon these hills half-way to Jeba', where we had a full view of both these villages, and examined the ground carefully in all directions, to see whether there might not be some ancient site between the two. But our search was fruitless; no trace of ruins or of substructions is anywhere to be seen; the surface of the ground being mostly covered with large rocks in their natural position. In consequence of this examination, I do not hesitate to regard

1) Ezra ii. 26. Neh. vii. 30. Hieron. Comm. in Zephan. i. 15, 16, "Rama et Bethoron et reliquae urbes nobiles a Salomone constructae parvi viculi demonstrantur."

2) Brocardus, c. VII. p. 178. Breydenbach copies Brocardus, Reissb. p. 128. Sir John Maundeville, (p. 105,) and William de Baldensel place Ramah somewhere north of Shiloh; p. 353. ed. Bas

nage.

3) Itin. p. 331. Fürer von Haimendorf speaks of it in A. D. 1566, and says it was called Ramula; p. 201. Nurnb. 1646.

4) Quaresm. II. p. 727. Doubdan, p. 489. Maundrell, Mar. 25th.

5) First apparently in Turner's Tour, II. p. 160. Neither Richardson, nor Scholz, nor Monro, nor Schubert, mention the name or place, although they passed on this

route.

Jeba' as the Gibeah of Saul. It was here that our guide, whom we took from er-Râm, told us of ruins lying eastward from Jeba'.'

We left er-Râm at 10 o'clock, and came in ten minutes to the Jerusalem road, at a place called Khŭrâib er-Râm, "Ruins of er-Râm,” on the West of the path, bearing from that place S. 55° W. Here are some eight or ten ruined arches in a line parallel to the road; and the foundations of as many more, parallel to these. They may probably have belonged to a large Khân for travellers and caravans. There are also several cisterns. Here we stopped nearly ten minutes, and then proceeded along the great road. The waters of this tract all run towards Wady Beit Hanîna. At 10 o'clock, near the foot of the ascent leading to the table-land north of Scopus, we passed the junction of the camel-road from Yâfa to Jerusalem, coming by elJîb; and just beyond, we came upon ancient substructions, large unhewn stones in low massive walls.

We now left the road again, in order to pass over the high Tell on the left, called Tuleil el-Fûl, “Hill of Beans," six or eight minutes from the path, with a large heap of stones upon it. We reached the top at 11 o'clock. There seems to have been here originally a square tower, fifty-six feet by forty-eight, built of large unhewn stones and apparently ancient; this has been thrown down; and the stones and rubbish falling outside, have assumed the form of a large pyramidal mound. No trace of other foundations is to be seen. The spot is sightly and commands a very extensive view of the country in all directions, especially towards the East; in this respect it is second only to Neby Samwil. We had hoped to find here ruins of such a nature, as might justify us in regarding this as the ancient Mizpeh; but I have already detailed the reasons 1) See above, p. 115.

which induce me, on the whole, to fix upon Neby Samwil as the probable site of that place.'

We remained here half an hour; and then at halfpast 11 o'clock descended, and regaining the road, proceeded across the high level tract. In fifteen minutes we were opposite Sha'fàt, a small village five minutes on the right, where the remains of an old wall are visible; and at five minutes past noon, we came upon the brow of Scopus, overlooking the Valley of Jehoshaphat and Jerusalem beyond. The view of the city from this spot is celebrated; here Titus first beheld it and admired the magnificence of its temple.2 The distance of this spot from the Damascus Gate is about twenty or twenty-five minutes.

We now turned to the left along the ridge, having continually fine views of the city, and searching everywhere for ruins which might be regarded as the site of Nob. We came at 12h 20′ to the 'Anâta road. Our search was without fruit; and afterwards in returning from Bethany, I traversed the ridge from the church of the Ascension northwards to the same spot, with the like ill-success. We now turned directly towards Jerusalem; and as we descended the Mount of Olives, the Khatîb sent off one of his men with the musket of the tribe along the side of the hill, not caring to have it seen within the city. We reached St. Stephen's Gate at 12h 40′; having lost about twenty minutes by the detour. Our friends we were happy to find all well; although the city was still filled with alarm.

Thus through the kind providence of God we had been preserved during a most interesting journey, through what has ever been considered the worst and 2) See above, Vol. I p. 407. 3) See more on Nob above, pp. 149, 150.

1) See above, p. 144.-From the Tell, er-Râm bore N. 10° E. Neby Samwil, N. 70° W. Jerusalem, S. 10° W.

most dangerous part of all Palestine,-as the retreat of robbers and outlaws ever since the most ancient times. Yet under the care of our Sheikh of the Ta'âmirah and his four men, we had not suffered the slightest let or hindrance; nor felt the slightest degree of insecurity, more than in Jerusalem itself. The Khatib had fulfilled his pledge, and had given us entire satisfaction. We were able to dismiss him likewise satisfied; and parted from him not without feelings of respect, and also of regret, at the idea of meeting him no more.1

With the two Mukârîyeh (drivers, muleteers) we had less reason to be satisfied. They were lazy and careless; as well as utterly indifferent to the welfare and accommodation of those, whom they had undertaken to serve. We of course had nothing to do with their subsistence; yet they took nothing with them, and contrived to spunge their meals out of us and our guides. Knowing the stern law of Bedawîn hospitality, that whoever is present at a meal must be invited to partake, whether there be little or much, they were impudent enough always to put themselves in the way of the guides, and thus deprive them of a part of their slender pittance. Indeed, the Mukârîyeh of Jerusalem are notorious for their insolence and bad faith; and we determined, so far as possible, to have nothing more to do with them.

1) I learn that the Missionaries have since kept up an acquaintance with Sheikh Muhammed, and have visited his people. He too has

shown himself faithful, and also grateful for various slight services, which they were able to do in his behalf.

SECTION XI.

FROM JERUSALEM TO GAZA AND HEBRON.

On returning from our eight days' excursion to the Dead Sea and Jordan, we found the plague slowly increasing in Jerusalem, and the alarm becoming more deep and general. The superior health-officer of the coast, from Beirût, had arrived; and there was reason to suppose that the city would soon be shut up, either by drawing a cordon of troops around it, or by closing the gates. The object of such a measure, in the true style of oriental despotism, is to hinder the spread of the plague among the villages, by cutting off all communication, and preventing the egress of persons from the city; the inhabitants of the latter being in this manner left, not only to suffer the actual horrors of the plague, but to see them aggravated among a population thus pent up in misery and filth, without fresh air, and without the ordinary supplies of fresh provisions from the country. Some of the other evils attendant on such a state of things, have already been alluded to.1

It had been our intention to remain some days in Jerusalem; and we had planned a short excursion to Bethany and St. Saba; and thence by way of the Frank Mountain and Bethlehem to St. John's in the Desert and Sôba. But the circumstances above detailed induced us to change our plan, and depart as

1) See above, Vol. I. p. 368.