They say that it forms on the rock in the depths of the sea, and by earthquakes or other submarine concussions is broken off in large masses, and rises to the surface. A few miles north of these wells of Hasbeiya a new mine has been opened, not far from a village called Yahmûr. The shaft is sunk through hard rock, and the bitumen is found at different depths. It is actually semi-fluid, and exudes into the shaft from crevices in the rock strata.

Is bitumen ever mentioned in the Bible?

Very often, but under the name of pitch in our translation. I think it nearly certain that Noah pitched the ark within and without with a preparation of bitumen, although the Hebrew word in Genesis vi. 14 is not the ordinary Shemitic name for it. In the Septuagint, however, it is translated asphaltum. Very early after the Deluge, the immediate descendants of Noah were acquainted with, and used bitumen to bind together the bricks in building the Tower of Babel. This is still seen in some of the ruins of old Babylon. Some two or three hundred years later, we find that the people of Sodom were in the habit of digging bitumen "wells" like those below Hasbeiya. Our translation has it "slime-pits," but the Hebrew is the same that our Arab friends now employ for these wells-Biâret Hummar. It was probably an important article of merchandise, even at that early day, with Egypt, for the Egyptians employed it largely in embalming their dead. The mother of Moses also "daubed" her ark of bulrushes with slime and with pitch, as we have it, but in the Hebrew she bitumed it with bitumen, and tar or pitch.3 This is doubly interesting, as it reveals the process by which they prepared the bitumen. The mineral, as found in this country, melts readily enough by itself; but then, when cold, it is as brittle as glass. It must be mixed with tar while melting, and in that way it forms a hard, glassy wax, perfectly impervious to water. once covered the roof of a room that leaked like a sieve with such a preparation, spreading it on while the rain descended in torrents, and yet with perfect success. The basket of

1 Gen. xi. 3.

2 Gen. xiv. 10.

' Ex. ii. 3.

I

ARK OF BULRUSHES-WHIRLWIND.

337

bulrushes for the infant Moses, when thoroughly bitumed, was well adapted to the object for which it was made. Our translation of this passage is deficient in clearness. The bulrush-gomeh—is the Egyptian papyrus. Taboth-ark-is the Arabic word for coffin. Slime and pitch are bitumen and tar. The whole was made like a coffin, to deceive the watchful officers of government with the appearance of a funeral. This, too, would appeal more tenderly to the daughter of Pharaoh, and there is a sort of typical signification in it. The saviour of Israel was laid in a coffin, and taken from a watery grave. The Saviour of the world rose from a rock-sepulchre in Jerusalem.

This plain of Ijon has lately been rendered famous by a most extraordinary storm. It was on the 28th of December. Some friends of mine, from Hasbeiya, were coming down the hill by Kefr Keely, that village west of Matully, when one of them called their attention to tall columns of mist over the marsh of the Hûleh. They came this way very rapidly, and soon broke upon them with awful fury. Those of the party who were from Khyam, on the east side of this plain, fled homeward. My friends from H- were driven before the blast to Khureibeh, that little hamlet just north of us, and with difficulty escaped to it. Those who attempted to reach Khyam perished in the plain, although it is not more than two miles wide, and in full view of their houses. Thus ten men died in a few minutes from the mere chill of this wonderful wind. There was no snow, no frost, and not much rain, but the wind was perfectly awful, driving and upheaving every thing before it. These cold winds draw out all animal heat with amazing rapidity. Not only were these men chilled to death almost instantly, but eighty-five head of cattle also perished before they could be brought to the village. The inhabitants have no tradition of a similar catastrophe. People often perish in snowstorms on the mountains, and on the vast desert of the Hauran, but it was never known before that a mere wind, and that down on this low plain, could chill people to death. The storm scattered and dispersed in various directions. It VOL. I.-P

did much mischief here on the hills of Naphtali, and over yonder on the Jaulan several people perished by it, and many cattle. It was felt along the sea-board; and I myself caught a violent cold riding from Beirût to Sidon on that day. I examined into the accuracy of these facts on the ground, and know them to be true. My Hasbāny friend, who is a sort of traveling merchant, sold the shrouds of the victims, and saw nine of them buried the next morning. I have often felt the extreme power of these winds to cool down the vital heat of the body, but never encountered any thing like this. It reminds one of David's horrible tempests.

This Ijon is a very fertile plain, and, when clothed with golden harvests, it must be charming. And here are the cascades you spoke of, I suppose.

Yes; and by a singular succession of them, the stream leaps down to the level of Abel, and is there joined by the Ruahîny, which you can see bursting out at the base of the western mountain. Those cliffs are covered for a long distance by the ruins of an extremely old town, for which I can get no other name than that of the fountain. The whole distance around and south of it is also called Ard er Ruahiny. Let us now incline to the northeast to visit the artificial caves and tombs called Serada, which are at the southern termination of that rock ridge of Khyam. I had another object in making this detour. You must know that the Hûleh is my pet lake-under my special protection. I am self-constituted cicerone, and jealous of her reputation. By right of office, I maintain that the Hûleh is unrivaled in beauty, no matter when or from what point beheld. From the distant heights of Hermon, the hills of Naphtali, the plain of Ijon, or the groves of Banias, in mid-winter or midsummer, in the evening or in the morning-Stop just where you are. There lies the Hûleh like a vast carpet, with patterns of every shade, and shape, and size, thrown down in Nature's most bewitching negligence, and laced all over with countless streams of liquid light. Those laughing brooks of the Hûleh, in straight lines drawn and parallel,

HULEH-SERADA-HASBANY.

339

or retreating behind clumps of nodding shrubbery, in graceful curves, to tie up love-knots in sport; here weaving silver tissue into cunning complications, there expanding into full-faced mirrors. The Arab tent is there, and the warhorse, with his wild rider. The plain is clothed with flocks, and herds of black buffalo bathe in the pools. The lake is alive with fowls, the trees with birds, and the air with bees. At all times fair, but fairest of all in early spring and at eventide, when golden sunlight, through many a mile of warm ethereal amber, fades out into the fathomless blue of heaven. Such is the Hûleh: behold, it is very good; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.'

But here we are at the caves of Serada. They are now used to store away grain and tibn (chaff), and to shelter the herds of these miserable Arabs. Serada was once a large town, and inhabited by people who took a pride in rock tombs for their dead. They were probably Phoenicians, for their sepulchres are exactly like those of Tyre and Sidon. Besides these, there is nothing to detain us, and we may pursue our journey. It is an hour from this to the Hasbāny at El Ghujar, by a blind path over and among boulders of black lava. On this side of the river is the small Arab village Luisa, and below it are large fountains called Luisany, which add greatly to the size of the Hasbany. The channel of the river is one of the curiosities of this region. During the countless ages of the past, it has cut a tortuous canal through the hard lava at least two hundred feet deep, and in many places the distance from bank to bank is not much greater.

This, then, is the most distant branch of the Jordan. It is really a respectable stream even here, and the only one I ever saw in such a dark volcanic gorge; beautifully adorned, too, with oleanders, willows, and sycamores, and alive with fish. Altogether, I am not disappointed in it. Is it fact, or a mere fancy of mine, that these people of El Ghujar have a physiognomy quite peculiar, and so unlike the Arabs as to indicate a different origin?

Judg. xviii. 10.

They are Nusairîeh, and there are but two other villages of them in this part of the country. The great body of this tribe reside in the mountains above Tortosa, Mulkŭb, Jebile, and Ladakîyeh. There are many of them also in Antioch, and they spread around the northeast end of the Mediterranean toward Tarsus and Adana. It is impossible to ascertain their number, but they have more than a thousand villages and hamlets, and have been estimated as high as two hundred thousand. I have repeatedly traveled among them, and coincide in the general verdict rendered against them by those best acquainted with their character. They are the most ignorant, debased, and treacherous race in the country. Their religion is a profound secret, but is believed to be more infamous than even their external morals. The skill with which they evade any approximation toward a disclosure of their religious mysteries always excited my astonishment. My party and I once stopped to rest under the shadow of a great rock between Jebile and Ladakîyeh, and, while quietly taking lunch, a company of these people came up. Their sheikh, learning from the muleteers that one of us was a doctor, made very earnest and respectful applications for medicine. While the hakim was preparing it, I began with the old man, gradually and very cautiously approaching the delicate subject of his religion. As the questions came more and more directly to the point, he grew restive, and fearing that he would decamp even without the coveted medicine, I cut right across to the matter in hand by asking him what sort of people inhabited the mountains above us.

Oh! they are fellaheen.

I know that very well; but what is their religion? (This, you are already aware, is the first question in this country.)

Religion! said he; what need have fellaheen of religion? Certainly, every body has some sort of religion, and so have you, I am sure. What is it?

What prophet do you love?

Whom do you follow?

We rather love Ali; but whom do you follow ?