period.
and Dead Sea, its River Jordan, Mount of Olives, and
Gallilee Lake, and a hundred other features of its
prototype of Asia.
Through the western base of the mountains extends the canon, the two sides of which are serrated by a narrow stream, which along the last five miles flings itself from one side to the other a score or two of times, in places tumbling over bowlders, again quietly threading its way over a pebbly bottom, but every- where cutting up the narrow and rugged gorge so as to make it most difficult and dangerous of passage.
The primeval silence is now broken; the primeval songs are now disturbed by sounds strange to the surrounding hills, accustomed only to the music of running water and the notes of birds and wild beasts. There is the rumbling of the caravan as it conies slowly picking its way down the dark ravine, the tramping of the horses upon the hard ground, and the grinding of the wheels among the rocks as they plunge down one bank and climb another, or thread their way along the narrow ledge overhanging an abyss, the songs of Israel meanwhile being heard, and midst the cracking of whips the shouts now and then breaking forth of a leader in Israel awe-struck by the grandeur of the scene, " Hosanna to the Lord ! hosanna to the creator of all I hallelujah! hallelujah!"
Emerging from the ravine upon a bench or terrace, they behold the lighted valley, the land of promise, the place of long seeking which shall prove a place of rest, a spot whereon to plant the new Jerusalem, a spot of rare and sacred beauty. Behind them and on either hand majestic mountains rear their proud fronts heavenward, while far before them the vista opens. Over the broad plain, through the clear thin air, bathed in purple sunlight, are seen the bright waters of the lake, dotted with islands and bordered by glistening sands, the winding river, and along the creek the broad patches of green cane which look like wavincr corn. Kaisins: their hats in reverence
