"Our ride from Nazareth had given us a good appetite, and we were quite ready for the lunch which Ali brought for us in his saddle-bags. While engaged in satisfying our hunger we enjoyed the view from the summit of the mountain; it includes Hermon and Carmel—the latter almost hiding the thin strip of the Mediterranean, and itself partly concealed by the nearer ranges of hills. Looking to the east we saw a part of the Lake of Tiberias, and beyond it the chain of the Hauran Mountains; and, as we turned toward the southern horizon, the guide pointed out the mountains of Gilead. Apparently at our feet was the Plain of Esdraelon, with its ancient battle-fields, and on the hills around us were Endor, Nain, and half a dozen other villages of less importance. The deep Valley of the Jordan was revealed for a considerable distance, and we realized more than ever before how great is the depression where the river flows. The top of Tabor is more than two thousand feet above the level of the Mediterranean, while the surface of the lake is six hundred and forty feet below it. Consequently, we looked down nearly two thousand seven hundred feet to the waters on whose banks we were to pass the night.
"While descending Mount Tabor we disturbed several partridges and other birds, and one of us thought we had a glimpse of a fox darting among the trees. The guide said there were several kinds of game here, but nobody paid much attention to it, since it was not easy to get at. The Arabs sometimes catch hares and partridges in traps, but the foxes are too cunning to be taken in that way.
"Down and down we went, and from Tabor to Tiberias it was a descending road the most of the way. We passed the Khan el-Tujar, or Caravansary of the Merchants, which is very much in ruins, but was evidently a strong place at the time of its erection, three hundred years ago. It was built by the Pacha of Damascus for the protection of the merchants from the robbers, who frequently plundered the caravans and made the road dangerous. A market is held here once a week, and the people from Tiberias, Nazareth, and other places in the neighborhood come to sell their wares, but we could not learn that they had much to sell.
DISTANT VIEW OF KEFR KENNA.
"Cana of Galilee, where the water was turned into wine, is off our road, and we had to be satisfied with the indication of its position. It is now called Kefr Kenna, and has a population of five or six hundred, half of whom are Moslems and the rest Greek Christians. The Greeks have a church in which they show one of the jars or water-pots in which the miracle was performed. There is another Kenna or Cana between Nazareth and Mount Carmel, and some authorities think it was the scene of the miracle, and not the one we have been talking about.
THE CITY AND LAKE OF TIBERIAS.