Pen Pictures of the Holy Land. V

402 IMPBO VEMENT ERA . ing part of the year, runs a little brook, supposed to be the brook Cherith, where the Prophet Elisha was fed by the ravens. The cliffs rise sheer and steep, and seem anything but a desirable place for a human dwelling. Here and there, however, can be seen the mouths of caves where curious old hermits and anchorites, after for- saking the sins and foibles of the world, lived in meditation and soli- tude. Nor has this asceticism yet ceased. Half way up one side of the cliff, reached only by a steep, winding path, is the convent of St. George, a Greek monastery or sort of penitentiary for devout priests who desire to shut themselves off from the world. A four hours' ride brought us at last to the valley of the Jordan. Off to the north could be seen a high, bare hill called the Mount of Temptation, for it is the traditional site of Satan's temptation of Christ. A field glass reveals the presence of another monastery on its slope. As we approached the Dead Sea, the ground became covered with a sparse growth of gnarled, dwarfed brush, the only form of vegetation immediately around this famous body of water. The sea lies twelve hundred and ninety-two feet below the level of the Mediterranean, and is the lowest body of water in the world. Only forty-seven miles long and ten miles wide, it is, therefore, only about one fourth as large as great Salt Lake. It has more solid matter in solution, however, the amount varying from twenty-four to twenty-six per cent. The temptation to compare bathing in the Dead Sea with the same sport in our own salt sea at home proved too strong for us. We found that our feet had the same irresistible tendency to go up, and our heads down. It was in obedience to this impulse that I learned another difference between the two lakes. While my head was under water, and I THE CONTENT OF ST. OEORGE.

PEN PICTURES OF THE HOLY LAND. 403 was unintentionally helping on evaporation to the extent of three or four pints, I discovered that the water was infinitely more bitter than that of Great Salt Lake. The most skilled doctors could hardly mix up a more nauseous concoction than that water — I learned afterwards it was due to a large percentage of chloride of magnesium — and the taste lasted nearly the rest of the day. We were indeed glad to get up to the Jordan river and wash the salt off our faces, even if the water was muddy. The river where we saw it — three miles from the mouth — is one hundred feet wide, very muddy and swift, and is fringed on each bank with a thick growth of willows. Its source is really near Mt. Lebanon, but it is generally considered only as the outlet of the sea of Galilee into the Dead Sea. (To digress a moment, did the reader ever think of the great similarity between the Jordan of Palestine and Utah's river of the same name? Each rises in a fresh water lake, and they flow, in a remarkably similar manner, Jnto a salt sea.) Now, as in ancient times, the stream is crossed only by a few fords. The Jordan was closely connected with Old Testament history, but it was as the stream in which Christ was baptized that it attained its greatest fame. The exact location of Bethabara, where the baptism took place, is not known at present. Every spring, pilgrims come from long distances to bathe in the Jordan, and its waters are held in great esteem, particularly for ■ nmmni ,y>-«»- THE MOUNT OF TEMPTATION

baptismal purposes; in fact, an American company has recently been organized for the express purpose of shipping water from it to the United States. Interesting as these places had been, Jericho proved even more so. The present village — for that is all it is — lies on a differ- ent site from the Roman city which stood at the time of Christ, while the old Israelitish town occupied still another place. It was at Jericho that Christ dined with Zaccheus, a Publican who was so small of stature that he could not see the Savior in the crowd, so THE RIVER JORDAN. climbed a nearby tree, and in this position was informed by Christ that they would eat together that night. As no excava- tions have been made on the site of the Roman town, nothing con- nected with this incident was pointed out to us. Our greatest interest was attracted by the oldest Jericho — the city captured, destroyed, and rebuilt by the Israelites. The old town walls, the houses and other buildings, utensils and imple- ments, and weapons, have all been brought to light in the excava- tions which have been made here in recent years. All this con- stitutes important evidence as to the truth or falsity of the Bible, and it is gratifying to learn that, so far at least, it corroborates the scriptural account at practically every point. To gaze on the old city, left very much as it was when the

PEN PICTURES OF THE HOLY LAND. 405 people of Israel, of whom I had read so much, lived there, was a most interesting experience. It seemed to put the Bible in a new light, to endow its characters with new interest, to make the Good Book more real and appealing. But the narrow, crooked streets and the structure of the houses were only too good proofs of some- thing else — the awful sanitary conditions which must have existed. To live among the prophets, warriors and heroes of the Old Testa- All the photos by the Author. EXCAVATIONS AT JERICHO. ment would have been delightful, but to live in the days of sanita- tion, science and knowledge, is infinitely better. So I came away from Jericho rejoicing that I was a child of the twentieth century. University of Utah. ( TO BE CONTINUED.) Ii WE WORK upon marble, it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds, if we imbue them with principles, with the just fear of God and love of our fellow men, we engrave upon those tablets something which will brighten to all eternity. — Daniel Webster.

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