MR. J. H. PARKERS TOUR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 5, 7 January 1903, Page 4

MR. J. H. PARKERS TOUR.

(Continued.) j Passing along the plaiu we ha 4 I • fine view of the place of sacri- t fice on Carmel with Jekneira of t Oarmel, where the prophet Eli is , dwelt when the Shunemiies came ( to him to raise her s in. We parsed in i sucreesion Bdthlehem of the Gentiles, Simonias, Malul and Jaffiof Nzireth on our left, i ha heme of the foes of. -• Zebedee. Above the Tillage of Jingar we got out of the landau, and had a churning view cf the Plain if Esdraelon. On the extreme right was 'the plico of sacrifics on Mount Carmel, with a amail chap 1 to nmk the spot. In front the end of the Catm 1 Range, theo ta the left is Jenin, in Samaria, and the sourc: of the Kishon. On the south could be distinctly seen Fuleh and Affuleh. Between the two cities, on a plateiu in tli3 mountain beyond, is Jezreel and Mount Gilboa to the east, with a bold headland falling rapidly to the Jordan, and the Plain of Jezreel en - the northern side. G id ton's Spring is just to the east cf Jezreel at the foot of the Mount cf Gilb a. Here the 300 men who hpp'd water ss dogs were cho eu out if 10,000 en en to fight the battle of the Lord against tha Midianitei otid Atnaleki'es. The mountains of Giiaul fill up the background to the south- s\ Little Hermon stands iu tbe miudle cf the Pluaof Ea-.ieloL lockiig from where we stood, with Shunem at the western foot, and Main on the northern slope. Moun', Tabor is dus east, and the Mount of Precipitation between us and Tabor. VVbata panorama ! Whit a g'l'xy of names! How the mind is electrfied by the rush of memories connected with th-is* sacred p'aca?. Wo pawed shng-dde Jafl'i of Nzireth on-1 a vey fine orchard od o'K righ', a.ru' 1< If a iai!> distant. Shortly affc.r noon wo >civ comfortably seated in th» Ho'e'G»rmania a Nzireth, when w< iutc.hod. While we wtre here a Turkish officii! called to examiue our passports. Our dragoman endoavonrei to put, him off by assuring him that all but the wily Turk was too kuowing; he must see the parties and the documents himatlf. As a matter of fact we had no passports, so we had to square the matter as best we could. Result - two francs backsheesh. After a rest of two houra we started again at 1.45 p.m. for the Tibereas. In about twenty minu'e3 we passed Sephoris, the home af the parents of the B'essed Tirgin, remarkable for the beauty of its situation. Tbe nex v . place was Reioa, the purest Oriental village we had yet seen, as there was absolutely no appearance of medern civilization. A Roman rercephagus was use! at the well for a water trough. Flowers grow in great profusion on the mountains about Nzareth. The road as we approached Kefr Kenna, or Cana of Galilee, was,-I thick, the wcrst we saw in all our travels. We were compelled to walk for a considerable distance, as the flood water in the rainy season had apparently rushed in torrents down tbe road, and if there had ever been any attempt at formation, had washed it away, leaving broken stone of all sizes, large, and small, but principally largely ■trewn on the surface of the living reck. JrtrCtna of Galilee we saw what was stated to be one of the original waterpots in the Greek Church, We visited the Church of Saints Nathaniel and Bartholomew. We went inside the church of the. wedding feast, where we saw in a crypt under the church astoae vessel on a pedestal with the following inscription: " Vera image colonisusis ' bydriae. Hie erant sex hydriae pesitie." On the left of the altar, " Haurite mine et ferte architriclino "; and on tbe right, " Implete bydriae aqua." We eaw also the ancient walls of the church, built by St. Helena, and a piece of mosaic, which was probably ou the original floor of the church. Here may be s'.en not on'y the ancient walls referi ed to, but those of a more modern church, and of one cow being built. About a quarter of an hour after leav- - irg Cana of Galilee we entered the Plain cf ZebuloD. At some distance on our right we passed Eabu Luhuh at the north-east end of the Plain of Esdiatloc. Here aro considerable ruin? of the times cf the crusades. Fiom the scu'h of the Horns uf Hattim, supposed to be the Mount of B ;atitud?, where our Lord preaebtd the termcxn on the mount, there is a lovely view rf the Plain of Hattim and 'he Mountain of Moat. Tbe Plain of Hahim is a charming eight as" it slopes westward ■ from the edge of the Jord .n Valley; it is covered with a gorgeous carpet of . 'green with white blue crimson yellow aid purple flowers. On tbe mountains

and sin >ll plains from Nzareth to the Jordiu Valley flowers grow in great profusion. Io some places there are large patches taken possession of by one kind of flowe s, and seen from a distance nothicg appears but the colour of the flowers. We have never in any nursery or garden seen euch a profusion of flowers as we saw on the mountains or plains of G ililes. We were told on Mount Carmel that a German botanist had been staying at the monastery, an i • th>the had catalogued 1200 varieties 1 of wild fl >wers on Mount Carmel alone, 1-.nd he had not exhausted the subject. (To be continued.)