Jericho to the Jordan.—The distance from Jericho to the banks of the Jordan is about 1 ½ h. The bathing-place of the Latin pilgrims is nearly due E., beside the ruined convent of St. John, now called Kusr el Yehud, “the Jews’ Castle.” That of the Greeks is lower down, and is the one usually visited by travellers. We shall make a slight détour, so as to take in an ancient site, and as the road is good we can make up for it by a canter across the plain.

Beth-hoglah, now ’Ain Hajla.—Setting out from Rîha in a S.E. direction,and passing over fruitful but neglected fields, we reach in 20 min. some foundations of hewn stones, and we observe, ½ m. to the S., a low mound, also covered with ruins. These are probably the remains of convents, which we know formerly stood in the plain; perhaps one of them may be that mentioned by Arculf as occupying the site of Gilgal. In 40 min. more we reach Kusr Hajle, another old convent in better preservation. It takes its name from ’Ain Hajla, a large fountain, a mile to the N.E., to which we now turn, as it marks the site of Beth-hoglah—a place on the boundary line between Judah and Benjamin. The line commenced near the mouth of the Jordan, and, passing Beth-hoglah, went up through the mountains to En-Shemesh, and thence to En-Rogel, in the valley of Hinnom (Josh. xv. 5, 6). `Ain Hajla is surrounded by a wall of solid masonry, and sends forth a stream which irrigates even yet, neglected as it is, a large section of the plain. From hence we gallop across the smooth plain to the Jordan, encountering as we approach the river low thorny shrubs, growing singly and in patches. Both the river and its glen are hid from view until we actually stand upon the high bank, and then we suddenly look down into a deep valley—its sides sprinkled with bushes, which become thicker and thicker, until in the centre they form one dense unbroken line of foliage. Still the river does not appear. We spur our horses along the narrow tortuous paths that here wind through the shrubbery, and at last draw up on a clear spot, all trampled and broken, where we see the Jordan rushing along at our feet —suddenly appearing from the thicket above, and as suddenly disappearing into it below, not more than 100 yards of it being visible.

The Jordan flows through a tortuous glen, varying from 200 to 600 yds. in breadth, and from 50 to 80 ft. in depth below the surrounding plain. The sides of the glen are abrupt and broken, composed of marl and clay, intermixed with some strata of limestone. The bottom is smooth, and sprinkled here and there with shrubs, which become thicker toward the centre. The banks of the river are fringed with broad belts of tamarisk, oleander, and willow, among which reeds and underwood spring up so as to form impenetrable jungles—secure dens for the wild-boar and the leopard, and occasionally for the Bedawy robber. The river flows between deep banks of clay, and in size and appearance is not unlike the Tiber at Rome, though more rapid. Its breadth is here from 80 to 100 ft.; in several places, however, higher up, it spreads out to 150 ft. or more, and the depth is often from 10 to 12.

In describing the passage of the Israelites it is said in Scripture that the “Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest; but the meaning of the Hebrew simply is that the river “was filled up to all its banks "'—that is, its proper channel was then full, “Thus understood,” Dr. Robinson rightly observes, “the Biblical account corresponds entirely to what we find to be the case at the present day. The Israelites crossed the Jordan 4 days before the Passover (Easter). Then, as now, the harvest occurred during April and early in May, the barley preceding the wheat harvest by 2 or 3 weeks. Then, as now, there was a slight annual rise of the river which caused it to flow at this season with full banks, and sometimes to spread its waters even over the immediate banks of its channel, where they are lowest, so as in some places to fill the low tract covered with trees and vegetation along its side.” The precise spot where the Israelites crossed it is now impossible to determine. No argument can be grounded on the state of the present alluvial banks; for every one knows how apt such banks are to change their form, and even their place. The waters which came down the valley, we are informed, “ stood and rose up in a heap,” while those toward the sea “flowed off,” so that the vast multitude most probably crossed the dry channel in a broad line, extending over several miles. All we know definitely as to the place is, that they passed over “right against Jericho.” The traveller, as he sits beneath the willows on the Jordan’s banks, will read with new interest the account of this wonderful event as recorded in Joshua ili. and iv. ...