which, projecting into the Mediterranean Sea, rendered the city extremely strong, and very difficult of attack, especially on the land side.

"The modern name of Dor is Tortoura. It consists of a single street opposite to the sea. A market is held here, to which the Arabs bring their booty, and the neighbouring peasants their cattle and fruits; these they barter for rice, and linens, brought from Egypt in small craft, because the port which is before this town has not depth of water for large vessels. There is no mosque in the place. The inhabitants assemble on a platform, raised about two feet, and walled round, where they perform their worship. The coffee house is the handsomest building and the most frequented in the town. Water that is drinkable would be absolutely wanting in Tortoura, were there not a fountain, ten or twelve feet in the sea, issuing from a rock, which, when the sea is high, is covered with waves. Not but that there are other springs in different places adjacent, but they are brackish; and none of them supplies this necessary article of life like the spring from the rock. The neighbourhood is bare and void of trees, but produces grain."-D'ARVIEUX.

"Tortoura is a small village, consisting of not more than forty or fifty dwellings, without a mosque, but having a khan for the accommodation of travellers, and a small port, formed by a range of rocky islets at a short distance from the sandy beach. It has a ruined building on the north, which we were told was called by Franks the Accursed Tower;' but our informant could assign no reason for such a forbidding name. In Arabic it is merely called Old Castle.'

"In its present condition, Tortoura is so far fallen from its former consequence as scarcely to present by its ruins an idea of its extent or strength, in its original state, though it is not entirely desolate. Its present inhabitants, perhaps five hundred in number, are all Mohammedan, and are governed by a sheikh, who

This

received us at the khan, and bade us enter. building was divided into four compartments by three arcades, and had its flat roof covered by boughs of trees plastered over on the top. We found a clean mat, and shelter for ourselves and our beasts; and the man in attendance furnished us with fire-wood, which was all we needed, as we had rice and bread with us." -See BUCKINGHAM's Travels in Palestine, vol. i. pp. 192, 195, 196.

MOUNT CARMEL.

SCRIPTURE NOTICES.

"Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal . . . And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea... -1 Kings xviii. 19, 42, 43. (See whole chapter.)

"So she went, and came unto the man of God (Elisha) to Mount Carmel.”—2 Kings iv. 25.

". . . The forest of his Carmel.”—2 Kings xix. 23. Isaiah xxxvii. 24.

"Thine head upon thee is like Carmel."-Canticles, vii. 5.

“The earth mourneth and languisheth . . . Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits."-Isaiah xxxiii. 9. "The excellency of Carmel and Sharon . . ."-Isaiah XXXV. 2. (See whole passage.)

“As I live, saith the King, whole name is the Lord of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come."-Jeremiah xlvi. 18.

"And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan. . .”—Jer. 1. 19. "The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter his voice

from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither."Amos i. 2.

"And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence. . .” -Amos ix. 3.

"Bashan languisheth, and Carmel... ."-Nahum i. 4. [2 Kings ii. 25; 2 Chron. xxvi. 10.]

Mount Carmel is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. Its ancient beauty is there often noticed.

We read of the excellency' of Carmel; and in the Song of Solomon, where the spiritual graces of the Christian

1 The name Carmel means " excellent vineyard," "vineyard of God;" also "harvest," "full ears of corn."

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Church are set forth under the similitude of natural beauties, we find her glory and dignity likened to the majesty of Carmel.

The prosperity or adversity of Israel is also represented by the fruitfulness or barrenness of Carmel. Thus, when foretelling God's judgments upon their nation, the prophets speak of Carmel as shaking off her fruits, as languishing and withering; whilst future blessings were promised under the figure of a flock feeding peacefully on its goodly pastures.

In order to form an idea of the effect which such words would produce on an Israelite, we must bear in mind that almost every natural object around him was rendered sacred by its connexion with some miracle or deliverance which God had wrought for his people through the instrumentality of their prophets and kings.

Such wonders had been worked on Carmel; and when the prophet pointed to its goodly top and fruitful sides, (for it was the finest mountain in all Palestine,) and bade the people picture it to themselves barren and desolate, with what fearful force would the prophecy come home to them, that as they had been like Carmel in glory, so should they be like Carmel cursed.

And when, a captive in a distant land, the afflicted Jew thought of his home and his country, and remembered Carmel, and the peaceful flocks feeding on its sides, how cheering would he find the promise, that he should return again to his habitation, and rest and feed on Carmel !

Carmel signifies the vineyard; and Jerome informs us, that this mountain had good pastures. Here king Uzziah had vinedressers and husbandmen, " for he loved husbandry." Carmel is likewise said to mean plantations, bushy shrubberies, which there is sufficient proof formerly covered this mountain. The name Carmel is sometimes given to places planted with vines and fruittrees, and remarkable for fertility.

"This mountain, the boundary of the possessions of Asher westward,' forms one of the most remarkable headlands on the whole coast of the Mediterranean. Although mentioned as a single mountain in the Scriptures, it is a straight and regular mountainous ridge, extending from eight or ten to fifteen miles from southeast to north-west-while to its more elevated part, which rises in the form of a flattened cone, and is about fifteen hundred feet in height, the name Mount Carmel is commonly applied by way of eminence. The river Kishon falls into the Mediterranean on the north side of Carmel."

"At its north end," writes Mr. Paxton, "it forms an abrupt termination in a bold promontory (advancing considerably into the sea). On the top of this promontory, and near the end, is a monastery, which has an imposing appearance, but I could see no other human habitation near it. At the distance of eight or nine miles from the promontory, the ridge called Carmel suddenly sinks down, and gives place to a wide-spread plain (the celebrated plain of Sharon). Near the south end of the mountain, they point out on the shore the site of the famous city of Cæsarea .

"There is a plain of varied width between Carmel and the shore. It is almost wholly destitute of trees, hardly a bush to be seen, unless of a very small size. The plain varies in width from one to two miles. Much of it was covered with sand. I saw no human being, or human habitation on it, except a few old ruins."

"The excellency of Carmel has almost passed away, and the prophet's curse has fallen upon it,—and the top of Carmel has withered. Its steep sides are often barren and desolate yet not so desolate as some have alleged. Wild vines and olives (showing that it had formerly been cultivated) are met with among the brambles,— and oaks, and pines, and even some cedars grow,—to

Josh. xix 26.