across the fields to the center of the mouth of the valley, where, nearly due north of the well, there is a square space, surrounded by high, plastered, whitewashed stone walls. We dismounted, and, passing one by one through a narrow opening, we stood within the inclosure. In the center is a clumsy-looking tomb, about three feet high and six feet long. The top terminates in a bluntly-pointed ridge. At the head and at the foot a rude stone pillar, the same hight as the tomb, is set up on the floor. There are many niches in the walls for small lamps, and they are lighted during certain festivals, and by devotees on particular occasions. The walls are almost covered with inscriptions in Hebrew, Samaritan, and Arabic; some, which were deeply engraved, seem to have been written more than two hundred years ago. Modern European travelers, too, have left their names there. This is supposed to be the tomb of Joseph. It is recorded that when he was on his death-bed he exacted a promise from his sons that they would carry him into the land given to Abraham and his seed forever. So, when he died, "they embalmed him, and put him in a coffin in Egypt." And again it is written, "The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph." A vine was trailing over the northern wall, and I gathered a few of its tender leaves and tendrils; and the wild campion, white and red, flourished round the tomb.
We then rode toward Nablûs up the middle of the valley. Clouds were gathering in the west over the sea, all tinged with ruddy golden light from the setting sun. A small tower on Mount Gerizim marks the spot where the Feast of the Passover is kept and the Paschal Lamb slain. As we approached the town we saw a large concourse of Moslem boys playing at hockey, or some similar game, on a broad, smooth plot of ground just outside the
