is now sheikh of the village, and it is his policy to be very polite to Frank travelers.
We rested for a little while on the step of the church door. A group of women were drawing water from a well. We watched them as they walked one after the other toward the village, with the replenished jars poised perfectly on their heads. Herds of cattle and flocks of goats on the surrounding hills, richly-cultivated orchards and vineyards, and a few palm-trees, proclaimed this little village rich and flourishing. It is now called Kuryet el-Enab, "village of grapes," the ancient Kirjath-Jearim probably.
A few hills more or less difficult were traversed. One, which seemed only fit for goats and conies to ramble over, ee descended on foot, sliding over slabs of stone as smooth as polished marble, and leaping from rock to rock, over thorns and briers, till I was tired, and glad to mount again. Then we came to a pleasant terraced road, made on the slope of a hill, looking down into a fertile valley, where an Arab village has risen on the site of an ancient Roman colony, the record of which is preserved in the modern name Kolônieh. Traces of an amphitheater and fortifications were pointed out to me. We crossed to the opposite side of the valley, and pursued our way along a rocky ledge, till we came to a spring of living water, gushing from a rock above into a trough, which overflowed constantly. The water finds its way through ducts into the valley below. Maiden-hair, delicate creepers, and ferns, grew around, and thousands of birds congregated there— it is called the Fountain of birds. We, as well as our horses, enjoyed the deliciously cool water. We rode on again, and soon crossed an ancient Roman bridge, built over a water-course. There are the remains of a Jewish city by this stream, and local tradition says that David took from its bed the pebble which gave the death-blow to Goliath. Large stones, carefully hewn and beveled, are scattered in heaps, and half concealed by hawthorn bushes, wild rose-trees, fruit-laden blackberry brambles, and tall thistles. Others appear
