oldfinches of other parts of Palestine, but must have been the _bulbul_,
the note of which, though rich and tender in expression, is not however
the same with that of English nightingales.

Then we came to the bridge called _Jis'r el Mejama'a_, which is in
tolerably good condition, with one large and several smaller arches in
two rows, and a dilapidated khan at the western end. I crossed over the
bridge into the territory of Gilead.

The khan has been a strong edifice, but the stones of the massive
gateway, especially the great keystone, are split across, as if from the
effects of gunpowder.

When that bridge was erected, the country must have been in safe and
prosperous circumstances; the beauty of the scenery was not found in
contrast to the happiness of the people; there must have been rich
commerce carried on between the far east and the towns of Palestine; and
it is in reference to such a fortunate period that the wandering
minstrels, even now among the Bedaween, sing the songs of the forty
orphan youths who competed in poetic compositions under the influence of
love for an Arab maiden at the bridge of Mejama'a.

The name is derived from the _meeting_ of two branches of the Jordan in
that place after having separated above. Below the bridge the bed of the
river is very rocky, and the course of the water disturbed, but above the
"meeting of the waters" all is beautifully smooth and tranquil; wild
aquatic birds enjoying their existence on its surface, and the banks
fringed with willows and oleanders. How grateful is all this to the
traveller after a scorching ride of several hours.

Then the river, and with it our road, deflected back to the western
hills; again the river wound in serpentine sinuosities about the middle
of the plain, with little islands and shallow sands within its course. I
am not sure that the delight we experienced was not enhanced by the
circumstance of travelling upwards against stream. Whenever tourists
find the country safe enough for the purpose, and have leisure at
command, I certainly recommend to them this district of Jordan, between
Beisan and Tiberias: of course this presupposes that they visit Nazareth
before or afterwards.

Occasionally we came to rings of stones laid on the ground,--these mark
the graves of Arabs of the vicinity; then a cattle enclosure, fenced in
by a bank of earth, and thorns piled on the top. All about this were
subterranean granaries for corn, having a