Through David's Realm

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1889 Excerpt: ... Over Mount Herman. The road from Khan Minieh is as direct a contrast to the richness and beauty around the Sea of Galilee as can well be imagined. Starting from the smooth green sward, almost at once we found ourselves among rocks and stones which made our progress almost an impossible problem. The abruptness of the hills just in this region reminds one of the rocks around the Dead Sea. Indeed as both places are of volcanic formation, it is not strange. Not far from here among these fastnesses the Jews hid themselves in the caves, and defied for a long time the power of the Roman Government. But Herod, baffled so long by them, let down huge baskets or boxes filled with soldiers, and a fierce contest was waged in mid air. Finally the soldiers prevailed and armed with poles furnished with hooks they pulled out the robbers and threw them over the precipice. Once gaining a foothold they found sufficient stuff to make a fire, and so, filling the caverns and passage-ways with smoke, forced the inhabitants to yield. One man threw over his wife and children, and finally himself, in his despair. Indeed those must have been stirring times, even when the country was so well peopled. It seems almost strange that the same caves are not used now by robbers. While the roads had been extremely bad over the distance we had come, they were not to compare with those we passed while crossing the mountains lying to the north of the lake. At one place, to aggravate the difficulty, the rock, evidently very soft, had been worn in the place called the road into holes, into which the horse stepped for a depth of two feet. It was quite a mystery to me why Bucephalus did not break his legs. Indeed, I fancy that the sagacity shown at this time so raised him in my estimation that I forg...