ROBINSON'S LATER BIBLICAL RESEARCHES. * THIS bulky narrative of a few

months' tour in Palestine is a kind of supplement to Dr. Robinson's three volumes published in 1841. It embraces a journey from Beyrout to Acre and Jerusalem; some excursions about the sacred city ; and a return to Beyrout by way of Damascus and Ba'albek, with a few divergences en route. The road taken was for a considerable portion of the way out of the common track of tourists, especially the first journey; though we have had later accounts of the country about Hasbeiya than Dr. Robinson would seem to think, in Wortabet's Syria and the Syrians. The mode of travel was different from that of the ge- nerality. Dr. Robinson was throughout accompanied by some one person or other belonging to the American missions. These gen- tlemen were all well acquainted with the languages and customs of the people ; the Doctor was versed in Arabic, and possessed Oriental experience from his former travels. Hence, instead of a " dragoman" with his routine and his costly proceedings, Dr. Robinson was accompanied by native attendants engaged as they were wanted, with a more confidential man to make purchases. This plan was not only much cheaper, but brought the travellers more directly into connexion with the people, and enabled them to follow any route they pleased without regard to the prejudices of their courier. Beyond novelty of road the reader does not be- nefit much from the author's mode of travelling. We have seldom met a book which has, in proportion to its bulk, so few travelling incidents or notices of manners.

Antiquarian topography is the real object of Dr. Robinson ; and that, mingled with a minutely trivial narrative, is the cha- racteristic of the larger portion of the Researches. Such being the subject, the treatment should have corresponded : an itinerary with particular remarks would have been the proper form for the largest part of the matter ; while observations upon the country, the people, and things in general, might have come at the end of each section, or been compressed in a rapid narrative. The system adopted in the composition of the first three vo- lumes seems to have been followed in the present case. Each traveller minuted what he saw as he rode along, and from these notes the whole has been compiled rather than digested. The literary result is the same as before : the publication is rather a storehouse of materials than a finished work.-1- There is this prac- tical difference, however : the former book was fresher in its spirit and its subjects, larger in its views, much wider in its range, and with more of discovery as well as of original remark on the tra- ditions of celebrated places in the Holy Land. To take one section for instance—there was the received and (in Dr. Robin- son's opinion) the veritable Sinai ; there was the wilderness in which the stiffnecked and mutinous people wandered so long and behaved so badly ; there was the modern Arab with his peculiar customs and his traits of good and evil. Except in a topogra- phical point of view, the subjects of this supplement have no novelty. Various writers, with longer time or a more popular pen, have described the principal scenes—Mr. Stanley, for in- stance. The discussions about Jerusalem are partial in their topics, and lead to little or indeed nothing positive. Additions have been made to our geographical or rather (as the party do not seem to have had instruments to determine positions) to our topo- graphical information. Very many ruins have been discovered, known or unknown, with names or without : in one district, for example, only six ruins of castles were known, Dr. Robinson found out upwards of a dozen. But such matter is for tabula- tion, or categorical statement, when nothing of interest attaches to the places. Dr. Robinson makes corrections, probable at all • later Biblical Researches in Palestine and the adjacent Regions : a Journal of Travels in the .year 1852. By Edward Robinson, Eli Smith, and others. Drawn n12 from the Original Diaries, with Historical Illustrations, b,/ Edward Robinson. DD., LL.D., Professor of Biblical Literature in the Union Theological seminary. New Pork. With Maps and Plans. Published by Murray.

+ Spectator for 1841, page 735. events, _aa to the Bites of Scriptural towns, and in such cases dis- quisition is necessary to support his opinion. He discovered, in spots out of the line of travellers, several synagogues, whose foundation he is inclined to ascribe to the early Christian period ; but we should rather think they originated in the centuries im- mediately, preceding Christ, when the Jews, without, losing their nominal .independence, had been virtually subdued, and perhaps corrupted, by nations more civilized and luxurious than them- selves. However, in such cases description is proper, though plates and plans would.do the work a great deal better. Our objection to the book is, that independently,of the matter being mostly presented, , as we think, on a wrong principle, the new and im- portant features of the journey are overlaid by flat descriptions of everyday proceedings. In fact, the volume, compared.' with the time taken to collect the materials, is something portentous. Dr. Robinson's tour, from his final start .from Beyrout to his re- embarkation on board the steamer, occupied some ten weeks (April 5th—June 22d) ; the text of his volume extends to 626 pages.

One point of interest is the favourable contrast which Dr. Ro- binson noticed between his former visits, some fifteen years ago, to towns that may be called commercial, compared with their pre- sent state...

" The city of Beired [Beyrout] had lost nothing of its prosperity since my forma visit, but had gained immensely. True, it had been subjected to bombardmeet by the British and Austrian fleet on the 10th and 11th of September 1840; by which many houses were laid in ruins, mid many lives destroyed. But the injuries were speedily repaired ; and the chief traces of the bombardment now remaining were the marks of balls on the old castle in the harbour. The streets have been repaired in a better style, and the deep channels in the middle have disappeared. The population was reckoned in 1838 at about 15,000 souls ; it is now estimated at more than double that number. A new suburb of streets has spread itself out on the South-east corner of the walled city ; and the gardens and mulberry or- chards on the hills in the South and South-east are now full of dwellings. From thoroof of the house occupied by the Mission press a wide and pleas- ing view is enjoyed of the city and its environs, with Lebanon beyond.

"The commerce of Beirfit has increased greatly. The various lines of French, Austrian, and English steamers which visit the port, and the many sailing-vessels, occasion a bustling activity; and a spirit of business and en- terprise has been awakened,' especially among the Christian population of the city and the mountains. This is also fostered by several European es- tablishments iu the mountains for the reeling of silk, some of them by the aid of steam."

Stir was also visible in Jerusalem ; though the movement is religious or intellectual rather than commercial, excepting as travellers brought business.

"As we thus again looked abroad upon the Holy City, after an interval of fourteen years, sins of change and a measure of general improvement were everywhere visible. The city, like the whole country, had long since reverted to the direct sway of the Sultan ; and the various civil and politi- cal reforms of the Ottoman empire had here also been nominally introduced. A powerful foreign influence had been brought in, and Was still exerted, by the establishment of the Anglo-Prussian bishopric and the other enterprises connected with it. The erection of the Protestant cathedral on Mounaion, as part and parcel of the English Consulate ; the opening of the Jewish hospital also on Zion' under the auspices of the English Mission ; and like- wise of the Prussian hospital under the care of the German r Deaconesses' so called ; the establishment of schools, and the introduction of agricultural labour in, connexion with them ; all had served to increase the circulation of money, and to stimulate the native mind to like efforts. The convents had erected several large buildings, and established schools; and there was a process going on in Jerusalem, of-tearing down old dwellings and replacing them by new ones, which reminded me somewhat of New York. There were at this dine more houses undergoing this transformation in the Holy. City than L. had seen the year before in six of the principal cities of Hol- land. As a natural result, there was more activity in the streets ; there were more people in motion, more bustle, and more business.

"Along with all this there was a greater influx of Franks, both as resi- dents and travellers. The members of the London Mission to the Jews had mostly fixed themselves on Zion, in the vicinity of the Anglican church and near the,Jewish quarter. The German residents were chiefly in the same neighbourhood. For the accommodation of travellers, there were now two extensive hotels, (a third had been for some time closed,) which furnished plentiful tables and tolerable beds, at about the New York prices of that date. There were also several private lodging-houses, nearly upon the London plan, in different parts of the city. The number of Frank travel- lers was said to have greatly increased, and it was a frequent remark that there were more visitors from the American States than from Great Bri- tain."

In the less frequented routes which the party took, they often fell in with landscapes of wild and striking beauty ; though their pens were hardly characteristic enough to present the features characteristically. Here is a curious description of a natural

bride. " e continued our way Northwards till 11.45 ; when we began to de- scend into the chasm to reach the Kfiweh. The adjacent land here spreads out into an open tract, rocky and partially sloping, but cultivated and in some parts green ; the Eastern ridge retiring in almost a semicircular sweep. A small wady breaks down by a leap to the river below. Along this we began to descend ; but soon turned to the left around the high rocky cliff, and descending obliquely along the precipice South-west, reached the Kftweh at the bottom at twelve o'clock. The path is steep, and in sonic spots runs along the brink of the precipice • but it is not difficult, except in one place of slippery rocks, where 'we dismounted in going down, but rode up the whole distance in returning. This is a regular public road, though not much travelled, leading over the Kdweh and up into Lebanon to Jezzin and other places. As we afterwards left the bank above, we saw a Party descending from the mountain to the bridge on their way to Damas- cus, as we afterwards learned.

" The scenery of the chasm is in the highest degree wild, picturesque, and grand. In descending, as one looks down into the stream far below, he sees immense caverns and arches in the opposite wall of rock ; and above them are other caverns, partly artificial, which are said to have been formerly the haunt of robbers. When at the bottom, the traveller is completely shut in by the perpendicular jagged walls of the chasm, rising from four to five hundred feet above the bridge. Rocks from above in ancient times have fallen into the stream, confining it to a narrower channel, and in some parts

Whole width of bridge, I.-, Width of roadway 10 „ Height of road above the water 105 „ Thickness of the bridge or rich 90 „ ".The opening towards the North, by which the stream enters, is covered and hidden by trees and -bushes ; as is also the Southern exit, except as viewed from a. point on the left bank below the bridge. . As there aeon, the rocks appear t,o form an angle over the channel, like the sharp roof of 'a Dutch house. This too is moistly coveted with fig-trees. The river turn= bles, foams, and rears over the rocks in its steep and rugged channel, in the most picturesque manner. The high *tans of the chasm are mostly naked.; but at the bottom, along the margin, of the water, are many trees, and among them fig-trees-and vines, intermingled with the gay hlossoula of the oleander."

This account of ancient irrigation at Damascus is a clear repre- sentation of a somewhat peculiar process imlicative of much in- genuity in working under_ ground.,

" Another species of artificial irrigation is also very extensively practised in the plain of Damascus ; as also in those 'of Jerfid and Kuryetem, on the way to Palmyra. In those portions of the plain which cannot be reached by canals from the river or other streams, artificial fountains are constructed in the following manner. A well or pit is dug and water found, usually at the depth of twenty or thirty feet.Th

'en, following the slope of the plain about E.S.E„ another circular pit is dug at the distance perhaps of a hun- dred feet or more, and connected at tbe bottom with the former, so that the water will just flow into it. A succession of such pits or wells is thus dug and connected; until at length the water is brought to the surface and be- comes a running stream, which is then distributed over the fields. This happens after half a mile or a mile, according to the declivity of the plain. In this way, a portion of the water which has been once used and absorbed in tion is again recovered and employed a second time.

ese subterranean 'canals may be traced along the, plain by the long ranges of circular mounds around their openings. Some ranges of this kind are seen beginning even near the Meidan. In passing South along the Ha' road, about an hour from the city, is a small stream in a deep artificial channel formed in this way. A quarter of an hour further is another simi- lar stream, called Nahr Sabineh, as watering the village of that name a little further East. Ten minutes further, and at the like distance from the foot of Jebel Aswad, is a larger stream, called el-Berdy, collected in the same manner; the head of its canal being twenty minutes West of the road, and five minutes beyond the' Drutevillage of Ashraflyeh. It waters the village of Buweidah about an hour East of the road ; and is exhausted'i the gardens and fields below it. In the North-eastern part of the plain be- yond Makserah two similar canals are mentioned. It is also said, that be- tween the city and the lakes there are several series of these canals; one range commencing where the waters Of the preceding one begin to be diss persed over the surface." covering it uite over._. Upon these rocks, course_of time, therst_haa accumulated a•cevering of earth,..forseinga broad bridge aver a very, eon- traded channel. In the Northern part The covering is not "qqulte complete - a very narrost and ragged fissure being left; which is now filled and covered with fig and other trees and shrnbs.■: The' toad-way, in the middle of the bridge, is ten feet wide, and like,. itechatursee in feria. South of this is a lower terrace, some fifteen or tw ,feot wide. The following measure- ments had already been, made by911180II-

Bread!' of the channel feet.

68 „