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312 maiden-hair and other ferns appeared. It was very pleasant to observe the turnings and the windings of the new born river, remembering that on the morning of the previous day only, it had sprung fresh and free from its source, to make itself a path in this valley, inviting all the little streamlets from the hills to flow with it. In one place, about a mile from En Rogel, it passed over broad, smooth slabs of time-polished red stone, then tumbled over a little ridge of rocks into a bed formed of small pebbles. Having gained renewed vigor by this fall, it rushed impetuously along a channel about five feet wide, made for it in the midst of a terraced olive-plantation. When thus confined, it was about one foot deep, but when freed from this artificial training, it spread itself over the wide rocky bed beyond, and only wetted our horses' fetlocks as we splashed through it. Sometimes the brook does not flow further than this olive-grove. At other times, when the Winter rains are abundant, it travels down "Wady er Raheb"—The Monk's Valley—to the Convent of Mar Saba; but its ancient destination was evidently the Dead Sea, into which it fell from the "Wady Nar"—The Valley of Fire.

We followed the course of the stream for nearly an hour, and still, to our surprise, it flowed rapidly; but as the sun was declining we gave up the chase, and retraced our steps. We overtook our friends, who were still lingering by the source of the stream.

A Moslem kawass of the British Consulate said to us, "This is the blessing of blessings. Who has ever told of the Kedron flowing in Adar? It comes in the Winter, and even early in Spring; but who has heard of its waters rising at this time? Yet," he added, "while we are rejoicing and giving thanks, there are men whose hearts are hardened by love of money, and who will be sorry to see these rivers of rain—for they have just bought up all the stores of wheat, thinking that the harvest would fail this year for lack of rain. May God destroy their house! Their hope was, that they might make themselves rich by