My Three Days in GileadHoenshel, Elmer U. (Elmer Ulysses)
History
My Three Days in Gilead
Hoenshel, Elmer U. (Elmer Ulysses)
Palestine -- Description and travel
When we had reined up our horses I said to my dragoman, "Tell our
attendants to be still until I have finished speaking; I want to
explain the scene before us." And then while he listened, and
looked as I directed, I said: "That towering height far to the
north is Mount Hermon; the sheet of water some miles on this side
is the Sea of Galilee; to the west of the Sea of Galilee is
Hattin, the Mount of Beatitudes; that white spot southwest of
Hattin is Nazareth; that great plain south of Nazareth is
Esdraelon, the 'battle-field of Palestine'; these rounded
mountains here in the eastern part of the Valley of Esdraelon are
Tabor, Little Hermon, and Gilboa;--on the north is Tabor, at whose
base Napoleon fought; the next is Little Hermon, where lived the
witch of Endor; and the one south of Little Hermon is Gilboa,
where Saul and his sons were slain; that range of mountains
forming the southern wall of Esdraelon is Carmel, where Elijah
held his trial with the priests of Baal; here below us, winding in
its serpentine course, is the Jordan in its great trough or Ghor;
in the center of the picture are the mountains of Samaria, with
Ebal and Gerizim; to the south are the mountains of Judea, where
lies Jerusalem; and that broad expanse of water beyond all these
is the Mediterranean, the 'great sea toward the going down of the
sun.'"
Then I waited for his criticism. He said, "You are right in every
point, but how did you know?" I said, "It is just like the
Palestine of my childhood's fancy that I located in the field back
of the barn on my father's little farm in western Pennsylvania,
and with that picture I have been familiar from the days of my
early youth." It is impossible for me to express what were my
feelings at this supreme moment of my life, as I viewed for the
first time what is distinctively known as the land of Patriarch,
Prophet, Priest, and King--the land of my Redeemer's earthly
pilgrimage--the world's best Holy Land! After some time spent in
viewing that almost matchless scene, and in gathering mountain
lilies, we began our descent into the most remarkable depression
in the world--the great Ghor of the Jordan. The next few hours
afforded little of pleasure. Careful attention had to be given to
our horses as we wound about among the rocks. The horses of both
my dragoman and muleteer fell on this trip, but without serious
results to either horses or riders. It was quite wearying to
proceed thus, so when we finally reached a large sloping rock
under which was a kind of stagnant pool--the only water we had
seen since leaving Coefrinje--I was glad to know that there we
would lunch, even though I could not drink of the water.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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