[150] The following extract from the unpublished journal already so often referred to will amuse the reader:--"We arrived at the foot of Mount Tabor. It is, in its general outline, a round, regular-shaped hill, but is rocky and rough enough when it is to be ascended. It has many trees, mostly Valonia oaks. It stands on the east of the great Plain of Esdraëlon, up a recess formed by Mount Hermon on the one side, and the hills towards Nazareth on the other. Its height from the plain I should guess at 1000 feet. We ascended the greater part of the way on mules. On the top of the hill is one of those large cisterns, or granaries, so often alluded to before. There was one also near Jennin, which we observed in coming in. I have since seen them in numerous other places, which puts an end to Dr. Clarke's pagan remains. The whole of the Great Plain is fully cultivated, yet we could hardly see a single village, which adds to the peculiarity of its appearance,--one sheet of cultivation without a rock or tree". [151] Clarke, vol. iv. p. 260. Doubdan, Voyage de la Terre Sainte, p. 507. Paris, 1661.--It is remarkable that all the descriptions of the view from Mount Tabor appear to be borrowed from this sedulous Frenchman, whose work, in point of topography, is still unequalled. [152] Journey, p. 112. [153] Clarke, vol. iv. p. 170. [154] Vol. iv. p. 174. "Up stairs, above the Chapel of the Incarnation," says Dr. Richardson, "we were shown another grotto, which was called the Virgin Mary's Kitchen, and a black smoked place in the corner which was called the Virgin Mary's Chimney. I believe none of the cinders, fire-irons, or culinary instruments have been preserved; these probably fled with the Santa Casa, or Holy House, to Loretto; and our only astonishment is, that the house should have taken flight and left the chimney and kitchen behind."--vol. ii. p. 440. [155] Luke iv. 28, 29, 30. [156] Travels in Palestine, vol. ii. p. 315. [157] "Traditio continua est, et nunquam interrupta, apud omnes nationes Orientales, hanc petram, dictam Mensa Christi, iliam ipsam esse supra quam Dominus noster Jesus Christus cum suis comedit discipulis ante et post suam resurrectionem a mortuis. "Et sancta Romana ecclesia INDULGENTIAM concessit septem annorum et totidem quadragenarum, omnibus Christi fldelibus hunc sanctum locum visitantibus, recitando saltem ibi unum Pater, et Ave, dummodo sint in statu gratiae." "It is a continued and uninterrupted tradition among all the Eastern churches, that this stone, called the Table of Christ, is that very one upon which our Lord Jesus Christ ate with his disciples both before and after his resurrection from the dead. "And the holy Roman church hath granted an INDULGENCE of seven years, and as many lents, to all the faithful in Christ visiting this sacred place, upon reciting at least one Pater Noster and an Ave, provided they be in a state of grace." [158] Clarke, vol. iv. p. 167.