"'Tiberias is like Jerusalem in one respect--it is a sacred place with the Jews, many of whom believe that the Messiah will rise from the waters of the lake and establish his throne on one of the hills back of the little town. For this reason many Jews of Poland and Germany make pilgrimages to Tiberias, and some of them remain to pass their lives in the sacred spot. They are generally a worthless and lazy lot, and are supported by the charity of visitors and by money sent by wealthy Jews of Europe.' "More than half the inhabitants of Tiberias are Jews; the rest are Moslems and Christians in about equal proportions. The Latins and Greeks have churches here; one of them is dedicated to St. Peter, and the miracle of the draught of the fishes is said to have taken place in front of the town. There was a terrible earthquake here in 1837, which threw down large parts of the walls and killed great numbers of the people. There has been no attempt to repair the damages, and it would be easy to ride into Tiberias without taking the trouble to enter by the gates. "Our tents were pitched on a little cleared space outside the walls and close to the lake, and after it became dark we indulged in a swim in the waters of Galilee. The next morning we went to the warm baths for which Tiberias was once celebrated, and tried them for a little while; but the smell of sulphur was so strong that we did not much enjoy our visit. These baths were famous among the Romans, and were believed to possess many curative qualities; the water is very salt and bitter to the taste, and is certainly disagreeable enough to be good for invalids, provided they can stand it. We put a thermometer into the water, and found its temperature 144° Fahrenheit. There are four springs altogether, and there is a building over the largest of them. The baths are taken almost entirely by strangers, as the residents of Tiberias have an antipathy for water except for drinking purposes: they never bathe except when they tumble into the lake accidentally, or are thrown there by the visitors whom they annoy. "We spent an hour among the ruins of the ancient Tiberias, which covered a much larger area than its modern successor. The city was founded by Herod near the beginning of the Christian era, and he called it Tiberias in honor of the Roman emperor of that name. It had a palace and a race-course, and, if we may judge by the extent of its ruins, it was a place of no ordinary importance. It was captured several times in the wars that devastated the country, but has never ceased to be regarded with special veneration by the Jews. Many pious Jews come here to die: the location is unhealthy on account of fevers and other diseases, and consequently the mortality is great, and the town is exactly suited to their wants."