Then they went northward past the ruins of Kersa, or Kheusa, situated in a narrow valley. A steep bank comes down to the lake close by Kersa, and some authorities have endeavored to identify it as the place where the herd of swine ran down to the sea. There is no other point where there is so steep a bank as this coming down to the water. The theory of its identity is based entirely on its being the most convenient spot for a herd of swine to commit suicide. [Illustration: MAGDALA AND PLAIN OF GENNESARET.] From Kersa they crossed the lake to Magdala, or Mejdel, whose chief claim to distinction arises from its having been the birthplace of Mary Magdalene. The town is principally in ruins, and there are only a few huts there occupied by miserable Arabs, whose chief occupation is to beg for backsheesh. The region around is, or might be, fertile, but Magdala is the only inhabited spot in the Plain of Gennesaret, and nobody cares to engage in agriculture of any sort. That the ground is fertile is proven by the abundance of thistles, weeds, and bushes with which it is covered, and the thickets of oleander and other trees, together with occasional clusters of palms. One of the boys said it seemed as though a curse rested on the land. Doctor Bronson assented to this view, and added that the Turkish Government had a great deal to do with the matter, as its exorbitant taxes on all kinds of industry was an effectual barrier to anything like honest work. As they sailed northward from Magdala, Doctor Bronson pointed out a valley leading from the Plain of Gennesaret, and asked the guide what it was. Ali replied that it was called Wady Haman. "I thought so," answered the Doctor. "By going up that valley we might visit the caverns which are mentioned by Josephus and other writers." Frank asked for what these caverns were celebrated, and how large they were. "They are partly natural and partly artificial," was the reply, "and are large enough to shelter five or six hundred persons. The openings are protected by walls, and at every exposed point there is a bastion or something of the kind, so that the occupants could defend themselves with great ease. "They are mentioned in the Bible, but more fully in the works of Josephus, who calls them fortified caverns. They have been occupied at different times as resorts of robbers, or as strongholds of regular soldiers, and in either case it was a matter of great difficulty to take them. In the time of Herod the Great they were held by robbers, who plundered all the surrounding country, and made themselves so troublesome that the king determined to get rid of them. [Illustration: HEROD'S PLAN OF ATTACK.]