Transcriber’s Note When italics were used in the original book, the corresponding text has been surrounded by _underscores_. Some corrections have been made to the printed text. These are listed in a second transcriber’s note at the end of the text. [Illustration: _From a Drawing by Mr. F. E. Blackstone._ RANGE OF HERMON NEAR BANIAS, OR CÆSAREA PHILIPPI, AT THE MAIN SOURCE OF THE JORDAN. _The Probable Scene of our Lord’s Transfiguration._] “Those Holy Fields.” PALESTINE, ILLUSTRATED BY PEN AND PENCIL. BY THE REV. SAMUEL MANNING, LL.D., _AUTHOR OF “ITALIAN PICTURES,” “SWISS PICTURES,” AND “SPANISH PICTURES.”_ “Those holy fields, Over whose acres walked those blessed feet Which fourteen hundred years ago were nailed, For our advantage, on the bitter cross.” LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY; 56, PATERNOSTER ROW; 65, ST. PAUL’S CHURCHYARD; AND 164, PICCADILLY. BRIGHTON: 31, WESTERN ROAD MANCHESTER: 100, CORPORATION STREET. PREFACE [Illustration] The journey of which a brief account is given in the following pages was undertaken in the early part of 1873. The object of the writer was to compare the _Land_ and the _Book_, and by an examination of the topography of Palestine to illustrate the histories of Scripture. Had any doubt existed in his own mind as to the veracity of those histories, it must have been dispelled by the minute agreement which he traced between the indications of the narrative and the physical geography of the country. No “fable,” however “cunningly devised,” no myth or legend coming into existence at a later age, could have adapted itself so precisely to the topographical details of the scene. The main design of the present volume has been to trace these coincidences, and thus to elucidate and confirm the biblical narrative. Whilst he has availed himself of all the help he could gain from the writings of former travellers, he has in no case depended upon them, but endeavoured, by a personal and careful inspection of the sites, to arrive at an independent and accurate conclusion. [Illustration: (Drawing of men next to a tent)]