On the return from Hebron, a slight detour by a road leading through vineyards brings us to a magnificent tree known as ABRAHAM’S OAK. Here according to tradition, Abraham sat at the door of his tent, when he received the visit of the angels.[55] It is a stately Syrian oak, of the species known to the Arabs as _Sindiân_. Though of great age it is obviously later than the Christian era. Yet it well deserves a visit, not only for its great size and beauty, but as the last survivor of the grove of oaks, which stood here in Patriarchal and Hebrew times. It measures twenty-three feet round the trunk, and its branches cover an area in one direction of fifty feet, and of ninety feet in another. Its situation answers admirably to the biblical description of Mamre, being “before” or “over against” Machpelah, whilst from the hill above it a view, already referred to,[56] of the plain of Sodom is gained. Here, therefore, I should fix the site of Mamre rather than at Rhamet el Khulil (the Hill of the Friend), which stands some distance to the north. [Illustration: ABRAHAM’S OAK NEAR HEBRON.] [Illustration: Head-Piece—Bethlehem] BETHLEHEM TO THE DEAD SEA. IT was a brilliant morning in early spring as we rode along the hill-side over the Wady Urtas from Solomon’s Pools to BETHLEHEM. The turf was vividly green, gemmed with innumerable flowers. Orchards of peach, apricot, and pomegranate with their white and scarlet blossoms, succeeded one another in an unbroken series along the valley. The conduit, which conducts the water from Solomon’s Pools to Jerusalem, and which in ancient times supplied the Temple, was open in various places, and we could see the crystal stream flash past on its way to “make glad the city of God.”[57] The Jebel Fureidis, a steep conical mountain, visible from almost every point in Southern Palestine, formed a striking object in the landscape. “The little hills rejoice on every side; the pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.”[58] Wherever we turn our eyes the words of the Psalmist are suggested as the aptest description of the scenery. It was easy to see where the Shepherd of Bethlehem drew the materials for his poetry. [Illustration: Initial—The Dead Sea]