There are seven fig-trees, gnarled and aged, standing upon the ruins, where there is scarcely one stone in order upon another, excepting those found beneath the surface. In one place was a pedestal of white marble, like an oblong altar, with partially-erased reliefs upon two sides. In another place was fine Corinthian capital of white marble, somewhat injured. Its base we think we recognised in one which we found on the water's edge several hundred feet off. This base was united with the rock, as if the rock had once been soft and the base had been pushed into it while in that state. The ruins in some places reach quite down to the waters of the sea. In another place we found a partial excavation, exposing stones of very large size, and forming a circular foundation; and close at hand was a broken shaft, several feet

in length and about one foot in diameter, with an iron pin in one end. The pin appears to be surrounded by lead, which was poured in when in a melted state to fill up the interstices between the iron and the marble. In the wall of our khan there is set a marble mortar; and near the door, in the mud of the wall, is a broken column, with other fragments, apparently from the ruins. In another place we descended eight or ten feet by means of rude steps to a spring running under a rock, and over the water there was an arch as of a vault, evidently ancient. A light green glass appears scattered everywhere; and some which we dug out seems united with the rock, as if it formerly was a part of a glass-furnace. My friend picked up a piece of very pretty agate; and fragments of chalcedony are to be found not far from the ruins, some specimens of which I brought away with me. Large quantities of broken and crushed pieces of pottery were to be seen everywhere; and I picked up a fragment of a six-sided glass rod, tinged as if it had passed through the fire. It appears that the natives are in the habit of taking from the broken ruins buildingmaterial to build up the new Sarepta, now removed east of the ruins to the side of a hill perhaps threequarters of a mile off, and called Sarafend. On the sea-side of the ruins is a large mass of stones, arranged as if to form a wall or wharf. In some places the stones are large, and in others appear more like a conglomerate rock, or perhaps a conglomerate of ruins, and looking more modern than the rest. From a portion of the latter I easily extracted a very smooth slab of

SINGULAR SPONGE.

177

blue-grained marble, quite thin,-only three-eighths of an inch,—the sides of which were planes with a parallelism of singular accuracy. Much might be found of interest here by excavation. The fragments are totally unlike any thing modern, and suggest that the place was once of no small repute. Many of the fragments are ploughed into the soil beyond what appears to be the bounds of the city, which probably was large enough to contain from four to five thousand inhabitants. The sea-shore is covered in places with various-colored weeds, very small and delicate, of which we have correctlydelineated specimens in the plate of flowers in this volume. At one place they were so numerous that for the moment it appeared as though we were in the neighborhood of a cotton or calico print-factory and the refuse was in a little channel before us. They are somewhat similar to what we have found on sea-coasts in the United States; and every shade that adds beauty to the ornaments usually made on the southern coast of England, and especially upon the Isle of Wight, is found at this place. Here we also found the green and circular shell-fish called echinus,' which when living is covered with spines, and whose shell is so beautifully perforated

1 The echinides, otherwise called "urchins," have a calcareous shell covered with long spines, which are sometimes articulated and fixed upon movable tubercles. The shell is pierced with a great number of small holes, from each of which issues a tube or retractile sucker, through which the animal breathes. They have been named ambulacra. Sometimes the holes extend all round the body, and sometimes only over a part. Their number, their form, and the respective position of the two intestinal canals seem to characterize some of the genera. They feed on small fish, and have a complicated apparatus for a mouth. See Catalogue Roy. Mus. of Nat. Hist., Paris.

178

GIRLS PUT "ON DUTY."

with series of air-holes. Some of the specimens of coral, in the form of leaves, are white and beautiful, and seacrabs and crustacea are found of an articulation and of a diversity in size and color very interesting to the naturalist. The sponges picked up on the shore are remarkable, and gives evidence that the most valuable varieties are not far off. A most singular specimen of silicious sponge was found here by myself, and when picked up left in the hand innumerable little transparent thorns, which, under the microscope, were like minute hollow glass stings. A friend, attempting to squeeze it, found remaining in his hand a large number of as it were glass hairs, so minute, sharp, and brittle that they were not extracted until after hours of effort. This specimen belongs to a variety of the sponge called Halicondria.1 I also obtained a large piece of volcanic pumice, containing many minute fragments of minerals which I had found near the top of Vesuvius.2

We returned to our khan. I find that the owner of the khan has two children, both girls, whom he treats as if they were boys, subjecting them not only to many of the duties, but even of the habits, of boys.

1 From ȧ25, the sea. The name of sponge shows that it was early noticed for its peculiar qualities. Σπογγος, or σφογγος, is derived from σφιγγω, το

squeeze.

"Then with a sponge he drest

The face all over, neck and hands, and all his hairy breast."

Homer's Iliad, bk. xviii., by Chapman.

See Hist. of Brit. Sponges, p. 93, George Johnston, M.D., Edinburgh, W. H. Lizars, Edinburgh, 1842, where is figured a silicious sponge similar to the one described.

2 These specimens have been placed in the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia.

HOSTESS ASCENDANT.

179

The eldest about eight or nine years of age-rides the mule to water, and seems quite expert as a little horseman; for she always rides as a boy would,-"bare back," with a foot on either side, so that I could scarcely believe, until expressly told, that they were both girls. The Turks care little for girls, and consider themselves childless so long as they are not fathers to boys. But, if girls are to be treated after this manner, we see no reason why the father of a girl should hold himself childless. The youngest is an active little creature, and bears the name Hanefa. The hostess evidently holds the "rod," woman though she is; for, when another party arrived, just after we had entered our quarters, and obtained permission of the Arab owner of the place to occupy a corner of the khan used as a mosque, the old lady set upon her husband with such a stormy vocabulary that it was worth a ride of ten miles over the rocks to hear the Arabic spoken with such rapidity, vociferation, and passion. The result was that the man was forced to yield to the piety of his wife, and the new-comers slept in the stable in company with the mules, horses, and the little "black assassins" before referred to.

Zarephath seems to have derived its name from some characteristics of the inhabitants; and the opinion is plausible that formerly this was a place of furnaces, where either metals or glass, or both, were melted and fabricated.1 And there can be no doubt, as Sidon was

The name signifies "a melting" or "liquifying.", zaraph, to melt, or, with Gesenius, "to smelt."