POSITION OF KADESH BARNEA.

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That Kadesh Barnea was somewhere in the vicinity of the northwest angle of the Arabah is evident. "There are eleven days' journey from Horeb, by the way of Mount Seir, unto Kadesh Barnea.”—(Deut., i., 2.) This is said of the advance of the Israelites towards the south of Judea; of course, Kadesh lay northward from Mount Seir (Mount Hor), towards the Promised Land. It is not more than forty miles from Mount Hor to the remarkable mountain which stretches from the south end of the Dead Sea southwestward, forming the southern barrier of Judea. Kadesh must have been between Mount Hor and this mountain. It was "in the uttermost border of Edom.”—(Num., xx., 16.) This must have been the western border, along which Israel had advanced northward directly towards the Promised Land, on the southern border of which they halted at Kadesh, and sent spies, which "ascended by (from) the south and came to Hebron."-(Num., xiii., 22.) Mount Seir and Hebron being fixed, Kadesh lay on the line connecting them, just without, or south of, the Promised Land, yet in the western "border of Edom." A glance at the map will show that this determines its position to be in the neighbourhood of Ain el-Weibeh, which Dr. Robinson and Mr. Smith have identified with Kadesh Barnea, partly for the reasons assigned above, and partly for the following.

There is no mention of scarcity of water upon the arrival of the Israelites at Kadesh in the second year after their departure from Egypt. It is probable, therefore, that they assembled in the neighbourhood of these fountains, the most important in the northern part of the Arabah. In their vicinity are other smaller fountains, both on the north and south. Again, at a little distance to the north rises the steep mountain already mentioned

as the southern barrier of Judea. The ascent up this mountain in the direction of Hebron is yet called EsSufah, a word "in form identical with the Hebrew Zephath, called also Hormah, which we know was the point where the Israelites attempted to ascend the mountain, so as to enter Palestine, and were driven back." The expedition of the spies from Kadesh to Hebron had been notorious in the land; and thirtyeight years afterward, when Moses led the people back to Kadesh, apparently with intent to ascend the mountain by the same pass, it is said (Num., xxi., 1), "King Arad, the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard that Israel came by the way of the spies; he went out and fought with him." The country of King Arad is, by this text, determined to be "in the south," and, of course, south of Hebron, between it and the Pass esSufâh. Here, then, but a few miles north of the head of the pass, is found Tell Arad, or the Hill of Arad, still bearing the name of this enemy of Israel, and thus attesting the Scripture. Again, it was from Kadesh "Moses sent messengers to the King of Edom, saying, Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country, by the king's high-way; and Edom said, Thou shalt not pass by me."-(Num., xx., 14-21.) The object of Moses was to pass eastward through the range of Mount Seir, then to bear north, and thus turn the Dead Sea and cross Jordan from the east. The pass through which he wished to go was "the king's high-way," which meant no more in those early days than a remarkable gap in the mountain range. Such a gap lies directly across the Arabah, eastward from Ain el-Weibeh, and marked on Dr. Robinson's map Wady el-Guweir. There is no other such passage through the mountains of Edom, nor, indeed, any passage practicable for such

EVENTS AT KADESH.

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a host as Israel was, between the Gulf of Akabah and the Dead Sea. These arguments seem conclusively to identify the Ain el-Weibeh of the Arabs with Kadesh. Barnea of the Scriptures.*

With the exception of Horeb, no place between the passage of the Red Sea and the passage of the Jordan concentrates so much interest as Kadesh. From hence the spies departed to examine the Promised Land, and, returning, dissuaded the people from going up to their inheritance. Here Caleb and Joshua stood up against their fellow-spies, and declared, "We are fully able to go up and possess the land;" here the anger of the Lord burned against the disobedient people, and he declared none of the men of war should enter into Canaan; and from hence he sent them into the terrible wilderness, where they wandered thirty-eight years, till all that generation perished. Here Moses, by the command of God, smote the rock, and the waters flowed for the congregation; here Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, died and was buried; from hence Moses requested of his brother Edom a passage through his territories, and, being refused, descended the Arabah southward to Akabah, and from thence compassed the land of Edom. I sat down under the shade of a palmtree and ran over the sacred pages which speak of Kadesh, and the stirring events which occurred here, musing upon them until my Bedouins impatiently pointed to the sun, then towards the place of encampment, far away, and urged me to remount my dromedary.

Advancing from Kadesh, at sunset we encamped in a very retired position, concealed partly by shrubs and partly by impending sandhills. Our Bedouins evidently were uneasy in the vicinity of the dwellers around

* See Dr. Robinson's Researches, vol. i., p. 609.

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ENTER THE PROMISED LAND.

the south end of the Dead Sea. They kept guard on the hills until a late hour at night, and seemed anxious to conceal their watch-fires. Next morning we advanced directly to the foot of the mountain pass Es-Sufâh, and commenced toiling up the steep ascent. The remains of an ancient road, formed of steps hewn in the rock, were perceptible in many places. It ascended in a zigzag direction, and was much worn. At the foot

of it were the ruins of a massive fortification, and another at the summit. We were on the great high-way of ancient commerce between the South and North, We were climbing up the side of the mountain down which the Amorites had chased Israel, and destroyed them, even unto Hormah.-(Deut., i., 44.) Having gained the summit, the first great plateau, or steppe, being the south country of Judea, expanded upon a level with it, formed of low hills, rolling ridges, and fine valleys sprinkled over with grass, wild flowers, and shrubs. We were in the Promised Land, and before us lay the pasture-grounds of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, upon which they had tented, and over which their flocks had roamed.

SHOOTING A GAZELLE.-VENISON.

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CHAPTER XXI.

THE HOLY LAND.

Shooting a Gazelle.-Venison.-Aroer.-The Wells of Beersheba.—Ancient Scenes.-Flocks, Herds, and Tents.- Pasture-grounds of Abraham.-Dwellings in Caves.-Ancient Cisterns.-Ancient Road.-Approach to Hebron.-The City-The Pool.-The Harem.-Cave of Machpelah.Tombs of the Patriarchs.-Said's Description.-Appearance of the City.Women Mourning in the Cemetery.-Parting with the Alouins.

HAVING paused to cast a last look down into the Arabah, and beyond to the mountains of Edom and the tomb of Aaron, which appeared like a white speck on the top of Mount Hor, we bore northwest for Abraham's Wells at Beersheba. We had gone but a little distance when four beautiful gazelles were observed on a hillside. Two or three of our men started in pursuit, and in a few minutes we heard the report of a matchlock, and saw one of the gazelles bounding down the hill on three legs, the other being broken by the shot. It was coming directly towards us, and suddenly found itself hemmed in, when the strange Arab who had joined us at Mount Hor struck it down with a stone, severed its head from its body in an instant, and bore it away as his part of the spoil. Two Bedouins held it up by the hind legs, while a third stripped the skin off in a few seconds. We purchased it, and had a mess of the same kind of venison which Esau used to take on these hills nearly four thousand years ago, and which his father Isaac loved so well, and for good reason, if it were as well flavoured as we found this to be.

The night after ascending the Pass es-Sufâh (Pass of