Chapter III: Introduction (2)

The travels of bishop Arculf, (as compiled by Adamnan,) as well as those of Bernard the Wise, and the life of Willibald, were printed in the Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti, Sæc. III., Part II., in 1672. A previous edition of Arculf had been published in a small quarto volume, Ingoldstadt, 1619, which also contained the abridgment by Bede. The latter, under the title of _Libellus de Locis Sanctis_, is included in the different editions of Bede's works, and will be found in the recent edition by Dr. Giles, accompanied with an English translation. Another edition of the narrative of Bernard was published from a manuscript in the Cottonian Library in the British Museum by M. Francisque Michel, in the Memoirs of the Society of Geography at Paris. M. Michel's text is in many respects inferior to that of Mabillon, but it contains the concluding paragraphs relating to the state of society in Egypt, Italy, and France, which were wanting in the manuscript from which Mabillon printed. But the new editor, M. Michel, has fallen into a very grave error; for the treatise of Bede, _De Locis Sanctis_, following in the Cottonian manuscript the tract of Bernard, he has mistaken them for one continued treatise, and printed them as such, accusing Mabillon of having printed only one half of his author. The narrative of Sæwulf, the only manuscript of which is preserved in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, was published in the collection of the French Geographical Society by M. D'Avezac, from a transcript furnished by the editor of the present volume. M. D'Avezac has executed his task of editing with remarkable care and discrimination, but I fear that the transcript was in two or three instances inaccurate, and at the time of publication it was unfortunately not in the power of M. D'Avezac to have it collated with the original. One omission of some importance for the architectural history of the church of the Holy Sepulchre was very kindly pointed out to me by Professor Willis, and has been corrected in the translation. In describing this church, the text as printed by M. D'Avezac contains the words, "Ista oratoria sanctissima continentur in atrio Dominici sepulchri ad orientalem plagam. In lateribus autem ipsius ecclesiæ suæ capellæ sibi adhærent præclarissimæ hinc inde, sicut ipsi participes Dominicæ passionis sibi in lateribus constiterunt hinc inde." In the original manuscript the passage stands thus, and is rendered intelligible—"Ista oratoria sanctissima continentur in atrio Dominici sepulchri ad orientalem plagam. In lateribus vero ipsius ecclesiæ _duæ_ capellæ sibi adhærent præclarissimæ hinc inde, _Sanctæ Mariæ scilicet Sanctique Johannis in honore_, sicut ipsi participes Dominicæ passionis sibi in lateribus constiterunt hinc inde."

These four narratives are here translated for the first time. In translating Bernard, the text of Mabillon has been compared with that of Michel. The narrative of Arculf has been somewhat abridged, and relieved of some miracles and theological observations that are totally without interest. It may be right to observe, also, that in the original manuscript this narrative is accompanied with plans of churches, copies of which are given in the edition of Mabillon, and in the editions of Bede's abridgement.

The translation of the Saga of Sigurd the Crusader, is taken, by the obliging permission of Mr. Laing, from his recently published "Hemskringla," or "Chronicle of the Kings of Norway."

A number of editions, and several translations, of the travels of Benjamin of Tudela, have appeared, but the only strictly correct one is that published by Mr. A. Asher, Berlin, 1840. The translation published in the present volume is a mere revision of the English version by Mr. Asher, altered a little in the language, to make it more suitable for the popular English reader. My notes are chiefly abridged from the valuable volume of notes published by Mr. Asher in 1841.

The only edition of the English text of the book of Sir John Maundeville which correctly represents an original manuscript, is that published from the Cottonian Library in 1725, of which a reprint appeared in 1839, with an introduction, and some additional notes by Mr. Halliwell. The language of this edition has been modernized for the present volume. The travels of Bertrandon de la Brocquière are preserved in a manuscript preserved in the Royal Library in Paris, from which they were published, with some abridgment and in modernized French, in the fifth volume of the Mémoires of the Institute of France, by Legrand d'Aussy. They were thence translated into English by Mr. Johns, and printed at his private press at Hafod, in 1807. This translation, which has become a rare book, has been here slightly revised, and a few illustrative notes have been added. Maundrell's journey is reprinted from the original edition.

_Brompton, Aug. 28, 1848._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This date is fixed by a statement of the writer of the Itinerary:—"Item ambulavimus Dalmatio et Dalmaticei Zenophilo cons. iii. Kal. Jun. a Kalcidonia, et reversi sumus ad Constantinopolim vii. Kalend. Jan. consule suprascripto." We know from the historians that Flavius Valerius Dalmatius (brother of the emperor Constantine) and Marcus Aurelius Xenophilus were consuls together in 333.

[2] St. Jerome, in one of his Epistles, has given us the history of the adventures of St. Paula. The lives of the other saints mentioned here will be found in the large collection of the Bollandists. The abstract given here is taken from the Essay on Early Pilgrimages, by the Baron Walckenaer, inserted in Michaud's History of the Crusades.

[3] Bede, Hist. Eccl. v. 15.

[4] See my Biographia Britannica Literaria, Anglo-Saxon period, p. 202.

[5] Majuvias, Saracenorum rex, qui nostra ætate fuit, judex postulatus.

[6] See the Biographia Britannica Literaria, Anglo-Saxon period, p. 341, 342.

[7] Dicuil, De Mensura Orbis, vi. 3, ed. Letronne.

[8] W. Malmesbury de Gest. Pontif., p. 282. See also my Biographia Britannica Literaria, Anglo-Norman Period, p. 38.

[9] See, on Robert Guiscard, W. Malmesbury, Hist. book iii. pp. 294, 295. (Bohn's Antiquarian Library.)

[10] An interesting volume of these narratives, translated into French, and accompanied with valuable notes, has recently been published under the title, "Itineraires de la Terre Sainte des xiii, xiv^e, xv^e, xvi^e, and xvii^e siècles, traduits de l'Hébreu, par E. Carmoly," Brussels, 1847.

[11] For these dates see the notes on pp. 67, 75, and 119 of the present volume. See the notes on pp. 78, 124.

[12] See the note, p. 146 of the present volume.

[13] "Et sachiez que je eusse mis ce livre en Latin pour plus briefment deviser; mais pour ce que plusieurs entendent mieux Français que Latin, l'ai-je mis en Rommant à celle fin que chascun l'entende, et les seigneurs et chevaliers et aultres qui n'entendent pas le Latin." See on this subject, and on Maundeville's narrative, M. D'Avezac's preface to his edition of "Plan de Carpin," pp. 29-33.

THE TRAVELS OF BISHOP ARCULF IN THE HOLY LAND.

TOWARDS A.D. 700.

WRITTEN FROM HIS DICTATION, BY ADAMNAN, ABBOT OF IONA.

Arculf, the holy bishop, a native of Gaul, after visiting many remote countries, resided nine months at Jerusalem, and made daily visits to the surrounding districts. He counted in the circuit of the walls of the holy city eighty-four towers and six gates, the latter being distributed in the following order:—the gate of David on the west of Mount Sion, the gate of the valley of the Fuller, St. Stephen's gate, Benjamin's gate, the little gate leading by a flight of steps to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and the gate called Tecuitis; of which, the three most frequented are, one to the west, another to the north, and a third to the east. That part of the wall which, with its towers, extends from the gate of David over the northern brow of Mount Sion, which overlooks the city from the south, to the precipitous brow of the same mountain which looks to the east, has no gates.

The city itself begins from the northern brow of Mount Sion, and declines with a gentle slope towards the walls on the north and east, where it is lower; so that the rain which falls on the city runs in streams through the eastern gates, carrying with it all the filth of the streets into the brook Cedron, in the valley of Jehoshaphat. On the 15th of September, annually, an immense multitude of people of different nations are used to meet in Jerusalem for the purpose of commerce, and the streets are so clogged with the dung of camels, horses, mules, and oxen, that they become almost impassable, and the smell would be a nuisance to the whole town. But, by a miraculous providence, which exhibits God's peculiar attachment to this place, no sooner has the multitude left Jerusalem than a heavy fall of rain begins on the night following, and ceases only when the city has been perfectly cleansed.

On the spot where the Temple once stood, near the eastern wall, the Saracens have now erected a square house of prayer, in a rough manner, by raising beams and planks upon some remains of old ruins; this is their place of worship, and it is said that it will hold about three thousand men[14]. Arculf also observed many large and handsome houses of stone in all parts of the city, but his attention was more especially attracted by the holy places.

The church of the Holy Sepulchre is very large and round, encompassed with three walls, with a broad space between each, and containing three altars of wonderful workmanship, in the middle wall, at three different points; on the south, the north, and the west. It is supported by twelve stone columns of extraordinary magnitude; and it has eight doors or entrances through the three opposite walls, four fronting the north-east, and four to the south-east. In the middle space of the inner circle is a round grotto cut in the solid rock, the interior of which is large enough to allow nine men to pray, standing, and the roof of which is about a foot and a half higher than a man of ordinary stature. The entrance is from the east side, and the whole of the exterior is covered with choice marble to the very top of the roof, which is adorned with gold, and supports a large golden cross. Within, on the north side, is the tomb of our Lord, hewn out of the same rock, seven feet in length, and rising three palms above the floor. These measurements were taken by Arculf with his own hand. This tomb is broad enough to hold one man lying on his back, and has a raised division in the stone to separate his legs. The entrance is on the south side, and there are twelve lamps burning day and night, according to the number of the twelve apostles; four within at the foot, and the other eight above, on the right-hand side. Internally, the stone of the rock remains in its original state, and still exhibits the marks of the workman's tools; its colour is not uniform, but appears to be a mixture of white and red. The stone that was laid at the entrance to the monument is now broken in two; the lesser portion standing as a square altar, before the entrance, while the greater forms another square altar in the east part of the same church, covered with linen cloths.

To the right of this round church (which is called the Anastasis, or Resurrection,) adjoins the square church of the Virgin Mary, and to the east of this another large church is built on the spot called in Hebrew Golgotha, from the ceiling of which hangs a brazen wheel with lamps, beneath which a large silver cross is fixed in the very place where stood the wooden cross on which the Saviour of the human race suffered. Under the place of our Lord's cross, a cave is hewn in the rock, in which sacrifice is offered on an altar for the souls of certain honoured persons deceased, their bodies remaining meanwhile in the way or street between this church and the round church. Adjoining the church of Golgotha, to the east, is the basilica, or church, erected with so much magnificence by the emperor Constantine, and called the Martyrdom, built, it is said, in the place where the cross of our Lord with the other two crosses were found by divine revelation, two hundred and thirty-three years after they had been buried. Between these two last-mentioned churches, is the place where Abraham raised the altar for the sacrifice of his son Isaac, where there is now a small wooden table, on which the alms for the poor are offered. Between the Anastasis, or round church, and the basilica of Constantine, a certain open space extends to the church of Golgotha, in which are lamps burning day and night. In the same space between the Martyrdom and the Golgotha, is a seat, in which is the cup of our Lord, concealed in a little shrine, which Arculf touched and kissed through a hole in the covering. It is made of silver, of the capacity of about a French quart, and has two handles, one on each side. In it also is the sponge which was held up to our Lord's mouth. The soldier's lance, with which he pierced our Lord's side, which has been broken into two pieces, is also kept in the portico of the Martyrdom, inserted in a wooden cross. Arculf saw some other relics, and he observed a lofty column in the holy places to the north, in the middle of the city, which, at mid-day at the summer solstice, casts no shadow, which shows that this is the centre of the earth[15].

Arculf next visited the holy places in the immediate neighbourhood of Jerusalem. In the valley of Jehoshaphat he saw the round church of St. Mary, divided into two stories by slabs of stone; in the upper part are four altars; on the eastern side below there is another, and to the right of it an empty tomb of stone, in which the Virgin Mary is said to have been buried; but who moved her body, or when this took place, no one can say. On entering this chamber, you see on the right-hand side a stone inserted in the wall, on which Christ knelt when he prayed on the night in which he was betrayed; and the marks of his knees are still seen in the stone, as if it had been as soft as wax. In the same valley, not far from the church of St. Mary, is shown the tower of Jehoshaphat, in which his tomb is seen; adjoining to which little tower, on the right, is a separate chamber cut out of the rock of Mount Olivet, containing two hollow sepulchres, one, that of the aged Simeon the Just, who held the child Jesus in the temple, and prophesied of him; the other of Joseph, the husband of Mary. On the side of Mount Olivet there is a cave, not far from the church of St. Mary, on an eminence looking towards the valley of Jehoshaphat, in which are two very deep pits. One of these extends under the mountain to a vast depth; the other is sunk straight down from the pavement of the cavern, and is said to be of great extent. These pits are always closed above. In this cavern are four stone tables; one, near the entrance, is that of our Lord Jesus, whose seat is attached to it, and who, doubtless, rested himself here while his twelve apostles sat at the other tables. There is a wooden door to the cave, which was often visited by Arculf[16].

After passing through the gate of David, which is adjacent to Mount Sion, we come to a stone bridge, raised on arches, and pointing straight across the valley to the south; half-way along which, a little to the west of it, is the spot where Judas Iscariot hanged himself; and there is still shown a large fig-tree, from the top of which he is said to have suspended himself, according to the words of the poet Juvencus,—

"Informem rapuit ficus de vertice mortem."

On Mount Sion, Arculf saw a square church, which included the site of our Lord's Supper, the place where the Holy Ghost descended upon the apostles, the marble column to which our Lord was bound when he was scourged, and the spot where the Virgin Mary died. Here also is shown the site of the martyrdom of St. Stephen. He saw on the south of Mount Sion a small field (Aceldama) covered with a heap of stones, where the bodies of many pilgrims are carefully buried, while others are left to rot on the surface.

The ground to the north of Jerusalem, as far as the city of Samuel, which is called Ramatha, is at intervals rough and stony. There are open valleys, covered with thorns, extending all the way to the region of Tamnitis; but, on the other side, from Ælia (Jerusalem) and Mount Sion to Cæsarea of Palestine, though some narrow and craggy places are found, yet the principal part of the way is a level plain interspersed with olive-yards. Arculf states that few trees are found on Mount Olivet, except vines and olive trees, but wheat and barley flourish exceedingly; the nature of the soil, which is not adapted to trees, is favourable to grass and flowers. The height of this hill appears to be equal to that of Mount Sion, although it is much more extensive in length and breadth: the two mountains are separated by the valley of Jehoshaphat. On the highest point of Mount Olivet, where our Lord ascended into heaven, is a large round church, having around it three vaulted porticoes. The inner apartment is not vaulted and covered, because of the passage of our Lord's body; but it has an altar on the east side, covered with a narrow roof. On the ground, in the midst of it, are to be seen the last prints in the dust of our Lord's feet, and the roof appears open above, where he ascended; and although the earth is daily carried away by believers, yet still it remains as before, and retains the same impression of the feet. Near this is a brazen wheel, as high as a man's neck, having an entrance towards the west, with a great lamp hanging above it on a pulley, and burning night and day. In the western part of the same church are eight windows; and eight lamps, hanging by cords opposite them, cast their light through the glass as far as Jerusalem; which light, Arculf said, strikes the hearts of the beholders with a mixture of joy and divine fear. Every year, on the day of the Ascension, when mass is ended, a strong blast of wind comes down, and casts to the ground all who are in the church. All that night, lanterns are kept burning there, so that the mountain appears not only lighted up, but actually on fire, and all that side of the city is illuminated by it.

Arculf visited at Bethany a field in the middle of a large grove of olives, where there is a great monastery, and a church built over the cave where our Lord raised Lazarus from the dead. There is also a much frequented church to the north of Bethany, on that part of Mount Olivet where our Lord is said to have preached to his disciples.

From Jerusalem Arculf went to Bethlehem, which is situated on a narrow ridge, surrounded on all sides by valleys. The ridge is about a mile long, from west to east; and a low wall, without towers, surrounds the brow of the hill, and overlooks the valley. The houses of the inhabitants are scattered here and there over the space within the wall. At the extreme eastern angle there is a sort of natural half cave, the outer part of which is said to have been the place of our Lord's birth; the inside is called our Lord's Manger. The whole of this cave is covered within with precious marble. Over the place where more especially our Lord is said to have been born, stands the great church of St. Mary. Near the wall is a hollow stone, which received back from the wall the water in which our Lord's body was washed, and has ever since been full of the purest water, without any diminution. If by any accident or service it has been emptied, it quickly becomes as full as before. In the valley to the north of Bethlehem, Arculf saw the tomb of David, in the middle of a church, covered with a low pyramidal stone, unadorned, with a lamp placed above it. In another church, on the slope of the hill to the south, is the tomb of St. Jerome, equally without ornament. About a mile to the east of Bethlehem, by the tower of Ader, that is, of the Flock, is a church containing monuments of the three Shepherds, to whom, on this spot, the angel announced the birth of our Lord.

There is a highway, according to Arculf, leading southward from Jerusalem to Hebron, to the east of which Bethlehem is situated, six miles from Jerusalem. At the extremity of this road, on the west side, is the tomb of Rachel, rudely built of stones, without any ornament, presenting externally the form of a pyramid. Her name, placed there by her husband Jacob, is still shown upon it.

Hebron, which is also called Mamre, has no walls, and exhibits only the ruins of the ancient city; but there are some ill-built villages and hamlets scattered over the plain, and inhabited by a multitude of people. To the east is a double cave, looking towards Mamre, where are the tombs of the four patriarchs, Abram, Isaac, Jacob, and Adam the first man. Contrary to the usual custom, they are placed with the feet to the south, and the heads to the north; and they are inclosed by a square low wall. Each of the tombs is covered with a single stone, worked somewhat in form of a church, and of a light colour for those of the three patriarchs, which are together. The tomb of Adam, which is of meaner workmanship, lies not far from them, at the furthest extremity to the north. Arculf also saw poorer and smaller monuments of the three women, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah, who were here buried in the earth. The hill of Mamre is a mile to the south-west of these monuments, and is covered with grass and flowers, with a flat plain at the summit; on the north side of which is a church, in which is still seen, rooted in the ground, the stump of the oak of Mamre, called also the oak of Abraham, because under it he received the angels. St. Jerome says that this oak had stood there from the beginning of the world. Passing from Hebron towards the north, a hill of no great size is seen to the left, covered with fir-trees, about three miles from Hebron. Fir-wood, for fuel, is carried hence to Jerusalem on camels, for, as Arculf observed, carriages or waggons are very seldom met with throughout the whole of Judæa.

In another excursion, Arculf proceeded to Jericho, where, although the city had been three times built, and as many times utterly destroyed, yet the walls of the house of Rahab still stand, although without a roof. The whole site of the city is covered with corn-fields and vineyards, without any habitations. Between it and the Jordan are large groves of palm trees, interspersed with open spaces, in which are almost innumerable houses, inhabited by a diminutive sort of men of the race of Canaan. A large church stands on the site of Galgalis, where the children of Israel first encamped after passing the Jordan. It is five miles from Jericho. Within the church are the twelve stones which Joshua ordered to be taken out of the Jordan; six on the south side of the church floor, and six on the north. They are so heavy, that two strong men, at the present day, could hardly lift one of them; one has been accidentally broken in two, but the pieces have been reunited by means of iron.

A wooden cross stands in the Jordan, on the spot where our Lord was baptized, the depth of which, when the water is highest, reaches to the neck of a tall man, and, when lowest, to the breast. The river is here about as broad as a man can throw a stone with a sling. A stone bridge, raised on arches, reaches from the bank of the river to the cross, where people bathe. Arculf swam backwards and forwards in the water. A little church stands at the brink of the water, on the spot where our Lord is said to have laid his clothes when he entered the river. On the higher ground is a large monastery of monks, and a church dedicated to St. John. Arculf found the waters of the Jordan of a yellowish milky colour, and observed that they preserved this colour to a considerable distance, after they flowed into the Dead Sea, where he also witnessed the way in which salt was obtained from the waters of the latter.

In another excursion, Arculf visited the spot at the foot of Mount Libanus where the Jordan has its rise from two fountains, which are named Jor and Dan, the waters of which uniting, take the name of Jordan; and he went round the greater part of the Sea of Galilee, called also the Lake of Gennesareth, and the Sea of Tiberias, which is surrounded by thick woods, and is a hundred and forty stadia in length. The waters are sweet, and fit to drink; for it receives no mud, or other coarse substance, from any marshy pools, but is surrounded on all sides by a sandy shore. Arculf also travelled over the country of Samaria, and visited the town called in Hebrew Sichem, but by the Greeks and Latins Sicima, and now more usually Sichar. Here, without the walls, he saw a cruciform church, in the centre of which is the well of Jacob, where our Saviour met the Samaritan woman. Arculf, who drank of the water, estimated its depth at forty cubits. He also saw in the wilderness a clear fountain, protected with a covering of masonry, at which it is reported John the Baptist used to drink. He likewise saw a very small species of locust, the bodies of which are slender and short, about the size of a finger; and, because they make short leaps like frogs, they are easily caught among the grass. When boiled in oil, they form a poor sort of food. In the same desert he saw trees with broad round leaves of a milky colour, with the savour of honey, which are naturally fragile, and, after being bruised with the hand, are eaten; and this is the wild honey found in the woods. He further saw, on this side of the Sea of Galilee, to the north of the city of Tiberias, the place where our Lord blessed the loaves and fishes, a grassy and level plain, which has never been ploughed since that event, and shows no traces of buildings, except a few columns round the fountain where, as they say, those persons drank after they had eaten their fill.

Those who wish to go from Jerusalem to Capernaum, take the direct way by Tiberias, and from thence, along the Sea of Gennesareth, to the place where the loaves were blessed, from which Capernaum is at no great distance. Arculf saw this place from a neighbouring hill, and observed that it has no walls, but lies on a narrow piece of ground between the mountain and the lake. On the shore, towards the east, it extends a long way, having the mountain on the north and the water on the south. Arculf remained two days and two nights at Nazareth, which is on a hill, and is also without walls, but it has large houses of stone, and two very large churches. One of these is raised upon mounds and arches connecting them, and under it, between the mounds, is a clear fountain, from which all the citizens draw water in vessels, which they raise up into the church by means of pulleys. On this site stood formerly the house in which our Lord was nursed when an infant. The other church was built on the site of the house in which the archangel Gabriel came to the blessed Mary.

Mount Tabor, in Galilee, is three miles from the Lake of Gennesareth, of a remarkably round shape, and covered in an extraordinary manner with grass and flowers. At the top is a pleasant and extensive meadow, surrounded by a thick wood, and in the middle of the meadow a great monastery, with numerous cells of monks. The meadow is about twenty-four stadia in breadth, and the height of the mountain about thirty stadia. There are also three handsome churches on the top, according to the number of tabernacles described by Peter[17]. The monastery and churches are inclosed by a stone wall.

From Mount Tabor, Arculf went to the royal city of Damascus, eight days' journey, and remained there some days. It is situated in a plain, surrounded by a broad and ample circuit of walls, with numerous towers, and is intersected by four great rivers. On all sides beyond the walls are numerous groves of olives. The king of the Saracens has obtained possession of this city, and reigns in it[18]. It contains a large church of St. John the Baptist, frequented by the Christians. The unbelieving Saracens have built themselves a large mosque here. From hence Arculf repaired to Tyre, and thence (as it appears) he returned to Jerusalem. He went subsequently from Jerusalem to Joppa, and thence sailed, in forty days, to Alexandria in Egypt, a city famous throughout the whole world. It extends to a great length from east to west, so that Arculf, who began to enter the city at nine o'clock in the morning (_hora tertia_), in the month of October, and proceeding through the whole length of the city, hardly reached the other side before dark[19]. On the south it is bounded by the mouths of the Nile, and on the north by the Lake Mareotis. Its port is difficult of access, and bears some resemblance to the human body; for in its head it is sufficiently ample, but at its entrance it is very narrow, where it admits the tide of the sea, together with such ships as run into the port to take shelter and refit. But when you have passed the narrow neck and mouth of the harbour, the sea, like the human body, stretches out far and wide. On the right hand side is a small port, in which is the Pharos, a large tower, which is every night lighted up with torches, lest mariners might mistake their way in the dark, and be dashed against the rocks in their attempt to find the entrance, particularly as this is much impeded and disturbed by the waves dashing to and fro. The port, however, is always calm, and in magnitude about thirty stadia. The precautions alluded to are necessary for a port which is, in a manner, the emporium of the whole world; for innumerable people from all parts go there for commerce, and the surrounding region is extremely fruitful. Although the country is destitute of rain, the Nile serves both as a cultivator of the land, and as the means of transferring its products from one place to another. Here you see people sowing, there navigating, which are their chief occupations. The Nile is navigable to the place they call the town of Elephants[20]; beyond that the cataracts hinder a ship from proceeding, not from want of water, but because all the waters of the river run in a sort of wild ruin down a steep descent. Towards Egypt, as we enter the city, there is a large church on the right, in which St. Mark the Evangelist is interred. The body is buried in the eastern part of the church, before the altar, with a monument of squared marble over it. Along the Nile, the Egyptians are in the habit of constructing numerous embankments, to prevent the irruption of the water, which, if these mounds were broken down by the neglect of their keepers, would rather inundate and destroy than irrigate the lands below. The Egyptians who inhabit the plains, as Arculf, who frequently passed backward and forward along the Nile, observed, make their houses over canals by laying planks across. Arculf relates further, that the river Nile is haunted by crocodiles, aquatic beasts, not so large as they are ravenous, and so strong, that if one of them see by chance a horse or an ass, or even an ox, feeding near the bank of the river, he suddenly rushes out to attack it, and seizing it perhaps by the foot, drags it under the water, and devours the whole.

On his return from Alexandria, Arculf went to Constantinople, which is bounded on all sides, except the north, by the sea. The circuit of the walls, which are angular, according to the line of the sea, is about twelve miles. Constantine was at first disposed to build it in Cilicia, near the sea which separates Europe and Asia; but on a certain night all the iron tools were carried away, and when men were sent to seek them, they were found on the European side; for there it was God's will that the city should be built. In this city is a church of wonderful workmanship, called the Church of St. Sophia, built circular from its foundation, domed in, and surrounded by three walls. It is supported to a great height on columns and arches, and has, in its inmost part, on the north side, a large and beautiful closet, wherein is a wooden chest with a wooden lid, containing three pieces of our Lord's cross[21]; that is to say, the long timber cut in two, and the transverse part of the same holy cross. These pieces are exhibited for the adoration of the people three times only in the year; namely, on the day of our Lord's Supper, the day of the Preparation, and on Holy Saturday. On the first of these, the chest, which is two cubits long and one broad, is set out on a golden altar, with the holy cross exposed to view: the Emperor first approaches, and, after him, all the different ranks of laymen in order kiss and worship it; on the following day, the Empress and all the married women and virgins do the same; on the third day, the bishops and different orders of the clergy observe the same ceremonies; and then the chest is shut, and carried back to the closet before mentioned.

Arculf saw other sacred relics in Constantinople, and then sailed for his own country. About twelve miles from Sicily he saw the isle of Vulcano, whence constantly issued smoke by day and fire by night, with a noise like thunder, but with more intensity on Fridays and Saturdays. The noise is heard in Sicily, where Arculf made a short stay; and afterwards, on his way home, he was carried by contrary winds to the shores of Britain, and at length came to me, Adamnan, who by diligent inquiry obtained from him the above particulars, which I have carefully committed to writing.

FOOTNOTES:

[14] Jerusalem was first captured by the Saracens, under the khalif Omar, in 637, about sixty years before it was visited by Arculf. The patriarch Sophronius, when requested by Omar to point out a place for the erection of a mosque, is said to have taken him to the ruins on the site of Solomon's Temple, which had been deserted by the Christians, and where the building known as the Mosque of Omar was subsequently built. Until Arculf's time, the Mohammedans appear, however, to have had but a rough and temporary erection, unless the worthy bishop's pious zeal would not allow him to speak of the mosque otherwise than disrespectfully.

[15] It was a very old article of popular belief, founded on a literal interpretation of the words of Ps. lxxiv. 12, that Jerusalem was the centre, or, as it was often expressed, the navel, of the world; and it is so exhibited in nearly all the medieval maps.

[16] Dr. Clarke is the only modern traveller who has given any notice of these subterranean chambers or pits, which he supposes to have been ancient places of idolatrous worship.

[17] Matth. xvii. 4.

[18] Damascus was taken by the Arabs in 634. By the capitulation, the Christians were to have seven churches; but one of the Arabian leaders having broken into the city before the capitulation was completed, it was only very partially observed.

[19] Alexandria fell into the power of the Arabs in 640. The account given of the city by Arculf would lead us to believe that its prosperity and importance were not so suddenly reduced by that event as is generally believed.

[20] _Urbs Elephantorum._ The town of Elephantina, famous for its interesting monuments, situate on the Nile, just below the cataracts. It is to be presumed that Arculf had visited this place; and perhaps he had here seen the crocodiles subsequently described, as those animals are said not to be found in Lower Egypt. It must, however, be observed, that St. Antoninus, who visited Egypt in the seventh century, appears to have seen crocodiles in Lower Egypt. See his Life, in the Act. Sanct. of the Bollandists.

[21] The subsequent history of the supposed real cross, or rather the supposed fragments of it, which were scattered as relics over Christian Europe, would fill a volume. It was pretended that it was brought to France by Charlemagne.

THE TRAVELS OF WILLIBALD.

A.D. 721-727.

WRITTEN FROM HIS OWN RECITAL BY A NUN OF HEIDENHEIM.

After the ceremonies of Easter were ended, the active champion (of Christ) prepared for his voyage with his two companions, and left Rome. They first went eastward to the town of Daterina[22], where they remained two days; and thence to Cajeta, on the coast, where they went on board a ship and sailed over to Nebule[23]. They here left the ship, and remained a fortnight. These are cities belonging to the Romans; they are in the territory of Beneventum, but subject to Rome. There, after waiting anxiously, in constant prayer that their desires might be agreeable to heaven, they found a ship bound for Egypt, in which they took their passage, and sailed to the land of Calabria, to the town which is called Rhegia[24], and there remained two days; and then proceeded to the island of Sicily, in which is the town of Catania, where the body of St. Agatha, the virgin, reposes. And there is Mount Etna; in case of an eruption of which, the inhabitants of Catania take the veil of St. Agatha, and hold it up towards the fire, which immediately ceases. They made a stay of three weeks at this place, and then sailed to the isle of Samos, and thence to the town of Ephesus, in Asia, which is one mile from the sea. They walked thence to the place where the seven sleepers repose; and onward thence to John the Evangelist, in a beautiful locality by Ephesus. They next walked two miles along the sea-side to a large village which is called Figila[25], where they remained one day, and, having begged bread, they went to a fountain in the middle of the town, and, sitting on the edge, they dipped their bread in the water, and so made their meal. They next walked along the sea-shore to the town of Strobole[26], seated on a lofty hill, and thence to the place called Patera, where they remained till the rigour of winter was past.

After this, going on ship-board, they came to the town which is called Melitena[27], which had been nearly destroyed by an inundation; and two hermits lived there on a rock, secured by walls, so that the water could not reach them. And there they suffered much from hunger, from which they were only relieved by God's providential mercy[28]. They sailed thence to the isle of Cyprus, which is between the Greeks and the Saracens, to the town of Papho, where they passed the first week in the year. And thence they went to the town of Constantia, where St. Epiphanius reposes, and there they remained till after the Nativity of St. John the Baptist[29]. They then put to sea again and came into the region of the Saracens to the town of Tharratas[30], by the sea; and thence they walked a distance of nine to twelve miles to a castle called Archæ[31], where there was a Greek bishop; and there they had divine service according to the Greek custom. Thence they walked twelve miles to the town which is called Emessa, where there is a large church built by St. Helena, in honour of John the Baptist, whose head was long preserved there. This is in Syria.

Willibald's party had now increased to eight in number, and they became an object of suspicion to the Saracens, who, seeing that they were strangers, seized them and threw them into prison, because they knew not of what country they were, and supposed them to be spies. They carried them as prisoners before a certain rich old man, that he might examine them; and he inquired whence they came and the object of their mission; whereupon they related to him the true cause of their journey. The old man replied, "I have often seen men of the parts of the earth whence these come, travelling hither; they seek no harm, but desire to fulfil their law." And upon that they went to the palace, to obtain leave to proceed to Jerusalem.

While they were in prison it happened, by a manifest intervention of Divine Providence, that a merchant residing there was desirous, as an act of charity, and for the salvation of his soul, to purchase their deliverance, that they might pursue their way, but he was not allowed to carry his generous design into effect; nevertheless he sent them daily their meals, and on Wednesdays and Saturdays sent his son to them in prison, who took them out to the bath, and brought them back again. And on Sunday he took them to church through the market, that they might see the shops, and whatever they seemed to take a liking to he afterwards bought for them at his own expense. The townsmen used then to come there to look at them, because they were young and handsome, and clad in good garments.

Then, while they were still remaining in prison, a man, who was a native of Spain, came and spoke with them, and inquired earnestly who they were and from whence they came, and they told him the object of their pilgrimage. This Spaniard had a brother in the king's palace, who was chamberlain to the king of the Saracens; and when the governor who had thrown them into prison came to the palace, the captain in whose ship they had sailed from Cyprus, and the Spaniard who had spoken to them in prison, went together before the king of the Saracens, whose title is Emir-al-Mumenin[32], and, when their cause came on, the Spaniard spoke to his brother, and begged him to intercede with the king for them. After this, when all three came before the king, and told him the case, he asked whence the prisoners came. And they said, "These men come from the west country, where the sun sets; and we know of no land beyond them, but water only." And the king replied, "Why ought we to punish them? they have not sinned against us:—give them leave, and let them go." And even the fine of four deniers, which the other prisoners had to pay, was remitted to them. The Cyprians were then situated between the Greeks and the Saracens, and were not in arms: for there was great peace and friendship between the Greeks and Saracens. It was a great and extensive region, and had twelve bishops.

As soon as they had obtained leave, the travellers went direct to Damascus, a distance of a hundred miles. St. Ananias reposes there, and it is in the land of Syria. They remained there one week. And at two miles from the city was a church, on the spot where St. Paul was first converted, and the Lord said to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" &c. And after praying there, they went into Galilee, to the place where Gabriel first came to St. Mary, and said, "Hail, full of grace," &c. A church now stands there, and the village which contains the church is Nazareth. The Christians repeatedly bought that church of the pagans, when the latter were about to destroy it. And having there recommended themselves to the Lord, they proceeded to the town of Cana, where our Lord turned water into wine. A large church stands there, and near the altar is still preserved one of the six vessels which our Lord commanded to fill with water to be turned into wine; and the travellers drunk wine out of it. They remained there one day, and then continued their journey to Mount Tabor, the scene of our Lord's transfiguration, where there is now a monastery and a church consecrated to our Lord, and Moses, and Elijah. And those who dwell there call it Hagemon (the Holy Mount). After praying there, they proceeded to the town of Tiberias, which stands on the shore of the sea on which our Lord walked with dry feet, and on which Peter tried to walk but sank. Here are many churches, and a synagogue of the Jews. They remained there some days, and observed where the Jordan passes through the midst of the sea. And thence they went round the sea, and by the village of Magdalum to the village of Capernaum, where our Lord raised the prince's daughter. Here was a house and a great wall, which the people of the place told them was the residence of Zebedæus with his sons John and James. And thence they went to Bethsaida, the residence of Peter and Andrew, where there is now a church on the site of their house. They remained there that night, and next morning went to Chorazin, where our Lord healed the demoniacs, and sent the devil into a herd of swine. Here was a church of the Christians.

Having performed their devotions there, they went to the place where the two fountains, Jor and Dan, issue from the earth, and flowing down from the mountain are collected into one, and form the Jordan. And there they passed the night between the two fountains, and the shepherds gave them sour ewes' milk to drink. The sheep are of an extraordinary kind, with a long back, short legs, large upright horns, and all of one colour. There are deep marshes in the neighbourhood, and when the heat of the sun, in summer, is oppressive, the sheep go to the marsh, and immerse themselves in the water all but the head. Thence they proceeded to Cæsarea, where there was a church and a multitude of Christians. They next went to the monastery of St. John the Baptist[33], where there were about twenty monks, and remained one night there, and next day went the distance of a mile to the spot in the river Jordan where our Lord was baptized. Here is now a church raised upon stone columns, and under the church it is now dry land where our Lord was baptized. They still continue to baptize in this place; and a wooden cross stands in the middle of the river, where there is small depth of water, and a rope is extended to it over the Jordan. At the feast of the Epiphany, the infirm and sick come thither, and, holding by the rope, dip in the water. And women who are barren come thither also, and thus obtain God's grace. Willibald here bathed in the Jordan, and they remained at this place one day.

Thence they went to Galgala, a journey of five miles, where is a moderate-sized wooden church, in which are the twelve stones which the children of Israel carried out of the Jordan to Galgala, and placed there as a memorial of their passage. Here also they performed their devotions, and then proceeded to Jericho, above seven miles from the Jordan, and saw there the fountain which was blessed by the prophet Elisha, and hence to the monastery of St. Eustochium, which stands in the middle of the plain between Jericho and Jerusalem.

On their arrival at Jerusalem, they first visited the spot where the holy cross was found, where there is now a church which is called the Place of Calvary, and which was formerly outside of Jerusalem; but when St. Helena found the cross, the place was taken into the circuit of the city. Three wooden crosses stand in this place, on the outside of the wall of the church, in memory of our Lord's cross and of those of the other persons crucified at the same time. They are without the church, but under a roof. And near at hand is the garden in which was the sepulchre of our Saviour, which was cut in the rock. That rock is now above ground, square at the bottom, but tapering above, with a cross on the summit. And over it there is now built a wonderful edifice. And on the east side of the rock of the sepulchre there is a door, by which men enter the sepulchre to pray. And there is a bed within, on which our Lord's body lay; and on the bed stand fifteen golden cups with oil burning day and night. The bed on which our Lord's body rested stands within the rock of the sepulchre on the north side, to the right of a man entering the sepulchre to pray. And before the door of the sepulchre lies a great square stone, in the likeness of the former stone which the angel rolled from the mouth of the monument. Our bishop arrived here on the feast of St. Martin[34], and was suddenly seized with sickness, and lay sick until the week before the Nativity of our Lord. And then, being a little recovered, he rose and went to the church called St. Sion, which is in the middle of Jerusalem, and, after performing his devotions, he went to the porch of Solomon, where is the pool where the infirm wait for the motion of the water, when the angel comes to move it; and then he who first enters it is healed. Here our Lord said to the paralytic, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk!"[35] St. Mary expired in the middle of Jerusalem, in the place called St. Sion; and as the twelve apostles were carrying her body, the angels came and took her from their hands and carried her to paradise.

Bishop Willibald next descended to the valley of Jehoshaphat, which is close to the city of Jerusalem, on the east side. And in that valley is the church of St. Mary, which contains her sepulchre, not because her body rests there, but in memory of it. And having prayed there, he ascended Mount Olivet, which is on the east side of the valley, and where there is now a church, where our Lord prayed before his passion, and said to his disciples, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation."[36] And thence he came to the church on the mountain itself, where our Lord ascended to heaven. In the middle of the church is a square receptacle, beautifully sculptured in brass, on the spot of the Ascension, and there is on it a small lamp in a glass case, closed on every side, that the lamp may burn always, in rain or in fair weather, for the church is open above, without a roof; and two columns stand within the church, against the north wall and the south wall, in memory of the two men who said, "Men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?"[37] And the man who can creep between the wall and the columns will have remission of his sins.