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Letters on Egypt, Edom and the Holy Land v. 2 by Alexander Lindsay

Biography
Biography

Excerpts
English from Lindsay (1838 v.2) - Nazareth

But the vale of Nazareth has no pretensions to the beauty ascribed to it by travellers; its hills are barren and uncultivated, and the grove of fig-trees we passed through descending to the village was very scanty. We were hospitably received by the Superior of the Spanish Convent, who gave us a very tolerable apartment, with a portentous crack, however, across the roof, the effect of the great earthquake of the first of January; have you ever heard of it in England? They had excellent rooms for visitors, but the wing of the house in which they were situated has been completely ruined. Only six persons were killed in Nazareth, and but few houses were injured.

English from Lindsay (1838 v.2) - Reni

From Nazareth (sending on Missirie, with the baggage, direct to Mount Tabor), we rode over the hills to Kenna, the ancient Gana of Galilee, passing Reni, a village on the left, utterly destroyed by the earthquake. Cana rises on a gentle elevation, facing the south-west. We stopped at a fountain of excellent water, flowing beneath the village through delicious groves of figs and pomegranates—the source, doubtless, of the very water that was made wine.

English from Lindsay (1838 v.2) - Tiberias

We did not enter Tiberias, but pitched on the banks of the lake; the earthquake had left the town in ruins, its walls cast down to the ground, its towers split in two, and their galleries and chambers laid open and yawning in mid-air. We all bathed and found it most refreshing. We spent a very pleasant afternoon and evening on the shore of this lovely lake—not, I hope, without thoughts of Him who dwelt on its banks and walked on its waves, and stilled them at his word, and whose will is still all-powerful to sustain us, when the winds wage war and the waters rise against us, and faith, like Peter, sinks in the heart. ...

English from Lindsay (1838 v.2) - Jerash

Opposite to the propylon, another cross-street runs down towards the river, bordered by columns, erect only on the south side; traces are discernible of the ancient pavement, which was raised in the middle of the street, with a trottoir on a low level. It ends in a semicircular platform, built up over the river.

Beyond the propylon, following the course of the main street, and to the left of it, stands another theatre (for wild beasts’ combats) with a colonnade in front of it, from which a third cross-street runs down to the river, meeting the High Street at a rotunda (which has suffered much from the recent earthquake), and ending in an immense accumulation of vaults and arches overhanging the stream—probably baths. The High Street runs on in a north-easterly direction, till it ends at the gate of the town. The ancient pavement is in singular preservation beyond the baths. ...

English from Lindsay (1838 v.2) - Jerash

Jerash has suffered much from the late earthquake; we saw many recent ruins; Mr. Moore was here at the time, and he described the columns as chattering on their bases. But many a previous earth-throb has aided the scythe of Time in the work of destruction ; the pillars consist, for the most part, of several courses of stone, and in repeated instances every course has been shaken out of its place, — and that many a year ago.

English from Lindsay (1838 v.2) - Damascus ?

[It was on my arrival at Damascus that I learnt, from my kind and deeply sympathising friend Mr. Farren, the mournful intelligence that Mr. Ramsay had fallen a victim to the cholera during my absence. He had accompanied us as far as our first encampment at Adra, five hours from Damascus, but returned the following morning, having been unwell during the night, and not feeling sufficient interest in the excursion to induce him to come on with us. On re-entering Damascus, symptoms of cholera became apparent; all remedies proved ineffectual, and, at three on the morning of the 8th of June, my poor friend was released from suffering.

I cannot refrain from inserting the closing lines of his Journal, and the supplement which I observe has been added in pencil since it left my hands:—“We had sent on Missirie to Mr. Farren’s, to ask for rooms in his house for strangers, but this had been destroyed by the earthquake, so we found our way to the Convent, where . . .” “In less than three days afterwards, the writer of this Journal, dear William, ended his earthly career, leaving us good hope to believe that he has entered the New Jerusalem, and is there enjoying the blessing of that rest prepared for the people of God.”]

English from Lindsay (1838 v.2) - embedded



Chronology
Year Reference Corrections Notes
1 Jan. 1837 CE "The great earthquake of the first of January mentioned on the bottom of page 82 none
Seismic Effects

Nazareth
  • "gave us a very tolerable apartment, with a portentous crack, however, across the roof, the effect of the great earthquake of the first of January"
  • "They had excellent rooms for visitors, but the wing of the house in which they were situated has been completely ruined. Only six persons were killed in Nazareth, and but few houses were injured"
Reni (aka Reineh)
  • "Reni, a village on the left, utterly destroyed by the earthquake"
Tiberias
  • "the earthquake had left the town in ruins, its walls cast down to the ground, its towers split in two, and their galleries and chambers laid open and yawning in mid-air."
Jerash
  • "a rotunda (which has suffered much from the recent earthquake)"
  • "Jerash has suffered much from the late earthquake; we saw many recent ruins"
  • "he described the oolumns as chattering on their bases"
Damascus ?
  • "We had sent on Missirie to Mr. Farren’s, to ask for rooms in his house for strangers, but this had been destroyed by the earthquake, so we found our way to the Convent"
Locations
  • Nazareth
  • Reni (aka Reineh)
  • Tiberias
  • Jerash
  • Damascus ?
Sources
Sources

Online Versions and Further Reading
References