** or marble; and in fome, painted and de"corated with gilding, and with an inscrip"tion in Turkish characters in relievo."

The bleffing the name and memory of the builder of one of these fountains fhows, that a cup of water is, in thofe countries, by no means a defpicable thing; there are, however, refreshments that might be given of a much fuperior quality. Such is milk: fo when Sifera afked Jael for a little water to drink, becaufe he was thirsty, fhe opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, Judges iv. 19. So the mother of an Eastern prince, among other instructions, bade him "Give strong drink

to them that were ready to perish, and "wine to thofe that were of heavy hearts," Prov. xxxi. 6.

The giving a thirsty traveller also a watermelon, fuch as grow in great quantities on Mount Carmel, would be a much nobler refreshment than a cup of water. The inhabitants, Egmont and Heyman inform us', fpeaking of Mount Carmel, “ chiefly em

ploy themselves in improving their gardens, "where they have, among other fruits, ex"cellent melons, and pafteques, which, in

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goodness and tafte, are not at all inferior "to thofe of Naples and the West-Indies. "The latter are called, in America, water"melons, and very properly, confifting of "little elfe than a rind and delicious water.

"The pulp of fome is reddish, especially "that part nearest the center of the fruit, "where they have also small feeds, the fur"face of which is blackish or reddish, and "beneath it a white, foft, and palatable fubftance, and from whence a kind of oil is

expreffed, of great ufe in colds, inflam"mations, and cutaneous diforders. The “melons which have a white pulp, are also of a very agreeable tafte; but not so much "efteemed as the other, probably more from prepoffeffion than any folid reafon. Both, " however, may fupply the place of drink, as they diffolve in the mouth, quench the thirst, and are of a cooling quality."

A cup of water then is not fo defpicable a refreshment in the Eaft, as that the mention of it should be ridiculous; there are, however, many refreshments far fuperior. It was a favour done them comparatively small, but however not wholly unworthy notice. The donations of the devout Mohammedans is an energetic proof of it.

If from the Leffer Afia we pafs into Egypt, and the southern part of Arabia, under the conduct of Niebuhr, we fhall find the providing water for the thirsty is confidered as a work of confiderable benevolence. "There 66 were upon this mountain," he says, "three madsjils, or little refervoirs, which are always kept full of fine fresh water for the "ufe of paffengers. Thefe refervoirs, which "are about to feet and an half fquare, and

"" from

"from five to seven feet high, are round or

pointed at the top, of mason's work, hav"ing only a fmall opening in one of the “fides, by which they pour water into them. "Sometimes we find near thefe places of "Arab refreshment a piece of a gourd-fhell, or "a little fcoop of wood. However, instead "of trufting to fuch conveniences, travellers "would do better to carry a cup with them, “and even to have with them, in a long journey, a bardák, or vessel for water'." He often speaks of thefe erections in Arabia.

6.6

As to Egypt, he fays, "Among the public buildings of Kahira, thofe houfes ought to "be reckoned, where they daily give water gratis to all paffengers that defire it. Some "of these houses make a very handsome ap

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pearance; and those whofe bufinefs it is to "wait on paffengers are to have fome vef"fels of copper, curiously tinned, and filled "with water, always ready on the window "next the ftreet "."

This is a farther confirmation of the juftness of confidering the giving a cup of cold water as a benevolent action of fome moment, though it is fuppofed by our Lord to be of the meaner kind.

OBSERVATION XLIX.

Job fpeaks of fome poor people, fo feverely oppreffed with poverty, that they wanted bread, and fed on the wild herbs of the wilderness, particularly, according to our tranflation, on mallows. Biddulph faw poverty producing the like effect in his tra

vels.

It will be fufficient to fet down the two paffages, the latter illuftrating the former, at leaft as to one point.

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"Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper-roots for their meat." Job xxx. 4. So Biddulph fays he "faw many poor people gathering mallows, and three-leaved grafs, and asked them what they did with "it; and they answered, that it was all their "food; and that they boiled it, and did eat "it. Then we took pity on them, and gave " them bread, which they received very joy"fully, and bleffed God that there was bread "in the world'." This was in Syria, not far from Aleppo.

Whether mallows was one of the herbs Job precifely meant may be doubted; it appears however to be a species of herb actually ufed as food by the very poor people of the

1 Collection of Voy. and Trav, from the library of the Earl of Oxford, p. 807.

Eaft.

Eaft. And at the fame time the joy they expreffed, upon having a little bread given, fhows that it was not any guftfulness in those herbs which they eat, which caused them to gather them, or the force of long-established habit; but the extremity of want.

As Biddulph went to Jerufalem, fome time before the tranflation of the Bible was undertaken by the command of King James Ift, the obfervation he made, of the poor people's eating mallows in Syria, might engage thofe

learned men fo to render the word used in that paffage of the book of Job.

I have elsewhere' taken notice of the different opinions of the learned, concerning the tree or shrub which our tranflators supposed was the juniper; and I expreffed my regret that the knowledge of the natural history of the Eaft is so imperfect: and as I have fince remarked an article in d'Herbelot's Bibliotheque Orientale, which probably refers to this tree, I would here fet it down, though unhappily the particular species of the tree is not thereby exprefsly determined.

"Gadha and gadhat, a fort of tree, nearly refembling the tamarifk, which grows in "the fandy deferts. Camels are very fond "of it's leaves, which nevertheless are apt "to give them the gripes. The wood of "these trees is extremely proper to burn into "charcoal, which has the property of long

Obferv. vol. 2, ch. 10, obf. 21.