LIBRARY THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA PRESENTED BY Mr. H. H. Kil iani UCSB LIBRARY Ruins of BaaQ"bec JEDitton THE WORKS Of BAYARD TAYLOR VOLUME IV THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN JOHN GODFREY'S FORTUNES G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS NK\V YORK LONDON 27 \\KV1 TWENTY-THIRD STRF.KT 24 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND (The tumhcrbotkrt pttss THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN OR PICTURES OF PALESTINE, ASIA MINOR SICILY, AND SPAIN BAYARD TAYLOR AUTHOR'S REVISED EDITION Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by G. P. TUTNAM, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the South cm District of New York. COPYRIGHT, MAKIE TAYLOR, 1863. TO WASHINGTON IRVING THIS book the chronicle of my travels through lands once occupied by the Saracens naturally dedicates itself to you, who, more than any other American author, have revived the traditions, restored the history, and illustrated the character of that brilliant and heroic people. Your cordial encouragement con- firmed me in my design of visiting the East, and making myself familiar with Oriental life ; and though I bring you 'now but imperfect returns, I can at least unite with you in admiration of a field so rich in romantic interest, and indulge the hope that T may one day pluck from it fruit instead of blossoms. In Spain, I came upon your track, and I should hesitate to exhibit my own gleanings where you have harvested, were it not for the belief that the rapid sketches I have given will but enhance, by the contrast, the charm of your finished picture. BAYARD TAYLOR. P R E I A C E . volume comprises the second portion of a series if travels, of which the " JOURNEY TO CENTRAL AFRICA./' already published, is the first part. I left home, intending to spend a winter in Africa, and to return during the following summer ; but circumstan- ces afterwards occurred, which prolonged my wan- derings to nearly two years and a half, and led me to visit many remote and unexplored portions of the globe. To describe this journey in a single work, would embrace too many incongruous elements, to say nothing of its great length, and as it falls naturally into three parts, or episodes, of very distinct character, I have judged it best to group my experiences under three separate heads, merely indicating the links which connect them. This work includes my travels in Pales- tine, Syria, Asia Minor, Sicily and Spain, and will be followed by a third and concluding volume, containing my adventures in India, China, the Loo-Choo Islands, VI PREFACE . and Japan. Although many of the letters, contained in this volume, describe beaten tracks of travel, I have always given my own individual impressions, and may claim for them the merit of entire sincerity. The journey from Aleppo to Constantinople, through the heart of Asia Minor, illustrates regions rarely traversed by tourists, and wid, no doubt, be new to most of my readers. My aim, throughout the work, has been to give correct pictures of Oriental life and scenery, leav- ing antiquarian research and speculation to abler hands. The scholar, or the man of science, may complain with reason that I have neglected valuable opportunities for adding something to the stock of human knowledge : but if a few of the many thousands, who can only travel by their firesides, should find my pages answer the pur- pose of a srries of cosmoramic views should in them behold with a clearer inward eye the hills of Pales- tine, the sun-gilded minarets of Damascus, or the lonely pine-forests of Phrygia should feel, by turns, some- thing of the inspiration and the indolence of the Orient I shall have achieved all I designed, and more thar I can justly hope. Hiw You, OoCofer, 1854. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. LIFE IN A SYRIAN QUARANTINE. Voyage from Alexandria to Beyrout Landing at Quarantine The Gusrdlar.o Om Quarters Our Companions Famine and Feasting The Morning The Holy Man <>f Timbuctoo Sunday in Quarantine Islamism We are Registered Love through n Orating Trumpets The Mystery Explained Delights of Quarantine Orient;.! v* American Exaggeration A Discusaion of Politics Our Release Beyrout Prepara tlons for the Pilgrimage 17 CHAPTER IL THE COAST OP PALESTINE. rhe Pilgrimage Commences The Muleteers The Mules The Donkey Journey to Sidon The Foot of Lebanon Pictures The Ruins of Tyre A Wild Morning The Tjrrian Surges Climbing the Ladder of Tyre Panorama of the Bay .if Acre The Plain of Esdraelon Camp in a Garden Acre the Shore of the Bay Haifa Motm Carmel and its Monastery A Deserted Coast The Ruins of Csesarea The Scenery of Palestine We become Robbers El Haram Wrecks the Harbor and Town of Jaflfc 32 CHAPTER III. FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. The Garden of Jaffa Breakfast at a Fountain The Plain of Sharon The Rn'ned Moiqne of Ramleh A Judran Landscape The Streets Famleh Am I In Pale* Vlll CONTENTS. tine ? A Heavenly Morning The Land of Milk and Honey Entering the Hill Country The Pilgrim's Breakfast The Father of Lies A Church of the Crusader; The Agriculture of the Hills The Valley of Klah Day-Dreams The Wilderness --Tb Approach We See tie Holy City . 48 CHAPTER 17. CHE DEAD SEA AXD THE RIVER JORDAN 3arg*laing for a Guard Departure from Jerusalem The Hill of Offence Bethany The Grotto of Laiarus The Valley of Fire Scenery of the Wilderness The Hills o EngatVii The shore of the Dead Sea A Bituminous Bath Gallop 10 the -ordan A watch for Robbers The Jordan Baptism The Plains of Jericho The Fountaic of ffiUha-- The Mount of Temptation Return to Jerusalem 60 CHAPTER V. THE OITT OF CHRIST. Modern Jerusalem The Site of the City Mount Zion Mount Moriah The Temple The Valley of Jehosaphat The Olives of Gethsemane The Mount of Olives Moslen Tradition Panorama from the Summit The Interior of the City The Population- Missions and Missionaries Christianity in Jerusalem Intolerance The Jews of Jerusalem The Face of Christ The Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Holy of Holies The Sacred Localities Visions of Christ The Mosque of Omar The Holj Man of Timbuctoo Preparations for Departure . . ... 72 CHAPTER VI THE HILL-COON TRY OF PALESTINE. leaving Jerusalem The Tombs of the Kings El Bireh The Hill-Country Firs' View of Mount Hermon The Tomb of Joseph Ebal and Gerirlin- The Gardens of Nablous The Samaritans The Sacred Book A Scene in the Synagogue Mentoi and Telemachus Ride to Samaria The Ruins of Sebaste Scriptural Landscapes - Halt at Genin The Plain of Esd -aelon Palestine and California- -The Hills of Nasa -cih Accident Fra Joachim- The Church of the Virgin The Shrine of th Annunciation The Holy Places . .88 CHAPTER VII. THE COUNTRY OF OALILEE. Departure from Nazareth A Christian Guile Ascent of Mount Tabor WallachiM Hermits The Panorama of T.ib" -Rids to Tiberias A Hath in Gonesareth Thi CONTENTS. IX rowers of Galilee The Mount of Beatitude M&gdala Joseph's Well Meeting with a Turk The Fountain of the Salt- Works The Upper Valley of the Jordan- Bummer Scenry The Rivers of Lebanon Tell el-Kadi An Arcadian Region T)u PouaUlns of Bantu 103 CHAPTER VIII. CROSSING THE ANT .'-LEBANON fhe Harmless Guard Csarea Philippl The Valley of the Druses -The Sides of Mouc- Hermon An Alarm Threading a Defile Distant view of Djebel Hanaran Anothei Alana Camp at Katana We Ride into Damascus ,1*5 CHAPTER IX. PICTURES OK DAMASCUS. Damascus from the Anti-Lebanon Entering the City A Diorama of Baiaars An Oriental Hotel Our Chamber The Bazaars Pipes and Coffee The Rivers of Damascus Palaces of the Jews Jewish Ladies A Christian Gentleman The Sacred Localities Damascus Blades The Sword of Haroun Al-Raschid An Arrival Iron Palmyra I2o CHAPTER X. T H VISIONS OF HASHEESH . 133 CHAPTER XI. A DISSERTATION ON BATHING AND BODIES . 14V CHAPTER XII. BAALBEC AND LEBANON. Departure from Damascus The Fountains of the Pharpar Pass of toe Anti-Lebanon Adventure with the Druses The Range of Lebanon The Demon of Hasheesr departs Impressions of Baalbec The Temple of the Sun Titanic Masonry The Ruinml Mosque Camp on Lebanon Rascality of the Guide The Summit of Lebanon The Sacred Cedars The Christians of Lebanon An Afternoon in Eden Rugged Travel We Reach the Coast- -H.Hurn to Beyrout . ... 161 1* X CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. F I P E 8 AND COFFEE. 178 CHAPTER XIV. JOURNEY TO ANTIOCH AND ALEPPO. 3hang of Plani Routei to Baghdad Aala Minor We sail from Beyrout lachtii., on the Syrian Coast Tartus and Latakiyeh The Coasts of Syria The Bay of Snt, diah The Mouth of the Orontes Landing The Garden of Syria Ride to Antloch The Modern City The Plains of the Orontes Remains of the Greek Empire Th Ancient Road The Plain of Kef tin Approach to Aleppo . . . . 186 CHAPTER XV. LIFE IN ALEPPO. Jnr Cntry Into Aleppo We are conducted to a House Our Unexpected Welcome- -Tb Mystery Explained Aleppo--Its Name Its Situation The Trade of Aleppo Thi Christians The Revolt of 1800 Present Appearance of the City Visit to Osnmn Pasha The Citadel View from the Battlements Society in Aleppo Etiquette and Costume-^Jewish Marriage Festivities A Christian Marriage Procession- Ride around the Town Nightingales The Aleppo Button A Hospital for Oats Verbal Pasha 196 CHAPTER XVI. THROUGH THE STRIAN GATES In Inauspicious Departure The Ruined Church of St. 8imn The Plain of Antloch A Turcoman Encampment Climbing Akma Dagh The Syrian Gates Scanderoon An American Captain Revolt of the Koorda We take a Guard The Field of Issui The Robber-Chief, Kutchak All A Deserted Town A Land of Gardens . . 215 CHAPTER XVII. A I) A \ A AND TARSUS. Fhe Black Gate The Plain of Cilicta A Koorrt Village Missis Cillclan Scenery- Arrival at Adtuia Three days in Quarantine We receive Pratique A Lanrtscs tie-- TV Plain of Tarsus Tin- Ri'vci Cydnus A Vision of Cleopatra Tariua and iti Bnvirons The ItrnvUetanlt Tin- Moon of llamaian . ... 226 CO NT NTS. XI CHAPTER XVIII. THK PASS OK MOUNT TAURUS. We eater UM Taurus Turcomans Forest Scenery the Palace of Pan Khac. Meur luk Morning among the Mountains The Gorge of the Cydnus The Crag of thi Fortress The Cilickm Gate Deserteil Ports A Sublime Landscape The Gorge of tht Sihoon The Second Gate Camp in the Defile Sunrise Journey up the Sihocwi A Change of Scenery A Pastoral Valley Klu Kushla A Deserted Kh;in A Gutst 1:. Ramazan Flowers The Plain of Karamanla Barren Hills The Town of Eregli The Hadji again 236 CHAPTER XIX. TUB PLAINS OF KARAMANIA. rh' 1 Plains of Karamania Afternoon Heat A Well Volcanic Phenomena Kara- maiiia A Grand Ruined Khan Moonlight Picture A Landscape of the Plain* Mirages A Short Interview The Village of Ismil Third Day on the Plains Auproacn to Roma 250 CHAPTER XX. SCENES IN K O N 1 A . Approach to Knnla Tomb of Hazret Mevlana Lodgings in a Khan An American Luxury A Night-Scene in Ramazan Prayers in the Mosque Remains of tht Ancient City View from the Mosque The Interior A Leaning Minaret The Diverting History of the Muleteers 256 CHAPTER XXI. TUB HEART OP ASIA MINOR. Venery of the Hills Ladik, the Ancient Laodicea The Plague of Gad-Files- Camp at Ilg-in A Natural Warm Bath The Gad-Flies Again A Summer Landscape Ak Shelter The Base of Sultan Dagh The Fountain of Midas A Drowsy Journey The Towm of Bolawadnn 265 CHAPTER XXII. THK FORESTS OK PHRTOIA. n FronHer of Phrytfa Ancient Quarries and Tombs We Enter the Pine froret t Guard-House Encampments of the Turcomans Pastoral Scenery A bummer VB Xll CONTEXTS lage The Valley of the Tombs Rock Sepulchres of the Phrygian Kings The Titan'* Camp The Valley of Kumbeh A Land of Flowers Turcoman Uosj itality Th Exiled Effendis The Old Turcoman A Glimpse of Aicadia A Landscape Inter- ested Friendship The Valley of the Pursek Arrival at Kiutahym . . .274 CHAPTER XXIII. KI0TAHYA, AND THE RUINS Of (E Z A N I . K.itrance into Kiutahya -The New Khan An Unpleasant Discovery Kiutahya The Citadel Panorama from the Walls The Gorge of the Mountains Camp In a Meadow The Valley af the Rhyndacus Chavdflr The Ruins of CEiani The Acro- polis and Temple The Theatre and Stadium Ride down the Valley Camp at Daghj- Kui 290 CHAPTER XXIV. THE HTSIAN OLYMPUS. tourney Down the Valley The Plague of Grasshoppers A Deflle The Town of Tau hanln The Camp of Famine We leave the Rhyndacus The Base of Olympus- Primeval Forests The Guard-House Scenery of the Summit Forests of Beech Saw-Mills Descent of the Mountain The View of Olympus Morning The Land of Harvest Aineghiol A Showery Ride The Plain of Brousa The Structure of Olym- pus We reach Brousa The Tent is Furled 300 CHAPTER XXV. BROUSA AND THE SEA OP MARMORA. ?be City or Brousa Re-torn to Civilisation Storm The Kalputcha Hamraam A Hoi Bath A Foretaste of Paradise The Streets ami Bazaars of Brousa The Mosque The Tombs of the Ottoman Sultans Disappearance of the Katurgees We start foi Moudania The Sea of Marmora Moudania Passport Difficulties A Greek Caique Breakfast with the Fishermen A Torrid Voyage The Princes' Islands Prinkipo Distant View of Constantinople We enter the Golden Horn . . . .312 CHAPTER XXVI. THE NIGHT OF PR E I> E 9 T I N A TI N . QoMteoUuo|>le in Ramasan The Origin of the Fast Nightly Illuminations The Right Of Prtdestlnation The Golden Horn %t Night Illumination of the Shore* Th< CONTENTS. Xiii Cannon of Constantinople A Fiery Panorama The- Sultan's Oilqne Cloe of th Celebration A Turkish Mob The Dancing Dervishes . . . . 324 CHAPTER XXVII. THE SOLEMNITIES OF BAIKAM. the Apyearaa:* of the New Moon The Festival of Balram The Interior of tt Seraglio The Pomp of the Sultan's Court Reschid Pasha The Sultan's Dwarf- Arabian Stallions The Imperial Guard Appearance of the Sultan The Inner Courl Return of the Procession The Sultan on his Throne The Homage of the Pashai -An Oriental Picture Kissing the Scarf The Shekh el-Islam The Descendant of the Caliphi Balram Commences . 332 CHAPTER XXVIII. THE MOSQUES OP CONSTANTINOPLE. Sojourn at Constantinople Semi-European Character of the City The Mosque Pro- curing a Firman The Seraglio The Library The Ancient Throne-Room Admit lance to St. Sophia Magnificence of the Interior The Marvellous Dome Tht Mosque of Saltan Achmed The Sulemanye Great Conflagrations Political Mean- ing of the Fires Turkish Progress Decay of the Ottoman Power . . . 343 CHAPTER XXIX. FAREWELL TO THE ORIEN T M A L T A . Dnbarcatlon Farewell to the Orient Leaving Constantinople A Wreck The Dar- danelles Homeric Scenery Smyrna Revisited The Grecian Isles Voyage to Maltc -Detention La Valetta The Maltese The Climate A Boat for Sicily . . 355 CHAPTER XXX. THE FESTIVAL OF ST. AGATHA. Departure from Malta The Speronara Our Fellow-Passengers The First Night on Board Sicily Scarcity of Provisions Beating in the Calabrian Channel The Fourth Morning The Gulf of Catania A Sicilian Landscape The Anchorage Tin Suspected List The Streets of Catania Biography of St. Agatha The Illumination* The Procession of the Veil The Biscari Palace The Antiquities of OaUnis- The Convent of St. Nicola ... 3 6 3 Xv CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXI. THE ERUPTION OP MOUNT ETNA. The Mountain Threatens The Signs Increase We Leave Catania Garden* Among the Lava Etna Labon Acl Reale The Groans of Etna The Eruption Gigantic Tree of Smoke Formation of the New Crater We LOM Sight of the Mountain Arrival at Messina- -Etna is Obscured Departure 375 CHAPTER XXXII. GIBRALTAR. Unwritten Links of Travel Departure from Southampton The Bay of Biscay Cintrs Trafalgar Gibraltar at Midnight Landing Search for a Palm-Tree A Brilliant Morning The Convexity of the Earth Sun- Worship The Rock . . 383 CHAPTER XXXIII. CADIZ AND SEVILLE. Voyag; to Cadis Landing The City Its Street* The Women of Oadli Embark* tiou for Seville Scenery of the Guadalquivir Custom House Examination Tin Guide The Streets of Seville The Giralda The Cathedral of Seville The Alcazar- Moorish Architecture Pilate's House Morning View from the Giralda Old Wine- Murillos My Last Evening in Seville ... 391 CHAPTER XXXIV. JOCENET IN A SPANISH DILIGENCE. Danish Diligence Lines Leaving Seville An Unlucky Start Alcali of the Bakers- Dinner at Carmona A Dehesa The Mayoral and his Team Ecija Night Journej Cordova The Cathedral-Mosque Moorish Architecture The Sierra Morena-A Rainy Journey A Chapter of Accident* Baylen The Fascination of Spain Jier -The Vega of Granada ... .... 403 CHAPTER XXXV. GRANADA AND T It K ALHAMBEA. Mateo Ximenem, the Younger The Cathedral of Granada A Monkish Mlrade Oatholk Shrines Mili tasy Chernha The R\ .: ri,.,t>.-l The Tombs of Ferdinand and Is* CONTEXT? XV belia Chapel of San Juan de Dios The Albaycin View ot the Vega The Generalife The Alhambra Torra de la Vela The Walls uud Towers A Visit to Old Matco- Tbe Court of the Fish-pond The Halls of the Alhambra Character of the Archittc lure Hall cf the Abencerrages Hall of the Two Sisters The Moorish Dynasty is CHAPTER XXXVI. . THK BRIDLE-ROADS OP ANDALUSIA. 3ha:igt' of Weather Napoleon and hit Horses Departure from Granada My Guid-. Jos6 Gari'iiv His Domestic Troubles The Tragedy of the Umbrella The Vow against Aguardiente Crossing the Vega The Sierra Nevada The Baths of Alhama " Wot '.s Me, Alhama !" The Valley of the River Veles Velez Malaga The Coast Road Tlje Fisherman and his Donkey Malaga Summer Scenery The Story of Don Pedro, without Fear and without Care The Field of Monda A Lonely Vent* . .427 CHAPTER XXXVII. THK MOUNTAINS OP FONDA. Vuni?e Valleys Climbing the Mountains Jos6's Hospitality El Burgo The Gate of Jie Wind The Cliff and Cascades of Ronda Th>: Mountain Region Traces of th Moors Haunts of Robbers A Stormy Ride The Inn at Gaucin Bud Nwa -A Boyish Auxiliary Descent from the Mountains The Frrd of the Ouarl!aro--0ut 5Vur Relieved The Cork Woodt Hide from ten Hooue to Gibraltar Partlr.p witi Jose Travelling In Spain Qoncltuioo ........ 439 THE LANDS OF THE SARACEJN CHAPTER I. LIFK IN A SYRIAN QUARANTINE. Voyage from Alexandria to Beyrout Landing at Quarantine The Guardiano Otu Quarters Our Companions Famine and Feasting The Morning The Holy Man of Timbuctoo Sunday in Quarantine Islamism We are Registered Love through I Grating-"Trumpeta The Mystery Explained Delights of Quarantine Oriental W. American Exaggeration A Discussion of Politics Our Release Beyrout Prepara- tion* for the Pilgrimage. " The mountains look on Quarantine, And Quarantine looks on the sea." QUARAKTIS* MS. I* QUARANTIRB, BgTBOUT, Saturday, April IT, 1S58. i 1 EVERYBODY has heard of Quarantine, but in our favored coun try there are many untravelled persons who do not precise!) know what it is, and who no doubt wonder why it should be such a bugbear to travellers in the Orient. I confess I am still somewhat in the same predicament myself, although I have already been twenty-four hours in Quarantine. But, as a peculiarity of the place is, that one can do nothing, however good a will he has, I propose to set down my expe- riences each day, hoping that I and my readers may obtain 18 THl LAMM 07 THE SARACEN. some insight into the nature of Quarantine, before the term of my probation is over. I left Alexandria on the afternoon of the 14th inst., in com pany with Mr. Carter Harrison, a fellow-countryman, who had joined me in Cairo, for the tour through Palestine. We had a head wind and rongh sea, ;iLd I remained in a torpid state during most of the voyage. There was rain the second night ; but, when the clouds cleared away yesterday morning we were gladdened by the sight of Lebanon, whose summits glittered with streaks of snow. The lower slopes of the moun- tains were green with fields and forests, and Beyrout, when we ran up to it, seemed buried almost ont of sight, in the foil age of its mulberry groves. The town is built along tha northern side of a peninsula, which projects about two miles from the main line of the coa.st, forming a road for vessels. In half an hour after our arrival, several large boats came along- side, and we were told to get our baggage in order and embark for Quarantine. The time necessary to purify a tra- veller arriving from Egypt from suspicion of the plague, is five days, but the days of arrival and departure are counted, so that the durance amounts to but three full days. The captain of the Osiris mustered the passengers together, and informed them that each one would be obliged to pay six piastres for the transportation of himself and his baggage Two heavy lighters are now drawn up to the foot of the gangway, but aa soon as the first box tumbles into them, the men tumble out. Tney attach the craft by cables to two smaller boats, hi ^hich they sit, to tow the infected loads. We are all sent down together, Jews, Turks, and Christians a confused pile of men, women, children, and goods. A little boat frooa LANDING AT QTJARANTINK. 18 the city, in which there are representatives *ron the twc hotels, hovers around us, and cards are thrown to us. The zealous agents wish to supply us immediately with tables, beds, and all other household appliances; but we decline their help until we arrive at the mysterious spot. At last we float off two lighters full of infected, though respectable, material, towed by oarsmen of most scurvy appearance, but free from svery suspicion of taint. The sea is still rough, the sun is hot, and a fat Jewess becomes sea-sick. An Italian Jew rails at the boatmen ahead, in the Neapolitan patois, for the distance is long, the Quaran- tine being on the land- side of Beyrout. We see the rows of little yellow houses on the cliff, and with great apparent risk of being swept upon the breakers, are tugged into a small cove, where there is a landing-place. Nobody is there to receive us; the boatmen jump into the water and push the 1 ghters against the stone stairs, while we unload our own baggage. A tin cup filled with sea-water is placed before us, and we each drop six piastres into it for money, strange as it may seem, is infec- tious. By this time, the guardianos have had notice of our arrival, and we go up with them to choose our habitations There are several rows of one-story houses overlooking the sea, each containing two empty rooms, to be had for a hundred piastres; but a square two-story dwelling stands apart from them, and the whole of it may be had for thrice that sura There are seven Frank prisoners, and we take it for ourselves But the rooms are bare, the kitchen empty, and we learc Un- important fact, that Quarantine is durance vile, without even the bread and water. The guardiano says the agents 01 the hotel are at the gate, and we can order from them whateve SO THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN. *e want. Certainly; but at their own price, for we are wholly at their mercy. However, we go down stairs, and the chief officer, who accompanies us, gets into a corner as we pass, a.id holds a stick before him to keep us off. He is now clean, but if his garments brush against ours, he is lost. The people we meet in the grounds step aside with great respect to let us pass, but if we offer them our hands, no one would dare to touch a finger's tip. Here is the gate : a double screen of wire, with an interval between, so that contact is impossible. There is a crowd of individuals outside, all anxious to execute commissions. Among them is the agent of the hotel, who proposes to fill our bare rooms with furniture, send us a servant and cook, and charge us the same as if we lodged with him. The bargain is closed at once, and he hurries off to make the arrangements. It is now four o'clock, and the bracing air of the headland gives a terrible appetite to those of us who, like me, have been sea- sick and fasting for forty-eight hours. But there is no food within the Quarantine except a patch of green wheat, and a well in the limestone rock. We two Americans join company with our room-mate, an Alexandrian of Italian parentage, who has come to Beyrout to be married, and make the tour of oui territory. There is a path along the cliffs overhanging the sea, with glorious views of Lebanon, up to his snowy top, the pine- forests at his base, and the long cape whereon the city lies at full length, reposing beside the waves. The Mahommedans and Jews, in companies of ten v 'to save expense), are lodged in the smaller dwellings, where they have already aroused mil lions of fleas from their state of torpid expectancy. We -tnrn, and take a survey of our companions in the pavilion : a FAMINE AND FEASTING. 21 French woman, with two ugly and peevish children (one at the breast), in the next room, and three French gentlemen in the other a merchant, a young man with hair of extraordinary length, and a Jilateur, or silk-manufacturer, middle-aged and cynical. The first is a gentleman in every sense of the word, the latter endurable, but the young Absalom is my aversion I am subject to involuntary likings and dislikings, for which J can give no reason, and though the man may be in every way amiable, Ms presence is very distasteful to me. We take a pipe of consolation, but it only whets our appe- tites. We give up our promenade, for exercise is still worse ; and at last the sun goes down, and yet no sign of dinner. Our pavilion becomes a Tower of Famine, and the Italian recites Dante. Finally a strange face appears at the door. By Api- cius I it is a servant from the hotel, with iron bedsteads, camp- tables, and some large chests, which breathe an odor of the Commissary Department. We go stealthily dowu to the kitchen, and watch the unpacking. Our dinner is there, sure enough, but alas 1 it is not yet cooked. Patience is no more my companion manages to filch a raw onion and a crust ol bread, which we share, and roll under our tongues as a sweet morsel, and it gives us strength for another hour. The Greek dragoman and cook, who are sent into Quarantine for our sakes, take compassion on us ; the fires are kindled in the cold furnaces ; savory steams creep up the stairs ; the preparations Increase, and finally climax in the rapturous announcement : '* Messieurs, dinner is ready." The soup is liquified bliss ; the vteltttes cFagneau are eotdettts de bonheur ; and as for that broad dish of Syrian larks Heaven forgive is the regret that more Bonga had not been silenced for oir sake 1 The meal is al 1 ram LANDS OF THE BABACIK. nectar and ambrosia, and now, filled and contented, we subside intc sleep on comfortable couches. So closes the first day of our incarceration. This morning dawned clear and beautiful. Lebanon, except his snowy crest, was wrapped in the early shadows, but the Mediterranean gleamed like a shield of sapphire, and Beyrout, sculptured against the background of its mulberry groves, was glorified beyond all other cities. The turf around our pavilion fairly blazed with the splendor of the yellow daisies and crim- son poppies that stud it. I was satisfied with what I saw, and felt no wish to leave Quarantine to-day. Our Italian friend, however, is more impatient. His betrothed came early to set him, and we were edified by the great alacrity with which he hastened to the grate, to renew his vows at two yards' distance from her. In the meantime, I went down to the Turkish houses, to cultivate the acquaintance of a singular character I met on board the steamer. He is a negro of six feet four, dressed in a long scarlet robe. His name is Mahommed Senoosee, and he is a fakeer, or holy man, from Timbuctoo He has been two years absent from home, on a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, and is now on his way to Jerusalem and Damascus. He has travelled extensively in all parts of Cen- tral Africa, from Dar-Fur to Ashantee, and professes to be on good terms with the Sultans of Houssa and Bornou. He has even been in the great kingdom of Waday, which has never been explored by Europeans, and as far south as lola, the capi- tal of Adamowa. Of the correctness of his narrations I have not the least doubt, as they correspond geographically with all that we know of the interior of Africa. In answer to my question whether a European might safely make the same tour, SUNDAY IN QUARANTINE. 88 he replied that there would be no difficulty, provided ne waa accompanied by a native, and be offered to take me even to Pimbuctoo, if I would return with him. He was very curioua to obtain information about America, and made notes of all that I told him, in the quaint character used by the Mughreb bins, or Arabs of the West, which has considerable resem- blance to the ancient Cufic. He wishes to join company with me for the journey to Jerusalem, and perhaps I shall accept him. Sunday, April 18. As Quarantine is a sort of limbo, without the pale of civi- lized society, we have no church service to-day. We have done the best we could, however, in sending one of the outside dragomen to purchase a Bible, in which we succeeded. He brought us a very handsome copy, printed by the American Bible Society in New York. I tried vainly in Cairo aud Alex- andria to find a missionary who would supply my heathenish destitution of the Sacred Writings; for I had reached the East through Austria, where they are prohibited, and to travel through Palestine without them, would be like sailing without pilot or compass. It gives a most impressive reality to Solo- mon's " house of the forest of Lebanon," when you can look up from the page to those very forests and those grand mountains, " excellent with the cedars." Seeing the holy man of Timbuc- too praying with his face towards Mecca, I went down to him, auri we conversed for a long time on religious matters. He is tolerably well informed, having read the Books of Moses and thc> Psalms of David, but, like ull Mahommedans, his ideas of religion consist mainly of forms, and its reward is a sensual paradise. The more intelligent of the Moslems give a spiritual 24 THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN. interpretation to the nature of the Heaven promised by thi Prophet, and I have heard several openly confess their disbe- lief in the seventy houries and the palaces of pearl and emerald Shekh Mahommed Senoosee scarcely ever utters a sentence in which is not the word "Allah," and "La illah il' Allah" is repeated at least every five miuutes. Those of his class consi- der that there is a peculiar merit in the repetition of the names and attributes of God. They utterly reject the doctrine of th Trinity, which they believe implies a sort of partnership, or God-firm (to use their own words), and declare that all who accept it are hopelessly damned. To deny Mahomet's prophet- ihiD would excile a violent antagonism, and I content myself with making them acknowledge tnat God is greater than al: Prophets or Apostles, and that there is but one God for all tin human race. I have never yet encountered that bitter spirt of bigotry which is so frequently ascribed to them; but on the contrary, fully as great a tolerance as they would find exhibited towards them by most of the Christian sects. This morning a paper was sent to us, on which we were requested to write our names, ages, professions, and places of nativity. We conjectured that we were subjected to the sus- picion of political as well as physical taint, but happily this was not the case. I registered myself as a i-oyagenr, the French as ncgocians, and when it came to the woman's turn, Absalom, vho is a partisan of female progress, wished to give her the same profession as her husband a machinist. But she declared that her only profession was that of a " married woman," and she was so inscribed. Her peevish boy rejoiced in the title of " pleurickeur" or " weeper," and the infant as ' titeuse." or " surker." While this was going on, the guardi TRUMPETS. 2fi ano of our room caine in very mysteriously, and beckoned to mj companion, saying that " Mademoiselle was at the gate." But it was the Italian who was wanted, and again, from the little window of our pavilion, we watched his hurried progress over the lawn. No sooner had she departed, than he took his pocket telescope, slowly sweeping the circuit of the bay as she drew nearer and nearer Beyrout. He has succeeded in distinguish- ing, among the mass of buildings, the top of the house in which she lives, but alas! it is one story too low, and his patient espial has only been rewarded by the sight of some cats promenading on the roof. I have succeeded in obtaining some further particulars in relation to Quarantine. On the night of our arrival, as we were about getting into our beds, a sudden and horrible gusii of brimstone vapor came up stairs, and we all fell to coughing like patients in a pulmonary hospital. The odor increased till we were obliged to open the windows and sit beside them in order to breathe comfortably. This was the preparatory fumi- gation, in order to remove the ranker seeds of plague, after which the milder symptoms will of themselves vanish in the pure air of the place. Several times a day we are stunned and overwhelmed with the cracked brays of three discordant trumpets, as grating and doleful as the last gasps of a dying donkey. At first I supposed the object of this was to give a greater agitation to the air, and separate and shake down the noxious exhalations we emit ; but since I was informed that the soldiers outside would shoot us in case we attempted to escape, I have concluded that the sound is meant to alarm us, and pre- rent our approaching too near the walls. On inquiring of our guardiano whether the wheat growing within the grounds wai 26 THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN. subject to Quarantine, he informed me that it did not ccovej infection, and that three old geese, who walked out past the guard with impunity, were free to go and come, as they had never been known to have the plague. Yesterday evening the medical attendant, a Polish physician, came in to inspect us, but he made a very hasty review, looking down on us from the top of a high horse. Monday, ApHt 19. Eureka I the whole thing is explained. Talking to day with the guardiano, he happened to mention that he had been three years in Quarantine, keeping watch over infected travellers. " What 1" said I, " you have been sick three years." " Oh no," he replied ; " I have never been sick at all." " But are not people sick in Quarantine ?" " Stafftrittah /" he exclaimed ; ' they are always in better health than the people outside." " What is Quarantine for, then ?" I persisted. " What is it for ?" he repeated, with a pause of blank amazement at my ignorance, " why, to get money from the travellers !" Indiscreet guar- diano ! It were better to suppose ourselves under suspicion of the plague, than to have such an explanation of the mystery. Yet, in spite of the unpalatable knowledge, I almost regret that this is our last day in the establishment. The air is so pure and bracing, the views from our windows so magniGcent, the colonized branch of the Beyrout Hotel so comfortable, that I am content to enjoy this pleasant idleness the more pleasant since, being involuntary, it is no weight on the con- science. I look up to the Maronite villages, perched on the slopes of Lebanon, with scarce a wish to climb to them. Of taming to the sparkling Mediterranean, view ORIENTAL EXAGGERATION. SI "The speronaia's sail of snowy hue Whitening and brightening on that field of bine," and have none of that unrest which the sight of a vessel in motion suggests. To-day my friend from Timbuctoo came up to have another talk. He was curious to know the object of my travels, and as he would not have comprehended the exact truth, I was obliged to convey it to him through the medium of fiction. I informed him that I had been dispatched by the Sultan of my country to obtain information of the countries of Africa; that I wrote in a book accounts of everything I saw, and on my return, would present this book to the Sultan, who would re- ward me with a high rank perhaps even that of Grand Vizier. The Orientals deal largely in hyperbole, and scatter numbers and values with the most reckless profusion. The Arabic, like the Hebrew, its sister tongue, and other old original tongues of Man, is a language of roots, and abounds with the boldest metaphors. Now, exaggeration is but the imperfect form of metaphor. The expression is always a splendid amplification of the simple fact. Like skilful archers, in order to hit the mark, they aim above it. When you have once learned his standard of truth, you can readily gauge an Arab's expressions, and regulate your own accordingly. But whenever I have attempted to strike the key-note myself, I generally found that it was below, rather than above, the Oriental pitch. The Shekh had already iuformed me that the King of Ashan- See, whom he had visited, possessed twenty-four houses full of gold, and that the Sultan of Houssa had seventy thousand torses always standing saddled before his palace, in order that he might take his choice, when he wished to ride oat. By this 88 THE LANDS OF THE SAIUCKN. he did not mean that the facts were precisely so, but only that the King was very rich, and the Snltan had a great manj horses. In order to give the Shekh an idea of the 'great wealth and power of the American Nation, I was obliged to adopt the same p'an. I told him, therefore, that our country was twc years' journey in extent, that the Treasury consisted of foui thousand houses filled to the roof with gold, and that two hun- dred thousand soldiers on horseback kept continual guard around Sultan Fillmore's palace. He received these tremendous statements with the utmost serenity and satisfaction, carefully writing them ia his book, together with the name of Sultar Fillmore, whose fame has ere this reached the remote regions of Timbuctoo The Shekh, moreover, had the desire of visiting England, and wished me to give him a letter to the English Sultan. This rather exceeded my powers, but I wrote a simple certificate explaining who he was, and whence he came, which I sealed with an immense display of wax, and gave him. Ii return, he wrote his name in my book, in the Mughrebbin char- acter, adding the sentence : " There is no God but God." This evening the forbidden subject of politics crept into our quiet community, and the result was an explosive contention which drowned even the braying of the agonizing trumpets out- side. The gentlemanly Frenchman is a sensible and consistent republican, the old JUateur a violent monarchist, while Absa- lom, as I might have foreseen, is a Red, of the schools of Proud- hon and Considerant. The first predicted a Republic in France, the second a Monarchy in America, and the last was in favor of a general and total demolition of all existing sy terns. Of course, with such elements, anything like a serious discussion was impossible ; and, as in most French debates, ii DRAGOMEN 99 ended in a bewildering confusion of cries and gesticulations In the midst of it, I was struck by the cordiality with whicl the Monarchist and the Socialist united in their denunciation* of England and the English laws. As they sat side by side pouring out anathemas against " perfide Albion," I couid uol help exclaiming : " Vm-ld, comme Us extremes se rencontrenl ' r This turned the whole current of their wrath against me, aud I was glad to make a hasty retreat. The physician again visited us to-night, to promise a release to-morrow morning. He looked us all in the faces, to be cer- tain that there were no signs of pestilence, and politely regret- ted that he could not offer us his hand. The husband of the " married woman" also came, and relieved the other gentlemen from the charge of the " weeper." He was a stout, ruddy Provencal, in a white blouse, and I commiserated him sincerely for having such a disagreeable wife. To-day, being the last of our imprisonment, we have received many tokens of attention from dragomen, who have sent their papers through the grate to us, to be returned to-morrow after our liberation. They are not very prepossessing specimens of their class, with the exception of Yusef Badra, who brings a recommendation from my friend, Ross Browne. Yusef is a handsome, dashing fellow, with something of the dandy in his dress and air, but he has a fine, clear, sparkling eye, with just enough of the devil in it to make him attractive. I think, how ever, that the Greek dragoman, who has been our companion in Quarantine, will carry the day. He is by birth a Bo3otian, but now a citizen of Athens, and calls himself Frangois Vitalis He speaks French, German, and Italian, besides Arabic and Turkish, and as he has been for twelve or fifteen years vibrat THE LANDS OF THE SABACKN. ing between Europe and the East, he most by this time hart amassed sufficient experience to answer the needs of rough-and- tumble travellers like ourselves. He has not asked us for the place, which displays so much penetration on his part, that we shall end by offering it to him. Perhaps he is content to rest his claims upon the memory of our first Quarantine dinner. If so, the odors of the cutlets and larks even of the raw onion, which we remember with tears shall not plead his cause io vain. Brraotrr (out of Quarantine), Wednesday, May SI. The handsome Greek, Diamanti, one of the proprietors ci the " Hotel de Belle Vue," was on hand bright and early yes- terday morning, to welcome us out of Quarantine. The gatel were thrown wide, and forth we issued between two files of soldiers, rejoicing in our purification. We walked through mul- berry orchards to the town, and through its steep and crooked streets to the hotel, which stands beyond, near the extremity of the Cape, or Ras Beyrout. The town is small, but has an active population, and a larger commerce than any other port in Syria. The anchorage, however, is an open road, and in stormy weather it is impossible for a boat to land. There are two picturesque old castles on some rocks near the shore, but they were almost destroyed by the English bombardment hi 1841. I noticed two or three granite columns, now used as the lintels of some of the arched ways in the streets, and other fragments of old masonry, the only remains of the ancien Berytus. Our time, since our release, has been occupied by prepara- tions for the journey to Jerusalem. We have taken Francois as dragoman, and our nukkairee, or muleteers, are engaged t* fREFAKATiONS FOR DKPARTUB*. '61 be iu readiness to-morrow morning. I learn that the Druse* are in revolt in Djebel Hauaranand parts of the Anti-Lebanon, which will prevent my forming any settled plan for the tool through Palestine and Syria. Up to this time, the country has been considered quite safe, the only robbery this winter having been that of the party of Mr. Degen, of Now York, which was plundered near Tiberias. Dr. Robinson left h^re two weeks age for Jerusalem, in company with Dr. Eh Smith, of the American Mission at this place. 32 THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN. CHAP T E II II. THE COAST OF PALESTINE. The Pilgrimage Commences The Muleteers The Mules The Donkey Jour- ney to Sidon The Foot of Lebanon Pictures The Ruins of Tyre- -A Wild Morning The Tynan Surges Climbing the Ladder of Tyre Panorama of the Bay of Acre The Plain of Esdraelon Camp in a Garden Acre The Shore of the Bay Haifa Mount Carmel and its Monastery A Deserted Coast The Ruins of Caesarea The Scenery of Palestine We become Robbers K.I Haram Wrecks The Harbor and Town of Jaffa. " Along the line of foam, the jewelled chain, The largesse of the ever-giving main." R. H. STUDOARD. RAMLEH, April -2.7^ 1832. WK left Beyrout on the morning of the 22d. Our caravan 3onsisted of three horses, three mules, aud a donkey, in charge of two men Dervish, an erect, black-bearded, and most impassive Mussulman, and Mustapha, who is the very picture of patience and good-nature. He was born with a smile on his face, and has never been able to change the expression. They are both masters of their art, and can load a mule with a speed and skill which I would defy any Santa Fe trader tc excel. The animals are not less interesting than their masters. Our horses, to be sure, are slow, plodding beasts, with consi- derable endurance, but little spirit ; but the two baggage- males deserve gold medals from the Society for the Promotiou THE MULES 33 of Industry, i can overlook any amount of waywardness in the creatures, in consideration of the steady, persevering energy, the cheerfulness and even enthusiasm with which thej perform their duties. They seem to be conscious that they art doing well, uud to take a delight in the consciousness. Om of them has a baud of white shells around his neck, fastened with a tassel and two large blue beads; and you need but look at him to see that he is aware how becoming it is. He thinks it was given to him for good conduct, and is doing his best to merit another. The little donkey is a still more original animal. He is a practical humorist, full of perverse tricks, but all intended for effect, and without a particle of malice. He generally walks behind, running off to one side or the other to crop a mouthful of grass, but no sooner does Dervish attempt to mount him, than he sets off at full gallop, and takes the lead of the caravan. After having performed one of his feats, he turns around with a droll glance at us, as much as to say : " Did you see that ?" If we had not been present, most assuredly he would never have done it. I can imagine him, after his return to Beyrout, relating his adventures to a company of fellow-donkeys, who every now and then burst into tremendous brays at some of his irresistible dry sayings. I persuaded Mr. Harrison to adopt the Oriental costume, which, from five months' wear in Africa, I greatly preferred to the Frank. We therefore rode out of Beyrout as a paii of Syrian Beys, while Francois, with his belt, sabre, and pistols had mmh the aspect of a Greek brigand. The road crosses the h'll behind the city, between the Forest of Pines and a long tract of red sand-hills next the sea. It was a lovely morning, not too bright and hot, for liirht, fleecy vapors hung along th a* 84 THE LANDS OF THE SARACEH. sides of Lebanon. Beyond the mulberry orchards, we entered on wild, half-cultivated tracts, covered with a bewildering maze of blossoms. The hill-side and stony shelves of soil overhang- ing the sea fairly blazed with the brilliant dots of color which ware rained upon them. The pink, the broom, the poppy, the speedwell, the lupin, that beautiful variety of the cyclamen, called by the Syrians " deek e-djebel " (cock o' the mountain), and a number of unknown plants dazzled the eye with their profusion, and loaded the air with fragrance as rare as it was unfailing. Here and there, clear, swift rivulets came dowL from Lebanon, coursing their way between thickets of bloom- ing oleanders. Just before crossing the little river Damoor, Francois pointed out, on one of the distant heights, the resi- dence of the late Lady Hester Stanhope. During the after- noon we crossed several offshoots of the Lebanon, by paths incredibly steep and stony, and towards evening reached Saida, the ancient Sidon, where we obtained permission to pitch our tent in a garden. The town is built on a narrow point of land, jutting out from the centre of a bay, or curve in the coast, and contains about five thousand inhabitants. It is a quiet, sleepy sort of a place, and contains nothing of the old Sidon except a few stones and the fragments of a mole, extending into the sea The fortress in the water, and the Citadel, are remnants of Venitian sway. The clouds gathered after nightfall, and occasionally there was a dash of rain on our tent. But I heard it ith the same quiet happiness, as when, in boyhood, sleep- ing beneath the rafters, I have heard the rain beating all night upon the roof. I breathed the sweet breath of the grasses whereon my carpet was spread, and old Mother Earth, wel- coming me back to her bosom, cradled me into calm and THS FOOT tr LEBANON 85 refreshing sleep. There is no rest more grateful than that which we take on the turf or the sand, except the rest below it. We rose in a dark and cloudy morning, and continued oui way between fields of barley, completely stained with the bloody hue of the poppy, and meadows turned into golden mosaic by a brilliant yellow daisy. Until noon our road was over a region of alternate meadow land and gentle though stony elevations, making out from Lebanon. We met continually with indications of ancient power and prosperity. The ground was strewn with hewn blocks, and the foundations of buildings remain in many places. Broken sarcophagi lie half-buried in grass, and the gray rocks of the hills are pierced with tombs. The soil, though stony, appeared to be naturally fertile, and the crops of wheat, barley, and lentils were vet/ flourishing. After rounding the promontory which forms the southern boun- dary of the Gulf of Sidou, we rode for an hour or two over a plain near the sea, and then came down to a valley which ran up among the hills, terminating in a natural amphitheatre. An ancient barrow, or tumulus, nobody knows of whom, stands near the sea. During the day I noticed two charming little pictures. One, a fountain gushing into a broad square basin of masonry, shaded by three branching cypresses. Two Turks sat on its edge, eating their bread and curdled milk, while their horses drank out of the stone trough below. The other, an old Mahommedan, with a green turban and white robe, seated at the foot of a majestic sycamore, over the high bank if a stream that tumbled down its bed of white marble rock to the sea. The plain back of the narrow, sandy promontory on which THE LANDS OF THE SARACEH. the modern Soor is built, is a rich black loam, which a little proper culture would turn into a very garden. It helped me to account for the wealth of ancient Tyre. The approach tc the town, along a beach on which the surf broke with a ccn tinuous roar, with the wreck of a Greek vessel in the fore- ground, and a stormy sky behind, was very striking. It wa a wild, bleak picture, the white minarets of the town standing out spectrally against the clouds. We rode up the sand-hills, back of the town, and selected a good camping-place among the ruins of Tyre. Near us there was an ancient square build- ing, now used as a cistern, and filled with excellent fresh water The surf roared tremendously on the rocks, on either hand, and the boom of the more distant breakers came to my eaj like the wind in a pine forest. The remains of the ancient sea- wall are still to be traced for the entire circuit of the city, and the heavy surf breaks upon piles of shattered granite columns Along a sort of mole, protecting an inner harbor on the north side, are great numbers of these columns. I counted fifteen in one group, some of them fine red granite, and some of the marble of Lebanon. The remains of the pharos and the for- tresses strengthening the sea-wall, were pointed out by the Syrian who accompanied us as a guide, but his faith was a little stronger than mine. He even showed us the ruins of the jetty built by Alexander, by means of which the ancient city, then insulated by the sea, was taken. The remains of the cause- way gradually formed the promontory by which the place is now connected with the main land. These are the principal indications of Tyre above ground, but the guide informed us that the Arabs, in digging among the sand-hills for the stones of the old buildings, which they quarry out and ship to Bey THE TYRIAN SURGES. 37 rout, come upon chambers, pillars, arches, and other object*. The Tyrian purple if still furnished by a muscle found upon th( coast, but Tyre is now only noted for its tobacco ana mill stones. I saw many of the latter lying in the streets cf tbt town, and an Arab was selling a quantity at auction in the square, as we passed. They are cut out from a species of dark volcanic rock, by the Bedouins of the mountains. There were naif a dozen small coasting vessels lying in the road, but the old harbors are entirely destroyed. Isaiah's prophecy is liter ally fulfilled : " Howl, ye ships of Tarshish ; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, uo entering in." On returning from our ramble we passed the house of the Governor, Daood Agha, who was dispensing justice in regard to a lawsuit then before him. He asked us to stop and take coffee, and received us with much grace and dignity. As we rose to leave, a slave brought me a large bunch of choice flowera from his garden. We set out from Tyre at an early hour, and rode along tht beach around the head of the bay to the Ras-el-Abiad, the ancient Promontorium Album. The morning was wild and cloudy, with gleams of sunshine that flashed out over the dark violet gloom of the sea. The surf was magnificent, rolling up in grand billows, which broke and formed again, till the last of the long, falling fringes of snow slid seething up the sand Something of ancient power was in their shock and roar, aiid every great wave that plunged and drew back again, called in its solemn bass: "Where are the ships of Tyre? where are the ships of Tyre ?" I looked back on the city, which stood advanced far into the sea, her feet bathed in thunderous spray. By and by the clov.ds cleared away, the son came out bold and 88 THE LANDS OF THE SARACBN. bright, and our road left the beach for a meadowy plain, crossed by fresh streams, and sown with an inexhaustible wealth of flowers. Through thickets of myrtle and mastic, around which the rue and lavender grew in dense clusters, we reached tbe foot of the mountain, and began ascending the celebrated Ladder of Tyre. The road is so steep as to resemble a stair- case, and climbs along the side of the promontory, hanging over precipices of naked white rock, in some places three hun- dred feet in height. The mountain is a mass of maguesian limestone, with occasional beds of marble. The surf has worn its foot into hollow caverns, into which the sea rushes with a doll, heavy boom, like distant thunder. The sides are covered with thickets of broom, myrtle, arbutus, ilex, mastic and laurel, overgrown with woodbine, and interspersed with patches of sage, lavender, hyssop, wild thyme, and rue. The whole moun- tain is a heap of balm ; a bundle of sweet spices. Our horses' hoofs clattered up and down the rounds of the ladder, and we looked our last on Tyre, fading away behind the white hem of the breakers, as we turned the point of the promontory. Another cove of the mountain-coast followed, terminated by the Cape of Xakhura, the northern point of the Bay of Acre. We rode along a stony way between fields of jrheat and barley, blotted almost out of sight by showers of scarlet poppies and yellow chrysanthemums. There were fre- quent ruins : fragments of sarcophagi, foundations of houses, and about half way between the two capes, the mounds of Alexandro-Schoenae. We stopped at a khan, and breakfasted nader a magnificent olive tree, while two boys tended oui torses to see that they ate only the edges of the wheat field Below the boose were t vc large cypresses, and on a little PANORAMA OF THE BAY OF ACBR. Sfl iongoe of land the ruins of one of those square towers of the iorsairs, which line all this coast. The intense blue of the sea, seen close at hand over a broad field of goldening wheat, formed a dazzling- and superb contrast of color. Early in the afternoon we climbed the Ras Nakhura, not so bold and grand, though quite as flowery a steep as the Promontorium Album. We had been jogging half an hour over its uneven summit, when the side suddenly fell away below us, and we saw the whole of the great gulf and plain of Acre, backed by the long ridge of Mount Carmel. Behind the sea, which makes a deep indentation in the line of the coast, extended the plain bounded on the east, at two leagues' distance, by a range of hills covered with luxuriant olive groves, and still higher, by the distant mountains of Galilee. The fortifications of Acre were visible on a slight promontory near the middle of the Gulf. From our feet the line of foamy surf extended for miles along the red sand-beach, till it finally became like a chalk-mark on the edge of the field of blue. We rode down the mountain and continued our journey over the plain of Esdraelon a picture of summer luxuriance and bloom. The waves of wheat and barley rolled away from our path to the distant olive orchards ; here the water gushed from a stone fountain and flowed into a turf-girdled pool, around which the Syrian women were washing their garments ; there, a garden of orange, lemon, fig, and pomegranate tree? 'n blossom, was a spring of sweet odors, which overflowed the srhole land. We rode into some of these forests, for they were no less, and finally pitched our tent in one of them, belonging to the palace of the Conner Abdullah Pasha, within a mile of A.cre. The old Saracen aqueduct, which still conveys water tp 40 THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN. the town, overhung onr tent. For an hour before reaching oui destination, we had seen it on the left, crossing the rollows oc light stone arches. In one place I counted fifty-eight, and ic another one hundred and three of these aiches, some of whicl were fifty feet high. Our camp was a charming place : a nest of deep herbage, under two enormous fig-trees, and surroundec by a balmy grove of orange and citron. It was doubly bean tiful when the long line of the aqueduct was lit up by the moon, and the orange trees became mouuds of ambrosial darkness. In the morning we rode to Acre, the fortifications of which have been restored on the land-side. A ponderous double gate way of stone admitted us into the city, through what was once, apparently, the court-yard of a fortress. The streets of the town are narrow, terribly rough, and very dirty, but the bazaars are extensive and well stocked. The principal mosque, whose heavy dome is visible at some distance from the city, is surrounded with a garden, enclosed by a pillared corridor, paved with marble. All the houses of the city are built in the most massive style, of hard gray limestone or marble, and this circumstance alone prevented their complete destruction during the English bombardment in 1841. The mark: of the shells are everywhere seen, and the upper parts of the lofty buildings are completely riddled with cannon-balls, some of which remain embedded in the stone. We made ;i mpid tour of the town on horseback, followed by the curious "-lances of the people, who were in donbt whether to consider us Turks* (X Franks. There were a dozen vessels in the harbor, which u considered the best in Syria. The baggage-mules had gone on, so we galloped after them ilong the hard beach, around the head of the bay. It was a HAlfA AND MOUNT CARMBL. 41 brilliant moruiug ; a delicious south-eastern breeze came to m over the flowery plaiu of Esdraelon ; the sea on our right shone blue, and purple, and violet-greeu, and black, as the shadowi or sunshine crossed it, and only the long lines of roaring foani, for ever changing in form, did not vary in hue A fisherman stood on the beac h in a statuesque attitude, his handsome bare legs bathed in the frothy swells, a bag of fish hanging from hia shoulder, and the large square net, with its sinkers of lead in his right hand, ready for a cast. He had good luck, for the waves brought up plenty of large fish, and cast them at our feet, leaving them to struggle back into the treacherous brine. Between Acre and Haifa we passed six or eight wrecks, mostly of small trading vessels. Some were half buried in sand, some so old and mossy that they were fast rotting away, while a few bad been recently hurled there. As we rounded the deep curve of the bay, and approached the line of palm-trees girding the foot of Mount Carrnel, Haifa, with its wall and Saracenic town in ruin on the hill above, grew more clear and bright in the sun, while Acre dipped into the blue of the Mediterranean. The town of Haifa, the ancient Caiapha, is small, dirty, and beggarly looking ; but it has some commerce, sharing the trade ot Acre in the productions of Syria. It was Sunday, and all the Consular flags were flying. It was an unexpected delight to find the American colors in this little Syrian town, flying Irom one of the tallest poles. The people stared at us as we passed, and I noticed among them many bright Frankish faces, with eyes too clear and gray for Syria. ye kind brothers of the monastery of Carinel ! forgive me if I look to you for as xplanation of this phenomenon. We ascended to Mount Carinel. The path led through f 42 THE LANDS OK THE SARACEN. grove of carob trees, from which the beans, known in German) as St. John's bread, are produced. After this we came iutc an olive grove at the foot of the mountain, from wnich long fields of wheat, giving forth a ripe summer smell, flowed dowr to the shore of the bay. The olive trees were of immense size, and I can well believe, as Fra Carlo informed us, that they were probably planted by the Roman colonists, established there by Titus. The gnarled, veteran boles still send forth vigorous and blossoming boughs. There were all manner of lovely lights and shades chequered over the turf and the wind- ing path we rode. At last we reached the foot of an ascent, . steeper than the Ladder of Tyre. As our horses slowly climbed to the Convent of St. Elijah, whence we already saw the French flag floating over the shoulder of the mountain, the view opened grandly to the north and east, revealing the bay and plain of Acre, and the coast as far as Ras Xakhura, from which we first saw Mount Carmel the day previous. The two views are very similar in character, one being the obverse of the other. We reached the Convent Dayr Mar Elias, as the Arabs call it at noon, just in time to partake of a bountiful dinner, to which the monks had treated themselves. Fra Carlo, th^ good Fran- ciscan who receives strangers, showed us the building, and the Grotto of Elijah, which is under the altar of the Convent Church, a small but very handsome structure of Italian marble. The sanctity of the Grotto depends on tradition entirely, aa there is no mention in the Bible of Elijah having resided on Carmel, though it was from this mountain that he saw the cloud, " like a man's hand," rising from the sea. The Convent, which is quite new not yet completed, in fact la a large massive building, and has the aspect of a fortress. THE RUINS OF C^SAKEA. 43 As we were to sleep at Tautura, five hours distant, wt tvtre obliged to make a short visit, in spite of the invitation of the hospitable Fra Carlo to spend the night there. In tht afternoon we passed the ruins of Athlit, a town of the Middle Ages, and the Castel Pellegrino of the Crusaders. Our road now followed the beach, nearly the whole distance to Jaffa and was in many places, for leagues in extent, a solid layer of white, brown, purple and rosy shells, which cracked and rattled under our horses' feet. Tautura is a poor Arab village, and we had some difficulty in procuring provisions. The people lived in small huts of mud and stones, near the sea. The place had a thievish look, and we deemed it best to be careful in the disposal of our baggage for the night. In the morning we took the coast again, riding over millions of shells. A line of sandy hills, covered with thickets of myrtle and mastic, shut off the view of the plain and meadows between the sea and the hills of Samaria. After three hours' ride we saw the ruins of ancient Caesarea, near a small pro- montory. The road turned away from the sea, and took the wild plain behind, which is completely overgrown with camo- mile, chrysanthemum and wild shrubs. The ruins of the town are visible at a considerable distance along the coast. The principal remains consist of a massive wall, flanked with pyra- midal bastions at regular intervals, and with the traces of gate- ways, draw-bridges and towers. It was formerly surrounded ly a deep moat. Within this svace, which may oe a quartei of a mile square, are a few fragments of buildings, and toward the sea, some high arches and masses of masonry. The plain around abounds with traces of houses, streets, and court-yards Caesarea was one of the Roman colonies, but owed its prospfr 44 THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN. rity principally to Herod. St Paul passed through it on hi way from Macedon to Jerusalem, by the very road we were travelling. During the day the path struck inland over a vast rollmf plain, covered with sage, lavender and other sweet-sinelliug shrubs, and tenanted by herds of gazelles and nocks of large storks. As we advanced further, the landscape became singu larly beautiful. It was a broad, shallow valley, swelling away towards the east into low, rolling hills, far back of which rose the blue line of the mountains the hill-country of Judea. The soil, where it was ploughed, was the richest vegetable loam. Where it lay fallow it was entirely hidden by a bed of grass and camomile. Here and there great herds of sheep and goats browsed on the herbage. There was a quiet pastoral air about the landscape, a soft serenity in its forms and colors, as if the Hebrew patriarchs still made it their abode. The district is famous for robbers, and we kept our arms in readiness, never Buffering the baggage to be out of our sight. Towards evening, as Mr. H. and myself, with Francois, were riding in advance of the baggage mules, the former with his gun in his hand, I with a pair of pistols thrust through the folds of my shawl, and Frangois with his long Turkish sabre, we came suddenly upon a lonely Englishman, whose com- panions were somewhere in the rear. He appeared to be struck with terror on seeing us making towards him, and, turning his horse's head, made an attempt to fly. The animal, aowever, was restive, and, after a few plunges, refused to move. The traveller gave himself up for lost ; his arms dropped by his side ; he stared wildly at us, with pale face and eyes opened wide with a look of helpless fright. Restrain EL IIARAM 48 Ing with difficul'y a snout of laughter, I said to him : "Did you leave Jaffa to-day ?" but so completely was his ear the fool of his imagination, that he thought I was speaking Arabic, and made a faint attempt to get out the only word 07 two of that language which he knew. I then repeated, with as much distinctness as I could command : " Did you leave Jaffa to-day ?" He stammered mechanically, through hi? chattering teeth, " Y-y-yes !" and we immediately dashed oft at a gallop through the bushes. When we last saw him he *vas standing as we left him, apparently not yet recovered from the shock. At the little village of El Harara, where we spent the night, I visited the tomb of Sultan Ali ebn-A leym. who is now revered as a saint. It is enclosed in a mosque, crowning the top of a hill. I was admitted into the court-yard without hesitation, though, from the porter styling me "Effendi,"he probably took me for a Turk. At the entrance to the inner court, I took off my slippers and walked to the tomb of the Sultan a square heap of white marble, in a small marble enclosure. In one of the niches in the wall, near the tomb, there is a very old iron box, with a slit in the top. The por ter informed me that it contained a charm, belonging to Sul tan Ali, which was of great use in producing rain in tunes of drouth. In the morning we sent our baggage by a short road across the country to this place, and then rode down the beacb towards Jaffa. The sun came out bright and hot as we paced along the line of spray, our horses' feet sinking above the fet> locks in pink and purple shells, while the droU sea-crabs scam pered away from our path, and the blue gelatine us sea-nettles 46 THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN. were tossed before us by the surge. Our view was confined tc the sand-hills sometimes covered with a flood of scarlet pop pies on one hand; and to the blue, surf-fringed sea ou th other. The terrible coast was still lined with wrecks, and just before reaching the town, we passed a vessel of some two hundred tons, recently cast ashore, with her strong hull still uii broken. We forded the rapid stream of El Aujeh, which comes down from the Plain of Sharon, the water rising to our saddles. The low promontory in front now broke into towers and white domes, and great masses of heavy walls. The aspect of Jaffa is exceedingly picturesque. It is built on a hill, and the land for many miles around it being low and Hat, its topmost houses overlook all the fields of Sharon. The old harbor, protected by a reef of rocks, is on the north side of the town, but is now so sanded up that large vessels cannot enter. A number of small craft were lying close to the shore. The port presented a different scene when the ships of Hiram, King of Tyre, came in with the materials for the Temple of Solomon. There is but one gate on the land side, which is rather strongly fortified. Outside of this there is an open space, which we i'ound filled with venders of oranges and vege- tables, camel-men and the like, some vociferating in loud dis- pute, some given up to silence and smoke, under the shade of the sycamores. We rode under the heavily arched and towered gateway, and entered the bazaar. The street was crowded, and there was such a confusion of camels, donkeys, and men, that we made our way with difficulty along the only practicable street in the city, to the sea-side, where Francois pointed out a hole in the trail as the veritable spot where Jonah was cas' JAFFA. 47 ashore by the whale. This part of the harbor is the recep tacle of all the offal of the town ; and I do not woudet that the whale's stomach should Lave turned on approaching it. The sea-street was filled with merchants and traders, and we were obliged to pick our way between bars of iron, skins of oil, heaps of oranges, and piles of building timber. At last we reached the end, and, as there was no other thoroughfare, returned the same way we went, passed out the gate, and took the road to Ramleh and Jerusalem. But 1 hear the voice of Francois, announcing, " Messieurs, It diner est pret." We are encamped just beside the pool of Ramleh, and the mongrel children of the town are making a great noise in the meadow below it. Our horses are enjoy- ing their barley ; and Mustapha stands at the tent-door tying np his sacks. Dogs are barking and donkeys braying all along the borders of the town, whose filth and dilapidation are happily concealed by the fig and olive gardens which sur- round it. I have not curiosity enough to visit the Greek and Latin Convents embedded in its foul purlieus, but content myself with gazing from my door upon the blue hills of Palestine, which we must cross to-morrow, on our way tc Jerusalem. 48 THl LANDS OF THK SARACBW. CHAPTER III. FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. fhe Garden of Jaffa Breakfast at a Fountain The Plain of Sharon The Roinai Mosque of Ramleh A Judean Landscape The Streets of Ramleh Am I in Pale* tine f A Heavenly Morning The Land of Milk and Honey Entering the Hill- Country The Pilgrim's Breakfast The Father of Lies A Church of the Crusaden The Agriculture of the Hills The Valley of Elah Day-Dreams The WilderneM The Approach We see the Holy City. " Through the air sublime, Orer the wilderness and o'er the plain ; Till underneath them 'air Jerusalem, The Holy Oity, lifted high her towers." PAXADIBK RKOAWKD. JBROSALKM, Thursday, April 29, I860. LEAVING the gate of Jaffa, we rode eastward between delight- ful gardens of fig, citron, orauge, pomegranate and palm. The country for several miles around the city is a complete level- part of the great plain of Sharon and the gray mass of building crowning the little promontory, is the only landmark seen above the green garden-land, on looking towards the sea rhc road was lined with hedges of giant cactus, now in bios- lorn, and shaded occasionally witli broad-armed sycamores The orange trees were in bloom, and at the same time laden lown with ripe fruit. The oranges of Jaffa are the finest in iyria, aud great numbers of them are sent to Beyrout and THE PLAIN OF SHARON. 49 other ports further north.. The dark fcliage of the pome- granate fairly blazed with its heavy scarlet blossoms, aid here and there a cluster of roses made good the Scriptural renown of those of Sharoa. The road was filled with people, passing to and fro, and several families of Jaffa Jews were having a sort of pic-nic in the choice shady spots. Ere long we came to a fountain, at a point where two road met. It was a large square structure of limestone and marble, with a stone trough in front, and a delightful open chamber at the side. The space in front was shaded with immense syca- more trees, to which we tied our horses, and then took our seats in the window above the fountain, where the Greek brought us our breakfast. The water was cool and delicious, as were our Jaffa oranges. It was a charming spot, i\/r as we sat we could look under the boughs of the great trees, and down between the gardens to Jaffa and the Mediterranean. After leaving the gardens, we came upon the great plain of Sharon, on which we could see the husbandmen at work far and near, ploughing and sowing their grain. In some instances, the two operations were made simultaneously, by having a sort of funnel attached to the plough-handle, running into a tube which entered the earth just behind the share. The man held the plough with one hand, wh'ile with the other he dropped the requisite quan- tity of seed through the tube into the furrow. The people are ploughing now for their summer crops, and the wheat and Dar ley which they sowed last winter are already in full head. On other parts of the plain, there were large flocks of sheep and goats, with their attendant shepherds. So ran the rich land- scape, broken only by belts of olive trees, to the far hills of Judea 60 THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN . Riding on over the long, low swells, fragrant with wild thyme and camomile, we saw at last the tower of Ramlet, and down the valley, an hour's ride to the north-east, the minaret of Lndd, the ancient Lydda. Still further, I could see the houses of the village of Sharon, embowered in olives. Ramleh is built along the crest and on the eastern slope of a low hill, and at & distance appears like a stately place, but this impres- sion is immediately dissipated on entering it. West of the town is a large square tower, between eighty and ninety feet in height. We rode up to it through an orchard of ancient olive trees, and over a field of beans. The tower is evidently a min- aret, as it is built in the purest Saracenic style, and is sur- rounded by the ruins of a mosque. I have rarely seen any- thing more graceful than the ornamental arches of the uppei portions. Over the door is a lintel of white marble, with an Arabic inscription. The mosque to which the tower is attached s almost entirely destroyed, and only part of the arches of a corridor around three sides of a court-yard, \v'th the fountain in the centre, still remain. The subterranean cisterns, umk>r the court-yard, amazed me with their extent and magnitude They are no less than twenty-four feet deep, and covered by twenty-four vaulted ceilings, each twelve feet square, and rest- ing on massive pillars. The mosque, when entire, must have been one of the finest in Syria. We clambered over the broken stones cumbering the entrance, and mounted the steps to the very summit. The view reached from Jaffa and the sea to the mountains near Jerusalem, and southward to the plain of Ascalon a great expanse of grain and grazing laud, all blossoming as the rose, and dotted, espe- cially near the mountains, with dark, luxuriant olive-groves. AM I IN PALESTINE? 51 The landscape had something of the green, pastoral beauty of England, except the mountains, which were wholly of Palestine The shadows of fleecy clouds, drifting slowly from east to west, moved across the landscape, which became every moment softe and fairer in the light of the declining sun. I did not tarry in Ramleh. The streets are narrow, crooked, and filthy as only an Oriental town can be. The houses have either flat roofs or domes, out of the crevices in which springs a plentiful crop of weeds. Some yellow dogs barked at us as we passed, children in tattered garments stared, and old tur- baned heads were raised from the pipe, to guess who the two brown individuals might be, and why they were attended by such a fierce cawass. Passing through the eastern gate, we were gladdened by the sight of our tents, already pitched in the meadow beside the cistern. Dervish had arrived an hour before us, and had everything ready for the sweet lounge of an hour, to which we treat ourselves after a day's ride. I watched the evening fade away over the blue hills before us, and tried to convince myself that I should reach Jerusalem on the mor- row. Reason said : " You certainly will I" but to Faith the Holy City was as far off as ever. Was it posoible that I was in Judea ? Was this the Holy Land of the Crusades, the soil hallowed by the feet of Christ and his Apostles ? I must believe it. Yet it seemed once that if I ever trod that earth, then beneath my feet, there would be thenceforth a consecra tion in my Me, a holy essence, a purer inspiration on the lips, a surer faith in the heart. And because I was not other that I had been, I half doubted whether it was the Palestine of my dreams. A lumber of Arab cameleers, who had come with travellers 52 THE; LANDS OF THE SARACEN. across the Desert from Egypt, were encamped near us. Fran- c.ois was suspicious of some of them, and therefore divided the night into three watches, which were kept by himself aud OUT two men. Mustapha was the last, and kept not only himself but myself, wide awake by his dolorous chants of love and reli gion. I fell sound asleep at dawn, but was roused before sunrise by FrauQois, who wished to start betimes, on account of the rugged road we had to travel. The morning was mild, clear, and balmy, and we were soon packed and in motion. Leaving the baggage to follow, \ve rode ahead over the fertile fields. The wheat and poppies were glistening with dew, birds sang among the fig-trees, a cool breeze came down from the hollows of the hills, and my blood leaped as nimbly and joyously as a young hart on the mountains of Bether. Between Ramleh and the hill-country, a distance of about eight miles, is the rolling plain of Arimathea, and this, as well as the greater part of the plain of Sharon, is one of the richest districts in the world. The soil is a dark-brown loam, aud, without manure, produces annually superb crops of wheat and barley. We rode for miles through a sea of wheat, waving far and wide over the swells of laud. The tobacco in the fields about Ramleh was the most luxuriant I ever saw, and the olive and fig attain a size and lusty strength wholly unknown iu Italy. Judea cursed of God ! what a misconception, not jnly of God's mercy aud beneficence, but of the actual fact 1 Give Palestine into Christian hands, and it will again flow with uiilk and honey. Except some parts of Asia Minor, no por- tion of the Levant is capable of yielding such a harvest of ir., silk, wool, fruits, oil, and wine. The great disadvautagt ENTERING THE HILL-COUNTRY. 58 under which the country labors, is its frequent drouths, bat were the soil more generally cultivated, and the old orchards replanted, these would neither be so frequent nor so severe. We gradually ascended the hills, passing one or two villages, imbedded in gropes of olives. In the little valleys, slanting down lo the plains, the Arabs were still ploughing and sowing, singing the while an old love-song, with its chorus of " ya, gkazake! ya, ghazake!" (oh, gazelle 1 oh, gazelle!) The valley narrowed, the lowlands behind us spread out broader, and in half an hour more we were threading ^narrow pass, between stony hills, overgrown with ilex, myrtle, and dwarf oak. The wild purple rose of Palestine blossomed on all sides, and a fra- grant white honeysuckle in some places hung from the rocks. The path was terribly rough, and barely wide enough for two persons on horseback to pass each other. We met a few pil- grims returning from Jerusalem, and a straggling company of armed Turks, who had such a piratical air, that without the solemn asseveration of Frangois that the road was quite safe, I should have felt uneasy about our baggage. Most of tho persons we passed were Mussulmen, few of whom gave the customary " Peace be with you 1" but once a Syrian Christian saluted me with, "God go with you, O Pilgrim 1" For two hours after entering the mountains, there was scarcely .11 o c cultivation. The rock was limestone, or marble, lying in horizontal strata, the broken edges of which rose like terraces to the summits. These shelves were so covered with wild shrubs in some places even with rows of olive trees that to me they had not the least appearance of that desolu tion so generally ascribed to them 54 THE LANDS OF THE SARACBM. In a little dell among the hills there is a small rniued mosque or chapel (I could not decide which), shaded by a group of magnificent terebinth trees. Several Arabs were resting in it* shade, and we hoped to find there the water we were looking for, in order to make breakfast. But it was not to be found, and we climbed nearly to the summit of the first chain of hills, svhere in a small olive orchard, there was a cistern, filled b} the late rains. It belonged to two ragged boys, who brought as an earthen vessel of the water, and then asked, " Shall we bring you milk, Pilgrims !" I assented, and received a small jug of thick buttermilk, not remarkably clean, but very refresh- ing. My companion, who had not recovered from his horror at finding that the inhabitants of Ramleh washed themselves in the pool which supplied us and them, refused to touch it. We made but a short rest, for it was now nearly noon, and there were yet many rough miles between us and Jerusalem. We arossed the first chain of mountains, rode a short distance over a stony upland, and then descended into a long cultivated valley, running to the eastward. At the end nearest us appeared the village of Aboo '1 Ghosh (the Father of Lies) which takes its name from a noted Bedouin shekh, who distin guished himself a few years ago by levying contributions on travellers. He obtained a large sum of money in this way, but as he added murder to robbery, and fell upon lurks an- well as Christians, he was finally captured, and is now expi ating his offences in some mine on the coast of the Black Sea. Near the bottom of the village there is a large ruined build- ing, now used as a stable ty the inhabitants. The interior w divided into a nave and two sideaisles by rows of square AGRICULTURE OF THE HILLS 55 pillars, frDm which spring pointed arches. The door-way is at the side, and is Gothic, with a dash of Saracenic in the orna- mental mouldings above it. The large window at the extremity of the nave is remarkable for having round arches, which circum- stance, together with the traces of arabesque painted ornaments an the columns, led me to think it might have been a mosque ; hut Dr. Robinson, who is now here, considers it a Christian church, of the time of the Crusaders. The village of Aboo '1 Ghosh is said to be the site of the birth-place of the Prophet Jeremiah, and I can well imagine it to have been the case. The aspect of the mountain-country to the east and north-east would explain the savage dreariness of his lamentations. The whole valley in which the village stands, as well as another which joins it on the east, is most assiduously cultivated. The tony mountain sides are wrought into terraces, where, in spite of soil which resembles an American turnpike, patches of wheat are growing luxuriantly, and olive trees, centuries old, hold on to the rocks with a clutch as hard and bony as the hand of Death. In the bed of the valley the fig tree thrives, iuid sometimes the vine and fig grow together, forming tht patriarchial arbor of shade familiar to us all. The shoots of the tree are still young and green, but the blossoms of the grape do not yet give forth their goodly savor. I did not hear the voice of the turtle, but a nightingale sang in the briery thickets by the brooknde, as we passed along. Climbing out of this valley, we descended by a stony stair- case, as rugged as the Ladder of Tyre, in the Wady Beit Ilanineh. Here were gardens of oranges in blossom, With orchards of quince and apple, overgrown with vines, and the fragrant hawthorn tree, snowy with its bloom. A stone 56 THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN. bridge, the only one on the road, crosses the dry bed of t winter stream, and, looking up the glen, I saw the Arab village of Kulonieh, at the entrance of the valley of Elah, glorious with the memories of the shepherd-boy, David. Oui road turned off to the right, and commenced ascending a long, dry glen between mountains > which grew more sterile the further we fent. It was nearly two hours past uoon, the sun fiercely hot, and our horses were nigh jaded out with the rough road and our impatient spurring. I began to fancy we could see Jerusalem from the top of the pass, and tried to think of the ancient days of Judea. But it was in vain. A newer picture shut them out, and banished even the diviner images of Our Saviour and His Disciples. Heathen that I was, 1 could only think of Godfrey and the Crusaders, toiling up the same path, and the ringing lines of Tasso vibrated constantly in my ear : 4 Ecco apparir Gierusalemm' si vede ; Ecco additar Gierusalemm' si scorge ; Ecco da mille voci unitamente, Gierusalemme salutar ai sente !" The Palestine of the Bible the Land of Promise to the Israelites, the land of Miracle and Sacrifice to the Apostles and thek 1 followers still slept in the unattainable distance, under a sky of bluer and more tranquil loveliness than that to whose cloudless vault I looked up. It lay as far and beautiful as it once seemed to the eye of childhood, and the swords oi Seraphim kept profane feet from its sacred hills. But these rough rocks around me, these dry, fiery hollows, these thickets of ancient oak and ilex, had heard the trumpets of the Middle THE APPROACH TO THE HOLT CIIY, 57 Ages, and the clang and clatter of European armor I could feel and believe that. I entered the ranks ; I followed the trumpets and the holy hymns, and waited breathlessly for the mcment when every mailed knee should drop in the dust, and every bearded and sunburned cheek be wet with devotional tears. But when I climbed the last ridge, and looked ahead with a sort of painful suspense, Jerusalem did not appear. We were two thousand feet above the Mediterranean, whose blue we could dimly see far to the west, through notches in the chain of hills. To the north, the mountains were gray, desolate, and awful. Not a shrub or a tree relieved their frightful barrenness. An upland tract, covered with white volcanic rock, lay before us. We met peasants with asses, who looked (to my eyes) as if they had just left Jerusalem. Still forward we urged our horses, and reacned a ruined garden, surrounded with hedges of cactus, over which I saw domes and walls in the distance. I drew a long breath and looked at Francois. He was jogging along without turning his head ; he could not have been so indifferent if that was really the city. Presently, we reached another slight rise in the rocky plain. He began to urge his panting horse, and at the same instant we both lashed the spirit into ours, dashed on at a break-neck gallop, round the corner of an old wall on the top of the hill, and lo ! the Holy City 1 Our Greek jerked both pistols from his holsters, and fired them into the air, as we reined up on the steep From the descriptions of travellers, I had expected to see in Jerusalem an ordinary modern Turkish town ; but that before uie, with its w ills, fortresses, and domes, was it not still the * 58 THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN. City of David ? 1 saw the Jerusalem of the New Testament as I had imagined it. Long lines of walls crowned with a notched parapet and strengthened by towers; a few domes and spires above them; clusters of cypress here and there; this was all that was visible of the city. On either side the hiL sloped down to the two deep valleys over which it hangs. Oil the east, the Mount of Olives, crowned with a chapel and mosque, rose high and steep, but in front, the eye passed directly over the city, to rest far away upon the lofty moun- tains of Moab, beyond the Dead Sea. The scene was grand in its simplicity. The prominent colors were the purple of those distant mountains, and the hoary gray of the nearer hills. T> je walls were of the dull yellow of weather-stained marble, and the only trees, the dark cypress and moonlit olive. Now, indeed, for one brief moment, I knew that I was in Palestine : that I saw Mount Olivet and Mount Zion; and I know not how it was my sight grew weak, and all objects trembled and wavered in a watery film. Since we arrived, I have looked down upon the city from the Mount of Olives, and up to it from the Valley of Jehosaphat; but I cannot restore the illusion of that first view. We allowed our horses to walk slowly down the remaining half-mile to the Jaffa gate. An Englishman, with a red silk shawl over his head, was sketching the city, while an Arab held an umbrella over him. Inside the gate we stumbled upon an Italian shop with an Italian sign, and after threading a number of intricate passages under dark archways, and being turned off from one hotel, which was full of travellers, reached another, kept by a converted German Jew, where we found Dr. Robinson and Dr. Ely Smith, who both arrived yesterday. It JFJ1I7SAJLEM. sounds strange to talk of a hotel in Jerusalem, but the world is progressing, and there are already three. I leave to-mor row for Jericho, the Jordan, and the Dead Sea, and shall have more to say of Jerusalem on ray return <0 THE LANDS OF THE CHAPTER IV. THE DEAD SEA AND THE RIVER JORDAM Bargaining for a Guard Departure from Jerusalem The Hill of Offenc The Grotto of Lazarus The Valley of Fire Scenery of the Wilderness The Hills o Kngudili The shore of the Dead Sea A Bituminous Bath Gallop to the Jordan A watch for Robbers The Jordan Baptism The Plains of Jericho The Fountain f Elisha The Mount of Temptation Return to Jerusalem. " And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape ; the valley also shall perish and the plain shall be destroyed, as the Lord hath spoken." JEREMIAH, xlviil. 8. JERUSALEM, May 1, 1852. I RETURNED this afternoon from an excursion to the Dead Sea, the River Jordan, and the site of Jericho. Owing to the approaching heats, an early visit was deemed desirable, and the shekhs, who have charge of the road, were summoned to meet us on the day after we arrived There are two of these gentlemen, the Shekh el-Arab (of the Bedouins), and the Shekh el-Fellaheen (of the peasants, or husbandmen), to whom curls traveller is obliged to pay one hundered piastres for an escort. It is, in fact, a sort of compromise, by which the shekhs agree not to rob the traveller, and to protect him against other shekhs. If the road is not actually safe, the Turkish garrison here is a mere farce, but the arrangement is winked at by the Pasha, who t of Bourse, gets his share of thf DEPARTURE FROM JERUSALEM. 61 100,000 piastres which the two scamps yearly levy upon travellers The sliekhs cauie to our rooms, and after trying to postpone our departure, in order to attach other tourists to the same escort, and thus save a little expense, took half the pay and agreed to be ready the next morning. Unfortunately for my original plan, the Convent of San Saba has been closed within two or three weeks, and no stranger is now admitted. This unusual step was caused by the disorderly conduct of some Frenchmen who visited San Saba. We sent to the Bishop of the Greek Church, asking a simple permission to view the interior of the Convent; but without effect. We left the city yesterday morning by St. Stephen's Gate, descended to the Valley of Jehosaphat, rode under the stone wall which encloses the supposed Gethsemaiie, and took a path leading along the Mount of Olives, towards the Hill of Offence, which stands over agaiost the southern end of the city, opposite the mouth of the Vale of Hinnon. Neither of the shekhs made his appearance, but sent in their stead three Arabs, two of whom were mounted and armed with sabres and long guns. Our man, Mustapha, had charge of the baggage- uiule, carrying our tent and the provisions for the trip. It was a dull, sultry morning ; a dark, leaden haze hung over Jerusa- lem, and the khamseen, or sirocco-wind, came from the south- west, out of the Arabian Desert. We had again resumed the Oriental costume, but in spite of an ample turban, my fact soon began to scorch in the dry heat. From the crest of the Hill of Offence there is a wide view over the heights on both sides of the valley of the Brook Kedron. Their sides are worked into terraces, now green with springing grain, and LV&I the bottom planted with olive .^ fig trees The upland ridgr 62 THE LANDS OF THE SARACEM. or watershed of Palestine is cultivated for a considerable distance around Jerusalem. The soil is light and stony, yet appears to yield a good return for the little labor bestowed upon it. Crossing the southern flank of Mount Olivet, in half an hour we reached the village of Bethany, hanging on the side ot the bill. It is a miserable cluster of Arab huts, with not a building which appears to be more than a century old. The Grotto of Lazarus is here shown, and, of course, we stopped to see it. It belongs to an old Mussulman, who came out of his house with a piece of waxed rope, to light us down. An aperture opens ftom the roadside into the hill, and there is barely room enough for a person to enter. Descending about twenty steps at a sharp angle, we landed in a small, damp vault, with an opening in the floor, communicating with a short passage below. The vault was undoubtedly excavated for sepulchral purposes, and the bodies were probably deposited (as in many Egyptian tombs) in the pit under it. Our guide, however, pointed to a square mass of masonry in one corner as the tomb of Lazarus, whose body, he informed us, was still walled up there. There was an arch in the side of the vault, once leading to other chambers, but now closed np, and the guide stated that seventy-four Prophets were interred therein. There seems to be no doubt that the present Arab village occupies the site of Bethany ; and if it could be proved that this pit existed at the beginning of the Christian Era, and there never had been any ether, we might accept it as the tomb of Lazarus. On the erest of a high hill, over against Bethany, is an Arab Tillage oo the site of Bethpage. We descended into the valley of a winter stream, now filled THE VALLEY 01 FIKK. 68 with patches of sparse wheat, just beginning to ripen. Tht mountains grew more bleak and desolate as we advanced, and as there is a regular descent in the several ranges over which one must pass, the distant hills of the lands of Moab and Aminon were always in sight, rising like a high, blue wall against the sky. The Dead Sea is 4,000 feet below Jerusa- lem, but the general slope of the intervening district is sf regular that from the spires of the city, and the Mount ol Olives, one can look down directly upon its waters. This deceived me as to the actual distance, and I could scarcely credit the assertion of our Arab escort, that it would require six hours to reach it. After we had ridden nearly two hours, we left the Jericho road, sending Mustapha and a staunch old Arab direct to our resting-place for the night, in the Valley of the Jordan. The two mounted Bedouins accompanied us acrosj the rugged mountains lying between us and the Dead Sea. At first, we took the way to the Convent of Mar Saba, fol- lowing the course of the Brook Keclron down the Wadj wn-Nar (Valley of Fire). In half an hour more we reached two large tanks, hewn out under the base of a limestone cliff, and nearly filled with rain. The surface was covered with a greenish vegetable scum, and three wild and dirty Arabs of the hills were washing themselves in the principal one Our Bedouins immediately dismounted and followed their example, and after we had taken some refreshment, we had the satisfaction of filling our water-jug from the same sweet pool. After this, we left the San Saba road, and mounted the height east of the valley. From that point, all signs of cult! ration and habitation disappeared. The mountains were grim, bare, and frightfully rugged. The scanty grass, coaxed into lifr 64 THE LANDS OF THR SARACEN. by the winter rains, was already scorched our, of all greenness some bunches of wild sage, gnaphalium, and other hardy aro matic herbs spotted the yellow soil, and in sheltered places the scarlet poppies burned like coals of fire among the rifts of tha gray limestone rock. Our track kept along the higher ridges and crests of the hills, between the glens and gorges which sank on either hand to a dizzy depth below, and were so steep as to be almost inaccessible. The region is so scarred, gashed and torn, that no work of man's hand can save i* from perpetual desolation. It is a wilderness more hopeless than the Desert. If I were left alone in the midst of it, I should lie down and await death, without thought or ope of rescue. The character of the day was peculiarly suited to enhance the impression of such scenery. Though there were no clouds, the sun was invisible : as far as we could see, beyond the Jor- dan, and away southward to the mountains of Moab and the cliffs of Engaddi, the whole country was covered as with the smoke of a furnace ; and the furious sirocco, that threat- ened to topple us down the gulfs yawning on either hand, had QO coolness on its wings. The horses were sure-footed, but now and then a gust would come that made them and us strain against it, to avoid being dashed against the rock on one side, or hurled off the brink on the other. The atmos- phere was painfully oppressive, and by and by a dogged silence took possession of our party. After passing a lofty peak which Francois called Djebel Nuttar, the Mountain of Rain, we came to a large Moslem building, situated on a bleak eminence, overlooking part of the valley of the Jordan. This is tue tomb called Nebbee Moussa by the Arabs, and THE SHORE UK TIIK .DEAD SEA. 66 believed by them to stand upon the spot where Moses died We halted at the gate, but no one came to admit us, though my companion thought he saw a mail's head at one of the aper- tures in the wall. Arab tradition here is as much at fault aa Christian tradition in many other places. Ihe true Nebo is somewhere in the chain of Pisgah; and though, probably, I saw it, and all see it who go down to the Jordan, yet " no man knoweth its place unto this day." Beyond Nebbee Moussa, we came out upon the last heights overlooking the Dead Sea, though several miles of low hills remained to be passed. The head of the sea was visible as far as the Ras-el-Feshka on the west, and the hot fountains of Callirhoe on the eastern shore. Farther than this, all waa vapor and darkness. The water was a soft, deep purple hue, brightening into blue. Our road led down what seemed a vast sloping causeway from the mountains, between two ravines, walled by cliffs several hundred feet in height. It gradually flattened into a plain, covered with a white, saline incrus- tation, and grown with clumps of sour willow, tamarisk, and other shrubs, among which I looked in vain for the osher, or Dead Sea apple. The plants appeared as if smitten with leprosy; but there were some flowers growing almost to the margin of the sea. . We reached the shore about 2 P. M. The heat by this time was most severe, and the air so dense as to occasion pains in my ears. The Dead Sea is 1,300 feet below the Mediterranean, and without doubt the lowest part of the earth's surface. I attribute the oppression I felt to this fact and to the sultriness of the day, rather than to any exha- lation from the sea itself Francois remarked, however, that had the wind which by this time was ~eering round to 66 THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN. the tiorth-rast blown from the south, we could scarcely hav* endured it. The sea resembles a great cauldron, sunk between mountains from three to four thousand feet in height ; and pro- bably we did not experience more than a tithe of the summer Ueat. I proposed a bath, for the sake of experiment, but Francois endeavored to dissuade us. He had tried it, and nothing could be more disagreeable ; we risked getting a fever, and, besides, there were four hours of dangerous travel yet before us. But by this time we were half undressed, and soon were floating on the clear bituminous waves. The beach was tine gravel and shelved gradually down. I kept my turban on my head, and was careful to avoid touching the water with my face. The sea was moderately warm and gratefully soft and soothing to the skin. It was impossible to sink ; and even while swimming, the body rose half out of the water. I should think it possible to dive for a short distance, bnt prefer that some one else would try the experiment. With a log of wood for a pillow, one might sleep as on one of the patent mattresses. The taste of the water is salty and pungent, and stings the tongue like saltpetre. We were obliged to dress in all haste, without even wiping off the detestable liquid ; yet I experienced very little of that dis- comfort which most travellers have remarked. Where the skin had been previously bruised, there was a slight smarting sensation, and my body felt clammy and glutinous, but the bath was rather refreshing than otherwise. We turned our horses' heads towards the Jordan, and rode on over a dry, barren plain. The two Bedouins at first iashed ahead at ull gallop, uttering cries, and whirling then A WATCH FOR ROBBERS. 61 long gnns in the air. The dust they raised was blown in oni faces, and contained so much salt that my. eyes began to smart painfully. Thereupon I followed them at an equal rate of speed and we left a long cloud of the accursed soil whirling behind QS. Presently, however, they fell to the rear, and continued to keep at some distance from us. The reason of this was soon explained. The path turned eastward, and we already saw a line of dusky green winding through the wilderness. This waa the Jordan, and the mountains beyond, the home of robber Arabs, were close at hand. Those robbers frequently cross the river and conceal themselves behind the sand-hills on this side. Our brave escort was, therefore, inclined to put as for- ward as a forlorn-hope, and secure their own retreat in case of an attack. But as we were all well armed, and had never consi- dered their attendance as anything more than a genteel way of buying them off from robbing us, we allowed them to lag as much as they chose. Finally, as we approached the Pilgrims' Ford, one of them took his station at some distance from the river, on the top of a mound, while the other got behind some trees near at hand ; in order, as they said, to watch the oppo- site hills, and alarm us whenever they should see any of the Beni Sukrs, or the Beni Adwams, or the Tyakh, coming dowo ipon us. The Jordan at this point will not average more than teD yards in breadth. It flows at the bottom of a gully about fif- teen feet dsep, which traverses the broad valley in a most tor- tuous course. The water has a white, clayey hue, and is very Bwift. The changes of the current have formed islands and beds of soil here and there, which are covered with a dense jrrowth of ash, poplar, willow, and tamarisk trees. The banki 88 THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN. of the river are bordered with thickets, now overgrown with wild vines, and fragrant with flowering plants. Birds sing continually in the cool, dark coverts of the trees. I found a singular charm in the wild, lonely, luxuriant banks, the tangled undergrowth, and the rapid, brawling course of the sacred stream, as it slipped in sight and out of sight among the trees It is almost impossible to reach the water at any othei point than the Ford of the Pilgrims, the supposed locality of the passage of the Israelites and the baptism of Christ. The plain near it is still blackened by the camp-fires of the ten thousand pilgrims who went down from Jerusalem three weeks ago, to bathe. We tied our horses to the trees, and prepared to follow their example, which was necessary, if only to wash off the iniquitous slime of the Dead Sea. Francois, in the mean- tune, filled two tin flasks from the stream and stowed them iu the saddle-bags. The current was so swift, that one could not venture far without the risk of being carried away ; but I sue ceeded in obtaining a complete and most refreshing immersion. The taint of Gomorrah was not entirely washed away, but I rode off with as great a sense of relief as if the baptism had been a moral one, as well, and had purified me from sin. We rode for nearly two hours, in a north-west direction, tc the Bedouin village of Rihah, near the site of ancient Jericho. Before reaching it, the gray salt waste vanishes, and the soil if covered with grass and herbs. The barren character of the first region is evidently owing to deposits from the vapors of the Dea Sea, as tbej are blown over the plain by the soutfc wind. The channels of streams around Jericho are filled with nebbuk trees, the fruit of which is just ripening. It is appa- rently indigenous, and grows more luxuriantly than on the CAMP AT JERICHO. 69 White Nile. It is a variety of the rhamnus, aud is set down by botanists as the Spina Christi, of which the Saviour's mock crown of thorns was made. I see no reason to doubt this, as the twigs are long and pliant, and armed with small, though most cruel, thorns. I had to pay for gathering some of the fruit, with a torn dress and bleeding fingers. The little apples which it bears are slightly acid and excellent for alleviating thirst I also noticed on the plain a variety of the night- shade, with large berries of a golden color. The spring flowers, so plentiful now in all other parts of Palestine, have already disappeared from the Valley of the Jordan. Rihah is a vile little village of tents and mud-huts, and the only relic of antiquity near it is a square tower, which may possibly be of the time of Herod. There are a few gardens in the place, and a grove of superb fig-trees. We found our tent already pitched beside a rill which issues from the Fountain of Elisha. The evening was very sultry, and the musquitoes gave us no rest. We purchased some milk from an old man who came to the tent, but such was his mistrust of us that he refused to let us keep the earthen vessel contain- ing it until morning. As we had already paid the money to his son, we would not let him take the milk away until he had brought the money back. He then took a dagger from his waist aud threw it before us as security, while he carried off the vessel and returned the price. I have frequently seen the Bame mistrustful spirit exhibited in Egypt. Our two Bedouins, to whom I gave some tobacco in the evening, manifested theii gratitude by stealing the remainder of our stock during the tight. This morning we followed the stream to its coorce, tht 70 THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN. Fountain of Elisha, so called as being probably that healed bj the Prophet. If so, the healing was scarcely complete. The water, which gashes up strong and free at the foot of a rocky mound, is warm and slightly brackish. It spreads into a shallow pool, shaded by a fine sycamore tree. Just below, there are some remains of old walls on both sides, and the stream goes roaring away through a rank jungle of canes fifteen feet in height. The precise site of Jericho, I believe, has not been fixed, but " the city of the palm trees," j,s it was called, was probably on the plain, near some mounds which rise behind the Fountain. Here there are occasional traces of foundation walls, but so ruined as to give no clue to the date of their erection. Further towards the mountain there are some arches, which appear to be Saracenic. As we ascended again into the hill-country, I observed several traces of cisterns in the bottoms of ravines, which collect the rains. Herod, as is well known, built many such cisterns near Jericho, where he had a palace. On the first crest, to which we climbed, there is part of a Roman tower yet standing. The view, looking back over the valley of Jordan, is magnificent, extending from the Dead Sea to the mountains of Gilead, beyond the country of Ammon. I thought I could trace the point where the River Yabbok comes down from Mizpeh of Gilead to join the Jordan The wilderness we now entered was fully as barren, but less rugged than that through which we passed yesterday. The path ascended along the brink of a deep gorge, at the bottom of which a little stream foamed over the rocks. The high, bleak summits towards which we were climbing, are considered by some Biblical geographers to be Mount Quarantana, the scene of Christ's fasting and temptation. After two hours we RKTUKN TO JERUSALEM. 1 reached the rains of a large khan or hostlery, under one of the peaks, which Francois stated to be the veritable " high moun- tain " whence the Devil pointed out all the kingdoms of the earth. There is a cave in the rock beside the road, which the superstitious look upon as the orifice out of which his Satanic Majesty issued. We met large numbers of Arab families, with their flocks, descending from the mountains to take up their summer residence near the Jordan. They were all on foot, except the young children and goats, which were stowed together on the backs of donkeys. The men were armed, and appeared to be of the same tribe as our escort, with whom they had a good understanding. The morning was cold and cloudy, and we hurried on over the hills to a fountain in the valley of the Brook Kedrot,, where we breakfasted. Before we had reached Bethany a rain came down, and the sky hung dark and lowering over Jerusa- lem, as we passed the crest of Mount Olivet. It still rains, and the filthy condition of the city exceeds anything I have seen, even in the Or'ent. 72 THE LANDS OP THE SARACEtf. CHAPTER V. THE CITY OF CHRIST. Modern Jerusalem The Site of the City Mount Zion Mount Moriah The Temple The Valley of Jehosaphat The Olives of Gethsemane The Mount of Olives Moslem Tradition Panorama from the Summit The Interior of the City The Population Missions and Missionaries Christianity in Jerusalem Intolerance The Jews of Jerusalem The Face of Christ The Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Holy of Holies The Sacred Localities Visions of Christ The Mosque of Omar The Holy Man of Timbuctoo Preparations for De- parture. " Cut off thy hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation in high places ; for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath." TRWMTAU vii o- " Here pilgrims roam, that strayed so far to seek In Golgotha him dead, who lives in Heaven." MILTON. JERUSALEM, Monday^ May 3, 1852. SINCE travel is becoming a necessary part of education, and a journey through the East is no longer attended with personal risk, Jerusalem will soon be as familiar a station on the grand tour as Paris or Naples. The task of describing it is already next to superfluous, so thoroughly has the topography of the city been laid down by the surveys of Robinson and the drawings of Roberts. There is little more left for Biblical research. The few places which can be authenticated are now generally accepted, and the many doubtful ones mast always be the subjects of speculation and conjecture. There MODERN JERUSALEM. 78 is no new light which can remove the cloud of uncertainties wherein one continually wanders. Yet, even rejecting al these with the most skeptical spirit, there still remains enough to make the place sacred in the eyes of every follower of Christ. The city stands on the ancient site ; the Mount of Olives looks down upon it ; the foundations of the Temple of Solomon are on Mount Moriah ; the Pool of Siloam has still a cup of water for those who at noontide go down to the Valley of Jehosaphat ; the ancient gate yet looketh towards Damascus, and of the Palace of Herod, there is a tower which Time and Turk and Crusader have spared. Jerusalem is built on the summit ridge of the hill-country of Palestine, just where it begins to slope eastward. Not half a mile from the Jaffa Gate, the waters run towards the Mediterranean. It is about 2,700 feet above the latter, and 4,000 feet above the Dead Sea, to which the descent is much more abrupt. The hill, or rather group of small mounts, on which Jerusalem stands, slants eastward to the brink of the Valley of Jehosaphat, and the Mount of Olives rises opposite, from the sides and summit of which, one sees the entire city spread out like a map before him. The Valley of Hinnon, the bed of which is on a much higher level than that of Jehosaphat, skirts the south-western and southern part of the walls, and drops into the latter valley at the foot of Mount Zion, the most southern of the mounts. The steep slope at the junction of the two valleys is the site of the city of the .Jebusites, the most ancient part of Jerusalem. It is iio\v covered \vitli