CHAPTER XL.

NAZARETH.

LEAVING Mount Tabor several hours on the left, we passed through the village of Remeh, and descended into the valley beyond. On again ascending we came in view of Nazareth. Apart from its scriptural associations, there is little about Nazareth to attract attention. It is a mere village of square, flat-roofed houses, situated on the side of a hill, with a mosque and some large buildings, occupied by the monks, in the lower part. The valley is well-wooded with olive trees, which extend up beyond the houses toward the top of the hill. A few palm trees present a picturesque outline near the mosque. The general appearance of the valley of Nazareth is similar to that of most of the valleys through which one passes in Syria. Before reaching the town we came to a square plat of ground, inclosed by a stone wall, within which stands a convent. We were met at the door by a Greek priest, who invited us to enter. This convent is said to cover the spot on which the Virgin Mary was born. We took off our hats and went in. Places of this kind are turned into mere catchpenny shows, and there is no evidence of their being the identical places referred to in the Scriptures, other than the traditional testimony of the monks. The convents built upon them are sustained chiefly by the contributions of pilgrims and travelers, and these contributions depend of course upon the skill of the monks in maintaining the authenticity of the localities. That the position of Nazareth is well established, I believe admits of no doubt; but farther than that is uncertain. The spot upon which it is said the Virgin was born is in a sort of vault in the back part of the chapel; it is covered with a square marble slab, over which is erected a canopy. There is a well of fine water underneath, from which we drank. While we were looking on, several priests entered with lighted wax candles, and went through various ceremonies; kneeling and kissing repeatedly the marble slab. A poor old woman, covered with rags; forced herself in through the crowd, and fell groaning upon the floor, kissing the cold stones and the robes of the priests with frantic eagerness. She seemed to be under the influence of religious excitement, and would probably have left us in that belief had she not, when we turned to depart, bounced up with activity, and headed us off before we reached the door, begging vociferously for alms. The change in the expression of hex countenance was quite miraculous. She was no longer the groaning devotee; it was plain enough to see that there was method in her madness. We gave her a few piasters, and also a trifle to the worthy priest, who was equally assiduous in his attentions. Both of them wished us a happy journey, and we wished them a continuance of their profits.

We stopped at the house up in Nazareth built by the Latin monks for the accommodation of pilgrims; a very clean and convenient stone building, with rooms that seemed grand, after the wretched places we had slept in since leaving Damascus. It was a long time before the keys came, but they came at last, very much to our satisfaction. It was too late to see any thing that evening; so promising ourselves a pleasant trip to Mount Tabor next morning, we turned in after dinner, and slept soundly through the night.

The monks of the Latin convent treated us very kindly. We were visited by several of them, and found them friendly and obliging. Of course we paid well for every thing we had; but we got the value, besides pleasant smiles and kind words.

In the traveler's register we saw the names of several acquaintances, among others that of our excellent Minister to Constantinople, Mr. Marsh, and his family, and some tourists from Kentucky. Mr. Marsh was taken ill here a few months before on his return from Egypt. He bears testimony to the kind treatment which himself and family received from the monks during his stay in Nazareth. We saw also the name of an American gentleman who appeared to be a most indefatigable traveler in the East and throughout Europe. Very few registers that I saw any where were without his signature. I saw it on the ruins of Baalbek, and on various other ruins; and met with no minister, consul, traveler, dragoman, or guide who was not acquainted with him personally or by reputation. Among the Arabs he was generally known as my Lord Willoughby, a mistake that doubtless originated in the passion for titles displayed by his dragoman, Emanuel Balthos. I also frequently met with the name of a much-esteemed traveling companion from Boston, who, doubtless from the same cause, was remembered throughout the East as the Prince of Wales. Not only do I believe that this will be news to both of these gentlemen, but caution all travelers who may come after me through that land of metaphor not to misconstrue the fact in any way should they find it reported that General Sir John Brown, of the City of Magnificent Distances, accompanied by the Prince of Wilmington and Lord Captain Bullfinch, had just passed; but to attribute it all to our dragoman, whose passion for display in. matters of this kind is perfectly incorrigible.

It is recorded in the register of the Latin Convent by a Mr. Alwyn, of Quebec, some six or eight months ago, that he was robbed and cruelly beaten by the Arabs near Djenin. I had heard of the affair in Smyrna, and now read it in his own handwriting. It appeared that he was traveling through Palestine accompanied only by his dragoman. Three miles from Djenin he was attacked by four Arabs, who dragged him from his horse and beat him with stones and clubs till they thought he was dead. The dragoman made his escape, and it was supposed he was an accomplice of the robbers. Mr. Alwyn found, upon coming to his senses, that his skull was fractured in several places, and he lay for some hours unable to move. At length some traveling Arabs passing that way took him to Djenin. The Sheik refused to let him have a horse to take him to Nazareth, without an assurance of forty piasters, which he had to promise on the prospect of obtaining it from the Latin monks, as he had been plundered of all his money. On his arrival in Nazareth he was most kindly and hospitably received by the monks, who paid for his horse, dressed his wounds, fed him, and took good care of him for three months, when he was sufficiently recovered to proceed on his journey. Our companion, the English Captain, was chief officer in the steamer in which he took passage, and bore testimony to the truth of the narrative.

On the day after our arrival in Nazareth the weather was so unpromising that we were reluctantly forced to abandon our visit to Mount Tabor. It is only a ride of three hours, but we thought a rainy day could be better spent on our way to Jerusalem; especially as there was every prospect of the wet weather setting in for the winter.

First, however, we went to take a look at the sights. Nazareth is one of the worst specimens of a Syrian town; it abounds in abominations of all kinds, and is the abiding place of as dark and villainous a population as we had yet seen. The difference was very striking between the inhabitants of this part of the country and those about Tripoli and Mount Lebanon. There they seemed pastoral in their habits; they were polite and affable, and had a frank and cheerful expression that was very pleasing. As we advanced southward from Damascus the people were of a darker complexion, and had a scowling and morose cast of countenance. We found their religious prejudices stronger as we approached Jerusalem, and sometimes had difficulty in obtaining lodgings in the native houses, though the magic effects of backshish never failed in the end to open their doors.

The women of Nazareth, as far as we had any opportunity of seeing them, are extremely beautiful. They are carefully masked, however, and, it is only accidentally that the traveler can catch a glimpse of their faces.

During the forenoon we went to the Latin convent, which is reputed by the monks to be built upon the spot where stood the house of the Virgin Mary. The chapel has some tolerable paintings; incense is burnt continually on the altar, as in the chapels throughout Italy, and, altogether, it reminded me of the ordinary Italian churches. Most of the monks are Italians, from the Tuscan and Roman States. A school is attached to the convent, where the Christian children of the town are educated free of expense; a medicine-shop or infirmary also forms a part of the establishment; and we saw around the doors crowds of sick and afflicted creatures, to whom the monks were distributing medicines. It must be admitted, that whatever may be objected to these institutions through out Palestine, their effect is beneficial to the poor people; and, in general, the monks who occupy them are kind and humane to all who need their assistance.

By noon we were on our way toward Jerusalem. Ascending the hill on the east, I stopped in a grove of olives to make a sketch of the town. The weather was raw and chilling, and I barely had warmth enough left in my hands to take a rapid outline of the principal points. My companions becoming impatient, I had to spur up old Saladin, and push on to make up for lost time. We soon came to the high range of bluffs overlooking the plain of Esdraelon. The view was very fine as we commenced our descent. On the left loomed up the beautiful and moundlike outline of Mount Hermon; in front, at a distance of ten or twelve miles, the barren peaks of Little Hermon; and beyond, inclining to the right, the vast and prairie-like plain of Esdraelon, a wilderness of rich land covered with wild-grass and weeds, and dotted at remote intervals with the ruins of castles and villages. Our road lay close by the reputed Rock of the Precipitation. Dr. Robinson discredits the authenticity of this as the true location, and believes the Rock of the Precipitation to be not far behind the Greek convent. He very justly argues, that an infuriate rabble would have had no object in carrying their victim so great a distance from the town, when there were precipices in the immediate vicinity quite as well adapted to their purpose.

A GAZELLE HUNT.

DESCENDING; by a rough and stony path, we commenced our march across the great plain of Esdraelon. There was little to relieve the monotony of this part of our journey; sharp gusts of wind swept over the plain, and the only sounds we heard were the lowing of cattle at a distance and the rattling of the withered weeds along our path. By accident somebody in the party who had the gun let it off at the right time and killed a hawk; and occasionally a gazelle would start up and bound off over the plain. On one of these occasions the excitement was so strong that it came well-nigh costing us more than the game would have amounted to had we succeeded in capturing every gazelle within a range of ten miles. It was the first time we Frangi had seen this beautiful animal in its native wilds; and so impressed were we by the remembrance of the "gazelle-like eyes" we had left at home, that we agreed to capture one if we could, dead or alive. With this determination the tall Southerner took Yusef's double-barrel gun, well loaded with slugs; the English Captain a stick to make his horse run them down; my self nothing at all, because I was not skilled in hunting; but I had a penknife in my pocket, with which it was possible I might be called upon to bleed somebody in case of a bruise or fracture. Yusef had his small gun, his Allen's revolver, sword, daggers, knives, and other arms. Thus equipped for the chase, we rode along keeping a sharp look-out among the weeds on each side of the path. It was an anxious time, for every moment we expected to see a fine herd of gazelles bounce up. But not the sign or shadow of a gazelle was to be seen for miles. Eventually our enthusiasm was cooling down in the chilling air, and we began to despair of seeing any more gazelles, when a thumping sound struck upon our ears. It was sudden and distinct, almost like a shock of galvanism. Per Baccho! what a glorious sight! Four splendid gazelles, not fifty yards off, in the act of bounding away! Shoot 'em! Catch 'em! Stop 'em, somebody! O Jupiter! what splendid animals! There was a sudden pause, and then a shout of excitement from the whole party, and away dashed every body, shouting at the utmost power of his lungs, and shooting to the extreme extent of his powder, and fire-arms. The mules, heavily laden as they were with baggage and the additional weight of the muleteers who were asleep on top, pricked up their ears and began to caper about, till, no longer able to control their enthusiasm, they started off to join the chase. The muleteers were thrown from the baggage, and were suddenly waked up by finding themselves on their heads; when jumping to their feet they ran after the mules as fast as they could, shouting at the top of their voices, like the rest of us. It is not to be supposed that Tokina, the ass, was proof against all this. At the very first intimation of a general stampede, he dropped down on his head, and deposited Francesco, the boy, in a mud-hole, and then springing up again, ran off toward Nazareth with his tail straight out, his ears pointed forward, and his mouth wide open, braying in the most hysterical and frightful manner. Thereupon Francesco likewise started off at full speed, shouting madly for somebody to stop the ass; so that there was not a single living object in the party, two-legged or four-legged, that was not chasing something. It was a general chase all round, of the moat exciting character, for which it must be admitted some of us were altogether unprepared. The mules evidently were not in a proper condition to undertake a rapid and tortuous run of this kind; for the baggage being carelessly fastened to their backs by means of various small cords, soon began to slip off on either side, and to hang dangling underneath in a way that was not only inconvenient to the mules themselves, but extremely perilous to our cooking utensils and stock of provisions. One mule especially labored under an unusual combination of disadvantages. Yusef had purchased several chickens in Nazareth, of which he designed making a stew that evening, and in order to keep them fresh he had tied their legs together and fastened them in a live state on the top of the cooking utensils. The pans and kettles, sliding down on each side of the mule, remained hanging by the handles underneath, and banged away there against each other in the most terrific manner; and the chickens, having nothing to balance them on top, slipped over behind, and hung between his hind-legs, where they got up such a cack ling and fluttering that the unfortunate animal, driven to distraction by the noise and other causes, went perfectly insane with fright, and ran all round in a circle for ten minutes, by which time every cord was broken, and our entire stock of provisions and implements of domestic economy deposited at intervals over nearly a hundred acres of ground. The other mules had knapsacks, mattresses, bundles of clothes, and a variety of other articles hanging over them and under them; but by dint of hard kicking, and an occasional fit of rolling, they got rid of them at last, and went their way at random. Meantime the horses branched off in different directions, and made the most frantic efforts to overtake the game. The horse of the English Captain, though equal in spirit to any in the party, seemed least likely to accomplish the general object, on account of some peculiarity in the construction of one of his fore-legs, the chief tendon of which had been growing shorter and shorter every day from the time of leaving Beirut, and was now so short that he was forced to do all his running on three legs. The animal upon which the tall Southerner was mounted was a slender little iron-gray which also had a very remarkable peculiarity. It was the misfortune of this horse to be possessed of a body that tapered off toward the hind part without the slightest symptom of a stomach. No matter how much corn or barley he ate of nights, or how tight the saddle-girths were drawn in the morning, he was always so deficient in stomach, that in two hours from the time of starting, the girths invariably reached his hind-legs, and the saddle occupied the space directly over his tail. It was in this condition that he was compelled to make chase after the gazelles. The legs of the tall Southerner were somewhat long for so small a horse, and having no natural support from the saddle, on account of its position, he was forced to tie them in a hasty knot underneath, by which means a constant spurring and goading was kept up, and an irregularity of motion on the part of both horse and rider extremely curious and picturesque at the distance of half a mile. Yusef's famous steed of the desert, Syed Sulemin, was perhaps the only animal in the party that could be said to keep the run of the gazelles, but he kept it at so great a distance that they must have been entirely out of sight when the firing commenced. The last I saw of Syed Sulemin and his master they were rapidly disappearing in a cloud of smoke; and it was not until the chase was entirely over that I began to entertain the most remote idea of ever beholding them again. While all this was going on, it is not to be inferred, from the minuteness of the details into which I have entered, that my horse Saladin stood still in order to afford me an opportunity of noting down all these facts; for such was not the case; so far from it, indeed, that he had been tied by the hind-legs with a thick rope to a stake, and his fore-legs bound together with a strong chain, and his tail fastened in some way to a heavy wagon, I am certain he would have carried them all with him sooner than be left behind. What I saw was at a single glance, but the whole thing was of an unusual and impressive nature, which enables me to recall the details without difficulty. That Saladin was bound to be in chase of something was a self-evident proposition. He was not an animal mentally or physically calculated to stand still when there was any prevailing excitement. In the present case, however, he made a mistake at the very beginning which was the chief cause of all the misfortunes that befell the mules. These animals, as ill luck would have it, were some two or three hundred yards ahead of us, a little to the left of, the path, when the stampede commenced. Saladin, entirely indifferent as to what he was running after, provided he over-took something, started off briskly at the very first shout; and having but one eye, which was the left eye, it happened that he caught sight of the mules just as they became fired with ambition to join the chase. I have no doubt whatever that he thought they were legitimate game, and that the grand object to be achieved was to run them down and then run over them. Such small game as gazelles probably never occupied the attention of so great a head as his. At all events, no sooner did he catch sight of the scampering mules, than he neighed as if ready to burst with impatience; and, tossing up his head and tail simultaneously, dashed after them full speed. All his previous efforts in the way of running seemed ridiculously tame, compared with the prodigious bounds which he made on this occasion. Accustomed as I had in some measure become to his fits of insanity, this so far surpassed any derangement under which he had hitherto labored, that I was forced to let him have his way, and confine my energies to keeping myself in the saddle. The mules, startled at the clatter of the baggage about their legs, and panic-stricken at the thundering of hoofs behind them, tried hard to head off; but Saladin kept his left eye on them and never ceased to head off after them, till every one in the train was running round in a circle at the utmost extremity of his speed. No equestrian corps in a circus could have presented half so extraordinary a spectacle. It was utterly in vain that the muleteers kept running round inside the ring, calling upon me in the name of Allah to give over running their mules down in that way, and swearing by every hair in the beard of the Prophet that if I kept it up much longer the poor animals would drop dead on the spot; for Saladin, driven to the very climax of enthusiasm by the noise of the tin pans and the screaming of the chickens, rushed furiously after the mule upon which they were hung, and never left off biting him until the unfortunate beast was entirely rid of his load and crazed beyond all hope of recovery. By this time the rest of the party began to gather in, and by their united assistance both Saladin and the mules were stopped. In the course of half an hour we gathered the scattered remnants of our baggage and went our way, greatly dejected in spirits. We never saw either the chickens or gazelles again.

The unhappy issue of this adventure had a very depressing effect upon the whole party. We had lost a good deal of time, as well as chickens and cooking utensils; and, from all we could ascertain in regard to the prospect of getting any thing to eat at Djenin, or any reliable means of cooking what we might get, it was a very doubtful prospect indeed. There was every reason to apprehend that we should be compelled to go to bed supperless; which was by no means a pleasing view of the case, considering the exercise we had taken in our hunt after the gazelles. In consequence of this state of feeling, there was very little said on the subject by any body, except the muleteers, who, for as much as half-an-hour, did nothing but beat the unfortunate mules, in the hope of obtaining the satisfaction in that way which was properly due them by Saladin. But, as well as I could catch the drift of their conversation, both from the way in which they looked at me, and the violent manner in which they belabored the poor animals when they saw that I was composed under the circumstances, there was not the slightest doubt, on my part, that their resentment was directed against myself, as the chief cause of all the trouble, rather than against either Saladin or the mules; and that being denied the privilege of relieving their minds upon a Howadji, they relieved them upon their own personal property.

As for Saladin, I regret to say, that he did not evince such a spirit of resignation as I expected from a horse of his greatness of character, especially from a descendant of the renowned Ashrik. From the moment of being stopped in his attempt to get a piece out of the mule, which he had driven mad, he fretted and chafed in an unusual manner, as if under the influence of some fierce and insatiate passion for flesh, which could only be appeased by a large mouthful out of some animal in the party.

The English Captain was the first to break the silence by any direct reference to the affair of the gazelles. He said that it was the most stunning circumstance within his knowledge how it was that he had missed overtaking the largest of the gazelles, which was the one he had in his eye all along. He had kept that gazelle in his eye from the very beginning, and was gaining on it rapidly, when it suddenly disappeared; it must have perceived that it was quite useless to run away from him any longer, and hastily concealed itself in a hole till he passed by. The tall Southerner was of opinion that the whole difficulty was owing to the want of stomach in his iron-gray; which was the cause of the saddle slipping back, so as to prevent him from taking good aim. He thought that had the saddle remained in its proper place, he could have steadied himself by the stirrups; instead of which, it required most of his attention to keep his legs tied together underneath. However, he believed that he had wounded one of the gazelles very severely, for he saw it leap more than thirty feet when he fired.

Yusef, during this conversation, lost much of his dejected expression of countenance; and when the tall Southerner spoke of having wounded a gazelle, he was no longer able to suppress his enthusiasm. He declared, in the most emphatic manner, that he had wounded two, one of which he had no doubt dropped dead in five minutes after, for he had broken one of its hind-legs, and crippled both the fore-legs, in such a manner that it was utterly impossible for it to run more than a quarter of a mile farther. The other was not so badly wounded, having only lost its eyes by a slug (he knew that the eyes were destroyed by the way it ran); and there was some probability of its living, but it could never see where it was going. He would have gone after the dead one, and, in fact, did go some distance after it, but--

Here Yusef stopped. Had he been struck with lightning he could not have stopped more suddenly, or more unaccountably to himself. It was well for him that he was not thrown headlong over his horse. The cause of the interruption was this: being a little too far behind to hear distinctly all he said, I had thoughtlessly ridden up rather near; and precisely at the most interesting point (for I felt exceedingly curious to know why the dead gazelle was left running about with one broken leg and two crippled legs), the very point that most required explanation, my horse Saladin, still chafing under his recent disappointment, seized that moment to obtain satisfaction; and the way he obtained it was, by seizing in his teeth that portion of Yusef's horse which was nearest to him.

Now I have never said that Syed Sulemin was a cowardly horse: I do not say so now; his spirit was beyond question. But there are times when the bravest of horses, as well as the bravest of mankind, are apt to betray a natural weakness incident to the flesh. So sudden and so exquisite was the torture inflicted upon Sulemin by this unprovoked attack, that he not only yelled in the excess of his anguish, but jumped at least two feet from the ground. Nor did he cease his convulsive throes when he lit upon the ground again; but continued to rear and plunge in such a frightful manner that it was quite evident the pain had driven him mad. Every horse in the party, either from astonishment at this unexpected turn of affairs, or fear of consequences, began to rear and plunge at the same moment. The result was, that the horse of the English captain, having only the perfect use of three legs, was unable to plunge sufficiently far out of the way; and Syed Sulemin in the fury of his wrath, upon discovering, as he thought, the author of the insult, gave that unfortunate animal a kick that sent him staggering into the midst of the other horses, where he was kicked again by the iron-gray, and afterward bitten by Saladin. It was with the utmost difficulty that we were enabled to restore order among the contending parties.

When order was at length restored, we resumed our journey; but such was the jealousy and ill-feeling, not only between the horses, but between the riders, each of us protesting that it was the fault of the others, that a general gloom prevailed in the end, and we rode on for several hours in silence What conclusion my companions came to, I am unable to say: for my own part I was determined never again to join in a gazelle-hunt to the latest hour of my existence.

CHAPTER XLII

DJENIN.

THE great plain of Esdraelon is one of the finest tracts of country in the East. In its general aspect it reminded me of some of the vast plains in California, after the summer heats have withered up the grass. Some portions of the land seem to be rich and arable. We saw a few fields covered with stalks of Indian corn, from which we inferred that this grain might be produced here in large quantities by proper cultivation. No part of Palestine that we had yet seen appeared so well calculated to sustain a large population. Railroads might be run through it at a very trifling cost, and an easy communication opened with the seaboard. In some places I noticed wild cotton, which naturally suggested thoughts of cotton mills. Tunnels might be cut through the mountains to Jerusalem, and a profitable trade thus opened with the inhabitants of Judea; and by removing the sands from the Desert the line of communication might be carried to Cairo, Suez, the East Indies, China, and California. The hot-baths of Galilee would be a pleasant place of retreat in the summer; and good hotels would soon spring up throughout the country as the blessings of civilization progressed. I sounded the inhabitants on the subject of annexation, but they did not seem disposed to discuss the question; in fact the only answer they gave me was, backshish! There seemed to be no hope at all of reclaiming the poor creatures.

Passed during the afternoon the villages of Yafa and El Mazraah, mere gatherings of hovels like bee-hives, situated on mounds or elevations, resembling islands in the plain; also, El Fuleh, a pretty looking village, picturesquely situated in a sort of oasis on the left. Stopped to refresh ourselves at Mukeberteh a filthy and miserable village, inhabited by the most ragged and scowling set of vagabands we had yet seen. Saw in the distance beyond Little Hermon, the ruined castle of Bizan. It stands upon an elevation in the valley of Jezreel, which is a part of the great plain of Esdraelon. This is celebrated in scriptural history as the spot where Saul's body was hanged by the Philistines, after his defeat and death. Saw Mount Carmel on the left; also Gilboa, noted in scriptural history as the place where the battle took place in which the Israelites were defeated and Saul slain. This spot is also famous as the scene of a sanguinary battle between Saladin and the Crusaders.

Late in the afternoon, after a ride of six hours from Nazareth, we arrived at Djenin, the ancient Ginea, a town of considerable size, handsomely situated at the base of a range of mountains on the south side of the plain.

We found it somewhat difficult to obtain lodgings here, in consequence of the hostile feeling of the inhabitants toward Christian travelers. Djenin is one of those places occasionally found in Palestine where this religious intolerance has been in full force for centuries, and still remains unchanged, not withstanding the progress of a more liberal and enlightened state of feeling throughout Syria and the East. A few days before our arrival two English travelers, who had encamped outside the town in their tent, were beset during the night by a heavy storm, which blew down their tent. It was so dark and cold, and the rain poured down so heavily, that they were obliged to give up all hope of erecting it again, and they proceeded to the town with their dragoman, to try and find shelter till morning. For some time they walked about through the dark and filthy streets, applying for lodgings at every door, but as soon as it was found that they were Franks they were driven away with abusive and insulting language; and sometimes threatened with violence if they did not at once get away out of the town. Wet and cold as it was, they were forced to return to their wreck of a tent, pack up their baggage as well as they could in the dark, and proceed on their journey in the midst of the storm.

Our own experience in Djenin was not quite so bad as this, though bad enough. Upon entering the town we rode up to a fountain, where we waited nearly an hour, while our dragoman went in search of some lodging-place. He had a niece here whose husband was a Christian; but he feared they were not at home, having heard that they were on a visit to Jerusalem. While we were waiting at the fountain, a great many ragged children and women came to get water and stare at us; and before long, a number of cadaverous and thievish-looking men began to gather around us, smoking their pipes, and remarking upon all our peculiarities of costume and manners. It was a great comfort to think that we had near us the means of striking terror into the hearts of these lazy vagabonds, in case they should undertake to treat us with any sort of disrespect. In all truthfulness, they were the most squalid, miserable, scowling set of villains it was ever my fortune to behold; ragged to the very extremity of raggedness; dirty to the foundation of dirtiness; smoked and smoky to the essence of smokiness; and beastly in all respects to the lowest pitch of beastliness.

Yusef returned in due time, bringing tidings that his niece had really gone to Jerusalem; but that he had, after great difficulty, obtained lodgings for us at the house of a Christian Arab from Nazareth.

Djenin afforded us a fair example of the extent to which mental and physical persecution may be carried without absolutely producing insanity. Expecting every moment to be robbed by the natives, who are the worst in all Palestine, we lay in the hut of a Christian Arab, where we were literally in danger of being devoured by asses, cows, goats, and smaller animals, such as cats, dogs, rats, and lizards, as well as by the vermin, which completely obliterated all my remembrances of South America and California. Never before had I been conquered by annoyances of this kind; I had always slept through them, and laughed at my companions next morning for being doubled about such trifles. But, O Lamartine! Lamartine! if thou hast tears to shed--and I know thou hast yet a few more left--in the name of humanity, shed them now! It was pitiable to behold us; it was more than pitiable—actually heart-rending. To this day I can not think of that miserable little town and the night we spent there without an itching to get farther away from it. In the middle of the night, after tossing, rolling, and groaning, without even so much as a wink of sleep--for the fleas actually covered me as a live coating of black mail--I started up and looked around in search of sympathy. The tall Southerner was sitting up on the mud floor, his hair disheveled, his eyes wild and haggard, and his face dreadfully scarred and emaciated; he was in the act of aiming a blow, with an empty bottle, at the head of some hungry animal that had been trying to eat him. The English Captain, jolly as ever, was scratching himself with one hand, while with the other he held a pipe, which he smoked with great calmness and good-humor.

"Hallo!" said I, "what's the matter, Captain?"

"The fleas," said the Captain; "they're quite stunning, I assure you. Never saw so many in all my life."

"Why don't you catch 'em?"

"Too strong for me; can't hold 'em. 'Pon my honor, they won't let me sleep a wink. Awfully ferocious animals; stunning, quite stunning, I assure you. Sir, I don't think anything short of hot brandy-punch will cure them."

The proposition was so gratifying that we all immediately agreed to it. Francesco and Yusef were aroused, and commanded to produce fire and water in ten minutes, on the pain of our displeasure. Very soon we felt quite happy, in spite of the vermin--happier, a good deal, than we did next, morning.

I have looked in vain for a scientific description of the Syrian flea. Surely it deserves a place in natural history: and, although unskilled in entomology, I shall here notice briefly this extraordinary animal. The Pulce granda, or Syrian flea, is of a lively disposition and irregular in his habits, given to late hours and disturbances of the peace. He sleeps occasionally during the day, but is always wide awake at night, when his vivacity is very remarkable. Human blood is his food; he prefers Christians to Arabs as an article of diet; has great vigor of muscle and capacity for digestion; carries in his mouth a long. harpoon, which he throws with great skill; uses likewise a boarding-knife and patent forcing-pump. He never dies naturally, but is subject to diseases of the brain, from too great a flow of blood to the head. Wounds produced by this ferocious animal are unpleasant, but not fatal. Constant depletion, however, may destroy life; hence, by repeated attacks, a man may be altogether dried up; in which case he becomes a dry subject. One should always, when he feels the harpoon thrown into him, seize hold of the flea by the hind-legs, tear him out by main force, and deposit him secretly upon his neighbor. I always did so, as nearly as practicable, upon the English Captain or the Southerner. Sometimes I dropped him into their ears, so that they might have odd dreams to tell when they waked up.

We had fleas all through Syria; we were flayed by fleas from Beirut to Jerusalem. They are the living embodiment of the nights in Palestine, which are now the nearest approximation to the knights of Jerusalem.

In the morning, after a hurried breakfast, I went to take another look at the town. The weather was wet and gloomy, and nothing could exceed the comfortless and melancholy aspect of the whole place: the narrow streets, half-filled with ruins and piles of filth; dead carcasses sopping in green pools of mud; the dark alleys reeking with a sickening stench; the walls of the houses blackened with smoke, and tottering to ruin; a few half-naked wretches, scarce bearing the semblance of human creatures, wallowing about the doorways amid the foul abominations; stagnation; decay, ruin every where the earth polluted; the air accursed, the very dogs sneaking into darkness, as if to hide their degradation.

We were glad enough to take our leave of so unpleasant and inhospitable a place. It rained hard all the forenoon, and our ride was uncommonly dreary.

CHAPTER XLIII.

ADVENTURE WITH THE SAMARITANS.

WITHIN three miles of Djenin we passed the spot where the attack was made by the Arabs upon Mr. Alwynn. It was a lonesome and desolate valley, between two ranges of barren mountains, and seemed a fit abode for banditti. Keeping a sharp look out, however, on both sides, and occasionally behind, we were determined to seize at once upon any bad characters whom we might discover prowling about, and hang them up to the first tree on the roadside; but they must have suspected from our general appearance and the efficient manner in which we were guarded, that we were people not to be trifled with, for we saw nothing of them.

In about two hours we reached Kubatayeh, a village inhabited chiefly by a population of Turks. Soon after, we came to a mountain pass, from which we had a fine view of the rich plain below. The village of Sanean on the opposite side is prettily situated on an eminence, and is surrounded by ruinous walls and the remains of an old castle, which any person who has the time to spare may find worth looking at. On the left, two hours farther on, is the village of Jeba, a picturesque collection of ruins embosomed in olive groves. This part of the country abounds in groves of fig-trees and olives, and we saw a number of Arabs plowing in the fields, very much as the fields must have been plowed three thousand years ago. What would a farmer think at home, in this the nineteenth century, to see the ground rooted up with a forked branch of a tree, with a pair of oxen fastened to it by a string?

At Jeba, we diverged from the main road, sending on our mules to Nablous, and took a by-road to Sebustia. From the summit of a mountain not far from Jeba we had a fine prospect of the valleys on both sides, with their flowing streams bordered with green shrubbery. The mountains were terraced in every direction, and fig-orchards and vineyards flourished luxuriantly on all the arable grounds. In the distance gleamed the bright waters of the Mediterranean--the most welcome sight we had enjoyed from the time of leaving the cedars of Lebanon. It is wonderful how the heart is gladdened by a glimpse of a familiar object, after one has been shut in for some time among strange scenes. I really felt as if I could hug old ocean, when I beheld his honest face shining in the sunbeams.

On our descent from the ridge, we passed through Burka, where we were stared at by the inhabitants with vacant wonder; and some distance below we crossed a deep valley and ascended on the other side a mound-like hill, upon which was situated in ancient times Samaria, the capital of the Israelites. Nothing now is left of the ancient city but broken columns and cornices, scattered throughout the fields on the hill-sides, some of which are partially imbedded in the ground; and a double row of columns, said to have formed a portion of a temple built by Tiberius. The whole site of Samaria, covering several hundred acres of ground, now rudely cultivated, is strewn with these relics of the ancient city. One of the most picturesque objects to be seen there, is a ruined mosque, built perhaps during the time of the Saracens. The view in every direction is very fine; and the position of the old city must have been one of the most charming in Syria for salubrity, convenience, and scenic effect. Of the present town of Sebustia, little need be said. A description of one Syrian village, answers with little variation for all the rest; low square huts, with flat tops; a lazy, beggarly population of picturesque Arabs, are the principal features in all these villages. The inhabitants of Sebustia seemed to be still more rude and debased than any we had yet seen in our wanderings, probably from being farther removed from the ordinary traveled route. Some had a brutish and idiotic appearance.

We sat down by the ruins of the old mosque, and spread our table-cloth and provisions on a stone, and while we ate our lunch, the natives began to gather round us in large numbers, and stare at us with undisguised astonishment. Yusef was very much disgusted with their rudeness, and gave vent to his displeasure in English, which struck us as somewhat remarkable, inasmuch as it was not to be supposed that these poor wretches were learned in that tongue. The number increasing, we began to think they meditated a descent upon our chicken, and I assumed the responsibility of telling Yusef that he had better drive them away. He looked embarrassed and distressed (doubtless he felt humiliated by their want of manners), but mustering up his usual spirit, he addressed them in Arabic, and they all talked together with great violence for some time. At last I saw that the Arabs were getting very forward and excited, and our dragoman very pale. I knew that Yusef was going to be furious, and that the next thing would be a general fight, which, considering the odds against us, I was rather anxious to avoid. With this view, I told him to let them alone, and by no means to attack them. At the same time, in order to appease their ferocity, I threw them the bones of a chicken which I was picking and some crusts of brown bread, which I told them in good English was the best I could do for them, as I was very hungry, and had eaten most of the provisions. Instead of being thankful for small favors, they became perfectly incensed at this, and asked Yusef, as he declared himself, if I meant to say that they were dogs. I have reason to suspect that he denied the charge most emphatically; for after a great deal of exciting talk, he picked up the chicken-bones and the bread, and in their presence, devoured both the one and the other with amazing avidity. No sooner had he done this (and I was certain it was not from hunger; than his jaws began to chatter, and he said: "Gentlemen, we had, better go on. It will take us till night to reach Nablous;" and at the same time he pulled out his purse and distributed a large amount of backshish among the crowd; caught up the remnants of our lunch and thrust them into a bag, which he cast over his saddle, then mounted Syed Sulemin, dashed spurs into the sides of that noble animal, and led the way down the hill with uncommon celerity. My friends and myself mounted as fast as we could; for to tell the truth we did not altogether like the appearance of these modern Samaritans, and we departed in the rear of Yusef, with a very ticklish sensation about the backs, as if it would be unpleasant to be peppered with slugs out of the long guns, with which some of the Arabs were armed. It took us at least half an hour to catch up with him; and he then told us that we had made a most fortunate escape; that the rascally beggars at Sebustia had threatened to insult us, and that he (Yusef) had told them that if they did so he would not only cut their throats from ear to ear, but raze their village to the ground; in which event we might possibly find ourselves in difficulty with the Turkish Government upon our arrival in Jerusalem. This was the reason that he had compromised the matter--had he been alone he would never have rested content without their blood, but taking our interests into consideration, he had refrained from making an attack, and had ridden away hastily lest he should be provoked into it by their demonstrations of hostility. We were very glad that the adventure had turned out so well, and saw at once how prudently our dragoman had acted.

CHAPTER XLIV.

NABLOUS.

WE had a very pleasant ride of two hours through the valley of Nablous. It was one of the richest and most luxuriant valleys we had seen in all Palestine, abounding in fine groves of olives, fig-trees, and thriving vineyards and gardens; the grounds were fenced in with good stone walls, and we passed several mills, situated on the bank of a stream, which courses down through the middle of the valley. In the spring it must be a perfect little Paradise. Travelers who have passed through it at that season, dwell with delight upon the beauty of its gardens, and the abundance of rich flowers that bloom on the roadside.

It was near sundown when we entered the old stone gateway of Nablous. Passing through a labyrinth of narrow, ill-paved and filthy streets, we found comfortable lodgings at the house of one Asam, a Protestant Christian. Learning that Dr. Mendoza and the Madam had arrived on the previous day, I lost no time in finding them out. They had procured tolerably good quarters not far from the house of Asam; and when I was ushered up the stone stairway, I had the pleasure of beholding them in all their glory, seated at a table, and glowing radiantly in the fumes of coffee and omelette. The Doctor's head was buried in a red night-cap; his face was of the purest olive color, and he bore evidence of having suffered the most intense physical privations. The Madam wore a large hat, about as broad in the brim as an umbrella, in order to preserve her complexion, which was already rather dark; and I saw with distress that her amiable features were dreadfully lacerated by the attacks of vermin. However, she smiled as sweetly as ever, and met me with her accustomed politeness and cordiality; and the doctor, although rather depressed in mind, became eloquent very soon on the subject of the accommodations of Palestine.

"'Tis a 'orrible country," said he; "I no want to voyage here again. De ruin are interess, but the hotel not good. Very bad hotel. I shall be content to arrive in Jerusalem. De Madam are a little indispose; but he shall be better when he arrive in Jerusalem. Sit down; take some coffee. Mon Dieu! very bad country dis. To-morrow we shall depart on our voyage. 'Tis imposs to remain longer in Nablous."

We had some further conversation as we sipped our coffee, relative to the inconveniences and discomforts of Syrian travel; and it was a great source of pleasure to both parties to find that we had all endured the most intense physical tortures from the time of our departure from Damascus.

It rained hard all night. In the morning, it cleared away, and we went out to explore the town. Nablous, called in Scriptural times Sychar, is a town of considerable importance, with a population of about eight thousand--chiefly Jews, Christians, and Turks. There are some good stone buildings in the principal streets; and it has some pretensions to bazaars. It is well supplied with fruit, and vegetables from the neighboring gardens, and oranges are brought up in large quantities from Jaffa. The streets are rendered rather more convenient for walking than those of most towns we had seen, by means of a deep pathway cut in the centre for camels and mules.

On the left, as we faced toward the Jerusalem road, is Mt. Ebal; on the right, Gezeroum, on which is situated the synagogue of Samaria. Ebal is barren and rocky; Gezeroum; also rocky, but cultivated to some extent. We visited the Samarians, a sect claiming to have no relationship with any living tribe, and whose family records, it is said, extend back more than three thousand years. They are much like the rest of the population of Nablous, in physiognomy and dress; the number now living is about a hundred and fifty.

A STRIKING SCENE.

ON leaving Nablous we visited Jacob's well, where Christ gave the waters of life to the Samaritan woman. The situation of the well accords with scriptural history, and there is very little doubt as to its great antiquity. It is dug in the solid rock. A large stone covers the mouth; and this is all that now marks the spot.

We also visited the reputed site of Joseph's tomb. A rude stone building covers the pretended sepulchre; but the best authorities deny that there is any evidence that Joseph was buried here.

The road, as we struck off to the right toward Jerusalem, passes over a mountainous and unpromising country. Some fertile valleys are seen at distant intervals; but for the most part the face of the country is barren and rocky. Leaving Kubelan to the left, we stopped to rest at the picturesque ruins of a Khan, in sight of El Lubban, in the valley of Lubban. This valley is cultivated and fertile; and we saw in it many thriving groves of olives. Ascending a precipitous mountain beyond the Khan of Lubban, we had a fine view from the summit, of the strange old village of Singil, which for scenic effect can scarcely be surpassed in Palestine. In about an hour we reached the stair-like road of stones leading up into it. Singil is a curiosity. Situated on a pyramid of rocks, it bears the appearance at a short distance of one mass of ruins; and indeed it is little better upon a nearer approach.

The entire village is in the last stage of decay. As we climbed up the barren and rugged road, and entered the mass of ruined walls, we were struck with wonder at the wretched appearance of the hovels on either side. Some of them are built of mud and straw, in the shape of bee-hives, scarcely ten feet in diameter, and only five or six in height. In these miserable dens of filth whole families of men, women, and children were living like so many pigs, and quite as dirty.

We found rather good quarters in the ruins of an old Khan, among goats, chickens, and smaller nuisances; all of which we endured with great resignation after our experience in Djenin.

At an early hour in the moaning we took our leave of Singil, and from the top of the mountain saw the sun rise in his most inspiring style, gilding the mountain peaks in the vast circle around with all the radiant glory of his rays. Stopping awhile at Ain-el-Haramayeh, we enjoyed a sight less grand, but scarcely less striking. It was washing-day with the women of the village. About three-score of leathern-faced and skinny old hags were standing up to their knees in water at the foot of the fountain, scolding one another, or more probably (as I took it) abusing their husbands; and pounding their husband's breeches with great clubs, as if nothing would please them better than to be pounding legs in them at the same time. I saw one ferocious old hag take up a ragged shirt, wring it maliciously by the neck, then place it on a flat stone, and mash it into a shapeless mass by the desperate and malignant blows that she gave it with her club. I was really very glad that her husband was not inside of that shirt, while she was wringing and pounding it; for I should have felt called upon to expostulate with her, and there is no telling how such interference from a stranger would have been received by the excited bevy of furies who were flourishing their clubs all around. The probability is that I should have been compelled in the end to seek protection behind Yusef; who by this time, however, was a long way off, because, as he afterward admitted, he always kept clear of women on wash-day. He disliked the female sex every day in the year; he disliked them on wash-day more than ever; because it always brought to mind a favorite sash that he wore, which he gave to one of his nieces to wash some time ago, telling her at the same time to be careful how she rubbed it, as it was of very rare and delicate texture, and he never would wear any thing with holes in it. Now this niece, being of a malicious turn, like all womankind, took the sash to a neighboring fountain, and belabored it with a club till she pounded a small hole in one end of it; and then she brought it to him, with tears in her eyes, and said: "I am very sorry, Uncle Yusef, but I've spoiled your sash. If you'll forgive me this time, I'll never do it again. You see what a great hole there is in it!" "Yes," said Yusef, "I see there is; a pretty business you've made of it. You may take it now and wear it on your head as a token of my displeasure; when I have any more sashes to wash I'll wash them myself." And so he did, to the best of my belief; for, during the whole journey, I never saw him give a sash to one of his nieces to wash, though I sometimes detected him giving them handkerchiefs and other nice little presents that were perfectly new.

On leaving Ain-el-Haramayeh, we passed through some fine valleys, abounding on both sides of the road with luxuriant groves of fig-trees. The inhabitants of this part of the country seemed to be more industrious and thriving than those living between Nazareth and Nablous. Some very good pieces of ground, fenced in with rough walls of stone, were frequently to be seen on the sides of the hills; and it was pleasant to hear the songs of the native laborers who were engaged in sowing the grain for the crops of the coming season.

Passing to the right of a dirty village called Jibia, we stopped awhile at Sinea and Infua, and thence continued on to Bireh, rather a larger and better looking village than we had seen since leaving Nablous. A short distance below Bireh is an old Khan, with a fountain near it, where we dismounted to refresh ourselves, and had the satisfaction of being abused for half an hour by a crowd of washerwomen, still more ferocious and alarming in their appearance than those of Haramayeh.

Beyond Bireh, toward Jerusalem, we entered a rocky plain entirely destitute of wood. This, with little change, continued till we began to ascend the mountains overlooking the sacred city. Several caravans of camels, laden with merchandise for the interior towns, obstructed the narrow passes in the rocks, and sometimes obliged us to turn back in order to avoid being walked over. It was very Oriental, this sort of thing, but not pleasant. I had a great notion to put some of those camels to death--especially one that walked both Saladin and myself off the road, and sent us rolling down a steep hill, in such a dangerous way that it was a miracle our necks were not broken.

The camel is an oddity in his way. He looks very well in a picture or on a desert standing under a palm-tree; he looks well at a distance with a family of Bedouins on his back; he looks well lying down by the ruins of an old mosque; in an artistical point of view, he looks well almost any where; yet when you come to analyze his character, and consider all the fine descriptions that poetical writers have given of his patience, his gentleness, his powers of endurance, his admirable physical construction, and all that, I am rather disposed to regard him in the light of a humbug; and I take the more satisfaction in expressing this opinion because it has a healing influence upon the bruises that I received when Saladin and myself were rolled down the hill. As to his gentleness, he is gentle from pure laziness. He can be vicious enough at times. Let any body who would test the mild spirit of the camel, place his fingers between the teeth of that gentle animal, at certain periods, when he has been fretted, and there will soon be no further room for doubt on the subject. The camel is gentle, when he is not savage; patient, when he is not impatient; affectionate, when he wants something to eat; docile, when he is taught to understand that the absence of docility is usually filled with a stick. As to his physical strength and powers of endurance: Can he jump as far as a flea? can he carry as heavy a load on his back; can he endure half the amount of heat or cold? I mean in proportion to his size. Let any body who admires the beauty of the camel stand behind one and see him go down a hill; cast a look at his feet and legs; and ask himself, Is that beautiful? is that picturesque? is that graceful? and he will see how ridiculous the idea is, and what an awkward, ungainly, absurd animal the camel is. I hold that Tokina, the Prince of Asses, has more beauty in his person and more sense in that long head of his, than all the camels in Syria. I am perfectly satisfied with my experience in camels. Once, during a sojourn in Zanzibar, I mounted a camel, and was thrown over his head before I had traveled ten paces. On another occasion, as I was walking by the sea-shore one morning, three frisky old camels, by way of a frolic, ran after me. I was rather brisk at running--especially when three large animals with whose habits I was not familiar were after me-and I gave them a very fair race of it for as much as a mile, and probably might have made them run a mile or two more, had I not run into some quick-sand. The camels ran all round the quick-sand twice or three times, and then went away about their business, which was more than I did, for I was up to my arm-pits in the sand by that time; and I remained there perfectly satisfied that I was gaining on them up to that period; and that I would eventually have beaten them had I retained the free use of my legs. I was not satisfied, however, with the way I was going then; so I shouted to some Arabs who chanced to be near, and they pulled me out. Ever since that period I have been prejudiced against camels, nor has that prejudice been removed by my experience in Syria. I would recommend all camels in future to keep clear of any body that looks like a General in the Bobtail Militia.

CHAPTER XLVI.

JERUSALEM.

FROM a mountain-pass above the plain beyond Bireh, we rode out on a wide waste of whitish rocks, and beheld in the distance a walled city, dim in the shades of the coming night.

"How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become a widow! she that was great among nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!

"She weepeth sore in the night and her tears are on her checks; among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies."

The resident population of Jerusalem is about seventeen thousand; consisting chiefly of Turks, Armenians, Arabs, Greeks, Italians, and Jews of all nations. It is estimated that the average number of pilgrims who visit the Holy City every year is about fifteen thousand. On particular occasions the influx of strangers is of course much greater. Sometimes, when the accommodations of the city are insufficient for so many pilgrims, encampments are formed outside the walls; and many find shelter in the Convents of Bethlehem and St. Saba. The uncertain tenure upon which each sect holds its right of worship in Jerusalem; the mingled severity and laxity of the Turkish laws; the fanatical zeal with which all the sects are inspired, and the bigoted hatred that exists between them, give rise to perpetual hostility of feeling, and often to sanguinary feuds. It is deplorable and melancholy to see how profaned are the precepts of Him who preached peace and good-will toward all men in this very spot; whose voice still lingers upon Zion and the Mount of Olives; to witness in their worst form envy, hatred, and malice practiced in His name, and the outward worship of God where sin and wickedness reign triumphant. Perhaps upon the whole face of the globe there could not be found a spot less holy than modern Jerusalem. All the fierce bad passions that drive men to crime are let loose here in the struggle for immortality; all the better traits of human nature are buried in fanaticism; all the teachings of wisdom and humanity are violated in a brutish battle for spiritual supremacy.

In the Holy Sepulchre the hatred between the sects is fierce and undying. The Greeks and Roman Catholics, the Copts, Armenians, and Maronites, have each a share in it, which they hold by sufferance of the Turkish Government; but this union of proprietorship, instead of producing a corresponding unity of feeling, occasions bitter and constant hostility. The Greeks and Romans, who are the two largest sects, and in some sort rivals, hate each other with a ferocity unparalleled in the annals of religious intolerance. The less influential sects hate the others because of their power and repeated aggressions; the so-called Frank Catholics hate the Copts and Armenians, whom they regard as mere interlopers, without any right to enjoy the Christian mode of worship; all hate each other for some real or imaginary cause, and each indulges in the self-glorification of believing itself to be the only sect that can find favor in the eyes of the Creator. Such is the bitterness of this sectional hostility that for many years past it has been impossible to keep the building in a state of repair. The roof is dilapidated, and the rain pours in through the windows; yet so it remains. The Latins will not permit the Greeks to undertake the necessary repairs, lest the mere act should give an implied ascendency of power; the Greeks refuse to give the Latins permission for the same reason; the Copts and Armenians are too feeble to contend with the more powerful sects; and the more powerful sects refuse to grant them any liberty which they do not already hold in despite of them through the Turkish Government. During the ceremony of the Holy Fire, which takes place once a year, the scenes of ferocity and violence that occur are indescribable. Religious insanity, and all the horrors of blood-thirsty fanaticism, destroy many of the devotees. Crimes of the darkest character are committed with impunity. Half-naked men and frantic women struggle madly through the crowd with live coals of fire pressed to their breasts; bodies of the stabbed and maimed are dragged out dead; the chanting of priests, the howling of the burnt, the groaning of the crushed, fill the thick and suffocating air; and from the swaying mass arise dying shrieks of Immanuel! Immanuel! Glory to God! Sickened with the disgusting and humiliating spectacle, the beholder turns away with the startling words of Ferdinand upon his lips--

We were not long installed in our quarters at Signor Stephano's hotel, when we were beset by dealers in all sorts of relics; crosses of pearl and olive-wood, fruit-beads from Mecca, ear-rings of asphaltum from the Dead Sea, polished flint and petrified olives from the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane, and small trinkets, manufactured of lead, from the Convent of St. Ceba. These relics, which are purchased in great quantities by the pilgrims, form an important source of revenue to the convents of Jerusalem. A considerable portion of the population also obtain a living by making and vending them. The most skillful carvers of pearl are said to be the inhabitants of Bethlehem. Some very beautiful specimens are carried about by the Jewish peddlers who frequent the Frank quarters. The pearl is imported on the backs of camels from Cairo and the Isthmus of Suez. In general, the designs are taken from the pictures in, the various convents, and, considering the rude instruments used in executing them, and the prevailing ignorance of the principles of art, they are wonderfully well done. I saw many that gave me a high opinion of the natural ingenuity of the Arabs. Olive-beads and the fruit-beads of Mecca and Bethlehem are hung up for sale in all the bazaars. A few piasters will purchase quite a collection. Enough of walking-sticks, paper-cutters, and snuff-boxes, purporting to be cut from the ancient olive-trees in the Garden of Gethsemane, are sold annually to freight a ship. It is rare to find any thing in the way of a relic that can really be traced to the original olives; for, being only eight in number, walled round and well-guarded, no portion of them can be taken without permission from the guardians, who are careful not to destroy a very profitable source of income by destroying the trees. For a few piasters, however, a good deal can be done even in the Garden of Gethsemane; twigs and leaves and pieces of roots can be bought by a little persuasion, and a little more backshish to overcome any lingering scruples of conscience on the part of the custodians. Wicked as it was to do it, I thought so much of my friends at home, that I violated my own conscience and that of an old priest several times, in order to get a good supply of the sacred relics.

Near the Golden Gate, which faces the valley of Jehosaphat, stands the ruin of a Mohammedan sepulchre. I was greatly struck by the lonely and desolate aspect of the place; and made a sketch of the ruin, including a few of the surrounding objects.

In my rambles about Jerusalem, I passed on several occasions through the quarter of the Lepers. Apart from the interest attached to this unfortunate class of beings (arising from the frequent allusion made to them in the Scriptures), there is much in their appearance and mode of life to attract attention and enlist the sympathy of the stranger. Dirt and disease go revoltingly together here; gaunt famine stalks through the streets; a constant moan of suffering swells upon the dead air, and sin broods darkly over the ruin it has wrought in that gloomy and ill-fated spot. Wasted forms sit in the doorways; faces covered with white scales and sightless eyes are turned upward; skeleton arms, distorted and fetid with the ravages of leprosy, are outstretched from the foul moving mass; and a low howl is heard, the howl of the stricken for alms; alms, O stranger, for the love of God! alms to feed the inexorable destroyer! alms to prolong this dreary and hopeless misery! Look upon it, stranger, you who walk forth in all your pride and strength and breathe the fresh air of heaven; you who have never known what it is to be shunned by your fellowman as a thing unclean and accursed; you who deem yourself unblest with all the blessings that God has given you upon earth; look upon it and learn that there is a misery beyond all that you have conceived in your gloomiest hours--a misery that can still be endured; learn that even the Leper, with death gnawing at his vitals and unceasing tortures in his blood, cast out from the society of his fellow-man, forbidden to touch in friendship or affection the hand of the untainted, still struggles for life, and deems each hour precious that keeps him from the grave.

The quarter of the Lepers is a sad and impressive place. By the laws of the land, which have existed from scriptural times, they are isolated from all contact with their fellow-men; yet there seems to be no prohibition to their going out beyond the walls of Jerusalem, and begging by the roadside. Near the gate of Zion, on the way to Bethlehem, I saw many of them sitting on the rocks, their hideous faces uncovered, thrusting forth their scaly hands for alms. Their huts are rudely constructed of earth and stones, seldom with more than one apartment, and this so filthy and loathsome that it seemed unfit to be occupied by swine. Here they live, whole families together, without distinction of sex; and their dreadful malady is perpetuated from generation to generation, and the groans of the aged and the dying are mingled with the feeble wail of the young that are brought forth branded for a life of misery. Strange and mournful thoughts arise, in the contemplation of the sad condition and probable destiny of these ill-fated beings. Among so many, there must be some in whose breasts the power of true love is implanted; love for woman in its purest sense, for offspring, for all the endearments of domestic life which the untainted are capable of feeling; yet doomed never to exercise the affections without perpetuating the curse! some, too, in whom there are hidden powers of mind, unknown save to themselves; ambition that corrodes with unavailing aspirations; a thirst for action that burns within unceasingly, yet never can be assuaged; all the ruling passions that are implanted in man for great and noble purposes, never, never to give one moment's pleasure unmixed with the perpetual gloom of that curse which dwells in their blood.

As I plodded my way for the last time through this den of sickening sights, a vision of human misery was impressed upon my mind that time can not efface. I passed when the rays of the sun were cold and the light was dim; and there came out from the reeking hovels leprous men, gaunt with famine, and they bared their hideous bodies, and howled like beasts; and women held out their loathsome and accursed babes, and tore away the rags that covered them, and pointing to the shapeless mass, shrieked for alms. All was disease and sin and sorrow wherever I went; and as I passed on, unable to relieve a thousandth part of the misery, moans of despair and howling curses followed me, and the Lepers crawled back into their hovels to rot in their filth and die when God willed.

CHAPTER XLVII.

ARAB GUARD TO THE DEAD SEA.

A MESSENGER from the Sheik of Jericho called upon us this morning to let us know that the Arab guard was ready to conduct us to the Dead Sea and the Jordan. He assured us we would have no trouble with the Bedouins with such a guard; they were all terrible fellows, whom the Bedouins knew too well to attack; for, praised be Allah, they had killed some hundreds of the rascals already, and would kill some hundreds more before long. It was a great source of consolation to be protected in this efficient manner; for I must confess it was rather startling to hear the strange stories that were told of the way in which travelers were attacked and murdered, or carried off into the deserts and never heard of again. I expected to see twenty able-bodied men, well-drilled, and armed to the teeth, because it seemed as if it would require that number of men, and men of that kind, to slay so many Bedouins. They were down at Job's well, he said, waiting for us; and meantime he would receive the two hundred piasters for the Sheik, and forty piasters for the men. The latter sum was to be devoted to the purchase of a sheep, and the sheep was to be roasted on the banks of the Jordan, and the men were to eat it. This was my understanding of the case when I paid my share of the forty piasters; and I did it the more willingly because I was fond of sheep roasted in this way, and anticipated taking some part in the feast. But here let me record a notable fact: the sheep is a humbug. To the best of my belief, there never was such a sheep killed or roasted by the Arab guard. If such a sheep be in existence at all, it is just as likely to die a natural death as the Bedouins when shot at by these same Arabs.

Bidding good-by to our worthy comrade, the English Captain, who had made up his mind to return to Beirut, we passed out of Jerusalem by the Jaffa gate, and went down to Job's well. There was no guard there; not the sign of a guard; nothing but the well and two asses. So, having nothing better to do, we (my friend and myself, and not the asses) sat down on the top of the stone wall and amused ourselves throwing pebbles into the well. It appeared to be very deep--perhaps about a hundred feet. I had no doubt at all of its antiquity. It looked old enough; but whether Job had authorized the naming of this spot after him, or whether it was merely a freak of fancy on the part of the Latin monks, we could not tell. Historians differ so much touching the location of these wells and their right names, that I was always content to let them settle the knotty points, and thank God for the fresh water, when I found any. A queer, ruinous old place Job's well was, consisting of a very deep hole in the solid rock, with a pile of broken walls and a moss-covered dome over it, in the Judean style, built perhaps some few centuries ago; for I believe no historian pretends that any thing but the well itself can be traced to scriptural times. It lies in a blanched and arid valley of rocks, close down by the foot of Mount Zion.

All along the road coming from Mar Saba were long lines of pilgrims, mostly on foot, some mounted upon camels and donkeys, and all wending their way toward Jerusalem. They had been to the Greek convent, and were returning after the ceremonies. The priests wore long beards and flowing robes, and the common pilgrims were ragged and barefooted, and walked at a weary pace with their heads bowed down. I never saw any thing that so impressed me with the idea of earnest devotion. With scarce clothes enough to cover their nakedness, poor and friendless, many of these way-worn pilgrims had wandered from their far off-homes, over mountains and deserts, through scorching suns and dreary wastes, to lay their bones near the Sacred City.

While we were sitting upon the top of the ruin, there came out from among the rocks close by a ragged Arab, of most uncouth aspect, with a long gun hung over his shoulders and a rusty sword swinging by his side. An old pistol and a crooked knife were thrust in his sash, which was long and flashy, but defaced by the dirt of ages.

All the colors of the rainbow were combined in his turban, his tawdry vestments, and scanty breeches, and his nose was hooked like an eagle's and his eyes flashed and wandered like the eyes of some wild beast that had been caught not long before. I declare, within bounds, that he was the most ferocious, unshaved, unwashed, and dilapidated looking vagabond I had seen in all my travels, and it was not without suspicion that I watched him as he approached, and a lurking fear that there were more of the same find not far off. Sure enough, out came another pretty soon; just as if the ground had opened and let him through from some infernal region below; and another soon after, rubbing his eyes; and then another waking himself up too, all armed like the first, with long guns mounted all over with brass, and rusty swords, and old pistols fastened in their sashes, and all looking so ragged and hungry, and so much like genuine robbers, that I involuntarily turned to see if Yusef had brought his fire-arms to bear upon them. My chief dependence was upon Yusef, for I never carried any weapon of defense except a penknife, and my companion was likewise unarmed. Besides, Yusef had a courageous and blood-thirsty disposition, as he repeatedly avowed, and delighted in nothing so much as in killing people, which I was not naturally fond of, apart from the risk of killing myself by carrying deadly weapons. I had always felt a presentiment that, if I carried a revolver or pistol of any kind in my pocket, it would go off and disable me for life; hence I never carried any thing more deadly than a penknife, and that I was resolved not to use in the way of violence unless driven to the last extremity.

Instead of rushing upon these fellows, however, brandishing his guns, pistols, and swords, as was his habit when nothing was in sight, Yusef greeted them with a kindly salaam, saying, "Good-morning, friends; how do you do?" to which they answered in the same friendly strain; and a great many compliments passed, as I supposed from the flowery style of the conversation that ensued. Yusef passed his chibouck around, and they all sat down and began to talk with great animation and a rapidity of utterance that would have astonished me had I not become rather used to it. Even as it was, I thought some of them would certainly choke in getting out so many raking gutturals at once. The talk did not seem at all likely to come to an end short of two or three hours. At last I made bold to come down from the top of the wall and ask what they wanted. "Nothing, O prince of Generals," said Yusef; "only to take you to the Dead Sea." "Do you mean to say, thou vilest of dragomans, that this is the Arab guard sent here by the Sheik of Jericho to protect us against the Bedouins?" "I do, O General! It is verily the Arab guard." "For which we paid two hundred piasters, and forty piasters for the roast sheep ?" "Yea, the same; verily the same, on my sacred honor as a dragoman; only there will be another man before we reach Mar Saba."

I looked at their guns, which were pointed in various directions; said nothing, but secretly hoped the other man would not be a corpse. For you perceive the expected guard of twenty that were to insure our lives had been reduced to eleven imaginary men before we arrived at Job's well. It now consisted of four actual beggarly varlets. Each carried a long gun, as already stated, and each had a dangerous way of carrying it across his back, or over his shoulders, or under his arms; so that there were stocks and muzzles ranging all round. It was utterly impossible for one of these guns to go off without killing somebody. As we rode on down the valley the fifth man joined us; and when I saw that his gun was longer; if any thing, than the rest; and was carried so as to take a still wider range, I at once committed myself to Providence, under the conviction that if there was any shooting to be done it would not be the Bedouins that would suffer, but we who rode behind the guard; and especially I dreaded this result when I came to think that there might be powder in the pans and slugs in the barrels, and that the powder might take fire if the locks should once get to going. In faith, so impressed was I with this idea that I fully made up my mind to call these fellows aside the very first chance, and prevail upon them by a heavy backshish to discharge their guns at some rock or tree, and keep them unloaded until we were attacked by the Bedouins; and it was my settled determination, in the event of such an attack, to join the Bedouin party at once, and remain on that side till the conclusion of the fight.

THE DEAD SEA AND THE JORDAN.

OUR ride to Mar Saba, notwithstanding the guns of the Arab guard, was devoid of any incident worth relating. The distance in point of time is about three hours from Jerusalem. The road lies mostly between two ranges of craggy bluffs, almost destitute of vegetation, and entirely uninhabited. On the left we saw the caverns in which the monks lived, before the general massacre by the Turks, in which some thousands were brutally butchered. These caves are now only inhabited by goats: Some of the bones and skulls of the murdered monks are still scattered about the rocks. The Wady is of a very singular geological formation, and bears the appearance of having at some remote period formed the bed of a river. I am not aware of any theory having been formed on the subject, but it struck me as not improbable that this may have been the original outlet of the Jordan, after passing through the Dead Sea. That a stream of water so deep and rapid should continually pour into so small a sea, and lose itself in evaporation, does not seem reasonable. But the question remains, where does it go now, or how can it fall into the Mediterranean, if the surface of the Dead Sea be, as scientific explorers have determined, considerably below the level of any other sea into which it could flow? According to the most authentic English measurement the depression is 1311 feet, 9 inches. Lieut. Lynch gives it at 1316 feet, 7 inches. The subject involves some curious questions, but is rather too profound for a casual traveler. Having seen it stated, however, that a recent corps of French engineers have decided the depression to be much less than either of these estimates (I have forgotten the exact measurement, but believe it is about ten or fifteen feet), may it not be that there is a mistake in the instruments? that by a little more measuring it may be discovered that the Dead Sea is rather higher, if any thing, than the Mediterranean?

If a difference of five, ten, twenty, or fifty feet can be made by half a dozen corps of learned explorers, the only question that remains is, how many will it take to bring it up to its proper level, so that the water may flow out naturally, without subjecting the unlearned traveler to perplexing and unprofitable conjectures.

Turning off a little from the highway, we took a walled road on the right, to Deir Mar Saba, and were soon in front of the convent gate. We had a letter of introduction from the patriarch of the Greek convent in Jerusalem to his brother of St. Saba, for which we paid about a dollar. This precaution of an introduction is deemed necessary in order to provide against any secret attack upon the monks. The gate is always kept closed, and a guard is stationed on the watchtower who gives notice of the approach of strangers. Repeated depredations committed upon the monks by the Bedouins and others, and the isolated position of the convent, have given rise to these precautions. Our letter was pulled up in a little box to a high window, and read by the patriarch; after which we were let in through a small door, and led down a great many stone steps into the little building set apart for the accommodation of travelers.

We found our quarters very clean and comfortable; the fare good and the Greek patriarch very friendly and obliging. He showed us all the curiosities of the convent, including the room-full of skulls, the date-tree planted by St. Saba, the skull of St. Saba himself, the pictorial temple in which the works of that distinguished saint are duly represented on the walls, and numerous strange grottoes and chapels dug into the solid rocks. A very queer, picturesque old place is the Convent of St. Saba: and any traveler who has the time can not better employ it than by spending a few days there, rambling through its vaults and chapels, and studying the remarkable history of its founder, which is full of wild romance.

At an early hour in the morning, we mounted our horses, outside the gate, and set off with our Arab guard for the Dead Sea. The road is wild and desolate beyond conception. Not a living thing was to be seen for miles on the wayside. All around was blasted and sterile. A few sickly shrubs grew along the ravines, through which we passed on our journey. From the top of the highest mountain we beheld a glistening sheet of water, far down below, encircled by rocky heights. It was the Bahr el Lut--the Sea of Lot.

Winding out from a deep gorge, we came upon the plain. As we toiled slowly along the dried bed of a water-course, we saw behind the banks of earth some Arabs, armed with guns, but as we drew near they skulked away, and we saw them no more. Doubtless they were spies from Jericho, watching to see if we were accompanied by the usual guard. A jackall, started from his lair, fled up on a bare mound, where he sat licking his lips. Nothing more occurred, till we arrived at the shores of the Dead Sea.

We dismounted and walked down upon the beach. A sultry mist hung over the mountains, and the air was still and heavy. There was a low sad moaning from the surf, as it rolled over upon the long slopes of mud with its thick and slimy foam; and when I dipped up a handful of it and swallowed it down, I was not surprised that there were no fish to be found there. It did seem even that a few strange birds that came wheeling down over it, turned away again out of the pestilent air. Dwarfish shrubs, gnarled and leaf-less, grew in the mud, back from the beach. Along toward the Jordan was a low morass, with dank weeds in it, and all around the weeds and rushes were stricken with the death spirit, and drooped and withered, or lay rotting on the foul earth. Verily the ban of God is upon the land; "it mourneth and fadeth away."

We filled our tin cans with the bitter water; and, upon returning to the mound of earth upon which our horses stood, saw in the distance a large party of mounted horsemen. At first we thought they were Bedouins, and there was the most intense anxiety and consternation on all sides. Yusef turned ghastly pale, and said that the water made him sick; but no sooner did he catch sight of a horseman, who dashed out of the front ranks of the approaching party, than he set up a frightful yell of defiance, plunged spurs into his horse, and set out furiously to meet him, and settle the thing by single combat. Long before the rival warriors met, they commenced firing their pistols and guns in the air, and when they did at last come together, they grappled each other by the neck, and I thought it was the most dreadful scene I ever witnessed to see them thus twisted up in a struggle of life or death. But it was neither a struggle of life nor of death, as we soon discovered, it was only a struggle of love-pure devotion of heart between Yusef Badra and his friend Emanuel Balthos.

In a few moments the whole party came up, headed by the Catholic Bishop of Jerusalem, and a dozen priests. It was the party of Dr. Mendoza. Nothing could exceed the devotion of the Bishop, and all his followers, to the interests of Dr. Mendoza and the Madam. Being all of the same religion, there was a bond of sympathy between them from the first moment of their meeting in Jerusalem. They guided the Doctor and the Madam all about Jerusalem, showed them all the relics of antiquity, gave them the best rooms in the convent; never let them go out of sight a single moment; attended them even to the Dead Sea, all from motives of the purest regard, and without even a hint at money. What could the Doctor do in return but make a handsome present of a hundred pounds to the convent and a little pocket-money to these strangers in a strange land?

We were all delighted at this meeting on the shores of the Dead Sea. No sooner had we met and shaken hands, than Doctor Mendoza expressed himself in the following manner:

"Bad countree dis. Convenience for sleep in Jericho not good. I have drink de water of de Dead Sea and no like. De Madam also drink: consequent he are indispose. We shall proceed to Jerusalem. "Tis imposs to exiss in dis countree. I shall be content to depart for Beirut."

After much pleasant conversation in the same strain, we shook hands again and parted; Doctor Mendoza and his devoted followers for St. Saba, and we for the Jordan and Jericho.

We rode along the beach for some miles, and then struck off into a morass, through which our horses plunged and staggered for some miles farther, till we reached a higher part of the plain and found a mule-path leading to the Jordan. Our Arab guard evinced the most intense anxiety as we drew near the boundary of the Bedouin country. As to Yusef, he never was more cool and collected in the absolute presence of the most dangerous foe. For more than an hour he scarcely uttered a word; but with looks of the most profound indifference, reined up his steed of the desert, and rode along in our very midst, as if he had no further thought of the Bedouins than to be the central point of attack when the fighting commenced.

In good time, we drew up our horses on the banks of the river. While our guard were busily engaged in disposing of their forces on the tops of the neighboring hills, so as to be as far away from the Bedouin country as possible in order that they might enjoy a more extended view of it, and cut off all stragglers that might come in their direction, we dismounted and indulged in various reflections concerning the Jordan. The conclusion that I came to was this: I was greatly astonished to find the river Jordan no bigger than what we call a creek in the back-woods of America; and resolved in all my future readings about rivers, lakes and seas in the old world, to look at them through an inverted imagination. I stood at the water's edge, and tossed a pebble across to the other side with all ease. It was not more than thirty yards wide at most; and although the current was swift, yet it was impossible to get quite rid of the idea that the Jordan, so famed throughout the whole civilized world, must be somewhere farther on, and this little stream only one of its tributaries. Why it was I thought so, it would be impossible to say; but I certainly must admit that I never was so disappointed in regard to the size of a river in my life.

The sheep for which we had paid the messenger of the Sheik of Jericho, forty piasters, was not roasted here by the Arab guard according to contract; but fortunately Yusef had provided himself with a cold leg of mutton for us in Jerusalem, which we devoured with amazing relish after our ride, and he also gave us some brown bread which he had thoughtfully smuggled into his bag at the Convent of St. Saba, and which we washed down with copious draughts of water out of the Jordan. While we were thus sitting on a conspicuous part of the bank, eating our lunch, I could not but think that we afforded an excellent mark for any prowling Bedouins that might be concealed in the bushes on the other side; and on that account, as well as because of my original disappointment, I sincerely wished that the river was as wide as the Ohio. Every time I looked over into the Bedouin country, I expected to see a dozen guns pointed at my head; and this notion became at length so unpleasant, that in order to divert my thoughts from so painful a view of the subject, I called to Yusef, who was standing behind a tree not far off; priming his pistols, to come and sit down opposite to me, and give me a detailed history of the affair with the six Bedouins, whom he had slain on his last journey through Syria. It struck me as a little singular that he did not exhibit his usual alacrity in obeying this summons, especially on a subject so congenial to his nature; I therefore repeated it with some warmth; upon which he reluctantly left his station, and seated himself close behind me, when he immediately began to give me a rapid account of this remarkable affair. Finding myself unable to hear him distinctly, with my back turned toward him, I requested him to sit opposite me, which he very reluctantly did: Indeed it was evident that something preyed upon his mind, for often as I had heard him repeat the story, I never before knew him to omit the part where he had pinned two of the Bedouins to a tree with a single thrust of his sword. On this occasion, his chief concern seemed to be to get through as soon as possible; and he frequently looked behind him to the other side of the river, as if he thought we might eventually be compelled to depart for Jericho without even a skirmish with the rascally inhabitants of the Bedouin country. I afterward found that I was quite right in my suspicion as to the cause of his anxiety; for he assured me, after we had mounted our horses and left the river some distance behind us, that such indeed was the case, and that he had a great mind to go back again and spend the night there watching for them.

Having finished my lunch about the same time that Yusef got through killing the six Bedouins, I took my tin can which I had purchased in Jerusalem, and accompanied by my friend the tall Southerner, who was quietly smoking his chibouck most of this time, went down to the river and filled it with water for the benefit of some acquaintances at home. Every drop of that water, I intended distributing with miserly discretion, and when I came to the last drop it was my design to fill the can again with fresh water out of the nearest pump, and still protest on my veracity, as a traveler, that it contained water which I had myself dipped up out of the Jordan.

A PLEASANT ride of three hours from the banks of the Jordan brought us to the reputed site of Jericho. Nothing remains of the ancient city, and I believe it is admitted by the best authorities on scriptural history, that there is no ground for the assumption that this was the location of Jericho. It is not even rendered probable by any reasonable conclusions from historical evidence. Without entering into that question, we had sufficient to do to credit our senses, when we were told that we were in the midst of the village, and. that there was no other village than what we saw around us. A ruinous old Khan, eight or ten wigwams built of mud and bushes; half a dozen lazy Arabs lying about on piles of rubbish, smoking their pipes; a few cows, sheep and goats, browsing on the stunted bushes; some mangy-looking dogs, engaged in devouring the carcass of a dead mule, and a few hungry crows waiting near by for a share in the feast, were all the signs of habitation and life that we could see about Jericho. The Khan stands at a distance of a few hundred yards from the huts or wigwams, and is said to be occupied at present by a Turkish guard of twenty-five soldiers, stationed there by the Pasha of Jerusalem, to protect the people of Jericho from the Bedouins. We saw nothing of the soldiers. Doubtless they were asleep, and the probability is that they had been asleep ever since their departure from Jerusalem. It appeared, from all we could learn, that in consequence of the depredations committed by the Bedouins upon travelers visiting the Dead Sea and Jordan, and also upon the Arabs, living in the villages on this side of the river, that the Turkish authorities of Jerusalem had the Sheiks, numbering five, with this guard for their protection, and as an equivalent had caused them to enter into stipulations for the safe conduct of all travelers to those places, holding them responsible for any loss by robbery or plunder, and allowing them to exact a hundred piasters from each traveler in payment of their services. This tariff upon pilgrims affords the Sheiks and their dependents their principal means of support. The guards are not very expensive, in point of equipment, as may be seen from the specimens with which we were favored; nor does it appear that they exercise any very salutary effect upon the Bedouins, since there appear to be quite as many robberies committed now as there were before this arrangement. It is essential to have them, nevertheless, for depending as they do chiefly upon Frank pilgrims for their support, they contrive when cheated of their profits by a refusal to take advantage of their protection, to do the robbing themselves; and this being regarded by the Turkish authorities as a matter between themselves and the Franks, it is seldom noticed. Each of the five Sheiks; belonging to the different villages on the Jericho side, takes his turn in furnishing a guard, and receiving the emoluments, so that the profits are pretty equally distributed. In addition to the sum of a hundred piasters to the Sheik (about four dollars American money), there is, as before stated, the further sum of forty piasters to the men, for a sheep that is never either killed or roasted; which I shall always regard in the light of a gross imposition upon the credulity of strangers. Besides this, there is there an unlimited amount of backshish to be paid to the guard individually at the end of the journey, for taking good care of the Howadji. I paid the backshish without reluctance, because I felt extremely grateful in being permitted to reach Jericho without being shot through the head--not by the Bedouins but by the guard; and I could not but feel sensible of their kindness and discretion in keeping away on the distant hills when we were down by the Jordan, and thereby exposing us to but one danger at a time--that from the guns of the Bedouins on the other side of the river.

It was a mild pleasant evening as we reined up our horses before the palace of his highness the Sheik of Jericho. The sun was in the act of setting, and to do him justice he did it as well as ever I saw it done. The whole valley of the Jordan was steeped in a glowing atmosphere of purple; and the mountains beyond the Dead Sea were admirably finished off on top with cities of gold made out of naked rocks and sunshine; and the Bedouin country, take it altogether, to its most distant point of view looked very much like a land of wild, undefinable beauty, and glowing romance.

Regarding the palace of the Sheik of Jericho, of which I have made mention, it was a mud hut about thirty feet in length, ten feet high, and roofed with a combination of bushes, straw, manure, mud, gravel, and old rags. It had three walls altogether--the back wall and the two end walls. The whole of the front part was open; or rather would have been open, had not the Sheik with a degree of shrewdness and ingenuity very characteristic of the citizens of modern Jericho, placed some bushes in a pile there, with an inside partition of the same, and formed a sort of connection between them and the roof by another pile on top, so that in point of fact he had a front wall and porch at the same time, where he could sit in warm weather, and smoke the pipe of content. This was to be our lodging-place for the night; it was the best and only lodging-place we could find. The Sheik and his family lived in one corner of the bush part, which was the part of which he seemed to be most proud; and some cows, goats and chickens lived in the main or mud part. The only remaining part, being the other corner of the bush-work, which, in the absence of any tourists from foreign countries, was temporarily occupied by an ass, we had to wait awhile till the Sheik and the ass came to an understanding in regard to the right of possession. The Sheik in order to make room for us, was in favor of removing the ass to that part of the house which was occupied by the goats and chickens. The ass was in favor of staying where he was. The Sheik endeavored to remove him by force. The ass being the heavier body, stood his ground and wouldn't be removed by force. In vain the Sheik expostulated with him; the ass was not to be humbugged in that way; his head was too long for that; so he remained doggedly where he was, and seemed to have made up his mind so to remain as long as he chose. At this crisis, the conflict of opinion in regard to the right of possession, appearing to be direct and positive, and to admit of no compromise between the parties, the Sheik went up to a bag that hung upon a post, and took out some barley, which he held out in his hand as an additional argument. The ass looked at the barley, smelled it, found that it was good, concluded that the argument was based upon just principles, and quietly followed the Sheik into the goat and chicken department, where he was tied fast to a post, and severely flogged by that individual for refusing to be convinced at first. I considered that there was a moral in the incident, and noted it down for future study.

By the time we had scraped up the ass's bed, and made our own beds in place of it, Yusef had boiled some coffee, which was very refreshing to us after our day's journey. We had a good supper of stewed chicken in due time, which we shared with the Sheik; and about ten o'clock, being tired, we turned in to sleep. In order to give a proper understanding of the startling adventure that befell us during the night, it will be necessary to go back a little, and mention that not more than three or four nights previously a large party of armed Bedouins had made a descent upon the village, and in spite of the vigilance of the Turkish guard, who were sound asleep and not to be wakened by the cries of the villagers, had captured and driven off a number of cows and sheep, and threatened to kill every body in the village the next time they came down. A similar invasion, or perhaps a worse one, was nightly apprehended; so that the alarm was general, and all the live stock was driven into the houses for safe keeping. This the old Sheik communicated to Yusef with great coolness, considering the danger; but it was not so taken, by Yusef. His eyes seemed as if they would start out of his head, when he was informed of this unpleasant state of things, and it was some time before he could calm himself sufficiently to give us any idea of the dangers that threatened us. I have no hesitation in confessing that it was not a piece of intelligence calculated to make me sleep soundly. Nothing but the implicit confidence I had in the courage of Yusef, could have induced me to risk my life in such a place a single hour longer; although it was now dark night. As soon, therefore, as he had interpreted for us the startling information which he had received from the Sheik, I came to the conclusion that our only hope of safety lay in Yusef. Calling him up close to where we were seated, I stated to him in substance that being unarmed, and in no way prepared to resist an attack from the Bedouins, I was willing, as doubtless also my friend the Southerner was, to yield to him the post of honor; which was directly across the entrance into our quarters.

"If it should unfortunately happen," said I, "that these Bedouins should make a descent upon us to-night, they will unquestionably come in through the first hole or doorway that they find open. Now as there is no door here to put in this gap, and no means by which we can secure ourselves for defense, the only possible chance of escape we have depends upon you. Arm yourself well, Yusef ; load and prime your guns and pistols carefully; see that your sword and knives are properly disposed for action: spread your mattress directly across the gap in front of us, and keep watch as long as you can. Should you fall asleep, which is not likely under the circumstances, the Bedouins will no doubt wake you up, as soon as they step on you. While you are grappling with them, my friend and myself can tear away the bush-work behind us, and make our escape. Should you survive the conflict, you will overtake us in the morning on the road to Jerusalem; but should you fall, we will take care to mention all the facts to your family in Beirut; and hand them over any funds that may be due to you."

I can not say that Yusef took this proposition with the avidity which was to be expected from one who had been thirsting so long for the blood of a Bedouin. He looked confused and astonished at first; then turned very pale and trembled all over; and when I spoke of conveying the melancholy intelligence to his family regarding his fate, he was more affected than I had ever yet seen him. All this I attribute to that remarkable feature in human nature which causes us, after we have long cherished any fond anticipation, to feel something of a re-action when it is likely to be realized. Seeing clearly that this was what affected Yusef, I laid hold of his mattress myself, and fixed it across the gap in the bush-work, and told him not to despair; that there was every reason to believe that the Bedouins would be down upon us before morning. I then assisted him in fixing his weapons of defense; and all being arranged to my satisfaction, directed him to give the alarm the moment the attack was made.

Yusef, without saying a word, lay down, and was perfectly quiet for about ten minute, as if in profound thought. At the expiration of that time, he suddenly began to snore; which aroused me from a doze into which I had fallen. I instantly thought of his singular dream in Baalbek concerning the lion; and on that account felt some doubt as to his being asleep. Not content with snoring, he began to mutter broken sentences, and what was a little singular, he muttered in English, which was not his habit generally when asleep. "Poh! Bedouins! I only wish they'd come! Cowardly rascals! I'd like to see them walk over me--I'd soon kill 'em—rip—shoot--" and so on, till I put out the light, fell asleep myself; and left him thus talking to himself in the dark. My friend, the tall Southerner, who took things easy, generally, had fallen asleep some time before, and thus we slept on, and might have slept soundly till morning but for what followed.

I fancy that it must have been about midnight that I was aroused from a pleasant dream of home, by something like cold flesh lightly moved over my face. In the panic of the moment, I grasped at the invisible object, and, to my intense horror, found that it was. a human hand! Great heavens! it must be a Bedouin feeling for my neck! " A Bedouin! A Bedouin!" I shouted, holding on to the struggling hand with all my might. "Help, Yusef! help! I've got him! A Bedouin, by all that's horrible!" The tall Southerner sprang to my assistance in a moment. It was intensely dark; by reason of which, not being able to see, he stumbled against the struggling man, whom he grappled by the throat, and we all three rolled over in a heap together. Finding it utterly impossible to distinguish friend from foe, I again called to Yusef for help. "Help, Yusef, help--we've got him! Strike a light quick, or he'll get away! A light! a light!"—It was all in vain; there was neither an answer nor a light, and the dreadful thought occurred to me that this Bedouin had stabbed Yusef, or cut his throat, and then crept over to serve my friend and myself in like manner. "Never mind," said the tall Southerner, coolly; "he's all safe. I have him by the throat. You grope about and find my knife, General; we'll fix him presently." I can not say that I approved of this proposition. It was not pleasant, the idea of groping about in the dark, after what had happened. I might find something more than a knife; perhaps I might find another Bedouin. The struggle that had just taken place, quite satisfied me that one Bedouin was as much as I could conveniently manage. "No," said I, "you keep him down while I strike a light. I have a match in my pocket, if I can only find it. Hold on to him, if you can." It was as much as the tall Southerner could do to retain his grasp of the man's throat, who, upon hearing the word "knife," struggled like a maniac; but my athletic friend was too strong for him. He held him down with the grip of a vice. While they were struggling, I got the match out of my pocket, and succeeded in lighting it; by which time the old Sheik and his wife alarmed at the frightful noises that we made, were calling upon us in the most heart-rending tones to spare their lives. The sight that met my eyes, upon holding up the match, was one that I shall never forget. Had I beheld a grizzly bear in the hands of my friend, or a rhinoceros, or even a seven headed dragon, it might possibly have surprised me; but, was completely stunned and overwhelmed with astonishment at the actual spectacle. There, in the extreme corner lying on his back, his eyes starting from their sockets by reason of being choked in the iron grasp of the tall Southerner, who held him down by the throat, was no other than our faithful dragoman and protector, Yusef Badra! It was clear enough, even at a glance, why he did not come to our assistance when called upon at the first alarm; it was clear enough why a supposed Bedouin should understand English, and struggle like a maniac when he heard that his throat was going to be cut; it was all clear enough now, except the cause of this singular mistake which had well-nigh cost us the life and future services of Yusef Badra. I need not say with what astonishment the tall Southerner relaxed his grasp; how Yusef sat up with blood-shot and starting eyes, looking all around him, and gasping for breath; how we immediately lit the lamp, and pacified the old Sheik and his wife, who were perfectly frantic with fear; in fine, how we called upon Yusef to tell us, in the name of the seven wonders, how he had fallen into this difficulty.

"Spirit of Eblis!" he gasped, panting for breath, "what a horrible—a—a--what a--a very dreadful night-mare I've had! By the beard of the Prophet!—I--I-thought I was ch--choking! It even seemed to me that I was al--almost st--strangled; for I protest I c--c--couldn't get my breath! I do believe—I--I-would have d—d--died, if your Excellencies hadn't w—w--aked me up!"

In the course of a few minutes, when he had somewhat recovered, he gave us some further particulars in regard to his dream, which was certainly of a very extraordinary character. It appeared that as he lay upon his mattress thinking how he could best protect us from the Bedouins, the idea occurred to him that, being very cunning fellows, they would, in all probability, upon seeing a door-way open in the bush work, naturally suppose that he, Badra, the Destroyer of Robbers, was lying there waiting for them; that they would, therefore, endeavor to effect their entrance through that part where the Howadji lay. In order to meet them upon their own ground, therefore, he had cautiously crept over into that corner, behind us, where he sat waiting for them; that while he was thus watching over us, he fell into a doze, but imagined it was into the river Jordan; and feeling himself going down, he began to swim; that the moment he moved his hand for that purpose, it was seized hold of by a large snapping-turtle, which held him fast, and was pulling him down under the water, when another turtle, still larger, seized him by the throat, and got on top of him, and doubtless would have strangled him had he not, as he supposed, awakened us by his groans. He felt very thankful to us for saving his life, and would take care in future not to eat so much supper, which he imagined was the cause of his sleeping so badly.

Having thus satisfied us as to the cause of the whole alarm, and proved that the result of the adventure was a subject of congratulation to both parties, we all lit our chiboucks, and enjoyed pleasant conversation on the subject of strange dreams, till day-light warned us that it was time to get breakfast and depart for Jerusalem.