,,letters ,,from ,,the ,,holy ,,land ,,agents ,,america ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company #fd #ff ,,fifth ,,avenue1 ,,new ,,york ,,canada ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company ,,of ,,canada1 ,,ltd4 #bg ,,richmond ,,street ,,west1 ,,toronto4 ,,india ,,macmillan ,,company1 ,,ltd4 ,,macmillan ,,building1 ,,bombay #cji ,,bow ,,bazaar ,,street1 ,,calcutta ,illustration ,illustration3 ,,the ,,start 7,,frontispiece7 ,,letters ,,from ,,the ,,holy ,,land ,,by ,,elizabeth ,,butler ,,with ,,sixteen ,,illustrations ,,in ,,colour ,,by ,,the ,,author ,illustration3 colophon ,,london ,,adam ,,and ,,charles ,,black #aijf ,published ,march #aijc ,reprinted ,july #aijf ,,to ,,my ,,mother ,,christiana ,,thompson ,,preface ,these letters1 written to my mother1 and published chiefly at her request1 can lay no claim to literary worth2 their only possible value lies in their being descriptive of impressions received on the spot of that ,land which stands alone in its character upon the map of the world4 ,but the reader will more easily excuse the shortcomings of my pen than1 ,i hope1 he will ever do those of my pencil6 ,i will make no apologies for the sketches1 save to remind the reader that most of them had to be done in haste4 ,they are necessarily considerably reduced in size in the reproduction1 so as to suit them to the book form4 ,it was a happy circumstance for me that my husband's appointment to the ,command at ,alexandria should have enabled us to realize this journey4 ,a four-weeks' leave just allowed of our accomplishing the whole tour4 ,the wider round that includes ,damascus and ,palmyra would1 of course1 necessitate a much more extended holiday4 ,the time of year chosen by my husband for our visit was one in which no religious festivals were being celebrated1 so that we should be spared the sight of that distressing warring of creeds that one regrets at ,jerusalem more than anywhere else4 ,also the spring season is the healthiest and most agreeable1 and we timed our journey so as to begin and end it with the moon which beautified all our nights4 ,we are chiefly indebted to ,mr4 ,aquilina1 the very capable and courteous agent for ,messrs4 ,cook and ,son at ,alexandria1 for the perfect way in which the machinery of the expedition was managed for us4 ,without such good transport and camps one does not travel as smoothly as we did4 ,to the ,archbishop of ,alexandria we owe a debt of gratitude for his kind offices in helping to render our way so pleasant4 ,,elizabeth ,,butler4 ,,government ,,house1 ,,devonport1 ,christmas ,day1 #aijb4 ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations #a4 ,frontispiece ,,facing ,,page #b4 ,jaffa #h #c4 ,the ,cenaculum4 ,site of the ,house of the ,last ,supper #bf #d4 ,in the ,garden of ,gethsemane4 ,noonday4 ,looking towards ,valley of ,jehoshaphat #cj #e4 ,bethany #cb #f4 ,ain ,kareem1 reputed birthplace of ,john the ,baptist1 from roof of ,convent of the ,visitation #cf #g4 ,solomon's ,pools1 near ,jerusalem1 looking towards ,dead ,sea #ch #h4 ,bethlehem from the ,sheepfold1 ,field of ,boaz #db #i4 ,the ,plain of the ,jordan1 looking from ,new ,jericho towards ,mount ,pisgah #dh #aj4 ,the ,plain of ,esdraelon1 from foot of ,tabor1 with the village of ,naim in distance #fj #aa4 ,our ,first ,sight of ,lake ,galilee #fb #ab4 ,galilee1 looking towards ,hermon #fd #ac4 ,galilee1 looking from near the mouth of the ,jordan towards the ,mount of ,beatitudes and ,tabor #ff #ad4 ,nazareth at ,sunrise #fh #ae4 ,st4 ,jean d',acre #gb #af4 ,ruins of the ,crusaders' ,banqueting ,hall1 ,athleet #gh ,the illustrations in this volume have been engraved and printed by the ,carl ,hentschel ,colourtype ,process ,,letters ,,from ,,the ,,holy ,,land ,,in ,,the ,,adriatic1 #bhth ,february #ahi-4 ,my4444--,i am out on the dark waters of the ,adriatic4 ,it is late1 and the people on board are little by little subsiding into their cabins1 and ,i shall write you my first letter en route for the ,holy ,land4 ,if all is well ,i shall join ,w4 at ,alexandria1 and we shall have our long-looked-forward-to expedition from thence4 ,venice has given me a memorable send-off1 looking her loveliest this radiant day of spring1 and were ,i not going where ,i am going my thoughts would linger regretfully amongst those lagoons already left so far behind4 ,i watched to the very last the lovely city gradually fading from view in a faint rosy flush1 backed by a blue-grey mist1 and as we stood out to sea all land had sunk away and the sun set in a crimson cloud1 sending a column of gold down to us on the perfectly unruffled waters4 ,later on the moon1 high overhead1 shining through the mist1 made the sea look like blue air1 and quite undistinguishable from the sky4 ,the horizon being lost we seemed to be floating through space1 and the only solid things to be seen were the moon and our fellow planets and the stars1 so that ,i felt as though ,i had passed out of this world altogether4 ,indeed one does leave the ordinary world when shaping one's course for ,palestine6 ,,port ,,said1 ,sunday1 #eth ,april #ahi-4 ,my4444--,we are moored at ,port ,said on board the large ,messageries steamer1 having left ,alexandria at #e4cj ,p4,m4 yesterday on our way to ,jaffa4 ,what a hideous place is this6 ,and this is the ,venice that modern commerce has conjured up out of the sea4 ,truly typical6 ,as ,i look at the deep ranks of steamers lining the ,canal mouth1 begrimed with coal-dust and besmirched with brown smoke1 ,i might be at the ,liverpool ,docks1 so much is the light of this ,land of ,light obscured by their fumes4 ,on the banks are dumped down quantities of tin houses with cast-iron supports to their verandahs4 ,when my mind reverts to the merchant city of the ,adriatic and compares it with this flower of modern commerce ,i don't feel impressed with1 or in the least thankful for1 our modern ,progress4 ,last night1 when we arrived1 a barge of ,acheron came alongside full of negroes in sooty robes1 one gnawing a raw beef bone by the light of the torch in the bows4 ,they were coming to coal us4 ,and1 being coaled1 we shall draw light out of darkness1 loveliness out of hideousness1 and this evening we shall be taking our course to the ,long-promised ,land6 ,where shall ,i finish this8 ,is it possible that my life-long wish is now so soon to be accomplished8 ,no two people1 ,i suppose1 receive the same impression of the ,holy ,land4 ,none of the books ,i have read tally as to the feelings it awakens in travellers4 ,how will it be with me8 ,,ramleh1 ,,on ,,the ,,plain ,,of ,,sharon1 #fth ,april4 ,at sunrise this morning the throbbing of the screw suddenly ceased1 and as ,i went to the port-hole of our cabin ,i beheld the lovely coast of the ,land of ,christ1 about a mile distant1 with the exquisite town of ,jaffa1 typically ,eastern1 grouped on a rock by the sea1 and appearing above huge1 heaving waves1 whose grey-blue tones were mixed with rosy reflections from the clouds4 ,here was no modern harbour with piers and jetties1 no modern warehouses1 none of the characteristics of a seaport of our time4 ,jaffa is much as it must have looked to the ,crusaders2 and we approached it1 after leaving the steamer1 much as pilgrims must have done in the ,middle ,ages4 ,the ,messageries ship could approach no nearer on account of the rocks1 and we had to be rowed ashore in open boats--very large1 stout craft1 fit to resist the tremendous waves that thunder against the rocky ramparts of ,jaffa4 ,how often ,i have imagined this landing1 and have gone through it in delicious anticipation6 ,everything was made as pleasant as possible to us1 ,mr4 ---- coming on board to direct the proceedings1 and a ,franciscan monk also boarding the steamer with greetings from ,jerusalem1 at the request of the ,archbishop of ,alexandria4 ,as our boat was the last to leave the steamer ,i had time to watch the disconcerting process of trans-shipping the other tourists who all went off in the first boats1 and nothing ,i have ever seen of the sort could compare with what ,i beheld during those breathless moments4 ,the effect produced by brawny ,syrian boatmen tussling with elderly ,british and ,american females in sun-helmets and blue spectacles1 and at the right moment1 when the steamer heaved to starboard and met the boat rising on the crest of a particular wave1 pushing them by the shoulders from above1 and pulling them into the boat from below1 was a thing to remember4 7,to go down the ladder was quite impossible1 so violent was the bumping of boat against ship47 ,to miss the right moment was to have to wait till the steamer which then rolled to port1 and the boat which then sank into the trough of the sea1 met again with the next lurch4 ,the poor tourists said nothing2 they hadn't time given them for the feeblest protest1 but they looked quite dazed when stuck down in their seats4 ,thanks to our kind friends we had a boat to ourselves and we were not worked off so expeditiously1 being thus able to submit with something more approaching grace4 ,we had a large crew of rowers1 and being only ourselves1 the monk1 and ,mr4 ----1 we went light4 ,three or four times the helmsman had to be extra vigilant as a huge roller1 which hid everything behind it1 came racing in our wake1 and lifting us as though we were so much seaweed1 carried us forward with dizzy swiftness4 ,woe betide that boat which such a wave should strike broadside on6 ,at each crisis the stroke oar sang out a warning1 and redoubled his work1 the perspiration coursing down his face4 ,the whole crew sang an answer to his wild signal in a barbaric minor4 ,nothing could be more invigorating than this experience2 one moment when hoisted on the crest of a wave one saw ,jaffa1 the ,plain of ,sharon1 and the hills of ,judea ahead1 and astern the ,messageries steamer and small craft riding at anchor1 and the next moment nothing between one and the sky but jagged and curling crests of wild billows6 ,on landing at the rocks we were hoisted up slippery steps in more iron grips4 ,on such occasions it is useless to hesitate--indeed they don't let you--and as you don't know what is best for you1 you had much better at once surrender your individuality and become a passive piece of goods if you don't want a broken limb4 ,we immediately found ourselves in such a picturesque crowd as even my ,egypt-saturated eyes took new delight in1 and we passed through the ,custom-house with the agent obligingly clearing all before us1 and got into a little carriage after climbing on foot the steep part of the town4 ,what a town6 ,no description ,i have yet read does full justice to its tumble-down picturesqueness4 ,those black archways like caverns1 those crooked streets filled with people1 camels1 and donkeys--all this to me is fascinating4 ,i am too hurried to pause here long enough to try and define the difference between life here and life in ,egypt4 ,there is not here the barbarism of the latter's picturesqueness1 and one feels here more the beauty of the true ,east4 ,i don't see the abject squalor of ,egypt1 and the people's dresses are more varied4 ,all this stone masonry is very acceptable after the brick and mud of ,egyptian hovels4 ,here is the essence of ,asia--there1 of ,africa4 ,i am afraid these remarks are crude1 but ,i think the definition is a just one4 ,as we drove to the little ,german inn in the outskirts of the town1 we noticed the air getting richer with the scent of orange-flowers1 and soon we passed into the region of the orange-orchards4 ,the trees were creamy white with dense blossom1 and the ripe fruit was dotted about in the masses of white4 ,the honey they gave us at breakfast was from these orange-flowers4 ,here our dragoman1 ,isaac1 met us4 ,i made my first sketch--the first1 ,i trust1 of a series ,i marked down before leaving ,alexandria4 ,it was of ,jaffa1 seen over the orange-trees from the inn garden1 and charming it was to sit there in the cool shade1 with birds singing overhead as never one hears them in ,egypt4 ,fragments of classical pillars stood about and served as seats under the chequered shade of flowering fruit-trees along the garden paths4 ,the ,mediterranean appeared to my right1 and overhead sailed great pearly clouds in the vibrating blue of the fresh spring sky4 ,i must say ,i felt very happy at the reality of my presence on the soil of ,palestine6 ,illustration3 ,,jaffa ,,the upper part of the town is seen over the tops of orange orchards4 ,time1 morning4 ,at #b ,p4,m4 we started in a carriage like our dear old friend1 the ,vetturino1 for ,ramleh1 our halting-place for the night4 ,how can ,i put before you the scenes of loveliness we passed through8 ,the country was a vast plain of rolling wheat1 bordered in the blue distance with the tender hills of ,judea4 ,this land of the ,philistines far surpassed my expectations in its extent1 its grand sweep of line1 its breadth of colour and light and shade4 ,it was some time before we came out on the ,plain of ,sharon1 and we drove first a long way between orange-orchards bordered along the road by gigantic hedges of prickly pear4 ,our ,vetturino was drawn by three horses abreast1 all with bells1 and it was exhilarating to set out at a fast trot along the easy road in company with other jingling and whip-cracking vehicles1 and escorted by horsemen in brilliant ,syrian costumes dashing along on their little ,arabs1 and carrying their long ornamental guns slung across their backs4 ,i had just one horrible glimpse 7of which ,i said nothing1 as of some guilty thing71 just as we started1 of a railway engine under some palm-trees4 ,it is waiting there the completion of the line to ,jerusalem to puff and whistle its beauty-marring career to the ,holy ,city4 ,i am thankful my good luck has brought me here just in time to escape the sight of a railway and its attendant eyesores in this sacred land4 ,why rush through this little country1 every yard of which is precious8 ,an express train could run in two hours from ,dan to ,beersheba--and what then8 ,before emerging on the ,plain we passed a white mosque-like building placed between two cypresses by the roadside1 which is supposed to stand on the site of the place where ,peter raised ,dorcas to life4 ,be that as it may1 the white dome and the black-green cypresses are charming4 ,the soil of the country1 now being ploughed in all directions between the green wheat-fields1 is of a rich golden colour1 like that ,i noticed with such pleasure around ,sienna1 and makes a pleasing harmony with the vivid green4 ,the dear olive-tree1 beloved of my childhood1 is here in its very home4 ,i hailed its pinky-grey foliage and its hoary old gnarled trunk4 ,and now for those wildflowers that all travellers who are so well advised as to come here in spring have told us of4 ,well may they speak of them with rapture6 ,as we proceeded they increased in variety1 and so abundant were they that they made tracts and wide regions of colour over the land4 ,come here in spring1 ,o traveller6 and not in the arid1 dusty1 burnt-up autumn4 ,on entering the ,plain of ,sharon we saw to our left the town of ,lydda1 with ,st4 ,george's ,church gleaming in the sunshine4 ,never have ,i seen1 even in ,ireland1 fresher effects of cloud shadow and sunlight over rolling spaces of waving green corn1 and even the sky was typically ,west of ,ireland4 ,yet lo6 in the foreground strings of camels1 mules1 and wild ,bedouins and caracoling ,bashi-,bazouks6 ,the ploughing was done by tiny oxen1 two abreast1 and sometimes a tall camel stalked as leader4 ,on arriving at ,ramleh we walked to the great tower1 some distance out of the town1 from the top of which ,i had my long-looked-for view of the whole of ,philistia--northward to ,carmel1 westward to the sea1 eastward to the mountains of ,judah4 ,as the sun sank the tints deepened on that lovely plain1 and nothing on earth could be more beautiful than that immense view4 ,i made a hasty water-colour sketch up there1 but what can one do in a few minutes with such a scene8 ,a sad spectacle awaited us as we reached the ,german inn4 ,as we walked ,i had become absorbed in the contemplation of the limpid sky1 where the last lark was carolling to the sinking sun1 and of the mountains whose rosy flush was fading into the cool greys that already veiled the plain1 when my eyes sinking lower1 ,i beheld in the cold grey of the narrow street1 ranged along a stone wall1 a row of lepers waiting for alms4 ,life has no sadder detail than the leper4 ,as ,i approached them with a coin the nearest of these poor creatures put out a fingerless palm on which ,i placed the money1 and having only hollow sockets in the place of eyes it handed it to its neighbour1 who1 being also eyeless1 passed it on to one in whose fleshless face there lingered the remnant of an eye4 ,this one's hand lifted the coin to its fragment of eye to see its value1 and deposited it in the recesses of its fluttering rags that only half veiled the decaying body4 ,a low wail passed along the line1 and bony arms were stretched out in gratitude4 ,and then we go to our table d'hte and comfortable beds1 and they--where do they sleep8 ,do they lie down on those bare bones8 ,jerusalem1 #gth ,april #ahi-4 ,my4444--,we left ,ramleh early this brisk1 fresh morning1 the air full of scent from the wildflowers4 ,frre ,benot1 the ,flemish ,franciscan who met us on board the steamer1 came with us1 and an ,english lady who had all but broken down the day before through the jolting of a shandrydan that had been palmed off on her and her husband at ,jaffa4 ,so with the friar and ,mrs4 ,g---- inside1 ,w4 on the box1 and ,mr4 ,g---- following in the aforesaid shandrydan with ,isaac1 we set off in the usual whip-cracking1 shouting1 and prancing manner for ,,jerusalem6 ,the first point of interest ,i was looking for was ,ajalon4 ,as we dipped down from one of the hills traversed by the road in steep zigzags it unfolded its fresh loveliness on our left1 but we could not see the actual site of ,joshua's battle1 as it was too deep in the folds of the hills4 ,this view was1 perhaps1 the loveliest of all1 and nothing could be fresher than those cornfields and rich spaces of ploughed earth in the light that streamed down from so pure a sky4 ,now and then a single horseman with the well-known long gun inlaid with mother-of-pearl1 and with his ,arab all over tassels1 dashed past us1 doing fantasia to impress us strangers4 ,the proceeding was never without success as far as ,i was concerned4 ,at #i4cj we left the plain and at once entered the hills of ,judea1 which are much more uniformly stony than one would suppose them to be from a distance4 ,we soon stopped at a wayside khan1 about half-a-dozen ,vetturinos being assembled in the yard1 and all the horses were rested4 ,we then began the ascent of the dear ,hill ,country1 fragrant with memories of ,mary on her journey made in haste from ,nazareth4 ,i did not expect such a long and high ascent1 having failed to realise from description the immense altitude of the height of land that holds ,jerusalem4 ,things seen are mightier than things heard4 ,the wildflowers increased in beauty and variety1 chief1 ,i think1 amongst them being the crimson anemones with black centre which tossed their gay heads everywhere in the mountain breeze4 ,olives and stones1 stones and olives on all sides4 ,here and there a carob tree or a clump of tamarisk at a tomb4 ,as we crested the first pass and looked back we saw the plains of ,philistia1 with ,ramleh white in the sunshine and the sea beyond shining in a long flash of silver4 ,before us to the right soon loomed against the clouds the great tombs of the ,maccabees1 and away to our left on a high cone appeared1 remote and awful1 the ,tomb of ,samuel1 a dominating feature over all the land4 ,as we descended on the other side of the pass we came in sight of ,ain ,kareem1 the reputed birthplace of ,john the ,baptist1 on the side of a high hill4 ,the words of the ,magnificat sounded in one's mind's ear4 ,it is a grand situation and most striking as seen from the road4 ,at the bottom of the valley formed by the hill we were descending and the hill of ,ain ,kareem runs the dry bed of the brook from which ,david chose his smooth stone for ,goliath4 ,w4 went down and selected just such a smooth white stone as a memento4 ,at the bottom of the valley we halted at a ,russian khan and ,i took a little sketch of a bit of hillside and a pear-tree in blossom4 ,you must have seen this land with second sight1 for you have always seen a flowering fruit-tree in your mental pictures of it at ,eastertide and ,lady ,day4 ,palestine is essentially the land of little fruit-trees4 ,on leaving the ,russian khan1 where we beheld chromo-lithographs of the late and the present ,czars on the walls1 and were interested in the high ,muscovite boots of our host1 we had another great ascent1 and soon after reaching the top my feelings became more and more focussed on the look-out ahead4 ,i saw signs that we were approaching ,jerusalem4 ,there were more people on the road1 and a detachment of the ,salvation ,army was marching along with a strangely incongruous appearance4 ,yet only incongruous on account of the dress1 for1 morally1 those earnest souls are amongst the fittest to be here4 ,i stood up in the carriage1 but ,w4 from the box saw first4 ,he raised his hat1 and a second after ,i had the indescribable sensation of seeing the top of the ,mount of ,olives1 and then the ,walls of ,zion6 ,it was about three o'clock4 ,we left the carriage outside the ,jaffa ,gate1 for no wheeled vehicle can traverse the streets of ,jerusalem1 and we passed in on foot4 ,we had first to go to the hotel1 of course1 a very clean little place facing the ,tower of ,david4 ,thence we soon set out to begin our wonderful experiences4 ,i had what ,i can only describe as a qualm when we reached1 in but a few hundred steps1 the ,church of the ,holy ,sepulchre4 ,it was all too easy and too quick4 ,you can imagine the sense of reluctance to enter there without more recollection4 ,i had a feeling of regret that we had not waited till the morrow1 and ,i would warn others not to go on the day of arrival4 ,we reached the ,church through stone lanes of indescribable picturesqueness1 teeming with the life of the ,east1 and there ,i saw the ,jerusalem ,jews ,i had so often read of--extraordinary figures in long coats and round hats1 a ringlet falling in front of each ear1 while the rest of the head is shaved4 ,they looked white and unhealthy1 many of them red-eyed and all more or less bent1 even the youths4 ,no greater contrast could be seen than between those poor creatures and the ,arabs who jostle them in these crowded alleys1 and who are such upstanding athletic men1 with clear brown skins1 clean-cut features1 and heads turbaned majestically4 ,they stride along with a spring in every step4 ,there are ,greeks here1 and ,russians in crowds1 and ,kurds1 ,armenians1 and ,kopts--in fact samples of all the dwellers of the ,near ,east1 wearing their national dresses2 and through this fascinating assemblage of types and costumes1 most distracting to my thoughts1 we threaded our way to-day1 ascending and descending the lanes and bazaars1 up and down wide shallow steps1 till we came in front of the rich portal of the ,church of churches4 ,with our eyes dazzled with all that colour1 and with the sudden brilliance of the sunshine which flooded the open space in front of the faade1 we passed in6 ,do not imagine that the church stands imposingly on an eminence1 and that its proportions can strike the beholder4 ,you go downhill to it from the street1 and it is crowded on all sides but the front by other buildings4 ,but its gloomy antiquity and formlessness are the very things that strike one with convincing force1 for one sees at once that the church is there for the sake of the sites it encloses1 and that1 therefore1 it cannot have any architectural symmetry or plan whatever1 and its enormous extent is necessitated by its enclosing the chapels over ,calvary and the ,holy ,sepulchre and many others besides1 which the ,empress ,helena erected over each sacred spot whose identity she ascertained with so much diligence4 ,it is very natural to wish that ,calvary was in the open air1--lonely1 under the sky that saw ,christ suffer on the ,cross4 ,but already1 in the year #cbf1 ,st4 ,helena found the place of execution buried under mounds of rubbish purposely thrown upon it2 and where would any trace of it be to-day had she not enclosed it--what with man's destroying acts and the violence of the storms that have beaten against this rock for nineteen centuries and more8 ,it was1 to begin with1 but a small eminence close outside the walls4 ,on entering the church you discern in the depths of the gloom of the tortuous interior the rough steep steps cut in the rock that lead to ,calvary1 on your right hand4 ,on climbing to the top1 groping in the twilight1 you find yourself in a chapel lined with plates of gold and hung with votive lamps4 ,the sacred floor1 which is the very top of ,calvary1 is entirely cased in gold1 and under the ,greek altar is shown the socket of the ,cross1 a hole in the rock4 ,our altar stands to the proper left of the ,greek1 which has the post of honour4 ,descending from ,calvary there is a long stretch of twilight church to traverse before we come to the sepulchre4 ,again ,i had not realised1 from the books ,i have read1 the great distance that separates the two1 and1 indeed1 many writers in their scepticism have done their best to belittle the whole thing4 ,i confess that before to-day ,i was much under the influence of these writers1 but ,i have now seen for myself1 a privilege ,i am deeply thankful for4 ,it was an overwhelming sensation to find the spaces that separate the sites so much vaster than ,i had expected1 and to have1 at every step1 the conviction driven home that after all the modern wrangling and disputing the old tradition stands immovable4 ,it certainly would be hard to believe that when ,st4 ,helena came here the dwellers of ,jerusalem should have lost all knowledge of where their ,tower-hill stood in the course of three centuries4 ,she was commissioned1 as you know1 by her son the ,emperor ,constantine1 that ardent convert to ,christianity1 to seek and secure with the utmost perseverance and care all the holy sites1 and to her untiring labours we owe their identification to this day4 ,the great central dome of the church rises above the chapel of the ,holy ,sepulchre1 which chapel stands in the vast central space1 a casket enclosing the rock hollowed out into ,our ,lord's ,tomb and its ante-chamber4 ,you enter this ante-chamber and1 stooping down1 you pass on your hands and knees into the sepulchre itself4 ,on your right is the little low1 rough-hewn tomb1 covered with a slab of stone worn into hollows by the lips of countless pilgrims throughout the long ages of our era4 ,a monk keeps watch there1 and beside him there is only space enough for one person at a time4 ,i have made many attempts to tell you my thoughts and feelings during those bewildering moments of my first visit1 but ,i find it is impossible1 and you can understand why4 ,,jerusalem1 #hth ,april #ahi-4 ,my4444--,to-day was exquisitely bright and full of heart-stirring sights to us4 ,those who have not been here can scarcely1 ,i think1 realise the sensation of living in daily intimacy with the scenes of ,our ,lord's ,passion4 ,think of lying down at night under the shadow of the ,cross4 ,to-day we first visited the ,wailing ,place of the ,jews4 ,strange and pathetic sight1 these weird men and women and children weeping and moaning1 with their faces against the gigantic stones of the wall that forms the only remaining portion of the foundation of their vanished ,temple1 praying ,jehovah for its restoration to ,israel2 and over their heads rises in its strong beauty the ,moslem ,mosque of ,omar1 standing in the place of the ,holy of ,holies1 the varnished tiles of its dome ablaze with green and blue in the resplendent sun6 ,jews below1 ,moslems above1 yet to the ,christian1 ,christ everywhere6 ,then we followed the ,via ,dolorosa1 which winds through the dense town1 starting from the ,turkish barracks on the site of ,pilate's house4 ,of course1 ,i need not say that the surface of ,jerusalem being sixty to eighty feet higher than it was in ,our ,lord's time1 the real ,via ,dolorosa is buried far below1 but the general direction may be the true one4 ,strange to see the ,stations of the ,cross appearing at intervals on the walls of alleys crowded with ,jews and ,mahometans4 ,there are no evidences of ,turkish intolerance in ,palestine that ,i can see6 ,the last stations are1 of course1 in the great ,church4 ,we followed the walls from ,mount ,moriah to ,zion and round by ,accra to the ,damascus ,gate1 outside which stands ,general ,gordon's ,skull ,hill1 which he so tenaciously clung to as the real ,calvary 7on account of its resemblance to a gigantic skull71 together with the sepulchre in a garden at the foot of the mound1 which he held was that of ,joseph of ,arimathea4 ,as far as my eye can tell1 the distance between ,skull ,hill and this sepulchre is much the same as between ,calvary and the sepulchre that tradition hallows4 ,i send you a sketch that ,i made on the spot of ,gordon's sepulchre1 to show you the universal plan of these burial-places4 ,you will see three tombs 7their lids are gone7 in the inner chamber4 ,at the ,holy ,sepulchre only ,our ,lord's is preserved1 tallying with the one ,i have marked with a cross2 the other two have been cut away4 ,illustration ,i made a very hurried sketch of ,jerusalem1 with the ,mount of ,olives and a glimpse of the mountains of ,moab1 from the hotel roof4 ,had ,i been perched a little higher ,i could have shown the head of the ,dead ,sea4 ,we visited the ,mosque of ,omar1 one of the great sights of the world4 ,the immense plateau on which the ,temple stood is partly occupied by this1 the second oldest of mosques1 and by great open spaces planted with gigantic and ancient cypresses and by a smaller mosque4 ,the whole group is surpassingly beautiful1 but what thoughts rush into one's mind in this place6 ,a vision of ,herod's ,temple fills the whole space for a few moments with its white and golden splendour1 its forest of shining pinnacles flashing in the sun1 and its tiers of pillared courts culminating in the ,holy of ,holies4 ,and then the reality lies before us again--great empty spaces and two pagan mosques4 ,from thence we went out by ,st4 ,stephen's ,gate1 and looked down on ,gethsemane on the opposite side of the ,valley of ,jehoshaphat4 ,very dusty and stony looked that part of the ,mount of ,olives1 and the excavations for the building of numerous churches by various sects have greatly spoilt its repose and beauty and disturbed its seclusion4 ,but one must not complain4 ,all ,christians naturally long to have a place of worship there4 ,i cannot describe to you the charm of life here4 ,all one's time is filled to overflowing with what ,i may call the holy fascination of the place1 and though all this continual walking and standing about may be somewhat fatiguing in a physical sense1 the mind never is weary and the fatigue is pleasant4 ,at night1 sound sleep1 born of profound contentment at the day's doings1 so full of keen interest without excitement1 renews one's vitality for the succeeding day's enjoyment4 #ith ,april #ahi-4 ,this has been a day of clear loveliness1 much hotter and altogether exquisite4 ,in the morning we first went to the ,cenaculum1 the rambling building erected over the site of the house of the ,last ,supper1 which ,st4 ,helena found and enclosed in a chapel1 and also including the undoubted ,tomb of ,david1 jealously guarded from us by the ,mahometans4 ,the ,cenaculum stands out lonely and impressive1 looking towards the mountains of ,moab and the dim regions to the south of the ,dead ,sea4 ,i will show you a sunset sketch of this4 ,i was not pleased to feel hurried through those rooms and narrow passages and stairs by the guide in a rather nervous manner1 when ,i perceived that the reason was the unfriendly looks of the ,mahometans who moved about us1 and who evidently resent the presence of ,christians so near the royal tomb4 ,i was too much distracted to realise where ,i was1 and indeed1 not till we get away from the noise and bustle of town life into the solitudes shall we be able to fix our thoughts as we would wish4 ,from the ,cenaculum we walked half-way down to the valley through which the brook ,cedron flows1 and by very much the same path that ,our ,lord must have followed to go to ,gethsemane after the ,last ,supper4 ,down to our right was the desolate ,gehenna--the ,pit of ,tophet--now only inhabited by lepers1 and a ghastly hollow it looked4 ,beyond rose that hill where once sat ,moloch of the red-hot hands1 and deep down on the declivity between us and these landmarks of terror lay the ,potter's ,field4 ,when looking from some commanding height ,illustration3 ,,the ,,cenaculum4 ,,site ,,of ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,the ,,last ,,supper ,,the mass of buildings shown includes1 in the centre of the block1 the remains of the ,chapel built by the ,empress ,helena over the site of the house of the ,last ,supper4 ,the ,tomb of ,david at the left-hand extremity is surmounted by a dome4 ,time1 sunset4 over the city and its surroundings the mind staggers at the thought of the appalling catastrophes that have burst upon this narrow area--the human agony that has been concentrated here through so many ages1 of which we read in the ,old ,testament and in the writings of the early historians of our era4 ,twenty-five fierce sieges has this mountain fastness endured4 ,no other city ever went through such sufferings4 ,if we could really concentrate our thoughts upon the events that have passed upon this ground which1 from such a standpoint as ours of this morning1 the sight can compass in one sweep of vision1 it would be too painful to be endured4 ,perhaps if ,i could see the place on some bleak twilight or in a sounding thunderstorm ,i might dimly appreciate the long agony of ,jerusalem1 but to-day the ,april air was full of scents of flowers and aromatic shrubs1 and the bees were humming2 there were little butterflies amongst the anemones1 and the lark was in full song4 ,the very spirit of the ,gospel peace seemed to float in the gentle air of spring4 ,i was glad ,i could not concentrate my thoughts on the gloomy side of that wondrous prospect4 ,from the cave whither ,st4 ,peter crept away to weep after the denial of ,our ,lord is certainly the finest view of the site of the ,temple to be obtained anywhere4 ,this cave is some distance down the path from the ,cenaculum and the house of ,caiaphas1 which latter we had also visited1 now a beautiful chapel4 ,in the afternoon we had our first ride1 and went by the old stony track so often trodden by the ,saviour to ,bethany4 ,never shall ,i forget the view of the ,dead ,sea1 ,jordan1 and mountains of ,moab which burst upon us as we crested the summit of the ,mount of ,olives and passed by the traditional site of the ,ascension4 ,the ride down to ,bethany1 on the reverse slope of the ,mount1 was enchanting1 and how solemn all was to us--the deep black tomb of ,lazarus1 the site of the house 7now a ruined chapel7 where ,jesus so often stayed4 ,we returned by the lower1 or new1 road from ,jericho1 and had at sunset that grand view of ,jerusalem from the lower slopes of ,olivet which has so often been painted4 ,we reserved ,gethsemane for another time1 but visited the ancient ,church of the ,assumption on our way home4 ,,jerusalem1 #ajth ,april4 ,my4444--,we spent the whole morning in the ,church of the ,holy ,sepulchre1 ,i remaining alone for an hour after ,w4 left to write letters at the hotel4 ,there was hardly another soul in that vast building1 except a few priests and the monk who keeps watch over the ,tomb4 ,i find ,i can write least about this1 the climax of what makes ,palestine the ,holy ,land4 ,at two o'clock ,i went to ,gethsemane1 escorted by ,isaac1 where ,i sketched till six4 ,i would have preferred a moonlight sketch of that garden1 but ,i had to be content with a very hot daylight one4 ,it was blissful sitting there undisturbed under the old olives whose trunks are as hard as stone1 and ,i pleased myself with the idea that they might be offshoots of offshoots of the trees that shaded ,our ,lord4 ,when ,titus had all the trees around ,jerusalem cut down1 some saplings may have been overlooked6 ,my protecting dragoman was somewhere out of sight1 and the ,franciscan monks who own this most sacred ,god's ,acre were unobtrusively tending the flowers somewhere about4 ,insects hummed amid the flowers1 all the little burrings of a hot day were in the air1 it was a place of profound peace4 ,as ,i returned1 towards sunset1 and climbed the steep sides of the ,valley of ,jehoshaphat up to ,st4 ,stephen's ,gate--the shortest way to the ,city--,i looked back towards the scene of my happy labours1 and a sight lay there below me which impressed me1 ,i am sure1 for life4 ,the western sides of the abyss which ,i was climbing were already in the shades of night1 for twilight hardly exists here1 but the opposite slopes received the red sunset light in its fullest force1 and in that scarlet gleam shone out in intense relief thousands upon thousands of flat tombstones that cover the bones of countless ,jews who have1 at their devout request1 been buried there to await1 on the spot1 the ,last ,judgment which they and we and the ,mahometans all believe will take place in that valley4 ,had ,i more time ,i would much like to make a study of this truly awful place in that last ray of the vanishing sun1 for nothing could be more impressive and more touching1 but higher-standing subjects claim all the time ,i can spare4 ,my intention is to use all my sketching moments for scenes connected with ,our ,lord's revealed life4 ,i resolutely deny ,illustration3 ,,in ,,the ,,garden ,,of ,,gethsemane4 ,,noonday4 ,,looking ,,towards ,,valley ,,of ,,jehoshaphat ,,part of the ,garden in foreground under old olive-trees and cypresses4 ,stations of the ,cross along path inside boundary wall4 ,walls of ,jerusalem and top of ,mosque of ,omar in background4 ,time1 early afternoon4 myself the indulgence of elaborately sketching the people and animals that seem to call out to the artist at every turn1 though ,i have outlined some in my note-book4 ,anywhere else our fellow-travellers at the hotel would be too tempting in my lighter moments1 so comical they look in their sun-proof costumes4 ,why such preparations against the ,april sun8 ,but one is too detached here to be much distracted by their unspeakable outlines4 ,and1 talking of distractions1 ,i really do not find the drawbacks of ,jerusalem1 which so many travellers give prominence to in accounts of their experiences1 so very bad4 ,indeed our life here is without a single drawback1 to my thinking4 ,saturday1 #aath ,april #ahi-4 ,the heat is greatly increasing4 ,at #a4cj we drove to ,bethlehem with our friend1 ,frre ,benot4 ,the hill country we passed through was very stony and rocky1 and only cultivated here and there4 ,again olives and stones1 stones and olives everywhere4 ,the inhabitants are a splendid race1 the men athletic1 the women graceful1 though their faces are sadly disfigured by tattooing4 ,we were on the look-out for the little city of ,david long before it appeared1 and very beautiful it looked as we beheld it from a high hill1 crowning a slightly lower one amid a billowing sea of other hill-tops4 ,it has a majestic appearance on its rocky throne1 and its large1 massive conventual buildings add greatly to its stateliness4 ,we passed that pathetic monument1 ,rachel's ,tomb1 at the cross roads1 our road leading to the left1 and the other diving down to the right towards ,hebron4 ,we ascended ,bethlehem's hill and were soon in its steep1 narrow1 slippery stone lanes1 utterly unfitted for a carriage4 ,we drove at once to the ,franciscan ,convent and then to the ,church built over the site of the ,nativity1 and had the happiness of kneeling at the sacred spot where the manger stood1 which is shown in the rocky vaults below1 and marked with a white star inlaid in the floor4 ,the cave was rich and lovely with votive lamps and gold and silver gifts4 ,little by little the dislike ,i had to the too precise localisation of the events we love most in the ,bible is disappearing4 ,speaking for myself1 ,i find that1 on the spot1 the mind demands it4 ,but ,i know that many people regret it4 ,i only wish that1 in their separate and individual ways1 all ,illustration3 ,,bethany ,the locality of the ,tomb of ,lazarus is marked by a little domed tower to the extreme right of the town4 ,ruins of chapel built over site of house of ,lazarus1 ,martha1 and ,mary are in centre of village4 ,the road to ,jerusalem of ,our ,lord's time passes over the brow of the hill to the right4 ,mid-day4 who come here may feel the happiness that ,i do4 ,in a very dark niche in the rocks close to where the white star shone out in the floor ,i perceived the figure of a ,turkish sentry1 breech-loading rifle and all1 standing on his little wooden stool1 motionless4 ,well1 do you know1 though my eyes saw him my mind was not thereby disturbed any more than it was by the ,turkish guard at the door of the ,church of the ,holy ,sepulchre4 ,i could not bring my thoughts down to that figure and the reason of its being there4 ,we visited ,st4 ,jerome's ,cave1 close by1 where he worked1 near the scene of his ,redeemer's birth1 giving to the world the translation into the ,vulgate of the ,holy ,scriptures4 ,then we walked down to the field of ,boaz1 full of waving green wheat1 in the midst of which stands the sheepfold surrounded by a stone wall4 ,you must imagine the shepherds looking up to ,bethlehem from there on that ,christmas eve4 ,the little city is seen from the sheepfold high up against the sky to the west about two miles off4 ,i had only time for a pencil outline of this view1 hoping to colour it on a future occasion4 ,all the country round was very pastoral1 and just such a one as one would expect4 ,wildflowers in great quantities1 and larks--little tame things with crests on their heads--enjoying the sun and the breeze1 quite unmolested2 lovely sweeps of corn in the valleys1 olive-clad or quite grassless hills bounding the horizon all round--can you see it8 ,how many figures of ,our ,lady we saw about the fields and lanes with babes in their arms6 ,surely the old masters got their facts about the drapery of their ,madonnas from here1 where all the women wear blue and red robes1 exactly as the ,italian painters have them4 ,sunday1 #abth ,april4 ,we went to seven o'clock mass at the ,latin ,altar on ,calvary4 ,we were in a dense knot of people1 who were kneeling on the floor in that dark1 low-roofed chapel1 lit by the soft light of lamps hanging before each shrine4 ,how often we say in our prayers1 ,here1 at the foot of ,thy ,cross4 ,we were literally there4 ,after breakfast with the prior at the ,casa ,nova ,monastery1 which used to be the hostelry for travellers before the hotel was in existence1 we drove with ,frre ,benot to the reputed birthplace of ,john the ,baptist1 ,ain ,kareem in the ,judean ,hills4 ,i believe there is considerable doubt as to this site1 but there is the possibility4 ,it was a very poetical landscape that we passed through1 and there were many flowering apricot1 pear1 and almond trees as we neared ,st4 ,elizabeth's mountain home4 ,we first visited the site of the ,baptist's birth high up in the north end of the village1 now covered by a church1 and then we crossed over to the south side of the valley to ,st4 ,elizabeth's country house1 also now a chapel1 where her cousin visited her4 ,there is a deep well of most cool crystal water at the side of the altar in this ,chapel of the ,visitation1 which belongs to the ,spanish monks4 ,from the roof of the convent over this chapel ,i made a sketch of the little town on its hillside planted with cypress trees4 ,the heat here in this enclosed valley was very great4 ,monday1 #acth ,april4 ,we were up at five for our drive to ,hebron4 ,i longed to see this most ancient city and that mosque which1 without any doubt whatever1 covers the double ,cave of ,machpelah which ,abraham bought for his own and his descendants' burying-place4 ,there1 said ,jacob when dying1 they buried ,abraham and ,sarah his wife2 there they buried ,isaac and ,rebekah his wife2 and there ,i buried ,leah1 and there also they buried ,jacob4 ,think of it6 ,if we could look into those tombs and see the very bones of ,abraham and ,isaac and the mummy of ,jacob1 for the ,bible tells us he was embalmed according to the manner of the ,egyptians4 ,altogether1 though1 our visit to ,hebron has rather given me the horrors4 ,near ,rachel's tomb we left the ,bethlehem road and dived down to the ,vale of ,hebron1 the heat increasing greatly as we descended4 ,we halted for the mid-day refection 7how more than usually horrid the word lunch sounds here67 and rested in the shadow of a rock in a thirsty land1 where tradition says ,philip met the ,eunuch journeying from far-off ,meroe on the ,upper ,nile4 ,it was a wilderness of stones1 where the big lizards of ,palestine were in strong force1 panting over the top of every rock1 their black heads and goggle eyes upturned to the burning sky in a very comical way4 ,close to ,hebron is a nice cool ,german hostelry1 where we rested before descending to the gloomiest town ,i have ever seen in the ,east1 with ,illustration3 ,,ain ,,kareem1 ,,reputed ,,birthplace ,,of ,,john ,,the ,,baptist1 ,,from ,,roof ,,of ,,convent ,,of ,,the ,,visitation ,church built over supposed site of ,zacharias' and ,elizabeth's house to right of town1 high up1 where ,st4 ,john was born4 ,roof of chapel built over site of their country house1 where ,mary visited her cousin1 in foreground4 some of its bazaars like tunnels1 into which scarcely any light could enter4 ,here in the gloom we met insolent-looking ,moslems and spectral ,jews1 their strongly-contrasted figures and faces appearing for a moment in the twilight as they passed us4 ,and outside it was blinding noontide sunlight4 ,we went all round the huge mosque that guards the precious tombs of the patriarchs1 but had we attempted to enter we should have had a bad quarter of an hour from the ,mahometans4 ,these sons of the ,bondwoman would stone any son of the ,free who would attempt an entry4 ,there is a little black hole in the wall1 which ,i am sure does not pierce it through1 which we are told we can look through and see the tombs from outside1 but ,i saw nothing in the hole but the beady eye of a lizard4 ,we do not feel as though we would care to revisit ,hebron4 ,we drove back to the ,german khan which was full of exhausted ,americans who had also returned from the oven of ,hebron4 ,most of them had been trying to combine botany with ,biblical research1 and near many of the figures that lay prone on the divans ,i saw ,bibles and limp flora on the floor4 ,towards evening we drove from this place of rest a long way back on the road to ,jerusalem1 but not far short of ,bethlehem we came in sight of our camp6 ,how charming and inspiriting that sight was--three snowy tents pitched by the ,pools of ,solomon under the walls of a ,crusader ,castle1 with some fifteen saddle and baggage animals picketed close by1 and the dear old ,union ,jack flying from the central tent6 ,i was delighted at the fact that our camp life was to begin that night4 ,everything struck us as in excellent order1 our horses1 saddles and bridles1 the tents1 the servants and all4 ,those ,pools of ,solomon are three immense reservoirs of water which the ,wise ,king made to supply the ,temple at ,jerusalem4 ,myriads of frogs were enlivening the evening air with their multitudinous croakings which increased to deafening proportions as night closed in4 ,i took a hasty sketch4 ,much hyssop grows here1 ,asperges me1 ,domine1 hyssopo et mundabor4 #adth ,april4 ,i was greatly pleased with my first night under canvas4 ,to have grass and stones and little aromatic herbs for a bedroom carpet was a ,illustration3 ,,solomon',s ,,pools1 ,,near ,,jerusalem1 ,,looking ,,towards ,,dead ,,sea ,shows the central one of three reservoirs which are built one below the other on a slope inclining towards valley of the ,dead ,sea4 ,measurements of ,solomon's ,pools3--,upper one1 #chj ft4 by #bcf ft41 #be ft4 deep2 middle one1 #dbc ft4 by #bej ft41 #ci ft4 deep2 lower one1 #ehb ft4 by #bjg ft41 #ej ft4 deep4 new and delightful sensation to me4 ,we started this morning at sunrise1 my sketching things handily strapped to my saddle by ,w4's directions1 in a flat straw aumonire4 ,isaac had swathed his tarboush in a magnificent cufia1 and our retinue wore the baggy garb of ,syria4 ,w4 rode a steel-grey ,arab1 ,i a silver-grey1 ,isaac a roan-grey1 and the man1 whom we call the flying column1 because he is to accompany us with the lunch bags1 while the heavy column with baggage1 tents1 etc41 goes on ahead by short-cuts1 rode a chestnut4 ,we passed through ,bethlehem and down to the ,field of the ,shepherds1 where ,i completed1 as well as ,i could in the heat and glare1 my sketch begun the other day4 ,a group of some twenty ,russian pilgrims arrived as we did1 and we saw them in the grotto of the sheepfold1 each holding a lighted taper and responding to the chant of their old priest1 who had a head which would do admirably for a picture of ,abraham4 ,these poor men were in fur coats and high clumsy boots1 and one told us he had come from ,tobolsk1 and had been two years on that tramp4 ,he assured us he could manage his return journey in no time1 only ten months or so4 ,their devotion was profound1 as it always is1 and was utterly un-self-conscious4 ,i think we ,english are too apt to suppose that because devotion is demonstrative it is not deep4 ,great pedestrians as we are1 how many ,englishmen would walk for two years to visit this sheepfold8 ,that two years' test borne by the ,russian peasant must have gone very deep4 ,i remember reading with much approval1 when a child1 with a child's narrow-mindedness1 ,miss ,martineau's shocked description of the demonstrative piety of a noble ,russian lady on ,calvary1 who repeatedly laid her head in the hole where the ,cross had been1 weeping and praying and behaving altogether in a most un-,english manner4 ,the memory of that passage came back to me to-day as ,i saw these rough peasants1 so supremely unconscious of our presence1 throwing themselves heart and soul into their adoration of ,god1 and ,i thought of ,mary ,magdalene and her prostrations and tears4 ,after the service for the ,russian pilgrims father ,abraham fell asleep under an olive-tree1 with his hoary head on a stone which he had cushioned with dock leaves1 and the younger priest who had taken part in the service went back to his ploughing1 which he had left on the approach of the pilgrims4 ,they both had their ,fellaheen clothes under their cassocks1 and they wore the tall ,greek sacerdotal cap4 ,they were natives of ,bethlehem4 ,abraham blessed our meal1 but refused to partake of it1 except the fruit1 as this is the ,greek ,lent4 ,we had a long talk with him through ,isaac1 and a lively theological argument1 which had the usual success of such undertakings1 enhanced by its filtration through a ,mahometan interpreter converted to ,protestantism by the ,american ,baptist ,mission at ,jaffa4 ,that old patriarch was a magnificent study as he sat1 pointing heavenwards under the olive-trees and discoursing of his ,faith1 with ,bethlehem rising in the distance behind his most venerable head4 ,he made some coffee for us1 a return civility for the fruit1 and as we rode off many were the parting salutations between us and the group of people who had been the audience of our theological arguments1 made unintelligible by ,isaac4 ,among the crowd was an ex-,papal ,zouave who turned out to have been orderly to a friend of ours in the old days at ,rome4 ,we rode along a track in the field of ,boaz1 now knee-deep in corn1 a cavalry soldier1 who had been sent to escort us through the dangerous region1 leading the way4 ,his escorting seems to consist of periodical fantasia manoeuvres1 when he shakes his horse out at full gallop1 picking a flower in mid-career and circling back to present it to me1--a picturesque proceeding in that floating caftan and white and brown striped burnous4 ,i am pleased to see this figure in our foreground caracoling1 curveting1 and careering4 ,he is in such pleasing harmony with his native landscape4 ,he and ,isaac are all over pistols and weapons of various sorts1 but ,w4 says that the necessity for arms in ,palestine is now a thing of the past1 and only a bogey4 ,our course lay south-east1 as we wished to visit the far-famed ,greek monastery of ,mar ,saba on our way to our camp4 ,formerly there was great danger and difficulty in going to this extraordinary place1 owing to the fierce robber ,bedouins that haunted these regions1 and in many accounts of ,palestine travel ,i have read of the disappointment of the writers at the impossibility of making this visit4 ,it is an awe-inspiring place4 ,the ,illustration3 ,,bethlehem ,,from ,,the ,,sheepfold1 ,,field ,,of ,,boaz ,the town is shown on a hill4 ,the ,convent of the ,nativity stands to the extreme left4 ,field of ,boaz with green wheat in middle distance1 enclosure of sheepfold in foreground4 monks have even denied themselves that great earthly consolation of natural beauty which our monasteries1 as a rule1 are so well situated to enjoy4 ,on the edge of an abyss of rock1 through which the now dry ,cedron once rushed to the ,dead ,sea1 and facing the opposite rock pierced with the caves of former hermits1 it is so placed as to have not one beautiful thing within sight1 and as little of even the light of the sky above to give a ray of cheerfulness4 ,we saw pigeons and paddy birds arriving in flocks to the rock ledges1 and had glimpses of furtive furry things coming round corners4 ,we marvelled at the presence of the paddy birds so far from water till we were told the pleasing fact that all these wild things since time immemorial have been in the habit of congregating here to the sound of the bugle1 to be fed by those ,greek monks4 ,they were waiting for their dinner-bell6 ,i soon had enough of ,mar ,saba1 but ,w4 thought a month there with two camel-loads of books would be very pleasant4 ,we espied our camp after leaving this dread place a long way below us in a hot hole1 amongst most desolate mountains1 whose cinder-coloured sides neither distance nor atmosphere could turn purple1 and some of these were pale yellow1 spotted at the top and half-way down with black shrubs1 conveying an irresistible impression of mountains covered with titanic leopard-skins4 ,the deadness of the ,dead ,sea was beginning to be felt4 ,a great wind arose in the night1 and had not ,w4 seen himself to the tent ropes and pegs our tent would certainly have been blown down1 and we should have been smothered in a mass of flapping canvas4 ,as it was1 the tent shook and heaved at its moorings and cracked like pistol-shots1 some of the furniture coming down with a crash4 ,all night the pistol-shots1 the flappings1 and the creakings went on1 so that ,i was rather disconcerted at losing my night's rest1 for the morrow was1 as ,w4 said1 to be my test day4 ,if ,i stood it well--it being the hardest we should have--,i would do the journey4 ,wednesday1 #aeth ,april #ahi-4 ,we were off at sunrise on a tremendous ride1 down to the ,dead ,sea1 up the ,jordan and round to ,jericho--about eight hours in the saddle1 exclusive of dismounted halts4 ,we were very fortunate1 for the wind which had so troubled our slumbers kept away the heat1 which in these regions is most trying4 ,we descended to #acjj feet below the level of the ,mediterranean1 and not a tree was to be seen till we gained the green banks of ,jordan1 where we made our halt after half an hour's rest on the beach of the ,dead ,sea4 ,all my expectations of the desolation of ,lake ,asphaltites were fulfilled1 but the bitter burning of its salt far surpassed what ,i expected4 ,i could realise how ,lot's wife1 lingering in her flight from the doomed ,sodom to look back till the fringe of the destruction that engulfed the ,cities of the ,plain covered her1 remained stiffened into the semblance of a pillar of salt 7statue of salt in our version7 when my hand in drying1 after ,i had but dipped it into the crystal-clear water that now fills the hollow delved by the swirl of the great cataclysm1 was stiff and white with the plaster-like brine4 ,the wan look of the blue shrubs that grow here was like something in a dream1 and the air was full of huge locusts1 brilliant yellow1 tossed by a high hot wind4 ,the earth was cracked by the heat into deep chasms1 and the treeless mountains round the sea were lost at its farther end in a mist of hot air4 ,there was great beauty with this desolation1 but the mind felt oppressed as well as the body4 ,the blue of the sea was exquisitely delicate1 and gave no idea in its soft beauty of the fierce bitterness of its waters4 ,i felt deep emotion on sighting ,jordan's swift-rolling stream--a touching and unspeakably dear river--but beautiful only for its holiness1 for the water is thick with grey mud1 and the banks are tangled with the shaggy dbris that the over-hanging trees have caught as the winter flood brought them swirling down4 ,the heat there was great1 and the flies made it absolutely impossible to take a sketch of the place tradition says saw the baptism of ,our ,lord4 ,i was much disappointed1 for the flies fairly drove us away1 and in the burning heat we turned our horses' heads towards ,jericho1 unable to bear these tormentors any longer4 ,we were to camp at new ,jericho--a huddled group of mud-pie houses situated in a garden of lovely trees and shrubs and flowers1 which1 owing to the abundance of water flowing through this region1 grow in tropical luxuriance4 ,in the far western distance1 above all the mountain-tops intervening1 we kept the ,mount of ,olives in view1 with that tall landmark on the top1 the tower of the ,russian ,church of the ,ascension1 and only lost it as we neared our camping-place4 ,before us1 to our right1 a beautiful mountain of more stately lines than those of the weird crags around it rose solemnly against the west--it was the ,mountain of ,temptation1 where ,our ,lord was tempted after ,his forty days' fast4 ,immediately on reaching our camp ,i made a sketch of the plain1 looking towards ,mount ,pisgah in the land of ,moab to the east4 ,i was just in time to save the sunset4 ,would that we could include ,pisgah in our pilgrimage1 and receive on our retin the same image of the ,promised ,land that ,moses received on his6 ,in spite of the baying of dogs1 the braying of donkeys1 and other camp noises sleep came swiftly and soundly that night4 ,thursday1 #afth ,april4 ,we set out at six for ,jerusalem1 the sun rising over the mountains of ,moab4 ,we passed over the site of old ,jericho1 and saw what a magnificent site they chose for it1 backed by mountains in a majestic semicircle1 and looking on the ,plain of the ,jordan4 ,the ,bible speaks of a rose plant in ,jericho as of something superlatively lovely amongst roses1 and one may ask why particularly in ,jericho8 ,here one can answer the question1 for one sees how richly the flowers grow in this land of many streams1 which is all the more conspicuous for its exuberance as contrasted with the aridity of the surrounding regions4 ,i can best describe the fascinating quality of our journey by saying that it is like riding through the ,bible4 ,at every turn some text in the ,old or ,new ,testament which alludes to the natural features of the land1 springs before one's mind illumined with a light it could not have before4 ,i know many devout ,christians shrink from a visit to the ,holy ,places for fear of--what8 ,do not fear6 ,the reality simply intensifies1 gives substance and colour to1 the ineffable poetry of the ,bible4 ,it is simply rapture to see at last the originals of our childhood's imaginings1 and1 believe me1 the reality becomes more precious in one's memory even than the cherished illusion4 ,our ride through this land of little brooks1 running clear over pebbly beds under cool foliage1 was ,illustration3 ,,the ,,plain ,,of ,,the ,,jordan1 ,,looking ,,from ,,new ,,jericho ,,towards ,,mount ,,pisgah ,wild vegetation in the plain4 ,mountains of ,moab in distance4 ,the slight eminence in their straight sky-line to extreme left is ,mount ,pisgah4 ,sunset4 refreshing after my test ride of yesterday in the dry glare4 ,we soon left this zone of verdure1 however1 and began the ascent to ,jerusalem through that gloomy pass which ,our ,lord chose for the parable of the ,good ,samaritan4 ,they are making a road here1 but1 being as yet bridgeless at the ravines1 it is not open to carriages4 ,our halting-place was ,bethany1--most lowly hamlet--and ,i made a sketch of it at our mid-day halt4 ,we then proceeded to our camping-ground1 which ,w4 had selected outside the north wall of ,jerusalem1 and in skirting the base of ,olivet we had again that great view of the city that artists love 7and ,i must say have often exaggerated as regards the height of its rocky pedestal74 ,for the first time there was a hitch in the arrangements for the camp4 ,on reaching the north wall no camp was there1 and we rode in and out of olive-woods and ugly new roads and dusty building dbris in search of it1 ,isaac appearing1 at least1 to be quite at sea4 ,at last1 after sending him ventre--terre successively in several directions1 we saw him returning and calling out that he had found it4 ,to our horror we found the people in charge of the baggage had selected the only really hideous and repulsive spot in all ,jerusalem1 of all places1 the ,jewish extra-mural colony6 ,there were our white tents pitched down in a hollow full of the back-door refuse from the houses of this unsavoury population1 surrounded by youths and bedraggled women who might have just come out of ,houndsditch to look on at the preparations of the camp4 ,the idea of a night on this ground was impossible4 ,on catching sight of this state of things ,w4 pushed forward at a gallop at the whole assemblage of servants1 muleteers and cook1 and the whole amalgamated crowd1 and with an unmistakable twirl of his stick told them to be out of that2 and the muleteers1 servants1 and cook fell on their knees and with joined hands called out ,pardon6 pardon6 ,in the twinkling of an eye tents were struck and reloaded1 dinner preparations bundled away and an instant movement made to the place behind the north wall on ,mount ,moriah1 which ,w4 had fixed upon in the morning4 ,he suspects that he was disobeyed on account of the ease with which the servants knew they would obtain drink from the ,jews4 ,certainly our final encampment was enchanting1 overlooking ,gethsemane deep down to the east1 with the battlemented walls of ,jerusalem before us to the south1 and tall pines waving above our tents4 ,the moon was now waxing bright1 and never can ,i forget that evening1 as by its light ,i looked upon these things4 ,what a change in the temperature here6 ,it is quite cold4 ,my kit is proving well devised for this country4 ,you must be prepared for these very marked changes of temperature in a land which rises so high and sinks to such abnormal depths below the level of the sea in such a small space4 ,i shall post this in ,jerusalem1 for to-morrow we set out on a journey during which no post-offices will be found for many days4 ,friday1 #agth ,april4 ,my4444--,i continue my letter in diary form from notes taken on the march4 ,this morning we left rather late1 as the weather was so cool1 and after making some purchases in ,jerusalem we set out with our faces due north on our long ride into ,galilee4 ,it was again an eight-hours-in-the-saddle day1 but over such rolling stones that our horses seemed to me to be going at about three miles an hour4 ,it was a relief at the almost impassable places to dismount and lead one's horse4 ,as ,w4 said1 these paths of ,palestine seem to have been rather worn by the people's feet than made by their hands4 ,these bare hills of ,benjamin were weary and sad1 but what a thrilling view was our last one of ,jerusalem from a high point overlooking the ocean of mountains that bore afar off the island of the ,holy ,city and its domes4 ,good-bye1 ,jerusalem6 good-bye1 ,olivet6 ,we sat many minutes on our horses looking back at that centre of the world1 and then resuming our way a turn in the rocky track shut out the ,holy ,city from thenceforth4 ,we overtook a large wedding party1 the men armed with long flintlocks1 and the women wearing brilliant dresses4 ,we all moved forward together as far as ,bethel4 ,how powerfully this assemblage of men and women and children journeying northward from ,jerusalem represented that large company in which were ,mary and ,joseph1 who came along this way1 a day's journey1 to the evening halting-place at ,beeroth1 and found there that the little ,jesus was missing4 ,as ,i was thinking over this and watching the people1 we passed a little goatherd who had evidently been out on the hills many days on duty4 ,his mother1 who was amongst the wedding party1 catching sight of her son--about twelve years old--snatched a moment to leave the line of march and ran up to him and kissed him and wept over him1 then returning hurried forward to rejoin her companions4 ,that meeting of mother and son1 the bending form of the woman in her red and blue drapery1 which concealed at that moment the rich dress worn underneath1 the little goatherd held close in her arms1 formed a group that startled me1 with my mind engaged as it was4 ,on reaching the village the men all let off their guns and were met by the people who had remained at home4 ,we made our halt at ,bethel4 ,what a place of hard1 gritty1 arid desolation6 ,beth-el1 the ,house of ,god4 ,from this great height ,lot looked down on the plain of ,sodom1 then the acme of fertile beauty1 where now lowers the ,dead ,sea6 ,there are now only the dry bones of ,bethel left4 ,the goats eat up every green sprout that appears above ground4 ,i could not sketch such blinding nothingness at our halt there4 ,towards evening the land grew more beautiful as we journeyed on1 but so much struggling over boulders and jagged rock ledges made me very glad indeed to perceive the daily signal that we were nearing our camp4 ,that signal is the dashing forward of ,isaac at full gallop and the pushing forward of the flying column 7the man on the chestnut horse with the bags71 whose place is at other times in the rear4 ,the staff in camp being warned by these cavaliers of our approach tea is got ready1 and very welcome it is on our arrival4 ,w4 was on ahead as we scrambled up a higher hill than ever1 and when ,i saw him wave his helmet to cheer me on for a final spurt ,i knew rest was close at hand4 ,our camp looked very lovely just at sunset on a plateau overlooking the hills and valleys of green ,samaria and the far-off mountain-tops of ,galilee6 ,the moon shone brightly and the air felt quite frosty as we went to rest4 ,i always take a little meditative walk before going to bed1 a sweet ten minutes each evening4 ,the hurried start in the morning and the rough riding all day leave one little time for quiet thought1 and at our mid-day halts1 when circumstances permit1 ,i sketch with concentrated intensity against time4 ,saturday1 #ahth ,april4 ,to-day was breezy and the country less stony4 ,waving corn as in ,philistia refreshes the eye4 ,we are now in the goodly land of ,ephraim1 which deepens in richness as we advance4 ,we passed through ,shiloh1 where the ,ark of the ,covenant rested so long1 and the little ,samuel heard the call of ,god4 ,the place is marked by some old ruins--,roman or ,crusader8 and a forlorn dead tree lies athwart them4 ,a glorious cultivated plain opened out before we reached our halting-place1 ,jacob's ,well4 ,how ,i had longed to see this well1 where ,our ,lord conversed with the ,samaritan woman4 ,but ,i was disappointed at being unable to make the sketch of it ,i hoped for so much4 ,the well is about five feet below the surface of a mass of ruins4 ,an early ,christian chapel once enclosed it1 but this has fallen in and all but buried the well4 ,but you can imagine one's feelings as one rests one's hand on its edge and realises that ,our ,saviour sat there as ,he spoke to the woman who had come to draw water4 ,you remember that it was at this well that ,he told ,his disciples to look up at the fields already white unto harvest4 ,there they are1 those fields1 filling the valley of ,sychar4 ,but you cannot see them from the well now1 in the pit enclosed by ruins1 nor the town to which the disciples went to buy meats1 nor even the two great mountains of ,ebal and ,gerizim that rise so high quite close by4 ,this well is like the ,cave of ,machpelah1--accepted by all as authentic beyond question4 ,i cantered my horse all the way up to our camp1 high up in an olive-wood on the other side of the town1 for ,i must say ,i was longing to get the ride over and have a good rest4 ,but ,society duties awaited me6 ,the ministers of various denominations came to call on us1 and when later on the ,catholic priest 7an ,italian7 honoured us with a visit ,i was called upon to take over ,isaac's duties as interpreter4 ,we went1 ,w4 and ,i1 for a pleasant stroll towards sundown1 and had a perfectly exquisite view of ,nablous1 the ancient ,shechem1 lying between those two mountains whose names rang so sonorously to us all in childhood--the terrible ,ebal and the smiling ,gerizim4 ,a most perfect1 typical ,eastern town1 this1 embowered in orange and pomegranate trees--the home of the nightingale1 whose music blends with that of the multitudinous cascades echoing from the over-hanging cliffs4 ,a ,turkish sentry came and lit his fire close to our tents1 and was suffered to mount his quite unnecessary guard over us all night1 with an eye to backsheesh at sunrise4 ,sunday1 #aith ,april4 ,the ,day of ,rest4 ,no travel to-day4 ,exquisite ,nablous1 what a ,paradise to rest in6 ,but all was not perfection4 ,we went to ,church too early1 by mistake1 and had to wait an hour before ,mass began1 passing the time in ,french small-talk 7indeed reduced to a minimum of smallness on my part1 for it dwindled away almost to nothing7 with the courteous ecclesiastics and the nuns in the garden of the little presbytery4 ,as ,i was fasting ,i was not fortified against the subsequent performance on the harmonium during ,mass1 by a ,syrian4 ,on nearing our tent1 cheered by the prospect of breakfast1 ,i had another set-back by ,isaac's announcing the imminent arrival of what sounded like the ,rev4 ,vulture1 the ,lutheran minister4 ,had that individual really been on the swoop ,i must have fled1 but happily that morning call never took place4 ,it is all very well to laugh1 but ,i felt in the ,pit of ,tophet4 ,i have spent the rest of the day in sleep1 and in writing to you1 and in fascinating strolls through the town with ,w41 and in returning calls4 ,i am nicely burnt by the sun and wind1 for nothing could induce me to let a veil blur or dim one single glimpse of the ,holy ,land4 ,monday1 #bjth ,april4 ,glorious breezy weather with flying cloud shadows4 ,again eight hours in the saddle1 but the ,sunday rest has made me quite fresh again4 ,we passed to-day through the hill country of ,manasseh4 ,after riding a mile or two out of ,nablous our flying column came running up on foot to the dragoman in front to ask what was to be done with a poor little stowaway who had begged him to let him ride the baggage horse to escape from his unhappy home4 ,his mother was dead and his stepmother beat him4 ,he looked so piteous perched up on the bags1 but1 of course1 we could not kidnap him1 and after receiving some money he was put gently down on the roadside4 ,as we rode on we got a last sight of him on the green bank swaying to and fro in his desolate grief1 his gown making a little pink dot in the vast landscape4 ,our mid-day halt was at a fountain in a fig country1 and there we talked to the women and girls who were filling their pitchers4 ,one showed me by signs how the figs were a failure this year1 the young figs all falling off their stalks before ripening4 ,her patient acceptance of the inevitable reminded me of the ,italian peasants and their ,pazienza1 la volont di ,dio6 ,then we deflected to the left on our journey to visit ,sebaste1 where ,st4 ,john is supposed to have been beheaded1 and with great probability4 ,the ,crusaders built a magnificent ,church to his memory there1 the ruins of which are very grand4 ,we rode to the site of the gates of the city1 along a path lined with classic pillars1 and at the end of this avenue we saw the sea1 and where ,csarea1 the harbour of ,sebaste1 once stood4 ,our camp that evening was at ,ain ,jenin1 an ideal ,eastern town4 ,i was not prepared for anything so beautiful as it looked in the evening light1 when we emerged in sight of it from a defile between hills4 ,we were well in the ,plain of ,jezreel1 and lo6 ,hermon at last6 ,in the light of the after-glow we beheld his hoary head from our tents1 to the north4 ,tender moonlight succeeded the after-glow4 ,all the mosques and minarets were lighted up with delicate golden lamps at sunset 7for it is ,ramadan71 as at ,jerusalem and ,nablous4 ,this place is full of pomegranate trees1 with their scarlet blossoms1 and of flowering tamarisk4 ,tuesday1 #bast ,april4 ,off at sunrise1 the larks singing over the face of the land4 ,we had a glorious ride through the ,plain of ,jezreel or ,esdraelon1 often coming upon the brook ,kishon and its little trickling tributaries in their multitudinous windings1 and fording the same4 ,what a vast space is here1 how ,biblical in its majesty1 and how troubled too with recollections of battle from remotest ages of ,israelitish history down to ,napoleon's time4 ,deflecting to the right we climbed up to ,naim for our halt1 memorable for the raising of the widow's son4 ,there was an immense view from this little bunch of mud houses towards ,tabor and ,galilee1 with a foreground of purple iris4 ,then descending again into the plain we rode to the foot of ,mount ,tabor1 where1 in an olive-wood1 and on ploughed land1 our camp was pitched4 ,how refreshing it is never to be told we are trespassing in this country4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,plain ,,of ,,esdraelon1 ,,from ,,foot ,,of ,,tabor1 ,,with ,,the ,,village ,,of ,,naim ,,in ,,distance ,plain full of green wheat4 ,mountain to left is ,little ,hermon1 on which the village of ,naim stands4 ,towards sunset4 ,on arriving ,i chose to remain and make a sunset sketch of distant ,naim on its hill1 whilst ,w4 rode up to the top of ,tabor4 ,wednesday1 #bbnd ,april4 ,off again at sunrise over the saddle of ,mount ,tabor4 ,very rough riding through dells of oak1 where the honeysuckle hung in masses and scented the air4 ,tabor itself is scarcely beautiful in outline1 and like the magnified mounds that the old masters intended for mountains4 ,in their pictures of the ,transfiguration their ,tabors are very like the original4 ,this was our most glorious day's journey1 for it took us to the shores of the ,lake of ,galilee4 ,hermon in distant ,lebanon was visible ahead of us throughout4 ,we rode up to near the top of the ,mount of ,beatitudes1 and then on foot reached the very top1 and had our first view of the ,sacred ,sea from that immense height4 ,here ,christ preached the ,sermon on the ,mount1 and down there1 intensely blue1 lay that dear lake whose shores were so often trodden by ,his feet4 ,hermon rose above the majestic landscape1 and a warm1 palpitating light vibrated over all4 ,in a scrap of shade from a rock we made our halt1 and ,i had an hour and a half for a sketch4 ,then we rode down to ,tiberias1 descending into a furnace1 though when once on the shore the breeze was sweet off the water4 ,tiberias is a dreadful little town1 and we were glad to thread its alleys as quickly as possible4 ,our camp was on a pebbly strand about half a mile south of this1 the only1 town on these shores that once held such brilliant cities4 ,i made an evening sketch1 and before retiring for the night we strolled a long time by those sacred waters in the light of the full moon4 ,the waves were strong1 and sounded loud in that great stillness4 ,at such times as this the sense of ,our ,lord's ,presence is almost more than one's mortal heart can hold4 ,we picked up hundreds of shells1 which will make appropriate rosaries1 mounted in silver1 the cross made out of olive wood which ,i have brought from ,gethsemane4 ,i will send you one4 ,thursday1 #bcrd ,april4 ,we went by boat three hours' row to near the mouth of the ,jordan1 at the north end of the lake1 where the grassy slopes are supposed to ,illustration3 ,,our ,,first ,,sight ,,of ,,lake ,,galilee ,the snowy mountain is ,mount ,hermon4 ,northern edge of the lake shown4 ,tall fennel plants amongst rocks in foreground4 ,early afternoon4 be the scene of the miracle of the ,loaves and ,fishes4 ,it is very difficult to describe to you my enchantment at seeing one after another these places ,i have longed to see from early childhood1 when our beloved father used to read us the ,bible every ,sunday4 ,the lake was pale and calm1 delicately tinted1 and there was a heat-haze over everything in the early part of the day4 ,we disembarked under some thorny acacias which gave a deep shade1 and ,i had the delight of making a sketch there of the coast1 looking westward1 whilst ,w4 went on by boat to the ,jordan4 ,rosy oleanders fringe the water as far as the eye can reach2 the ,mount of ,beatitudes and top of ,tabor are in the distance1 and the site of ,capernaum in the middle distance4 ,god has trodden these scenes with human feet2 the feeling of sketching them is scarcely to be put before you in words4 ,the boatmen were very angry at being kept1 whilst ,i finished the sketch1 from returning at the right time1 for they told us that if the west wind sprang up we should never be able to get home that night4 ,surely enough we were only able to get as far as ,capernaum with hard pulling against a strong west wind1 which suddenly changed the whole face of the lake4 ,its pale blue was now dirty green and the choppy waves lashed with foam1 and so wild did the waves become that the progress of the boat was almost impossible4 ,these sudden and violent gusts that come through the gullies between the mountains are dreaded by the fishermen of to-day as they were in ,peter's time4 ,fortunately ,w4 had in the morning ordered that our horses should be sent round to meet us here in case the wind arose1 and we gladly got on them at this point1 having an enchanting ride back and being able at many places to canter our horses4 ,we heard afterwards that the boatmen did not get in till one in the morning4 ,at ,capernaum are seen some rich ,roman ruins lying tumbled about as though by an earthquake4 ,we rode through the supposed site of ,bethsaida1 and passed through a portion of the old ,roman roadway for chariots1 cut through the rock4 ,no accumulation of earth has buried the original surface as elsewhere1 so that this lane1 with its polished floor of rock1 must have undoubtedly been trodden by ,our ,lord as ,he passed from city to city4 ,here are the remains ,illustration3 ,,galilee1 ,,looking ,,towards ,,hermon ,mount ,hermon snow-capped in distance4 ,town of ,tiberias on shore in middle distance to left4 of a ,roman aqueduct1 in one place pouring a huge volume of clearest water over a ledge where1 no doubt1 in the city's time1 a fountain stood4 ,now the flood from the northern hills disperses itself in abundant streams that rush through dense herbage to the lake4 ,we counted six of these little rivers on our way to ,magdala1 the birthplace of the ,magdalen4 ,we looked down from our mountain lanes to the milk-white strands of the little inlets that border the northern end of ,gennesaret1 and ,i wondered at which of them the various episodes of the ,gospel took place--,our ,lord preaching from the ship pushed out a little way to be free from the jostling crowd on shore--the embarkation for the miraculous draught of fishes----4 ,besides oleanders the pomegranates grow all along this shore in dense masses half embedded in teeming vegetation4 ,magdala is a tiny mud hamlet with a single palm4 ,there are splendid fig-trees here4 ,herds of oxen and goats and flocks of sheep browse knee-deep in the rich grass4 ,our dragoman took us this time through the whole length of the town of ,tiberias4 ,it happened to be a great ,jewish festival1 and the men had all freshly oiled and curled their side locks1 which dangled from under immense round fur caps1 and the women wore artificial flowers in their hair and were clothed in velvets of splendid hue4 ,it was strange to see them thus attired1 coming upon them so suddenly when entering the town from the wilderness4 ,the lanes were stifling and unwholesome1 the children pale and sickly1 and all had that same blighted look ,i noticed at ,jerusalem4 ,none of them were tanned1 but remained white under such a sun6 ,it was a relief to come out at the other end and canter back along the margin of the ,sea to our camp1 for that ride through ,tiberias had oppressed and saddened me4 ,friday1 #bdth ,april4 ,an early start as the sun rose over those dark cliffs of the country of the ,gadarenes down which the possessed swine careered to the abyss4 ,good-bye1 blessed ,sea of ,galilee6 ,we had our last look from the immense height near the ,mount of ,beatitudes1 and thence we turned south-west on our way to ,nazareth over the hills of ,zebulon4 ,young shepherds were piping on little fifes on the hills4 ,the country became uninteresting ,illustration3 ,,galilee1 ,,looking ,,from ,,near ,,the ,,mouth ,,of ,,the ,,jordan ,,towards ,,the ,,mount ,,of ,,beatitudes ,,and ,,tabor ,,oleanders in flower skirting shore in foreground4 ,top of ,mount ,tabor showing over nearer mountains in distance4 7comparatively67 after we left the immediate surroundings of the lake till we came to ,cana of ,galilee1 where we halted1 and where ,i made my only failure sketch4 ,it was a dear1 holy1 lovable landscape1 but hillocky and green and impossible in that flat noontide light4 ,at ,cana is the fountain from which undoubtedly was drawn the water for the marriage feast1 since there is absolutely no other spring in the place4 ,it was a long journey to ,nazareth4 ,that holy town is very lovely1 and so much superior in its buildings to the others--quite well-to-do and exquisitely situated on the slope of a cypress-topped hill1 in terraces1 like a tiny ,genoa4 ,here culminated my disappointment in the faces of the women of ,palestine1 for the tattooing is simply outrageous1 worse than anywhere else in the ,east4 ,how can they be beautiful with blue lips and the mouth surrounded with blue trees1 animals and birds8 ,this spoilt my pleasure in coming upon the ,fountain of the ,virgin1 where these maids and matrons were filling their pitchers amid a great chattering1 at the entrance to the town4 ,we walked1 after arriving1 to the ,church of the ,annunciation4 ,there1 in the ,holy ,house 7the front of which is at ,loretto71 far below the present surface of the earth1 on the very spot where the angel saluted ,mary1 one can say the ,angelus4 ,this is the portion of the house which 7as is the custom here7 is excavated out of the rock2 the fronts only are of masonry4 ,we visited the ,mensa ,christi1 which interested us but little1 as it savours too much of the pious fraud1 and then the site of ,joseph's workshop4 ,we were disappointed in the position of our camp1 as other travellers had forestalled us in getting better places1 and the best of all was bespoken for the great ,french pilgrimage expected on the morrow4 ,on this account we settled not to tarry at ,nazareth and to send the heavy column back to ,jerusalem in the morning4 ,we are only one day's journey from ,cafa1 our place of embarkation4 ,as ,i was looking at the town from our tent door at the time of the ,angelus1 the bells of the ,church over ,mary's house suddenly rang out a carillon1 and the tune was that very one we used to hear when ,a4 and ,i were five and six years old on our dear ,genoese ,riviera6 ,i had not heard that tune since those days4 ,later on ,i watched the full ,illustration3 ,,nazareth ,,at ,,sunrise ,,the church with spire to the left stands over the site of ,joseph's workshop1 and near ,mary's house4 moon rising over those mountain outlines which ,our ,lord looked on every day of ,his hidden life at ,nazareth1 and then turned and saw the town white in the moonbeams on its dark hillside4 ,saturday1 #beth ,april4 ,we started later than usual1 as ,w4 had to close accounts with the heavy column and send a telegram to ,alexandria to warn them of our impending return4 ,there was a heavy dew4 ,i made a sunrise sketch of the town4 ,a glorious ride we had to ,carmel1 steeped in the poetry of the ,old ,testament4 ,carmel is one mass of oak-trees4 ,there we met the vast host of the ,french pilgrims coming from ,cafa and beginning their experiences of ,palestine4 ,we met amicably at the shady halting-place and exchanged a few words of camaraderie1 and we watched them depart towards ,nazareth1 each company headed by a banner4 ,on our way to ,cafa we crossed the ,kishon again1 now near its mouth1 flowing through a lovely plain1 bordered1 near the sandhills that skirt the sea1 with date-palms4 ,over the hills to our right towered ,lebanon against the blue4 ,as we came in sight of the bay the town of ,st4 ,jean d',acre looked beautiful on the opposite side1 and ,cafa appeared a bright little town at the foot of ,carmel4 ,there we put up at the ,german inn1 and ,i parted with my dear little horse ,shiloh1 and ,w4 with his nimble ,kishon1 our good little steeds that brought us so well through the ,holy ,land4 ,sunday1 #bfth ,april4 ,a great rest and much letter-writing4 ,the congregation at ,mass was large1 for there is a considerable ,christian colony here4 ,we shall make this our headquarters till ,friday1 when we must leave for ,egypt4 ,,ca,,fa1 ,monday1 #bgth ,april #ahi-4 ,my4444--,we had a very enjoyable expedition to ,acre1 driving the whole way there and back in the sea4 ,where the waves break the sand is hard1 whereas higher up the beach no wheeled vehicle could get through in the soft sand4 ,we were often covered with spray1 and the lean horses splashed along knee-deep in the surf4 ,at the ferry across the ,kishon1 where it flows into the sea1 our horses were unharnessed and swam alongside our punt1 together with a string of camels that looked very comical swimming4 ,the shivering horses were reharnessed on the farther shore1 and away we went tearing through the waves4 ,the poor beasts seemed to enjoy their oats at the end1 if enjoyment is possible to such wretched1 ill-treated creatures4 ,i made a sketch as well as ,i could with the sun in my eyes from our shandrydan1 about a quarter of a mile outside the one gate of ,acre1 on the white sandy strand1 whilst ,w4 went exploring all over the town4 ,the military authorities molested us not at all1 and the commandant only asked ,w4 for backsheesh1 although ,i was conspicuously sketching the fortifications and ,w4 was scanning everything in a place so saturated with ,napoleonic reminiscences4 ,the same amphibious drive in the gloaming back to ,cafa4 ,tuesday1 #bhth ,april #ahi-4 ,to-day we drove to remote ,athlit1 a long way down the coast to the south1 and spent quiet hours amid the ,gothic ,crusader ruins on the wave-lashed rocks beyond ,carmel4 ,acre and ,athlit steep one's mind in ,crusader sentiment1 which feels almost modern after so long a sojourn in the regions of the ,bible4 ,the majestic fragments of ,northern ,gothic we saw to-day seem strange to the eye in this ,oriental land1 but to the intellect they are full of touching meaning1 for this was the point of departure for most of the ,crusaders4 ,baffled1 haggard1 heart-broken1 they took ship again from here4 ,wednesday we spent in visiting the ,carmelite ,monastery1 a perfect place to stay at instead of the rather dubious ,german inn4 ,it is a fortress-like building commanding a sweeping view of the sea1 south and west and north1 and of the grand landscape eastward and south again4 ,the whitewashed rooms are filled with the reflection from the light off the water and the land4 ,the ,abbot and monks1 in the well-known white cloak and brown habit1 are1 as everywhere1 kindly and hospitable1 and glad to see you4 ,what a place for study and for painting2 what a place for a ,retreat1 where everything reminds you of ,religion and not one single mundane1 worrying1 or ugly object comes within your ken6 ,by ugly ,i always mean some modern eyesore2 it is not a word applicable to the poor and the diseased who humbly mount the steep path for the daily alms and food the monastery has ready for them4 ,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,jean ,d',,acre ,,the roadstead is seen to the left4 ,a sandy shore4 ,city surrounded by walls and fortifications4 ,somewhere amongst this series of oak-clad hills that forms ,mount ,carmel1 ,elijah built his altar to the ,true ,god1 whereon the burnt-offering was consumed by fire from heaven in sight of the prophets of ,baal4 ,then the fire of the ,lord fell1 and consumed the holocaust1 and the wood1 and the stones1 and the dust1 and licked up the water that was in the trench1 ,,iii ,kings xviii4 #ch4 ,this was the scene of that mighty episode which is one of the most salient and impressive in one's memory of the ,old ,testament1 and look6 down below rushes that same ,kishon on whose banks ,elijah1 after the great drama on the mountain1 slew the prophets of ,baal in sight of all the children of ,israel4 ,a thrill runs through one when recalling such scenes as one stands on the very spot where they took place4 ,after seeing specimens of the ancient tombs in this country one can fully understand the words of ,st4 ,luke and ,st4 ,john alluding to the new sepulchre of ,joseph of ,arimathea wherein no man had yet been laid4 ,these tombs contain triple receptacles for the dead1 as ,i showed you in the sketch plan at ,jerusalem1 and some ,i believe have more than three4 ,had the sepulchre at the foot of ,calvary contained but one1 the words of the ,evangelists would be puzzling4 ,this is an instance of the illumination that dispels certain obscurities in one's mind as one journeys across the theatre of ,bible history4 ,it seems a strange paradox1 but it is a very weighty fact1 that the possession of the ,holy ,land by the conservative ,turk preserves all such tokens of the past for the elucidation of the ,christian's ,bible4 ,were this land in possession of a ,christian ,power1 ,i fear that the service of ,mammon would soon necessitate the obliteration of these tokens so precious to our ,faith4 ,railways1 factories1 mines and new towns run by greedy syndicates1 would very soon make an end of them all4 ,there was a ,christian proposal a little while ago1 ,i believe1 to flood the whole of ,palestine for commercial purposes4 ,my ideal would be 7oh1 vain dream67 that some great confederation of earnest people whose ,god is not the ,dollar1 belonging to the various ,european ,powers and ,america1 should purchase the little ,holy ,land as a possession for ever for ,christendom--real ,christendom4 ,to-day1 ,thursday1 we saw the ,school of the ,prophets1 a curious and awesome cavern in the side of the mountain4 ,these have been quiet days1 wherein ,i have been able to write much and assimilate the events of our glorious journey4 ,looking back along these days of travel1 many flitting thoughts that came and went as we journeyed on1 return to one's mind in the stillness of repose4 ,one of the facts that have struck us most in this ancient land which is yet so fresh--so fresh in its surprises and in its stirrings of the heart--is the fact that no book of human authorship dealing with the subject is readable on the spot4 ,you may take with you ,dean ,stanley1 ,dr4 ,thomson 7,the ,land and the ,book71 ,miss ,martineau1 or any of the delightful works on ,palestine that have fascinated you in times gone by3 you will open them once but not again4 ,the ,bible is the only book you can read here6 ,all the others are inadequate3 no man can measure himself with the ,infinite4 7,such books as ,pre ,didon's sublime ,jsus ,christ or ,father ,gallwey's ,watches of the ,passion ,i do not consider as being of human authorship1 because they are illustrative accompaniments of the ,scriptures47 ,the feeling ,i have when on the point of leaving the ,holy ,land is one difficult to describe worthily4 ,we seem to have been allowed a glimpse into the other world through this sacred portal4 ,to have stood on the summit of ,olivet whence ,our ,redeemer ascended into heaven in the form ,he reigns in now at the right hand of the ,father1 is as though one had touched heaven itself4 ,and then the force with which one realises certain episodes of ,his revealed life on earth makes one see the ,incarnation so vividly that the human mind bends beneath the might of the revelation4 ,when ,i saw our boatmen the other day on ,galilee pulling with all their might1 but in vain1 against the sudden west wind1 so peculiar to that particular lake1 ,i saw before me the fishermen of ,peter's type1 dressed in the same loose garments1 going through the same dangerous work that he and his fellows had to face habitually4 ,how easy it was1 with that living illustration before me1 to see the struggling boat's crew on the night that ,jesus1 remaining to pray alone on the mountain on the eastern shore1 sent them forward to ,capernaum without ,him1 and how easy to see them trying to make their way as described in ,matthew xiv4 #bd4 ,but the boat in the midst of the sea was tossed with the waves3 for the wind was contrary4 ,and then the divine ,figure following them1 moving over those tossing waves1 can be imagined1 approaching1 full of calm reassurance1 to still their fears at ,his apparition--,it is ,i1 be not afraid4 ,the direction in which the boat was steered1 the mountain whence the divine ,figure came forward and overtook the boat--all now appears to the mind's eye in powerful vividness1 in the setting of land and water that one has seen4 ,again1 the poor demoniacs that lived in the tombs that are cut out of the sides of those same mountains over against ,galilee 7there are outcast maniacs like them to-day in the deserts1 if not possessed as these men were71--,i fancy ,i can see the look of the wild animal in their faces as they met our ,lord1 and hear the quick1 wild cry of one of them3 ,what have ,i to do with thee1 ,jesus1 ,son of the most high ,god8--and the hoarse answer to ,christ's question1 ,my name is ,legion6 ,i have before me the recollection of a strange creature ,i saw running out of a sepulchral chamber in a ruined temple on the ,upper ,nile1 like the incarnation of ,satan in some of the ,old ,masters' pictures3 the head bald1 and of the same cinder-coloured hue as the evil face1 with its large pointed ears1 and the muscular body4 ,i do not mean that the possessed man of the ,gospel might have been like this dweller in tombs1 but one sees strange beings in the deserts whose shelters are the resting-places of the dead4 ,i continue to be haunted by the feeling that the sight of the ,holy ,places is too easily and too unceremoniously obtained nowadays4 ,i hope we do not feel less devoutly with regard to them than in the ,ages of ,faith1 and that it is only our modern way to take these things as we do4 ,do you remember how history tells us that ,richard ,coeur de ,lion1 after his defeat by the ,saracens some distance short of ,jerusalem1 falling back towards the coast1 baffled in his heroic efforts to redeem the ,holy ,sepulchre from the ,infidel1 refused to look on the city which came in sight in the rear of his line of march as he and his knights crested a high hill near ,emmaus8 ,he would not look2 he had failed2 his eyes were too unworthy to rest upon the ,city of the ,lord4 ,and to-day1 with the ,infidel still in possession1 the ,christian tourist1 nothing doubting1 takes a good look through his binocular on sighting the same ,jerusalem4 ,i remember hearing that as some friends of ours1 forming part of a mixed company1 ,illustration3 ,,ruins ,,of ,,the ,,crusaders' ,,banqueting ,,hall1 ,,athleet ,the springs of the ,gothic arches can be traced on the high brick wall4 ,the hills to the right form the lower western slopes of ,mount ,carmel1 covered with oak woods4 came in sight of the city1 one of their number dropped on his knees in as unobtrusive a manner as was possible under the circumstances4 ,i did not know your brother was a fanatic1 whispered an ,american to his sister4 ,as regards certain details of life in this country that so much embarrass and disappoint some travellers1 do not imagine that ,i affectedly ignore their existence2 but ,i do feel grateful that in my view of the whole scene they have everywhere kept their proper place4 ,i know how disappointed some people are on their account1 and ,i should be sorry if ,i was thought intolerant in my self-satisfaction at being so fortunate4 ,one lady1 in a little book ,i once read1 describing her journey1 takes for her text3 ,he is not here1 but is risen4 ,in bitter chagrin she acknowledges the fact that nowhere in ,jerusalem could she see ,our ,lord through her surroundings4 ,i asked a friend once if she would like to see the ,holy ,land3 ,certainly not6 she exclaimed2 ,i have read ,mark ,twain's book4 ,i inquired of an ,english traveller at ,jaffa the other day1 who was on his way home1 how the ,holy ,places had impressed him4 ,his answers were dispirited3 the dirt1 the flies1 etc41 etc41 had annoyed him4 ,his ears were still ringing with the ubiquitous ,baksheesh62 the lepers had spoilt some of the best views--and so on4 ,how much better it would have been for him not to come here1 like the ,mark ,twain lady1 and to have preserved his ,oxford impressions of the ,bible uncontaminated6 ,in ,our ,lord's time1 although the cities were splendid1 the poor and the diseased were just as much en vidence as now1 and where ,he was ,his poor clustered thickest4 ,yet who thinks of the merely squalid details of those crowds when reading the ,gospel narrative8 ,why1 then1 dwell on them so much here to-day as we follow ,his footsteps on the very soil ,he trod8 ,i must say any danger of distractions ,i may have felt has not come from what ,i have seen of the native element here4 ,not long ago a party of ,christian 787 ,european trippers 7,i will not define their nationality7 reaching the ,jews' ,wailing ,place at ,jerusalem1 charged with their donkeys all along the line of those preoccupied figures standing praying with their faces buried in their ,testaments or pressed against the stones of the great wall1 and knocked them over4 ,but ,many men many minds1 and as no country stirs the sincere heart as this one does1 one must accept each thoughtful traveller's account of his experiences as being genuinely felt4 ,i would warn intending tourists who are earnest and sensitive about this sacred land against forming large parties for the journey4 ,amongst the group of fellow-travellers there is sure to be at least one discordant unit4 ,facetious remarks1 ignorant questions1 thoughtless exclamations1 are harder to bear here than elsewhere4 ,of course1 if the party forms a religious pilgrimage these warnings do not apply2 but even a pilgrimage in company has drawbacks1 if the time is limited1 and many inevitable distractions4 ,select as few companions as is practicable--one only1 if possible1 entirely one with you in faith and feeling4 ,also1 any one in delicate health should not attempt the entire journey4 ,i have seen more than one sad procession of returning tourists escorting a litter containing some poor collapsed lady1 depending on the fore-and-aft mules that carried her for a smooth transit back to ,jerusalem and the carriage road4 ,woe betide her if either of the beasts came down or even stumbled6 ,when ,i wrote to you from ,jerusalem ,i told you how convincing one feels the traditional sites of ,calvary and the ,holy ,sepulchre to be in spite of modern scepticism4 ,but more modern still is the verification of their authenticity4 ,it has lately been proved1 by that research which we seem to require nowadays1 that they stand outside the line of the city walls of our ,lord's time4 ,the great stumbling-block to those who could not accept the word of ,tradition consisted in the idea that those sites had always been within the city as now1 for it is known that the ,jewish law forbade places of execution and of burial within the walls4 ,to show you how the shape of ,jerusalem1 marked out by its fortifications1 has changed during its long history1 ,i may mention that1 whereas the house of the ,last ,supper stood within the lines in ,our ,lord's time1 it stands far outside the walls of to-day4 99 99 99 99 99 ,and now the last sunset we shall see from the ,land of ,promise is steeping ,lebanon in rose and violet1 and the slender shadows of the palms are lengthening across the sandy spaces of the plain4 ,the sea has not a sail upon it1 and the sky not even a cloud the size of a man's hand1 such as ,elijah's servant saw from the top of this ,carmel which overshadows us4 ,undisturbed by wind or cloud1 the mind can dwell upon thoughts which the approaching hour of leave-taking renders more poignant4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the afterglow is now kindling its fires1 and transfiguring a scene one had thought could not be rendered more beautiful4 ,of all the splendours of ,nature the afterglow is the most surprising4 ,i think in the ,east it comes more swiftly after sunset than in ,italy1 and it is more astonishing in its display of light4 ,i have often1 in ,egypt1 tried to paint it1 but it is no easy matter1 for1 although the light seems so powerful it is really too low to allow one to see one's work4 ,the sky becomes a low-toned grey-green-blue 444 what shall ,i call it8--a tone of the greatest subtlety1 against which the illuminated objects on the earth shine with the colours of flame rather than of the sun4 ,there follows this last effort of the dying day what ,i may call the last sigh1--a few moments of delicate greys of infinite tenderness1 and then night1--absolute night4 ,they are ringing the ,angelus up at the ,carmelite ,monastery on the wooded heights4 ,those monks live a lonely life on the mountain whence their ,order takes its name4 ,the author of ,the ,land and the ,book speaks of this lonely monastery with its monks chanting ,latin to nobody4 ,only to the great ,god ,who chose this little country wherein to testify ,his love for man2 ,who has trodden with weary feet those hills we have traversed in the journey that ends to-day6 ,friday1 #ast ,may4 ,at #a4cj this morning we left these blessed shores1 deeply grateful for the privilege of treading the soil of ,palestine which had been accorded us4 ,we put off in boats for the ,austrian ,lloyd steamer lying in the offing by the light of a waning moon4 ,by #h ,a4,m4 we anchored off ,jaffa1 where we lay all day1 and at sunset stood out to sea1 soon losing sight of the ,holy ,land in the shades of night4 ,the letterpress has been printed by ,messrs4 ,r4 ,r4 ,clark1 ,limited1 ,edinburgh4