diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/52213-h/52213-h.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52213-h/52213-h.htm | 14639 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 14639 deletions
diff --git a/old/52213-h/52213-h.htm b/old/52213-h/52213-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index b3d3ed9..0000000 --- a/old/52213-h/52213-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14639 +0,0 @@ -<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> - -<!DOCTYPE html - PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > - -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> - <title> - In the Levant, by Charles Dudley Warner, - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> - - body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} - P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } - H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } - hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} - .foot { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-align: justify; font-size: 80%; font-style: italic;} - blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} - .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} - .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} - .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} - .xx-small {font-size: 60%;} - .x-small {font-size: 75%;} - .small {font-size: 85%;} - .large {font-size: 115%;} - .x-large {font-size: 130%;} - .indent5 { margin-left: 5%;} - .indent10 { margin-left: 10%;} - .indent15 { margin-left: 15%;} - .indent20 { margin-left: 20%;} - .indent30 { margin-left: 30%;} - .indent40 { margin-left: 40%;} - div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } - div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } - .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} - .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} - .pagenum {position: absolute; right: 1%; font-size: 0.6em; - font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; - text-align: right; background-color: #FFFACD; - border: 1px solid; padding: 0.3em;text-indent: 0em;} - .side { float: left; font-size: 75%; width: 15%; padding-left: 0.8em; - border-left: dashed thin; text-align: left; - text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; - font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} - .head { float: left; font-size: 90%; width: 98%; padding-left: 0.8em; - border-left: dashed thin; text-align: center; - text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; - font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} - p.pfirst, p.noindent {text-indent: 0} - span.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; line-height: 0.8 } - pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} - -</style> - </head> - <body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of In The Levant, by Charles Dudley Warner - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: In The Levant - Twenty Fifth Impression - -Author: Charles Dudley Warner - -Release Date: June 1, 2016 [EBook #52213] -Last Updated: February 24, 2018 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE LEVANT *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - - - - - -</pre> - - <div style="height: 8em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h1> - IN THE LEVANT. - </h1> - <h2> - By Charles Dudley Warner, - </h2> - <h4> - Twenty Fifth Impression - </h4> - <h3> - Boston: Houghton, Mifflin And Company - </h3> - <h3> - 1876 - </h3> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0001" id="linkimage-0001"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0001.jpg" alt="0001 " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0001.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0002" id="linkimage-0002"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0007.jpg" alt="0007 " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0007.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <h3> - TO - </h3> - <h3> - WILLIAM D. HOWELLS - </h3> - <h3> - THESE NOTES - </h3> - <h3> - OF ORIENTAL TRAVEL - </h3> - <h3> - ARE FRATERNALLY INSCRIBED. - </h3> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <p> - <b>CONTENTS</b> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> IN THE LEVANT. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> I.—FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> II.—JERUSALEM. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> III.—HOLY PLACES OP THE HOLY CITY. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> IV.—NEIGHBORHOODS OF JERUSALEM. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> V.—GOING DOWN TO JERICHO. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> VI.—BETHLEHEM AND MAR SABA. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> VII.—THE FAIR OF MOSES; THE ARMENIAN - PATRIARCH. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> VIII.—DEPARTURE FROM JERUSALEM. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> IX.—ALONG THE SYRIAN COAST. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> X.—BEYROUT.—OVER THE LEBANON. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> XI.—BA'ALBEK. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> XII.—ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> XIII.—THE OLDEST OF CITIES. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> XIV.—OTHER SIGHTS IN DAMASCUS. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> XV.—SOME PRIVATE HOUSES. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> XVI.—SOME SPECIMEN TRAVELLERS. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> XVII.—INTO DAYLIGHT AGAIN.—AN - EPISODE OF TURKISH JUSTICE. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> XVIII.—CYPRUS. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> XIX.—THROUGH SUMMER SEAS.—RHODES. - </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> XX.—AMONG THE ÆGEAN ISLANDS. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> XXI.—SMYRNA AND EPHESUS. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> XII.—THE ADVENTURERS. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> XXIII.—THROUGH THE DARDANELLES. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> XIV.—CONSTANTINOPLE. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> XXV.—THE SERAGLIO AND ST. SOPHIA, - HIPPODROME, etc. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> XXVI.—SAUNTERINGS ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. - </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> XXVII.—FROM THE GOLDEN HORN TO THE - ACROPOLIS. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> XXVIII.—ATHENS. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> XXIX.—ELEUSIS, PLATO'S ACADEME, ETC. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> XXX.—THROUGH THE GULF OF CORINTH. </a> - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - PREFACE - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>N the winter and - spring of 1875 the writer made the tour of Egypt and the Levant. The first - portion of the journey is described in a volume published last summer, - entitled “My Winter on the Nile, among Mummies and Moslems”; the second in - the following pages. The notes of the journey were taken and the books - were written before there were any signs of the present Oriental - disturbances, and the observations made are therefore uncolored by any - expectation of the existing state of affairs. Signs enough were visible of - a transition period, extraordinary but hopeful; with the existence of - poverty, oppression, superstition, and ignorance were mingling Occidental - and Christian influences, the faint beginnings of a revival of learning - and the stronger pulsations of awakening commercial and industrial life. - The best hope of this revival was their, as it is now, in peace and not in - war. - </p> - <h3> - C. D. W. - </h3> - <p> - Hartford, November 10,1876. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h1> - IN THE LEVANT. - </h1> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - I.—FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">S</span>INCE Jonah made - his short and ignominious voyage along the Syrian coast, mariners have had - the same difficulty in getting ashore that the sailors experienced who - attempted to land the prophet; his tedious though safe method of - disembarking was not followed by later navigators, and the landing at - Jaffa has remained a vexatious and half the time an impossible - achievement. - </p> - <p> - The town lies upon the open sea and has no harbor. It is only in favorable - weather that vessels can anchor within a mile or so from shore, and the - Mediterranean steamboats often pass the port without being able to land - either freight or passengers, In the usual condition of the sea the big - fish would have found it difficult to discharge Jonah without stranding - itself, and it seems that it waited three days for the favorable moment. - The best chance for landing nowadays is in the early morning, in that calm - period when the winds and the waves alike await the movements of the sun. - It was at that hour, on the 5th of April, 1875, that we arrived from Port - Said on the French steamboat Erymanthe. The night had been pleasant and - the sea tolerably smooth, but not to the apprehensions of some of the - passengers, who always declare that they prefer, now, a real tempest to a - deceitful groundswell. On a recent trip a party had been prevented from - landing, owing to the deliberation of the ladies in making their toilet; - by the time they had attired themselves in a proper manner to appear in - Southern Palestine, the golden hour had slipped away, and they were able - only to look upon the land which their beauty and clothes would have - adorned. None of us were caught in a like delinquency. At the moment the - anchor went down we were bargaining with a villain to take us ashore, a - bargain in which the yeasty and waxingly uneasy sea gave the boatman all - the advantage. - </p> - <p> - Our little company of four is guided by the philosopher and dragoman - Mohammed Abd-el-Atti, of Cairo, who has served us during the long voyage - of the Nile. He is assisted in his task by the Abyssinian boy Ahman - Abdallah, the brightest and most faithful of servants. In making his first - appearance in the Holy Land he has donned over his gay Oriental costume a - blue Frank coat, and set his fez back upon his head at an angle exceeding - the slope of his forehead. His black face has an unusual lustre, and his - eyes dance with more than their ordinary merriment as he points excitedly - to the shore and cries, “Yâfa! Mist'r Dunham.” - </p> - <p> - The information is addressed to Madame, whom Ahman, utterly regardless of - sex, invariably addresses by the name of one of our travelling companions - on the Nile. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, marm; you see him, Yâfa,” interposed Abd-el-Atti; coming forward - with the air of brushing aside, as impertinent, the geographical - information of his subordinate; “not much, I tink, but him bery old. Let - us to go ashore.” - </p> - <p> - Jaffa, or Yâfa, or Joppa, must have been a well-established city, since it - had maritime dealings with Tarshish, in that remote period in which the - quaint story of Jonah is set,—a piece of Hebrew literature that - bears internal evidence of great antiquity in its extreme <i>naivete</i>. - Although the Canaanites did not come into Palestine till about 2400 b. c., - that is to say, about the time of the twelfth dynasty in Egypt, yet there - is a reasonable tradition that Jaffa existed before the deluge. For ages - it has been the chief Mediterranean port of great Jerusalem. Here Solomon - landed his Lebanon timber for the temple. The town swarmed more than once - with the Roman legions on their way to crush a Jewish insurrection. It - displayed the banner of the Saracen host a few years after the Hegira. - And, later, when the Crusaders erected the standard of the cross on its - walls, it was the <i>dépôt</i> of supplies which Venice and Genoa and - other rich cities contributed to the holy war. Great kingdoms and - conquerors have possessed it in turn, and for thousands of years merchants - have trusted their fortunes to its perilous roadstead. And yet no one has - ever thought it worth while to give it a harbor by the construction of a - mole, or a pier like that at Port Said. I should say that the first - requisite in the industrial, to say nothing of the moral, regeneration of - Palestine is a harbor at Jaffa. - </p> - <p> - The city is a cluster of irregular, flat-roofed houses, and looks from the - sea like a brown bowl turned bottom up; the roofs are terraces on which - the inhabitants can sleep on summer nights, and to which they can ascend, - out of the narrow, evil-smelling streets, to get a whiff of sweet odor - from the orange gardens which surround the town. The ordinary pictures of - Jaffa do it ample justice. The chief feature in the view is the hundreds - of clumsy feluccas tossing about in the aggravating waves, diving endwise - and dipping sidewise, guided a little by the long sweeps of the sailors, - but apparently the sport of the most uncertain billows. A swarm of them, - four or five deep, surrounds our vessel; they are rising and falling in - the most sickly motion, and dashing into each other in the frantic efforts - of their rowers to get near the gangway ladder. One minute the boat - nearest the stairs rises as if it would mount into the ship, and the next - it sinks below the steps into a frightful gulf. The passengers watch the - passing opportunity to jump on board, as people dive into the “lift” of a - hotel. Freight is discharged into lighters that are equally frisky; and it - is taken on and off splashed with salt water and liable to a thousand - accidents in the violence of the transit. - </p> - <p> - Before the town stretches a line of rocks worn for ages, upon which the - surf is breaking and sending white jets into the air. It is through a - narrow opening in this that our boat is borne on the back of a great wave, - and we come into a strip of calmer water and approach the single - landing-stairs. These stairs are not so convenient as those of the vessel - we have just left, and two persons can scarcely pass on them. But this is - the only sea entrance to Jaffa; if the Jews attempt to return and enter - their ancient kingdom this way, it will take them a long time to get in. A - sea-wall fronts the town, fortified by a couple of rusty cannon at one - end, and the passage is through the one gate at the head of these stairs. - </p> - <p> - It seems forever that we are kept waiting at the foot of this shaky - stairway. Two opposing currents are struggling to get up and down it: - excited travellers, porters with trunks and knapsacks, and dragomans who - appear to be pushing their way through simply to show their familiarity - with the country. It is a dangerous ascent for a delicate woman. Somehow, - as we wait at this gate where so many men of note have waited, and look - upon this sea-wall upon which have stood so many of the mighty from - Solomon to Origen, from Tiglath-Pileser to Richard Cour de Lion, the - historical figure which most pervades Jaffa is that of the whimsical - Jonah, whose connection with it was the slightest. There is no evidence - that he ever returned here. Josephus, who takes liberties with the Hebrew - Scriptures, says that a whale carried the fugitive into the Euxine Sea, - and there discharged him much nearer to Nineveh than he would have been if - he had kept with the conveyance in which he first took passage and landed - at Tarsus. Probably no one in Jaffa noticed the little man as he slipped - through this gate and took ship, and yet his simple embarkation from the - town has given it more notoriety than any other event. Thanks to an - enduring piece of literature, the unheroic Jonah and his whale are better - known than St. Jerome and his lion; they are the earliest associates and - Oriental acquaintances of all well-brought-up children in Christendom. For - myself, I confess that the strictness of many a New England Sunday has - been relieved by the perusal of his unique adventure. He in a manner - anticipated the use of the monitors and other cigar-shaped submerged - sea-vessels. - </p> - <p> - When we have struggled up the slippery stairs and come through the gate, - we wind about for some time in a narrow passage on the side of the sea, - and then cross through the city, still on foot. It is a rubbishy place; - the streets are steep and crooked; we pass through archways, we ascend - steps, we make unexpected turns; the shops are a little like bazaars, but - rather Italian than Oriental; we pass a pillared mosque and a Moslem - fountain; we come upon an ancient square, in the centre of which is a - round fountain with pillars and a canopy of stone, and close about it are - the bazaars of merchants. This old fountain is profusely sculptured with - Arabic inscriptions; the stones are worn and have taken the rich tint of - age, and the sunlight blends it into harmony with the gay stuffs of the - shops and the dark skins of the idlers on the pavement. We come into the - great market of fruit and vegetables, where vast heaps of oranges, like - apples in a New England orchard, line the way and fill the atmosphere with - a golden tinge. - </p> - <p> - The Jaffa oranges are famous in the Orient; they grow to the size of - ostrich eggs, they have a skin as thick as the hide of a rhinoceros, and, - in their season, the pulp is sweet, juicy, and tender. It is a little late - now, and we open one golden globe after another before we find one that is - not dry and tasteless as a piece of punk. But one cannot resist buying - such magnificent fruit. - </p> - <p> - Outside the walls, through broad dusty highways, by lanes of cactus hedges - and in sight again of the sea breaking on a rocky shore, we come to the - Hotel of the Twelve Tribes, occupied now principally by Cook's tribes, - most of whom appear to be lost. In the adjacent lot are pitched the tents - of Syrian travellers, and one of Cook's expeditions is in all the bustle - of speedy departure. The bony, nervous Syrian horses are assigned by lot - to the pilgrims, who are excellent people from England and America, and - most of them as unaccustomed to the back of a horse as to that of an - ostrich. It is touching to see some of the pilgrims walk around the - animals which have fallen to them, wondering how they are to get on, which - side they are to mount, and how they are to stay on. Some have already - mounted, and are walking the steeds carefully round the enclosure or - timidly essaying a trot. Nearly every one concludes, after a trial, that - he would like to change,—something not quite so much up and down, - you know, an easier saddle, a horse that more unites gentleness with - spirit. Some of the dragomans are equipped in a manner to impress - travellers with the perils of the country. One, whom I remember on the - Nile as a mild though showy person, has bloomed here into a Bedawee: he is - fierce in aspect, an arsenal of weapons, and gallops furiously about upon - a horse loaded down with accoutrements. This, however, is only the - beginning of our real danger. - </p> - <p> - After breakfast we sallied out to see the sights: besides the house of - Simon the tanner, they are not many. The house of Simon is, as it was in - the time of St. Peter, by the seaside. We went upon the roof (and it is - more roof than anything else) where the apostle lay down to sleep and saw - the vision, and looked around upon the other roofs and upon the wide sweep - of the tumbling sea. In the court is a well, the stone curb of which is - deeply worn in several places by the rope, showing long use. The water is - brackish; Simon may have tanned with it. The house has not probably been - destroyed and rebuilt more than four or five times since St. Peter dwelt - here; the Romans once built the entire city. The chief room is now a - mosque. We inquired for the house of Dorcas, but that is not shown, - although I understood that we could see her grave outside the city. It is - a great oversight not to show the house of Dorcas, and one that I cannot - believe will long annoy pilgrims in these days of multiplied discoveries - of sacred sites. - </p> - <p> - Whether this is the actual spot where the house of Simon stood, I do not - know, nor does it much matter. Here, or hereabouts, the apostle saw that - marvellous vision which proclaimed to a weary world the brotherhood of - man. From this spot issued the gospel of democracy: “Of a truth, I - perceive that God is no respecter of persons.” From this insignificant - dwelling went forth the edict that broke the power of tyrants, and loosed - the bonds of slaves, and ennobled the lot of woman, and enfranchised the - human mind. Of all places on earth I think there is only one more worthy - of pilgrimage by all devout and liberty-loving souls. - </p> - <p> - We were greatly interested, also, in a visit to the well-known school of - Miss Amot, a mission school for girls in the upper chambers of a house in - the most crowded part of Jaffa. With modest courage and tact and - self-devotion this lady has sustained it here for twelve years, and the - fruits of it already begin to appear. We found twenty or thirty pupils, - nearly all quite young, and most of them daughters of Christians; they are - taught in Arabic the common branches, and some English, and they learn to - sing. They sang for us English tunes like any Sunday school; a strange - sound in a Moslem town. There are one or two other schools of a similar - character in the Orient, conducted as private enterprises by ladies of - culture; and I think there is no work nobler, and none more worthy of - liberal support or more likely to result in giving women a decent position - in Eastern society. - </p> - <p> - On a little elevation a half-mile outside the walls is a cluster of wooden - houses, which were manufactured in America. There we found the remnants of - the Adams colony, only half a dozen families out of the original two - hundred and fifty persons; two or three men and some widows and children. - The colony built in the centre of their settlement an ugly little church - out of Maine timber; it now stands empty and staring, with broken windows. - It is not difficult to make this adventure appear romantic. Those who - engaged in it were plain New England people, many of them ignorant, but - devout to fanaticism. They had heard the prophets expounded, and the - prophecies of the latter days unravelled, until they came to believe that - the day of the Lord was nigh, and that they had laid upon them a mission - in the fulfilment of the divine purposes. Most of them were from Maine and - New Hampshire, accustomed to bitter winters and to wring their living from - a niggardly soil. I do not wonder that they were fascinated by the - pictures of a fair land of blue skies, a land of vines and olives and - palms, where they were undoubtedly called by the Spirit to a life of - greater sanctity and considerable ease and abundance. I think I see their - dismay when they first pitched their tents amid this Moslem squalor, and - attempted to “squat,” Western fashion, upon the skirts of the Plain of - Sharon, which has been for some ages pre-empted. They erected houses, - however, and joined the other inhabitants of the region in a struggle for - existence. But Adams, the preacher and president, had not faith enough to - wait for the unfolding of prophecy; he took to strong drink, and with - general bad management the whole enterprise came to grief, and the deluded - people were rescued from starvation only by the liberality of our - government. - </p> - <p> - There was the germ of a good idea in the rash undertaking. If Palestine is - ever to be repeopled, its coming inhabitants must have the means of - subsistence; and if those now here are to be redeemed to a better life, - they must learn to work; before all else there must come a revival of - industry and a development of the resources of the country. To send here - Jews or Gentiles, and to support them by charity, only adds to the - existing misery. - </p> - <p> - It was eight years ago that the Adams community exploded. Its heirs and - successors are Germans, a colony from Wurtemberg, an Advent sect akin to - the American, but more single-minded and devout. They own the ground upon - which they have settled, having acquired a title from the Turkish - government; they have erected substantial houses of stone and a large - hotel, The Jerusalem, and give many evidences of shrewdness and thrift as - well as piety. They have established a good school, in which, with German - thoroughness, Latin, English, and the higher mathematics are taught, and - an excellent education may be obtained. More land the colony is not - permitted to own; but they hire ground outside the walls which they farm - to advantage. - </p> - <p> - I talked with one of the teachers, a thin young ascetic in spectacles, - whose severity of countenance and demeanor was sufficient to rebuke all - the Oriental levity I had encountered during the winter. There was in him - and in the other leaders an air of sincere fanaticism, and a sobriety and - integrity in the common laborers, which are the best omens for the success - of the colony. The leaders told us that they thought the Americans came - here with the expectation of making money uppermost in mind, and hardly in - the right spirit. As to themselves, they do not expect to make money; they - repelled the insinuation with some warmth; they have had, in fact, a very - hard struggle, and are thankful for a fair measure of success. Their sole - present purpose is evidently to redeem and reclaim the land, and make it - fit for the expected day of jubilee. The Jews from all parts of the world, - they say, are to return to Palestine, and there is to issue out of the - Holy Land a new divine impulse which is to be the regeneration and - salvation of the world. I do not know that anybody but the Jews themselves - would oppose their migration to Palestine, though their withdrawal from - the business of the world suddenly would create wide disaster. With these - doubts, however, we did not trouble the youthful knight of severity. We - only asked him upon what the community founded its creed and its mission. - Largely, he replied, upon the prophets, and especially upon Isaiah; and he - referred us to Isaiah xxxii. 1; xlix. 12 et seq.; and lii. 1. It is not - every industrial community that would flourish on a charter so vague as - this. - </p> - <p> - A lad of twelve or fourteen was our guide to the Advent settlement; he was - an early polyglot, speaking, besides English, French, and German, Arabic, - and, I think, a little Greek; a boy of uncommon gravity of deportment and - of precocious shrewdness. He is destined to be a guide and dragoman. I - could see that the whole Biblical history was a little <i>fade</i> to him, - but he does not lose sight of the profit of a knowledge of it. I could not - but contrast him with a Sunday-school scholar of his own age in America, - whose imagination kindles at the Old Testament stories, and whose - enthusiasm for the Holy Land is awakened by the wall maps and the pictures - of Solomon's temple. Actual contact has destroyed the imagination of this - boy; Jerusalem is not so much a wonder to him as Boston; Samson lived just - over there beyond the Plain of Sharon, and is not so much a hero as Old - Put. - </p> - <p> - The boy's mother was a good New Hampshire woman, whose downright Yankeeism - of thought and speech was in odd contrast to her Oriental surroundings. I - sat in a rocking-chair in the sitting-room of her little wood cottage, and - could scarcely convince myself that I was not in a prim New Hampshire - parlor. To her mind there were no more Oriental illusions, and perhaps she - had never indulged any; certainly, in her presence Palestine seemed to me - as commonplace as New England. - </p> - <p> - “I s'pose you 've seen the meetin' house?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” - </p> - <p> - “Wal' it's goin' to rack and ruin like everything else here. There is n't - enough here to have any service now. Sometimes I go to the German; I try - to keep up a little feeling.” - </p> - <p> - I have no doubt it is more difficult to keep up a religious feeling in the - Holy Land than it is in New Hampshire, but we did not discuss that point. - I asked, “Do you have any society?” - </p> - <p> - “Precious little. The Germans are dreffle unsocial. The natives are all a - low set. The Arabs will all lie; I don't think much of any of 'em. The - Mohammedans are all shiftless; you can't trust any of 'em.” - </p> - <p> - “Why don't you go home?” - </p> - <p> - “Wal, sometimes I think I'd like to see the old place, but I reckon I - could n't stand the winters. This is a nice climate, that's all there is - here; and we have grapes and oranges, and loads of flowers,—you see - my garden there; I set great store by that and me and my daughter take - solid comfort in it, especially when <i>he</i> is away, and he has to be - off most of the time with parties, guidin' 'em. No, I guess I sha'n'. ever - cross the ocean again.” - </p> - <p> - It appeared that the good woman had consoled herself with a second - husband, who bears a Jewish name; so that the original object of her - mission, to gather in the chosen people, is not altogether lost sight of. - </p> - <p> - There is a curious interest in these New England transplantations. Climate - is a great transformer. The habits and customs of thousands of years will - insensibly conquer the most stubborn prejudices. I wonder how long it will - require to blend these scions of our vigorous civilization with the motley - growth that makes up the present Syriac population,—people whose - blood is streaked with a dozen different strains, Egyptian, Ethiopian, - Arabian, Assyrian, Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Canaanite, Jewish, Persian, - Turkish, with all the races that have in turn ravaged or occupied the - land. I do not, indeed, presume to say what the Syrians are who have - occupied Palestine for so many hundreds of years, but I cannot see how it - can be otherwise than that their blood is as mixed as that of the modern - Egyptians. Perhaps these New England offshoots will maintain their - distinction of race for a long time, but I should be still more interested - to know how long the New England mind will keep its integrity in these - surroundings, and whether those ruggednesses of virtue and those homely - simplicities of character which we recognize as belonging to the hilly - portions of New England will insensibly melt away in this relaxing air - that so much wants moral tone. These Oriental countries have been - conquered many times, but they have always conquered their conquerors. I - am told that even our American consuls are not always more successful in - resisting the undermining seductions of the East than were the Roman - proconsuls. - </p> - <p> - These reflections, however, let it be confessed, did not come to me as I - sat in the rocking-chair of my countrywoman. I was rather thinking how - completely her presence and accent dispelled all my Oriental illusions and - cheapened the associations of Jaffa. There is I know not what in a real - living Yankee that puts all appearances to the test and dissipates the - colors of romance. It was not until I came again into the highway and - found in front of The Jerusalem hotel a company of Arab acrobats and - pyramid-builders, their swarthy bodies shining in the white sunlight, and - a lot of idlers squatting about in enjoyment of the exertions of others, - that I recovered in any degree my delusions. - </p> - <p> - With the return of these, it seemed not so impossible to believe even in - the return of the Jews; especially when we learned that preparations for - them multiply. A second German colony has been established outside of the - city. There is another at Haifa; on the Jerusalem road the beginning of - one has been made by the Jews themselves. It amounts to something like a - “movement.” - </p> - <p> - At three o'clock in the afternoon we set out for Ramleh, ignominiously, in - a wagon. There is a carriage-road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and our - dragoman had promised us a “private carriage.” We decided to take it, - thinking it would be more comfortable than horseback for some of our - party. We made a mistake which we have never ceased to regret. The road I - can confidently commend as the worst in the world. The carriage into which - we climbed belonged to the German colony, and was a compromise between the - ancient ark, a modern dray, and a threshing-machine. It was one of those - contrivances that a German would evolve out of his inner consciousness, - and its appearance here gave me grave doubts as to the adaptability of - these honest Germans to the Orient. It was, however, a great deal worse - than it looked. If it were driven over smooth ground it would soon loosen - all the teeth of the passengers, and shatter their spinal columns. But - over the Jerusalem road the effect was indescribable. The noise of it was - intolerable, the jolting incredible. The little solid Dutchman, who sat in - front and drove, shook like the charioteer of an artillery wagon; but I - suppose he had no feeling. We pounded along over the roughest stone - pavement, with the sensation of victims drawn to execution in a cart, - until we emerged into the open country; but there we found no improvement - in the road. - </p> - <p> - Jaffa is surrounded by immense orange groves, which are protected along - the highways by hedges of prickly-pear. We came out from a lane of these - upon the level and blooming Plain of Sharon, and saw before us, on the - left, the blue hills of Judæa. It makes little difference what kind of - conveyance one has, it is impossible for him to advance upon this - historic, if not sacred plain, and catch the first glimpse of those pale - hills which stood to him for a celestial vision in his childhood, without - a great quickening of the pulse; and it is a most lovely view after Egypt, - or after anything. The elements of it are simple enough,—merely a - wide sweep of prairie and a line of graceful mountains; but the forms are - pleasing, and the color is incomparable. The soil is warm and red, the - fields are a mass of wild-flowers of the most brilliant and variegated - hues, and, alternately swept by the shadows of clouds and bathed in the - sun, the scene takes on the animation of incessant change. - </p> - <p> - It was somewhere here, outside the walls, I do not know the spot, that the - massacre of Jaffa occurred. I purposely go out of my way to repeat the - well-known story of it, and I trust that it will always be recalled - whenever any mention is made of the cruel little Corsican who so long - imposed the vulgarity and savageness of his selfish nature upon Europe. It - was in March, 1799, that Napoleon, toward the close of his humiliating and - disastrous campaign in Egypt, carried Jaffa by storm. The town was given - over to pillage. During its progress four thousand Albanians of the - garrison, taking refuge in some old khans, offered to surrender on - condition that their lives should be spared; otherwise they would fight to - the bitter end. Their terms were accepted, and two of Napoleon's - aids-de-camp pledged their honor for their safety. They were marched out - to the general's headquarters and seated in front of the tents with their - arms bound behind them. The displeased commander called a council of war - and deliberated two days upon their fate, and then signed the order for - the massacre of the entire body. The excuse was that the general could not - be burdened with so many prisoners. Thus in one day were murdered in cold - blood about as many people as Jaffa at present contains. Its inhabitants - may be said to have been accustomed to being massacred; eight thousand of - them were butchered in one Roman assault; but I suppose all antiquity may - be searched in vain for an act of perfidy and cruelty combined equal to - that of the Grand Emperor. - </p> - <p> - The road over which we rattle is a causeway of loose stones; the country - is a plain of sand, but clothed with a luxuriant vegetation. In the fields - the brown husbandmen are plowing, turning up the soft red earth with a - rude plough drawn by cattle yoked wide apart. Red-legged storks, on their - way, I suppose, from Egypt to their summer residence further north, dot - the meadows, and are too busy picking up worms to notice our halloo. - Abd-el-Atti, who has a passion for shooting, begs permission to “go for” - these household birds with the gun; but we explain to him that we would no - more shoot a stork than one of the green birds of Paradise. Quails are - scudding about in the newly turned furrows, and song birds salute us from - the tops of swinging cypresses. The Holy Land is rejoicing in its one - season of beauty, its spring-time. - </p> - <p> - Trees are not wanting to the verdant meadows. We still encounter an - occasional grove of oranges; olives also appear, and acacias, sycamores, - cypresses, and tamarisks. The pods of the carob-tree are, I believe, the - husks upon which the prodigal son did not thrive. Large patches of barley - are passed. But the fields not occupied with grain are literally carpeted - with wild-flowers of the most brilliant hues, such a display as I never - saw elsewhere: scarlet and dark flaming poppies, the scarlet anemone, - marigolds, white daisies, the lobelia, the lupin, the vetch, the gorse - with its delicate yellow blossom, the pea, something that we agreed to - call the white rose of Sharon, the mallow, the asphodel; the leaves of a - lily not yet in bloom. About the rose of Sharon we no doubt were mistaken. - There is no reason to suppose it was white; but we have somehow associated - the purity of that color with the song beginning, “I am the rose of Sharon - and the lily of the valleys.” It was probably not even a rose. We finally - decided to cherish the red mallow as the rose of Sharon; it is very - abundant, and the botanist of our company seemed satisfied to accept it. - For myself, the rose by the name of mallow does not smell sweet. - </p> - <p> - We come in sight of Rainleh, which lies on the swelling mounds of the - green plain, encompassed by emerald meadows and by groves of orange and - olive, and conspicuous from a great distance by its elegant square tower, - the most beautiful in form that we have seen in the East. As the sun is - sinking, we defer our visit to it and drive to the Latin convent, where we - are to lodge, permission to that effect having been obtained from the - sister convent at Jaffa; a mere form, since a part of the convent was - built expressly for the entertainment of travellers, and the few monks who - occupy it find keeping a hotel a very profitable kind of hospitality. The - stranger is the guest of the superior, no charge is made, and the little - fiction of gratuitous hospitality so pleases the pilgrim that he will not - at his departure be outdone in liberality. It would be much more agreeable - if all our hotels were upon this system. - </p> - <p> - While the dragoman is unpacking the luggage in the court-yard and bustling - about in a manner to impress the establishment with the importance of its - accession, I climb up to the roofs to get the sunset. The house is all - roofs, it would seem, at different levels. Steps lead here and there, and - one can wander about at will; you could not desire a pleasanter - lounging-place in a summer evening. The protecting walls, which are - breast-high, are built in with cylinders of tile, like the mud houses in - Egypt; the tiles make the walls lighter, and furnish at the same time - peep-holes through which the monks can spy the world, themselves unseen. I - noticed that the tiles about the entrance court were inclined downwards, - so that a curious person could study any new arrival at the convent - without being himself observed. The sun went down behind the square tower - which is called Saracenic and is entirely Gothic in spirit, and the light - lay soft and rosy on the wide compass of green vegetation; I heard on the - distant fields the bells of mules returning to the gates, and the sound - substituted Italy in my mind for Palestine. - </p> - <p> - From this prospect I was summoned in haste; the superior of the convent - was waiting to receive me, and I had been sought in all directions. I had - no idea why I should be received, but I soon found that the occasion was - not a trivial one. In the reception-room were seated in some state the - superior, attended by two or three brothers, and the remainder of my suite - already assembled. The abbot, if he is an abbot, arose and cordially - welcomed “the general” to his humble establishment, hoped that he was not - fatigued by the journey from Jaffa, and gave him a seat beside himself. - The remainder of the party were ranged according to their rank. I replied - that the journey was on the contrary delightful, and that any journey - could be considered fortunate which had the hospitable convent of Ramleh - as its end. The courteous monk renewed his solicitous inquiries, and my - astonishment was increased by the botanist, who gravely assured the worthy - father that “the general” was accustomed to fatigue, and that such a - journey as this was a recreation to him. - </p> - <p> - “What in the mischief is all this about?” I seized a moment to whisper to - the person next me. - </p> - <p> - “You are a distinguished American general, travelling with his lady in - pursuit of Heaven knows what, and accompanied by his suite; don't make a - mess of it.” - </p> - <p> - “Oh,” I said, “if I <i>am</i> a distinguished American general, travelling - with my lady in pursuit of Heaven knows what, I am glad to know it.” - </p> - <p> - Fortunately the peaceful father did not know anything more of war than I - did, and I suppose my hastily assumed modesty of the soldier seemed to him - the real thing. It was my first experience of anything like real war, the - first time I had ever occupied any military position, and it did not seem - to be so arduous as has been represented. - </p> - <p> - Great regret was expressed by the superior that they had not anticipated - my arrival, in order to have entertained me in a more worthy manner; the - convent was uncommonly full of pilgrims, and it would be difficult to - lodge my suite as it deserved. Then there followed a long discussion - between the father and one of the monks upon our disposition for the - night. - </p> - <p> - “If we give the general and his lady the south room in the court, then the - doctor”—etc., etc. - </p> - <p> - “Or,” urged the monk, “suppose the general and his lady occupy the cell - number four, then mademoiselle can take”—etc., etc. - </p> - <p> - The military commander and his lady were at last shown into a cell opening - out of the court, a lofty but narrow vaulted room, with brick floor and - thick walls, and one small window near the ceiling. Instead of candles we - had antique Roman lamps, which made a feeble glimmer in the cavern; the - oddest water-jugs served for pitchers. It may not have been damp, but it - felt as if no sun had ever penetrated the chill interior. - </p> - <p> - “What is all this nonsense of the general?” I asked Abd-el-Atti, as soon - as I could get hold of that managing factotum. - </p> - <p> - “Dunno, be sure; these monk always pay more attention to 'stinguish - people.” - </p> - <p> - “But what did you say at the convent in Jaffa when you applied for a - permit to lodge here?” - </p> - <p> - “Oh, I tell him my gentleman general American, but 'stinguish; mebbe he - done gone wrote 'em that you 'stinguish American general. Very nice man, - the superior, speak Italian beautiful; when I give him the letter, he say - he do all he can for the general and his suite; he sorry I not let him - know 'forehand.” - </p> - <p> - The dinner was served in the long refectory, and there were some - twenty-five persons at table, mostly pilgrims to Jerusalem, and most of - them of the poorer class. One bright Italian had travelled alone with her - little boy all the way from Verona, only to see the Holy Sepulchre. The - monks waited at table and served a very good dinner. Travellers are not - permitted to enter the portion of the large convent which contains the - cells of the monks, nor to visit any part of the old building except the - chapel. I fancied that the jolly brothers who waited at table were rather - glad to come into contact with the world, even in this capacity. - </p> - <p> - In the dining-room hangs a notable picture. It is the Virgin, enthroned, - with a crown and aureole, holding the holy child, who is also crowned; in - the foreground is a choir of white boys or angels. The Virgin and child - are both <i>black</i>; it is the Virgin of Ethiopia. I could not learn the - origin of this picture; it was rude enough in execution to be the work of - a Greek artist of the present day; but it was said to come from Ethiopia, - where it is necessary to a proper respect for the Virgin that she should - be represented black. She seems to bear something the relation to the - Virgin of Judæa that Astarte did to the Grecian Venus. And we are again - reminded that the East has no prejudice of color: “I am black but comely, - O ye daughters of Jerusalem”; “Look not upon me because I am black, - because the sun hath looked upon me.” - </p> - <p> - The convent bells are ringing at early dawn, and though we are up at half - past five, nearly all the pilgrims have hastily departed for Jerusalem. - Upon the roof I find the morning fair. There are more minarets than spires - in sight, but they stand together in this pretty little town without - discord. The bells are ringing in melodious persuasion, but at the same - time, in voices as musical, the muezzins are calling from their galleries; - each summoning men to prayer in its own way. From these walls spectators - once looked down upon the battles of cross and crescent raging in the - lovely meadows,—battles of quite as much pride as piety. A common - interest always softens animosity, and I fancy that monks and Moslems will - not again resort to the foolish practice of breaking each other's heads so - long as they enjoy the profitable stream of pilgrims to the Holy Land. - </p> - <p> - After breakfast and a gift to the treasury of the convent according to our - rank—I think if I were to stay there again it would be in the - character of a common soldier—we embarked again in the ark, and - jolted along behind the square-shouldered driver, who seemed to enjoy the - rattling and rumbling of his clumsy vehicle. But no minor infelicity could - destroy for us the freshness of the morning or the enjoyment of the lovely - country. Although, in the jolting, one could not utter a remark about the - beauty of the way without danger of biting his tongue in two, we feasted - our eyes and let our imaginations loose over the vast ranges of the Old - Testament story. - </p> - <p> - After passing through the fertile meadows of Ramleh, we came into a more - rolling country, destitute of houses, but clothed on with a most brilliant - bloom of wild-flowers, among which the papilionaceous flowers were - conspicuous for color and delicacy. I found by the roadside a <i>black - calla</i> (which I should no more have believed in than in the black - Virgin, if I had not seen it). Its leaf is exactly that of our calla-lily; - its flower is similar to, but not so open and flaring, as the white calla, - and the pistil is large and very long, and of the color of the interior of - the flower. The corolla is green on the outside, but the inside is - incomparably rich, like velvet, black in some lights and dark maroon in - others. Nothing could be finer in color and texture than this superb - flower. Besides the blooms of yesterday we noticed buttercups, various - sorts of the ranunculus, among them the scarlet and the shooting-star, a - light purple flower with a dark purple centre, the Star of Bethlehem, and - the purple wind-flower. Scarlet poppies and the still more brilliant - scarlet anemones, dandelions, marguerites, filled all the fields with - masses of color. - </p> - <p> - Shortly we come into the hills, through which the road winds upward, and - the scenery is very much like that of the Adirondacks, or would be if the - rocky hills of the latter were denuded of trees. The way begins to be - lively with passengers, and it becomes us to be circumspect, for almost - every foot of ground has been consecrated or desecrated, or in some manner - made memorable. This heap of rubbish is the remains of a fortress which - the Saracens captured, built by the Crusaders to guard the entrance of the - pass, upon the site of an older fortification by the Maccabees, or founded - upon Roman substructions, and mentioned in Judges as the spot where some - very ancient Jew stayed overnight. It is also, no doubt, one of the - stations that help us to determine with the accuracy of a surveyor the - boundary between the territory of Benjamin and Judah. I try to ascertain - all these localities and to remember them all, but I sometimes get Richard - Cour de Lion mixed with Jonathan Maccabæus, and I have no doubt I mistook - “Job's convent” for the <i>Castellum boni Latronis</i>, a place we were - specially desirous to see as the birthplace of the “penitent thief.” But - whatever we confounded, we are certain of one thing: we looked over into - the Valley of Ajalon. It was over this valley that Joshua commanded the - moon to tarry while he smote the fugitive Amorites on the heights of - Gibeon, there to the east. - </p> - <p> - The road is thronged with pilgrims to Jerusalem, and with travellers and - their attendants,—gay cavalcades scattered all along the winding way - over the rolling plain, as in the picture of the Pilgrims to Canterbury. - All the transport of freight as well as passengers is by the backs of - beasts of burden. There are long files of horses and mules staggering - under enormous loads of trunks, tents, and bags. Dragomans, some of them - got up in fierce style, with baggy yellow trousers, yellow kuffias bound - about the head with a twisted fillet, armed with long Damascus swords, - their belts stuck full of pistols, and a rifle slung on the back, gallop - furiously along the line, the signs of danger but the assurances of - protection. Camp boys and waiters dash along also, on the pack-horses, - with a great clatter of kitchen furniture; even a scullion has an air of - adventure as he pounds his rack-a-bone steed into a vicious gallop. And - there are the Cook's tourists, called by everybody “Cookies,” men and - women struggling on according to the pace of their horses, conspicuous in - hats with white muslin drapery hanging over the neck. Villanous-looking - fellows with or without long guns, coming and going on the highway, have - the air of being neither pilgrims nor strangers. We meet women returning - from Jerusalem clad in white, seated astride their horses, or upon beds - which top their multifarious baggage. - </p> - <p> - We are leaving behind us on the right the country of Samson, in which he - passed his playful and engaging boyhood, and we look wistfully towards it. - Of Zorah, where he was born, nothing is left but a cistern, and there is - only a wretched hamlet to mark the site of Timnath, where he got his - Philistine wife. “Get her for me, for she pleaseth me well,” was his only - reply to the entreaty of his father that he would be content with a maid - of his own people. - </p> - <p> - The country gets wilder and more rocky as we ascend. Down the ragged side - paths come wretched women and girls, staggering under the loads of - brushwood which they have cut in the high ravines; loads borne upon the - head that would tax the strength of a strong man. I found it no easy task - to lift one of the bundles. The poor creatures were scantily clad in a - single garment of coarse brown cloth, but most of them wore a profusion of - ornaments; strings of coins, Turkish and Arabic, on the head and breast, - and uncouth rings and bracelets. Farther on a rabble of boys besets us, - begging for backsheesh in piteous and whining tones, and throwing up their - arms in theatrical gestures of despair. - </p> - <p> - All the hills bear marks of having once been terraced to the very tops, - for vines and olives. The natural ledges seem to have been humored into - terraces and occasionally built up and broadened by stone walls; but where - the hill was smooth, traces of terraces are yet visible. The grape is - still cultivated low down the steeps, and the olives straggle over some of - the hills to the very top; but these feeble efforts of culture or of - nature do little to relieve the deserted aspect of the scene. - </p> - <p> - We lunch in a pretty olive grove, upon a slope long ago terraced and now - grass-grown and flower-sown; lovely vistas open into cool glades, and - paths lead upward among the rocks to inviting retreats. From this high - perch in the bosom of the hills we look off upon Ramleh, Jaffa, the broad - Plain of Sharon, and the sea. A strip of sand between the sea and the - plain produces the effect of a mirage, giving to the plain the appearance - of the sea. It would be a charming spot for a country-seat for a resident - of Jerusalem, although Jerusalem itself is rural enough at present; and - David and Solomon may have had summer pavilions in these cool shades in - sight of the Mediterranean. David himself, however, perhaps had enough of - this region—when he dodged about in these fastnesses between Ramah - and Gath, from the pursuit of Saul—to make him content with a city - life. There is nothing to hinder our believing that he often enjoyed this - prospect; and we do believe it, for it is already evident that the - imagination must be called in to create an enjoyment of this deserted - land. David no doubt loved this spot. For David was a poet, even at this - early period when his occupation was that of a successful guerilla; and he - had all the true poet's adaptability, as witness the exquisite ode he - composed on the death of his enemy Saul. I have no doubt that he enjoyed - this lovely prospect often, for he was a man who enjoyed heartily - everything lovely. He was in this as in all he did a <i>thorough</i> man; - when he made a raid on an Amorite city, he left neither man, woman, nor - child alive to spread the news. - </p> - <p> - We have already mounted over two thousand feet. The rocks are silicious - limestone, crumbling and gray with ages of exposure; they give the - landscape an ashy appearance. But there is always a little verdure amid - the rocks, and now and then an olive-tree, perhaps a very old one, - decrepit and twisted into the most fantastic form, as if distorted by a - vegetable rheumatism, casting abroad its withered arms as if the tree - writhed in pain. On such ghostly trees I have no doubt the five kings were - hanged. Another tree or rather shrub is abundant, the dwarf-oak; and the - hawthorn, now in blossom, is frequently seen. The rock-rose—a - delicate white single flower—blooms by the wayside and amid the - ledges, and the scarlet anemone flames out more brilliantly than ever. - Nothing indeed could be more beautiful than the contrast of the clusters - of scarlet anemones and white roses with the gray rocks. - </p> - <p> - We soon descend into a valley and reach the site of Kirjath-Jearim, which - has not much ancient interest for me, except that the name is pleasing; - but on the other side of the stream and opposite a Moslem fountain are the - gloomy stone habitations of the family of the terrible Abu Ghaush, whose - robberies of travellers kept the whole country in a panic a quarter of a - century ago. He held the key of this pass, and let no one go by without - toll. For fifty years he and his companions defied the Turkish government, - and even went to the extremity of murdering two pashas who attempted to - pass this way. He was disposed of in 1846, but his descendants still live - here, having the inclination but not the courage of the old chief. We did - not encounter any of them, but I have never seen any buildings that have - such a wicked physiognomy as their grim houses. - </p> - <p> - Near by is the ruin of a low, thick-walled chapel, of a pure Gothic style, - a remnant of the Crusaders' occupation. The gloomy wady has another - association; a monkish tradition would have us believe it was the - birthplace of Jeremiah; if the prophet was born in such a hard country it - might account for his lamentations. As we pass out of this wady, the - German driver points to a forlorn village clinging to the rocky slope of a - hill to the right, and says,— - </p> - <p> - “That is where John Baptist was born.” - </p> - <p> - The information is sudden and seems improbable, especially as there are - other places where he was born. - </p> - <p> - “How do you know?” we ask. - </p> - <p> - “O, I know <i>ganz wohl</i>; I been five years in dis land, and I ought to - know.” - </p> - <p> - Descending into a deep ravine we cross a brook, which we are told is the - one that flows into the Valley of Elah, the valley of the “terebinth” or - button trees; and if so, it is the brook out of which David took the stone - that killed Goliath. It is a bright, dashing stream. I stood upon the - bridge, watching it dancing down the ravine, and should have none but - agreeable recollections of it, but that close to the bridge stood a vile - grog-shop, and in the doorway sat the most villanous-looking man I ever - saw in Judæa, rapacity and murder in his eyes. The present generation have - much more to fear from him and his drugged liquors than the Israelite had - from the giant of Gath. - </p> - <p> - While the wagon zigzags up the last long hill, I mount by a short path and - come upon a rocky plateau, across which runs a broad way, on the bed rock, - worn smooth by many centuries of travel: by the passing of caravans and - armies to Jerusalem, of innumerable generations of peasants, of chariots, - of horses, mules, and foot-soldiers; here went the messengers of the - king's pleasure, and here came the heralds and legates of foreign nations; - this great highway the kings and prophets themselves must have trodden - when they journeyed towards the sea; for Ï cannot learn that the Jews ever - had any decent roads, and perhaps they never attained the civilization - necessary to build them. We have certainly seen no traces of anything like - a practicable ancient highway on this route. - </p> - <p> - Indeed, the greatest wonder to me in the whole East is that there has not - been a good road built from Jaffa to Jerusalem; that the city sacred to - more than half the world, to all the most powerful nations, to Moslems, - Jews, Greeks, Roman Catholics, Protestants, the desire of all lands, and - the object of pilgrimage with the delicate and the feeble as well as the - strong, should not have a highway to it over which one can ride without - being jarred and stunned and pounded to a jelly; that the Jews should - never have made a road to their seaport; that the Romans, the - road-builders, do not seem to have constructed one over this important - route. The Sultan began this one over which we have been dragged, for the - Empress Eugenie. But he did not finish it; most of the way it is a mere - rubble of stones. The track is well engineered, and the road bed is well - enough; soft stone is at hand to form an excellent dressing, and it might - be, in a short time, as good a highway as any in Switzerland, if the - Sultan would set some of his lazy subjects to work out their taxes on it. - Of course, it is now a great improvement over the old path for mules; but - as a carriage road it is atrocious. Imagine thirty-six miles of cobble - pavement, with every other stone gone and the remainder sharpened! - </p> - <p> - Perhaps, however, it is best not to have a decent road to the Holy City of - the world. It would make going there easy, even for delicate ladies and - invalid clergymen; it would reduce the cost of the trip from Jaffa by two - thirds; it would take away employment from a lot of vagabonds who harry - the traveller over the route; it would make the pilgrimage too much a - luxury, in these days of pilgrimages by rail, and of little faith, or - rather of a sort of lacquer of faith which is only credulity. - </p> - <p> - Upon this plateau we begin to discern signs of the neighborhood of the - city, and we press forward with the utmost eagerness, disappointed at - every turn that a sight of it is not disclosed. Scattered settlements - extend for some distance out on the Jaffa road. We pass a school which the - Germans have established for Arab boys; an institution which does not meet - the approval of our restoration driver; the boys, when they come out, he - says, don't know what they are; they are neither Moslems nor Christians. - We go rapidly on over the swelling hill, but the city will not reveal - itself. We expect it any moment to rise up before us, conspicuous on its - ancient hills, its walls shining in the sun. - </p> - <p> - We pass a guard-house, some towers, and newly built private residences. - Our pulses are beating a hundred to the minute, but the city refuses to - “burst” upon us as it does upon other travellers. We have advanced far - enough to see that there is no elevation before us higher than that we are - on. The great sight of all our lives is only a moment separated from us; - in a few rods more our hearts will be satisfied by that long-dreamed-of - prospect. How many millions of pilgrims have hurried along this road, - lifting up their eyes in impatience for the vision! But it does not come - suddenly. We have already seen it, when the driver stops, points with his - whip, and cries,— - </p> - <p> - “Jerusalem!” - </p> - <p> - “What, <i>that?</i>” - </p> - <p> - We are above it and nearly upon it. What we see is chiefly this: the domes - and long buildings of the Russian Hospice, on higher ground than the city - and concealing a good part of it; a large number of new houses, built of - limestone prettily streaked with the red oxyde of iron; the roofs of a few - of the city houses, and a little portion of the wall that overlooks the - Valley of Hinnom. The remainder of the city of David is visible to the - imagination. - </p> - <p> - The suburb through which we pass cannot be called pleasing. Everything - outside the walls looks new and naked; the whitish glare of the stone is - relieved by little vegetation, and the effect is that of barrenness. As we - drive down along the wall of the Russian convent, we begin to meet - pilgrims and strangers, with whom the city overflows at this season; many - Russian peasants, unkempt, unsavory fellows, with long hair and dirty - apparel, but most of them wearing a pelisse trimmed with fur and a huge - fur hat. There are coffee-houses and all sorts of cheap booths and shanty - shops along the highway. The crowd is motley and far from pleasant; it is - sordid, grimy, hard, very different from the more homogeneous, easy, - flowing, graceful, and picturesque assemblage of vagabonds at the gate of - an Egyptian town. There are Russians, Cossacks, Georgians, Jews, - Armenians, Syrians. The northern dirt and squalor and fanaticism do not - come gracefully into the Orient. Besides, the rabble is importunate and - impudent. - </p> - <p> - We enter by the Jaffa and Hebron gate, a big square tower, with the - exterior entrance to the north and the interior to the east, and the short - turn is choked with camels and horses and a clamorous crowd. Beside it - stands the ruinous citadel of Saladin and the Tower of David, a noble - entrance to a mean street. Through the rush of footmen and horsemen, - beggars, venders of olive-wood, Moslems, Jews, and Greeks, we make our way - to the Mediterranean Hotel, a rambling new hostelry. In passing to our - rooms we pause a moment upon an open balcony to look down into the green - Pool of Hezekiah, and off over the roofs to the Mount of Olives. Having - secured our rooms, I hasten along narrow and abominably cobbled streets, - mere ditches of stone, lined with mean shops, to the Centre of the Earth, - the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - II.—JERUSALEM. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>T was in obedience - to a natural but probably mistaken impulse, that I went straight to the - Church of the Holy Sepulchre during my first hour in the city. Perhaps it - was a mistake to go there at all; certainly I should have waited until I - had become more accustomed to holy places. When a person enters this - memorable church, as I did, expecting to see only two sacred sites, and is - brought immediately face to face with <i>thirty-seven</i>, his mind is - staggered, and his credulity becomes so enfeebled that it is practically - useless to him thereafter in any part of the Holy City. And this is a - pity, for it is so much easier and sweeter to believe than to doubt. - </p> - <p> - It would have been better, also, to have visited Jerusalem many years ago; - then there were fewer sacred sites invented, and scholarly investigation - had not so sharply questioned the authenticity of the few. But I thought - of none of these things as I stumbled along the narrow and filthy streets, - which are stony channels of mud and water, rather than foot-paths, and - peeped into the dirty little shops that line the way. I thought only that - I was in Jerusalem; and it was impossible, at first, for its near - appearance to empty the name of its tremendous associations, or to drive - out the image of that holy city, “conjubilant with song.” - </p> - <p> - I had seen the dome of the church from the hotel balcony; the building - itself is so hemmed in by houses that only its south side, in which is the - sole entrance, can be seen from the street. In front of this entrance is a - small square; the descent to this square is by a flight of steps down - Palmer Street, a lane given up to the traffic in beads, olive-wood, - ivory-carving, and the thousand trinkets, most of them cheap and - inartistic, which absorb the industry of the Holy City. The little square - itself, surrounded by ancient buildings on three sides and by the - blackened walls of the church on the north, might be set down in a - mediæval Italian town without incongruity. And at the hour I first saw it, - you would have said that a market or fair was in progress there. This, - however, I found was its normal condition. It is always occupied by a - horde of more clamorous and impudent merchants than you will find in any - other place in the Orient. - </p> - <p> - It is with some difficulty that the pilgrim can get through the throng and - approach the portal. The pavement is covered with heaps of beads, shells, - and every species of holy fancy-work, by which are seated the traders, men - and women, in wait for customers. The moment I stopped to look at the - church, and it was discovered that I was a new-comer, a rush was made at - me from every part of the square, and I was at once the centre of the most - eager and hungry crowd. Sharp-faced Greeks, impudent Jews, fair-faced - women from Bethlehem, sleek Armenians, thrust strings of rude olive beads - and crosses into my face, forced upon my notice trumpery carving in ivory, - in nuts, in seeds, and screamed prices and entreaties in chorus, bidding - against each other and holding fast to me, as if I were the last man, and - this were the last opportunity they would ever have of getting rid of - their rubbish. Handfuls of beads rapidly fell from five francs to half a - franc, and the dealers insisted upon my buying, with a threatening air; I - remember one hard-featured and rapacious wretch who danced about and clung - to me, and looked into my eyes with an expression that said plainly, “If - you don't buy these beads I 'll murder you.” My recollection is that I - bought, for I never can resist a persuasion of this sort. Whenever I saw - the fellow in the square afterwards, I always fancied that he regarded me - with a sort of contempt, but he made no further attempt on my life. - </p> - <p> - This is the sort of preparation that one daily has in approaching the - Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The greed and noise of traffic around it are - as fatal to sentiment as they are to devotion. You may be amused one day, - you may be indignant the next; at last you will be weary of the - importunate crowd; and the only consolation you can get from these daily - scenes of the desecration of the temple of pilgrimage is the proof they - afford that this is indeed Jerusalem, and that these are the legitimate - descendants of the thieves whom Christ scourged from the precincts of the - temple. Alas that they should thrive under the new dispensation as they - did under the old! - </p> - <p> - A considerable part of the present Church of the Holy Sepulchre is not - more than sixty years old; but the massive, carved, and dark south portal, - and the remains of the old towers and walls on this side, may be eight - hundred. There has been some sort of a church here ever since the time of - Constantine (that is, three centuries after the crucifixion of our Lord), - which has marked the spot that was then determined to be the site of the - Holy Sepulchre. Many a time the buildings have been swept away by fire or - by the fanaticism of enemies, but they have as often been renewed. There - would seem at first to have been a cluster of buildings here, each of - which arose to cover a newly discovered sacred site. Happily, all the - sacred places are now included within the walls of this many-roofed, - heterogeneous mass, of chapels, shrines, tombs, and altars of worship of - many warring sects, called the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. - </p> - <p> - Happily also the exhaustive discussion of the question of the true site of - the sepulchre, conducted by the most devout and accomplished biblical - scholars and the keenest antiquarians of the age, relieves the ordinary - tourist from any obligation to enter upon an investigation that would - interest none but those who have been upon the spot. No doubt the larger - portion of the Christian world accepts this site as the true one. - </p> - <p> - I make with diffidence a suggestion that struck me, although it may not be - new. The Pool of Hezekiah is not over four hundred feet, measured on the - map, from the dome of the sepulchre. Under the church itself are several - large excavations in the rocks, which were once cisterns. Ancient - Jerusalem depended for its water upon these cisterns, which took the - drainage from the roofs, and upon a few pools, like that of Hezekiah, - which were fed from other reservoirs, such as Solomon's Pool, at a - considerable distance from the city. These cisterns under the church may - not date back to the time of our Lord, but if they do, they were doubtless - at that time within the walls. And of course the Pool of Hezekiah, so near - to this alleged site, cannot be supposed to have been beyond the walls. - </p> - <p> - Within the door of the church, upon a raised divan at one side, as if this - were a bazaar and he were the merchant, sat a fat Turk, in official dress, - the sneering warden of this Christian edifice, and the perhaps necessary - guardian of peace within. His presence there, however, is at first a - disagreeable surprise to all those who rebel at owing an approach to the - holy place to the toleration of a Moslem; but I was quite relieved of any - sense of obligation when, upon coming out, the Turk asked me for - backsheesh! - </p> - <p> - Whatever one may think as to the site of Calvary, no one can approach a - spot which even claims to be it, and which has been for centuries the - object of worship of millions, and is constantly thronged by believing - pilgrims, without profound emotion. It was late in the afternoon when I - entered the church, and already the shades of evening increased the - artificial gloom of the interior. At the very entrance lies an object that - arrests one. It is a long marble slab resting upon the pavement, about - which candles are burning. Every devout pilgrim who comes in kneels and - kisses it, and it is sometimes difficult to see it for the crowds who - press about it. Underneath it is supposed to be the Stone of Unction upon - which the Lord's body was laid, according to the Jewish fashion, for - anointing, after he was taken from the cross. - </p> - <p> - I turned directly into the rotunda, under the dome of which is the stone - building enclosing the Holy Sepulchre, a ruder structure than that which - covers the hut and tomb of St. Francis in the church at Assisi. I met in - the way a procession of Latin monks, bearing candles, and chanting as they - walked. They were making the round of the holy places in the church, this - being their hour for the tour. The sects have agreed upon certain hours - for these little daily pilgrimages, so that there shall be no collision. A - rabble of pilgrims followed the monks. They had just come from incensing - and adoring the sepulchre, and the crowd of other pilgrims who had been - waiting their turn were now pressing in at the narrow door. As many times - as I have been there, I have always seen pilgrims struggling to get in and - struggling to get out. The proud and the humble crowd there together; the - greasy boor from beyond the Volga jostles my lady from Naples, and the - dainty pilgrim from America pushes her way through a throng of stout - Armenian peasants. But I have never seen any disorder there, nor any - rudeness, except the thoughtless eagerness of zeal. - </p> - <p> - Taking my chance in the line, I passed into the first apartment, called - the Chapel of the Angel, a narrow and gloomy antechamber, which takes its - name from the fragment of stone in the centre, the stone upon which the - angel sat after it had been rolled away from the sepulchre. A stream of - light came through the low and narrow door of the tomb. Through the - passage to this vault only one person can enter at a time, and the tomb - will hold no more than three or four. Stooping along the passage, which is - cased with marble like the tomb, and may cover natural rock, I came into - the sacred place, and into a blaze of silver lamps, and candles. The vault - is not more than six feet by seven, and is covered by a low dome. The - sepulchral stone occupies all the right side, and is the object of - devotion. It is of marble, supposed to cover natural stone, and is cracked - and worn smooth on the edge by the kisses of millions of people. The - attendant who stood at one end opened a little trap-door, in which - lamp-cloths were kept, and let me see the naked rock, which is said to be - that of the tomb. While I stood there in that very centre of the faith and - longing of so many souls, which seemed almost to palpitate with a - consciousness of its awful position, pilgrim after pilgrim, on bended - knees, entered the narrow way, kissed with fervor or with coldness the - unresponsive marble, and withdrew in the same attitude. Some approached it - with streaming eyes and kissed it with trembling rapture; some ladies - threw themselves upon the cold stone and sobbed aloud. Indeed, I did not - of my own will intrude upon these acts of devotion, which have the right - of secrecy, but it was some time before I could escape, so completely was - the entrance blocked up. When I had struggled out, I heard chanting from - the hill of Golgotha, and saw the gleaming of a hundred lights from chapel - and tomb and remote recesses, but I cared to see no more of the temple - itself that day. - </p> - <p> - The next morning (it was the 7th of April) was very cold, and the day - continued so. Without, the air was keen, and within it was nearly - impossible to get warm or keep so, in the thick-walled houses, which had - gathered the damp and chill of dungeons. You might suppose that the - dirtiest and most beggarly city in the world could not be much - deteriorated by the weather, but it is. In a cheerful, sunny day you find - that the desolation of Jerusalem has a certain charm and attraction: even - a tattered Jew leaning against a ruined wall, or a beggar on a dunghill, - is picturesque in the sunshine; but if you put a day of chill rain and - frosty wind into the city, none of the elements of complete misery are - wanting. There is nothing to be done, day or night; indeed, there is - nothing ever to be done in the evening, except to read your guide-book—that - is, the Bible—and go to bed. You are obliged to act like a Christian - here, whatever you are. - </p> - <p> - Speaking of the weather, a word about the time for visiting Syria may not - be amiss. In the last part of March the snow was a foot deep in the - streets; parties who had started on their tour northward were snowed in - and forced to hide in their tents three days from the howling winter. - There is pleasure for you! We found friends in the city who had been - waiting two weeks after they had exhausted its sights, for settled weather - that would permit them to travel northward. To be sure, the inhabitants - say that this last storm ought to have been rain instead of snow, - according to the habit of the seasons; and it no doubt would have been if - this region were not twenty-five hundred feet above the sea. The hardships - of the Syrian tour are enough in the best weather, and I am convinced that - our dragoman is right in saying that most travellers begin it too early in - the spring. - </p> - <p> - Jerusalem is not a formidable city to the explorer who is content to - remain above ground, and is not too curious about its substructions and - buried walls, and has no taste, as some have, for crawling through its - drains. I suppose it would elucidate the history of the Jews if we could - dig all this hill away and lay bare all the old foundations, and ascertain - exactly how the city was watered. I, for one, am grateful to the excellent - man and great scholar who crawled on his hands and knees through a - subterranean conduit, and established the fact of a connection between the - Fountain of the Virgin and the Pool of Siloam. But I would rather - contribute money to establish a school for girls in the Holy City, than to - aid in laying bare all the aqueducts from Ophel to the Tower of David. But - this is probably because I do not enough appreciate the importance of such - researches among Jewish remains to the progress of Christian truth and - morality in the world. The discoveries hitherto made have done much to - clear up the topography of ancient Jerusalem; I do not know that they have - yielded anything valuable to art or to philology, any treasures - illustrating the habits, the social life, the culture, or the religion of - the past, such as are revealed beneath the soil of Rome or in the ashes of - Pompeii; it is, however, true that almost every tourist in Jerusalem - becomes speedily involved in all these questions of ancient sites,—the - identification of valleys that once existed, of walls that are now sunk - under the accumulated rubbish of two thousand years, from thirty feet to - ninety feet deep, and of foundations that are rough enough and massive - enough to have been laid by David and cemented by Solomon. And the - fascination of the pursuit would soon send one underground, with a pickaxe - and a shovel. But of all the diggings I saw in the Holy City, that which - interested me most was the excavation of the church and hospital of the - chivalric Knights of St. John; concerning which I shall say a word further - on. - </p> - <p> - The present walls were built by Sultan Suleiman in the middle of the - sixteenth century, upon foundations much older, and here and there, as you - can see, upon big blocks of Jewish workmanship. The wall is high enough - and very picturesque in its zigzag course and re-entering angles, and, I - suppose, strong enough to hitch a horse to; but cannon-balls would make - short work of it. - </p> - <p> - Having said thus much of the topography, gratuitously and probably - unnecessarily, for every one is supposed to know Jerusalem as well as he - knows his native town, we are free to look at anything that may chance to - interest us. I do not expect, however, that any words of mine can convey - to the reader a just conception of the sterile and blasted character of - this promontory and the country round about it, or of the squalor, - shabbiness, and unpicturesqueness of the city, always excepting a few of - its buildings and some fragments of antiquity built into modern structures - here and there. And it is difficult to feel that this spot was ever the - splendid capital of a powerful state, that this arid and stricken country - could ever have supplied the necessities of such a capital, and, above - all, that so many Jews could ever have been crowded within this cramped - space as Josephus says perished in the siege by Titus, when ninety-seven - thousand were carried into captivity and eleven hundred thousand died by - famine and the sword. Almost the entire Jewish nation must have been - packed within this small area. - </p> - <p> - Our first walk through the city was in the Via Dolorosa, as gloomy a - thoroughfare as its name implies. Its historical portion is that steep and - often angled part between the Holy Sepulchre and the house of Pilate, but - we traversed the whole length of it to make our exit from St. Stephen's - Gate toward the Mount of Olives. It is only about four hundred years ago - that this street obtained the name of the Via Dolorosa, and that the - sacred “stations” on it were marked out for the benefit of the pilgrim. It - is a narrow lane, steep in places, having frequent sharp angles, running - under arches, and passing between gloomy buildings, enlivened by few - shops. Along this way Christ passed from the Judgment Hall of Pilate to - Calvary. I do not know how many times the houses along it have been - destroyed and rebuilt since their conflagration by Titus, but this - destruction is no obstacle to the existence intact of all that are - necessary to illustrate the Passion-pilgrimage of our Lord. In this street - I saw the house of Simon the Cyrenian, who bore the cross after Jesus; I - saw the house of St. Veronica, from which that woman stepped forth and - gave Jesus a handkerchief to wipe his brow,—the handkerchief, with - the Lord's features imprinted on it, which we have all seen exhibited at - St. Peter's in Rome; and I looked for the house of the Wandering Jew, or - at least for the spot where he stood when he received that awful mandate - of fleshly immortality. In this street are recognized the several - “stations” that Christ made in bearing the cross; we were shown the places - where he fell, a stone having the impress of his hand, a pillar broken by - his fall, and also the stone upon which Mary sat when he passed by. - Nothing is wanting that the narrative requires. We saw also in this street - the house of Dives, and the stone on which Lazarus sat while the dogs - ministered unto him. It seemed to me that I must be in a dream, in thus - beholding the houses and places of resort of the characters in a <i>parable</i>; - and I carried my dilemma to a Catholic friend. But a learned father - assured him that there was no doubt that this is the house of Dives, for - Christ often took his parables from real life. After that I went again to - look at the stone, in a corner of a building amid a heap of refuse, upon - which the beggar sat, and to admire the pretty stone tracery of the - windows in the house of Dives. - </p> - <p> - At the end of the street, in a new Latin nunnery, are the remains of the - house of Pilate, which are supposed to be authentic. The present - establishment is called the convent of St. Anne, and the community is very - fortunate, at this late day, in obtaining such a historic site for itself. - We had the privilege of seeing here some of the original rock that formed - part of the foundations of Pilate's house; and there are three stones - built into the altar that were taken from the pavement of Gabbatha, upon - which Christ walked. These are recent discoveries; it appears probable - that the real pavement of Gabbatha has been found, since Pilate's house is - so satisfactorily identified. Spanning the street in front of this convent - is the Ecce Homo arch, upon which Pilate showed Christ to the populace. - The ground of the new building was until recently in possession of the - Moslems, who would not sell it for a less price than seventy thousand - francs; the arch they would not sell at all; and there now dwells, in a - small chamber on top of it, a Moslem saint and hermit. The world of - pilgrims flows under his feet; he looks from his window upon a daily - procession of Christians, who traverse the Via Dolorosa, having first - signified their submission to the Moslem yoke in the Holy City by passing - under this arch of humiliation. The hermit, however, has the grace not to - show himself, and few know that he sits there, in the holy occupation of - letting his hair and his nails grow. - </p> - <p> - From the house of the Roman procurator we went to the citadel of Sultan - Suleiman. This stands close by the Jaffa Gate, and is the most picturesque - object in all the circuit of the walls, and, although the citadel is of - modern origin, its most characteristic portion lays claim to great - antiquity. The massive structure which impresses all strangers who enter - by the Jaffa Gate is called the Tower of Hippicus, and also the Tower of - David. It is identified as the tower which Herod built and Josephus - describes, and there is as little doubt that its foundations are the same - that David laid and Solomon strengthened. There are no such stones in any - other part of the walls as these enormous bevelled blocks; they surpass - those in the Harem wall, at what is called the Jews' Wailing Place. The - tower stands upon the northwest corner of the old wall of Zion, and being - the point most open to attack it was most strongly built. - </p> - <p> - It seems also to have been connected with the palace on Zion which David - built, for it is the tradition that it was from this tower that the king - first saw Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, when “it came to pass in an - eventide that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of - the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and - the woman was very beautiful to look upon.” On the other side of the city - gate we now look down upon the Pool of Bathsheba, in which there is no - water, and we are informed that it was by that pool that the lovely woman, - who was destined to be the mother of Solomon, sat when the king took his - evening walk. Others say that she sat by the Pool of Gibon. It does not - matter. The subject was a very fruitful one for the artists of the - Renaissance, who delighted in a glowing reproduction of the biblical - stories, and found in such incidents as this and the confusion of Susanna - themes in which the morality of the age could express itself without any - conflict with the religion of the age. It is a comment not so much upon - the character of David as upon the morality of the time in which he lived, - that although he repented, and no doubt sincerely, of his sin when - reproved for it, his repentance did not take the direction of self-denial; - he did not send away Bathsheba. - </p> - <p> - This square old tower is interiorly so much in ruins that it is not easy - to climb to its parapet, and yet it still has a guardhouse attached to it, - and is kept like a fortification; a few rusty old cannon, under the charge - of the soldiers, would injure only those who attempted to fire them; the - entire premises have a tumble-down, Turkish aspect. The view from the top - is the best in the city of the city itself; we saw also from it the hills - of Moab and a bit of the Dead Sea. - </p> - <p> - Close by is the Armenian quarter, covering a large part of what was once - the hill of Zion. I wish it were the Christian quarter, for it is the only - part of the town that makes any pretension to cleanliness, and it has more - than any other the aspect of an abode of peace and charity. This is owing - to its being under the government of one corporation, for the Armenian - convent covers nearly the entire space of this extensive quarter. The - convent is a singular, irregular mass of houses, courts, and streets, the - latter apparently running over and under and through the houses; you come - unexpectedly upon stairways, you traverse roofs, you enter rooms and - houses on the roofs of other houses, and it is difficult to say at any - time whether you are on the earth or in the air. The convent, at this - season, is filled with pilgrims, over three thousand of whom, I was told, - were lodged here. We came upon families of them in the little rooms in the - courts and corridors, or upon the roofs, pursuing their domestic - avocations as if they were at home, cooking, mending, sleeping, a boorish - but simple-minded lot of peasants. - </p> - <p> - The church is a large and very interesting specimen of religious - architecture and splendid, barbaric decoration. In the vestibule hang the - “bells.” These are long planks of a sonorous wood, which give forth a - ringing sound when struck with a club. As they are of different sizes, you - get some variation of tone, and they can be heard far enough to call the - inmates of the convent to worship. The interior walls are lined with - ancient blue tiles to a considerable height, and above them are rude and - inartistic sacred pictures. There is in the church much curious inlaid - work of mother-of-pearl and olive-wood, especially about the doors of the - chapels, and one side shines with the pearl as if it were encrusted with - silver. Ostrich eggs are strung about in profusion, with hooks attached - for hanging lamps. - </p> - <p> - The first day of our visit to this church, in one of the doorways of what - seemed to be a side chapel, and which was thickly encrusted with - mother-of-pearl, stood the venerable bishop, in a light rose-colored robe - and a pointed hood, with a cross in his hand, preaching to the pilgrims, - who knelt on the pavement before him, talking in a familiar manner, and, - our guide said, with great plainness of speech. The Armenian clergy are - celebrated for the splendor of their vestments, and I could not but think - that this rose-colored bishop, in his shining framework, must seem like a - being of another sphere to the boors before him. He almost imposed upon - us. - </p> - <p> - These pilgrims appeared to be of the poorest agricultural class of - laborers, and their costume is uncouth beyond description. In a side - chapel, where we saw tiles on the walls that excited our envy,—the - quaintest figures and illustrations of sacred subjects,—the clerks - were taking the names of pilgrims just arrived, who kneeled before them - and paid a Napoleon each for their lodging in the convent, as long as they - should choose to stay. In this chapel were the shoes of the pilgrims who - had gone into the church, a motley collection of foot-gear, covering half - the floor: leather and straw, square shoes as broad as long, round shoes, - pointed shoes, old shoes, patched shoes, shoes with the toes gone, a - pathetic gathering that told of poverty and weary travel—and big - feet. These shoes were things to muse on, for each pair, made maybe in a - different century, seemed to have a character of its own, as it stood - there awaiting the owner. People often, make reflections upon a pair of - shoes; literature is full of them. Poets have celebrated many a pretty - shoe,—a queen's slipper, it may be, or the hobnail brogan of a - peasant, or, oftener, the tiny shoes of a child; but it is seldom that one - has an opportunity for such comprehensive moralizing as was here given. If - we ever regretted the lack of a poet in our party, it was now. - </p> - <p> - We walked along the Armenian walls, past the lepers' quarter, and outside - the walls, through the Gate of Zion, or the Gate of the Prophet David as - it is also called, and came upon a continuation of the plateau of the hill - of Zion, which is now covered with cemeteries, and is the site of the - house of Caiaphas and of the tomb of David and those Kings of Jerusalem - who were considered by the people worthy of sepulture here; for the Jews - seem to have brought from Egypt the notion of refusing royal burial to - their bad kings, and they had very few respectable ones. - </p> - <p> - The house of Caiaphas the high-priest had suffered a recent tumble-down, - and was in such a state of ruin that we could with difficulty enter it or - recognize any likeness of a house. On the premises is an Armenian chapel; - in it we were shown the prison in which Christ was confined, also the - stone door of the sepulchre, which the Latins say the Armenians stole. But - the most remarkable object here is the little marble column (having carved - on it a figure of Christ bound to a pillar) upon which the cock stood and - crowed when Peter denied his Lord. There are some difficulties in the way - of believing this now, but they will lessen as the column gets age. - </p> - <p> - Outside this gate lie the desolate fields strewn with the brown tombstones - of the Greeks and Armenians, a melancholy spectacle. Each sect has its own - cemetery, and the dead sleep peaceably enough, but the living who bury - them frequently quarrel. I saw one day a funeral procession halted outside - the walls; for some reason the Greek priest had refused the dead burial in - the grave dug for him in the cemetery; the bier was dumped on the slope - beside the road, and half overturned; the friends were sitting on the - ground, wrangling. The man had been dead three days, and the coffin had - been by the roadside in this place since the day before. This was in the - morning; towards night I saw the same crowd there, but a Turkish official - appeared and ordered the Greeks to bury their dead somewhere, and that - without delay; to bury it for the sake of the public health, and quarrel - about the grave afterwards if they must. A crowd collected, joining with - fiery gesticulation and clamor in the dispute, the shrill voices of women - being heard above all; but at last, four men roughly shouldered the box, - handling it as if it contained merchandise, and trotted off with it. - </p> - <p> - As we walked over this pathless, barren necropolis, strewn, as it were, - hap-hazard with shapeless, broken, and leaning headstones, it was - impossible to connect with it any sentiment of affection or piety. It - spoke, like everything else about here, of mortality, and seemed only a - part of that historical Jerusalem which is dead and buried, in which no - living person can have anything more than an archaeological interest. It - was, then, with something like a shock that we heard Demetrius, our guide, - say, pointing to a rude stone,— - </p> - <p> - “That is the grave of my mother!” - </p> - <p> - Demetrius was a handsome Greek boy, of a beautiful type which has almost - disappeared from Greece itself, and as clever a lad as ever spoke all - languages and accepted all religions, without yielding too much to any - one. He had been well educated in the English school, and his education - had failed to put any faith in place of the superstition it had destroyed. - The boy seemed to be numerously if not well connected in the city; he was - always exchanging a glance and a smile with some pretty, dark-eyed Greek - girl whom we met in the way, and when I said, “Demetrius, who was that?” - he always answered, “That is my cousin.” - </p> - <p> - The boy was so intelligent, so vivacious, and full of the spirit of - adventure,—begging me a dozen times a day to take him with me - anywhere in the world,—and so modern, that he had not till this - moment seemed to belong to Jerusalem, nor to have any part in its decay. - This chance discovery of his intimate relation to this necropolis gave, if - I may say so, a living interest to it, and to all the old burying-grounds - about the city, some of which link the present with the remote past by an - uninterrupted succession of interments for nearly three thousand years. - </p> - <p> - Just beyond this expanse, or rather in part of it, is a small plot of - ground surrounded by high whitewashed walls, the entrance to which is - secured by a heavy door. This is the American cemetery; and the stout door - and thick wall are, I suppose, necessary to secure its graves from Moslem - insult. It seems not to be visited often, for it was with difficulty that - we could turn the huge key in the rusty lock. There are some half-dozen - graves within; the graves are grass-grown and flower-sprinkled, and the - whole area is a tangle of unrestrained weeds and grass. The high wall cuts - off all view, but we did not for the time miss it, rather liking for the - moment to be secured from the sight of the awful desolation, and to muse - upon the strange fortune that had drawn to be buried here upon Mount Zion, - as a holy resting-place for them, people alien in race, language, and - customs to the house of David, and removed from it by such spaces of time - and distance; people to whom the worship performed by David, if he could - renew it in person on Zion, would be as distasteful as is that of the Jews - in yonder synagogue. - </p> - <p> - Only a short distance from this we came to the mosque which contains the - tomb of David and probably of Solomon and other Kings of Judah. No - historical monument in or about Jerusalem is better authenticated than - this. Although now for many centuries the Moslems have had possession of - it and forbidden access to it, there is a tolerably connected tradition of - its possession. It was twice opened and relieved of the enormous treasure - in gold and silver which Solomon deposited in it; once by Hyrcanus - Maccabæus, who took what he needed, and again by Herod, who found very - little. There are all sorts of stories told about the splendor of this - tomb and the state with which the Moslems surround it. But they envelop it - in so much mystery that no one can know the truth. It is probable that the - few who suppose they have seen it have seen only a sort of cenotaph which - is above the real tomb in the rock below. The room which has been seen is - embellished with some display of richness in shawls and hangings of gold - embroidery, and contains a sarcophagus of rough stone, and lights are - always burning there. If the royal tombs are in this place, they are - doubtless in the cave below. - </p> - <p> - Over this spot was built a church by the early Christians; and it is a - tradition that in this building was the Conaculum. This site may very - likely be that of the building where the Last Supper was laid, and it may - be that St. Stephen suffered martyrdom here, and that the Virgin died - here; the building may be as old as the fourth century, but the chances of - any building standing so long in this repeatedly destroyed city are not - good. There is a little house north of this mosque in which the Virgin - spent the last years of her life; if she did, she must have lived to be - over a thousand years old. - </p> - <p> - On the very brow of the hill, and overlooking the lower pool of Gibon, is - the English school, with its pretty garden and its cemetery. We saw there - some excavations, by which the bedrock had been laid bare, disclosing some - stone steps cut in it. Search is being made here for the Seat of Solomon, - but it does not seem to me a vital matter, for I suppose he sat down all - over this hill, which was covered with his palaces and harems and other - buildings of pleasure, built of stones that “were of great value, such as - are dug out of the earth for the ornaments of temples and to make fine - prospects in royal palaces, and which make the mines whence they are dug - famous.” Solomon's palace was constructed entirely of white stone, and - cedar-wood, and gold and silver; in it “were very long cloisters, and - those situate in an agreeable place in the palace, and among them a most - glorious dining-room for feastings and compotations”; indeed, Josephus - finds it difficult to reckon up the variety and the magnitude of the royal - apartments,—“how many that were subterraneous and invisible, the - curiosity of those that enjoyed the fresh air, and the groves for the most - delightful prospect, for avoiding the heat, and covering their bodies.” If - this most luxurious of monarchs introduced here all the styles of - architecture which would represent the nationality of his wives, as he - built temples to suit their different religions, the hill of Zion must - have resembled, on a small scale, the Munich of King Ludwig I. - </p> - <p> - Opposite the English school, across the Valley of Hinnom, is a long block - of modern buildings which is one of the most conspicuous objects outside - the city. It was built by another rich Jew, Sir Moses Montefiore, of - London, and contains tenements for poor Jews. Sir Moses is probably as - rich as Solomon was in his own right, and he makes a most charitable use - of his money; but I do not suppose that if he had at his command the - public wealth that Solomon had, who made silver as plentiful as stones in - the streets of Jerusalem, he could materially alleviate the lazy indigence - of the Jewish exiles here. The aged philanthropist made a journey hither - in the summer of 1875, to ascertain for himself the condition of the Jews. - I believe he has a hope of establishing manufactories in which they can - support themselves; but the minds of the Jews who are already restored are - not set upon any sort of industry. It seems to me that they could be - maintained much more cheaply if they were transported to a less barren - land. - </p> - <p> - We made, one day, an exploration of the Jews' quarter, which enjoys the - reputation of being more filthy than the Christian. The approach to it is - down a gutter which has the sounding name of the Street of David; it was - bad enough, but when we entered the Jews' part of the city we found - ourselves in lanes and gutters of incomparable unpleasantness, and almost - impassable, with nothing whatever in them interesting or picturesque, - except the inhabitants. We had a curiosity to see if there were here any - real Jews of the type that inhabited the city in the time of our Lord, and - we saw many with fair skin and light hair, with straight nose and regular - features. The persons whom we are accustomed to call Jews, and who were - found dispersed about Europe at a very early period of modern history, - have the Assyrian features, the hook nose, dark hair and eyes, and not at - all the faces of the fair-haired race from which our Saviour is supposed - to have sprung. The kingdom of Israel, which contained the ten tribes, was - gobbled up by the Assyrians about the time Rome was founded, and from that - date these tribes do not appear historically. They may have entirely - amalgamated with their conquerors, and the modified race subsequently have - passed into Europe; for the Jews claim to have been in Europe before the - destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, in which nearly all the people of the - kingdom of Judah perished. - </p> - <p> - Some scholars, who have investigated the problem offered by the two types - above mentioned, think that the Jew as we know him in Europe and America - is not the direct descendant of the Jews of Jerusalem of the time of - Herod, and that the true offspring of the latter is the person of the - light hair and straight nose who is occasionally to be found in Jerusalem - to-day. Until this ethnological problem is settled, I shall most certainly - withhold my feeble contributions for the “restoration” of the persons at - present doing business under the name of Jews among the Western nations. - </p> - <p> - But we saw another type of Jew, or rather another variety, in this - quarter. He called himself of the tribe of Benjamin, and is, I think, the - most unpleasant human being I have ever encountered. Every man who - supposes himself of this tribe wears a dark, corkscrew, stringy curl - hanging down each side of his face, and the appearance of nasty effeminacy - which this gives cannot be described. The tribe of Benjamin does not - figure well in sacred history,—it was left-handed; it was pretty - much exterminated by the other tribes once for an awful crime; it was held - from going into the settled idolatry of the kingdom of Israel only by its - contiguity to Judah,—but it was better than its descendants, if - these are its descendants. - </p> - <p> - More than half of the eight thousand Jews in Jerusalem speak Spanish as - their native tongue, and are the offspring of those expelled from Spain by - Ferdinand. Now and then, I do not know whether it was Spanish or Arabic, - we saw a good face, a noble countenance, a fine Oriental and venerable - type, and occasionally, looking from a window, a Jewish beauty; but the - most whom we met were debased, mis-begotten, the remnants of sin, squalor, - and bad living. - </p> - <p> - We went into two of the best synagogues,—one new, with a conspicuous - green dome. They are not fine; on the contrary, they are slatternly places - and very ill-kept. On the benches near the windows sat squalid men and - boys reading, the latter, no doubt, students of the law; all the passages, - stairs, and by-rooms were dirty and disorderly, as if it were always - Monday morning there, but never washing-day; rags and heaps of ancient - garments were strewn about; and occasionally we nearly stumbled over a - Jew, indistinguishable from a bundle of old clothes, and asleep on the - floor. Even the sanctuary is full of unkempt people, and of the evidences - of the squalor of the quarter. If this is a specimen of the restoration of - the Jews, they had better not be restored any more. - </p> - <p> - The thing to do (if the worldliness of the expression will be pardoned) - Friday is to go and see the Jews wail, as in Constantinople it is to see - the Sultan go to prayer, and in Cairo to hear the darwishes howl. The - performance, being an open-air one, is sometimes prevented by rain or - snow, but otherwise it has not failed for many centuries. This ancient - practice is probably not what it once was, having in our modern days, by - becoming a sort of fashion, lost its spontaneity; it will, however, - doubtless be long kept up, as everything of this sort endures in the East, - even if it should become necessary to hire people to wail. - </p> - <p> - The Friday morning of the day chosen for our visit to the wailing place - was rainy, following a rainy night. The rough-paved open alleys were - gutters of mud, the streets under arches (for there are shops in - subterranean constructions and old vaulted passages) were damper and - darker than usual; the whole city, with its narrow lanes, and thick walls, - and no sewers, was clammy and uncomfortable. We loitered for a time in the - dark and grave-like gold bazaars, where there is but a poor display of - attractions. Pilgrims from all lands were sopping about in the streets; - conspicuous among them were Persians wearing high, conical frieze hats, - and short-legged, big-calfed Russian peasant women,—animated - meal-bags. - </p> - <p> - We walked across to the Zion Gate, and mounting the city wall there—an - uneven and somewhat broken, but sightly promenade—followed it round - to its junction with the Temple wall, and to Robinson's Arch. Underneath - the wall by Zion Gate dwell, in low stone huts and burrows, a considerable - number of lepers, who form a horrid community by themselves. These poor - creatures, with toeless feet and fingerless hands, came out of their dens - and assailed us with piteous cries for charity. What could be done? It was - impossible to give to all. The little we threw them they fought for, and - the unsuccessful followed us with whetted eagerness. We could do nothing - but flee, and we climbed the wall and ran down it, leaving Demetrius - behind as a rear-guard. I should have had more pity for them if they had - not exhibited so much maliciousness. They knew their power, and brought - all their loathsomeness after us, thinking that we would be forced to buy - their retreat. Two hideous old women followed us a long distance, and when - they became convinced that further howling and whining would be fruitless, - they suddenly changed tone and cursed us with healthful vigor; having - cursed us, they hobbled home to roost. - </p> - <p> - This part of the wall crosses what was once the Tyrophoan Valley, which is - now pretty much filled up; it ran between Mount Moriah, on which the - Temple stood, and Mount Zion. It was spanned in ancient times by a bridge - some three hundred and fifty feet long, resting on stone arches whose - piers must have been from one hundred to two hundred feet in height; this - connected the Temple platform with the top of the steep side of Zion. It - was on the Temple end of this bridge that Titus stood and held parley with - the Jews who refused to surrender Zion after the loss of Moriah. - </p> - <p> - The exact locality of this interesting bridge was discovered by Dr. - Robinson. Just north of the southwest corner of the Harem wall (that is, - the Temple or Mount Moriah wall) he noticed three courses of huge - projecting stones, which upon careful inspection proved to be the segment - of an arch. The spring of the arch is so plainly to be seen now that it is - a wonder it remained so long unknown. - </p> - <p> - The Wailing Place of the Jews is on the west side of the Temple enclosure, - a little to the north of this arch; it is in a long, narrow court formed - by the walls of modern houses and the huge blocks of stone of this part of - the original wall. These stones are no doubt as old as Solomon's Temple, - and the Jews can here touch the very walls of the platform of that sacred - edifice. - </p> - <p> - Every Friday a remnant of the children of Israel comes here to weep and - wail. They bring their Scriptures, and leaning against the honey-combed - stone, facing it, read the Lamentations and the Psalms, in a wailing - voice, and occasionally cry aloud in a chorus of lamentation, weeping, - blowing their long noses with blue cotton handkerchiefs, and kissing the - stones. We were told that the smoothness of the stones in spots was owing - to centuries of osculation. The men stand together at one part of the wall - and the women at another. There were not more than twenty Jews present as - actors in the solemn ceremony the day we visited the spot, and they did - not wail much, merely reading the Scriptures in a mumbling voice and - swaying their bodies backward and forward. Still they formed picturesque - and even pathetic groups: venerable old men with long white beards and - hooked noses, clad in rags and shreds and patches in all degrees of - decadence; lank creatures of the tribe of Benjamin with the corkscrew - curls; and skinny old women shaking with weeping, real or assumed. - </p> - <p> - Very likely these wailers were as poor and wretched as they appeared to - be, and their tears were the natural outcome of their grief over the ruin - of the Temple nearly two thousand years ago. I should be the last one to - doubt their enjoyment of this weekly bitter misery. But the demonstration - had somewhat the appearance of a set and show performance; while it was - going on, a shrewd Israelite went about with a box to collect mites from - the spectators. There were many more travellers. there to see the wailing - than there were Jews to wail. This also lent an unfavorable aspect to the - scene. I myself felt that if this were genuine, I had no business to be - there with my undisguised curiosity, and if it were not genuine, it was - the poorest spectacle that Jerusalem offers to the tourist. Cook's party - was there in force, this being one of the things promised in the contract; - and I soon found myself more interested in Cook's pilgrims than in the - others. - </p> - <p> - The Scripture read and wailed this day was the fifty-first Psalm of David. - If you turn to it (you may have already discovered that the covert purpose - of these desultory notes is to compel you to read your Bible), you will - see that it expresses David's penitence in the matter of Bathsheba. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - III.—HOLY PLACES OP THE HOLY CITY. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE sojourner in - Jerusalem falls into the habit of dropping in at the Church of the Holy - Sepulchre nearly every afternoon. It is the centre of attraction. There - the pilgrims all resort; there one sees, in a day, many races, and the - costumes of strange and distant peoples; there one sees the various - worship of the many Christian sects. There are always processions making - the round of the holy places, sect following sect, with swinging censers, - each fumigating away the effect of its predecessor. - </p> - <p> - The central body of the church, answering to the nave, as the rotunda, - which contains the Holy Sepulchre, answers to choir and apse, is the Greek - chapel, and the most magnificent in the building. The portion of the - church set apart to the Latins, opening also out of the rotunda, is merely - a small chapel. The Armenians have still more contracted accommodations, - and the poor Copts enjoy a mere closet, but it is in a sacred spot, being - attached to the west end of the sepulchre itself. - </p> - <p> - On the western side of the rotunda we passed through the bare and - apparently uncared-for chapel of the Syrians, and entered, through a low - door, into a small grotto hewn in the rock. Lighted candles revealed to us - some tombs, little pits cut in the rock, two in the side-wall and two in - the floor. We had a guide who knew every sacred spot in the city, a man - who never failed to satisfy the curiosity of the most credulous tourist. - </p> - <p> - “Whose tombs are these?” we asked. - </p> - <p> - “That is the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and that beside it is the tomb - of Nicodemus.” - </p> - <p> - “How do you know?” - </p> - <p> - “How do I know? You ask me how I know. Have n't I always lived in - Jerusalem? I was born here.” - </p> - <p> - “Then perhaps you can tell us, if this tomb belonged to Joseph of - Arimathea and this to Nicodemus, whose is this third one?” - </p> - <p> - “O yes, that other,” replied the guide, with only a moment's paralysis of - his invention, “that is the tomb of Arimathea himself.” - </p> - <p> - One afternoon at four, service was going on in the Greek chapel, which - shone with silver and blazed with tapers, and was crowded with pilgrims, - principally Russians of both sexes, many of whom had made a painful - pilgrimage of more than two thousand miles on foot merely to prostrate - themselves in this revered place. A Russian bishop and a priest, in the - resplendent robes of their office, were intoning the service responsively. - In the very centre of this chapel is a round hole covered with a grating, - and tapers are generally burning about it. All the pilgrims kneeled there, - and kissed the grating and adored the hole. I had the curiosity to push my - way through the throng in order to see the object of devotion, but I could - discover nothing. It is, however, an important spot: it is the centre of - the earth; though why Christians should worship the centre of the earth I - do not know. The Armenians have in their chapel also a spot that they say - is the real centre; that makes three that we know of, for everybody - understands that there is one in the Kaaba at Mecca. - </p> - <p> - We sat down upon a stone bench near the entrance of the chapel, where we - could observe the passing streams of people, and were greatly diverted by - a blithe and comical beggar who had stationed himself on the pavement - there to intercept the Greek charity of the worshippers when they passed - into the rotunda. He was a diminutive man with distorted limbs; he wore a - peaked red cap, and dragged himself over the pavement, or rather skipped - and flopped about on it like a devil-fish on land. Never was seen in a - beggar such vivacity and imperturbable good-humor, with so much deviltry - in his dancing eyes. - </p> - <p> - As we appeared to him to occupy a neutral position as to him and his - victims, he soon took us into his confidence and let us see his mode of - operations. He said (to our guide) that he was a Greek from Damascus,—O - yes, a Christian, a pilgrim, who always came down here at this season, - which was his harvest-time. He hoped (with a wicked wink) that his - devotion would be rewarded. - </p> - <p> - It was very entertaining to see him watch the people coming out, and - select his victims, whom he would indicate to us by a motion of his head - as he hopped towards them. He appeared to rely more upon the poor and - simple than upon the rich, and he was more successful with the former. But - he rarely, such was his insight, made a mistake. Whoever gave him anything - he thanked with the utmost <i>empressement</i> of manner; then he crossed - himself, and turned around and winked at us, his confederates. When an - elegantly dressed lady dropped the smallest of copper coins into his cap, - he let us know his opinion of her by a significant gesture and a shrug of - his shoulders. But no matter from whom he received it, whenever he added a - penny to his store the rascal chirped and laughed and caressed himself. He - was in the way of being trodden under foot by the crowd; but his agility - was extraordinary, and I should not have been surprised at any moment if - he had vaulted over the heads of the throng and disappeared. If he failed - to attract the attention of an eligible pilgrim, he did not hesitate to - give the skirt of his elect a jerk, for which rudeness he would at once - apologize with an indescribable grimace and a joke. - </p> - <p> - When the crowd had passed, he slid himself into a corner, by a motion such - as that with which a fish suddenly darts to one side, and set himself to - empty his pocket into his cap and count his plunder, tossing the pieces - into the air and catching them with a chuckle, crossing himself and - hugging himself by turns. He had four francs and a half. When he had - finished counting his money he put it in a bag, and for a moment his face - assumed a grave and business-like expression. We thought he would depart - without demanding anything of us. But we were mistaken; he had something - in view that he no doubt felt would insure him a liberal backsheesh. - Wriggling near to us, he set his face into an expression of demure - humility, held out his cap, and said, in English, each word falling from - his lips as distinctly and unnaturally as if he had been a wooden - articulating machine,— - </p> - <p> - “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and <i>I</i> will - give you rest.” - </p> - <p> - The rascal's impiety lessened the charity which our intimacy with him had - intended, but he appeared entirely content, chirped, saluted with gravity, - and, with a flop, was gone from our sight. - </p> - <p> - At the moment, a procession of Franciscan monks swept by, chanting in rich - bass voices, and followed, as usual, by Latin pilgrims, making the daily - round of the holy places; after they had disappeared we could still hear - their voices and catch now and again the glimmer of their tapers in the - vast dark spaces. - </p> - <p> - Opposite the place where we were sitting is the Chapel of the Apparition, - a room not much more than twenty feet square; it is the Latin chapel, and - besides its contiguity to the sepulchre has some specialties of its own. - The chapel is probably eight hundred years old. In the centre of the - pavement is the spot upon which our Lord stood when he appeared to the - Virgin after the resurrection; near it a slab marks the place where the - three crosses were laid after they were dug up by Helena, and where the - one on which our Lord was crucified was identified by the miracle that it - worked in healing a sick man. South of the altar is a niche in the wall, - now covered over, but a round hole is left in the covering. I saw pilgrims - thrust a long stick into this hole, withdraw it, and kiss the end. The - stick had touched a fragment of the porphyry column to which the Saviour - was bound when he was scourged. - </p> - <p> - In the semicircle at the east end of the nave are several interesting - places: the prison where Christ was confined before his execution, a - chapel dedicated to the centurion who pierced the side of our Lord, and - the spot on which the vestments were divided. From thence we descend, by a - long flight of steps partly hewn in the rock, to a rude, crypt-like - chapel, in the heavy early Byzantine style, a damp, cheerless place, - called the Chapel of Helena. At the east end of it another flight of steps - leads down into what was formerly a cistern, but is now called the Chapel - of the Invention of the Cross. Here the cross was found, and at one side - of the steps stands the marble chair in which the mother of Constantine - sat while she superintended the digging. Nothing is wanting that the most - credulous pilgrim could wish to see; that is, nothing is wanting in <i>spots</i> - where things were. This chapel belongs to the Latins; that of Helena to - the Greeks; the Abyssinian convent is above both of them. - </p> - <p> - On the south side of the church, near the entrance, is a dark room called - the Chapel of Adam, in which there is never more light than a feeble taper - can give. I groped my way into it often, in the hope of finding something; - perhaps it is purposely involved in an obscurity typical of the origin of - mankind. There is a tradition that Adam was buried on Golgotha, but the - only tomb in this chapel is that of Melchizedek! The chapel formerly - contained that of Godfrey de Bouillon, elected the first king of Jerusalem - in 1099, and of Baldwin, his brother. We were shown the two-handed sword - of Godfrey, with which he clove a Saracen lengthwise into two equal parts, - a genuine relic of a heroic and barbarous age. At the end of this chapel a - glimmering light lets us see through a grating a crack in the rock made by - the earthquake at the crucifixion. - </p> - <p> - The gloom of this mysterious chapel, which is haunted by the spectre of - that dim shadow of unreality, Melchizedek, prepared us to ascend to - Golgotha, above it. The chapels of Golgotha are supported partly upon a - rock which rises fifteen feet above the pavement of the church. The first - is that of the Elevation of the Cross, and belongs to the Greeks. Under - the altar at the east end is a hole in the marble which is over the hole - in the rock in which the cross stood; on either side of it are the holes - of the crosses of the two thieves. The altar is rich with silver and gold - and jewels. The chamber, when we entered it, was blazing with light, and - Latin monks were performing their adorations, with chanting and swinging - of incense, before the altar. A Greek priest stood at one side, watching - them, and there was plain contempt in his face. The Greek priests are not - wanting in fanaticism, but they never seem to me to possess the faith of - the Latin branch of the Catholic church. When the Latins had gone, the - Greek took us behind the altar, and showed us another earthquake-rent in - the rock. - </p> - <p> - Adjoining this chapel is the Latin Chapel of the Crucifixion, marking the - spot where Christ was nailed to the cross; from that we looked through a - window into an exterior room dedicated to the Sorrowing Virgin, where she - stood and beheld the crucifixion. Both these latter rooms do not rest upon - the rock, but upon artificial vaults, and of course can mark the spots - commemorated by them only <i>in space</i>. - </p> - <p> - Perhaps this sensation of being in the air, and of having no - standing-place even for tradition, added something to the strange feeling - that took possession of me; a mingled feeling that was no more terror than - is the apprehension that one experiences at a theatre from the - manufactured thunder behind the scenes. I suppose it arose from cross - currents meeting in the mind, the thought of the awful significance of the - events here represented and the sight of this theatrical representation. - The dreadful name, Golgotha, the gloom of this part of the building,—a - sort of mount of darkness, with its rent rock and preternatural shadow,—the - blazing contrast of the chapel where the cross stood with the dark - passages about it, the chanting and flashing lights of pilgrims ever - coming and going, the neighborhood of the sepulchre itself, were well - calculated to awaken an imagination the least sensitive. And, so - susceptible is the mind to the influence of that mental electricity—if - there is no better name for it—which proceeds from a mass of minds - having one thought (and is sometimes called public opinion), be it true or - false, that whatever one may believe about the real location of the Holy - Sepulchre, he cannot witness, unmoved, the vast throng of pilgrims to - these shrines, representing as they do every section of the civilized and - of the uncivilized world into which a belief in the cross has penetrated. - The undoubted sincerity of the majority of the pilgrims who worship here - makes us for the time forget the hundred inventions which so often allure - and as often misdirect that worship. - </p> - <p> - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre offers at all times a great spectacle, - and one always novel, in the striking ceremonies and the people who assist - at them. One of the most extraordinary, that of the Holy Fire, at the - Greek Easter, which is three weeks later than the Roman, and which has - been so often described, we did not see. I am not sure that we saw even - all the thirty-seven holy places and objects in the church. It may not be - unprofitable to set down those I can recall. They are,— - </p> - <p> - The Stone of Unction. - </p> - <p> - The spot where the Virgin Mary stood when the body of our Lord was - anointed. - </p> - <p> - The Holy Sepulchre. - </p> - <p> - The stone on which the angel sat. - </p> - <p> - The tombs of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. - </p> - <p> - The well of Helena. - </p> - <p> - The stone marking the spot where Christ in the form of a gardener appeared - to Mary Magdalene. - </p> - <p> - The spot where Mary Magdalene stood. - </p> - <p> - The spot where our Lord appeared to the Virgin after his resurrection. - </p> - <p> - The place where the true cross, discovered by Helena, was laid, and - identified by a miracle. - </p> - <p> - The fragment of the Column of Flagellation. - </p> - <p> - The prison of our Lord. - </p> - <p> - The “Bonds of Christ,” a stone with two holes in it. - </p> - <p> - The place where the <i>title</i> on the cross was preserved. - </p> - <p> - The place of the division of the vestments. - </p> - <p> - The centre of the earth (Greek). - </p> - <p> - The centre of the earth (Armenian). - </p> - <p> - The altar of the centurion who pierced the body of Christ. - </p> - <p> - The altar of the penitent thief. - </p> - <p> - The Chapel of Helena. - </p> - <p> - The chair in which Helena sat when the cross was found. - </p> - <p> - The spot where the cross was found. - </p> - <p> - The Chapel of the Mocking, with a fragment of the column upon which Jesus - sat when they crowned him with thorns. - </p> - <p> - The Chapel of the Elevation of the Cross. - </p> - <p> - The spot where the cross stood. - </p> - <p> - The spots where the crosses of the thieves stood. - </p> - <p> - The rent rock near the cross. - </p> - <p> - The spot where Christ was nailed to the cross. - </p> - <p> - The spot where the Virgin stood during the crucifixion. - </p> - <p> - The Chapel of Adam. - </p> - <p> - The tomb of Melchizedek. - </p> - <p> - The rent rock in the Chapel of Adam. - </p> - <p> - The spots where the tombs of Godfrey and Baldwin stood. - </p> - <p> - No, we did not see them all. Besides, there used to be a piece of the - cross in the Latin chapel; but the Armenians are accused of purloining it. - All travellers, I suppose, have seen the celebrated Iron Crown of - Lombardy, which is kept in the church at Monza, near Milan. It is all of - gold except the inner band, which is made of a nail of the cross brought - from Jerusalem by Helena. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has not all the - relics it might have, but it is as rich in them as any church of its age. - </p> - <p> - A place in Jerusalem almost as interesting to Christians as the Holy - Sepulchre, and more interesting to antiquarians, is the Harem, or Temple - area, with its ancient substructions and its resplendent Saracenic - architecture. It is largely an open place, green with grass; it is clean - and wholesome, and the sun lies lovingly on it. There is no part of the - city where the traveller would so like to wander at will, to sit and muse, - to dream away the day on the walls overhanging the valley of the Kidron, - to recall at leisure all the wonderful story of its splendor and its - disaster. But admission to the area is had only by special permit. - Therefore the ordinary tourist goes not so much as he desires to the site - of the Temple that Solomon built, and of the porch where Jesus walked and - talked with his disciples. When he does go, he feels that he treads upon - firm historical ground. - </p> - <p> - We walked down the gutter (called street) of David; we did not enter the - Harem area by the Bab es-Silsileh (Gate of the Chain), but turned - northward and went in by the Bab el-Katanm (Gate of the Cotton-Merchants), - which is identified with the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. Both these - gates have twisted columns and are graceful examples of Saracenic - architecture. As soon as we entered the gate the splendor of the area - burst upon us; we passed instantly out of the sordid city into a green - plain, out of which—it could have been by a magic wand only—had - sprung the most charming creations in stone: minarets, domes, colonnades, - cloisters, pavilions, columns of all orders, horseshoe arches and pointed - arches, every joyous architectural thought expressed in shining marble and - brilliant color. - </p> - <p> - Our dragoman, Abd-el-Atti, did the honors of the place with the air of - proprietorship. For the first time in the Holy City he felt quite at home, - and appeared to be on the same terms with the Temple area that he is with - the tombs of the Pharaohs. The Christian antiquities are too much for him, - but his elastic mind expands readily to all the marvels of the Moslem - situation. The Moslems, indeed, consider that they have a much better - right to the Temple than the Christians, and Abd-el-Atti acted as our - cicerone in the precincts with all the delight of a boy and with the - enthusiasm of faith. It was not unpleasant to him, either, to have us see - that he was treated with consideration by the mosque attendants and - ulemas, and that he was well known and could pass readily into the most - reserved places. He had said his prayers that morning, at twelve, in this - mosque, a privilege only second to that of praying in the mosque at Mecca, - and was in high spirits, as one who had (if the expression is allowable) - got a little ahead in the matter of devotion. - </p> - <p> - Let me give in a few words, without any qualifications of doubt, what seem - to be the well-ascertained facts about this area. It is at present a level - piece of ground (in the nature of a platform, since it is sustained on all - sides by walls), a quadrilateral with its sides not quite parallel, about - fifteen hundred feet long by one thousand feet broad. The northern third - of it was covered by the Fortress of Antonia, an ancient palace and - fortress, rebuilt with great splendor by Herod. The small remains of it in - the northeast corner are now barracks. - </p> - <p> - This level piece of ground is nearly all artificial, either filled in or - built up on arches. The original ground (Mount Moriah) was a rocky hill, - the summit of which was the rock about which there has been so much - controversy. Near the centre of this ground, and upon a broad raised - platform, paved with marble, stands the celebrated mosque Kubbet - es-Sukhrah, “The Dome of the Rock.” It is built over the Sacred Rock. - </p> - <p> - This rock marks the site of the threshing-floor of Oman, the Jebusite, - which David bought, purchasing at the same time the whole of Mount Moriah. - Solomon built the Temple over this rock, and it was probably the “stone of - sacrifice.” At the time Solomon built the Temple, the level place on - Moriah was scarcely large enough for the <i>naos</i> of that building, and - Solomon extended the ground to the east and south by erecting arches and - filling in on top of them, and constructing a heavy retaining-wall - outside. On the east side also he built a porch, or magnificent colonnade, - which must have produced a fine effect of Oriental grandeur when seen from - the deep valley below or from the Mount of Olives opposite. - </p> - <p> - To this rock the Jews used to come, in the fourth century, and anoint it - with oil, and wail over it, as the site of the Temple. On it once stood a - statue of Hadrian. When the Moslems captured Jerusalem, it became, what it - has ever since been, one of their most venerated places. The Khalif Omar - cleared away the rubbish from it, and built over it a mosque. The Khalif - Abd-el-Melek began to rebuild it in a. d. 686. During the Crusades it was - used as a Christian church. Allowing for decay and repairs, the present - mosque is probably substantially that built by Abd-el-Melek. - </p> - <p> - At the extreme south of the area is the vast Mosque of Aksa, a splendid - basilica with seven aisles, which may or may not be the Church of St. Mary - built by Justinian in the sixth century; architects differ about it. This - question it seems to me very difficult to decide from the architecture of - the building, because of the habit that Christians and Moslems both had of - appropriating columns and capitals of ancient structures in their - buildings; and because the Moslems at that time used both the round and - the pointed arch. - </p> - <p> - This platform is beyond all comparison the most beautiful place in - Jerusalem, and its fairy-like buildings, when seen from the hill opposite, - give to the city its chief claim to Oriental picturesqueness. - </p> - <p> - The dome of the mosque Kubbet-es-Sukhrah is perhaps the most beautiful in - the world; it seems to float in the air like a blown bubble; this effect - is produced by a slight drawing in of the base. This contraction of the - dome is not sufficient to give the spectator any feeling of insecurity, or - to belittle this architectural marvel to the likeness of a big toy; the - builder hit the exact mean between massiveness and expanding lightness. - The mosque is octagonal in form, and although its just proportions make it - appear small, it is a hundred and fifty feet in diameter; outside and in, - it is a blaze of color in brilliant marbles, fine mosaics, stained glass, - and beautiful Saracenic tiles. The lower part of the exterior wall is - covered with colored marbles in intricate patterns; above are pointed - windows with stained glass; and the spaces between the windows are covered - by glazed tiles, with arabesque designs and very rich in color. In the - interior, which has all the soft warmth and richness of Persian - needlework, are two corridors, with rows of columns and pillars; within - the inner row is the Sacred Rock. - </p> - <p> - This rock, which is the most remarkable stone in the world, if half we - hear of it be true, and which by a singular fortune is sacred to three - religions, is an irregular bowlder, standing some five feet above the - pavement, and is something like sixty feet long. In places it has been - chiselled, steps are cut on one side, and various niches are hewn in it; a - round hole pierces it from top to bottom. The rock is limestone, a little - colored with iron, and beautiful in spots where it has been polished. One - would think that by this time it ought to be worn smooth all over. - </p> - <p> - If we may believe the Moslems and doubt our own senses, this rock is - suspended in the air, having no support on any side. It was to this rock - that Mohammed made his midnight journey on El Burak; it was from here that - he ascended into Paradise, an excursion that occupied him altogether only - forty minutes. It is, I am inclined to think, the miraculous suspension of - this stone that is the basis of the Christian fable of the suspension of - Mohammed's coffin,—a miracle unknown to all Moslems of whom I have - inquired concerning it. - </p> - <p> - “Abd-el-Atti,” I said, “does this rock rest on nothing?” - </p> - <p> - “So I have hunderstood; thim say so.” - </p> - <p> - “But do you believe it?” - </p> - <p> - “When I read him, I believe; when I come and see him, I can't help what I - see.” - </p> - <p> - At the south end of the rock we descended a flight of steps and stood - under the rock in what is called the Noble Cave, a small room about six - feet high, plastered and whitewashed. This is supposed to be the sink into - which the blood of the Jewish sacrifices drained. The plaster and - whitewash hide the original rock, and give the Moslems the opportunity to - assert that there is no rock foundation under the big stone. - </p> - <p> - “But,” we said to Abd-el-Atti, “if this rock hangs in the air, why cannot - we see all around it? Why these plaster walls that seem to support it?” - </p> - <p> - “So him used to be. This done so, I hear, on account of de women. Thim - come here, see this rock, thim berry much frightened. Der little shild, - what you call it, get born in de world before him wanted. So thim make - this wall under it.” - </p> - <p> - There are four altars in this cave, one of them dedicated to David; here - the Moslem prophets, Abraham, David, Solomon, and Jesus, used to pray. In - the rock is a round indentation made by Mohammed's head when he first - attempted to rise to heaven; near it is the hole through which he rose. On - the upper southeast corner of the rock is the print of the prophet's foot, - and close to it the print of the hand of the angel Michael, who held the - rock down from following Mohammed into the skies. - </p> - <p> - In the mosque above, Abd-el-Atti led us, with much solemnity, to a small - stone set in the pavement near the north entrance. It was perforated with - holes, in some of which were brass nails. - </p> - <p> - “How many holes you make 'em there?” - </p> - <p> - “Thirteen.” - </p> - <p> - “How many got nails?” - </p> - <p> - “Four.” - </p> - <p> - “Not so many. Only three and a half nails. Used to be thirteen nails. Now - only three and a half. When these gone, then the world come to an end. I - t'ink it not berry long.” - </p> - <p> - “I should think the Moslems would watch this stone very carefully.” - </p> - <p> - “What difference? You not t'ink it come when de time come?” - </p> - <p> - We noticed some pieces of money on the stone, and asked why that was. - </p> - <p> - “Whoever he lay backsheesh on this stone, he certain to go into Paradise, - and be took by our prophet in his bosom.” - </p> - <p> - We wandered for some time about the green esplanade, dotted with - cypress-trees, and admired the little domes: the Dome of the Spirits, the - dome that marks the spot where David sat in judgment, etc.; some of them - cover cisterns and reservoirs in the rock, as old as the foundations of - the Temple. - </p> - <p> - In the corridor of the Mosque of Aksa are two columns standing close - together, and like those at the Mosque of Omar, in Cairo, they are a test - of character; it is said that whoever can squeeze between them is certain - of Paradise, and must, of course, be a good Moslem. I suppose that when - this test was established the Moslems were all lean. A black stone is set - in the wall of the porch; whoever can walk, with closed eyes, across the - porch pavement and put his finger on this stone may be sure of entering - Paradise. According to this criterion, the writer of this is one of the - elect of the Mohammedan Paradise and his dragoman is shut out. We were - shown in this mosque the print of Christ's foot in a stone; and it is said - that with faith one can feel in it, as he can in that of Mohammed's in the - rock, the real flesh. Opening from this mosque is the small Mosque of - Omar, on the spot where that zealous khalif prayed. - </p> - <p> - The massive pillared substructions under Aksa are supposed by Moslems to - be of Solomon's time. That wise monarch had dealings with the invisible, - and no doubt controlled the genii, who went and came and built and delved - at his bidding. Abd-el-Atti, with haste and an air of mystery, drew me - along under the arches to the window in the south end, and showed me the - opening of a passage under the wall, now half choked up with stones. This - is the beginning of a subterranean passage made by the prophet Solomon, - that extends all the way to Hebron, and has an issue in the mosque over - the tomb of Abraham. This fact is known only to Moslems, and to very few - of them, and is considered one of the great secrets. Before I was admitted - to share it, I am glad that I passed between the two columns, and touched, - with my eyes shut, the black stone. - </p> - <p> - In the southeast corner of the Harem is a little building called the - Mosque of Jesus. We passed through it, and descended the stairway into - what is called Solomon's Stables, being shown on our way a stone trough - which is said to be the cradle of the infant Jesus. These so-called - stables are subterranean vaults, built, no doubt, to sustain the south end - of the Temple platform. We saw fifteen rows of massive square pillars of - unequal sizes and at unequal distances apart (as if intended for supports - that would not be seen), and some forty feet high, connected by round - arches. We were glad to reascend from this wet and unpleasant cavern to - the sunshine and the greensward. - </p> - <p> - I forgot to mention the Well of the Leaf, near the entrance, in the Mosque - of Aksa, and the pretty Moslem legend that gave it a name, which - Abd-el-Atti relates, though not in the words of the hand-book:— - </p> - <p> - “This well berry old; call him Well of the Leaf; water same as Pool of - Solomon, healthy water; I like him very much. Not so deep as Bir el-Arwâh; - that small well, you see it under the rock; they say it goes down into - Gehenna.” - </p> - <p> - “Why is this called the Well of the Leaf?” - </p> - <p> - “Once, time of Suleiman [it was Omar], a friend of our prophet come here - to pray, and when he draw water to wash he drop the bucket in the bottom - of the well. No way to get it up, but he must go down. When he was on the - bottom, there he much surprised by a door open in the ground, and him - berry cur'ous to see what it is. Nobody there, so he look in, and then - walk through berry fast, and look over him shoulder to the bucket left in - the well. The place where he was come was the most beautiful garden ever - was, and he walk long time and find no end, always more garden, so cool, - and water run in little streams, and sweet smell of roses and jasmine, and - little birds that sing, and big trees and dates and oranges and palms, - more kind, I t'ink, than you see in the garden of his vice-royal. When the - man have been long time in the garden he begin to have fright, and pick a - green leaf off a tree, and run back and come up to his friends. He show - 'em the green leaf, but nobody have believe what he say. Then they tell - him story to the kadi, and the kadi send men to see the garden in the - bottom of the well. They not find any, not find any door. Then the kadi he - make him a letter to the Sultan—berry wise man—and he say (so - I read it in our history), 'Our prophet say, One of my friends shall walk - in Paradise while he is alive. If this is come true, you shall see the - leaf, if it still keep green.' Then the kadi make examine of the leaf, and - find him green. So it is believe the man has been in Paradise.” - </p> - <p> - “And do you believe it?” - </p> - <p> - “I cannot say edzacly where him been. Where you t'ink he done got that - leaf?” - </p> - <p> - Along the east wall of the Harem there are no remains of the long - colonnade called Solomon's Porch, not a column of that resplendent marble - pavilion which caught the first rays of the sun over the mountains of - Moab, and which, with the shining temple towering behind it, must have - presented a more magnificent appearance than Babylon, and have rivalled - the architectural glories of Baalbek. The only thing in this wail worthy - of note now is the Golden Gate, an entrance no longer used. We descended - into its archways, and found some fine columns with composite capitals, - and other florid stone-work of a rather tasteless and debased Roman style. - </p> - <p> - We climbed the wall by means of the steps, a series of which are placed at - intervals, and sat a long time looking upon a landscape, every foot of - which is historical. Merely to look upon it is to recall a great portion - of the Jewish history and the momentous events in the brief life of the - Saviour, which, brief as it was, sufficed to newly create the earth. There - is the Mount of Olives, with its commemorative chapels, heaps of stone, - and scattered trees; there is the ancient foot-path up which David fled as - a fugitive by night from the conspiracy of Absalom, what time Shimei, the - relative of Saul, stoned him and cursed him; and down that Way of Triumph, - the old road sweeping round its base, came the procession of the Son of - David, in whose path the multitude cast their garments and branches of - trees, and cried, “Hosanna in the highest.” There on those hills, Mount - Scopus and Olivet, were once encamped the Assyrians, and again the - Persians; there shone the eagles of Rome, borne by her conquering legions; - and there, in turn, Crusaders and Saracens pitched their tents. How many - times has the air been darkened with missiles hurled thence upon this - shining prize, and how many armies have closed in about this spot and - swarmed to its destruction! There the Valley of Jehoshaphat curves down - until it is merged in the Valley of the Brook Kidron. There, at the - junction of the roads that run over and around Olivet, is a clump of trees - surrounded by a white wall; that is the Garden of Gethsemane. Near it is - the tomb of Mary. Farther down you see the tomb of Absalom, the tomb of - St. James, the monolith pyramid-tipped tomb of Zacharias (none of them - apparently as old as they claim to be), and the remains of a little - temple, the model of which came from the banks of the Nile, that Solomon - built for his Egyptian wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, wherein they - worshipped the gods of her country. It is tradition also that near here - were some of the temples he built for others of his strange wives: a - temple to Chemosh, the Moabite god, and the image of Moloch, the devourer - of children. Solomon was wiser than all men, wiser than Heman, and - Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; his friend Hiram of Tyre used to - send riddles to him which no one in the world but Solomon could guess; but - his wisdom failed him with the other sex, and there probably never was - another Oriental court so completely ruled and ruined by women as his. - </p> - <p> - This valley below us is perhaps the most melancholy on earth: nowhere else - is death so visibly master of the scene; nature is worn out, man tired - out; a gray despair has settled down upon the landscape. Down there is the - village of Siloam, a village of huts and holes in the rocks, opposite the - cave of that name. If it were the abode of wolves it would have a better - character than it has now. There is the grim cast of sin and exhaustion - upon the scene. I do not know exactly how much of this is owing to the - Jewish burying-ground, which occupies so much of the opposite hill. The - slope is thickly shingled with gray stones, that lie in a sort of - regularity which suggests their purpose. You fall to computing how many - Jews there may be in that hill, layer upon layer; for the most part they - are dissolved away into the earth, but you think that if they were to put - on their mortal bodies and come forth, the valley itself would be filled - with them almost to the height of the wall. Out of these gates, giving - upon this valley of death, six hundred thousand bodies of those who had - starved were thrown during the siege, and long before Titus stormed the - city. I do not wonder that the Moslems think of this frightful vale as - Gehenna itself. - </p> - <p> - From an orifice in the battlemented wall where we sat projects a round - column, mounted there like a cannon, and perhaps intended to deceive an - enemy into the belief that the wall is fortified. It is astride this - column, overhanging this dreadful valley, that Mohammed will sit at the - last, the judgment day. A line finer than a hair and sharper than a razor - will reach from it to the tower on the Mount of Olives, stretching over - the valley of the dead. This is the line Es-Serat. Mohammed will - superintend the passage over it. For in that day all who ever lived, risen - to judgment, must walk this razor-line; the good will cross in safety; the - bad will fall into hell, that is, into Gehenna, this blasted gulf and - side-hill below, thickly sown with departed Jews. It is in view of this - perilous passage that the Moslem every day, during the ablution of his - feet, prays: “O, make my feet not to slip on Es-Serat, on that day when - feet shall slip.” - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - IV.—NEIGHBORHOODS OF JERUSALEM. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">W</span>HEREVER we come - upon traces of the Knights of St. John, there a door opens for us into - romance; the very name suggests valor and courtesy and charity. Every town - in the East that is so fortunate as to have any memorials of them, - whatever its other historic associations, obtains an additional and - special fame from its connection with this heroic order. The city of Acre - recalls the memory of their useless prowess in the last struggle of the - Christians to retain a foothold in Palestine; the name of the Knights of - Rhodes brings before every traveller, who has seen it, the picturesque - city in which the armorial insignia of this order have for him a more - living interest than any antiquities of the Grecian Rose; the island - fortress at the gate of the Levant owes all the interest we feel in it to - the Knights of Malta; and even the city of David and of the Messiah has an - added lustre as the birthplace of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. - </p> - <p> - From the eleventh century to the fifteenth, they are the chief figures who - in that whirlwind of war contested the possession of the Levant with the - Saracens and the Turks. In the forefront of every battle was seen their - burnished mail, in the gloomy rear of every retreat were heard their - voices of constancy and of courage; wherever there were crowns to be - cracked, or wounds to be bound up, or broken hearts to be ministered to, - there were the Knights of St. John, soldiers, priests, servants, laying - aside the gown for the coat of mail if need be, or exchanging the cuirass - for the white cross on the breast. Originally a charitable order, dwelling - in the Hospital of St. John to minister to the pilgrims to Jerusalem, and - composed of young soldiers of Godfrey, who took the vows of poverty, - chastity, and obedience, they resumed their arms upon the pressure of - infidel hostility, and subsequently divided the order into three classes: - soldiers, priests, and servants. They speedily acquired great power and - wealth; their palaces, their fortifications, their churches, are even in - their ruins the admiration and wonder of our age. The purity of the order: - was in time somewhat sullied by luxury, but their valor never suffered the - slightest eclipse; whether the field they contested was lost or won, their - bravery always got new honor from it. - </p> - <p> - Nearly opposite the court of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the green - field of Muristan, the site of the palace, church, and hospital of the - Knights of St. John. The field was, on an average, twenty-five feet above - the surrounding streets, and a portion of it was known to rest upon - vaults. This plot of ground was given to the Prussian government, and its - agents have been making excavations there; these were going on at the time - of our visit. The disclosures are of great architectural and historical - interest. The entrance through a peculiar Gothic gateway leads into a - court. Here the first excavations were made several years ago, and - disclosed some splendid remains: the apse of the costly church, cloisters, - fine windows and arches of the best Gothic style. Beyond, the diggings - have brought to light some of the features of the palace and hospital; an - excavation of twenty-five feet reaches down to the arches of the - substructure, which rest upon pillars from forty to fifty feet high. This - gives us some notion of the magnificent group of buildings that once - occupied this square, and also of the industry of nature as an entomber, - since some four centuries have sufficed her to bury these ruins so far - beneath the soil, that peasants ploughed over the palaces of the knights - without a suspicion of what lay beneath. - </p> - <p> - In one corner of this field stands a slender minaret, marking the spot - where the great Omar once said his prayers; four centuries after this, - Saladin is said to have made his military headquarters in the then - deserted palace of the Knights of St. John. There is no spot in Jerusalem - where one touches more springs of romance than in this field of Muristan. - </p> - <p> - Perhaps the most interesting and doleful walk one can take near Jerusalem - is that into the Valley of Kidron and through Aceldama, round to the Jaffa - Gate, traversing “the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes,” - in the cheerful words of Jeremiah. - </p> - <p> - We picked our way through the filthy streets and on the slippery - cobble-stones,—over which it seems dangerous to ride and is nearly - impossible to walk,—out through St. Stephen's Gate. Near the gate, - inside, we turned into an alley and climbed a heap of rubbish to see a - pool, which the guide insisted upon calling Bethesda, although it is - Birket Israil. Having seen many of these pools, I did not expect much, but - I was still disappointed. We saw merely a hole in the ground, which is - void of all appearance of ever having been even damp. The fact is, we have - come to Jerusalem too late; we ought to have been here about two thousand - years ago. - </p> - <p> - The slope of the hill outside the gate is covered with the turbaned tombs - of Moslems; we passed under the walls and through this cemetery into the - deep valley below, crossing the bed of the brook near the tombs of - Absalom, Jehoshaphat, St. James, and Zacharias. These all seem to be of - Roman construction; but that called Absalom's is so firmly believed to be - his that for centuries every Jew who has passed it has cast a stone at it, - and these pebbles of hate partially cover it. We also added to the heap, - but I do not know why, for it is nearly impossible to hate any one who has - been dead so long. - </p> - <p> - The most interesting phenomenon in the valley is the Fountain of the - Virgin, or the Fountain of Accused Women, as it used to be called. The - Moslem tradition is that it was a test of the unfaithfulness of women; - those who drank of it and were guilty, died; those who were innocent - received no harm. The Virgin Mary herself, being accused, accepted this - test, drank of the water, and proved her chastity. Since then the fountain - has borne her name. The fountain, or well, is in the side-hill, under the - rocks of Ophel, and the water springs up in an artificial cave. We - descended some sixteen steps to a long chamber, arched with ancient - masonry; we passed through that and descended fourteen steps more into a - grotto, where we saw the water flowing in and escaping by a subterranean - passage. About this fountain were lounging groups of Moslem idlers, mostly - women and children. Not far off a Moslem was saying his prayers, - prostrating himself before a prayer-niche. We had difficulty in making our - way down the steps, so encumbered were they with women. Several of them - sat upon the lowest steps in the damp cavern, gossiping, filling their - water-skins, or paddling about with naked feet. - </p> - <p> - The well, like many others in Syria, is intermittent and irregular in its - rising and falling; sometimes it is dry, and then suddenly it bubbles up - and is full again. Some scholars think this is the Pool Bethesda of the - New Testament, others think that Bethesda was Siloam, which is below this - well and fed by it, and would exhibit the same irregular rising and - falling. This intermittent character St. John attributed to an angel who - came down and troubled the water; the Moslems, with the same superstition, - say that it is caused by a dragon, who sleeps therein and checks the - stream when he wakes. - </p> - <p> - On our way to the Pool of Siloam, we passed the village of Si-loam, which - is inhabited by about a thousand Moslems,—a nest of stone huts and - caves clinging to the side-hill, and exactly the gray color of its stones. - The occupation of the inhabitants appears to be begging, and hunting for - old copper coins, mites, and other pieces of Jewish money. These relics - they pressed upon us with the utmost urgency. It was easier to satisfy the - beggars than the traders, who sallied out upon us like hungry wolves from - their caves. There is a great choice of disagreeable places in the East, - but I cannot now think of any that I should not prefer as a residence to - Siloam. - </p> - <p> - The Pool of Siloam, magnified in my infant mind as “Siloam's shady rill,” - is an unattractive sink-hole of dirty water, surrounded by modern masonry. - The valley here is very stony. Just below we came to Solomon's Garden, an - arid spot, with patches of stonewalls, struggling to be a - vegetable-garden, and somewhat green with lettuce and Jerusalem - artichokes. I have no doubt it was quite another thing when Solomon and - some of his wives used to walk here in the cool of the day, and even when - Shallum, the son of Colhozeh, set up “the wall of the Pool of Siloah by - the king's garden.” - </p> - <p> - We continued on, down to Joab's Well, passing on the way Isaiah's Tree, a - decrepit sycamore propped up by a stone pillar, where that prophet was - sawn asunder. There is no end to the cheerful associations of the valley. - The Well of Joab, a hundred and twenty-five feet deep, and walled and - arched with fine masonry, has a great appearance of antiquity. We plucked - maidenhair from its crevices, and read the Old Testament references. Near - it is a square pool fed by its water. Some little distance below this, the - waters of all these wells, pools, drains, sinks, or whatever they are, - reappear bursting up through a basin of sand and pebbles, as clear as - crystal, and run brawling off down the valley under a grove of large - olive-trees,—a scene rural and inviting. - </p> - <p> - I suppose it would be possible to trace the whole system of underground - water ways and cisterns, from Solomon's Pool, which send? its water into - town by an aqueduct near the Jaffa Gate, to Hezekiah's Pool, to the - cisterns under the Harem, and so out to the Virgin's Well, the Pool of - Siloam, and the final gush of sweet water below. This valley drains, - probably artificially as well as naturally, the whole city, for no sewers - exist in the latter. - </p> - <p> - We turned back from this sparkling brook, which speedily sinks into the - ground again, absorbed by the thirsty part of the valley called Tophet, - and went up the Valley of Hinnom, passing under the dark and frowning - ledges of Aceldama, honey-combed with tombs. In this “field of blood” a - grim stone structure forms the front of a natural cave, which is the - charnel-house where the dead were cast pell-mell, in the belief that the - salts in the earth would speedily consume them. The path we travel is - rugged, steep, and incredibly stony. The whole of this region is - inexpressibly desolate, worn-out, pale, uncanny. The height above this - rocky terrace, stuffed with the dead, is the Hill of Evil Counsel, where - the Jews took counsel against Jesus; and to add the last touch of an - harmonious picture, just above this Potter's Field stands the accursed - tree upon which Judas hanged himself, raising its gaunt branches against - the twilight sky, a very gallows-tree to the imagination. It has borne no - fruit since Iscariot. Towards dusk, sometimes, as you stand on the wall by - Zion Gate, you almost fancy you can see <i>him</i> dangling there. It is - of no use to tell me that the seed that raised this tree could not have - sprouted till a thousand years after Judas was crumbled into dust; one - must have faith in something. - </p> - <p> - This savage gorge, for the Valley of Hinnom is little more than that in - its narrowest part, has few associations that are not horrible. Here - Solomon set up the images (“the groves,” or the graven images), and the - temples for the lascivious rites of Ashta-roth or the human sacrifices to - Moloch. Here the Jews, the kings and successors of Solomon, with a few - exceptions, and save an occasional spasmodic sacrifice to Jehovah when - calamity made them fear him, practised all the abominations of idolatry in - use in that age. The Jews had always been more or less addicted to the - worship of the god of Ammon, but Solomon first formally established it in - Hinnom. Jeremiah writes of it historically, “They have built the high - places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn - their sons and their daughters in the fire.” This Moloch was as ingenious - a piece of cruelty as ever tried the faith of heretics in later times, - and, since it was purely a means of human sacrifice, and not a means of - grace (as Inquisitorial tortures were supposed to be), its use is - conclusive proof of the savage barbarity of the people who delighted in - it. Moloch was the monstrous brass image of a man with the head of an ox. - It was hollow, and the interior contained a furnace by which the statue - was made red-hot. Children—the offerings to the god—were then - placed in its glowing arms, and drums were beaten to drown their cries. It - is painful to recall these things, but the traveller should always - endeavor to obtain the historical flavor of the place he visits. - </p> - <p> - Continuing our walks among the antiquities of Jerusalem, we went out of - the Damascus Gate, a noble battlemented structure, through which runs the - great northern highway to Samaria and Damascus. The road, however, is a - mere path over ledges and through loose stones, fit only for donkeys. If - Rehoboam went this way in his chariot to visit Jeroboam in Samaria, there - must have existed then a better road, or else the king endured hard - pounding for the sake of the dignity of his conveyance. As soon as we left - the gate we encountered hills of stones and paths of the roughest - description. There are several rock tombs on this side of the city, but we - entered only one, that called by some the Tombs of the Kings, and by - others, with more reason, the Tomb of Helena, a heathen convert to - Judaism, who built this sepulchre for herself early in the first century. - The tomb, excavated entirely in the solid rock, is a spacious affair, - having a large court and ornamented vestibule and many chambers, extending - far into the rock, and a singular network of narrow passages and recesses - for the deposit of the dead. It had one device that is worthy of the - ancient Egyptians. The entrance was closed by a heavy square stone, so - hung that it would yield to pressure from without, but would swing to its - place by its own weight, and fitted so closely that it could not be moved - from the inside. If any thief entered the tomb and left this slab - unsecured, he would be instantly caught in the trap and become a permanent - occupant. Large as the tomb is, its execution is mean compared with the - rock tombs of Egypt; but the exterior stone of the court, from its - exposure in this damp and variable climate, appears older than Egyptian - work which has been uncovered three times as long. - </p> - <p> - At the tomb we encountered a dozen students from the Latin convent, - fine-looking fellows in long blue-black gowns, red caps, and red sashes. - They sat upon the grass, on the brink of the excavation, stringing - rosaries and singing student songs, with evident enjoyment of the hour's - freedom from the school; they not only made a picturesque appearance, but - they impressed us also as a Jerusalem group which was neither sinful nor - dirty. Beyond this tomb we noticed a handsome modern dwelling-house; you - see others on various eminences outside the city, and we noted them as the - most encouraging sign of prosperity about Jerusalem. - </p> - <p> - We returned over the hill and by the city wall, passing the Cave of - Jeremiah and the door in the wall that opens into the stone quarries of - Solomon. These quarries underlie a considerable portion of the city, and - furnished the stone for its ancient buildings. I will not impose upon you - a description of them; for it would be unfair to send you into - disagreeable places that I did not explore myself. - </p> - <p> - The so-called Grotto of Jeremiah is a natural cavern in the rocky hill, - vast in extent, I think thirty feet high and a hundred feet long by - seventy broad,—as big as a church. The tradition is that Jeremiah - lived and lamented here. In front of the cave are cut stones and pieces of - polished columns built into walls and seats; these fragments seem to - indicate the former existence here of a Roman temple. The cave is occupied - by an old dervish, who has a house in a rock near by, and uses the cavern - as a cool retreat and a stable for his donkey. His rocky home is shared by - his wife and family. He said that it was better to live alone, apart from - the world and its snares. He, however, finds the reputation of Jeremiah - profitable, selling admission to the cave at a franc a head, and, judging - by the women and children about him, he seemed to have family enough not - to be lonely. - </p> - <p> - The sojourner in Jerusalem who does not care for antiquities can always - entertain himself by a study of the pilgrims who throng the city at this - season. We hear more of the pilgrimage to Mecca than of that to Jerusalem; - but I think the latter is the more remarkable phenomenon of our modern - life; I believe it equals the former, which is usually overrated, in - numbers, and it certainly equals it in zeal and surpasses it in the - variety of nationalities represented. The pilgrims of the cross increase - yearly; to supply their wants, to minister to their credulity, to traffic - on their faith, is the great business of the Holy City. Few, I imagine, - who are not in Palestine in the spring, have any idea of the extent of - this vast yearly movement of Christian people upon the Holy Land, or of - the simple zeal which characterizes it. If it were in any way obstructed - or hindered, we should have a repetition of the Crusades, on a vaster - scale and gathered from a broader area than the wildest pilgrimage of the - holy war. The driblets of travel from America and from Western Europe are - as nothing in the crowds thronging to Jerusalem from Ethiopia to Siberia, - from the Baltic to the Ural Mountains. Already for a year before the - Easter season have they been on foot, slowly pushing their way across - great steppes, through snows and over rivers, crossing deserts and - traversing unfriendly countries; the old, the infirm, women as well as - men, their faces set towards Jerusalem. No common curiosity moves this - mass, from Ethiopia, from Egypt, from Russia, from European Turkey, from - Asia Minor, from the banks of the Tagus and the Araxes; it is a true - pilgrimage of faith, the one event in a life of dull monotony and sordid - cares, the one ecstasy of poetry in an existence of poverty and ignorance. - </p> - <p> - We spent a morning in the Russian Hospice, which occupies the hill to the - northwest of the city. It is a fine pile of buildings, the most - conspicuous of which, on account of its dome, is the church, a large - edifice with a showy exterior, but of no great merit or interest. We were - shown some holy pictures which are set in frames incrusted with diamonds, - emeralds, rubies, and other precious gems, the offerings of rich devotees, - and displaying their wealth rather than their taste. - </p> - <p> - The establishment has one building for the accommodation of rich pilgrims, - and a larger one set apart for peasants. The hospice lodges, free of - charge, all the Russian pilgrims. The exterior court was full of them. - They were sunning themselves, but not inclined to lay aside their hot furs - and heavy woollens. We passed into the interior, entering room after room - occupied by the pilgrims, who regarded our intrusion with good-natured - indifference, or frankly returned our curiosity. Some of the rooms were - large, furnished with broad divans about the sides, which served for beds - and lounging-places, and were occupied by both sexes. The women, - rosy-cheeked, light-haired, broad, honest-looking creatures, were mending - their clothes; the men were snoozing on the divans, flat on their backs, - presenting to the spectator the bottoms of their monstrous shoes, which - had soles eight inches broad; a side of leather would be needed for a - pair. In these not very savory rooms they cook, eat, and sleep. Here stood - their stoves; here hung their pilgrim knapsacks; here were their kits of - shoemaker's tools, for mending their foot-gear, which they had tugged - thousands of miles; here were household effects that made their march - appear more like an emigration than a pilgrimage; here were the staring - pictures of St. George and the Dragon, and of other saints, the beads and - the other relics, which they had bought in Jerusalem. - </p> - <p> - Although all these pilgrims owed allegiance to the Czar, they represented - a considerable variety of races. They came from Archangel, from Tobolsk, - from the banks of the Ural, from Kurland; they had found their way along - the Danube, the Dnieper, the Don. I spoke with a group of men and women - who had walked over two thousand miles before they reached Odessa and took - ship for Jaffa. There were among them Cossacks, wild and untidy, - light-haired barbarians from the Caucasus, dark-skinned men and women from - Moscow, representatives from the remotest provinces of great Russia; for - the most part simple, rude, clumsy, honest boors. In an interior court we - found men and women seated on the sunny flagging, busily occupied in - arranging and packing the souvenirs of their visit. There was rosemary - spread out to dry; there were little round cakes of blessed bread stamped - with the image of the Saviour; there were branches of palm, crowns of - thorns, and stalks of cane cut at the Jordan; there were tin cases of - Jordan water; there were long strips of cotton cloth stamped in black with - various insignia of death, to serve at home for coffin-covers; there were - skull-caps in red, yellow, and white, also stamped with holy images, to be - put on the heads of the dead. I could not but in mind follow these people - to their distant homes, and think of the pride with which they would show - these trophies of their pilgrimage; how the rude neighbors would handle - with awe a stick cut on the banks of the Jordan, or eat with faith a bit - of the holy bread. How sacred, in those homes of frost and snow, will not - these mementos of a land of sun, of a land so sacred, become! I can see - the wooden chest in the cabin where the rosemary will be treasured, - keeping sweet, against the day of need, the caps and the shrouds. - </p> - <p> - These people will need to make a good many more pilgrimages, and perhaps - to quit their morose land altogether, before they can fairly rank among - the civilized of the earth. They were thickset, padded-legged, - short-bodied, unintelligent. The faces of many of them were worn, as if - storm-beaten, and some kept their eyes half closed, as if they were long - used to face the sleet and blasts of winter; and I noticed that it gave - their faces a very different expression from that produced by the habit - the Egyptians have of drawing the eyelids close together on account of the - glare of the sun. - </p> - <p> - We took donkeys one lovely morning, and rode from the Jaffa Gate around - the walls on our way to the Mount of Olives. The Jerusalem donkey is a - good enough donkey, but he won't go. He is ridden with a halter, and never - so elegantly caparisoned as his more genteel brother in Cairo. In order to - get him along at all, it needs one man to pull the halter and another to - follow behind with a stick; the donkey then moves by inches,—if he - is in the humor. The animal that I rode stopped at once, when he perceived - that his driver was absent. No persuasions of mine, such as kicks and - whacks of a heavy stick, could move him on; he would turn out of the road, - put his head against the wall, and pretend to go to sleep. You would not - suppose it possible for a beast to exhibit so much contempt for a man. - </p> - <p> - On the high ground outside the wall were pitched the tents of travellers, - making a very pretty effect amid the olive-trees and the gray rocks. Now - and then an Arab horseman came charging down the road, or a Turkish - official cantered by; women, veiled, clad in white balloon robes that - covered them from head to foot, flitted along in the sunshine, mere white - appearances of women, to whom it was impossible to attribute any such - errand as going to market; they seemed always to be going to or returning - from the cemetery. - </p> - <p> - Our way lay down the rough path and the winding road to the bottom of the - Valley of Jehoshaphat. Leaving the Garden of Gethsemane on our right, we - climbed up the rugged, stony, steep path to the summit of the hill. There - are a few olive-trees on the way, enough to hinder the view where the - stone-walls would permit us to see anything; importunate begging Moslems - beset us; all along the route we encountered shabbiness and squalor. The - <i>rural</i> sweetness and peace that we associate with this dear mount - appear to have been worn away centuries ago. We did not expect too much, - but we were not prepared for such a shabby show-place. If we could sweep - away all the filthy habitations and hideous buildings on the hill, and - leave it to nature, or, indeed, convert the surface into a well-ordered - garden, the spot would be one of the most attractive in the world. - </p> - <p> - We hoped that when we reached the summit we should come into an open, - green, and shady place, free from the disagreeable presence of human greed - and all the artificiality that interposed itself between us and the - sentiment of the place. But the traveller need not expect <i>that</i> in - Palestine. Everything is staked out and made a show of. Arrived at the - summit, we could see little or nothing; it is crowned with the dilapidated - Chapel of the Ascension. We entered a dirty court, where the custodian and - his family and his animals live, and from thence were admitted to the - church. In the pavement is shown the footprint of our ascending Lord, - although the Ascension was made at Bethany. We paid the custodian for - permission to see this manufactured scene of the Ascension. The best point - of view to be had here is the old tower of the deserted convent, or the - narrow passage to it on the wall, or the top of the minaret near the - church. There is no place on wall or tower where one can sit; there is no - place anywhere here to sit down, and in peace and quiet enjoy the - magnificent prospect, and meditate on the most momentous event in human - history. We snatched the view in the midst of annoyances. The most minute - features of it are known to every one who reads. The portion of it I did - not seem to have been long familiar with is that to the east, comprising - the Jordan valley, the mountains of Moab, and the Dead Sea. - </p> - <p> - Although this mount is consecrated by the frequent presence of Christ, who - so often crossed it in going to and from Bethany, and retired here to - meditate and to commune with his loved followers, everything that the - traveller at present encounters on its summit is out of sympathy with his - memory. We escaped from the beggars and the showmen, climbed some - stone-walls, and in a rough field near the brow of the hill, in a position - neither comfortable nor private, but the best that we found, read the - chief events in the life of Christ connected with this mount, the - triumphal entry, and the last scenes transacted on yonder hill. And we - endeavored to make the divine man live again, who so often and so - sorrowfully regarded the then shining city of Zion from this height. - </p> - <p> - To the south of the church and a little down the hill is the so-called - site of the giving of the Lord's Prayer. I do not know on what authority - it is thus named. A chapel is built to mark the spot, and a considerable - space is enclosed before it, in which are other objects of interest, and - these were shown to us by a pleasant-spoken lady, who is connected with - the convent, and has faith equal to the demands of her position. We first - entered a subterranean vaulted room, with twelve rough half-pillars on - each side, called the room where the Apostles composed the creed. We then - passed into the chapel. Upon the four walls of its arcade is written, in - great characters, the Lord's Prayer in <i>thirty-two</i> languages; among - them the “Canadian.” - </p> - <p> - In a little side chapel is the tomb of Aurelia de Bossa, Princesse de la - Tour d'.uvergne, Duchesse de Bouillon, the lady whose munificence - established this chapel and executed the prayer in so many tongues. Upon - the side of the tomb this fact of her benevolence is announced, and the - expectation is also expressed, in French, that “God will overwhelm her - with blessing for ever and ever for her good deed.” Stretched upon the - sarcophagus is a beautiful marble effigy of the princess; the figure is - lovely, the face is sweet and seraphic, and it is a perfect likeness of - her ladyship. - </p> - <p> - I do not speak at random. I happen to know that it is a perfect likeness, - for a few minutes after I saw it, I met her in the corridor, in a - semi-nunlike costume, with a heavy cross hanging by a long gold chain at - her side. About her forehead was bound a barbarous frontlet composed of - some two hundred gold coins, and ornaments not unlike those worn by the - ladies of the ancient Egyptians. This incongruity of costume made me - hesitate whether to recognize in this dazzling vision of womanhood a - priestess of Astarte or of Christ. At the farther door, Aurelia de Bossa, - Princesse de la Tour d'.uvergne, Duchesse de Bouillon, stopped and blew - shrilly a silver whistle which hung at her girdle, to call her straying - poodle, or to summon a servant. In the rear of the chapel this lady lives - in a very pretty house, and near it she was building a convent for - Carmelite nuns. I cannot but regard her as the most fortunate of her sex. - She enjoys not only this life, but, at the same time, all the posthumous - reputation that a lovely tomb and a record of her munificence engraved - thereon can give. We sometimes hear of, but we seldom see, a person, in - these degenerate days, living in this world as if already in the other. - </p> - <p> - We went on over the hill to Bethany; we had climbed up by the path on - which David fled from Absalom, and we were to return by the road of the - Triumphal Entry. All along the ridge we enjoyed a magnificent panorama: a - blue piece of the Dead Sea, the Jordan plain extending far up towards - Herraon with the green ribbon of the river winding through it, and the - long, even range of the Moab hills, blue in the distance. The prospect was - almost Swiss in its character, but it is a mass of bare hills, with - scarcely a tree except in the immediate foreground, and so naked and - desolate as to make the heart ache; it would be entirely desolate but for - the deep blue of the sky and an atmosphere that bathes all the great sweep - of peaks and plains in color. - </p> - <p> - Bethany is a squalid hamlet clinging to the rocky hillside, with only one - redeeming feature about it,—the prospect. A few wretched one-story - huts of stone, and a miserable handful of Moslems, occupy this favorite - home and resting-place of our Lord. Close at hand, by the roadside, cut in - the rock and reached by a steep descent of twenty-six steps, is the damp - and doubtful tomb of Lazarus, down into which any one may go for half a - franc paid to the Moslem guardian. The house of Mary and Martha is - exhibited among the big rocks and fragments of walls; upon older - foundations loose walls are laid, rudely and recently patched up with cut - stones in fragments, and pieces of Roman columns. The house of Simon the - leper, overlooking the whole, is a mere heap of ruins. It does not matter, - however, that all these dwellings are modern; this is Bethany, and when we - get away from its present wretchedness we remember only that we have seen - the very place that Christ loved. - </p> - <p> - We returned along the highway of the Entry slowly, pausing to identify the - points of that memorable progress, up to the crest where Jerusalem broke - upon the sight of the Lord, and whence the procession, coming round the - curve of the hill, would have the full view of the city. He who rides that - way to-day has a grand prospect. One finds Jerusalem most poetic when seen - from Olivet, and Olivet most lovely when seen from the distance of the - city walls. - </p> - <p> - At the foot of the descent we turned and entered the enclosure of the - Garden of Gethsemane. Three stone-wall enclosures here claim to be the - real garden; one is owned by the Greeks, another by the Armenians, the - third by the Latins. We chose the last, as it is the largest and - pleasantest; perhaps the garden, which was certainly in this vicinity, - once included them all. After some delay we were admitted by a small door - in the wall, and taken charge of by a Latin monk, whose young and sweet - face was not out of sympathy with the place. The garden contains a few - aged olive-trees, and some small plots of earth, fenced about and secured - by locked gates, in which flowers grow. The guardian gave us some falling - roses, and did what he could to relieve the scene of its artificial - appearance; around the wall, inside, are the twelve stations of the - Passion, in the usual tawdry style. - </p> - <p> - But the birds sang sweetly in the garden, the flowers of spring were - blooming, and, hemmed in by the high wall, we had some moments of solemn - peace, broken only by the sound of a Moslem darabooka drum throbbing near - at hand. Desecrated as this spot is, and made cheap by the petty creations - of superstition, one cannot but feel the awful significance of the place, - and the weight of history crowding upon him, where battles raged for a - thousand years, and where the greatest victory of all was won when Christ - commanded Peter to put up his sword. Near here Titus formed his columns - which stormed the walls and captured the heroic city after its houses, and - all this valley itself, were filled with Jewish dead; but all this is as - nothing to the event of that awful night when the servants of the - high-priest led away the unresisting Lord. - </p> - <p> - It is this event, and not any other, that puts an immeasurable gulf - between this and all other cities, and perhaps this difference is more - felt the farther one is from Jerusalem. The visitor expects too much; he - is unreasonably impatient of the contrast between the mean appearance of - the theatre and the great events that have been enacted on it; perhaps he - is not prepared for the ignorance, the cupidity, the credulity, the - audacious impostures under Christian names, on the spot where Christianity - was born. - </p> - <p> - When one has exhausted the stock sights of Jerusalem, it is probably the - dullest, least entertaining city of the Orient; I mean, in itself, for its - pilgrims and its religious fêtes, in the spring of the year, offer always - some novelties to the sight-seer; and, besides, there is a certain - melancholy pleasure to be derived from roaming about outside the walls, - enveloped in a historic illusion that colors and clothes the nakedness of - the landscape. - </p> - <p> - The chief business of the city and the region seems to be the manufacture - of religious playthings for the large children who come here. If there is - any factory of relics here I did not see it. Nor do I know whether the - true cross has still the power of growing, which it had in the fourth - century, to renew itself under the constant demand for pieces of it. I did - not go to see the place where the tree grew of which it was made; the - exact spot is shown in a Greek convent about a mile and a half west of the - city. The tree is said to have been planted by Abraham and Noah. This is - evidently an error; it may have been planted by Adam and watered by Noah. - </p> - <p> - There is not much trade in antiquities in the city; the shops offer little - to tempt the curiosity-hunter. Copper coins of the Roman period abound, - and are constantly turned up in the fields outside the city, most of them - battered and defaced beyond recognition. Jewish mites are plenty enough, - but the silver shekel would be rare if the ingenious Jews did not keep - counterfeits on hand. The tourist is waited on at his hotel by a few - patient and sleek sharks with cases of cheap jewelry and doubtful - antiques, and if he seeks the shops of the gold and silver bazaars he will - find little more. I will not say that he will not now and then pick up a - piece of old pottery that has made the journey from Central Asia, or - chance upon a singular stone with a talismanic inscription. The hope that - he may do so carries the traveller through a great many Eastern slums. The - chief shops, however, are those of trinkets manufactured for the pilgrims, - of olive-wood, ivory, bone, camels' teeth, and all manner of nuts and - seeds. There are more than fifty sorts of beads, strung for profane use or - arranged for rosaries, and some of them have pathetic names, like “Job's - tears.” Jerusalem is entitled to be called the City of Beads. - </p> - <p> - There is considerable activity in Jewish objects that are old and rather - unclean; and I think I discovered something like an attempt to make a - “corner” in phylacteries, that is, in old ones, for the new are made in - excess of the demand. If a person desires to carry home a phylactery to - exhibit to his Sunday school, in illustration of the religion of the Jews, - he wants one that has been a long time in use. I do not suppose it - possible that the education of any other person is as deficient as mine - was in the matter of these ornamental aids in worship. But if there is - one, this description is for him: the phylactery, common size, is a - leathern box about an inch and a half square, with two narrow straps of - leather, about three feet long, sewed to the bottom corners. The box - contains a parchment roll of sacred writing. When the worshipper performs - his devotions in the synagogue, he binds one of the phylacteries about his - left arm and the other about his head, so that the little box has - something of the appearance of a leathern horn sprouting out of his - forehead. Phylacteries are worn only in the synagogue, and in this respect - differ from the greasy leathern talismans of the Nubians, which contain - scraps from the Koran, and are never taken off. Whatever significance the - phylactery once had to the Jew it seems now to have lost, since he is - willing to make it an article of merchandise. Perhaps it is poverty that - compels him also to sell his ancient scriptures; parchment rolls of - favorite books, such as Esther, that are some centuries old, are - occasionally to be bought, and new rolls, deceitfully doctored into an - appearance of antiquity, are offered freely. - </p> - <p> - A few years ago the antiquarian world was put into a ferment by what was - called the “Shoepira collection,” a large quantity of clay pottery,—gods, - votive offerings, images, jars, and other vessels,—with inscriptions - in unknown characters, which was said to have been dug up in the land of - Moab, beyond the Jordan, and was expected to throw great light upon - certain passages of Jewish history, and especially upon the religion of - the heathen who occupied Palestine at the time of the conquest. The - collection was sent to Berlin; some eminent German <i>savans</i> - pronounced it genuine; nearly all the English scholars branded it as an - impudent imposture. Two collections of the articles have been sent to - Berlin, where they are stored out of sight of the public generally, and - Mr. Shoepira has made a third collection, which he still retains. - </p> - <p> - Mr. Shoepira is a Hebrew antiquarian and bookseller, of somewhat eccentric - manners, but an enthusiast. He makes the impression of a man who believes - in his discoveries, and it is generally thought in Jerusalem that if his - collection is a forgery, he himself is imposed on. The account which he - gives of the places where the images and utensils were found is anything - but clear or definite. We are required to believe that they have been dug - up in caves at night and by stealth, and at the peril of the lives of the - discoverers, and that it is not safe to visit these caves in the daytime - on account of the Bedaween. The fresh-baked appearance of some of the - articles is admitted, and it is said that it was necessary to roast them - to prevent their crumbling when exposed to the air. Our theory in regard - to these singular objects is that a few of those first shown were actually - discovered, and that all the remainder have been made in imitation of - them. Of the characters (or alphabet) of the inscriptions, Mr. Schepira - says he has determined twenty-three; sixteen of these are Phoenician, and - the others, his critics say, are meaningless. All the objects are - exceedingly rude and devoid of the slightest art; the images are many of - them indecent; the jars are clumsy in shape, but the inscriptions are put - on with some skill. The figures are supposed to have been votive - offerings, and the jars either memorial or sepulchral urns. - </p> - <p> - The hideous collection appeared to me <i>sui generis</i>, although some of - the images resemble the rudest of those called Phoenician which General di - Cesnola unearthed in Cyprus. Without merit, they seem to belong to a rude - age rather than to be the inartistic product of this age. That is, - supposing them to be forgeries, I cannot see how these figures could be - conceived by a modern man, who was capable of inventing a fraud of this - sort. He would have devised something better, at least something less - simple, something that would have somewhere betrayed a little modern - knowledge and feeling. All the objects have the same barbarous tone, a - kind of character that is distinct from their rudeness, and the same - images and designs are repeated over and over again. This gives color to - the theory that a few genuine pieces of Moabite pottery were found, which - gave the idea for a large manufacture of them. And yet, there are people - who see these things, and visit all the holy places, and then go away and - lament that there are no manufactories in Jerusalem. - </p> - <p> - Jerusalem attracts while it repels; and both it and all Palestine exercise - a spell out of all proportion to the consideration they had in the ancient - world. The student of the mere facts of history, especially if his studies - were made in Jerusalem itself, would be at a loss to account for the place - that the Holy City occupies in the thought of the modern world, and the - importance attached to the history of the handful of people who made - themselves a home in this rocky country. The Hebrew nation itself, during - the little time it was a nation, did not play a part in Oriental affairs - at all commensurate with its posthumous reputation. It was not one of the - great kingdoms of antiquity, and in that theatre of war and conquest which - spread from Ethiopia to the Caspian Sea, it was scarcely an appreciable - force in the great drama. - </p> - <p> - The country the Hebrews occupied was small; they never conquered or - occupied the whole of the Promised Land, which extended from the - Mediterranean Sea to the Arabian plain, from Hamath to Sinai. Their - territory in actual possession reached only from Dan to Beersheba. The - coast they never subdued; the Philistines, who came from Crete and grew to - be a great people in the plain, held the lower portion of Palestine on the - sea, and the Phoenicians the upper. Except during a brief period in their - history, the Jews were confined to the hill-country. Only during the - latter part of the reign of David and two thirds of that of Solomon did - the Jewish kingdom take on the proportions of a great state. David - extended the Israelitish power from the Gulf of Akaba to the Euphrates; - Damascus paid him tribute; he occupied the cities of his old enemies, the - Philistines, but the kingdom of Tyre, still in the possession of Hiram, - marked the limit of Jewish sway in that direction. This period of - territorial consequence was indeed brief. Before Solomon was in his grave, - the conquests bequeathed to him by his father began to slip from his hand. - The life of the Israelites as a united nation, as anything but discordant - and warring tribes, after the death of Joshua, is all included in the - reigns of David and Solomon,—perhaps sixty or seventy years. - </p> - <p> - The Israelites were essentially highlanders. Some one has noticed their - resemblance to the Scotch Highlanders in modes of warfare. In fighting - they aimed to occupy the heights. They descended into the plain - reluctantly; they made occasional forays into the lowlands, but their - hills were their strength, as the Psalmist said; and they found security - among their crags and secluded glens from the agitations which shook the - great empires of the Eastern world. Invasions, retreats, pursuits, the - advance of devouring hosts or the flight of panic-stricken masses, for a - long time passed by their ridge of country on either side, along the - Mediterranean or through the land of Moab. They were out of the track of - Oriental commerce as well as of war. So removed were they from - participation in the stirring affairs of their era that they seem even to - have escaped the omnivorous Egyptian conquerors. Eor a long period - conquest passed them by, and it was not till their accumulation of wealth - tempted the avarice of the great Asiatic powers that they were involved in - the conflicts which finally destroyed them. The small kingdom of Judah, - long after that of Israel had been utterly swept away, owed its - continuance of life to its very defensible position. Solomon left - Jerusalem a strong city, well supplied with water, and capable of - sustaining a long siege, while the rugged country around it offered little - comfort to a besieging army. - </p> - <p> - For a short time David made the name of Israel a power in the world, and - Solomon, inheriting his reputation, added the triumphs of commerce to - those of conquest. By a judicious heathen alliance with Hiram of Tyre he - was able to build vessels on the Red Sea and man them with Phoenician - sailors, for voyages to India and Ceylon; and he was admitted by Hiram to - a partnership in his trading adventures to the Pillars of Hercules. But - these are only episodes in the Jewish career; the nation's part in - Oriental history is comparatively insignificant until the days of their - great calamities. How much attention its heroism and suffering attracted - at that time we do not know. - </p> - <p> - Though the Israelites during their occupation of the hill-country of - Palestine were not concerned in the great dynastic struggles of the - Orient, they were not, however, at peace. Either the tribes were fighting - among themselves or they were involved in sanguinary fights with the petty - heathen chiefs about them. We get a lively picture of the habits of the - time in a sentence in the second book of Samuel: “And it came to pass, - after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, - that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they - destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah.” It was a pretty - custom. In that season when birds pair and build their nests, when the sap - mounts in the trees and travellers long to go into far countries, kings - felt a noble impulse in their veins to go out and fight other kings. But - this primitive simplicity was mingled with shocking barbarity; David once - put his captives under the saw, and there is nothing to show that the - Israelites were more moved by sentiments of pity and compassion than their - heathen neighbors. There was occasionally, however, a grim humor in their - cruelty. When Judah captured King Adoni-bezek, in Bezek, he cut off his - great toes and his thumbs. Adoni-bezek, who could appreciate a good thing, - accepted the mutilation in the spirit in which it was offered, and said - that he had himself served seventy kings in that fashion; “threescore and - ten kings, having their thumbs and great toes cut off, gathered their meat - under my table.” - </p> - <p> - From the death of Joshua to the fall of Samaria, the history of the Jews - is largely a history of civil war. From about seven hundred years before - Christ, Palestine was essentially a satrapy of the Assyrian kings, as it - was later to become one of the small provinces of the Roman empire. At the - time when Sennacherib was waiting before Jerusalem for Hezekiah to - purchase his withdrawal by stripping the gold from the doors of the - Temple, the foundations of a city were laid on the banks of the Tiber, - which was to extend its sway over the known world, to whose dominion the - utmost power of Jerusalem was only a petty sovereignty, and which was - destined to rival Jerusalem itself as the spiritual capital of the earth. - </p> - <p> - If we do not find in the military power or territorial consequence of the - Jews an explanation of their influence in the modern world, still less do - we find it in any faithfulness to a spiritual religion, the knowledge of - which was their chief distinction among the tribes about them. Their - lapses from the worship of Jehovah were so frequent, and of such long - duration, that their returns to the worship of the true God seem little - more than breaks in their practice of idolatry. And these spasmodic - returns were due to calamities, and fears of worse judgments. Solomon - sanctioned by national authority gross idolatries which had been long - practised. At his death, ten of the tribes seceded from the dominion of - Judah and set up a kingdom in which idolatry was made and remained the - state religion, until the ten tribes vanished from the theatre of history. - The kingdom of Israel, in order to emphasize its separation from that of - Judah, set up the worship of Jehovah in the image of a golden calf. - Against this state religion of image-worship the prophets seem to have - thought it in vain to protest; they contented themselves with battling - against the more gross and licentious idolatries of Baal and Ashtaroth; - and Israel always continued the idol-worship established by Jeroboam. The - worship of Jehovah was the state religion of the little kingdom of Judah, - but during the period of its existence, before the Captivity, I think that - only four of its kings were not idolaters. The people were constantly - falling away into the heathenish practices of their neighbors. - </p> - <p> - If neither territorial consequence nor religious steadfastness gave the - Jews rank among the great nations of antiquity, they would equally fail of - the consideration they now enjoy but for one thing, and that is, after - all, the chief and enduring product of any nationality; we mean, of - course, its literature. It is by that, that the little kingdoms of Judah - and Israel hold their sway over the world. It is that which invests - ancient Jerusalem with its charm and dignity. Not what the Jews did, but - the songs of their poets, the warnings and lamentations of their prophets, - the touching tales of their story-tellers, draw us to Jerusalem by the - most powerful influences that affect the human mind. And most of this - unequalled literature is the product of seasons of turbulence, passion, - and insecurity. Except the Proverbs and Song of Solomon, and such pieces - as the poem of Job and the story of Ruth, which seem to be the outcome of - literary leisure, the Hebrew writings were all the offspring of exciting - periods. David composed his Psalms—the most marvellous interpreters - of every human aspiration, exaltation, want, and passion—with his - sword in his hand; and the prophets always appear to ride upon a - whirlwind. The power of Jerusalem over the world is as truly a literary - one as that of Athens is one of art. That literature was unknown to the - ancients, or unappreciated: otherwise contemporary history would have - considered its creators of more consequence than it did. - </p> - <p> - We speak, we have been speaking, of the Jerusalem before our era, and of - the interest it has independent of the great event which is, after all, - its chief claim to immortal estimation. It becomes sacred ground to us - because there, in Bethlehem, Christ was born; because here—not in - these streets, but upon this soil—he walked and talked and taught - and ministered; because upon Olivet, yonder, he often sat with his - disciples, and here, somewhere,—it matters not where,—he - suffered death and conquered death. - </p> - <p> - This is the scene of these transcendent events. We say it to ourselves - while we stand here. We can clearly conceive it when we are at a distance. - But with the actual Jerusalem of to-day before our eyes, its naked - desolation, its superstition, its squalor, its vivid contrast to what we - conceive should be the City of our King, we find it easier to feel that - Christ was born in New England than in Judæa. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - V.—GOING DOWN TO JERICHO. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>T is on a lovely - spring morning that we set out through the land of Benjamin to go down - among the thieves of Jericho, and to the Jordan and the Dead Sea. For - protection against the thieves we take some of them with us, since you - cannot in these days rely upon finding any good Samaritans there. - </p> - <p> - For some days Abd-el-Atti has been in mysterious diplomatic relations with - the robbers of the wilderness, who live in Jerusalem, and farm out their - territory. “Thim is great rascals,” says the dragoman; and it is solely on - that account that we seek their friendship: the real Bedawee is never - known to go back on his word to the traveller who trusts him, so long as - it is more profitable to keep it than to break it. We are under the escort - of the second sheykh, who shares with the first sheykh the rule of all the - Bedaween who patrol the extensive territory from Hebron to the fords of - the Jordan, including Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Mar Saba, and the shores of - the Dead Sea; these rulers would have been called kings in the old time, - and the second sheykh bears the same relation to the first that the Cæsar - did to the Augustus in the Roman Empire. - </p> - <p> - Our train is assembled in the little market-place opposite the hotel, or - rather it is assembling, for horses and donkeys are slow to arrive, - saddles are wanting, the bridles are broken, and the unpunctuality and - shiftlessness of the East manifest themselves. Abd-el-Atti is in fierce - altercation with a Koorland nobleman about a horse, which you would not - say would be likely to be a bone of contention with anybody. They are both - endeavoring to mount at once. Friends are backing each combatant, and the - air is thick with curses in guttural German and maledictions in shrill - Arabic. Unfortunately I am appealed to. - </p> - <p> - “What for this Dutchman, he take my horse?” - </p> - <p> - “Perhaps he hired it first?” - </p> - <p> - “P'aps not. I make bargain for him with the owner day before yesterday.” - </p> - <p> - “I have become dis <i>pferd</i> for four days,” cries the Baron. - </p> - <p> - There seems to be no reason to doubt the Baron's word; he has ridden the - horse to Bethlehem, and become accustomed to his jolts, and no doubt has - the prior lien on the animal. The owner has let him to both parties, a - thing that often happens when the second comer offers a piastre more. - Another horse is sent for, and we mount and begin to disentangle ourselves - from the crowd. It is no easy matter, especially for the ladies. Our own - baggage-mules head in every direction. Donkeys laden with mountains of - brushwood push through the throng, scraping right and left; camels shamble - against us, their contemptuous noses in the air, stretching their long - necks over our heads; market-women from Bethlehem scream at us; and greasy - pilgrims block our way and curse our horses' hoofs. - </p> - <p> - One by one we emerge and get into a straggling line, and begin to - comprehend the size of our expedition. Our dragoman has made as extensive - preparations as if we were to be the first to occupy Gilgal and Jericho, - and that portion of the Promised Land. We are equipped equally well for - fighting and for famine. A party of Syrians, who desire to make the - pilgrimage to the Jordan, have asked permission to join us, in order to - share the protection of our sheykh, and they add both picturesqueness and - strength to the grand cavalcade which clatters out of Jaffa Gate and - sweeps round the city wall. Heaven keep us from undue pride in our noble - appearance! - </p> - <p> - Perhaps our train would impress a spectator as somewhat mixed, and he - would be unable to determine the order of its march. It is true that the - horses and the donkeys and the mules all have different rates of speed, - and that the Syrian horse has only two gaits,—a run and a slow walk. - As soon as we gain the freedom of the open country, these differences - develop. The ambitious dragomen and the warlike sheykh put their horses - into a run and scour over the hills, and then come charging back upon us, - like Don Quixote upon the flock of sheep. The Syrians imitate this - madness. The other horses begin to agitate their stiff legs; the donkeys - stand still and protest by braying; the pack-mules get temporarily crazy, - charge into us with the protruding luggage, and suddenly wheel into the - ditch and stop. This playfulness is repeated in various ways, and adds to - the excitement without improving the dignity of our march. - </p> - <p> - We are of many nationalities. There are four Americans, two of them - ladies. The Doctor, who is accustomed to ride the mustangs of New Mexico - and the wild horses of the Western deserts, endeavors to excite a spirit - of emulation in his stiff-kneed animal, but with little success. Our - dragoman is Egyptian, a decidedly heavy weight, and sits his steed like a - pyramid. - </p> - <p> - The sheykh is a young man, with the treacherous eye of an eagle; a - handsome fellow, who rides a lean white horse, anything but a beauty, and - yet of the famous Nedjed breed from Mecca. This desert warrior wears red - boots, white trousers and skirt, blue jacket, a yellow kufia, confined - about the head by a black cord and falling upon his shoulders, has a long - rifle slung at his back, an immense Damascus sword at his side, and huge - pistols, with carved and inlaid stocks, in his belt. He is a riding - arsenal and a visible fraud, this Bedawee sheykh. We should no doubt be - quite as safe without him, and perhaps less liable to various extortions. - But on the road, and from the moment we set out, we meet Bedaween, single - and in squads, savage-looking vagabonds, every one armed with a gun, a - long knife, and pistols with blunderbuss barrels, flaring in such a manner - as to scatter shot over an acre of ground. These scarecrows are apparently - paraded on the highway to make travellers think it is insecure. But I am - persuaded that none of them would dare molest any pilgrim to the Jordan. - </p> - <p> - Our allies, the Syrians, please us better. There is a Frenchified Syrian, - with his wife, from Mansura, in the Delta of Egypt. The wife is a very - pretty woman (would that her example were more generally followed in the - East), with olive complexion, black eyes, and a low forehead-; a native of - Sidon. She wears a dark green dress, and a yellow kufia on her head, and - is mounted upon a mule, man-fashion, but upon a saddle as broad as a - feather-bed. Her husband, in semi-Syrian costume, with top-boots, carries - a gun at his back and a frightful knife in his belt. Her brother, who is - from Sidon, bears also a gun, and wears an enormous sword. Very pleasant - people these, who have armed themselves in the spirit of the hunter rather - than of the warrior, and are as completely equipped for the chase as any - Parisian who ventures in pursuit of game into any of the dangerous - thickets outside of Paris. - </p> - <p> - The Sidon wife is accompanied by two servants, slaves from Soudan, a boy - and a girl, each about ten years old,—two grinning, comical monkeys, - who could not by any possibility be of the slightest service to anybody, - unless it is a relief to their pretty mistress to vent her ill-humor upon - their irresponsible persons. You could n't call them handsome, though - their skins are of dazzling black, and their noses so flat that you cannot - see them in profile. The girl wears a silk gown, which reaches to her feet - and gives her the quaint appearance of an old woman, and a yellow vest; - the boy is clad in motley European clothes, bought second-hand with - reference to his growing up to them,—upon which event the - trousers-legs and cuffs of his coat could be turned down,—and a red - fez contrasting finely with his black face. They are both mounted on a - decrepit old horse, whose legs are like sled-stakes, and they sit astride - on top of a pile of baggage, beds, and furniture, with bottles and - camp-kettles jingling about them. The girl sits behind the boy and clings - fast to his waist with one hand, while with the other she holds over their - heads a rent white parasol, to prevent any injury to their jet - complexions. When the old baggage-horse starts occasionally into a hard - trot, they both bob up and down, and strike first one side and then the - other, but never together; when one goes up the other goes down, as if - they were moved by different springs; but both show their ivory and seem - to enjoy themselves. Heaven knows why they should make a pilgrimage to the - Jordan. - </p> - <p> - Our Abyssinian servant, Abdallah, is mounted, also on a pack-horse, and - sits high in the air amid bags and bundles; he guides his brute only by a - halter, and when the animal takes a fancy to break into a gallop, there is - a rattling of dishes and kettles that sets the whole train into commotion; - the boy's fez falls farther than ever back on his head, his teeth shine, - and his eyes dance as he jolts into the midst of the mules and excites a - panic, which starts everything into friskiness, waking up even the Soudan - party, which begins to bob about and grin. There are half a dozen mules - loaded with tents and bed furniture; the cook, and the cook's assistants, - and the servants of the kitchen and the camp are mounted on something, and - the train is attended besides by drivers and ostlers, of what nations it - pleases Heaven. But this is not all. We carry with us two hunting dogs, - the property of the Syrian. The dogs are not for use; they are a piece of - ostentation, like the other portion of the hunting outfit, and contribute, - as do the Soudan babies, to our appearance of Oriental luxury. - </p> - <p> - We straggle down through the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and around the Mount - of Olives to Bethany; and from that sightly slope our route is spread - before us as if we were looking upon a map. It lies through the - “wilderness of Judæa.” We are obliged to revise our Western notions of a - wilderness as a region of gross vegetation. The Jews knew a wilderness - when they saw it, and how to name it. You would be interested to know what - a person who lived at Jerusalem, or anywhere along the backbone of - Palestine, would call a wilderness. Nothing but the absolute nakedness of - desolation could seem to him dreary. But this region must have satisfied - even a person accustomed to deserts and pastures of rocks. It is a jumble - of savage hills and jagged ravines, a land of limestone rocks and ledges, - whitish gray in color, glaring in the sun, even the stones wasted by age, - relieved nowhere by a tree, or rejoiced by a single blade of grass. Wild - beasts would starve in it, the most industrious bird could n't collect in - its length and breadth enough soft material to make a nest of; it is what - a Jew of Hebron or Jerusalem or Hamah would call a “wilderness”! This - exhausts the language of description. How vividly in this desolation - stands out the figure of the prophet of God, clothed with camel's hair and - with a girdle of skin about his loins, “the voice of one crying in the - wilderness.” - </p> - <p> - The road is thronged with Jordan pilgrims. We overtake them, they pass us, - we meet them in an almost continuous train. Most of them are peasants from - Armenia, from the borders of the Black Sea, from the Caucasus, from - Abyssinia. The great mass are on foot, trudging wearily along with their - bedding and provisions, the thick-legged women carrying the heaviest - loads; occasionally you see a pilgrim asleep by the roadside, his pillow a - stone. But the travellers are by no means all poor or unable to hire means - of conveyance,—you would say that Judæa had been exhausted of its - beasts of burden of all descriptions for this pilgrimage, and that even - the skeletons had been exhumed to assist in it. The pilgrims are mounted - on sorry donkeys, on wrecks of horses, on mules, sometimes an entire - family on one animal. Now and then we encounter a “swell” outfit, a - wealthy Russian well mounted on a richly caparisoned horse and attended by - his servants; some ride in palanquins, some in chairs. We overtake an - English party, the central figure of which is an elderly lady, who rides - in a sort of high cupboard slung on poles, and borne by a mule before and - a mule behind; the awkward vehicle sways and tilts backwards and forwards, - and the good woman looks out of the window of her coop as if she were - sea-sick of the world. Some ladies, who are unaccustomed to horses, have - arm-chairs strapped upon the horses' backs, in which they sit. Now and - then two chairs are strapped upon one horse, and the riders sit back to - back. Sometimes huge panniers slung on the sides of the horse are used - instead of chairs, the passengers riding securely in them without any - danger of falling out. It is rather a pretty sight when each basket - happens to be full of children. There is, indeed, no end to the strange - outfits and the odd costumes. Nearly all the women who are mounted at all - are perched upon the top of all their household goods and furniture, - astride of a bed on the summit. There approaches a horse which seems to - have a sofa on its back, upon which four persons are seated in a row, as - much at ease as if at home; it is not, however, a sofa; four baskets have - been ingeniously fastened into a frame, so that four persons can ride in - them abreast. This is an admirable contrivance for the riders, much better - than riding in a row lengthwise on the horse, when the one in front hides - the view from those behind. - </p> - <p> - Diverted by this changing spectacle, we descend from Bethany. At first - there are wild-flowers by the wayside and in the fields, and there is a - flush of verdure on the hills, all of which disappears later. The sky is - deep blue and cloudless, the air is exhilarating; it is a day for - enjoyment, and everything and everybody we encounter are in a joyous mood, - and on good terms with the world. The only unamiable exception is the - horse with which I have been favored. He is a stocky little stallion, of - good shape, but ignoble breed, and the devil—which is, I suppose, in - the horse what the old Adam is in man—has never been cast out of - him. At first I am in love with his pleasant gait and mincing ways, but I - soon find that he has eccentricities that require the closest attention on - my part, and leave me not a moment for the scenery or for biblical - reflections. The beast is neither content to go in front of the caravan - nor in the rear he wants society, but the instant he gets into the crowd - he lets his heels fly right and left. After a few performances of this - sort, and when he has nearly broken the leg of the Syrian, my company is - not desired any more by any one. No one is willing to ride within speaking - distance of me. This sort of horse may please the giddy and thoughtless, - but he is not the animal for me. By the time we reach the fountain 'Ain - el-Huad, I have quite enough of him, and exchange steeds with the - dragoman, much against the latter's fancy; he keeps the brute the - remainder of the day cantering over stones and waste places along the - road, and confesses at night that his bridle-hand is so swollen as to be - useless. - </p> - <p> - We descend a steep hill to this fountain, which flows from a broken - Saracenic arch, and waters a valley that is altogether stony and unfertile - except in some patches of green. It is a general halting-place for - travellers, and presents a most animated appearance when we arrive. - Horses, mules, and men are struggling together about the fountain to slake - their thirst; but there is no trough nor any pool, and the only mode to - get the water is to catch it in the mouth as it drizzles from the hole in - the arch. It is difficult for a horse to do this, and the poor things are - beside themselves with thirst. Near by are some stone ruins in which a man - and woman have set up a damp coffee-shop, sherbet-shop, and smoking - station. From them I borrow a shallow dish, and succeed in getting water - for my horse, an experiment which seems to surprise all nations. The shop - is an open stone shed with a dirt floor, offering only stools to the - customers; yet when the motley crowd are seated in and around it, sipping - coffee and smoking the narghilehs (water-pipes) with an air of leisure as - if to-day would last forever, you have a scene of Oriental luxury. - </p> - <p> - Our way lies down a winding ravine. The country is exceedingly rough, like - the Wyoming hills, but without trees or verdure. The bed of the stream is - a mass of rock in shelving ledges; all the rock in sight is a calcareous - limestone. After an hour of this sort of secluded travel we ascend again - and reach the Red Khan, and a scene still more desolate because more - extensive. The khan takes its name from the color of the rocks; perched - upon a high ledge are the ruins of this ancient caravansary, little more - now than naked walls. We take shelter for lunch in a natural rock grotto - opposite, exactly the shadow of a rock longed for in a weary land. Here we - spread our gay rugs, the servants unpack the provision hampers, and we sit - and enjoy the wide view of barrenness and the picturesque groups of - pilgrims. The spot is famous for its excellent well of water. It is, - besides, the locality usually chosen for the scene of the adventure of the - man who went down to Jericho and fell among thieves, this being the khan - at which he was entertained for twopence. We take our siesta here, - reflecting upon the great advance in hotel prices, and endeavoring to - re-create something of that past when this was the highway between great - Jerusalem and the teeming plain of the Jordan. The Syro-Phoenician woman - smoked a narghileh, and, looking neither into the past nor the future, - seemed to enjoy the present. - </p> - <p> - From this elevation we see again the brown Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea. - Our road is downward more precipitously than it has been before. The rocks - are tossed about tumultuously, and the hills are rent, but there is no - evidence of any volcanic action. Some of the rock strata are bent, as you - see the granite in the White Mountains, but this peculiarity disappears as - we approach nearer to the Jordan. The translator of M. François - Lenormant's “Ancient History of the East” says that “the miracles which - accompanied the entrance of the Israelites into Palestine seem such as - might have been produced by volcanic agency.” No doubt they might have - been; but this whole region is absolutely without any appearance of - volcanic disturbance. - </p> - <p> - As we go on, we have on our left the most remarkable ravine in Palestine; - it is in fact a canon in the rocks, some five hundred feet deep, the sides - of which are nearly perpendicular. At the bottom of it flows the brook - Cherith, finding its way out into the Jordan plain. We ride to the brink - and look over into the abyss. It was about two thousand seven hundred and - eighty-nine years ago, and probably about this time of the year (for the - brook went dry shortly after), that Elijah, having incurred the hostility - of Ahab, who held his luxurious court at Samaria, by prophesying against - him, came over from Gilead and hid himself in this ravine. - </p> - <p> - “Down there,” explains Abd-el-Atti, “the prophet Elijah fed him the ravens - forty days. Not have that kind of ravens now.” - </p> - <p> - Unattractive as this abyss is for any but a temporary summer residence, - the example of Elijah recommended it to a great number of people in a - succeeding age. In the wall of the precipice are cut grottos, some of them - so high above the bed of the stream that they are apparently inaccessible, - and not unlike the tombs in the high cliffs along the Nile. In the fourth - and fifth centuries monks swarmed in all the desert places of Egypt and - Syria like rabbits; these holes, near the scene of Elijah's miraculous - support, were the abodes of Christian hermits, most of whom starved - themselves down to mere skin and bones waiting for the advent of the - crows. On the ledge above are the ruins of ancient chapels, which would - seem to show that this was a place of some resort, and that the hermits - had spectators of their self-denial. You might as well be a woodchuck and - sit in a hole as a monk, unless somebody comes and looks at you. - </p> - <p> - As we advance, the Jordan valley opens more broadly upon our sight. At - this point, which is the historical point, the scene of the passage of the - Jordan and the first appearance of the Israelitish clans in the Promised - Land, the valley is ten miles broad. It is by no means a level plain; from - the west range of mountains it slopes to the river, and the surface is - broken by hillocks, ravines, and water-courses. The breadth is equal to - that between the Connecticut River at Hartford and the Talcott range of - hills. To the north we have in view the valley almost to the Sea of - Galilee, and can see the white and round summit of Hermon beyond; on the - east and on the west the barren mountains stretch in level lines; and on - the south the blue waters of the Dead Sea continue the valley between - ranges of purple and poetic rocky cliffs. - </p> - <p> - The view is magnificent in extent, and plain and hills glow with color in - this afternoon light. Yonder, near the foot of the eastern hills, we trace - the winding course of the Jordan by a green belt of trees and bushes. The - river we cannot see, for the “bottom” of the river, to use a Western - phrase, from six hundred to fifteen hundred feet in breadth, is sunk below - the valley a hundred feet and more. This bottom is periodically - overflowed. The general aspect of the plain is that of a brown desert, the - wild vegetation of which is crisped by the scorching sun. There are, - however, threads of verdure in it, where the brook Cherith and the waters - from the fountain 'Ain es-Sultan wander through the neglected plain, and - these strips of green widen into the thickets about the little village of - Rîha, the site of ancient Gilgal. This valley is naturally fertile; it may - very likely have been a Paradise of fruit-trees and grass and sparkling - water when the Jews looked down upon it from the mountains of Moab; it - certainly bloomed in the Roman occupation; and the ruins of sugar-mills - still existing show that the crusading Christians made the cultivation of - the sugar-cane successful here; it needs now only the waters of the Jordan - and the streams from the western foot-hills directed by irrigating ditches - over its surface, moistening its ashy and nitrous soil, to become again a - fair and smiling land. - </p> - <p> - Descending down the stony and precipitous road, we turn north, still on - the slope of the valley. The scant grass is already crisped by the heat, - the bushes are dry skeletons. A ride of a few minutes brings us to some - artificial mounds and ruins of buildings upon the bank of the brook - Cherith. The brickwork is the fine reticulated masonry such as you see in - the remains of Roman villas at Tusculum. This is the site of Herod's - Jericho, the Jericho of the New Testament. But the Jericho which Joshua - destroyed and the site of which he cursed, the Jericho which Hiel rebuilt - in the days of the wicked Ahab, and where Elisha abode after the - translation of Elijah, was a half-mile to the north of this modern town. - </p> - <p> - We have some difficulty in fording the brook Cherith, for the banks are - precipitous and the stream is deep and swift; those who are mounted upon - donkeys change them for horses, the Arab attendants wade in, guiding the - stumbling animals which the ladies ride, the lumbering beast with the - Soudan babies comes splashing in at the wrong moment, to the peril of - those already in the torrent, and is nearly swept away; the sheykh and the - servants who have crossed block the narrow landing; but with infinite - noise and floundering about we all come safely over, and gallop along a - sort of plateau, interspersed with thorny <i>nubk</i> and scraggy bushes. - Going on for a quarter of an hour, and encountering cultivated spots, we - find our tents already pitched on the bushy bank of a little stream that - issues from the fountain of 'Ain es-Sultan a few rods above. Near the camp - is a high mound of rubbish. This is the site of our favorite Jericho, a - name of no majesty like that of Rome, and endeared to us by no - associations like Jerusalem, but almost as widely known as either; - probably even its wickedness would not have preserved its reputation, but - for the singular incident that attended its first destruction. Jericho - must have been a city of some consequence at the time of the arrival of - the Israelites; we gain an idea of the civilization of its inhabitants - from the nature of the plunder that Joshua secured; there were vessels of - silver and of gold, and of brass and iron; and this was over fourteen - hundred years before Christ. - </p> - <p> - Before we descend to our encampment, we pause for a survey of this - historic region. There, towards Jordan, among the trees, is the site of - Gilgal (another name that shares the half-whimsical reputation of - Jericho), where the Jews made their first camp. The king of Jericho, like - his royal cousins roundabout, had “no more spirit in him” when he saw the - Israelitish host pass the Jordan. He shut himself up in his insufficient - walls, and seems to have made no attempt at a defence. Over this upland - the Jews swarmed, and all the armed host with seven priests and seven - ram's-horns marched seven days round and round the doomed city, and on the - seventh day the people shouted the walls down. Every living thing in the - city was destroyed except Rahab and her family, the town was burned, and - for five hundred years thereafter no man dared to build upon its accursed - foundations. Why poor Jericho was specially marked out for malediction we - are not told. - </p> - <p> - When it was rebuilt in Ahab's time, the sons of the prophets found it an - agreeable place of residence; large numbers of them were gathered here - while Elijah lived, and they conversed with that prophet when he was on - his last journey through this valley, which he had so often traversed, - compelled by the Spirit of the Lord. No incident in the biblical story so - strongly appeals to the imagination, nor is there anything in the poetical - conception of any age so sublime as the last passage of Elijah across this - plain and his departure into heaven beyond Jordan. When he came from - Bethel to Jericho, he begged Elisha, his attendant, to tarry here; but the - latter would not yield either to his entreaty or to that of the sons of - the prophets. We can see the way the two prophets went hence to Jordan. - Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood to view them afar - off, and they saw the two stand by Jordan. Already it was known that - Elijah was to disappear, and the two figures, lessening in the distance, - were followed with a fearful curiosity. Did they pass on swiftly, and was - there some premonition, in the wind that blew their flowing mantles, of - the heavenly gale? Elijah smites the waters with his mantle, the two pass - over dry-shod, and “as they still went on and talked, behold there - appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both - asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, - and he cried, 'My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the - horsemen thereof.' And he saw him no more.” - </p> - <p> - Elislia returned to Jericho and abode there while the sons of the prophets - sought for Elijah beyond Jordan three days, but did not find him. And the - men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, I pray thee, the situation of - this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth, but the water is naught and the - ground is barren.” Then Elisha took salt and healed the spring of water; - and ever since, to this day, the fountain, now called 'Ain es-Sultan, has - sent forth sweet water. - </p> - <p> - Turning towards the northwest, we see the passage through the mountain, by - the fountain 'Ain Duk, to Bethel. It was out of some woods there, where - the mountain is now bare, that Elisha called the two she-bears which - administered that dreadful lesson to the children who derided his - baldness. All the region, indeed, recalls the miracles of Elisha. It was - probably here that Naaman the Syrian came to be healed; there at Gilgal - Elisha took the death out of the great pot in which the sons of the - prophets were seething their pottage; and it was there in the Jordan that - he made the iron axe to swim. - </p> - <p> - Of all this celebrated and ill-fated Jericho, nothing now remains but a - hillock and Elisha's spring. The wild beasts of the desert prowl about it, - and the night-bird hoots over its fall,—a sort of echo of the shouts - that brought down its walls. Our tents are pitched near the hillock, and - the animals are picketed on the open ground before them by the stream. The - Syrian tourist in these days travels luxuriously. Our own party has four - tents,—the kitchen tent, the dining tent, and two for lodging. They - are furnished with tables, chairs, all the conveniences of the toilet, and - carpeted with bright rugs. The cook is an artist, and our table is one - that would have astonished the sons of the prophets. The Syrian party have - their own tents; a family from Kentucky has camped near by; and we give to - Jericho a settled appearance. The elder sheykh accompanies the other party - of Americans, so that we have now all the protection possible. - </p> - <p> - The dragoman of the Kentuckians we have already encountered in Egypt and - on the journey, and been impressed by his respectable gravity. It would - perhaps be difficult for him to tell his nationality or birthplace; he - wears the European dress, and his gold spectacles and big stomach would - pass him anywhere for a German professor. He seems out of place as a - dragoman, but if any one desired a <i>savant</i> as a companion in the - East, he would be the man. Indeed, his employers soon discover that his <i>forte</i> - is information, and not work. While the other servants are busy about the - camps Antonio comes over to our tent, and opens up the richness of his - mind, and illustrates his capacity as a Syrian guide. - </p> - <p> - “You know that mountain, there, with the chapel on top?” he asks. - </p> - <p> - “No.” - </p> - <p> - “Well, that is Mt. Nebo, and that one next to it is Pisgah, the mountain - of the prophet Moses.” - </p> - <p> - Both these mountains are of course on the other side of the Jordan in the - Moab range, but they are not identified,—except by Antonio. The - sharp mountain behind us is Quarantania, the Mount of Christ's Temptation. - Its whole side to the summit is honey-combed with the cells of hermits who - once dwelt there, and it is still the resort of many pilgrims. - </p> - <p> - The evening is charming, warm but not depressing; the atmosphere is even - exhilarating, and this surprises us, since we are so far below the sea - level. The Doctor says that it is exactly like Colorado on a July night. - We have never been so low before, not even in a coal-mine. We are not only - about thirty-seven hundred feet below Jerusalem, we are over twelve - hundred below the level of the sea. Sitting outside the tent under the - starlight, we enjoy the novelty and the mysteriousness of the scene. - Tents, horses picketed among the bushes, the firelight, the groups of - servants and drivers taking their supper, the figure of an Arab from - Gilgal coming forward occasionally out of the darkness, the singing, the - occasional violent outbreak of kicking and squealing among the - ill-assorted horses and mules, the running of loose-robed attendants to - the rescue of some poor beast, the strong impression of the locality upon - us, and I know not what Old Testament flavor about it all, conspire to - make the night memorable. - </p> - <p> - “This place very dangerous,” says Antonio, who is standing round, bursting - with information. “Him berry wise,” is Abdel-Atti's opinion of him. “Know - a great deal; I tink him not live long.” - </p> - <p> - “What is the danger?” we ask. - </p> - <p> - “Wild beasts, wild boars, hyenas,—all these bush full of them. It - was three years now I was camped here with Baron Kronkheit. 'Bout twelve - o'clock I heard a noise and came out. Right there, not twenty feet from - here, stood a hyena as big as a donkey, his two eyes like fire. I did not - shoot him for fear to wake up the Baron.” - </p> - <p> - “Did he kill any of your party?” - </p> - <p> - “Not any man. In the morning I find he has carried off our only mutton.” - </p> - <p> - Notwithstanding these dangers, the night passes without alarm, except the - barking of jackals about the kitchen tent. In the morning I ask Antonio if - he heard the hyenas howling in the night. “Yes, indeed, plenty of them; - they came very near my tent.” - </p> - <p> - We are astir at sunrise, breakfast, and start for the Jordan. It is the - opinion of the dragoman and the sheykh that we should go first to the Dead - Sea. It is the custom. Every tourist goes to the Dead Sea first, bathes, - and then washes off the salt in the Jordan. No one ever thought of going - to the Jordan first. It is impossible. We must visit the Dead Sea, and - then lunch at the Jordan. We wished, on the contrary, to lunch at the Dead - Sea, at which we should otherwise only have a very brief time. We insisted - upon our own programme, to the great disgust of all our camp attendants, - who predicted disaster. - </p> - <p> - The Jordan is an hour and a half from Jericho; that is the distance to the - bathing-place of the Greek pilgrims. We descend all the way. Wild - vegetation is never wanting; wild-flowers abound; we pass through thickets - of thorns, bearing the yellow “apples of the Dead Sea,” which grow all - over this plain. At Gilgal (now called Biha) we find what is probably the - nastiest village in the world, and its miserable inhabitants are credited - with all the vices of Sodom. The wretched huts are surrounded by a thicket - of <i>nubk</i> as a protection against the plundering Bedaween. The houses - are rudely built of stone, with a covering of cane or brush, and each one - is enclosed in a hedge of thorns. These thorns, which grow rankly on the - plain, are those of which the “crown of thorns” was plaited, and all - devout pilgrims carry away some of them. The habitations within these - thorny enclosures are filthy beyond description, and poverty-stricken. And - this is in a watered plain which would bloom with all manner of fruits - with the least care. Indeed, there are a few tangled gardens of the - rankest vegetation; in them we see the orange, the fig, the deceptive - pomegranate with its pink blossoms, and the olive. As this is the time of - pilgrimage, a company of Turkish soldiers from Jerusalem is encamped at - the village, and the broken country about it is covered with tents, - booths, shops, kitchens, and presents the appearance of a fair and a - camp-meeting combined. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pilgrims, - who go every morning, as long as they remain here, to dip in the Jordan. - Near the village rises the square tower of an old convent, probably, which - is dignified with the name of the “house of Zacchæus.” This plain was once - famed for its fertility; it was covered with gardens and palm-groves; the - precious balsam, honey, and henna were produced here; the balsam gardens - were the royal gift of Antony to Cleopatra, who transferred the - balsam-trees to Heliopolis in Egypt. - </p> - <p> - As we ride away from Gilgal and come upon a more open and desert plain, I - encounter an eagle sitting on the top of a thorn-tree, not the noblest of - his species, but, for Palestine, a very fair eagle. Here is a chance for - the Syrian hunter; he is armed with gun and pistols; he has his dogs; now, - if ever, is the time for him to hunt, and I fall back and point out his - opportunity. He does not embrace it. It is an easy shot; perhaps he is - looking for wild boars; perhaps he is a tender-minded hunter. At any rate, - he makes no effort to take the eagle, and when I ride forward the bird - gracefully rises in the air, sweeping upward in magnificent circles, now - veering towards the Mount of Temptation, and now towards Nebo, but always - as serene as the air in which he floats. - </p> - <p> - And now occurs one of those incidents which are not rare to travellers in - Syria, but which are rare and scarcely believed elsewhere. As the eagle - hangs for a second motionless in the empyrean far before me, he drops a - feather. I see the gray plume glance in the sun and swirl slowly down in - the lucid air. In Judæa every object is as distinct as in a photograph. - You can see things at a distance you can make no one believe at home. The - eagle plume, detached from the noble bird, begins its leisurely descent. - </p> - <p> - I see in a moment my opportunity. I might never have another. All - travellers in Syria whose books I have ever read have one or more - startling adventures. Usually it is with a horse. I do not remember any - with a horse and an eagle. I determine at once to have one. Glancing a - moment at the company behind me, and then fixing my eye on the falling - feather, I speak a word to my steed, and dart forward. - </p> - <p> - A word was enough. The noble animal seemed to comprehend the situation. He - was of the purest Arab breed; four legs, four white ankles, small ears, - slender pasterns, nostrils thin as tissue paper, and dilating upon the - fall of a leaf; an eye terrible in rage, but melting in affection; a round - barrel; gentle as a kitten, but spirited as a game-cock. His mother was a - Nedjed mare from Medina, who had been exchanged by a Bedawee chief for - nine beautiful Circassians, but only as a compromise after a war by the - Pasha of Egypt for her possession. Her father was one of the most - respectable horses in Yemen. Neither father, mother, nor colt had ever - eaten anything but selected dates. - </p> - <p> - At the word, Abdallah springs forward, bounding over the sand, skimming - over the thorn bushes, scattering the Jordan pilgrims right and left. He - does not seem to be so much a horse as a creation of the imagination,—a - Pegasus. At every leap we gain upon the feather, but it is still far ahead - of us, and swirling down, down, as the air takes the plume or the weight - of gravity acts upon the quill. Abdallah does not yet know the object of - our fearful pace, but his docility is such that every time I speak to him - he seems to shoot out of himself in sudden bursts of enthusiasm. The - terrible strain continues longer than I had supposed it would, for I had - undercalculated both the height at which the feather was cast and my - distance to the spot upon which it must fall. None but a horse fed on - dates could keep up the awful gait. We fly and the feather falls; and it - falls with increasing momentum. It is going, going to the ground, and we - are not there. At this instant, when I am in despair, the feather twirls, - and Abdallah suddenly casts his eye up and catches the glint of it. The - glance suffices to put him completely in possession of the situation. He - gives a low neigh of joy; I plunge both spurs into his flanks about six or - seven inches; he leaps into the air, and sails like a bird,—of - course only for a moment; but it is enough; I stretch out my hand and - catch the eagle's plume before it touches the ground. We light on the - other side of a clump of thorns, and Abdallah walks on as quietly as if - nothing had happened; he was not blown; not a hair of his glossy coat was - turned. I have the feather to show. - </p> - <p> - Pilgrims are plenty, returning from the river in a continuous procession, - in numbers rivalling the children of Israel when they first camped at - Gilgal. We descend into the river-bottom, wind through the clumps of - tangled bushes, and at length reach an open place where the river for a - few rods is visible. The ground is trampled like a watering-spot for - cattle; the bushes are not large enough to give shade; there are no trees - of size except one or two at the water's edge; the banks are slimy, there - seems to be no comfortable place to sit except on your horse—on - Jordan's stormy banks I <i>stand</i> and cast a wistful eye; the wistful - eye encounters nothing agreeable. - </p> - <p> - The Jordan here resembles the Arkansas above Little Rock, says the Doctor; - I think it is about the size of the Concord where it flows through the - classic town of that name in Massachusetts; but it is much swifter. - Indeed, it is a rapid current, which would sweep away the strongest - swimmer. The opposite bank is steep, and composed of sandy loam or marl. - The hither bank is low, but slippery, and it is difficult to dip up water - from it. Close to the shore the water is shallow, and a rope is stretched - out for the protection of the bathers. This is the Greek bathing-place, - but we are too late to see the pilgrims enter the stream; crowds of them - are still here, cutting canes to carry away, and filling their tin cans - with the holy water. We taste the water, which is very muddy, and find it - warm but not unpleasant. We are glad that we have decided to lunch at the - Dead Sea, for a more uninviting place than this could not he found; above - and below this spot are thickets and boggy ground. It is beneath the - historical and religious dignity of the occasion to speak of lunch, but - all tourists know what importance it assumes on such an excursion, and - that their high reflections seldom come to them on the historical spot. - Indeed, one must be removed some distance from the vulgar Jordan before he - can glow at the thought of it. In swiftness and volume it exceeds our - expectations, but its beauty is entirely a creation of the imagination. - </p> - <p> - We had the opportunity of seeing only a solitary pilgrim bathe. This was a - shock-headed Greek young man, who reluctantly ventured into the dirty - water up to his knees and stood there shivering, and whimpering over the - orders of the priest on the bank, who insisted upon his dipping. Perhaps - the boy lacked faith; perhaps it was his first experiment with water; at - any rate, he stood there until his spiritual father waded in and ducked - the blubbering and sputtering neophyte under. This was not a baptism, but - a meritorious bath. Some seedy fellahs from Gilgal sat on the bank - fishing. When I asked them if they had anything, they produced from the - corners of their gowns some Roman copper coins, picked up at Jericho, and - which they swore were dropped there by the Jews when they assaulted the - city with the rams'-horns. These idle fishermen caught now and then a - rather soft, light-colored perch, with large scales,—a - sickly-looking fish, which the Greeks, however, pronounced “tayeb.” - </p> - <p> - We leave the river and ride for an hour and a half across a nearly level - plain, the earth of which shows salts here and there, dotted with a low, - fat-leaved plant, something like the American sage-bush. Wild-flowers - enliven the way, and although the country is not exactly cheerful, it has - no appearance of desolation except such as comes from lack of water. - </p> - <p> - The Dead Sea is the least dead of any sheet of water I know. When we first - arrived the waters were a lovely blue, which changed to green in the - shifting light, but they were always animated and sparkling. It has a - sloping sandy beach, strewn with pebbles, up which the waves come with a - pleasant murmur. The plain is hot; here we find à cool breeze. The lovely - plain of water stretches away to the south between blue and purple ranges - of mountains, which thrust occasionally bold promontories into it, and add - a charm to the perspective. - </p> - <p> - The sea is not inimical either to vegetable or animal life on its borders. - Before we reach it I hear bird-notes high in the air like the song of a - lark; birds are flitting about the shore and singing, and gulls are - wheeling over the water; a rabbit runs into his hole close by the beach. - Growing close to the shore is a high woody stonewort, with abundance of - fleshy leaves and thousands of blossoms, delicate protruding stamens - hanging over the waters of the sea itself. The plant with the small yellow - fruit, which we take to be that of the apples of Sodom, also grows here. - It is the <i>Solarium spinosa</i>, closely allied to the potato, - egg-plant, and tomato; it has a woody stem with sharp recurved thorns, - sometimes grows ten feet high, and is now covered with round orange - berries. - </p> - <p> - It is not the scene of desolation that we expected, although some branches - and trunks of trees, gnarled and bleached, the drift-wood of the Jordan, - strewn along the beach, impart a dead aspect to the shore. These dry - branches are, however, useful; we build them up into a wigwam, over which - we spread our blankets; under this we sit, sheltered from the sun, - enjoying the delightful breeze and the cheering prospect of the sparkling - sea. The improvident Arabs, now that it is impossible to get fresh water, - begin to want it; they have exhausted their own jugs and ours, having - neglected to bring anything like an adequate supply. To see water and not - be able to drink it is too much for their philosophy. - </p> - <p> - The party separates along the shore, seeking for places where bushes grow - out upon tongues of land and offer shelter from observation for the - bather. The first impression we have of the water is its perfect - clearness. It is the most innocent water in appearance, and you would not - suspect its saltness and extreme bitterness. No fish live in it; the water - is too salt for anything but codfish. Its buoyancy has not been - exaggerated by travellers, but I did not expect to find bathing in it so - agreeable as it is. The water is of a happy temperature, soft, not exactly - oily, but exceedingly agreeable to the skin, and it left a delicious - sensation after the bath but it is necessary to be careful not to get any - of it into the eyes. For myself, I found swimming in it delightful, and I - wish the Atlantic Ocean were like it; nobody then would ever be drowned. - Floating is no effort; on the contrary, sinking is impossible. The only - annoyance in swimming is the tendency of the feet to strike out of water, - and of the swimmer to go over on his head. When I stood upright in the - water it came about to my shoulders; but it was difficult to stand, from - the constant desire of the feet to go to the surface. I suppose that the - different accounts of travellers in regard to the buoyancy of the water - are due to the different specific gravity of the writers. We cannot all be - doctors of divinity. I found that the best way to float was to make a bow - of the body and rest with feet and head out of water, which was something - like being in a cushioned chair. Even then it requires some care not to - turn over. The bather seems to himself to be a cork, and has little - control of his body. - </p> - <p> - About two hundred yards from the shore is an artificial island of stone, - upon which are remains of regular masonry. Probably some crusader had a - castle there. We notice upon looking down into the clear depths, some - distance out, in the sunlight, that the lake seems, as it flows, to have - translucent streaks, which are like a thick solution of sugar, showing how - completely saturated it is with salts. It is, in fact, twelve hundred and - ninety-two feet below the Mediterranean, nothing but a deep, half-dried-up - sea; the chloride of magnesia, which gives it its extraordinarily bitter - taste, does not crystallize and precipitate itself so readily as the - chloride of sodium. - </p> - <p> - We look in vain for any evidence of volcanic disturbance or action of - fire. Whatever there may be at the other end of the lake, there is none - here. We find no bitumen or any fire-stones, although the black stones - along the beach may have been supposed to be bituminous. All the pebbles - and all the stones of the beach are of chalk flint, and tell no story of - fire or volcanic fury. - </p> - <p> - Indeed, the lake has no apparent hostility to life. An enterprising - company could draw off the Jordan thirty miles above here and make all - this valley a garden, producing fruits and sugar-cane and cotton, and this - lake one of the most lovely watering-places in the world. I have no doubt - maladies could be discovered which its waters are exactly calculated to - cure. I confidently expect to hear some day that great hotels are built - upon this shore, which are crowded with the pious, the fashionable, and - the diseased. I seem to see this blue and sunny lake covered with a gay - multitude of bathers, floating about the livelong day on its surface; - parties of them making a pleasure excursion to the foot of Pisgah; groups - of them chatting, singing, amusing themselves as they would under the - shade of trees on land, having umbrellas and floating awnings, and perhaps - servants to bear their parasols; couples floating here and there at will - in the sweet dream of a love that seems to be suspended between the heaven - and the earth. No one will be at any expense for boats, for every one will - be his own boat, and launch himself without sail or oars whenever he - pleases. How dainty will be the little feminine barks that the tossing - mariner will hail on that peaceful sea! No more wailing of wives over - husbands drowned in the waves, no more rescuing of limp girls by - courageous lovers. People may be shipwrecked if there comes a squall from - Moab, but they cannot be drowned. I confess that this picture is the most - fascinating that I have been able to conjure up in Syria. - </p> - <p> - We take our lunch under the wigwam, fanned by a pleasant breeze. The - persons who partake it present a pleasing variety of nations and colors, - and the “spread” itself, though simple, was gathered from many lands. Some - one took the trouble to note the variety: raisins from Damascus, bread, - chicken, and mutton from Jerusalem, white wine from Bethlehem, figs from - Smyrna, cheese from America, dates from Nubia, walnuts from Germany, water - from Elisha's well, eggs from Hen. - </p> - <p> - We should like to linger till night in this enchanting place, but for an - hour the sheykh and dragoman have been urging our departure; men and - beasts are represented as suffering for water,—all because we have - reversed the usual order of travel. As soon as we leave the lake we lose - its breeze, the heat becomes severe; the sandy plain is rolling and a - little broken, but it has no shade, no water, and is indeed a weary way. - The horses feel the want of water sadly. The Arabs, whom we had supposed - patient in deprivation, are almost crazy with thirst. After we have ridden - for over an hour the sheykh's horse suddenly wheels off and runs over the - plain; my nag follows him, apparently without reason, and in spite of my - efforts I am run away with. The horses dash along, and soon the whole - cavalcade is racing after us. The object is soon visible,—a fringe - of trees, which denotes a brook; the horses press on, dash down the steep - bank, and plunge their heads into the water up to the eyes. The Arabs - follow suit. The sheykh declares that in fifteen minutes more both men and - horses would have been dead. Never before did anybody lunch at the Dead - Sea. - </p> - <p> - When the train comes up, the patient donkey that Madame rides is pushed - through the brook and not permitted to wet his muzzle. I am indignant at - such cruelty, and spring off my horse, push the two donkey-boys aside, and - lead the eager donkey to the stream. At once there is a cry of protest - from dragomans, sheykh, and the whole crowd, “No drink donkey, no drink - donkey, no let donkey, bad for donkey.” There could not have been a - greater outcry among the Jews when the ark of the covenant was likely to - touch the water. I desist from my charitable efforts. Why the poor beast, - whose whole body craved water as much as that of the horse, was denied it, - I know not. It is said that if you give a donkey water on the road he - won't go thereafter. Certainly the donkey is never permitted to drink when - travelling. I think the patient and chastened creature will get more in - the next world than his cruel masters. - </p> - <p> - Nearly all the way over the plain we have the long snowy range of Mt. - Herinon in sight, a noble object, closing the long northern vista, and a - refreshment to the eyes wearied by the parched vegetation of the valley - and dazzled by the aerial shimmer. If we turn from the north to the south, - we have the entirely different but equally poetical prospect of the blue - sea enclosed in the receding hills, which fall away into the violet shade - of the horizon. The Jordan Valley is unique; by a geologic fault it is - dropped over a thousand feet below the sea-level; it is guarded by - mountain-ranges which are from a thousand to two thousand feet high; at - one end is a mountain ten thousand feet high, from which the snow never - disappears; at the other end is a lake forty miles long, of the saltest - and bitterest water in the world. All these contrasts the eye embraces at - one point. - </p> - <p> - We dismount at the camp of the Russian pilgrims by Rîha, and walk among - the tents and booths. The sharpers of Syria attend the strangers, tempt - them with various holy wares, and entice them into their dirty - coffee-shops. It is a scene of mingled credulity and knavery, of devotion - and traffic. There are great booths for the sale of vegetables, nuts, and - dried fruit. The whole may be sufficiently described as a camp-meeting - without any prayer-tent. - </p> - <p> - At sunset I have a quiet hour by the fountain of Elisha. It is a - remarkable pool. Under the ledge of limestone rocks the water gushes out - with considerable force, and in such volume as to form a large brook which - flows out of the basin and murmurs over a stony bed. You cannot recover - your surprise to see a river in this dry country burst suddenly out of the - ground. A group of native women have come to the pool with jars, and they - stay to gossip, sitting about the edge upon the stones with their feet in - the water. One of them wears a red gown, and her cheeks are as red as her - dress; indeed, I have met several women to-day who had the complexion of a - ripe Flemish Beauty pear. As it seems to be the fashion, I also sit on the - bank of the stream with my feet in the warm swift water, and enjoy the - sunset and the strange concourse of pilgrims who are gathering about the - well. They are worthy Greeks, very decent people, men and women, who - salute me pleasantly as they arrive, and seem to take my participation in - the bath as an act of friendship. - </p> - <p> - Just below the large pool, by a smaller one, a Greek boy, having bathed, - is about to dress, and I am interested to watch the process. The first - article to go on is a white shirt; over this he puts on two blue woollen - shirts; he then draws on a pair of large, loose trousers; into these the - shirts are tucked, and the trousers are tied at the waist,—he is - bothered with neither pins nor buttons. Then comes the turban, which is a - soft gray and yellow material; a red belt is next wound twice about the - waist; the vest is yellow and open in front; and the costume is completed - by a jaunty jacket of yellow, prettily embroidered. The heap of clothes on - the bank did not promise much, but the result is a very handsome boy, - dressed, I am sure, most comfortably for this climate. While I sit here - the son of the sheykh rides his horse to the pool. He is not more than ten - years old, is very smartly dressed in gay colors, and exceedingly - handsome, although he has somewhat the supercilious manner of a lad born - in the purple. The little prince speaks French, and ostentatiously - displays in his belt a big revolver. I am glad of the opportunity of - seeing one of the desert robbers in embryo. - </p> - <p> - When it is dusk we have an invasion from the neighboring Bedaween, an - imposition to which all tourists are subjected, it being taken for granted - that we desire to see a native dance. This is one of the ways these honest - people have of levying tribute; by the connivance of our protectors, the - head sheykhs, the entertainment is forced upon us, and the performers will - not depart without a liberal backsheesh. We are already somewhat familiar - with the fascinating dances of the Orient, and have only a languid - curiosity about those of the Jordan; but before we are aware there is a - crowd before our tents, and the evening is disturbed by doleful howling - and drum-thumping. The scene in the flickering firelight is sufficiently - fantastic. - </p> - <p> - The men dance first. Some twenty or thirty of them form in a half-circle, - standing close together; their gowns are in rags, their black hair is - tossed in tangled disorder, and their eyes shine with animal wildness. The - only dancing they perform consists in a violent swaying of the body from - side to side in concert, faster and faster as the excitement rises, with - an occasional stamping of the feet, and a continual howling like - darwishes. Two vagabonds step into the focus of the half-circle and hop - about in the most stiff-legged manner, swinging enormous swords over their - heads, and giving from time to time a war-whoop,—it seems to be - precisely the dance of the North American Indians. We are told, however, - that the howling is a song, and that the song relates to meeting the enemy - and demolishing him. The longer the performance goes on the less we like - it, for the uncouthness is not varied by a single graceful motion, and the - monotony becomes unendurable. We long for the women to begin. - </p> - <p> - When the women begin, we wish we had the men back again. Creatures uglier - and dirtier than these hags could not be found. Their dance is much the - same as that of the men, a semicircle, with a couple of women to jump - about and whirl swords. But the women display more fierceness and more - passion as they warm to their work, and their shrill cries, dishevelled - hair, loose robes, and frantic gestures give us new ideas of the capacity - of the gentle sex; you think that they would not only slay their enemies, - but drink their blood and dance upon their fragments. Indeed, one of their - songs is altogether belligerent; it taunts the men with cowardice, it - scoffs them for not daring to fight, it declares that the women like the - sword and know how to use it,—and thus, and thus, and thus, lunging - their swords into the air, would they pierce the imaginary enemy. But - these sweet creatures do not sing altogether of war; they sing of love in - the same strident voices and fierce manner: “My lover will meet me by the - stream, he will take me over the water.” - </p> - <p> - When the performance is over they all clamor for backsheesh; it is given - in a lump to their sheykh, and they retire into the bushes and wrangle - over its distribution. The women return to us and say. “Why you give our - backsheesh to sheykh? We no get any. Men get all.” It seems that women are - animated nowadays by the same spirit the world over, and make the same - just complaints of the injustice of men. - </p> - <p> - When we turn in, there is a light gleaming from a cell high up on Mt. - Temptation, where some modern pilgrim is playing hermit for the night. - </p> - <p> - We are up early in the morning, and prepare for the journey to Jerusalem. - Near our camp some Abyssinian pilgrims, Christians so called, have - encamped in the bushes, a priest and three or four laymen, the cleverest - and most decent Abyssinians we have met with. They are from Gondar, and - have been a year and a half on their pilgrimage from their country to the - Jordan. The priest is severely ill with a fever, and his condition excites - the compassion of Abd-el-Atti, who procures for him a donkey to ride back - to the city. About the only luggage of the party consists of sacred books, - written on parchment and preserved with great care, among them the Gospel - of St. John, the Psalms, the Pentateuch, and volumes of prayers to the - Virgin. They are willing to exchange some of these manuscripts for silver, - and we make up besides a little purse for the sick man. These Abyssinian - Christians when at home live under the old dispensation, rather than the - new, holding rather to the law of Moses than of Christ, and practise - generally all the vices of all ages; the colony of them at Jerusalem is a - disreputable lot of lewd beggars; so that we are glad to find some of the - race who have gentle manners and are outwardly respectable. To be sure, we - had come a greater distance than they to the Jordan, but they had been - much longer on the way. - </p> - <p> - The day is very hot; the intense sun beats upon the white limestone rocks - and is reflected into the valleys. Our view in returning is better than it - was in coming; the plain and the foot of the pass are covered with a bloom - of lilac-colored flowers. We meet and pass more pilgrims than before. We - overtake them resting or asleep by the roadside, in the shade of the - rocks. They all carry bundles of sticks and canes cut on the banks of the - Jordan, and most of them Jordan water in cans, bottles, and pitchers. - There are motley loads of baggage, kitchen utensils, beds, children. We - see again two, three, and four on one horse or mule, and now and then a - row, as if on a bench, across the horse's back, taking up the whole road. - </p> - <p> - We overtake one old woman, a Russian, who cannot be less than seventy, - with a round body, and legs as short as ducks' and as big as the “limbs” - of a piano. Her big feet are encased in straw shoes, the shape of a long - vegetable-dish. She wears a short calico gown, an old cotton handkerchief - enwraps her gray head, she carries on her back a big bundle of clothing, - an extra pair of straw shoes, a coffee-pot, and a saucepan, and she - staggers under a great bundle of canes on her shoulder. Poor old pilgrim! - I should like to give the old mother my horse and ease her way to the - heavenly city; but I reflect that this would detract from the merit of her - pilgrimage. There are men also as old hobbling along, but usually not so - heavily laden. One ancient couple are riding in the deep flaps of a - pannier, hanging each side of a mule; they can just see each other across - the mule's back, but the swaying, sickening motion of the pannier - evidently lessens their interest in life and in each other. - </p> - <p> - Our Syrian allies are as brave as usual. The Soudan babies did not go to - the Jordan or the Dead Sea, and are consequently fresh and full of antics. - The Syrian armament has not thus far been used; eagles, rabbits, small - game of all sorts, have been disregarded; neither of the men has unslung - his gun or drawn his revolvers. The hunting dogs have not once been called - on to hunt anything, and now they are so exhausted by the heat that their - master is obliged to carry them all the way to Jerusalem; one of the - hounds he has in his arms and the other is slung in a pannier under the - saddle, his master's foot resting in the other side to balance the dog. - The poor creature looks out piteously from his swinging cradle. It is the - most inglorious hunting-expedition I have ever been attached to. - </p> - <p> - Our sheykh becomes more and more friendly. He rides up to me occasionally, - and, nobly striking his breast, exclaims, “Me! sheykh, Jordan, Jerusalem, - Mar Saba, Hebron, all round; me, big.” Sometimes he ends the interview - with a demand for tobacco, and again with a hint of the backsheesh he - expects in Jerusalem. I want to tell him that he is exactly like our - stately red man at home, with his “Me! Big Injun. Chaw-tobac?” - </p> - <p> - We are very glad to get out of the heat at noon and take shelter in the - rock grotto at the Red Khan. We sit here as if in a box at the theatre, - and survey the passing show. The Syro-Phoenician woman smokes her - narghileh again, the dogs crouching at her feet, and the Soudan babies are - pretending to wait on her, and tumbling over each other and spilling - everything they attempt to carry. The woman says they are great plagues to - her, and cost thirty napoleons each in Soudan. As we sit here after lunch, - an endless procession passes before us,—donkeys, horses, camels in - long strings tied together, and pilgrims of all grades; and as they come - up the hill one after the other, showing their heads suddenly, it is just - as if they appeared on the stage; and they all—Bedaween, Negroes, - Russians, Copts, Circassians, Greeks, Soudan slaves, and Arab masters—seem - struck with a “glad surprise” upon seeing us, and tarry long enough for us - to examine them. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly presents himself a tall, gayly dressed, slim fellow from Soudan - (the slave of the sheykh), showing his white teeth, and his face beaming - with good-nature. He is so peculiarly black that we ask him to step - forward for closer inspection. Abd-el-Atti, who expresses great admiration - for him, gets a coal from the tire, and holds it up by his cheek; the skin - has the advantage of the coal, not only in lustre but in depth of - blackness. He says that he is a Galgam, a tribe whose virtues Abdel-Atti - endorses: “Thim very sincere, trusty, thim good breed.” - </p> - <p> - When we have made the acquaintance of the Galgam in this thorough manner, - he asks for backsheesh. The Doctor offers him a copper coin. This, without - any offence in his manner, and with the utmost courtesy, he refuses, bows - very low, says “Thanks,” with a little irony, and turns away. In a few - moments he comes back, opens his wallet, takes out two silver franc - pieces, hands them to the Doctor, says with a proud politeness, - “Backsheesh, Bedawee!” bows, runs across the hill, catches his horse, and - rides gallantly away. It is beautifully done. Once or twice during the - ride to Jerusalem we see him careering over the hills, and he approaches - within hail at Bethany, but he does not lower his dignity by joining us - again. - </p> - <p> - The heat is intense until we reach the well within a mile of Bethany, - where we find a great concourse of exhausted pilgrims. On the way, - wherever there is an open field that admits of it, we have some display of - Bedawee horsemanship. The white Arab mare which the sheykh rides is of - pure blood and cost him £200, although I should select her as a - broken-down stage-horse. These people ride “all abroad,” so to say, arms, - legs, accoutrements flying; but they stick on, which is the principal - thing; and the horses over the rough ground, soft fields, and loose - stones, run, stop short, wheel in a flash, and exhibit wonderful training - and bottom. - </p> - <p> - The high opinion we had formed of the proud spirit and generosity of the - Bedawee, by the incident at the Bed Khan, was not to be maintained after - our return to Jerusalem. Another of our Oriental illusions was to be - destroyed forever. The cool acceptance by the Doctor of the two francs so - loftily tendered, as a specimen of Bedawee backsheesh, was probably - unexpected, and perhaps unprovided for by adequate financial arrangements - on the part of the Galgam. At any rate, that evening he was hovering about - the hotel, endeavoring to attract the attention of the Doctor, and - evidently unwilling to believe that there could exist in the heart of the - howadji the mean intention of retaining those francs. The next morning he - sent a friend to the Doctor to ask him for the money. The Doctor replied - that he should never think of returning a gift, especially one made with - so much courtesy; that, indeed, the amount of the money was naught, but - that he should keep it as a souvenir of the noble generosity of his - Bedawee friend. This sort of sentiment seemed inexplicable to the Oriental - mind. The son of the desert was as much astonished that the Frank should - retain his gift, as the Spanish gentleman who presents his horse to his - guest would be if the guest should take it. The offer of a present in the - East is a flowery expression of a sentiment that does not exist, and its - acceptance necessarily implies a return of something of greater value. - After another day of anxiety the proud and handsome slave came in person - and begged for the francs until he received them. He was no better than - his master, the noble sheykh, who waylaid us during the remainder of our - stay for additional sixpences in backsheesh. O superb Bedawee, we did not - begrudge the money, but our lost ideal! - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - VI.—BETHLEHEM AND MAR SABA. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">B</span>ETHLEHEM lies - about seven miles south of Jerusalem. It is also a hill village, reposing - upon a stony promontory that is thrust out eastward from the central - mountain-range; the abrupt slopes below three sides of it are terraced; on - the north is a valley which lies in a direct line between it and - Jerusalem; on the east are the yawning ravines and the “wilderness” - leading to the Dead Sea; on the south is the wild country towards Hebron, - and the sharp summit of the Frank mountain in the distance. The village - lies on the ridge; and on the point at the east end of it, overlooking a - vast extent of seamed and rocky and jagged country, is the gloomy pile of - convents, chapels, and churches that mark the spot of the Nativity. - </p> - <p> - From its earliest mention till now the home of shepherds and of hardy - cultivators of its rocky hillsides, it has been noted for the free spirit - and turbulence of its inhabitants. The primal character of a place seems - to have the power of perpetuating itself in all changes. Bethlehem never - seems to have been afflicted with servility. During the period of David's - hiding in the Cave Adullam the warlike Philistines occupied it, but David - was a fit representative of the pluck and steadfastness of its people. - Since the Christian era it has been a Christian town, as it is to-day, and - the few Moslems who have settled there, from time to time, have found it - more prudent to withdraw than to brave its hostility. Its women incline to - be handsome, and have rather European than Oriental features, and they - enjoy the reputation of unusual virtue; the men are industrious, and seem - to have more selfrespect than the Syrians generally. - </p> - <p> - Bethlehem is to all the world one of the sweetest of words. A tender and - romantic interest is thrown about it as the burial-place of Rachel, as the - scene of Ruth's primitive story, and of David's boyhood and kingly - consecration; so that no other place in Judæa, by its associations, was so - fit to be the gate through which the Divine Child should come into the - world. And the traveller to-day can visit it, with, perhaps, less shock to - his feelings of reverence, certainly with a purer and simpler enjoyment, - than any other place in Holy Land. He finds its ruggedness and - desolateness picturesque, in the light of old song and story, and even the - puerile inventions of monkish credulity do not affect him as elsewhere. - </p> - <p> - From Jerusalem we reach Bethlehem by following a curving ridge,—a - lovely upland ride, on account of the extensive prospect and the breeze, - and because it is always a relief to get out of the city. The country is, - however, as stony as the worst portions of New England,—the mountain - sheep-pastures; thick, double stone-walls enclosing small fields do not - begin to exhaust the stones. On both sides of the ridge are bare, - unproductive hills, but the sides of the valleys are terraced, and covered - with a good growth of olive-trees. These hollows were no doubt once very - fruitful by assiduous cultivation, in spite of the stones. Bethlehem, as - we saw it across a deep ravine, was like a castle on a hill; there is - nowhere level ground enough for a table to stand, off the ridges, and we - looked in vain for the “plains of Bethlehem” about which we had tried, - trustfully, to sing in youth. - </p> - <p> - Within a mile of Bethlehem gate we came to the tomb of Rachel, standing - close by the highway. “And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to - Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that - is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.” This is the testimony of - the author of Genesis, who had not seen the pillar which remained to his - day, but repeated the tradition of the sons of Jacob. What remained of - this pillar, after the absence of the Israelites for some five centuries - from Bethlehem, is uncertain; but it may be supposed that some spot near - Bethlehem was identified as the tomb of Rachel upon their return, and that - the present site is the one then selected. It is possible, of course, that - the tradition of the pagan Canaanites may have preserved the recollection - of the precise spot. At any rate, Christians seem to agree that this is - one of the few ancient sites in Judæa which are authentic, and the Moslems - pay it equal veneration. The square, unpretentious building erected over - it is of modern construction, and the pilgrim has to content himself with - looking at a sort of Moslem tomb inside, and reflecting, if he can, upon - the pathetic story of the death of the mother of Joseph. - </p> - <p> - There is, alas! everywhere in Judæa something to drive away sentiment as - well as pious feeling. The tomb of Rachel is now surrounded by a Moslem - cemetery, and as we happened to be there on Thursday we found ourselves in - the midst of a great gathering of women, who had come there, according to - their weekly custom, to weep and to wail. . - </p> - <p> - You would not see in farthest Nubia a more barbarous assemblage, and not - so fierce an one. In the presence of these wild mourners the term “gentler - sex” has a ludicrous sound. Yet we ought not to forget that we were - intruders upon their periodic grief, attracted to their religious - demonstration merely by curiosity, and fairly entitled to nothing but - scowls and signs of aversion. I am sure that we should give bold Moslem - intruders upon our hours of sorrow at home no better reception. The women - were in the usual Syrian costume; their loose gowns gaped open at the - bosom, and they were without veils, and made no pretence of drawing a - shawl before their faces; all wore necklaces of coins, and many of them - had circlets of coins on the head, with strips depending from them, also - stiff with silver pieces. A woman's worth was thus easily to be reckoned, - for her entire fortune was on her head. A pretty face was here and there - to be seen, but most of them were flaringly ugly, and—to liken them - to what they most resembled—physically and mentally the type of the - North American squaws. They were accompanied by all their children, and - the little brats were tumbling about the tombs, and learning the language - of woe. - </p> - <p> - Among the hundreds of women present, the expression of grief took two - forms,—one active, the other more resigned. A group seated itself - about a tomb, and the members swayed their bodies to and fro, howled at - the top of their voices, and pretended to weep. I had the infidel - curiosity to go from group to group in search of a tear, but I did not see - one. Occasionally some interruption, like the arrival of a new mourner, - would cause the swaying and howling to cease for a moment, or it would now - and then be temporarily left to the woman at the head of the grave, but - presently all would fall to again and abandon themselves to the luxury of - agony. It was perhaps unreasonable to expect tears from creatures so - withered as most of these were; but they worked themselves into a frenzy - of excitement, they rolled up their blue checked cotton handkerchiefs, - drew them across their eyes, and then wrung them out with gestures of - despair. It was the dryest grief I ever saw. - </p> - <p> - The more active mourners formed a ring in a clear spot. Some thirty women - standing with their faces toward the centre, their hands on each other's - shoulders, circled round with unrhythmic steps, crying and singing, and - occasionally jumping up and down with all their energy, like the dancers - of Horace, “striking the ground with equal feet,” coming down upon the - earth with a heavy thud, at the same time slapping their faces with their - hands; then circling around again with faster steps, and shriller cries, - and more prolonged ululations, and anon pausing to jump and beat the - ground with a violence sufficient to shatter their frames. The loose - flowing robes, the clinking of the silver ornaments, the wild gleam of - their eyes, the Bacchantic madness of their saltations, the shrill - shrieking and wailing, conspired to give their demonstration an - indescribable barbarity. This scene has recurred every Thursday for, I - suppose, hundreds of years, within a mile of the birthplace of Jesus. - </p> - <p> - Bethlehem at a little distance presents an appearance that its interior - does not maintain; but it is so much better than most Syrian villages of - its size (it has a population of about three thousand), and is so much - cleaner than Jerusalem, that we are content with its ancient though - commonplace aspect. But the atmosphere of the town is thoroughly - commercial, or perhaps I should say industrial; you do not find in it that - rural and reposeful air which you associate with the birthplace of our - Lord. The people are sharp, to a woman, and have a keen eye for the purse - of the stranger. Every other house is a shop for the manufacture or sale - of some of the Bethlehem specialties,—carvings in olive-wood and - ivory and mother-of-pearl, crosses and crucifixes, and models of the Holy - Sepulchre, and every sort of sacred trinket, and beads in endless variety; - a little is done also in silver-work, especially in rings. One may chance - upon a Mecca ring there; but the ring peculiar to Bethlehem is a silver - wedding-ring; it is a broad and singular band of silver with pendants, and - is worn upon the thumb. As soon as we come into the town, we are beset - with sellers of various wares, and we never escape them except when we are - in the convent. - </p> - <p> - The Latin convent opens its doors to tourists; it is a hospitable house, - and the monks are very civil; they let us sit in a <i>salle-à-manger</i>, - while waiting for dinner, that was as damp and chill as a dungeon, and - they gave us a well-intended but uneatable meal, and the most peculiar - wine, all at a good price. The wine, white and red, was made by the monks, - they said with some pride; we tried both kinds, and I can recommend it to - the American Temperance Union: if it can be introduced to the public, the - public will embrace total abstinence with enthusiasm. - </p> - <p> - While we were waiting for the proper hour to visit the crypt of the - Nativity, we went out upon the esplanade before the convent, and looked - down into the terraced ravines which are endeared to us by so many - associations. Somewhere down there is the patch of ground that the mighty - man of wealth, Boaz, owned, in which sweet Ruth went gleaning in the - barley-harvest. What a picture of a primitive time it is,—the - noonday meal of Boaz and his handmaidens, Ruth invited to join them, and - dip her morsel in the vinegar with the rest, and the hospitable Boaz - handing her parched corn. We can understand why Ruth had good gleaning - over this stony ground, after the rakes of the handmaidens. We know that - her dress did not differ from that worn by Oriental women now; for her - “veil,” which Boaz filled with six measures of barley, was the head-shawl - still almost universally worn,—though not by the Bethlehemite women. - Their head-dress is peculiar; there seems to be on top of the head a - square frame, and over this is thrown and folded a piece of white doth. - The women are thus in a manner crowned, and the dress is as becoming as - the somewhat similar head-covering of the Roman peasants. We learn also in - the story of Ruth that the mother-in-law in her day was as wise in the - ways of men as she is now. “Sit still, my daughter,” she counselled her - after she returned with the veil full of barley, “until thou know how the - matter will fall, for the man will not be in rest until he have finished - the thing this day.” - </p> - <p> - Down there, somewhere in that wilderness of ravines, David, the - great-grandson of Ruth, kept his father's sheep before he went to the - combat with Goliath. It was there—the grotto is shown a little more - than a mile from this convent—that the shepherds watched their - flocks by night when the angel appeared and announced the birth of the - Messiah, the Son of David. We have here within the grasp of the eye almost - the beginning and the end of the old dispensation, from the burial of - Rachel to the birth of our Lord, from the passing of the wandering sheykh, - Jacob, with his family, to the end put to the exclusive pretensions of his - descendants by the coming of a Saviour to all the world. - </p> - <p> - The cave called the Grotto of the Nativity has great antiquity. The - hand-book says it had this repute as early as the second century. In the - year 327 the mother of Constantine built a church over it, and this - basilica still stands, and is the oldest specimen of Christian - architecture in existence, except perhaps the lower church of St. Clement - at Rome. It is the oldest basilica above ground retaining its perfect - ancient form. The main part of the church consists of a nave and four - aisles, separated by four rows of Corinthian marble columns, tradition - says, taken from the temple of Solomon. The walls were once adorned with - mosaics, but only fragments of them remain; the roof is decayed and leaky, - the pavement is broken. This part of the church is wholly neglected, - because it belongs to the several sects in common, and is merely the arena - for an occasional fight. The choir is separated from the nave by a wall, - and is divided into two chapels, one of the Greeks, the other of the - Armenians. The Grotto of the Nativity is underneath these chapels, and - each sect has a separate staircase of descent to it. The Latin chapel is - on the north side of this choir, and it also has a stairway to the - subterranean apartments. - </p> - <p> - Making an effort to believe that the stable of the inn in which Christ was - born was a small subterranean cave cut in the solid rock, we descended a - winding flight of stairs from the Latin chapel, with a monk for our guide, - and entered a labyrinth from which we did not emerge until we reached the - place of the nativity, and ascended into the Greek chapel above it. We - walked between glistening walls of rock, illuminated by oil-lamps here and - there, and in our exploration of the gloomy passages and chambers, - encountered shrines, pictures, and tombs of the sainted. We saw, or were - told that we saw, the spot to which St. Joseph retired at the moment of - the nativity, and also the place where the twenty thousand children who - were murdered by the order of Herod—a ghastly subject so well - improved by the painters of the Renaissance—are buried. But there - was one chamber, or rather vault, that we entered with genuine emotion. - This was the cell of Jerome, hermit and scholar, whose writings have - gained him the title of Father of the Church. - </p> - <p> - At the close of the fourth century Bethlehem was chiefly famous as the - retreat of this holy student, and the fame of his learning and sanctity - drew to it from distant lands many faithful women, who renounced the world - and its pleasures, and were content to sit at his feet and learn the way - of life. Among those who resigned, and, for his sake and the cross, - despised, the allurements and honors of the Roman world, was the devout - Paula, a Roman matron who traced her origin from Agamemnon, and numbered - the Scipios and Gracchi among her ancestors, while her husband, Joxotius, - deduced a no less royal lineage from Æneas. Her wealth was sufficient to - support the dignity of such a descent; among her possessions, an item in - her rent-roll, was the city of Nicopolis, which Augustus built as a - monument of the victory of Actium. By the advice and in the company of - Jerome, her spiritual guide, she abandoned Rome and all her vast estates, - and even her infant son, and retired to the holy village of Bethlehem. The - great Jerome, who wrote her biography, and transmitted the story of her - virtues to the most distant ages, bestowed upon her the singular title of - the Mother-in-law of God! She was buried here, and we look upon her tomb - with scarcely less interest than that of Jerome himself, who also rests in - this thrice holy ground. At the beginning of the fifth century, when the - Goths sacked Rome, a crowd of the noble and the rich, escaping with - nothing saved from the wreck but life and honor, attracted also by the - reputation of Jerome, appeared as beggars in the streets of this humble - village. No doubt they thronged to the cell of the venerable father. - </p> - <p> - There is, I suppose, no doubt that this is the study in which he composed - many of his more important treatises. It is a vaulted chamber, about - twenty feet square by nine feet high. There is in Venice a picture of the - study of Jerome, painted by Carpaccio, which represents a delightful - apartment; the saint is seen in his study, in a rich <i>négligé</i> robe; - at the side of his desk are musical instruments, music-stands, and sheets - of music, as if he were accustomed to give <i>soirées</i>; on the - chimney-piece are Greek vases and other objects of virtu, and in the - middle of the room is a poodle-dog of the most worldly and useless of the - canine breed. The artist should have seen the real study of the hermit,—a - grim, unornamented vault, in which he passed his days in mortifications of - the body, hearing always ringing in his ears, in his disordered mental and - physical condition, the last trump of judgment. - </p> - <p> - We passed, groping our way along in this religious cellar, through a - winding, narrow passage in the rock, some twenty-five feet long, and came - into the place of places, the very Chapel of the Nativity. In this low - vault, thirty-eight feet long and eleven feet wide, hewn in the rock, is - an altar at one end. Before this altar—and we can see everything - with distinctness, for sixteen silver lamps are burning about it—there - is a marble slab in the pavement into which is let a silver star, with - this sentence round it: <i>Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est</i>. - The guardian of this sacred spot was a Turkish soldier, who stood there - with his gun and fixed bayonet, an attitude which experience has taught - him is necessary to keep the peace among the Christians who meet here. The - altar is without furniture, and is draped by each sect which uses it in - turn. Near by is the chapel of the “manger,” but the manger in which - Christ was laid is in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. - </p> - <p> - There is in Bethlehem another ancient cave which is almost as famous as - that of the Nativity; it is called the Milk Grotto, and during all ages of - the Church a most marvellous virtue has attached to it; fragments of the - stone have been, and still continue to be, broken off and sent into all - Christian countries; women also make pilgrimages to it in faith. The - grotto is on the edge of the town overlooking the eastern ravines, and is - arranged as a show-place. In our walk thither a stately Bedawee, as by - accident, fell into our company, and acted as our cicerone. He was - desirous that we should know that he also was a man of the world and of - travel, and rated at its proper value this little corner of the earth. He - had served in the French army and taken part in many battles, and had been - in Paris and seen the tomb of the great emperor,—ah, there was a - man! As to this grotto, they say that the Virgin used to send to it for - milk,—many think so. As for him, he was a soldier, and did not much - give his mind to such things. - </p> - <p> - This grotto is an excavation in the chalky rock, and might be a very good - place to store milk, but for the popular prejudice in cities against chalk - and water. We entered it through the court of a private house, and the - damsel who admitted us also assured us that the Virgin procured milk from - it. The tradition is that the Virgin and Child were concealed here for a - time before the flight into Egypt; and ever since then its stone has the - miraculous power of increasing the flow of the maternal breast. The early - fathers encouraged this and the like superstitions in the docile minds of - their fair converts, and themselves testified to the efficacy of this - remarkable stone. These superstitions belong rather to the Orient than to - any form of religion. There is a famous spring at Assiout in Egypt which - was for centuries much resorted to by ladies who desired offspring; and - the Arabs on the Upper Nile to-day, who wish for an heir male, resort to a - plant which grows in the remote desert, rare and difficult to find, the - leaves of which are “good for boys.” This grotto scarcely repays the - visit, except for the view one obtains of the wild country below it. When - we bade good by to the courtly Arab, we had too much delicacy to offer - money to such a gentleman and a soldier of the empire; a delicacy not - shared by him, however, for he let no false modesty hinder a request for a - little backsheesh for tobacco. - </p> - <p> - On our return, and at some distance from the gate, we diverged into a - lane, and sought, in a rocky field, the traditional well whose waters - David longed for when he was in the Cave of Adullam,—“O that one - would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the - gate!” Howbeit, when the three mighty men had broken through the - Philistine guards and procured him the water, David would not drink that - which was brought at such a sacrifice. Two very comely Bethlehem girls - hastened at our approach to draw water from the well and gave us to drink, - with all the freedom of Oriental hospitality, in which there is always an - expectation of backsheesh. The water is at any rate very good, and there - is no reason why these pretty girls should not turn an honest penny upon - the strength of David's thirst, whether this be the well whose water he - desired or not. We were only too thankful that no miraculous property is - attributed to its waters. As we returned, we had the evening light upon - the gray walls and towers of the city, and were able to invest it with - something of its historical dignity. - </p> - <p> - The next excursion that we made from Jerusalem was so different from the - one to Bethlehem, that by way of contrast I put them together. It was to - the convent of Mar Saba, which lies in the wilderness towards the Dead - Sea, about two hours and a half from the city. - </p> - <p> - In those good old days, when piety was measured by frugality in the use of - the bath, when the holy fathers praised most those hermits who washed - least, when it might perhaps be the boast of more than one virgin, devoted - to the ascetic life, that she had lived fifty-eight years during which - water had touched neither her hands, her face, her feet, nor any part of - her body, Palestine was, after Egypt, the favorite resort of the - fanatical, the unfortunate, and the lazy, who, gathered into communities, - or dwelling in solitary caves, offered to the barbarian world a spectacle - of superstition and abasement under the name of Christianity. But of the - swarm of hermits and monks who begged in the cities and burrowed in the - caves of the Holy Land in the fifth century, no one may perhaps be spoken - of with more respect than St. Sabas, who, besides a reputation for - sanctity, has left that of manliness and a virile ability, which his - self-mortifications did not extirpate. And of all the monasteries of that - period, that of Mar Saba is the only one in Judæa which has preserved - almost unbroken the type of that time. St. Sabas was a Cappadocian who - came to Palestine in search of a permanent retreat, savage enough to - satisfy his austere soul. He found it in a cave in one of the wildest - gorges in this most desolate of lands, a ravine which opens into the - mountains from the brook Kidron. The fame of his zeal and piety attracted - thousands to his neighborhood, so that at one time there were almost as - many hermits roosting about in the rocks near him as there are inhabitants - in the city of Jerusalem now. He was once enabled to lead an army of monks - to that city and chastise the Monophysite heretics. His cave in the steep - side of a rocky precipice became the nucleus of his convent, which grew - around it and attached itself to the face of the rock as best it could. - For the convent of Mar Saba is not a building, nor a collection of - buildings, so much as it is a group of nests attached to the side of a - precipice. - </p> - <p> - It was a bright Saturday afternoon that a young divinity student and I, - taking the volatile Demetrius with us for interpreter, rode out of St. - Stephen's gate, into Jehoshaphat, past the gray field of Jewish graves, - down through Tophet and the wild ravine of the Kidron. - </p> - <p> - It is unpleasant to interrupt the prosperous start of a pilgrimage by a - trifling incident, but at our first descent and the slightest tension on - the bridle-reins of my horse, they parted from the bit. This accident, - which might be serious in other lands, is of the sort that is anticipated - here, and I may say assured, by the forethought of the owners of - saddle-horses. Upon dismounting with as much haste as dignity, I - discovered that the reins had been fastened to the bit by a single rotten - string of cotton. Luckily the horse I rode was not an animal to take - advantage of the weakness of his toggery. He was a Syrian horse, a light - sorrel, and had no one of the good points of a horse except the name and - general shape. His walk was slow and reluctant, his trot a high and - non-progressive jolt, his gallop a large up-and-down agitation. To his - bridle of strings and shreds no martingale was attached; no horse in Syria - is subject to that restraint. When I pull the bit he sticks up his nose; - when I switch him he kicks. When I hold him in, he won't go; when I let - him loose, he goes on his nose. I dismount and look at him with curiosity; - I wonder all the journey what his <i>forte</i> is, but I never discover. I - conclude that he is like the emperor Honorius, whom Gibbon stigmatizes as - “without passions, and consequently without talents.” - </p> - <p> - Yet he was not so bad as the roads, and perhaps no horse would do much - better on these stony and broken foot-paths. This horse is not a model - (for anything but a clothes-horse), but from my observation I think that - great injustice has been done to Syrian horses by travellers, who have - only themselves to blame for accidents which bring the horses into - disrepute. Travellers are thrown from these steeds; it is a daily - occurrence; we heard continually that somebody had a fall from his horse - on his way to the Jordan, or to Mar Saba, or to Nablous, and was laid up, - and it was always in consequence of a vicious brute. The fact is that - excellent ministers of the gospel and doctors of divinity and students of - the same, who have never in their lives been on the back of a horse in any - other land, seem to think when they come here that the holy air of - Palestine will transform them into accomplished horsemen; or perhaps they - are emulous of Elisha, that they may go to heaven by means of a fiery - steed. - </p> - <p> - For a while we had the company of the singing brook Kidron, flowing clear - over the stones; then we left the ravine and wound over rocky steeps, - which afforded us fine views of broken hills and interlacing ridges, and - when we again reached the valley the brook had disappeared in the thirsty - ground. The road is strewn, not paved, with stones, and in many places - hardly practicable for horses. Occasionally we encountered flocks of goats - and of long-wooled sheep feeding on the scant grass of the hills, and - tended by boys in the coarse brown and striped garments of the country, - which give a state-prison aspect to most of the inhabitants,—but - there was no other life, and no trees offer relief to the hard landscape. - But the way was now and then bright with flowers, thickly carpeted with - scarlet anemones, the Star of Bethlehem, and tiny dandelions. Two hours - from the city we passed several camps of Bedaween, their brown low - camel's-hair tents pitched among the rocks and scarcely distinguishable in - the sombre landscape. About the tents were grouped camels and donkeys, and - from them issued and pursued us begging boys and girls. A lazy Bedawee - appeared here and there with a long gun, and we could imagine that this - gloomy region might be unsafe after nightfall; but no danger ever seems - possible in such bright sunshine and under a sky so blue and friendly. - </p> - <p> - When a half-hour from the convent, we turned to the right from the road to - the Dead Sea, and ascending a steep hill found ourselves riding along the - edge of a deep winding gorge; a brook flows at the bottom, and its sides - are sheer precipices of rock, generally parallel, but occasionally - widening into amphitheatres of the most fantastic rocky formation. It is - on one side of this narrow ravine that the convent is built, partly - excavated in the rock, partly resting on jutting ledges, and partly hung - out in the form of balconies,—buildings clinging to the steep side - like a comb of wild bees or wasps to a rock. - </p> - <p> - Our first note of approach to it was the sight of a square tower and of - the roofs of buildings below us. Descending from the road by several short - turns, and finally by two steep paved inclines, we came to a lofty wall in - which is a small iron door. As we could go no farther without aid from - within, Demetrius shouted, and soon we had a response from a slit in the - wall fifty feet above us to the left. We could see no one, but the voice - demanded who we were, and whether we had a pass. Above the slit from which - the angelic voice proceeded a stone projected, and in this was an opening - for letting down or drawing up articles. This habit of caution in regard - to who or what shall come into the convent is of course a relic of the - gone ages of tumult, but it is still necessary as a safeguard against the - wandering Bedaween, who would no doubt find means to plunder the convent - of its great wealth of gold, silver, and jewels if they were not at all - times rigorously excluded. The convent with its walls and towers is still - a fortress strong enough to resist any irregular attempts of the wandering - tribes. It is also necessary to strictly guard the convent against women, - who in these days of speculation, if not scientific curiosity, often knock - impatiently and angrily at its gates, and who, if admitted, would in one - gay and chatty hour destroy the spell of holy seclusion which has been - unbroken for one thousand three hundred and ninety-two years. I know that - sometimes it seems an unjust ordination of Providence that a woman cannot - <i>be</i> a man, but I cannot join those who upbraid the monks of Mar Saba - for inhospitality because they refuse to admit women under any - circumstances into the precincts of the convent; if I do not sympathize - with the brothers, I can understand their adhesion to the last shred of - man's independence, which is only to be maintained by absolute exclusion - of the other sex. It is not necessary to revive the defamation of the - early Christian ages, that the devil appeared oftener to the hermit in the - form of a beautiful woman than in any other; but we may not regret that - there is still one spot on the face of the earth, if it is no bigger than - the sod upon which Noah's pioneer dove alighted, in which weak men may be - safe from the temptation, the criticism, and the curiosity of the superior - being. There is an airy tower on the rocks outside the walls which women - may occupy if they cannot restrain their desire to lodge in this - neighborhood, or if night overtakes them here on their way from the Dead - Sea; there Madame Pfeiffer, Miss Martineau, and other famous travellers of - their sex have found refuge, and I am sorry to say abused their proximity - to this retreat of shuddering man by estimating the piety of its inmates - according to their hospitality to women. So far as I can learn, this - convent of Mar Saba is now the only retreat left on this broad earth for - Man; and it seems to me only reasonable that it should be respected by his - generous and gentle, though inquisitive foe. - </p> - <p> - After further parley with Demetrius and a considerable interval, we heard - a bell ring, and in a few moments the iron door opened, and we entered, - stepping our horses carefully over the stone threshold, and showing our - pass from the Jerusalem Patriarch to an attendant, and came into a sort of - stable hewn in the rock. Here we abandoned our horses, and were taken in - charge by a monk whom the bell had summoned from below. He conducted us - down several long flights of zigzag stairs in the rock, amid hanging - buildings and cells, until we came to what appears to be a broad ledge in - the precipice, and found ourselves in the central part of this singular - hive, that is, in a small court, with cells and rocks on one side and the - convent church, which overhangs the precipice, on the other. Beside the - church and also at another side of the court are buildings in which - pilgrims are lodged, and in the centre of the court is the tomb of St. - Sabas himself. Here our passports were examined, and we were assigned a - cheerful and airy room looking upon the court and tomb. - </p> - <p> - One of the brothers soon brought us coffee, and the promptness of this - hospitality augured well for the remainder of our fare; relying upon the - reputation of the convent for good cheer, we had brought nothing with us, - not so much as a biscuit. Judge of our disgust, then, at hearing the - following dialogue between Demetrius and the Greek monk. - </p> - <p> - “What time can the gentlemen dine?” - </p> - <p> - “Any time they like.” - </p> - <p> - “What have you for dinner?” - </p> - <p> - “Nothing.” - </p> - <p> - “You can give us no dinner?” - </p> - <p> - “To be sure not. It is fast.” - </p> - <p> - “But we have n't a morsel, we shall starve.” - </p> - <p> - “Perhaps I can find a little bread.” - </p> - <p> - “Nothing else?” - </p> - <p> - “We have very good raisins.” - </p> - <p> - “Well,” we interposed, “kill us a chicken, give us a few oysters, stewed - or broiled, we are not particular.” This levity, which was born of - desperation, for the jolting ride from Jerusalem had indisposed us to keep - a fast, especially a fast established by a church the orthodoxy of whose - creed we had strong reasons to doubt, did not affect the monk. He replied, - “Chicken! it is impossible.” We shrunk our requisition to eggs. - </p> - <p> - “If I can find an egg, I will see.” And the brother departed, with <i>carte - blanche</i> from us to squeeze his entire establishment. - </p> - <p> - Alas, fasting is not in Mar Saba what it is in New England, where an - appointed fast-day is hailed as an opportunity to forego lunch in order to - have an extraordinary appetite for a better dinner than usual! - </p> - <p> - The tomb of St. Sabas, the central worship of this hive, is a little - plastered hut in the middle of the court; the interior is decorated with - pictures in the Byzantine style, and a lamp is always burning there. As we - stood at the tomb we heard voices chanting, and, turning towards the rock, - we saw a door from which the sound came. Pushing it open, we were admitted - into a large chapel, excavated in the rock. The service of vespers was in - progress, and a band of Russian pilgrims were chanting in rich bass - voices, producing more melody than I had ever heard in a Greek church. The - excavation extends some distance into the hill; we were shown the cells of - St. John of Damascus and other hermits, and at the end a charnel-house - piled full of the bones of men. In the dim light their skulls grinned at - us in a horrid familiarity; in that ghastly jocularity which a skull - always puts on, with a kind of mocking commentary upon the strong chant of - the pilgrims, which reverberated in all the recesses of the gloomy cave,—fresh, - hearty voices, such as these skulls have heard (if they can hear) for many - centuries. The pilgrims come, and chant, and depart, generation after - generation; the bones and skulls of the fourteen thousand martyrs in this - charnel-bin enjoy a sort of repulsive immortality. The monk, who was our - guide, appeared to care no more for the remains of the martyrs than for - the presence of the pilgrims. In visiting such storehouses one cannot but - be struck by the light familiarity with the relics and insignia of death - which the monks have acquired. - </p> - <p> - This St. John of Damascus, whose remains repose here, was a fiery - character in his day, and favored by a special miracle before he became a - saint. He so distinguished himself by his invectives against Leo and - Constantine and other iconoclast emperors at Constantinople who, in the - eighth century, attempted to extirpate image-worship from the Catholic - church, that he was sentenced to lose his right hand. The story is that it - was instantly restored by the Virgin Mary. It is worthy of note that the - superstitious Orient more readily gave up idolatry or image-worship under - the Moslems than under the Christians. - </p> - <p> - As the sun was setting we left the pilgrims chanting to the martyrs, and - hastened to explore the premises a little, before the light should fade. - We followed our guide up stairs and down stairs, sometimes cut in the - stone, sometimes wooden stairways, along hanging galleries, through - corridors hewn in the rock, amid cells and little chapels,—a most - intricate labyrinth, in which the uninitiated would soon lose his way. - Here and there we came suddenly upon a little garden spot as big as a - bed-blanket, a ledge upon which soil had been deposited. We walked also - under grape-trellises, we saw orange-trees, and the single palm-tree that - the convent boasts, said to have been planted by St. Sabas himself. The - plan of this establishment gradually developed itself to us. It differs - from an ordinary convent chiefly in this,—the latter is spread out - flat on the earth, Mar Saba is set up edgewise. Put Mar Saba on a plain, - and these little garden spots and graperies would be courts and squares - amid buildings, these galleries would be bridges, these cells or - horizontal caves would be perpendicular tombs and reservoirs. - </p> - <p> - When we arrived, we supposed that we were almost the only guests. But we - found that the place was full of Greek and Russian pilgrims; we - encountered them on the terraces, on the flat roofs, in the caves, and in - all out-of-the-way nooks. Yet these were not the most pleasing nor the - most animated tenants of the place; wherever we went the old rookery was - made cheerful by the twittering notes of black birds with yellow wings, a - species of grakle, which the monks have domesticated, and which breed in - great numbers. Steeled as these good brothers are against the other sex, - we were glad to discover this streak of softness in their nature. High up - on the precipice there is a bell-tower attached to a little chapel, and in - it hang twenty small bells, which are rung to call the inmates to prayer. - Even at this height, and indeed wherever we penetrated, we were followed - by the monotonous chant which issued from the charnel-house. - </p> - <p> - We passed by a long row of cells occupied by the monks, but were not - permitted to look into them; nor were we allowed to see the library, which - is said to be rich in illuminated manuscripts. The convent belongs to the - Greek church; its monks take the usual vows of poverty, chastity, and - obedience, and fortify themselves in their holiness by opposing walls of - adamant to all womankind. There are about fifty monks here at present, and - uncommonly fine-looking fellows,—not at all the gross and greasy - sort of monk that is sometimes met. Their outward dress is very neat, - consisting of a simple black gown and a round, high, flat-topped black - cap. - </p> - <p> - Our dinner, when it was brought into our apartment, answered very well - one's idea of a dessert, but it was a very good Oriental dinner. The chief - articles were a piece of hard black bread, and two boiled eggs, cold, and - probably brought by some pilgrim from Jerusalem; but besides, there were - raisins, cheese, figs, oranges, a bottle of golden wine, and tea. The wine - was worthy to be celebrated in classic verse; none so good is, I am sure, - made elsewhere in Syria; it was liquid sunshine; and as it was - manufactured by the monks, it gave us a new respect for their fastidious - taste. - </p> - <p> - The vaulted chamber which we occupied was furnished on three sides with a - low divan, which answered the double purpose of chairs and couch. On one - side, however, and elevated in the wall, was a long niche, exactly like - the recessed tombs in cathedrals, upon which, toes turned up, lie the - bronze or wooden figures of the occupants. This was the bed of honor. It - was furnished with a mattress and a thick counterpane having one sheet - sewed to it. With reluctance I accepted the distinction of climbing into - it, and there I slept, laid out, for all the world, like my own effigy. - From the ceiling hung a dim oil-lamp, which cast a gloom rather than a - light upon our sepulchral place of repose. Our windows looked out towards - the west, upon the court, upon the stairs, upon the terraces, roofs, - holes, caves, grottos, wooden balconies, bird-cages, steps entering the - rock and leading to cells; and, towards the south, along the jagged - precipice. The convent occupies the precipice from the top nearly to the - bottom of the ravine; the precipice opposite is nearly perpendicular, - close at hand, and permits no view in that direction. Heaven is the only - object in sight from this retreat. - </p> - <p> - Before the twilight fell the chanting was still going on in the cavern, - monks and pilgrims were gliding about the court, and numbers of the latter - were clustered in the vestibule of the church, in which they were settling - down to lodge for the night; and high above us I saw three gaudily attired - Bedaween, who had accompanied some travellers from the Dead Sea, leaning - over the balustrade of the stairs, and regarding the scene with Moslem - complacency. The hive settled slowly to rest. - </p> - <p> - But the place was by no means still at night. There was in the court an - old pilgrim who had brought a cough from the heart of Russia, who seemed - to be trying to cough himself inside out. There were other noises that - could not be explained. There was a good deal of clattering about in - wooden shoes. Every sound was multiplied and reduplicated from the echoing - rocks. The strangeness of the situation did not conduce to sleep, not even - to an effigy-like repose; but after looking from the window upon the march - of the quiet stars, after watching the new moon disappear between the - roofs, and after seeing that the door of St. Sabas's tomb was closed, - although his light was still burning, I turned in; and after a time, - during which I was conscious that not even vows of poverty, chastity, and - obedience are respected by fleas, I fell into a light sleep. - </p> - <p> - From this I was aroused by a noise that seemed like the call to judgment, - by the most clamorous jangle of discordant bells,—all the twenty - were ringing at once, and each in a different key. It was not simply a - din, it was an earthquake of sound. The peals were echoed from the - opposite ledges, and reverberated among the rocks and caves and sharp - angles of the convent, until the crash was intolerable. It was worse than - the slam, bang, shriek, clang, clash, roar, dissonance, thunder, and - hurricane with which all musicians think it absolutely necessary to close - any overture, symphony, or musical composition whatever, however decent - and quiet it may be. It was enough to rouse the deafest pilgrim, to wake - the dead martyrs and set the fourteen thousand skulls hunting for their - bones, to call even St. Sabas himself from his tomb. I arose. I saw in the - starlight figures moving about the court, monks in their simple black - gowns. It was, I comprehended then, the call to midnight prayer in the - chapel, and, resolved not to be disturbed further by it, I climbed back - into my tomb. - </p> - <p> - But the clamor continued; I heard such a clatter of hobnailed shoes on the - pavement, besides, that I could bear it no longer, got up, slipped into - some of my clothes, opened the door, and descended by our winding private - stairway into the court. - </p> - <p> - The door of St. Sabas's tomb was wide open! - </p> - <p> - Were the graves opening, and the dead taking the air? Did this tomb open - of its own accord? Out of its illuminated interior would the saint stalk - forth and join this great procession, the <i>reveille</i> of the quick and - the slow? - </p> - <p> - From above and from below, up stairs and down stairs, out of caves and - grottos and all odd roosting-places, the monks and pilgrims were pouring - and streaming into the court; and the bells incessantly called more and - more importunately as the loiterers delayed. - </p> - <p> - The church was open, and lighted at the altar end. I glided in with the - other ghostly, hastily clad, and yawning pilgrims. The screen at the apse - before the holy place, a mass of silver and gilding, sparkled in the - candlelight; the cross above it gleamed like a revelation out of the - gloom; but half of the church was in heavy shadow. From the penetralia - came the sound of priestly chanting; in the wooden stalls along each side - of the church stood, facing the altar, the black and motionless figures of - the brothers. The pilgrims were crowding and jostling in at the door. A - brother gave me a stall near the door, and I stood in it, as statue-like - as I could, and became a brother for the time being. - </p> - <p> - At the left of the door stood a monk with impassive face; before him on a - table were piles of wax tapers and a solitary lighted candle. Every - pilgrim who entered bought a taper and paid two coppers for it. If he had - not the change the monk gave him change, and the pilgrim carefully counted - what he received and objected to any piece he thought not current. You may - wake these people up any time of night, and find their perceptions about - money unobscured. The seller never looked at the buyer, nor at anything - except the tapers and the money. - </p> - <p> - The pilgrims were of all ages and grades; very old men, stout, middle-aged - men, and young athletic fellows; there were Russians from all the - provinces; Greeks from the isles, with long black locks and dark eyes, in - fancy embroidered jackets and leggins, swarthy bandits and midnight - pirates in appearance. But it tends to make anybody look like a pirate to - wake him up at twelve o'clock at night, and haul him into the light with - no time to comb his hair. I dare say that I may have appeared to these - honest people like a Western land-pirate. And yet I should rather meet - some of those Greeks in a lighted church than outside the walls at - midnight. - </p> - <p> - Each pilgrim knelt and bowed himself, then lighted his taper and placed it - on one of the tripods before the screen. In time the church was very - fairly illuminated, and nearly filled with standing worshippers, bowing, - crossing themselves, and responding to the reading and chanting in low - murmurs. The chanting was a very nasal intoning, usually slow, but now and - then breaking into a lively gallop. The assemblage, quiet and respectful, - but clad in all the vagaries of Oriental colors and rags, contained some - faces that appeared very wild in the half-light. When the service had gone - on half an hour, a priest came out with a tinkling censer and incensed - carefully every nook and corner and person (even the vestibule, where some - of the pilgrims slept, which needed it), until the church was filled with - smoke and perfume. The performance went on for an hour or more, but I - crept back to bed long before it was over, and fell to sleep on the drone - of the intoning. - </p> - <p> - We were up before sunrise on Sunday morning. The pilgrims were already - leaving for Jerusalem. There was no trace of the last night's revelry; - everything was commonplace in the bright daylight. We were served with - coffee, and then finished our exploration of the premises. - </p> - <p> - That which we had postponed as the most interesting sight was the cell of - St. Sabas. It is a natural grotto in the rock, somewhat enlarged either by - the saint or by his successors. When St. Sabas first came to this spot, he - found a lion in possession. It was not the worst kind of a lion, but a - sort of Judæan lion, one of those meek beasts over whom the ancient - hermits had so much control. St. Sabas looked at the cave and at the lion, - but the cave suited him better than the lion. The lion looked at the - saint, and evidently knew what was passing in his mind. For the lions in - those days were nearly as intelligent as anybody else. And then St. Sabas - told the lion to go away, that he wanted that lodging for himself. And the - lion, without a growl, put his tail down, and immediately went away. There - is a picture of this interview still preserved at the convent, and any one - can see that it is probable that such a lion as the artist has represented - would move on when requested to do so. - </p> - <p> - In the cave is a little recess, the entrance to which is a small hole, a - recess just large enough to accommodate a person in a sitting posture. In - this place St. Sabas sat for seven years, without once coming out. That - was before the present walls were built in front of the grotto, and he had - some light,—he sat seven years on that hard stone, as long as the - present French Assembly intends to sit. It was with him also a provisional - sitting, in fact, a Septennate. - </p> - <p> - In the court-yard, as we were departing, were displayed articles to sell - to the pious pilgrims: canes from the Jordan; crosses painted, and inlaid - with cedar or olive wood, or some sort of Jordan timber; rude paintings of - the sign-board order done by the monks, St. George and the Dragon being - the favorite subject; hyperbolical pictures of the convent and the saint, - stamped in black upon cotton cloth; and holy olive-oil in tin cans. - </p> - <p> - Perhaps the most taking article of merchandise offered was dates from the - palm-tree that St. Sabas planted. These dates have no seeds. There was - something appropriate about this; childless monks, seedless dates. One - could understand that. But these dates were bought by the pilgrims to - carry to their wives who desire but have not sons. By what reasoning the - monks have convinced them that fruitless dates will be a cause of - fruitfulness, I do not know. - </p> - <p> - We paid our tribute, climbed up the stairways and out the grim gate into - the highway, and had a glorious ride in the fresh morning air, the way - enlivened by wild-flowers, blue sky, Bedaween, and troops of returning - pilgrims, and finally ennobled by the sight of Jerusalem itself, - conspicuous on its hill. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - VII.—THE FAIR OF MOSES; THE ARMENIAN PATRIARCH. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE Moslems believe - that their religion superseded Judaism and Christianity,—Mohammed - closing the culminating series of six great prophets, Adam, Noah, Abraham, - Moses, Jesus, Mohammed,—and that they have a right to administer on - the effects of both. They appropriate our sacred history and embellish it - without the least scruple, assume exclusive right to our sacred places, - and enroll in their own calendar all our notable heroes and saints. - </p> - <p> - On the 16th of April was inaugurated in Jerusalem the <i>fête</i> and fair - of the Prophet Moses. The fair is held yearly at Neby Mûsa, a Moslem wely, - in the wilderness of Judæa, some three or four hours from Jerusalem on a - direct line to the Dead Sea. There Moses, according to the Moslem - tradition, was buried, and thither the faithful resort in great crowds at - this anniversary, and hold a four days' fair. - </p> - <p> - At midnight the air was humming with preparations; the whole city buzzed - like a hive about to swarm. For many days pilgrims had been gathering for - this festival, coming in on all the mountain roads, from Grath and - Askalon, from Hebron, from Nablous and Jaffa,—pilgrims as zealous - and as ragged as those that gather to the Holy Sepulchre and on the banks - of the Jordan. In the early morning we heard the pounding of drums, the - clash of cymbals, the squeaking of fifes, and an occasional gun, let off - as it were by accident,—very much like the dawn of a Fourth of July - at home. Processions were straggling about the streets, apparently lost, - like ward-delegations in search of the beginning of St. Patrick's Day; a - disorderly scramble of rags and color, a rabble hustling along without - step or order, preceded usually by half a dozen enormous flags, green, - red, yellow, and blue, embroidered with various devices and texts from the - Koran, which hung lifeless on their staves, but grouped in mass made as - lively a study of color as a bevy of sails of the Chioggia fishing-boats - flocking into the port of Venice at sunrise. Before the banners walked the - musicians, filling the narrow streets with a fearful uproar of rude drums - and cymbals. These people seem to have inherited the musical talent of the - ancient Jews, and to have the same passion for noise and discord. - </p> - <p> - As the procession would not move to the Tomb of Moses until afternoon, we - devoted the morning to a visit to the Armenian Patriarch. Isaac, - archbishop, and by the grace of God Patriarch of the Armenians of - Jerusalem, occupant of the holy apostolic seat of St. James (the Armenian - convent stands upon the traditional site of the martyrdom of St. James), - claims to be the spiritual head of five millions of Armenians, in Turkey, - Syria, Palestine, India, and Persia. By firman from the Sultan, the Copts - and the Syrian and the Abyssinian Christians are in some sort under his - jurisdiction, but the authority is merely nominal. - </p> - <p> - The reception-room of the convent is a handsome hall (for Jerusalem), - extending over an archway of the street below and looking upon a garden. - The walls are hung with engravings and lithographs, most of them portraits - of contemporary sovereigns and princes of Europe, in whose august company - the Patriarch seems to like to sun himself. We had not to wait long before - he appeared and gave us a courteous and simple welcome. As soon as he - learned that we were Americans, he said that he had something that he - thought would interest us, and going to his table took out of the drawer - an old number of an American periodical containing a portrait of an - American publisher, which he set great store by. We congratulated him upon - his possession of this treasure, and expressed our passionate fondness for - this sort of thing, for we soon discovered the delight the Patriarch took - in pictures and especially in portraits, and not least in photographs of - himself in the full regalia of his sacred office. And with reason, for he - is probably the handsomest potentate in the world. He is a tall, finely - proportioned man of fifty years, and his deportment exhibits that happy - courtesy which is born of the love of approbation and a kindly opinion of - self. He was clad in the black cloak with the pointed hood of the convent, - which made a fine contrast to his long, full beard, turning white; his - complexion is fair, white and red, and his eyes are remarkably pleasant - and benignant. - </p> - <p> - The languages at the command of the Patriarch are two, the Armenian and - the Turkish, and we were obliged to communicate with him through the - medium of the latter, Abd-el-Atti acting as interpreter. How much Turkish - our dragoman knew, and how familiar his holiness is with it, we could not - tell, but the conversation went on briskly, as it always does when - Abd-el-Atti has control of it. When we had exhausted what the Patriarch - knew about America and what we knew about Armenia, which did not take long - (it was astonishing how few things in all this world of things we knew in - common), we directed the conversation upon what we supposed would be - congenial and common ground, the dogma of the Trinity and the point of - difference between the Armenian and the Latin church. I cannot say that we - acquired much light on the subject, though probably we did better than - disputants usually do on this topic. We had some signal advantages. The - questions and answers, strained through the Turkish language, were robbed - of all salient and noxious points, and solved themselves without - difficulty. Thus, the “<i>Filioque clause</i>” offered no subtle - distinctions to the Moslem mind of Abd-el-Atti, and he presented it to the - Patriarch, I have no doubt, with perfect clarity. At any rate, the reply - was satisfactory:— - </p> - <p> - “His excellency, he much oblige, and him say he t'ink so.” - </p> - <p> - The elucidation of this point was rendered the easier, probably, by the - fact that neither Abd-el-Atti nor the Patriarch nor ourselves knew much - about it. When I told his highness (if, through Abd-el-Atti, I did tell - him) that the great Armenian convent at Venice, which holds with the Pope, - accepts the Latin construction of the clause, he seemed never to have - heard of the great Armenian convent at Venice. At this point of the - conversation we thought it wise to finish the subject by the trite remark - that we believed a man's life was after all more important than his creed. - </p> - <p> - “So am I,” responded the dragoman, and the Patriarch seemed to be of like - mind. - </p> - <p> - A new turn was given to our interview by the arrival of refreshments, a - succession of sweetmeats, cordials, candies, and coffee. The sweetmeats - first served were a delicate preserve of plums. This was handed around in - a jar, from which each guest dipped a spoonful, and swallowed it, drinking - from a glass of water immediately,—exactly as we used to take - medicine in childhood. The preserve was taken away when each person had - tasted it, and shortly a delicious orange cordial was brought, and handed - around with candy. Coffee followed. The Patriarch then led the way about - his palace, and with some pride showed us the gold and silver insignia of - his office and his rich vestments. On the wall of his study hung a curious - map of the world, printed at Amsterdam in 1692, in Armenian characters. He - was so kind also as to give us his photograph, enriched with his - unreadable autograph, and a. book printed at the convent, entitled <i>Deux - Ans de Séjour en Abyssinie</i>; and we had the pleasure of seeing also the - heroes and the author of the book,—two Armenian monks, who - undertook, on an English suggestion, a mission to King Theodore, to - intercede for the release of the English prisoners held by the tyrant of - that land. They were detained by its treacherous and barbarous chiefs, - robbed by people and priests alike, never reached the headquarters of the - king, and were released only after two years of miserable captivity and - suffering. This book is a faithful record of their journey, and contains a - complete description of the religion and customs of the Abyssinians, set - down with the candor and verbal nakedness of Herodotus. Whatever - Christianity the Abyssinians may once have had, their religion now is an - odd mixture of Judaism, fetichism, and Christian dogmas, and their morals - a perfect reproduction of those in vogue just before the flood; there is - no vice or disease of barbarism or of civilization that is not with them - of universal acceptance. And the priest Timotheus, the writer of this - narrative, gave the Abyssinians abiding in Jerusalem a character no better - than that of their countrymen at home. - </p> - <p> - The Patriarch, with many expressions of civility, gave us into the charge - of a monk, who showed us all the parts of the convent we had not seen on a - previous visit. The convent is not only a wealthy and clean, but also an - enlightened establishment. Within its precincts are nuns as well as monks, - and good schools are maintained for children of both sexes. The - school-house, with its commodious apartments, was not unlike one of our - buildings for graded schools; in the rooms we saw many cases of - antiquities and curiosities from various countries, and specimens of - minerals. A map which hung on the wall, and was only one hundred years - old, showed the Red Sea flowing into the Dead Sea, and the river Jordan - emptying into the Mediterranean. Perhaps the scholars learn ancient - geography only. - </p> - <p> - At twelve the Moslems said prayers in the Mosque of Omar, and at one - o'clock the procession was ready to move out of St. Stephen's Gate. We - rode around to that entrance. The spectacle spread before us was - marvellous. All the gray and ragged slopes and ravines were gay with color - and lively with movement. The city walls on the side overlooking the - Valley of Jehoshaphat were covered with masses of people, clinging to them - like bees; so the defences may have appeared to Titus when he ordered the - assault from the opposite hill. The sunken road leading from St. Stephen's - Gate, down which the procession was to pass, was lined with spectators, - seated in ranks on ranks on the stony slopes. These were mostly women,—this - being one of the few days upon which the Moslem women may freely come - abroad,—clad in pure white, and with white veils drawn about their - heads. These clouds of white robes were relieved here and there by flaming - spots of color, for the children and slaves accompanied the women, and - their dress added blue and red and yellow to the picture. Men also mingled - in the throng, displaying turbans of blue and black and green and white. - One could not say that any color or nationality was wanting in the - spectacle. Sprinkled in groups all over the hillside, in the Moslem - cemetery and beneath it, were like groups of color, and streaks of it - marked the descent of every winding path. The Prince of Oldenburg, the - only foreign dignitary present, had his tents pitched upon a knoll outside - the gate, and other tents dotted the roadside and the hill. - </p> - <p> - Crowds of people thronged both sides of the road to the Mount of Olives - and to Gethsemane, spreading themselves in the valley and extending away - up the road of the Triumphal Entry; everywhere were the most brilliant - effects of white, red, yellow, gray, green, black, and striped raiment: no - matter what these Orientals put on, it becomes picturesque,—old - coffee-bags, old rags and carpets, anything. There could not be a finer - place for a display than these two opposing hillsides, the narrow valley, - and the winding roads, which increased the apparent length of the - procession and set it off to the best advantage. We were glad of the - opportunity to see this ancient valley of bones revived in a manner to - recall the pageants and shows of centuries ago, and as we rode down the - sunken road in advance of the procession, we imagined how we might have - felt if we had been mounted on horses or elephants instead of donkeys, and - if we had been conquerors leading a triumph, and these people on either - hand had been cheering us instead of jeering us. Turkish soldiers, - stationed every thirty paces, kept the road clear for the expected - cavalcade. In order to see it and the spectators to the best advantage, we - took position on the opposite side of the valley and below the road around - the Mount of Olives. - </p> - <p> - The procession was a good illustration of the shallow splendor of the - Orient; it had no order, no uniformity, no organization; it dragged itself - along at the whim of its separate squads. First came a guard of soldiers, - then a little huddle of men of all sorts of colors and apparel, bearing - several flags, among them the green Flag of Moses; after an interval - another squad, bearing large and gorgeous flags, preceded by musicians - beating drums and cymbals. In front of the drums danced, or rather hitched - forward with stately steps, two shabby fellows, throwing their bodies from - side to side and casting their arms about, clashing cymbals and smirking - with infinite conceit. At long intervals came other like bands with flags - and music, in such disorder as scarcely to be told from the spectators, - except that they bore guns and pistols, which they continually fired into - the air and close over the heads of the crowd, with a reckless profusion - of powder and the most murderous appearance. To these followed mounted - soldiers in white, with a Turkish band of music,—worse than any - military band in Italy; and after this the pasha, the governor of the - city, a number of civil and military dignitaries and one or two high - ulemas, and a green-clad representative of the Prophet,—a beggar on - horseback,—on fiery horses which curveted about in the crowd, - excited by the guns, the music, and the discharge of a cannon now and - then, which was stationed at the gate of St. Stephen. Among the insignia - displayed were two tall instruments of brass, which twirled and glittered - in the sun, not like the golden candlestick of the Jews, nor the “host” of - the Catholics, nor the sistrum of the ancient Egyptians, but, perhaps, as - Moslemism is a reminiscence of all religions, a caricature of all three. - </p> - <p> - The crush in the narrow road round the hill and the grouping of all the - gorgeous banners there produced a momentary fine effect; but generally, - save for the spectators, the display was cheap and childish. Only once did - we see either soldiers or civilians marching in order; there were five - fellows in line carrying Nubian spears, and also five sappers and miners - in line, wearing leathern aprons and bearing theatrical battle-axes. As to - the arms, we could discover no two guns of the same pattern in all the - multitude of guns; like most things in the East, the demonstration was one - of show, color, and noise, not to be examined too closely, but to be taken - with faith, as we eat dates. A company of Sheridan's cavalry would have - scattered the entire army. - </p> - <p> - The procession, having halted on the brow of the hill, countermarched and - returned; but the Flag of Moses and its guard went on to the camp, at his - tomb, there to await the arrival of the pilgrims on the Monday following. - And the most gorgeous Moslem demonstration of the year was over. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - VIII.—DEPARTURE FROM JERUSALEM. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE day came to - leave Jerusalem. Circumstances rendered it impossible for us to make the - overland trip to Damascus or even to Haifa. Our regret that we should not - see Bethel, Shechem, Samaria, Nazareth, and the Sea of Galilee was - somewhat lessened by the thought that we knew the general character of the - country and the villages, by what we had already seen, and that experience - had taught us the inevitable disenchantment of seeing the historical and - the sacred places of Judæa. It is not that one visits a desert and a heap - of ruins,—that would be endurable and even stimulating to the - imagination; but every locality which is dear to the reader by some divine - visitation, or wonderful by some achievement of hero or prophet, is - degraded by the presence of sordid habitations, and a mixed, vicious, and - unsavory population, or incrusted with the most puerile superstitions, so - that the traveller is fain to content himself with a general view of the - unchanged features of the country. It must be with a certain feeling of - humiliation that at Nazareth, for instance, the object of his pilgrimage - is belittled to the inspection of such inventions as the spot upon which - the Virgin stood when she received the annunciation, and the - carpenter-shop in which Joseph worked. - </p> - <p> - At any rate, we let such thoughts predominate, when we were obliged to - relinquish the overland journey. And whatever we missed, I flatter myself - that the readers of these desultory sketches will lose nothing. I should - have indulged a certain curiosity in riding over a country as rich in - memories as it is poor in aspect, but I should have been able to add - nothing to the minute descriptions and vivid pictures with which the - Christian world is familiar; and, if the reader will excuse an additional - personal remark, I have not had the presumption to attempt a description - of Palestine and Syria (which the volumes of Robinson and Thompson and - Porter have abundantly given), but only to make a record of limited travel - and observation. What I most regretted was that we could not see the green - and fertile plain of Esdraelon, the flower-spangled meadow of Jezreel, and - the forests of Tabor and Carmel,—seats of beauty and of verdure, and - which, with the Plain of Sharon, might serve to mitigate the picture of - grim desolation which the tourist cames away from the Holy Land. - </p> - <p> - Finally, it was with a feeling akin to regret that we looked our last upon - gray and melancholy Jerusalem. We had grown a little familiar with its few - objects of past or present grandeur, the Saracenic walls and towers, the - Temple platform and its resplendent mosque, the agglomeration called the - Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the ruins of the palace and hospice of the - Knights of St. John, the massive convents and hospices of various nations - and sects that rise amid the indistinguishable huddle of wretched - habitations, threaded by filthy streets and noisome gutters. And yet we - confessed to the inevitable fascination which is always exercised upon the - mind by antiquity; the mysterious attraction of association; the - undefinable influence in decay and desolation which holds while it repels; - the empire, one might say the tyranny, over the imagination and the will - which an ancient city asserts, as if by force of an immortal personality, - compelling first curiosity, then endurance, then sympathy, and finally - love. Jerusalem has neither the art, the climate, the antiquities, nor the - society which draw the world and hold it captive in Rome, but its - associations enable it to exercise, in a degree, the same attraction. Its - attraction is in its historic spell and name, and in spite of the modern - city. - </p> - <p> - Jerusalem, in fact, is incrusted with layer upon layer of inventions, the - product of credulity, cunning, and superstition, a monstrous growth always - enlarging, so that already the simple facts of history are buried almost - beyond recognition beneath this mass of rubbish. Perhaps it would have - been better for the growth of Christianity in the world if Jerusalem had - been abandoned, had become like Carthage and Memphis and Tadmor in the - wilderness, and the modern pilgrim were free to choose his seat upon a - fallen wall or mossy rock, and reconstruct for himself the pageant of the - past, and recall that Living Presence, undisturbed by the impertinences - which belittle the name of religion. It has always been held well that the - place of the burial of Moses was unknown. It would perhaps have conduced - to the purity of the Christian faith if no attempt had ever been made to - break through the obscurity which rests upon the place of the sepulchre of - Christ. Invention has grown upon invention, and we have the Jerusalem of - to-day as a result of the exaggerated importance attached to the - localization of the Divine manifestation. Whatever interest Jerusalem has - for the antiquarian, or for the devout mind, it is undeniable that one - must seek in other lands and among other peoples for the robust virtue, - the hatred of shams and useless forms, the sweet charity, the invigorating - principles, the high thinking, and the simple worship inculcated by the - Founder of Christianity. - </p> - <p> - The horses were ready. Jerusalem had just begun to stir; an itinerant - vender of coffee had set up his tray on the street, and was lustily - calling to catch the attention of the early workmen, or the vagrants who - pick themselves up from the doorsteps at dawn, and begin to reconnoitre - for the necessary and cheap taste of coffee, with which the Oriental day - opens; the sky was overcast, and a drop or two of rain fell as we were - getting into the saddle, but “It is nothing,” said the stirrup-holder, “it - goes to be a beautiful time”; and so it proved. - </p> - <p> - Scarcely were we outside the city when it cleared superbly, and we set - forward on our long ride of thirty-six miles, to the sea-coast, in high - spirits. We turned to catch the first sunlight upon the gray Tower of - David, and then went gayly on over the cool free hills, inhaling the - sparkling air and the perfume of wild-flowers, and exchanging greetings - with the pilgrims, Moslem and Christian, who must have broken up their - camps in the hills at the earliest light. There are all varieties of - nationality and costume, and many of the peaceful pilgrims are armed as if - going to a military rendezvous; perhaps our cavalcade, which is also an - assorted one of horses, donkeys, and mules, is as amusing as any we meet. - I am certain that the horse that one of the ladies rides is unique, a mere - framework of bones which rattle as he agitates himself; a rear view of the - animal, and his twisting and interlacing legs, when he moves briskly, - suggest a Chinese puzzle. - </p> - <p> - We halted at the outlet of Wady 'Aly, where there is an inn, which has the - appearance of a Den of Thieves, and took our lunch upon some giant rocks - under a fig-tree, the fruit of which was already half grown. Here I - discovered another black calla, and borrowed a pick of the landlord to - endeavor to dig up its bulb. But it was impossible to extract it from the - rocks, and when I returned the tool, the owner demanded pay for the use of - it; I told him that if he would come to America, I would lend him a pick, - and let him dig all day in the garden,—a liberality which he was - unable to comprehend. - </p> - <p> - By four o'clock we were at Bamleh, and turned aside to inspect the - so-called Saracen tower; it stands upon one side of a large enclosure of - walls and arches, an extensive ruin; under ground are vaulted - constructions apparently extending as far as the ruins above, reminding - one of the remains of the Hospice of St. John at Jerusalem. In its form - and treatment and feeling this noble tower is Gothic, and, taking it in - connection with the remains about it, I should have said it was of - Christian construction, in spite of the Arabic inscription over one of the - doorways, which might have been added when the Saracens took possession of - it; but I believe that antiquarians have decided that the tower was - erected by Moslems. These are the most “rural” ruins we had seen in the - East; they are time-stained and weather-colored, like the remains of an - English abbey, and stand in the midst of a green and most lovely country; - no sand, no nakedness, no beggars. Grass fills all the enclosure, and - grain-fields press close about it. No view could be more enchanting than - that of the tower and the rolling plain at that hour: the bloom on the - wheat-fields, flecked with flaming poppies; the silver of the olive - groves; the beds of scarlet anemones and yellow buttercups, blotching the - meadows with brilliant colors like a picture of Turner; the soft gray - hills of Judæa; the steeples and minarets of the city. All Ramleh is built - on and amid ruins, half-covered arches and vaults. - </p> - <p> - Twilight came upon us while we were yet in the interminable plain, but - Jaffa announced itself by its orange-blossoms long before we entered its - straggling suburbs; indeed, when we were three miles away, the odor of its - gardens, weighted by the night-air, was too heavy to be agreeable. At a - distance this odor was more perceptible than in the town itself; but next - day, in the full heat of the sun, we found it so overpowering as to give a - tendency to headache. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - IX.—ALONG THE SYRIAN COAST. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">O</span>UR only business - in Jaffa being to get away from it, we impatiently expected the arrival of - the Austrian Lloyd steamer for Beyrout, the <i>Venus</i>, a fickle and - unsteady craft, as its name implies. In the afternoon we got on board, - taking note as we left the land of the great stones that jut out into the - sea, “where the chains with which Andromeda was bound have left their - footsteps, which attest [says Josephus] the antiquity of that fable.” The - <i>Venus</i>, which should have departed at three o'clock, lay rolling - about amid the tossing and bobbing and crushing crowd of boats and barges - till late in the evening, taking in boxes of oranges and bags of barley, - by the slow process of hoisting up one or two at a time. The ship was - lightly loaded with freight, but overrun with third-class passengers, - returning pilgrims from Mecca and from Jerusalem (whom the waters of the - Jordan seemed not to have benefited), who invaded every part of deck, - cabin, and hold, and spreading their beds under the windows of the cabins - of the first-class passengers, reduced the whole company to a common - disgust. The light load caused the vessel to roll a little, and there was - nothing agreeable in the situation. - </p> - <p> - The next morning we were in the harbor of Haifa, under the shadow of Mt. - Carmel, and rose early to read about Elijah, and to bring as near to us as - we could with an opera-glass the convent and the scene of Elijah's victory - over the priests of Baal. The noble convent we saw, and the brow of - Carmel, which the prophet ascended to pray for rain; but the place of the - miraculous sacrifice is on the other side, in view of the plain of - Esdraelon, and so is the plain by the river Kishon where Elijah slew the - four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, whom he had already mocked and - defeated. The grotto of Elijah is shown in the hill, and the monks who - inhabit the convent regard themselves as the successors of an unbroken - succession of holy occupants since the days of the great prophet. Their - sumptuous quarters would no doubt excite the indignation of Elijah and - Elisha, who would not properly discriminate between the modern reign of - Mammon and the ancient rule of Baal. Haifa itself is only a huddle of - houses on the beach. Ten miles across the curving bay we saw the - battlements of Akka, on its triangle of land jutting into the sea, above - the mouth of Kishon, out of the fertile and world-renowned plain. We see - it more distinctly as we pass; and if we were to land we should see little - more, for few fragments remain to attest its many masters and strange - vicissitudes. A prosperous seat of the Phoenicians, it offered hospitality - to the fat-loving tribe of Asher; it was a Greek city of wealth and - consequence; it was considered the key of Palestine during the Crusades, - and the headquarters of the Templars and the Knights of St. John; and in - more modern times it had the credit of giving the checkmate to the feeble - imitation of Alexander in the East attempted by Napoleon I. - </p> - <p> - The day was cloudy and a little cool, and not unpleasant; but there - existed all day a ground-swell which is full of all nastiness, and a short - sea which aggravated the ground-swell; and although we sailed by the - Lebanon mountains and along an historic coast, bristling with suggestions, - and with little but suggestions, of an heroic past, by Akka and Tyre and - Sidon, we were mostly indifferent to it all. The Mediterranean, on - occasion, takes away one's appetite even for ruins and ancient history. - </p> - <p> - We can distinguish, as we sail by it, the mean modern town which wears - still the royal purple name of Tyre, and the peninsula, formerly the - island, upon which the old town stood and which gave it its name. The - Arabs still call it Tsur or Sur, “the rock,” and the ancients fancied that - this island of rock had the form of a ship and was typical of the maritime - pursuits of its people. Some have thought it more like the cradle of - commerce which Tyre is sometimes, though erroneously, said to be; for she - was only the daughter of Sidon, and did but inherit from her mother the - secret of the mastery of the seas. There were two cities of Tyre,—the - one on the island, and another on the shore. Tyre is not an old city in - the Eastern reckoning, the date of its foundation as a great power only - rising to about 1200 b. c., about the time of the Trojan war, and after - the fall of Sidon, although there was a city there a couple of centuries - earlier, when Joshua and his followers conquered the hill-countries of - Palestine; it could never in its days of greatness have been large, - probably containing not more than 30,000 to 40,000 inhabitants, but its - reputation was disproportionate to its magnitude; Joshua calls it the - “strong city Tyre,” and it had the entire respect of Jerusalem in the most - haughty days of the latter. Tyre seems to have been included in the - “inheritance” allotted to Asher, but that luxurious son of Jacob yielded - to the Phoenicians and not they to him; indeed, the parcelling of - territory to the Israelitish tribes, on condition that they would conquer - it, recalls the liberal dying bequest made by a tender Virginian to his - son, of one hundred thousand dollars if he could make it. The sea-coast - portion of the Canaanites, or the Phoenicians, was never subdued by the - Jews; it preserved a fortunate independence, in order that, under the - Providence that protected the Phoenicians, after having given the world - “letters” and the first impulse of all the permanent civilization that - written language implies, they could still bless it by teaching it - commerce, and that wide exchange of products which is a practical - brotherhood of man. The world was spared the calamity of the descent of - the tribes of Israel upon the Phoenician cities of the coast, and art was - permitted to grow with industry; unfortunately the tribes who formed the - kingdom of Israel were capable of imitating only the idolatrous worship - and the sensuality of their more polished neighbors. Such an ascendency - did Tyre obtain in Jewish affairs through the princess Jezebel and the - reception of the priests of Baal, that for many years both Samaria and - Jerusalem might almost be called dependencies of the city of the god, “the - lord Melkarth, Baal of Tyre.” - </p> - <p> - The arts of the Phoenicians the Jews were not apt to learn; the beautiful - bronze-work of their temples was executed by Tyrians, and their curious - work in wood also; the secret of the famous purple dye of the royal stuffs - which the Jews coveted was known only to the Tyrians, who extracted from a - sea-mussel this dark red violet; when the Jews built, Tyrian workmen were - necessary; when Solomon undertook his commercial ventures into the far - Orient, it was Tyrians who built his ships at Ezion-geber, and it was - Tyrian sailors who manned them; the Phoenicians carried the manufacture of - glass to a perfection unknown to the ancient Egyptians, producing that - beautiful ware the art of which was revived by the Venetians in the - sixteenth century; the Jews did not learn from the Phoenicians, but the - Greeks did, how to make that graceful pottery and to paint the vases which - are the despair of modern imitators; the Tyrian mariners, following the - Sidonian, supplied the Mediterranean countries, including Egypt, with tin - for the manufacture of bronze, by adventurous voyages as far as Britain, - and no people ever excelled them in the working of bronze, as none in - their time equalled them in the carving of ivory, the engraving of - precious metals, and the cutting and setting of jewels. - </p> - <p> - Unfortunately scarcely anything remains of the abundant literature of the - Phoenicians,—for the Canaanites were a literary people before the - invasion of Joshua; their language was Semitic, and almost identical with - the Hebrew, although they were descendants of Ham; not only their light - literature but their historical records have disappeared, and we have - small knowledge of their kings or their great men. The one we are most - familiar with is the shrewd and liberal Hiram (I cannot tell why he always - reminds me of General Grant), who exchanged riddles with Solomon, and - shared with the mountain king the profits of his maritime skill and - experience. Hiram's tomb is still pointed out to the curious, at Tyre; and - the mutations of religions and the freaks of fortune are illustrated by - the chance that has grouped so closely together the graves of Hiram, of - Frederick Barbarossa, and of Origen. - </p> - <p> - Late in the afternoon we came in sight of Sidon, that ancient city which - the hand-book infers was famous at the time of the appearance of Joshua, - since that skilful captain speaks of it as “Great Zidon.” Famous it - doubtless had been long before his arrival, but the epithet “great” merely - distinguished the two cities; for Sidon was divided like Tyre, “Great - Sidon” being on the shore and “Little Sidon” at some distance inland. - Tradition says it was built by Sidon, the great-grandson of Noah; but - however this may be, it is doubtless the oldest Phoenician city except - Gebel, which is on the coast north of Beyrout. It is now for the - antiquarian little more than a necropolis, and a heap of stones, on which - fishermen dry their nets, although some nine to ten thousand people occupy - its squalid houses. What we see of it is the ridge of rocks forming the - shallow harbor, and the picturesque arched bridge (with which engravings - have made us familiar) that connects a ruined fortress on a detached rock - with the rocky peninsula. - </p> - <p> - Sidon cames us far back into antiquity. When the Canaanitish tribes - migrated from their seat on the Persian Gulf, a part of them continued - their march as far as Egypt. It seems to be settled that the Hittites (or - Khitas) were the invaders who overran the land of the Pharaohs, sweeping - away in their barbarous violence nearly all the monuments of the - civilization of preceding eras, and placing upon the throne of that old - empire the race of Shepherd kings. It was doubtless during the dynasty of - the Shepherds that Abraham visited Egypt, and it was a Pharaoh of Hittite - origin who made Joseph his minister. It was after the expulsion of the - Shepherds and the establishment of a dynasty “which knew not Joseph” that - the Israelites were oppressed. - </p> - <p> - But the Canaanites did not all pass beyond Syria and Palestine; some among - them, who afterwards were distinctively known as Phoenicians, established - a maritime kingdom, and founded among other cities that of Sidon. This - maritime branch no doubt kept up an intercourse with the other portions of - the Canaanite family in Southern Syria and in Egypt, before the one was - driven out of Egypt by the revolution which restored the rule of the - Egyptian Pharaohs, and the other expelled by the advent of the - Philistines. And it seems altogether probable that the Phoenicians - received from Egypt many arts which they afterwards improved and - perfected. It is tolerably certain that they borrowed from Egypt the - hieratic writing, or some of its characters, which taught them to - represent the sounds of their language by the alphabet which they gave to - the world. The Sidonians were subjugated by Thotmes III., with all - Phoenicia, and were for centuries the useful allies of the Egyptians; but - their dominion was over the sea, and they spread their colonies first to - the Grecian isles and then along the African coast; and in the other - direction sent their venturesome barks as far as Colchis on the Black Sea. - They seem to have thrived most under the Egyptian supremacy, for the - Pharaohs had need of their sailors and their ships. In the later days of - the empire, in the reign of Necho, it was Phoenician sailors who, at his - command, circumnavigated Africa, passing down the Red Sea and returning - through the Pillars of Hercules. - </p> - <p> - The few remains of Sidon which we see to-day are only a few centuries old,—six - or seven; there are no monuments to carry us back to the city famous in - arts and arms, of which Homer sang; and if there were, the antiquity of - this hoary coast would still elude us. Herodotus says that the temple of - Melkarth at Tyre (the “daughter of Sidon”) was built about 2300 B.C. - Probably he errs by a couple of centuries; for it was only something like - twenty-three centuries before Christ that the Canaanites came into - Palestine, that is to say, late in the thirteenth Egyptian dynasty,—a - dynasty which, according to the list of Manetho and Mariette Bey, is - separated from the reign of the first Egyptian king by an interval of - twenty-seven centuries. When Abraham wandered from Mesopotamia into - Palestine he found the Canaanites in possession. But they were - comparatively new comers; they had found the land already occupied by a - numerous population who were so far advanced in civilization as to have - built many cities. Among the peoples holding the land before them were the - Rephaim, who had sixty strong towns in what is now the wilderness of - Bashan; there were also the Emim, the Zamzummim, and the Anakim,—perhaps - primitive races and perhaps conquerors of a people farther back in the - twilight, remnants of whom still remained in Palestine when the Jews - began, in their turn, to level its cities to the earth, and who lived in - the Jewish traditions as “giants.” - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - X.—BEYROUT.—OVER THE LEBANON. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">A</span>LL the afternoon - we had the noble range of Mt. Lebanon in view, and towards five o'clock we - saw the desert-like promontory upon which Beyrout stands. This bold - headland, however, changed its appearance when we had rounded it and came - into the harbor; instead of sloping sand we had a rocky coast, and rising - from the bay a couple of hundred feet, Beyrout, first the shabby old city, - and then the new portion higher, up, with its villas embowered in trees. - To the right, upon the cliffs overlooking the sea, is the American - college, an institution whose conspicuous position is only a fair - indication of its pre-eminent importance in the East; and it is to be - regretted that it does not make a better architectural show. Behind - Beyrout, in a vast circular sweep, rise the Lebanon mountains, clothed - with trees and vineyards, terraced, and studded with villas and villages. - The view is scarcely surpassed anywhere for luxuriance and variety. It - seems to us that if we had an impulse to go on a mission anywhere it would - be to the wicked of this fertile land. - </p> - <p> - At Beyrout also passengers must land in small boats. We were at once - boarded by the most ruffianly gang of boatmen we had yet seen, who poured - through the gangways and climbed over the sides of the vessel, like - privileged pirates, treading down people in their way. It was only after a - severe struggle that we reached our boats and landed at the custom-house, - and fell into the hands of the legalized plunderers, who made an attack - upon our baggage and demanded our passports, simply to obtain backsheesh - for themselves. - </p> - <p> - “Not to show 'em passport,” says Abd-el-Atti, who wastes no affection on - the Turks; “tiefs, all of dem; you he six months, not so? in him dominion, - come now from Jaffa; I tell him if the kin' of Constantinople want us, he - find us at the hotel.” - </p> - <p> - The hotel Bellevue, which looks upon the sea and hears always the waves - dashing upon the worn and jagged rocks, was overflowed by one of those - swarms, which are the nuisance of independent travellers, known as a - “Cook's Party,” excellent people individually no doubt, but monopolizing - hotels and steamboats, and driving everybody else into obscurity by reason - of their numbers and compact organization. We passed yesterday one of the - places on the coast where Jonah is said to have left the whale; it is - suspected—though without any contemporary authority—that he - was in a Cook's Party of his day, and left it in disgust for this private - conveyance. - </p> - <p> - Our first care in Beyrout was to secure our passage to Damascus. There is - a carriage-road over the Lebanons, constructed, owned, and managed by a - French company; it is the only road in Syria practicable for wheels, but - it is one of the best in the world; I suppose we shall celebrate our - second centennial before we have one to compare with it in the United - States. The company has the monopoly of all the traffic over it, - forwarding freight in its endless trains of wagons, and despatching a - diligence each way daily, and a night mail. We went to the office to - secure seats in the diligence. - </p> - <p> - “They are all taken,” said the official. - </p> - <p> - “Then we would like seats for the day after to-morrow.” - </p> - <p> - “They are taken, and for the day after that—for a week.” - </p> - <p> - “Then we must go in a private carriage.” - </p> - <p> - “At present we have none. The two belonging to the company are at - Damascus.” - </p> - <p> - “Then we will hire one in the city.” - </p> - <p> - “That is not permitted; no private carriage is allowed to go over the road - farther than five kilometres outside of Beyrout.” - </p> - <p> - “So you will neither take us yourselves nor let any one else?” - </p> - <p> - “Pardon; when the carriage comes from Damascus, you shall have the first - chance.” - </p> - <p> - Fortunately one of the carriages arrived that night, and the next morning - at nine o'clock we were <i>en route</i>. The diligence left at 4 a. M., - and makes the trip in thirteen hours; we were to break the journey at - Stoura and diverge to Ba'albek. The carriage was a short omnibus, with - seats inside for four, a broad seat in front, and a deck for the baggage, - painted a royal yellow; three horses were harnessed to it abreast,—one - in the shafts and one on each side. As the horses were to be changed at - short stages, we went forward at a swinging pace, rattling out of the city - and commanding as much respect as if we had been the diligence itself with - its six horses, three abreast, and all its haughty passengers. - </p> - <p> - We leave the promontory of Beyrout, dip into a long depression, and then - begin to ascend the Lebanon. The road is hard, smooth, white; the soil on - either side is red; the country is exceedingly rich; we pass villas, - extensive plantations of figs, and great forests of the mulberry; for the - silk culture is the chief industry, and small factories of the famous - Syrian silks are scattered here and there. As the road winds upward, we - find the hillsides are terraced and luxuriant with fig-trees and - grapevines,—the latter flourishing, in fact, to the very top of the - mountains, say 5,200 feet above the blue Mediterranean, which sparkles - below us. Into these hills the people of Beyrout come to pass the heated - months of summer, living in little villas which are embowered in foliage - all along these lovely slopes. We encounter a new sort of house; it is one - story high, built of limestone in square blocks and without mortar, having - a flat roof covered with stones and soil,—a very primitive - construction, but universal here. Sometimes the building is in two parts, - like a double log-cabin, but the opening between the two is always arched: - so much for art; but otherwise the house, without windows, or with slits - only, looks like a section of stone-wall. - </p> - <p> - As we rise, we begin to get glimpses of the snowy peaks which make a sharp - contrast with the ravishing view behind us,—the terraced gorges, the - profound ravines, the vineyards, gardens, and orchards, the blue sea, and - the white road winding back through all like a ribbon. As we look down, - the limestone walls of the terraces are concealed, and all the white - cliffs are hidden by the ample verdure. Entering farther into the - mountains, and ascending through the grim Wady Hammâna, we have the - considerable village of that name below us on the left, lying at the - bottom of a vast and ash-colored mountain basin, like a gray heap of - cinders on the edge of a crater broken away at one side. We look at it - with interest, for there Lamartine once lived for some months in as - sentimental a seclusion as one could wish. A little higher up we come to - snow, great drifts of it by the roadside,—a phenomenon entirely - beyond the comprehension of Abdallah, who has never seen sand so cold as - this, which, nevertheless, melts in his hands. After encountering the - snow, we drive into a cold cloud, which seems much of the time to hang on - the top of Lebanon, and have a touch of real winter,—a disagreeable - experience which we had hoped to eliminate from this year; snow is only - tolerable when seen at a great distance, as the background in a summer - landscape; near at hand it congeals the human spirits. - </p> - <p> - When we were over the summit and had emerged from the thick cloud, - suddenly a surprise greeted us. Opposite was the range of Anti-Lebanon; - two thousand feet below us, the broad plain, which had not now the - appearance of land, but of some painted scene,—a singularity which - is partially explained by the red color of the soil. But, altogether, it - presented the most bewildering mass of color; if the valley had been - strewn with watered silts over a carpet of Persian rugs, the effect might - have been the same. There were patches and strips of green and of brown, - dashes of red, blotches of burnt-umber and sienna, alternations of - ploughed field and young grain, and the whole, under the passing clouds, - took the sheen of the opal. The hard, shining road lay down the - mountain-side in long loops, in ox-bows, in curves ever graceful, like a - long piece of white tape flung by chance from the summit to the valley. We - dashed down it at a great speed, winding backwards and forwards on the - mountain-side, and continually shifting our point of view of the glowing - picture. - </p> - <p> - At the little post-station of Stoura we left the Damascus road and struck - north for an hour towards Ba'albek, over a tolerable carriage-road. But - the road ceased at Mu'allakah; beyond that, a horseback journey of six or - seven hours, there is a road-bed to Ba'albek, stoned a part of the way, - and intended to be passable some day. Mu'allakah lies on the plain at the - opening of the wild gorge of the Berduny, a lively torrent which dances - down to join the Litany, through the verdure of fruit-trees and slender - poplars. Over a mile up the glen, in the bosom of the mountains, is the - town of Zahleh, the largest in the Lebanon; and there we purposed to pass - the night, having been commended to the hospitality of the missionaries - there by Dr. Jessup of Beyrout. - </p> - <p> - Our halted establishment drew a crowd of curious spectators about it, - mostly women and children, who had probably never seen a carriage before; - they examined us and commented upon us with perfect freedom, but that was - the extent of their hospitality, not one of them was willing to earn a - para by carrying our baggage to Zahleh; and we started up the hill, - leaving the dragoman in an animated quarrel with the entire population, - who, in turn, resented his comments upon their want of religion and good - manners. - </p> - <p> - Climbing up a stony hill, threading gullies and ravines, and finally rough - streets, we came into the amphitheatre in the hills which enclose Zahleh. - The town is unique in its construction. Imagine innumerable small - whitewashed wooden houses, rising in concentric circles, one above the - other, on the slopes of the basin, like the chairs on the terraces of a - Roman circus. The town is mostly new, for the Druses captured it and - burned it in 1860, and reminds one of a New England factory village. Its - situation is a stony, ragged basin, three thousand feet above the sea; the - tops of the hills behind it were still covered with snow, and we could - easily fancy that we were in Switzerland. The ten or twelve thousand - inhabitants are nearly all Maroyites, a sect of Christians whom we should - call Greeks, but who are in communion with the Latin church; a people - ignorant and superstitious, governed by their priests, occasionally - turbulent, and always on the point of open rupture with the mysterious and - subtle Druses. Having the name of Christians and few of the qualities, - they are most unpromising subjects of missionary labor. Yet the mission - here makes progress and converts, and we were glad to see that the - American missionaries were universally respected. - </p> - <p> - Fortunately the American name and Christianity are exceedingly well - represented in Northern Syria by gentlemen who unite a thorough and varied - scholarship with Christian simplicity, energy, and enthusiasm. At first it - seems hard that so much talent and culture should be hidden away in such a - place as Zahleh, and we were inclined to lament a lot so far removed from - the living sympathies of the world. It seems, indeed, almost hopeless to - make any impression in this antique and conceited mass of superstition. - But if Syria is to be regenerated, and to be ever the home of an - industrious, clean, and moral people, in sympathy with the enlightened - world, the change is to be made by exhibiting to the people a higher type - of Christianity than they have known hitherto,—a Christianity that - reforms manners, and betters the social condition, and adds a new interest - to life by lifting it to a higher plane; physical conditions must visibly - improve under it. It is not enough in a village like this of Zahleh, for - instance, to set up a new form of Christian worship, and let it drone on - in a sleepy fashion, however devout and circumspect. It needs <i>men</i> - of talent, scientific attainment, practical sagacity, who shall make the - Christian name respected by superior qualities, as well as by devout - lives. They must show a better style of living, more thrift and comfort, - than that which prevails here. The people will by and by see a logical - connection between a well-ordered house and garden, a farm scientifically - cultivated, a prosperous factory, and the profitableness of honesty and - industry, with the superior civilization of our Western Christianity. You - can already see the influence in Syria of the accomplished scholars, - skilful physicians and surgeons, men versed in the sciences, in botany and - geology, who are able to understand the resources of the country, who are - supported there, but not liberally enough supported, by the Christians of - America. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XI.—BA'ALBEK. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">W</span>E were entertained - at the house of the Rev. Mr. Wood, who accompanied us the next day to - Ba'albek, his mission territory including that ancient seat of splendid - paganism. Some sort of religious <i>fête</i> in the neighborhood had - absorbed the best saddle-beasts, and we were indifferently mounted on the - refuse of donkeys and horses, Abdallah, our most shining possession, - riding, as usual, on the top of a pile of baggage. The inhabitants were - very civil as we passed along; we did not know whether to attribute it to - the influence of the missionaries or to the rarity of travellers, but the - word “backsheesh” we heard not once in Zahleh. - </p> - <p> - After we had emerged from Mu'allakah upon the open plain, we passed on our - left hand the Moslem village of Kerah Nun, which is distinguished as the - burial-place of the prophet Noah; but we contented ourselves with a sight - of the dome. The mariner lies there in a grave seventy feet long, or - seventy yards, some scoffers say; but this, whatever it is, is not the - measure of the patriarch. The grave proved too short, and Noah is buried - with his knees bent, and his feet extending downward in the ground. - </p> - <p> - The plain of Bukâ'. is some ninety miles long, and in this portion of it - about ten miles broad; it is well watered, and though the red soil is - stuffed with small stones, it is very fertile, and would yield abundantly - if cultivated; but it is mostly an abandoned waste of weeds. The ground - rises gradually all the way to Ba'albek, starting from an elevation of - three thousand feet; the plain is rolling, and the streams which rush down - from the near mountains are very swift. Nothing could be lovelier than the - snowy ranges of mountains on either hand, in contrast with the browns and - reds of the slopes,—like our own autumn foliage,—and the green - and brown plain, now sprinkled with wild-flowers of many varieties. - </p> - <p> - The sky was covered with clouds, great masses floating about; the wind - from the hills was cold, and at length drove us to our wraps; then a fine - rain ensued, but it did not last long, for the rainy season was over. We - crossed the plain diagonally, and lunched at a little khan, half house and - half stable, raised above a stream, with a group of young poplars in - front. We sat on a raised divan in the covered court, and looked out - through the arched doorway over a lovely expanse of plain and hills. It - was difficult to tell which part of the house was devoted to the stable - and which to the family; from the door of the room which I selected as the - neatest came the braying of a donkey. The landlord and his wife, a young - woman and rather pretty, who had a baby in her arms, furnished pipes and - tobacco, and the travellers or idlers—they are one—sat on the - ground smoking narghilelis. A squad of ruffianly Metâwileh, a sect of - Moslems who follow the Koran strictly, and reject the traditions,—perhaps - like those who call themselves Bible Christians in distinction from - theological Christians,—came from the field, deposited their - ploughs, which they carried on their shoulders, on the platform outside, - and, seating themselves in a row in the khan, looked at us stolidly. And - we, having the opportunity of saying so, looked at them intelligently. - </p> - <p> - We went on obliquely across the plain, rising a little through a region - rich, but only half cultivated, crossing streams and floundering in - mud-holes for three hours, on a walk, the wind growing stronger from the - snow mountains, and the cold becoming almost unendurable. It was in vain - that Abd-el-Atti spun hour after hour an Arab romance; not even the warm - colors of the Oriental imagination could soften the piteous blast. At - length, when patience was nearly gone, in a depression in the plain, close - to the foot-hills of Anti-Lebanon, behold the great Ba'albek, that is to - say, a Moslem village of three thousand to four thousand inhabitants, - fairly clean and sightly, and the ruins just on the edge of it, the six - well-known gigantic Corinthian pillars standing out against the gray sky. - Never was sight more welcome. - </p> - <p> - Ba'albek, like Zahleh, has no inn, and we lodged in a private house near - the ruins. The house was one story; it consisted of four large rooms in a - row, looking upon the stone-wall enclosure, each with its door, and with - no communication between them. The kitchen was in a separate building. - These rooms had high ceilings of beams supporting the flat roof, windows - with shutters but without glass, divans along one side, and in one corner - a fireplace and chimney. Each room had a niche extending from the floor - almost to the ceiling, in which the beds are piled in the daytime; at - night they are made up on the divans or on the floor. This is the common - pattern of a Syrian house, and when we got a fire blazing in the big - chimney-place and began to thaw out our stiff limbs, and Abd-el-Atti - brought in something from the kitchen that was hot and red in color and - may have had spice on the top of it, we found this the most comfortable - residence in the world. - </p> - <p> - It is the business of a dragoman to produce the improbable in impossible - places. Abd-el-Atti rubbed his lamp and converted this establishment into - a tolerable inn, with a prolific kitchen and an abundant table. While he - was performing this revolution we went to see the ruins, the most noble - portions of which have survived the religion and almost the memory of the - builders. - </p> - <p> - The remains of the temples of Ba'albek, or Hieropolis, are only elevated - as they stand upon an artificial platform; they are in the depression of - the valley, and in fact a considerable stream flows all about the walls - and penetrates the subterranean passages. This water comes from a fountain - which bursts out of the Anti-Lebanon hills about half a mile above - Ba'albek, in an immense volume, falls into a great basin, and flows away - in a small river. These instantaneously born rivers are a peculiarity of - Syria; and they often disappear as suddenly as they come. The water of - this Ba'albek fountain is cold, pure, and sweet; it deserves to be called - a “beverage,” and is, so far as my experience goes, the most agreeable - water in the world. The Moslems have a proverb which expresses its unique - worth: “The water of Ba'albek never leaves its home.” It rushes past the - village almost a river in size, and then disappears in the plain below as - suddenly as it came to the light above. - </p> - <p> - We made our way across the stream and along aqueducts and over heaps of - shattered walls and columns to the west end of the group of ruins. This - end is defended by a battlemented wall some fifty feet high, which was - built by the Saracens out of incongruous materials from older - constructions. The northeast corner of this new wall rests upon the - ancient Phoenician wall, which sustained the original platform of the - sacred buildings; and at this corner are found the three famous stones - which at one time gave a name, “The Three-Stoned,” to the great temple. As - I do not intend to enter into the details of these often described ruins, - I will say here, that this ancient Phoenician wall appears on the north - side of the platform detached, showing that the most ancient temple - occupied a larger area than the Greek and Roman buildings. - </p> - <p> - There are many stones in the old platform wall which are thirty feet long; - but the three large ones, which are elevated twenty feet above the ground, - and are in a line, are respectively 64 feet long, 63 feet 8 inches, and 63 - feet, and about 13 feet in height and in depth. When I measured the first - stone, I made it 128 feet long, which I knew was an error, but it was only - by careful inspection that I discovered the joint of the two stones which - I had taken for one. I thought this a practical test of the close fit of - these blocks, which, laid without mortar, come together as if the ends had - been polished. A stone larger than either of these lies in the neighboring - quarry, hewn out but not detached. - </p> - <p> - These massive constructions, when first rediscovered, were the subject of - a great deal of wonder and speculation, and were referred to a remote and - misty if not fabulous period. I believe it is now agreed that they were - the work of the Phoenicians, or Canaanites, and that they are to be - referred to a period subsequent to the conquest of Egypt, or at least of - the Delta of Egypt, by the Hittites, when the Egyptian influence was felt - in Syria; and that this Temple of the Sun was at least suggested, as well - as the worship of the Sun god here, by the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis - on the Nile. There is, to be sure, no record of the great city of - Ba'albek, but it may safely be referred to the period of the greatest - prosperity of the Phoenician nation. - </p> - <p> - Much as we had read of the splendor of these ruins, and familiar as we - were with photographs of them, we were struck with surprise when we - climbed up into the great court, that is, to the platform of the temples. - The platform extends over eight hundred feet from east to west, an - elevated theatre for the display of some of the richest architecture in - the world. The general view is broad, impressive, inspiring beyond - anything else in Egypt or Syria; and when we look at details, the ruins - charm us with their beauty. Round three sides of the great court runs a - wall, the interior of which, recessed and niched, was once adorned with - the most elaborate carving in designs more graceful than you would suppose - stone could lend itself to, with a frieze of garlands of vines, flowers, - and fruits. Of the so-called great Temple of Baal at the west end of the - platform, only six splendid Corinthian columns remain. The so-called - Temple of the Sun or Jupiter, to the south of the other and on a lower - level, larger than the Parthenon, exists still in nearly its original - form, although some of the exterior columns have fallen, and time and the - art-hating Moslems have defaced some of its finest sculpture. The ceiling - between the outer row of columns and the wall of this temple is, or was, - one of the most exquisite pieces of stone-carving ever executed; the - figures carved in the medallions seem to have anticipated the Gothic - genius, and the exquisite patterns in stone to have suggested the - subsequent Saracenic invention. The composite capitals of the columns - offer an endless study; stone roses stand out upon their stems, fruit and - flowers hang and bloom in the freedom of nature; the carving is all bold - and spirited, and the invention endless. This is no doubt work of the - Roman period after the Christian era, but it is pervaded by Greek feeling, - and would seem to have been executed by Greek artists. - </p> - <p> - In the centre of the great court (there is a small six-sided court to the - east of the larger one, which was once approached by a great flight of - steps from below) are remains of a Christian basilica, referred to the - reign of Theodosius. Underneath the platform are enormous vaults, which - may have served the successive occupants for store-houses. The Saracens - converted this position into a fortress, and this military impress the - ruins still bear. We have therefore four ages in these ruins: the - Phoenician, the Greek and Roman, the Christian, and the Saracenic. The - remains of the first are most enduring. The old builders had no other - method of perpetuating their memory except by these cyclopean - constructions. - </p> - <p> - We saw the sunset on Ba'albek. The clouds broke away and lay in great rosy - masses over Lebanon; the white snow ridge for forty miles sparkled under - them. The peak of Lebanon, over ten thousand feet above us, was revealed - in all its purity. There was a red light on the columns and on the walls, - and the hills of Anti-Lebanon, red as a dull garnet, were speckled with - snow patches. The imagination could conceive nothing more beautiful than - the rose-color of the ruins, the flaming sky, and the immaculate snow - peaks, apparently so close to us. - </p> - <p> - On our return we stopped at the beautiful circular temple of Venus, which - would be a wonder in any other neighborhood. Dinner awaited us, and was - marked by only one novelty,—what we at first took to be brown - napkins, fantastically folded and laid at each plate, a touch of elegance - for which we were not prepared. But the napkins proved to be bread. It is - made of coarse dark wheat, baked in circular cakes as thin as brown paper, - and when folded its resemblance to a napkin is complete. We found it - tolerably palatable, if one could get rid of the notion that he was eating - a limp rag. The people had been advertised of our arrival, and men, women, - and boys swarmed about us to sell copper coins; most of them Roman, which - they find in the ruins. Few are found of the Greeks'. the Romans literally - sowed the ground with copper money wherever they went in the Orient. The - inhabitants are Moslems, and rather decent in appearance, and the women - incline to good looks, though not so modest in dress as Moslem women - usually are; they are all persistent beggars, and bring babies in their - arms, borrowing for that purpose all the infants in the neighborhood, to - incite us to charity. - </p> - <p> - We yielded to the average sentiment of Christendom, and sallied out in the - cold night to see the ruins under the light of a full moon; one of the - party going simply that he might avoid the reproach of other travellers,—“It - is a pity you did not see Ba'albek by moonlight.” And it must be confessed - that these ruins stand the dim light of the moon better than most ruins; - they are so broad and distinct that they show themselves even in this - disadvantage, which those of Karnak do not. The six isolated columns - seemed to float in the sky; between them snowy Lebanon showed itself. - </p> - <p> - The next morning was clear and sparkling; the sky was almost as blue as it - is in Nubia. We were awakened by the drumming of a Moslem procession. It - was the great annual <i>fête</i> day, upon which was to be performed the - miracle of riding over the bodies of the devout. The ceremony took place a - couple of miles away upon the hill, and we saw on all the paths leading - thither files of men and women in white garments. The sheykh, mounted on - horseback, rides over the prostrate bodies of all who throw themselves - before him, and the number includes young men as well as darwishes. As - they lie packed close together and the horse treads upon their spinal - columns, their escape from death is called miraculous. The Christians - tried the experiment here a year or two ago, several young fellows - submitting to let a horseman trample over them, in order to show the - Moslems that they also possessed a religion which could stand horses' - hoofs. - </p> - <p> - The ruins, under the intense blue sky, and in the splendid sunlight, were - more impressive than in the dull gray of the day before, or even in the - rosy sunset; their imperial dignity is not impaired by the excessive - wealth of ornamentation. When upon this platform there stood fifty-eight - of these noble columns, instead of six, conspicuous from afar, and the - sunlight poured into this superb court, adorned by the genius of Athens - and the wealth of Rome, this must have been one of the most resplendent - temples in existence, rivalling the group upon the Acropolis itself! - </p> - <p> - Nothing more marks the contrast between the religions of the Greeks and - Romans and of the Egyptians, or rather between the genius of the two - civilizations, than their treatment of sacred edifices. And it is all the - more to be noted, because the more modern nations accepted without reserve - any god or object of veneration or mystery in the Egyptian pantheon. The - Roman occupants of the temple of Philæ sacrificed without scruple upon the - altars of Osiris, and the voluptuous Græco-Romans of Pompeii built a - temple to Isis. Yet always and everywhere the Grecians and the Romans - sought conspicuous situations for the temples of the gods; they felt, as - did our Pilgrim Fathers, who planted their meeting-houses on the windiest - hills of New England, that the deity was most honored when the house of - his worship was most visible to men; but the Egyptians, on the contrary, - buried the magnificence of their temples within wall around wall, and - permitted not a hint of their splendor to the world outside. It is worth - while to notice also that the Assyrians did not share the contemporary - reticence of the Egyptians, but built their altars and temples high above - the plain in pyramidal stages; and if we may judge by this platform at - Ba'albek, the Phoenicians did not imitate the exclusive spirit of the - Pharaonic worshippers. - </p> - <p> - We lingered, called again and again by the impatient dragoman, in this - fascinating spot, amid the visible monuments of so many great races, - bearing the marks of so many religious revolutions, and turned away with - slow and reluctant steps, as those who abandon an illusion or have not yet - thought out some suggestion of the imagination. We turned also with - reluctance from a real illusion of the senses. In the clear atmosphere the - ridge of Lebanon was startlingly near to us; the snow summit appeared to - overhang Ba'albek as Vesuvius does Pompeii; and yet it is half a day's - journey across the plain to the base of the mountain, and a whole day's - journey from these ruins to the summit. But although this illusion of - distance did not continue as we rode down the valley, we had on either - hand the snow ranges all day, making by contrast with the brilliant colors - of the plain a lovely picture. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XII.—ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE station at - Stoura is a big stable and a dirty little inn, which has the kitchen in - one shanty, the dining-room in another, and the beds in a third; a swift - mountain stream runs behind it, and a grove of poplars on the banks moans - and rustles in the wind that draws down the Lebanon gorge. It was after - dark when we arrived, but whether our coming put the establishment into a - fluster, I doubt; it seems to be in a chronic state of excitement. The inn - was kept by Italians, who have a genius for this sort of hotel; the - landlord was Andrea, but I suspect the real authority resided in his - plump, bright, vivacious wife. They had an heir, however, a boy of eight, - who proved to be the tyrant of the house when he appeared upon the scene. - The servants were a tall slender Syrian girl, an active and irresponsible - boy, and a dark-eyed little maid, in the limp and dirty single garment - which orphans always wear on the stage, and who in fact was an orphan, and - appeared to take the full benefit of her neglected and jolly life. The - whole establishment was on a lark, and in a perpetual giggle, and - communicated its overflowing good-humor even to tired travellers. The - well-favored little wife, who exhibited the extremes of fortune in a - diamond ring and a torn and draggled calico gown, sputtered alternately - French and Italian like a magpie, laughed with a contagious merriment, and - actually made the cheerless accommodations she offered us appear - desirable. The whole family waited on us, or rather kept us waiting on - them, at table, bringing us a dish now and then as if its production were - a joke, talking all the while among themselves in Arabic, and apparently - about us, and laughing at their own observations, until we, even, came to - conceive ourselves as a party in a most comical light; and so amusing did - we grow that the slim girl and the sorry orphan were forced to rush into a - corner every few minutes and laugh it out. - </p> - <p> - I spent a pleasant hour in the kitchen,—an isolated, smoke-dried - room with an earth floor,—endeavoring to warm my feet at the little - fires of charcoal kindled in holes on top of a bank of earth and stone, - and watching the pranks of this merry and industrious family. The little - heir amused himself by pounding the orphan, kicking the shins of the boy, - and dashing water in the face of the slim girl,—treatment which the - servants dared not resent, since the father laughed over it as an - exhibition of bravery and vivacity. Fragrant steam came from a pot, in - which quail were stewing for the passengers by the night mail, and each - person who appeared in the kitchen, in turn, gave this pot a stir; the - lively boy pounded coffee in a big mortar, put charcoal on the fire, had a - tussle with the heir, threw a handspring, doing nothing a minute at a - time; the orphan slid in with a bucket of water, slopping it in all - directions; the heir set up a howl and kicked his father because he was - not allowed to kick the orphan any more; the little wife came in like a - breeze, whisking everybody one side, and sympathized with dear little - Hobby, whose cruel and ugly papa was holding the love from barking his - father's shins. You do not often see a family that enjoys itself so much - as this. - </p> - <p> - It was late next morning when we tore ourselves from this enchanting - household, and went at a good pace over the fertile plain, straight - towards Anti-Lebanon, having a glimpse of the snow of Mount Hermon,—a - long ridge peering over the hills to the? southeast, and crossing in turn - the Litany and the deep Anjar, which bursts forth from a single fountain - about a mile to the north. On our left we saw some remains of what was - once a capital city, Chalcis, of unknown origin, but an old city before it - was possessed by the Ptolemies, or by Mark Antony, and once the luxurious - residence of the Herod family. At Medjel, a village scattered at the foot - of small <i>tells</i> rising in the plain, we turned into the hills, - leaving unvisited a conspicuous Roman temple on a peak above the town. The - road winds gradually up a wady. As we left the plain, and looked back - across it to Lebanon, the colors of Bukâ'. and the mountain gave us a new - surprise; they were brilliant and yet soft, as gay and splendid as the - rocks of the Yellowstone, and yet exquisitely blended as in a Persian rug. - </p> - <p> - The hill-country was almost uninhabited; except the stations and an - occasional Bedaween camp there was small sign of occupation; the ground - was uncultivated; peasants in rags were grubbing up the roots of cedars - for fuel. We met Druses with trains of mules, Moslems with camels and - mules, and long processions of white-topped wagons,—like the Western - “prairie schooner”—drawn each by three mules tandem. Thirty and - forty of these freight vehicles travel in company, and we were continually - meeting or passing them; their number is an indication of the large trade - that Damascus has with Beyrout and the Mediterranean. There is plenty of - color in the people and in their costume. We were told that we could - distinguish the Druses by their furtive and bad countenances; but for this - information I should not have seen that they differed much from the - Maronites; but I endeavored to see the treacherous villain in them. I have - noticed in Syria that the Catholic travellers have a good opinion of the - Maronites and hate the Druses, that the American residents think little of - the Maronites, and that the English have a lenient side for the Druses. - The Moslems consistently despise all of them. The Druse has been a puzzle. - There are the same horrible stories current about him that were believed - of the early Christians; the Moslem believes that infants are slain and - eaten in his midnight assemblies, and that once a year the Druse community - meets in a cavern at midnight, the lights are extinguished, and the sexes - mingling by chance in the license of darkness choose companions for the - year. But the Druse creed, long a secret, is now known; they are the - disciples of Hâkim, a Khalif of the Fatimite dynasty; they believe in the - unity of God and his latest manifestation in Hakim; they are as much a - political as a religious society; they are accomplished hypocrites, - cunning in plotting and bold in action; they profess to possess “the - truth,” and having this, they are indifferent to externals, and are - willing to be Moslems with the Moslems and Christians with the Christians, - while inwardly feeling a contempt for both. They are the most supercilious - of all the Eastern sects. What they are about to do is always the subject - of anxiety in the Lebanon regions. - </p> - <p> - At the stations of the road we found usually a wretched family or two - dwelling in a shanty, half stable and half <i>café</i>, always a woman - with a baby in her arms, and the superabundant fountains for nourishing it - displayed to all the world; generally some slatternly girls, and groups of - rough muleteers and drivers smoking. At one, I remember a Jew who sold - antique gems, rings, and coins, with a shocking face, which not only - suggested the first fall of his race, but all the advantages he has since - taken of his innocent fellows, by reason of his preoccupation of his - position of knowledge and depravity. - </p> - <p> - We made always, except in the steep ascents, about ten miles an hour. The - management of the route is the perfection of French system and - bureaucracy. We travel with a way-bill of numbered details, as if we were - a royal mail. At every station we change one horse, so that we always have - a fresh animal. The way-bill is at every station signed by the agent, and - the minute of arrival and departure exactly noted; each horse has its - number, and the number of the one taken and the one left is entered. All - is life and promptness at the stations; changes are quickly made. The - way-bill would show the company the exact time between stations; but I - noticed that our driver continually set his watch backwards and forwards, - and I found that he and the dragoman had a private understanding to - conceal our delays for lunch, for traffic with Jews, or for the enjoyment - of scenery. - </p> - <p> - After we had crossed the summit of the first ridge we dashed down the gate - of a magnificent canyon, the rocks heaved up in perpendicular strata, - overhanging, craggy, crumbled, wild. We crossed then a dreary and nearly - arid basin; climbed, by curves and zigzags, another ridge, and then went - rapidly down until we struck the wild and narrow gorge of the sacred - Abana. Immediately luxuriant vegetable life began. The air was sweet with - the blossoms of the mish-mish (apricot), and splendid walnuts and poplars - overshadowed us. The river, swollen and rushing amid the trees on its - hanks, was frightfully rapid. The valley winds sharply, and gives room - only for the river and the road, and sometimes only for one of them. - Sometimes the river is taken out of its bed and carried along one bank or - the other; sometimes the road crosses it, and again pursues its way - between its divided streams. We were excited by its rush and volume, and - by the rich vegetation along its sides. We came to fantastic Saracenic - country-seats, to arcaded and latticed houses set high up over the river, - to evidences of wealth and of proximity to a great city. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly, for we seemed to have become a part of the rushing torrent and - to share its rapidity, we burst out of the gorge, and saw the river, - overpassing its narrow banks, flowing straight on before us, and beyond, - on a level, the minarets and domes of Damascus! All along the river, on - both banks of it, and along the high wall by the roadside, were crowds of - men in Turkish costume, of women in pure white, of Arabs sitting quietly - by the stream smoking the narghileh, squatting in rows along the wall and - along the water, all pulling at the water-pipe. There were tents and - booths erected by the river. In a further reach of it men and boys were - bathing. Hanks and groups of veiled women and children crouched on the - damp soil close to the flood, or sat immovable on some sandy point. It is - a delicious holiday for two or three women to sit the livelong day by - water, running or stagnant, to sit there with their veils drawn over their - heads, as rooted as water-plants, and as inanimate as bags of flour. It - was a striking Oriental picture, played on by the sun, enlivened by the - swift current, which dashes full into the city. - </p> - <p> - As we spun on, the crowd thickened,—soldiers, grave Turks on - caparisoned horses or white donkeys, Jews, blacks, Persians. We crossed a - trembling bridge, and rattled into town over stony pavements, forced our - way with difficulty into streets narrow and broken by sharp turns, the - carriage-wheels scarcely missing men and children stretched on the ground, - who refused, on the theory of their occupation of the soil prior to the - invention of wheels, to draw in even a leg; and, in a confused whirl of - novel sights and discordant yells, barks, and objurgations, we came to - Dimitri's hotel. The carriage stopped in the narrow street; a small door - in the wall, a couple of feet above the pavement, opened, and we stepped - through into a little court occupied by a fountain and an orange-tree - loaded with golden fruit. Thence we passed into a large court, the centre - of the hotel, where the Abana pours a generous supply into a vast marble - basin, and trees and shrubs offer shelter to singing birds. About us was a - wilderness of balconies, staircases, and corridors, the sun flooding it - all; and Dimitri himself, sleek, hospitable, stood bowing, in a red fez, - silk gown, and long gold chain. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XIII.—THE OLDEST OF CITIES. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>T is a popular - opinion that there is nothing of man's work older than Damascus; there is - certainly nothing newer. The city preserves its personal identity as a man - keeps his from youth to age, through the constant change of substance. The - man has in his body not an atom of the boy; but if the boy incurred scars, - they are perpetuated in the man. Damascus has some scars. We say of other - ancient cities, “This part is old, that part is new.” We say of Damascus, - its life is that of a tree, decayed at heart, dropping branches, casting - leaves, but always renewing itself. - </p> - <p> - How old is Damascus? Or, rather, how long has a city of that name existed - here on the banks of the Abana? According to Jewish tradition, which we - have no reason to doubt, it was founded by Uz, the son of Aram, the son of - Shem. By the same tradition it was a great city when a remarkable man, of - the tenth generation from the Deluge,—a person of great sagacity, - not mistaken in his opinions, skilful in the celestial science, compelled - to leave Chaldea when he was seventy-five years old, on account of his - religious opinions, since he ventured to publish the notion that there was - but one God, the Creator of the Universe,—came with an army of - dependants and “reigned” in the city of Uz. After some time Abraham - removed into Canaan, which was already occupied by the Canaanites, who had - come from the Persian Gulf, established themselves in wall-towns in the - hills, built Sidon on the coast, and carried their conquests into Egypt. - It was doubtless during the reign of the Hittites, or Shepherd Kings, that - Abraham visited Egypt. Those usurpers occupied the throne of the Pharaohs - for something like five hundred years, and it was during their occupancy - that the Jews settled in the Delta. - </p> - <p> - Now, if we can at all fix the date of the reign of the Shepherd Kings, we - can approximate to the date of the foundation of Damascus, for Uz was the - third generation from Noah, and Abraham was the tenth. We do not know how - to reckon a generation in those days, when a life-lease was such a - valuable estate, but if we should assume it to be a century, we should - have about seven hundred years between the foundation of Damascus and the - visit of Abraham to Egypt, a very liberal margin. But by the chronology of - Mariette Bey, the approximate date of the Shepherds' invasion is 2300 B.C. - to 2200 B. C., and somewhat later than that time Abraham was in Damascus. - If Damascus was then seven hundred years old, the date of its foundation - would be about 3000 B.C. to 2900 B.C. - </p> - <p> - Assuming that Damascus has this positive old age, how old is it - comparatively? When we regard it in this light, we are obliged to confess - that it is a modern city. When Uz and his friends wandered out of the - prolific East, and pitched their tents by the Abana, there was already on - the banks of the Nile a civilized, polished race, which had nearly - completed a cycle of national existence much longer than the duration of - the Roman Empire. It was about the eleventh dynasty of the Egyptian - kingdom, the Great Pyramid had been built more than a thousand years, and - the already degenerate Egyptians of the “Old Empire” had forgotten the - noble art which adorned and still renders illustrious the reigns of the - pyramid-builders.. - </p> - <p> - But if Damascus cannot claim the highest antiquity, it has outlived all - its rivals on the earth, and has flourished in a freshness as perennial as - the fountain to which it owes its life, through all the revolutions of the - Orient. As a necessary commercial capital it has pursued a pretty uniform - tenor under all its various masters. Tiglath-Pileser attempted to destroy - it; it was a Babylonian and then a Persian satrapy for centuries; it was a - Greek city; it was the capital of a Roman province for seven hundred - years; it was a Christian city and reared a great temple to John the - Baptist; it was the capital of the Saracenic Empire, in which resided the - ruler who gave laws to all the lands from India to Spain; it was ravaged - by Tamerlane; it now suffers the blight of Turkish imbecility. From of old - it was a caravan station and a mart of exchange, a camp by a stream; it is - to-day a commercial hive, swarming with an hundred and fifty thousand - people, a city without monuments of its past or ambition for its future. - </p> - <p> - If one could see Damascus, perhaps he could invent a phrase that would - describe it; but when you have groped and stumbled about in it for a - couple of weeks, endeavoring in vain to get a view of more than a few rods - of it at a time, you are utterly at a loss how to convey an impression of - it to others. - </p> - <p> - If Egypt is the gift of the Nile, the river Abana is the life of Damascus; - its water is carried into the city on a dozen different levels, making it - literally one of fountains and running water. Sometimes the town is - flooded; the water had only just subsided from the hotel when we arrived. - This inundation makes the city damp for a long time. Indeed, it is at all - times rather soaked with water, and is—with all respect to Uz and - Abraham and the dynasty of the Omeiyades—a sort of habitable - frog-pond on a grand scale. At night the noise of frogs, even at our - hotel, is the chief music, the gentle twilight song, broken, it is true, - by the incessant howling and yelping of savage dogs, packs of which roam - the city like wolves all night. They are mangy yellow curs, without a - single good quality, except that they sleep all the daytime. In every - quarter of the city you see ranks and rows of them asleep in the sun, - occupying half the street and nestling in all the heaps of rubbish. But - much as has been said of the dogs here, I think the frogs are the feature - of the town; they are as numerous as in the marshes of Ravenna. - </p> - <p> - Still the water could not be spared. It gives sparkle, life, verdure. In - walking you constantly get glimpses through heavy doorways of fountains, - marble tanks of running water, of a blooming tree or a rose-trellis in a - marble court, of a garden of flowers. The crooked, twisted, narrow - streets, mere lanes of mud-walls, would be scarcely endurable but for - these occasional glimpses, and the sight now and then of the paved, - pillared court of a gayly painted mosque. - </p> - <p> - One ought not to complain when the Arab barber who trims his hair gives - him a narghileh to smoke during the operation; but Damascus is not so - Oriental as Cairo, the predominant Turkish element is not so picturesque - as the Egyptian. And this must be said in the face of the universal use of - the narghileh, which more than any other one thing imparts an Oriental, - luxurious tone to the city. The pipe of Egypt is the chibouk, a stem of - cherry five feet long with a small clay bowl; however richly it may be - ornamented, furnished with a costly amber mouthpiece, wound with wire of - gold, and studded, as it often is, with diamonds and other stones of - price, it is, at the best, a stiff affair; and even this pipe is more and - more displaced by the cigar, just as in Germany the meerschaum has yielded - to the cigar as the Germans have become accessible to foreign influences. - But in Damascus the picturesque narghileh, encourager of idleness, is - still the universal medium of smoke. The management of the narghileh - requires that a person should give his undivided mind to it; in return for - that, it gives him peace. The simplest narghileh is a cocoanut-shell, with - a flexible stem attached, and an open metal bowl on top for the tobacco. - The smoke is drawn through the water which the shell contains. Other - narghilehs have a glass standard and water-bowl, and a flexible stem two - or three yards in length. The smoker, seated cross-legged before this - graceful object, appears to be worshipping his idol. The mild Persian - tobacco is kept alight by a slowly burning piece of dried refuse which is - kindly furnished by the camel for fuel; and the smoke is inhaled into the - lungs, and slowly expelled from the nostrils and the mouth. Although the - hastily rolled cigarette is the resort of the poor in Egypt, and is - somewhat used here, it must be a very abandoned wretch who cannot afford a - pull at a narghileh in Damascus. Its universality must excuse the long - paragraph I have devoted to this pipe. You see men smoking it in all the - cafés, in all the shops, by the roadside, seated in the streets, in every - garden, and on the house-tops. The visible occupation of Damascus is - sucking this pipe. - </p> - <p> - Our first walk in the city was on Sunday to the church of the Presbyterian - mission; on our way we threaded a wilderness of bazaars, nearly all of - them roofed over, most of them sombre and gloomy. Only in the glaring heat - of summer could they be agreeable places of refuge. The roofing of these - tortuous streets and lanes is not so much to exclude the sun, I imagine, - as to keep out the snow, and the roofs are consequently substantial; for - Damascus has an experience of winter, being twenty-two hundred feet above - the sea-level, nearly as high as Jerusalem. These bazaars, so much vaunted - all through the Orient, disappointed us, not in extent, for they are - interminable, but in wanting the picturesqueness, oddity, and richness of - those of Cairo. And this, like the general appearance of the city, is a - disappointment hard to be borne, for we have been taught to believe that - Damascus is a Paradise on earth, and that here, if anywhere, we should - come into that region of enchantment which the poets of the Arabian - Nights' tales have imposed upon us as the actual Orient. Should we have - recognized, in the low and partially flooded strip of grassland through - which we drove from the mouth of the Abana gorge to the western gate of - the city, the green <i>Merj</i> of the Arabian poets, that gem of the - earth? The fame of it has gone abroad throughout the world, as if it were - a unique gift of Allah to his favorites. Why, every Occidental land has a - million glades, watered, green-sodded, tree-embowered, more lovely than - this, that no poet has thought it worth while to celebrate. - </p> - <p> - We found a little handful of worshippers at the mission church, and among - them—Heaven forgive us for looking at her on Sunday!—an - eccentric and somewhat notorious English lady of title, who shares the bed - and board of an Arab sheykh in his harem outside the walls. It makes me - blush for the attractiveness of my own country, and the slighted - fascination of the noble red man in his paint and shoddy blanket, when I - see a lady, sated with the tame civilization of England, throw herself - into the arms of one of these coarse bigamists of the desert. Has he no - reputation in the Mother country, our noble, chivalrous - Walk-Under-the-Ground? - </p> - <p> - We saw something of the missionaries of Damascus, but as I was not of the - established religion at the court of Washington at the time of my - departure from home, and had no commission to report to the government, - either upon the condition of consulates or of religion abroad, I am not - prepared to remark much upon the state of either in this city. I should - say, however, that not many direct converts were made either from - Moslemism or from other Christian beliefs, but that incalculable good is - accomplished by the schools which the missionaries conduct. The influence - of these, in encouraging a disposition to read, and to inquire into the - truth and into the conditions of a better civilization, is not to be - overestimated. What impressed me most, however, in the fortune of these - able, faithful servants of the propagandism of Christian civilization, was - their pathetic isolation. A gentleman and his wife of this mission had - been thirty years absent from the United States. The friends who cheered - or regretted their departure, who cried over them, and prayed over them, - and followed them with tender messages, had passed away, or become so much - absorbed in the ever-exciting life at home as to have almost forgotten - those who had gone away to the heathen a generation ago. The Mission Board - that personally knew them and lovingly cared for them is now composed of - strangers to them. They were, in fact, expatriated, lost sight of. And yet - they had gained no country nor any sympathies to supply the place of those - lost. They must always be, to a great degree, strangers in this fierce, - barbarous city. - </p> - <p> - We wandered down through the Christian quarter of the town: few shops are - here; we were most of the time walking between mud-walls, which have a - door now and then. This quarter is new; it was entirely burned by the - Moslems and Druses in 1860, when no less than twenty-five hundred adult - male Christians, heads of families, were slaughtered, and thousands more - perished of wounds and famine consequent upon the total destruction of - their property. That the Druses were incited to this persecution by the - Turkish rulers is generally believed. We went out of the city by the - eastern gate, called Bab Shurky, which name profanely suggested the - irrelevant colored image of Bob Sharkey, and found ourselves in the - presence of huge mounds of rubbish, the accumulations of refuse carted out - of the city during many centuries, which entirely concealed from view the - country beyond. We skirted these for a while, with the crumbling city wall - on the left hand, passed through the hard, gray, desolate Turkish - cemetery, and came at length into what might be called country. Not that - we could see any country, however; we were always between high mud-walls, - and could see nothing beyond them, except the sky, unless we stepped - through an open door into a garden. - </p> - <p> - Into one of these gardens, a public one, and one of the most celebrated in - the rhapsodies of travellers and by the inventive poets, we finally - turned. When you are walking for pleasure in your native land, and - indulging a rural feeling, would you voluntarily go into a damp swale, and - sit on a moist sod under a willow? This garden is low, considerably lower - than the city, which has gradually elevated itself on its own decay, and - is cut by little canals or sluiceways fed by the Abana, which run with a - good current. The ground is well covered with coarse grass, of the vivid - green that one finds usually in low ground, and is liberally sprinkled - with a growth of willows and poplars. In this garden of the Hesperides, in - which there are few if any flowers, and no promise of fruit, there is a - rough wooden shed, rickety and decaying, having, if I remember rightly, a - balcony,—it must have a balcony,—and there pipes, poor - lemonade, and poorer ice cream are served to customers. An Arab band of - four persons, one of them of course blind of an eye, seated cross-legged - on a sort of bedstead, was picking and thumping a monotonous, never-ending - tune out of the usual instruments. You could not deny that the vivid - greenery, and the gayly apparelled groups, sitting about under the trees - and on the water's edge, made a lively scene. In another garden, farther - on around the wall, the shanty of entertainment is a many-galleried shaky - construction, or a series of platforms and terraces of wood, overhanging - the swift Abana. In the daytime it is but a shabby sight; but at night, - when a thousand colored globes light it without revealing its poverty, and - the lights dance in the water, and hundreds of turbaned, gowned - narghileh-smokers and coffee-drinkers lounge in the galleries, or - gracefully take their ease by the sparkling current, and the faint thump - of the darabouka is heard, and some gesticulating story-teller, mounted - upon a bench, is reeling off to an attentive audience an interminable - Arabian tale, you might fancy that the romance of the Orient is not all - invented. - </p> - <p> - Of other and private gardens and enclosures we had glimpses, on our walk, - through open gates, and occasionally over the walls; we could imagine what - a fragrance and color would greet the senses when the apricots are in - bloom, and the oranges and lemons in flower, and how beautiful the view - might be if the ugly walls did not conceal it. We returned by the - saddlers' bazaar, and by a famous plane-tree, which may be as old as the - Moslem religion; its gnarled limbs are like the stems of ordinary trees, - and its trunk is forty feet around. - </p> - <p> - The remark that Damascus is without monuments of its past needs - qualification; it was made with reference to its existence before the - Christian era, and in comparison with other capitals of antiquity. Remains - may, indeed, be met in its exterior walls, and in a broken column here and - there built into a modern house, of Roman workmanship, and its Great - Mosque is an historical monument of great interest, if not of the highest - antiquity. In its structure it represents three religions and three - periods of art; like the mosque of St. Sophia at Constantinople, it was - for centuries a Christian cathedral; like the Dome of the Rock at - Jerusalem, it is built upon a spot consecrated by the most ancient - religious rites. Situated in the midst of the most densely peopled part of - the city, and pressed on all sides by its most crowded bazaars, occupying - a quadrangle nearly five hundred feet one way by over three hundred the - other, the wanderer among the shops is constantly coming to one side or - another of it, and getting glimpses through the spacious portals of the - colonnaded court within. Hemmed in as it is, it is only by diving into - many alleys and pushing one's way into the rear of dirty shops and - climbing upon the roofs of houses, that one can get any idea of the - exterior of the mosque. It is, indeed, only from an eminence that you can - see its three beautiful minarets. - </p> - <p> - It does not appear that Chosroes, the Persian who encamped his army in the - delicious gardens of Damascus, in the year 614, when he was on his way to - the destruction of Jerusalem and the massacre of its Christian - inhabitants, disturbed the church of John the Baptist in this city. But - twenty years later it fell into the hands of the Saracens, who for a few - years were content to share it with the Christian worshippers. It is said - that when Khâled, the most redoubtable of the Friends of the Prophet, - whose deeds entitled him to the sobriquet of The Sword of God, entered - this old church, he asked to be conducted into the sacred vault (which is - now beneath the <i>kubbeh</i> of the mosque), and that he was there shown - the head of John the Baptist in a gold casket, which had in Greek this - inscription: “This casket contains the head of John the Baptist, son of - Zachariah.” - </p> - <p> - The building had been then for over three centuries a Christian church. - And already, when Constantine dedicated it to Christian use, it had for - over three hundred years witnessed the worship of pagan deities. The - present edifice is much shorn of its original splendor and proportions, - but sufficient remains to show that it was a worthy rival of the temples - of Ba'albek, Palmyra, and Jerusalem. No part of the building is older than - the Roman occupation, but the antiquarians are agreed to think that this - was the site of the old Syrian temple, in which Ahaz saw the beautiful - altar which he reproduced in the temple at Jerusalem. - </p> - <p> - Pieces of superb carving, recalling the temple of the Sun at Ba'albek, may - still be found in some of the gateways, and the noble Corinthian columns - of the interior are to be referred to Roman or Greek workmen. Christian - art is represented in the building in some part of the walls and in the - round-topped windows; and the Moslems have superimposed upon all minarets, - a dome, and the gay decorations of colored marbles and flaring - inscriptions. - </p> - <p> - The Moslems have either been too ignorant or too careless to efface all - the evidences of Christian occupation. The doors of the eastern gate are - embossed with brass, and among the emblems is the Christian sacramental - cup. Over an arch, which can only be seen from the roof of the - silversmiths' bazaar, is this inscription in Greek: “Thy kingdom, O - Christ, is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout - all generations.” - </p> - <p> - It required a special permit to admit us to the mosque, but when we were - within the sacred precincts and shod with slippers, lest our infidel shoes - should touch the pavement, we were followed by a crowd of attendants who - for the moment overcame their repugnance to our faith in expectation of - our backsheesh. The interior view is impressive by reason of the elegant - minarets and the fine colonnaded open court. Upon one of the minarets - Jesus will descend when he comes to judge the world. The spacious mosque, - occupying one side of the court, and open on that side to its roof, is - divided in its length by two rows of Corinthian columns, and has a certain - cheerfulness and hospitality. The tesselated marble pavement of the - interior is much worn, and is nearly all covered with carpets of Persia - and of Smyrna. The only tomb in the mosque is that of St. John the - Baptist, which is draped in a richly embroidered cloth. - </p> - <p> - We were anew impressed by the home-like, democratic character of the great - mosques. This, opening by its four gates into the busiest bazaars, as we - said, is much frequented at all hours. At the seasons of prayer you may - see great numbers prostrating themselves in devotion, and at all other - times this cool retreat is a refuge for the poor and the weary. The - fountains of running water in the court attract people,—those who - desire only to sit there and rest, as well as those who wash and pray. - About the fountains and in the mosque were seated groups of women, eating - their noonday bread, or resting in that dumb attitude under which Eastern - women disguise their discontent or their intrigues. This is, at any rate, - a haven of rest for all, and it is a goodly sight to see all classes, rich - and poor, flocking in here, leaving their shoes at the door or carrying - them in their hands. - </p> - <p> - The view from the minaret which we ascended is peculiar. On the horizon we - saw the tops of hills and mountains, snowy Hermon among them. Far over the - plain we could not look, for the city is beset by a thicket of slender - trees, which were just then in fresh leafage. Withdrawing our gaze from - the environs, we looked down upon the wide-spread oval-shaped city. Most - conspicuous were the minarets, then a few domes, and then thousands of - dome-shaped roofs. You see the top of a covered city, but not the city. In - fact, it scarcely looks like a city; you see no streets, and few roofs - proper, for we have to look twice to convince ourselves that the flat - spaces covered with earth and often green with vegetation (gardens in the - air) are actually roofs of houses. The streets are either roofed over or - are so narrow that we cannot see them from this height. Damascus is a sort - of rabbit-burrow. - </p> - <p> - Not far from the Great Mosque is the tomb of Saladin. We looked from the - street through a grated window, to the bars of which the faithful have - tied innumerable rags and strings (pious offerings, which it is supposed - will bring them good luck) into a painted enclosure, and saw a large - catafalque, or sarcophagus; covered with a green mantle. The tomb is near - a mosque, and beside a busy cotton-bazaar; it is in the midst of traffic - and travel, among activities and the full rush of life,—just where a - man would like to be buried in order to be kept in remembrance. - </p> - <p> - In going about the streets we notice the prevalence of color in portals, - in the interior courts of houses, and in the baths; there is a fondness - for decorating with broad gay stripes of red, yellow, and white. Even the - white pet sheep which are led about by children have their wool stained - with dabs of brilliant color,—perhaps in honor of the Greek Easter. - </p> - <p> - The baths of Damascus are many and very good, not so severe and violent as - those of New York, nor so thorough as those of Cairo, but, the best of - them, clean and agreeable. We push aside a gay curtain from the street and - descend by steps into a square apartment. It has a dome like a mosque. - Under the dome is a large marble basin into which water is running; the - floor is tesselated with colored marbles. Each side is a recess with a - halfdome, and in the recesses are elevated divans piled with cushions for - reclining. The walls are painted in stripes of blue, yellow, and red, and - the room is bright with various Oriental stuffs. There are turbaned and - silken-attired attendants, whose gentle faces might make them mistaken for - ministers of religion as well as of cleanliness, and upon the divans - recline those who have come from the bath, enjoying <i>kief</i>, with - pipes and coffee. There is an atmosphere of perfect contentment in the - place, and I can imagine how an effeminate ruler might see, almost without - a sigh, the empire of the world slip from his grasp while he surrendered - himself to this delicious influence. - </p> - <p> - We undressed, were towelled, shod with wooden clogs, and led through - marble paved passages and several rooms into an inner, long chamber, which - has a domed roof pierced by bulls'-eyes of party-colored glass. The floor, - of colored marbles, was slippery with water running from the overflowing - fountains, or dashed about by the attendants. Out of this room open - several smaller chambers, into which an unsocial person might retire. We - sat down on the floor by a marble basin into which both hot and cold water - poured. After a little time spent in contemplating the humidity of the - world, and reflecting on the equality of all men before the law without - clothes, an attendant approached, and began to deluge us with buckets of - hot water, dashing them over us with a jocular enjoyment and as much - indifference to our personality as if we had been statues. I should like - to know how life looks to a man who passes his days in this dimly - illumined chamber of steam, and is permitted to treat his fellow-men with - every mark of disrespect. When we were sufficiently drenched, the agile - Arab who had selected me as his mine of backsheesh, knelt down and began - to scrub me with hair mittens, with a great show of energy, uttering - jocose exclamations in his own language, and practising the half-dozen - English words he had mastered, one of them being “dam,” which he addressed - to me both affirmatively and interrogatively, as if under the impression - that it conveyed the same meaning as <i>tyeb</i> in his vocabulary. I - suppose he had often heard wicked Englishmen, who were under his hands, - use it, and he took it for an expression of profound satisfaction. He - continued this operation for some time, putting me in a sitting position, - turning me over, telling me to “sleep” when he desired me to lie down, - encouraging me by various barbarous cries, and slapping his hand from time - to time to make up by noise for his economical expenditure of muscular - force. - </p> - <p> - After my hilarious bather had finished this process, he lathered me - thoroughly, drenched me from head to heels in suds, and then let me put - the crowning touch to my happiness by entering one of the little rooms, - and sliding into a tank of water hot enough to take the skin off. It is - easy enough to make all this process read like a martyrdom, but it is, on - the contrary, so delightful that you do not wonder that the ancients spent - so much time in the bath, and that next to the amphitheatre the emperors - and tyrants lavished most money upon these establishments, of which the - people were so extravagantly fond. - </p> - <p> - Fresh towels were wound round us, turbans were put on our heads, and we - were led back to the room first entered, where we were re-enveloped in - cloths and towels, and left to recline upon the cushioned divans; pipes - and coffee were brought, and we enjoyed a delicious sense of repose and - bodily lightness, looking dimly at the grave figures about us, and - recognizing in them not men but dreamy images of a physical paradise. No - rude voices or sharp movements broke the repose of the chamber. It was as - in a dream that I watched a handsome boy, who, with a long pole, was - handling the washed towels, and admired the unerring skill that tossed the - strips of cloth high in the air and caused them to catch and hang squarely - upon the cords stretched across the recesses. The mind was equal to the - observation, but not to the comprehension, of this feat. When we were - sufficiently cooled, we were assisted to dress, the various articles of - Frank apparel affording great amusement to the Orientals. The charge for - the whole entertainment was two francs each, probably about four times - what a native would have paid. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XIV.—OTHER SIGHTS IN DAMASCUS. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">D</span>AY after day we - continued, like the mourners, to go about the streets, in the tangle of - the bazaars, under the dark roofs, endeavoring to see Damascus. When we - emerged from the city gate, the view was not much less limited. I made the - circuit of the wall on the north, in lanes, by running streams, canals, - enclosed gardens, seeing everywhere hundreds of patient, summer-loving men - and women squatting on the brink of every rivulet, by every damp spot, in - idle and perfect repose. - </p> - <p> - We stumbled about also on the south side of the town, and saw the reputed - place of St. Paul's escape, which has been lately changed. It is a ruined - Saracenic tower in the wall, under which is Bab Kisan, a gate that has - been walled up for seven hundred years. The window does not any more exist - from which the apostle was let down in a basket, but it used to be pointed - out with confidence, and I am told that the basket is still shown, but we - did not see it. There are still some houses on this south wall, and a few - of them have projecting windows from which a person might easily be - lowered. It was in such a house that the harlot of Jericho lived, who - contrived the escape of the spies of Joshua. And we see how thick and - substantial the town walls of that city must have been to support human - habitations. But they were blown down. - </p> - <p> - Turning southward into the country, we came to the tomb of the porter who - assisted Paul's escape, and who now sleeps here under the weight of the - sobriquet of St. George. A little farther out on the same road is located - the spot of Said's conversion. - </p> - <p> - Near it is the English cemetery, a small high-walled enclosure, containing - a domed building surmounted by a cross; and in this historical spot, whose - mutations of race, religion, and government would forbid the most - superficial to construct for it any cast-iron scheme of growth or decay, - amid these almost melancholy patches of vegetation which still hover in - the Oriental imagination as the gardens of all delights, sleeps - undisturbed by ambition or by criticism, having at last, let us hope, - solved the theory of “averages,” the brilliant Henry T. Buckle. - </p> - <p> - Not far off is the Christian cemetery. “Who is buried here?” I asked our - thick-witted guide. - </p> - <p> - “O, anybody,” he replied, cheerfully, “Greeks, French, Italians, anybody - you like”; as if I could please myself by interring here any one I chose. - </p> - <p> - Among the graves was a group of women, hair dishevelled and garments - loosened in the <i>abandon</i> of mourning, seated about a rough coffin - open its entire length. In it lay the body of a young man who had been - drowned, and recovered from the water after three days. The women lifted - up his dead hands, let them drop heavily, and then wailed and howled, - throwing themselves into attitudes of the most passionate grief. It was a - piteous sight, there under the open sky, in the presence of an - unsympathizing crowd of spectators. - </p> - <p> - Returning, we went round by the large Moslem cemetery, situated at the - southwest corner of the city. It is, like all Moslem burying-grounds, a - melancholy spectacle,—a mass of small whitewashed mounds of mud or - brick, with an inscribed headstone,—but here rest some of the most - famous men and women of Moslem history. Here is the grave of Ibn' Asâker, - the historian of Damascus; here rests the fierce Moawyeh, the founder of - the dynasty of the Omeiyades; and here are buried three of the wives of - Mohammed, and Fatimeh, his granddaughter, the child of Ali, whose place of - sepulture no man knows. Upon nearly every tomb is a hollow for water, and - in it is a sprig of myrtle, which is renewed every Friday by the women who - come here to mourn and to gossip. - </p> - <p> - Much of the traveller's time, and perhaps the most enjoyable part of it, - in Damascus, is spent in the bazaars, cheapening scarfs and rugs and the - various silken products of Syrian and Persian looms, picking over dishes - of antique coins, taking impressions of intaglios, hunting for curious - amulets, and searching for the quaintest and most brilliant Saracenic - tiles. The quest of the antique is always exciting, and the inexperienced - is ever hopeful that he will find a gem of value in a heap of rubbish; - this hope never abandons the most <i>blase</i> tourist, though in time he - comes to understand that the sharp-nosed Jew, or the oily Armenian, or the - respectable Turk, who spreads his delusive wares before him, knows quite - as well as the Seeker the value of any bit of antiquity, not only in - Damascus, but in Constantinople, Paris, and London, and is an adept in all - the counterfeits and impositions of the Orient. - </p> - <p> - The bazaars of the antique, of old armor, ancient brasses, and of - curiosities generally, and even of the silver and gold smiths, are - disappointing after Cairo; they are generally full of rubbish from which - the choice things seem to have been culled; indeed, the rage for - antiquities is now so great that sharp buyers from Europe range all the - Orient and leave little for the innocent and hopeful tourist, who is - aghast at the prices demanded, and usually finds himself a victim of his - own cleverness when he pays for any article only a fourth of the price at - first asked. - </p> - <p> - The silk bazaars of Damascus still preserve, however, a sort of - pre-eminence of opportunity, although they are largely supplied by the - fabrics manufactured at Beyrout and in other Syrian towns. Certainly no - place is more tempting than one of the silk khans,—gloomy old - courts, in the galleries of which you find little apartments stuffed full - of the seductions of Eastern looms. For myself, I confess to the - fascination of those stuffs of brilliant dyes, shot with threads of gold - and of silver. I know a tall, oily-tongued Armenian, who has a little - chamber full of shelves, from which he takes down one rich scarf after - another, unfolds it, shakes out its shining hues, and throws it on the - heap, until the room is littered with gorgeous stuffs. He himself is clad - in silk attire, he is tall, suave, insinuating, grave, and overwhelmingly - condescending. I can see him now, when I question the value put upon a - certain article which I hold in my hand and no doubt betray my admiration - of in my eyes,—I can see him now throw back his head, half close his - Eastern eyes, and exclaim, as if he had hot pudding in his mouth, “Thot is - ther larster price.” - </p> - <p> - I can see Abd-el-Atti now, when we had made up a package of scarfs, and - offered a certain sum for the lot, which the sleek and polite trader - refused, with his eternal, “Thot is ther larster price,” sling the - articles about the room, and depart in rage. And I can see the Armenian - bow us into the corridor with the same sweet courtesy, knowing very well - that the trade is only just begun; that it is, in fact, under good - headway; that the Arab will return, that he will yield a little from the - “larster price,” and that we shall go away loaded with his wares, leaving - him ruined by the transaction, but proud to be our friend. - </p> - <p> - Our experience in purchasing old Saracenic and Persian tiles is perhaps - worth relating as an illustration of the character of the traders of - Damascus. Tiles were plenty enough, for several ancient houses had - recently been torn down, and the dealers continually acquire them from - ruined mosques or those that are undergoing repairs. The dragoman found - several lots in private houses, and made a bargain for a certain number at - two francs and a half each; and when the bargain was made, I spent half a - day in selecting the specimens we desired. - </p> - <p> - The next morning, before breakfast, we went to make sure that the lots we - had bought would be at once packed and shipped. But a change had taken - place in twelve hours. There was an Englishman in town who was also buying - tiles; this produced a fever in the market; an impression went abroad that - there was a fortune to be made in tiles, and we found that our bargain was - entirely ignored. The owners supposed that the tiles we had selected must - have some special value; and they demanded for the thirty-eight which we - had chosen—agreeing to pay for them two francs and a half apiece—thirty - pounds. In the house where we had laid aside seventy-three others at the - same price, not a tile was to be discovered; the old woman who showed us - the vacant chamber said she knew not what had become of them, but she - believed they had been sold to an Englishman. - </p> - <p> - We returned to the house first mentioned, resolved to devote the day if - necessary to the extraction of the desired tiles from the grip of their - owners. The contest began about eight o'clock in the morning; it was not - finished till three in the afternoon, and it was maintained on our side - with some disadvantage, the only nutriment that sustained us being a cup - of tea which we drank very early in the morning. The scene of the bargain - was the paved court of the house, in which there was a fountain and a - lemon-tree, and some rose-trees trained on espaliers along the walls. The - tempting enamelled tiles were piled up at one side of the court and spread - out in rows in the <i>lewân</i>,—the open recess where guests are - usually received. The owners were two Greeks, brothers-in-law, polite, - cunning, sharp, the one inflexible, the other yielding,—a - combination against which it is almost impossible to trade with safety, - for the yielding one constantly allures you into the grip of the - inflexible. The women of the establishment, comely Greeks, clattered about - the court on their high wooden pattens for a time, and at length settled - down, in an adjoining apartment, to their regular work of embroidering - silken purses and tobacco-pouches, taking time, however, for an occasional - cigarette or a pull at a narghileh, and, in a constant chatter, keeping a - lively eye upon the trade going on in the court. The handsome children - added not a little to the liveliness of the scene, and their pranks served - to soften the asperities of the encounter; although I could not discover, - after repeated experiments, that any affection lavished upon the children - lowered the price of the tiles. The Greek does not let sentiment interfere - with business, and he is much more difficult to deal with than an Arab, - who occasionally has impulses. - </p> - <p> - Each tile was the subject of a separate bargain and conflict. The dicker - went on in Arabic, Greek, broken English, and dislocated French, and was - participated in not only by the parties most concerned, but by the young - Greek guide and by the donkey-boys. Abd-el-Atti exhibited all the - qualities of his generalship. He was humorous, engaging, astonished, - indignant, serious, playful, threatening, indifferent. Beaten on one - grouping of specimens, he made instantly a new combination; more than once - the transaction was abruptly broken off in mutual rage, obstinacy, and - recriminations; and it was set going again by a timely jocularity or a - seeming concession. I can see now the soft Greek take up a tile which had - painted on it some quaint figure or some lovely flower, dip it in the - fountain to bring out its brilliant color, and then put it in the sun for - our admiration; and I can see the dragoman shake his head in slow - depreciation, and push it one side, when that tile was the one we had - resolved to possess of all others, and was the undeclared centre of - contest in all the combinations for an hour thereafter. - </p> - <p> - When the day was two thirds spent we had purchased one hundred tiles, - jealously watched the packing of each one, and seen the boxes nailed and - corded. We could not have been more exhausted if we had undergone an - examination for a doctorate of law in a German university. Two boxes, - weighing two hundred pounds each, were hoisted upon the backs of mules and - sent to the French company's station; there does not appear to be a dray - or a burden-cart in Damascus; all freight is carried upon the back of a - mule or a horse, even long logs and whole trunks of trees. - </p> - <p> - When this transaction was finished, our Greek guide, who had heard me ask - the master of the house for brass trays, told me that a fellow whom I had - noticed hanging about there all the morning had some trays to show me; in - fact, he had at his house “seventeen trays.” I thought this a rich find, - for the beautiful antique brasses of Persia are becoming rare even in - Damascus; and, tired as we were, we rode across the city for a mile to a - secluded private house, and were shown into an upper chamber. What was our - surprise to find spread out there the same “seventy-three” tiles that we - had purchased the day before, and which had been whisked away from us. By - “seventeen tray,” the guide meant “seventy-three.” We told the honest - owner that he was too late; we had already tiles enough to cover his tomb. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XV.—SOME PRIVATE HOUSES. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE private houses - of Damascus are a theme of wonder and admiration throughout the Orient. In - a land in which a moist spot is called a garden, and a canal bordered by - willows a Paradise, the fancy constructs a palace of the utmost splendor - and luxury out of materials which in a less glowing country would scarcely - satisfy moderate notions of comfort or of ostentation. - </p> - <p> - But the East is a region of contrasts as well as of luxury, and it is - difficult to say how much of their reputation the celebrated mansions of - Damascus owe to the wretchedness of the ordinary dwellings, and also to - the raggedness of their surroundings. We spent a day in visiting several - of the richest dwellings, and steeping ourselves in the dazzling luxury - they offer. - </p> - <p> - The exterior of a private house gives no idea of its interior. Sometimes - its plain mud-wall has a solid handsome street-door, and if it is very - old, perhaps a rich Saracenic portal; but usually you slip from the - gutter, lined with mud-walls, called a street, into an alley, crooked, - probably dirty, pass through a stable-yard and enter a small court, which - may be cheered by a tree and a basin of water. Thence you wind through a - narrow passage into a large court, a parallelogram of tesselated marble, - having a fountain in the centre and about it orange and lemon trees, and - roses and vines. The house, two stories high, is built about this court, - upon which all the rooms open without communicating with each other. - Perhaps the building is of marble, and carved, or it may be highly - ornamented with stucco, and painted in gay colors. If the establishment - belongs to a Moslem, it will have beyond this court a second, larger and - finer, with more fountains, trees, and flowers, and a house more highly - decorated. This is the harem, and the way to it is a crooked alley, so - that by no chance can the slaves or visitors of the master get a glimpse - into the apartments of the women. The first house we visited was of this - kind; all the portion the gentlemen of the party were admitted into was in - a state of shabby decay; its court in disrepair, its rooms void of - comfort,—a condition of things to which we had become well - accustomed in everything Moslem. But the ladies found the court of the - harem beautiful, and its apartments old and very rich in wood-carving and - in arabesques, something like the best old Saracenic houses in Cairo. - </p> - <p> - The houses of the rich Jews which we saw are built like those of the - Moslems, about a paved court with a fountain, but totally different in - architecture and decoration. - </p> - <p> - In speaking of a fountain, in or about Damascus, I always mean a basin - into which water is discharged from a spout. If there are any jets or - upspringing fountains, I was not so fortunate as to see them. - </p> - <p> - In passing through the streets of the Jews' quarter we encountered at - every step beautiful children, not always clean Sunday-school children, - but ravishingly lovely, the handsomest, as to exquisite complexions, grace - of features, and beauty of eyes, that I have ever seen. And looking out - from the open windows of the balconies which hang over the street were - lovely Jewish women, the mothers of the beautiful children, and the - maidens to whom the humble Christian is grateful that they tire themselves - and look out of windows now as they did in the days of the prophets. - </p> - <p> - At the first Jewish house we entered, we were received by the entire - family, old and young, newly married, betrothed, cousins, uncles, and - maiden aunts. They were evidently expecting company about these days, and - not at all averse to exhibiting their gorgeous house and their rich - apparel. Three dumpy, middle-aged women, who would pass for ugly anywhere, - welcomed us at first in the raised recess, or <i>lewân</i>, at one end of - the court; we were seated upon the divans, while the women squatted upon - cushions. Then the rest of the family began to appear. There were the - handsome owner of the house, his younger brother just married, and the - wife of the latter, a tall and pretty woman of the strictly wax-doll order - of beauty, with large, swimming eyes. She wore a short-waisted gown of - blue silk, and diamonds, and, strange to say, a dark wig; it is the - fashion at marriage to shave the head and put on a wig, a most - disenchanting performance for a bride. The numerous children, very pretty - and sweet-mannered, came forward and kissed our hands. The little girls - were attired in white short-waisted dresses, and all, except the very - smallest, wore diamonds. One was a bride of twelve years, whose marriage - was to be concluded the next year. She wore an orange-wreath, her high - corsage of white silk sparkled with diamonds, and she was sweet and - engaging in manner, and spoke French prettily. - </p> - <p> - The girls evidently had on the family diamonds, and I could imagine that - the bazaar of Moses in the city had been stripped to make a holiday for - his daughters. Surely, we never saw such a display out of the Sultan's - treasure-chamber. The head-dress of one of the cousins of the family, who - was recently married, was a pretty hat, the coronal front of which was a - mass of diamonds. We saw this same style of dress in other houses - afterwards, and were permitted to admire other young women who were - literally plastered with these precious stones, in wreaths on the head, in - brooches and necklaces,—masses of dazzling diamonds, which after a - time came to have no more value in our eyes than glass, so common and - cheap did they seem. If a wicked person could persuade one of these - dazzling creatures to elope with him, he would be in possession of - treasure enough to found a college for the conversion of the Jews. I could - not but be struck with the resemblance of one of the plump, - glowing-cheeked young girls, who was set before us for worship, clad in - white silk and inestimable jewels, to the images of the Madonna, decked - with equal affection and lavish wealth, which one sees in the Italian - churches. - </p> - <p> - All the women and children of the family walked about upon wooden pattens, - ingeniously inlaid with ivory or pearl, the two supports of which raise - them about three inches from the ground. - </p> - <p> - They are confined to the foot by a strap across the ball, but being - otherwise loose, they clatter at every step; of course, graceful walking - on these little stilts is impossible, and the women go about like hens - whose toes have been frozen off. When they step up into the lewân, they - leave their pattens on the marble floor, and sit in their stocking-feet. - Our conversation with this hospitable collection of relations consisted - chiefly in inquiries about their connection with each other, and an effort - on their part to understand our relationship, and to know why we had not - brought our entire families. They were also extremely curious to know - about our houses in America, chiefly, it would seem, to enforce the - contrast between our plainness and their luxury. When we had been served - with coffee and cigarettes, they all rose and showed us about the - apartments. - </p> - <p> - The first one, the <i>salon</i>, will give an idea of the others. It was a - lofty, but not large room, with a highly painted ceiling, and consisted of - two parts; the first, level with the court and paved with marble, had a - marble basin in the centre supported on carved lions; the other two thirds - of the apartment was raised about a foot, carpeted, and furnished with - chairs of wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, stiffly set against the - walls. The chairs were not comfortable to sit in, and they were the sole - furniture. The wainscoting was of marble, in screen-work, and most - elaborately carved. High up, near the ceiling, were windows, double - windows in fact, with a space between like a gallery, so that the lacelike - screen-work was exhibited to the utmost advantage. There was much gilding - and color on the marble, and the whole was costly and gaudy. The - sleeping-rooms, in the second story, were also handsome in this style, but - they were literally all windows, on all sides; the space between the - windows was never more than three or four inches. They are admirable for - light and air, but to enter them is almost like stepping out of doors. - They are all <i>en suite</i>, so that it would seem that the family must - retire simultaneously, exchanging the comparative privacy of the isolated - rooms below for the community of these glass apartments. - </p> - <p> - The <i>salons</i> that we saw in other houses were of the same general - style of the first; some had marble niches in the walls, the arch of which - was supported by slender marble columns, and these recesses, as well as - the walls, were decorated with painting, usually landscapes and cities. - The painting gives you a perfectly accurate idea of the condition of art - in the Orient; it was not only pre-Raphaelite, it was pre-Adamite, worse - than Byzantine, and not so good as Chinese. Money had been freely lavished - in these dwellings, and whatever the Eastern chisel or brush could do to - enrich and ornament them had been done. I was much pleased by the picture - of a city,—it may have been Damascus—freely done upon the - wall. The artist had dotted the plaster with such houses as children are - accustomed to make on a slate, arranging some of them in rows, and - inserting here and there a minaret and a dome. There was not the slightest - attempt at shading or perspective. Yet the owners contemplated the result - with visible satisfaction, and took a simple and undisguised pleasure in - our admiration of the work of art. - </p> - <p> - “Alas,” I said to the delighted Jew connoisseur who had paid for this - picture, “we have nothing like that in our houses in America, not even in - the Capitol at Washington!” - </p> - <p> - “But your country is new,” he replied with amiable consideration; “you - will have of it one day.” - </p> - <p> - In none of these veneered and stuccoed palaces did we find any comfort; - everywhere a profuse expenditure of money in Italian marble, in carving, - in gilding, and glaring color, but no taste, except in some of the - wood-work, cut in Arabesque, and inlaid—a reminiscence of the almost - extinct Saracenic grace and invention. And the construction of all the - buildings and the ornamentation were shabby and cheap in appearance, in - spite of the rich materials; the marbles in the pavement or the walls were - badly joined and raggedly cemented, and by the side of the most costly - work was sure to be something mean and frail. - </p> - <p> - We supposed at first that we ought to feel a little delicacy about - intruding our bare-faced curiosity into private houses,—perhaps an - unpardonable feeling in a traveller who has been long enough in the Orient - to lose the bloom of Occidental modesty. But we need not have feared. Our - hosts were only too glad that we should see their state and luxury. There - was something almost comical in these Jewish women arraying themselves in - their finest gowns, and loading themselves with diamonds, so early in the - day (for they were ready to receive us at ten o'clock), and in their naïve - enjoyment of our admiration. Surely we ought not to have thought that - comical which was so kindly intended. I could not but wonder, however, - what resource for the rest of the day could remain to a woman who had - begun it by dressing in all her ornaments, by crowning herself with - coronets and sprays of diamonds, by hanging her neck and arms with - glittering gems, as if she had been a statue set up for idolatry. After - this supreme effort of the sex, the remainder of the day must be - intolerably flat. For I think one of the pleasures of life must be the - gradual transformation, the blooming from the chrysalis of elegant morning - <i>déshabille</i> into the perfect flower of the evening toilet. - </p> - <p> - These princesses of Turkish diamonds all wore dresses with the classic - short waist, which is the most womanly and becoming, and perhaps their - apparel imparted a graciousness to their manner. We were everywhere - cordially received, and usually offered coffee, or sherbet and - confections. - </p> - <p> - H. H. the Emir Abd-el-Kader lives in a house suitable to a wealthy Moslem - who has a harem. The old chieftain had expressed his willingness to - receive us, and N. Meshaka, the American consular agent, sent his <i>kawass</i> - to accompany us to his residence at the appointed hour. The old gentleman - met us at the door of his reception-room, which is at one end of the - fountained court. He wore the plain Arab costume, with a white turban. I - had heard so much of the striking, venerable, and even magnificent - appearance of this formidable desert hero, that I experienced a little - disappointment in the reality, and learned anew that the hero should be - seen in action, or through the lenses of imaginative description which can - clothe the body with all the attributes of the soul. The demigods so - seldom come up to their reputation! Abd-el-Kader may have appeared a - gigantic man when on horseback in the smoke and whirl of an Algerine - combat; but he is a man of medium size and scarcely medium height; his - head, if not large, is finely shaped and intellectual, and his face is - open and pleasing. He wore a beard, trimmed, which I suspect ought to be - white, but which was black, and I fear dyed. You would judge him to be, at - least, seventy-five, and his age begins to show by a little pallor, by a - visible want of bodily force, and by a lack of lustre in those once fiery - and untamable eyes. - </p> - <p> - His manner was very gracious, and had a simple dignity, nor did our - interview mainly consist in the usual strained compliments of such - occasions. In reply to a question, he said that he had lived over twenty - years in Damascus, but it was evident that his long exile had not dulled - his interest in the progress of the world, and that he watched with - intense feeling all movements of peoples in the direction of freedom. - There is no such teacher of democracy as misfortune, but I fancy that - Abd-el-Kader sincerely desires for others the liberty he covets for - himself. He certainly has the courage of his opinions; while he is a very - strict Moslem, he is neither bigoted nor intolerant, as he showed by his - conduct during the massacre of the Christians here, in 1860. His face - lighted up with pleasure when I told him that Americans remembered with - much gratitude his interference in behalf of the Christians at that time. - </p> - <p> - The talk drifting to the state of France and Italy, he expressed his full - sympathy with the liberal movement of the Italian government, but as to - France he had no hope of a republic at present, he did not think the - people capable of it. - </p> - <p> - “But America,” he said with sudden enthusiasm, “that is the country, in - all the world that is the <i>only</i> country, that is the land of real - freedom. I hope,” he added, “that you will have no more trouble among - yourselves.” - </p> - <p> - We asked him what he thought of the probability of another outburst of the - Druses, which was getting to be so loudly whispered. Nobody, he said, - could tell what the Druses were thinking or doing; he had no doubt that in - the former rising and massacre they were abetted by the Turkish - government. This led him to speak of the condition of Syria; the people - were fearfully ground down, and oppressed with taxation and exactions of - all sorts; in comparison he did not think Egypt was any better off, but - much the same. - </p> - <p> - In all our conversation we were greatly impressed by the calm and - comprehensive views of the old hero, his philosophical temper, and his - serenity; although it was easy to see that he chafed under the banishment - which kept so eager a soul from participation in the great movements which - he weighed so well and so longed to aid. When refreshments had been - served, we took our leave; but the emir insisted upon accompanying us - through the court and the dirty alleys, even to the public street where - our donkeys awaited us, and bade us farewell with a profusion of Oriental - salutations. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XVI.—SOME SPECIMEN TRAVELLERS. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>T is to be - regretted that some one has not the leisure and the genius for it would - require both—to study and to sketch the more peculiar of the - travellers who journey during a season in the Orient, to photograph <i>their</i> - impressions, and to unravel the motives that have set them wandering. - There was at our hotel a countryman whose observations on the East pleased - me mightily. I inferred, correctly, from his slow and deliberate manner of - speech, that he was from the great West. A gentleman spare in figure and - sallow in complexion, you might have mistaken him for a “member” from - Tennessee or Illinois. What you specially admired in him was his entire - sincerity, and his imperviousness to all the glamour, historical or - romantic, which interested parties, like poets and historians, have sought - to throw over the Orient. A heap of refuse in the street or an improvident - dependant on Allah, in rags, was just as offensive to him in Damascus as - it would be in Big Lickopolis. He carried his scales with him; he put into - one balance his county-seat and into the other the entire Eastern - civilization, and the Orient kicked the beam,—and it was with a - mighty, though secret joy that you saw it. - </p> - <p> - It was not indeed for his own pleasure that he had left the familiar - cronies of his own town and come into foreign and uncomfortable parts; you - could see that he would much prefer to be again among the “directors” and - “stockholders” and operators, exchanging the dry chips of gossip about - stocks and rates; but, being a man of “means,” he had yielded to the - imperious pressure of our modern society which, insists on travel, and to - the natural desire of his family to see the world. Europe had not pleased - him, although it was interesting for an old country, and there were a few - places, the Grand Hotel in Paris for instance, where one feels a little at - home. Buildings, cathedrals? Yes, some of them were very fine, but there - was nothing in Europe to equal or approach the Capitol in Washington. And - galleries; my wife likes them, and my daughter,—I suppose I have - walked through miles and miles of them. It may have been in the nature of - a confidential confession, that he was dragged into the East, though he - made no concealment of his repugnance to being here. But when he had - crossed the Mediterranean, Europe had attractions for him which he had - never imagined while he was in it. If he had been left to himself he would - have fled back from Cairo as if it were infested with plague; he had gone - no farther up the Nile; that miserable hole, Cairo, was sufficient for - him. - </p> - <p> - “They talk,” he was saying, speaking with that deliberate pause and - emphasis upon every word which characterizes the conversation of his - section of the country,—“they talk about the climate of Egypt; it is - all a humbug. Cairo is the most disagreeable city in the world, no sun, - nothing but dust and wind. I give you my word that we had only one - pleasant day in a week; cold,—you can't get warm in the hotel; the - only decent day we had in Egypt was at Suez. Fruit? What do you get? Some - pretend to like those dry dates. The oranges are so sour you can't eat - them, except the Jaffa, which are all peel. Yes, the pyramids are big - piles of stone, but when you come to architecture, what is there in Cairo - to compare to the Tuileries? The mosque of Mohammed Ali <i>is</i> a fine - building; it suits me better than the mosque at Jerusalem. But what a city - to live in!” - </p> - <p> - The farther our friend journeyed in the Orient, the deeper became his - disgust. It was extreme in Jerusalem; but it had a pathetic tone of - resignation in Damascus; hope was dead within him. The day after we had - visited the private houses, some one asked him at table if he was not - pleased with Damascus. - </p> - <p> - “Damascus!” he repeated, “Damascus is the most God-forsaken place I have - ever been in. There is nothing to <i>eat</i>, and nothing to <i>see</i>. I - had heard about the bazaars of Damascus; my daughter must see the bazaars - of Damascus. There is nothing in them; I have been from one end of them to - the other,—it is a mess of rubbish. I suppose you were hauled - through what they call the private houses? There is a good deal of marble - and a good deal of show, but there is n't a house in Damascus that a - respectable American would <i>live</i> in; there is n't one he could be - comfortable in. The old mosque is an interesting place: I like the mosque, - and I have been there a couple of times, and should n't mind going again; - but I've had enough of Damascus, I don't intend to go out doors again - until my family are ready to leave.” - </p> - <p> - All these intense dislikes of the Western observer were warmly combated by - the ladies present, who found Damascus almost a paradise, and were glowing - with enthusiasm over every place and incident of their journey. Having - delivered his opinion, our friend let the conversation run on without - interference, as it ranged all over Palestine. He sat in silence, as if he - were patiently enduring anew the martyrdom of his pleasure-trip, until at - length, obeying a seeming necessity of relieving his feelings, he leaned - forward and addressed the lady next but one to him, measuring every word - with judicial slowness,— - </p> - <p> - “Madame—I—hate—the—<i>name</i>—of Palestine—and - Judæa—and—the Jordan—and—Damascus—and—Jeru-sa<i>lem</i>.” - </p> - <p> - It is always refreshing in travel to meet a candid man who is not hindered - by any weight of historic consciousness from expressing his opinions; and - without exactly knowing why I felt under great obligations to this - gentleman,—for gentleman he certainly was, even to an old-fashioned - courtesy that shamed the best breeding of the Arabs. And after this - wholesale sweep of the Oriental board, I experienced a new pleasure in - going about and picking up the fragments of romance and sentiment that one - might still admire. - </p> - <p> - There was another pilgrim at Damascus to whom Palestine was larger than - all the world besides, and who magnified its relation to the rest of the - earth as much as our more widely travelled friend belittled it. In a waste - but damp spot outside the Bab-el-Hadid an incongruous Cook's Party had - pitched its tents,—a camp which swarmed during the day with - itinerant merchants and beggars, and at night was the favorite resort of - the most dissolute dogs of Damascus. In knowing this party one had an - opportunity to observe the various motives that bring people to the Holy - Land; there were a divinity student, a college professor, a well-known - publisher, some indomitable English ladies, some London cockneys, and a - group of young men who made a lark of the pilgrimage, and saw no more - significance in the tour than in a jaunt to the Derby or a sail to - Margate. I was told that the guide-book most read and disputed over by - this party was the graphic itinerary of Mark Twain. The pilgrim to whom I - refer, however, scarcely needed any guide in the Holy Land. He was, by his - own representation, an illiterate shoemaker from the South of England; of - schooling he had never enjoyed a day, nor of education, except such as - sprung from his “conversion,” which happened in his twentieth year. At - that age he joined the “Primitive Methodists,” and became, without - abandoning his bench, an occasional exhorter and field-preacher; his - study, to which he gave every moment not demanded by his trade, was the - Bible. To exhorting he added the labor on Sunday of teaching, and for - nearly forty years, without interruption, he had taken charge of a - Sunday-school class. He was very poor, and the incessant labor of six days - in the week hardly sufficed to the support of himself and his wife, and - the family that began to fill his humble lodging. Nevertheless, at the - very time of his conversion he was seized with an intense longing to make - a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This desire strengthened the more he read - the Bible and became interested in the scenes of its prophecies and - miracles. He resolved to go; yet to undertake so expensive a journey at - the time was impossible, nor could his family spare his daily labor. But, - early in his married life, he came to a notable resolution, and that was - to lay by something every year, no matter how insignificant the sum, as a - fund for his pilgrimage. And he trusted if his life were spared long - enough he should be able to see with his own eyes the Promised Land; if - that might be granted him, his object in life would be attained, and he - should be willing to depart in peace. - </p> - <p> - Filled with this sole idea he labored at his trade without relaxation, and - gave his Sundays and evenings to a most diligent study of the Bible; and - at length extended his reading to other books, commentaries and travels, - which bore upon his favorite object. Years passed by; his Palestine fund - accumulated more slowly than his information about that land, but he was - never discouraged; he lost at one time a considerable sum by misplaced - confidence in a comrade, but, nothing disheartened, he set to work to - hammer out what would replace it. Of course such industry and singleness - of purpose were not without result; his business prospered and his fund - increased; but with his success new duties opened; his children must be - educated, for he was determined that they should have a better chance in - England than their father had been given. The expenses of their education - and his contributions to the maintenance of the worship of his society - interfered sadly with his pilgrimage, and more than thirty years passed - before he saw himself in possession of the sum that he could spare for the - purchase of a Cook's ticket to the Holy Land. It was with pardonable pride - that he told this story of his life, and added that his business of - shoemaking was now prosperous, that he had now a shop of his own and men - working under him, and that one of his sons, who would have as good an - education as any nobleman in the kingdom, was a student at the college in - London. - </p> - <p> - Of all the party with whom he travelled no one knew the Bible, so well as - this shoemaker; he did not need to read it as they explored the historical - places, he quoted chapter after chapter of it, without hesitation or - consciousness of any great achievement, and he knew almost as well the - books of travel that relate to the country. Familiarity with the English - of the Bible had not, however, caused him to abandon his primitive speech, - and he did not show his respect for the sacred book by adopting its - grammatical forms. Such phrases as, “It does I good to see he eat,” in - respect to a convalescent comrade, exhibited this peculiarity. Indeed, he - preserved his independence, and vindicated the reputation of his craft the - world over for a certain obstinacy of opinion, if not philosophic habit of - mind, which pounding upon leather seems to promote. He surprised his - comrades by a liberality of view and an absence of narrowness which were - scarcely to be expected in a man of one idea. I was pained to think that - the reality of the Holy Land might a little impair the celestial vision he - had cherished of it for forty years; but perhaps it will be only a - temporary obscuration; for the imagination is stronger than the memory, as - we see so often illustrated in the writings of Oriental travellers; and I - have no doubt that now he is again seated on his bench, the kingdoms he - beholds are those of Israel and Judah, and not those that Mr. Cook showed - him for an hundred pounds. - </p> - <p> - We should, perhaps, add, that our shoemaker cared for no part of the - Orient except Palestine, and for no history except that in the Bible. He - told me that he was forwarded from London to Rome, on his way to join - Cook's Pilgrims at Cairo, in the company of a party of Select Baptists (so - they were styled in the prospectus of their journey), and that, - unexpectedly to himself (for he was a man who could surmount prejudices), - he found them very good fellows; but that he was obliged to spend a whole - day in Rome greatly against his will; it was an old and dilapidated city, - and he did n't see why so much fuss was made over it. Egypt did not more - appeal to his fancy; I think he rather loathed it, both its past and its - present, as the seat of a vain heathenism. For ruins or antiquities not - mentioned in the Bible he cared nothing, for profane architecture still - less; Palestine was his goal, and I doubt if since the first crusade any - pilgrim has trod the streets of Jerusalem with such fervor of enthusiasm - as this illiterate, Bible-grounded, and spiritual-minded shoemaker. - </p> - <p> - We rode one afternoon up through the suburb of Salahiyeh to the sheykh's - tomb on the naked hill north of the city, and down along the scarred side - of it into the Abana gorge. This much-vaunted ride is most of the way - between mud-walls so high that you have a sight of nothing but the sky and - the tops of trees, and an occasional peep, through chinks in a rickety - gate, into a damp and neglected garden, or a ragged field of grain under - trees. But the view from the heights over the vast plain of Damascus, with - the city embowered in its green, is superb, both for extent and color, and - quite excuses the enthusiasm expended on this perennial city of waters. We - had occasional glimpses of the Abana after it leaves the city, and we - could trace afar off the course of the Pharpar by its winding ribbon of - green. The view was best long before we reached the summit, at the - cemetery and the ruined mosque, when the minarets showed against the green - beyond. A city needs to be seen from some distance, and from not too high - an elevation; looking directly down upon it is always uninteresting. - </p> - <p> - Somewhere in the side of the mountain, to the right of our course, one of - the Moslem legends has located the cave of the Seven Sleepers. Knowing - that the cave is really at Ephesus, we did not care to anticipate it. - </p> - <p> - The skeykh's tomb is simply a stucco dome on the ridge, and exposed to the - draft of air from a valley behind it. The wind blew with such violence - that we could scarcely stand there, and we made all our observations with - great discomfort. What we saw was the city of Damascus, shaped like an - oval dish with a long handle; the handle is the suburb on the street - running from the Gate of God that sees the annual procession of pilgrims - depart for Mecca. Many brown villages dot the emerald,—there are - said to be forty in the whole plain. Towards the east we saw the desert - and the gray sand fading into the gray sky of the horizon. That way lies - Palmyra; by that route goes the dromedary post to Bagdad. I should like to - send a letter by it. - </p> - <p> - The view of the Abana gorge from the height before we descended was - unique. The narrow pass is filled with trees; but through them we could - see the white French road, and the Abana divided into five streams, - carried at different levels along the sides, in order to convey water - widely over the plain. Along the meadow road, as we trotted towards the - city, as, indeed, everywhere about the city at this season, we found the - ground marshy and vivacious with frogs. - </p> - <p> - The street called Straight runs the length of the city from east to west, - and is straight in its general intention, although it appears to have been - laid out by a donkey, whose attention was constantly diverted to one side - or the other. It is a totally uninteresting lane. There is no reason, - however, to suppose that St. Paul intended to be facetious when he spoke - of it. In his day it was a magnificent straight avenue, one hundred feet - wide; and two rows of Corinthian colonnades extending a mile from gate to - gate divided it lengthwise. This was an architectural fashion of that - time; the colonnade at Palmyra, which is seen stalking in a purposeless - manner across the desert, was doubtless the ornament of such a street. - </p> - <p> - The street life of Damascus is that panorama of the mean and the - picturesque, the sordid and the rich, of silk and rags, of many costumes - and all colors, which so astonishes the Oriental traveller at first, but - to which he speedily becomes so accustomed that it passes almost - unnoticed. The majority of the women are veiled, but not so scrupulously - as those of Cairo. Yet the more we see of the women of the East the more - convinced we are that they are exceedingly good-hearted; it is out of - consideration for the feelings of the persons they meet in the street that - they go veiled. This theory is supported by the fact that the daughters of - Bethlehem, who are all comely and many of them handsome, never wear veils. - </p> - <p> - In lounging through the streets the whole life and traffic of the town is - exposed to you: donkeys loaded with panniers of oranges, or with sickly - watermelon cut up, stop the way (all the melons of the East that I have - tasted are flavorless); men bearing trays of sliced boiled beets cry aloud - their deliciousness as if they were some fruit of paradise; boys and women - seated on the ground, having spread before them on a paper some sort of - uninviting candy; anybody planted by the roadside; dogs by the dozen - snoozing in all the paths,—the dogs that wake at night and make Rome - howl; the various tradesmen hammering in their open shops; the - silk-weavers plying the shuttle; the makers of “sweets” stirring the - sticky compounds in their shining copper pots and pans; and what never - ceases to excite your admiration is the good-nature of the surging crowd, - the indifference to being jostled and run over by horses, donkeys, and - camels. - </p> - <p> - Damascus may be—we have abundant testimony that it is—a good - city, if, as I said, one could see it. Arriving, you dive into a hole, and - scarcely see daylight again; you never can look many yards before you; you - move in a sort of twilight, which is deepened under the heavy timber roofs - of the bazaars; winding through endless mazes of lanes with no view except - of a slender strip of sky, you occasionally may step through an opening in - the wall into a court with a square of sunshine, a tank of water, and a - tree or two. The city can be seen only from the hill or from a minaret, - and then you look only upon roofs. After a few days the cooping up in this - gorgeous Oriental paradise became oppressive. - </p> - <p> - We drove out of the city very early one morning. I was obliged to the - muezzin of the nearest minaret for awakening me at four o'clock. From our - window we can see his aerial balcony,—it almost overhangs us; and - day and night at his appointed hours we see the turbaned muezzin circling - his high pinnacle, and hear him projecting his long call to prayer over - the city roofs. When we came out at the west gate, the sun was high enough - to color Hermon and the minarets of the west side of the city, and to - gleam on the Abana. As we passed the diligence station, a tall Nubian, an - employee of the company, stood there in the attitude of seneschal of the - city; ugliness had marked him for her own, giving him a large, damaged - expanse of face, from which exuded, however, an inexpungible good-nature; - he sent us a cheerful <i>salam aloykem</i>,—“the peace of God be - with you”; we crossed the shaky bridge, and got away up the swift stream - at the rate of ten miles an hour. - </p> - <p> - Our last view, with the level sun coming over the roofs and spires, and - the foreground of rapid water and verdure, gave us Damascus in its - loveliest aspect. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XVII.—INTO DAYLIGHT AGAIN.—AN EPISODE OF TURKISH JUSTICE. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>T was an immense - relief to emerge from Damascus into Bey-rout,—into a city open, - cheerful; it was to re-enter the world. How brightly it lies upon its - sunny promontory, climbing up the slopes and crowning every eminence with - tree-embowered villas! What a varied prospect it commands of sparkling sea - and curving shore; of country broken into the most pleasing diversity of - hill and vale, woodlands and pastures; of precipices that are draped in - foliage; of glens that retain their primitive wildness, strips of dark - pine forest, groups of cypresses and of palms, spreading mulberry - orchards, and terraces draped by vines; of villages dotting the landscape; - of convents clinging to the heights, and the snowy peaks of Lebanon! - Bounteous land of silk and wine! - </p> - <p> - Beyrout is the brightest spot in Syria or Palestine, the only pleasant - city that we saw, and the centre of a moral and intellectual impulse the - importance of which we cannot overestimate. The mart of the great silk - industry of the region, and the seaport of Damascus and of all Upper - Syria, the fitful and unintelligent Turkish rule even cannot stifle its - exuberant prosperity; but above all the advantages which nature has given - it, I should attribute its brightest prospects to the influence of the - American Mission, and to the establishment of Beyrout College. For almost - thirty years that Mission has sustained here a band of erudite scholars, - whose investigations have made the world more familiar with the physical - character of Palestine than the people of Connecticut are with the - resources of their own State, and of wise managers whose prudence and - foresight have laid deep and broad the foundations of a Syrian - civilization. - </p> - <p> - I do not know how many converts have been made in thirty years,—the - East has had ample illustration, from the Abyssinians to the Colchians, of - “conversion” without knowledge or civilization,—nor do I believe - that any “reports” of the workmen themselves to the “Board” can put in - visible array adequately the results of the American Mission in Syria. But - the transient visitor can see something of them, in the dawning of a - better social life, in the beginning of an improvement in the condition of - women, in an unmistakable spirit of inquiry, and a recognizable taste for - intellectual pursuits. It is not too much to say that the birth of a - desire for instruction, for the enjoyment of literature, and, to a certain - extent, of science, is due to their schools; and that their admirably - conducted press, which has sent out not only translations of the - Scriptures, but periodicals of secular literature and information, and - elementary geographies, histories, and scientific treatises, has satisfied - the want which the schools created. And this new leaven is not confined to - a sect, nor limited to a race; it is working, slowly it is true, in the - whole of Syrian society. - </p> - <p> - The press establishment is near the pretty and substantial church of the - Mission; it is a busy and well-ordered printing and publishing house; - sending out, besides its religious works and school-books, a monthly and a - weekly publication and a child's paper, which has a large and paying - circulation, a great number of its subscribers being Moslems. These - regenerating agencies—the schools and the press—are happily - supplemented by the college, which offers to the young men of the Orient - the chance of a high education, and attracts students even from the banks - of the Nile. We were accompanied to the college by Dr. Jessup and Dr. - Post, and spent an interesting morning in inspecting the buildings and in - the enjoyment of the lovely prospect they command. As it is not my desire - to enter into details regarding the Mission or the college any further - than is necessary to emphasize the supreme importance of this enterprise - to the civilization of the Orient, I will only add that the college has - already some interesting collections in natural history, a particularly - valuable herbarium, and that the medical department is not second in - promise to the literary. - </p> - <p> - It is sometimes observed that a city is like a man, in that it will - preserve through all mutations and disasters certain fundamental traits; - the character that it obtains at first is never wholly lost, but reappears - again and again, asserting its individuality after, it may be, centuries - of obscurity. Beyrout was early a seat of learning and a centre of - literary influence for nearly three hundred years before its desolation by - an earthquake in the middle of the sixth century, and its subsequent - devastation by the followers of the Arabian prophet, it was thronged with - students from all the East, and its schools of philosophy and law enjoyed - the highest renown. We believe that it is gradually resuming its ancient - <i>prestige</i>. - </p> - <p> - While we were waiting day after day the arrival of the Austrian steamboat - for Constantinople, we were drawn into a little drama which afforded us - alternate vexation and amusement; an outline of it may not be out of place - here as an illustration of the vicissitudes of travel in the East, or for - other reasons which may appear. I should premise that the American consul - who resided here with his family was not in good repute with many of the - foreign residents; that he was charged with making personal contributions - to himself the condition of the continuance in office of his subagents in - Syria; that the character of his dragomans, or at least one of them named - Ouardy, was exceedingly bad, and brought the consular office and the - American name into contempt; and that these charges had been investigated - by an agent sent from the ministerial bureau in Constantinople. The - dragomans of the consulate, who act as interpreters, and are executors of - the consul's authority, have no pay, but their position gives them a - consideration in the community, and a protection which they turn to - pecuniary account. It should be added that the salary of the consul at - Beyrout is two thousand dollars,—a sum, in this expensive city, - which is insufficient to support a consul, who has a family, in the style - of a respectable citizen, and is wholly inadequate to the maintenance of - any equality with the representatives of other nations; the government - allows no outfit, nor does it provide for the return of its consul; the - cost of transporting himself and family home would consume almost half a - year's salary, and the tenure of the office is uncertain. To accept any of - several of our Oriental consulships, a man must either have a private - fortune or an unscrupulous knack of living by his wits. The English name - is almost universally respected in the East, so far as my limited - experience goes, in the character of its consuls; the same cannot be said - of the American. - </p> - <p> - The morning after our arrival, descending the steps of the hotel, I found - our dragoman in a violent altercation with another dragoman, a Jew, and a - resident of Beyrout. There is always a latent enmity between the Egyptian - and the Syrian dragomans, a national hostility, as old perhaps as the - Shepherds' invasion, which it needs only an occasion to blow into a flame. - The disputants were surrounded by a motley crowd, nearly all of them the - adherents of the Syrian. I had seen Antoine Ouardy at Luxor, when he was - the dragoman of an English traveller. He was now in Frank dress, wearing a - shining hat, an enormous cluster shirt-pin, and a big seal ring; and with - his aggressive nose and brazen face he had the appearance of a leading - mock-auctioneer in the Bowery. On the Nile, where Abd-el-Atti enjoys the - distinction of Sultan among his class, the fellow was his humble servant; - but he had now caught the Egyptian away from home, and was disposed to - make the most of his advantage. Chancing to meet Ouardy this morning, - Abd-el-Atti had asked for the payment of two pounds lent at Luxor; the - debt was promptly denied, and when his own due-bill for the money was - produced, he declared that he had received the money from Abd-el-Atti in - payment for some cigars which he had long ago purchased for him in - Alexandria. Of course if this had been true, he would not have given a - note for the money; and it happened that I had been present when the sum - was borrowed. - </p> - <p> - The brazen denial exasperated our dragoman, and when I arrived the quarrel - had come nearly to blows, all the injurious Arabic epithets having been - exhausted. The lie direct had been given back and forth, but the crowning - insult was added, in English, when Abd-el-Atti cried,— - </p> - <p> - “You 're a humbug!” - </p> - <p> - This was more than Ouardy could stand. Bursting with rage, he shook his - fist in the Egyptian's face:— - </p> - <p> - “You call <i>me</i> humbug; you hum<i>bug</i>, yourself. You pay for this, - I shall have satisfaction by the law.” - </p> - <p> - We succeeded in separating and, I hoped, in reducing them to reason, but - Antoine went off muttering vengeance, and Abd-el-Atti was determined to - bring suit for his money. I represented the hopelessness of a suit in a - Turkish court, the delay and the cost of lawyers, and the certainty that - Ouardy would produce witnesses to anything he desired to prove. - </p> - <p> - “What I care for two pound!” exclaimed the heated dragoman. “I go to spend - a hundred pound, but I have justice.” Shortly after, as Abd-el-Atti was - walking through the bazaars, with one of the ladies of our party, he was - set upon by a gang of Ouardy's friends and knocked down; the old man - recovered himself and gave battle like a valiant friend of the Prophet; - Ouardy's brother sallied out from his shop to take a hand in the - scrimmage, and happened to get a rough handling from Abd-el-Atti, who was - entirely ignorant of his relationship to Antoine. The whole party were - then carried off to the seraglio, where Abd-el-Atti, as the party - attacked, was presumed to be in the wrong, and was put into custody. In - the inscrutable administration of Turkish justice, the man who is knocked - down in a quarrel is always arrested. When news was brought to us at the - hotel of this mishap, I sent for the American consul, as our dragoman was - in the service of an American citizen. The consul sent his son and his - dragoman. And the dragoman sent to assist an American, embarrassed by the - loss of his servant in a strange city, turned out to be the brother of - Antoine Ouardy, and the very fellow that Abd-el-Atti had just beaten. Here - was a complication. Dragoman Ouardy showed his wounds, and wanted - compensation for his injuries. At the very moment we needed the protection - of the American government, its representative appeared as our chief - prosecutor. - </p> - <p> - However, we sent for Abd-el-Atti, and procured his release from the - seraglio; and after an hour of conference, in which we had the assistance - of some of the most respectable foreign residents of the city, we - flattered ourselves that a compromise was made. The injured Ouardy, who - was a crafty rogue, was persuaded not to insist upon a suit for damages, - which would greatly incommode an American citizen, and Abd-el-Atti seemed - willing to drop his suit for the two pounds. Antoine, however, was still - menacing. - </p> - <p> - “You heard him,” he appealed to me, “you heard him call me humbug.” - </p> - <p> - The injurious nature of this mysterious epithet could not be erased from - his mind. It was in vain that I told him it had been freely applied to a - well-known American, until it had become a badge of distinction. But at - length a truce was patched up; and, confident that there would be no more - trouble, I went into the country for a long walk over the charming hills. - </p> - <p> - When I returned at six o'clock, the camp was in commotion. Abd-el-Atti was - in jail! There was a suit against him for 20,000 francs for horrible and - unprovoked injuries to the dragoman of the American consul! The consul, - upon written application for assistance, made by the ladies at the hotel, - had curtly declined to give any aid, and espoused the quarrel of his - dragoman. It appeared that Abd-el-Atti, attempting again to accompany a - lady in a shopping expedition through the bazaars, had been sent for by a - messenger from the seraglio. As he could not leave the lady in the street, - he carelessly answered that he would come by and by. A few minutes after - he was arrested by a squad of soldiers, and taken before the military - governor. Abd-el-Atti respectfully made his excuse that he could not leave - the lady alone in the street, but the pasha said that he would teach him - not to insult his authority. Both the Ouardy brothers were beside the - pasha, whispering in his ear, and as the result of their deliberations - Abd-el-Atti was put in prison. It was Saturday afternoon, and the - conspirators expected to humiliate the old man by keeping him locked up - till Monday. This was the state of the game when I came to dinner; the - faithful Abdallah, who had reluctantly withdrawn from watching the outside - of the seraglio where his master was confined, was divided in mind between - grief and alarm on the one side and his duty of habitual cheerfulness to - us on the other, and consequently announced, “Abd-el-Atti, seraglio,” as a - piece of good news; the affair had got wind among the <i>cafés</i>, where - there was a buzz of triumph over the Egyptians; and at the hotel everybody - was drawn into the excitement, discussing the assault and the arrest of - the assaulted party, the American consul and the character of his - dragoman, and the general inability of American consuls to help their - countrymen in time of need. - </p> - <p> - The principal champion of Abd-el-Atti was Mohammed Achmed, the dragoman of - two American ladies who had been travelling in Egypt and Palestine. Achmed - was a character. He had the pure Arab physiognomy, the vivacity of an - Italian, the restlessness of an American, the courtesy of the most - polished Oriental, and a unique use of the English tongue. Copious in - speech, at times flighty in manner, gravely humorous, and more - sharp-witted than the “cutest” Yankee, he was an exceedingly experienced - and skilful dragoman, and perfectly honest to his employers. Achmed was - clad in baggy trousers, a silk scarf about his waist, short open jacket, - and wore his tarboosh on the back of his sloping head. He had a habit of - throwing back his head and half closing his wandering, restless black eyes - in speaking, and his gestures and attitudes might have been called - theatrical but for a certain simple sincerity; yet any extravagance of - speech or action was always saved from an appearance of absurdity by a - humorous twinkle in his eyes. Alexandria was his home, while Abd-el-Atti - lived in Cairo; the natural rivalry between the dragomans of the two - cities had been imbittered by some personal disagreement, and they were - only on terms of the most distant civility. But Abd-el-Atti's misfortune - not only roused his national pride, but touched his quick generosity, and - he surprised his employers by the enthusiasm with which he espoused the - cause and defended the character of the man he had so lately regarded as - anything but a friend. He went to work with unselfish zeal to procure his - release; he would think of nothing else, talk of nothing else. - </p> - <p> - “How is it, Achmed,” they said, “that you and Abd-el-Atti have suddenly - become such good friends?” - </p> - <p> - “Ah, my lady,” answers Achmed, taking an attitude, “you know not - Abd-el-Atti, one of the first-class men in all Egypt. Not a common - dragoman like these in Beyrout, my lady; you shall ask in Cairo what a man - of esteem. To tell it in Cairo that he is in jail! Abd-el-Atti is my - friend. What has been sometime, that is nothing. It must not be that he is - in jail. And he come out in half an hour, if your consul say so.” - </p> - <p> - “That is not so certain; but what can we do?” - </p> - <p> - “Write to the consul American that he shall let Abd-el-Atti go. You, my - lady,” said Achmed, throwing himself on his knees before the person he was - addressing, “make a letter, and say I want my dragoman immediate. If he - will not, I go to the English consul, I know he will do it. Excuse me, but - will you make the letter? When it was the English consul, he does - something; when it was the American, I pick your pargin, my lady, he is - not so much esteem here.” - </p> - <p> - In compliance with Achmed's entreaty a note was written to the consul, but - it produced no effect, except an uncivil reply that it was after office - hours. - </p> - <p> - When I returned, Achmed was in a high fever of excitement. He believed - that Abd-el-Atti would be released if I would go personally to the consul - and insist upon it. - </p> - <p> - “The consul, I do not know what kind of man this is for consul; does he - know what man is Abd-el-Atti? Take my advice,” continued Achmed, half - closing his eyes, throwing back his head and moving it alertly on the axis - of his neck, and making at the same time a deprecatory gesture with the - back of his hands turned out,—“take my advice, Mesr. Vahl, - Abd-el-Atti is a man of respect; he is a man very rich, God forgive me! - Firste-class man. There is no better family in Egypt than Abd-el-Atti - Effendi. You have seen, he is the friend of governors and pashas. There is - no man of more respect. In Cairo, to put Abd-el-Atti in jail, they would - not believe it! When he is at home, no one could do it. The Khedive - himself,” he continued, warming with his theme, “would not touch - Abd-el-Atti. He has houses in the city and farms and plantations in the - country, a man very well known. Who in Cairo is to put him in jail? [This, - with a smile of derision.] I think he take out and put in prison almost - anybody else he like, Mohammed Effendi Abd-el-Atti. See, when this Ouardy - comes in Egypt!” - </p> - <p> - We hastened to the consul's. I told the consul that I was deprived of the - service of my dragoman, that he was unjustly imprisoned, simply for - defending himself when he was assailed by a lot of rowdies, and that as - the complaint against him was supposed to issue from the consulate, I - doubted not that the consul's influence could release him. The consul - replied, with suavity, that he had nothing to do with the quarrel of his - dragoman, and was not very well informed about it, only he knew that - Ouardy had been outrageously assaulted and beaten by Abd-el-Atti; that he - could do nothing at any rate with the pasha, even if that functionary had - not gone to his harem outside the city, where nobody would disturb him. I - ventured to say that both the Ouardys had a very bad reputation in the - city,—it was, in fact, infamous,—and that the consulate was - brought into contempt by them. The consul replied that the reputation of - Antoine might be bad, but that his dragoman was a respectable merchant; - and then he complained of the missionaries, who had persecuted him ever - since he had been in Beyrout. I said that I knew nothing of his - grievances; that my information about his dragoman came from general - report, and from some of the bankers and most respectable citizens, and - that I knew that in this case my dragoman had been set upon in the first - instance, and that it was believed that the Ouardys were now attempting to - extort money from him, knowing him to be rich, and having got him in, - their clutches away from his friends. The consul still said that he could - do nothing that night; he was very sorry, very sorry for my embarrassment, - and he would send for Ouardy and advise him to relinquish his prosecution - on my account. “Very well,” I said, rising to go, “if you cannot help me I - must go elsewhere. Will you give me a note of introduction to the pasha?” - He would do that with pleasure, although he was certain that nothing would - come of it. - </p> - <p> - Achmed, who had been impatiently waiting on the high piazza (it is a - charming situation overlooking the Mediterranean), saw that I had not - succeeded, and was for going at once to the English consul; for all - dragomans have entire confidence that English consuls are all-powerful. - </p> - <p> - “No,” I said, “we will try the pasha, to whom I have a letter, though the - consul says the pasha is a friend of Ouardy.” - </p> - <p> - “I believe you. Ouardy has women in his house; the pasha goes often there; - so I hear. But we will go. I will speak to the pasha also, and tell him - what for a man is Abd-el-Atti. A very pleasant man, the pasha, and speak - all languages, very well English.” - </p> - <p> - It was encouraging to know this, and I began to feel that I could make - some impression on him. We took a carriage and drove into the suburbs, to - the house of the pasha. His Excellency was in his harem, and dining, at - that hour. I was shown by a barefooted servant into a barren parlor - furnished in the European style, and informed that the pasha would see me - presently. After a while cigarettes and coffee—a poor substitute for - dinner for a person who had had none—were brought in; but no pasha. - </p> - <p> - I waited there, I suppose, nearly an hour for the governor to finish his - dinner; and meantime composed a complimentary oration to deliver upon his - arrival. When his Excellency at last appeared, I beheld a large, sleek - Turk, whose face showed good-nature and self-indulgence. I had hopes of - him, and, advancing to salute him, began an apology for disturbing his - repose at this unseasonable hour, but his Excellency looked perfectly - blank. He did not understand a word of English. I gave him the letter of - the consul, and mentioned the name “American Consul.” The pasha took the - letter and opened it; but as he was diligently examining it upside down, I - saw that he did not read English. I must introduce myself. - </p> - <p> - Opening the door, I called Achmed. In coming into the presence of this - high rank, all his buoyancy and bravado vanished; he obsequiously waited. - I told him to say to his Excellency how extremely sorry I was to disturb - his repose at such an unseasonable hour, but that my dragoman, whose - services I needed, had been unfortunately locked up; that I was an - American citizen, as he would perceive by the letter from the consul, and - that I would detain him only a moment with my business. Achmed put this - into choice Arabic. His Excellency looked more blank than before. He did - not understand a word of Arabic. The interview was getting to be - interesting. - </p> - <p> - The pasha then stepped to the door and called in his dragoman, a - barefooted fellow in a tattered gown. The two interpreters stood in line - before us, and the pasha nodded to me to begin. I opened, perhaps, a - little too elaborately; Achmed put my remarks into Arabic, and the second - dragoman translated that again into Turkish. What the speech became by the - time it reached the ear of the pasha I could not tell, but his face - darkened at once, and he peremptorily shook his head. The word came back - to me that the pasha would n't let him out; Abd-el-Atti must stay in jail - till his trial. I then began to argue the matter,—to say that there - was no criminal suit against him, only an action for damages, and that I - would be responsible for his appearance when required. The translations - were made; but I saw that I was every moment losing ground; no one could - tell what my solicitations became after being strained through Arabic and - Turkish. My case was lost, because it could not be heard. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly it occurred to me that the pasha might know some European - language. I turned to him, and asked him if he spoke German. O, yes! The - prospect brightened, and if I also had spoken that language, we should - have had no further trouble. However, desperation beat up my misty - recollection, and I gave the pasha a torrent of broken German that - evidently astonished him. At any rate, he became gracious as soon as he - understood me. He said that Abd-el-Atti was not confined on account of the - suit,—he knew nothing and cared nothing for his difficulty with - Ouardy,—but for his contempt of the police and soldiers. I explained - that, and added that Abd-el-Atti was an old man, that I had been doctoring - him for a fever ever since we were in Damascus, that I feared to have him - stay in that damp jail over Sunday, and that I would be responsible for - his appearance. - </p> - <p> - “Do you mean to say,” he asked, “that you will be personally responsible - that he appears at the seraglio Monday morning?” - </p> - <p> - “Certainly,” I said, “for his appearance at any time and place your - Excellency may name.” - </p> - <p> - “Then he may go.” He gave the order to his dragoman to accompany us and - procure his release, and we retired, with mutual protestations of the - highest consideration. Achmed was nearly beside himself with joy. The - horses seemed to him to crawl; he could n't wait the moment to announce to - Abd-el-Atti his deliverance. “Ah, they thought to keep Abd-el-Atti in jail - all night, and sent word to Cairo, 'Abd-el-Atti is in jail.' Abd-el-Atti - Effendi! Take my advice, a man of respect.” - </p> - <p> - The cobble-paved court of the old seraglio prison, to which the guards - admitted us without question, was only dimly lighted by an oil-lamp or - two, and we could distinguish a few figures flitting about, who looked - like malefactors, but were probably keepers. We were shown into a side - room, where sat upon the ground an official, perhaps a judge, and two - assistants. Abd-el-Atti was sent for. The old man was brought in, swinging - his string of beads in his hand, looking somewhat crest-fallen, but - preserving a portentous gravity. I arose and shook hands with him, and - told him we had come to take him out. When we were seated, a discussion of - the case sprung up, the official talked, his two assistants talked, and - Abd-el-Atti and Achmed talked, and there was evidently a disposition to go - over the affair from the beginning. It was a pity to cut short so much - eloquence, but I asked the pasha's dragoman to deliver his message, and - told Achmed that we would postpone the discussion till Monday, and depart - at once. The prisoner was released, and, declining coffee, we shook hands - and got away with all haste. As we drove to the hotel, Abd-el-Atti was - somewhat pensive, but declared that he would rather give a hundred pounds - than not be let out that night; and when we reached home, Achmed, whose - spirits were exuberant, insisted on dragging him to the <i>café</i> - opposite, to exhibit him in triumph. - </p> - <p> - When I came down in the morning, Achmed was in the hall. - </p> - <p> - “Well, Achmed, how are you?” - </p> - <p> - “Firste-class,” closing his eyes with a humorous twinkle. “I'm in it now.” - </p> - <p> - “In what?” - </p> - <p> - “In the case with Mohammed Abd-el-Atti. That Ouardy says I pay him damage - twenty thousand francs. Twenty thousand francs, I wish he may get it! How - much, I s'pose, for the consul? Take my advice, the consul want money.” - </p> - <p> - “Then the suit will keep you here with Abd-el-Atti?” - </p> - <p> - “Keep, I don't know. I not pay him twenty thousand francs, not one - thousand, not one franc. What my ladies do? Who go to Constantinople with - my ladies? To-morrow morning come the steamer. To leave the old man alone - with these thiefs, what would anybody say of Mohammed Achmed for that? - What for consul is this? I want to go to Constantinople with my ladies, - and then to see my family in Alexandria. For one day in five months have I - see my wife and shild. O yes, I have very nice wife. Yes, one wife quite - plenty for me. And I have a fine house, cost me twenty thousand dollars; I - am not rich, but I have plenty, God forgive me. My shop is in the silk - bazaar. I am merchant. My father-in-law say what for I go dragoman? I like - to see nice peoples and go in the world. When I am dragoman, I am servant. - When I am merchant, O, I am very well in Alexandria. I think I not go any - more. Ah, here is Abd-el-Atti. Take my advice, he not need to be dragoman; - he is pooty off. Good morning, my friend. Have they told you I am to be - put in jail also?” - </p> - <p> - “So I hear; Ouardy sue you and Abdallah so you cannot be witness.” - </p> - <p> - “O, they think they get money from us. Mebbe the pasha and the consul. I - think so.” - </p> - <p> - “So am I,” responded Abd-el-Atti in his most serious manner. The “Eastern - question,” with these experienced dragomans, instantly resolves itself - into a question of money, whoever is concerned and whatever is the - tribunal. I said that I would see the consul in the morning, and that I - hoped to have all proceedings stopped, so that we could get off in the - steamer. Abd-el-Atti shook his head. - </p> - <p> - “The consul not to do anything. Ouardy have lent him money; so I - hunderstood.” - </p> - <p> - Beyrout had a Sunday appearance. The shops were nearly all closed, and the - churches, especially the Catholic, were crowded. It might have been a - peaceful day but for our imbroglio, which began to be serious; we could - not afford the time to wait two weeks for the next Cyprus steamer, we did - not like to abandon our dragomans, and we needed their services. The - ladies who depended upon Achmed were in a quandary. Notes went to the - consul, but produced no effect. The bankers were called into the council, - and one of them undertook to get Achmed free. Travellers, citizens, and - all began to get interested or entangled in the case. There was among - respectable people but one opinion about the consul's dragoman. At night - it was whispered about that the American consul had already been removed - and that his successor was on his way to Beyrout. Achmed came to us in the - highest spirits with the news. - </p> - <p> - All day Monday we expected the steamer. The day was frittered away in - interviews with the consul and the pasha, and in endeavoring to learn - something of the two cases, the suit for damages and for the debt, - supposed to be going on somewhere in the seraglio. After my interview with - the consul, who expressed considerable ignorance of the case and the - strongest desire to stop it, I was surprised to find at the seraglio all - the papers in the consul's name, and all the documents written on consular - paper; so that when I appeared as an American citizen, to endeavor to get - my dragoman released, it appeared to the Turkish officials that they would - please the American government by detaining and punishing him. - </p> - <p> - The court-room was a little upper chamber, with no furniture except a long - table and chairs; three Moslem judges sat at one end of the table, - apparently waiting to see what would turn up. The scene was not unlike - that in an office of a justice of the peace in America. The parties to the - case, witnesses, attendants, spectators, came and went as it pleased them, - talked or whispered to the judges or to each other. There seemed to be no - rule for the reception or rejection of evidence. The judges smoked and - gathered the facts as they drifted in, and would by and by make up their - minds. It is truth to say, however, that they seemed to be endeavoring to - get at the facts, and that they appeared to be above prejudice or - interest. A new complication developed itself, however; Antoine Ouardy - claimed to be a French citizen, and the French consul was drawn into the - fray. This was a new device to delay proceedings. - </p> - <p> - When I had given my evidence to the judges, which I was required to put in - writing, I went with Abd-el-Atti to the room of the pasha. This official - was gracious enough, but gave us no hopes of release. He took me one side - and advised me, as a traveller, to look out for another dragoman; there - was no prospect that Abd-el-Atti could get away to accompany me on this - steamer,—in fact, the process in court might detain him six months. - However, the best thing to do would be to go to the American consul with - Ouardy and settle it. He thought Ouardy would settle it for a reasonable - amount. It was none of his business, but that was his advice. We were - obliged to his Excellency for this glimpse behind the scenes of a Turkish - court, and thanked him for his advice; but we did not follow it. - Abd-el-Atti thought that if he abandoned the attempt to collect a debt in - a Turkish city, he ought not, besides, to pay for the privilege of doing - so. - </p> - <p> - Tuesday morning the steamer came into the harbor. Although we had - registered our names at the office of the company for passage, nothing was - reserved for us. Detained at the seraglio and the consul's, we could not - go off to secure places, and the consequence was that we were subject to - the black-mail of the steward when we did go. By noon there were signs of - the failure of the prosecution; and we sent off our luggage. In an hour or - two Abd-el-Atti appeared with a troop of friends, triumphant. Somewhere, I - do not know how, he and Achmed had raked up fourteen witnesses in his - favor; the judges would n't believe Ouardy nor any one he produced, and - his case had utterly broken down. This mountain of a case, which had - annoyed us so many days and absorbed our time, suddenly collapsed. We were - not sorry to leave even beautiful Beyrout, and would have liked to see the - last of Turkish rule as well. At sunset, on the steamer <i>Achille</i>, - swarming above and below with pilgrims from Jerusalem and Mecca, we sailed - for Cyprus. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XVIII.—CYPRUS. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>N the early - morning we were off Cyprus, in the open harbor of Larnaka,—a row of - white houses on the low shore. The town is not peculiar and not specially - attractive, but the <i>Marina</i> lies prettily on the blue sea, and the - palms, the cypresses, the minarets and church-towers, form an agreeable - picture behind it, backed by the lovely outline of mountains, conspicuous - among them Santa Croce. The highest, Olympus, cannot be seen from this - point. - </p> - <p> - A night had sufficed to transport us into another world, a world in which - all outlines are softened and colored, a world in which history appears - like romance. We might have imagined that we had sailed into some tropical - harbor, except that the island before us was bare of foliage; there was - the calm of perfect repose in the sky, on the sea, and the land; Cyprus - made no harsh contrast with the azure water in which it seemed to be - anchored for the morning, as our ship was. You could believe that the calm - of summer and of early morning always rested on the island, and that it - slept exhausted in the memory of its glorious past. - </p> - <p> - Taking a cup of coffee, we rowed ashore. It was the festival of St. - George, and the flags of various nations were hung out along the <i>riva</i>, - or displayed from the staffs of the consular residences. It is one of the - chief <i>fête</i> days of the year, and the foreign representatives, who - have not too much excitement, celebrated it by formal visits to the Greek - consul. Larnaka does not keep a hotel, and we wandered about for some time - before we could discover its sole <i>locanda</i>, where we purposed to - breakfast. This establishment would please an artist, but it had few - attractions for a person wishing to break his fast, and our unusual demand - threw it into confusion. The <i>locanda</i> was nothing but a kitchen in a - tumble-down building, smoke-dried, with an earth floor and a rickety table - or two. After long delay, the cheerful Greek proprietor and his lively - wife—whose good-humored willingness both to furnish us next to - nothing, but the best they had, from their scanty larder, and to cipher up - a long reckoning for the same, excited our interest—produced some - fried veal, sour bread, harsh wine, and tart oranges; and we breakfasted - more sumptuously, I have no doubt, than any natives of the island that - morning. The scant and hard fare of nearly all the common people in the - East would be unendurable to any American; but I think that the hardy - peasantry of the Levant would speedily fall into dyspeptic degeneracy upon - the introduction of American rural cooking. - </p> - <p> - After we had killed our appetites at the <i>locanda</i>, we presented our - letters to the American consul, General di Cesnola, in whose spacious - residence we experienced a delightful mingling of Oriental and Western - hospitality. The kawâss of the General was sent to show us the town. This - kawâss was a gorgeous official, a kind of glorified being, in silk and - gold-lace, who marched before us, huge in bulk, waving his truncheon of - office, and gave us the appearance, in spite of our humility, of a - triumphal procession. Larnaka has not many sights, although it was the - residence of the Lusignan dynasty,—Richard Cour de Lion having, - toward the close of the twelfth century, made a gift of the island to Guy - de Lusignan. It has, however, some mosques and Greek churches. The church - of St. Lazarus, which contains the now vacant tomb of the Lazarus who was - raised from the dead at Bethany and afterwards became bishop of Citium, is - an interesting old Byzantine edifice, and has attached to it an English - burial-ground, with tombs of the seventeenth century. The Greek priest who - showed us the church does not lose sight of the gain of godliness in this - life while pursuing in this remote station his heavenly journey. He sold - my friend some exquisite old crucifixes, carved in wood, mounted in - antique silver, which he took from the altar, and he let the church part - with some of its quaint old pictures, commemorating the impossible - exploits of St. Demetrius and St. George. But he was very careful that - none of the Greeks who were lounging about the church should be witnesses - of the transfer. He said that these ignorant people had a prejudice about - these sacred objects, and might make trouble. - </p> - <p> - The excavations made at Larnaka have demonstrated that this was the site - of ancient Citium, the birthplace of Zeno, the Stoic, and the Chittim so - often alluded to by the Hebrew prophets; it was a Phoenician colony, and - when Ezekiel foretold the unrecoverable fall of Tyre, among the luxuries - of wealth he enumerated were the “benches of ivory brought out of the - isles of Chittim.” Paul does not mention it, but he must have passed - through it when he made his journey over the island from Salamis to - Paphos, where he had his famous encounter with the sorcerer Bar-jesus. A - few miles out of town on the road to Citti is a Turkish mosque, which - shares the high veneration of Moslems with those of Mecca and Jerusalem. - In it is interred the wet-nurse of Mohammed. - </p> - <p> - We walked on out of the town to the most considerable church in the place, - newly built by the Roman Catholics. There is attached to it a Franciscan - convent, a neat establishment with a garden; and the hospitable monks, - when they knew we were Americans, insisted upon entertaining us; the - contributions for their church had largely come from America, they said, - and they seemed to regard us as among the number of their benefactors. - This Christian charity expressed itself also in some bunches of roses, - which the brothers plucked for our ladies. One cannot but suspect and - respect that timid sentiment the monk retains for the sex whose faces he - flies from, which he expresses in the care of flowers; the blushing rose - seems to be the pure and only link between the monk and womankind; he may - cultivate it without sin, and offer it to the chance visitor without - scandal. - </p> - <p> - The day was lovely, but the sun had intense power, and in default of - donkeys we took a private carriage into the country to visit the church of - St. George, at which the <i>fête</i> day of that saint was celebrated by a - fair, and a concourse of peasants. Our carriage was a four-wheeled cart, a - sort of hay-wagon, drawn by two steers, and driven by a Greek boy in an - embroidered jacket. The Franciscans lent us chairs for the cart; the - resplendent kawass marched ahead; Abd-el-Atti hung his legs over the tail - of the cart in an attitude of dejection; and we moved on, but so slowly - that my English friend, Mr. Edward Rae, was able to sketch us, and the - Cyprians could enjoy the spectacle. - </p> - <p> - The country lay bare and blinking under the sun; save here and there a - palm or a bunch of cypresses, this part of the island has not a tree or a - large shrub. The view of the town and the sea with its boats, as we went - inland, was peculiar, not anything real, but a skeleton picture; the sky - and sea were indigo blue. We found a crowd of peasants at the church of - St. George, which has a dirty interior, like all the Greek churches. The - Greeks, as well as the other Orientals, know how to mingle devotion with - the profits of trade, and while there were rows of booths outside, and - traffic went on briskly, the church was thronged with men and women who - bought tapers for offerings, and kissed with fervor the holy relics which - were exposed. The articles for sale at the booths and stands were chiefly - eatables and the coarsest sort of merchandise. The only specialty of - native manufacture was rude but pleasant-sounding little bells, which are - sometimes strung upon the necks of donkeys. But so fond are these simple - people of musical noise, that these bells are attached to the handles of - sickles also. The barley was already dead-ripe in the fields, and many of - the peasants at the fair brought their sickles with them. They were, both - men and women, a good-humored, primitive sort of people, certainly not a - handsome race, but picturesque in appearance; both sexes affect high - colors, and the bright petticoats of the women matched the gay jackets of - their husbands and lovers. - </p> - <p> - We do not know what was the ancient standard of beauty in Cyprus; it may - have been no higher than it is now, and perhaps the swains at this <i>fête</i> - of St. George would turn from any other type of female charms as - uninviting. The Cyprian or Paphian Venus could not have been a beauty - according to our notions. - </p> - <p> - The images of her which General di Cesnola found in her temple all have a - long and sharp nose. These images are Phoenician, and were made six - hundred to a thousand years before the Christian era, at the time that - wonderful people occupied this fertile island. It is an interesting fact, - and an extraordinary instance of the persistence of nature in perpetuating - a type, that all the women of Cyprus to-day—who are, with scarcely - any exception, ugly—have exactly the nose of the ancient Paphian - Venus, that is to say, the nose of the Phoenician women whose husbands and - lovers sailed the Mediterranean as long ago as the siege of Troy. - </p> - <p> - It was off the southern coast of this island, near Paphos, that Venus - Aphrodite, born of the foam, is fabled to have risen from the sea. The - anniversary of her birth is still perpetuated by an annual fête on the - 11th of August,—a rite having its foundation in nature, that has - proved to be stronger than religious instruction or prejudice. Originally, - these fêtes were the scenes of a too literal worship of Venus, and even - now the Cyprian maiden thinks that her chance of matrimony is increased by - her attendance at this annual fair. Upon that day all the young people go - upon the sea in small boats, and, until recently, it used to be the custom - to dip a virgin into the water in remembrance of the mystic birth of - Venus. That ceremony is still partially maintained; instead of sousing the - maiden in the sea, her companions spatter the representative of the - goddess with salt water,—immersion has given way here also to - sprinkling. - </p> - <p> - The lively curiosity of the world has been of late years turned to Cyprus - as the theatre of some of the most important and extensive archaeological - discoveries of this century; discoveries unique, and illustrative of the - manners and religion of a race, once the most civilized in the Levant, of - which only the slightest monuments had hitherto been discovered; - discoveries which supply the lost link between Egyptian and Grecian art. - These splendid results, which by a stroke of good fortune confer some - credit upon the American nation, are wholly due to the scholarship, - patient industry, address, and enthusiasm of one man. To those who are - familiar with the magnificent Cesnola Collection, which is the chief - attraction of the Metropolitan Museum of New York, I need make no apology - for devoting a few paragraphs to the antiquities of Cyprus and their - explorer. - </p> - <p> - Cyprus was the coveted prize of all the conquerors of the Orient in turn. - The fair island, with an area not so large as the State of Connecticut, - owns in its unequal surface the extremes of the temperate climate; snow - lies during the greater part of the year upon its mountains, which attain - an altitude of over seven thousand feet, and the palm spreads its - fan-leaves along the southern coast and in the warm plains; irregular in - shape, it has an extreme length of over one hundred and forty miles, and - an average breadth of about forty miles, and its deeply indented coast - gives an extraordinarily long shore-line and offers the facilities of - harbors for the most active commerce. - </p> - <p> - The maritime Phoenicians early discovered its advantages, and in the - seventeenth century b. c., or a little later, a colony from Sidon settled - at Citium; and in time these Yankees of the Levant occupied all the - southern portion of the island with their busy ports and royal cities. - There is a tradition that Teucer, after the Trojan war, founded the city - of Salamis on the east coast. But however this may be, and whatever may be - the exact date of the advent of the Sidonians upon the island, it is - tolerably certain that they were in possession about the year 1600 b.c., - when the navy of Thotmes III., the greatest conqueror and statesman in the - long line of Pharaohs, visited Cyprus and collected tribute. The Egyptians - were never sailors, and the fleet of Thotmes III. was no doubt composed of - Phoenician ships manned by Phoenician sailors. He was already in - possession of the whole of Syria, the Phoenicians were his tributaries and - allies, their ships alone sailed the Grecian seas and carried the products - of Egypt and of Asia to the Pelasgic populations. The Phoenician - supremacy, established by Sidon in Cyprus, was maintained by Tyre; and it - was not seriously subverted until 708 b. c., when the Assyrian ravager of - Syria, Sargon, sent a fleet and conquered Cyprus. He set up a <i>stele</i> - in Citium, commemorating his exploit, which has been preserved and is now - in the museum at Berlin. Two centuries later the island owned the Persians - as masters, and was comprised in the fifth satrapy of Darius. It became a - part of the empire of the Macedonian Alexander after his conquest of Asia - Minor, and was again an Egyptian province under the Ptolemies, until the - Roman eagles swooped down upon it. Coins are not seldom found that tell - the story of these occupations. Those bearing the head of Ptolemy Physcon, - Euergetes VII., found at Paphos and undoubtedly struck there, witness the - residence on the island of that licentious and literary tyrant, whom a - popular outburst had banished from Alexandria. Another with the head of - Vespasian, and on the obverse an outline of the temple of Venus at Paphos, - attests the Roman hospitality to the gods and religious rites of all their - conquered provinces. - </p> - <p> - Upon the breaking up of the Roman world, Cyprus fell to the Greek Empire, - and for centuries maintained under its ducal governors a sort of - independent life, enjoying as much prosperity as was possible under the - almost uniform imbecility and corruption of the Byzantine rule. We have - already spoken of its transfer to the Lusignans by Richard Cour de Lion; - and again a romantic chapter was added to its history by the reign of - Queen Catharine Cornaro, who gave her kingdom to the Venetian republic. - Since its final conquest by the Turks in 1571, Cyprus has interested the - world only by its sufferings; for Turkish history here, as elsewhere, is - little but a record of exactions, rapine, and massacre. - </p> - <p> - From time to time during the present century efforts have been made by - individuals and by learned societies to explore the antiquities of Cyprus; - but although many interesting discoveries were made, yet the field was - comparatively virgin when General di Cesnola was appointed American consul - in 1866. Here and there a <i>stele</i>, or some fragments of pottery, or - the remains of a temple, had been unearthed by chance or by superficial - search, but the few objects discovered served only to pique curiosity. For - one reason or another, the efforts made to establish the site of ancient - cities had been abandoned, the expeditions sent out by France had been - comparatively barren of results, and it seemed as if the traces of the - occupation of the Phoenicians, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Persians, - and the Romans were irrecoverably concealed. - </p> - <p> - General L. P. di Cesnola, the explorer of Cyprus, is of a noble - Piedmontese family; he received a military and classical education at - Turin; identified with the party of Italian unity, his sympathies were - naturally excited by the contest in America; he offered his sword to our - government, and served with distinction in the war for the Union. At its - close he was appointed consul at Cyprus, a position of no pecuniary - attraction, but I presume that the new consul had in view the explorations - which have given his name such honorable celebrity in both hemispheres. - </p> - <p> - The difficulties of his undertaking were many. He had to encounter at - every step the jealousy of the Turkish government, and the fanaticism and - superstition of the occupants of the soil. Archaeological researches are - not easy in the East under the most favorable circumstances, and in places - where the traces of ancient habitations are visible above ground, and - ancient sites are known; but in Cyprus no ruins exist in sight to aid the - explorer, and, with the exception of one or two localities, no names of - ancient places are known to the present generation. But the consul was - convinced that the great powers which had from age to age held Cyprus must - have left some traces of their occupation, and that intelligent search - would discover the ruins of the prosperous cities described by Strabo and - mentioned by the geographer Ptolemy. Without other guides than the - descriptions of these and other ancient writers, the consul began his - search in 1867, and up to 1875 he had ascertained the exact sites of <i>eleven - ancient cities</i> mentioned by Strabo and Ptolemy, most of which had - ceased to exist before the Christian era, and none of which has left - vestiges above the soil. - </p> - <p> - In the time of David and of Solomon the Phoenicians formed the largest - portion of the population of the island; their royal cities of Paphos, - Amathus, Carpassa, Citium, and Ammochosto, were in the most flourishing - condition. Not a stone remained of them above ground; their sites were - unknown in 1867. - </p> - <p> - When General di Cesnola had satisfied himself of the probable site of an - ancient city or temple, it was difficult to obtain permission to dig, even - with the authority of the Sultan's firman. He was obliged to wait for - harvests to be gathered, in some cases, to take a lease of the ground; - sometimes the religious fanaticism of the occupants could not be overcome, - and his working parties were frequently beaten and driven away in his - absence. But the consul exhibited tact, patience, energy, the qualities - necessary, with knowledge, to a successful explorer. He evaded or cast - down all obstacles. - </p> - <p> - In 1868 he discovered the necropoli of Ledra, Citium, and Idalium, and - opened during three years in these localities over ten thousand tombs, - bringing to light a mass of ancient objects of art which enable us to - understand the customs, religion, and civilization of the earlier - inhabitants. Idalium was famous of old as the place where Grecian pottery - was first made, and fragments of it have been found from time to time on - its site. - </p> - <p> - In 1869 and 1870 he surveyed Aphrodisium, in the northeastern part of the - island, and ascertained, in the interior, the site of Golgos, a city known - to have been in existence before the Trojan war. The disclosures at this - place excited both the wonder and the incredulity of the civilized world, - and it was not until the marvellous collection of the explorer was - exhibited, partially in London, but fully in New York, that the vast - importance of the labors of General di Cesnola began to be comprehended. - In exploring the necropolis of Golgos, he came, a few feet below the soil, - upon the remains of the temple of Venus, strewn with mutilated sculptures - of the highest interest, supplying the missing link between Egyptian and - Greek art, and indeed illustrating the artistic condition of most of the - Mediterranean nations during the period from about 1200 to about 500 b. c. - It would require too much space to tell how the British Museum missed and - the Metropolitan of New York secured this first priceless “Cesnola - Collection.” Suffice it to say, that it was sold to a generous citizen of - New York, Mr. John Taylor Johnson, for fifty thousand dollars,—a sum - which would not compensate the explorer for his time and labor, and would - little more than repay his pecuniary outlay, which reached the amount of - over sixty thousand dollars in 1875. But it was enough that the treasure - was secured by his adopted country; the loss of it to the Old World, which - was publicly called an “European misfortune,” was a piece of good fortune - to the United States, which time will magnify. - </p> - <p> - From 1870 to 1872 the General's attention was directed to the southwestern - portion of the island, and he laid open the necropoli of Marium, Paphos, - Alamas, and Soli, and three ancient cities whose names are yet unknown. In - 1873 he explored and traced the cities of Throni, Leucolla, and Arsinôe, - and the necropoli of several towns still unknown. In 1874 and 1875 he - brought to light the royal cities of Amathus and Curium, and located the - little town of Kury. - </p> - <p> - It would not be possible here to enumerate all the objects of art or - worship, and of domestic use, which these excavations have yielded. The - statuary and the thousands of pieces of glass, some of them rivalling the - most perfect Grecian shapes in form, and excelling the Venetian colors in - the iridescence of age, perhaps attract most attention in the Metropolitan - Museum. From the tombs were taken thousands of vases of earthenware, some - in alabaster and bronze, statuettes in terra-cotta, arms, coins, scarabæi, - cylinders, intaglios, cameos, gold ornaments, and mortuary <i>steles</i>. - In the temples were brought to light inscriptions, bas-reliefs, - architectural fragments, and statues of the different nations who have - conquered and occupied the island. The inscriptions are in the Egyptian, - Assyrian, Phoenician, Greek, and the Cypriote languages; the - last-mentioned being, in the opinion of the explorer, an ancient Greek - dialect. - </p> - <p> - At Curium, nineteen feet below the surface of the ground, were found the - remains of the Temple of Apollo Hylates; the sculptures contained in it - belong to the Greek period from 700 to 100 B.C. At Amathus some royal - tombs were opened, and two marble sarcophagi of large dimensions, one of - them intact, were discovered, which are historically important, and - positive additions to the remains of the best Greek art. - </p> - <p> - After Golgos, Paleo Paphos yielded the most interesting treasures. Here - existed a temple to the Paphian Venus, whose birthplace was in sight of - its portals, famous throughout the East; devotees and pilgrims constantly - resorted to it, as they do now to the shrines of Mecca and Jerusalem. Not - only the maritime adventurers and traders from Asia Minor and the Grecian - mainland crowded to the temple of this pleasing and fortunate goddess, and - quitted their vows or propitiated her favor by gifts, but the religious or - the superstitious from Persia and Assyria and farthest Egypt deposited - there their votive offerings. The collector of a museum of antiquity that - should illustrate the manners and religion of the thousand years before - the Christian era could ask nothing better than these deposits of many - races during many centuries in one place. - </p> - <p> - The excavations at Paphos were attended with considerable danger; more - than once the workmen were obliged to flee to save their lives from the - fanatic Moslems. The town, although it has lost its physical form, and - even its name (its site is now called Baffo), retains the character of - superstition it had when St. Paul found it expedient to darken the vision - of Elymas there, as if a city, like a man, possessed a soul that outlives - the body. - </p> - <p> - We spent the afternoon in examining the new collection of General di - Cesnola, not so large as that in the Metropolitan Museum, but perhaps - richer in some respects, particularly in iridescent glass. - </p> - <p> - In the summer of 1875, however, the labors of the indefatigable explorer - were crowned with a discovery the riches of which cast into the shade the - real or pretended treasures of the “House of Priam,”—a discovery not - certainly of more value to art than those that preceded it, but well - calculated to excite popular wonder. The finding of this subterranean - hoard reads like an adventure of Aladdin. - </p> - <p> - In pursuing his researches at Curium, on the southwestern side of the - island, General di Cesnola came upon the site of an ancient temple, and - uncovered its broken mosaic pavement. Beneath this, and at the depth of - twenty-five feet, he broke into a subterranean passage cut in the rock. - This passage led to a door; no genie sat by it, but it was securely closed - by a stone slab. When this was removed, a suite of four rooms was - disclosed, but they were not immediately accessible; earth sifting through - the roofs for ages had filled them, and it required the labor of a month - to clean out the chambers. Imagine the feverish enthusiasm of the explorer - as he slowly penetrated this treasure-house, where every stroke of the - pick disclosed the gleam of buried treasure! In the first room were found - only <i>gold</i> objects; in the second only <i>silver</i> and silver-gilt - ornaments and utensils; in the third alabasters, terra-cottas, vases, and - groups of figures; in the fourth <i>bronzes</i>, and nothing else. It is - the opinion of the discoverer that these four rooms were the depositories - where the crafty priests and priestesses of the old temple used to hide - their treasures during times of war or sudden invasion. I cannot but think - that the mysterious subterranean passages and chambers in the ancient - temples of Egypt served a similar purpose. The treasure found scattered in - these rooms did not appear to be the whole belonging to the temple, but - only a part, left perhaps in the confusion of a hasty flight. - </p> - <p> - Among the articles found in the first room, dumped in a heap in the middle - (as if they had been suddenly, in a panic, stripped from the altar in the - temple and cast into a place of concealment), were a gold cup covered with - Egyptian embossed work, and two bracelets of pure gold weighing over <i>three - pounds</i>, inscribed with the name of “Etevander, King of Paphos.” This - king lived in 635 B.C., and in 620 b. c. paid tribute to the Assyrian - monarch Assurbanapal (Sardanapalus), as is recorded on an Assyrian tablet - now in the British Museum. There were also many gold necklaces, bracelets, - ear-rings, finger-rings, brooches, seals, armlets, etc., in all four - hundred and eighty gold articles. - </p> - <p> - In the silver-room, arranged on the benches at the sides, were vases, - bottles, cups, bowls, bracelets, finger-rings, ear-rings, seals, etc. One - of the most curious and valuable objects is a silver-gilt bowl, having - upon it very fine embossed Egyptian work, and evidently of high antiquity. - </p> - <p> - In the third room of vases and terra-cottas were some most valuable and - interesting specimens. The bronze-room yielded several high candelabra, - lamp-holders, lamps, statuettes, bulls'-heads, bowls, vases, jugs, patera, - fibula, rings, bracelets, mirrors, etc. Nearly all the objects in the four - rooms seem to have been “votive offerings,” and testify a pagan devotion - to the gods not excelled by Christian generosity to the images and shrines - of modern worship. The inscriptions betoken the votive character of these - treasures; that upon the heavy gold armlets is in the genitive case, and - would be literally translated “Etevandri Regis Paplii,” the words - “offering of” being understood to precede it. - </p> - <p> - I confess that the glitter of these treasures, and the glamour of these - associations with the ingenious people of antiquity, transformed the naked - island of Cyprus, as we lay off it in the golden sunset, into a region of - all possibilities, and I longed to take my Strabo and my spade and wander - off prospecting for its sacred placers. It seemed to me, when we weighed - anchor at seven o'clock, that we were sailing away from subterranean - passages stuffed with the curious treasures of antiquity, from concealed - chambers in which one, if he could only remove the stone slab of the door, - would pick up the cunning work of the Phoenician jewellers, the barbarous - ornaments of the Assyrians, the conceits in gold and silver of the most - ancient of peoples, the Egyptians. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XIX.—THROUGH SUMMER SEAS.—RHODES. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">A</span>T daylight next - morning we could just discern Cyprus sinking behind us in the horizon. The - day had all the charm with which the poets have invested this region; the - sea was of the traditional indigo blue,—of which the Blue Grotto of - Capri is only a cheap imitation. No land was in sight, after we lost - Cyprus, but the spirit of the ancient romance lay upon the waters, and we - were soothed with the delights of an idle existence. As good a world as - can be made with a perfect sea and a perfect sky and delicious atmosphere - we had. - </p> - <p> - Through this summer calm voyages our great steamer, a world in itself, an - exhibition, a fair, a <i>fête</i>, a camp-meeting, cut loose from the - earth and set afloat. There are not less than eight hundred pilgrims on - board, people known as first-class and second-class stowed in every nook - and corner. Forward of the first cabin, the deck of the long vessel is - packed with human beings, two deep and sometimes crossed, a crowd which it - is almost impossible to penetrate. We look down into the hold upon a mass - of bags and bundles and Russians heaped indiscriminately together,—and - it is very difficult to distinguish a Russian woman from a bundle of old - clothes, when she is in repose. These people travel with their bedding, - their babies, and their cooking utensils, and make a home wherever they - sit down. - </p> - <p> - The forward passengers have overflowed their limits and extend back upon - our portion of the deck, occupying all one side of it to the stern, - leaving the so-called privileged class only a narrow promenade on the - starboard side. These intruders are, however, rather first-class - second-class. Parties of them are camped down in small squares, which - become at once miniature seraglios. One square is occupied by wealthy - Moslems from Damascus, and in another is a stately person who is rumored - to be the Prince of Damascus. These turbaned and silk-clad Orientals have - spread their bright rugs and cushions, and lounge here all day and sleep - here at night; some of them entertain themselves with chess, but the most - of them only smoke and talk little. Why should they talk? has not enough - already been said in the world? At intervals during the day, ascertaining, - I do not know how, the direction of Mecca, these grave men arise, spread - their prayer-carpets, and begin in unison their kneelings and - prostrations, servants and masters together, but the servants behind their - masters. Next to them, fenced off by benches, is a harem square, occupied - by veiled women, perhaps the wives of these Moslems and perhaps “some - others.” All the deck is a study of brilliant costume. - </p> - <p> - A little later the Oriental prince turns out to be only a Turkish pasha, - who has a state-room below for himself, and another for his harem; but in - another compartment of our flower-bed of a deck is a merchant-prince of - Damascus, whose gorgeousness would impose upon people more sophisticated - than we. - </p> - <p> - “He no prince; merchant like me,” explains Achmed, “and very rich, God be - merciful.” - </p> - <p> - “But why don't you travel about like that, Achmed, and make a fine - display?” - </p> - <p> - “For why? Anybody say Mohammed Achmed any more respect? What for I show my - rich? Take my advice. When I am dragoman, I am servant; and dress [here a - comico-sarcastic glance at his plain but handsome dragoman apparel] not in - monkey shine, like Selim—you remember him—at Jaffa, fierce - like a Bedawee. I make business. When I am by my house, that is another - thing.” - </p> - <p> - The pasha has rooms below, and these contiguous squares on deck are - occupied, the one by his suite and the other by <i>their</i> ladies and - slaves, all veiled and presumably beautiful, lolling on the cushions in - the <i>ennui</i> that appears to be their normal condition. One of them is - puffing a cigarette under her white veil at the risk of a conflagration. - One of the slaves, with an olive complexion and dark eyes, is very pretty, - and rather likes to casually leave her face uncovered for the benefit of - the infidels who are about; that her feet and legs are bare she cares - still less. This harem is, however, encroached upon by Greek women, who - sprawl about with more freedom, and regard the world without the hindrance - of a veil. If they are not handsome, they are at least not self-conscious, - as you would think women would be in baggy silk trousers and embroidered - jackets. - </p> - <p> - In the afternoon we came in sight of the ancient coasts of Pamphylia and - Lycia and a lovely range of what we took to be the Karamanian mountains, - snow-covered and half hid in clouds, all remote and dim to our vision as - the historical pageant of Assyrian, Persian, and Roman armies on these - shores is to our memory. Eastward on that rugged coast we know is Cilicia - and the Tarsus of Paul and Haroun al Raschid. The sunset on the Lycian - mountains was glorious; the foot by the water was veiled in golden mist; - the sea sank from indigo to purple, and when the light waves broke flecks - of rose or blood flowed on the surface. - </p> - <p> - After dark, and before we were abreast of old Xanthus, we descried the - famous natural light which is almost as mysterious to the moderns as it - was to the ancients. The Handbook says of it: “About two miles from the - coast, through a fertile plain, and then ascending a woody glen, the - traveller arrives at the <i>Zanar</i>, or volcanic flame, which issues - perpetually from the mountain.” Pliny says: “<i>Mount Chimaera</i>, near - Phaselis, emits an unceasing flame that burns day and night.” Captain - Beaufort observed it from the ship during the night as a small but steady - light among the hills. We at first mistook it for a lighthouse. But it was - too high above the water for that, and the flame was too large; it was - rather a smoky radiance than a point of light, and yet it had a dull red - centre and a duller luminous surrounding. We regarded with curiosity and - some awe a flame that had been burning for over twenty centuries, and - perhaps was alight before the signal-fires were kindled to announce the - fall of Troy,—Nature's own Pharos to the ancient mariners who were - without compass on these treacherous seas. - </p> - <p> - Otherwise, this classic coast is dark, extinguished is the fire on the - altar of Apollo at Patera, silent is the winter oracle of this god, and - desolate is the once luxurious metropolis of Lycia. Even Xanthus, the - capital, a name disused by the present inhabitants, has little to show of - Greek culture or Persian possession, and one must seek the fragments of - its antique art in the British Museum. - </p> - <p> - Coming on deck the next morning at the fresh hour of sunrise, I found we - were at Rhodes. We lay just off the semicircular harbor, which is clasped - by walls—partly shaken down by earthquakes—which have noble - round towers at each embracing end. Rhodes is, from the sea, one of the - most picturesque cities in the Mediterranean, although it has little - remains of that ancient splendor which caused Strabo to prefer it to Rome - or Alexandria. The harbor wall, which is flanked on each side by stout and - round stone windmills, extends up the hill, and, becoming double, - surrounds the old town; these massive fortifications of the Knights of St. - John have withstood the onsets of enemies and the tremors of the earth, - and, with the ancient moat, excite the curiosity of this so-called - peaceful age of iron-clads and monster cannon. The city ascends the slope - of the hill and passes beyond the wall. Outside and on the right towards - the sea are a picturesque group of a couple of dozen stone windmills, and - some minarets and a church-tower or two. Higher up the hill is sprinkled a - little foliage, a few mulberry-trees, and an isolated palm or two; and, - beyond, the island is only a mass of broken, bold, rocky mountains. Of its - forty-five miles of length, running southwesterly from the little point on - which the city stands, we can see but little. - </p> - <p> - Whether or not Rhodes emerged from the sea at the command of Apollo, the - Greeks expressed by this tradition of its origin their appreciation of its - gracious climate, fertile soil, and exquisite scenery. From remote - antiquity it had fame as a seat of arts and letters, and of a vigorous - maritime power, and the romance of its early centuries was equalled if not - surpassed when it became the residence of the Knights of St. John. I - believe that the first impress of its civilization was given by the - Phoenicians; it was the home of the Dorian race before the time of the - Trojan war, and its three cities were members of the Dorian Hexapolis; it - was in fact a flourishing maritime confederacy, strong enough to send - colonies to the distant Italian coast, and Sybaris and Parthenope (modern - Naples) perpetuated the luxurious refinement of their founders. The city - of Rhodes itself was founded about four hundred years before Christ, and - the splendor of its palaces, its statues and paintings, gave it a - pre-eminence among the most magnificent cities of the ancient world. If - the earth of this island could be made to yield its buried treasures as - Cyprus has, we should doubtless have new proofs of the influence of - Asiatic civilization upon the Greeks, and be able to trace in the early - Doric arts and customs the superior civilization of the Phoenicians, and - of the masters of the latter, in science and art, the Egyptians. - </p> - <p> - Naturally, every traveller who enters the harbor of Rhodes hopes to see - the site of one of the seven wonders of the world, the Colossus. He is - free to place it on either mole at the entrance of the harbor, but he - comprehends at once that a statue which was only one hundred and five feet - high could never have extended its legs across the port. The fame of this - colossal bronze statue of the sun is disproportioned to the period of its - existence; it stood only fifty-six years after its erection, being shaken - down by an earthquake in the year 224 b.c., and encumbering the ground - with its fragments till the advent of the Moslem conquerors. - </p> - <p> - When we landed, the town was not yet awake, except the boatmen and the - coffee-houses by the landing-stairs. The Greek boatman, whom we accepted - as our guide, made an unsuccessful excursion for bread, finding only a - black uneatable mixture, sprinkled with aromatic seeds; but we sat under - the shelter of an old sycamore in a lovely place by the shore, and sipped - our coffee, and saw the sun coming over Lycia, and shining on the old - towers and walls of the Knights. - </p> - <p> - Passing from the quay through a highly ornamented Gothic gateway, we - ascended the famous historic street, still called the Street of the - Knights, the massive houses of which have withstood the shocks of - earthquakes and the devastation of Saracenic and Turkish occupation. At - this hour the street was as deserted as it was three centuries and a half - ago, when the Knights sorrowfully sailed out of the harbor in search of a - new home. Their four months' defence of the city., against the - overwhelming force of Suleiman the Magnificent, added a new lustre to - their valor, and extorted the admiration of the victor and the most - honorable terms of surrender. With them departed the prosperity of Rhodes. - This street, of whose palaces we have heard so much, is not imposing; it - is not wide, its solid stone houses are only two stories high, and their - fronts are now disfigured by cheap Arab balconies, but the façades are - gray with age. All along are remains of carved windows. Gothic sculptured - doorways, and shields and coats of arms, crosses and armorial legends, are - set in the walls, partially defaced by time and accident; for the Moslems, - apparently inheriting the respect of Suleiman for the Knights, have spared - the mementos of their faith and prowess. I saw no inscriptions that are - intact, but made out upon one shield the words <i>voluntas mei est</i>. - The carving is all beautiful. - </p> - <p> - We went through the silent streets, waking only echoes of the past, out to - the ruins of the once elegant church of St. John, which was shaken down by - a powder-explosion some thirty years ago, and utterly flattened by an - earthquake some years afterwards. Outside the ramparts we met, and saluted - frith the freedom of travellers, a gorgeous Turk who was taking the - morning air, and whom our guide in bated breath said was the governor. In - this part of the town is the Mosque of Suleiman; in the portal are two - lovely marble columns, rich with age; the lintels are exquisitely carved - with flowers, arms, casques, musical instruments, the crossed sword and - the torch, and the mandolin, perhaps the emblem of some troubadour knight. - Wherever we went we found bits of old carving, remains of columns, - sections of battlemented roofs. The town is saturated with the old - Knights. Near the mosque is a foundation of charity, a public kitchen, at - which the poor were fed or were free to come and cook their food; it is in - decay now, and the rooks were sailing about its old round-topped chimneys. - </p> - <p> - There are no Hellenic remains in the city, and the only remembrance of - that past which we searched for was the antique coin, which has upon one - side the head of Medusa and upon the other the rose (<i>rhoda</i>) which - gave the town its name. The town was quiet; but in pursuit of this coin in - the Jews' quarter we started up swarms of traders, were sent from Isaac to - Jacob, and invaded dark shops and private houses where Jewish women and - children were just beginning to complain of the morning light. Our guide - was a jolly Greek, who was willing to awaken the whole town in search of a - silver coin. The traders, when we had routed them out, had little to show - in the way of antiquities. Perhaps the best representative of the modern - manufactures of Rhodes is the wooden shoe, which is in form like the - Damascus clog, but is inlaid with more taste. The people whom we - encountered in our morning walk were Greeks or Jews. - </p> - <p> - The morning atmosphere was delicious, and we could well believe that the - climate of Rhodes is the finest in the Mediterranean, and also that it is - the least exciting of cities. - </p> - <p> - “Is it always so peaceful here?” we asked the guide. - </p> - <p> - “Nothing, if you please,” said he, “has happened here since the - powder-explosion, nothing in the least.” - </p> - <p> - “And is the town as healthy as they say?” - </p> - <p> - “Nobody dies.” - </p> - <p> - The town is certainly clean, if it is in decay. In one street we found a - row of mulberry-trees down the centre, but they were half decayed, like - the street. I shall always think of Rhodes as a silent city,—except - in the Jews' quarter, where the hope of selling an old coin set the whole - hive humming,—and I suspect that is its normal condition. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XX.—AMONG THE ÆGEAN ISLANDS. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">O</span>UR sail all day - among the Ægean islands was surpassingly lovely; our course was constantly - changing to wind among them; their beautiful outlines and the soft - atmosphere that enwrapped them disposed us to regard them in the light of - Homeric history, and we did not struggle against the illusion. They are - all treeless, and for the most part have scant traces of vegetation, - except a thin green grass which seems rather a color than a substance. - Here are the little islands of Chalce and Syme, once seats of Grecian - culture, now the abode of a few thousand sponge-fishers. We pass Telos, - and Nisyros, which was once ruled by Queen Artemisia, and had its share in - the fortunes of the wars of Athens and Sparta. It is a small round mass of - rock, but it rises twenty-two hundred feet out of the sea, and its - volcanic soil is favorable to the grape. Opposite is the site of the ruins - of Cnidus, a Dorian city of great renown, and famous for its shrine of - Venus, and her statue by Praxiteles. We get an idea of the indentation of - this coast of Asia Minor (and its consequent accessibility to early - settlement and civilization) from the fact that Cnidus is situated on a - very narrow peninsula ninety miles long. - </p> - <p> - Kos is celebrated not only for its size, loveliness, and fertility, but as - the birthplace of Apelles and of Hippocrates; the inhabitants still - venerate an enormous plane-tree under which the good physician is said to - have dispensed his knowledge of healing. The city of Kos is on a fine - plain, which gradually slopes from the mountain to the sea and is well - covered with trees. The attractive town lies prettily along the shore, and - is distinguished by a massive square mediaeval fortress, and by round - stone windmills with specially long arms. - </p> - <p> - As we came around the corner of Kos, we had a view, distant but - interesting, of the site of Halicarnassus, the modern town of Boudroum, - with its splendid fortress, which the Turks wrested from the Knights of - St. John. We sail by it with regret, for the student and traveller in the - East comes to have a tender feeling for the simple nature of the father of - history, and would forego some other pleasant experiences to make a - pilgrimage to the birthplace of Herodotus. Here, also, was born the - historian Dionysius. And here, a few years ago, were identified the exact - site and rescued the remains of another of the Seven Wonders, the Tomb of - Mausolus, built in honor of her husband by the Carian Artemisia, who - sustained to him the double relation of sister and queen. This monument, - which exhibited the perfection of Greek art, was four hundred and eleven - feet in circumference and one hundred and forty feet high. It consisted of - a round building, surrounded by thirty-six columns surmounted by a - pyramid, and upon the latter stood a colossal group of a chariot and four - horses. Some of the beautiful sculpture of this mausoleum can be seen in - the British Museum. - </p> - <p> - We were all the afternoon endeavoring to get sight of Patinos, which the - intervening islands hid from view. Every half-hour some one was - discovering it, and announcing the fact. No doubt half the passengers will - go to their graves comforted by the belief that they saw it. Some of them - actually did have a glimpse of it towards night, between the islands of - Lipso and Arki. It is a larger island than we expected to see; and as we - had understood that the Revelations were written on a small rocky island, - in fact a mere piece of rock, the feat seemed less difficult on a - good-sized island. Its height is now crowned by the celebrated monastery - of St. John, but the island is as barren and uninviting as it was when the - Romans used it as a place of banishment. - </p> - <p> - We passed Astypatæa, Kalyminos, Leros, and a sprinkling of islets (as if a - giant had sown this sea with rocks), each of which has a history, or is - graced by a legend; but their glory is of the past. The chief support of - their poor inhabitants is now the sponge-fishery. At sunset we had before - us Icaria and Samos, and on the mainland the site of Miletus, now a - fever-smitten place, whose vast theatre is almost the sole remains of the - metropolis of the Ionic confederacy. Perhaps the centre of Ionic art and - culture was, however, the island of Samos, but I doubt not the fame of its - Samian wine has carried its name further than the exploits of its - warriors, the works of its artists, or the thoughts of its philosophers. - It was the birthplace of Pythagoras; it was once governed by Polycrates; - there for a time Antony and Cleopatra established their court of love and - luxury. In the evening we sailed close under its high cliffs, and saw - dimly opposite Icaria, whose only merit or interest lies in its - association with the ill-judged aerial voyage of Icarus, the soil of - Daedalus. - </p> - <p> - Although the voyager amid these islands and along this historic coast - profoundly feels the influence of the past, and, as he reads and looks and - reflects, becomes saturated with its half-mysterious and delicious - romance, he is nevertheless scarcely able to believe that these denuded - shores and purple, rocky islets were the homes of heroes, the theatres of - world-renowned exploits, the seats of wealth and luxury and power; that - the marble of splendid temples gleamed from every summit and headland; - that rich cities clustered on every island and studded the mainland; and - that this region, bounteous in the fruits of the liberal earth, was not - less prolific in vigorous men and beautiful women, who planted adventurous - and remote colonies, and sowed around the Mediterranean the seeds of our - modern civilization. In the present desolation and soft decay it is - difficult to recall the wealth, the diversified industry, the martial - spirit, the refinement of the races whose art and literature are still our - emulation and despair. Here, indeed, were the beginnings of our era, of - our modern life,—separated by a great gulf from the ancient - civilization of the Nile,—the life of the people, the attempts at - self-government, the individual adventure, the new development of human - relations consequent upon commerce, and the freer exchange of products and - ideas. - </p> - <p> - What these islands and this variegated and genial coast of Asia Minor - might become under a government that did not paralyze effort and rob - industry, it is impossible to say; but the impression is made upon the - traveller that Nature herself is exhausted in these regions, and that it - will need the rest or change of a geologic era to restore her pristine - vigor. The prodigality and avarice of thousands of years have left the - land—now that the flame of civilization has burned out—like - the crater of an extinct volcano. But probably it is society and not - nature that is dead. The island of Rhodes, for an example, might in a few - years of culture again produce the forests that once supplied her hardy - sons with fleets of vessels, and her genial soil, under any intelligent - agriculture, would yield abundant harvests. The land is now divided into - petty holdings, and each poor proprietor scratches it just enough to make - it yield a scanty return. - </p> - <p> - During the night the steamer had come to Chios (Scio), and I rose at dawn - to see—for we had no opportunity to land—the spot almost - equally famous as the birthplace of Homer and the land of the Chian wine. - The town lies along the water for a mile or more around a shallow bay - opening to the east, a city of small white houses, relieved by a minaret - or two; close to the water's edge are some three-story edifices, and in - front is an ancient square fort, which has a mole extending into the - water, terminated by a mediaeval bastion, behind which small vessels find - shelter. Low by the shore, on the north, are some of the sturdy windmills - peculiar to these islands, and I can distinguish with a glass a few - fragments of Byzantine and mediaeval architecture among the common - buildings. Staring at us from the middle of the town were two big signs, - with the word “Hotel.” - </p> - <p> - To the south of the town, amid a grove of trees, are the white stones of - the cemetery; the city of the dead is nearly as large as that of the - living. Behind the city are orange orchards and many a bright spot of - verdure, but the space for it is not broad. Sharp, bare, serrated, - perpendicular ridges of mountain rise behind the town, encircling it like - an amphitheatre. In the morning light these mountains are tawny and rich - in color, tinged with purple and red. Chios is a pretty picture in the - shelter of these hills, which gather for it the rays of the rising sun. - </p> - <p> - It is now half a century since the name of Scio rang through the civilized - world as the theatre of a deed which Turkish history itself can scarcely - parallel, and the island is vigorously regaining its prosperity. It only - needs to recall the outlines of the story. The fertile island, which is - four times the extent of the Isle of Wight, was the home of one hundred - and ten thousand inhabitants, of whom only six thousand were Turks. The - Greeks of Scio were said to differ physically and morally from all their - kindred; their merchants were princes at home and abroad, art and - literature flourished, with grace and refinement of manner, and there - probably nowhere existed a society more industrious, gay, contented, and - intelligent. Tempted by some adventurers from Samos to rebel, they drew - down upon themselves the vengeance of the Turks, who retaliated the bloody - massacre of Turkish men, women, and children by the insurrectionists, with - a universal destruction. The city of Scio, with its thirty thousand - inhabitants, and seventy villages, were reduced to ashes; twenty-five - thousand of all ages and both sexes were slain, forty-five thousand were - carried away as slaves, among them women and children who had been reared - in luxury, and most of the remainder escaped, in a destitute state, into - other parts of Greece. At the end of the summer's harvest of death, only - two thousand Sciotes were left on the island. An apologist for the Turks - could only urge that the Greeks would have been as unmerciful under like - circumstances. - </p> - <p> - None of the first-class passengers were up to see Chios,—not one for - poor Homer's sake; but the second-class were stirring for their own, - crawling out of their comfortables, giving the babies a turn, and the - vigilant flea a taste of the morning air. When the Russian peasant, who - sleeps in the high truncated frieze cap, and in the coat which he wore in - Jerusalem,—a garment short in the waist, gathered in pleats - underneath the shoulders, and falling in stiff expanding folds below,—when - he first gets up and rubs his eyes, he is an astonished being. His - short-legged wife is already astir, and beginning to collect the materials - of breakfast. Some of the Greeks are making coffee; there is a smell of - coffee, and there are various other unanalyzed odors. But for pilgrims, - and pilgrims so closely packed that no one can stir without moving the - entire mass, these are much cleaner than they might be expected to be, and - cleaner, indeed, than they can continue to be, and keep up their - reputation. And yet, half an hour among them, looking out from the bow for - a comprehensive view of Chios, is quite enough. I wished, then, that these - people would change either their religion or their clothes. - </p> - <p> - Last night we had singing on deck by an extemporized quartette of young - Americans, with harmonious and well-blended voices, and it was a most - delightful contrast to the caterwauling, accompanied by the darabouka, - which we constantly hear on the forward deck, and which the Arabs call - singing. Even the fat, good-humored little Moslem from Damascus, who lives - in the pen with the merchant-prince of that city, listened with delight - and declared that it was <i>tyeb kateer</i>. Who knows but these people, - who are always singing, have some appreciation of music after all? - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXI.—SMYRNA AND EPHESUS. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">W</span>HEN we left Chios - we sailed at first east, right into the sun, gradually turned north and - rounded the promontory of the mainland, and then, east by south, came into - the beautiful landlocked bay of Smyrna, in which the blue water changes - into a muddy green. At length we passed on the right a Turkish fortress, - which appeared as formidable as a bathing establishment, and Smyrna lay at - the bottom of the gulf, circling the shore,—white houses, - fruit-trees, and hills beyond. - </p> - <p> - The wind was north, as it always is here in the morning, and the landing - was difficult. We had the usual excitement of swarming boats and clamorous - boatmen and lively waves. One passenger went into the water instead of the - boat, but was easily fished out by his baggy trousers, and, as he was a - Greek pilgrim, it was thought that a little water would n't injure him. - Coming to the shore we climbed with difficulty out of the bobbing boat - upon the sea-wall; the shiftless Turkish government will do nothing to - improve the landing at this great port,—if the Sultan can borrow any - money he builds a new palace on the Bosphorus, or an ironclad to anchor in - front of it. - </p> - <p> - Smyrna may be said to have a character of its own in not having any - character of its own. One of the most ancient cities on the globe, it has - no appearance of antiquity; containing all nationalities, it has no - nationality; the second commercial city of the East, it has no chamber of - commerce, no <i>Bourse</i>, no commercial unity; its citizens are of no - country and have no impulse of patriotism; it is an Asiatic city with a - European face; it produces nothing, it exchanges everything,—the - fabrics of Europe, the luxuries of the Orient; the children of the East - are sent to its schools, but it has no literary character nor any - influence of culture; it is hospitable to all religions, and conspicuous - for none; it is the paradise of the Turks, the home of luxury and of - beautiful women, but it is also a favorite of the mosquito, and, until - recently, it has been the yearly camp of the plague; it is not the most - healthful city in the world, and yet it is the metropolis of the - drug-trade. - </p> - <p> - Smyrna can be compared to Damascus in its age and in its perpetuity under - all discouragements and changes,—the shocks of earthquakes, the - constant visitations of pestilence, and the rule of a hundred masters. It - was a great city before the migration of the Ionians into Asia Minor, it - saw the rise and fall of Sardis, it was restored from a paralysis of four - centuries by Alexander. Under all vicissitudes it seems to have retained - its character of a great mart of exchange, a necessity for the trade of - Asia; and perhaps the indifference of its conglomerate inhabitants to - freedom and to creeds contributed to its safety. Certainly it thrived as - well under the Christians, when it was the seat of one of the seven - churches, as it did under the Romans, when it was a seat of a great school - of sophists and rhetoricians, and it is equally prosperous under the sway - of the successor of Mohammed. During the thousand years of the always - decaying Byzantine Empire it had its share of misfortunes, and its walls - alternately, at a later day, displayed the star and crescent, and the - equal arms of the cross of St. John. Yet, in all its history, I seem to - see the trading, gay, free, but not disorderly Smyrna passing on its even - way of traffic and of pleasure. - </p> - <p> - Of its two hundred thousand and more inhabitants, about ninety thousand - are Rayah Greeks, and about eighty thousand are Turks. There is a changing - population of perhaps a thousand Europeans, there are large bodies of Jews - and Armenians, and it was recently estimated to have as many as fifteen - thousand Levantines. These latter are the descendants of the marriage of - Europeans with Greek and Jewish women; and whatever moral reputation the - Levantines enjoy in the Levant, the women of this mixture are famous for - their beauty. But the race is said to be not self-sustaining, and is - yielding to the original types. The languages spoken in Smyrna are - Turkish, a Greek dialect (the Romaic), Spanish, Italian, Trench, English, - and Arabic, probably prevailing in the order named. Our own steamer was - much more Oriental than the city of Smyrna. As soon as we stepped ashore - we seemed to have come into a European city; the people almost all wear - the Frank dress, the shops offer little that is peculiar. One who was - unfamiliar with bazaars might wonder at the tangle of various lanes, but - we saw nothing calling for comment. A walk through the Jewish quarter, - here as everywhere else the dirtiest and most picturesque in the city, - will reward the philosophic traveller with the sight of lovely women - lolling at every window. It is not the fashion for Smyrniote ladies to - promenade the streets, but they mercifully array themselves in full toilet - and stand in their doorways. - </p> - <p> - The programme of the voyage of the <i>Achille</i> promised us a day and a - half in Smyrna, which would give us time to visit Ephesus. We were due - Friday noon; we did not arrive till Saturday noon. This vexatious delay - had caused much agitation on board; to be cheated out of Ephesus was an - outrage which the tourists could not submit to; they had come this way on - purpose to see Ephesus. They would rather give up anything else in the - East. The captain said he had no discretion, he must sail at 4 p. M. The - passengers then prepared a handsome petition to the agent, begging him to - detain the steamer till eight o'clock, in order to permit them to visit - Ephesus by a special train. There is a proclivity in all those who can - write to sign any and every thing except a subscription paper, and this - petition received fifty-six eager and first-class signatures. The agent at - Smyrna plumply refused our request, with unnecessary surliness; but upon - the arrival of the captain, and a consultation which no doubt had more - reference to freight than to the petition, the official agreed, as a - special favor, to detain the steamer till eight o'clock, but not a moment - longer. - </p> - <p> - We hastened to the station of the Aidin Railway, which runs eighty miles - to Aidin, the ancient Tralles, a rich Lydian metropolis of immemorial - foundation. The modern town has perhaps fifty thousand inhabitants, and is - a depot for cotton and figs; that sweetmeat of Paradise, the <i>halva</i>, - is manufactured there, and its great tanneries produce fine yellow Morocco - leather. The town lies only three miles from the famous tortuous Mæander, - and all the region about it is a garden of vines and fruit-trees. The - railway company is under English management, which signifies promptness, - and the special train was ready in ten minutes; when lo! of the fifty-six - devotees of Ephesus only eleven appeared. We were off at once; good - engine, solid track, clean, elegant, comfortable carnages. As we moved out - of the city the air was full of the odor of orange-blossoms; we crossed - the Meles, and sped down a valley, very fertile, smiling with - grain-fields, green meadows, groves of midberry, oranges, figs, with blue - hills,—an ancient Mount Olympus, beyond which lay green Sardis, in - the distance, a country as lovely and home-like as an English or American - farm-land. We had seen nothing so luxuriant and thriving in the East - before. The hills, indeed, were stripped of trees, but clad on the tops - with verdure, the result of plentiful rains. - </p> - <p> - We went “express.” The usual time of trains is three hours; we ran over - the fifty miles in an hour and a quarter. We could hardly believe our - senses, that we were in a luxurious carriage, flying along at this rate in - Asia, and going to Ephesus! While we were confessing that the lazy swing - of the carriage was more agreeable than that of the donkey or the - dromedary, the train pulled up at station Ayasolook, once the residence of - the Sultans of Ayasolook, and the camp of Tamerlane, now a cluster of - coffeehouses and railway-offices, with a few fever-stricken inhabitants, - who prey upon travellers, not with Oriental courtesy, but with European - insolence. - </p> - <p> - On our right was a round hill surmounted by a Roman castle; from the hills - on the left, striding across the railway towards Ephesus, were the tall - stone pillars of a Roman aqueduct, the brick arches and conductor nearly - all fallen away. On the summit of nearly every pillar a white, red-legged - stork had built, from sticks and grass, a high round nest, which covered - the top; and the bird stood in it motionless, a beautiful object at that - height against the sky. - </p> - <p> - The station people had not obeyed our telegram to furnish enough horses, - and those of us who were obliged to walk congratulated ourselves on the - mistake, since the way was as rough as the steeds. The path led over a - ground full of stone <i>débris</i>. This was the site of Ayasolook, which - had been built out of the ruins of the old city; most picturesque objects - were the small mosque-tombs and minarets, which revived here the most - graceful forms and fancies of Saracenic art. One, I noticed, which had the - ideal Persian arch and slender columns, Nature herself had taken into - loving care and draped with clinging green and hanging vines. There were - towers of brick, to which age has given a rich tone, flaring at the top in - a curve that fascinated the eye. On each tomb, tower, and minaret the - storks had nested, and upon each stood the mother looking down upon her - brood. About the crumbling sides of a tower, thus draped and crowned, - innumerable swallows had built their nests, so that it was alive with - birds, whose cheerful occupation gave a kind of pathos to the human - desertion and decay. - </p> - <p> - Behind the Roman castle stands the great but ruinous mosque of Sultan - Selim, which was formerly the Church of St. John. We did not turn aside - for its empty glory, but to the theologian or the student of the formation - of Christian dogmas, and of the gladiatorial spectacles of an ancient - convocation, there are few arenas in the East more interesting than this; - for in this church it is supposed were held the two councils of a. d. 431 - and 449. St. John, after his release from Patmos, passed the remainder of - his life here; the Virgin Mary followed him to the city, so favored by the - presence of the first apostles, and here she died and was buried. From her - entombment, Ephesus for a long time enjoyed the reputation of the City of - the Virgin, until that honor was transferred to Jerusalem, where, however, - her empty tomb soon necessitated her resurrection and assumption,—the - subject which inspired so many artists after the revival of learning in - Europe. In the hill near this church Mary Magdalene was buried; in Ephesus - also reposed the body of St. Timothy, its first bishop. - </p> - <p> - This church of St. John was at some distance from the heart of the city, - which lay in the plain to the south and near the sea, but in the fifth - century Ephesus was a city of churches. The reader needs to remember that - in that century the Christian controversy had passed from the nature of - the Trinity to the incarnation, and that the first council of Ephesus was - called by the emperor Theodosius in the hope of establishing the opinion - of the Syrian Nestorius, the primate of Constantinople, who refused to - give to the mother of Christ the title, then come into use, of the Mother - of God, and discriminated nicely the two natures of the Saviour. His views - were anathematized by Cyril, the patriarch of Alexandria, and the dispute - involved the entire East in a fierce contest. In the council convened of - Greek bishops, Nestorius had no doubt but he would be sustained by the - weight of authority; but the prompt Cyril, whose qualities would have - found a conspicuous and useful theatre at the head of a Roman army against - the Scythians, was first on the ground, with an abundance of spiritual and - temporal arms. In reading of this council, one recalls without effort the - once famous and now historical conventions of the Democratic party of the - State of New York, in the days when political salvation, offered in the - creeds of the “Hard Shells” and of the “Soft Shells,” was enforced by the - attendance of gangs of “Short boys” and “Tammany boys,” who understood the - use of slung-shot against heretical opinions. It is true that Nestorius - had in reserve behind his prelates the stout slaves of the bath of - Zeuxippus, but Cyril had secured the alliance of the bishop of Ephesus, - and the support of the rabble of peasants and slaves who were easily - excited to jealousy for the honor of the Virgin of their city; and he - landed from Egypt, with his great retinue of bishops, a band of merciless - monks of the Nile, of fanatics, mariners, and slaves, who took a ready - interest in the theological discussions of those days. The council met in - this church, surrounded by the fierce if not martial array of Cyril; - deliberations were begun before the arrival of the most weighty supporters - of Nestorius,—for Cyril anticipated the slow approach of John of - Antioch and his bishops,—and in one day the primate of - Constantinople was hastily deposed and cursed, together with his heresy. - Upon the arrival of John, he also formed a council, which deposed and - cursed the opposite party and heresy, and for three months Ephesus was a - scene of clamor and bloodshed. The cathedral was garrisoned, the churches - were shut against the Nestorians; the imperial troops assaulted them and - were repelled; the whole city was thrown into a turmoil by the encounters - of the rival factions, each council hurled its anathemas at the other, and - peace was only restored by the dissolution of the council by command of - the emperor. The second session, in the year 449, was shorter and more - decisive; it made quick work of the heresy of Nestorius. Africa added to - its delegation of bullies and fanatics a band of archers; the heresy of - the two natures was condemned and anathematized,— - </p> - <p> - “May those who divide Christ be divided with the sword, may they be hewn - in pieces, may they be burned alive,”—and the scene in the cathedral - ended in a mob of monks and soldiers, who trampled upon Flavian, the then - primate of Constantinople, so that in three days thereafter he died of his - wounds. - </p> - <p> - It is as difficult to make real now upon this spot those fierce theologic - wars of Ephesus, as it is the fabled exploits of Bacchus and Hercules and - the Amazons in this valley; to believe that here were born Apollo and - Diana, and that hither fled Latona, and that great Pan lurked in its - groves. - </p> - <p> - We presently came upon the site of the great Temple of Diana, recently - identified by Mr. Wood. We encountered on our way a cluster of stone huts, - wretched habitations of the only representatives of the renowned capital. - Before us was a plain broken by small hillocks and mounds, and strewn with - cut and fractured stone. The site of the temple can be briefly and - accurately described as a rectangular excavation, perhaps one hundred and - fifty feet wide by three hundred long and twelve feet deep, with two feet - of water in it, out of which rises a stump of a column of granite and - another of marble, and two bases of marble. Round this hole are heaps of - fractured stone and marble. In this excavation Mr. Wood found the statue - of Diana, which we may hope is the ancient sacred image, guarded by the - priests as the most precious treasure of the temple, and imposed upon the - credulity of men as heaven-descended. This is all that remains of one of - the Seven Wonders of the world,—a temple whose fame is second to - none in antiquity; a temple seven times burned and eight times built, and - always with increased magnificence; a temple whose origin, referable - doubtless to the Cyclopean builders of this coast, cannot be less than - fifteen hundred years before our era; a temple which still had its - votaries and its rites in the fourth century. We picked up a bit of marble - from its ruins, as a help-both to memory and imagination, but we went our - way utterly unable to conceive that there ever existed any such person as - great Diana of the Ephesians. - </p> - <p> - We directed our steps over the bramble-grown plain to the hill Pion. I - suppose Pion may have been the acropolis of Ephesus, the spot of the - earliest settlement, and on it and around it clustered many of the temples - and public buildings. The reader will recall Argos, and Athens, and - Corinth, and a dozen other cities of antiquity, for which nature furnished - in the midst of a plain such a convenient and easily defended - hill-fortress. On our way thither we walked amid mounds that form a street - of tombs; many of the sarcophagi are still in place, and little injured; - but we explore the weed-hid ground with caution, for it is full of - pitfalls. - </p> - <p> - North of the hill Pion is a low green valley, encircled with hills, and in - the face of one of its ledges, accessible only by a ladder, we were - pointed out the cave of the Seven Sleepers. This favorite myth, which our - patriotism has transferred to the highlands of the Hudson in a modified - shape, took its most popular form in the legend of the Seven Sleepers, and - this grotto at Ephesus was for many centuries the object of Christian and - Moslem pilgrimage. The Christian legend, that in the time of the - persecution of Diocletian seven young men escaped to this cave and slept - there two centuries, and awoke to find Christianity the religion of the - empire, was adopted and embellished by Mohammed. In his version, the wise - dog Ketmehr, or Al Rakiin as the Koran names him, becomes an important - character. - </p> - <p> - “When the young men,” says Abd-el-Atti, “go along the side of the hill to - the cave, the dog go to follow them. They take up stones to make him go - back, for they 'fraid of him bark, and let the people know where they - hide. But the dog not to go back, he sit down on him hind, and him look - berry wise. By and by he speak, he say the name of God. - </p> - <p> - “'How did you know that?' ask him the young men. - </p> - <p> - “'I know it,' the dog say, 'before you born!' - </p> - <p> - “Then they see the dog he wise by Allah, and know great deal, and let him - to go with 'em. This dog, Ketmehr, he is gone, so our Prophet say, to be - in Paradise; no other dog be there. So I hope.” - </p> - <p> - The names of the Seven Sleepers and Ketmehr are in great talismanic repute - throughout the East; they are engraved upon swords and upon gold and - precious stones, and in Smyrna you may buy these charms against evil. - </p> - <p> - Keeping round the hill Pion, we reached the ruins of the gymnasium, heaps - of stone amid brick arches, the remains of an enormous building; near it - is the north gate of the city, a fine marble structure, now almost buried. - Still circling Pion we found ourselves in a narrow valley, on the other - side of which was the long ridge of Conessus, which runs southward towards - the sea. Conessus seems to have been the burial-place of the old town. - This narrow valley is stuffed with remains of splendid buildings, of which - nothing is now to be seen but heaps of fine marble, walls, capitals, - columns, in prodigal waste. We stopped to admire a bit of carving, or to - notice a Greek inscription, and passed on to the Stadium, to the Little - Theatre, to the tomb of St. Luke. On one of the lintels of the entrance of - this tomb, in white marble, as fresh as if carved yesterday, is a cross, - and under it the figure of an <i>Egyptian</i> ox, the emblem of that - saint. - </p> - <p> - We emerged from this gorge to a wide view of the plain, and a glimpse of - an arm of the sea. On this plain are the scattered ruins of the old city, - brick, stone, and marble,—absolute desolation. On the left, near the - sea, is a conical hill, crowned by one of the towers of the ancient wall, - and dignified with the name of the “prison of St. Paul.” In this plain is - neither life nor cultivation, but vegetation riots over the crumbling - remains of Ephesus, and fever waits there its chance human prey. We stood - on the side of the hill Pion, amid the fallen columns and heaped walls of - its Great Theatre. It was to this theatre that the multitude rushed when - excited against Paul by Demetrius, the silversmith, who earned his - religion into his business; and here the companions of Paul endeavored to - be heard and could not, for “all with one voice about the space of two - hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” This amphitheatre for - fifty thousand spectators is scooped out of the side of the hill, and its - tiers of seats are still indicated. What a magnificent view they must have - enjoyed of the city and the sea beyond; for the water then came much - nearer; and the spectator who may have wearied of the strutting of the - buskined heroes on the stage, or of the monotonous chant of the chorus, - could rest his eye upon the purple slopes of Conessus, upon the colonnades - and domes of the opulent city, upon the blue waves that bore the - merchants' ships of Rome and Alexandria and Berytus. - </p> - <p> - The theatre is a mine of the most exquisite marbles, and we left its - treasures with reluctance; we saw other ruins, bases of columns, the - remains of the vast city magazines for the storage of corn, and solid - walls of huge stones once washed by the sea; we might have wandered for - days amid the fragments, but to what purpose? - </p> - <p> - At Ephesus we encountered no living thing. Man has deserted it, silence - reigns over the plain, nature slowly effaces the evidence of his - occupation, and the sea even slinks away from it. No great city that I - have seen is left to such absolute desolation; not Pæstum in its marsh, - not Thebes in its sand, not Ba'albek, not even Memphis, swept clean as it - is of monuments, for its site is vocal with labor and bounteous in - harvests. Time was, doubtless, when gold pieces piled two deep on this - ground could not have purchased it; and the buyers or sellers never - imagined that the city lots of Ephesus could become worth so little as - they are to-day. - </p> - <p> - If one were disposed to muse upon the vagaries of human progress, this - would be the spot. No civilization, no religion, has been wanting to it. - Its vast Cyclopean foundations were laid by simple pagans; it was in the - polytheistic belief of the Greeks that it attained the rank of one of the - most polished and wealthy cities of antiquity, famed for its arts, its - schools of poetry, of painting and sculpture, of logic and magic, - attracting to its opportunities the devout, the seekers of pleasure and of - wisdom, the poets, the men of the world, the conquerors and the defeated; - here Artemisia sheltered the children of Xerxes after the disaster of - Salamis; here Alexander sat for his portrait to Apelles (who was born in - the city) when he was returning from the capture of Sardis; Spartans and - Athenians alike, Lysander and Alcibiades, sought Ephesus, for it had - something for all; Hannibal here conferred with Antiochus; Cicero was - entertained with games by the people when he was on his way to his - province of Cilicia; and Antony in the character of inebriate Bacchus, - accompanied by Cleopatra, crowned with flowers and attended by bands of - effeminate musicians, made here one of the pageants of his folly. In fact, - scarcely any famous name of antiquity is wanting to the adornment of this - hospitable city. Under the religion of Christ it has had the good fortune - to acquire equal celebrity, thanks to the residence of Paul, the - tent-maker, and to its conspicuous position at the head of the seven - churches of Asia. From Ephesus went forth the * news of the gospel, as - formerly had spread the rites of Diana, and Christian* churches and - schools of philosophy succeeded the temples and gymnasia of the - polytheists. And, in turn, the cross was supplanted by the crescent; but - it was in the day when Islamism was no longer a vital faith, and except a - few beautiful ruins the Moslem occupation has contributed nothing to the - glory of Ephesus. And now paganism, Christianity, and Moslemism seem alike - to have forsaken the weary theatre of so much brilliant history. As we - went out to the station, by the row of booths and coffee-shops, a modern - Greek, of I do not know what religion, offered to sell me an image of I do - not know what faith. - </p> - <p> - There is great curiosity at present about the relics and idols of dead - religions, and a brisk manufacture of them has sprung up; it is in the - hands of sceptics who indifferently propagate the images of the Virgin - Mary or of the chaste huntress Diana. - </p> - <p> - The swift Asiatic train took us back to Smyrna in a golden sunset. We had - been warned by the agent not to tarry a moment beyond eight o'clock, and - we hurried breathless to the boat. Fortunately the steamer had not sailed; - we were in time, and should have been if we had remained on shore till - eight the next morning. All night long we were loading freight, with an - intolerable rattling of chains, puffing of the donkey-engine, and swearing - of boatmen; after the novelty of swearing in an Oriental tongue has worn - off, it is no more enjoyable than any other kind of profanity. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XII.—THE ADVENTURERS. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">W</span>E sailed away from - Smyrna Sunday morning, with the <i>Achille</i> more crowded than when we - entered that port. The second-class passengers still further encroached - upon the first-class. The Emir of Damascus, with all his rugs and beds, - had been pushed farther towards the stern, and more harems occupied - temporary pens on our deck, and drew away our attention from the natural - scenery. - </p> - <p> - The venerable, white-bearded, Greek bishop of Smyrna was a passenger, also - the tall noble-looking pasha of that city, just relieved and ordered to - Constantinople, as pashas are continually, at the whim of the Sultan. We - had three pashas on board,—one recalled from Haifa, who had been - only twenty days at his post. The pasha of Smyrna was accompanied by his - family, described on the register as his wife and “four others,” an - indefinite expression to define an indefinite condition. The wife had a - room below; the “four others” were penned up in a cushioned area on the - saloon deck, and there they squatted all day, veiled and robed in white, - poor things, without the least occupation for hand or mind. Near them, - other harems of Greeks and Turks, women, babies, slaves, all in an - Oriental mess, ate curds and green lettuce. - </p> - <p> - We coasted along the indented, picturesque shore of Asia, having in view - the mountains about ancient Pergamus, the seat of one of the seven - churches; and before noon came to Mitylene, the ancient Lesbos, a large - island which bears another Mount Olympus, and cast anchor in the bay upon - which the city stands. - </p> - <p> - By the bend of the bay and the opposite coast, the town is charmingly - land-locked. The site of Mitylene, like so many of these island cities, is - an amphitheatre, and the mountain-slopes, green and blooming with - fruit-trees, are dotted with white houses and villages. The scene is - Italian rather than Oriental, and gives one the general impression of - Castellamare or Sorrento; but the city is prettier to look at than to - explore, as its broad and clean streets, its ordinary houses and - European-dressed inhabitants, take us out of our ideal voyaging, and into - the regions of the commonplace. The shops were closed, and the country - people, who in all countries appear to derive an unexplained pleasure in - wandering about the streets of a city hand in hand, were seeking this mild - recreation. A youthful Jew, to whom the Sunday was naught, under pretence - of showing us something antique, led us into the den of a Greek, to whom - it was also naught, and whose treasures were bags of defaced copper coins - of the Roman period. - </p> - <p> - Upon the point above the city is a fine mediaeval fortress, now a Turkish - fort, where we encountered, in the sentinel at the gate, the only official - in the Orient who ever refused backsheesh; I do not know what his idea is. - From the walls we looked upon the blue strait, the circling, purple hills - of Asia, upon islands, pretty villages, and distant mountains, soft, hazy, - serrated, in short, upon a scene of poetry and peace, into which the - ancient stone bastion by the harbor, which told of days of peril, and a - ruined aqueduct struggling down the hill back of the town,—the - remnant of more vigorous days,—brought no disturbance. - </p> - <p> - In Lesbos we are at the source of lyric poetry, the Æolian spring of - Greece; here Alcæus was born. Here we come upon the footsteps of Sappho. - We must go back to a period when this and all the islands of these - heavenly seas were blooming masses of vegetation, the hills hung with - forests, the slopes purple with the vine, the valleys laughing with - flowers and fruit, and everywhere the primitive, joyful Greek life. No - doubt, manners were somewhat rude, and passions, love, and hate, and - revenge, were frankly exhibited; but in all the homely life ran a certain - culture, which seems to us beautiful even in the refinement of this - shamefaced age. The hardy youth of the islands sailed into far seas, and - in exchange for the bounty of their soil brought back foreign fabrics of - luxury. We know that Lesbos was no stranger to the Athenian influence, its - scholars had heard Plato and Aristotle, and the warriors of Athens - respected it both as a foe and an ally. Charakos, a brother of Sappho, - went to Egypt with a ship full of wine, and returned with the beautiful - slave Doricha, as part at least of the reward of his venture. - </p> - <p> - After the return of Sappho and her husband from their flight into Sicily, - the poet lived for many years at Mitylene; but she is supposed to have - been born in Eresso, on the southwestern point of the island, where the - ruins of the acropolis and remains of a sea-wall still mark the site of - the famous town. At any rate, she lived there, with her husband Kerkylas, - a landed proprietor and a person of consequence, like a dame of noble - birth and gentle breeding as she was; and in her verse we have a glimpse - of her walking upon the sandy shore, with her little daughter, the - beautiful child whom she would not give up for the kingdom of Lydia, nor - for heavenly Lesbos itself. That Sappho was beautiful as her image on the - ancient coins represents her, and that she was consumed by passion for a - handsome youth, the world likes to believe. But Maximus of Tyre says that - she was small and dark;—graces are not so plenty, even in heaven, - that genius and beauty can be lavished upon one person. We are prone to - insist that the poet who revels in imagination and sounds the depth of - passion is revealing his own heart, and that the tale that seems so real - must be a personal experience. The little glimpse we have of Sappho's life - does not warrant us to find in it the passionate tempest of her burning - lyrics, nor is it consistent with her social position that she should - expose upon the market-place her passion for the handsome Phaon, like a - troubadour of the Middle Ages or a Zingara of Bohemia. If that consuming - fire was only quenched in the sea at the foot of “Leucadia's - far-projecting rock of woe,” at least our emotion may be tempered by the - soothing knowledge that the leap must have been taken when the enamored - singer had passed her sixtieth year. - </p> - <p> - We did not see them at Mitylene, but travellers into the interior speak of - the beautiful women, the descendants of kings' daughters, the rewards of - Grecian heroes; near old Eresso the women preserve the type of that - indestructible beauty, and in the large brown eyes, voluptuous busts, and - elastic gait one may deem that he sees the originals of the antique - statues. - </p> - <p> - Another famous woman flits for a moment before us at Lesbos. It is the - celebrated Empress Irene, whose cruelty was hardly needed to preserve a - name that her talent could have perpetuated. An Athenian virgin and an - orphan, at seventeen she became the wife of Leo IV. (a. d. 780), and at - length the ruler of the Eastern Empire. Left the guardian of the empire - and her son Constantine VI., she managed both, until the lad in his - maturity sent his mother into retirement. The restless woman conspired - against him; he fled, was captured and brought to the palace and lodged in - the porphyry chamber where he first had seen the light, and where he last - saw it; for his eyes were put out by the order of Irene. His very - existence was forgotten in the depths of the palace, and for several years - the ambitious mother reigned with brilliancy and the respect of distant - potentates, until a conspiracy of eunuchs overturned her power, and she - was banished to Lesbos. Here history, which delights in these strokes of - poetic justice, represents the empress earning her bread by the use of her - distaff. - </p> - <p> - As we came from Mitylene into the open sea, the view was surpassingly - lovely, islands green and poetic, a coast ever retreating and advancing, - as if in coquetry with the blue waves, purple robing the hills,—a - voyage for poets and lotus-eaters. We were coming at night to Tenedos, to - which the crafty Greeks withdrew their fleet when they pretended to - abandon the siege, and to old Troy, opposite; we should be able to feel - their presence in the darkness. - </p> - <p> - Our steamer, as we have intimated, was a study of nationalities and - languages, as well as of manners. We were English, American, Greek, - Italian, Turkish, Arab, Russian, French, Armenian, Egyptian, Jew, - Georgian, Abyssinian, Nubian, German, Koor-land, Persian, Kurd; one might - talk with a person just from Mecca or Medina, from Bagdad, from Calcutta, - from every Greek or Turkish island, and from most of the capitals of - Europe. A couple of Capuchins, tonsured, in brown serge with hanging - crosses, walked up and down amid the throng of Christians, Moslems, and - pagans, withdrawn from the world while in it, like beings of a new sex. - There was a couple opposite us at table whom we could not make out,—either - recently married or recently eloped, the man apparently a Turkish officer, - and his companion a tall, showy woman, you might say a Frenchman's idea of - physical beauty, a little like a wax Madonna, but with nothing holy about - her; said by some to be a Circassian, by others to be a French grisette on - an Eastern tour; but she spoke Italian, and might be one of the - Continental countesses. - </p> - <p> - The square occupied by the emir and his suite—a sort of bazaar of - rugs and narghilehs—had music all day long; a soloist, on three - notes, singing, in the Arab drawl, an unending improvised ballad, and - accompanying himself on the mandolin. When we go to look at and listen to - him, the musician betrays neither self-consciousness nor pride, unless you - detect the latter in a superior smile that plays about his lips, as he - throws back his head and lets his voice break into a falsetto. It probably - does not even occur to his Oriental conceit that he does well,—<i>that</i> - his race have taken for granted a thousand years,—and he could not - be instructed by the orchestra of Von Bulow, nor be astonished by the - Lohengrin of Wagner. - </p> - <p> - Among the adventurers on board—we all had more or less the - appearance of experiments in that odd assembly—I particularly liked - the French <i>prestidigitateur</i> Caseneau, for his bold eye, utter - self-possession, and that indefinable varnish upon him, which belonged as - much to his dress as to his manner, and suggested the gentleman without - concealing the adventurer. He had a taste for antiquities, and wore some - antique gems, which had I know not what mysterious about them, as if he - had inherited them from an Ephesian magician or a Saracenic doctor of the - black art. At the table after dinner, surrounded by French and Italians, - the conjurer exhibited some tricks at cards. I dare say they were not - extraordinary, yet they pleased me just as well as the manifestations of - the spiritists. One of them I noted. The trickster was blindfolded. A - gentleman counted out a pack of cards, and while doing so mentally fixed - upon one of them by number. Caseneau took the pack, still blinded, and - threw out the card the gentleman had thought of. The experiment was - repeated by sceptics, who suspected a confederate, but the result was - always the same. - </p> - <p> - The Circassian beauty turned out to be a Jewess from Smyrna. I believe the - Jewesses of that luxurious city imitate all the kinds of beauty in the - world. - </p> - <p> - In the evening the Italians were grouped around the tables in the saloon, - upon which cards were cast about, matched, sorted, and redistributed, and - there were little piles of silver at the corners, the occasional chinking - of which appeared to add to the interest of the amusement. On deck the - English and Americans were singing the hymns of the Protestant faith; and - in the lull of the strains of “O mother dear, Jerusalem,” you might hear - the twang of strings and the whine of some Arab improvisatore on the - forward deck, and the chink of changing silver below. We were making our - way through a superb night,—a thousand people packed so closely that - you could not move without stepping into a harem or a mass of Greek - pilgrims,—singing hymns, gambling, listening to a recital of the - deeds of Antar, over silver waves, under a flooding moon, and along the - dim shores of Asia. That mysterious continent lay in the obscurity of the - past; here and there solitary lights, from some shepherd's hut in the - hills or fortress casemate by the shore, were the rents in the veil - through which we saw antiquity. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXIII.—THROUGH THE DARDANELLES. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE <i>Achille</i>, - which has a nose for freight, but none for poetry, did not stop at - Tenedos, puffed steadily past the plain of Troy, turned into the broad - opening of the Dardanelles, and by daylight was anchored midway between - the Two Castles. On such a night, if ever, one might see the evolution of - shadowy armies upon the windy plain,—if, indeed, this conspicuous - site was anything more than the theatre of Homer's creations,—the - spectators on the walls of Ilium, the Greeks hastily embarking on their - ships for Tenedos, the joyful procession that drew the fatal gift into the - impregnable walls. - </p> - <p> - There is a strong current southward through the Dardanelles, which swung - the vessel round as we came to anchor. The forts which, with their heavy - modern guns, completely command this strait, are something less than a - mile and a half apart, and near each is a large and handsome town,—Khilid-bahri - on the European shore and Chanak-Kalesi on the Asiatic. The latter name - signifies the pottery-castle, and is derived from the chief manufactory of - the place; the town of a couple of thousand houses, gayly painted and - decorated in lively colors, lies upon a sandy flat and presents a very - cheerful appearance. It is a great Asiatic <i>entrepôt</i> for European - products, and consular flags attest its commercial importance. - </p> - <p> - When I came upon deck its enterprising traders had already boarded the - steamer, and encumbered it with their pottery, which found a ready market - with the pilgrims, for it is both cheap and ugly. Perhaps we should rather - say fantastic than ugly. You see specimens of it all over the East, and in - the bazaars of Cairo, Jerusalem, and Damascus it may be offered you as - something rare. Whatever the vessel is,—a pitcher, cup, vase, jar, - or cream-pot,—its form is either that of some impossible animal, - some griffin, or dragon, or dog of the underworld, or its spout is the - neck and head of some fantastic monster. The ware is painted in the most - startling reds, greens, yellows, and blacks, and sometimes gilt, and then - glazed. It is altogether hideous, and fascinating enough to drive the - majolica out of favor. - </p> - <p> - Above these two towns the strait expands into a sort of bay, formed on the - north by a promontory jutting out from the Asiatic shore, and upon this - promontory it is now agreed stood old Abydos; it is occupied by a fort - which grimly regards a corresponding one on the opposite shore, not a mile - distant. Here Leander swam to Hero, Byron to aquatic fame, and here Xerxes - laid his bridge. All this is plain to be seen; this is the narrowest part - of the passage; exactly opposite this sloping site of Abydos is a - depression between two high cliffs, the only point where the Persian could - have rested the European extremity of his bridge; and it surely requires - no stretch of the imagination to see Hero standing upon this projecting - point holding the torch for her lover. - </p> - <p> - The shore is very pretty each side, not bold, but quiet scenery; and yet - there is a contrast: on the Asiatic horizon are mountains, rising behind - each other, while the narrow peninsula, the Thracian Chersonesus of the - ancients, which forms the western bank of the Dardanelles, offers only a - range of moderate hills. What a beautiful stream, indeed, is this, and how - fond history has been of enacting its spectacles upon it! How the - civilizations of the East and West, in a continual flow and reflow, push - each other across it! With a sort of periodic regularity it is the scene - of a great movement, and from age to age the destinies of the race have - seemed to hang upon its possession; and from time to time the attention of - the world is concentrated upon this water-street between two continents. - Under whatever name, the Oriental civilization has been a misfortune, and - the Western a blessing to the border-land; and how narrowly has Europe, - more than once, from Xerxes to Chosroes, from Omar to the Osmanlis, seemed - to escape the torrent of Eastern slavery. Once the culture of Greece - passed these limits, and annexed all Asia Minor and the territory as far - as the Euphrates to the empire of intelligence. Who shall say that the day - is not at hand when the ancient movement of free thought, if not of - Grecian art and arms, is about to be renewed, and Europe is not again to - impose its laws and manners upon Little Asia? The conquest, which one sees - going on under his eyes, is not indeed with the pomp of armies, but by the - more powerful and enduring might of commerce, intercourse, and the weight - of a world's opinion diffused by travel and literature. The Osmanli sits - supinely and watches the change; the Greeks, the rajahs of all religions, - establish schools, and the new generation is getting ready for the - revolution; the Turk does not care for schools. That it may be his fate to - abandon European Turkey and even Constantinople, he admits. But it is - plain that if he goes thus far he must go farther; and that he must - surrender a good part of the Roman Eastern Empire. For any one can see - that the Hellespont could not be occupied by two powers, and that it is no - more possible to divide the control of the Bosphorus than it is that of - the Hudson or the Thames. - </p> - <p> - The morning was cold, and the temperature as well as the sky admonished us - that we were passing out of the warm latitude. Twenty-five miles from the - Chang and Eng forts we passed near but did not call at Gallipoli, an - ancient city with few antiquities, but of great strategic importance. - Whoever holds it has the key to Constantinople and the Black Sea; it was - seized by the Moslems in the thirteenth century before they imposed the - religion of the Koran upon the city of Constantine, and it was early - occupied by the English and French, in 1854, in the war that secured that - city to the successor of the Prophet. - </p> - <p> - Entering upon the Sea of Marmora, the “vexed Propontis,” we had - fortunately smooth water but a cold north-wind. The Propontis has enjoyed - a nauseous reputation with all mariners, ancient and modern. I don't know - that its form has anything to do with it, but if the reader will take the - trouble to consult a map, he will see how nearly this hag of water, with - its two ducts, the Bosphorus and the Hellespont, resembles a human - stomach. There is nothing to be seen in the voyage from Gallipoli to - Constantinople, except the island of Marmora, famous for the quarries - which furnish marbles for the palaces of the Bosphorus and for Eyoub and - Scutari, the two great cities of the dead. We passed near enough to - distinguish clearly its fine perpendicular cliffs. - </p> - <p> - It was dark before we saw the lights of Stamboul rise out of the water; it - is impossible, at night, to enter the Golden Horn through the mazes of - shipping, and we cast anchor outside. The mile or two of gas-lights along - the promontory of the old city and the gleams upon the coast of ancient - Chalcedon were impressive and exciting to the imagination, but, owing to - the lateness of our arrival, we lost all the emotions which have, struck - other travellers anything but dumb upon coming in sight of the capital of - the Moslem Empire. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XIV.—CONSTANTINOPLE. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE capital which - we know as Constantinople, lying in two continents, presents itself as - three cities. The long, hornshaped promontory, between the Sea of Marmora - and the Golden Horn, is the site of ancient Byzantium, which Constantine - baptized with his own name, and which the Turks call Stamboul. The ancient - city was on the eastern extremity, now known as Seraglio Point; its - important position was always recognized, and it was sharply contended for - by the Spartans, the Athenians, the Macedonians, and the Persians. Like - the city of Romulus, it occupies seven hills, and its noble heights are - conspicuous from afar by sea or land.. In the fourth century it was - surrounded by a wall, which followed the water on three sides, and ran - across the base of the promontory, over four miles from the Seven Towers - on the Propontis to the Cemetery of Eyoub on the Golden Horn. The - land-wall, which so many times saved the effeminate city from the - barbarians of the north and the Saracens of Arabia, stands yet with its - battered towers and score of crumbling gates. - </p> - <p> - The second city, on a blunt promontory between the Golden Horn and the - Bosphorus, overlooks the ancient Byzantium, and is composed of three - districts,—Galata and Tophanna, on the water and climbing up the - hill; and Pera, which crowns the summit. Galata was a commercial - settlement of the thirteenth century; Pera is altogether modern. - </p> - <p> - The third city is Scutari, exactly opposite the mouth of the Golden Horn, - and a little north of ancient Chalcedon, which was for over a thousand - years the camp of successive besieging armies, Georgians, Persians, - Saracens, and Turks. - </p> - <p> - The city of the Crescent, like a veiled beauty of the harem, did not at - once disclose to us its charms. It was at six o'clock in the morning on - the eleventh day of blooming May, that we landed on the dirty quay of - Tophanna. The morning was cloudy, cold, misty, getting its weather from - the Black Sea, and during the day rain fell in a very Occidental - dreariness. Through the mist loomed the heights of Seraglio Point; and a - hundred minaret peaks and domes appeared to float in the air above the - veiled city. Along the floating lower bridge, across the Golden Horn, - poured an unceasing procession of spectres; caïques were shooting about in - every direction, steamers for the Bosphorus, for Scutari, for the Islands, - were momently arriving and departing from their stations below the bridge, - and the huge bulk of the Turkish ironclads could be discerned at their - anchorage before the palace of Beshiktash. The scene was animated, but - there was not visible as much shipping as I had expected to see in this - great port. - </p> - <p> - The customs' official on the quay was of a very inquisitive turn of mind, - but we could excuse him on the ground of his age and ignorance, for he was - evidently endeavoring to repair the neglected opportunities of his youth. - Our large luggage had gone to the custom-house in charge of Abd-el-Atti, - who has a genius for free-trade, and only our small parcels and hand-bags - were at the mercy of the inspector on the quay. But he insisted upon - opening every bag and investigating every article of the toilet and - garment of the night; he even ripped open a feather pillow which one of - the ladies carried with her, and neither the rain on the open dock nor our - respectable appearance saved our effects from his most searching - attentions. The discoveries of General di Ces-nola and the interest that - Europeans take in antiquities have recently convinced the Turks that these - relics must have some value, and an order had been issued to seize and - confiscate all curiosities of this sort. I trembled, therefore, when the - inspector got his hands upon a baby's nursing-bottle, which I had brought - from Cyprus, where it had been used by some Phoenician baby probably three - thousand years ago. The fellow turned it round and regarded it with - serious ignorance and doubt. - </p> - <p> - “What is that?” he asked Achmed. - </p> - <p> - “O, that's nothing but a piece of pottery, something for a child without - his mother, I think,—it is nothing, not worth two paras.” - </p> - <p> - The confiscator of antiquities evidently had not the slightest knowledge - of his business; he hesitated, but Achmed's perfect indifference of manner - determined him, and he slowly put the precious relic back into the box. - The inspector parted from us with regret, but we left him to the enjoyment - of a virtue unassailed by the least bribe,—an unusual, and, I - imagine, an unwelcome possession in this region. - </p> - <p> - Donkeys were not to be had, nor carriages, and we climbed on foot the very - steep hill to the hotel in Pera; ascending roughly paved, crooked streets, - lined with rickety houses, and occasionally mounting stairs for a mile - through a quarter that has the shabbiness but not the picturesqueness of - the Orient. A squad of porters seized our luggage and bore it before us. - The porters are the beasts of burden, and most of them wear heavy saddles, - upon which boxes and trunks can be strapped. No drays were visible. Heavy - burdens, hogsheads, barrels, and cases of goods were borne between two - long stout poles carried by four athletic men; as they move along the - street, staggering under the heavy load, everybody is obliged, - precipitately, to make way for them, for their impetus is such that they - cannot check their career. We see these gigantic fellows at every - street-corner, with their long poles, waiting for a job. Sedan-chairs, - which were formerly in much request, are gradually disappearing, though - there is nothing at present to exactly take the place of these lumbering - conveyances. Carriages increase every year, but they are expensive, and - they can only ascend the height of Pera by a long circuit. The place of - the sedan and the carriage is, however, to some extent supplied by a - railway in Galata, the cars of which are drawn up by a stationary engine. - And on each side of the Golden Horn is a horse-railway, running wherever - the ground is practicable. - </p> - <p> - To one coming from the West, I suppose that Constantinople would present a - very mixed and bizarre appearance, and that he would be impressed by the - silence of the busiest streets, in which the noise of wheels and the hum - of a Western capital is wanting. But to one coming from the East, Galata - and Pera seem a rather vulgarized European town. The Frank dress - predominates, although it is relieved by the red fez, which the Turks - generally and many Europeans wear. Variety enough there is in costumes, - but the Grecian, the Bulgarian, the Albanian, etc., have taken the place - of the purely Oriental; and the traveller in the Turkish capital to-day - beholds not only the conflux of Asia and Europe, but the transition, in - buildings, in apparel, in manners, to modern fashions. Few veiled women - are seen, and they wear a white strip of gauze which conceals nothing. The - street hawkers, the sellers of sweets, of sponges, and of cakes, are not - more peculiar in their cries than those of London and Paris. - </p> - <p> - When we had climbed the hill, we came into the long main street of Pera, - the street of the chief shops, the hotels and foreign embassies, a quarter - of the city which has been burned over as often as San Francisco, and is - now built up substantially with stone and brick, and contains very little - to interest the seeker of novelty. After we had secured rooms, and - breakfasted, at the hotel Byzance, we descended the hill again to the - water, and crossed the long, floating bridge to Stamboul. This bridge is a - very good symbol of the Sultan's Empire; its wooden upper works are - decayed, its whole structure is rickety, the floats that support it are - unevenly sunken, so that the bridge is a succession of swells and hollows; - it is crowded by opposing streams of the most incongruous people, foot and - horse jumbled together; it is encumbered by venders of eatables and - auctioneers of cheap Wares, and one has to pay toll to cross it. But it is - a microcosm of the world. In an hour one may see pass there every - nationality, adventurers from every clime, traders, priests, sailors, - soldiers, fortune-hunters of Europe, rude peasants of the provinces, sleek - merchants of the Orient, darwishes, furtive-eyed Jews; here is a - Circassian beauty seeking a lover through the carriage window; here a - Turkish grandee on a prancing, richly caparisoned horse; here moves a - squad of black soldiers, and now the bridge shakes under the weight of a - train of flying artillery. - </p> - <p> - The water is alive with the ticklish caïques. The caique is a long narrow - boat, on the model of the Indian birch-bark, canoe, and as thin and light - on the water; the passenger, if he accomplishes the feat of getting into - one without overturning it, sits upon the bottom, careful not to wink and - upset it; the oars have a heavy swell near the handle, to counterbalance - the weight of the long blade, and the craft skims the water with swiftness - and a most agreeable motion. The caïques are as numerous on the water as - the yellow, mangy dogs on shore, and the two are the most characteristic - things in Constantinople. - </p> - <p> - We spent a good part of the day in wandering about the bazaars of - Stamboul, and we need not repeat what has been heretofore said of these - peculiar shops. During our stay in the city we very thoroughly explored - them, and visited most of the great khans, where are to be found the silks - of Broussa, of Beyrout and Damascus, the rugs of Persia, the carpets of - Asia Minor, the arms and the cunning work in gold, silver, and jewels - gathered from every region between Ispahan and Darfour. We found the - bazaars extensive, well filled and dear, at least the asking price was - enormous, and we wanted the time and patience which are needed for the - slow siege of reducing the merchants to decent, terms. The bazaars are - solidly roofed arcades, at once more cleanly and less picturesque than - those of Cairo, and not so Oriental or attractive. Book-stalls, which are - infrequent in Cairo, abound here; and the long arcades lined with cases of - glittering gems, enormous pearls, sparkling diamonds, emeralds fit for the - Pope's finger, and every gold and silver temptation, exceed anything else - in the East in magnificence. And yet they have a certain modern air, and - you do not expect to find in them those quaint and fascinating antique - patterns of goldsmiths' work, the inherited skill of the smiths of the - Pharaohs, which draw you into the dingy recesses of the Copt artificers in - the city of the Nile. - </p> - <p> - From the Valideh Khan we ascended to the public square, where stands the - Seraskier's Eire-tower; a paved, open place, surrounded by government - buildings of considerable architectural pretensions, and dedicated, I - should say, to drumming, to the shifting about of squads of soldiers, and - the cantering hither and thither of Turkish beys. Near it is the old - mosque of Sultan Beyezid II., which, with its magnificent arabesque gates, - makes a fine external impression. The outer court is surrounded by a - cloister with columns of verd-antique and porphyry, enclosing a fountain - and three stately, venerable, trees. The trees and the arcades are alive - with doves, and, as we entered, more than a thousand flew towards us in a - cloud, with a great rustling and cooing. They are protected as an almost - sacred appendage of the mosque, and are said to be bred from a single pair - which the Sultan bought of a poor woman and presented to the house he had - built, three centuries and a half ago. This mosque has also another claim - to the gratitude of animals; for all the dogs of Stamboul, none of whom - have any home but the street, nor any other owner than the Prophet, resort - here every Friday, as regularly, if not as piously, as the Sultan goes to - pray, and receive their weekly bread. - </p> - <p> - Near this mosque are lines of booths and open-air shops, which had a - fascination for me as long as I remained in the city. They extend from the - trees in the place of the mosque down through lanes to the bazaars. The - keepers of them were typical Orientals, honest Jews, honest Moslems, - withered and one-eyed waiters on Providence and a good bargain, suave, - gracious, patient, gowned and turbaned, sitting cross-legged behind their - trays and showcases. These are the dealers in stones, both precious and - common, in old and new ornaments, and the thousand cheap adornments in - glass and metal which the humbler classes love. Here are heaps of - blood-stones, of carnelians, of agates, of jasper, of onyx, dishes of - turquoise, strings of doubtful pearls, barbarous rings and brooches, - charms and amulets,—a feast of color for the eye, and a sight to - kindle the imagination. For these bawbles came out of the recesses of the - Orient, were gathered by wild tribes in remote deserts, and transported by - caravan to this common mart. These dealers buy of the Persian merchants, - and of adventurous Jew travellers who range all the deserts from Teheran - to Upper Nubia in search of these shining stones. Some of the turquoises - are rudely set in silver rings, but most of them are merely glued to the - end of little sticks; these generally are the refuse of the trade, for the - finer stones go to the great jewellers in the bazaar, or to the Western - markets. A large and perfect turquoise of good color is very rare, and - commands a large price; but the cunning workmen of Persia have a method of - at once concealing the defects of a good-sized turquoise which has the - true color, and at the same time enhancing its value, by engraving upon it - some sentence from the Koran, or some word which is a charm against the - evil eye; the skill of the engraver is shown in fitting his letters and - flourishes to the flaws in the surface of the stone. To further hide any - appearance of imperfection, the engraved lines are often gilded. With a - venerable Moslem, who sat day after day under a sycamore-tree, I had great - content, and we both enjoyed the pleasure of endless bargaining without - cheating each other, for except in some trifles we never came to an exact - agreement. He was always promising me the most wonderful things for the - next day, which he would procure from a mysterious Jew friend who carried - on a clandestine commerce with some Bedawee in Arabia. When I was seated, - he would pull from his bosom a knotted silk handkerchief, and, carefully - untying it, produce a talisman, presenting it between his thumb and - finger, with a lift of the eyebrows and a cluck of the tongue that - expressed the rapture I would feel at the sight of it. To be sure, I found - it a turquoise set in rude silver, faded to a sickly green, and not worth - sixpence; but I handed it back with a sigh that such a jewel was beyond my - means, and intimated that something less costly, and of a blue color, - would suit me as well. We were neither of us deceived, while we maintained - the courtesies of commercial intercourse. Sometimes he would produce from - his bosom an emerald of real value or an opal of lovely hues, and - occasionally a stone in some peculiar setting which I had admired the day - before in the jewelry bazaar; for these trinkets, upon which the eye of - the traveller has been seen longingly to rest, are shifted about among - this mysterious fraternity to meet him again. - </p> - <p> - I suppose it was known all over Stamboul that a Prank had been looking for - a Persian amulet. As long as I sat with my friend, I never saw him - actually sell anything, but he seemed to be the centre of mysterious - transactions; furtive traders continually came to him to borrow or return - a jewel, or to exchange a handful of trumpery. Delusive old man! I had no - confidence in you, but I would go far to pass another day in your tranquil - society. How much more agreeable you were than the young Nubian at an - opposite stand, who repelled purchasers by his supreme indifference, and - met all my feeble advances with the toss of the head and the cluck in the - left cheek, which is the peremptory “no” in Nubia. - </p> - <p> - In this quarter are workers in shell and ivory, the makers of spoons of - tortoise-shell with handles of ivory and coral, the fabricators of combs, - dealers in books, and a long street of little shops devoted to the - engraving of seals. To wander about among these craftsmen is one of the - chief pleasures of the traveller. Vast as Stamboul is, if you remove from - it the mosques and nests of bazaars, it would not be worth a visit. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXV.—THE SERAGLIO AND ST. SOPHIA, HIPPODROME, etc. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">H</span>AVING procured a - firman, we devoted a day to the old Seraglio and some of the principal - mosques of Stamboul. After an occupation of fifteen centuries as a royal - residence, the Seraglio has been disused for nearly forty years, and fire, - neglect, and decay have done their work on it, so that it is but a - melancholy reminiscence of its former splendor. It occupies the ancient - site of Byzantium, upon the Point, and is enclosed by a crumbling wall - three miles in circuit. No royal seat in the world has a more lovely - situation. Upon the summit of the promontory, half concealed in cypresses, - is the cluster of buildings, of all ages and degrees of cheapness, in - which are the imperial apartments and offices; on the slopes towards the - sea are gardens, terraces, kiosks, and fountains. - </p> - <p> - We climbed up the hill on the side towards Pera, through a shabby field, - that had almost the appearance, of a city dumping-ground, and through a - neglected grove of cypresses, where some deer were feeding, and came round - to the main entrance, a big, ugly pavilion with eight openings over the - arched <i>porte</i>,—the gate which is known the world over as the - Sublime Porte. Through this we passed into a large court, and thence to - the small one into which the Sultan only is permitted to ride on - horseback. In the centre of this is a fountain where formerly pashas - foreordained to lose their heads lost them. On the right, a low range of - buildings covered with domes but no chimneys, are the royal kitchens; - there are nine of them,—one for the Sultan, one for the chief - sultanas, and so on down to the one devoted to the cooking of the food for - the servants. Hundreds of beasts, hecatombs, were slaughtered daily and - cooked here to feed the vast household. From this court open the doors - into the halls and divans and various apartments; one of them, leading - into the interior, is called the Gate of Felicity; in the old times that - could only be called a gate of felicity which let a person out of this - spider's parlor. In none of these rooms is there anything specially - attractive; cheap magnificence in decay is only melancholy. - </p> - <p> - We were better pleased in the gardens, where we looked upon Galata and - Pera, upon the Golden Horn and the long bridges streaming with their - picturesque processions, upon the Bosphorus and its palaces, and thousands - of sails, steamers, and caïques, and the shining heights of Scutari. - Overhanging the slope is the kiosk or summer palace of Sultan Moorad, a - Saracenic octagonal structure, the interior walls lined with Persian - tiles, the ceilings painted in red arabesques and gilded in mosaics, the - gates of bronze inlaid with mother-of-pearl; a most charming building, - said to be in imitation of a kiosk of Bagdad. In it we saw the Sultan's - private library, a hundred or two volumes in a glass case, that had no - appearance of having been read either by the Sultan or his wife. - </p> - <p> - The apartment in the Seraglio which is the object of curiosity and desire - is the treasure-room. I suppose it is the richest in the world in gems; it - is certainly a most wearisome place, and gave me a contempt for earthly - treasure. In the centre stands a Persian throne,—a chair upon a - board platform, and both incrusted with rubies, pearls, emeralds, - diamonds; there are toilet-tables covered to the feet with diamonds, - pipe-stems glistening with huge diamonds, old armor thickly set with - precious stones, saddle-cloths and stirrups stiff with diamonds and - emeralds, robes embroidered with pearls. Nothing is so cheap as wealth - lavished in this manner; at first we were dazzled by the flashing display, - but after a time these heaps of gems seemed as common in our eyes as - pebbles in the street. I did not even covet an emerald as large as my - fist, nor a sword-hilt in which were fifteen diamonds, each as large as - the end of my thumb, nor a carpet sown with pearls, some of which were of - the size of pigeon's eggs, nor aigrettes which were blazing with internal - fires, nor chairs of state, clocks and vases, the whole surfaces of which - were on fire with jewels. I have seen an old oaken table, carved in the - fifteenth century, which gave me more pleasure than one of lapis lazuli, - which is exhibited as the most costly article in this collection; though - it is inlaid with precious stones, and the pillars that support the mirror - are set with diamonds, and the legs and claws are a mass of diamonds, - rubies, carbuncles, emeralds, topazes, etc., and huge diamond pendants - ornament it, and the deep fringe in front is altogether of diamonds. This - is but a barbarous, ostentatious, and tasteless use of the beautiful, and - I suppose gives one an idea of the inartistic magnificence of the Oriental - courts in centuries gone by. - </p> - <p> - This treasure-house has, I presume, nothing that belonged to the Byzantine - emperors before the Moslem conquest, some of whom exceeded in their - magnificence any of the Osmanli sultans. Arcadius, the first Eastern - emperor after the division of the Roman world, rivalled, in the - appointments of his palace (which stood upon this spot) and in his dress, - the magnificence of the Persian monarchs; and perhaps the luxurious califs - of Bagdad at a later day did not equal his splendor. His robes were of - purple, a color reserved exclusively for his sacred person, and of silk, - embroidered with gold dragons; his diadem was of gold set with gems of - inestimable worth; his throne was massy gold, and when he went abroad he - rode in a chariot of solid, pure gold, drawn by two milk-white mules - shining in harness and trappings of gold. - </p> - <p> - No spot on earth has been the scene of such luxury, cruelty, treachery, - murder, infidelity of women, and rapacity of men, as this site of the old - palace; and the long record of the Christian emperors—the - occasionally interrupted anarchy and usurpation of a thousand years—loses - nothing in these respects in comparison with the Turkish occupation, - although the world shudders at the unrevealed secrets of the Seraglio. At - least we may suppose that nobody's conscience was violated if a pretty - woman was occasionally dropped into the Bosphorus, and there was the - authority of custom for the strangling of all the children of the sisters - of the Sultan, so that the succession might not be embarrassed. In this - court is the <i>cage</i>, a room accessible only by a window, where the - royal children were shut up to keep them from conspiracy against the - throne; and there Sultan Abdul Aziz spent some years of his life. - </p> - <p> - We went from the treasure-room to the ancient and large Church of St. - Irene, which is now the arsenal of the Seraglio, and become, one might - say, a church militant. The nave and aisles are stacked with arms, the - walls, the holy apse, the pillars, are cased in guns, swords, pistols, and - armor, arranged in fanciful patterns, and with an ingenuity I have seen - nowhere else. Here are preserved battle-flags and famous trophies, an - armlet of Tamerlane, a sword of Scanderbeg, and other pieces of cold, - pliant steel that have a reputation for many murders. There is no way so - sure to universal celebrity as wholesale murder. Adjoining the arsenal is - a museum of Greek and Roman antiquities of the city, all in Turkish - disorder; the Cyprus Collections, sent by General di Cesnola, are flung - upon shelves or lie in heaps unarranged, and most of the cases containing - them had not been opened. Near this is an interesting museum of Turkish - costumes for the past five hundred years,—rows on rows of ghastly - wax figures clad in the garments of the dead. All of them are ugly, many - of them are comical in their exaggeration. The costumes of the Janizaries - attract most attention, perhaps from the dislike with which we regard - those cruel mercenaries, who deposed and decapitated sultans at their - will, and partly because many of the dresses seem more fit for harlequins - or eunuchs of the harem than for soldiers. - </p> - <p> - When the Church of Santa Sophia, the House of Divine Wisdom, was finished, - and Justinian entered it, accompanied only by the patriarch, and ran from - the porticos to the pulpit with outstretched arms, crying, “Solomon, I - have surpassed thee!” it was doubtless the most magnificently decorated - temple that had ever stood upon the earth. The exterior was as far removed - in simple grandeur as it was in time from the still matchless Doric - temples of Athens and of Pæstum, or from the ornate and lordly piles of - Ba'albek; but the interior surpassed in splendor almost the conception of - man. The pagan temples of antiquity had been despoiled, the quarries of - the known world had been ransacked for marbles of various hues and - textures to enrich it; and the gold, the silver, the precious stones, - employed in its decoration, surpassed in measure the barbaric ostentation - of the Temple at Jerusalem. Among its forest of columns, one recognized - the starred syenite from the First Cataract of the Nile; the white marble - of Phrygia, striped with rose; the green of Laconia, and the blue of - Libya; the black Celtic, white-veined, and the white Bosphorus, - black-veined; polished shafts which had supported the roof of the Temple - of the Delian Apollo, others which had beheld the worship of Diana at - Ephesus and of Pallas Athene on the Acropolis, and, yet more ancient, - those that had served in the mysterious edifices of Osiris and Isis; - while, more conspicuous and beautiful than all, were the eight columns of - porphyry, which, transported by Aurelian from the Temple of the Sun at - Heliopolis to Home, the pious Marina had received as her dowry and - dedicated to the most magnificent building ever reared to the worship of - the True God, and fitly dominating the shores of Europe and Asia. - </p> - <p> - One reads of doors of cedar, amber, and ivory; of hundreds of sacred - vessels of pure gold, of exquisitely wrought golden candelabra, and - crosses of an hundred pounds' weight each; of a score of books of the - Evangelists, the gold covers of which weighed twenty pounds; of golden - lilies and golden trumpets; of forty-two thousand chalice-cloths - embroidered with pearls and jewels; and of the great altar, for which gold - was too cheap a material, a mass of the most precious and costly stones - imbedded in gold and silver. We may recall also the arches and the clear - spaces of the walls inlaid with marbles and covered with brilliant - mosaics. It was Justinian's wish to pave the floor with plates of gold, - but, restrained by the fear of the avarice of his successors, he laid it - in variegated marbles, which run in waving lines, imitating the flowing of - rivers from the four corners to the vestibules. But the wonder of the - edifice was the dome, one hundred and seven feet in span, hanging in the - air one hundred and eighty feet above the pavement. The aerial lightness - of its position is increased by the two half-domes of equal span and the - nine cupolas which surround it. - </p> - <p> - More than one volume has been exclusively devoted to a description of the - Mosque of St. Sophia, and less than a volume would not suffice. But the - traveller will not see the ancient glories. If he expects anything - approaching the exterior richness and grandeur of the cathedrals of - Europe, or the colossal proportions of St. Peter's at Rome, or the - inexhaustible wealth of the interior of St. Mark's at Venice, he will be - disappointed. The area of St. Peter's exceeds that of the grand Piazza of - St. Mark, while St. Sophia is only two hundred and thirty-five feet broad - by three hundred and fifty feet long; and while the Church of St. Mark has - been accumulating spoils of plunder and of piety for centuries, the Church - of the Divine Wisdom has been ransacked by repeated pillages and reduced - to the puritan plainness of the Moslem worship. - </p> - <p> - Exceedingly impressive, however, is the first view of the interior; we - stood silent with wonder and delight in the presence of the noble columns, - the bold soaring arches, the dome in the sky. The temple is flooded with - light, perhaps it is too bright; the old mosaics and paintings must have - softened it; and we found very offensive the Arabic inscriptions on the - four great arches, written in characters ten yards long. They are the - names of companions of the Prophet, but they look like sign-boards. - Another disagreeable impression is produced by the position of the <i>Mihrab</i>, - or prayer-niche; as this must be in the direction of Mecca, it is placed - at one side of the apse, and everything in the mosque is forced to conform - to it. Thus everything is askew; the pulpits are set at hateful angles, - and the stripes of the rugs on the floor all run diagonally across. When - one attempts to walk from the entrance, pulled one way by the - architectural plan, and the other by the religious diversion of it, he has - a sensation of being intoxicated. - </p> - <p> - Gone from this temple are the sacred relics which edified the believers of - former ages, such as the trumpets that blew down Jericho and planks from - the Ark of Noah, but the Moslems have prodigies to replace them. The most - curious of these is the sweating marble column, which emits a dampness - that cures diseases. I inserted my hand in a cavity which has been dug in - it, and certainly experienced a clammy sensation. It is said to sweat most - early in the morning. I had the curiosity to ascend the gallery to see the - seat of the courtesan and Empress Theodora, daughter of the keeper of the - bears of the circus,—a public and venal pantomimist, who, after - satisfying the immoral curiosity of her contemporaries in many cities, - illustrated the throne of the Cæsars by her talents, her intrigues, and - her devotion. The fondness of Justinian has preserved her initials in the - capitals of the columns, the imperial eagle marks the screen that hid her - seat, and the curious traveller may see her name carved on the balustrade - where she sat. - </p> - <p> - To the ancient building the Moslems have added the minarets at the four - corners and the enormous crescent on the dome, the gilding of which cost - fifty thousand ducats, and the shining of which, a golden moon in the day, - is visible at the distance of a hundred miles. The crescent, adopted by - the Osmanli upon the conquest of Jerusalem, was the emblem of Byzantium - before the Christian era. There is no spot in Constantinople more flooded - with historical associations, or more interesting to the student of the - history of the Eastern Empire, than the site of St. Sophia. Here arose the - church of the same name erected by Constantine; it was twice burned, once - by the party of St. John Chrysostom, and once in a tumult of the factions - of the Hippodrome. I should like to have seen some of the pageants that - took place here. After reposing in their graves for three centuries, the - bodies of St. Andrew, St. Luke, and St. Timothy were transported hither. - Fifty years after it was honored by a still more illustrious presence; the - ashes of the prophet Samuel, deposited in a golden vase covered with a - silken veil, left their resting-place in Palestine for the banks of the - Bosphorus. The highways from the hills of Judæa to the gates of - Constantinople were filled by an uninterrupted procession, who testified - their enthusiasm and joy, and the Emperor Arcadius himself, attended by - the most illustrious of the clergy and the Senate, advanced to receive his - illustrious guest, and conducted the holy remains to this magnificent but - insecure place of repose. It was here that Gregory Nazianzen was by force - installed upon the Episcopal throne by Theodosius. The city was - fanatically Arian. Theodosius proclaimed the Nicene creed, and ordered the - primate to deliver the cathedral and all the churches to the orthodox, who - were few in number, but strong in the presence of Gregory. This - extraordinary man had set up an orthodox pulpit in a private house; he had - been mobbed by a motley crowd which issued from the Cathedral of St. - Sophia, “common beggars who had forfeited their claim to pity, monks who - had the appearance of goats or satyrs, and women more horrible than so - many Jezebels”; he had his triumph when Theodosius led him by the hand - through the streets—filled with a multitude crowding pavement, - roofs, and windows, and venting their rage, grief, astonishment, and - despair—into the church, which was held by soldiers, though the - prelate confessed that the city had the appearance of a town stormed by - barbarians. It was here that Eutropius, the eunuch, when his career of - rapacity exceeded even the toleration of Arcadius, sought sanctuary, and - was protected by John Chrysostom, archbishop, who owed his ecclesiastical - dignity to the late sexless favorite. And it was up this very nave that - Mohammed II., the conqueror, spurred his horse through a crowd of - fugitives, dismounted at the foot of the altar, cried, “There is no God - but God, and Mohammed is his prophet!” and let loose his soldiery upon the - priests, virgins, and promiscuous multitude who had sought shelter here. - </p> - <p> - I should only weary you with unintelligible details in attempting a - description of other mosques which we visited. They are all somewhat - alike, though varying in degrees of splendor. There is that of Sultan - Ahmed, on the site of the Hippodrome, distinguished as the only one in the - empire that has six minarets,—the state mosque of the Sultan, whence - the Mecca pilgrimages proceed and where the great festivals are held. From - a distance it is one of the most conspicuous and poetically beautiful - objects in the city. And there is the Mosque of Suleiman the Magnificent, - a copy of St. Sophia and excelling it in harmonious grandeur,—indeed, - it is called the finest mosque in the empire. Its forecourt measures a - thousand paces, and the enclosure contains, besides the mosque and the - tomb of the founder, many foundations of charity and of learning,—three - schools for the young, besides one for the reading of the Koran and one of - medicine, four academies for the four Moslem sects, a hospital, a kitchen - for the poor, a library, a fountain, a resting-place for travellers, and a - house of refuge for strangers. From it one enjoys a magnificent view of - the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus, and the piled-up city opposite. When we - entered the mosque hundreds of worshippers were at prayer, bowing their - turbans towards Mecca in silent unison. The throng soon broke up into - groups of from ten to forty, which seated themselves in circles on the - floor for the reading of the Koran. The shoes were heaped in the centre of - each circle, the chief reader squatted at a low desk on one side, and all - read together in a loud voice, creating an extraordinary vocal tumult. It - was like a Sunday school in fancy dress. - </p> - <p> - Stamboul is a very interesting place to those who have a taste for - gorgeous sepulchres, and I do not know any such pleasant residences of the - dead as the <i>turbehs</i>, or tombs of the imperial family. Usually - attached to the mosques, but sometimes standing apart, they are elegant - edifices, such as might be suitable for the living; in their airy, light, - and stately chambers the occupants are deprived of no splendor to which - they were accustomed in life. One of the most beautiful of these <i>turbehs</i>, - that of Sultan Mahmood II., I mistook for a fountain; it is a domed, - circular building of white marble, with Corinthian pilasters, and lighted - by seven large windows with gilded grating. Within, in a cheerful, - carpeted apartment, are the biers of the sultan, his valideh sultana, and - five daughters, covered with cloths of velvet, richly embroidered, upon - which are thrown the most superb India shawls; the principal sarcophagi - are surrounded by railings of mother-of-pearl; massive silver candlesticks - and Koran-stands, upon which are beautiful manuscripts of the Koran, are - disposed about the room, and at the head of the Sultan's bier is a fez - with a plume and aigrette of diamonds. In the court of Santa Sophia you - may see the beautiful mausoleum of Selim II., who reposes beside the Lady - of Light; and not far from it the <i>turbeh</i> containing the remains of - Mohammed III., surrounded by the biers of seventeen brothers whom he - murdered. It is pleasant to see brothers united and in peace at last. I - found something pathetic in other like apartments where families were - gathered together, sultans and sultanas in the midst of little span-long - biers of sons and daughters, incipient sultans and sultanas, who were - never permitted by state policy, if I may be allowed the expression, to - hatch. Strangled in their golden cradles, perhaps, these innocents! - Worthless little bodies, mocked by the splendor of their interments. One - could not but feel a little respect for what might have been a “Sublime - Porte” or a Light of the Seraglio. - </p> - <p> - The Imperial Palace, the Church of Santa Sophia, the Hippodrome,—these - are the triangle of Byzantine history, the trinity of tyranny, religion, - and faction. The Circus of Constantinople, like that on the banks of the - Tiber, was the arena for the exhibition of games, races, spectacles, and - triumphs; like that, it was the arena of a licentious democracy, but the - most disorderly mob of Rome never attained the power or equalled the vices - of the murderous and incendiary factions of Byzantium. The harmless colors - that at first only distinguished the ignoble drivers in the chariot races - became the badges of parties, which claimed the protection and enjoyed the - favor of emperors and prelates; and the <i>blue</i> and the <i>green</i> - factions not only more than once involved the city in conflagration and - blood, but carried discord and frenzy into all the provinces. Although - they respected no human or divine law, they affected religious zeal for - one or another Christian sect or dogma; the “blues” long espoused the - orthodox cause, and enjoyed the partiality of Justinian. The dissolute - youth of Constantinople, wearing the livery of the factions, possessed the - city at night, and abandoned themselves to any deed of violence that fancy - or revenge suggested; neither the sanctity of the church, nor the peace of - the private house, nor the innocence of youth, nor the chastity of matron - or maid, was safe from these assassins and ravishers. It was in one of - their seditious outbreaks that the palace and Santa Sophia were delivered - to the flames. - </p> - <p> - The oblong ground of the Hippodrome is still an open place, although a - portion of the ground is covered by the Mosque of Ahmed. But the traveller - will find there few relics of this historical arena; nothing of the marble - seats and galleries that surrounded it. The curious may look at the - Egyptian obelisk of syenite, at the crumbling pyramid which was the - turning goal of the chariots; and he may find more food for reflection in - the bronze spiral column, formed by the twinings of three serpents whose - heads have been knocked off. It deserves to be housed and cared for. There - is no doubt of its venerable antiquity; it was seen by Thucydides and - Herodotus in the Temple of Delphi, where its three branching heads formed - a tripod upon which rested the dish of gold which the Greeks captured - among the spoils of the battle of Platæa. The column is not more than - fifteen feet high; it has stood here since the time of Constantine. - </p> - <p> - This is the most famous square of Constantinople, yet in its present - unromantic aspect it is difficult to reanimate its interest. It is said - that its statues of marble and bronze once excelled the living population - of the city. In its arena emperors, whose vices have alone saved their - names to a conspicuous contempt, sought the popular applause by driving in - the chariot races, or stripped themselves for the sports with wild beasts, - proud to remind the spectators of the exploits of Caligula and - Heliogabalus. Here, in the reign of Anastasius, the “green” faction, - entering the place with concealed daggers, interrupted a solemn festival - and assassinated three thousand of the “blues.” This place was in the - first quarter of this century the exercise and parade ground of the - Janizaries, until they were destroyed. Let us do justice to the Turks. In - two memorable instances they exhibited a nerve which the Roman emperors - lacked, who never had either the firmness or the courage to extirpate the - Prætorian Guards. The Janizaries set up, deposed, murdered sultans, as the - Guards did Emperors; and the Mamelukes of Egypt imitated their - predecessors at Rome. Mahmood II. in Constantinople, and Mohammed Ali in - Cairo, had the courage to extinguish these enemies of Turkish sovereignty. - </p> - <p> - In this neighborhood are several ancient monuments; the Burnt Column, a - blackened shaft of porphyry; the column called Historical; and that of - Theodosius,—I shall not fatigue you with further mention of them. - Not far from the Hippodrome we descended into the reservoir called A - Thousand and One Columns; I suppose this number is made up by counting one - as three, for each column consists of three superimposed shafts. It is - only partially excavated. We found a number of Jews occupying these - subterranean colonnades, engaged in twisting silk, the even temperature of - the cellar being favorable to this work. - </p> - <p> - As if we had come out of a day in another age, we walked down through the - streets of the artificers of brass and ivory and leather, to the floating - bridge, and crossed in a golden sunset, in which the minarets and domes of - the mosque of Mohammed II. appeared like some aerial creation in the - yellow sky. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXVI.—SAUNTERINGS ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">D</span>URING the day - steamers leave the Galata bridge every halfhour for the villages and - palaces along the Bosphorus; there is a large fleet of them, probably - thirty, but they are always crowded, like the ferry-boats that ply the - waters of New York Bay. - </p> - <p> - We took our first sail on the Bosphorus one afternoon toward sunset, - ascending as far as Bebek, where we had been invited to spend the night by - Dr. Washburne, the President of Roberts College. I shall not soon forget - the animation of the harbor, crowded with shipping, amid which the - steamers and caïques were darting about like shuttles, the first - impression made by the palaces and ravishingly lovely shores of this - winding artery between two seas. Seven promontories from Asia and seven - promontories from Europe project into the stream, creating as many - corresponding bays; but the villages are more numerous than bays and - promontories together, for there are over forty in the fourteen miles from - the Sea of Marmora to the Black Sea; on the shores is an almost unbroken - line of buildings, many of them palaces of marble; the heights are crowned - with cottages and luxurious villas, and abodes of taste and wealth peep - out along the slopes. If you say that we seem to be sailing in the street - of a city, I can only answer that it is not so; nature is still supreme - here, and the visible doweress of the scene. These lovely hills rising on - both sides, these gracious curves are hers, as are these groves and - gardens of fruits and flowers, these vines and the abundant green that - sometimes conceals and always softens the work of man. - </p> - <p> - Before we reached the Sultan's palace at Beshiktash, our steamer made a <i>détour</i> - to the east bank, outside of the grim ironclads that lie before the - imperial residence. No steamers are permitted to approach nearer, lest the - smoke should soil the sparkling white marble of the palace, or their - clamor and dangerous freight of men should disturb the serenity of the - harem. The palace, which is a beautiful building, stretches for some - distance along the water, with its gardens and conservatories, and seems - to be a very comfortable home for a man who has no more ready money than - the Sultan. - </p> - <p> - We landed at Bebek and climbed the steep hill, on whose slope nightingales - were singing in the forest, just in time to see the sunset. Roberts - College occupies the most commanding situation on the strait, and I do not - know any view that surpasses in varied beauty that to be enjoyed from it. - I shall make myself comprehended by many when I say that it strongly - reminded me of the Hudson at West Point; if nature could be suspected of - copying herself, I should say that she had the one in mind when she made - the other. At that point the Hudson resembles the Bosphorus, but it wants - the palaces, the Yale of the Heavenly Water into which we looked from this - height, and some charming mediaeval towers, walls, and castles. - </p> - <p> - The towers and walls belong to the fortress built in 1451 by Mohammed II., - and are now fallen into that decrepitude in which I like best to see all - fortresses. But this was interesting before it was a ruin. It stands just - above the college, at Roomeli Hissar, where the Bosphorus is narrowest,—not - more than half a mile broad,—and with the opposite fortress of - Anatolia could perfectly close the stream. Two years before the capture of - the city, Mohammed built this fort, and gave it the most peculiar form of - any fortress existing. His idea was that the towers and the circuit of the - walls should spell the name of the Prophet, and consequently his own. As - we looked down upon it, my friend read for me this singular piece of - caligraphy, but I could understand it no further than the tower which - stands for the Arabic ring in the first letter. It was at this place that - Darius threw a bridge across the Bosphorus, and there is a tradition of a - stone seat which he occupied here while his Asiatics passed into Europe. - </p> - <p> - So far as I know, there is no other stream in the world upon which the - wealth of palaces and the beauty of gardens may be so advantageously - displayed. So far as I know, there is no other place where nature and art - have so combined to produce an enchanting prospect. As the situation and - appearance of Constantinople are unequalled, so the Bosphorus is unique. - </p> - <p> - Whatever may be the political changes of the Turkish Empire, I do not - believe that this pleasing picture will be destroyed; rather let us expect - to see it more lovely in the rapidly developing taste of a new era of - letters and refinement. It was a wise forethought that planted the - American College just here. It is just where it should be to mould the new - order of things. I saw among its two hundred pupils scholars of all creeds - and races, who will carry from here living ideas to every part of the - empire, and I learned to respect that thirst for knowledge and ability to - acquire it which exist in the neighboring European provinces. If impatient - men could wait the process of education, the growth of schools, and the - development of capacity now already most promising, the Eastern question - might be solved by the appearance on the scene in less than a score of - years, of a stalwart and intelligent people, who would not only be able to - grasp Constantinople, but to administer upon the decaying Turkish Empire - as the Osmanli administered upon the Greek. - </p> - <p> - On Friday the great business of everybody is to see the Sultan go to pray; - and the eagerness with which foreigners crowd to the spectacle must - convince the Turks that we enjoy few religious privileges at home. It is - not known beforehand, even to the inmates of the palace, to what mosque - the Sultan will go, nor whether he will make a street progress on - horseback, or embark upon the water, for the chosen place of prayer. - Before twelve o'clock we took carriage and drove down the hill, past the - parade-ground and the artillery barracks to the rear of the palace of - Beshiktash; crowds on foot and in carriages were streaming in that - direction; regiments of troops were drifting down the slopes and emptying - into the avenue that leads between the palace and the plantation of - gardens; colors were unfurled, drums beaten, trumpets called from barrack - and guard-house; gorgeous officers on caparisoned horses, with equally - gaudy attendants, cantered to the rendezvous; and all the air was full of - the expectation of a great event. At the great square of the palace we - waited amid an intense throng; four or five lines of carriages stretched - for a mile along; troops were in marching rank along the avenue and - disposed in hollow square on the place; the palace gates were closed, and - everybody looked anxiously toward the high and gilded portal from which it - was said the announcement of the Sultan's intention would be made. From - time to time our curiosity was fed by the arrival of a splendid pasha, who - dismounted and walked about; and at intervals a gilded personage emerged - from the palace court and raised our expectation on tiptoe. We send our - dragoman to interrogate the most awful dignities, especially some superb - beings in yellow silk and gold, but they know nothing of the Sultan's - mind. At the last moment he might, on horseback, issue from the gate with - a brilliant throng, or he might depart in his caïque by the water front. - In either case there would be a rush and a scramble to see and to - accompany him. More regiments were arriving, bands were playing, superb - officers galloping up and down; carriages, gilded with the arms of foreign - embassies, or filled with Turkish ladies, pressed forward to the great - gate, which still gave no sign. I have never seen such a religious - excitement. For myself, I found some compensation in the usual Oriental - crowd and unconscious picturesqueness; swart Africans in garments of - yellow, sellers of sherbet clinking their glasses, venders of faint - sweetmeats walking about with trays and tripods, and the shifting - kaleidoscope of races, colors, and graceful attitudes. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly, I do not know how, or from what quarter, the feeling—for I - could not call it information—was diffused that the successor of the - Prophet would pray at the mosque in Ortakeui, and that he would go by - caïque; and we all scampered up the road, a mile or two, racing carriages, - troops and foot men, in eager outset, in order to arrive before the pious - man. The mosque stands upon the Bosphorus, where its broad marble steps - and pillared front and dome occupy as conspicuous a position as the Dogana - at Venice. We secured a standing-place on the dock close to the landing, - but outside the iron railing, and waited. A cordon of troops in blue - regimentals with red facings was drawn around the streets in the rear of - the mosque, and two companies of soldiers in white had stacked their guns - on the marble landing, and were lounging about in front of the building. - </p> - <p> - The scene on the Bosphorus was as gay as a flower-garden. The water was - covered with graceful caiques and painted barges and every sort of craft, - mean and splendid, that could be propelled by oars or sails. A dozen - men-of-war were decked with flags from keel to maintop; on every yard, and - from bowsprit to stern, stood a line of sailors sharply defined against - the blue sky. At one o'clock a cannon announced that the superior devotee - had entered his caique, and then from every vessel of war in the harbor - salute answered salute in thunder that awoke the echoes of two continents; - until on all the broad water lay a thick battle-smoke, through which we - could distinguish only the tops of the masts, and the dim hulks spouting - fire. - </p> - <p> - In the midst of this earthquake of piety, there was a cry, “He comes, he - comes!” The soldiers grasped their arms and drew a line each side of the - landing, and the officials of the mosque arranged themselves on the steps. - Upon the water, advancing with the speed of race-horses, we saw two - splendid gilded caïques, the one containing the Sultan, the other his - attendants. At the moment, a light carriage with two bay horses, - unattended, dashed up to the side door, and there descended from it and - entered the mosque the imperial heir, the son of the late Sultan and the - nephew of the present, a slender, pale youth of apparently twenty-five or - thirty years. We turn (not knowing how soon he is to become Sultan Murad - V.) our eyes to him only for a moment, for the Sultan's caique comes with - imperious haste, with the rush as it were of victory,—an hundred - feet long, narrow, rising at the stern like the Venetian Bucentaur, carved - and gilded like the golden chariot in which Alexander entered Babylon,—propelled - by fifty-two long sweeps, rising and falling in unison with the bending - backs of twenty-six black rowers, clad in white and with naked feet. The - Sultan is throned in the high stern, hung with silk, on silken cushions, - under a splendid canopy on the top of which glisten his arms and a blazing - sun. The Sultan, who is clad in the uniform of a general, steps quickly - out, walks up the steps over a carpet spread for his royal feet,—the - soldiers saluting, everybody with arms crossed bending the body,—and - disappears in the mosque. The second caique lands immediately, and the - imperial ministers step from it and follow their master. - </p> - <p> - At the side entrance an immense closed baggage-wagon, drawn by four horses - and said to contain the sacred wardrobe, was then unlocked and unloaded, - and out of it came trunks, boxes, carpetbags, as if the imperial visitor - had come to stay a week. After a half-hour of prayer he came out, his - uniform concealed under his overcoat, got quickly into a plain carriage, - drawn by four magnificent gray horses, and drove rapidly away, attended by - a dozen outriders. His heir followed in the carriage in which he came. We - had a good view of the chief of Islam. He was a tall, stout man, with a - full gray beard, and on the whole a good face and figure. All this parade - is weekly enacted over one man going to pray. It is, after all, more - simple than the pageantry that often attends the public devotion of the - vicegerent of Christ in St. Peter's. - </p> - <p> - Upon our return we stopped at the <i>tekkeb</i>, in Pera, to see the - performance of the Turning Darwishes. I do not know that I have anything - to add to the many animated descriptions which have been written of it. It - is not far from the Little Field of the Dead, and all about the building - are tombs of the faithful, in which were crowds of people enjoying that - peculiar Oriental pleasure, graveyard festivity. The mosque is pleasant, - and has a polished dancing-floor, surrounded by a gallery supported on - columns. I thought it would be a good place for a “hop.” Everybody has - seen a picture of the darwishes, with closed eyes, outstretched arms, and - long gowns inflated at the bottom like an old-fashioned churn, turning - smoothly round upon their toes, a dozen or twenty of them revolving - without collision. The motion is certainly poetic and pleasing, and the - plaintive fluting of the Arab <i>nay</i> adds I know not what of pathos to - the exercise. I think this dance might advantageously be substituted in - Western <i>salons</i> for the German, for it is graceful and perfectly - moral. - </p> - <p> - Constantinople is a city of the dead as much as of the living, and one - encounters everywhere tombs and cemeteries sentinelled by the mournful - dark-green cypress. On our way to take boat for the Sweet Waters of Europe - we descended through the neglected Little Field of the Dead. It is on a - steep acclivity, and the stones stand and lean thickly there, each - surmounted by a turban in fashion at the period of the occupant's death, - and with inscription neatly carved. That “every man has his date” strikes - Abd-el-Atti as a remarkable fact. The ground is netted by haphazard paths, - and the careless living tread the graves with thoughtless feet, as if the - rights of the dead to their scanty bit of soil were no longer respected. - We said to the boatman that this did not seem well. There was a weary - touch of philosophy in his reply: “Ah, master, the world grows old!” - </p> - <p> - It is the fashion for the world to go on Friday to the Sweet Waters of - Europe, the inlet of the Golden Horn, flowing down between two ranges of - hills. This vale, which is almost as celebrated in poetry as that of the - Heavenly Water on the Asiatic shore, is resorted to by thousands, in - hundreds of carriages from Fera, in thousands of caïques and barges. On - the water, the excursion is a festival of the people, of strangers, of - adventurers of both sexes; the more fashionable though not moral part of - society, who have equipages to display, go by land. We chose the water, - and selected a large four-oared caïque, in the bottom of which we seated - ourselves, after a dozen narrow escapes from upsetting the tottlish craft, - and rowed away, with the grave Abd-el-Atti balanced behind and under bonds - to preserve his exact equilibrium. - </p> - <p> - All the city seems to be upon the water; the stream is alive with the - slender, swift caïques; family parties, rollicking midshipmen from some - foreign vessel, solitary beauties reclining in selfish loveliness, grave - fat Turks, in stupid enjoyment. No voyage could be gayer than this through - the shipping, with the multitudinous houses of the city rising on either - hand. As we advance, the shore is lined with people, mostly ladies in gay - holiday apparel, squatting along the stream; as on a spring day in Paris, - those who cannot afford carriages line the avenues to the Bois de Boulogne - to watch the passing pageant. The stream grows more narrow, at length - winds in graceful turns, and finally is only a few yards wide, and the - banks are retained by masonry. The vale narrows also, and the hills draw - near. The water-way is choked with gayly painted caiques, full of laughing - beauties and reckless pleasure-seekers, and the reader of Egyptian history - might think himself in a saturnalia of the revel-makers in the ancient <i>fête</i> - of Bubastis on the Nile. The women are clad in soft silks,—blue, - red, pink, yellow, and gray,—some of them with their faces tied up - as if they were victims of toothache, others wearing the gauze veils, - which enhance without concealing charms; and the color and beauty that - nature has denied to many are imitated by paint and enamel. - </p> - <p> - We land and walk on. Singers and players on curious instruments sit along - the bank and in groups under the trees, and fill the festive air with the - plaintive and untrained Oriental music. The variety of costumes is - infinite; here we meet all that is gay and fantastic in Europe and Asia. - The navigation ends at the white marble palace and mosque which we now see - shining amid the trees, fresh with May foliage. Booths and tents, green - and white, are erected everywhere, and there are many groups of gypsies - and fortune-tellers. The olive-complexioned, black-eyed, long-haired - women, who trade in the secrets of the Orient and the vices of the - Occident, do a thriving business with those curious of the future, or - fascinated by the mysterious beauty of the soothsayers. Besides the bands - of music, there are solitary bagpipers whose instrument is a skin, with a - pipe for a mouthpiece and another at the opposite end having graduated - holes for fingering; and I noticed with pleasure that the fingering and - the music continued long after the musician had ceased to blow into the - inflated skin. Nothing was wanting to the most brilliant scene; ladies in - bright groups on gay rugs and mats, children weaving head-dresses from - leaves and rushes, crowds of carriages, fine horses and gallant horsemen, - sellers of refreshments balancing great trays on their heads, and bearing - tripod stools, and all degrees of the most cosmopolitan capital enjoying - the charming spring holiday. - </p> - <p> - In the palace grounds dozens of peacocks were sunning themselves, and the - Judas-trees were in full pink bloom. Above the palace the river flows in - walled banks, and before it reaches it tumbles over an artificial fall of - rocks, and sweeps round the garden in a graceful curve. Beyond the palace, - also on the bank of the stream, is a grove of superb trees and a - greensward; here a military band plays, and this is the fashionable - meeting-place of carriages, where hundreds were circling round and round - in the imitated etiquette of Hyde Park. - </p> - <p> - We came down at sunset, racing swiftly among the returning caïques, - passing and passed by laughing boatsful, whose gay hangings trailed in the - stream, as in a pageant on the Grand Canal of Venice, and watching with - the interest of the philosopher only, the light boat of beauty and frailty - pursued by the youthful caique of inexperience and desire. The hour - contributed to make the scene one of magical beauty. To our right lay the - dark cypresses of the vast cemetery of Eyoub (or Ayub) and the shining - mosque where, at their inauguration, the Osmanli Sultans are still girt - with the sword of their founder. At this spot, in the first siege of - Constantinople by the Arabs, fell, amid thirty thousand Moslems, slain - outside the Golden Gate, the Aboo Ayub, or Job, one of the last companions - of the Prophet. He was one of the immortal auxiliaries; he had fought at - Beder and Obud side by side with Abubeker, and he had the honor to be one - of the first assailants of the Christian capital, which Mohammed had - predicted that his followers should one day possess. The site of his - grave, forgotten for seven centuries, was revealed to the conqueror of the - city by a fortunate vision, and the spot was commemorated by a mosque, and - a gathering congregation of the dead. - </p> - <p> - Clouds had collected in the west, and the heavy smoke of innumerable - steamers lay dark upon the Bosphorus. But as we came down, the sun broke - out and gave us one of those effects of which nature is sparing. On the - heights of Stamboul, a dozen minarets, only half distinct, were touched by - the gold rays; the windows of both cities, piled above each other, blazed - in it; the smooth river and the swift caiques were gilded by it; and - behind us, domes and spires, and the tapering shafts of the Muezzin, the - bases hid by the mist, rose into the heaven of the golden sunset and - appeared like mansions, and most unsubstantial ones, in the sky. And ever - the light caiques flew over the rosy water in a chase of pleasure, in a - motion that satisfied the utmost longing for repose, while the enchantment - of heaven seemed to have dropped upon the earth. - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - “The world has lost its gloss for us, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - Since we went boating on the Bosphorus.” - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p> - Constantinople enjoys or suffers the changeable weather appropriate to its - cosmopolitan inhabitants and situation, and we waited for a day suitable - to cross to Scutari and obtain the view from Boolgoorloo. We finally - accepted one of alternate clouds and sunshine. The connection between the - European city and its great suburb is maintained by frequent - ferry-steamers, and I believe that no other mile-passage in the world can - offer the traveller a scene more animated or views so varied and - magnificent. Near the landing at Scutari stands a beacon-tower ninety' - feet high, erected upon a rock; it has the name of the Maiden's Tower, but - I do not know why, unless by courtesy to one of the mistresses of Sultan - Mohammed, who is said to have been shut up in it. Scutari,—pronounced - with the accent on the first syllable, a corruption of the Turkish name <i>Uskudar</i>,—the - site of the old Greek and Persian Chrysopolis, is a town sprawling over - seven hills, has plenty of mosques, baths, and cemeteries,—the three - Oriental luxuries,—but little to detain the traveller, already - familiar with Eastern towns of the sort. The spot has been in all ages an - arriving and starting point for Asiatic couriers, caravans, and armies; - here the earliest Greek sea-robbers hauled up their venturous barks; here - Xenophon rested after his campaign against Cyrus; here the Roman and then - the Byzantine emperors had their hunting-palaces; here for a long time the - Persians menaced and wrung tribute from the city they could not capture. - </p> - <p> - We took a carriage and ascended through the city to the mountain of - Boolgoorloo. On the slopes above the town are orchards and vineyards and - pretty villas. The last ten minutes of the climb was accomplished on foot, - and when we stood upon the summit the world was at our feet. I do not know - any other view that embraces so much and such variety. The swelling top - was carpeted with grass, sprinkled with spring flowers, and here and there - a spreading pine offered a place of shade and repose. Behind us continued - range on range the hills of the peninsula; to the south the eye explored - Asia Minor, the ancient Bithynia and Mysia, until it rested on the - monstrous snowy summits of Olympus, which rears itself beyond Broussa, - city famed for its gauzy silk and the first capital of the Osman dynasty. - There stretches the blue Sea of Marmora, bearing lightly on the surface - the nine enchanting Princes' Islands, whose equable climate and fertile - soil have obtained for them the epithet of the Isles of the Blest. - Opposite, Stamboul rises out of the water on every side; in the distance a - city of domes and pinnacles and glass, the dark-green spires of cypress - tempering its brilliant lustre; there the Golden Horn and its thronged - bridges and its countless masts and steamers' funnels; Galata and Pera, - also lifted up into nobility, and all their shabby details lost, and the - Bosphorus, its hills, marble palaces, mosques, and gardens, on either - side. I do not know any scene that approaches this in beauty except the - Bay of Naples, and the charm of that is so different from this that no - comparison is forced upon the mind. The Bay of New York has many of the - elements of this charming prospect, on the map. But Constantinople and its - environs can be seen from many points in one view, while one would need to - ascend a balloon to comprehend in like manner the capital of the Western - world. It is the situation of Constantinople, lifted up into a - conspicuousness that permits no one of its single splendors to be lost in - the general view, that makes it in appearance the unrivalled empress of - cities. - </p> - <p> - In the foreground lay Scutari, and in a broad sweep the heavy mass of - cypress forest that covers the great cemetery of the Turks, which they are - said to prefer to Eyoub, under the prophetic impression that they will one - day be driven out of Europe. The precaution seems idle. If in the loss of - Constantinople the Osmanli sultans still maintain the supremacy of Islam, - the Moslem capital could not he on these shores, and the caliphate in its - migrations might again he established on the Nile, on the Euphrates, or in - the plains of Guta on the Abana. The iron-clads that lie in the Bosphorus, - the long guns of a dozen fortresses that command every foot of the city - and shore, forbid that these contiguous coasts should fly hostile flags. - </p> - <p> - We drove down to and through this famous cemetery in one direction and - another. In its beauty I was disappointed. It is a dense and gloomy - cypress forest; as a place of sepulture, without the architectural - pretensions of Père-la-Chaise, and only less attractive than that. Its - dark recesses are crowded with gravestones, slender at the bottom and - swelling at the top, painted in lively colors,—green, red, and gray, - a necessary relief to the sombre woods,—having inscriptions in gilt - and red letters, and leaning at all angles, as if they had fallen out in a - quarrel over night. The graves of the men are distinguished by stones - crowned with turbans, or with tarbooshes painted red,—an imitation, - in short, of whatever head-dress the owner wore when alive, so that - perhaps his acquaintances can recognize his tomb without reading his name. - Some of the more ancient have the form of a mould of Charlotte Busse. I - saw more than one set jauntily on one side, which gave the monument a - rakish air, singularly <i>débonnaire</i> for a tombstone. - </p> - <p> - In contrast to this vast assembly of the faithful is the pretty English - cemetery, dedicated to the fallen in the Crimean war,—a well-kept - flower-garden, which lies close to the Bosphorus on a point opposite the - old Seraglio. We sat down on the sea-wall in this quiet spot, where the - sun falls lovingly and the undisturbed birds sing, and looked long at the - shifting, busy panorama of a world that does not disturb this repose; and - then walked about the garden, noting the headstones of soldiers,—this - one killed at Alma, that at Inkermann, another at Balaklava, and the tall, - graceless granite monument to eight thousand nameless dead; nameless here, - but not in many a home and many a heart, any more than the undistinguished - thousands who sleep at Gettysburg or on a hundred other patriot fields. - </p> - <p> - Near by is the great hospital which Florence Nightingale controlled, and - in her memory we asked permission to enter its wards and visit its garden. - After some delay this was granted, but the Turkish official said that the - hospital was for men, that there was no woman there, and as for Miss - Nightingale, he had never heard of her. But we persevered and finally - found an officer who led us to the room she occupied,—a large - apartment now filled with the beds of the sick, and, like every other part - of the establishment, neat and orderly. But our curiosity to see where the - philanthropist had labored was an enigma to the Turkish officials to the - last. They insisted at first that we must be relations of Miss - Nightingale,—a supposition which I saw that Abd-el-Atti, who always - seeks the advantage of distinction, was inclined to favor. But we said no. - Well, perhaps it was natural that Englishmen should indulge in the - sentiment that moved us. But we were not Englishmen, we were Americans,—they - gave it up entirely. The superintendent of the hospital, a courtly and - elderly bey, who had fought in the Crimean war, and whom our dragoman, - dipping his hand to the ground, saluted with the most profound Egyptian - obeisance, insisted upon serving us coffee in the garden by the fountain - of gold-fish, and we spent an hour of quiet there. - </p> - <p> - On Sunday at about the hour that the good people in America were beginning - to think what they should wear to church, we walked down to the service in - the English Memorial Church, on the brow of the hill in Pera, a pointed - Gothic building of a rich and pleasing interior. Only once or twice in - many months had we been in a Christian church, and it was, at least, - interesting to contrast its simple forms with the elaborate Greek ritual - and the endless repetitions of the Moslem prayers. A choir of boys intoned - or chanted a portion of the service, with marked ability, and wholly - relieved the audience of the necessity of making responses. The clergymen - executed the reading so successfully that we could only now and then catch - a word. The service, so far as we were concerned, might as well have been - in Turkish; and yet it was not altogether lost on us. We could distinguish - occasionally the Lord's Prayer, and the name of Queen Victoria, and we - caught some of the Commandments as they whisked past us. We knew also when - we were in the Litany, from the regular cadence of the boys' responses. - But as the entertainment seemed to be for the benefit of the clergymen and - boys, I did not feel like intruding beyond the office of a spectator, and - I soon found myself reflecting whether a machine could not be invented - that should produce the same effect of sound, which was all that the - congregation enjoyed. - </p> - <p> - Rome has been until recently less tolerant of the Protestant faith than - Constantinople; and it was an inspiration of reciprocity to build here a - church in memory of the Christian soldiers who fell in the crusade to - establish the Moslem rule in European Turkey. - </p> - <p> - Of the various views about Constantinople we always pronounced that best - which we saw last, and at the time we said that those from Seraglio Point, - from Boolgoorloo, and from Roberts College were crowned by that from - Giant's Grave Mountain, a noble height on the Asiatic side of the - Bosphorus near the Black Sea. - </p> - <p> - One charming morning, we ascended the strait in a steamboat that calls at - the landings on the eastern shore. The Bosphorus, if you will have it in a - phrase, is a river of lapis lazuli lined with marble palaces. As we saw it - that morning, its sloping gardens, terraces, trees, and vines in the - tender bloom of spring, all the extravagance of the Oriental poets in - praise of it was justified, and it was easy to believe the nature-romance - with which the earliest adventurers had clothed it. There, at Beshiktash, - Jason landed to rest his weary sailors on the voyage to Colchis; and above - there at Koroo Ghesmeh stood a laurel-tree which Medea planted on the - return of the Argonauts. Tradition has placed near it, on the point, the - site of a less attractive object, the pillar upon which Simeon Stylites - spent forty years of a life which was just forty years too long; but I do - not know by what authority, for I believe that the perch of the Syrian - hermit was near Antioch, where his noble position edified thousands of - Christians, who enjoyed their piety in contemplating his, and took their - pleasures in the groves of Daphne. - </p> - <p> - Our steamer was, at this moment, a craft more dangerous to mankind than an - iron-clad; it was a sort of floating harem; we sat upon the awning-covered - upper deck; the greater part of the lower deck was jealously curtained off - and filled with Turkish ladies. Among them we recognized a little flock of - a couple of dozen, the harem of Mustapha Pasha, the uncle of the Khedive - of Egypt. They left the boat at his palace in Chenguel Keuy, and we saw - them, in silk gowns of white, red, blue, and yellow, streaming across the - flower-garden into the marble portal,—a pretty picture. The pasha - was transferring his household to the country for the summer, and we - imagined that the imprisoned troop entered these blooming May gardens with - the elation of freedom, which might, however, be more perfect if eunuchs - did not watch every gate and foot of the garden wall. I suppose, however, - that few of them would be willing to exchange their lives of idle luxury - for the misery and chance of their former condition, and it is said that - the maids of the so-called Christian Georgia hear with envy of the good - fortune of their sisters, who have brought good prices in the Turkish - capital. - </p> - <p> - When the harem disappeared we found some consolation in a tall Croat, who - strutted up and down the deck in front of us, that we might sicken with - envy of his splendid costume. He wore tight trousers of blue cloth, baggy - in the rear but fitting the legs like a glove, and terminating over the - shoes in a quilled inverted funnel; a brilliant scarf of Syrian silk in - loose folds about his loins; a vest stiff with gold-em broidery; a scarlet - jacket decked with gold-lace, and on his head a red fez. This is the - costly dress of a Croatian gardener, who displays all his wealth to make a - holiday spectacle of himself. - </p> - <p> - We sailed close to the village of Kandili and the promontory under which - and upon which it lies, a site which exhausts the capacity of the - loveliness of nature and the skill of art. From the villas on its height - one commands, by a shifted glance, the Euxine and the Marmora, and - whatever is most lovely in the prospect of two continents; the purity of - the air is said to equal the charm of the view. Above this promontory - opens the valley down which flows the river Geuksoo (sky-water), and at - the north of it stands a white marble kiosk of the Sultan, the most - beautiful architectural creation on the strait. Near it, shaded by great - trees, is a handsome fountain; beyond the green turf in the tree-decked - vale which pierces the hill were groups of holiday-makers in gay attire. I - do not know if this Valley of the Heavenly Water is the loveliest in the - East, but it is said that its charms of meadow, shade, sweet water, and - scented flowers are a substantial foretaste of the paradise of the true - believer. But it is in vain to catalogue the charming villages, the fresh - beauties of nature and art to which each revolution of the paddle-wheel - carried us. We thought we should be content with a summer residence of the - Khedive, on the European side below the lovely bay of Terapea, with its - vast hillside of gardens and orchards and the long line of palaces on the - water. Fanned by the invigorating breezes from the Black Sea, its summer - climate must be perfect. - </p> - <p> - We landed at Beicos, and, in default of any conveyance, walked up through - the straggling village, along the shore, to a verdant, shady meadow, sweet - with clover and wild-flowers. This is in the valley of Hun-Kiar Iskelesi, - a favorite residence of the sultans; here on a projecting rocky point is a - reddish palace built and given to the Sultan by the Khedive. The meadow, - in which we were, is behind a palace of old Mohammed Ali, and it is now - used as a pasture for the Sultan's horses, dozens of which were tethered - and feeding in the lush grass and clover. The tents of their attendants - were pitched on the plain, and groups of Turkish ladies were picnicking - under the large sycamores. It was a charming rural scene. I made the - silent acquaintance of an old man, in a white turban and flowing robes, - who sat in the grass knitting and watching his one white lamb feed; - probably knitting the fleece of his lamb of the year before. - </p> - <p> - We were in search of an <i>araba</i> and team to take us up the mountain; - one stood in the meadow which we could hire, but oxen were wanting, and we - despatched a Greek boy in search of the animals. The Turkish ladies of - fashion delight in the araba when they ride into the country, greatly - preferring it to the horse or donkey, or to any other carriage. It is a - long cart of four wheels, without springs, but it is as stately in - appearance as the band-wagon of a circus; its sloping side-boards and even - the platform in front are elaborately carved and gilded. While we waited - the motions of the boy, who joined to himself two others even more prone - to go astray than himself, an officer of the royal stables invited us to - take seats under the shade of his tent and served us with coffee. After an - hour the boy returned with two lean steers. The rude, hooped top of the - araba was spread with a purple cloth, a thick bedquilt covered the bottom, - and by the aid of a ladder we climbed into the ark and sat or lay as we - could best stow ourselves. A boy led the steers by a rope, another walked - at the side gently goading them with a stick, and we rumbled along slowly - through the brilliant meadows. It became evident after a time that we were - not ascending the mountain, but going into the heart of the country; the - cart was stopped and the wild driver was interrogated. I never saw a human - being so totally devoid of a conscience. We had hired him to take us up to - Giant's Grave Mountain. He was deliberately cheating us out of it. At - first he insisted that he was going in the right direction, but upon the - application of the dragoman's fingers to his ear, he pleaded that the - mountain road was bad and that it was just as well for us to visit the - Sultan's farm up the valley. We had come seven thousand miles to see the - view from the mountain, but this boy had not the least scruple in - depriving us of it. We turned about and entered a charming glen, - thoroughly New England in its character, set with small trees and shrubs - and carpeted with a turf of short sweet grass. One needs to be some months - in the Orient to appreciate the delight experienced by the sight of - genuine turf. - </p> - <p> - As we ascended, the road, gullied by the spring torrents, at last became - impassable for wheels, and we were obliged to abandon the araba and - perform the last half-mile of the journey on foot. The sightly summit of - the mountain is nearly six hundred feet above the water. There, in a - lovely grove, we found a coffeehouse and a mosque and the Giant's Grave, - which the Moslems call the grave of Joshua. It is a flower-planted - enclosure, seventy feet long and seven wide, ample for any hero; the - railing about it is tagged with bits of cloth which pious devotees have - tied there in the expectation that their diseases, perhaps their sins, - will vanish with the airing of these shreds. From the minaret is a - wonderful view,—the entire length of the Bosphorus, with all its - windings and lovely bays enlivened with white sails, ships at anchor, and - darting steamers, rich in villages, ancient castles, and forts; a great - portion of Asia Minor, with the snow peaks of Olympus; on the south, the - Islands of the Blest and the Sea of Marmora; on the north, the Cyanean - rocks and the wide sweep of the Euxine, blue as heaven and dotted with a - hundred white sails, overlooked by the ruin of a Genoese castle, at the - entrance of the Bosphorus, built on the site of a temple of Jupiter, and - the spot where the Argonauts halted before they ventured among the - Symplegades; and immediately below, Terapea and the deep bay of - Buyukdereh, the summer resort of the foreign residents of Constantinople, - a paradise of palaces and gardens, of vales and stately plane-trees, and - the entrance to the interior village of Belgrade, with its sacred forest - unprofaned as yet by the axe. - </p> - <p> - The Cyanean rocks which Jason and his mariners regarded as floating - islands, or sentient monsters, vanishing and reappearing, are harmlessly - anchored now, and do not appear at all formidable, though they disappear - now as of old when the fierce Euxine rolls in its storm waves. Por a long - time and with insatiable curiosity we followed with the eye the line of - the coast of the Pontus Euxinus, once as thickly set with towns as the - Riviera of Italy,—cities of Ionian, Dorian, and Athenian colonies, - who followed the Phoenicians and perhaps the Egyptians,—in the vain - hope of extending our vision to Trebizond, to the sea fortress of Petra, - renowned for its defence by the soldiers of Chosroes against the arms of - Justinian, and, further, to the banks of the Pliasis, to Colchis, whose - fabulous wealth tempted Jason and his sea-robbers. The waters of this land - were so impregnated with particles of gold that fleeces of sheep were used - to strain out the yellow metal. Its palaces shone with gold and silver, - and you might expect in its gardens the fruit of the Hesperides. In the - vales of the Caucasus, we are taught, our race has attained its most - perfect form; in other days its men were as renowned for strength and - valor as its women were for beauty,—the one could not be permanently - subdued, the others conquered, even in their slavery. Early converts to - the Christian faith, they never adopted its morals nor comprehended its - metaphysics; and perhaps a more dissolute and venal society does not exist - than that whose business for centuries has been the raising of maids for - the Turkish harems. And the miserable, though willing, victims are said to - possess not even beauty, until after a training in luxury by the - slave-dealers. - </p> - <p> - We made our way, not without difficulty, down the rough, bush-grown - hillside, invaded a new Turkish fortification, and at length found a place - where we could descend the precipitous bank and summon a boat to ferry us - across to Buyukdereh. This was not easy to obtain; but finally an aged - Greek boatman appeared with a caique as aged and decayed as himself. The - chances seemed to be that it could make the voyage, and we all packed - ourselves into it, sitting on the bottom and filling it completely. There - was little margin of boat above the water, and any sudden motion would - have reduced that to nothing. We looked wise and sat still, while the old - Greek pulled feebly and praised the excellence of his craft. On the - opposite slope our attention was called to a pretty cottage, and a - Constantinople lady, who was of the party, began to tell us the story of - its occupant. So dramatic and exciting did it become that we forgot - entirely the peril of our frail and overloaded boat. The story finished as - we drew up to the landing, which we instantly comprehended we had not - reached a moment too soon. Eor when we arose our clothes were soaked; we - were sitting in water, which was rapidly filling the boat, and would have - swamped it in five minutes. The landing-place of Buyukdereh, the bay, the - hills and villas, reminded us of Lake Como, and the quay and streets were - rather Italian than Oriental. The most soaked of the voyagers stood - outside the railing of the pretty garden of the <i>café</i> to dry in the - sun, while the others sat inside, under the vines, and passed out to the - unfortunates, through the iron bars, tiny cups of coffee, and fed them - with <i>rahat-al-lacoom</i> and other delicious sweetmeats, until the - arrival of the steamer. The ride down was lovely; the sun made the - barracks and palaces on the east shore a blaze of diamonds; and the - minarets seen through the steamer's smoke which, transfused with the rosy - light, overhung the city, had a phantasmagorical aspect. - </p> - <p> - Constantinople shares with many other cities the reputation of being the - most dissolute in the world. The traveller is not required to decide the - rival claims of this sort of pre-eminence, which are eagerly put forward; - he may better, in each city, acquiesce in the complaisant assumption of - the inhabitants. But when he is required to see in the moral state of the - Eastern capital signs of its speedy decay, and the near extinction of the - Othman rule, he takes a leaf out of history and reflects. It is true, no - doubt, that the Turks are enfeebled by luxury and sensuality, and have, to - a great extent, lost those virile qualities which gave to their ancestors - the dominion of so many kingdoms in Asia, Africa, and Europe; in short, - that the race is sinking into an incapacity to propagate itself in the - world. If one believes what he hears, the morals of society could not be - worse. The women, so many of whom have been bought in the market, or are - daughters of slaves, are educated only for pleasure; and a great - proportion of the male population are adventurers from all lands, with few - domestic ties. The very relaxation of the surveillance of the harem (the - necessary prelude to the emancipation of woman) opens the door to - opportunity, and gives freer play to feminine intrigue. One hears, indeed, - that even the inmates of the royal harem find means of clandestine - intercourse with the foreigners of Pera. The history of the Northern and - Western occupation of the East has been, for fifteen centuries, only a - repetition of yielding to the seductive influences of a luxurious climate - and to soft and pleasing invitation. - </p> - <p> - But, heighten as we may the true and immoral picture of social life in - Constantinople, I doubt if it is so loose and unrestrained as it was for - centuries under the Greek Emperors; I doubt if the imbecility, the - luxurious effeminacy of the Turks has sunk to the level of the Byzantine - Empire; and when we are asked to expect in the decay of to-day a speedy - dissolution, we remember that for a period of over a thousand years, from - the partition of the Roman Empire between the two sons of Theodosius to - the capture of Constantinople by Mohammed II., the empire subsisted in a - state of premature and perpetual decay. These Oriental dynasties are a - long time in dying, and we cannot measure their decrepitude by the - standards of Occidental morality. - </p> - <p> - The trade and the commerce of the city are largely in the hands of - foreigners; but it has nearly always been so, since the days of the - merchants and manufacturers of Pisa, Genoa, and Venice. We might draw an - inference of Turkish insecurity from the implacable hatred of the - so-called Greek subjects, if the latter were not in the discord of a - thousand years of anarchy and servitude. The history of the islands of the - Eastern Mediterranean has been a succession of Turkish avarice and - rapacity, horrible Greek revenge and Turkish wholesale devastation and - massacre, repeated over and over again; but there appears as yet no power - able either to expel the Turks or unite the Greeks. That the leaven of - change is working in the Levant is evident to the most superficial - observation, and one sees everywhere the introduction of Western - civilization, of business habits, and, above all, of schools. However - indifferent the Osmanlis are to education, they are not insensible to - European opinion; and in reckoning up their bad qualities, we ought not to - forget that they have set some portions of Christendom a lesson of - religious toleration,—both in Constantinople and Jerusalem the - Christians were allowed a freedom of worship in their own churches which - was not permitted to Protestants within the sacred walls of Pontifical - Rome. - </p> - <p> - One who would paint the manners or the morals of Constantinople might - adorn his theme with many anecdotes, characteristic of a condition of - society which is foreign to our experience. I select one which has the - merit of being literally true. You who believe that modern romance exists - only in tales of fiction, listen to the story of a beauty of - Constantinople, the vicissitudes of whose life equal in variety if not in - importance those of Theodora and Athenais. For obvious reasons, I shall - mention no names. - </p> - <p> - There lives now on the banks of the Bosphorus an English physician, who, - at the entreaty of Lord Byron, went to Greece in 1824 as a volunteer - surgeon in the war of independence; he arrived only in time to see the - poet expire at Missolonghi. In the course of the war, he was taken - prisoner by the Egyptian troops, who in their great need of surgeons kept - him actively employed in his profession. He did not regain his freedom - until after the war, and then only on condition that he should reside in - Constantinople as one of the physicians of the Sultan, Mohammed II. - </p> - <p> - We may suppose that the Oriental life was not unpleasant, nor the position - irksome to him, for he soon so far yielded to the temptations of the - capital as to fall in love with a very pretty face which he saw daily in a - bay-window of the street he traversed on the way to the Seraglio. - Acquaintance, which sometimes precedes love, in this case followed it; the - doctor declared his passion and was accepted by the willing maid. But an - Oriental bay-window is the opportunity of the world, and the doctor, - becoming convinced that his affianced was a desperate flirt, and yielding - to the entreaties of his friends, broke off the engagement and left her - free, in her eyry, to continue her observations upon mankind. This, - however, did not suit the plans of the lovely and fickle girl. One - morning, shortly after, he was summoned to see two Turkish ladies who - awaited him in his office; when he appeared, the young girl (for it was - she) and her mother threw aside their disguise, and declared that they - would not leave the house until the doctor married the daughter, for the - rupture of the engagement had rendered it impossible to procure any other - husband. Whether her own beauty or the terrible aspect of the mother - prevailed, I do not know, but the English chaplain was sent for; he - refused to perform the ceremony, and a Greek priest was found who married - them. - </p> - <p> - This marriage, which took the appearance of duress, might have been happy - if the compelling party to it had left her fondness of adventure and - variety at the wedding threshold; but her constancy was only assumed, like - the Turkish veil, for an occasion; lovers were not wanting, and after the - birth of three children, two sons and a daughter, she deserted her husband - and went to live with a young Turk, who has since held high office in the - government of the Sultan. It was in her character of Madame Mehemet Pasha - that she wrote (or one of her sons wrote for her) a book well known in the - West, entitled “Thirty Years in a Harem.” But her intriguing spirit was - not extinct even in a Turkish harem; she attempted to palm off upon the - pasha, as her own, a child that she had bought; her device was detected by - one of the palace eunuchs, and at the same time her amour with a Greek of - the city came to light. The eunuch incurred her displeasure for his - officiousness, and she had him strangled and thrown into the Bosphorus! - Some say that the resolute woman even assisted with her own hands. For - these breaches of decorum, however, she paid dear; the pasha banished her - to Kutayah, with orders to the guard who attended her to poison her on the - way; but she so won upon the affection of the officer that he let her - escape at Broussa. There her beauty, if not her piety, recommended her to - an Imam of one of the mosques, and she married him and seems for a time to - have led a quiet life; at any rate, nothing further was heard of her until - just before the famous cholera season, when news came of the death of her - husband, the Moslem priest, and that she was living in extreme poverty, - all her beauty gone forever, and consequently her ability to procure - another husband. - </p> - <p> - The pasha, Mehemet, lived in a beautiful palace on the eastern shore of - the Bosphorus, near Kandili. During the great cholera epidemic of 1865, - the pasha was taken ill. One day there appeared at the gate an unknown - woman, who said that she had come to cure the pasha; no one knew her, but - she spoke with authority, and was admitted. It was our adventuress. She - nursed the pasha with the most tender care and watchful skill, so that he - recovered; and, in gratitude for the preservation of his life, he - permitted her and her daughter to remain in the palace. For some time they - were contented with the luxury of such a home, but one day—it was - the evening of Wednesday—neither mother nor daughter was to be - found; and upon examination it was discovered that a large collection of - precious stones and some ready money had disappeared with them. They had - departed on the French steamer, in order to transfer their talents to the - fields of Europe. The fate of the daughter I do not know; for some time - she and her mother were conspicuous in the dissipation of Paris life; - subsequently the mother lived with a son in London, and, since I heard her - story in Constantinople, she has died in London in misery and want. - </p> - <p> - The further history of the doctor and his family may detain our curiosity - for a moment. When his wife left him for the arms of the pasha, he - experienced so much difficulty in finding any one in Constantinople to - take care of his children that he determined to send them to Scotland to - be educated, and intrusted them, for that purpose, to a friend who was - returning to England. They went by way of Rome. It happened that the - mother and sister of the doctor had some time before that come to Rome, - for the sake of health, and had there warmly embraced the Roman Catholic - faith. Of course the three children were taken to see their grandmother - and aunt, and the latter, concerned for their eternal welfare, diverted - them from their journey, and immured the boys in a monastery and the girl - in a convent. The father, when he heard of this abduction, expressed - indignation, but, having at that time only such religious faith as may be - floating in the Oriental air and common to all, he made no vigorous effort - to recover his children. Indeed, he consoled himself, in the fashion of - the country, by marrying again; this time a Greek lady, who died, leaving - two boys. The doctor was successful in transporting the offspring of his - second marriage to Scotland, where they were educated; and they returned - to do him honor,—one of them as the eloquent and devoted pastor of a - Protestant church in Pera, and the other as a physician in the employment - of the government. - </p> - <p> - After the death of his second wife, the doctor—I can but tell the - story as I heard it—became a changed man, and—married again; - this time a Swiss lady, of lovely Christian character. In his changed - condition, he began to feel anxious to recover his children from the grasp - of Rome. He wrote for information, but his sister refused to tell where - they were, and his search could discover no trace of them. At length the - father obtained leave of absence from the Seraglio, and armed with an - autograph letter from Abdul Aziz to Pius IX., he went to Rome. The Pope - gave him an order for the restoration of his children. He drove first to - the convent to see his daughter. In place of the little girl whom he had - years ago parted with, he found a young lady of extraordinary beauty, and - a devoted Romanist. At first she refused to go with him, and it was only - upon his promise to allow her perfect liberty of conscience, and never to - interfere with any of the observances of her church, that she consented. - Not daring to lose sight of her, he waited for her to pack her trunk, and - then, putting her into a carriage, drove to the monastery where he heard, - after many inquiries, that his boys were confined. The monk who admitted - him denied that they were there, and endeavored to lock him into the - waiting-room while he went to call the Superior. But the doctor - anticipated his movements, and as soon as the monk was out of sight, - started to explore the house. By good luck the first door he opened led - into a chamber where a sick boy was lying on a bed. The doctor believed - that he recognized one of his sons; a few questions satisfied him that he - was right. “I am your father,” he said to the astonished lad, “run quickly - and call your brother and come with me.” Monastic discipline had not so - many attractions for the boys as convent life for the girl, and the child - ran with alacrity and brought his brother, just as the abbot and a score - of monks appeared upon the scene. As the celerity of the doctor had given - no opportunity to conceal the boys, opposition to the order of the Pope - was useless, and the father hastened to the gate where he had left the - carriage. Meantime the aunt had heard of the rescue, and followed the girl - from the convent; she implored her, by tears and prayers, to reverse her - decision. The doctor cut short the scene by shoving his sons into the - carriage and driving rapidly away. Nor did he trust them long in Rome. - </p> - <p> - The subsequent career of the boys is not dwelt on with pleasure. One of - them enlisted in the Turkish army, married a Turkish wife, and, after some - years, deserted her, and ran away to England. His wife was taken into a - pasha's family, who offered to adopt her only child, a boy of four years; - but the mother preferred to bring him to his grandfather. None of the - family had seen her, but she established her identity, and begged that her - child might be adopted by a good man, which she knew his grandfather to - be, and receive a Christian training. The doctor, therefore, adopted the - grandchild, which had come to him in such a strange way, and the mother - shortly after died. - </p> - <p> - The daughter, whose acquired accomplishments matched her inherited beauty, - married, in time, a Venetian Count of wealth; and the idler in Venice may - see on the Grand Canal, among those mouldy edifices that could reveal so - many romances, their sumptuous palace, and learn, if he cares to learn, - that it is the home of a family happy in the enjoyment of most felicitous - fortune. In the gossip with which the best Italian society sometimes - amuses itself, he might hear that the Countess was the daughter of a slave - of the Sultan's harem. I have given, however, the true version of the - romantic story; but I am ignorant of the social condition or the race of - the mother of the heroine of so many adventures. She may have been born in - the Caucasus. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXVII.—FROM THE GOLDEN HORN TO THE ACROPOLIS. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">O</span>UR last day in - Constantinople was a bright invitation for us to remain forever. We could - have departed without regret in a rain-storm, but it was not so easy to - resolve to look our last upon this shining city and marvellous landscape - under the blue sky of May. Early in the morning we climbed up the Genoese - Tower in Galata and saw the hundred crescents of Stamboul sparkle in the - sun, the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus, shifting panoramas of trade and - pleasure, the Propontis with its purple islands, and the azure and snowy - mountains of Asia. This massive tower is now a fire-signal station, and - night and day watchmen look out from its battlemented gallery; the - Seraskier Tower opposite in Stamboul, and another on the heights of the - Asiatic shore, keep the same watch over the inflammable city. The guard - requested us not to open our parasols upon the gallery for fear they would - be hailed as fire-signals. - </p> - <p> - The day was spent in last visits to the bazaars, in packing and - leave-takings, and the passage of the custom-house, for the government - encourages trade by an export as well as an import duty. I did not see any - of the officials, but Abd-el-Atti, who had charge of shipping our baggage, - reported that the eyes of the customs inspector were each just the size of - a five-franc piece. Chief among our regrets at setting our faces toward - Europe was the necessity of parting with Abd-el-Atti and Ahmed; the former - had been our faithful dragoman and daily companion for five months, and we - had not yet exhausted his adventures nor his stores of Oriental humor; and - we could not expect to find elsewhere a character like Ahmed, a person so - shrewd and obliging, and of such amusing vivacity. At four o'clock we - embarked upon an Italian steamer for Salonica and Athens, a four days' - voyage. At the last moment Abd-el-Atti would have gone with us upon the - least encouragement, but we had no further need of dragoman or - interpreter, and the old man sadly descended the ladder to his boat. I can - see him yet, his red fez in the stern of the caique, waving his large silk - handkerchief, and slowly rowing back to Pera,—a melancholy figure. - </p> - <p> - As we steamed out of the harbor we enjoyed the view we had missed on - entering: the Seraglio Point where blind old Dandolo ran his galley - aground and leaped on shore to the assault; the shore of Chalcedon; the - seven towers and the old wall behind Stamboul, which Persians, Arabs, - Scythians, and Latins have stormed; the long sweeping coast and its - minarets; the Princes' Islands and Mt. Olympus,—all this in a - setting sun was superb; and we said, “There is not its equal in the - world.” And the evening was more magnificent,—a moon nearly full, a - sweet and rosy light on the smooth water, which was at first azure blue, - and then pearly gray and glowing like an amethyst. - </p> - <p> - Smoothly sailing all night, we came at sunrise to the entrance of the - Dardanelles, and stopped for a couple of hours at Chanak Kalessi, before - the guns of the Castle of Asia. The wide-awake traders immediately swarmed - on board with their barbarous pottery, and with trays of cooked fish, - onions, and bread for the deck passengers. The latter were mostly Greeks, - and men in the costume which one sees still in the islands and the Asiatic - coasts, but very seldom on the Grecian mainland; it consists of baggy - trousers, close at the ankles, a shawl about the waist, an embroidered - jacket usually of sober color, and, the most prized part of their - possessions, an arsenal of pistols and knives in huge leathern holsters, - with a heavy leathern flap, worn in front. Most of them wore a small red - fez, the hair cut close in front and falling long behind the ears. They - are light in complexion, not tall, rather stout, and without beauty. - Though their dress is picturesque in plan, it is usually very dirty, - ragged, and, the last confession of poverty, patched. They were all armed - like pirates; and when we stopped a cracking fusillade along the deck - suggested a mutiny; but it was only a precautionary measure of the - captain, who compelled them to discharge their pistols into the water and - then took them from them. - </p> - <p> - Passing out of the strait we saw the Rabbit Islands and Tene-dos, and - caught a glimpse of the Plain of Troy about as misty as its mythic - history; and then turned west between Imbros and Lemnos, on whose bold - eastern rock once blazed one of the signal-fires which telegraphed the - fall of Troy to Clytemnestra. The first women of Lemnos were altogether - beautiful, but they had some peculiarities which did not recommend them to - their contemporaries, and indeed their husbands were accustomed - occasionally to hoist sail and bask in the smiles of the damsels of the - Thracian coast. The Lemnian women, to avoid any legal difficulties, such - as arise nowadays when a woman asserts her right to slay her partner, - killed all their husbands, and set up an Amazonian state which they - maintained with pride and splendor, permitting no man to set foot on the - island. In time this absolute freedom became a little tedious, and when - the Argonauts came that way, the women advanced to meet the heroes with - garlands, and brought them wine and food. This conduct pleased the - Argonauts, who made Lemnos their headquarters and celebrated there many a - festive combat. Their descendants, the Minyæ, were afterwards overcome by - the Pelasgians, from Attica, who, remembering with regret the beautiful - girls of their home, returned and brought back with them the willing and - the lovely. But the children of the Attic women took on airs over their - superior birth, which the Pelasgian women resented, and the latter finally - removed all cause of dispute by murdering all the mothers of Attica and - their offspring. These events gave the ladies of Lemnos a formidable - reputation in the ancient world, and furnish an illustration of what - society would be without the refining and temperate influence of man. - </p> - <p> - To the northward lifted itself the bare back of Samothrace, and beyond the - dim outline of Thasos, ancient gold-island, the home of the poet - Archilochus, one of the few Grecian islands which still retains something - of its pristine luxuriance of vegetation, where the songs of innumerable - nightingales invite to its deep, flowery valleys. Beyond Thasos is the - Thracian coast and Mt. Pangaus, and at the foot of it Philippi, the - Macedonian town where republican Rome fought its last battle, where - Cassius leaned upon his sword-point, believing everything lost. Brutus - transported the body of his comrade to Thasos and raised for him a funeral - pyre; and twenty days later, on the same field, met again that spectre of - death which had summoned him to Philippi. It was only eleven years after - this victory of the Imperial power that a greater triumph was won at - Philippi, when Paul and Silas, cast into prison, sang praises unto God at - midnight, and an earthquake shook the house and opened the prison doors. - </p> - <p> - In the afternoon we came in sight of snowy Mt. Athos, an almost - perpendicular limestone rock, rising nearly six thousand four hundred feet - out of the sea. The slender promontory which this magnificent mountain - terminates is forty miles long and has only an average breadth of four - miles. The ancient canal of Xerxes quite severed it from the mainland. The - peninsula, level at the canal, is a jagged stretch of mountains (seamed by - chasms), which rise a thousand, two thousand, four thousand feet, and at - last front the sea with the sublime peak of Athos, the site of the most - conspicuous beacon-fire of Agamemnon. The entire promontory is, and has - been since the time of Constantine, ecclesiastic ground; every mountain - and valley has its convent; besides the twenty great monasteries are many - pious retreats. All the sects of the Greek church are here represented; - the communities pay a tribute to the Sultan, but the government is in the - hands of four presidents, chosen by the synod, which holds weekly sessions - and takes the presidents, yearly, from the monasteries in rotation. Since - their foundation these religious houses have maintained against Christians - and Saracens an almost complete independence, and preserved in their - primitive simplicity the manners and usages of the earliest foundations. - Here, as nowhere else in Europe or Asia, can one behold the architecture, - the dress, the habits of the Middle Ages. The good devotees have been able - to keep themselves thus in the darkness and simplicity of the past by a - rigorous exclusion of the sex always impatient of monotony, to which all - the changes of the world are due. No woman, from the beginning till now, - has ever been permitted to set foot on the peninsula. Nor is this all; no - female animal is suffered on the holy mountain, not even a hen. I suppose, - though I do not know, that the monks have an inspector of eggs, whose - inherited instincts of aversion to the feminine gender enable him to - detect and reject all those in which lurk the dangerous sex. Few of the - monks eat meat, half the days of the year are fast days, they practise - occasionally abstinence from food for two or three days, reducing their - pulses to the feeblest beating, and subduing their bodies to a point that - destroys their value even as spiritual tabernacles. The united community - is permitted to keep a guard of fifty Christian soldiers, and the only - Moslem on the island is the solitary Turkish officer who represents the - Sultan; his position cannot be one generally coveted by the Turks, since - the society of women is absolutely denied him. The libraries of Mt. Athos - are full of unarranged manuscripts, which are probably mainly filled with - the theologic rubbish of the controversial ages, and can scarcely be - expected to yield again anything so valuable as the Tischendorf - Scriptures. - </p> - <p> - At sunset we were close under Mt. Athos, and could distinguish the - buildings of the Laura Convent, amid the woods beneath the frowning cliff. - And now was produced the apparition of a sunset, with this towering - mountain cone for a centre-piece, that surpassed all our experience and - imagination. The sea was like satin for smoothness, absolutely waveless, - and shone with the colors of changeable silk, blue, green, pink, and - amethyst. Heavy clouds gathered about the sun, and from behind them he - exhibited burning spectacles, magnificent fireworks, vast shadow-pictures, - scarlet cities, and gigantic figures stalking across the sky. From one - crater of embers he shot up a fan-like flame that spread to the zenith and - was reflected on the water. His rays lay along the sea in pink, and the - water had the sheen of iridescent glass. The whole sea for leagues was - like this; even Lemnos and Samothrace lay in a dim pink and purple light - in the east. There were vast clouds in huge walls, with towers and - battlements, and in all fantastic shapes,—one a gigantic cat with a - preternatural tail, a cat of doom four degrees long. All this was piled - about Mt. Athos, with its sharp summit of snow, its dark sides of rock. - </p> - <p> - It is a pity that the sounding and somewhat sacred name of Thessalonica - has been abbreviated to Salonica; it might better have reverted to its - ancient name of Therma, which distinguished the Macedonian capital up to - the time of Alexander. In the early morning we were lying before the city, - and were told that we should stay till midnight, waiting for the mail. - From whence a mail was expected I do not know; the traveller who sails - these seas with a cargo of ancient history resents in these classic - localities such attempts to imitate modern fashions. Were the Dardanians - or the Mesians to send us letters in a leathern bag? We were prepared for - a summons from Calo-John, at the head of his wild barbarians, to surrender - the city; and we should have liked to see Boniface, Marquis of Montferrat - and King of Thessalonica, issue from the fortress above the town, the - shields and lances of his little band of knights shining in the sun, and - answer in person the insolent demand. We were prepared to see the troop - return, having left the head of Boniface in the possession of Calo-John; - and if our captain had told us that the steamer would wait to attend the - funeral of the Bulgarian chief himself, which occurred not long after the - encounter with Boniface, we should have thought it natural. - </p> - <p> - The city lies on a fine bay, and presents an attractive appearance from - the harbor, rising up the hill in the form of an amphitheatre. On all - sides, except the sea, ancient walls surround it, fortified at the angles - by large round towers and crowned in the centre, on the hill, by a - respectable citadel. I suppose that portions of these walls are of - Hellenic and perhaps Pelasgic date, but the most are probably of the time - of the Latin crusaders' occupation, patched and repaired by Saracens and - Turks. We had come to Thessalonica on St. Paul's account, not expecting to - see much that would excite us, and we were not disappointed. When we went - ashore we found ourselves in a city of perhaps sixty thousand inhabitants, - commonplace in aspect, although its bazaars are well filled with European - goods, and a fair display of Oriental stuffs and antiquities, and animated - by considerable briskness of trade. I presume there are more Jews here - than there were in Paul's time, but Turks and Greeks, in nearly equal - numbers, form the bulk of the population. - </p> - <p> - In modern Salonica there is not much respect for pagan antiquities, and - one sees only the usual fragments of columns and sculptures worked into - walls or incorporated in Christian churches. But those curious in early - Byzantine architecture will find more to interest them here than in any - place in the world except Constantinople. We spent the day wandering about - the city, under the guidance of a young Jew, who was without either - prejudices or information. On our way to the Mosque of St. Sophia, we - passed through the quarter of the Jews, which is much cleaner than is - usual with them. These are the descendants of Spanish Jews, who were - expelled by Isabella, and they still retain, in a corrupt form, the - language of Spain. In the doors and windows were many pretty Jewesses; - banishment and vicissitude appear to agree with this elastic race, for in - all the countries of Europe Jewish women develop more beauty in form and - feature than in Palestine. We saw here and in other parts of the city a - novel head-dress, which may commend itself to America in the revolutions - of fashion. A great mass of hair, real or assumed, was gathered into a - long slender green bag, which hung down the back and was terminated by a - heavy fringe of silver. Otherwise, the dress of the Jewish women does not - differ much from that of the men; the latter wear a fez or turban, and a - tunic which reaches to the ankles, and is bound about the waist by a gay - sash or shawl. - </p> - <p> - The Mosque of St. Sophia, once a church, and copied in its proportions and - style from its namesake in Constantinople, is retired, in a delightful - court, shaded by gigantic trees and cheered by a fountain. So peaceful a - spot we had not seen in many a day; birds sang in the trees without - disturbing the calm of the meditative pilgrim. In the portico and also in - the interior are noble columns of marble and verd-antique, and in the dome - is a wonderfully quaint mosaic of the Transfiguration. We were shown also - a magnificent pulpit of the latter beautiful stone cut from a solid block, - in which it is said St. Paul preached. As the Apostle, according to his - custom, reasoned with the people out of the Scriptures in a synagogue, and - this church was not built for centuries after his visit, the statement - needs confirmation; but pious ingenuity suggests that the pulpit stood in - a subterranean church underneath this. I should like to believe that Paul - sanctified this very spot with his presence; but there is little in its - quiet seclusion to remind one of him who had the reputation when he was in - Thessalonica of one of those who turn the world upside down. Paul had a - great affection for the brethren of this city, in spite of his rough usage - here, for he mingles few reproaches in his fervent commendations of their - faith, and comforts them with the assurance of a speedy release from the - troubles of this world, and the certainty that while they are yet alive - they will be caught up into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. - Happily the Apostle could not pierce the future and see the dissensions, - the schisms, the corruptions and calamities of the Church in the - succeeding centuries, nor know that near this spot, in the Imperial - Hippodrome, the sedition of the citizens would one day be punished by the - massacre of ninety thousand,—one of the few acts of inhumanity which - stains the clemency and the great name of Theodosius. And it would have - passed even the belief of the Apostle to the Gentiles could he have - foreseen that, in eighteen centuries, this pulpit would be exhibited to - curious strangers from a distant part of the globe, of which he never - heard, where the doctrines of Paul are the bulwark of the Church and the - stamina of the government, by a descendant of Abraham who confessed that - he did not know who Paul was. - </p> - <p> - The oldest church in the city is now the Mosque of St. George, built about - the year 400, if indeed it was not transformed from a heathen temple; its - form is that of the Roman Pantheon. The dome was once covered with - splendid mosaics; enough remains of the architectural designs, the - brilliant peacocks and bright blue birds, to show what the ancient beauty - was, but the walls of the mosque are white and barn-like. Religions - inherit each other's edifices in the East without shame, and we found in - the Mosque of Eske Djuma the remains of a temple of Venus, and columns of - ancient Grecian work worthy of the best days of Athens. The most perfect - basilica is now the Mosque of St. Demetrius (a name sacred to the Greeks), - which contains his tomb. It is a five-aisled basilica; about the gallery, - over the pillars of the centre aisle, are some fine mosaics of marble, - beautiful in design and color. The Moslems have spoiled the exquisite - capitals of the pillars by painting them, and have destroyed the effect of - the aisles by twisting the pulpit and prayer-niche away from the apse, in - the direction of Mecca. We noticed, however, a relaxation of bigotry at - all these mosques: we were permitted to enter without taking off our - shoes; and, besides the figures of Christian art left in the mosaics, we - saw some Moslem pictures, among them rude paintings of the holy city - Mecca. - </p> - <p> - On our way to the citadel we stopped to look at the Arch of Constantine - before the Gate of Cassander,—a shabby ruin, with four courses of - defaced figures, carved in marble, and representing the battles and - triumphs of a Roman general. Fortunately for the reader we did not visit - all the thirty-seven churches of the city; but we made the acquaintance in - a Greek church, which is adorned with quaint Byzantine paintings, of St. - Palema, who lies in public repose, in a coffin of exquisite silver - filigree-work, while his skull is enclosed in solid silver and set with - rubies and emeralds. This may please St. Palema, but death is never so - ghastly as when it is adorned with jewelry that becomes cheap in its - presence. - </p> - <p> - The view from the citadel, which embraces the Gulf of Salonica and Mt. - Olympus, the veritable heaven of the Grecian pantheon, and Mt. Ossa and - Mt. Pelion, piercing the blue with their snow-summits, is grand enough to - repay the ascent; and there is a noble walk along the wall above the town. - In making my roundabout way through modern streets, back to the bazaars, I - encountered a number of negro women, pure Africans, who had the air and - carriage of the aristocracy of the place; they rejoiced in the gay attire - which the natives of the South love, and their fine figures and - independent bearing did not speak of servitude. - </p> - <p> - This Thessalonica was doubtless a healthful and attractive place at the - time Cicero chose to pass a portion of his exile here, but it has now a - bad reputation for malaria, which extends to all the gulf,—the - malaria seems everywhere to have been one of the consequences of the fall - of the Roman Empire. The handbook recommends the locality for its good - “shooting”; but if there is any part of the Old World that needs rest from - arms, I think it is this highway of ancient and modern conquerors and - invaders. - </p> - <p> - In the evening, when the lights of the town and the shore were reflected - in the water, and a full moon hung in the sky, we did not regret our - delay. The gay Thessalonians, ignorant of the Epistles, were rowing about - the harbor, circling round and round the steamer, beating the darabouka - drum, and singing in that nasal whine which passes for music all over the - East. And, indeed, on such a night it is not without its effect upon a - sentimental mind. - </p> - <p> - At early light of a cloudless morning we were going easily down the Gulf - of Therma or Salonica, having upon our right the Pierian plain; and I - tried to distinguish the two mounds which mark the place of the great - battle near Pydna, one hundred and sixty-eight years before Christ, - between Æmilius Paulus and King Perseus, which gave Macedonia to the Roman - Empire. Beyond, almost ten thousand feet in the air, towered Olympus, upon - whose “broad” summit Homer displays the ethereal palaces and inaccessible - abode of the Grecian gods. Shaggy forests still clothe its sides, but snow - now, and for the greater part of the year, covers the wide surface of the - height, which is a sterile, light-colored rock. The gods did not want snow - to cool the nectar at their banquets. This is the very centre of the - mythologie world; there between Olympus and Ossa is the Yale of Tempe, - where the Peneus, breaking through a narrow gorge fringed with the sacred - laurel, reaches the gulf, south of ancient Heracleum. Into this charming - but secluded retreat the gods and goddesses, weary of the icy air, or the - Pumblechookian deportment of the court of Olympian Jove, descended to pass - the sunny hours with the youths and maidens of mortal mould; through this - defile marks of chariot-wheels still attest the passages of armies which - flowed either way, in invasion or retreat; and here Pompey, after a ride - of forty miles from the fatal field of Pharsalia, quenched his thirst. Did - the Greeks really believe that the gods dwelt on this mountain in clouds - and snow? Did Baldwin II. believe that he sold, and Louis IX. of France - that he bought, for ten thousand marks of silver, at Constantinople, in - the thirteenth century, the veritable <i>crown of thorns</i> that the - Saviour wore in the judgment-hall of Pilate? - </p> - <p> - At six o'clock the Cape of Posilio was on our left, we were sinking - Olympus in the white haze of morning, Ossa, in its huge silver bulk, was - near us, and Pelion stretched its long white back below. The sharp cone of - Ossa might well ride upon the extended back of Pelion, and it seems a pity - that the Titans did not succeed in their attempt. We were leaving, and - looking our last on the Thracian coasts, once rimmed from Mt. Athos to the - Bosphorus with a wreath of prosperous cities. What must once have been the - splendor of the Ægean Sea and its islands, when every island was the seat - of a vigorous state, and every harbor the site of a commercial town which - sent forth adventurous galleys upon any errand of trade or conquest! Since - the fall of Constantinople, these coasts and islands have been stripped - and neglected by Turkish avarice and improvidence, and perhaps their naked - aspect is attributable more to the last owners than to all the preceding - possessors; it remained for the Turk to exhaust Nature herself, and to - accomplish that ruin, that destruction of peoples, which certainly not the - Athenian, the Roman, or the Macedonian accomplished, to destroy that which - survived the contemptible Byzantines and escaped the net of the pillaging - Christian crusaders. Yet it needs only repose, the confidence of the - protection of industry, and a spirit of toleration, which the Greeks must - learn as well as the Turks, that the traveller in the beginning of the - next century may behold in the Archipelago the paradise of the world. - </p> - <p> - We sailed along by the peninsula of Magnesia, which separates the Ægean - from the Bay of Pagasæus, and hinders us from seeing the plains of - Thessaly, where were trained the famous cavalry, the perfect union of - horse and man that gave rise to the fable of centaurs; the same conception - of double prowess which our own early settlers exaggerated in the notion - that the Kentuckian was half horse and half alligator. Just before we - entered the group of lovely Sporades, we looked down the long narrow inlet - to the Bay of Maliacus and saw the sharp snow-peaks of Mt. OEta, at the - foot of which are the marsh and hot springs of Thermopylae. We passed - between Skiathos and Skopelos,—steep, rocky islands, well wooded and - enlivened with villages perched on the hillsides, and both draped in - lovely color. In the strait between Skiathos and Magnesia the Greek - vessels made a stand against the Persians until the defeat at Thermopylae - compelled a retreat to Salamis. The monks of the Middle Ages, who had an - eye for a fertile land, covered the little island with monasteries, of - which one only now remains. Its few inhabitants are chiefly sailors, and - to-day it would be wholly without fame were it not for the beauty of its - women. Skopelos, which is larger, has a population of over six thousand,—industrious - people who cultivate the olive and produce a good red wine, that they - export in their own vessels. - </p> - <p> - Nearly all day we sailed outside and along Euboea; and the snow dusting - its high peaks and lonely ravines was a not unwelcome sight, for the day - was warm, oppressively so even at sea. All the elements lay in a languid - truce. Before it was hidden by Skopelos, Mt. Athos again asserted its - lordship over these seas, more gigantic than when we were close to it, the - sun striking the snow on its face (it might be the Whiteface of the - Adirondacks, except that it is piled up more like the Matterhorn), while - the base, bathed in a silver light, was indistinguishable from the silver - water out of which it rose. The islands were all purple, the shores - silver, and the sea around us deeply azure. What delicious color! - </p> - <p> - Perhaps it was better to coast along the Euboean land and among the - Sporades, clothed in our minds with the historic hues which the atmosphere - reproduced to our senses, than to break the dream by landing, to find only - broken fragments where cities once were, and a handful of fishermen or - shepherds the only inheritors of the homes of heroes. We should find - nothing on Ikos, except rabbits and a hundred or two of fishers, perhaps - not even the grave of Peleus, the father of Achilles; and the dozen little - rocky islets near, which some giant in sportive mood may have tossed into - the waves, would altogether scarcely keep from famine a small flock of - industrious sheep. Skyros, however, has not forgotten its ancient - fertility; the well-watered valleys, overlooked by bold mountains and - rocky peaks (upon one of which stood “the lofty Skyros” of Homer's song) - still bear corn and wine, the fig and the olive, the orange and the lemon, - as in the days when Achilles, in woman's apparel, was hidden among the - maidens in the gardens of King Lycomedes. The mountains are clothed with - oaks, beeches, firs, and plane-trees. Athens had a peculiar affection for - Skyros, for it was there that Cymon found the bones of Theseus, and - transported them thence to the temple of the hero, where they were - deposited with splendid obsequies, Æschylus and Sophocles adding to the - festivities the friendly rivalry of a dramatic contest. In those days - everything was for the state and nothing for the man; and naturally—such - is the fruit of self-abnegation—the state was made immortal by the - genius of its men. - </p> - <p> - Of the three proud flagstaffs erected in front of St. Mark's, one, for a - long time, bore the banner of Euboea, or Negropont, symbol of the Venetian - sovereignty for nearly three centuries over this island, which for four - centuries thereafter was to be cursed by the ascendency of the crescent. - From the outer shore one can form little notion of the extraordinary - fertility of this land, and we almost regretted that a rough sea had not - driven us to take the inner passage, by Rootia and through the narrow - Euripus, where the Venetian-built town and the Lion of St. Mark occupy and - guard the site of ancient Chalkis. The Turks made the name of Negropont - odious to the world, but with the restoration of the Grecian nationality - the ancient name is restored, and slowly, Euboea, spoiled by the Persians, - trampled by Macedonians and Romans, neglected by Justinian (the - depopulator of the Eastern Empire), drained by the Venetians, blighted by - the Osmanlis, is beginning to attract the attention of capital and travel, - by its unequalled fertility and its almost unequalled scenery. - </p> - <p> - Romance, mythology, and history start out of the waves on' either hand; at - twilight we were entering the Cyclades, and beginning to feel the yet - enduring influence of a superstition which so mingled itself with the - supremest art and culture, that after two thousand years its unreal - creations are nearly as mighty as ever in the realms of poetry and - imagination. These islands are still under the spell of genius, and we - cannot, if we would, view them except through the medium of poetic - history. I suppose that the island of Andros, which is cultivated largely - by Albanians, an Illyrian race, having nothing in common with the ancient - Ionians, would little interest us; if we cared to taste its wine, it would - be because it was once famous throughout Greece, and if we visited the - ruins of its chief city, it would be to recall an anecdote of Herodotus: - when Themistocles besieged the town and demanded tribute, because the - Andrians had been compelled to join the fleet of Xerxes at Salamis, and - threatened them with the two mighty deities of Athens, Persuasion and - Necessity, the spirited islanders replied that they were protected by two - churlish gods, Poverty and Inability. - </p> - <p> - It was eleven o'clock at night when we sailed between Keos and Helena, the - latter a long barren strip that never seems to have been inhabited at all, - except from the tradition that Helen once landed there; but Keos and its - old town of Iulis was the home of legends and poets, and famous for its - code of laws, one of which tended to banish sickness and old age from its - precincts, by a provision that every man above sixty should end his life - by poison. Its ancient people had a reputation for purity and sobriety, - which was probably due to the hegira of the nymphs, who were frightened - away to the mainland by a roaring lion. The colossal image of the lion is - still to be seen in marble near the ruins of the old city. The island of - the Cyclades, which we should have liked most to tread, but did not see, - is Delos, the holy, the religious and political centre of the Greek - confederation, the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, the seat of the - oracle, second only to that of Delphi, the diminutive and now almost - deserted rock, shaken and sunken by repeated earthquakes, once crowned - with one of the most magnificent temples of antiquity, the spot of - pilgrimage, the arena of games and mystic dances and poetic contests, and - of the joyous and solemn festivities of the Delian Apollo. - </p> - <p> - We were too late to see, though we sat long on deck and watched for it by - the aid of a full moon, the white Doric columns of the temple of Minerva - on Sunium, which are visible by daylight a long distance at sea. The - ancient mariners, who came from Delos or from a more adventurous voyage - into the Ægean, beheld here, at the portals of Attica, the temple of its - tutelary deity, a welcome and a beacon; and as they shifted their sails to - round the cape, they might have seen the shining helmet of the goddess - herself,—the lofty statue of Minerva Promachus on the Acropolis. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXVIII.—ATHENS. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>N the thought of - the least classical reader, Attica occupies a space almost as large as the - rest of the world. He hopes that it will broaden on his sight as it does - in his imagination, although he knows that it is only two thirds as large - as the little State of Rhode Island. But however reason may modify - enthusiasm, the diminutive scale on which everything is drawn is certain - to disappoint the first view of the reality. Who, he asks, has made this - little copy of the great Athenian picture? - </p> - <p> - When we came upon deck early in the morning, the steamer lay in the - land-locked harbor of the peninsula of Piræus. It is a round, deep, pretty - harbor; several merchant and small vessels lay there, a Greek and an - Austrian steamer, and a war-vessel, and the scene did not lack a look of - prosperous animation. About the port clusters a well-to-do village of some - ten thousand inhabitants, many of whom dwell in handsome houses. It might - be an American town; it is too new to be European. There, at the entrance - of the harbor, on a low projecting rock, are some ruins of columns, said - to mark the tomb of Themistocles; sometimes the water nearly covers the - rock. There could be no more fitting resting-place for the great commander - than this, in sight of the strait of Salamis, and washed by the waves that - tossed the broken and flying fleet of Xerxes. Beyond is the Bay of - Phalerum, the more ancient seaport of the little state. And there—how - small it seems!—is the plain of Athens, enclosed by Hymettus, - Pentelicus, and Parnes. This rocky peninsula of Piræus, which embraced - three small harbors, was fortified by Themistocles with strong walls that - extended, in parallel lines, five miles to Athens. Between them ran the - great carriage-road, and I suppose the whole distance was a street of - gardens and houses. - </p> - <p> - A grave <i>commissionnaire</i>,—I do not know but he would call - himself an embassy,—from one of the hotels of Athens, came off and - quietly took charge of us. On our way to the shore with our luggage, a - customs officer joined us and took a seat in the boat. For this polite - attention on the part of the government our plenipotentiary sent by the - officer (who did not open the trunks) three francs to the treasury; but I - do not know if it ever reached its destination. We shunned the ignoble - opportunity of entering the classic city by rail, and were soon whirling - along the level and dusty road which follows the course of the ancient - Long Wall. Even at this early hour the day had become very warm, and the - shade of the poplar-trees, which line the road nearly all the way, was - grateful. The fertile fields had yet the freshness of spring, and were gay - with scarlet poppies; the vines were thrifty. The near landscape was - Italian in character: there was little peculiar in the costumes of the - people whom we met walking beside their market-wagons or saw laboring in - the gardens; turbans, fezes, flowing garments of white and blue and - yellow, all had vanished, and we felt that we were out of the Orient and - about to enter a modern city. At a half-way inn, where we stopped to water - the horses, there was an hostler in the Albanian, or as it is called, the - Grecian national, costume, wearing the <i>fustanella</i> and the short - jacket; but the stiff white petticoat was rumpled and soiled, and I - fancied he was somewhat ashamed of the half-womanly attire, and shrank - from inspection, like an actor in harlequin dress, surprised by daylight - outside the theatre. - </p> - <p> - This sheepish remnant of the picturesque could not preserve for us any - illusions; the roses blooming by the wayside we knew; the birds singing in - the fields we had heard before; the <i>commissionnaire</i> persisted in - pointing out the evidences of improvement. But we burned with a secret - fever; we were impatient even of the grateful avenue of trees that hid - what we at every moment expected to see. I do not envy him who without - agitation approaches for the first time, and feels that he is about to - look upon the Acropolis! There are three supreme sensations, not twice to - be experienced, for the traveller: when he is about to behold the ancient - seats of art, of discipline, of religion,—Athens, Rome, Jerusalem. - But it is not possible for the reality to equal the expectation. “There!” - cried the <i>commissionnaire</i>, “is the Acropolis!” A small oblong hill - lifting itself some three hundred and fifty feet above the city, its sides - upheld by walls, its top shining with marble, an isolated fortress in - appearance! The bulk of the city lies to the north of the Acropolis, and - grows round to the east of it along the valley of the Ilissus. - </p> - <p> - In five minutes more we had caught a glimpse of the new excavations of the - Keramicus, the ancient cemetery, and of the old walls on our left, and - were driving up the straight broad Hermes Street towards the palace. - Midway in the centre of the street is an ancient Byzantine church, which - we pass round. Hermes Street is intersected by Æolus Street; these two cut - the city like a Greek cross, and all other streets flow into them. The - shops along the way are European, the people in the streets are European - in dress, the <i>cafés</i>, the tables in front of hotels and restaurants, - with their groups of loungers, suggest Paris by reminding one of Brussels. - Athens, built of white stone, not yet mellowed by age, is new, bright, - clean, cheerful; the broad streets are in the uninteresting style of the - new part of Munich, and due to the same Bavarian influence. If Ludwig I. - did not succeed in making Munich look like Athens, Otho was more fortunate - in giving Athens a resemblance to Munich. And we were almost ashamed to - confess how pleasant it appeared, after our long experience of the - tumble-down Orient. - </p> - <p> - We alighted at our hotel on the palace place, ascended steps decked with - flowering plants, and entered cool apartments looking upon the square, - which is surrounded with handsome buildings, planted with native and - exotic trees, and laid out in walks and beds of flowers. To the right - rises the plain façade of the royal residence, having behind it a - magnificent garden, where the pine rustles to the palm, and a thousand - statues revive the dead mythology; beyond rises the singular cone of - Lycabettus. Commendable foresight is planting the principal streets with - trees, the shade of which is much needed in the long, dry, and parching - summer. - </p> - <p> - From the side windows we looked also over the roofs to the Acropolis, - which we were impatient and yet feared to approach. For myself, I felt - like deferring the decisive moment, playing with my imagination, lingering - about among things I did not greatly care for, whetting impatience and - desire by restraining them, and postponing yet a little the realization of - the dream of so many years,—to stand at the centre of the world's - thought, at the spring of its ideal of beauty. While my companions rested - from the fatigue of our sea voyage, I went into the street and walked - southward towards the Ilissus. The air was bright and sparkling, the sky - deep blue like that of Egypt, the hills sharp and clear in every outline, - and startlingly near; the long reach of Hymettus wears ever a purple robe, - which nature has given it in place of its pine forests. Travellers from - Constantinople complained of the heat: but I found it inspiring; the air - had no languor in it; this was the very joyous Athens I had hoped to see. - </p> - <p> - When you take up the favorite uncut periodical of the month, you like to - skirmish about the advertisements and tease yourself with dipping in here - and there before you plunge into the serial novel. It was absurd, but my - first visit in Athens was to the building of the Quadrennial Exposition of - the Industry and Art of Greece,—a long, painted wooden structure, - decked with flags, and called, I need not say, the Olympium. To enter this - imitation of a country fair at home, was the rudest shock one could give - to the sentiment of antiquity, and perhaps a dangerous experiment, however - strong in the mind might be the subtone of Acropolis. The Greek gentleman - who accompanied me said that the exhibition was a great improvement over - the one four years before. It was, in fact, a very hopeful sign of the - prosperity of the new state; there was a good display of cereals and - fruits, of silk and of jewelry, and various work in gold and silver,—the - latter all from Corfu; but from the specimens of the fine arts, in - painting and sculpture, I think the ancient Greeks have not much to fear - or to hope from the modern; and the books, in printing and binding, were - rude enough. But the specimens from the mines and quarries of Greece could - not be excelled elsewhere; the hundred varieties of exquisite marbles - detained us long; there were some polished blocks, lovely in color, and - you might almost say in design, that you would like to frame and hang as - pictures on the wall. Another sign of the decadence of the national - costume, perhaps more significant than its disappearance in the streets, - was its exhibition here upon lay figures. I saw a countryman who wore it - sneaking round one of these figures, and regarding it with the curiosity - of a savage who for the first time sees himself in a mirror. Since the - revolution the Albanian has been adopted as the Grecian costume, in - default of anything more characteristic, and perhaps because it would - puzzle one to say of what race the person calling himself a modern Greek - is. But the ridiculous <i>fustanella</i> is nearly discarded; it is both - inconvenient and costly; to make one of the proper fulness requires forty - yards of cotton cloth; this is gathered at the waist, and hangs in broad - pleats to the knees, and it is starched so stiffly that it stands out like - a half-open Chinese umbrella. As the garment cannot be worn when it is the - least soiled, and must be done up and starched two or three times a week, - the wearer finds it an expensive habit; and in the whole outfit—the - jacket and sleeves may be a reminiscence of defensive armor—he has - the appearance of a <i>landsknecht</i> above and a ballet-girl below. - </p> - <p> - Nearly as rare in the streets as this dress are the drooping red caps with - tassels of blue. The women of Athens whom we saw would not take a premium - anywhere for beauty; but we noticed here and there one who wore upon her - dark locks the long hanging red fez and gold tassel, who might have - attracted the eye of a roving poet, and been passed down to the next age - as the Maid of Athens. The Athenian men of the present are a fine race; we - were constantly surprised by noble forms and intelligent faces. That they - are Greek in feature or expression, as we know the Greek from coins and - statuary, we could not say. Perhaps it was only the ancient Lacedemonian - rivalry that prompted the remark of a gentleman in Athens, who was born in - Sparta, that there is not a drop of the ancient Athenian blood in Athens. - There are some patrician families in the city who claim this honorable - descent, but it is probable that Athens is less Greek than any other town - in the kingdom; and that if there remain any Hellenic descendants they - must be sought in remote districts of the Morea. If we trusted ourselves - to decide by types of face, we should say that the present inhabitants of - Athens were of Northern origin, and that their relation to the Greeks was - no stronger than that of Englishmen to the ancient Britons. That the - people who now inhabit Attica and the Peloponnesus are descendants of the - Greeks whom the Romans conquered, I suppose no one can successfully claim; - that they are all from the Slavonians, who so long held and almost - exclusively occupied the Greek mainland, it is equally difficult to prove. - All we know is, that the Greek language has survived the Byzantine - anarchy, the Slavonic conquest, the Frank occupation; and that the nimble - wit, the acquisitiveness and inquisitiveness, the cunning and craft of the - modern Greek, seem to be the perversion of the nobler and yet not - altogether dissimilar qualities which made the ancient Greeks the leaders - of the human race. And those who ascribe the character of a people to - climate and geographical position may expect to see the mongrel inheritors - of the ancient soil moulded, by the enduring influences of nature, into - homogeneity, and reproduce in a measure a copy of that splendid - civilization of whose ruins they are now unappreciative possessors. - </p> - <p> - Beyond the temporary Olympium, the eye is caught by the Arch of Hadrian, - and fascinated by the towering Corinthian columns of the Olympicum or - Temple of Jupiter. Against the background of Hymettus and the blue sky - stood fourteen of these beautiful columns, all that remain of the original - one hundred and twenty-four, but enough to give us an impression of what - was one of the most stately buildings of antiquity. This temple, which was - begun by Pisistratus, was not finished till Hadrian's time, or until the - worship of Jupiter had become cold and sceptical. The columns stand upon a - terrace overlooking the bed of the Hissus; there coffee is served, and - there we more than once sat at sundown, and saw the vast columns turn from - rose to gray in the fading light. - </p> - <p> - Athens, like every other city of Europe in this age of science and - Christianity, was full of soldiers; we saw squads of them drilling here - and there, their uniforms sprinkled the streets and the <i>cafés</i>, and - their regimental bands enlivened the town. The Greeks, like all the rest - of us, are beating their pruning-hooks into spears and preparing for the - millennium. If there was not much that is peculiar to interest us in - wandering about among the shops, and the so-called, but unroofed and not - real, bazaars, there was much to astonish us in the size and growth of a - city of over fifty thousand inhabitants, in forty years, from the heap of - ruins and ashes which the Turks left it. When the venerable American - missionaries, Dr. Hill and his wife, came to the city, they were obliged - to find shelter in a portion of a ruined tower, and they began their - labors literally in a field of smoking desolation. The only attractive - shops are those of the antiquity dealers, the collectors of coins, vases, - statuettes, and <i>figurines</i>. Of course the extraordinary demand for - these most exquisite mementos of a race of artists has created a host of - imitations, and set an extravagant and fictitious price upon most of the - articles, a price which the professor who lets you have a specimen as a - favor, or the dealer who calmly assumes that he has gathered the last - relics of antiquity, mentions with equal equanimity. I looked in the face - of a handsome graybeard, who asked me two thousand francs for a silver - coin, which he said was a Solon, to see if there was any guile in his eye; - but there was not. I cannot but hope that this race which has learned to - look honest will some time become so. - </p> - <p> - Late in the afternoon we walked around the south side of the Acropolis, - past the ruins of theatres that strew its side, and ascended by the - carriage-road to the only entrance, at the southwest end of the hill, - towards the Piræus. We pass through a gate pierced in the side wall, and - come to the front of the Propylæa, the noblest gateway ever built. At the - risk of offending the travelled, I shall try in a paragraph to put the - untravelled reader in possession of the main features of this glorious - spot. - </p> - <p> - The Acropolis is an irregular oblong hill, the somewhat uneven summit of - which is about eleven hundred feet long by four hundred and fifty feet - broad at its widest. The hill is steep on all sides, and its final spring - is perpendicular rock, in places a hundred and fifty feet high. It is - lowest at the southwest end, where it dips down, and, by a rocky neck, - joins the Areopagus, or Mars Hill. Across this end is built the Propylæa, - high with reference to the surrounding country, and commanding the view, - but low enough not to hide from a little distance the buildings on the - summit. This building, which is of the Doric order, and of pure Pentelic - marble, was the pride of the Athenians. Its entire front is about one - hundred and seventy feet; this includes the central portico (pierced with - five entrances, the centre one for carriages) and the forward projecting - north and south wings. In the north wing was the picture-gallery; the - south wing was never completed to correspond, but the balance is preserved - by the little Temple of the Wingless Victory, which from its ruins has - been restored to its original form and beauty. The Propylæa is approached - by broad flights of marble steps, which were defended by fortifications on - the slope of the hill. The distant reader may form a little conception of - the original splendor of this gateway from its cost, which was nearly two - and a half millions of dollars, and by remembering that it was built under - the direction of Pericles at a time when the cost of a building - represented its real value, and not the profits of city officials and - contractors. - </p> - <p> - Passing slowly between the columns, and with many a backward glance over - the historic landscape, lingering yet lest we should abruptly break the - spell, we came into the area. Straight before us, up the red rock, ran the - carriage-road, seamed across with chisel-marks to prevent the horses' - hoofs from slipping, and worn in deep ruts by heavy chariot-wheels. In the - field before us a mass of broken marble; on the right the creamy columns - of the Parthenon; on the left the irregular but beautiful Ionic - Erechtheum. The reader sees that the entrance was contrived so that the - beholder's first view of the Parthenon should be at the angle which best - exhibits its exquisite proportions. - </p> - <p> - We were alone. The soldier detailed to watch that we did not carry off any - of the columns sat down upon a broken fragment by the entrance, and let us - wander at our will. I am not sure that I would, if I could, have the - temples restored. There is an indescribable pathos in these fragments of - columns and architraves and walls, in these broken sculptures and marred - inscriptions, which time has softened to the loveliest tints, and in these - tottering buildings, which no human skill, if it could restore the - pristine beauty, could reanimate with the Greek idealism. - </p> - <p> - And yet, as we sat upon the western steps of the temple dedicated to - Pallas Athene, I could imagine what this area was, say in the August days - of the great Panathenaic festival, when the gorgeous procession, which I - saw filing along the Via Sacra, returning from Eleusis, swept up these - broad steps, garlanded with flowers and singing the hymn to the protecting - goddess. This platform was not then a desolate stone heap, but peopled - with almost living statues in bronze and marble, the creations of the - genius of Phidias, of Praxiteles, of Lycius, of Clecetas, of Myron; there, - between the two great temples, but overtopping them both, stood the bronze - figure of Minerva Promachus, cast by Phidias out of the spoils of - Marathon, whose glittering helmet and spear-point gladdened the returning - mariner when far at sea, and defied the distant watcher on the Acropolis - of Corinth. First in the procession come the sacrificial oxen, and then - follow in order a band of virgins, the quadriga, each drawn by four noble - steeds, the <i>élite</i> of the Athenian youth on horseback, magistrates, - daughters of noble citizens bearing vases and pateræ, men carrying trays - of offerings, flute-players and the chorus, singers. They pass around to - the entrance of the Parthenon, which is toward the east, and those who are - permitted enter the <i>naos</i> and come into the presence of the - gold-ivory statue of Minerva. The undraped portions of this statue show - the ivory; the drapery was of solid gold, made so that it could be removed - in time of danger from a public enemy. The golden plates weighed ten - thousand pounds. This work of Phidias, since it was celebrated as the - perfection of art by the best judges of art, must have been as exquisite - in its details as it was harmonious in its proportions; but no artist of - our day would dare to attempt to construct a statue in that manner. In its - right, outstretched hand it held a statue of Victory, four cubits high; - and although it was erected nearly five hundred years before the Christian - era, we are curious to notice the already decided influence of Egyptian - ideas in the figure of the sphinx surmounting the helmet of the goddess. - </p> - <p> - The sun was setting behind the island of Salamis. There was a rosy glow on - the bay of Phalerum, on the sea to the south, on the side of Hymettus, on - the yellow columns of the Parthenon, on the Temple of the Wingless - Victory, and on the faces of the ever-youthful Caryatides in the portico - of the Erechtheum, who stand reverently facing the Parthenon, worshipping - now only the vacant pedestal of Athene the Protector. What overpowering - associations throng the mind as one looks off upon the crooked strait of - Salamis, down upon the bare rock of the Areopagus; upon the Pnyx and the - <i>bema</i>, where we know Demosthenes, Solon, Themistocles, Pericles, - Aristides, were wont to address the populace who crowded up from this - valley, the Agora, the tumultuous market-place, to listen; upon the Museum - Hill, crowned by the monument of Philopappus, pierced by grottos, one of - which tradition calls the prison of Socrates,—the whole history of - Athens is in a nutshell! Yet if one were predetermined to despise this - mite of a republic in the compass of a quart measure, he could not do it - here. A little of Cæsar's dust outweighs the world. We are not imposed - upon by names. It was, it could only have been, in comparison with modern - naval engagements, a petty fight in the narrow limits of that strait, and - yet neither the Persian soldiers who watched it from the Acropolis and in - terror saw the ships of Xerxes flying down the bay, nor the Athenians, who - had abandoned their citadel and trusted their all to the “wooden walls” of - their ships, could have imagined that the result was laden with such - consequences. It gives us pause to think what course all subsequent - history would have taken, what would be the present complexion of the - Christian system itself, if on that day Asiatic barbarism had rendered - impossible the subsequent development of Grecian art and philosophy. - </p> - <p> - We waited on the Acropolis for the night and the starlight and the - thousand lights in the city spread below, but we did not stay for the slow - coming of the midnight moon over Hymettus. - </p> - <p> - On Sunday morning we worshipped with the Greeks in the beautiful Russian - church; the interior is small but rich, and is like a private parlor; - there are no seats, and the worshippers stand or kneel, while gilded and - painted figures of saints and angels encompass them. The ceremony is - simple, but impressive. The priests are in gorgeous robes of blue and - silver; choir-boys sing soprano, and the bass, as it always is in Russian - churches, is magnificent. A lady, tall, elegant, superb, in black faced - and trimmed with a stuff of gold, sweeps up to the desks, kisses the books - and the crucifix, and then stands one side crossing herself. We are most - of us mortal, and all, however rich in apparel, poor sinners one day in - the week. No one of the worshippers carries a prayer-book. There is - reading behind the screen, and presently the priests bring out the - elements of communion and exhibit them, the one carrying the bread in a - silver vessel on his head, and the other the wine. The central doors are - then closed on the mysterious consecration. At the end of the service the - holy elements are brought out, the communicants press up, kiss the cross, - take a piece of bread, and then turn and salute their friends, and break - up in a cheerful clatter of talk. In contrast to this, we attended - afterwards the little meeting, in an upper chamber, of the Greek converts - of the American Mission, and listened to a sermon in Greek which - inculcated the religion of New England,—a gospel which, with the aid - of schools, makes slow but hopeful progress in the city of the unknown - God. - </p> - <p> - The longer one remains in Athens the more he will be impressed with two - things: the one is the perfection of the old art and civilization, and - what must have been the vivacious, joyous life of the ancient Athenians, - in a climate so vital, when this plain was a garden, and these beautiful - hills were clad with forests, and the whispers of the pine answered the - murmurs of the sea; the other is the revival of letters and architecture - and culture, visible from day to day, in a progress as astonishing as can - be seen in any Occidental city. I cannot undertake to describe, not even - to mention, the many noble buildings, either built or in construction, - from the quarries of Pentelicus,—the University, the Academy, the - new Olympium,—all the voluntary contributions of wealthy Greeks, - most of them merchants in foreign cities, whose highest ambition seems to - be to restore Athens to something of its former splendor. It is a point of - honor with every Greek, in whatever foreign city he may live and die, to - leave something in his last will for the adornment or education of the - city of his patriotic devotion. In this, if in nothing else, they resemble - the ancient patriots who thought no sacrifice too costly for the republic. - Among the ruins we find no palaces, no sign that the richest citizen used - his wealth in ostentatious private mansions. Although some of the Greek - merchants now build for themselves elegant villas, the next generation - will see the evidences of their wealth rather in the public buildings they - have erected. In this little city the University has eighty professors and - over twelve hundred students, gathered from all parts of Greece; there are - in the city forty lady teachers with eight hundred female pupils; and - besides these there are two gymnasiums and several graded schools. - Professors and teachers are well paid, and the schools are free, even to - the use of books. The means flow from the same liberality, that of the - Greek merchants, who are continually leaving money for new educational - foundations. There is but one shadow upon this hopeful picture, and that - is the bigotry of the Greek church, to which the government yields. I do - not now speak of the former persecutions suffered by the Protestant - missionaries, but recently the schools for girls opened by Protestants, - and which have been of the highest service in the education of women, have - been obliged to close or else “conform” to the Greek religion and admit - priestly teachers. At the time of our visit, one of the best of them, that - of Miss Kyle of New York, was only tolerated from week to week under - perpetual warnings, and liable at any moment to be suppressed by the - police. This narrow policy is a disgrace to the government, and if it is - continued must incline the world to hope that the Greeks will never - displace the Moslems in Constantinople. - </p> - <p> - In the front of the University stands a very good statue of the - scholar-patriot Korais, and in the library we saw the busts of other - distinguished natives and foreigners. The library, which is every day - enriched by private gifts, boasts already over one hundred and thirty - thousand volumes. As we walked through the rooms, the director said that - the University had no bust of an American, though it had often been - promised one. I suggested one of Lincoln. No, he wanted Washington; he - said he cared to have no other. I did not tell him that Washington was one - of the heroes of our mythic period, that we had filled up a tolerably - large pantheon since then, and that a century in America was as good as a - thousand years in Byzantium. But I fell into something of a historic - revery over the apparent fact that America is as yet to Greece nothing but - the land of Washington, and I rather liked the old-fashioned notion, and - felt sure that there must be somewhere in the United States an antiquated - and rich patriot who remembered Washington and would like to send a marble - portrait of our one great man to the University of Athens. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXIX.—ELEUSIS, PLATO'S ACADEME, ETC. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HERE was a - nightingale who sang and sobbed all night in the garden before the hotel, - and only ceased her plaintive reminiscence of Athenian song and sorrow - with the red dawn. But this is a sad world of contrasts. Called upon the - balcony at midnight by her wild notes, I saw,—how can I ever say it?—upon - the balcony below, a white figure advance, and with a tragic movement of - haste, if not of rage, draw his garment of the night over his head and - shake it out over the public square; and I knew—for the kingdom of - knowledge comes by experience as well as by observation—that the - lively flea was as wakeful in Greece as the nightingale. - </p> - <p> - In the morning the north-wind arose,—it seems to blow constantly - from Boeotia at this time of the year,—but the day was bright and - sparkling, and we took carriage for Eleusis. It might have been such a - morning—for the ancient Athenians always anticipated the dawn in - their festivals—that the Panathenaic processions moved along this - very Via Sacra to celebrate the Mysteries of Ceres at Eleusis. All the - hills stood in clear outline,—long Pentelicus and the wavy lines of - Parnes and Corydallus; we drove over the lovely and fertile plain, amid - the olive-orchards of the Kephissus, and up the stony slope to the - narrowing Pass of Daphne, a defile in Mt. Ægaleos; but we sought in vain - the laurel grove, or a single specimen of that tree whose twisted trunk - and outstretched arms express the struggle of vanishing humanity. Passing - on our right the Chapel of St. Elias, on a commanding eminence, and - traversing the level plateau of the rocky gorge, we alighted at the - Monastery of Daphne, whose half-ruined cloister and chapel occupy the site - of a temple of Apollo. We sat for half an hour in its quiet, walled - churchyard, carpeted with poppies and tender flowers of spring, amid the - remains of old columns and fragments of white marble, sparkling amid the - green grass and blue violets, and looked upon the blue bay of Eleusis and - Salamis, and the heights of Megara beyond. Surely nature has a tenderness - for such a spot; and I fancied that even the old dame who unlocked for us - the chapel and its cheap treasures showed us with some interest, in a - carving here and a capital there, the relics of a former religion, and - perhaps mingled with her adoration of the Virgin and the <i>bambino</i> a - lurking regard for Venus and Apollo. A mile beyond, at the foot of a rocky - precipice, are pointed out the foundations of a temple of Venus, where the - handbook assured us doves had been found carved in white marble; none were - left, however, for us, and we contented ourselves with reading on the rock - <i>Phile Aphrodite</i>, and making a vain effort to recall life to this - sterile region. - </p> - <p> - Enchanting was the view as we drove down the opening pass to the bay, - which spreads out a broad sheet, completely landlocked by the irregular - bulk of Salamis Island. When we emerged through the defile we turned away - from the narrow strait where the battle was fought, and from the “rocky - brow” on which Xerxes sat, a crowned spectator of his ruin, and swept - around the circular shore, past the Rheiti, or salt-springs,—clear, - greenish pools,—and over the level Thriasian Plain. The bay of - Eleusis, guarded by the lofty amphitheatre of mountains, the curving sweep - of Ægaleos and Kithæron, and by Salamis, is like a lovely lake, and if - anywhere on earth there could be peace, you would say it would be on its - sunny and secluded shores. Salamis appears only a bare and rocky island, - but the vine still flourishes in the scant soil, and from its wild-flowers - the descendants of the Attic bees make honey as famous as that of two - thousand years ago. - </p> - <p> - Across the bay, upon a jutting rocky point, above which rises the crown of - its Acropolis, lies the straggling, miserable village of Eleusis. Our - first note of approach to it was an ancient pavement, and a few - indistinguishable fragments of walls and columns. In a shallow stream - which ran over the stones the women of the town were washing clothes; and - throngs of girls were filling their pails of brass at an old well, as of - old at the same place did the daughters of Keleos. Shriller tones and - laughter mingled with their incessant chatter as we approached, and we - thought,—perhaps it was imagination,—a little wild defiance - and dislike. I had noticed already in Athens, and again here, the - extraordinary rapidity with which the Greeks in conversation exchange - words; I think they are the fastest talkers in the world. And the Greek - has a hard, sharp, ringing, metallic sound; it is staccato. You can see - how easily Aristophanes imitated the brittle-brattle of frogs. I have - heard two women whose rapid, incessant cackle sounded exactly like the - conversation of hens. The sculptor need not go further than these - nut-brown maids for classic forms; the rounded limbs, the generous bust, - the symmetrical waist, which fashion has not made an hour-glass to mark - the flight of time and health. The mothers of heroes were of this mould; - although I will not say that some of them were not a trifle stout for - grace, and that their well-formed faces would not have been improved by - the interior light of a little culture. Their simple dress was a white, - short chemise, that left the legs bare, a heavy and worked tunic, like - that worn by men, and a colored kerchief tied about the head. Many of the - men of the village wore the <i>fustanella</i> and the full Albanian - costume. - </p> - <p> - The Temple of Ceres lies at the foot of the hill; only a little portion of - its vast extent has been relieved of the superincumbent, accumulated soil, - and in fact its excavation is difficult, because the village is built over - the greater part of it. What we saw was only a confused heap of marble, - some pieces finely carved, arches, capitals, and shattered columns. The - Greek government, which is earnestly caring for the remains of antiquity - and diligently collecting everything for the National Museum, down to - broken toes and fingers, has stationed a keeper over the ruins; and he - showed us, in a wooden shanty, the interesting fragments of statues which - had been found in the excavation. I coveted a little hand, plump, with - tapering fingers, which the conservator permitted us to hold,—a - slight but a most suggestive memento of the breeding and beauty of the - lady who was the sculptor's model; and it did not so much seem a dead hand - stretched out to us from the past, as a living thing which returned our - furtive pressure. - </p> - <p> - We climbed up the hill where the fortress of the Acropolis stood, and - where there is now a little chapel. Every Grecian city seems to have had - its Acropolis, the first nucleus of the rude tribe which it fortified - against incursion, and the subsequent site of temples to the gods. The - traveller will find these steep hills, rising out of plains, everywhere - from Ephesus to Argos, and will almost conclude that Nature had - consciously adapted herself to the wants of the aboriginal occupants. It - is well worth ascending this summit to get the fine view of plain and bay, - of Mt. Kerata and its double peaks, and the road that pierces the pass of - Kithæron, and leads to the field of Platæa and the remains of Thebes. - </p> - <p> - In a little wine-shop, near the ruins, protected from the wind and the - importunate swarms of children, we ate our lunch, and tried to impress - ourselves with the knowledge that Æschylus was born in Eleusis; and to - imagine the nature of the Eleusinian mysteries, the concealed - representations by which the ancients attempted to symbolize, in the myths - of Ceres and Proserpine, the primal forces of nature, perhaps the dim - suggestions of immortality,—a secret not to be shared by the vulgar,—borrowed - from the deep wisdom of the Egyptians. - </p> - <p> - The children of Eleusis deserve more space than I can afford them, since - they devoted their entire time to our annoyance. They are handsome - rascals, and there were enough of them, if they had been sufficiently - clothed, to form a large Sunday school. When we sat down in the ruins and - tried to meditate on Ceres, they swarmed about us, capering and yelling - incessantly, and when I made a charge upon them they scattered over the - rocks and saluted us with stones. But I find that at this distance I have - nothing against them; I recall only their beauty and vivacity, and if they - were the worst children that ever tormented travellers, I reflect, yes, - but they were Greeks, and the gods loved their grandmothers. One slender, - liquid-eyed, slim-shanked girl offered me a silver coin. I saw that it was - a beautiful Athenian piece of the time of Pericles, and after some - bargaining I bought it of her for a reasonable price. But as we moved away - to our carriage, I was followed by the men and women of the settlement, - who demanded it back. They looked murder and talked Greek. I inquired how - much they wanted. Fifty francs! But that is twice as much as it is worth - in Athens; and the coin was surrendered. All through the country, the - peasants have a most exaggerated notion of the value of anything antique. - </p> - <p> - We returned through the pass of Daphne and by the site of the academic - grove of Plato, though olive-groves and gardens of pomegranates in scarlet - bloom, quinces, roses, and jasmines, the air sweet and delightful. Perhaps - nowhere else can the traveller so enter into the pure spirit of Attic - thought and feeling as among these scattered remains that scholars have - agreed to call the ruins of Plato's Academe. We turned through a lane into - the garden of a farm-house, watered by a branch rivulet of the Kephissus. - What we saw was not much,—some marble columns under a lovely - cypress-grove, some fragments of antique carving built into a wall; but we - saw it as it were privately and with a feeling of the presence of the - mighty shade. And then, under a row of young plane-trees, by the meagre - stream, we reclined on ripe wheat-straw, in full sight of the Acropolis,—perhaps - the most poetic view of that magnetic hill. So Plato saw it as he strolled - along this bank and listened to the wisdom of his master, Socrates, or, - pacing the colonnade of the Academe, meditated the republic. Here indeed - Aristotle, who was born the year that Plato died, may have lain and woven - that subtle web of metaphysics which no subsequent system of thought or - religion has been able to disregard. The centuries-old wind blew strong - and fresh through the trees, and the scent of flowers and odorous shrubs, - the murmur of the leaves, the unchanged blue vault of heaven, the near - hill of the sacred Colonus, celebrated by Sophocles as the scene of the - death of Odipus, all conspired to flood us with the poetic past. What - intimations of immortality do we need, since the spell of genius is so - deathless? - </p> - <p> - After dinner we laboriously, by a zigzag path, climbed the sharp cone of - Lycabettus, whose six hundred and fifty feet of height commands the whole - region. The rock summit has just room enough for a tiny chapel, called of - St. George, and a narrow platform in front, where we sat in the shelter of - the building and feasted upon the prospect. At sunset it is a marvellous - view,—all Athens and its plain, the bays, Salamis and the strait of - the battle, Acro-Corinth; Megara, Hymettus, Pentelicus, Kithæron. - </p> - <p> - When, in descending, we had nearly reached the foot on the west side, we - heard the violent ringing of a bell high above us, and, turning about, saw - what seemed to be a chapel under the northwest edge of the rock upon which - we had lately stood. Bandits in laced leggings and embroidered jackets, - chattering girls in short skirts and gay kerchiefs, were descending the - wandering path, and the clamor of the bell piqued our curiosity to turn - and ascend. When we reached our goal, the affair seemed to be pretty much - all bell, and nobody but a boy in the lusty exuberance of youth could have - made so much noise by the swinging of a single clapper. In a niche or - rather cleft in the rock was a pent-roofed bell-tower, and a boy, whose - piety seemed inspired by the Devil, was hauling the rope and sending the - sonorous metal over and over on its axis. In front of the bell is a narrow - terrace, sufficient, however, to support three fig-trees, under which were - tables and benches, and upon the low terrace-wall were planted half a - dozen large and differently colored national banners. A hole in the rock - was utilized as a fireplace, and from a pot over the coals came the fumes - of coffee. Upon this perch of a terrace people sat sipping coffee and - looking down upon the city, whose evening lights were just beginning to - twinkle here and there. Behind the belfry is a chapel, perhaps ten feet by - twelve, partly a natural grotto and partly built of rough stones; it was - brilliantly lighted with tapers, and hung with quaint pictures. At the - entrance, which is a door cut in the rock, stood a Greek priest and an - official in uniform selling wax-tapers, and raking in the <i>leptas</i> of - the devout. We threw down some coppers, declined the tapers, and walked - in. The adytum of the priest was wholly in the solid rock. There seemed to - be no service; but the women and children stood and crossed themselves, - and passionately kissed the poor pictures on the walls. Yet there was - nothing exclusive or pharisaic in the worshippers, for priest and people - showed us friendly faces, and cordially returned our greetings. The whole - rock quivered with the clang of the bell, for the boy at the rope leaped - at his task, and with ever-increasing fury summoned the sinful world below - to prayer. Young ladies with their gallants came and went; and whenever - there was any slacking of stragglers up the hillside the bell clamored - more importunately. - </p> - <p> - As dusk crept on, torches were set along the wall of the terrace, and as - we went down the hill they shone on the red and blue flags and the white - belfry, and illuminated the black mass of overhanging rock with a red - glow. There is time for religion in out-of-the-way places here, and it is - rendered picturesque, and even easy and enjoyable, by the aid of coffee - and charming scenery. When we reached the level of the town, the lights - still glowed high up in the recess of the rocks, girls were laughing and - chattering as they stumbled down the steep, and the wild bell still rang. - How easy it is to be good in Greece! - </p> - <p> - One day we stole a march on Marathon, and shared the glory of those who - say they have seen it, without incurring the fatigue of a journey there. - We ascended Mt. Pentelicus. Hymettus and Pentelicus are about the same - height,—thirty-five hundred feet,—but the latter, ten miles to - the northeast of Athens, commands every foot of the Attic territory; if - one should sit on its summit and read a history of the little state, he - would need no map. We were away at half past five in the morning, in order - to anticipate if possible the rising of the daily wind. As we ascended, we - had on our left, at the foot of the mountain, the village of Kephisia, - now, as in the days of Herodes Atticus, the summer resort of wealthy - Athenians, who find in its fountains, the sources of the Kephissus, and in - its groves relief from the heat and glare of the scorched Athenian plain. - Half-way we halted at a monastery, left our carriage, and the ladies - mounted horses. There is a handsome church here, and the situation is - picturesque and commands a wide view of the plain and the rugged north - slope of Hymettus, but I could not learn that the monastery was in an - active state; it is only a hive of drones which consumes the honey - produced by the working-bees from the wild thyme of the neighboring - mountain. The place, however, is a great resort of parties of pleasure, - who picnic under the grove of magnificent forest-trees, and once a year - the king and queen come hither to see the youths and maidens dance on the - greensward. - </p> - <p> - Up to the highest quarries the road is steep, and strewn with broken - marble, and after that there is an hour's scramble through bushes and over - a rocky path. We rested in a large grotto near the principal of the - ancient quarries; it was the sleeping-place of the workmen, subsequently a - Christian church, and then, and not long ago, a haunt and home of - brigands. Here we found a party of four fellows, half clad in sheep-skins, - playing cards, who seemed to be waiting our arrival; but they were - entirely civil, and I presume were only shepherds, whatever they may have - been formerly. From these quarries was hewn the marble for the Temple of - Theseus, the Parthenon, the Propylæa, the theatres, and other public - buildings, to which age has now given a soft and creamy tone; the Pentelic - marble must have been too brilliant for the eye, and its dazzling lustre - was no doubt softened by the judicious use of color. Fragments which we - broke off had the sparkle and crystalline grain of loaf-sugar, and if they - were placed upon the table one would unhesitatingly take them to sweeten - his tea. The whole mountain-side is overgrown with laurel, and we found - wild-flowers all the way to the summit. Amid the rocks of the higher - slopes, little shepherd-boys, carrying the traditional crooks, were - guarding flocks of black and white goats, and, invariably as we passed, - these animals scampered off and perched themselves upon sharp rocks in a - photographic <i>pose</i>. - </p> - <p> - Early as we were, the wind had risen before us, and when we reached the - bare back of the summit it blew so strongly that we could with difficulty - keep our feet, and gladly took refuge in a sort of stone corral, which had - been a camp and lookout of brigands. From this commanding point they spied - both their victims and pursuers. Our guide went into the details of the - capture of the party of Englishmen who spent a night here, and pointed out - to us the several hiding-places in the surrounding country to which they - were successively dragged. But my attention was not upon this exploit. We - looked almost directly down upon Marathon. There is the bay and the - curving sandy shore where the Persian galleys landed; here upon a spur, - jutting out from the hill, the Athenians formed before, they encountered - the host in the plain, and there—alas! it was hidden by a hill—is - the mound where the one hundred and ninety-two Athenian dead are buried. - It is only a small field, perhaps six miles along the shore and a mile and - a half deep, and there is a considerable marsh on the north and a small - one at the south end. The victory at so little cost, of ten thousand over - a hundred thousand, is partially explained by the nature of the ground; - the Persians had not room enough to manouvre, and must have been thrown - into confusion on the skirts of the northern swamp, and if over six - thousand of them were slain, they must have been killed on the shore in - the panic of their embarkation. But still the shore is broad, level, and - firm, and the Greeks must have been convinced that the gods themselves - terrified the hearts of the barbarians, and enabled them to discomfit a - host which had chosen this plain as the most feasible in all Attica for - the action of cavalry. - </p> - <p> - A sea-haze lay upon the strait of Euripus and upon Euboea, and nearly hid - from our sight the forms of the Cyclades; but away in the northwest were - snow peaks, which the guide said were the heights of Parnassus above - Delphi. In the world there can be few prospects so magnificent as this, - and none more inspiring to the imagination. No one can properly appreciate - the Greek literature or art who has not looked upon the Greek nature which - seems to have inspired both. - </p> - <p> - Nothing now remains of the monuments and temples which the pride and piety - of the Athenians erected upon the field of Marathon. The visitor at the - Arsenal of Venice remembers the clumsy lion which is said to have stood on - this plain, and in the Temple of Theseus, at Athens, he may see a slab - which was found in this meadow; on it is cut in very low relief the figure - of a soldier, but if the work is Greek the style of treatment is Assyrian. - </p> - <p> - The Temple of Theseus, which occupies an elevation above the city and west - of the Areopagus, is the best-preserved monument of Grecian antiquity, and - if it were the only one, Athens would still be worthy of a pilgrimage from - the ends of the earth. Behind it is a level esplanade, used as a - drill-ground, upon one side of which have been gathered some relics of - ancient buildings and sculptures; seated there in an ancient marble chair, - we never wearied of studying the beautiful proportions of this temple, - which scarcely suffers by comparison with the Parthenon or that at Pæstum. - In its construction the same subtle secret of curved lines and inclined - verticals was known, a secret which increases its apparent size and - satisfies the eye with harmony. - </p> - <p> - While we were in Athens the antiquarians were excited by the daily - discoveries in the excavations at the Keramicus (the field where the - Athenian potters worked). Through the portion of this district outside the - gate Dipylum ran two streets, which were lined with tombs; one ran to the - Academe, the other was the sacred way to Eleusis. The excavations have - disclosed many tombs and lovely groups of funereal sculpture, some of - which are <i>in situ</i>, but many have been removed to the new Museum. - The favorite device is the seated figure of the one about to die, who in - this position of dignity takes leave of those most loved; perhaps it is a - wife, a husband, a lovely daughter, a handsome boy, who calmly awaits the - inevitable moment, while the relatives fondly look or half avert their - sorrowful faces. In all sculpture I know nothing so touching as these - family farewells. I obtained from them a new impression of the Greek - dignity and tenderness, of the simplicity and nobility of their domestic - life. - </p> - <p> - The Museum, which was unarranged, is chiefly one of fragments, but what I - saw there and elsewhere scattered about the town gave me a finer - conception of the spirit of the ancient art than all the more perfect - remains in Europe put together; and it seems to me that nowhere except in - Athens is it possible to attain a comprehension of its depth and - loveliness. Something, I know, is due to the <i>genius loci</i>, but you - come to the knowledge that the entire life, even the commonest, was - pervaded by something that has gone from modern art. In the Museum we saw - a lovely statue of Isis, a noble one of Patroclus, fine ones of athletes, - and also, showing the intercourse with Egypt, several figures holding the - sacred <i>sistrum</i>, and one of Rameses II. But it is the humbler and - funereal art that gives one a new conception of the Greek grace, - tenderness, and sensibility. I have spoken of the sweet dignity, the - high-born grace, that accepted death with lofty resignation, and yet not - with stoical indifference, of some of the sepulchral groups. There was - even more poetry in some that are simpler. Upon one slab was carved a - figure, pensive, alone, wrapping his drapery about him and stepping into - the silent land, on that awful journey that admits of no companion. On - another, which was also without inscription, a solitary figure sat in one - corner; he had removed helmet and shield, and placed them on the ground - behind him; a line upon the stone indicated the boundary of the invisible - world, and, with a sad contemplation, the eyes of the soldier were fixed - upon that unknown region into which he was about to descend. - </p> - <p> - Scarcely a day passed that we did not ascend the Acropolis; and again and - again we traversed the Areopagus, the Pnyx, the Museum hills. From the - valley of the Agora stone steps lead up the Areopagus to a bench cut in - the rock. Upon this open summit the Areopagite Council held, in the open - air, its solemn sessions; here it sat, it is said, at night and in the - dark, that no face of witness or criminal, or gesture of advocate, should - influence the justice of its decisions. Dedicated to divine justice, it - was the most sacred and awful place in Athens; in a cavern underneath it - was the sanctuary of the dread Erinnyes, the avenging Euries, whom a later - superstition represented with snakes twisted in their hair; whatever the - gay frivolity of the city, this spot was silent, and respected as the - dread seat of judicature of the highest causes of religion or of politics. - To us Mars Hill is chiefly associated with the name of St. Paul; and I do - not suppose it matters much whether he spoke to the men of Athens in this - sacred place or, as is more probable, from a point farther down the hill, - now occupied by a little chapel, where he would be nearer to the multitude - of the market-place. It does not matter; it was on the Areopagus, and in - the centre of temples and a thousand statues that bespoke the highest - civilization of the pagan world, that Paul proclaimed the truth, which - man's egotism continually forgets, that in temples made with hands the - Deity does not dwell. - </p> - <p> - From this height, on the side of the Museum Hill, we see the grotto that - has been dignified with the title of the “prison of Socrates,” but upon - slight grounds. When the philosopher was condemned, the annual sacred ship - which was sent with thank-offerings to Delos was still absent, and until - its return no execution was permitted in Athens. Every day the soldiers - who guarded Socrates ascended this hill, and went round the point to see - if the expected vessel was in sight; and it is for their convenience that - some antiquarian designated this grotto as the prison. The delay of the - ship gave us his last immortal discourse. - </p> - <p> - We went one evening by the Temple of Jupiter, along the Ilissus, to the - old Stadium. This classic stream, the Ilissus, is a gully, with steep - banks and a stony bottom, and apparently never wet except immediately - after a rain. You would think by the flattery it received from the ancient - Athenians that it was larger than the Mississippi. The Panathenaic - Stadium, as it is called, because its chief use was in the celebration of - the games of the great quadrennial festival, was by nature and art - exceedingly well adapted to chariot races and other contests. Open at the - end, where a bridge crossed the Ilissus, it extended a hundred feet broad - six hundred and fifty feet into the hill, upon the three sloping sides of - which, in seats of marble, could be accommodated fifty thousand - spectators. Here the Greek youth contended for the prizes in the chariot - race, and the more barbarous Roman emperors amused a degenerate people - with the sight of a thousand wild beasts hunted and slain in a single - celebration. - </p> - <p> - The Stadium has been lately re-excavated, and at the time of our visit the - citizens were erecting some cheap benches at one end, and preparing, in a - feeble way, for what it pleases them to call the Olympic Games, which were - to be inaugurated the following Sunday. The place must inevitably dwarf - the performance, and comparison render it ridiculous. The committee-men - may seem to themselves Olympic heroes, and they had the earnest air of - trying to make themselves believe that they were really reviving the - ancient glory of Greece, or that they could bring it back by calling a - horse-race and the wrestling of some awkward peasants an “Olympiad.” The - revival could be, as we afterwards learned it was, only a sickly and - laughable affair. The life of a nation is only preserved in progress, not - in attempts to make dead forms live again. It is difficult to have chariot - races or dramatic contests without chariots or poets, and I suppose the - modern imitation would scarcely be saved from ludicrousness, even if the - herald should proclaim that now a Patroclus and now an Aristophanes was - about to enter the arena. The modern occupants of Athens seem to be - deceiving themselves a little with names and shadows. In the genuine - effort to revive in its purity the Greek language, and to inspire a love - of art and literature, the Western traveller will wholly sympathize. In - the growth of a liberal commercial spirit he will see still more hope of a - new and enduring Greek state. But a puerile imitation of a society and a - religion which cannot possibly have a resurrection excites only a sad - smile. There is no more pitiful sight than a man who has lost his ideals, - unless it be a nation which has lost its ideals. So long as the body of - the American people hold fast to the simple and primitive conception of a - republican society,—to the ideals of a century ago,—the nation - can survive, as England did, a period of political corruption. There never - was, not under Themistocles nor under Scanderbeg, a more glorious struggle - for independence than that which the battle of Navarino virtually - terminated. The world had a right to expect from the victors a new and - vigorous national life, not a pale and sentimental copy of a splendid - original, which is now as impossible of revival as the Roman Empire. To do - the practical and money-getting Greeks justice, I could not learn that - they took a deep interest in the “Olympiad”; nor that the inhabitants of - ancient Sparta were jealous of the re-institution of the national games in - Athens, since, they say, there are no longer any Athenians to be jealous - of. - </p> - <p> - The ancient Athenians were an early people; they liked the dewy freshness - of the morning; they gave the first hours of the day to the market and to - public affairs, and the rising sun often greeted the orators on the <i>bema</i>, - and an audience on the terrace below. We had seen the Acropolis in almost - every aspect, but I thought that one might perhaps catch more of its - ancient spirit at sunrise than at any other hour. - </p> - <p> - It is four o'clock when my companion and I descend into the silent street - and take our way to the ancient citadel by the shortest and steepest path. - Dawn is just breaking in pink, and the half-moon is in the sky. The sleepy - guard unbolts the gate and admits us, but does not care to follow; and we - pass the Propylæa and have the whole field to ourselves. There is a great - hush as we come into the silent presence of the gray Parthenon; the shades - of night are still in its columns. We take our station on a broken pillar, - so that we can enjoy a three-quarters view of the east front. As the light - strengthens we have a pink sky for background to the temple, and the - smooth bay of Phalerum is like a piece of the sky dropped down. Very - gradually the light breaks on the Parthenon, and in its glowing awakening - it is like a sentient thing, throwing shadows from its columns and - kindling more and more; the lion gargoyles on the corners of the pediment - have a life which we had not noticed before. There is now a pink tint on - the fragments of columns lying at the side; there is a reddish hue on the - plain about Piræus; the strait of Salamis is green, but growing blue; - Phalerum is taking an iridescent sheen; I can see, beyond the Gulf of - Ægina, the distant height of Acro-Corinth. . - </p> - <p> - The city is still in heavy shadow, even the Temple of Theseus does not - relax from its sombreness. But the light mounts; it catches the top of the - white columns of the Propylæa, it shines on the cornice of the Erechtheum, - and creeps down in blushes upon the faces of the Caryatides, which seem to - bow yet in worship of the long-since-departed Pallas Athene. The bugles of - the soldiers called to drill on the Thesean esplanade float up to us; they - are really bugle-notes summoning the statues and the old Panathenaic - cavalcades on the friezes to life and morning action. The day advances, - the red sun commanding the hill and flooding it with light, and the - buildings glowing more and more in it, but yet casting shadows. A hawk - sweeps around from the north and hangs poised on motionless wings over the - building just as the sun touches it. We climb to the top of the western - pediment for the wide sweep of view. The world has already got wind of - day, and is putting off its nightcaps and opening its doors. As we descend - we peer about for a bit of marble as a memento of our visit; but Lord - Elgin has left little for the kleptomaniac to carry away. - </p> - <p> - At this hour the Athenians ought to be assembling on the Pnyx to hear - Demosthenes, who should be already on the <i>bema</i>; but the <i>bema</i> - has no orator, and the terrace is empty. We might perhaps see an early - representation at the theatre of Dionysus, into which we can cast a stone - from this wall. We pass the gate, scramble along the ragged hillside,—the - dumping-ground of the excavators on the Acropolis,—and stand above - the highest seats of the Amphitheatre. No one has come. The white marble - chairs in the front row—carved with the names of the priests of - Bacchus and reserved for them—wait, and even the seats not reserved - are empty. There is no white-clad chorus manoeuvring on the paved - orchestra about the altar; the stage is broken in, and the crouching - figures that supported it are the only sign of life. One would like to - have sat upon these benches, that look on the sea, and listened to a - chorus from the Antigone this morning. One would like to have witnessed - that scene when Aristophanes, on this stage, mimicked and ridiculed - Socrates, and the philosopher, rising from his undistinguished seat high - up among the people, replied. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXX.—THROUGH THE GULF OF CORINTH. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">W</span>ITH deep - reluctance we tore ourselves from the fascinations of Athens very early - one morning. After these things, says the Christian's guide, Paul departed - from Athens and came to Corinth. Our departure was in the same direction. - We had no choice of time, for the only steamer leaves on Sunday morning, - and, besides, our going then removed us from the temptation of the Olympic - games. At half past five we were on board the little Greek steamer at the - Piraeus. - </p> - <p> - We sailed along Salamis. It was a morning of clouds; but Ægina (once - mistress of these seas, and the hated rival of Athens) and the - Peloponnesus were robed in graceful garments that, like the veils of the - Circassian girls, did not conceal their forms. In four hours we landed at - Kalamaki, which is merely a station for the transfer of passengers across - the Isthmus. Six miles south on the coast we had a glimpse of Cenchreæ, - which is famous as the place where Paul, still under the bonds of Jewish - superstition, having accomplished his vow, shaved his head. The neck of - limestone rock, which connects the Peloponnesus with the mainland, is ten - miles long, and not more than four miles broad from Kalamaki to Lutraki on - the Gulf of Corinth, and as it is not, at its highest elevation, over a - hundred feet above the sea, the project of piercing it with a canal, which - was often entertained and actually begun by Nero, does not seem - preposterous. The traveller over it to-day will see some remains of the - line of fortification, the Isthmian Wall, which served in turn Greeks, - Macedonians, Saracens, Latin Crusaders, and Slavonic settlers; and - fragments of the ancient buildings of the Isthmian Sanctuary, where the - Panhellenic festivals were celebrated. - </p> - <p> - The drive across was exceedingly pleasant. The Isthmus is seamed with - ravines and ridges, picturesque with rocks which running vines drape and - age has colored, and variegated with corn-fields. We enjoyed on either - hand the splendid mountain forms; on the north white Helicon and - Parnassus; on the south the nearly two-thousand-feet wall-crowned height - of Acro-Corinth and the broken snowy hills of the Morea. - </p> - <p> - Familiar as we were with the atlas, we had not until now any adequate - conception how much indented the Grecian mainland and islands are, nor how - broken into peaks, narrow valleys, and long serrated summits are the - contours. When we appreciate, by actual sight, the multitude of islands - that compose Greece, how subject to tempests its seas are, how difficult - is communication between the villages of the mainland, or even those on - the same island, we understand the naturalness of the ancient divisions - and strifes; and we see the physical obstacles to the creation of a - feeling of unity in the present callow kingdom. And one hears with no - surprise that Corfu wishes herself back under English protection. - </p> - <p> - We drove through the cluster of white houses on the bay, which is now - called Corinth, and saw at three miles' distance the site of the old city - and the Acropolis beyond it. Earthquakes and malaria have not been more - lenient to the ancient town than was Roman vengeance, and of the capital - which was to Greece in luxury what Athens was in wit, only a few columns - and sinking walls remain. Even the voluptuousness of Corinth is a tale of - two thousand years ago, and the name might long ago have sunk with the - fortunes of the city, but for the long residence there of a poor - tent-maker, in whom no proud citizen of that day, of all those who “sat - down to eat and drink and rose up to play,” would have recognized the - chief creator of its fame. - </p> - <p> - Our little Greek steamer was crowded excessively, and mainly with Greeks - going to Patras and Zante, who noisily talked politics and business in a - manner that savored more of New England than of the land of Solon and - Plato. For the first time in a travel of many months we met families - together, gentlemen with their wives and children, and saw the evidences - of a happy home-life. It is everything in favor of the Greeks that they - have preserved the idea of home, and cherish, as the centre of all good - and strength, domestic purity. - </p> - <p> - At dinner there was an undisguised rush for seats at the table, and the - strongest men got them. We looked down through the skylights and beheld - the valiant Greeks flourishing their knives, attacking, while expecting - soup, the caviare and pickles, and thrusting the naked blades into their - mouths without fear. The knife seems seldom to hurt the Greek, whose - display of deadly weapons is mainly for show. There are dozens of stout - swarthy fellows on board, in petticoats and quilted leggings, with each a - belly full of weapons,—the protruding leathern pouch contains a - couple of pistols, a cheese-knife, cartridges, and pipes and tobacco. - </p> - <p> - The sail through the Gulf of Corinth is one to be enjoyed and remembered, - but the reader shall not be wearied with a catalogue of names. What is it - to him that we felt the presence of Delphi, that we had Parnassus on our - right, and Mt. Panachaicum, lifting itself higher than Mt. Washington, on - our left, the Locrian coast on one side, and the range of Arcadia on the - other? The strait narrowed as we came at evening near Patras, and between - the opposite forts of Rheum and Antirheum it is no broader than the - Bosphorus; it was already dusky when we peered into the Bay of Lepanto, - which is not, however, the site of the battle of that name in which the - natural son of the pretty innkeeper of Ratisbon rendered such a signal - service to Christendom. Patras, a thriving new city, which inherits the - name but not the site of the ancient, lies open in the narrow strait, - subject to the high wind which always blows through the passage, and is - usually a dangerous landing. All the time that we lay there in the dark we - thought a tempest was prevailing, but the clamor subsided when we moved - into the open sea. Of Patras we saw nothing except a circle of lights on - the shore a mile long, a procession of colored torches which illumined for - an instant the façade of the city hall, and some rockets which went up in - honor of a local patriot who had returned on our boat from Athens. And we - had not even a glimpse of Missolonghi, which we passed in the night. - </p> - <p> - At daylight we are at Zante, anchored in its eastward-looking harbor - opposite the Peloponnesian coast. The town is most charmingly situated, - and gives one an impression of wealth and elegance. Old Zacynthus was - renowned for its hospitality before the days of the Athenian and Spartan - wars, and—such is the tenacity with which traits are perpetuated - amid a thousand changes—its present wealthy and enterprising - merchant-farmers, whose villas are scattered about the slopes, enjoy a - reputation for the same delightful gift. The gentlemen are distinguished - among the Ionians for their fondness of country life and convivial gayety. - Early as it was, the town welcomed us with its most gracious offerings of - flowers and fruit; for the pedlers who swarmed on board brought nothing - less poetical than handfuls of dewy roses, carnations, heliotrope, freshly - cut mignonette, baskets of yellow oranges, and bottles of red wine. The - wine, of which the Zante passengers had boasted, was very good, and the - oranges, solid, juicy, sweet, the best I have ever eaten, except, perhaps, - some grown in a fortunate year in Florida. Sharp hills rise behind the - town, and, beyond, a most fertile valley broadens out to the sea. Almost - all the land is given up to the culture of the currant-vine, the grapes of - <i>Corinth</i>, for in the transfer of the chief cultivation of this - profitable fruit from Corinth to Zante, the name went with the dwarf - vines. On the hillsides, as we sailed away, we observed innumerable - terraces, broad, flat, and hard like threshing-floors, and learned that - they were the drying-grounds of the ripe currants. - </p> - <p> - We were all day among the Ionian Islands, and were able to see all of them - except Cythera, off Cape Malea, esteemed for its honey and its magnificent - temple to the foam-born Venus. They lay in such a light as the reader of - Homer likes to think of them. We sailed past them as in a dream, not - caring to distinguish history from fable. It was off the little Echinades, - near the coast, by the mouth of the Achelous, that Don John, three hundred - years ago, broke the European onset of the Ottoman arms; it was nearly a - dear victory for Christendom, for among the severely wounded was - Cervantes, and Don Quixote had not yet been written. But this battle is - not more real to us than the story of Ulysses and Penelope which the rocky - surface of Ithaca recalls. And as we lingered along the shores of - Cephalonia and Leucadia, it was not of any Cæsar or Byzantine emperor or - Norman chieftain that we thought, but of the poet whose verses will - outlast all their renown. Leucadia still harbors, it is said, the breed of - wolves that, perhaps, of all the inhabitants of these islands preserve in - purity the Hellenic blood. We sailed close to the long promontory, - “Leucadia's far-projecting rock of woe,” and saw, if any one may see, the - very precipice from which Sappho, leaping, quenched in brine the amatory - flames of a heart that sixty years of song and trouble had not cooled. - </p> - <p> - Through the strait of Actium we looked upon the smooth inland sea of - Ambracia, while our steamer churned along the very waters that saw the - flight of the purple sails of Cleopatra, whom the enamored Antony followed - and left the world to Augustus. The world was a small affair then, when - its possession could be decided on a bit of water where, as Byron says, - two frigates could hardly manouvre. These historical empires were fleeting - shows at the best, not to be compared to the permanent conquests and - empire of the mind. The voyager from the Bosphorus to Corfu feels that it - is not any Alexander or Cæsar, Chagan or Caliph, but Homer, who rules over - the innumerable islands and sunny mainlands of Greece. - </p> - <p> - It was deep twilight when we passed the barren rock of Anti-paxos, and the - mountain in the sea called Paxos. There is no island in all these seas - that has not its legend; that connected with Paxos, and recorded by - Plutarch, I am tempted to transcribe from the handbook, in the quaint - language in which it is quoted, for it expresses not only the spirit of - this wild coast, but also our own passage out of the domain of mythology - into the sunlight of Christian countries: “Here, about the time that our - Lord suffered his most bitter passion, certain persons sailing from Italy - to Cyprus at night heard a voice calling aloud, Thamus! Thamus! who giving - ear to the cry was bidden (for he was pilot of the ship), when he came - near to Pelodes to tell that the great god Pan was dead, which he doubting - to do, yet for that when he came to Pelodes there was such a calm of wind - that the ship stood still in the sea unmoored, he was forced to cry aloud - that Pan was dead; wherewithal there were such piteous outcries and - dreadful shrieking as hath not been the like. By which Pan, of some is - understood the great Sathanas, whose kingdom was at that time by Christ - conquered, and the gates of hell broken up; for at that time all oracles - surceased, and enchanted spirits that were wont to delude the people - henceforth held their peace.” - </p> - <p> - It was ten o'clock at night when we reached Corfu, and sailed in under the - starlight by the frowning hill of the fortress, gliding spectrally among - the shipping, with steam shut off, and at a signal given by the bowsman - letting go the anchor in front of the old battery. - </p> - <p> - Corfu, in the opinion of Napoleon, enjoys the most beautiful situation in - the world. Its loveliness is in no danger of being overpraised. Shut in by - the Albanian coast opposite, the town appears to lie upon a lake, - surrounded by the noblest hills and decorated with a tropical vegetation. - Very picturesque in its moss-grown rock is the half-dismantled old double - fortress, which the English, in surrendering to the weak Greek state, - endeavored to render as weak as possible. It and a part of the town occupy - a bold promontory; the remainder of the city lies around a little bay - formed by this promontory and Quarantine Island. The more we see of the - charming situation, and become familiar with the delicious mountain - outlines, we regret that we can tarry but a day, and almost envy those who - make it a winter home. The interior of the city itself, when we ascend the - height and walk in the palace square, appears bright and cheerful, but - retains something of the dull and decorous aspect of an English garrison - town. In the shops the traveller does not find much to interest him, - except the high prices of all antiquities. We drove five miles into the - country, to the conical hill and garden of Gasturi, whose mistress - gathered for us flowers and let us pluck from the trees the ripe and - rather tasteless <i>nespoli</i>. From this summit is an extraordinary - prospect of blue sea, mountains, snowy summits, the town, and the island, - broken into sharp peaks and most luxuriant valleys and hillsides. Ancient, - gnarled olive-trees abound, thousands of acres of grapevines were in - sight, the hedges were the prickly-pear cactus, and groves of walnuts and - most vigorous fig-trees interspersed the landscape. There was even here - and there a palm. A lovely land, most poetical in its contours. - </p> - <p> - The Italian steamer for Brindisi was crowded with passengers. On the - forward deck was a picturesque horde of Albanian gypsies. The captain said - that he counted eighty, without the small ones, which, to avoid the - payment of fare, were done up in handkerchiefs and carried in bags like - kittens. The men, in broad, short breeches and the jackets of their - country, were stout and fine fellows physically. The women, wearing no - marked costume, but clad in any rags of dresses that may have been begged - or stolen, were strikingly wild in appearance, and if it is true that the - women of a race best preserve the primeval traits, these preserve, in - their swarthy complexions, burning black eyes, and jet black hair, the - characteristics of some savage Oriental tribe. The hair in front was woven - into big braids, which were stiff with coins and other barbarous ornaments - in silver. A few among them might be called handsome, since their profiles - were classic; but it was a wild beauty which woman sometimes shares with - the panther. They slept about the deck amidst their luggage, one family - usually crawling into a single sack. In the morning there were nests of - them all about, and, as they crawled forth, especially as the little ones - swarmed out, it was difficult to believe that the number of passengers had - not been miraculously increased in the night. The women carry the fortune - of the family on their heads; certainly their raiment, which drapes but - does not conceal their forms, would scarcely have a value in the - rag-market of Naples. I bought of one of them a silver ornament, cutting - it from the woman's hair, but I observed that her husband appropriated the - money. - </p> - <p> - It was like entering a new world of order and civilization, next morning, - to sail through the vast outer harbor of Brindisi into the inner one, and - lie, for the first time in the Mediterranean, at a dock. The gypsies made - a more picturesque landing than the other passengers, trudging away with - their hags, tags, rags, and tent-poles, the women and children lugging - their share. It was almost touching to see their care for the heaps of - rubbish which constitute all their worldly possessions. They come like - locusts to plunder sunny Italy; on a pretence of seeking work in the - fields, they will spend the summer in the open air, gaining health and - living, as their betters like to live, upon the labor of others. - </p> - <p> - Brindisi has a beautiful Roman column, near it the house where Virgil is - said to have died, and an ancient fortress, which is half crumbling walls - and half dwelling-houses, and is surrounded, like the city wall, by a - moat, now converted into a vegetable garden. As I was peacefully walking - along the rampart, intending to surround the town, a soldier motioned me - back, as if it had been time of war. I offered to stroll over the - drawbridge into the mouldy fortress. A soldier objected. As I turned away, - he changed his mind, and offered to show me the interior. But it was now - my turn to decline; and I told him that, the idle impulse passed, I would - rather not go in. Of all human works I care the least for fortresses, - except to look at from the outside; it is not worth while to enter one - except by storming it or strolling in, and when one must ask permission - the charm is gone. You get sick to death almost of these soldier-folk who - start up and bar your way with a bayonet wherever you seek to walk in - Europe. No, soldier; I like the view from the wall of the moat, and the - great fields of ripe wheat waving in the sweet north-wind, but I don't - care for you or your fortress. - </p> - <p> - Brindisi is clean, but dull. Yet it was characteristically Italian that I - should encounter in the Duomo square a smart, smooth-tongued charlatan, - who sold gold chains at a franc each,—which did not seem to be dear; - and a jolly, almost hilarious cripple, who, having no use of his shrunken - legs, had mounted himself on a wooden bottom, like a cheese-box, and, by - the aid of his hands, went about as lively as a centipede. - </p> - <p> - I stepped into the cathedral; a service was droning on, with few - listeners. On one side of the altar was a hideous, soiled wax image of the - dead Christ. Over the altar, in the central place of worship, was a - flaring figure of the Virgin, clad in the latest mode of French millinery, - and underneath it was the legend, <i>Viva Maria</i>. This was the - salutation of our return to a Christian land: Christ is dead; the Virgin - lives! - </p> - <p> - Here our journey, which began on the other coast of Italy in November, - ends in June. In ascending the Nile to the Second Cataract, and making the - circuit of the Levant, we have seen a considerable portion of the Moslem - Empire and of the nascent Greek kingdom, which aspires, at least in - Europe, to displace it. We have seen both in a transition period, as - marked as any since the Saracens trampled out the last remnants of the - always sickly Greek Empire. The prospect is hopeful, although the picture - of social and political life is far from agreeble. But for myself, now - that we are out of the Orient and away from all its squalor and cheap - magnificence, I turn again to it with a longing which I cannot explain; it - is still the land of the imagination. - </p> - <div style="height: 6em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In The Levant, by Charles Dudley Warner - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE LEVANT *** - -***** This file should be named 52213-h.htm or 52213-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/2/1/52213/ - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project -Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the -Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the -phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project -Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain -Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation.” - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right -of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - - -</pre> - - </body> -</html> |