barrier
between Palestine and the Land of Canaan; and we had to climb over it
somehow.

Having negotiated a small hill in the foreground we descended into a steep
gully with innumerable twists and turns, ever growing more difficult and
dangerous. As the place was strewn with boulders the camels had great
trouble in finding a foothold, particularly with the additional handicap of
two bales of tibben or sacks of grain, which oscillated dangerously with
the uneven movement. Presently the slope became more gradual, though not
less rough in surface, and finally the path began to ascend towards the
Ladder itself. Cut in the face of the rock were broad but shallow steps, in
some places worn almost flat by the passage of countless thousands of feet.
Indian pioneers were hard at work on the Ladder and had already, in the
short time at their disposal, done wonders in the way of removing the
litter of stones that covered the steps, blasting away portions of
overhanging rock, and building rough ramparts on the side nearest the sea.
The camels approached it very gingerly at first, but after one or two had
"refused," tackled the climb. About half-way up the cliff there was a sort
of platform which marked the turn in the Ladder; here a false step meant
destruction, for it was a sheer drop down to the sea three hundred feet
below.

A pioneer chose the precise moment at which I reached this platform to
touch off a small blasting charge, the noise of which so startled my mare
that she very nearly stepped off the edge; and a piece of rock hit a camel
and all but started a stampede. After that, being a person of small
courage, I dismounted and walked.

The descent was even worse than the ascent for the camels, for the steps
were not only broad but wide from back to front, and it needed a big stride
successfully to negotiate them. I found it difficult enough on foot; how
the camels accomplished it without mishap, carrying their heavy burdens,
will ever remain a mystery.

Eventually we reached the level ground on the other side, and continued
along the shore as far as Tyre, a town nowadays of poverty-stricken
fishermen, with scarcely anything visible of the ancient city. "I will make
thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet
shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God"; thus spoke Ezekiel
the Prophet concerning the fate of Tyre, and his words are literally true
to-day.

[Illustration: THE VALLEY O