ied. Outside of this there is an open space, which we found
filled with venders of oranges and vegetables, camel-men and the like,
some vociferating in loud dispute, some given up to silence and smoke,
under the shade of the sycamores.

We rode under the heavily arched and towered gateway, and entered the
bazaar. The street was crowded, and there was such a confusion of camels,
donkeys, and men, that we made our way with difficulty along the only
practicable street in the city, to the sea-side, where Francois pointed
out a hole in the wall as the veritable spot where Jonah was cast ashore
by the whale. This part of the harbor is the receptacle of all the offal
of the town; and I do not wonder that the whale's stomach should have
turned on approaching it. The sea-street was filled with merchants and
traders, and we were obliged to pick our way between bars of iron, skins
of oil, heaps of oranges, and piles of building timber. At last we reached
the end, and, as there was no other thoroughfare, returned the same way we
went, passed out the gate, and took the road to Ramleh and Jerusalem.

But I hear the voice of Francois, announcing, "_Messieurs, le diner est
pret._" We are encamped just beside the pool of Ramleh, and the mongrel
children of the town are making a great noise in the meadow below it. Our
horses are enjoying their barley; and Mustapha stands at the tent-door
tying up his sacks. Dogs are barking and donkeys braying all along the
borders of the town, whose filth and dilapidation are happily concealed by
the fig and olive gardens which surround it. I have not curiosity enough
to visit the Greek and Latin Convents embedded in its foul purlieus, but
content myself with gazing from my door upon the blue hills of Palestine,
which we must cross to-morrow, on our way to Jerusalem.

Chapter III.

From Jaffa to Jerusalem.

The Garden of Jaffa--Breakfast at a Fountain--The Plain of Sharon--The
Ruined Mosque of Ramleh--A Judean Landscape--The Streets of Ramleh--Am I
in Palestine?--A Heavenly Morning--The Land of Milk and Honey--Entering
the Hill-Country--The Pilgrim's Breakfast--The Father of Lies--A Church
of the Crusaders--The Agriculture of the Hills--The Valley of
Elah--Day-Dreams--The Wilderness--The Approach--We see the Holy City.

--"Through the air sublime,
Over the wilderness and o'er the plain;
Till underneath them fair Jerusalem,
The Holy City, lifted high her towers.