ethlehem--Beggars--Grotto of
the Nativity--Solomon's cisterns--St. John's--Franciscan church at
Jerusalem--Mourning women--Eastern weddings--Mish-mish--Excursion to
the Jordan and the Dead Sea--Wilderness near Jerusalem--Convent of
St. Saba.

On the 2d of June I rode, in the company of Counts Berchtold and
Salm Reifferscheit and Pater Paul, to Bethlehem. Although, on
account of the bad roads, we are obliged to ride nearly the whole
distance at a foot-pace, it does not take more than an hour and a
half to accomplish the journey. The view we enjoy during this
excursion is as grand as it is peculiar. So far as the eye can
reach, it rests upon stone; the ground is entirely composed of
stones; and yet between the rocky interstices grow fruit-trees of
all kinds, and grape-vines trail along, besides fields whose
productions force their way upwards from the shingly soil.

I had already wondered when I saw the "Karst," near Trieste, and the
desert region of Gorz; but these sink into insignificance when
compared to the scenery of the Judean mountains.

It is difficult to conceive how these regions can ever have been
smiling and fertile. Doubtless they have appeared to better
advantage than at the present period, when the poor inhabitants are
ground to the bone by their pachas and officers; but I do not think
that meadows and woods can ever have existed here to any extent.

On the way we pass a well, surrounded by blocks of stone. At this
well the wise men from the East rested, and here the guiding star
appeared to them. Midway between Jerusalem and Bethlehem lies the
Greek convent dedicated to the prophet Elijah. From hence we can
see both towns; on the one hand, the spacious Jerusalem, and on the
other, the humble Bethlehem, with some small villages scattered
round it. On the right hand we pass "Rachel's grave," a ruined
building with a small cupola.

Bethlehem lies on a hill, surrounded by several others; with the
exception of the convent, it contains not a single handsome
building. The inhabitants, half of whom are Catholics, muster about
2500 strong; many live in grottoes and semi-subterranean domiciles,
cutting out garlands and other devices in mother-of pearl, etc. The
number of houses does not exceed a hundred at the most, and the
poverty here seems excessive, for nowhere have I been so much
pestered with beggar children as in this town. Hardly has the
stranger reached the convent-gates before these urchi