Kings that it was inhabited by the
son-in-law of King Solomon. We left our tents a few minutes after one
o'clock. We had a pleasant ride, great part of the way through a
beautiful plain between Mount Carmel and the sea. We passed not far
from some splendid ruins of a castle and town. On proceeding to the
spot, we found it to be "Athlit," some of the Arabs called it "Atlik,"
the Castellum Perigrinorum frequently mentioned by the Crusaders.
There are still many arches and vaults to be seen, as well as some
granite pillars. The remains of a church also attract the traveller's
attention; by the style of its architecture it is supposed to be of
Christian origin. There are some stones in the walls round the
building as large as, and similar to, those in the Western Wall at
Jerusalem.

CHAPTER XXIII.

1839.

ENCAMPMENT NEAR MOUNT CARMEL--STATE OF THE COUNTRY--CHILD MARRIAGES IN
THE PORTUGUESE COMMUNITY AT HAIFA--ARRIVAL IN BEYROUT.

At 8 P.M. we reached the quarantine cordon at the foot of Mount
Carmel, a narrow pass between the sea and the mountain, about two
miles from Haifa, where we had intended to rest, fully relying on our
certificate from the superintendent of the quarantine at Jaffa. Having
always kept ourselves in quarantine since we left Beyrout, and lodged
in our own tents, avoiding all villages, we expected to have been
allowed to pass without any detention, but to our great mortification
the officer in command informed Sir Moses that, having come to his
cordon, he and his party must perform quarantine, but that he might
send a messenger to the Governor of Beyrout, under whose orders he
acted. This Sir Moses at once did, and having addressed an Arabic
letter to him, he charged one of the soldiers of his suite to take it
to the Governor with all possible speed. In the meanwhile, the
superintendent suggested that we should have all our things dipped
twice into the sea, once on that day, and after seven days a second
time.

Some members of the Hebrew community came to us and promised to bring
us all the provisions we might require during our stay in quarantine,
and we became reconciled to our detention. Mr Young, the British
Consul in Jerusalem, when forwarding to Sir Moses his letters from
England, took the opportunity of adding some information respecting
the state of the Holy City, which was far from satisfactory. He also
informed Sir Moses that several of his friends had been attacked by
serious i