46 PRESENTIMENT-KISHON. board, and after the fatigue of the day I enjoyed a sound night's sleep. 17th.-This morning I arose with sweet and grateful recollections of God's goodness towards me. And here I would observe that, from the day Mr. Bateson left us, my mind was deeply impressed with the thought that his journey would not be a prosperous one; and that I should never see him again. I mentioned this to Mr. Manning, and he asked me, how I came to have such an impression? I replied, that I could not account for it, but so it was, and that I had thought much, and seriously about it. While sitting in the boat this day, as she lay at anchor, I felt that I was in an interesting situation; on my right rose the precipitous Carmel: on the left was the brook Kishon, celebrated in song by Deborah the prophetess, when praising God for deliverance from the hand of Jabin: : "The river Kishon swept them away And more recently celebrated, as the place where God brought destruction on the heads of the idolatrous priests, in the time of Elijah. (2 Kings xviii. 40.) Notwithstanding all the inconveniences to which I was here subjected-and there were not a few-yet I felt that I could sincerely sing: I will praise him for all that is past, 18th.-Wind-bound still. We had been more than a week at sea this day, and only half way to our destination, and yet the voyage from Beyroot to Jaffa is usually performed in a day and a half. I went on shore to take a nearer survey of the Kishon: and although the brook now runs into the sea at the distance of about a mile from the village, yet from the indications which I perceived in the soil at about a quarter of a mile from the village, I am of opinion that it originally ran into the sea ARRIVE AT JAFFA-WEDDING. 47 much nearer the mountain. In this opinion I am strengthened, from having perceived a gradual and easy descent from Carmel, down which Elijah probably led Baal's prophets this terminated near the place which I conceived was the ancient bed of the river. I drank of the water, and found it to be sweet and good. I found a great quantity of sage and crocus, in a variety of colour, growing in abundance and beauty. My afternoon having passed thus agreeably, I looked towards the ship and observing her sails up, I hastened to the village, took a boat and was soon on board. Mr. Manning and Nicalo had returned from the convent. All being ready, in less than half an hour we were again on our way to Jaffa. 19th. During the night we had a fair wind, so that this morning we found ourselves within five or six miles of Jaffa: but a calm coming on, when we were within two miles of it, we had to be towed into harbour by oared boats. At twelve o'clock we got on shore, and proceeded immediately to the American Consul, to whom we had a letter of introduction from a friend at Beyroot. We found him to be a very kind and intelligent man, and partially acquainted with the English language. He politely offered to accompany us through the town, which offer we very thankfully accepted. We first went to the house of Simon the Tanner; it had no roof, and only portions of the walls were standing. We next visited the Market place, and, although it was Sunday, the people were busy buying and selling as on other days. We witnessed a Turkish wedding. The bride's friends were parading the bridegroom through the streets with music and females, who were all veiled and covered with a kind of white sheet, every two or three minutes, encorded the music with a note not unlike the crow of a bantam cock, of which there is a great number in Jaffa; this led me to imagine that the ladies' chiming-in was borrowed from the cock's crow. Though it was like the bantam's crow, yet, when chaunted by a large number of females, it had not an unpleasant sound: but whether it was a note of rejoicing at their fair friend's fortune, 48 SCENES AT JAFFA. or a cry of complaint at loosing their companion and sister I could not learn. Outside the town we saw a large number of stalls and tents, where were exposed for sale various kinds of fruit and sweet cane, which latter the people are very fond of in its green state. The black tents of the Bedouins, who bring in corn, for sale, claimed our attention. They are a very fierce-looking people, and their tents are well supplied with guns, pistols, and swords. They are known thieves and robbers: yet, as being the descendants of Ishmael, of whom it was said, "his hand shall be against every man's, and every man's hand against him," they live, like him, "in the midst of their brethren"-attending their markets, no one attempting to interrupt them. We looked into several gardens, where were pomegra nates, dates, and oranges, in rich profusion hanging from the trees. Grapes are not much grown here; they are brought from Beyroot and Sidon, in return for which, oranges are sent to those places, but more especially to Jerusalem. Jaffa is much larger that I expected to find it, but like the other cities which I have described, the streets are narrow and dirty. Though the 19th November, the weather was beautifully warm; and while writing my Journal I saw sparrows building nests, swallows skimming along in pursuit of their prey, and the trees everywhere laden with fruit. With the exception of sleeping upon the floor, everything else was comfortable enough in the convent. We made preparations this day for setting off the next day on our way to Ramleh and engaged three horses for ourselves, and three for our luggage. FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 20th. At twelve o'clock the horses were brought, and in half an hour, all being ready, we proceeded on our journey. For the first mile and a half our road lay RAMLEH-REMARKABLE EXPECTATION. through one unbroken forest of orange-trees. 49 It was the finest sight, I think, I had ever witnessed. Emerging from this, we entered upon a rich plain, which continued till we arrived at Ramleh. The land, though good, and under such a favourable climate, does not yield so much as it might be made to do, with proper care; but the system of husbandry pursued here is wretchedly bad. We entered Ramleh a little after sunset, and immediately made our way to the Governor's house; and having a letter of introduction from the Consul at Jaffa, we were received very kindly by him. He did not understand English, so Nicalo had to become the medium of communication between us and him. He said that he loved the English much, and indeed his hospitality to us went far to justify his professions. He never takes anything from English travellers; and I was informed that this is the case with all the Consuls, for they are expecting that ere long England will become mistress of Palestine. This opinion of the Consuls the Sultan is fully aware of: hence he often puts them to much inconvenience and loss, as was the case with this good man not long before our visit; for by the Sultan's arbitrary and tyrannical conduct he was nearly ruined; nevertheless he remained inflexible, in the midst of his poverty, to his determination not to take anything from English travellers. The population of the East generally have a great respect for Englishmen, and a high estimation of the national power of Britain. An instance of this I had, a short time before, witnessed whilst sailing in the schooner along the coast of Syria to Jaffa. When we went on board at Beyroot, an Italian, seeing the deck so very much crowded, agreed with the captain, for a specified sum, to have a certain portion of the deck for the exclusive use of himself and his wife-about as much space as they could comfortably lie down upon. When we came within sight of Jaffa the captain made a demand of his pay-which the Italian refused to give; alleging that E 50 SCENE ON BOARD SCHOONER-AGRICULTURE. the terms of the engagement had not been fulfilled, and that the captain had suffered the other passengers to encroach upon his space. Upon this the captain got into a rage, and, taking the helm, turned the vessel from the land, declaring that he would not go into port until he was paid. The passengers began to exclaim against this; and one of the strongest of the sailors laid hold of him and pushed him away, declaring that the vessel should go into port in spite of him. The Italian, seeing this, began to rally, and pointing to Mr. Manning and myself, who were the only Englishmen on board, said to the captain, "See here again, Turk, see here be English here:" and then pointing to Acre, which we had lately passed, said in a very threatening posture, "Ah you Turk, the English come to you-Bomb!-Bomb!-Bomb!" Having had no opportunity of seeing the town, as we arrived after sunset and left early the next morning, I can say nothing about it, barely remarking that this is the city where popular opinion states that good old Samuel lived and died. The reader will find enough to gratify his taste, in the discussion respecting the site of Ramah, in the 2nd volume of Dr. Robinson's Biblical Researches. 21st. Soon after five, A.M.. we were on our last day's journey to Jerusalem. For 12 or 14 miles, we rode over an extended plain; the land was free from stones, and although of a light soil, yet from the number of molehills which I everywhere saw, I judged it to be good land, but wasted from improper management. Not a farm-house did I see in all these 14 miles; but as we met several ploughmen riding upon their donkeys, and driving their oxen before them, I concluded that they came from villages at a great distance. The ploughs were such as I saw at Beyroot. I should like to hear of some good English Farmers settling there, as with such land on which to employ their capital, industry, and intelligence, they would be sure to be well rewarded. The oxen were very lean and small, not better than the most inferior of the Irish heifers, which may be bought in England for £4 or £5: indeed I saw many |