In certain versions of this etext, in certain browsers, clicking on this symbol , or clicking directly on the image, will bring up a larger version of the illustration. (etext transcriber's note)

LETTERS FROM THE HOLY LAND

AGENTS
America · The Macmillan Company
64 & 66 Fifth Avenue, New York
Canada · The Macmillan Company of Canada, Ltd.
27 Richmond Street West, Toronto.
India · Macmillan & Company, Ltd.
Macmillan Building, Bombay
309 Bow Bazaar Street, Calcutta



LETTERS FROM
THE HOLY LAND

BY
ELIZABETH BUTLER
WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR BY THE AUTHOR

LONDON
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK
1906

Published March 1903
Reprinted July 1906

TO MY MOTHER
CHRISTIANA THOMPSON

PREFACE

THESE letters, written to my mother, and published chiefly at her request, can lay no claim to literary worth; their only possible value lies in their being descriptive of impressions received on the spot of that Land which stands alone in its character upon the map of the world. But the reader will more easily excuse the shortcomings of my pen than, I hope, he will ever do those of my pencil!

I will make no apologies for the sketches, save to remind the reader that most of them had to be done in haste. They are necessarily considerably reduced in size in the reproduction, so as to suit them to the book form.

It was a happy circumstance for me that my husband’s appointment to the Command at Alexandria should have enabled us to realize this journey. A four-weeks’ leave just allowed of our accomplishing the whole tour. The wider round that includes Damascus and Palmyra would, of course, necessitate a much more extended holiday.

The time of year chosen by my husband for our visit was one in which no religious festivals were being celebrated, so that we should be spared the sight of that distressing warring of creeds that one regrets at Jerusalem more than anywhere else. Also the spring season is the healthiest and most agreeable, and we timed our journey so as to begin and end it with the moon which beautified all our nights.

We are chiefly indebted to Mr. Aquilina, the very capable and courteous agent for Messrs. Cook and Son at Alexandria, for the perfect way in which the machinery of the expedition was managed for us. Without such good transport and camps one does not travel as smoothly as we did. To the Archbishop of Alexandria we owe a debt of gratitude for his kind offices in helping to render our way so pleasant.

ELIZABETH BUTLER.

Government House, Devonport,
Christmas Day, 1902.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

[1.]Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
[2.]Jaffa[8]
[3.]The “Cenaculum.” Site of the House of the Last Supper[26]
[4.]In the Garden of Gethsemane. Noonday. Looking towards Valley of Jehoshaphat[30]
[5.]Bethany[32]
[6.]“Ain Kareem,” reputed birthplace of John the Baptist, from roof of Convent of the Visitation[36]
[7.]Solomon’s Pools, near Jerusalem, looking towards Dead Sea[38]
[8.]Bethlehem from the Sheepfold, Field of Boaz[42]
[9.]The Plain of the Jordan, looking from “New Jericho” towards Mount Pisgah[48]
[10.]The Plain of Esdraelon, from foot of Tabor, with the village of Naim in distance[60]
[11.]Our First Sight of Lake Galilee[62]
[12.]Galilee, looking towards Hermon[64]
[13.]Galilee, looking from near the mouth of the Jordan towards the “Mount of Beatitudes” and Tabor[66]
[14.]Nazareth at Sunrise[68]
[15.]St. Jean d’Acre[72]
[16.]Ruins of the Crusaders’ Banqueting Hall, Athleet[78]

The illustrations in this volume have been engraved and printed by the
Carl Hentschel Colourtype Process