VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO PALESTINE.—JOURNEY FROM JAFFA TO RAMLEH.
The steamer stopped a few hours at Port Said, the northern terminus of the Suez Canal, and the second morning after her departure from Alexandria she dropped anchor in front of Jaffa. The time at sea between Alexandria and Jaffa is from twenty to thirty hours, according to the speed of the steamer and the state of the weather. There are three companies—one carrying the French flag, one the Austrian, and one the Russian—each making a fortnightly service from Alexandria; and there are several irregular lines, so that a traveller may be reasonably sure of being able to go from Egypt to the Holy Land every four or five days. The French steamers are the best, the Austrian the next in order, and the Russian and the irregular steamers the worst of all.
The steamer that carried our friends anchored about a mile from land, and the Doctor explained to the youths that there is no harbor at Jaffa which a ship can enter. In a calm sea, or when the wind blows from the north or east, passengers may land or embark with safety; but if a westerly or southerly wind is blowing a landing is impossible. In winter the prevailing wind is from the west, and many a traveller who takes his ticket for Jaffa in that season has the vexation of being carried past the port, for the simple reason that he cannot be put on shore.
Fortunately for our friends the sea was perfectly calm when they came to anchor, and there was no hinderance to their going on shore. The steamer was quickly surrounded by boats, and a bargain was made with one of them for transportation to land. The strong arms of the Arab boatmen sent the little craft spinning over the water; the oars rose and fell together as the men kept time by a song that was a trifle monotonous to the ears of Frank and Fred. But never mind its monotony; it carried the travellers from ship to shore, and every moment the walls of Jaffa became more and more distinct through its measured cadence.
They seemed to be heading for some jagged rocks that jutted a little distance from the line of the shore. The sharp eyes of the boys discovered an opening in the rocks, and when the boat was within a few yards of it the men paused in obedience to a signal from the steersman. Then, watching the rise and fall of the waves, they dashed forward at the proper moment through the opening ten or twelve feet wide, and were borne into the smooth water of the little harbor. There is a wider entrance farther to the north, but it is rendered dangerous by several sunken rocks, and the narrow one is generally used by the boatmen.
FRONT OF AN EASTERN SUMMER-HOUSE.
"This harbor is mentioned several times in Scripture," said Doctor Bronson, while the boatmen were waiting the proper moment to enter. "It was here that Hiram, King of Tyre, sent ships laden with wood from Lebanon for the use of King Solomon in building his temple at Jerusalem, and some of the apostles, when they went out to preach the gospel through the world, sailed away from Jaffa or Joppa, as it was then called. According to tradition, the prophet Jonah sailed from Joppa just before he was swallowed by the whale. And there is another tradition that Andromeda was chained to the rocks at the entrance of the harbor, in order that a sea-monster might devour her. The correctness of this latter tradition was maintained until the sixteenth century by the exhibition of the chains and rings by which she was held."
ONE OF THE DRAGOMEN.
Doctor Bronson saved himself a wrangle with the boatmen by putting his party in the care of the commissionnaire of the hotel where he was going, and asking him to arrange everything. This plan is advisable for all travellers arriving at Jaffa, and they are also recommended to pay no attention to the dragomen that crowd around them on the ship, and desire to make contracts for accompanying the strangers to Jerusalem. Wait till you get on shore, and don't make a bargain in a hurry.
The commissionnaire attended to the baggage of the party, paid the customary fees to the boatmen and the officials of the Custom-house, and then escorted the strangers to the Jerusalem Hotel, which is, or was at that time, the best hotel in the place. It is a short distance out of the town, and in the German colony; its proprietor, a German, was the vice-consul of the United States of America, and his official position enabled him to be of service to travellers from beyond the Atlantic. Through his recommendation our friends were joined by three other Americans who wished to make the tour of the Holy Land, and the rate for a party of six would be less for each person than if it consisted of half that number, or even four or five.
Negotiations were begun immediately. Several contractors wished to be engaged, and the choice fell on a Syrian named Ali Solomon, or Solyman, who was strongly recommended both by the consul and by those who had previously employed him. After considerable bargaining the following terms were agreed upon:
The contractor, or dragoman, was to provide all requisites for the journey. There were to be three double tents—one for every two persons—servants, beds, food, English saddles, horses for riding and carrying the baggage. He was to engage sufficient escort when needed, and pay all fees and backsheesh of every kind, except when the party visited churches, convents, and the like. Whenever the party stopped in hotels or convents, instead of remaining in camp, he was to pay for their food and lodging. The horses were to be sound and kind, and if any of them became disabled the dragoman was to provide proper substitutes free of extra charge. The party could go where it pleased, change its route as often as it liked, select its own day for leaving any city or town, and, if the contract was closed anywhere but in Jaffa, the dragoman was to have a fair allowance for the return journey. In case of dispute, the matter could be referred to the American or any other consul at the most convenient point.
While on the road the food should consist of coffee or tea in the morning, with eggs and bread-and-butter; luncheon at noon, of chicken or other cold meat, eggs, bread, cheese, and fruit; and dinner should be as good as the hotel dinner. In Jerusalem the party should choose for itself the hotel where it would stop.
In consideration of the above, each person of the party was to pay twenty francs, or sixteen English shillings ($4) per day. One-third of the money was to be paid before starting, one-third when the journey was half over, and the balance on the return to Jaffa, or the discharge of the dragoman at some other point.[6]
There is not much to be seen in Jaffa, and it was decided to start in the afternoon and spend the night at Ramleh, nine miles away. While the dragoman went to bring horses for the travellers to ride, our friends went out to "do" Jaffa. Dinner was to be served at one o'clock, and they were to be on the road a couple of hours later.
They visited the house of Simon the Tanner—or, rather, one of the several houses which claim that distinction—mentioned in the New Testament (Acts ix. 43). It is well to remark here that all through the Holy Land the locations of houses, tombs, and other places of scriptural or other historic interest, are frequently changed. In regard to the house of Simon the Tanner, at Jaffa, it is said that its location depends somewhat on the liberality of the owner or tenant toward the guides who conduct strangers about the town. The Latin convent is claimed to be on the site of the house, and so is a small mosque near the light-house. The Christian guides generally conduct strangers to the former spot, while the Moslems indicate the latter. There is no reason to believe that any part of the original house is in existence.
JOPPA.
A walk through the bazaars, a visit to an orange-grove, and a narrow escape from being trampled in the mud by a line of camels in a narrow street, completed the inspection of the ancient Joppa. One of the most interesting features to Frank and Fred were the heaps of oranges piled in the market-place. Jaffa is famous all through the Levant for its oranges, which are an important article of export; and in the season when they ripen there is a very large trade in this delicious fruit. Our friends bought a dozen for two or three cents, and pronounced them the finest oranges they had ever seen.
A SECOND-CLASS HORSE.
When they returned to the hotel they found some forty or more horses from which they were to make their selection. Half an hour was spent in trying the steeds and the saddles on their backs, and when this operation was ended the rejected horses were led away, while the selected ones were fastened in front of the hotel at the Doctor's suggestion. Some of the owners wanted to take the horses away, in order to feed them before their departure for Ramleh; but the Doctor ended the discussion by saying that any desired nourishment could be given where the animals were standing.
"It is a common trick," said he to the boys, "to change the horses after you have made your selection. We have picked out good horses, and I think we shall be satisfied with them; these fellows would very likely bring us animals of the same color and general appearance, and we should find them vicious, weak, bad in gait, or with some other defects. We will keep our horses directly under our eyes till we are away from here; when we are once on the road they are not likely to try the substitution trick."
"But wouldn't they tell you so, if they had changed the horses?" said one of the boys.
"Not a bit of it," answered the Doctor, with a laugh. "They would declare there had been no change whatever; and as we would not be familiar with the horses after seeing them only once, we would not be certain of the deception till too late to rectify it."
"What dreadful story-tellers they must be!" was the very natural comment on the Doctor's assertion.
"Yes," he responded; "and do you know how they account for it themselves?"
Neither of the youths had ever heard the explanation, and so the Doctor gave it.
"The Arabs say that when the Father of Lies came on earth to distribute his goods he had nine bagfuls. He spread one bag of lies in Europe, and then started for Asia and Africa. He landed in Egypt one evening, intending to scatter a bagful over that country and Syria, and then go on the next day to Asia; but while he slept the Arabs stole all his remaining stock, and distributed it among themselves. This accounts for the great difficulty they have in telling the truth."
"This propensity among them," continued the Doctor, "is practically universal, as an Arab who can tell the straightforward truth is very difficult to find. If you ask a question of an Arab, and he has no interest in deceiving you, he may possibly give you the correct answer if he happens to know it, though he is by no means sure to do so; if he does not know the answer, he will give you the first that his imagination suggests, and he would be very much surprised if you told him he had done wrong."
As soon as dinner was over the travellers arranged their baggage, each of them packing what clothing and other things he wanted in a valise or bag, and leaving the trunks to be kept till their return, or sent up the coast to Beyroot, according to the instructions they would send from Jerusalem to the keeper of the hotel. Each of them carried a suit of clothing in addition to the one he was wearing—an overcoat, a mackintosh, or light rubber coat, for rainy weather, and a limited supply of under-garments, socks, handkerchiefs, and other necessities of every-day life. The dragoman said that almost anything they would want could be bought in Jerusalem, and there was no use in carrying things along simply on the ground that they might possibly be needed. Frank and Fred remembered the previous injunctions of the Doctor about travelling in "light marching order," and reduced their baggage to a very low condition.
All was ready before three o'clock, and they were off for their first ride in the Holy Land.
THE CITY GATE OF JAFFA.
There was a little restiveness among the horses at starting, and it threatened, at one time, very serious results to the riders of the animals. Evidently they had not been very actively employed for the past few days. The Doctor said their freshness would wear away before they had gone far into the country, and the principal thing to do was to keep them from injuring any of the party or doing harm to themselves. At the suggestion of Ali, Frank and Fred put their horses to a gallop for a couple of miles, and the exercise had a visible effect in reducing the liveliness of the steeds.
The boys were well satisfied with their horses, which were full of spirit, and very easy under the saddle. Frank said he intended to see if he could not get up a friendship with his horse, but the Doctor told him it would be of little use to do so, as the horses of Palestine are changed around so often among tourists that they do not have an opportunity for becoming intimately acquainted with any of their riders. The youth soon after abandoned the attempt when his horse tried to bite him, and contented himself with treating the animal kindly, and holding him well in check whenever there was any manifestation of temper.
WOMEN AT A WELL.
Until they got clear of the town the road was anything but agreeable, as it was paved with mud and otherwise encumbered. Orange groves were all around them for quite a distance, and the general aspect of the place was pleasing. They passed near a well where several women were engaged in filling their water-jars, after the manner recorded in Scripture. The boys realized the fidelity of the descriptions they had read in their Sunday-school days, and Frank remarked that evidently the East had changed very little in many of its features since the time of Christ.
Frank thought the dress of the women was very picturesque, and the flowing robes reminded him of the outer garments of the women of Japan. Fred said he could understand why the women of Syria had such graceful figures; there could be no stooping or bending forward when one was carrying a jar of water on her head. He thought it would not be a bad plan if some of the American schools for young women would adopt the plan of having their pupils walk with slight weights on their heads, so as to teach them the value of an erect position.
From Jaffa to Ramleh the country is flat or slightly undulating; most of it appears quite fertile, but there are numerous spots so deeply covered with sand that they are unfit for cultivation. There are some villages along or near the road; but, on the whole, the population is quite scattered, and the country could support more inhabitants than it has at present.
A couple of miles out from Jaffa the party halted a few minutes in order to tighten some of the saddle-girths, which had worked loose, and to arrange a few other matters about the travelling-gear. As the incident of the well was fresh in the minds of the youths they spoke of it, and the time of the halt was utilized by the Doctor in a short lecture upon the wells of the Holy Land.
"In most parts of Palestine," said he, "the water is very scarce, and the possession of a spring or permanent stream is a matter of great importance. Fierce fights have occurred for the ownership of springs, and sometimes the feuds that have arisen from this cause have lasted hundreds of years. The existence of a fine spring has often determined the site of a town or village, and every precaution is exercised to prevent the waste of the precious liquid.
PUBLIC FOUNTAIN AT JERUSALEM.
"For public uses the water is made to flow into a fountain, with a stone trough in front of it. The women go to the fountain to fill their jars from the stream that flows through the stone, and the horses and cattle are driven there to drink from the trough. If from any cause the spring dries up there is great distress, and if there is no other water in the immediate neighborhood the site of the village or town must be abandoned. Many of the ruined towns which we find in Palestine to-day were given to desolation in consequence of the drying up of springs or streams.
ONE OF THE WELLS OF BEERSHEBA, WITH ITS WATERING-TROUGHS.
"The scarcity of running water led to the digging of wells, and we find them mentioned in the earliest books of the Bible. There are many wells of this sort in the country, and some of them are thousands of years old. We read in Genesis of the wells that were dug by Abraham and his descendants, where the flocks were watered. The wells of Beersheba which were made by the servants of Isaac (Gen. xxvi. 32, 33) can be seen to-day, and the stone watering-troughs from which the flocks drank are where they have stood for thousands of years. In some of the ancient wells there are stone steps leading down to the water, while in others the water was drawn to the surface by means of buckets at the ends of ropes. The ropes made deep channels in the stone where they rubbed against it. Some of the wells have been dry for hundreds of years, but the stones that surround them remain undisturbed.
INTERIOR OF A CISTERN.
"Where there are no running streams or springs, and the nature of the ground does not favor the digging of wells, the people rely upon cisterns to supply their wants. A cistern is simply a large excavation in the earth or rock; if in the former, it is lined with stone and cement to make it water-proof, but if it is hewn in the solid rock no such precaution is necessary. Water is collected here during the rainy season and treasured up for use in the dry summer. Some of the cisterns are of great extent, and will hold water sufficient for great numbers of people during several months. They are found all through the country; and even where there is a stream of water the whole year round it is often the custom to keep cisterns filled with water, to guard against an unusual drought. Some of the cities of the East have vast cisterns beneath them, and if you ever go to Constantinople you will see the cistern of 'The Thousand and One Pillars,' which gets its name from the number of columns that support the roof.
CISTERN UNDER THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM.CISTERN UNDER THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM.
"There is a cistern under the Temple of Jerusalem," continued the Doctor, "that was hewn from the solid rock. Portions of the rock were left standing to form a support for the temple, and they have performed their work so well that no part has ever given way."
As the Doctor paused it was announced that the horses were ready, and in a few minutes the cavalcade was again in motion.
A tower on the right of the road attracted the attention of the youths. The Doctor told them it was the station of a watchman, and that it was his duty to guard the fields and vineyards from depredations by men or beasts, and to preserve order along the road.
"There are eighteen of these towers," said he, "between Jaffa and Jerusalem, about two miles apart, and the men in them are supposed to have control of the road, and to protect travellers from danger. The watch-tower is an institution of the East, and its use dates from a very early period."
"Yes," replied one of the boys; "I have read about watch-towers in the Bible, and we saw in Egypt how watchmen were stationed to guard the fields in ancient times the same as they guard them now."
"You will find them referred to many times in the Bible," was the reply, "and there has been no change in the custom. If you want to refresh your memory on the subject read the fifty-second chapter of Isaiah, and you will find a description that might have been written yesterday instead of many centuries ago."
Over the undulating plain of Sharon our friends continued their journey, passing groves of olive and orange trees, fields of grain, and occasional stretches of barren ground. In places the route was shaded by sycamore and cypress trees, and the fields were protected by hedges of cactus. A well-grown hedge of this plant makes an excellent fence, as it is impervious to man or beast, and it flourishes admirably in the soil of Palestine.
From the third watch-station the town of Ramleh was visible, with a huge tower rising over it. The view was very pretty, as Ramleh is situated in the midst of luxuriant groves and orchards of olives and sycamores interspersed with palm-trees.
As they neared the town one of the horses became restive, and made a dash for a cactus hedge. He regretted his imprudence when the sharp spines of the plant entered his hide, and stopped so short that he narrowly missed throwing his rider over his head and into the thorny bushes. The other horses shared in the excitement, and for a few moments there was a scene of confusion among them. Happily no accident resulted, and the party entered Ramleh at a dignified pace.