Jerusalem, February 26th, 1873.
Editor Deseret News:
Saturday evening, the 22d inst., we steamed out from Port Said, and the following morning anchored within a half mile of Jaffa, the first seaport of Palestine. In boisterous weather and rough seas, landing is difficult and dangerous—frequently impossible, occasioning much annoyance and great expense to tourists. As we arose at early dawn, our anxiety was relieved by finding we were favored with a smooth sea and fine weather, and we were enabled by means of small boats to disembark with comparative safety. On approaching Jaffa from the sea, it presents a charming and picturesque appearance, being situated upon a high eminence, its streets rising one above another like seats in an amphitheatre, surrounded by beautiful lemon and orange groves and tall waving cypresses. On entering the custom house with our baggage, some francs bestowed upon the smiling, obsequious Mussulman official, saved the trouble of looking up our passports and occupying time which otherwise would have been employed by officious Turks in ransacking our satchels and trunks. We proceeded on foot to our encampment, carriages being out of the question, through the suburbs of the town, till we came to a Turkish cemetery near the shore of the Mediterranean. We found the arrangements completed for our traveling expedition—two sleeping tents, a separate one for the ladies, a kitchen tent with cook stove, a saloon or dining tent, iron bedsteads, mattresses, clean white sheets, abundance of bedding, carpets and camp stools. We were provided with good horses, saddles, an efficient dragoman, plenty of servants and preparations to serve three meals per day, under the supervision of an experienced cook.
Jaffa is considered the oldest seaport in world; it has a population of about five thousand, principally Arabs, Greeks and Mohammedans.
The interior of the city does not compare favorably in its appearance with its exterior. The streets are narrow, crooked, and filthy in the extreme—the houses uncomfortable, dark and gloomy, and the occupants are certainly unprepossessing in manners and general appearance. This is the ancient Joppa of Bible history, and is supposed to be the place where Noah's Ark was built, the port where the Prophet Jonah embarked when fleeing from the presence of the Lord, and where Hiram, King of Tyre, brought the cedars of Lebanon for the building of the Temple at Jerusalem.
Among other places of sacred interest, we visited the "House of Simon the tanner, by the seaside," where Peter had the remarkable vision in which the will of God was revealed concerning the Gentiles, by letting down a sheet containing all manner of beasts, etc., and heard the voice commanding him to "rise, kill and eat."
During our encampment we witnessed a ceremony of Mohammedan burial. The corpse of a child, wrapped in white, was borne to the grave, without a coffin, in the arms of a Mussulman, attended by the parents and a few friends. The body was placed in a small enclosure formed at the bottom of the grave by stones placed around, after which, several small paper packages were emptied into the grave; the enclosure containing the corpse was overlaid with flat rocks, the grave filled with earth, then a half bushel of beautiful little sea shells scattered over. Several women, clothed in white, knelt around the grave and commenced weeping and wailing in the most affecting manner, which they continued for several hours.
The next morning our tents were struck and we mounted our horses, following our dragoman in single file along the winding streets of Jaffa, lined with crowds of gazing Arabs and Mussulmen. After leaving the town, we passed through extensive and lovely orange and lemon groves loaded with golden fruit, and presently reached the flowery Plains of Sharon. The atmosphere was sweet and balmy, the gorgeous sun spreading its enlivening rays upon the beautiful country around, the morning lovely as ever dawned upon the holy land of Palestine. We felt that we were passing over the land once occupied by the children of Abraham, the plains once trod by the kings of Israel with their marshaled hosts, the land of the Apostles and Prophets. We were in Palestine! The Holy Land! The consciousness of the fact was inspiring. Hour after hour we rode onward in silent and solemn meditation; at length we reached the city of Ramleh, four hours distant from Jaffa, where we stopped to rest our animals, and partake of refreshments. Here is "The Martyrs' Tower." We ascended a flight of stairs to its lofty summit, which commands a magnificent view of the surrounding country—the Plains of Sharon, Arab villages here and there upon rising mounds, gigantic prickly pear hedges, olive orchards, and now and then a palm tree rising majestically above the whole, and the mountains of Judea appearing in the distance.
We resumed our journey, passed trains of loaded camels, mounted by half naked Arabs, smoking their long pipes, looking down smilingly from their "ships of the desert," doubtless sympathizing with us in our humbler mode of traveling.
The soil is generally rich and fertile, growing fields of wheat and vegetables. The dews fall profusely, and we were informed that latterly rain is more frequent in Palestine than in former years.