Was I right?

by Mrs. O. F. Walton

We thought perhaps five or six would be necessary, but Mr. Stanley told us, to our astonishment, that he had just had a conversation with a gentleman who had taken the trouble to go round the vessel in order to find out what were the different nationalities of the people on board, and he had made the discovery that there were men from no fewer than thirty different nations in that one steamer.

We sailed from Port Said on Sunday evening, and came in sight of Jaffa at six o'clock the next morning. We were up very early, for we were longing to get our first view of Palestine. It was a lovely morning; the sea was as smooth as a mill-pond, and the view was exceedingly beautiful, as the sun rose behind the Judean hills.

Jaffa looked a very pretty place as we saw it from the deck of the steamer, with its white houses overlooking the blue Mediterranean, a green circle of orange trees round it, and the quiet hills beyond.

But we had little time to realise the fact that we were now gazing at the very spot from which Jonah took ship for Tarshish, and where Peter lodged and saw that wondrous vision, and where Dorcas lived and made garments for the poor, in those far-off Bible days. We had very little time for thought of any kind, for, as soon as we came in sight of Joppa, numberless boats came out to meet us, as they had done at Alexandria, and after the usual tumult we secured one, and were rowed to the shore, which was a mile and a half away. This is not at all a safe undertaking in stormy weather, for the only entrance to the harbour is a very narrow opening between most dangerous rocks. The harbour of Joppa is a natural one, and has never been improved since the time of Solomon, when the timber, which Hiram out down in the Lebanon, must have been brought to land through this very passage between the rocks.

When we drew near the shore we saw crowds of Arabs waiting for us, screaming and fighting and wrestling in savage earnestness. They seemed ready to tear us in pieces rather than lose the chance of carrying our luggage to the hotel. It really was a terrible sight to those unaccustomed to Eastern vehemence. Evelyn was very much frightened and clung to her father, and even Sir William seemed agitated and alarmed. But Mr. Stanley's quiet voice reassured us.

"Oh, it is nothing," he said; "you don't know what Arabs are yet; they always make a noise like this. It is nothing unusual, I assure you," he added, laughing, as he fought a passage for us through the howling crowd, and led the way to the little Custom House, which was already crowded with the travellers who had arrived before us. We had, therefore, to wait outside for some time; but Mr. Stanley kept the Arabs who had followed us at bay, and gave Evelyn a camp-stool to sit upon, for she was looking faint and tired, and the heat, even at that early hour, seemed to us to be very great.

At last the Turkish officer was at liberty to receive the "baksheesh," which Mr. Stanley had ready for him. He passed our boxes without opening them, and we were allowed to proceed to the hotel.

It was a tiring walk, for the streets of Jaffa are covered with hot, burning sand, in which your feet sink every step you take. They are very narrow, and every now and then we looked round to find ourselves nearly knocked down by a huge camel, with boxes on its back, which had come noiselessly behind us over the soft sand; or a mule, laden with luggage, and rushing frantically along, was determined to pass us, and pushed its way through our midst in the most resolute manner.

Mr. Stanley had advised us to go as far as Ramleh that day, as it is forty miles' ride from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and he thought we should be too tired if we went so far in one day. Accordingly that afternoon, he hired horses for us, and we mounted for our first ride in Palestine.

It was no easy matter guiding our horses through the crowds of Arabs, the strings of camels and mules, and the heaps of filth, in the streets of Jaffa. We were glad to leave the town and get into the road, which took us through one of the orange groves by which Jaffa is surrounded. Everything looked so strange and Eastern, and the scent of the oranges was delicious. We passed through the Plain of Sharon, and at about five o'clock in the evening we reached Ramleh, after rather more than four hours' ride.