The 16th of 4th mo. they came to the end of their journey, and camped outside the city of Jerusalem. At once they began the work of visiting schools and holding little meetings for all who wished to hear the gospel, not only in Jerusalem, but in all the surrounding villages. As these laborers rose before the groups gathered round them on the very spots where the works of our Master were wrought and where his words were spoken, with the scenes of the greatest historic events stretching out before them, a new power seemed to fill them, and their souls were stirred for the salvation and upbuilding of the people of this Holy Land. No class of its inhabitants was neglected; even the lepers were recipients of their message. Eli Jones visited the community of these unfortunate beings, and tried to induce them to come to the hospital prepared for them, telling them also of Him who came into this world to deliver us from even a worse disease than leprosy.
A letter from Eli Jones, written from Burkin, will suffice to give the reader an idea of their travels and a description of some of the places visited. Among others he speaks of Ramallah, where the mission-school was begun during their visit there. The letter was written for the Friends' Review:
"Tented near this little town, the time of day something past 'high noon' and the heat at 94° in the shade, I take the time to jot down a few thoughts, or perhaps I should say facts, for the perusal of my North American correspondents. Since I last wrote thee we have passed through portions of the ancient country of Egypt, have looked with feelings of admiration and wonder upon her pyramids and hieroglyphics, the former standing out to-day in all their primeval strength to tell of the greatness, or perhaps more correctly of the folly, of their builders, and the latter as we saw them upon the lasting rock apparently as clearly defined as when fresh from the hand of the recorder.
"The Nile, emphatically 'the river of Egypt,' still flows onward to the sea, and in its season annually waters the country, giving abundant fertility to the soil, which if cultivated with skill and care would make the adopted country of Joseph again the granary of the world. We had a very pleasant sail upon this wonderful river, embarking near the spot where floated the ark of bulrushes containing the Hebrew child who in the fulness of time became the leader and deliverer of Israel from their long bondage in the land of the Pharaohs. At the time of our visit the river was spanned by a bridge of boats, thrown across by order of the viceroy on the occasion of the marriage of some members of his family: this circumstance gave us a carriage-ride for several miles where otherwise we must have had recourse to donkeys as a mode of conveyance.
"A canal has been constructed extending from the Nile near Cairo to Suez upon the Red Sea; these places are also connected by the railroad; much of the way this runs parallel to the canal. On our way to the latter place we followed the iron horse for five or six hours across the desert of sand which must needs be passed, and which is enlivened only by the moving sails upon the canal, the untiring steeds that bore us on, and those tell-tale wires which, as with loving arms, are embracing not only the seas and fertile lands, but also the desert wilds. An highway (Isa. xi. 16) is here, and shall not this desert yet blossom as a rose? To our party the Red Sea was an object of much interest: as we sailed out upon it we beheld at our right the mountains through whose defiles the Lord's people are supposed to have passed on their approach to the water's edge, where, notwithstanding the hot pursuit of their enemies, they were to hear the assuring language: 'Fear ye not; stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you to-day; for the Egyptians which ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever;' and on our left was the gently-sloping strand where they made their exit from their watery way, and where we subsequently landed, some of our party going a little way into the interior to drink of the waters at the 'well of Moses,' which remaineth unto this day. Let the God of Israel be magnified, and let not His wonderful works be forgotten by the children of men.
"During our brief stay in this part of Egypt we had occasionally the opportunity of observing the progress of the work upon the projected ship-canal across the Isthmus of Suez. Of its ultimate completion and success its projectors are very sanguine, and it is equally clear that for the attainment of that end great engineering skill has been displayed and a large expenditure of money been made, and such a measure of unfaltering perseverance and of unflagging determination to overcome opposing difficulties brought into requisition as have been manifested in few other enterprises undertaken by man.
"On the 6th of the 5th mo. the male members of our party left for Jericho, travelling the very road, we may suppose, upon which the man was journeying who 'fell among thieves, who stripped him of his raiment and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.' We halted near mid-day under the 'shadow of a great rock,' and not far from the spot made ever memorable and dear to the Christian by one of the most beautiful and instructive parables of our blessed Lord—that of the Good Samaritan.
"We found the way rough and in some places difficult, yet there are in several places indications that in the centuries past, perhaps in the days of Roman rule, there was a highway here where the chariots of Jehu and Jabin might have 'rolled harmlessly on.'