Saturday, June 29th.—The day was spent in repose, with prayers and reading the Sacred Scriptures. Being so close to Mount Carmel, our thoughts naturally turned to the Prophet Elijah; and in addition to the usual Sabbath prayers, Sir Moses read to us the 18th chapter of 1st Kings in a most solemn manner, and with such fervour that every one present was deeply affected.
In the course of the day the messenger returned, bringing the following reply to Sir Moses' letter:—"The Governor cannot allow a shorter quarantine than seven days."
In the evening, after the conclusion of Sabbath, letters from Mr Kilbee were opened, containing the correspondence from England. There had been disturbances in some of the manufacturing towns at home and in Paris; the Melbourne ministry had resigned, but had again accepted office. This was all the news we received from England, but Mr Kilbee added unsatisfactory intelligence from Beyrout. He wrote that the Druses had plundered Damascus, and the whole country was in a state little short of rebellion, and that poor Lady Hester Stanhope had died on the night of the 21st inst., having been without medical aid or the attendance of any European. Mr Moore, the British Consul, and the Rev. Mr Thomson had been to her house on the 23rd, and they buried her the same night by moonlight.
The accounts which the messenger brought from Beyrout of the disturbed state of the country induced some of our men to beg Sir Moses to discharge them, as they were fearful of continuing the journey, and all appeared much alarmed. Both Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore were undecided by which way they should proceed to Alexandria, as they were unwilling to go by sea, the boats from Haifa to Alexandria being very small; nor did they wish to risk an attack of the Druses by going to Beyrout.
Sunday, June 30th.—We heard heavy firing at Acre, about two hours' ride from here, which caused some uneasiness; but at ten o'clock the guardians informed us that Ibrahim Pasha had defeated the Sultan's army near Aleppo, and had taken many prisoners. The firing of cannon at Acre was in celebration of the victory. Sir Moses feared it was but a proof of hostilities having actually commenced.
Many gifts arrived daily from the Agha of the place, from the Superior of the convent, and from several Sheiks in the neighbourhood; and as Sir Moses invariably returned handsome presents to these parties, as well as to their servants, it is not surprising that, in every town and village which they visited, the gifts they received were so numerous.
The chief of the quarantine visited us with the physician, and requested me to feel the pulses of every one of our party, including Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore, and to declare on my honour whether they were in good health. They evidently mistook me for a doctor of medicine, and I gladly complied with their request. I felt the pulse of everyone, and reported it to be in a most satisfactory state. During this examination Sir Moses was in a state of great uneasiness, as the least indisposition would have subjected him and the rest of the party to an addition of forty days extra quarantine at the least, which he prayed heaven to avert, as he feared it would make us all seriously ill. The same evening Drs Keith and Black came to our tents and acquainted us with the news they had just received from Haifa. The road to Beyrout by the sea shore was infested with thieves, and the road they had intended to take, through Nablous, was quite impassable; they had therefore determined to proceed by sea, and intended leaving at six o'clock the next morning. Sir Moses, however, relying on the Almighty's protection, decided to go by land with Mr Finzi, the English Consular Agent at Acre, who had offered to accompany us.
Monday, July 1st.—"We left with a grateful heart," writes Sir Moses, "the place of our encampment in the morning, and were accompanied by the superintendent of the quarantine, the British Consul at Haifa, and Signor Finzi, who rode with us as far as the Synagogue in Haifa. They wished to wait for us there, and then accompany us to Acre, but I thanked them for their intentions and begged them not to do so; they therefore took leave of us with many good wishes."
We entered the Synagogue, which was but a small and mean looking room, and after divine service Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore distributed gifts to the poor to the same amount he had given in the other towns. He expressed his displeasure to the Portuguese community for allowing marriages among such very young people to take place, and begged them to follow the example of their co-religionists in Jerusalem, who allowed no such early marriages as those which must have taken place in Haifa. Of the few German Jewish families whom he saw there he spoke in terms which showed his great satisfaction with them.
Tuesday, July 2nd.—We set off this morning at two. Our road for three hours lay through a well cultivated plain, but after that we had to cross a steep and rugged mountain. At seven o'clock we stopped in a beautifully situated spot to rest. We sat down under a fine tree in a garden which commanded an extensive sea view, but we were informed that snakes had been seen in the garden, so we started again at 2 p.m. Our road led over a mountain pass, one of the most difficult, Sir Moses said, he had ever seen. The pass ran many hundred feet above the sea and close to the edge of a precipice nearly all the way. On descending into the plain we found it well cultivated, being almost covered with white mulberry trees. We noticed several women engaged in stripping them of their foliage, whilst others were winding the silk off the cocoons.