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.