The bazaars of Damascus are famous in the East. Each set of merchants has its own quarters, so that there is no difficulty in finding the wares you require. There are long straight arcades, and winding, twisting arcades, all aglow with light and colour.
But there is no time to linger or describe the beauties of this truly beautiful city. We spent a week amid its wonders and fell more in love with it day by day. I might mention that the hotels are fairly good, and English travellers are well cared for.
And now our journeyings are nearly over. A week at Baalbec, where the famous ruins of the temples of Jupiter and the Sun are the astonishment of all beholders; thence to Beyrout, from which port we embarked for Constantinople, another delightful five days’ journey, and we steamed into the Bosphorus.
A week crammed with more wonders in the way of sight-seeing, and then late on Monday afternoon we stepped into the Oriental Express and were whirled homewards, and on Thursday afternoon we were in dear smoky London once more, after an absence of nearly four months.
It may interest my readers to know that our joint expenses for this trip were £170, including £39 for railway tickets from Constantinople to London. This sum took in every item of expenditure except the presents which we bought for our home friends. Of course we could not possibly have seen so much, nor travelled so comfortably and economically if it had not been for the kindness and hospitality of our many missionary friends, who had looked forward to our visit, and who made everything easy and delightful for us. If any of the girl readers of The Girl’s Own Paper set out on such a tour, I hope they will return with as many pleasant recollections as we did. And now farewell.
S. E. Bell.
VARIETIES.
Lasting a Lifetime.
Mrs. Crabshaw: “What do you mean by cheating me like this? You said this chain I bought here would last a lifetime, and here is all the plating worn off in a month.”
Goldskin: “Madam, I said dot shain vould last you a lifetime pecause when you puy it you look so sick I didn’t t’ink you vould live der veek oudt.”