lowed the rice: the rest was returned into the plate, to serve the next comer to the dish. Again he returned to the rice, and again to the fowl or the beef; judiciously alternating layer upon layer, handing, mouthing, and swallowing, and hospitably inviting us to follow his example, and instructing us how to ball the rice and thrust it into our mouths. No ceremony or city civilization here. His brother followed at a distance, and did not begin till after much intreaty; but, once engaged, played quite as good a fist as Abougôsh himself. Thus we all went on eating, talking, laughing, and enjoying ourselves, till abundant repletion taught us to desist; then Al ham de lelahi, glory to God, we are satisfied, and a servant comes round with a pitcher full of water, part of which he pours upon our hands; we wash, and it falls into the basin below; then, having dried, he receives the towel, and goes round to perform the same ceremony to the next, and thus makes the tour of the company." "Next morning, we left our beds at an early hour; but the earliest of the party was preceded by Abougôsh. On quitting the apartment, and going to the top of the stair, where a low wall between the two houses furnishes a charming prospect of the valley below, I found him sitting on his heel in the shade, although the sun had scarcely shone on his abode. He held his pipe in his hand, which he had just taken from his lips, to address a party of his men whom he had called around him, and whom, it appeared, he was about to despatch on some piratical expedition.... Breakfast was spread on the floor, and orders were given to load the camels and the mules. With all possible despatch we got ready, and sallied forth from the castle of our Arab chief, greatly delighted with his hospitality, and not less with the idea of reaching Jerusalem in two hours and a half from the time of starting. As Abougôsh frequently visits Jerusalem, the parting scene was nothing more than a simple good morning; he saw us all mounted at the gate, and bade us adieu. We had the pleasure of seeing him frequently at the Holy City. His brother continued to accompany us all the way. "The road between Karialoonah and Jerusalem presents nearly the same features with that in the other parts of the hill country which we had already passed. The mountains continued on the right and on the left, with here and there a triangular patch of low alluvial land, opening into a narrow valley, pervaded by a small stream of water that scarcely covered its pebbly bed. We passed the villages of Caglioné and Lefta, and a small brook trickling down through the valley of Turpentine. Having ascended the hill, where the road has been formed with considerable care, from the ledge of the rock, we passed the village of Abdelcader, the property of our greencoated shiekh, on the left, and in a few minutes, came in sight of Jerusalem, from which we were distant about ten minutes' walk of our mules. "These plain embattled walls in the midst of a barren mountain track, do they inclose the city of Jerusalem ? That hill at a distance on our left, supporting a crop of barley, and crowned with a half-ruined hoary mansion, is that the Mount of Olives? Where was the temple of Solomon, and where is Mount Zion, the glory of the whole earth? The end of a lofty and contiguous mountain bounds our view beyond the city on the south. An insulated rock peaks up on our right, and a broad flat-topped mountain, furrowed by the plough, slopes down upon our left. The city is straight before us; but the greater part of it stands in a hollow, that opens to the east; and the walls being built upon the higher ground on the north and on the west, prevent the interior from being seen in this direction. We proceed down the gentle descent, covered with well-trodden grass, which neither the sun nor the passengers had yet deprived of its verdure. The ground sinks on our right into what has been called the valley of the Son of Hinnom, which at the northwest corner of the wall becomes a broad deep ravine, that passes the gate of Yaffa or Bethlehem, and runs along the western wall of the city. Arrived at the gate, though guarded by Turkish soldiers, we pass without tribute or interruption. The rosy countenance of Abdel Rahman, the brother of Abougôsh, like a handful of gold, is every where a passport. The castle of David, or, to call it by its modern name, the tower of the Pisans, is on our right; on our left is a rugged stone wall inclosing a vacant field with a pool or cistern. The ruins are at the gates; but nothing of the grandeur of the city appears. We turned to the left, where the houses commence on both hands, and a few steps brought us to the Latin convent of Saint Salvador. The fathers and the interpreters, in their robes, immediately came to welcome us to the Holy City: with all possible despatch the animals were relieved of their burdens, and we with all our effects were accommodated within its sacred walls."* Travels, vol. ii. p. 221–237. |