The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1849-12-22
Vol. vi.


motley collection of passengers.
Having myself roughed it before in this
way, | was prepared for what l met with,
but nothing surprised me more than the
passive Indifference of my companion.
Though certainly not "cabbined," we
were "cribbed and confined" with ven
geance. Wilkie, when putting up for the
night in the one room ofa Spanish posado
with party of ladies and gentlemen, talks
of curtains and other contrivances for de-
corum. l thought of the fastideous deli
cacy of Hoods "Schoolmistress" under
such alarming circumstances. But there
was no remedy. "Misery acquaints man
with strange bed-fellows." All distinc-
.tions were literally brought to one level,
and when night came on, and we were
forced to lie down in the sand which FORM
ed the sheeting Of the general bed, with
the canopy of heaven for a curtain, we
made so tight a fit of it, that, as Stephens
somewhere says, ''if the bottom of the boat
had fallen out, we could hardly have tum-
bled through"
On awaking the next morning, we were
already dressed. The sun was rising in
glory behind Mount Lebanon. Our pic
turesque old barque, with hugh latine sails,
flew steadily along under the pressure of a
light breeze, and the fresh odors from the
sea, with our prosperous progress, contri-
buted to put us all into excellent spirits,
After our ablutions, Achmet was soon
ready with breakfast of coffee, bread,
eggs, and fruit. We sat in the pleasant
shadow of the sail; maps and guide-books
were pulled out, and every point of that
memorable coast successfully made out
and commented on. was perfectly de-
lighted with the intelligence of my COM
panion. and never, surely, did any travel
Ter, male or female, give so little trouble,
and enter into every thing with such a
spirit of quiet, heartfelt enjoyment. And
thus we sailed along, past Sidon, and past
Tyre, till, as the sun dropped his fiery ball
into the western waters. we reached the
promontory of Mount Carmel and his
white convent, looking out over the lonely
widespread sea. AS night came on, all
dropped asleep again, huddled together in
the general receptacle.
On reaching Jaffa the next afternoon, a
tribe of hali:naked Arabs rushed shouting
into the water, and bore us, lady and all,
triumphantly into the town. The no.
ton of woman wandering about by her.
self was so unintelligible to the crew and
Arabs, that | was of course looked upon
as her lawful proprietor and protector; and
as it was rather embarrassing how to get
rid of this honor, and, at the same time,
to provide comfortably for my companion.
Fortunately there proved to be an Austrian
consul in the place, and to his custody, as
German, desired Achmet to consign
her for the night.
Jaf1a is but thirty miles from Jerusalem
and, by starting very early in the morning,
| intended to get there that evening. Ac-
cordingly, long before sunrise I had order
ed horses to be ready, and sent Achmet
to fetch Madam from the Austrian consul's
where she had been very kindly treated by
the ladies ofhis family. 1t was one of the
hottest days of Syrian summer; the half
cultivated plains parched up by the sum-
mer heat, were destitute Of shade and ver-
dure, and haunted by myriad swans of in
sects; our supply of water was soon ex-
hausted, and had it not been for the peas
ant girls of the villages, who brought forth
pitchers to gain few paras from passing
traveller, we should have suffered cruelty.
But not single murmur, not even an in
dication of impatience, ever escaped the
lips of my surprising feminine companion
during the whole of this burning day. AZ
ter most blessed halt at well, and an
hours repose under the shadow of soli-
tary fig tree, we pushed into the wild de-
files of the hill country of Jud@a, so mar
row in places that but one at time can
pass, famous of old besides for their inse-
curity, and as the scene of many an out
rage and many murder perpetrated upon
the pilgrims to Jerusalem.
Our progress through these ravines was
so much slower than we anticipated, that
we were benighted at village in the noun
tains. We halted in the court of ruin
Gus mosque, and established our quarters
under its vaulted cloisters. The village
sheik, who had sent us huge pilau for
supper, came down for while to visit us.
Atlength we betook ourselves to our re-
spective dormitories on the ground; but
sleep refused to visit our eyes; we had
reached, we found, to within three hours of
Jerusalem. Restless and excited, about
midnight, | desired Achmet to prepare for
departure companion. | found was as
wakeful as myself At midnight, the cam.
els sleeping around us in groups, we STUN
bled forth by starlight from the court ofthe
mosque, and picked our uncertain way
among the olive groves surrounding the
village.
The road was mere horse-path down
slippery slabs Of rock into the hollow of a
precipitous ravine; in the dark, it was one
succession of slides and stumbles from top
to bottom. | soon lost sight of Madame,