Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1852-1852, 1852-08-17

ring monuments in granite that would withstand
the assaults of the elements or the destructive
agencies of conquerors in after years, the Bosom
of destruction has swept them all, all away, and
C;esarea, the magnificent capital of Judea, has
not one human being within its boundaries.
The only living thing in sight, where there were
the finest specimens Of rchitecture-palaccs be-
yond palaces, and marble, an exhibition Of
wealth and refinement, while he was in the me-
ridian of his glory-was bne solitary horse, feed
ing among crushed fragments Of sculptured stone,
as I passed over the lonely site of a once grand
and beautiful residence or splendid court.
From the days of the Jebusitcs, whose CAPT
tai was the present rook on which Jerusalem
stands, every successive people who have had
possession of Palestine have fixed their habita-
tons on the very pinnacles Of the mountains.
Every town and village, therefore, is up some
where. No one resides in valley. From some
hill tops the spectator has an admirable view of
many distant places that appear quite near but
to reach any of them he must descend mile or
so, and cross horrible ravine or yawning gorge,
and subsequently wind up and onward like the
gyrations of corkscrew, for ten or twenty hours,
to get at the proposed settlement. Miles are
unheard-of things in Palestine. Everybody
speaks of hours who designs movement. 1t
is seven hours to one place, for example, two to
somewhere else, and forty to another. The ma
king of jaunt through tue Holy Land of Syria
is an expensive affair indeed. There must be
pack mules for carrying beds, food, and all that
may be required from day to day. Three per-
sons could not do well without two and there
must be cook, muleteer, dragoman, who
does all the talking and answers all your ques-
tions, for the Arabic is difficult to acquire, and
without an interpreter, it is impossible to know
where you are, or what you see Finally, each
rider is mounted on horse, who is followed by
a groom, and he must have mule to carry the
provender All this makes kind Of caravan--
a long string Of animals, slowly winding up and
down the horrible trails of the land, single file,
at the rate of two or three miles only an hour.
In the course Of the day, many places Of pc
culiar interest, mentioned in the Old Testament,
are distinctly seen, which are not approached.
When | stood at Bethel, Ramah was in full sight,
and the mosque over the tomb of Samuel, the
prophet. Both Horan the Upper and Gideon
also, where Joshua took a position when he SAID,
Sun, stand thou still upon Gideon, and thou
Moon, in the valley of Ajalon," and otherloc
ties of immence interest to the biblical scholar
and sacred geographer. At night, it is necessa-
rv to seek stopping place in village for scc:'-
rity. Beyond town or hamlet, there is not a
sing Gle habtation.
All lodge in the same apartment, on the ground,
on your own beds, surrounded by armies of in
sccts eager for your blood. Poor things, if it
were not for strangers, feas would soon be ex
tinct, for they seem to dcspsc an Arab, who
sleeps sound in defiance of their nippcrs. Horses,
COWS, camcs, goats, dogs, and the family, are
not unfrequently congregated in one room. The
night before reaching Damascus, we suffered ex
cccdngly on account of the multitude of lodgcS
in one room-for the landlord had, in addition
to all the beasts and creeping things of Noah's
ark, three wives, with their restless children.
The reason for taking hill tops for towns has
reference in the first place, to security they can
discover approach Of visiters, and, if they don't
like them, keep them at bay with the balls always
a. hand tstoncs-which once put inmction,
would sweep through all opposition. Secondly,
when the winter rains set in, the gorgcs arc filled
with angry torrents that gorge out of the side
hills, so that not resting place or house could
be found. An air of desolation rcigns every
where, and every person YOU meet is armed to
the teeth with pistols, blundcrbusses, long guns,
dirks, spears, down to a simple club.
Although au advocate for peace and almost
non-rcsistant in sentiment, | have been Juggling
a stout horse pistol all over the country, know
ing not what might happen. Had an attack
been made upon our train, lam quite sure |
should have run, for have mortal antipathy
to powder
The majority of the Inhabitants are idle, and
time is of no account. A very few do all the
drudgcry, and the rest smoke Why it is the
great pursuit of a long life to smoke. The rich
er the individual the better is the quality Of his
tobacco, and the longer the flexible stem of his
nargelch. One everlasting cloud Of smoke, the
product of more pipes than there are virtues in
the possession Of the twelve tribes, is perpetual
ly rising to the zenith throug hout the length and
breadth of the Land of Promise.
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