The Carolina Spartan. [volume] (Spartanburg, S.C.) 1852-1896, 1857-10-15
Adventure in the Tomb OF David.

]
barclay, daughter of Jane. T. Barclay. am.
thor of forthcoming work, The Citv.of
the Great King" gives an interesting nc
count OF her perilous adventure in pa;nino
access to the Tomb Of Dapid: - 3
"Eu'y one morning, during the great
Mohamuedan feast of Rhamadsn. wa.
called to the parley' room, to see nv friend s
Mbosa. This little fellow having become
rather frequent visitor, was at first in.
cline! To excuse myself, but remembering ha !
! had lately hinted al the possibility of nv
| gaming an entrance into the Tomb of Da-
| vid, and IN consideration, too, Of the fact Of
! being Their ieasting season, the eyerIa.tins,
! iiiJan OF coffee aud douceur Of sweetmeats
| those otherwise indispensable marx. Of
| turkish civiIity-might now be dispensed
with, concluded TO make NV appearance.
On entering the room, my pleasing suspi-
cions were confirmed by seeing him close
the door and mys,eriously place his fore.
| ilnScr on his lips, in token of profound So.
c'ecy. He laid his pond-rous turban on
the d'van beside him. dotted his slippers
crossed his legs and then disclosed the ma.
ture OF his errand. In short, WAS informed
that his sister was ready for an adventure.
| a''d, as was too, we were not long i'm
reaching Iurfcniah,' (hs sister) who i'm.
media,siy commenced operations. Nv hair
was taken down, and braided in scores of
| little p!aits. a red cloth cap. with blue
J silk tassel, WAS placed on INV head. and
around It gauze turban with gold ,assels
and embroidery. My robe and ,rowsers
were uf the finest Damascus silk. nv pirdle
Of cashmere, and tunic of light blue and
embroidered in silver flowers. Nv hand.
we're already dyed with 'henna, having up.
| dergone tins process on the occasion of a
forner adventure in the Mosque of Omer
aud still retained the deep yellow hue; my
skin was pretty deeply tanned, too from y
residence of several years under burning
Syrian sun, which wa. quite an addition 70
my turkish appearance. The sheet. veil
aud slippers came in due order: and having
secreied my pencil and ske,ch.b in the
'o'ds OF my glrdle' we sailed forth accom-
panied by Turfendahs favori,e slave.
The repuied Tomb Of David is lust ont.
side OF zion Gate; hard by the Cnnaculum
ana American cemetery. 1t is surrounded
by an irregular pile Of buildings, and sur
mounted by dome and rninaret. In the
'n!elor are some Of the most grotesaue ar.
ch'tec'ura embellishments Imaginable, ON
the capitals OF some remains Of the Crusa.
der' architecture Just think of the frip pht.e
'a' owl occupying the place Of the classic
ac"nthus and mythic lotus. We passed
'.1e several balls and corridors evidently of
Tie style OF the Qnixotic era of the Crusa-
uerS domination, before reaching the conse.
Grated apartment whose entrance is guard
cd by double iron doors. We found here
an o'a derwish prostrate in prayer, on the
e",d stone iio0r; Not being privileged, as
we, to enter the sacred precincts, he was
content with gazing at the tomb through
the iron bars for 1t is rare thing for even
MussuIman eccIesiastc TO gain admittance.
| my companion and her family only en-. .
Jo!lng this privilege, because they are very
near relatives Of the curator of The tomb
Our slave was despatched for the Ley. which
she had no difficulty in obtaining on the
plea that her mistress wished TO prav ON
tie holy spot. But what wa. nv conster.
nation on seeing another slave return with
her. | confess that tremLled, and wa,
| thinking ! had best leave nv awkward
Shippers behind, in case OF retreat. "a
they would greatly impede my progress.
ahd might thereby cause me TO lose nv
| mead She peered under my veil, asked
VINO WAS, and seemed satisfied with the
careless reply of Turfendah, that I wa,
merely friend of hers from Stamboul
She invited US up stairs to see the old keen.
ers harem; and Dahudeah, (Moosa,s little
wie,) who IS always glad to exchange the
purSatory OF residence with her lord and
master for visit of few DAYS here. for
can testify from personal observation tba,
the young etfendi lords it ovor her in t,ue
oriental conjugal style. Turfendah reore,.
'ed she could not accept her kind invitation.
and, as she was so much exhausted from
tasting, she would prefer deferrng il TO
another time. The slave then left, to our
mutual relief, and, having dismissed the old
derwlsh, the doors were closed and doubIv
locked.
The room is insignificant in i,s dimap.
:r, s!onS, but is furnished very gorgeously.
The tomb Is apparently an immense sar.
cophagus OF rough stone, aud is covered by
green satin tapestry, richly embroidered
with gold. To this piece Of black yeIve,
Is attached, with a few inscription. from
The Moran, embroi dered also in pold
SATIN canopy OF red, blue, green and yellow
stnfes hangs over the tomb, and apothe,
P'ece OF black velvet tapestry, embroidered
III silver, covers door in one end os ths
room which they said leads to a cave un.
derneath Two tall silver candlsstieL,
s'Shd before ihis door, and a little lsmp
hangs IN window near il, which is ken,
constantly burning, and whose wick, though
saturated with oil--and dare saw. q most
hauseous dose-my devotional companies
eagerly swallowed. mut,ering 10 herself a
prayer with many genuhaxion. She then
IN addition 10 their usual forms OF PRAYER
prosiraied herself before the tomb, raised
the covering, pressed her forehead 10 the
stone aud then kissed il many times. The
ce'ilng OF the room is -yaulted, and the walls
covered with blue porcelain. in floral fy.
ureS' Havlng remained hero an hour or