The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1869-06-18

wants perpare little food 2" is the urgent
language of every village sheikh. The
coffee is always on. the hearth; kid or
lamb representative of the old ''fatted calf
is at hand, and can be got ready with all
the dispatch of ancient days. Food for
servants, 'provender" for horses, accom-
modations for all, are given as matter of
course. In travelling through Bashan one
fancies himself carried back to the days
when the patriarChs sat in their tent doors,
ready to welcome every visitor, and hail
every passer-by.
At one time, when Mr. Porter's party had
tarned aside to examine some ruins near
AIRY, they found themselves suddenly sur
rounded by great crowd of excited ms
tives They had come up in body, head
ed by their skeikh, to entreat the travel
lefs' to come into, their village, and rest,
and be fed.
"They would take no excuse. IT would
be disgrace to their village if they would
permit us to pass; it would be an insult to
their chief if we should attempt it. They
entreated, as Abraham would have done
at his tentdocr, or Lot at the gate of Sod
ON. We entered the skeikh's house and,
while coffee was being prepared, the whole
household, in fact great part of the town.,
got into a state of commotion. A woman
came into the apartment with large cop
per vessel in her hand took measure of
flour out huge earthen jar, and commenc-
ed the process of 'kneading unleaveled
cakes A moment afterward we heard, q
confused noise of cracking and screaming;
then a flock Of hens flew in the terror past
the open door, followed by troop of wo-
men and boys in full chase, We saw they
had resolved to make US " FEAST The
tlocks were at distance, and it would take
hours to obtain lamb or a kid; fowls,
therefore must serve as a substitute. We
were fully aware of the dispatch of Arab
cooks, and that in This respect they were
not surpassed even by the patriarehs; but
our time was too precious to be wasted
in mere ceremony, however interesting
Firmly but respectfully we assured our
worthy host that we must proceed to Boz
rah. TO the evident regret of the stately
sheikh, and the unbounded establishment
ofcrowds of his people who gathered round
us, and who could not understand how it
was possible for any polite or respectable
person to decline proffered hospitality, we
mounted or "0rses and rode off,"
The scenery Of Bashan is picturesque,
and in the immediate neighborhood of its
mountain ranges grand. The mountains
are of volcanic origin and their rugged
black sides contrast strongly with the lux
uriant green of the pastures, and the bril-
liant forests of oaks, which Mr. Porter says
"otten glittered beneath the blaze of sun
shine like forests of prisms." We have
seen q similar effect in September mornings
on great "scrub-oak clearings" in Vermont
and New Hampshire.
The plain of Bashan is wonderfully rich
and fertile. From its beauty Ezekiel, and
David, and Micah drew many of their poe
teal images. Hore Reuben, Cad, and
Manasseh chose their inheritance and led
their tlocks. To-day Arab shepherds in
service of the Druses lead almost innumer-
able focks over the same plains. Mr.. Por-
ter gives graphic picture oftheir first going
out in the morning.
"As we sat and looked, almost spell bound
the silent hillsides around US were in mo-
ment filled with life and sound. The shep-
herds led their fiocks forth from the gates
of the city They were in full view, and
we watched them and listened to them
with no little interest Thousands of sheep
and goats were there, grouped in dense,
confused masses. The shepherds stood to-
gether till all came out. Then they sepa-
rated, each shepherd taking different path
and uttering as he advanced shrill, pecu-
liar call. The sheep heard them. At first
the masses swayed and moved as if shaken
by some internal convulsion; then points
struck out in the direction taken by the
shepherds; these became longer and longer,
until the confused masses were resolved
into long, living streams flowing after tn cir
leaders. 1t was perhaps one of the most
vivid illustrations which human eyes could
witness of that beautiful discourse of our
Lord, recorded by John: And the sheep
hear the shepherds voice; and he callcth
his own sheep by name, and leadeth them
out. And when he putteth forth his own
sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep
follow him; for they know his voice"
THE CITY OF BozRAH
OF all the giant cities which are describ-
ed in this book, Bozrah was perhaps the
most interesting. 1t was in latcr times the
Roman capital of Bashan. Its ruins are
five miles in circuit, the walls lofty and
massive, and the castle is still one of the
strongest fortresses in Syria. Mr. Porter
says:
Among the ruins I saw two theatres,
six temples, ten or twelve churches and
mosques besides palaces, baths, fountains,
aqueducts, triumphal arches, and other
structures almost without number. The
old Bozrites must have been men of great
taste and enterprise as well as wealth.
Some Of the buildings l saw there would
grace the proudest capital Of modern Eu-
rope" "Some parts of its wall are still al
most perfect; massive rampant of solid
masonry, fifteen feet thick and nearly thirty
feet high, with great square towers at in
tervals. The walled city was almost a rect
angle, about mile broad. Outside this
were large, straggling suburbs. A straight
street intersects the city lengthwise, and
has Il beautiful gate at each end. Other
straight streets run across it."
"In one spot, deep down beneath accu-
mulated remains of more recent buildings,
| saw the simple, massive, primitive dwell
ings of the aborigines, with their stone
doors and roofs. These were built and in
habited by the gigantic Emin and Rephaim
long before the Chaldean sheperd migrated
from w to Canaan. High above them
rose the classic portico of Roman temple,
shattered and lettering, but still grand in
its ruins. Passing between the columns,
saw over its beautifully sculptured doorway
Greek inscription, telling how in the
fourth century the temple becamea church,
I 4 4 IL. n.