River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-12-30
Aylsit TO the Garden of Eden.

n couple of hours ride over Il most
wretched bride path, up and down
rugged mountain passes, brought us to
this charming oasis called 'Ehden."
The Arabs assured us this spot was the
real Garden of Eden, and yet judging
from the intense curiosity they evinced
concerning ourselves and our traps,
we had no difficulty in believing this to
be the garden where our first mother
Eve dwelt ere she grew too fond Of
apples.
This Eden is situated in Il pretty
little valley III the heart of the noun
tains, at an elevation Of some 5000
feet above the level ofthe sea. Water
is abundant here and consequently
everything is green and fruit is plenty
The valley is full of vineyards, with
pomegranates and fig trees, and olive
and mulberry plantations, and over
topping the whole can be seen some
immense walnut trees that look as
old as the world.
As | am writing these lines, sitting
on a camp-stool in front of my tent, |
can see the whole population Of Ehden
collected round our camp staring at us
Young and old, men women and chill
| dren are pressing forward to have Il
| good look at us; and some Of these
wild children of Eve have climbed up
the tree to have a birds-eye view of
our camp, Long before we reached
our camping-ground the news had
! been brought that Il caravan Of people
from beyond the mountains, and per-
haps, oh, wonder! from beyond the
sea, was coming to camp in their oasis.
! The news spread like Wild-tire among
| the tribe and there was a general rush
| for the best places to see us come in
and get off our horses, The women
| left off their work in the fields, the
men left off playing on their reed pipes,
and the children left off crying to see
us coming. Barnums circus arriving
| in a village "out west never created
such a sensation as we did on APP
preaching this earthly paradise AS
| we filed past through this isle of hui
man beings, we were greeted with
shouts and mock salutations. The wo-
men giggled, the men smiled,
and the children roared at the
the queer figure we cut in our Eu-
| ropean costumes. Two ladies with us
were made the objects of very popular
ovation
The green goggles which some of my
/ companions wore seemed to raise the
enthusiasm of the crowd to the highest
pitch, and many a Swarthy finger was
raised from among those Arabs. point
ing to the green goggles, while the wo-
men called to each other and raised
! their children in their arms to make
! them enjoy the treat Meantime my
| friends, quite unconscious of their
great popularity, did not know what to
make of all this crowd. But as we
drew near the tents and helped Mrs.
Z. off her horse, the crowd pressed so
much on us that Hail and his men
were obliged to drive them off, and to
to keep the intruders out.
Here with plenty of elbow room /
enjoy the scene, which, indeed, is very
picturesque When the excitement
had somewhat subsidized, strolled out
to enjoy the gorgeous sunset. The
western sky was aglow with luminous
/ tints of orange, pink and purple. This
glory lasted but a minute, and all was
| hushed in the gray tints Of evening.
| Later in the evening some young
men and young women, We're admitted
in our dinning-room tent. These Arab
women were dying with curiosity to
see and handle the clothes and trinkets
of our lady friends. Velvet seemed to
attract their attention and admiration
more than anything else, save perhaps,
our watches and gloves. The gloves
especially seemed to puzzle them. The
countess took out her repeater and
made it strike for them. They seem
ed delighted just a little children
would be with the sound Of the tiny
bell. Some of these pretty Arab girls
asked me through our drasoman, if
all the ladies in our country were like
the two that were with US. / told
Hail to ask these girls what made
them ask that question. They answer
ed with giggle and shy look from their
rougish eyes: IF they are all so large
it must be very hard work for the poor
horses to carry them"