Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-04-21
gHR DAIRY RECORD-UNIoN.
IN PALESTINE.
Beautiful Scenes in olivet Never to be
Forgotten.

Forgotten.
A road, or, rather, rocky path, leading
to Jericho and to Bethany, past the Garden
Of Gethsemane and up the western side Of
the Mount of Olives, with the grim Valley
of Jehoshaphat yawniDg like huge rent
In the earth cauaed by an earthquake.
invited our footsteps. This Is the path
which the Scriptures record Jesus to have
taken, when, on His way to the Temple,
He sat upon tue Mount of Olives over
against the Temple"-for from that spot
the whole Enclosure of the Haram and the
Mosque of Omar are spread out like map
under the feet of the gazer. 1t was here,
also. that the description is given of His
having wept over Jerusalem, and bewailed
her obduracy, and foreshadowed her fate.
The vast cemetery Of Jehoshaphat-w
LII for many centuries the Jews have come
from all quarters of the earth, and which
the Jews, the early Christians, and even
the Turks, all have fixed upon as the spot
for the Last Judgment-frst arrested our
eyes. But the solemnity of the prospect
was saddening, so we turned them away to
where high into the heavens lowered up
the Mount of Olives, its sloping sides and
crest-crowned with olive trees, of which
there still remains grove their delicate
bright green leaves glistening with the CO.
pious dews of night in the first rays of the
morning sun, which had not yet illumined
the somber valley, with its fiat slabs for
tombstones The hillside over which this
pathway winds is bare of vegetation the
rugged rocks strewn over it, and the sleep.
ing dead beneath it, alone occupy the soil.
But the green foliage of the Garden of
Gethsemane, over whose wall we look
down into it, and the gentle waving of the
olive leaves, relieve this dreary view, and
we turn our steps as well as our view to.
ward those places of verdure as welcome
as the oasis in the desert. This too, was
said to have been the favorite walk of Da-
vid, along which he fed from his rebellieus
son, when he assembled the Mount of Olives
to take parting look at the city whence
Absalom's revolt had driven him. From
the gate there is steep descent of hum
dred yards, which may be dignifed with
the name of a road-but is not one-whlch
leads down to where the Brook of Cedron
used to be, but where we saw only its dry
bed. Milton, in his Vision, saw
''Cedron's brook that flowed
Fast by the Oracle of Cod
Ousb OutSiOC VI bu0 RabO Is q l.
burying. place, so most of the images which
meet the eyes, as well as the recollections
which crowd on the mind at this spot, are
sad. The path ascends from the bed of
Cedron, winding past Gethsemane to the
upward slope Of the Mount of Olives,
crowned by mosque, and near by it
small Christian striking emblem of
Turkish liberation.
On the edge of the Valley of Cedron,
some little distance on our right hand,
stand two ancient tombs of much preten-
sion. One with pillars, and kind of GU
pola, tradition assigns to David's errlng
son, Absalom, and so strong in the East is
the sentiment of adherence at filial in
gratitude, that each passer-by throws
stone at it, until quite an artificial hill has
risen beneath it. So just on the brink of
the path along which the agonized father
fed have moldered the remains of the I'm.
dutiful son, whose sin has preserved the
memory of his name for perpetual execra-
ton. We did not pause to examine the
Tomb of the Virgin, wherein the mortal
remains of the Mother of Jesus were said
to have been laid nor did we even enter
the Garden of Gethsemane, which was said
to have witnessed His agony, but breasted
the steep hill and assembled the Mount of
Olives, at whose summit, practical walkers
as we Were, my companion and myself
were compelled to stop to catch our breath,
then gazed enTaptured on the panoramic
view spread out beneath US. That scene,
once seen, can never be forgotten by him
who has once enjoyed the privilege of hav-
ing feasted his eyes upon it, nor does it
ever weary by repetition. There are upon
this Hill few scattered Arab huts, but the
mosque and small Greek chapel near it
were the chief buildings. The former is
small stone building, octagonal in shape,
with the usual minarets, and many times
each day rises from this summit of the
Mount Of Olives the Mussulman deelara-
ton of faith from the strong lungs of the
hoary Imaum who is its guardian.
The old priest of Islam, doubtless re-
garding us as sons of "Sheitan" in his Sc
cret soul, was very polite, blandly accept
ing the bockshish we rendered, and thrust
ing it into his bosom, for in the East money
lies near the heart, as here, the pocket
there being in the loose folds of the shirt
front. he shutfled up before us into the
minaret, from whence the outlook was in
deed ga thing to dream of, not to tell. :"
Before ascending, however, he knelt down
and pointed out to us a mark on the stone,
in the very center of the building, bearing
q remote resemblance to the outline of
human foot, which he gravely assured us
was the imprint left by the foot of ELSA"
(Jesus), when from that spot-according to
Moslem tradition-He assembled into heav.
en-. For, with the same curious inconsist-
ency that induced them to hate and perse.
cute the Jew, while acknowledging and
reverencing his prophets and his law, they
also revile the Christian, while respecting
Christ and attaching sanctity to Him. Not
alone do the Moslems declare Christ, like
Moses, to have been messenger (ResouD
like their own Mobammed, whom we cali
Prophet, but in the Koran, the declaration
is made that Christ " was born Of a Virgin
by the Spirit of God, yet allowing Him
no divine attributes, which Mohammed, in
his pure Deism, never even claimed for
himself, "There is no Allah but the one
Allah, being the keystone of the creed.
The summit is about 600 feet above the
sea, and from it you obtain one of the
most impressive views the world affords l
have stood on the Alps and looked down
from the Jungfrau on magnificent piano.
ramas of scenery, but the sensation here
was entirely different, as was the scene.
On one side you look down upon Jerusa.
lem under your feet, and see it all at a
glance, with its surrounding hills and val
leys. On the other hand stretches between
you and the Dead Sea the bare, bleak will
derness OF Judes-it frame for such mir
ror-shut in to the east by the Mountains
of Moab, the wavy outline of which Cha
tesubriand eloquently describes as "a
straight line travel by tremulous hand. :"
Just IS it really looks.
Gazing eastward the view is very grand.
The dreary desert which intervenes be-
tween erusalem and the Dead Sea stretches
out in its bare desolation, and the metallic
CLEAN of the waters of that strange sea,
not tossing like water, but slowly heaving
upward i.xe masses of motion metal, ar
restF and rivets the eyes. Though actually
twelve miles in an airline from the point
whence we looked, and much further by
the tedious path up and down mountain
L