Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-04-04
VISIT TO JERICHO.
The biblical Jericho, You Know

A correspondent of the Lewiston,
Maine, Journdi, writing about things
seen in the Valley of the Jordan, says:
1t takes fourteen horses and mules to
take us two Americans through Palestine
in comfort. We have good beds, good
tents, kitchen and cooking utensils, quite
an amount of baggage-all to be carried
On the backs of mules. Eight or ten
Arabian Moslems, partly from Damascus
and partly from Jerusalem, are in our
train. Our cook is Latin Christian,
formerly cook in hotel in Jerusalem
and an excellent cook he is. Our drago-
man Ward is captain of our caravan. He
buys vegetables, chickens and bread of
the Arabs, en- route. He takes English
canned goods and other supplies Here
is an Arab from modern Jericho with
cucumbers from his garden. They are
peculiar looking crooked vegetable, green
and nice-tasting much like the Yankee
cucumber We pay twenty dollars a day
for our special caravan, which includes
tributes to the sheiks, bucksheesh, special
guards of the Bedouin tribes through
whose territory we pass, good food, beds
and every comfort possible on the Jour
ney. BY roughing it little more, one
could travel for half the cost a.; but the
best in this land, is not too luxurious even
for plain people.
The heat to-day is excessive. But we
mus not stay for that. 1t is always an
oven, this Jordan valley, andwe must use
sun umbrellas and grid ourselves in light
marching order for the trip.
We are up Mt $50 o'clock, and break
fast at Ska good breakfast of omelette,
! mutton chop, coffee. bread and butter
J aud fruit and sweets.
r We mount our horses, feeling little
3 lame from yesterdays rough journey.
Sheik Joseph guards the rear, and Ward
= with his pistols IN his belt and his silk
kerclief on his head, gives brigandish
appearance to our vanguard. Hassan
rides at our side, jar of water hitchcl
to his gaily decorated Arabian saddle,
: his embroidered Damascene suit and tur-
ban of Turkish fashion giving him de-
n cidedly biblical appearance. The dog
e C.Iesh is attached to the mules and will
z not accompany rs. Our camp remains at
Joshua's fountain, and We return to 1t to-
= night.
a We cross the brook Cherith, going
; south over the arid plain.
What are these thorn bushes?
. They are dense and prick rs, tearing
S madam's gown and otherwise taxing pa
t tiencc and attention. 1t is said from
e bushes like these Christ's crown of thDrns
S was plated.
= Along the brook flowing from Elisha 8
=, fountain the Bedouins divert bits of
Il streams to irrigate their crops The
e bowling of iackal in the distance is the
!, only sound that breaks the quiet The
: baying of an innumerablo number Of
Il dogs soon advises us that we are near a
I, Bedouin encampment Sheik Joseph ad-
o vances to make our advent pcaceable.
l. There is a struggling cncampment of
: black goats hair tents, looking more like
l. a debilitated rag fair than anything else
= miserable and filthy, dog and flea and
% vermin infested haunts. \ few donkeys,
N goats and sheep wander among the stub
J. BILE. Clouds of pigeons fly overhead,
y and / hear the growing of a cock and the
ID cackle of hens. This valley well irriga-
d ted and cultivated, would be paradise.
rs The culture Of sugar cane in this valley
L, used to pay Cleopatra an annual revenue
l. of S25, 900.
le Modern Jericho is fortified by thes,
bushes or thorus. They are impenotra
? BILE, and surround these forlorn huts anC
black tents. No horse or man could ge
e. through this matted mass of natura
OF barbed wire fence.
IN The Bedouin wear 4 coarse cotton shir
and a robe, often of silk. They are gen
8, orally bare-footei. They weara kerchie
e, head gear The young women wear
m simple gown and gay silk hcaddress
ke The women are fond Of silver rings il
IL their noses and ears, and they indulge il
5h silver chains and bracelets. The womel
as are harefooted but closely veied.
nd They live mainly on bread, baked i
a. wound onlya ON nlotn or On lg
Il stones covered with ashes Porrdg
y made of coarse flour and camels milk
also much used as well as rice tloul
ed Melted butter is used to garnish the trui
or he which grows in the deserts Come II
IA to a Bedouin tent, and you are at once il
vited to drink coffee and smoke, and
'as great honor is to be shown, as was shnv
yer the prodigal son, a lamb or kid is kille,
es- Sometimes on great occasions, Il camel ]
en- killed and eaten. Lamb and other mei
id is boiled with wheat and camcl's milk an
7y- the melted grease is served in auotht
ed dish. Tho women eat apart and get I'll
rn odds and cnds-the liver and legs of ii
o.s animal
sit The Bedouu can shoes horse an
make saddle, and tau, and weave G
rs rude looms Every family has a came
n and some rich men have sixty camel
ing Horses are less plenty than camels.
to The Belouin generally can neither rei
an nor write They have herb doctors Al
md their rude r-gazers-wse men of II
= East, They are fond Of poetry and musi
Int. aud songs and dances.
ing The Bedouin do not have many wivc
ar but they do have many divorced wiyc
pr. When an Arab gets tired Of his wife,
ho, boosts her on to n she-camel and SEN
Tul l. l. - e,tI,
)on art divorced" So that any Arab vi
owns a she-camel may be divorced. The
me are no old maids among the Bedouin.
n The Oricntals are frugal in diet. M
,me that helps neutralize their narcotics. O
liss carniverous Indians are shortest lived
all our outdoor dwellers, by reason
7 to their diet. Cold is an ontiscptic, b
bile the hottest climate is far to be pr
the ferred to tho Arctic circle The Ar
ave lives on nm average longer thun the +
the quimaux.
ent, We cross the brook Cherith sever
the times; its course is very serpentine.
ob- Modern Jericho on the site of the Je
1ise cho Of Jesus's time, we drive through a
g to find it a miserable village of stone hu
lich on the plain in the midst of orchards
hat pomegranites and vineyards Here il
the girl driving flock Of Jet black goa
ers, Yonder liz Russian convent, buildi
amt of modern architecture--sadly out
up place in this desolation-but it is an
ung moner Of mercy 10 thousands of Greek 2
ace. grims no annually come down to t
had Jordan for baptism.
she
was
me Somebody says that Matthew Arnol