Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-07-25
THE FAR EAST.

perpetual motion
THE FAR EAST.
Scenes on the way From Jana to.,erusalrm
Historic SpotS-The Holy titN-Ihe
Mount of Olives.
The journey from .Iafla to Jerusalem,
writes II correspondent of the New Haven
journal and Courier, has Disguised many
an ardent searcher of the Word VINO came
to Palestine to strengthen his faith Hay
ing arrived at Il state of mind, 10y reason oi
my Oriental experiences, whereby was
prepared for anything, and having been
forwarnpd as to the disappointing nature
of the country. was able To endure with
considerable composure the ulsrom'or'S 81
the Journey. At this time of the year most
people make the trip of forty miles during
the night but wanted to see the corn-
try. whatever the heat of the SUM- and 50
went in the day The trip has to he made
in rickety, uncovered wagon, drawn by
three horses harnessed abreast. Emerg-
ing from the orange and lemon groves of
.Iaira we proceeded to cross the Plain OF
Sharon, the greatest in all this country
UNNECESSARILY superior To all the plains OF .
Tyre Sidon and even Esdraelon The PLAIN
appeared to he quite fertile, and wheat and
barley fields stretched on either side OF me .
road as far as the eye could reach. As the .
country grew more hilly we could see
large hocks of sheep, goats, camels asses
and cows grazing in the pastures, Just as
they are represented aS doing in !. throni- /
clcs. xvii. -. In some places the fellahln
were ploughng. \ single man can carry
on his shoulder whole set of these native
farming utensils. including plough, yoke,
bows and OK goad The plough is wooden
with the exception of Il single iron point
like the fuke of IA small anchor. 1t has
but one handle, as in ancient times duke,
il. G2). and if the man who is guiding the
plough looks around for Il moment the
whole thing nOpS over. The yoke is
small. stright, round pole. with straight
sticks in each end which go down on each
side of the neck of the OK, and are tied
with Il small string under the throat. The
OX-gOad is from eight to ten feet long, arm
ed with II sharp piece of iron at one eN-
trcmity. which is used for cleaning the
plough, and Il spear at the other extremity
for prodding the OK. In times of riots the
natives used the on goad as Il weapon Just
as they did in the time of Shamgar but |
have not heard of anyone'> doing as much
mischief with the gOad in THESE modern
times as ShHmgar did
We met great cavacadr~ of raggrd-look-
ing camrl- ON the way, and overlook some
bound foI. Her salem loaded with Ameri-
, can cral-oil | SAW one poor camel loaded
with heavy stoves For the first twelve
miles I counted the caluclo and then stop
ped because it was too hard work The
number was Above 300
Twelve miles uut OF .laltH We reached
, Ramch, an cuteTIi,iug modern \ lagc
of about 1000 inhabitants. 10y all odds the
largest town between .iaiIH and Jerusalem.
Owing to the constant Intercourse with
PILGRIMS and European travellers, the VII
lagc has assumed Il more modern met rO-
politan aspect than any other town of its
size in Palestine Most of the European
, countries nave consular agents stationed
. there. Nevertheless there is IA tremendous
amount of filth lying about in the blind
, alleys. Just rs there is in all these cities of
the Holy Land. lnthc suburbs inspected
some miserable mud novels. and wondered
ii they We're such as those in which the
apostles were wont to dwell Each house
consisted of one room, made Out of plaster
and sticks, without windows. The whole
family dWcllS eats, cooks and sleeps in this
single unsiNOrN apartment. In winter
manure is heaped about the hut To keep it
, warm, and the cattle are admitted to the
:. interior. The floor which the family then
occupies is something like two feet higher
than that upon which the cattle stand, the
! managers being constructed along he Sepa
rating line. 1t thus happens that a man
ger is very convenient place in which to
cradle an infant, and people here tell me
| that il is quite Il common thing to see in
fantS thus Graded.
> At regular intervals on either side of the
= road, perhaps three or five miles apart,
We're barracks where Turkish soldiers were
stationed to guard the highway Pales-
! tine is full of robbers. The regular cit-
: zens are amateur robbers and SWindlers
! The BcdoulnS, or wondering Arabs. are
professionals The Turkish soldiers and
officials are the worst of all
We rode on through country barren of
. everything except sCriptura associations,
: though rich indeed in them. Our last halt
u for resting the horses was made in valley
al the foot of the last mountains prior to
reaching Jerusalem. The remaining dis
lance was about tive miles, but the climb
! was Il severe one, and it is always thought
! best To rest. On all sides we could see his
= tOrical spots. of which | shall have Occa-
sion To speak again \ way to the right
, WAS Ain karim the home of XacnariuS
- and Elizabeth, and consequently the birth
place of John the Baptist The village
was quite Il decent one from the point
- where we surveyed it, but perhaps it was
>, distance that lent enchantmcut to the view.
TWO birth places are shown. one under the
l1ch altar OF Il convent, ana the other III Il
- grOtO fully Il quarter OF II mile away. The
- only satisfactory theory which has been
= advocated for conterHctng this dscrcpen-
Cy i that Elizabeth diNidcd the time be
tween the two places, IN order to multi
d, ply the number of sacred sites and there
10y increase the piety OF future generations,
We toiled slowly up the long Hlg-zag as
cent and were at length at the summit.
surely now the Holy City would loom up
grandly, tor had an idea that Jerusalem
was built in the crater of some extinct
volcano and that when pcrchcd ON any
q SIDE Ol the basin rim could see every
Il pinnacle, dome and pavement stone Alas
:. Tor The trWlty OF human anticipation,
Il l'he Mount oi Olives could be seen ON the
= east, with scopus H~ the northern tcrmi-
o. nus Of tine range bur Jerusalem Itself
e Kept prrSl~tcntIy ont ul eiLht And 50 it
Is dId uutil we were almost under lis very
Il walls rae truth is that the elevation ui
n the Mills about the Holy city is 50 slight,
4 ana 50 many objects intervene, that the
II view is altogether Obstructed
c AS tine mountains are round about ,Ic-
e ruNalcm. The comparison is not founded
e upon ANY very striking ScmnlHuCc, ana
/ yet it is "A fact that the ground is elevated Il
J. little un all sides of Jerusalem Even the
Il summit of the Mount of olives is only Il
. bout twenty feet higher than the highest
c point OF zion.
r. To the right we saw the convent of the
Il Cross, II substantial establishment down
Il in the valley, kept by some Wcll-lcd Grcek
!. priests, Here is pointed out the exact site