Morning journal and courier., 1884-07-26

JERUSALEM, June IU. ! To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 This is literary house-cleaning day with me, l and your readers must be content this time 1 with Ftpicked up" letter. These odds and ends which have accumulated on the pantry | shelves must be eaten sometime, and there ! is never any occasion like the present.
 To begin with, will serve you with few pen-pictures of Jericho, that may involve some idea of how the Holy Land is governed I The only town in the Jordan valley to-day, 1 near the place where the Jordan debouches \ of Jericho of the New Testament and Gilgal 1 of the Old. The Jericho of the Old Testa- ment is merely a heap of shapeless stones about two miles away. I went down during harvest week, the most dangerous season in ! the whole year. We were well armed, and I the bands of robbers whom we met out ma I rauding seemed to respect this fact. Once ] or twice our passage was interrupted by | armed guards, but the exchange of a few l words between them and our own Bedouin 1 escort developed the fact that they were pro- ! tecting pilgrims also, CT were accompanying ! humble fellahin with their seasons crops to the Jerusalem market. Thus carefully does ! the peasant of eastern Palestine have to pro- tect his rights; and not infrequently it hap pens that he is even then despoiled of his goods.
 East of the Jordan there is 8 country much more fertile and productive than this. In deed, there are actual forests around the magnificent ruins of Gerash Consul Merrill has described to me visit which he paid to temple there with three hundred mighty pillars each six feet in diameter, and also to 1 two theatres, one with @ seating capacity of six thousand and the other with a seating ca- pacity of ten thousand. But all that land is vacant, simply because there is no security of property or person there. When will some Christian power take in hand the work of developing and civilizing this part of the world, even India and British Burmah have been changed?
 But was about to describe some scenes at Riha. Riha consists of colony of plaster | huts, rooted with gravel and brush, and full of the vilest filth imaginable. The people seem to be principally Nubians, a coal-black race, and they and their cattle, donkeys, hens, cats, diseased dogs and the accumuIa- ted rubbish of fifty centuries, live heteroge- neous1y together. Around this apology of a village is miserable palisade of brushwood supposed to serve as 8 protection from the nomadic tribes. The latter had their dirty tents of goats and camels' hair spread close to this rude fence Such combination of parasitic races it is seldom one's lot to see Even the villagers begged bucksheesh of us without exception, as though we-Mr Floyd and myself-were gods sent among them to distribute benefactions. Children play around in the dirt only day or two old. The professional robbers q distinguish now
 between the real Bedouins and those villagers who are mere amateurs) were seen at several places in the city, and usually had cloth wrapped around the lower half of their faces, concealing the mouth
 Here I saw that common Oriental picture two women grinding at mill. They were
 both left, however, so far as was concerned,
 for found them too repulsive to take. By the way, I did have one of these women ac-
 tually offered to me. Like the rest, she came
 up to crave bucksheesh, whereupon I turned with woeful phiz and besought her for buck sheesh. She was quick of speech and made
 a reply at once, which MT. Floyd laughingly interpreted to me as-''Take me I'll be your bucksheesh '' The intent might have
 been well enough, but I beat a nasty retreat also witnessed there the native process of churning. A woman had a sheepskin filled with milk, which suspended from the roof. Seizing the two hind legs of this skin the woman pushed the bag back and forth violently, causing it to hit the wall each
 time. The butter, when it ''came," was pure white, saltless and tasteless-like the butter in all eastern countries.
 We went to the government building
 in the town. A school, hospital or 8
 postofice, did you guess? No, place of abode for those arrant thieves, the Turkish
 custom officers. As we neared the place
 saw knave in uniform; come out of the place, stop passing donkey take sack of
 grain from it's back, cooI1y appropriate it,
 and give the man parting kick. It was to-
 ward the close of day, and the peasant was
 returning from his days work, with the
 hard-earned barley in a sack on the donkey
 about peck in all, carefully threshed. ''It
 is burning shame for you to do that" said
 Mir Floyd in Arabic. The man made some
 unintelligible reply about the barley not hay ring been threshed at the proper threshing-
 floor. 'fBut in any event you have mo right
 to take more than one-tenth of the whole,'
 persisted Mir. Floyd. But I must do some
 thing to teach them better" !" replied the man.
 Such is Turkish justice in Palestine! All the
 officials, high and low, belong in the same
 category We watched after this incident,
 and saw many other men and women arrest
 ed on their way in this same manner, and
 similarly robbed in the name of law. The
 poor people have no one to whom to appeal.
 Let them complain and the prison awaits
 them.
 Some believers in the restoration of Pales-
 tine hopefully aver that the curse is now be-
 ing lifted from the land. That the climate is
 
 there has been no fierce sirocco for three years, and that the return of the Jews beto- kens the fulfillment of prophecy. While fail to detect these symptoms referred to, I can testify that if they do actually exist, the Turks will do what they can to make their yoke harder to bear. Some of the higher officials openly reply when you point out to them the beneficial influence of railways and other public institutions, ''Well, but we don't want the country to improve; we couldn't hold it then We can get the most out of it under the present order of things "
 This is 8 city where every week has three ! Sundays. On Friday the Mohammedan stores are shut, on Saturday the Jewish, and ! on Sunday the Christian The effect is be- I wildering. Last Sunday went to the FfEng- fish church. inside of the Jaffa gate I was \ surprised at the largeness of the audience, as ! I had no idea that there were so many Eng people in Jerusalem. Indeed, ! I do not believe that much more than half of | the people could understand what was said | Two or three times the hideous praying of | donkeys and bowling of dogs compelled the | minister to pause. By the way, I was lit \ tie surprised to notice, sharing the pulpit, man whom had seen previously during the I week in the act of 1ubricating himself from 3 capacious brandy -Aask-for his stomach's sake, I suppose Poor man! I fear he must have some chronic disorder of the stomach. ' Wonder if it hasn't affected his brain also, 90 that n6 Cn1ukS 0FeTyEOuy oISe IS 611u1LdE1y A affected? At any rate he offered me several kinds of wine when called on him the other ! Jay. During the service referred to 8 man f got asleep and fell off the pew right on to the ! ioor with terrible racket, and all the peo- 1le simpered. Think of fright in Jerusa- em! But Paul was not prosy, and believe I he same thing once happened in one of his audiences The collection plates were of l ,ourse made of oliye-wood.
 In the course of my rambles through the ,ity to- day ran across the curio and anti ! Iuity shop of that unfortunate Jew Shapira, | who Gin all honesty, I believe, so far as he vas concerne0 tried to foist some bogus upon the proprietors of the British museum, and then shot himself when \ he bubble burst The shop; has not been ,pen since, but there is rumor current to the fleet that business will soon be Presumed at he old stand" The suicide of the heart broken merchant was an awful blow to,his l wife. also ran across 8 tunble-doYn estab- in the Mohammedan quarter bear 1 no the pretentious name 5tfTIote1 TFAp,op |