Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-08-11
A DAY IN JOPfA.
A Glimpse of Life in One Of the Worlds
Oldest Towns.

A Glimpse of Life in One of the Worlds
Oldest Towns.
Joppa is one of the oldest cities in the
world and the first possible landing place
as one sails northward from Egypt. Yet
there is difficulty in landing Reefs Of
rocks defend the shore, the bay is shallow.
sharks are not unknown and the coast is
much exposed. Your vessel anchors half
mile out at sea, and a throng of fattish
bottomed coolies soon surround the ship
to carry passengers through the opening
in the reefs TO land. A babel of cries, I'M
Ineligible to western ears, fills the air;
but by degrees the motley crowd of deck
passengers of the most varied nationai-
ties, yelled women, shawl covered Arabs,
black Nubians, with their red fezes, brown
Levautines, turbaned Syrians, or Egypt.
all drift by degrees into the boats. and
for time at least you see the last of
their red and yellow slippers and hear
their noisy jargon 40 more. Then you,
who have shrunk possibly from this
crushing crowd Of Orientals, have your
turn, and the skillful and strong armed
oarsmen whisk you through the opening
in the reefs across the shallow harbor
and then suddenly. when you are twenty
or thirty yards off shore, you are seized
and carried in the bare arms or on the
back of boatnan through the shallow
water to the tumble down old quay built
of stone from the ruins of Cesarea. aud
at last you find yourself treading on the
soil of the Holy Land
Pursuing our way through the street
we find it rough enough. Once paved,
the stones have long since risen or sunk
above or below their proper level. Dust
bins and sewers being apparently alike
unknown to the idle Oriental, every kind
of fOulpeSs beStrews the way. The build
ings are of stone, with little or no wood
anywhere, timber being scarce in Pales-
tine The arch is hence universal; as YOU
ranble On you sec that no light enters the
shops except from the front-thGt they
are, in fact. something like miniatures Of
the gloomy holes sometimes made out Of
railway arches in England.
Tables Of cakes or sweetmeats line the
narrow streets. Rough awnings Of mats,
often sadly dilapidated. or tent cloths. or
loose boards resting on rickety structure
Of poles, partially shade the roadway.
Now we meet turbaned water carrier
with a huge skin bottle on his back. The
bottle is, in fact, defunct calf, with
water instead of veal within. and without
legs. head or tail, and Offering most
forcible illustration of the reference to
the placing of new wine in old bottles.
Further on we see bare armed and
bare legged individual in ragged skull
cap, cotton jacket and cotton knicker-
bockers, chaffering with roadside buck
ster for some dehcacy costing a farthing
or two from some of the mat baskets on q
table; the bearded vender. also bare
armed and bare legged. sits as he tries TO
Sell, his head swathed in white and red
turban. and his body in pink and white
cotton. Of course, there is lounger at
his side looking on
Then, again, we see en- Arab in 'kef-
yeh, or head shawl, with band of cam
els hair rope, very soft, around his head
to keep the flowing gear in its place. and
q brown and white striped abba" for his
outer dress; he is bargaining for bride
at saddler's, ard trying to cheaper it.
and the saddler sits cross legged on
counter and under shady projection of
wood and reeds, which gives him much
needed shade. And thus We see giimpses
of ordinary, every day life in the old town
of Joppa.-The Culver.