The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-09-18
TENT LIFE In PALESTINE.
IN THE HEART OF THE HOLY LAND.
From Jericho Back to JerusaIem-Depart-
ure From Jerusalem-The Ruins of An
cient BetheI-In Camp at sinjal-Boar
Hunt-Bedouin Dances, Etc.

RECALLED us with a refreshing drink made
/ of the sweet lemons" which abound here,
and which are perfect lemons in form and
appearance, but are sweet instead of sour,
although bearing no resemblance to the
orange. AS we sat in front of the hotel
later in the evening discussing the lively
events of the day we were surrounded by
large crowd of dusl1y villagers bearing
torches who had come to entertain us with
a sample of the Bedouin dances.
| a circle was formed and the female
members of the tribe with small rings
in their noses and their chins and
| foreheads tattooed, appeared and
went through their peculiar dances,
which are largely made up of
graceful movements of the body rather
than the feet, and are accompanied by the
chants of the on-lookers and the shrill
shrieks or trils of the dancers themselves,
which seem to accompany all important
events in which Arab women figure,
whether OF festivity or mourning. 1t is
very closely akin to an Indian war whoop,
and there is something very similar in
many respects in the Bedouin and Indian
/ character, and / observed that the war
dances of the men on this occasion very
much resembled those of our own red
men of the plain. They went through all
/ the movements of attack-the stealthy
| approach, the surprise, the appraised knife,
| and the cruel death-blow being all wildly
! represented. The Bedouin has likewise
the same light and quick movements, the
/ same sensitiveness to distant sou nds, and
the same ability to follow difficult trails
evidenced in bis Indian brother. Like
him, too. he can bear great and long-con-
/ tinued fatigue on the slightest food, and
! he will trot along all. day contentedly be-
fore your horse, his only refreshment be-
/ ing a handful of raw flour or a few dates,
/ figs, or olives, and in fact his usual repast
consists only of these simple articles, sup
/ plemented by little bread or oil, meat
being luxury seldom INDUCED in. After
the dance was over one of their number
appeared on all tours badly disguised as a
/ lion, and after various tricks with the ma
tives approached us ferociously, kindly
/ informing us, however that we would not
| be devoured if we were liberal in the sup
/ ply of 'backsheesh.' Realizing that the
| time for the distribution of that necessary
/ article had arrived, we knew that we
| should be fairly mobbed if we attempted
/ to decide for ourselves who of those pres
/ ent were entitled to our consideration, so
/ we placed the entire amount in the hands
! of our guard, Moussa, for equitable divis-
! ion and then fed to the inmost recesses
/ of the house, and judging from the Bed
/ lam that ragged outside for the next half
/ hour poor Moussa had hard time of it.
/ However, he evidently got through with it
/ satisfactorily in the end, for he later came
/ to us with the information that the vii
/ layers had organized a grand wild-boar
/ hunt in our honor, and that it would be
| necessary for us to be up before daylight
/ if we desired to be Sin at the DEATH" The
/ manner of the hunt is a novel one, the
men concealing themselves near the feed
/ ing haunts of the boar the night before
and carefully watching for his appearance
when he comes out for food at 8 or 4
| o'clock in the morning Then, after a
/ long struggle they run him down and
/ beat him to death with the long, hard
/ clubs, which are average weapons of the
4 poorer classes among the Arabs. The
wild boar is a vicious animal and fire.
/ quently makes a bitter and dangerous
| fight for life. We didn't get up sufficiently
early in the morning to see much of the
/ fasting on nice chop cut from the victim,
| it being our first taste OF wild-bOar meat
! After breakfast was over the hunters ap-
/ peared and were duly rewarded with the
/ ever requisite backsheesh, after which, in
| gratitude, one of them offered to present
me with a scorpion that he had Just cap
/ tured, but | declined his generous offer
with an eagerness and vigor that aston
! ished him. These poisonous pests, to-
| gether with numerous snakes abound in
/ this valley and our host cheerfully in
! formed us that he had found one in his
! bedroom but short time before. An
/ other plague of this locality, but of a diff
ferent kind, Is peculiar boil or sore that
/ comes upon the arm, neck, or some part
/ of the body, of nearly all visitors who
4 continue any length OF time here and
usually remains for year or more much
/ to the ANNOYANCE of the sufferer; from its
/ strange shape and appearance it is called
the Jericho button"
Before our departure we witnessed a
novel proce eding in the line of medi-
/ cal practice in the case of a Bedouin
who was i'll with some complaint
/ of the stomach. When all was pre-
pared he stretched himself out on the
ground fiat upon his back, while the
/ friendly practitioner passed red-hot iron
/ to and fro over his abdomen, making the
| flesh "sizzle" at every movement. This is
called the ''fre cure" and the Arabs use
it for nearly every ailment, their
bodies and limbs being covered with scars
of past efforts at recovery. Mounting our
horses we babe a final adieu to Jericho
and rode across the deserted plains
through what had once been the beautiful
gardens presented to Cleopatra by the in
fatuated Mark Antony. The trip back to
Jerusalem, by way of the Wilderness of
Engedi" and MAR SABA" was even more
wild and desolate than our former route
and much less interesting. The monas-
terry of Mar Saba is one of the most re-
markably located buildings in the world,
and it clings to the precipitous sides of
the mountain as if it were only Temporal
rily stuck on and was ready at any mo-
ment to drop off into the fearful abyss be-
low. 1t is built in terraces rising one
above the other into the crevices of the
natural rock, out of which are hewn the
cells in which its Greek monks reside
! They are never permitted to leave its walls
and are followers of st. Saba who fled 10
this desolate spot where he lived in a cave,
which the monks still point out as the
place in which he dwelt in peace and
contentment for many years along with
lion who was in possession when the
worthy saint arrived. A cave, at best, is
not an inviting place of residence, but
l nh nj IN, ehariro ~ NTH lsO,,