The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-04-24
FROM EGYPT TO HOLY LAND
QUITE A ROUGH LANDING AT JAFFA.
journey Through the Plain OF sharon. the
Valley of AjaIon, the Hill Country
and on to the Holy City
Incidents, ETC., Etc.

on Will defer all mention OF IL until tnat
time. Boarding the Khediviehan steamer
at Alexandria for Jaffa, our course lay
along the Mediterranean coast, and we ex-
perienced rather rough voyage of it
most Of the way. Jaffa Tor "Ysfa") is a
dangerous port with a wretched harbor,
and if the sea is at all rough, landing there
is entirely out of the question, and the
sea-sick passenger for Jerusalem is most
aEnOyingly compelled to continue on
beyond his destination. Even in the best
OF weather it is no easy or pleasant mat
ter. and as the ship cannot come near the
shore passengers are taken off in small
boats by the clamorous natives who sur
round all vessels as soon as they appear.
The day of our arrival we were barely
able to make a landing, owing to the
heavy swell, and as big Arab took me in
his arms and carried me bodily over the
side of the steamer l expected every
minute to be incontinentally dropped into
the sea below. However, all hands were
finally gotten into the boats in this way
without accident and were then carefully
rcwed ashore, passing between the narrow
openings left by the dangerous reefs that
encircle the harbor.
These rocks have been famous from
time immemorial, and il was to them the
ancients believed Andromeda to have
been chained when Perseus calamity de-
livered her from the jaws of the raging
monster of the deep. Arriving on terra
firma, we were conducted through
the crooked, winding streets and
bazars Of the old oriental city,
to the Jerusalem hotel" kept by Mr..
Hardegg, VINO, despite his name, is at
least not bad egg, but very clever land
lord, who combines the business of keep
ing hotel like Henry Achey kept tavern
and representing the American govern
ment as vice consul. The frame work of
the hotel was made in Maine and brought
here by the American adventists, who
came over many years ago to see
the end of the world on holy
ground. Some of them were re-
turned to America by the Mark Twain
innocents abroad party and about all of
those who remained have seen the end so
far as they we're concerned, but the world
continues TO wobble along still doing bust
ness at the old stand as usual. Several of
their descendants who came out as chill
dren, are still here among them. Mr..
Clark, the accommodating agent of Cook
d Son, at Jerusalem, and Mr.. Floyd, the
well-knOwn tourist contractor. The latter,
/ am informed, brought out the first car
riage ever seen in Palestine, wheeled
conveyances not being in very great
demand in this part of the globe,
there being but two carriage roads
In the entire holy land and neither of
those worthy of the name. With these
exceptions all travel is over rocky mount
ain trails on horses, donkeys or camels,
where 1t is seldom possible to go faster
than walk. The camels, however, are
more generally used for carrying heavy
loads long distances and are not only the
'ships of the desert" but the freight trains
OF the east as well. Ii is a common thing
to pass long caravans of them on these
narrow roads weightily burdened with all
kinds OF produce and merchandise.
Jaffa is the ancient Joppa of the scrip
lures, and is said to be the oldest seaport
in the world, its foundation being attrib-
uted to Noah, and it is even claimed that
he built the ark here and named the place
"Japha" after his son Japhet. In the
DAYS when the Phoenicians were the sail
Ors OF the world, it was their most impor-
tant port, and all about it on the south
lay the biblical country OF the Philistines.
The book OF Joshua speaks of the city as
being just within the borders of the land
OF Dan, and calls it "Japho" 1t is also
mentioned in the communication sent
by Hiram, king of Tyre, to Solomon in
connection with the building of the
temple, in which he says: 1--WE will
cut wood ont of Lebanon as much as thou
shalt need, and we will bring il to thee in
fiotes by sea to Joppa and thou shalt car
~ 1t up to Jerusalem" III Chron-
icles ii, 49, And later on, at the rebuild
ing of the temple, it is again referred to in
the same way. "And to them Of Tyre to
bring cedar trees from Lebanon to
the sea of Joppa' Ezra iii, ~
From this harbor, also, Jonah en-
barked on his celebrated voyage to
Tarshish which resulted in his being "eat
up by the whale, according to the Milt
Barlow revision, for we are told that Jonah
went down to Joppa and he found a ship
going TO Tarshish so he paid the fare
thereof" The last line speaks for itself
and shows that Jonah was no
"dead-head in the enterprise" but
walked up to the captains office
and settled like little man. 1t was rather
rough on him to be switched off on an un-
desirable whaling voyage after he had
paid full fare to Tarshish, and he was at
leaSt emitted 10 nave MS money refunded.
BY the way, Tarshish must have been a
city, sinful beyond redemption, for Jonah.
fleeing "from the presence of the Lord"
evidently thought Tarshish was a place
the Lord knew nothing about and in which
he had no influence. There are. no
doubt. wicked revilers who would suggest
that indianapolis was the place for
which Jonah should have purchased his
ticket. In the New Testament also Joppa
Is the subject of mention in several places,
particularly in connection with ST.
Peter, who here restored Tabitha. or Dor
cas-, to life, and went forth at the call OF
Cornelius, the devout centurion. The
house of Simon, where he is said to have
lodged and TO have received the divine
command ''tO rise, kill and eat" is now a
Latin convent, open 10 the inspection of
visitors. Here he dwelt among the hum
BILE disciples of the struggling church.
and it came to pass that be tarried MANY
days In Joppa with one Simon, tanner"
(Acts TX, 49, In these latter days the
most famous production of Jaffa is its
oranges, nearly ten millions of them
being raisedi in the neighborhood annually.
The stage road from Jafia TO Jerusalem
for the first few miles out OF the city runs
through lines of these fragrant orange
trees of which there are over three hun
dred groves in the immediate vicinity.
The road then enters the famous "Plain OF
Sharon" with its Rose of Sharon OF
which Solomon sung so many thousand
rroora aOo THE hoo. haora ba ro,,t. -.