The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-02-23

than Damascus, and five times daily the cry
resouads from each: God is God and
Mohammed Is his prophet" which consti-
tutes call 70 prayer to all faithful Nos
lens. Near every Ininaret there are shops
for the sale of cameI's meat, Of which every
devoted follower Of the prophet makes a
meal once each year. Huge sides
OF TINS meat are hung out
! and attractivelv ornamental with
garlands OF cOlOred paper similar to those
used for the ornamentation of Christmas
trees. In addition each quarter bears the
government tax stamp imprinted in pink,
and plainly visible. The Koran prescribes
the use OF camePs meat, because Mohammed
when shepherd frequently subsisted ON it.
1t IS very popular with the poor people on
| account of its exceeding cheapness, and it
IS said to be as tough as it IS cheap.
We remained in Damascus three DAYS
and then left for Beyrout, the most chris
tan city in Asia, passing on our way out
the spot where the Moslems claim that Cain
| slew Abel, and also the hill from the dust
OF which God is said to have made man,
| after consulting Mohammed Gs to the ad-
visibility of SO doing, project to which
the prophet certainly must have been quite
agreeable, as present circumstances seem to
| indicate.
Probably the swiftest and pleasantest dill
igence service in the world is that from
Damascus to Beyrout. A French company
owns aud manages it. and it would be need
| less to say that this enterprise is in striking
contrast to any enterprise conducted by the
unspeakable Turk. The road between the
two cities is in excellent condition aud is a
marvellous bit of engineering, crossing the
| mountains of Lebanon at a hight of 1000
feet. Six horses are harnessed to each con-
veyance, and these are changed every
hour. The trip is of fourteen hours
duration, SO that eighty-four
horses are brought into uss be-
fore its completion. With the exception of
the beauty of the scenery, which increases
| In attractiveness all the way, there is moth
ing of special interest within the 100 miles.
along which the road extends. The villas
which dot the approaches to BeyrOut are
surrounded by gardens of rare beauty,
giving evidence of the good taste and ample
| means of their owners, most of whom are
merchants in the city. The gas jets illu-
minating Beyrout were the first we had
seen since leaving Athens. They afforded
expectations Of its appearance by day
| light, which happily we found to
be fully justified. Beyrout is a handsome
city, containing about 120, 900 inhabitants,
| a large percentage of whom are christians
and civilized according to the highest
European standard. These have gained a
solid footing in Beyrout, which accounts
for its being the most attractive city OF all
tertained royalty by the American col
| lege, and during our stay preached in the
| American church to an audience So large
as to severely tax the capacity of that
| handsome edifice. The date of the ser
vice was Christmas eve. Whether for this
reason or III honor of the officiating minis
| ter know not, but the church was deco
rated in a tasteful manner, and the music
rendered during thee service would have
elected favorable Comment in any leading
| church at home Mrs. William E. Dodge
had arrived recently at Beyrout, on visit
| to her son. VINO is the head of American
church affairs in the city. She was de-
| lighted to meet DR.. Talmage, of whose
movements she had kept herself well in
| formed.
On Christmas day we started on the jour
ney homewards. Our parting from those
who had accompanied us in various ca
pacities during our pilgrimage through
| Palestine and Syria was full of sadness and
tenderness. The guide was affected deeply
and we shall never forget his prayer invok-
ing for US divine protection and heavenly
benediction during the remainder of our
| trip. After our property had been in
spected and our baggage thoroughly over
| hauled by the revenue officers, who
| collected l per ~ cent duty on all
purchases madeto in their own couB-
try, we entered rowboat and were taken
over to the Pandora for seven days trip
on the blue Mediterranean. Three days
| would have been an amply sufficient time
| for reaching Constantinople by a fast
steamer, but as passenger traffic between
I the two cities is but incidental and carry
| ing freight the main consideration, the ship
stops at all ports OF Importance and the
cargo is exchanged as the demands of trade
may require. Buta more interesting trip
than this particular one, with
inf snY,C off lf,cr
opportunities to go ashore and make
observations on % an average of once
! day, cannot be imagined. The first stop
was at the Island of Cyprus. where Larnica,
an interesting city Of nearly 10000 inhabit-
ants, was the inducement to dsembark.
The Greek church, walch claims the tomb
of Lazarus as one Of the attractions, was
visited first. Here, it is said. Lazarus was
buried after dying the second time, but
tho claim rest solely on unsupported ira
dition. After this we visited the scene of
Gen. D. Cesnola's excavations, which, we
learned, were interdicted by the
government. We bought a num-
Der of beautifully colored
tear bottles, of which only few survive
! the energetic offices of the baggage master.
At Limasol, whereowe did not disemDark,
we enjoyed the pleasure of receiving Oh
| board Grecian bride and groom who, dur
ing the balance of the trip, treated us to
Moody and Sankey's hymns sung in modern
| Greek. Between Limasol and Smyrna, the
next stopping place, lay Rhodes and
| Patmos (this is the island on which st.
John wrote the Book of Revelation) and
| Samos. Every moment of the time not
necessarily required for refreshment and
sleep was spent on deck, and, with DR.. Tai
mage as a commentator. the islands and
hills of the prospects opening before us
were repopulated as of old aud their glori-
GUS history re-enacted. The weather was
simply grand and the scenery enchanting
Frequently away off among the mountains
rainpows took their start and rose in grace
| full curves along the sky, further ornament
| ing and beautitying what nature had
| already rendered bewilderingly glorious.
We reached Smyrna about o'clock in
the morning, just too late to catch the train
to Ephesus. But such a trifie as this did
not at all discourage us from making good
our intentions of visiting a city of such
great Importance in scripture. We char
tered special train and telegraphed in ad-
vance for horses and lunch. At $50 o'clock
our train started, rushing along with all
the noise and confusion of lightning ex-
press and the speed of an ordinary American
| freight train. We arrived at Ephesus,
distance of forty-eight miles, at 1:20
| o'clock. Soon after reaching the hotel we
were seated on six of the most miserable
nags that this generation can boast of, for
| tho moo Of vubicl, VIC aery.oad IN nav 81 aooh