Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-01-24
CORRESPONDENCE.
TWO YANKEES ABROAD.
SECOND PART.---PALBSTINB.
JAFFA.

|
is rising beyond a range of hills, the hills Of
Juda and Ephraim, the hills trodden by
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the land of Je
sus We are on deck Of small steamer
slowly steaming northward toward tn,
landing place of Jaffa, the old Joppa. Il
is cold and chilly, we are glad to get out Of
the wind, we see no coast yet. Two hour
later we perceive the elevation on which
Jaffa is built, a small mountain Of white
houses, shining in the sun, surrounded by
a belt Of verdure The wind has moderat
ed. At . O'Clock we throw anchor AS near
the rocks as prudence will allow, for JalIa
has no port the shore is a sand beach, and
before it long line of black rocks. low and
hardly seen, hence dangerous On one of
them Andromeda WAS tied and Perseus
came to her rescue | cannot repeat the
story, | have forgotten the details
but she was a handsome maid and he
was handsome youth, and Pliny, the
historian, saw the chains with which she
was bound. so it is ali true, you know. How
Miss Andromeda could be tied on those low
|
comprehension, but then am IAN innocent
abroad Well, here is the spot where
Jonah sailed for Tarshish the spot where
| Hiram Of Tyre landed the Lebanon cedars
for Soomon's temple the spot where 81.
mon, also called Peter, brought to life Dor
cas-, and on roof like those which today
border the sea, he had his trance or vision
which made him go to Caesarea )unly
days journey and baptize the gentle Cor
nelius. Read Acts rx and in revised YER
sion
A dozen boats have shot from shore, and
are vieing with each other to reach us The
red-shirted Cook men have it. but are close
ly followed 10y the Howards aud the Floycs.
both competitors Of Cook aud then begins
"A scene Of confusion worse than ronfounded
All We have to do is TO point our baggage to
Cook IS men and godown in one Of the boats,
which takes US safely to shore. Once more
we are on teIra hrma A walk Of 10 min
utes takes Us to the Jerusalem or Hartegg
hotel, kept by "A German Of that name who
is vice consul for the United States where
he has never been With time and patience
=
patience our - pieces Of baggage, big aud
small arrive on the backs Of a. many por
ters. Please to know, once for all, that
paterfamlias has cursed a hundred times
all that baggage, has wished 1t a thousand
times at the bottom Of the sea but it cings
to him like AndrOmeda To her rock he
waits yet for new Perseus. Ladies and
gentlemen, when YOU come to Palestine re
member to limit your personal effects to
bags, valises, small portmanteaus. but no
trunks. II you cannot do 50, you had bet
ter remain at home. and be satisfied with
reading that others have seen.
When we are clean shirted and colared
we start to visit an Arab charity school,
kept by Miss Arnol. an English lady full Of
zeal, devotion aud self denial. We attend
the afternoon service in the adjoining Eng
lish church. The ladies return TO the school,
the professor takes walk over the cliffs
and along the beach Here is the site on
which Bonsparte had 1000 Turkish soldiers
butchered there is the hospitals site where
he had poisoned 800 Of his own soldiers,
pestilence- e-stricken, whom he was obliged
to leave behind when he evacuated JafTa
The sea breeze smells deliciously. the sandy
beach is firm under foot, the baby waves
murmur softly it is the same scene wit
messed by the Crusaders fishermen wade
among the rocks with nets, and while here
Peter must often have thought of his former
occupation An old gate, under house,
leads from the sea to the interior " dirty
Jaffa, vet not half so dirty as Cairo.
In the market place scores Of people buy
and sell fresh vegetables, wares Of all sorts
coffee shops abound before them on straw
stools, on low chairs without backs. mum
bers Of men smoke nargilehs or pipes, 10
which is attached glass vase almost filled
with water. through which the smoke
passes and Is cooled. Women abound
nearly all are wrapped in white sheet,
and many have the face covered with thin
colored handkerchief which allows them tn
see easily without being seen | have not
seen a pretty one. Even servants are
sheeted In the hotel garden two Of them
come and ask for II match to light their
cigarettes. We're Il young man would he
tempted b. hrt with them The ladies'
overtake me with their grand equipage and
alight to visit grove of orange trees
Orange orchards are the glory Of Jaifa
Just now the trees are covered with buds
and blossoms, their perfume surrounds US
the contrast of golden fruit, dark green
foliage and white flowers is simply enchant-
ing. 1t is forest Of trees an Arab woman
brings a long hook to pull down the fruit,
we return laden with spoils
Around the hotel we find a crowd of beg
gars, but during my walk Of an hour have
not had single demand for back kshish, no
offer Of services has disturbed my musings
we are in a different land, with different
race: the scene has been shifted we are out
of Egypt, in the Holy land The air is diff
ferent, bracing, tonic, strong sea air the
transition is so great that | regret Luxor's
temperature and atmosphere / resume
heavier clothing.
We spend all Monday, March %. resting
and looking at our fellow travellers who
start for Jerusalem in carriages or on horse
back we witness the packing of baggage
in big bags to be put ON mules, business
which requires experience the loads must
be divided as to balance each other on
both sides of the animal Our hotel is in
the centre Of the German colony, surround
ed by long wooden wall with gates closed
at night, and watched regularly, although,
/ am told, there is no actual danger. In
1866 an American from Maine, Adams by
name, came here with colony of adher-
ents who were going TO resuscitate the
glory of Israel, but either he was rogue
or a visionary, his scheme failed many |
died, many returned to the United States:
a few only remained. Germans came aud |
bought the establishment These, also, |
were religious people with some Utopia on |
the brain Their leader, Hoffman, had dis |
covered new meanings in the Bible Our !
landlord, one of them, offers me book |
written by himself full of new ideas, he
says fortunately the book is in German,
my ignorance is my bliss, protects my tenn
per and my purse
Next to the hotel lives a Russian count
who, our landlord says, ought to be Ma
hometan /; he believes in the plurality of
wives. perceive him with long hair aud
beard, about 45. small sized dressed in
white he may be Mormon, but he has
a collection of antiquities his gardener
is full of information and takes in my card
and request The count receives us him
self with the utmost courtesy, shows and
explains his treasures, then orders his
horses for a two hours drive in the
of Jaffa first by a fair road
TO village of Germans, another colony,
whose red tiled roofs and general aspect re-
call village in Alsace. The children are
clean, well-clad like Europeans Yet the
success of the colony is small Arab labor
is too cheap; wheat too cheap, also the fru-
gal Germans cannot live as the Arabs do;
the soil is too poor TO compete with Egypt
and the United States.
Count Plato Won UstinOw speaks French,
understands English and enjoys giving in
We FOLLOW long hedges of
prickly pear cacti surrounding orange
groves Some trees are yet loaded with
fruit, although the season is almost over.
Jaffa oranges are celebrated and largely
exported. Jaffa and Jerusalem wines be-
gin to be appreciated they are somewhat
like our California wines We leave the
high road and follow tracks across the fields
| am seated with the driver, so | cannot see
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