The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-09-25
JERUSALEM ALL AGOG
Continued from Page 81

camel in the streets of the city and press
them into the service of the government
for six months without pay. Many poor
men are ruined by it-totally ruined.
The English consul saved some poor
friends of his by swearing that he owned
their camels and letting them serve him
by doing their own work.
eff village refuses or hesitates to pay
its tax the government sends seven to ten
soldiers, and quarters them on the village
till the tax is fully paid. This sort of ex-
action has crushed the life out of the peo-
pie, till nobody has the least energy or
ambition left. If q man sets out an
he has to pay backsheesh to the nearest
officers"
It is not easy travelling here. There are
only two roads in all these thousands Of
miles; the rest of the thoroughfares arc
mere camel tracks. We went on horse
seventy-five miles via Jericho: Did We
'fall among thieves?" Nc, verify, for the
reason that the thieves fell among us--at
least, the chief of them. The wild Bed
douins claim to own all of that country,
because nobody but themselves live there,
and they exact tribute. So when We de-
cided to go it was necessary to do two
Yankee who dwells here in Jeru-
salem down to Jericho to open his hotel
there-the only building in the town ex-
cept mud huts; and second, we must hire
the sheik of the Bedouins to be our guide
to keep his tribe from robbing and killing
us. We paid HIM IS day to ride at our
head with a tremendously long rifle and
secure our safety. 1t was blackmail. But
he was picturesque creature, with loose,
baggy red trousers and an embroidered
green cloak from Bagdad-he SAID he paid
So for it--surmounted by q scarlet tar
boosh with big puggery around it that
looked like the stars and stripes. And so
we wound down the steep abysses, ten of
us, and the hotel man had some hours
the start of us, with his mules laden with
wine and flour and grapes and potatoes.
1t was an arid and desolate country. We
filed past the Mountain of Temptation,
and the sight from there tends to depre-
ciate the reputed sagacity Of the distin-
guished tempter. A sensible man would
not give his breakfast for ali the country
that can be seen for twenty miles in every
direction from that slightly and imposing
promontory.
One of the oldest things encountered in
Palestine is q woman at the churn. The
churn of this region was once animated,
having been q goat in its better days. Now
the goat has vanished from it, flesh and
bone, for the table of the epicure, and the
good wife hangs up TO spike on the cell
ing has skin by the neck and pours into
the uncanny vessel her wooden trays of
milk. Then she churns by Selling the
CHASTITY thing by the dropsical hind legs
and swinging II half round her and back
again in tIresome oscillation, as monoton-
Gus as any old wooden churn in q Yankee
kitchen. When the butter ''sets" she
rests he weary arms and rejoices and then
she carefully unties hind foot which has
served for q handle. and draws out the
buttermilk. afterwards removing the but
ter by way of the sl.tted brisket This
seems to be the universal churn of the
Orient.
Whose milk is it2 A goats. probably.
A Sleeps perhaps. A cancels OCCASION
ally. am tired of goats cheese. sleeps
milk and camel's butter. and when / get
home shall hug the FIRST cow see.
W. A CRoFFUr.