St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1893-06-01

TO recover MISSING tIuHh WIIISH
had the label of Thos. Cook & Sons
and should have been on hand we
took the two O'Clock train for Jeru-
salem. An admirable description of
the road and the region through
which it passes is given in the March
Scribner for 1898, written by Hon
Selah Merrill, U. S. consul at Je-
rusalem. Though the trains have
been running for some months, they
are still wonder to the inhabitants,
and crowds gathered at the stations
along the way to watch our APP
proach and departure. 1t was diff
cult to believe we were passing
through the Plain of Sharon, LYDIA
and the scenes of Samson's early ex-
PLOTS, when inside the little shaky
cars a German baroness and her
party were smoking cigarettes, talk
ing loudly and eating Jaffa oranges.
The rocky dehles through which
we climbed were sleeper and sharper
than we had dreamed of, and the
cyclamen and wild roses growing
almost within reach of our car win
dow made the contrast from barren
Egypt seem very great.
Our advent into Jerusalem was
not very favorable. We were driven
from the station in the mud and rain
to a miserable little German hotel
outside the Jaffa Gate, and when we
moved the next morning to hotel
within the city walls the stone build
ings and fireless rooms combined
with the continuous rains, made US
think regretfully Of the sunny skies
and warm weather we had left.
This has been an unusual season
throughout the East and we have
heard many thrilling stories of ex-
posure to cold, rain and snow, of
forced marches with many hours in
the saddle, and of real danger exper-
fenced by parties who have taken
the overland route from Jerusalem
to Damascus
The streets Of Jerusalem are so
narrow that no carriages are allow
ed within the walls and all expedi-
lions must be made on foot or on
donkeys. The Church of the Holy
Sepulchre is the first point to which
tourists are conducted and thither
we made our way, past David's
Tower, down David's street, jostled
by Jews, Syrians, pilgrims of every
land in quaint and ragged costume,
and over-laden donkeys. The air
was heavy with the odor of incense
and pilgrim as we entered and were
shown the thirty-seven or more sa-
cred spots, not one of which seemed
in the least real to US, covered and
decorated as they are with the or
Of the Greek and Cath
olic churches. Far more satisfac-
tory was walk afterwards around
the eastern wall of the city with the
views of the Mount of Olives, the
Garden of Gethsemane, the steep
descent into the Valley of the Kedrou
and the road to Bethany. We pick
ed small flower on the wall which
our guide told us was the hyssop,
and walked along in the mud and
rain feeling sure as we heard the ia
mlllar places mentioned that we
were indeed in Jerusalem.
Owing to the cold and constant
rains, our ten days in Palestine were
spent in Jerusalem and its vicinity
attempting the longer ex-
to Jericho and the Jordan.
Drives TO Hebron, Bethlehem and
Bethany; an evening at the house
Of a Jew where the Passover was
and visit to the newly
discovered tomb of Herod the Great,
where a very perfect rolling stone,
six feet in diameter and fifteen inches
thick were among the sights which
we enjoyed. 1t was worth much to
have Good Friday and Easter Sun
day in the city where the scenes
most sacred to us all were enacted and
to go with our Bibles to the green
hill outside the walls which many
modern scholars believe to be the
site OF Calvary, and there to read the
story OF the cruhxion.
On Thursday,A April 9th, we walked
out of the Jaffa Gate, with a last
look at David's Tower and took our
carriage for Jaffa. The forty mile
drive over a good road, down the
steep hills, through the Valley of
AJalon, the Plain of Sharon, Beth
Dagon and other places of Biblical in
terest was soon over. The roadside
was gay with spring flowers and
men were busy in the fields with
their one-handled plows, urging their
oxen along by means of the goad.
As we came near Jaffa the site of
the house of Dorcas was pointed out,
and the missing trunk having been
found, we spent the next morning
IN visiting the supposed site of the
house OF Simon the Tanner and
writing in the quaint Jerusalem
Hotel where every room has
Biblical name Our party were in
johannes" and "Philippus" and