The morning times., 1896-09-14

The congregation of the New York Ave
nue. Presbyterian Church last evening
accompanied Rev. Francis A. Horton, ID. d.,
| OF Philadelphia, on his faithful aud rugged
| Arabian horse, Grey David, through the
picturesque and ofttimes rugged fast
nesses OF Palestine.
The announcement that the DUAL ker City
| divine would deliver an address on the
| theme, lover Palestine on Grey David
resulted in comfortabl y filling the capacious
| edifice. DR.. Horton is graceful speaker
| and IL man OF commanding appearance.
| His word pictures of the holy land, over
| which he Travelled extensively, held the
rapt attention of his hearers. Standing
upon the shores OF the Mediterranean, he
| commenced: ...-..
You can look up 800 feet to the table
| land. Garry that level fOrty-five miles
| aud you str Ike Jerusalem The intermediate
plains in many places are fertile and
covered with a wealth OF the most beau
| tnul and fragrant flowers
THE JORDAN
The first place of interest reached by DR..
| Horton after leaving the Mediterranean
| was the valley OF the river jordan, 8 800
| feet from crest to river. the slope being
most rough and preGpitous. The river
I JOtudI, uC DtBH5 az thC NCly GA
| tremity OF the Holy Land. 1t bursts forth
| from the great cave of Pan into the open.
| Jordan means descender, hence tile stream
| is known as the Descender River. II flows
into Lake GaliIlee and thence to the Dead
| Sea, II total distance OF 100 miles, during
| which distance it has fall of 61O feet.
| In its course the river passes over p diff
ferrnt cataracts- In going distance OF
| so miles the waters Of the Jordan travel
1 10 ru>lips hack
and forth from angle To angle in Its course
We're IL not for these cross currents the
river would be rushing torrent and would
overflow its banks and inundate the sur
rounding country. The valley of Jordan
| is IA vast furnace from which the shivering
| heat rises in binding volumes
The surface Of the Dead Sea, said Dr.
Horton, is 400 square miles in extent and
its greatest depth is fifteen feet, hence its
murky waters are constantly going up
into the atmosphere by absorption, and
were il not for the Jordan and other feeders
it would soon dry up. The average width
Of the River Jordan II is ninety feet. Passing
from the Jordan, the Wilderness of Judea,
where John the Baptist lived and learned,
is reached. 1t is a faIreD, burned out
waste.
GREY DAVID.
The government of Palestine, said the
l.
ever ything there is backward. There is
no progression, no accommodations, and
eXturtiOn is in evidence un every hand. At
Joppa DIT. Horton and his party were fur
uished with their fine Arabian horses, on
whiC II they made the journey of 45O miles
through historic Palestine. The party was
provided with tents, servants, and perfect
culinary arrangements He was provided
with Grey David, a noble steed.
Il love that brave animal exclaimed
DR. Horton. ''and have a photograph Of
him which | greatly prize. He carried
me near dizzy preGpices and other dan
Eerous places and over ravlnes. The
shoes he Wore were not ike the American
horseshoe Had David been she'd with
the shoes they use here, my neck Would
have been broken before We had gone a
mile The shoes Gray David Wore were
peculiarly constructed ana were fastened
to his huof by six steel nails in each shC-
These nails had heads on them as big as
n walnut, and when descending or ascend
ing preCipitous places, the animal walked
on the fore part OF his hOOf and the great
nail heads after the manner OF a kid.
l blessed the Lord for those nails and the
straps and buckles Of the saddle. Many
times during the journey my life depended
upon six horseshoe nails
The speaker described the birds of beat
tifuI pIumage lie saw. also described the
rose of sharon. otherwise known as the
lily of The valley" which is mentioned i'll
the Bible. He carried his hearers TO the
spot where Joshua Commanded the sun to
stand still. also to the home of John the
Baptist. where the magDiiiCat was spoken.
on the plains of Judea he looked into the
skies one night and saw d wonderful sight.
The stars were like great globes OF fire
hanging in a purple atmosphere. No
where else in the world can such u sight be
seen.
THE HOLY CITY.
From thence the pilgrims entered Jeru-
saiem. the Holy City. They pitched their
tents on a broad avenue leading 10 Calvary,
the sacred mount, where the three crosses
stood Calvary is now covered with Mo-
hammedan graves. 1t is a Mohammedan
graveyard, and being thus sacred no one
is allowed to disturb it. The mount Is
thus kept a. 1t was 1900 years ago. The
next stop was at Jericho. and the pilgrims
visited the identical spot where Elijah
was fed by the ravens. Then to Mount
PisgalI which is $500 feet above the
Mediterranean.
ine uest Identified place in Palestine is
the spot wncre Christ was born. After leav
ing Jerusalem there are no public roads,
only pathways, and they are owned by pri-
vate individuals. who rent tourists and
others the right to pass over them. DR..
Horton described the Devils Elbow as
Il place of great danger to travellers. He
was allowed to look at the old Samaritan
Pentetuch. wbichis the oldest Bible extant.
The Samaritans are peculiar people aud
their number is reduced to 160 souls. In
a few years they will only live in history
and memory.
He described the trip to Nazareth and
Bethlehem and gave a vivid word picture
of the Nazarcne women dancing about the
tomb of the Virgin. The Arab men he net
were desperate looking fellows. They are
excessively cruel and the women are cx-
ccssively oppressed. The party ascendcd
to the lofty peak OF Mount Hermon, where
Christ went tn be transiigureG. There he
saw the hairless cattle, which live n
mountain caves during the winter and cCmc
out into the sunlight in the spring. This
mountain is inhahitcd by the Druses, a war
like people. The dew of HeTmoD,' So
called is a gentle downpour of rain while
the sun is shining, which results in con-
,inual rainbow panoramas. Down Hermon
the pilgrims went to Damascus, where the