Washington sentinel., 1899-12-23
'.>-r, ~ SENTINEL
jana.
John Foster Fraser, in the QHiysr,

lGLu POSS Dg way u laiat NlAS
ancient Joppa. And nearly every
one, in eagerness to get up to the
sacred city, ignores the old sea-
port, except to sniff at its smells
and to paw a hurried visit to the
house OF Simon the Tanner, won
derng how Peter SSs ever able to
sleep in so dirty a place. Jaffa,
however, is more Eastern than
Jerusalem itself. Once your nos
trils grow accustomed to the odors,
and your feet can pick a way over
the ofal and filth, you begin to
appreciate the place. / first caught
a glimpse of the town in the early
afternoon, when blazing sun was
beating upon it, lighting uD all its
angles with a rich radiance, the
houses climbing all over each
other, and orange trees bearing
luscious fruit, growing away on
the town side. Quite fifty boats
put out to meet the yachr. And
their o:cupants-what a yelling,
gesticulating noisy throng, shout
ing at one another and at US, man
aging their boats IN the rolling
waves with a rare skill, while
standing on the edge in their white
linen baggY trousers, and all the
time the sun scorching to a deeper
brown their bare arms ana ieetl
Whether the Hebrew translation
of Jafa as meaning ''the beautiful
is right or not l cannot say. The
Tews, like other Eastern folk, were
given to much eXaggeration, and
they speak OF sandy wildernesses
as lovely blossoming plains.
Therefore l can understand how
they might even describe Jaffa as
beautiful. It is curious and inter-
esting, decidedly picturesque and
narrow waved, but that it is beau
tiful can hardly be admitted by any
truth-loVing man. Civilization
lays but a light finger on these
shores, and manners OF life are
little changed from what they were
a couple Of thousand years ago.
The history Of the place is a ming
ling OF myth and tradition. 1t was
on the rocks, about which the
waters OF the Mediterranean play,
that the lovely Andromeda was
chained in order to be eaten by
some sea monsters, and was res
cued oy Perseus. And years and
years ago the hole in the rock
and the chains that bound the
maiden used to be shown. But /
suppose that some prehistoric tour.
ist must have taken them away, for
the" are not now to be seen. Ger.
tainly it is the place to which
Hiram, King OF Tyre, sent wood
from Lebanon "in hotes," to assist
Solomon in the building Of the
Temple. The house, or perhaps
it is only the foundation Of the
house, Of Simon the Tanner is still
to be seen. 1t is approached
through a string of vile odored
passages. Two or three idle Arabs
are generally lying about the floor,
and only rouse themselves at the
prospect Of receiving a gift. From
the summit OF the house a far
reaching view Of the Mediterra-
mean is obtained. There is an old
well in the yard and a decrepit,
weak eyed man is ever drawing
water in leathern buckets and
emptying it in a great stone trough.
A shady tree spreads its branches
over the well, and the coming oi
duskv men and bright eyed women
for water makes up a fascinating
scene which l could long contem-
plate without firing. The old town
has had many viclssitudes; it has
been Christian bishopric. the
haunt Of pirates, the lounging place
of Napoleon.
There is a curious little bazaar
in Jaffa, not over. clean. but always
thronged with Arabs and pure
blooded Bedouins. In the market
place all the wares are set out, and
there is as much shouting as at
country fair in the MidIands Of
England. The bread the people
eat consists of cakes OF bilious ap-
pearance, or Drowned rolls made
in the shape of hoops. The Syrian
Bedouins are a fierce lot Of fellows,
with their camel hair cloaks about
their shoulders, and inlaid rifles
slung behind them. A handker.
chief is over the head, and kept in
place by two round mats of
OF horsehair pulled down over
the skull. Here you see peo.
pie with pure semitic type Of feat
ures, different in many respects
from the type we call Semitic at
home. The women-mosr OF them
veiled-sit on stools before the
bazaars, lingering bright printed
callcoes, and disputing their value
with the cross legged merchants.
Smiling little girls with sparkling
eyes and bright teeth, dance in
front Of you, kiss your coat or your
hand, and ask for a gilt. Mis-
chieyous boys, who have picked
up enough English to be a NUS
ance, constantly profer their SER
vices to run errands tor you, or to
show you where you can make
purchases Of Arabic goods, and
you shout at them and shake your
stick, but only get a grin in return.
A little TO the north of Jaffa is
CHsarea. Only ruins now remain
of Herod's magnificent city. Arabs
have built huts with the stones, and