New-York tribune., 1901-02-23
DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND.
THE EXPERIENCES OF woMAH
ARTIST.
TWO YEARS IN PALESTINE AND SYRIA. BY
Margaret TAomas With Sixteen Illustra ii%oa. on
Reproduced in Colors in FtrSimile of the
original Paintings by the Author Svo PIP
3f2. Charles Scribne''s Sons.

y
3i2 Charles Scrihne's Sons.
Miss Thomass record of her experiences IN
Palestine and Syria is uncommonly pleasant
reading II Is easy animated. and as full Of
color as her own glowing sketches With the
Holy Places she deals in simple and reticent
reverence. entirely free from cant. In the hu-
man nature a bout her she has found much to
interest us. She has had an eye upon the
queer phases Of Oriental existence. and, English
woman as she is she is not without humor
The larger part II The volume is devoted 20
Jerusalem. which Is 10 Christianity the most in
teresting city in the world. and to Christians the
most difficult Of access. so far as the Holy Places
are concerned. The Moslems hold them Jealous
~. and precincts 10 which the meanest Of Ma
hometans may have free entrance are denied
10 Christians. except when accompanied by 4
kowass and soldier and armed with of
cial pass Hardly one Of these sacred sites is
undisputed. and the controversies which still
rage viii never proha bly, he settled until closer
examination is permitted. Around the site Of
Solomon's Temple the Mahometans have built
up countless absurdities Of superstition, new
and old. The great Rock on which, as tradition
says. Abraham was about 70 sacrifice Isaac, and
beneath which the Ark Of the Covenant con
cealed by jeremiah stl lies buried. is the sub
ject Of much Of their pious imagininEs. The
Rock. they say. had the intention of following
Mahomet to heaven on the night when he made
his memorable ascent there. but the Angel
Gabriel interfered 70 hold il down. and they
show the mark Of his fingers In proof thereof.
Footprints which they claim to be those Of Ma
hornet they also show and the mark Of his head
on the under side Of the Rock. and the hole
/ through which they say he assembled TO Paradise
4 Superstition holds grip also upon others than
/ the followers Of Mahomet. IL may believe
Miss Thomas Concerning the so-called miracle
Of the Holy Fire at the Sepulchre on the eve Of
| the Greek Easter, she says: The Greek priests,
| when questioned 10 the performance Of what
I they know To he a trick profess that they have
10 intention Of deceit. and openly 70 edu-
! Gated inquirers that there is miracle in the
affair but add that they are compelled 70 con
tinue the ceremony by the lower classes of their
Church, who absolutely exact it" There is al
/ ways upon these occasions wild tumu!t among
! the masses Of densely ignorant pilgrims ana
the ceremony rarely or never takes place without
! loss OF life. About those spots. in short. con
! Cerning which one feels il Is almost profane 20
speak there have grown up beliefs and rites
which cruelty Jar upon the truly reverent Of all
sects. and the piteous simplicity Of the rock
heyyn chambers associated with Chrst's history
is overIaid With trappings and traditions which
are strange indeed.
Among our authors journeys one 70
AallBuS.
OF the cities of refuge a few years ago no
Christian could safely enter. Here live all that
remain Of the Sasnaritans the sect which de
clares itself 10 be the true Israel and accepts
only the five books OF Moses rejecting all tradi-
tion At each Passover these people kill n sol
ema sacrifice OF seven lambs the only living
! sacrifice stil offered by civilized people. "
! There are now only about hundred and fifty
! Samaritans in existence. They are described
/ of very marked type, tall and thin, with
large noses. red hair and look Of I'll health. An
other journey was to Damascus which. because
/ of its many streams Of pure running water. is 4
wonder in that land Of arid rock. 1t is a place
Of intolerable heat. and the water running
! everywhere is douhly priced. Even the shops
/ have fountains and some Of the cafes are built
| over streams, that they may be always cool.
! Probably the author is right in believing the
city be unhealthy. the intense heat OF the
sun pouring on the ever damp earth causing
malarial fever The life to be noted in Damas-
Gus is picturesquely Oriental to the last degree
but il is slowly becoming Europeanzed-in moth
] ing more. perhaps. than in the deterioration of
its famous silk and steel manufactures. He is
! lucky. reminded who finds piece Of real
old silk. and lucker stiH who can buy one Of
1 the celebrated swords that may be bent almost
1 double without breaking
Most Of the travelling in tho Holy Land is still
f, done by means of horses and camels but rail
roads gradually making way there Miss
/ Thomas describes the little train between Jaffa
and Jerusalem as taking six hours to do fifty
four miles. II makes journey day. and Is
/ oxqusitely uncomfortable The Arabs We're
greatly opposed 10 it az first. attributing II q
1 the agency Of either Allah or Shetan, they have
/ not Yet made up their minds 10 which. Theil
first proceeding was to pull up some OF the rails
4 with the idea that they might come in handy
I al home Then they undertook to the line
as a camel road. and not until several Of THEN
/ animals were purposely over and killed
could they be induced to keep out Of the way
on one occasion the train had 10 be stopped be
cause a man deliberately went 10 sleep on the
rails and wouldn't move when he heard the
| Afrit's ''brazen engine coming But even the
| Arabs learning the ways OF the foreigner
IL is 10 be hoped that among these ways viii
be that of cleanliness. Our author pronounces
them 10 be an exceedingly dirty people, seldom
even taking off their clothes Tightening tn,
belt is the principal and most labor!ous part o.
the morning toilet. That Europeans find it diff
icult 10 accomplish anything practical in Pales
tine is illustrated by the experience Of the Eng
lsh colonists with their VINEYARD of six thou
sand vines. Each cutting died soon after IN.
P leaf appeared. and a person wise in Arab trick
? cry put a mark each stem Thus il wa
discovered that these people came at night an,
lifted each cutting about two inches out OF tn
ground so that all We're killed. Their rnotiv,
was 10 keep the land waste for their pasturage
But while the author dwells upon Arab greed
thieying and falsity she does not fail 10 impres
upon the reader that these people are gentle an
kind. and invariably self-respecting and well be
2 haved