The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-06-07
ARMIES OF PILGRIMS.

Al this season of the year, and usually
from October until JuEe. continuous
procession OF pilgrims is passing I'D and
us"n the old Roman road between Jeru-
saiein and Jericho writes ". E Curtis
rom Jericho, to the Chicago Record-faer-
asd- Contrary to the assertion OF the
plantation hymn. Jordan isn't at ali q
narc road 10 travel Il IS the best we
nave seen il Palestine. although il Is
an downhill one way and ali uphill the
otner The pilgrims are mostly Rus
siahs. Very few come from any other
country except France. and they are only
scattering. while the Russians form a
solo and almost unbroken stream. loaded
aewn with heavy winter clothes. high
ocots with thick soles. big bags full Of
supplies, blankets bedding and cooking
utensils strapped 70 their backs. They
are not agreeable company. They are
too persplring and odoro1s. and their long
hair and boards are inhabited by unmen-
sionaole things. When they get weary
trey lie down in the middle OF the road
and sleep for a while When they wake
Gi they make 4 cup OF tea eat a few
CIusts and go on cheerfully. They al
ways carry their own provender and cook
their own meals. which are simple and
consist only of tea, bread and dried fish
There is a popular notion that they eat
candles, but I am assured it isn't true
Al Of them are peasants, but some are
better on than others. having saved their
earnings for years 10 make this pilgrim
age for II they can wash in Jordan IL
gives them clear title 10 paradise. and.
somewhere in his bundle. each one has a
white robe for that purpose which he viii
keep for his shroud.
They think il is their duty to kiss every
object of reputed sancity. They bow and
press their lips TO the dusty earth be-
cause il was once trodden by the Savior's
feet; they kiss the stones of the walls
that surround the Garden OF Gethse-nane.
and the rocks upon which the Virgin
Mother is said to have sat; they wear out
the glass upon the pictures al the shrines
BY the pressure of their lips: they kiss
the columns and pillars and even the
thresholds OF the churches. Their credu-
lily surpasses belief. If one Of their big
bearded monks should tell them that the
Savior had crossed a certain stream ev-
cry man and woman would instantly fall
upon his or her knees and try &c lap up
the water with their tongues.
AS the road runs down the limestone
hills on the road TO Jericho the coun-
try becomes more and more barren; the
fccks of sheep and goats grow smaller
and farther between. The herdsmen, who
carry old-fashioned guns with long bar
with mother-of- pearl. such as you see in
the museums and curio stores, crouch in
the shade and sit cross-iegged. gazing
stupidity at the carriages that pass by,
and trample down the Wild flowers. which
seem TO thrive where nothing else viii
grow-poppies. anemones. buttercups, for
get-me- nots and the humble dandelion are
everywhere. and mustard plants look Ike
great yellow bfotches on the hilisides.
The hills are arid and gray. This Is the
wilderness that we read of IN the
Bible, and at the bottom of a precipitous,
ySwning gulf runs the brook Cherith.
which you remember. was the home or
Elisha the Tishbite. after he came across
Jordan from Gilead. and halfway up
the cliff is a Greek monastery clinging
to the rocky walls. which is said TO mark
the place where he was fed by the "a
vens I do not know that we saw the
ravens that fed him, but they were very
numerous along the roadway, and we are
told that they live to a very great age.