Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-28
The Holy Land
VII-Anclent Port Of Jaffa
BY FREDERIC }. HAsKIN

r. AT L IA II iii1 S'biViN W NNNN'
lM-IN lem now. just as It was III
EAM in the days of Solomon when
k$fa III ii received the cedar and pine
k<NS Sll sent by Hiram of Tyre for
gAMzkd building of the great temple
i'm Jerusalem and it is. one
Joppa of the Scriptures, and 1t is one
of the oldest historical cities in the
world 1t is described. as seaport OF
Importance in existing tablets dating
back fifteen centuries before Christ lt
iA the reputed scene of the legend or
Andromeda. and i'm Plny's time tour
lists were shown the chains by which
Andromeda was bound to the rock Tor
the cruel monster afterwards slain by
Perseus. Perhaps this Greek legend
was the development of the yarns OF
Ionic saiormen who had had adNen-
lures in landing a cargo at this sea-
port of Canaan. For there was never
seaport which offered so few ad-
vantages and so many difficulties Iof
mariners.
Nearly all visitors to the Holy Land
disembarlz at Jaffa, and the experience
is usually the most exciting and mem
orable of the whole journey TO Pales-
tine. There Is no harbor. and the shlps
anchor In an open roadstead. Passeh-
gers are taken off In rowboats manned
by crews of magniticently proportloneu
Arab boatmen, who pilot their small
craft through the channels between the
rocks upon which the breakers lash
themselves into foam. In the best OF
weather the landing is sufficiently diff
ficult to contain the element of danger,
and If there is the least wind, disem-
barkation is impossible. In such event
the passengers are carried on north-
ward to Haifa at the foot of Mt. car
mel. AS 1t is only a mornings rall-
road journey from Jaffa to Jerusalem
and as IL Is a three days wagon jour
ney from Haifa to Jerusalem, most
people prefer to risk the dangers OF
the Jaffa landing.
Jaffa is associated in tradition and
history with many of the greatest men
/ the world has known, and 1t was not
visited, so far as is recorded, py
Jesus. 1t was a chief city of the Can
aanitish regimes which preceded the
| Hebrew empire of David and Solomon.
| II was an important seaport used py
| Alexander the Great, ii was the scene
of st. Peters vision which caused nm
to include the Gentiles within his ms
! sion, it was the port of entry OF the
successful Crusaders during the Middle
ages, it was the base of operations OF
| Saladin when he expelled the Chris
tians from Jerusalem, it was an I'M
portant factor in the military opera
tions of the Mamelukes, and IL was
| the scene of the most dlsagraceIui
act in the career Of Napoleon the
| Great:
| But now Jaffa has turned from war
| to peace, and it is famous all over
| Europe as the place from which comes
| the most delicious oranges in all the
| world Not even California and Flor
/ ha aduanfaRA a Of the most
skilled horticultural scientists, can dis
pute with Jaffa the primacy OF the
orange growing world. Everything
about the ancient city smells OF Or
anges. Jaffa has a population OF about
forty thousand, two-thirds Mohamme-
dan. There is a considerable German
colony in the city, and other German
| colonies are scattered about IN the
neighborhood. These Germans grow
| the greater part of the oranges. The
well kept orange groves, surrounded
by hedges OF prickly pears, suggest
| southern California and scenes alto
gether out of place amid these orl-
entail surroundings.
|
Orange culture is a comparatively
modern industry in Palestine, and was
unknown in Bible times. But 1t is I'M
possible to look upon the groves with
their thousands of golden globes out
| lined against the silvery green or the
trees without recalling the words "Ap-
pies of gold in pictures of silver.
These Jaffa oranges are very large.
very sweet, very juicy and altogether
delicious. And Furthermore, to the de-
light of the tourist, they are ridicu-
lously cheap.
The city of Jaffa was completely de-
stroyed during the wars of the Cru
sades, so that in the middle ages at
| one time ii consisted of nothing but a
| few tents which sheltered a misera
BILE tribe of fishermen. That fact does
not interfere in the least, however, with
the present fact that every visitor to
Jaffa is shown the very house of ST.
| mon the tanner upon the roof OF
which st. Peter saw the vision OF the
clean and the unclean beasts which
was the beginning of his preaching to
! the Gentlles. One is shown also the
house where Dorcas was restored to
| life by the prayers of the Apostle Peter.
There is no reasonable excuse for
anyone's believing in the authenticity
Of these houses, although the antiquar-
ians agree that the site OF the house
by the sea in which lived Simon the
tanner probably is the same as that
of the modern house which the tourist
now sees as the first sacred relic in
Palestine.
More interesting than these spurious
relics of the past are the three modern
converts Greek, Latin and Armenian,
and the modern schools. The Armen-
4 ian convent is the one where the
/ plague sufferers and other invalids
were poisoned by order of Napoleon.
i These three converts show evidences
of prosperity and modern advancement
not seen elsewhere in the country.
There is an English Protestant school
for girls, and an English hospital,
which have accomplished wonders in
the emancipation of Oriental girls
from the bondage of ignorance and the
chains of oriental customs.
But, nearing Jerusalem, the train
| stoDs for a few minutes at the station
of Bittir, which is the site of the last
stronghold of the defenders of the
Jewish nation. The modern Moslem
village of Bittir crowns the crest of a
steep hill, to which approach is. made
over a paved Roman road still in good
condition. 1t was here that the rem
nant of the Jewish army under the
false Messiah, Barchochebas, made its
last stand against the legions of the
Emperor Hadrian in the year 1874, a
generation after the majority of the
Jews had been scattered to the four
quarters of the earth in the great dis
persion.
The contrast between the rich orange
groves and fruitful vineyards OF the
coastal plain at Jaffa, and the barren
denuded hills about Jerusalem is most
striking. At Jaffa the people seem to
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