DESPITE the fatigue of the preceding day, our first slumbers under canvas were not unbroken. First there was the novelty of the whole position, which, together with the experiences of the past day and the anticipations of the morrow, induced a certain amount of nervous tension, not provocative of sleep. Then there was the neighing and stamping and snorting of our Syrian horses, the hoarse croaking of innumerable frogs, and the guttural, ceaseless, chatter of our Arab guards, varied by occasional rain-squalls which shook our tents, and presaged ill for the morrow's weather; these all combined to make our rest disturbed and fitful. And just as one was at last dropping off into a sound sleep a great beating of pots and pans announced the fact that another day's work was before us.
On rising we found that the temperature had fallen almost to freezing point, and that the water was icy-cold. After a hurried breakfast in the saloon-tent in the center of the camp, we emerged to find our tents struck, and the camp and its equipage being rapidly transferred to the backs of our baggage animals. This was done with many shouts of " y' Allah," without which your Arab seems unable to effect anything expeditiously.
Mounting our horses, or, in my case, for reasons I have already explained, one of the baggage horses, we commenced our ascent of the Judean hills. Our road lay beside a water-course, now dry, called the Torrent of the Terebinths. The neighboring mountain sides were sparsely sprinkled with gnarled and dwarf olive trees, while the crevices of the rocks were full of pink and white cyclamens.
But we were not allowed for long to take pleasure in noting our surroundings, for the clouds, which had been gathering ominously overhead, now began to discharge their ice-cold contents upon us. Thus, after having climbed some two thousand feet and reached the summit of the hills, we were unable to see the view over the plain of Sharon.
Beginning to descend, we ere long reached Kuryet-el-Enab, identified by Dr. Robinson with Kirjath-jearim of the Scriptures. Hither, from Beth-shemesh, “the men of Kirjathjearim came and fetched up the ark of the Lord," and placed it in “the house of Abinadab in the hill." “And it came to pass while the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord." (1 Sam. 7:1, 21And the men of Kirjath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord. 2And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. (1 Samuel 7:1‑2)) Subsequently we read that “David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor of Egypt even unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God to Kirjath-jearim."(1 Chron. 13:55So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor of Egypt even unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjath-jearim. (1 Chronicles 13:5).)
Fortunately for us, a gleam of sunshine pierced the gloom just as we got abreast of Kuryet-el-Enab, disclosing by far the most picturesque village which we had yet seen. Perhaps it was quite as well that we did not enter the village itself, but wound down the direct road which lies to the left, so that we carried away the recollection of a truly pretty spot, undiscounted by the squalor and filth which would no doubt have spoilt a closer acquaintance.
Continuing our descent, we passed the village of Soba and the ruins of Kustal (probably a corruption of Castellum, as there is an old castle there), and in an hour and a half from Kuryet reached the Valley of Kolonieh. To our right, high up, lies Ain Karim, which is the traditional birthplace of John the Baptist, while a little farther on to our left lay Kolonieh (a corruption of Colon is), which is thought to be the ancient Emmaus, though, in common with almost all sites in Palestine, this is a moot point.
By this time, most of our party were wet to the skin, and we were not sorry, therefore, to halt at a roadside cafe for lunch, where, having emptied the water out of our boots, we were glad to warm ourselves at a brazier, and get a little vitality into our chilled bones.
After lunch most of our party sallied forth, and descended into the bed of the stream on the banks of which the cafe stands, in order to carry away at least four "smooth stones out of the brook "; for is not this the traditional valley of Elah, where David slew Goliath? and, as the dragoman remarked, "David having only used one stone, the other four must be somewhere!" As far as we personally were concerned, being of an unimaginative turn of mind, we were content to leave the stones there; and our contentment thereat was not lessened by subsequently discovering that the real valley of Elah lies far to the south, as the Bible narrative shows.
Remounting our horses, we began the ascent of five miles, which brought us to Jerusalem; but the weather was no more propitious than it had been before. Nearing the summit, we passed the large village of Lifta on the left. Reaching the plateau, where we expected to catch our first sight of Olivet, rain squalls obscured the view, and all that we could see were some ugly square modern buildings to our right and left—a convent and a German orphanage. At that moment our dragoman overtook us, for we, in our anxiety to see the city, had ridden ahead, and with a shout of "Jerusalem," put spurs to his horse, and the whole cavalcade following suit, we galloped up to a gate in an ancient wall—the Jaffa gate of Jerusalem.
For years we had dwelt upon that moment, and the moment had come. Many a time had we experienced in advance the feelings almost of awe with which we should approach those walls, and the solemn sense with which we should enter those gates. Such was the forecast of our entry. What was the reality? A mad gallop, and a wet, cold, mud-splashed, disconsolate party, consumed with an unromantic desire to get rid as quickly as possible of their wet clothes! We wish that we could have written otherwise; but as a faithful historian we have to do not with past fancies, but with present facts. J. F.
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OUR readers will be interested in hearing how the Name of Jesus is received in Palestine today! The following records are taken from letters addressed to the Church Missionary Society, and “The Bible Society Gleanings." What a tale they unfold of the darkness that abides over that land in which the Lord went about doing good, and to which He is coming again! "When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:88I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8))