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Title: From Vermont to Damascus
Returning by way of Beyrout, Smyrna, Ephesus, Athens, Constantinople, Budapest, Vienna, Paris, Scotland, and England
Author: Adna Brown
Release date: June 18, 2025 [eBook #76336]
Language: English
Original publication: Boston: Geo. H. Ellis, 1895
Credits: Peter Becker, Steve Mattern and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM VERMONT TO DAMASCUS ***
[Illustration: TWO VERMONT LADIES.]
FROM
VERMONT TO DAMASCUS
RETURNING BY WAY OF
BEYROUT, SMYRNA, EPHESUS, ATHENS, CONSTANTINOPLE,
BUDAPEST, VIENNA, PARIS,
SCOTLAND, AND ENGLAND
BY
ADNA BROWN
_With sixteen illustrations. Also, instructions how to prepare
for such a journey_
BOSTON
GEO. H. ELLIS, PRINTER, 141 FRANKLIN ST.
1895
COPYRIGHT
BY ADNA BROWN
1895
PREFACE.
The urgent desires of the friends of the author of this volume that his
Oriental letters should be compiled and put in book form prompted him
to issue a work entitled “From Vermont to Damascus,” taking the reader
through the Oriental land, giving a vivid picture of the country,
scenes, and people as he saw them from day to day, which was the
richest experience of his life. Much has been added to these letters
with illustrations,--directions for preparations for such a journey,
value of the currency of different countries, etc.,--making the book a
valuable one for persons intending to travel in a foreign land.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
ON THE WAY TO NAPLES 3
LETTERS FROM ITALY 10
LETTERS FROM EGYPT 27
LETTERS FROM THE HOLY LAND 66
LETTER FROM GREECE 138
LETTER FROM CONSTANTINOPLE 148
FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO PARIS 160
PARIS TO SCOTLAND 173
SCOTLAND TO AMERICA 189
USEFUL HINTS FOR TRAVELLERS 203
ILLUSTRATIONS
FACES
PAGE
TWO VERMONT LADIES, _Frontispiece_
FALLS OF TIVOLI 23
PLOUGHING IN EGYPT 29
HASHAM, OUR DRAGOMAN 33
DRAWING WATER ON THE NILE 39
SHEIK EL SADATH 62
WATER BOTTLES AND FILTERS OF EGYPT 64
SON OF A SHEIK 74
CROSSING THE JORDAN 78
THE JEWS’ WAILING-PLACE 89
BEDOUINS WITH THEIR HARPS 103
VEILED WOMEN 109
ACROPOLIS AT ATHENS 139
TURKISH LADIES 153
MOSQUE OF THE SULTAN 158
ONE OF THE “BEEF-EATERS” 197
FROM VERMONT TO DAMASCUS.
The bleak, rugged winter of 1895 in Vermont, when Jack Frost held
nightly carnivals and mercury was found in the lower regions, the snow
was scurrying from hill-top to vale to find a resting place,--such
environments caused the author of this little volume to dream of fairer
skies and warmer climes. Sunny Italy, with her groves of orange and
lemon trees, her gardens filled with fruit, her gladioli and lilies
leading the flowery kingdom, was a drawing card to a Vermonter in the
short days of January. Such a picture caused me to decide to leave old
Vermont for the winter, spending my days farther south, until she had
put on her summer garments, when she would become the loveliest spot on
earth. About this time the clarion trumpet of Dr. A. E. Dunning, of the
_Congregationalist_, was heard through the land, calling for fair women
and brave men to join him in his Oriental tour. His itinerary through
Italy, Egypt, and the Holy Land was an attractive one; and the die in
my case was soon cast. Believing it to be an unwise thing for a married
man to take such a journey without his wife, wisdom had its way.
The party was made up from eleven different States. Miss Daniels, a
charming young lady from Grafton, and the two members from Springfield,
were the only representatives from Vermont. The number of our party to
leave New York was, like Paul’s chastisements, forty save one; and they
were to be under the guiding care of “Henry Gaze & Sons,” of London.
The first essential step was to procure tickets, passports, letters of
credit, suitable clothing, pluck, courage, and a determination to have
a good time.
February 14th found us on board an express train, wending our way down
the Connecticut Valley, stopping for a night at Hartford with friends,
and reaching New York the 15th. That afternoon we attended a reception
at the St. Denis Hotel, given by Dr. Dunning, where we were to meet
those of the Oriental party that we had never met before, but were
hoping for pleasant friendships with in the future.
Introductions, hand-shaking, coffee, and viands were the order of the
afternoon; and every one seemed pleased with the other fellow, and the
verdict was that the doctor had shown wisdom in making up his party for
the Holy Land.
February 16th found us on board the “Normannia,” and baggage nicely
stowed away. Many friends of the Oriental party were on board with good
wishes for a successful journey. Occasionally we saw a tear, but smiles
predominated.
At twelve o’clock the whistle blew for all those not intending to sail
to leave the boat. The gangplank was drawn in; and the “Normannia”
weighed anchor, slowly swung her prow down the North River, and a
journey of some eighteen thousand miles began.
ON THE WAY TO NAPLES.
My friends in Springfield who have never been down to the sea, or
crossed the big waters, perhaps have but little idea of the skippers
that take people across from the New to the Old World and _vice versa_.
To give you the length in feet of the “Normannia” would convey but
little; but, when I refer you to the Adnabrown Hotel, which is a long
building of one hundred and fifty feet, and tell you to place three
of them in line, and then add seventy feet, you would have the length
of our beautiful steamer. It is two stories high besides the attic,
with a cellar two stories deep, and is a regular floating palace. Few
hotels in the country are fitted up as nicely. Her engines have sixteen
thousand horse-power, several times the power of all the motor wheels
in Black River at Springfield. She has nine boilers; and, when they run
her full speed, it takes three hundred tons of coal every twenty-four
hours.
Mr. and Mrs. Weeden met us at the boat when we left New York, and
presented us with some beautiful flowers. It did us as much good
as medicine to meet our old pastor and wife. Mr. Weeden is the
personification of a true gentleman.
Our party are all together in the dining-room, occupying four tables,
ten at each, save one seat which is occupied by the steamer physician,
dressed in uniform. We have on board a fine German band that gives us a
large quantity of splendid music.
We sailed Saturday, the 16th. Sunday we had religious services. Dr.
Horton, of Providence, preached a ringing sermon from Exodus xxxiii.
13. At this writing we have been on the way one week, have encountered
no gales, but have found the ocean rather rough, and have had many
sick. Racks have been on the tables most of the time. Mrs. Brown and
myself have been in the dining-room and on deck every day. Our captain
is polite. He found out that he had some sight-seers on board. So he
proposed to change his course a little, and take us through the Azores,
which was quite a treat. We could, with our field-glasses, see the
houses, and fields on the sides of the mountains. These islands are
very high, some of them running up seven thousand feet. They belong to
Portugal, and are inhabited by that race; and the islands are said to
be large enough to support three hundred thousand people. They raise
olives, oranges, pineapples, figs, etc. The pineapples, which are of
a very superior quality, are raised under glass. The inside is free
from any woody substance and so soft it can be eaten with a spoon. They
command high prices, selling for three or four dollars each. London
epicures fill them with wine, and consider them a great luxury. The
government sends ships to them about once in two months, to receive
and deliver mail and supplies. Mists and fogs from the ocean keep
everything verdant.
Our ship “Normannia” is officered and manned entirely by Germans. They
are very polite and attentive. The table is luxurious, from four to
six courses, abundance of fruit, apples, pears, oranges, pineapples,
grapes, bananas, etc. But the poet sings, “What is home without a
mother?” So many of the passengers sing here, “What is dinner without
an appetite?”
SATURDAY MORNING, 23d.
Had a smooth run last night, but have just met a north-easter this
morning; and it looks as though we shall be “rocked in the cradle
of the deep” for the next few hours. We expect to reach Gibraltar
to-morrow night, where this letter will be sent ashore to take the
first steamer for New York. We shall reach Naples Wednesday or
Thursday, where I shall hope to write you again, as we expect to spend
several days looking over the beautiful Bay of Naples, and get our feet
on “terra cotta” again, as the man said, which we shall no doubt enjoy.
Sunday morning, instead of one of the band giving the trumpet call
to rise, the whole band played a beautiful church hymn. It was very
pleasant, and showed their respect for the day.
* * * * *
Just after the mail was closed on board the “Normannia,” last Sunday,
February 24, and my first letter to you was ready to start back for New
York, we were beginning to sail up into the Straits of Gibraltar. It
was a beautiful day, clear and balmy, mercury about seventy degrees.
We had already sighted land on both sides of the channel; and, if
you will take a seat with me on the upper deck, I will show you one
of the finest pictures anywhere to be found,--the water smooth as
glass, and the “Normannia” gliding through the water proudly as a
queen. On our right you will see the coast of Africa, with rugged
hills extending back, to all appearances, into the interior. On our
left is the coast of Spain, with less rugged appearance, and I should
say the much more desirable place for a habitation. We continue to
narrow the channel until we reach the stone battlements. Some two miles
before we reach this point, at our left, you will see the village of
Trafalgar, where the great naval battle was fought and where Nelson
lost his life. The town has the appearance of containing some fifteen
hundred inhabitants, with buildings painted white, having a very neat
appearance. The land for a mile or more up the channel has a very
peculiar appearance, looking like the waves of the ocean laid up at an
angle of fifteen degrees. With our glass we could see the beautiful
green fields, divided into lots, with green hedge fences. All the time
you are drinking in this beautiful picture the grand background will be
the stone battlements of Gibraltar, just ahead of you, extending out
into the channel. We reached this point just at sunset, which added
greatly to the beauty of the picture. Just before reaching the fort,
our steamer turns to the left into a beautiful bay or harbor, where
we find war vessels of different nations. Saw the stars and stripes.
The war-ship “Chicago” was anchored there. The Americans on board the
“Normannia” cheered them with waving of pocket handkerchiefs. They
returned it, and their band played one of our national airs. At this
point we anchored; and small boats came out, and took mail, telegrams,
passengers, etc. Many of our party went ashore, where you find Moors,
Turks, and Spaniards, besides the soldiers. Selling rum and tobacco is
the main business, and this is considered a wicked town. The streets
are narrow and not lighted, houses built of stone several stones high.
Back of the town is a wood where live the only wild monkeys known
in Europe. It is a species _without tails_ and one protected by the
government. Whether this is because of the lack of this appendage I did
not learn, but it no doubt had something to do with the matter.
Now, as you stand back down the channel, Gibraltar looks like a big
Dutchman with a cap on, standing as sentinel, guarding the traffic from
ocean to the sea. It rises fourteen hundred feet above the sea, is
seven miles in circumference, and is connected with the mainland by a
narrow strip of flat ground. It is composed largely of limestone, some
marble, and was naturally full of caverns and cavities. In addition to
this, England has honeycombed it through and through; and no one but
the British war department and the soldiers know what there is inside.
There are five thousand soldiers quartered here, and one thousand
cannon. England spends a million a year running this Dutchman.
It was about 1785 when Spain and France combined to take this fortress
away from England, and had a three years’ siege, but had to give it up.
It is said to be the strongest and most important fort in the world.
At six o’clock there was a cannon fired. This was a signal for every
stranger to go outside the walls unless he had a permit from the head
officer.
I will give you the outlines of one of the big guns at Gibraltar.
Length, thirty-two feet; size of bore, 17.72 inches; the charge is
five feet long; weight of powder, four hundred fifty pounds; weight of
ball, two thousand pounds; force of blow, thirty-three thousand tons;
distance, eight miles; will pierce twenty-five inches solid iron. This
gun is fired only on the queen’s birthday and special occasions, at
which time notice is given, and windows are raised in all the buildings
to prevent the breaking of glass.
The “Normannia” left Gibraltar 7.30 Sunday eve. We had a smooth sail,
and slept finely, quite different from what we found it on the old
Atlantic.
MONDAY MORNING.
We are sailing up the Mediterranean, which is lovely; and every one
seems to be gathering up from the rough voyage of last week. We reached
Algiers about 7 P.M., sailing up past Morocco. Algiers has about sixty
thousand people, is controlled by the French. About sixteen thousand of
that nationality were taken by the French in 1830. They have a large
Arab settlement. Then there are Moors, Jews, Buddhists, etc., etc. As
I said, the “Normannia” reached Algiers at seven in the evening, and
was to leave at eleven. The town rises from the coast very abruptly,
is lighted with gas, and looks fine from the boat. Having three hours
to ourselves, we took small boats that the natives were running in the
bay, and went ashore, then took carriages, and drove through the town
two hours, driving through the Arab district. We saw Oriental life in
full bloom; and from what we saw of the natives we soon made up our
minds they were a people we should not care to sleep with, and were
careful to be back on the “Normannia” before the hour of her departure.
Tuesday morning, bright and clear, and we are still sailing up the
Mediterranean, water smooth as a glassy lake, the air soft and balmy,
every one happy. Expect to reach Naples to-morrow at eleven.
The “Normannia,” which showed her antics on the old ocean, striking her
nose into those big, rolling waves, throwing the water over her deck
and bows, sending it rushing down by our cabin windows, seemed to have
sown her wild oats before she reached Gibraltar, and has given us a
splendid sail through the Mediterranean. We think of our Springfield
friends, and wish we could treat them to a day’s sail on this beautiful
sea, and enjoy the balmy air of a Vermont June day.
LETTERS FROM ITALY.
I.
NAPLES, Feb. 27, 1895.
We arrived at this place to-day at eleven o’clock A.M., at which time
you were, no doubt, rubbing your eyes, and deciding whether you would
turn out for a day’s work or have another nap before doing so, as we
have gained six hours since leaving New York, and shall probably, for
the present, leave Springfield time in the shade.
As we sailed up the Bay of Naples, we saw in our front a beautiful city
of some three hundred thousand people. The city was in amphitheatre
style, lying in the form of a crescent, buildings largely white, from
one to six stories high, nestling among the palms, olives, figs,
lemons, orange, and pine trees, and a great variety of tropical
plants, giving a beautiful contrast. This, encircling the bay, gave
us a picture of rare beauty. The “Normannia” anchored in the bay,
and small steamers came and took the passengers and baggage ashore.
Seemingly one-half on board left the steamer at this place. The
custom-house officers here are very strict, but the Gaze Company had
made arrangements to let us through without a very rigid examination.
Cigars, tobacco, and liquors are what they are after; and our crowd
were pretty well played out in those goods before we reached Naples.
Nine cigars, or what they call a day’s stock, is all a man can bring
ashore without duty. Naples has impressed me as a charming place. It
is, in my opinion, the “Pasadena” of this section of country. Some
Americans may desire to be wedded to this charming spot, but I am
willing to admire its beauty and pass on. America is good enough for
me. The customs are exceedingly funny here, and no doubt will appear so
all our journey through. Everything in the way of traffic moves slowly,
and is queerly done. You will see an ox and a cow yoked together, next
a cow and a horse; and then will come along a horse, cow, and donkey,
all attached to the same vehicle. The little donkeys that are driven
in the two-wheel carts would set young America in Springfield wild. As
to horses, they go from the ridiculous to the sublime, from the poor
creatures to turnouts that will match anything in Saratoga. They seem
to vie with each other in trimming and ornamenting their harness, tugs,
breeching, bridles; and every conceivable strap is filled with brass or
nickel nails, studs, or buckles. The driving of the pleasure teams is
like Jehu,--furiously.
The great nuisance of the country is beggars, hucksters, and hawkers.
The beggars will beset you while walking or riding. They will run
beside your carriage with an alertness that indicates training in the
business.
The arrangement for delivering milk will, no doubt, interest our
milkmen in Vermont. The cows are driven into the city twice a day. You
will see a man with one or more. A woman will come out with a tumbler,
the man milks it full, and she pays him two cents for it. He then
drives on, furnishing his customers with any quantity desired. Goat’s
milk is furnished in the same way. You will see droves of from ten to
forty of them. This milk, they claim, is for the children; and there is
no end to their number. The woods are full of children here in Naples.
These goats are driven mostly on the sidewalks, and have equal rights
with the pedestrians. The teams and traffic go on in the streets.
However, they have one advantage over us: they need no law against the
adulteration of milk.
As I said at the commencement of this letter, we reached this place on
Wednesday, the 27th, about noon; and, as we had been on the “Normannia”
eleven days, we took our lunch, and then spent the rest of the
afternoon in resting, looking among the stores, getting our bearings,
etc. Thursday at 8.30 our carriages were ready, our managers on hand
with all their plans made, and we took a drive through the city, in the
forenoon going through the museum, said to be one of the most wonderful
in the world; that is, for antiquity. Here we found the relics from
Pompeii, showing plainly there were art and science in those days. One
thing that impressed me was a hot-water heater for warming their rooms,
also instruments for examining the stomach. I told Dr. Dunning we ought
to have had one on the steamer during the rough days on the ocean. Of
ancient glass, statuary, etc., there was no end. The kings and queens
of ancient days were there. Our managers through their efforts had
secured a chance for us to visit the royal palace. This was a treat
of a lifetime. So, after leaving the museum, we went directly there.
We first went to the gardens on top of buildings, then we descended
and commenced the apartments, and I should say we went through some
thirty of them,--the theatre, banquet-room, chapel, banquet hall,
common dining-room, office, study of the king, throne-room, etc.
Such splendor I had never imagined before. The wall and ceiling were
covered with the richest of Gobelin tapestry, the finish and furniture
of blue and gold, and white and gold. Our eyes were dazzled more than
I expect they will be with the rays of the Egyptian sun. From this
place we returned to our Hotel Royal, and had lunch. Then we took our
carriages again, and drove through the orange and lemon groves, some
eight miles, to Puteoli, where Saint Paul landed on his way to Rome as
a prisoner. (See Acts xxviii. 13.) From this place he struck The Three
Taverns, where his friends met him, and Paul thanked God, and took
courage. We expect to go to Rome to-morrow. Whether we shall stop at
The Three Taverns or not, I cannot say to-day, but may write you later.
On the way out to Puteoli we visited the tomb of Virgil. Had a full and
delightful day. Friday morning we took a small steamer, and had one and
a half hour’s sail across the Bay of Naples to Sorrento. Sailed along
near the base of Mt. Vesuvius, and could almost hear the boiling and
hissing of the elements within. The smoke and flames can be plainly
seen from our hotel. We reached Sorrento before lunchtime. Stopped
at Hotel Victoria, which is designed for tourists and is beautiful
in all its arrangements, standing upon a high cliff of perpendicular
lime-rock. You can stand on the front court and drop a pebble two
hundred feet into the Mediterranean Sea. Sorrento is said to be the
Mecca for tourists. You have the blue waters of the Mediterranean in
front of you, and the mountains wild, yet cultivated and beautiful,
behind you. They are made up of ravines and ridges, terraced and
fruit-bearing to the top, where you see the vineyards. Added to that
are the lemon, orange, and figs, with a large abundance of olives, the
peculiar color of the olive leaf giving the landscape a soft, velvety
appearance which is very pleasing to the eye. The roads that have been
built by the government around and about and over these mountains are
just wonderful. They are macadamized with the limestone, which is
broken up by hand by the natives. On the sides heavy stone-faced walls
beautifully laid, it must be by skilled hands. After lunch we took a
ride on one of these roads to the top of the mountain, visiting an
institution called “La Deserta,” home for orphan children. The managers
were glad to see us, treated us with their native wine and oranges.
From the top of this building we had one of the grandest views that
often fall to the lot of man to revel in. From this point we returned
to our hotel.
After dinner we were invited to an entertainment arranged by our
managers. This was given in a hall in our hotel by some twenty
Italians, mostly young people, instrumental and vocal music, with
acting and dancing which was modestly and beautifully done; and much
of it was original and very amusing. Some of our ministers laughed more
that evening than they have before for twelve months. All I could say
was, “Well done, boys and girls of Italy.”
Saturday morning we took carriages for Pompeii. This ride of sixteen
miles is said to be the second finest in all Europe. We had the
beautiful blue waters of the sea on one hand and the towering
mountains, ravines, and ridges with the tropical verdure on the other,
and a road so fine that horses did not break the trot the whole
distance. At Pompeii we had lunch, then spent two hours with guides
travelling through the ruins of that wonderful city. They are still
excavating, had just uncovered a beautiful mansion with fine statuary,
paintings, etc. This was interesting to us, as most of the furnishings
and fittings have been carried away. We saw many of them in the museum
at Naples. They send officers with you, and do not allow you to take
away the first particle of anything; but I imagine a little dust stuck
to some of our party before they left the city.
Some of the party went up Mount Vesuvius, and returned to Naples by
train in the evening. The others took carriages for Naples, reaching
there at 5 P.M.
A quiet Sunday has been spent here, some attending church. To-morrow
morning at 7.30 we expect to start for Rome, reaching there about
noon, leaving there for this place again. Saturday we leave here for
Brindisi, where we take steamer for Egypt.
II.
ROME, March 4, 1895.
You will remember that in my last letter I left you at Naples. After
that time we visited the old aqueduct, built through the mountain by
Nero, to bring the water into Naples. When we were on our way from
Pompeii, we saw parts of the old Appian Way, built by Nero from Naples
to Rome, over which Saint Paul travelled on his way from Puteoli to
Rome, when a prisoner. All roads lead to Rome, and this was one of them.
We took an early start this morning, left our hotel at 7 A.M. and took
train for this place. Our managers had secured two cars for us, so we
were not obliged to mix up with the natives. These cars will be held
here at Rome until Friday, when we shall return to Naples. Saturday
the same cars will take us to Brindisi, where we take steamer for
Egypt. This was our first car-ride in the old country, and we were
interested to know the result, as they tell great stories about their
fast trains, etc. One of their yarns is that a young man was on one
of their fast express trains, and was going through a town where his
lady love resided: he wired her to be on the platform of the station,
as he wished to kiss her as he passed through. She was there; but the
train went so fast that, instead of kissing his lady love, he kissed a
peasant at the next station. Bad egg. Now do not be anxious about us:
there is no flirtation in our company. However, we found the train a
very good one, and made the one hundred and sixty miles in five hours;
but we think Uncle Sam is ahead yet on speed and quality of service.
Starting out from Naples, we found the finest farming lands that ever
mortals set eyes upon. Judge Whitmore, of Pennsylvania, who is one of
our party, and has travelled extensively, said he never saw the like
before. The land was a level plain, and rich in the extreme. There
were a great many olive, mulberry and fig trees scattered over it; but
under, through, and among them the ground was covered with vegetation,
and for some ten miles out it was largely garden vegetables. It was
like riding through a grove and garden combined. Everything here
is done by hand, and largely the old bog hoe, as we call it, is
used,--this, with a round stick driven in for a handle. Occasionally
we would see men working with long-handled spades or shovels, which
looked quite modern. As we speed on our way, this broad plain begins
to narrow in upon us, and the foothills were at one time down near the
track; but every foot of ground in this country seems to be cultivated,
even to the tops of the mountains. Before we reached Rome, this valley
we had been passing over began to widen; and, when we caught sight of
the ancient city, it appeared to be standing at the head of a broad
plain. As we neared the city, we saw the old stone aqueducts resting
upon hundreds of stone arches. When our train drew into the depot, we
were surprised to find a building of modern structure; and, as we came
outside, we learned the fact that we were in what is called New Rome,
which has a very modern appearance. Carriages soon took us to the Hotel
d’Angleterre, which is very satisfactory.
After lunch our managers took us to the Pincian Hill, and gave us a
bird’s-eye view of Rome, pointing out the places of interest that we
should visit between this time and Friday. At the foot of this hill is
a park where stands Cleopatra’s Needle. At your right is the old gate
to the city where the pilgrims entered. Here Martin Luther entered,
and at your left stands the church where he took his first communion.
A little farther in front flows the river Tiber, with its large number
of bridges spanning its waters, and its splendid stone masonry up
and down its banks as far as you can see. Beyond this river stands
St. Peter’s Church, with its sixteen domes, the main dome being some
four hundred feet high, length of church six hundred feet, width four
hundred and fifty feet; and at the right of this wonderful structure
stands the Vatican, where resides the pope. After we had our fill of
gazing over the city, we descended to the foot of the hill, where we
took carriages, and drove to St. Peter’s Church. First you enter the
square in front, containing some acres. At your right and left begin
the circling colonnades. Upon the top of these, which extend up to the
church, stand statues of the saints, some two hundred of them.
As you go up the long line of stone steps and enter the church, your
first impression is its immensity. As you go on, this feeling grows
upon you; and you are awed with its grandeur. Outside it has a dingy
appearance; but a great amount of money is expended inside to keep
it in fine condition, and it attracts the eye of all lovers of the
beautiful. Our manager explained everything as we went through this
great building, which took nearly one hour. This church was nearly
three hundred years in building, and was begun in the fourteenth
century. We went down into the vault, and they unlocked the door and
showed us the box that held, as they claim, the ashes of Saint Peter.
The leaving of this church closed quite an eventful day for us; and we
went to our hotel for dinner and a good night’s rest, which brought us
out all right.
Tuesday morning at nine o’clock we took carriages, and drove to the
Pantheon. This is a building of historical interest. It was built
twenty-seven years before Christ by Marcus Agrippa. First he intended
it for the people as a public bathing-place. It was the first brick
building ever erected, also the first dome architecture. One immense
dome covers the whole building. It pleased the people and its builder
so much that in dedicating it any individual god was not sufficient,
and so it was dedicated to the gods, which gave it the name Pantheon.
It is now used as a church, and services were going on while we were
looking it over. From this building we drove to the Vatican. This
building contains eleven hundred rooms. Of course, we did not try
to take in the whole thing, but spent some two hours inside; and I
will mention only a few things that impressed me most. One was the
pope’s private chapel, which no one visits without permission. The
decoration was done by Michel Angelo; and at one end of this chapel is
his masterpiece, called “The Judgment,” upon which he nearly lost his
eyesight. In going through the museum of this building, you will make
up your mind that marble, onyx, talent, and time have made obeisance
to the pope. From all parts of Italy and Greece have been gathered the
finest of everything. When you enter the rotunda, you will notice a
gilt bronze statue of Hercules, some twelve feet high, standing with
a lion skin thrown over one arm, the other hand holding an immense
club resting on the ground. Fabulous sums of money have been offered
for this statue, but it cannot be bought. It is said that the Vatican
and what is in it cost more than all the wealth of Italy. St. Peter’s
Church is said to have cost twelve million pounds sterling, and at that
time that sum meant much more than it does now. We have visited the
building where the apostles were thrust into the inner prison, and I
can say that I never had much of an idea before of that place. We took
candles, and went down into a dungeon. Then they told us that the inner
prison was under that. So on down we went; and, if the word dismal has
any significance, we found it there, stone above, below, and around
you. We visited the spot where once stood the monument inscribed “to
the unknown god.” The emperor at that time was warned, as he claimed,
by some god that the enemy was approaching, and went and conquered
them. Not knowing the god that did him this favor, he had the statue
or monument erected and thus inscribed. We visited the Palatine Hill
where once stood Cæsar’s palace. Everything on this hill, you doubtless
know, was destroyed by the Gauls and Vandals, being burned and pulled
down; and, as other kings have built their palaces in other parts of
the city, they have taken everything of value, and it looks now like
the ruins of an immense castle. The government is at work excavating
and clearing up matters; but the subterranean caverns, arches, etc.,
that the palace stood upon are wonderful. We stood on the spot where
Paul stood when he appealed to Cæsar for justice, and the foundation of
the throne where Cæsar sat is still intact. At the base of the Palatine
Hill stand the three pillars of Castor and Pollux, near the Forum.
These pillars were once greatly admired for their symmetrical beauty.
Pliny tells us of a raven that was hatched upon the roof of the Temple
of Castor and Pollux, that flew into a bootmaker’s shop opposite. Every
morning it used to fly to the Rostra which looked toward the Forum,
where he would salute the Emperor Tiberius and others as they passed
by, after which he returned to the shop, doing this for several years
and being a great pet. But through the jealousy of an owner of an
opposition shop the bird was killed, and for this the man was put to
death. The bird had a public funeral, with a larger concourse of people
than ever attended any king.
The old historical interest of Rome would fill volumes. I am drinking
in what I can of it, and will give you a few more items of this ancient
city in my next letter.
III.
ROME, March 8, 1895.
Still in sunny Italy. For the last few days we have been busy looking
over the interesting parts of the city, but will not trouble you with
detail in the matter, but would like to give you a general idea of
Rome. Romulus pitched his tent here seven hundred and fifty years
before the Christian era, and in the nearly three thousand years Rome
has had a wonderful experience. At times she ruled the world, then
again without prestige. Century after century has crumbled into dust,
and the people of to-day are walking over their ashes. The martyrdom of
the apostles was at their hand. They slaughtered the Christians, and
scattered them to the four corners of the earth; but their cup has been
a bitter one, and they have drained it to the dregs. But the stone that
was cut out of the mountain has triumphed, and the sun of righteousness
is reflecting its light back upon its persecutors; and Rome is to-day
rising in her Christian civilization. If you will take a ramble with
me, I will show you a city pretty free from saloons and drunkenness,
streets beautifully paved and kept remarkably clean; a city with fine
hotels, stores full of fine goods, merchants polite, many of the clerks
speak English, pure water in abundance; and no city with so great
number of fountains, many of them not excelled in beauty in any city.
Then look for a moment upon her historical interest, her massive walls
that surrounded the city with her many watchtowers and battlement, its
gates bolted and barred, but now a thing of the past, her ruined
temples and palaces, her old stone aqueduct that has given way to the
modern iron pipe. These things are drawing tourists, English as well
as American. The Methodists are building a fine mission building here,
which is soon to be dedicated. Many from America are expected at the
dedication. We are glad this town was in our route, and shall leave it
with regrets. Our stay here has been full of interest.
Our party this morning took a carriage for a depot on the east side
of the city, and took train for Tivoli. Crossing the large plain we
came over on our arrival, eighteen miles brought us to the foot of
the Sabine Hills. Up this elevation our train went, wending its way
through thousands of acres of olive-trees, until it had carried us
some five hundred feet above the level of the plain, and landed us in
Tivoli. This town is many years older than Rome. West, some twenty
miles distant, you see Rome with the dome of St. Peter’s Church.
Tivoli is about half-way up the Sabine Hills. Back of this elevation
are the Apennines, whence comes a great quantity of pure spring
water. The Sabine Hills are composed of lime-rock; and the water from
the Apennines comes through caverns under the town, and makes its
appearance in different places one side of the town, and tumbles down
three hundred feet into a ravine. The water, running continually, is
twice as much as runs in Black River, at Springfield, when it is at
its usual height. Walks have been built up and down these cascades.
The beautiful rainbow is there when the sun shines, and it is a grand
sight to behold. Here is a great electric plant that furnishes the
lights for Rome: here, also, Rome takes its water supply. After looking
over these beautiful falls and the old town and taking our lunch,
we took teams and drove to the plains, and visited the wonderful
ruins of Hadrian’s castle, or palace. Hadrian ruled Rome--in fact,
the world--twenty-one years in the first part of the second century.
He did much to fortify different places, and at the same time spent
fabulous sums for himself, and has left the largest ruins probably
known. His palace was a mile long, everything conceivable connected
with it. We found in the flooring some of the finest mosaic work known.
Bathing-houses, swimming and rowing, sports and games of all kinds,
were, no doubt, carried on there.
[Illustration: FALLS OF TIVOLI.]
While here at Tivoli, we saw them ploughing with several yoke of oxen.
The ploughs were wooden beams, with a wooden prong running down into
the ground, and one piece of wood coming up for a handle. Whether these
were the same oxen that Elisha was ploughing with when the Lord called
upon him I am not prepared to say; but the oxen here are very peculiar
looking, with immense horns running up into the air, and look like the
pictures of the sacred cattle. Almost all of them are white. You will
see large flocks of sheep corralled at night, led out by the shepherds
daytimes.
We left Rome Friday morning, had a very pleasant trip to Naples, where
we were to spend the night. On our arrival we found there had been
an Austrian steamer run on the rocks in the Bay of Naples, and four
hundred passengers taken off and put into the hotel. So our managers
could not get rooms satisfactory to them, and put us on a train and
took us some fifteen miles, to Castellamare, to a fine hotel, where
we had excellent quarters for the night. Saturday, March 9, we took
train for Brindisi, two hundred and sixty miles distant. This gave us
another view of Italy, crossing over sections of the Apennines. We had
quite a long train with three engines going up the mountains, two in
front and one in the rear. It was a miniature picture of our trip over
the Rocky Mountains on our way from California. That was ten thousand
feet above the sea. This was four thousand, but the ragged cliffs and
the forty tunnels we passed through had the appearance of the Rockies
with their snowsheds. These tunnels were from one hundred feet to a
mile in length: the snow covered the ground on this elevation. After
passing over these mountains, we dropped down into a luxuriant valley
in Eastern Italy. Trains here run no dining-cars, and very slight
accommodations in the depots for feeding people. So our managers had
lunch put up for us at the hotel where we stayed the night before; and
we had a jolly time with a picnic dinner, and reached Brindisi at 7
P.M., where we had a full dinner at the hotel. Our steamer, which is a
very large one, nearly as large as the “Normannia,” lay waiting for us
in front of the hotel. We went aboard about ten. The next day, March
10, we were on the Mediterranean, which at this time is smooth and
glassy.
IV.
MONDAY, the 11th.
We came on deck this morning and found that we were sailing under the
island of Crete; but you will remember that in the Epistle to Titus
Paul did not give the natives a very good reputation. So we decided not
to call on them, but shall push on to Alexandria, which place we expect
to reach to-morrow night or Wednesday morning. The captain tells us
that we are running ahead of time. The sea is calm and beautiful. We
saw it last evening by moonlight, which was a picture of a lifetime.
Our party are all well and we are congratulating ourselves in being so
fortunate in having so smooth a sea for our four days’ sail over these
waters that are liable to be turbulent.
In looking over the working classes of Italy, we find men and women
both work as farm hands. The men receive from thirty to forty cents per
day, the women from fifteen to twenty; and they board themselves. The
tax paid to the government is enormous.
LETTERS FROM EGYPT.
I.
MARCH 13, 1895.
We reached Alexandria several hours ahead of time, and were landed
safely. You may be interested in knowing more fully the method of
taking on and off passengers and baggage from the large steamers that
we have been travelling on. Occasionally they have a chance to land
at a wharf, but usually they anchor out in the bay; and small boats
come from the shore, and take from the steamer all that wish to land.
When the steamer is anchored, and gives the signal that everything is
ready, there starts from the shore anywhere from ten to forty Arabs,
Turks, Moors, etc., with turbans on their heads, clad in either gowns
or Turkish trousers, bare feet and legs, in their little boats, talking
and shouting at the top of their voices, rowing for dear life; for the
first one to the steamer expects to get his boat full. Being in an
unknown tongue, it is a perfect pandemonium. Up they come, climbing up
the side of the vessel like a pack of pirates; but, as our managers
have the entire charge of our transportation, we have nothing to do
but stand back and enjoy the fracas. This small boat arrangement is
all right with a smooth sea, but with a rough surf it means business.
The laws of different cities usually regulate the price these boatmen
should charge; but, when they get hold of Americans that are not
posted, they will fleece them every time.
The “Thalia,” that brought us from Brindisi to Alexandria, nearly one
thousand miles, is a boat nearly four hundred feet long, manned by
Austrians. They gave us good service, and were polite and attentive.
When we took carriages for our hotel, a foreign country dawned upon
us as never before. Camels with solemn tread, bearing heavy burdens,
the streets full of donkeys, the people with their turbans, gowns,
and Turkish trousers, women with the water-bottles on their heads,
blacksmiths with their anvils on the sidewalk in front of their shops,
hammering iron, the shoemakers and other mechanics in the same way,
having their shops, but working in front in the open air. The Turkish
gown and trousers is the common garb. The police here, as well as in
Naples and Rome, carry the sword instead of the billy, and here in
Alexandria most of them are mounted on fine horses. Everywhere they are
in uniform.
After lunch we took carriages, and drove most of the afternoon. Went
out and visited Pompey’s Pillar, which is a wonderful monument of
granite. The base is about fifteen feet square, ten feet high; and then
there is a round, solid shaft, made out of one stone, about nine feet
in diameter, seventy feet high, with a capstone that would weigh, in my
opinion, ten tons. How this pillar was set up on end, and that capstone
placed in position, is a mystery to the mechanic of the nineteenth
century. This was erected in honor of Pompey, after his death. He
was beloved by the people, as he had fed them many times in famine.
From this point we went to a villa and beautiful garden owned by one
Antonides, a Greek merchant. These grounds are said to be the finest
in Egypt. The khedive’s palace we could not get a permit to enter. Our
drive ended about 6 P.M., landing us at our Hotel Abbas, where we were
soon ready for dinner, and spent a restful night.
The next morning we took train for Cairo, one hundred and thirty miles,
and made the run in three and a half hours. The country through which
we came was perfectly level, lying but a little above the level of
the sea. Most of the way we followed the canal that was cut through
years ago from Cairo to Alexandria, connecting the Nile with that
place and the sea, through which a great amount of traffic passes,
not drawn by horses, as in America, but with sail and row boats. Our
ride from Alexandria took us through a rich farming country, which
seemed to be covered with crops. The work here is done differently
from what it is in Italy. Instead of the hand work, the soil is
lightened up with the old wooden plough drawn by oxen. The Egyptian
cattle are peculiar looking, coarse, large size, with horns growing
directly backward, close to the neck. Oxen and cows are both used to
draw the wooden plough. Everything about their work is of the crudest
character. The yoke is a round stick some four inches in diameter,
perfectly straight, and about eight feet long, lying upon the neck
with ropes instead of bows to hold it on. I have had a curiosity to
examine one of these ploughs. I went for an old fellow to-day that I
saw ploughing in a field, but, when I reached him, could not make him
understand what I wanted. So I caught hold of his plough, and pulled
it out of the ground. There was no mould-board to turn over the soil,
but they do have a piece of iron on the point. This drawn through the
ground has a tendency to lighten it up. The soil is rich and lumpy;
and on the Nile they use only sand brought from the desert to improve
their crops, which are wheat, barley, flax, onions, cucumbers, etc.
Egypt raises immense quantities of onions. We have not seen as yet
many orange groves; but there are sections where they are produced in
abundance, as we can find all we want, large, sweet, and juicy, for
one cent apiece. There is no tobacco raised in Egypt. If a man should
have a piece of ground two feet square covered with tobacco, he would
be liable to imprisonment for ten years. Great quantities are brought
in from other countries, with a heavy duty. This gives the government
a large revenue, and is the reason why the people are not allowed to
raise it. The people here are ground to the earth by taxation. American
slavery, that we used to have, would be far preferable. Wages here are
ten cents a day, and the laborer boards himself. Every palm-tree is
taxed, and everything that a man raises. Every village has its sheik,
or what we might call one of the khedive’s lieutenants, and rules with
an iron hand; and, if a man cannot pay his tax, he is bastinadoed until
his cries excite the sympathy of his friends, and they come and pay the
amount required.
[Illustration: PLOUGHING IN EGYPT.]
As we left Alexandria, we first saw the Arab villages built of dried
mud,--anywhere from twenty to a hundred of these mud boxes, clustered
together, with alley-ways between them. Some were thatched on top with
straw, others had a dome top built with mud. Here men, women, and
children, goats, chickens, and donkeys, find a home. All seemingly are
living together. Here by these villages they bury their dead, graves or
tombs being above ground, built of same material as their houses. Many
of these burying structures are whitewashed.
Our first plans were to spend several days in Cairo before going up the
Nile; but on our arrival it was thought best to start up the Nile at
once, and visit Cairo on our return, which will be the first week in
April. This letter will be mailed at Rhodes. My next letter will be the
commencing of the Nile tour.
II.
ON THE NILE, March 17, 1895.
My last letter was written when we first commenced our trip up this
wonderful river, but it was about matters that my eye had witnessed
before reaching Cairo. On our arrival at Cairo, which was Wednesday,
the 13th, about noon, carriages took us direct to the “Memphis,” our
Nile boat, which was to start up the river at 5 P.M. This boat was
chartered by the Gaze Company expressly for our party, which just
fills all the cabins on the boat. It is about one hundred and ninety
feet long, considered one of the best on the river, and is more than
satisfactory to our party.
After lunch we took carriages for two hours, and went to the stores,
as many of the party wished to make purchases for the Nile tour, which
it is expected will be a warm one, and needs a light headgear, white
umbrella, etc. These are needed when we take our horseback or donkey
rides from different landings out into the country, of which we have
some ten.
The Nile is said to be the most wonderful river in the world,
thirty-three hundred miles long. The last twelve hundred miles not a
tributary enters it; and the amount of water it pours into the sea
after its evaporation in travelling three thousand miles through the
desert, and its countless irrigating canals in Egypt, transforming this
section of country into the most fertile land in the world, make it
wonderful. Egypt is often said to be the gift of the Nile, a mere strip
of alluvial soil bordering the river on either side, from one-half to
thirty miles wide. All the rest is a broad desert. The source has been
and still is a mystery, though the late explorations make it possible
that the great lake, Victoria Nyanza, is its feeder. The melting of the
snow on the far-off mountains is the cause of its rise and overflow.
But the historical associations are more interesting than its natural
features. On its banks was developed the oldest civilization of the
world. Its massive monuments along its banks are a matter of interest
to-day. It had the honor of cradling the Deliverer of the nations. As
we left Cairo, we were pointed out the spot where Pharaoh’s daughter
found Moses.
Our party are confident of an interesting time going up and down these
great waters. They have boats here with cabins in the centre, enough
for ten or twelve persons, with place in front end of boat for ten
oarsmen, five on a side, with very long oars. The natives row finely,
dipping their oars at exactly the same time, running their boats
rapidly. These boats are chartered by parties going up and down the
Nile. We met yesterday a gentleman and his family from California in
one of them, coming down the river. Some of our party have the American
flag with them. This was flung to the breeze as we passed them, and the
cheers went back and forth in great earnest. We felt for a moment as
though we were the other side of the Atlantic.
Well, to go back to the starting-point. Five o’clock Wednesday, the
13th, all on board, with our luggage packed away in our cabins, our
steamer that was lying close to the Rasr el-Nil bridge, that is twelve
hundred and sixty feet long, built by a French company, and is a model
of work well done, started her engines, and swung out into the broad
river, and our journey of twenty-one days on its smooth waters had
begun. The Gaze Company have engaged a dragoman named Hasham, who was
born in Arabia, but has been educated and lived in Egypt, to take this
Nile trip with us. Hasham knows the country, and can handle the natives
that we shall have much to do with in our short excursions we are to
take from the boat.
[Illustration: HASHAM, OUR DRAGOMAN.]
At dinner, which was served at six, Hasham came in, and gave notice
that breakfast would be at six to-morrow morning, rising bell would
ring at five. Some of our ladies thought this was starting rather
early; but as the first donkey ride was to commence then, I think they
would have met the requirements if it had been three o’clock. But
Thursday morning found every one on hand. Our boat had the evening
before run up the river fifteen miles, and anchored at Bedrashayn;
and, when we came out from breakfast, we saw on the bank of the river
forty Arabs, each one with a donkey all saddled and bridled and ready
for the fracas. The saddles and bridles are furnished by the Gaze
Company, and are first-class. Soon we were all mounted and on our way.
Every donkey was followed by an Arab, who was anxious to have his
donkey get to the point of destination first, and would put it into the
gallop, and run behind with the alertness of an antelope. One thing was
wonderful,--among the forty people of our party there was not a poor
rider: even the ladies were all fine riders. This excursion would have
been a good entertainment for any New England village. Our first stop
was at the sarcophagus of Rameses II., which was immense in size. We
also went into his tomb. We also visited the ancient site of Memphis.
This is supposed to be the oldest or first settlement in Egypt. It has
been buried by the sand that has blown from the desert; but parts of
it have been excavated, and interesting relics brought to light. We
visited some of the Pyramids, also the tombs where the bones of the
sacred bulls were buried. We were back again at our boat at eleven
o’clock, having ridden fifteen miles. On our return came through an
Arab village, saw misery in full bloom, looked into the school-rooms
with children sitting on the ground, looked into the dark, smoky, dingy
hovels where human beings stay, not live, but know nothing better, and
were thankful that the lines had fallen to us in Christian America.
We rode through fields of wheat, barley, flax, everything luxuriant;
and, if a Christian civilization could be introduced, there would be no
reason why these should not be the happiest people in the world.
At noon our boat started up the river, continuing its course until
evening, then tying up for the night, which seems to be the custom of
all boats on the Nile. This gave us a fine opportunity to sleep, making
the trip delightful. Friday we were on the river all day, resting from
our donkey ride the day before, having a chance to admire the scenery,
which is constantly changing, with its groves of palms, fields of
grain, villages, etc.
About 7 P.M. we reached Minieh, where we tied up for the night. This
is a large place, with post and telegraph offices and the largest
sugar factory in Egypt. Our dragoman, Mr. Hasham, proposed to have us
visit these works, as they are running night and day. So with guides
with lanterns we started through the town to the mill, and it proved
very interesting to us. We had never seen anything of the kind before,
commencing where the cane was taken from the wagons, put on tramways
carrying it into the mill to the ponderous rolls where it was crushed,
juice pressed out, which went into the tanks, the pulp going on to
other tramways, carried out doors again, where it is dried and used for
fuel. We followed the process of making the sugar, consisting of many
different operations, until it came out granulated sugar, many of us
taking samples that we will bring home. This mill employs two thousand
men. The overseers get some $2.00 or $2.50 per day, but the bulk of
them get from five to twenty cents per day. I have the impression the
night and day help change at midnight, as there were hundreds lying
about in the mill, asleep on the stone floor. Some had a piece of
burlap under them, others the bare stone. The heat in the mill must
have been ninety or one hundred degrees. The sugar is not as white as
our granulated.
Early Saturday morning we reached Beni-Hassan, where we visited the
tombs of Ameni and Knum hotep, calling for another donkey ride of about
half the distance of the one we took Thursday. It is said there is
the toughest set of Arabs here of any place on the river, and it was
pathetic and amusing to see our dragoman Hasham lash them with his big
cudgel of a whip he carried. He also provided two policemen with guns
to go along with the party. But everything went off like clock-work;
and it was the verdict of every one, Well done, Mr. Dragoman.
Saturday night we anchored in the river. About five Sunday morning
the boat started, and ran up to Assiout, arriving about 7 A.M.,
where we tied up for the forenoon. This is a large town, some forty
thousand, of whom twelve thousand are said to be Christians. Here the
Presbyterians have a large mission station. We attended divine service.
While everything was in an unknown tongue, yet it was interesting to
see them. The audience consisted of about four hundred young men and
boys and one hundred girls. They all sang with a will, and gave strict
attention to the sermon, singing American tunes. One was “St. Martin.”
I could handle the tune better than I could the words. To cater to
the laws of the land, the girls sat by themselves in the front pews,
with a curtain drawn across the church, not so high but what those
behind could see the minister, who stood on a platform raised some
three feet. The majority of the young men were fine-looking,--that is,
fine features and form,--but dark skin. This work was commenced 1852,
has been largely among the Coptics, though many Mohammedans have come
in. The Coptics are what would be called a corrupt Christianity. This
mission’s headquarters are here; but they work all over Egypt, and
have thousands in their churches. The work was very slow at first, but
of late years has been making progress. Mr. Alexander, the minister,
met us after meeting, and gave us a brief history of the work and the
people.
Coming from church, we went through the business bazaars. Everything
running in full bloom. Surely, Egypt is an Oriental country. You see it
at every turn you make.
At 5 P.M. the Rev. Mr. Darsie, of Kentucky, who is one of our party,
preached to us on deck. Dr. Dunning read the Scriptures, reading the
story of Joseph’s brethren going down to Egypt to buy corn. He said
he took that subject because he should never have a chance to read it
again on the ground where the scene transpired and his audience would
never hear it again under existing circumstances. Our clergyman claims
that Pharaoh lived very near Cairo, either Memphis, the ruins that we
visited at the commencement of the journey, or Yoan, which is a little
nearer Cairo than Memphis.
MONDAY MORNING.
We had a warm night. Mercury this morning stands at seventy.
We are now passing quite a large town. The banks are lined with Arabs,
boat-loads of stone water-bottles going down the river.
III.
LUXOR ON THE NILE, March 20, 1895.
I will commence my sixth letter at this place. Have been one week
with the prow of our boat pointing toward the source of this great
river. Another week, and we shall begin to think of right about face,
and follow the current down to Cairo from whence we started. We are
enjoying the water, and the eleven thousand miles of water travel
we shall have before we reach Springfield ought to make us pretty
good sailors. Coming up the river, we have, with other things, been
watching the methods of irrigation. The more ancient and crude way is
a flaring vessel that will hold one or two pailfuls, with two ropes
some eight feet long fastened one on each side. Two men, one at the
end of each rope, will swing the vessel into the river in a way that
it fills, then, throwing it upon the bank striking bottom side up,
emptying the water into the sluice-ways, where it runs off into their
gardens and fields. The rapidity with which these men will throw this
vessel and the quantity of water that will run from one of them are
surprising. This works where the bank is only some five feet high or
less. Another arrangement is an old-fashioned well-sweep. This will
take the water up high embankments, as the first man draws it, say
eight feet, and pours it into a shallow well dug in the bank. From
this the next man takes it, and so on to the top, where it is carried
in trenches as before. The third and better way is two wheels, one
horizontal, the other perpendicular. The latter has an endless chain
running over it, long enough to go down into the water. On this chain
are hanging buckets that are coming up full of water, emptying at
the top into a trough, and going on down empty. The other wheel that
carries this has an ox or horse or some animal attached to it, and goes
round like the horse grinding mortar in a brick-yard. These machines
carry up a large quantity of water, making quite a brook running away
from them, which in many instances runs long distances.
[Illustration: DRAWING WATER ON THE NILE.]
I should like to have you rise early with me some morning, and see
the natives on our boat wash the deck floor. First, they throw water
over it. Then each man has a whisk or brush broom, laying flatwise,
fastened to the under side of his right foot; and by a back and forward
motion, sliding the right foot on the floor, the scrubbing is done with
a vengeance. While doing this, they all sing and keep perfect time.
It may not be as graceful as the dancing of our young people, but it
is quite as effective. When they sing, it is, “Zallah, zallah,” etc.,
which means in English, My God, help me.
Yesterday we called at Neneh, a place of sixteen thousand people. It is
the capital of the province, and has large manufactories of pottery,
supplying nearly all Egypt with gallahs and filterers. We went into
the works, and saw them make their wares. A man sits with his feet in
a pit. In that pit is a horizontal wheel, two feet in diameter, with
a shaft running up just out of the pit. This wheel he turns with his
feet. On the top of the shaft he places the clay, and spins it up with
his hand, forming any shape desired. It is spun very much like plated
ware, only the men in those works have tools to form the metal and run
it with greater speed.
On our return we came through their bazaar. These institutions in Egypt
are a curiosity.
We also visited the temple of Denderah. This is without doubt the
grandest relic or ruin in all Egypt. In its day the temple must have
been grand. Many of its designs are supposed to have been taken
from Solomon’s Temple. It is supposed to have been destroyed by the
Mohammedans. The beautiful carving and sculpturing with coloring had
most of them been hampered, pounded, and defaced as much as possible.
We all decided that its glory in its day could not have been described
with pen. The eye must have beheld it to realize its beauty and
grandeur.
Luxor, or its ancient and Bible name Thebes or No, is spoken of in
Ezekiel xxx. 14-16. It is a place full of historical interest, and we
do not give it merely a passing notice, but are to remain here three
days, taking excursions out to the old temples, tombs, etc. It was a
great city before the days of Abraham. It became the seat of empire
under the eleventh and twelfth dynasties of kings. It was a walled
city, said to have contained at one time five million of people.
The alluvial plains on the banks of the Nile here seem to extend her
borders right and left. Standing on our boat, looking west, our eye
views a beautiful plain for miles; and in the background in a crescent
form rise the mountains of sandstone, which is the commencement of the
Libyan desert. Then you will get a similar picture, looking east.
Thebes flourished many years. Kings became builders of heathen temples,
but the day of vengeance came at last. Ptolemy Lathyrus razed it to the
ground about one hundred years B.C.; and on these great plains, where
once stood the great city of the world, are now scattered only ruins.
Here in Luxor is an American mission; and many of the boys and girls
are studying the English language, and read quite well. We went into
a grist mill to-day, said to be one of the best. They grind the wheat
with a granite stone, some three and one-half feet in diameter and
about four inches thick,--that is, the upper stone,--which rests on a
spindle with a small gear at the bottom. Into this is connected a large
gear. The shaft of the large gear has a sweep, and to that is attached
a donkey which goes round in a circle, giving the mill-stone quite a
speed, and will grind nearly a bushel an hour. The owner takes the
flour and sifts it by hand, and makes it into bread for sale. The wheat
is plump and fine, quality of bread very good.
The obelisk that was recently set up in New York City was taken from
Alexandria, where we landed on our way from Brindisi. The one erected
in Paris was taken from this place. It was one of a pair. We have been
looking over the remaining one and the base of the one taken away, but
the one that excels them all is about two miles east of the village
of Luxor. It is one piece of solid granite, one hundred and six feet
high, nine feet square at the base, finely carved. Some thirty feet
of the top was covered with gold, and shows the result of it to-day.
This wonderful piece of work was erected by Queen Hatasu. Thus you
will see that woman has outdone all the kings of the earth, and a
work accomplished by her is the wonder of the world. The work on this
obelisk was done in seven months and seven days.
We have been travelling over these plains about Luxor, covered with
interesting relics, for the last three days; and it is wonderful
what the ancient Pharaohs did, and from appearance it was for
self-aggrandizement. Two miles east of Luxor stand the ruins of an
immense temple. In one portion are one hundred and thirty-four pillars
some fifty feet high. From this temple run several avenues, the longest
extending to the river, a distance of two miles. These avenues were
lined with sphinxes on each side, hundreds of them, bearing the emblem
of the power of the king. Standing back of these were rows of palms and
other Oriental trees.
Pharaoh had his three thousand chariots with him when he rode in state.
But to-day in this region no one rides in carriages. Camels and donkeys
are the modes of conveyance, excepting the sedan chair.
Farming here sticks to the fathers. They thresh the grain the old way.
It is trodden out with oxen; and, to keep the old injunction good,
they are not muzzled. We do not see here farm-houses as we have in New
England. The people all live in villages, and go miles to do their
work. You will see the Rebeccas, with their water-jars on their heads,
going long distances for water. Whether these things are ever to be
modernized is a hard question to answer.
IV.
CAIRO, April 2, 1895.
After mailing my last letter at Luxor on the Nile, where we spent
three days, we continued our course up the river, having one hundred
and thirty miles more to travel south to reach Assouan at the first
cataract, where was to end our outward Nile tour. Assouan is the
farthest from Springfield of any place we shall visit, and took us
nearer the equator than we ever expect to be again.
The season was late to visit that tropical region, and ours was the
last large party to leave the cataract this season. Hence we expected
to suffer from the heat; but the Lord smiled on us, and gave us cool
weather. Ninety-two in the shade was the highest the mercury went, and
that was only a few hours in the middle of the day, always having cool
nights. Even Vermonters can stand that temperature.
Our first stop after leaving Luxor was at Esneh, where we visited a
temple which was built or had been repaired at a late date; that is,
after the commencement of the Christian era. The next and only stop was
at Edfu. There we visited the temple of Horace, which was modern and
beautiful. Here they had patterned after Solomon’s Temple, had the holy
of holies with the exact measurement, also the ark of the covenant.
We reached Assouan March 24, and found it one of the prettiest towns
in Upper Egypt. Here is where all the large steamers turn their prows
down the river, and traffic that is going up the river is taken by
camels or donkeys by the rapids, then put into small boats. This is
what has built up the town, and it might well be called the offspring
of the cataract. We spent two days at Assouan in the bazaars, trading
and watching the habits and lives of the people, etc. We also visited
the town of Philæ, giving us a donkey ride of fifteen miles. Philæ is a
beautiful town at the head of the cataract. We repeated the old story
of visiting another temple. This was the temple of Isis.
Some of our party returned from this place by boat, going down the
rapids in small boats managed by the natives. This was a curiosity. The
natives always sing when they handle the oars. Their music has time and
rhythm, and that is all there is to it.
While on the Nile, we visited one of the Nilometers. With these
instruments a record of the height of the water is kept, and by this
record the taxation of the crops is regulated.
Egypt is noted for its ancient historical records. Monetho, a priest
and Greek scholar, was employed by Ptolemy II. to study ancient
manuscript and hieroglyphics, and brought forth a work that was
considered valuable at the time. A large part of this work later on was
lost; but the study of the handwriting on the wall has of late years
been revived, and great interest to-day is manifested in those old
historical relics,--the obelisks, temples, and tombs,--and it seems as
though God had made Egypt a great repository to keep the records of the
Old World. With its wonderful preservative qualities, no rain or dew,
a perfectly dry atmosphere, everything seems to keep in its original
state. We have seen polished granite, four thousand years old, looking
as clean and bright as though it had been polished within a year.
The papyrus manuscripts that have been unearthed in the temple and
tombs are making revelations every day. The bread and grain brought to
light, thousands of years old, are items of interest.
We have been upon the tops of some of these old temples. In one place
we went up two hundred and forty-six steps. Have had some beautiful
views of the Nile, with its broad plains covered with palms and fields
of grain, etc.
This country is different from anything we have ever seen before. As
you sail up this broad river, with its rich alluvial land on both
sides, back of these plains rise somewhat abruptly hills and mountains
composed largely of sandstone of a pearly gray appearance, seemingly
variegated. Here commence the great sand deserts. These hills have
not the first green thing on them, and are saying to the tiller of
the soil, “Thus far shalt thou come, and no farther.” The plains and
mountains give us some beautiful sunsets.
We travelled from Cairo to Assouan, five hundred eighty-three miles;
and the average width of this valley is six miles. This is all there
is of Egypt excepting from Cairo to Alexandria, one hundred and thirty
miles. A peculiar shaped country, but rich in her fertility, raising
two and three crops a year, and exports much more than they import.
Her historical relics that are coming to light are beginning to draw
tourists. Four thousand of this class have gone up and down the Nile
the last year; and the number will increase in the future, giving her
quite a revenue. It is a very unique trip.
If I were an artist, I would with pencil and brush give you a picture
of the natives, camels, and donkeys at one of our landings. But, as I
am not, I shall have to content myself with a few outlines. As soon as
our boat ties up at the landing, the natives begin to gather with their
wares and donkeys from all directions, trinkets to sell, donkeys to
let, etc. The natives are very artistic. They clip their donkeys over
the back. Then on the sides and legs they notch and slash the hair in
such a way they will show beautiful palm-leaves on the sides. On their
legs some of the donkeys look as though they had on short pantalets
with pointed lace at the bottom, then the mitre and breastplate, etc.
Now let us take a ride into town or some objective point; and, if
you are fond of fun,--and I know you are,--here is where you get it.
As soon as you step ashore, and they see there is a chance to let a
donkey, they will make a rush for you, every man praising up his own
animal, shouting in an unknown tongue and gesticulating to the best of
his ability. At first you will think you are going to have a street
fight on your hands at once. Then they will begin to grab hold of you,
and you will make up your mind that you are going to be quartered,
and each quarter is going off on a separate donkey, and you will have
four backsheesh to pay instead of one. But all is, when things begin
to grow interesting, say to them, “Hands off!” and mount the first
good-looking donkey you can get at, and you will be surprised to see
how quickly things quiet down. No one finds any fault, and the man
that secures the job is happy. The next thing is to make your donkey
boy understand where you wish to go. Then you are off with a rush.
The young man follows his donkey with a whip or cane, and will give
you all the speed you want, using his cane over the hind parts of his
animal, and shouting at top of his voice, “Zah, hoo, zah, hoo!” but
having sympathy for the donkey, and not wishing for such speed, you
begin to wave your hand backward, and shout, “Slower, slower!” and,
unless you are persistent in your demands, you will still keep up the
rush. Either way you are sure to get there all right, then alight from
your donkey and go where you please. When you return, you will find
your donkey boy waiting for you. When you return to the boat and pay
for your ride, it makes no difference what you give them, they will
want more. The disposition with the natives is to get all they can
out of the tourist. Many a time in selling their wares they will take
one-eighth of what they asked in the first place. But such is life in
Egypt. It is impossible to go out from the steamer into town without
having from three to six of these natives following you, offering to
guide you, for which they expect backsheesh, or else they are trying
to sell you scarabs or some unearthly thing you care nothing about. A
polite invitation for them to leave amounts to nothing. You have to go
for them with a cane, and give them to understand you mean business.
The sad thing of this country is the halt, maimed, lame, and blind
you meet at every turn, begging. Some of the most pitiable-looking
creatures! It makes the heart sick. If a man could be a many times
millionaire with a heart to give, this would be a splendid field for
him.
The Nile seems to be the pride of Egypt. The people all come to it with
their herds to water, also to drink themselves. Their washings are done
on its shores.
Money seems to be worth more than in America, and is in smaller
denominations. They have here parion, millims, and piastres. The
parion is a small copper coin, value one-eighth of a cent. Two parion,
a larger piece, one-fourth of a cent. The millim is very small, with
silver in it, value one-half cent. Two millim, one cent. A piastre is
a trifle over five cents, then there is one-half piastre. The five
piastre piece, twenty-six cents, is the size of our quarter. The ten
piastre piece, fifty-two cents, and twenty piastre piece, one dollar
and four cents, correspond to our half-dollars and dollars. The quality
of their silver is better than ours, and stands on equal footing with
French gold.
We remain here about ten days, then go into Palestine, where horses
take the place of donkeys.
V.
CAIRO, April 5, 1895.
The Congregational Oriental party is at this time nicely located at the
D’Angleterre and new hotels that would do credit to any American city.
Many of the clerks and waiters speak English, and are very polite and
attentive. While we expect to remain here until the 13th, yet we are
not anxious to have the hour of our departure arrive.
Cairo seems to be the Chicago of Egypt, a place of some four hundred
thousand inhabitants, about twenty thousand of them English and
Americans. The bulk of the residents are Mohammedans. This place was
founded about A.D. 850. Touloun, a Moslem, was its first governor.
In 1170 the famous Saladin usurped the throne; in 1250 the Mamelukes
took possession; in 1517 it was stormed and captured by the sultan,
Selim. To-day England has a powerful grip on Egypt. The khedive ran the
country badly in debt. England took the bond until she stepped in, and
said, “We must control the property.” The Egyptian army is officered
by English. In fact, they keep many of their soldiers here, and Egypt
feeds them; yet England can take them away any time she chooses. The
khedive lives in Cairo, and rules some six millions of people; yet he
is ready to take off his hat to Johnny Bull whenever he meets him.
The six millions of people in Egypt are largely Mohammedans, some
half million Coptics. Here and there you will find people from Nubia,
Soudan, and India. The people are a copper color, excepting those from
Soudan, they being black and shiny, but, unlike the negro, have not
the thick lips and curly hair. The Egyptians are straight, fine forms,
white teeth; and many of them, aside from color, are handsome. They are
not vicious, and are easily managed by those in authority.
The condition of women in the country is deplorable. The laws of the
Mohammedans give a man a right to have four wives if he wishes for
them. He buys them, the usual price being twenty-five dollars, paid
for in any kind of goods the man may happen to have. If he wishes to
get rid of them, the law requires him to support them nine months; and
the woman has to take care of and support the children until eight
years old. So you see divorce is an easy matter; and they are sure to
send the wives off when they get to be old, and take young wives in
their place. The law in these matters is a mere letter, and many of
the well-to-do Arabs have twenty wives instead of four; and many times
they are sent off with a piastre (five cents) instead of nine months’
support. The man rides his camel or donkey, and the wife walks or runs
behind. Sometimes they send them out on a two-wheel cart to air them.
The marriageable age for girls is twelve, boys eighteen. We have seen
many a young wife about that age with her baby in her arms. They never
educate the girls.
The laws of the Coptics are different. Only one wife is allowed.
When the prow of our steamer was headed northward on the Nile, we
had but little to do upon our return but watch the scenery and
the villages. There are a few towns that show thrift, with some
modern-looking buildings; but the majority are the old mud houses, and
the walls are built up some seven feet high, then poles thrown across
and a covering of straw to keep the sun out. Not having rain up the
Nile, the roof is of minor importance. We went through many of those
villages, and into some of the houses, where you will find in one room
donkeys, pigs, hens, and the natives all living together; and a good,
nice Vermont hog-pen is a palace to some places we saw.
There seems to be a disease of the eyes among the children in Egypt,
and the flies gather on them. We have seen children with their eyes so
covered with flies you could hardly tell whether they had eyes or not;
and they seem to make no effort to keep them off. This, I think, is the
reason why there are so many blind people here. It is said that one
in twenty is blind, either one eye or both. There are no hospitals or
places for the poor, so all they can do is to sit and beg. It seems as
though the condition of the people in Upper Egypt is worse than here in
Cairo.
I have been wandering with you through the country. I will now try to
give you a glimpse of Cairo. While there are camels and donkeys here,
you will see some of the streets full of fine horses and carriages.
The officers of the government and many of the wealthy have their fine
turnouts. They have their sais, who are the most sylph-like beings
imaginable. They can run hours without tiring. They wear a richly
decorated garment, embroidered in gold arabesques, a wide silk sash
with ends floating in the air, with loose gauze sleeves, white, falling
to the waist, and a short skirt coming to the knees of same material. A
wealthy man will have two of these men, who run abreast of each other.
Sometimes you will see one alone. They carry a wand some five feet
long, brought against the shoulder, when they run before the carriage.
The coachman drives his team rapidly. The sais run with great speed,
keeping about one hundred feet in advance, shouting to anything or
anybody that is in the way to clear the track. I have never come in
contact with them; but I enjoy watching them exceedingly, they look so
fine and run so gracefully.
The new part of Cairo where we are located is modern in appearance,
broad streets, fine public buildings, stores filled with fine-looking
goods, etc.; and, if it was not for the Oriental toggery going through
the streets, you would almost think you were the other side of the
Atlantic.
When you leave your hotel, the first thing you meet is an Arab with a
donkey. He knows a few words of English; and he says: “Fine donkey,
nice donkey to ride. Donkey take you to bazaar. Fine donkey, ride easy,
good donkey.” No matter how strong your assertions are that you do not
wish to ride, he will follow you a long distance. Another conveyance is
the pasta Baluak. This annoys no one. It looks like a small street-car,
seats running crosswise, so you enter on the side. The car is much
wider than the running gear. There are four small wheels underneath.
They hitch on a pair of horses, and go where they please in the
highway. The passengers get on and off at their pleasure, paying for
their ride. Very convenient where there are no horse or electric cars,
things we have not seen in Egypt.
Cairo is said to have a thousand mosques. It seems to be a city of
domes and minarets, some of them very handsome. We have been in several
of them. They differ from the Catholic cathedrals, being entirely free
from statuary, figures, or pictures. The Mohammedans are decidedly
opposed to anything of the kind. In one of the squares of Cairo is
a statue, upon a horse, of Abram Pasha; but, when it was erected, it
met with great opposition. The alabaster mosque is one of the finest,
solid columns of pure alabaster. In every one of these buildings on
the east side is a circular recess, beautifully inlaid; and in this
mosque this was solid onyx of the finest quality. Toward this recess
every one faces when he worships: this points him toward Mecca. In the
front court of this alabaster mosque is a closed fountain, some fifteen
feet in diameter, with a canopy top. Around the outside are round
onyx stones, about twelve inches high and twenty inches in diameter.
In front of each one of these stones is a faucet. Before the man is
allowed to worship in the mosque, he kneels on one of those stones,
opens the faucet and washes his feet, face, head, mouth, nose, and
ears. Then he enters the mosque, and performs his devotions. The floor
is covered with mattings or carpets. The building is profusely lighted,
having more or less colored glass, and must look fine in the evening
when lighted.
We visited the oldest church in Cairo, built over one thousand years
ago. It is a Coptic church, still in use. We also visited a mosque
built about the same time.
Our dragoman, Hasham, is a Mohammedan; and we have a chance to study
theology with him. They believe that Christ was a prophet, but Mohammed
was a greater and later one. Many of them are very devoted, but their
religion does not seem to bring them upon a very high plane of moral
living. Hasham says he is coming to America. I have the impression
that he is beginning to think that there is a better religion than he
is now acquainted with.
We visited to-day the Palace Hotel, being shown all through it. This
was built by the khedive for a palace, and cost eleven millions; but
he found out that he had more palaces than he could support, and sold
this one to a French syndicate for a hotel. The grounds are extensive,
finely laid out with flowers, fountains, statuary, many beautiful
trees, and about one hundred electric lights, with large globes
to light the grounds in the evening, which must make it a perfect
fairyland when lighted. It is located on the banks of the Nile, and
their prices are from three to five dollars per day. They can take care
of some two hundred, and have not been able to accommodate half that
wish to stop with them. One hundred more rooms are to be added this
summer. If you wish for the finest thing in Cairo, send in your name.
You will not get nearer paradise in this section of country than there.
We saw one arrangement that was beautiful. On some of the mirrors were
painted vines and flowers, and it made it appear as though you were
looking into a conservatory. It is the cheapest conservatory one can
have, no danger of frost, and you will always have vines in blossom.
VI.
CAIRO, April 6, 1895.
This has been a great day in Cairo. The tomb of Mohammed in Mecca
is kept covered with beautiful carpets of tapestry and embroidery,
which are renewed every two years. This is the year for renewal, and
they have with great labor and skill been prepared; and the 6th might
be called the day of dedication. All business in Cairo came to a
stand-still: everybody and everything was in gay attire.
8 A.M. was the hour to meet on Citadel Hill. We were there with our
carriages promptly on time. Many of those beautiful carpets were spread
over oval top stretchers, carried by men. Then there was a canopy for
the tomb that was gorgeous and dazzling. This was on a sacred camel,
and entirely covered the animal, the top being some ten feet above
the camel’s back. These all passed close by our carriage. Some two
thousand soldiers, with a large amount of cavalry, artillery, etc., all
beautifully uniformed, and large bands of music. The khedive was in the
procession. The people and carriages covered acres. The coverings for
the tomb were taken from the citadel to a mosque; and in a few weeks
another day will be set apart, and the goods will start for Mecca.
The night before the 6th they had what they call a feast. These goods
were placed in one of the public buildings, brilliantly lighted; and
eatables also were added, and all that wished went in. It was like a
grand reception. When the whole thing was over, we decided we were
lucky to hit so rare an occasion.
When we visited the oldest mosque, we saw the column with Mohammed’s
hand holding a whip imprinted on it. They claim this column flew from
Mecca to Cairo,--quite a flight.
When on Citadel Hill, we saw the place where Mameluke jumped his horse
off a precipice, killing his horse, but by a miracle, as it were, saved
his own life. This was when Mohammed Ali made a banquet, and invited
all the head men of the different provinces, and at the right moment
let his soldiers in upon them, killing several hundred, this Mameluke
being the only one to escape.
When Abraham walked the plains of Mamre with the angels, and pursued
the captors of Lot, Egypt had her large cities, and was the centre of
art and learning. Even Rome and Athens had their first instalment of
knowledge and science from this old country.
Saturday we took carriages, and drove ten miles to Heliopolis. Here
was located the great institution of learning in the time of Pharaoh,
the place where Moses and Joseph received their education. Here is the
oldest obelisk in Egypt, and the old sycamore tree, said to be growing
on the spot where the holy family rested, when they went down to Egypt
to escape the wrath of Herod.
The more you travel here in Egypt, the more you are impressed with its
ancient historical interest.
I have given you thus far in this letter more of the new Cairo than of
the old. There is a part of this city that is as ancient seemingly
as are the eternal hills that are around it, and there is no way that
you will get more of the Oriental life than to go with me through the
bazaars. Here you will enter streets miles in length, some of them so
narrow that only pedestrians and equestrians enter them. Each side
is full of stalls, many of them not more than six by ten feet. On
the floor is usually a rug, on which sit the merchants, many of them
smoking their nargileh. These boxes or stores, and occasionally larger
ones, are packed full of goods, many of the richest quality. In these
bazaars you will find them manufacturing shoes, garments, silver and
copper ware, etc., using the crudest tools imaginable, yet their work
is fine. We saw articles in silver that were exquisite. The natives and
their donkeys are going to and fro, good-naturedly jostling each other;
and you can rejoice in one thing, that the large, fat people do not
live in Egypt. If you are buying goods, you should pay about two-thirds
the asking price. In buying expensive articles, it takes usually about
three days and several cups of coffee to complete the bargain. You will
find stores filled with attar of roses and the sweet-scented perfumes
of Arabia and the Oriental country. The buildings usually jut over
above the first story, the merchants living upstairs, the buildings so
near together you can almost shake hands across the street; and, as you
are aware there are acres covered in this way, you will have some idea
of the wealth and stock in trade in Cairo.
While making our way through one of these streets, we turned to
our right into a narrow lane, and entered an establishment for
manufacturing furniture, saw beautiful fret-work and inlaid pearl.
There was a scaffold in the shop that was ten by fifty feet. We went
up a ladder to get on it, and I counted forty men and boys working on
that space. Some were carving, others were working on inlaid pearl; but
the work which interested us most was turning beaded work. They had a
fillbow, the string around the piece of wood they were turning. With
one hand they kept the piece of wood in motion. With the other hand
and the toes of the left foot they held the chisel, and you would be
surprised to see them sit there and rapidly perform that work. I have a
piece of the work in my pocket-book that I shall take to America.
In the bazaars you will see the natives selling water, lemonade,
licorice water, etc. You will hear them in all directions. They have a
fancy glass bottle holding about a gallon, trimmed with brass chains
and dangles. This they carry on the side with a strap or chain over
the shoulder. Then with two bright copper or brass saucers in one hand
they strike or chime them together in a musical way, being heard a long
distance, and with the cup or tumbler that is hung to the bottle will,
for half a piastre, let you have all you want. I drank some of the
licorice water once, but have not been dry since.
The donkeys, many of them, have a necklace around the neck with a
thousand or less little brass or nickel charms or tinklets. It is very
nice in these crowded bazaars; for you will hear them as they come
rushing along behind you, giving you a chance to take care of number
one. While you are here, you had better go through the lace, tassel,
and embroidery departments where they are manufacturing these goods by
hand, then, as you leave for your hotel, come through the perfumery and
spice bazaars. They will give you a chance to sample their goods; and
you will return with the sweet odors of Mecca, attar of roses, etc.,
that will be about you the rest of the day.
We have visited the ostrich farm, thirteen hundred and fifty birds, a
sight to behold, saying nothing about the eggs and feathers.
Monday, the 8th, we took carriages, and drove to the Pyramids, a drive
of ten miles, one of the finest roads in the country, six miles as
level and straight as you could draw a line, lined each side with the
libbek trees, resembling our locust. This road was built by the khedive
when the Suez Canal was opened; and Empress Eugénie came here, and was
the first to ride over it. We are ready to take off our hat to the
empress. The pyramid we visited, and most of the party went to the top.
It was some four hundred and eighty feet high, and seven hundred and
sixty feet square at the base, twenty feet square at the top. On the
corners the stones were laid in a way to make steps some three feet
high. So two Arabs would take a person, and in a short time walk them
to the top.
On our way out to the Pyramids we met two hundred and seventy camels
with produce going into Cairo. Met seventy on the bridge as we cross
the Nile, twelve hundred sixty feet long. This would be quite a show
if it was not in Egypt.
There are a large number of pyramids in Egypt, both small and great.
These at Gizeh that we visited are the largest, and were built in the
third and fourth dynasty, nothing standing to-day that dates back
beyond them. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob gazed on them probably with as
much wonder as the people of to-day. There has been some speculation by
different writers as to what they were built for, but there is hardly
a shadow of doubt that they were built as tombs for the kings. There
are many passageways and apartments in them. The ancient kings had an
idea of immortality, and that the body must be preserved, in order to
save the soul. Hence, as soon as they had the power, they commenced to
prepare for the future. This largest pyramid was built by Cheops, and
was some twenty years building. It took ten years to build the roads to
transport the stone. At times there were one hundred and sixty thousand
men at work on it. Cheops was a tyrant, and his subjects disliked him
cordially; and, knowing this feeling to exist, he did not dare to have
his body placed in this wonderful tomb or pyramid he spent so many
years building. He gave orders to his few friends to have him buried in
some secret place. The monument remains, but its builder is forgotten.
If you wake up to-morrow morning at four o’clock or, in fact, any
morning, and your windows are open, you will hear the muezzins from all
directions, calling the hour of prayer. They are in the mosques, upon
the balconies of the minarets. The call lasts but a few minutes, and
sounds like chanting in an unknown tongue.
We all of us seem to be creatures of circumstances. That article
seemed to strike the Oriental party favorably. Yesterday we were all
invited to visit the residence of one of the noted sheiks of Egypt.
He is a descendant of the Prophet, is very wealthy, has four hundred
houses in Cairo to rent, besides large land estates. His name is El
Sadatt. He has fifty servants in his residence, some three hundred
in all. He received us very cordially. We found him sitting in the
court. We had an interpreter; and his servants ushered us into a
large reception-room, and passed the cigarettes and coffee. Every one
partook of the latter, and was invited into his gardens. The gentlemen
would have been glad to have seen the ladies of the house, but that
was not allowable. A eunuch was called, and took the ladies into the
harem, where they found a wife and two pretty daughters, and several
girl-servants, probably slaves. When we departed, we gave him our
cards; and he gave each of us one of his. We returned, feeling that we
had seen some of the higher life of Egypt, as well as the low.
[Illustration: SHEIK EL SADATT.]
In the evening we were invited to a reception at Dr. Grant’s, who is
a Scotchman. His wife was from Pennsylvania, U.S.A., and had been a
schoolmate of one of our Oriental party. The doctor has been here
twenty-nine years. He has a mania for collecting Egyptian relics, and
his residence is a perfect museum. He read us a paper that he had
prepared on Egyptian music, which was considered fine. Certainly,
it showed study. Coffee, tea, lemonade, cake, etc., were a part of the
programme. We reached our hotel at 11.30 P.M., and called it a full day.
We have enjoyed our ten days’ touring here in Cairo. Most of them have
been busy ones. We have been pretty thoroughly through the museum,
which is very extensive, but almost wholly Egyptian.
But I have had you jostling against the natives, so much on donkeys
and camels, in temples and tombs, etc., so I will not detain you long
in that building, but will call your attention to a few things that
interest me most. First was the statue of a man, his face having a
splendid expression, well formed, fine muscle and joints, well dressed
for this climate, seemingly perfect in all his parts, but, when you
come to inquire for his name and what material he is made from, you
will discover, by close examination, that he is nothing but wood. Quite
a marvel! I think Cab Ellis must have dreamed about him before he
invented his jointed doll.
The 16th of February, the day we left New York, the natives found in
a tomb at Doshua, up the Nile, two gold crowns of an empress, gold
chains, bracelets, and all the paraphernalia for a beautiful queen.
This we saw in the museum. The workmanship was exquisite, and they
looked as bright as though they had just come out of a jewelry shop.
The museum building was formerly a palace, built by the khedive; and
parts of it are fine of themselves, and the rooms number one hundred.
It also has a garden connected with it, and a part has been made
zoölogical. So, when you come to Cairo, be sure and take it in. It is
about three miles out of the city.
We visited while here in Cairo, the howling dervishes. Their
performance is what they call worship. They howl and bend, sway in
every direction; and some of them will whirl around like a top. There
were about twenty of them on a platform; and some fifty people went in
to see them, with admission fee. The question with me was which was the
bigger fools, the audience or the performers.
Saturday we leave here for Port Saïd by rail, there take the boat for
Jaffa, and then to Jerusalem, which place we shall probably reach about
the middle of next week; and I will write you from that place.
While stopping here in Cairo, we have seen some American reminders. You
will occasionally see a bicycle, have seen one steam-roller for making
roads. A part of the streets have on them the water-cart sprinklers.
In other parts of the city what is done in that line is done with the
leather water-bottle that we read of in ancient Bible history. It is
the skin of the goat, many of them with the hair on, and being sewed
up, from appearance, will hold two or three pailfuls. They are filled
and emptied at the neck, which has a small opening. You will see
thousands of the natives at the Nile filling these bottles. I should
say they would weigh, when filled, one hundred pounds. They are carried
on the side with a strap over the shoulder. They will go on the street,
partly close the outlet with one hand, giving a swaying motion, and
will thus sprinkle the streets quite rapidly and very acceptably to the
dusty traveller; yet, when you have summed up the whole country, you
will be obliged to write the word _passé_. They are ploughing with
the same plough that Elisha used, treading out the grain with oxen. The
camels are the burden-bearers. Everything about as it was four thousand
years ago. Whether Jonah’s experience, as related by Dudley Warner,
had any effect upon them, I am not prepared to say. When the whale
landed Jonah on shore, his skin tender as a parboiled chicken, he saw a
blind man eating dates. Jonah with his tender heart restored the man’s
eyesight. As soon as this was done, he began to snap the seed at Jonah,
and, he being in a tender condition, it hurt him prodigiously, and he
complained to the Lord; but word soon came back to let things be as he
had fixed them or take the consequences.
[Illustration: WATER BOTTLES AND FILTERS OF EGYPT.]
The Egyptians have let things be about as they were, and when they
are going to have courage to change them no one can tell. A new
civilization will have to be introduced, woman elevated, Mohammedanism
exchanged for a pure religion.
LETTERS FROM THE HOLY LAND.
I.
JAFFA, SYRIA, April 15, 1895.
We left Cairo the 13th at 11.30, ran out on the main line to
Alexandria, some twenty miles, then branched off, running due north
through the land of Goshen, a beautiful, rich farming country of broad
plains, as fine as anything we have seen in Egypt. This was where
Pharaoh told Joseph to locate his kindred, and where the Israelites
grew and multiplied, and afterwards became slaves, and were at last
obliged to make bricks without straw; and then Moses came, and led them
out to the land of Canaan.
We passed through some of the treasure cities they built for Pharaoh.
One of the places is now named Zakayik. After leaving this, we passed
along the edge of the great desert with nothing but sand and sage brush.
We also passed Tel-el-Kiber, where the battle between the English
and Egyptians was fought in 1882. The English soldiers being so far
superior, much better drilled and equipped, they made quick work of the
affair, the battle lasting only twenty-five minutes, the English losing
only twenty-six men. We saw the little plat of ground where they were
buried, which was fenced in and neatly cared for. As soon as the battle
was over, the cavalry proceeded at once to Cairo, and made their
demands, which were granted without further resistance.
About five o’clock we reached Ismalia, where we changed cars, taking a
narrow-gauge road to Port Saïd, forty miles distant. Ismalia is noted
for its baggage thieves; for, if a piece of baggage is lost there, it
is never found again. So we held on to our grips, and kept our eyes on
the trunks, which had to be transferred about ten rods from one depot
to another. This was done by Arabs taking them on their backs, which
was a marvel to us. I saw one Arab with four steamer trunks on his back
at once. I would not have believed such a story, had I not seen it with
my own eyes, and shall not insist on any of my friends taking any stock
in this transportation company unless they choose to do so.
Ismalia is where we strike the Suez Canal, and is about half-way
between Port Saïd and Suez. Our train follows the canal all the way to
Port Saïd.
The earth that was taken out of the canal was largely taken out with
baskets by the natives, and left on the banks. This seems queer to a
Yankee, but labor at ten cents a day changes the operation wonderfully.
Much of the way we could not see the water in the canal, and it was a
peculiar sight to see steamers of all sizes sailing through the sandy
desert. At times we could only see the upper part of the vessel.
This great water-way cost nineteen million pounds sterling, some over
twelve million being taken by the stockholders, and the rest by the
khedive. The income is getting to be enormous. The first year, 1871,
the receipts were three hundred and forty thousand pounds. In 1890 they
were two million six hundred and eighty-nine thousand pounds. The canal
has a depth of twenty-six feet, and at the bottom is some seventy feet
wide. Within a few years the electric search-light has been introduced,
which enables the vessels to run nights.
We reached Port Saïd at eight o’clock in the evening, and such a motley
crowd you never saw. From the chatter and clamor that was going on
we thought that the Tower of Babel must be somewhere near. We took
carriages, and went to the Eastern Exchange, a hotel seven stories
high, fireproof, with a twenty-foot wide veranda running all around the
building. This was carried up the seven stories; and most of the rooms
opened on to those verandas, and in this climate, and standing on the
seashore, was very pleasant.
Port Saïd has some twenty-three thousand inhabitants, and is said to
be one of the wicked places of Egypt. The next day after our arrival
was Easter Sunday, and you would have thought it was the Fourth of
July,--bands of music, firing of cannon, and a general holiday. We
remained in our hotel until about four o’clock, then went aboard a
large French steamer that lay in front of the hotel, and at about 6
P.M. steamed out of the bay for Jaffa, reaching this place about eight
o’clock in the morning.
To-morrow morning at six we start for Jerusalem. Some of our company
are going by carriages, others on horseback.
Jaffa, or the Bible name Joppa, is where Jonah started from, when he
came in contact with the whale.
As you come up the bay, you see the city commencing at the water’s
edge, towering up as it recedes, one tier of buildings above another.
Follow this up some ten minutes’ walk, and you come up on a broad
plain, a place of some twenty thousand people, about one-half
Mohammedans, the other half from all creation, nearly all kinds of
dress but American. Most of that is seen on the tourist. The bazaars
are fearful; that is, as far as dirt is concerned. Jaffa is the
shipping port for Jerusalem. Here was landed the material in the time
of Solomon for the building of the temple.
Our hotel is located on the east side of the city, and is a very
comfortable place to stop at. On the upper veranda you can look over
hundreds of acres of orange-trees, and far in the distance can be seen
the hills of Judea.
We have visited the house where Dorcas made so many garments, also the
house of Simon the tanner, where Peter had his vision when praying on
the house-top. Have driven out some two miles to a German settlement,
and found a beautiful country, more variety than in Egypt.
Jaffa has no harbor for large steamers, so we had to be landed in
small boats. There are times when the surf is so high that they cannot
land the passengers, and they carry them by to Beyrout; but we were
fortunate, and were landed very nicely, although some of our party were
fearful that they should go to the bottom of the sea. But after we were
in the little boats, and went tossing up and down over the waves, we
rather enjoyed it.
One peculiarity of this country, there is no wharfage. We find the
climate a little cooler than on the Nile, and more variety of scenery.
Here we first placed our feet on the land of Palestine. This was the
section of country allotted to the tribe of Dan.
II.
JERUSALEM, April 17, 1895.
Monday evening, the 15th, at Jaffa, our managers gave notice that we
should be called the next morning at 4.30, to have our trunks and
grips packed and be ready for breakfast at 5.30, and we would start
at 6 for Jerusalem, forty miles, over one of the best roads to be
found in any country. The party had the privilege of choosing, go by
carriage and make the journey in one day, or on horseback, taking
two days for the trip. There were fourteen that chose carriages, the
members from Springfield being among the number. Prompt on time, with
four carriages and our dragoman, we bade good-by to Jaffa, one of the
oldest cities in the world, and headed our horses eastward toward Mount
Zion, driving several miles through orange and lemon groves, until we
struck the plains of Sharon. (See Song of Solomon ii. 1.) We found a
beautiful country, with a profusion of roses and flowers as far as the
eye could reach. We passed at our right a Jewish agricultural college,
established by Charles Netter, of Paris. A little farther on at the
left a modern village, said to be on the site of ancient Hazar-shual,
where Samson caught the three hundred foxes (Judges xv. 4); and by the
way we met a young Rev. Mr. Green, who used to preach at Hartford, Vt.
He has been in this region a few weeks, roaming the country, gathering
flowers. He thinks there would be no trouble now in catching that
number of foxes, as in many places you can almost knock them over with
a club. They are called jackals. They were about our hotel at Jaffa,
and stirred up the dogs, so that between the dogs and jackals we were
kept awake half the night.
The next place of importance was Ramleh, the traditional Aramathea.
(See Matt. xxvii. 57.) Here is a stone tower, said to have been built
by the Crusaders. It is some one hundred feet high. We went to the
top, and had a grand view from Gaza on the south, to Mount Carmel
on the north, eastward the land of Judah and Benjamin, westward the
Mediterranean. Looking south-west, you see Ashdod Gath, the home of
Goliath. Farther to the east you see Gezer, a Canaanitish town taken by
Pharaoh and presented to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.
After leaving Ramleh, we pass at our left Gimzo, which was taken from
the Israelites by the Philistines. Six miles from Ramleh we go down
into the valley of Ajalon, where Joshua commanded the moon to stand
still. (See Joshua x. 12.) This valley runs north and south, and is
perhaps one mile across, with a depth of one hundred feet or more below
the plains. Each side beyond this valley we pass the village of Latron,
said to be the home of the penitent thief. Latron is about half-way
from Jaffa to Jerusalem. In leaving this, we go down into the Wady Ali,
and then begin to climb the hills of Judah, and soon enter the land of
Benjamin and pass the old site of Kirjath-jearim, where the ark of God
rested for twenty years. If you will cast your eye to the left, you
will see in the distance, upon the top of a conical hill, Mizpah, the
highest land in this part of Palestine. This was where Saul was chosen
king. (See I Samuel x. 17-24.) Gibeah of Saul is in sight, also the
home of John the Baptist. From this place we pass down through another
valley and around the brow of the hill. Beyond we come in sight of
Jerusalem, only about one mile distant.
The last ten miles was a continual climb most of the way, and I have
never been so impressed with the Scripture where it speaks of the
tribes going up to the Holy City to attend their great religious
festivals. Last Sunday was Easter, and there was a great celebration
in Jerusalem. We were on the road Tuesday, and it was full of people
returning from that festival. We met one company of about one hundred.
Some were walking, and others riding on horses, donkeys, or camels. We
were told that the party would be away from home sixty days, thirty
days each way.
You would see horses with a pillion on them, straps going over the
horse’s back holding boxes on each side, perhaps a little canopy over
the boxes. In these boxes were the little children, and the mother
sitting on the pillion, the husband walking behind. Then would come a
camel, with the mother riding, and the children in front of her. There
were all kinds and ways, nags and Arabs, a motley crowd.
The country about Jerusalem is different from what I had pictured it.
It is very mountainous for a long distance westward, and the hills have
a very peculiar appearance. The sides of these hills and mountains look
as though human agencies had been at work on them, and terraced them
from bottom to top. They will show a line of stone from two to four
feet high running along the side of the hill, as straight as a line,
then grass or trees for several rods, then another layer of stones,
so on up to the top. The olive orchards many times extend clear to
the tops of the mountains. The gray stone and the green give in the
distance a mottled appearance.
It seems to be a great field for goats. We saw hundreds of them as we
came up the mountain, every flock having a shepherd.
As we near Jerusalem, and are near the top of the mountain, our eyes
behold wonderful beauty in the landscape in all directions. Jerusalem
is an elevated city. “And as the mountains are around about Jerusalem,”
etc.,--the saying is a true one; but the mountains are not high ones,
for the city itself towers toward heaven, and you have to descend into
a valley before you can climb any of the surrounding mountains.
On our arrival at Jerusalem we went to the Jerusalem hotel which is in
the new part of the city, outside of the city walls of old Jerusalem,
and is beautiful for situation.
The horseback party arrived the next day after our arrival, and
pitched their tents not far from our hotel, but near the Jaffa gate.
We were to have two camping tours, the short one from this place and
return, occupying three days, going to Jericho, the Jordan and Dead
Sea, distance thirty miles. This is considered the most dangerous
travelling we shall have. As it was in the time of Christ, so it is
now, full of Bedouins and robbers. Being entirely an unsettled country,
our orders were to keep together. If any one went ahead or lagged
behind, he would do so at his own risk.
It is necessary to have some official on this trip. So we had a son of
one of the sheiks, mounted on his gray charger, armed to the teeth;
and our dragomen all had their short swords. This camping business
is a regular circus, a picnic every day. It takes about one hundred
horses, mules, and forty men to move us. Those at the hotel were to
take horses, and partake of the luncheon, in tent, with the others; but
at night we were to be at the hotel in Jericho. There are two hotels,
the Jordan and the Bellevue. We went to the latter, a small house, but
very neat, and Oriental from the word go. We were there two nights; and
I, for one, should have been glad to have stayed longer. The only out
was that the dogs and jackals made things lively nights. One gentleman
of our party got up, and shouted out of the window for them to get out
of the way and stop their noise, but the effect, seemingly, was to wake
up more dogs, and the music was increased instead of being diminished;
but I am rather a friend of the canines, and those troubles rest very
lightly on my shoulders.
[Illustration: SON OF A SHEIK.]
Now, if you would like a dim picture of this first camping tour, you
had better meet me at the Jerusalem hotel early Thursday morning,
April 19. First there was an array of saddle horses brought into the
yard for us to select from, grays, bays, and blacks. The members
from Springfield chose a pair of bay geldings that had been used
to following each other. We have two ladies that cannot endure the
horseback riding, and have palanquins.
About 6.30 A.M. the straps were all buckled, and we were on our horses,
moving down toward the Jaffa gate, where we met the rest of the party;
and then we moved north outside the old walls, passing the Damascus
gate, then turning east, which brings us into the valley of Kedron
or Jehosaphat, as it is sometimes called. Passing along the edge of
Gethsemane, look up at the right, and you have a fine view of the
eastern wall of Jerusalem. At the left you look up Mount Olivet, and
see the road David went barefooted, when he fled the city in time of
Absalom’s rebellion. We passed the place where Stephen was stoned, the
pool of Siloam, Absalom’s tomb, also the tomb of Zechariah.
Through this section we encountered the greatest number of lepers and
beggars in the most pitiable condition, sitting beside the roadway,
pouring forth their cries and lamentations. But we are soon past all
this, and begin to wind our way around the brow of Olivet. In less than
an hour from starting we are at the little village of Bethany, which
is located the other side of the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem. Here
seems to be a valley coming up from the south; and at the head of
this valley, in a semicircle, lies nestled the little town of Bethany,
at the foot of Mount Olivet. We saw the spot where Martha, Mary, and
Lazarus lived, saw the tomb of the latter, could almost feel on our
brow the warm Christian atmosphere that pervaded that place more than
eighteen hundred years ago, that made it so attractive to the Saviour
of mankind. We were pointed out the place where Simon the leper lived.
From this place to Jericho, some eighteen miles, we pass only one place
where anybody lives. Jericho, located on the plains of the Jordan, is
four thousand feet lower than Jerusalem, hence the expression “going
down to Jericho.”
The plains of the Dead Sea are thirteen hundred feet lower than the
ocean, and is the lowest land in the world. As we pass on from Bethany,
we go winding our way down those narrow ravines, hills and mountains
each side, with many caves for the robbers. On the side of these
mountains are the shepherds, with their flocks of goats and sheep.
About half-past ten we come to the only residence on the road, being on
a somewhat elevated spot. Here we stop for lunch. Tradition says here
was the inn where the Samaritan left the wounded man. We took little
stock in that. However, we laid a man across a donkey’s back, with a
good Samaritan standing beside him, and got a snap shot at them with a
kodak. With our lunch we had water taken from the brook Cherith.
Soon after we started, we visited the spot where Elijah was fed by the
ravens.
From this time to the Jordan valley the mountains and hills looked arid
and barren, having a chalky appearance; and the gorges along which we
passed were fearfully deep, and had, no doubt, been cut down by the
water.
About four o’clock we reached the plain, turned to the left, and went
up to the fountain of Elisha, that he healed of its bitter qualities.
This is near the mountains, boils up from the ground, running away
quite a large stream. We were thirsty, and drank heartily, finding a
good quality of water. Here is supposed to be the old site of Jericho,
which was shaken down, and a curse pronounced on any one that should
attempt to rebuild. There was any amount of stones and rubbish about
there, but we saw nothing of any rams’ horns.
About a mile south of this place is the Jericho of Christ’s day, with
some new buildings added. We were shown an old stone house, or the
ruins of one, that is claimed to be the house of Zaccheus. They also
pointed out the tree he climbed to see the Lord. It might have been a
descendant from the original one, but that is as far as we should care
to go.
At Jericho we stopped for the night, some in hotels, others in tents.
Friday our day’s work was to go to the shore of the Dead Sea, and from
there to the banks of the river Jordan, where the children of Israel
crossed, and Elijah divided up the waters as he went up in his chariot,
also where Christ was baptized. We found the Dead Sea a beautiful sheet
of water, clear as crystal. Some of the party went in bathing. It is
said to contain some fifteen per cent. more salt than the ocean, and is
heavier per cubic foot than the human body. From these plains you can
see across the sea and river the hills of Moab, Mount Nebo and Pisgah,
where Moses was allowed to go to look into the promised land. We took
our lunch on the banks of the Jordan, had the water from the river to
drink. Some crossed the river, which is about a hundred feet wide and
quite swift in its current, in boats. On our return to Jericho for the
night we crossed the old site of Gilgal, where the children of Israel
first camped, also the valley of Achor, where Achan and family were
stoned. If the deed had to be done, they could not have found a better
place; for there is plenty of material close at hand.
[Illustration: CROSSING THE JORDAN.]
The plains of the Jordan are not as fertile as we expected to find
them, not like the Nile valley. They are probably worn out, and were
more fertile in the days of Abraham and Lot; for here was the place
where Abraham told Lot to choose which way he would go, and he, seeing
the well-watered plains of Jordan, pitched his tent toward Sodom, the
location of which was where the Dead Sea now is, or plains this side.
If it were sunk, then the sea is the place; but there is an appearance
of a ruined city this side on the plain, and I think we had better call
that the spot. In either case the mountains are near at hand where Lot
went for safety.
Saturday we were in the saddle early, and continued our return until
we reached Bethany. Met on our way the Prince and Princess of Germany.
They were going over the same route we had just taken. We stopped
some two hours for lunch at Bethany. Then, instead of going around the
brow of the Mount of Olives as we came, we went over the old road,
over the top, and came down the same pathway the Saviour came on
his triumphal entry, and where he wept as he beheld the city in its
wickedness, from the Mount of Olives. You get a fine view of the city.
There has been a church built within a few years, beside it a very high
tower. Up this tower we went, giving us a view of the whole surrounding
country. At the base of Olivet we visited the Garden of Gethsemane,
then followed down the valley of Kedron, to where the valley of Hinnom
intercepts it, then up the Gihon valley to our hotel. This took us
entirely around the walled part of the city. While at lunch at Bethany,
some soldiers went by with some robbers that had been captured, that
were chained together, walking. The soldiers were on horseback, taking
them to prison.
Sunday, the 21st, has been a day of rest. The Congregational party held
service at 9.30 on Mount Calvary, a small elevation just outside the
city walls. Rev. Mr. Clark, of Salem, Mass., conducted the services,
which were very impressive. The American consul, Mr. Wallace, a young
gentleman, and his wife were there, and at the close spoke beautifully.
At the foot of Mount Calvary is a plot of ground that evidently was
at one time used for a garden. By excavating an embankment at the end
of this garden, some two years ago, General Gordon discovered a tomb
that has every evidence of being the tomb where Christ was laid. While
there was room for four, there never had been but one of the niches
occupied; and the top or stone cover of this had never been sealed.
Christ, you know, was anointed for burial. Had he not risen, this
covering stone would have been sealed. While the Mohammedans have his
tomb in the city, yet we know the Scriptures do not warrant any such
thing. Jerusalem has nothing that will impress the Bible scholar as
Calvary and the tomb at the head of this garden. We remain here until
Wednesday, going to Bethlehem, and return Tuesday.
About one year ago there was much in the daily papers in America about
a strange young man from the West that had made a wager of $10,000
that he would go to Jerusalem in twelve months’ time, starting without
a cent of money, and would not ask for money the whole distance. He
started from Galveston, Tex. I never even dreamed of seeing this
strange young man, as he was called; but, strange as it may seem, he
put in an appearance at the Jerusalem Hotel last Saturday. He has been
on the road ten months and twenty days. His name is P. P. Killiner, is
a regular cow-boy, has leather suit of clothes, made by the Indians out
of antelope skins, with fringes of leather on all the seams. He has
walked thirty-five hundred miles, sold his photograph, letting people
pay him whatever they pleased. They got up quite an excitement over
him in New York, and gave him money enough to cross the ocean. When he
went down to take the boat, they crowded the street so full it was
impossible to move. He attended services with the Congregational party
Sunday, and went with them over Mount Moriah Monday.
III.
JERUSALEM, April 22, 1895.
Bethlehem is one of the old landmarks of Palestine, full of historical
interest. This was the home of David’s relations, and is located some
six miles south of Jerusalem, and is about the same height above the
sea as the hill of Zion. As you leave the Jaffa gate, you pass down and
across the valley of Gihon, coming up near the hill of Evil Counsel (so
called because at that place they took counsel against Christ), and
soon are on the plain of Rephaim, where David fought the Philistines;
and, judging from the broad sweep of the plain, it must have been a
hand-to-hand fight. Here is where David refused to drink the water he
so thirsted for, brought from the spring near Bethlehem, because it was
done at the risk of the lives of his men that procured it.
Before I take you any further, it might be well for you to look at the
surrounding country of Jerusalem. If you stand on the hill of Zion (or
perhaps a better place would be the Mount of Olivet), no one point of
compass will attract the eye more than looking south toward Bethlehem.
As I have told you before, the country here is made up of hills and
valleys, elevations and depressions, rugged and rocky at that, yet
the mingling of the olive, almond, fig, orange, and lemon groves,
gives it a beauty that attracts the eye; and, while you cannot see
Bethlehem from where you are standing, yet, if drawn by the love of the
beautiful, your first outing from the city will be in that direction.
I have given you a view from a distance. When you plant your feet on
this beautiful country my eye has taken in, you will exclaim, “My, how
rocky!”
After we leave the plain of Rephaim, we come to the tomb of Rachel.
For a wonder the Mohammedans, Greeks, and Latins all worship Rachel;
and the day we went to Bethlehem was a special day, and they were all
rushing to the tomb to weep for her. The tomb is a white building,
standing close to the travelled road, the front an arched portico
or entrance. Then you step down some half-dozen steps into a square
apartment, perhaps twenty feet each way. In the centre is built up the
receptacle for the body, six feet high, eight feet long, four feet
wide, giving a chance to pass around it. Here the people come with
their Hebrew Bibles, reading Jacob’s lamentation, and crying as if
their poor hearts would break, kissing the tomb, etc. They remain a
short time, and then others take their places. We passed around with
others, but could not in so short a time get into the spirit of the
worship.
In passing through this country as well as Egypt, the traditions and
the queer things the ignorant people will show and relate to you about
the old saints and prophets will make you tired.
For example, just beyond Rachel’s tomb is a flat rock; and it looks
as though a man had been on his back and had sunk into the stone some
four inches. The people will show it to you, and tell you it was where
Elijah slept the first night after he fled from Jezebel. This is only
one of the many foolish things they have on the brain. But, if you will
take profane and religious history in one hand and common sense in the
other, you will find things that will interest you at every turn you
make, and will have all you can carry away with you.
A little farther on we turn to the left, and in a short time are at
Solomon’s pools. They are three in number, built by the wise man; and
from these the water was taken into Jerusalem.
From the pools we drove to Bethlehem, a place of some eight thousand
people, largely Christians. They are tillers of the soil. Herding
of cattle is a large business with them. They manufacture rosaries,
crosses, and other fancy articles in wood, mother-of-pearl, and stone
from the Dead Sea. It is quite a market town for the Bedouins and
peasants from the surrounding country. There is a very old church built
over the spot where Christ was born, and they will show you the place
where Joseph was when the angel warned him to flee into Egypt.
We visited an underground apartment, or nearly so, where Saint Jerome
translated the Hebrew Bible into the Latin (the Vulgate). Saint Jerome
was born of pagan parents in 331, and was afterward baptized at Rome.
While journeying in the East, he had a vision at Antioch, commanding
him to renounce the study of heathen writers, which he did, and
finally took up his abode at Bethlehem. Here you will see a painting
of him, with a Bible in his hand. Joab, Asahel, and Abishai once
resided here at Bethlehem. (See 2 Samuel ii. 18.) In the eyes of the
prophets Bethlehem was especially sacred as the home of the family of
David, but the one great and lasting triumph for that little town was
the birth and humble beginning of one who is to conquer sin.
IV.
Some four hundred and fifty years after Joshua led the children of
Israel through the divided waters of the Jordan, and with his military
forces swept up the Jordan valley and up through the hills of Judea,
destroying those heathen nations,--when these four hundred and fifty
years had been placed on the tablet of time King David appeared on
the scene, with Joab as his major-general. Mount Zion was then called
Jebus, and the people were called Jebusites.
King David made an attack, capturing the city, Joab being the first man
to enter.
Josephus claims that Melchizedek once lived here. On Mount Zion David
built his palace, this being the whole of the city.
Thirty-seven years later the foundation of the temple was laid on Mount
Moriah. These two elevations are divided by the Tryphon valley, and
were at one time connected by a bridge.
On Mount Moriah Ornan had his threshing-floor, and it was also the spot
where Abraham offered up Isaac. Mount Zion became the civil capital of
the nation, and Mount Moriah the sacred capital. Jerusalem attained its
greatest power during Solomon’s reign, but this was largely lost by the
revolt of Jeroboam.
It passed through many changes of fortune, until five hundred
and eighty-eight years before Christ, when it was destroyed by
Nebuchadnezzar, and the Jews were taken into captivity. Jerusalem
remained a heap of ruins until Cyrus allowed the Jews to return, guided
by Ezra and Nehemiah, and for many years, until Grecian power became
strong in Western Asia, Syria and Palestine were governed by Persian
satraps in Damascus; yet the Jewish priest had much liberty.
Some three hundred and thirty years before Christ, after the battle of
Issus, Palestine fell under the dominion of Alexander the Great. That
illustrious monarch appeared one day before Jerusalem on the hills to
the north-west, where now stand the Russian buildings; and a solemn
procession, headed by the high priest, clad in pontifical robe, marched
out to meet him. As soon as the monarch saw them, he advanced, and
reverently saluted the sacred name inscribed on the priest’s mitre,
saying, “I adore not the man, but the God with whose priesthood he
is honored. When in Macedonia, pondering how to subdue Asia, I saw
this figure in a dream, and he encouraged me to advance, promising
to give me the Persian empire. I look upon this as an omen that I
have undertaken the expedition by divine command, and success will be
mine.” Alexander granted the Jews many privileges; and after his death
Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Ptolemies of Egypt, under whose
mild rule it remained over two hundred years, when it was plundered and
defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes. Two years later he sent his general,
Apollonius, to complete the work; and all the able-bodied men were
slain, and the women and children sold into slavery.
Then arose the priestly family of Asmones to revenge their injuries and
vindicate the honor of their God. This warfare lasted until thirty-four
years before Christ, when Herod the Great was appointed ruler of the
Jews. In the year 70 the Romans stormed the city, and killed more than
a million Jews (this number is given by Josephus), and razed the temple
to the ground.
Wars and fighting went on until 636, when Omar captured the city,
and ordered the mosque of Omar built. Jerusalem was taken by the
Crusaders in 1229; and in 1243 it was secured by the Moslems, and
has been in their power ever since. The last few years the Jews have
been returning, and have settled largely outside the city walls at
the north-west. The Russian Jews have some fine buildings. Within
the walls the city is dirty. Many of the streets are arched, and
lined with bazaars. Zion Street runs from the Jaffa gate through the
city. David Street is another of the main streets. The city seems
divided into four sections, each section being occupied by different
religious sects,--Mohammedans, Latins, Christians, and Armenians.
The city is poorly watered, only two nearly dried up fountains they
depend on. Cisterns catch the water from the roofs of the buildings.
Lumber is a scarce article. The buildings are nearly all stone;
and, from appearances, the inhabitants of that country are more
efficient in working on stone than on any other material. The stones
in the old walls of Jerusalem, laid without mortar or cement, are
fitted so closely that you can hardly tell where they are joined
together,--perfect joints. From the Mount of Olives you get the finest
view of the city. It is composed of four elevations, Mount Moriah,
Zion, Ackra, and Bezetha, the two former lying to the east and the most
prominent, and rich with historical interest. No city in the world so
thrills the soul as the one that has within its bosom Mount Zion and
Mount Moriah. While you may not believe all that the native tells you
about the exact localities of the thrilling scenes of eighteen hundred
years ago, yet you know you are near the spot where the King of kings
yielded to the will of the Father, triumphed over death, led captivity
captive, and established a kingdom that Satan has not been able to
prevail against. You can go to the house of Caiphas where they took
Christ the night of the betrayal. They will show you where Peter sat
when he denied his Master. From there it is not very far to Pilate’s
judgment hall. When that was rebuilt, it is evident they dug down to
the old foundation; and you can, no doubt, stand where Christ stood
when before Pilate, you can see the stone upon which Pilate stood when
he pronounced judgment. This building is now occupied by the Latin
Sisters. They will also show you the way Christ was led out to be
crucified, where he fell with the cross, where he spoke to the women
and told them not to weep for him, but weep for themselves, etc.
On Mount Moriah stood Solomon’s temple and palace, said to cover--with
all its courts and appendages--acres, some say thirty. The mosque of
Omar now stands on Mount Moriah. Though not so large as the temple, yet
its symmetrical architecture, beautiful stained-glass, tiling, etc.,
will fill you with admiration. There is no mosque in the Turkish empire
that surpasses it in beauty.
In the mosque is the dome of the rock, with its steps leading up to it,
with the hole in the centre where the blood went in time of sacrifice,
being connected by a subterranean passage to the Kedron valley. This
rock is fifty-seven by forty-three feet, and six and one-half feet
high. It is held wonderfully sacred by the Mussulmans. They claim
that Mohammed went up from this rock, and the rock started to follow
him; but the angel Gabriel put his hand on it, and stopped it. The
Armenian convent, one of the largest buildings in the city, is said
to hold eight thousand. We were shown the Church of St. James, said
to mark the site where he was killed by Herod (Acts xii. 1, 2). It
contains his tomb and chair, also three stones, one from Mount Sinai
where Moses received the law, one from the Jordan where the children
of Israel crossed, and one from Mount Tabor where, some think, the
transfiguration took place. Near the Damascus gate you can enter a
subterranean passage where there have been thousands upon thousands
of stone quarried here. You take lights, and walk miles under the city.
Stone has been taken out here for building and rebuilding Jerusalem.
You can enter a building in which is David’s tomb, which they will
not allow you to see; but you may visit a room above, called the
Cœnaculum. It is fifty by thirty feet; and here it is claimed that
Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper, where the apostles were gathered
on the day of Pentecost, when Peter in his sermon referred to the tomb
of David as being with them (Acts ii. 29).
You can take Baedeker or a good guide with you, and travel days in the
city with great interest.
Friday is the day to visit the Jews’ wailing-place in the Tyropœon
valley, by the walls of the city, and near where the temple stood.
Here they read the old prophecies and promises, and weep, to all
appearances, from the bottom of their hearts, evidently sincere
mourners over the destruction of their city, and the scattering of
their people to the four corners of the earth. They believe, no doubt,
that they are to be gathered together, and re-established in the Holy
City some time in the future.
[Illustration: THE JEWS’ WAILING-PLACE.]
Jerusalem is situated high upon the hills of Judah, with her
foundations of granite; and, as you stand on Olivet, you view her
palaces and the surrounding country, with its hills ribbed with
lime-rock, granite, and marble, and you admire it, for it was once the
Holy City. But I am confident, if David had seen old Vermont clothed in
her beautiful garments as she is in summer time, he would never have
settled down in Jerusalem.
But the die was cast, and Jerusalem was and is to be the religious
centre of the world. Around it clusters sacred memories. From its
Mount Calvary went forth a power that rent the rocks asunder. From
this centre went forth the great reformation and the uplifting of
the nations of the earth. It is a joy to every Christian to stand on
Olivet, to walk through the Garden of Gethsemane, and over Calvary and
Mount Zion: it will add a richness to the study of the holy Scriptures.
It is an old saying, “See Naples, and die.” There is a mistake. The
phraseology should be different: “Don’t die, unless you are obliged
to, until you have seen Naples.” I would say the same in regard to
Palestine and the Holy Land.
Our stay in and about Jerusalem has been exceedingly interesting, and
we shall study the Scriptures with greater interest than ever before.
We start the 24th on our long camping tour from here to Beyrout. I
shall write up as I go along the route, but shall not mail it until we
reach our destination, which will be May 11.
V.
APRIL 25, 1895.
Early in the morning of the 24th, at Jerusalem, we headed our horses
due north, commencing our long camping tour of eighteen days from
Jerusalem to Beyrout, getting a view of old historic relics and towers
that cannot be reached in any other way; that is, over a road that is
either foot or horseback, and hotels are rocky, few, and far between.
After crossing the Kedron valley, we commenced to climb hills and
descend into valleys, and soon were on what is called the Damascus
road; that is, if it can be called a road. Our first elevation was over
Mount Scopus. Here was where Titus’s camp was pitched. Here the doom of
the Holy City was decreed. We thought of the holy family pursuing their
way from the great religious festivals to Nazareth. We passed Bier,
where tradition says the holy child was first missed.
Our first halt was some two miles out from Jerusalem, at the tombs of
the kings; and, as we proceeded on our journey, we found the ascending
and descending growing in steepness, the rocks and ledges fearful. We
thought of General Putnam riding down the stone steps, and decided that
we could put the general in the shade. The horses here are trained for
these roads, and are sure-footed. Let them have the reins, and they
will take you to the bottom of the hill in safety, over places you
would hardly dare go down on foot. The horses are shod with a flat
shoe that nearly covers the whole foot, and it is a mystery how they
stand on the ledges as they do. Woe to the man that attempts to ride an
American horse over the roads we have travelled!
As we passed on from Mount Scopus, we see to our right, upon a
hill-top, the town of Ramah, where Samuel was born and buried. Farther
on we passed the town of Ophrah, the home of Gideon, but saw nothing
of the men that lapped water. About eleven o’clock we go down into
the valley, and find our lunch-tent pitched in a green place, once
a reservoir, and find it to be the town of Bethel. Here was the spot
where Abraham and Jacob watered their flocks, and Jacob set up the
pillar of stones at this place. Here was where Jeroboam set up his
false worship, which proved a thorn in the sides of the Jewish kings,
having an unfriendly capital so near Mount Zion, with the golden calf
ready to attract the loose-minded.
The ways of sin are always more attractive than the ways of
righteousness to the thoughtless and indifferent.
We rested ourselves and horses here some two hours, and then were in
the saddle four hours, bringing us into a pleasant valley, near a
little town without historic interest, and where we tented for the
night. _Table d’hôte_ was good, and a good night’s rest was the verdict
in the morning; and we moved on, and soon halted at Shiloh, located
on high ground, commanding a fine view. Here was where the ark of God
rested twenty years; and here was where Eli died. All there is left
to-day are foundation walls, ruins, and an historic name. We found the
travelling better to-day than the day we started, which we enjoyed as
travellers in a strange land.
While we were upon the mountains a part of the time, yet we passed
through some beautiful valleys. Rev. Mr. Green, formerly of Hartford,
Vt., to whom I have referred before as a botanist, travelling here,
informed us that there were fifteen hundred varieties of wild flowers.
The fields of Palestine are full of them. In many places you will see
beautiful green tapestry, full of flowers. This might be called the
flowery kingdom; and we got many beautiful landscape views.
On we ride, feasting our eyes; and at twelve o’clock we halt at Jacob’s
well for lunch. Here was where the Saviour talked with the women of
Samaria, where he spoke to his disciples of the fields being ripe for
the harvest; and we imagined he saw the fields as we can see them
to-day. As you stand at the well, facing east, you have thousands of
acres of beautiful plain land before you, covered with waving grain
nearly ready for the sickle. We halted at this lovely spot some three
hours. A few minutes’ walk north from our tent brings you to the tomb
of Joseph, who was the son of Jacob. You well remember that his bones
were brought here and buried. We have been travelling north through
historic grounds, where the old patriarchs had roamed with their
herds, passed the town of Dothan, where Jacob sent his son Joseph to
look after his brothers, and crossed the track of the caravan going to
Egypt, taking Joseph with them. It has been a panorama of historical
events.
When we are in the saddle again, we turn square to the left, going
west, down through the narrow valley of Shechem, passing between Mount
Gerizim on our left and Mount Ebal on the right. Here was where the
people stood in the valley, and the blessings were pronounced from
Mount Gerizim, and the cursings from Mount Ebal, and the people said,
“Amen.” Principles declared there that have held good ever since,--The
ways of righteousness are easy, but the ways of sin are hard. Here was
where the people asked Rehoboam for more clemency; but the foolish boy
discarded the counsel of the older men, and told them that his father
had chastised them with whips, but he would with scorpions.
About one hour’s ride, and we were at Nablous, the old town of Shechem,
where we found our tents pitched in a beautiful olive grove; and we
turned in for the night, being well satisfied with our day’s work,
this being the spot and place, as you will see by the date, where I
commenced this letter. This is a town of some twenty thousand people,
strongly antichristian, who gave us many scowls as we passed through
the town. This being noted as a hard place, we had some eight or ten
soldiers from the barracks added to our guard force for the night.
The people here manufacture large quantities of olive soap, which
they brought to our tents for sale, also tobacco pouches made of
goat and sheep skins. We went into a Samaritan church, and saw the
priest, and bought some of his photographs. He showed us the five
books of Moses written on parchment that was thirty-five hundred years
old. Nablous is famous for its great number of springs coming out of
Mount Gerizim, which are used along down the valley for irrigation,
producing beautiful fields and gardens. These springs are refreshing
to a traveller in this country, as there is a terrible dearth of that
article through Palestine.
Friday, the 26th, we were on the march bright and early, passing down
the valley some two miles over a fine road which leads to Jaffa. But we
are bound for Nazareth. So we turn to the right into a bridle-path,
and begin to climb; and, when you are near the top of this elevation,
cast your eye to the south, looking across the valley we have just
left to the hill the other side, and you will get the grandest view in
Palestine. The side of the mountain is somewhat free from stone, and
seems to be terraced up the beautiful slopes with straight, conical,
and crescent terraces, covered with a rich verdure, filled with the
flowers of the land.
We pass over this mountain, and as we commence to descend the other
side, we see across the valley the historical town of Samaria, standing
upon a high elevation. We descend into the valley, and climb up into
one of the oldest and most degraded-looking towns we have been called
upon to pass through. We saw the pool of Samaria where Ahab’s chariot
was washed. Ahab was slain in his chariot in battle and taken to this
place. Here he had his winter residence with his ivory palace. We saw
some of the foundation and columns, which is all that is left of it. We
saw some of the columns of the colonnade that extended from the city
gate to the palace, some three thousand feet. We leave this town, once
so splendid, feeling that sin and misery have done their perfect work.
The rest of the day we are passing through wheat fields and one of the
largest olive orchards in Palestine, and at five o’clock reach Jenin
where we tent for the night.
Jenin is on the border of the wonderful valley of Esdraelon. This town
is modern, but is said to be the place where Christ healed the ten
lepers. Here we saw some palm-trees which made us think of Egypt. It
was a question whether they were strayed or stolen; but they looked
thrifty, and we decided that the breezes from the valley of Esdraelon
had been fanning them. This valley is different from the Jordan, being
rich and fertile; and, unlike the prairies of the West, it has many
conical hills and even mountains scattered over its broad acres. And,
as in David’s and Solomon’s time, Jerusalem and Mount Zion were the joy
of the whole earth in a spiritual sense, so, it seems to me, the valley
of Esdraelon must have been the joy in a temporal view. It seems to be
the great granary of Palestine.
Saturday morning, the 27th, the sun rose clear and bright, and we
expected a scorching day across the valley, which takes nearly all
day; but the Lord sent the clouds to cover us as he did the children
of Israel, and we had the most satisfactory day of the week. One hour
from Jenin we reached Jezreel, standing upon a high elevation. Here
was Ahab’s summer residence, here also was Naboth’s vineyard. We rode
upon this elevation, left our saddles, and looked over the town, which
now consists mostly of mud huts, save the old stone palace and the
window where Jezebel came down, and the dogs devoured her; and I have
the impression that they have kept in Palestine the same breed of dogs
ever since, for we find here the meanest dogs in the world. They seem
to delight in barking nights, keeping poor mortals awake. If some one
could get at them with stones and knock the bark off of them, it would
be a blessing to every one.
Now, if you will stand by me on this elevation with your face
northward, looking down on the plain at your right, you will see the
fountain of Gideon. In front of you is where the Midianite forces were
gathered when Gideon routed them with his hundred men. Now look across
the valley some three miles to another mountain elevation, which is
Little Hermon. At the base is the town of Shunem, where the woman had
the prophet’s chamber, where Elisha raised the boy to life. Now cast
your eye to the left some ten miles distant, and you see Mount Carmel.
To this mount the servant ran for Elisha; and the prophet asked, “Is it
well with the child?”
We mount our horses, and descend from Jezreel into the valley, and soon
are at the town of Shunem. Going through the town, we turn to the left,
winding our way around the base of this elevation, reaching the other
side, where we find the town of Nain, where Christ raised the widow’s
son. Here we find our luncheon-tent, and remain here some two hours.
About two miles north of us is Mount Tabor, where, it has been claimed,
the transfiguration took place. We are about two hours’ ride from
Nazareth. Leaving at 2.30, we soon finish crossing the valley of
Esdraelon, and go up a steep elevation with bad roads. We make our
way gradually, rising several hundred feet above the plain. We then
make a little descent into a valley almost surrounded by hills, and
find the beautiful little town of Nazareth. You will call it a place
of retirement. Here is a little valley with hills surrounding it,
from fifty to one hundred feet high. At first sight, you will say the
plateau of land is round; but on close examination you will decide the
length is nearly twice the width, which, I should say, is less than
a half-mile across. The buildings are not on this plain, but are in
crescent form at the base of the hills.
At the upper part of the valley the plain is used as a common and
for gardens. We are tented on the common of some twenty-five acres,
carpeted with green grass and dotted with flowers, spending the Sabbath
in quiet. Dr. Dunning preached to us to-day as we gathered in front of
our dining-tent, taking for his subject, largely, the human side of
the life of Christ, and made it very interesting. Nowhere could such
a sermon be made so impressive as here, where Christ’s childhood days
were spent. We have visited the workshop of Joseph and the home of
Mary, the church of annunciation, where the angel appeared to Mary the
virgin, the fountain, the synagogue where Christ taught; and we have
been through the bazaars and many of the straight and narrow streets.
Nazareth, unlike many towns in this region, is strongly
Christian,--three thousand nine hundred Christian and nineteen hundred
of other classes,--not a Jew lives here,--a much better class of people
than we usually meet, and many neat and pretty children, fine-looking
women coming to Mary’s fountain and filling their water-jars, that hold
from one to two pails. We found these jars to be heavy, and put one of
them upon Mrs. Dunning’s head. There were many of these women at the
fountain, and they seemed to enjoy the interview we had with them; and
we were interested to see them walk off with the jar on their heads
with such indifference.
We came into Nazareth from the south over a rough road, and shall go
north-east Monday to Tiberias, expecting a much better road.
MONDAY, the 29th.
Our ride to Tiberias is a long one. Therefore, we are called at five
o’clock, and are in the saddle at six, wending our way up the hill out
of Nazareth, taking with regret a farewell look at the prettiest town
we have seen yet, since we placed our feet in the land of Palestine.
The Jews thought no good thing could come out of this little town among
the mountains; but the stone that was cut out of the mountain here is
filling the whole earth, and there seems to be a hallowed sacredness as
we tread the same streets that were trodden by Him who came to bless
all mankind.
One hour takes us over the hill down into a beautiful valley; and at
one side of the valley, nestled upon the brow of the hill, stands the
little village of Cana. In front and around it are spread out the
groves of olives, figs, and pomegranate trees, making a beautiful
picture. At the edge of the town is a copious spring, where they water
their flocks, and the maidens come with their water-jars.
We went into the town, and at the church we saw the old stone
water-pots that were used at the wedding; and, certainly, they looked
old enough to have been used in Noah’s ark.
From Cana we passed on through a beautiful country, valleys, and
elevations, where we could canter our horses at pleasure. We passed the
home of Jonah, and about ten o’clock came to the Mount of Beatitudes.
The day was hot; but old snow-capped Hermon, towering up nine thousand
feet, seemingly a short distance to our left, seemed to nod his head to
us, saying, “Keep cool.”
The place where it is supposed Christ preached his wonderful sermon is
a small, conical hill, some fifty feet high, with the ground gradually
sloping from it, and is beautiful to look upon. Whether this is the
place or some other elevation near here makes but little difference. We
have the sermon, rich in thought,--principles laid down, that are, for
the healing of the nations; and it seems as though Nature in her beauty
in this locality responded to those teachings, and said, “Amen,” for
no artist with pencil and brush, tapestry and Persian art added, could
attract the eye of the lovers of the beautiful as the hills, vales, and
dales about the Mount of Beatitudes. The hills here are different from
those about Jerusalem. They have lost their granite and limestone ribs,
and this is a section of country that would attract a Vermont farmer.
We pass on from this point, and sight the Sea of Galilee down deep in
the valley, with its peaceful waters. We wend our way down a steep
hill, and soon are at the little seaport town of Tiberias. Passing
through the village down the shore half a mile, we find our lunch-tent.
Just below it is the hot sulphur spring, with bathing-houses; and
they are patronized by many people. We spend some time on the shore,
gathering pebbles and shells. We can see the whole length of the sea,
thirteen miles; and it averages six miles wide. Yet you would not think
it to be half that distance.
Few places in Palestine have more historical interest connected with
the three years’ labor of the Saviour than the Sea of Galilee. We
wondered where he fed the multitude, where he launched out in a boat
and taught the people, at what point was he when he stilled the waters,
where did he order the disciples to cast the net on the other side of
the boat, etc. We now are near the south end of the lake, which runs
north and south. Here we take four sail and row boats going north. When
we start, the waters are smooth as glass, and our oarsmen, four of them
to each boat, use the oars; but before we had been on the water half an
hour the wind seemed to come down upon us, and they spread their sails,
and we sped through the troubled waters rapidly. It was wonderful how
quickly the waters were troubled. At the head of the lake we visit the
old site of Capernaum. About all there is left is the location, and few
ruins, except a new building occupied by the monks.
From this spot we sail west, passing the old town of Bethsaida, the
home of the fishermen that Christ called to be his disciples, landing
at the plains of Chinnereth, where we camp for the night. We were three
hours on the water, and enjoyed it much. The river Jordan enters the
Sea of Galilee at the north end, leaving it at the south end, going on
its way sixty miles to the Dead Sea. When we reached our tents, our
day’s work was done, being full of interest all the way from Nazareth
to the sea.
Tuesday morning we started north up over the mountain. Found a rough
country. We let our horses have the bit and bridle, and they took us
over places we hope never to pass again. Yesterday we were going to
send for our Vermont farmer friend, as we had found the garden of the
world; but to-day we are ready to say “stick to Vermont.” After three
hours’ ride we seemed to be on the top of the mountain, and could
look south and see the Sea of Galilee, look north and see the waters
of Merom, where we are tenting to-night. Our tents form a circle; and
in the circle we have a bonfire, and are being entertained by about
fifty Bedouins, singing and dancing and practising with the broadsword.
We had our lunch to-day some three miles south of this place, where
there was a large spring coming out of the mountain. Fine water for
this country, and enough of it to run a grist mill of some four run of
stones; but the grain feeds into the mill about as fast as a good smart
Vermont hen would pick it up, and was the crudest mill mortal man ever
set eyes upon.
After leaving the Sea of Galilee and crossing the mountain, we came
into the Jordan valley, but skirted along its edge near the mountain,
and found many springs coming out of the mountains, sending their
streams of pure water out into that historic river, the Jordan. We are
now travelling in the region of Naphtali. Up the valley Joshua swept
with his army when he took the land of Canaan. The Jordan valley
here is much more fertile than we found it at Jericho, and is almost
wholly occupied by the Bedouins. They live in tents unlike any other
tent you will have the privilege of looking upon. They have cloth made
out of goat’s hair, black, which is set up on sticks, the highest
in the centre being long and narrow, raised five or six feet from
the ground. Around the edges they fit up bamboo or anything they can
get. I have counted seventy of these tents in a cluster. It makes a
black-looking village. The tents are black, the skin of the people the
same color, the character as black as you please. They till the soil
but very little. They have their cattle, living on milk and beef, with
some poultry and eggs, and roam from place to place as herdsmen. The
cattle here in Palestine are mostly small black cattle; when grown,
about the size of our yearlings.
But I see in this valley the Bedouins have some of the Egyptian breed
of cattle. They are large, coarse, and homely. I think they would smile
to see our Vermont Durhams.
[Illustration: BEDOUINS WITH THEIR HARPS.]
VI.
WEDNESDAY, May 1.
We have been travelling most of the day in the valley. Yesterday we
were going north on the west side: to-day, about 10 A.M., we head our
horses eastward, crossing to the other side of the plain. We went over
an old arched stone bridge, which took us across one of the largest
tributaries of the Jordan River, and were soon at the Hill of Dan,
where we took our lunch under two large live-oak trees, measuring
sixteen and nineteen feet in circumference. The boughs of one of them
spread ninety feet. So you see we had plenty of room for forty people.
Just east of these trees lie the ruins of Dan. Here was where Jeroboam
set up the golden calf to accommodate the people, when he established
himself at Bethel. Here we went into another grist mill, two hundred
years old. They could grind one bushel an hour in each run of stones.
When leaving this place, we go up on to some high table land, sparsely
covered with live oaks and trees of a similar character, which we
enjoyed, as we had seen nothing of the kind for many days.
After a short ride we came to a valley where is located the town of
Banias, the former Cæsarea Philippi, where we spend the night. Here is
the head of the Jordan River. One of the spurs of Mount Hermon came
down to this place, ending with a perpendicular ledge. From under this
ledge came out a great flow of water, and it is really the beginning
of that historic river, and is about the size of the Black River at
Springfield, but receives many tributaries as it flows on. Cæsarea
Philippi was built by Philip the Tetrarch, and was somewhat a Roman
town. It is thought to resemble Tivoli, and the old ruin signifies that
once it was a flourishing place. This was the furthest point north
the Saviour ever went, and that for only once; and it is supposed
while here he went with Peter and John on to one of the spurs of
Mount Hermon, and was transfigured before them. He was baptized in the
waters of the Jordan. At its source he was transfigured. He calmed its
waters as it passed through the Sea of Galilee. He called most of his
disciples from its locality, and the Jordan flows on in rich, historic
memories.
When we left Banias, we entered the land of Syria, and were informed
that our luncheon-tent would be on the mountains, five thousand feet
above the sea. Therefore, we began to climb. In some three hours we
halted at quite a good-sized town, inhabited by the Druses. This is
the class of people that slaughtered so many Christians in 1860. Many
of the men, women, and children, came out to see us, and to sell
their wares and trinkets. The men were all armed with dirk-knives,
and showed us how to use them. Some of them use one in each hand with
great dexterity. We should have been satisfied to have known how they
didn’t use them. The sheik of the town was there, and he brought out a
piece of bread, divided it in two parts with our manager, and they ate
it together. That was a token of peace; and we mounted our horses, and
passed on to where we found our luncheon-tent. For the last few hours
the snow-capped peaks of Mount Hermon were close to our left. Around
them were the lower peaks and spurs. Hermon looked like a white-bearded
old fellow with his children settled all about him, located for all
time, if not eternity.
The day proved to be one of the worst of our experience. It was what
I should call intermittent. First the sun would shine, then it would
rain, and, to make it poetical, we would next have sunshine, then a
snow-squall, the wind blowing almost a gale; but, as luck would have
it, it was at our backs. Parties have had to turn back and wait for
better weather before going over the mountain; but we kept in the
saddle until after five o’clock, at which time we were nearly over the
mountain, and tented for the night at the little town of Henah. But
the wind and storm still continued. Our tents fluttered and trembled,
but the guy ropes were thoroughly fastened and attended to through the
night; and everything was kept intact until the next morning, when we
went on our way rejoicing.
Coming over the mountain, we had three exhibits of the most gorgeous
rainbow mortal man ever beheld,--one end resting on the plain below us,
the other on the mountain. The question was, was such an exhibit common
to Syria or was it expressly for the Congregational party.
After leaving Henah, our objective point was Damascus, which we
expected to reach about 4 P.M. We crossed in the forenoon the waters
of Pharpar, and about eleven o’clock reached the Damascus plains. What
we have seen of Syria so far is anything but flattering. The soil is
very poor, and strewn in many places with lava, rock, and wheat headed
out when from six to twelve inches high. It is under the Turkish
government; and the people are taxed to death, as they are in the whole
empire.
We have been travelling over the main road from Jerusalem to Damascus;
and it was somewhere near Damascus that Saul of Tarsus was converted,
or at least found out that it was hard to kick against the pricks.
As you come down on to the plains, you are near the west side; and you
have at your left the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, which form a beautiful
background to the plain which stretches far to the east, with lesser
hills and mountains beyond. Near the head of this valley your eye
beholds a beautiful grove, variegated, stretching from the Anti-Lebanon
Mountains across the head of the plains for miles. Above the trees you
will see a great number of white towers and minarets, and you will
decide that you are soon to be in that city where the great apostle
Paul dated his conversion.
Our head dragoman had a little pride left, even after being with us
so many days; and, as we were a larger party than he usually has the
privilege of conducting, he wished to take us into the city in good
order. So we were commanded to stop at the gate of the city until we
were all together, then rode two abreast, with the dragoman at the head.
Going into Damascus is like going into the maze at Monterey, in
California. The road, which is fair in width, is lined each side with
walls built of clay and small stones mixed together, which are from
four to ten feet high; and you are all the time turning angles. Where
these walls are not so high but what you can look over them, you will
see gardens and groves. Here you find the silver-leaf poplar growing,
which is used for building. Then it is a forest of fruit-trees, olives,
walnut, fig, etc. Nothing seemingly grown in Palestine but what you
will find here in Damascus. It is said that Mohammed, when he stood
upon the mountain, at the head of the city, and looked upon it,
exclaimed, “There is but one paradise, and that is Damascus.” The city
has over two hundred thousand inhabitants and some two hundred mosques.
It is an old city, and has had terrible conflicts. Even as late as 1860
there were six thousand Christians murdered here.
David conquered the place after a bloody war, as it was allied with his
enemy, the king of Zobah. (See 2 Samuel viii. 5, 6.) During the reign
of Solomon an adventurer by the name of Rezin made himself king. At one
time the Romans had control, and you can see to-day the old Roman arch
and gate.
We have visited the houses of Ananias and Judas, that are connected
with Paul’s history, also the place where he was let down in a basket.
The city has a wonderful water supply, the river Abana running through
it. From this stream, water is taken in all directions. The main part
of the stream is carried through the city in a canal, which is some
sixty feet wide, and runs swiftly. The water has a pearly appearance.
We have, in my opinion, reached the climax on dogs here in Damascus. We
find it is against the law to kill a dog; and they are lying about the
streets, on the sidewalks, or anywhere they choose, appearing sleepy,
as if they had been up all night. You can count from ten to twenty
anywhere you may happen to be.
There are many rich men here who have fine residences. Some of our
party visited one of these places, where one room cost fifty thousand
dollars.
[Illustration: VEILED WOMEN.]
VII.
DAMASCUS, May 2, 1895.
We are stopping at the Grand Hotel, Besraoui; and we find it
first-class. When we alighted from our horses in front of the hotel,
two large iron doors, some fifteen feet high, swung open. In one
of these doors is the needle eye; that is, a small door in one of
the large doors, that can be used when the large doors are closed,
although a short person has to stoop to pass through. We enter a hall
or vestibule. At your right is the office, at your left the parlor.
In front is a court some fifty feet square, paved with marble, large
fountain in the centre, lemon trees growing, full of fruit. Before
stepping into this court, you can turn to the right or left, going up
stairs leading on to balconies that are built round on three sides of
the court. From these balconies you open the doors into your rooms. We
are located on the first floor, having a very pleasant room.
We remain here until Tuesday, the 7th, then finish our camping tour to
Beyrout.
You will remember that Paul went to the street called Straight, to the
house of Judas, and Ananias was sent for, etc. This street referred
to was a wonderful street, although it was not straight, but was the
nearest to the line and plummet of any street in Damascus; for, if you
wish to get angles and curves to perfection, then come to this city.
The street called Straight in Paul’s day was ninety feet wide, and was
the great market-place.
Here come the caravans from Persia,--a hundred camels at once, loaded
with merchandise. Since that time buildings have been put through
the centre of the street, making two streets out of one, and greatly
increasing the number of bazaars; and the camels stop outside the city.
While Damascus has shade-trees and many fine things, yet a large part
of it is filthy; and our party think they prefer Cairo. The people in
Cairo are not as foreign as they are in Damascus. The people here use
mostly goats’ milk. We see droves of them coming into the city to be
milked, but no cows. The churning of milk or cream through Palestine
and Syria is done in goat-skins, which are sewed up, then the milk put
inside and shaken.
When we were passing through the Bedouin country, the women and
children would come out with the dirtiest, crudest-looking receptacles,
with milk and buttermilk to sell; but I think our party must have been
out of funds, for I did not see them purchase any of the tempting
nectar. We have also been interested in the way the people do their
washing. They go to the brook and wash the clothes on a flat rock,
sometimes using another flat stone to pound and rub them with. The
people and their ways are extremely queer to us, but I presume we are
as much of a curiosity to them.
We found here in Damascus to-day the father of lemons. It measured
the smallest way round thirteen and one-half inches, the other way
seventeen inches. We of course took the largest one in the pile to try
our tape-line on.
They keep six thousand soldiers here to look after the peace of the
city. Safety would call for more rather than less.
The last day of our stay here our party took a carriage ride through
and around Damascus, and drove on to the hill near the mountain where
Mohammed stood when he admired the city so much; and we could but
exclaim, “Beautiful!” But as we had been through its dusty streets, and
seen its miserable houses, we decided it was one of those places where
distance lends enchantment. The sweeping waters of the Abana pass close
by our hotel.
Tuesday morning, the 7th, we were on our horses, and bade good-by to
Damascus, directing our course up the beautiful Abana, and soon were in
a narrow valley between the high mountains, and our eyes were drinking
in the finest scenery in the world. The road was fine, being the main
road to Beyrout.
After an hour’s ride we turned to the right, and took to the mountains,
for Baalbec was our objective point; and we found ourselves going over
the Anti-Libanus Mountain, which gave us some grand scenery. We could
at times look down thousands of feet into the valley of green trees,
and see the Abana River and the new railroad that is being built,
meandering their way down to the great city of Damascus. We scale
the mountain, and descend into a valley, where we find one of the
tributaries of the Abana boiling up from under large rocks at the base
of the mountain; and we wonder and admire to see the great quantities
of pure water rushing away from this fountain, going on its errand of
mercy to the arid plains below. Here was a beautiful grove cooled by
the rivers of water; and our dragoman had spread our lunch table in the
cooling shade, where we spent two enjoyable hours. As a little episode,
one of our horses broke down one of the trees in the grove. Very soon
a middle-aged woman appeared, gesticulating and jabbering with all her
powers, her eyes flashing. I thought at first we were to be driven off
the grounds. Evidently, she believed in woman’s rights; and I rather
admired her spunk, but was disgusted to see how easily she was bought
up. Our head dragoman went and picked up a few pieces of bread we had
left at lunch, and gave to her; and she went off, smiling and happy as
a clam in high water.
After two hours’ ride we reached the town of Suk, where we camped
for the night. Here the mountains are near to us, rising almost
perpendicular more than one thousand feet. Upon the top of one of these
mountains you will see a tomb, a building quite conspicuous. Tradition
says it is the tomb of Abel.
Our tents are close by the new railroad they are building from Damascus
to Beyrout. We examined it, and found that they were laying the rails
on iron ties. They are made like a trough, and bolted firmly to these
iron sleepers.
Wednesday morning we commence our journey, going through the grandest
scenery we have seen this side of the Atlantic. In half an hour we
halt, and look over the sections of the old Roman road. Another
half-hour brings us into a broad, fertile valley, should call it the
Esdraelon of Syria.
Since we left Damascus we have been crossing the Anti-Lebanon
Mountains, sometimes in the valleys, then again on the mountains, most
of the time old snow-capped Hermon plain in view. 5 P.M. finds us
tented at the town of Yafufeh.
Thursday morning, the 9th, we are off for Baalbec, having a ride of
four hours, arriving at 10 A.M. Here we spend the rest of the day,
as there is much of interest to look over. There might be a book
written confined to Baalbec, or Heliopolis, its ancient name, the
former meaning God of the Valley, the latter City of the Sun. But
time will only permit me to give you a few outlines, and advise you,
if ever in Syria, not to fail to see the most wonderful ruins in the
world. You will be amazed by both quantity and quality of the ruins,
covering acres of ground. In its walls are stones for you to examine,
sixty-three feet long, thirteen feet in breadth and width, that weigh
twelve hundred tons, some of them twenty feet from the ground. How
to place such a stone in position would be a hard problem for the
stone-masons of the nineteenth century to solve. In wandering through
these, you are continually reminded that once, notwithstanding its
vastness, it must have been beautiful. The beautiful stucco-work of
to-day might well be traced back to the carving in stone seen in these
ruins. It is somewhat of a mystery who commenced these temples. Some
suppose it to have been Solomon. It must have been a man of great
resources.
Baalbec has now five thousand inhabitants, many Christians among them,
and a much better class of people than the average in Syria. It was at
one time a commercial centre. It is beautiful for situation, is near
the base of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, near the head of the plain or
valley Bekaa, or the old name Cœle-Syria, and divides Anti-Lebanon from
Lebanon. There is a large spring coming out of the mountain about a
mile above the town, which forms quite a river of pure water that flows
through the city; and the plain below this covers the valley about
Baalbec with beautiful groves and great variety of trees, both useful
and ornamental. Up to this fountain, named Rosel Ain, from the town, is
a charming drive, the avenue lined each side with willows nourished by
the stream of water that follows the avenue. At the west you see the
Lebanon Mountain; and a short ride will take you to the cedar groves,
the pride of this historic elevation. Those forests, we understand,
have been greatly reduced since Solomon’s time. You will remember that
Hiram furnished Solomon with great quantities of this timber when he
built the temple. Solomon sent eighty thousand men to perform the work.
This would open the eyes even of a Maine or Michigan man, to see such
a logging camp. This was used in Solomon’s palaces, as well as the
temple. Herod also drew upon the forest. In history wars and rumors
of wars have hovered around Baalbec; and it has suffered in that way,
as have all important centres in this country. At one time one of the
temples was turned into a fortress.
Sun-worship was the leading idolatry, and every year they sacrificed
human beings. At a later day Constantine came in, and for a while
established Christian worship. The destruction of these temples has
mostly been by earthquakes,--granite columns, from four to six feet
through, broken in pieces, piled up in heaps, the wall in many places
shaken down.
Friday morning, the 10th, we are on the east side of the Cœle-Syria
valley; and in leaving this place, Baalbec, we take a carriage road,
which is quite a treat to us. Following this road, we cross to the
west side of the plain, then, turning southward, we ride all day down
this beautiful valley, and at night are camped near Shatora. At this
place we strike the diligence road from Damascus to Beyrout. This road,
seventy miles in length, was built by a French company, and crosses
over Mount Lebanon. It must have been expensive; but they apply the
toll to it, so they receive about twenty per cent. on their investment.
The road is a fine one, and the engineering over the mountain made me
think of the railroad over the Rocky Mountains.
SATURDAY, the 11th.
To-day we finish our camping tour. We are to cross over Mount Lebanon,
reaching Beyrout, thirty-five miles distant. So at six o’clock we are
in the saddle, and soon begin to climb the mountain, looking back down
into the valley and across to Anti-Lebanon; and in the distance beyond
is old snow-capped Hermon. This old fellow has had his eye on us most
of the time for the last ten days; but up we climb until about eleven
o’clock, and find ourselves on top of Mount Lebanon, and at twelve stop
for lunch at the town of Kahnel Sheik. You will remember that our
first lunch was at Bethel; and here at this place we say Amen, and bid
good-by to our tents.
From this point you can see the blue Mediterranean; and upon an
elevation lies the city of Beyrout, dipping her feet down into the
sea. This side of the city, and at the foot of the mountain, is a
valley sweeping around the city, covered with trees, dotted with white
cottages, forming the suburbs of the city, the sleeping place for the
busy crowd that spend the day-time near the sea. We can look down into
many ravines, see many villages tucked away in retirement, and at other
places they have hung them up on the mountains, and we wonder how in
the world the people ever reach their homes; but, where there is a
will, there is a way.
The day has been one of grand scenery; and, after halting an hour, we
move on down the mountain, and when within some four miles of the city
we meet a very pleasant surprise. It seems the people of the American
college here in Beyrout had been watching us, and were ready to give us
a welcome. In the distance we saw a troop of men coming on fine horses.
This cavalcade proved to be President Bliss, who was born in Georgia,
Vt., with his professors, also Mr. Gibson, the American consul.
President Bliss has a personal acquaintance with some of our party, and
we were very pleasantly escorted into Beyrout.
The last few days we have been among the mulberry-trees, and one of the
products of this country is silk. In Damascus there are three thousand
hand looms weaving this article, also great quantities produced here
in Beyrout. So, young ladies, if you admire silk dresses, here is the
place to come.
Over the road between here and Damascus, which I have referred to, they
run a vehicle each way every day, called a diligence. It is somewhat
different from a Concord coach. It seats twelve persons, all inside,
except the man that holds the ribbons. They start early in the morning,
reaching their destination at 5 P.M., covering the seventy miles in
that time. Six horses is the number used, driving three abreast; and
they have a fresh relay every six miles.
We spend eight days here in Beyrout, and then sail for Athens, making
several calls along the coast.
Will give you more about Beyrout and beyond here in my next letter.
VIII.
BEYROUT, May 16.
You have been following us in our camping tour, and perhaps you would
like to take a glimpse of our caravan as we are camping and also on
the move. We have some sixteen tents, each tent accommodating two
persons, also dining and cooking tents. The members of the party from
Springfield have a tent by themselves. It is fifteen feet in diameter,
being round, the sides six feet high, with a conical top, and tent
pole in the centre reaching up fifteen feet. The canopy top projects
over the sides some twelve inches, making a neat finish, and is held
out by guy ropes. The outside is striped excepting the top, which is
white. The inside is covered with beautiful needlework, squares,
diamond-shaped pieces, flowers, etc., handsome as tapestry. The ground
is our floor, but is covered with carpets. We have two beds with iron
frames, table, two wash-bowls, two pitchers, brass candlestick with
candle, chairs, etc.
Around the tent pole, up some six feet, is buckled a strap with hooks
for hanging clothes. We sleep sound, and come out fresh in the morning.
There may be a few bugs, spiders, or fleas that will want to get into
bed with you before morning; but that, you know, is nothing, when you
are on a picnic.
We found out after we were on the way from Jerusalem that we had one
hundred and five horses, mules, and donkeys, and forty-eight men,
dragomen, muleteers, and helpers to move us. We have two large copper
bells, large enough to call people to church, that are put on the
leading mules of our baggage train. These they ring in the morning at
5.30 o’clock to call us to rise and prepare for breakfast, which is
ready at six. Before you leave your tent, you must pack your trunk and
valises; and while at breakfast these articles will be taken out and
packed in large rubber-lined bags, ready to strap on the mules.
We have for breakfast tea, coffee, good bread, omelets or fried eggs,
and mutton chops. When you come out of the dining-tent, you will find
nearly all of the tents down and packed. Before we are called in the
morning, men start with our lunch-tent and eatables, which consist
of bread, cold chicken, beef, and mutton, cold boiled eggs, raisins,
nuts and oranges. We are in the saddle at 6.30, and proceed, led by
dragomen, of which we have three, one of these being always at the rear
to look after the stragglers and lazy ones. Then there are several
helpers. So if a lady’s saddle should turn or girt break, or any other
trouble occur, there is always some one at hand to see that it is
righted. Our three dragomen all speak English, and are fine fellows.
Our managers, Mr. Vicker, an Englishman, and Mr. Voight, a German, are
also with the party.
About noon or before we spy our lunch-tent, usually in some grove or
by some good spring. Our horses are turned over to the helpers, who
have their grain and feed-bags with them; and we go to our lunch, and
usually before we are through we hear those big bells, and, looking
out, will see our baggage train passing. This train makes no stop after
it starts in the morning until it reaches our next tenting place. We
wait one and one-half hours after this train passes before we begin our
afternoon journey. We have four ladies that did not dare risk horseback
riding so long a journey, so hired palanquins. This is a narrow wagon
body with a wooden top, with strips of wood on each side running out
before and behind, forming shafts for the mules, which have on a large
pillion saddle; and these shafts are attached to that. A man on a
donkey leads the front mule, and a man behind brings up the rear, thus
taking two men, two mules, and a donkey to run one of these vehicles.
They charge five dollars per day for them. They have proved rather
troublesome things over some of the rough places we have travelled.
They usually start these vehicles on ahead, as they do not go as fast
as the horses like to travel.
About four or five o’clock we usually spy our white city in some
grove or by some spring, which is always a delight. The tents are all
numbered, and each one knows his number. When we alight, the first
thing is to find our tent with beds all made up, baggage intact, etc.
In a few minutes the bell rings for tea, which with crackers they
furnish us on arrival. Being thirsty, about three cups of weak tea with
as many crackers as you please are very refreshing. Then you can rest
in your tent or visit among your neighbors. The latter is the most
popular thing to do. At seven the bell rings for dinner. First course,
hot soup, then follow usually three courses of meat and fish, closing
up with some fancy dish and raisins, nuts, and oranges. Our head cook
is paid four dollars per day, and we think he is worth it. When you
retire, you can have your hot-water bags filled if you wish; and I
notice a good many of them skipping around among the tents, as we get
cool nights in this country.
Before starting on this tour, we had our doubts on the matter; but the
idea of seeing so much of interest nerved us to the battle. But we can
now say that we have enjoyed it, and come out hale and hearty. Some of
us have become so attached to our horses that we almost want to take
them home with us.
IX.
BEYROUT, May 17, 1895.
April 15 we landed on the sultan’s territory, and have been and are
still under Turkish rule. We expect to leave the 19th for Athens,
making several stops at important places along the coast.
Turkey is under the iron hand of Mohammedanism, being filled with
Mohammedans, Mussulmans, Bedouins, etc. There are only a few places
where Christianity gets much of a foothold. Beyrout is one of them;
but the great principle for the healing of the nations gains ground
hereabout as the doctor said about his patient,--“improved wonderfully,
but very slowly.”
We talked with the missionaries at Damascus. They said, if one of the
natives should change his religion from Mohammedanism to Christianity,
his life would not be worth a penny. The only thing he could do would
be to flee the country. Therefore, direct mission work is virtually cut
off; and all they can do is to work among the children, educating them
and instilling into their minds the principles of freedom.
There was an English lady at work there who was converted at the age of
twenty, a lady of culture and wealth, who has a brother in Parliament.
After her conversion she felt that she must give her all to the mission
work. She commenced her work in Damascus, and has already educated six
hundred children, and is still at the good work,--a consecrated life.
I believe the time is coming when Turkey will wheel into line, and
the principle that is grinding the people to the earth will give way
to those principles that elevate humanity. The American college here
is doing a good work. This college was endowed largely with American
capital. They have nearly two hundred and fifty students. The president
and professors are having a strong influence on Beyrout, which is a
growing city. When President Bliss came here thirty or more years ago,
there were forty thousand people here. Now there are over one hundred
thousand, and it is unquestionably the brightest town in Syria.
Tuesday, the 13th, our party took carriages, and drove to Dog River,
up the bay, seven and one-half miles. From this river comes the water
supply for the city. On our way we pass the old stone chapel where,
it is said, Saint George had the tussle with the dragon. The river is
named from what tradition says: that there was a stone dog out in the
sea, at the mouth of this river, that used to bark at the approach
of an enemy. Sensible dog, surely. Another tradition, and a more
sensible one, is that there was a peculiar-shaped rock on the cliff by
the sea, that, when the wind blew hard, made a howling noise, like a
dog. However, aside from all the dog business, it is a place of much
interest.
The new road that has been lately built up the bay has a beautiful
stone bridge across this river near its mouth as it empties into the
sea. The Lebanon Mountains at this point almost reach the blue waters
of the Mediterranean; and just before you reach the bridge, at your
right, you will notice the old Roman road, winding its way up the
mountain. Here at the commencement of this road is much of historical
interest.
Many tablets of large size are cut in the rocks of the mountain. The
first one you notice speaks of the history of Napoleon, and is the
latest one, being carved in 1860. This famous general came out to fight
the Turks, and one of his brave generals fell here. There are several
tablets of the Pharaohs, also one that is supposed to have been placed
there by Sennacherib, some seven hundred years before Christ. You
will remember that he lay siege to Jerusalem, and was at Samaria, and
had cut off all supplies, so there was a terrible famine, when Elijah
prophesied that in so many hours bread would be sold in the gates of
Samaria, etc. The angel of the Lord caused Sennacherib’s army to hear
the approaching enemy in great numbers, and fled in wild confusion; and
the lepers were the first ones to enter the camp and find plenty of
food.
This old Roman road was, no doubt, the one he took his army over; and
the tablet might have been placed here in memory of that event. As we
climbed up over this road, we thought of Mark Twain’s saying, that
you could tell where these Roman roads were by finding the places
where there were the most stones. Another of Mark’s neat sayings has
been buzzing in our ears the last three weeks,--that people here know
nothing about distances in miles. You ask them how far any place is,
they always say so many minutes or hours. Mark went into a tailor shop
to get a pair of trousers, and he told the man he wanted them so many
seconds around the waist and so many minutes down the leg. No doubt the
tailor knew just what he wanted.
Our ride to Dog River, the entire seven and one-half miles, was through
gardens and mulberry orchards. The trunks of the trees are allowed
to grow about seven feet tall, then they throw out shoots, in number
anywhere from fifteen to thirty on a tree, and are allowed to grow to
the length of some five feet. This growth is obtained in a few weeks,
and the shoots are full of tender leaves, which are cut off and fed to
the worms; and other sprouts grow in their places.
They raise a sort of bamboo or cane here that grows six or eight feet
high. The natives cut this, and build booths in the orchard, setting
it up on end, and throwing a covering over the top. Inside they build
shelves on which you can find the silkworm. They throw over them these
green mulberry leaves, and the ravenous fellows devour them. They are
fed three times during the day and twice in the night. They appear
to be very religious in their habits. They fast every week, eating
some five days, then fasting two days. In forty days they are through
with this world’s goods, and commence to make goods for other people,
forming the cocoons from which the beautiful silks are made that all
admire.
As you pass along the streets of Beyrout, about every third place
you look into you will see the hand loom running, weaving silk for
market. One occupation we have found here in Beyrout that we have not
seen anywhere else; that is, fortune-telling. You will see old duffers
sitting on the sidewalk, with a cloth some twenty inches square,
covered with fine sand; and beside them an ink-horn, pen, and paper.
They look a person over, and with three fingers dot the sand all over,
and will then write out your future history. But the future of the
Congregationalist party is unfolding as fast as we care to know it.
Therefore, we leave these old Arabs alone in their glory.
Many of the streets here are lined with beautiful trees. The pride
of China, looking much like the pepper-tree of California, is very
abundant. It has a heavier foliage, and many would prefer it to the
pepper-tree. Then we find another tree they call the macher, and
one has to see it in order to know its beauty. It is large, some
twenty-five feet high, and literally covered from top to bottom with a
blue or purple flower; and you will never pass one without admiration.
Wednesday, the 15th, we were all invited to a reception at the college
from 3 to 7 P.M. Being one and one-half miles away, carriages took us
there, and came for us at 7 P.M. The college buildings are located on
high ground away from the business part of the city, close to the blue
sea, so near seemingly that you could throw a stone into its waters.
They were hoping to give us a chance to view and admire one of their
beautiful sunsets; but, unfortunately, it was cloudy. The Lebanon
Mountains with their variegated green, and the blue waters of the
Mediterranean, with the expiring rays of day mingled with the shadows
of coming night, form a picture that will satisfy the eye of all lovers
of the beautiful.
We were shown through the college buildings, and were very much
interested. The museum was fine. They have a fine chapel, given by Mr.
Monroe, of New York, seating one thousand people. William E. Dodge in
his day did much for this institution. His sons are still interested.
They have a fine astronomical observatory, with fine telescope with
twelve-inch glass, manufactured by Warren & Swazey, of Cleveland, Ohio,
at a cost of over eight thousand dollars.
At five o’clock we went to the spread in large rooms, suitable for the
occasion. Tea, coffee, and lemonade, and such biscuits and cake we have
not looked upon or tasted since we left America. It was like attending
a church sociable. They have connected with this college a medical
department with a four years’ course of study, turning out thorough
physicians that have been successful in their vocation.
We found the president and professors, with their wives, daughters,
and sons, remarkably cordial and social; and we came away feeling
indebted to them for a royal good time, which we placed in the book of
our remembrance, and it will be one of the pleasantest episodes of the
Congregationalist tour.
This American mission, now Presbyterian, has been at work in Syria
since 1821. We have also visited the girls’ school, publishing house,
and church connected with this mission. Many eminent and scientific
men have been connected with this work, such as Eli Smith, Van Dyck,
Thompson, and others. They have a beautiful Sunday-school chapel,
built on the spot where Van Dyck translated the first Arabic Bible.
This chapel has its class-rooms with sliding glass doors, and would
do credit to any American city. In the church they have service every
Sunday at nine o’clock in English, and at eleven o’clock in Arabic. We
attended the English service. They have a fine organ, excellent choir,
having a fine soprano singer. The publishing house is doing a good
business, turning out many Bibles in Arabic and publishing a paper.
But the government annoys them in this matter. Nothing can be printed
in this line without first being sent to the censor. If there is
anything he does not like, he draws his pen through it; and that ends
the matter. The government is very jealous, and the mails are watched
closely. It is hard to get a newspaper in or out of Turkey. Every
telegram is examined by some government official. No cipher telegrams
can be sent from this country. However, this printing establishment has
pluck and forbearance, and are employing over fifty hands, doing some
fine work, and are waiting for the sun of righteousness and freedom to
arise and shine, which, they believe, is sure to crown their labors.
We find there is a section of country here, called Lebanon, that is
ruled by a Christian governor. He is appointed once in five years by
the sultan; but the European powers dictate in the matter, and will not
allow a Mohammedan to be appointed. This territory includes the range
of the Lebanon Mountains, also the Anti-Lebanon, and the valley lying
between. These mountains I have referred to in writing up Baalbec, and
spoke of the improvement of the people of that place, especially the
female portion.
I believe the Christian nations should and will erelong make a demand
on Turkey, and not allow the iron hand of superstition to grind the
people any longer. Beyrout in appearance is not old enough to be called
antique nor young enough to be giddy. Its early history has nothing
startling. It was at one time destroyed in consequence of its rebellion
against Antiochus VII., but afterwards was rebuilt by the Romans,
and named Augustus Felix after the Emperor Augustus, with a view to
pleasing his friends.
Herod Agrippa at one time embellished it with baths and theatres,
and caused combats of gladiators to be exhibited, etc. After the
destruction of Jerusalem, Titus caused numerous Jews to enter the lists
against each other. At one time it was held by the Druses. In 1840 it
was bombarded by an English fleet without much damage, and recaptured
for the Turks. But the days of war are passing by, yet there are more
swords than ploughshares in Syria to-day. But we expect to see the
transformation take place soon, when the people will rejoice.
X.
According to our itinerary we should have left Beyrout the 15th; but
the running of the steamers had lately been changed; and we were
obliged to wait until the 19th, giving us some eight days in Beyrout.
But the American consul and our college friends made it so pleasant for
us that the time passed very quickly.
Our party have avoided as far as possible travelling on the Sabbath.
Only once before since we left have we encroached on holy time. When
we left Port Saïd, we took steamer for Jaffa Sunday afternoon; and
Sunday, the 19th, our steamer was to leave Beyrout for Athens at twelve
o’clock. Rev. Mr. Horton of our party preached at nine in the morning
to the college boys and others. Text, “I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ.”
At 11.30 we were all on board the “Senegal,” a French steamer, four
hundred and twenty feet long and 600 horse-power engines. It was the
finest running boat we have yet had the privilege of travelling on.
She runs through the blue waters of the Mediterranean like a duck,
counting off about fifteen knots per hour. She is the personification
of neatness, and the cuisine is excellent; and, after having so much
Syrian and gum Arabic _table d’hôte_, we certainly enjoyed the French
cooking. Many of our Beyrout friends came on board to bid us farewell;
and, as we steamed out of the harbor, we could look back upon College
Hill, and see the waving of handkerchiefs, which we returned as the
last good-by.
We took a south-west course, and before sundown we were running along
near the island of Cyprus. This island, one hundred or more miles long,
is Turkish territory; but the English government has leased it, paying
ninety thousand pounds per year. This was done as a military strategy.
The English hold the north end of the Mediterranean with Gibraltar. The
south end is held by this island. They keep a part of their navy and
soldiers here, and can throw them very quickly into Egypt or anywhere
in the Turkish provinces.
Monday morning the sun rose clear, a fresh breeze from the west, and
the sea looked like watered silk, while our engines in their quiet way
are pushing us through the blue waters. Everybody seems happy. You can
have a cup of coffee from 7 to 9, and breakfast at 10, lunch at 1,
dinner at 6, and tea and crackers at 8.30. Retire when you please.
About three o’clock in the afternoon we were coasting along the
shore of Asia Minor. At our right the hills and mountains had thrust
themselves, as it were, down into the sea, forming a promontory. Back
in the distance could be seen the snow-capped mountains. The country
looked rugged; but no doubt there were many fertile valleys and plains
nestled among those rugged cliffs that stood ready to be the first to
greet all mariners and passengers going up and down the Mediterranean.
Tuesday we are to pass the island of Rhodes. Finding the morning clear
and bright with a smooth sea, about 9 A.M. we bear to the right,
and run up into a beautiful bay, with hills and elevations on both
sides of us, studded with trees and foliage of green. In some places
the channel is quite narrow, reminding us of different places on the
Hudson. About one hour’s sail, and we anchor at a modern-looking town
of Vathy, on the island of Samos. Our steamer put off and takes on
merchandise here, and will remain the rest of the day, giving us a
chance to go ashore. No backsheesh will be called for here; for, as
they say, every one is rich.
Samos is Turkish, but, like Lebanon, has a right to a Christian
governor, the European powers dictating in the matter; and we see no
mud houses and squalor that is seen in most of the Turkish provinces.
It is said that they make the finest wine in the world, that being the
main product. Our steamer is loading it by the quantity. They import
as it were nothing, but export much. Hence we can understand how they
grow wealthy. We take on three hundred and fifty casks that weigh
almost a ton to a cask. We have wandered upon the side of the mountain,
looked the people over, and talked with those that could talk English.
We see no veiled women, the dress of all being quite American; and we
are delighted with Vathy. The island of Samos, which is seventy miles
in circumference, the people pay the Turkish government two thousand
pounds a year for, and then run things as they please. A cannon was
fired at sundown, and the sweet notes of the bugle sounded, notifying
the people that twilight was soon to settle down upon them. There are
forty thousand people on the island.
At 7.30 the “Senegal” weighed anchor, and headed her prow down the
bay; and the crescent-shaped town that had climbed from the shore up
the mountain a mile or more threw out its lights, and our farewell look
at Vathy was a beautiful one, and will be long remembered.
Wednesday morning before we had left our cabin our steamer had cast
anchor; and the jabbering of the native boatmen was all about as we
hurried on deck, and found that we were in front of a town of some
twenty thousand inhabitants, being the city of Smyrna. We have been
sailing over some of the route that Paul went over when going up to
Jerusalem. (See Acts xx.) John, in Revelation, speaks of Smyrna as
having endured. (See Rev. ii. 8, 9.)
Smyrna stands next to Constantinople in commercial importance,
being second in the Turkish empire. It has a fine harbor, buildings
stretching along the bay for miles, then gradually rising back on the
hills that line the coast. On the top of the hill are the ruins of
an old stone castle or fort. South of this you will find the tomb of
Polycarp, the first martyred bishop. Smyrna was once a walled city. The
old ruined wall and stone aqueduct that formerly supplied the city with
water are among the things of interest that you will want to look over.
We find Smyrna remarkably neat for this country. Good water and plenty
of it, and good sewerage.
The bazaars are far above the average of those we have seen since
entering the Turkish territory. Many fine stores with many French
goods in them are to be found here. There are two things here that
are household words with us in America; that is, Smyrna rugs and figs.
We have seen stacks of the former, and have had fine figs at our
command. The American Board of Missions have a hold on the people here
in Smyrna. Rev. Mr. Bartlett, who at one time preached at Morrisville,
Vt., is at the head, with several helpers. The work is among the young.
We have visited the mission, and the missionaries have called on us on
board the “Senegal.”
The sultan of Turkey is strong in his Mohammedan belief; and he is
watching the influence that true Christianity is having on his people
with a jealous eye, and is bound to hold them with rods of iron.
Thursday morning we take small boats for the shore, and then take the
street-cars down the bay for a mile, where we find a special train for
Ephesus, some forty-eight miles. We take an easterly course, finding
our way through the hills that line the shores of the Mediterranean,
and soon begin to open out upon a broad plain. We first go through a
place called Paradise; but we enter it through a large burying-ground,
which seemed rather suggestive. But on we go; and the valley becomes
miles in width, covered with fig trees, some olive vineyards, etc. Off
at your right you will see trains of camels coming and returning to
and from Smyrna, loaded with grain and merchandise from and for the
interior. Farther on you will see large herds of sheep. From these come
the wool for the Smyrna rugs.
After one and one-half hours of enjoyable riding, the hills and
mountains that have guarded us on each side seemed to come together
close to us, and form a gateway through which we pass, coming into a
valley nearly surrounded by hills, where once was the great city of
Ephesus, referred to in Acts xviii. 19. To-day there are only two or
three hundred people. See what John says, Rev. ii. 4-10. But you can
ride miles and over hundreds of acres, and see old ruins. One thing
very peculiar is, as you go into the town, every old column and minaret
seems to be topped out with a stork, standing there in its loneliness.
The tip of the wings and tail is black, while the rest of the body is
white.
The modern name of this place is Ayassacook. I think it ought to be
Storkville. The nests of the storks are on these columns. A short
distance west of this little village is quite an elevation, on which
are the ruins of an old Roman castle. You ascend to that point, and
you get a view of the whole valley. Down at the base on the south side
are quite respectable ruins of an old mosque. A little farther on you
will see men at work excavating, and it proves to be the site of that
wonderful temple of Diana of the Ephesians.
They have decided to learn more of that building that Demetrius stirred
up such a commotion about among the people, regarding the shrines of
Diana, and are spending money in digging over the ruins. I have always
admired the town clerk they had at that time, and looked about for some
of his documents, but was not able to find them. His counsel, you will
remember, was not to be rash. If Paul had done anything wrong, they
had the law. He seemed to be level-headed. (See Acts xix. from 35th
verse.)
From this elevation, looking west about two miles distant, you see the
waters of the Mediterranean. Ephesus used to be a great seaport and
commercial city; but Smyrna has stolen its thunder, and all this kind
of traffic is at Smyrna to-day. Righteousness exalteth a nation, but
sin is a reproach to any people. The best thing we saw at Ephesus was a
comfortable little hotel where we went for lunch. The proprietor showed
us his register for 1878, where General U. S. Grant had booked his
name. He felt quite proud of having had so noted a guest.
3 P.M. found us back at Smyrna. At four we were steaming out of the
bay. Friday about noon we reached Thessalonica, a town of a hundred and
twenty thousand people, one-half Jews. It is beautiful for situation,
forming a crescent around the bay. A portion of the place rises up to
quite a height; yet there is much level or rolling land in and beyond
the city; and it has an extra fine farming country back of it. The
business is largely trade with the surrounding country. It has one
cotton mill, and they would like a woollen mill to make flannel. Wool,
cotton, and cereals are their main products. Our steamer remained at
Thessalonica until Saturday morning. The Congregational party went
ashore, and took carriages through the city, found many good buildings,
thought it a comparatively neat town. We saw some native Albanians.
They wore a white pleated skirt, very full, coming down about to the
knees, reminding me of ballet girls.
The dress of the people of the country we have been travelling through
the last six weeks has for its watchword “variety.” You see everything
that fashion is heir to, colors vying with the rainbow; and you can
be entertained at any time by standing on the corner of the street or
sitting on your hotel piazza, and watch the surging crowds as they pass
by.
Reaching Athens nearly finishes our travels on the Mediterranean,
having been on her waters in all some fifteen days. She has behaved
beautifully, though we understand she is capable of getting her back up
and making things lively; but she has lately been on her good behavior,
and passed us over her smooth waters, giving us a charming ride. At
times we were out of sight of land, but usually we could see the foot
of hills and mountains, sometimes towering so high as to hold the frost
of winters firmly in their grasp. We have enjoyed many an hour on deck,
watching the light shade to crimson, blue, gray, and green, changing
like the kaleidoscope,--the brilliant rays of morning, the soft and
beautiful shades of twilight. This and the pleasant chatting with those
who but three months ago were strangers to us, but now are cherished
friends,--all this environment rushes in upon us to fill the book of
memory with a richness that will be a joy to us as time rolls on.
We have been sailing through the archipelago, and have passed the
plains of Marathon, where the Athenians fought and won that terrible
battle with great odds against them with Darius the Persian. Saturday
night we were informed that we should reach the Piræus, which is the
port of Athens, at five o’clock Sunday morning. Wishing to get a view
of the harbor and city that was at one time the wonder of the world,
I decided to be on deck at four o’clock. The boat proved to be an
hour late. Therefore, I had a chance to enjoy the whole scene. When I
reached deck, the hills on each side were gathering down upon us; but
erelong we spied in the distance the Acropolis with its ragged top,
standing back from the shore, but showing us the location of Socrates’s
home. Soon on the shore we could see tall chimneys and a cluster of
buildings which proved to be the Piræus. The “Senegal” steamed up the
harbor, and anchored not very far from shore. Boatmen were on hand, and
men, women, and baggage were soon landed on _terra firma_; and we soon
found ourselves in some fine landaus, and were driven five miles over
as fine a road as is usually found in any country. The cars run up to
the city; but carriages seemed to be the order of the day, landing us
at the Grand Hotel, where we found breakfast ready and everything more
than satisfactory. Will give you a picture of Athens in my next letter.
LETTER FROM GREECE.
ATHENS, May 29, 1895.
The last port we left before reaching this place was on Turkish
territory. The streets were full of Turkish trousers, turbans, and the
fez, with all the brilliant colors that Persian dyes would make. But,
when we reached the Piræus, a place of three thousand nine hundred
people, which is the front door and vestibule of Athens, we found that
the baggy Turkish trousers had wonderfully diminished in size. The
brilliant colors had become sombre, the turbans and the fez had been
laid away in the archives of the past, and the American hat is touched
as you meet the people. For a little spice you would occasionally meet
an Albanian with his white pleated skirt coming down to within some
four inches of the knee, with tight leggings coming up as high as the
law will allow. The full Grecian sleeves and waist trimmed with gold
lace, the sleeves hanging down below the elbow, made a very jaunty
suit,--something that will cause you to leave all the rest of mankind,
and gaze till your curiosity is satisfied.
When we landed and met the people of this country, we noticed that
the gesticulating, exciting motions we had been accustomed to were
missing; but everything they said was Greek to us, and all we could
say was nonentenday. However, we prefer the Athenians to the Turks and
Syrians.
The Piræus is modern and full of thrift, has a fine harbor full of
merchant vessels, and is doing a large inland business. In ancient
times one of the old kings walled in the Piræus with Athens, running
the walls from the coast up around Athens, making the two places one,
although they are some four or five miles apart. As you take the
drive up the valley from the Piræus, you will see the relics of the
old walls. When you reach the city, you will find there is an old and
new Athens. The historical and beautiful Athens was once the hub of
the world. Art, science, literature, poetry, and sculpture were once
centred here; and, as you walk about the city, you are constantly being
reminded that the glory of these things has not entirely departed. From
the ruins of the old temples they are digging up the Corinthian, Doric,
and Ionic columns and architecture.
In the new and beautiful buildings this same style is being reproduced.
This city reminds us of Rome in many things. Rome has one advantage;
and that is an abundance of water, which Athens is not favored with.
Statuary abounds in both cities. You will see Plato, Socrates,
Demosthenes, and that class of men, sitting or standing in the public
places or connected with the public buildings of Athens.
If you are going to look over the city, the first thing to do is to
go with me to the Acropolis, the word meaning height of the city.
Nature held out a helping hand to the kings, and threw up a conical
hill some two hundred feet high, not round, but oblong. The top is of
lime-rock or granite and flat, with a surface of some two acres, being
precipitous except on the west side. The kings threw a wall around the
edge of the top of this elevation, and on the top built the temples.
The entrance on the west side was guarded by what is called Enneapzion
Pilasgikon, or nine gates. This place became the home of the Athenian
kings. Here they sat in judgment, and assembled their councils.
[Illustration: ACROPOLIS AT ATHENS.]
Later these were removed to the town, and the Acropolis devoted to the
gods. These temples were at one time destroyed by the Persians, and
were rebuilt in greater splendor than ever by Pericles. The Pantheon
was its pride, and when at its best, with its white marble and gold,
with the Erechtheion, was the glory of the city, and has gone into
history as one of the wonders of the world. Its present destruction,
with part of its temples standing and the ground strewn with broken
columns, is due to an officer of a besieging army firing a bomb into a
magazine of powder that was stored on the Acropolis.
As you stand there, looking down the bay, you see the Piræus. Beyond,
some thirty miles, you see Acrocorinthus, showing the location of
Corinth. As you turn and look south, at the foot of the hill is the
theatre of Bacchus. This was without a covering; and the stage was at
the bottom of the hill, while the seats were in amphitheatre style,
coming up to the upright walls of the Acropolis. The seats were of
stone. In the first rows were marble chairs for the great men of the
nation. In the centre was a marble platform in which sat the king.
The theatre would seat thirty thousand. At the right was a colonnade
built, where they could go between the acts and promenade at pleasure.
A little farther to the right was the Odeion, a small theatre built of
stone in the same way, only it was covered.
We are now looking over old Athens. Much of it has been demolished and
covered up, and has become a pasture for the goats. Looking west again
a few hundred rods, you will see the hill of the Muses. As you commence
to rise, the hill is a perpendicular rock. Into this rock there have
been made prison rooms, with three doors to enter. Here was where
Socrates was imprisoned, and ended his life by taking hemlock. On the
top of this elevation is the tomb of Philopappos. Looking north-west
only a short distance from the Acropolis is what was in ancient times
and is now called the Areopagus, or Hill of Mars. Paul went on to Mars’
Hill. (See Acts xvii.) A few of us went there. The day we arrived being
the Sabbath, the Rev. C. P. Mills, of Newburyport, read the last part
of that chapter. It seemed like hearing direct from the author.
A little west of Mars’ Hill is another elevation, with stone steps
leading up to it. Up those steps went Demosthenes, when he spoke to the
people of Athens. As you stand on the Acropolis and view the landscape
over, you can see in your mind’s eye those giants moving among the
people, with ideas in advance of their time, which have rung down
through the ages.
Turning around more to the north-west, looking down at the base of
the Acropolis is where the markets were located, and where it is
supposed Paul often went and proclaimed the Christian doctrine to the
Athenians. A little beyond is the temple or tomb of Theseus, which
is said to be the best preserved relic of old Athens, with its Ionic
columns all intact.
We have been gazing mostly at our feet. Let us now take a sweep around
the country. At the south some eight miles lies Mount Hymettus. From
this section came the famous honey of Hymettus. We have had it on
our table every day since we arrived. Around to the east is Mount
Pentelikon. From these two mountains come the beautiful marble that
formed the temples and buildings of old Athens, and the new city is
indebted to those mountains for the beauty that attracts the stranger’s
eye to-day. These mountains seem to encircle Athens, forming a
beautiful background, standing as it were like guardians of her welfare.
Just east of the town is Mount Lykabettos, a small, conical hill, about
six hundred feet high, on which is the chapel of St. George. This hill
is very symmetrical, with green foliage two-thirds the way up. The
other third is of lime-rock and granite, and with the white chapel on
top is one of the first things the stranger will notice as he comes
into the city. Before leaving the Acropolis, you will see beyond Mars’
Hill the hill of the Nymphs, on which is a beautiful observatory,
built by the Baron Sina, of Vienna. He also gave the city a beautiful
building called the Academy of Science, of which I will speak later.
From our standpoint we have a fine view of the new part of Athens. Away
to the east it is beginning to climb up to Mount Lykabettos, and north
it is stretching out across the plain with fine streets and avenues and
foliage of green, making a pretty picture. Here we find a great many
pepper-trees. Their beauty is known to every one that has ever seen
them. The streets are nearly all macadamized, and would be a paradise
for the cyclist. Let us now return to the Grand Hotel, standing on
the Place de la Constitution, where you find all the best hotels of
the city, as well as the king’s palace. Take a carriage, and go east
by the palace, then south ten minutes, and you come to the Stadium.
This is where in olden times they used to have their chariot and foot
races, the throwing of trays, etc. Nature did her part in forming this
institution and art the rest. It is a flat piece of ground of some two
acres, with an embankment around it some twenty feet high, in the form
of a horseshoe, being narrow at the heel, leaving a place to enter.
Most of this was natural, though the heel seemed to have been fashioned
by man.
This embankment formerly contained marble seats, and was capable of
seating fifty thousand people. In some of Athens’s misfortunes and
depressions these games were given up, and the marble carried away
and used for other purposes. But the city has decided to renew those
exhibitions, and are now putting in the marble seats. They believe it
will attract tourists and draw a large number of people to the city.
At the end opposite the entrance is an underground passage-way leading
to the outside of the embankment as well as outside the city. The
victors returned to the city the way they came in, crowned with laurels
while the vanquished went out through this tunnel, and never showed
their faces in the city again. The Stadium will not be completed until
next season. Therefore, we will retrace our steps, and take a drive
down the Boulevard de l’ Université, and return on the Rue du Stade,
two streets that run to and from the king’s palace, parallel with each
other, lined with pepper-trees.
Here you will find some of the finest buildings in Athens. One of the
first that will meet your eye is the Academy of Science, built by Baron
Sina, of Vienna. This is of Pentelic marble, with Ionic colonnades
and in classic Grecian style. As you enter to go up the broad marble
steps and walk, you can, if you choose, be introduced to Plato sitting
at your left and Socrates at your right. The marble and gold before
you will thrill you with admiration. The group in the pediment of the
central structure represents the birth of Athena. The gables are filled
with statuary. As you enter the main hall, high up on the walls are
beautiful paintings by Griepenkerl, of Vienna,--Prometheus lighting his
torch in the presence of Athena, Prometheus breathing life into man in
the presence of Athena, etc.
At the farther end of the hall stands Baron Sina. He must have been
a fine subject to have operated upon; but, aside from that, the
workmanship is exquisite, and will hold you spell-bound as you look
upon it. It was executed, as was much of the other statuary, by Drosos.
Beyond this building is the University of Athens, standing in its
beauty and wonderful capacity, with sixty professors and some two
thousand students.
It is organized on the German system, and is said to be doing fine
work. It has a library of one hundred thousand volumes. In this section
of the city is the museum, which it will be well for you to visit when
you have time. It abounds with statuary, and much of it was very fine.
Old Neptune attracted my attention as much as anything. He looked
as though he had just come up out of Plymouth Pond, with his locks
dripping, spear in his hand, and a big fish by his side.
We must hurry on, for it is time for lunch, but must call your
attention to the Palace Olion built by Dr. Schliemann and now occupied
by his widow, also on our return we might step into the House of
Parliament, which is a stately-looking building, though the inside
looks a little rusty.
Greece is poor, and has hard work to raise money enough to pay the
interest on her debt. Dr. Schliemann, whose residence I have just made
mention of, was the great explorer of the plains of Troy; and we expect
to see much that he found there in the museum at Constantinople. While
at Athens, we took a drive one afternoon to Eleusis, ten miles from
Athens, going over what is called the sacred way.
Eleusis is a small town, mostly Albanians living there. It was the home
of Æschylus, the earliest of the three great tragedians. When a little
way out of the city, we stopped, and looked over the old olive-tree
planted by Plato when he first began to teach at thirty years of age.
This would make it over fifteen hundred years old. It had an immense
hollow trunk, with a few limbs and sprouts growing, but it looked
toothless, shrivelled, and shorn of its beauty. It has been grazed and
barked by the wheel of time. The olive-tree has a wonderful tenacity
for life, and when the funeral obsequies will be held over it is
uncertain.
The ruins of the temple of mystery are at Eleusis, and in its day the
temple must have been attractive and of great capacity. No one was ever
allowed to enter or join the order that would divulge the tenets of the
organization. Of course, the ladies would not care to become members.
If you wish for a charming drive, go to Eleusis. The last part of the
drive as you go around the Bay of Eleusis is lovely. You are in plain
view of the Bay of Salamis, where Xerxes, with his fifteen hundred war
vessels, fought the Grecians, who had six hundred; and the old king had
the satisfaction of sitting up on the shoulder of the mountain that
comes down to the sea, and see his navy annihilated by the Grecians,
although he had great advantage in numbers.
We returned to our hotel, having had a fine drive of twenty miles. No
better roads can be found anywhere than about Athens. In the evening
Mr. Cummer, of Michigan, one of our party, and myself went out and
looked over the electric light station, and found Babcock boilers,
Westinghouse engines, and Edison system all doing good work. They have
commenced right by putting their wires all underground. Wages in this
city for common laborers are $2.50 per month and board. We are pleased
with Athens, but down goes my pen for this time.
Hope to be able to take you into Constantinople in a few days.
LETTER FROM CONSTANTINOPLE.
JUNE 5, 1895.
Wednesday, May 29, our steamer was to leave Athens, or the Bay of
Piræus, at 7 P.M. for Constantinople, a sail of forty-five hours. It
was an Austrian boat, the “Hungaria,” medium size, and not first-class.
The cabins were for four instead of two, and the boat was packed from
stem to stern. Therefore, the ladies and gentlemen were separated. I
at once selected my quartette, and had it understood if any one became
sonorous in the night he should be reported at once to the captain. We
had on board counts and countesses, and people that never heard of a
count, all nationalities mixed up together.
When we drove down from Athens and took small boats out to the steamer,
the heavy black clouds were hanging on the mountains, and looked as
though the breezes would be down upon us before morning.
However, in due time we were all packed away for a comfortable night;
but early in the morning we found ourselves in the Ægean Sea, with
high running billows, facing a gale. There were two men in our cabin
that prided themselves on being good sailors. They walked the deck and
dining-room of the “Normannia” every day when crossing the Atlantic;
but Thursday, the 30th, it was too windy to be on deck, and the
dining-room was anything but satisfactory. The bunks in the cabin
seemed to be the only place of comfort in the boat. The ladies’ cabins
were on deck, and they had a lively time. Some made their wills, others
turned over their letters of credit for safe keeping, etc. However, the
“Hungaria” kept on her course; and about 3 P.M. we left the boisterous
sea to play havoc with others, and we were in the Dardanelles, where we
found smoother waters, and the dining-room became a place of comfort,
and the deck was filled with people.
In the evening our engine broke down, and detained us some three hours.
It was lucky for us that it did not happen when on the sea.
The next morning we were passing the plains of Troy. Here was where the
Greeks besieged the city, but could not take it until they played a
shrewd game on the Trojans. They made an immense wooden horse, inside
of which were some Greeks, then feigned a retreat. The Trojans came
out to gather up what was left, and among other things drew into the
city the wooden horse. In the night out came the Greeks, and opened the
gates of the city. In came the Grecian army, and the thing was ended.
When we left the Dardanelles, we sailed into the Sea of Marmora, which
extends to the Bosphorus. About noon the Marmora had narrowed down, the
shore of Asia was on our right, and Europe on our left; and away in the
distance at the left could be seen Constantinople, stretching along up
the sea, domes and minarets by the hundred. The mosque Suleimon with
her six minarets, and the S. Sophia with her dome piercing the sky one
hundred and seventy-five feet, one hundred and eight feet at the base,
occupying some fifty thousand square feet, are objects that will set
the Yankee tongue in motion; and he wishes to know what those wonderful
buildings are and where are the people that use them, but you can
satisfy him by giving the name and promising to take him in later.
Constantinople lies on rolling land. In some places she goes up from
the sea and Bosphorus quite abruptly, giving a bold appearance. In
other places she retires in a more modest manner. As an Oriental town,
she has more than the usual amount of trees and foliage, which add to
her beauty.
On her right as we sail up the bay is Scutari. This is Asiatic Turkey.
On the hill away in the distance is located the girls’ college and
school belonging to the American Board, which is doing a grand work.
Before going ashore, we might as well go up the Bosphorus and Golden
Horn and the sweet waters of Europe. The Bosphorus connects the Sea of
Marmora with the Black Sea, being eighteen miles in length and from one
to three miles wide.
As you come up to the landing, you turn to the right, leaving the Sea
of Marmora. Entering this noted channel, take a small steamer, and you
will have a beautiful sail up and back, both banks being lined with
buildings. Perhaps in forty minutes at your right you will see the
girls’ college that I have referred to. Dr. Dunning preached to the
girls last Sabbath, much to their satisfaction; and it is evident that
they will give the doctor a call. Our party were all invited there
the 4th to an afternoon spread, resulting in a splendid time, full of
enjoyment.
The land on either side of this channel is picturesque of itself,
rising somewhat abruptly in places, but fertile to the top, scattered
over with Oriental trees and shrubbery. Among these are nestled the
houses, as well as many fine and imposing buildings. About as soon as
you turn into the Bosphorus at your left from the shore, up back as
far as you can see are the sultan’s grounds and palaces and beautiful
stables for his horses.
Upon this elevation, overlooking the waters of Marmora and the
Bosphorus, live the king of Turkey and almost all of his relatives; yet
I have seen many a humble American with a happier-looking face than
wears this king in all his regal splendor.
A little farther on, and you pass a little mosque that cannot be
surpassed for beauty. On this art and skill seemingly have spent their
energies. This is where the king goes to worship, although he has a
rule which he follows; that is, to worship once a year in every mosque
in the city.
Farther up the channel at your left, high up on the hill, standing
up boldly, is Robert College, putting in her hard knocks for truth,
righteousness, and good will to men; and she is, no doubt, an eyesore
to the sultan.
America is at fault in one thing. She ought to put the best man the
nation affords here as consul, a man level-headed, that will stand up
for righteousness and at the same time go for business. This she has
not done. The Turks are wily, polite, and treacherous. Our consul here,
they say, loses his head. I do not think he is anywhere up to the man
at Beyrout.
The German consul is doing much toward introducing German goods into
Turkey, but the people say they prefer American goods when they can get
them. I met a lady yesterday that has all her butter from Waterbury,
Vt., coming through in tubs in first-class condition.
But I am getting off my track; and, as we are now nearly at the upper
end of the Bosphorus, if you will look back down the coast, you will
see that Constantinople with its suburbs is a long city, being about
thirty miles in length, resting on this channel and the Sea of Marmora,
and containing about one million of people. This city is built largely
of wood, some of the buildings being six and seven stories high. While
there are many fine-looking buildings, yet a majority of them look
rusty, never having seen paint or whitewash. The earthquake, some ten
months or more ago, shook them up badly; and you can see many of the
scars to-day.
When we return to the landing and stand facing the city, we see
the course of the Bosphorus to the right and the Golden Horn going
to the left, up through the city. This is where the three waters
meet,--Marmora, Bosphorus, and Golden Horn.
Stamboul, the old part of Constantinople, lies to the left of the Horn
as you ascend its waters, also running down the shore of Marmora. This
part of the city was once the capital of the Greek empire.
Now, to go up the Golden Horn, we will take a kaik. There are said
to be thirty thousand of these little boats in the waters around
Constantinople. They are long and narrow, being twenty feet or more
in length, and look like an Indian canoe. They carry four people, who
are seated in the bottom of the boat, four oars with two men to handle
them, and they row for dear life; it is fun to go skipping over the
waters of the Golden Horn.
The Horn, where it enters the sea, is about one-half mile wide, and is
spanned by a pontoon bridge; but we get into our kaik just above this
bridge, and in a short time we go under another bridge, and pass some
ten or fifteen old war vessels, which are about all the navy Turkey
possesses.
The Horn is six miles long, and the boatmen will hustle you over its
waters in about fifty minutes. It grows narrow as you ascend, the last
two miles being the sweet waters of Europe, and is a place of great
beauty,--groves, villas, places of amusement, etc., all along its
banks,--and goes meandering its way to the end.
Friday is a gala-day. The Turkish ladies are out, and these waters are
literally covered with boats.
[Illustration: TURKISH LADIES.]
It is a great place for picnics. We saw one place where they were
having a jolly time roasting the whole carcass of a sheep; they had a
stick run through it lengthwise, and were turning it over a big fire of
coal, as you would turn a grindstone. I could see by their expression
that they had an eye for a good dinner.
Mutton is king in this country, and I will just call your attention to
the meat wagons that run through Constantinople; and, if you wish to go
into the business here, it will cost you but a trifle to rig up a cart.
Take two boards about three feet square, and hang them on a horse, one
each side, have some hooks put in on which to hang your roasts, steaks,
liver, chops, etc., and you are all right for business. Then you will
see many cheaper arrangements than that. A man takes on his shoulder a
pole some ten feet long. On this he hangs calves’ heads, pluck, lights,
and liver,--some things you might relish, but much that you would not.
This fellow travels about, furnishing any one that sees fit to buy.
A man gets full of these quaint things in travelling through these
Oriental towns.
I informed you not long ago that we had reached the climax on dogs at
Damascus, but I should have waited until we reached this place. The
first day we arrived we took carriages, and rode through the streets of
Constantinople one and a half hours. We counted seven hundred and fifty
dogs, and it was not much of a day for dogs, either. The dogs have
their own territory; and, if a dog gets off that on to another dog’s
ground, they give him Hail Columbia until he gets back again. Fifteen
in one pile is the largest cluster I have seen yet, but am prepared for
anything in the way of canines, and also intend to keep in that frame
of mind until I leave the Turkish empire.
The great Turkish annual festival “Bairam,” lasting some days,
commenced Monday, the 3d. Every well-to-do Mohammedan is expected to
buy a sheep at that time, take it home and kill it, and then divide up
the meat among the poor, so that every man shall have meat in his house
once a year. This is the most Christian thing, in my opinion, the Turks
are guilty of doing. The 2d of June we noticed the sheep were coming
into the city from all directions by the hundreds and thousands, and
were soon informed what was coming.
The sultan commences the slaughter by drawing the knife gently across
a sheep’s neck; and, as he was to be at a certain mosque or castle at
six o’clock that morning, we decided to take a ride before breakfast,
and were on the ground early, getting a good position. They had out
the military. The sultan rode in a carriage drawn by four horses, and
gold lace seemed to be abundant. The officers and horses in the Turkish
army appear to be covered with tinsel, while the soldiers were plain in
dress and appearance.
The sultan is fifty-six years old, and beginning to show iron-gray in
hair and whiskers. His boys rode in carriages behind the king, each one
having a carriage by himself. One of them, the youngest, attracted our
attention as being a fine little fellow.
When we arrived here, and were fairly settled in our hotel, we were
called on by Dr. Herrick, a brother of Dr. L. H. Cobb’s wife, who has
been a missionary here and at Massavan in the interior many years. We
accepted an invitation from him to go and spend Saturday night at his
house, which we enjoyed exceedingly, learning much of the work of the
missionaries, also of the people.
Two of his native teachers at Massavan were arrested some eighteen
months ago, accused of plotting against the government, and were
sentenced to be hung; but the doctor succeeded in getting another
hearing, and cleared them by fleeing the country.
Jealousy and ignorance have no limit among the Turks. A man telegraphed
to Germany for a pulley to run so many revolutions, and he was arrested
at once because the word “revolution” was in the telegram.
All letters going out of the country, if directed to editors, are
examined, and destroyed if not satisfactory. So we have sent all
letters, if possible, through the British post-office. Not a scrap of
anything can be printed, not even an auction notice, without first
going before the censor.
We have visited the Seven Towers that stands at the south-west part of
the city, close by the Sea of Marmora. This is a large enclosure with a
high wall and towers on the corners, some two hundred feet high. This
place at one time was occupied by the janizaries, and many a king lost
his head here. There is a small open court inside, called the place of
heads. Seven thousand were beheaded at one time, and the heads piled
in here. The blood ran in trenches out of the castle. On one side are
prison rooms or dungeons. At one time Lord Byron occupied one of them.
Near these rooms is what is called the well of blood, where they threw
their slaughtered victims. This well is connected by a channel with the
Sea of Marmora, so everything went out into sea.
We came to this point on a railroad tram skirting along the seashore,
and saw much of the old walls of the city Stamboul. Gala and Pera form
the main part of the present Constantinople. In Galata, upon high
ground, stands the Galata Tower, one hundred and fifty feet high, and
is a grand place to get a view of the city. In the Middle Ages it
was called the Tower of Christ or of the Cross. It is now used as a
fire-signal station, using flags in the day-time, lanterns by night.
The alarm of fire is given by firing a cannon seven times, and then
signal the location from the tower.
The dress of the people has changed here within a few years. While
one-half or more are Mohammedans, yet you see but little Turkish dress
excepting the fez. The rest of the dress is largely American.
They have here what they call esnap. We should call them labor
organizations. Each craft has an order of its own, though in so large
a city there will be many branches of the same craft. It is said there
are two hundred and fifteen registered orders.
They have their patron god-father, and celebrate once a year to his
honor. For instance, Adam is patron to the bakers, Eve to the bath
women, Abel to the shepherds, Cain to the grave-diggers, Noah to the
ship-builders, etc.
We visited the tombs of the kings, where were buried two sultans and
several of their wives. One of the sultans killed himself with the
shears, or else the attendants did the work for him. There remains to
this day an uncertainty in the matter.
The kings’ tombs are covered with wrought Persian silk, ornamented
with gold lace and mother of pearl, and will dazzle your eyes to look
at them. The wives’ tombs are covered, but not with such splendor. The
building was handsome from the word go; and the dome, though small, was
exquisitely beautiful.
The mosque S. Sophia, located in Stamboul, is the pride of the
Mohammedans of Constantinople. I have already given you an idea of
its size; and, as you go inside, you will be impressed with its
architectural beauty. It is the third church that has stood on this
ground, two having been destroyed. The first was built by Constantine
the Great, and was dedicated to Divine Wisdom. The second was built
and dedicated to Theodosius. The present one was built by Justinian,
costing over one million sterling, and became the centre of the great
transactions of state, the emperor’s nuptials being solemnized there,
and many great and important events.
There are some eight different varieties of marble used in its
construction. Troas, Athens, Ephesus, and many other places contributed
to the rearing of this edifice. It was turned into a mosque when the
Turks conquered Constantinople.
[Illustration: MOSQUE OF THE SULTAN.]
Monday, the 3d, we were all invited to the Bible House to lunch and
met many of the missionaries and teachers from the colleges, and had
a charming time. Dr. Herrick did the honors at the table in giving
us a welcome, and calling out the speakers after the viands were
served. Handsome is that handsome does. Taking that as a basis,
Constantinople will have to look long and wide to find as handsome
a man as the doctor. Dr. Dunning was happy in his remarks, as well as
several other ministers of our party. Dr. Riggs, sixty-three years on
the field, and still at the good work, was with us, occupying the head
of the table. We also had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Bliss, one of
the veterans.
Never was there a time when the hearts and hands of the missionaries in
Turkey should be stayed up by the American people more than to-day. The
cloud of uncertainty is hanging over them. Satan never yields an inch
of ground without a struggle. The Turks are drawing the lines closer
every year, and the cloud is liable to burst at any time.
The sultan keeps an army in Constantinople of one hundred and fifty
thousand.
It being the week of the great Bairam festival, the steamer was not to
go up the Danube until Saturday; and, instead of waiting so long, we
decided to take a train Wednesday night, and go by rail to Vienna. So
we bid good-by to Constantinople June 5 at 7 P.M.
FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO PARIS.
JUNE 5, 1895.
We bade good-by to Constantinople at 5 P.M. Wednesday. Thursday morn
at six we were called upon in our berth for our passports, as we had
finished up the territory of Turkey and were ready to enter Bulgaria.
We soon satisfied the Bulgarians that we were all right.
From appearances we had a mutual admiration for each other, as we had
seen Turks enough; and the Bulgarians, no doubt, had more love for
an American than a Turk, as it is only a few years since they freed
themselves from Turkish rule by hard-fought battles.
Our engine was soon speeding its way up a beautiful valley, coursing
along a beautiful river, nearly as large as the Connecticut. We seemed
to breathe a freer atmosphere than in the land we had just left. The
towns we passed through looked thrifty, the people happy.
Bulgaria was filled with Greek Christians, and the Turks oppressed them
so heavily that they rebelled; and the Russians came in, and helped
them gain their freedom.
We could see away ahead in the distance the Balkan Mountains. Over
these mountains came the Russians, who with the Bulgarians fought the
Turks the whole length of this beautiful valley we are travelling over,
driving them clear to Constantinople. As we passed along, we saw a
great many mounds, some twenty-five feet diameter at the base, ten
or more feet high, and learned on inquiry they were places where the
soldiers were buried. Hence all the forenoon we were passing over a
battlefield.
About noon we were in plain view of the mountains over which our big
engine was to take us. These mountains seemed to be heavily wooded. The
river was beginning to run rapidly; and we found the people were using
the water power to run saw-mills, cutting out lumber by the train-load.
Our engine tugged and puffed away vigorously, and at times we moved
slowly; but on we went, and about three o’clock were on top of the
mountain, where we accelerated our speed, and went plunging down the
other side, and at six o’clock we had crossed Bulgaria, and were
ready to enter Servia, and of course had to pull out our passports
again. Here we had our dinner; and everything was looked over by a
set of red-tape fellows, that appeared to have a great weight of
responsibility upon themselves. But we took things easily, and soon
after our train started we were tucked away in our berth for a good
night’s rest and sleep, waking early the next morning as we were going
into a lovely city, embowered in trees and shrubbery and flowers,
located where she could dip her feet into the beautiful Danube; and it
proved to be the city of Belgrade, the largest city in Servia. Here is
located the king’s palace.
In passing through Bulgaria, we became much interested in the people.
They seemed industrious, mostly in agricultural pursuits, raising corn
and large quantities of winter rye.
Bulgaria is in about the same latitude as Vermont, though I think the
crops are more forward than they are in Vermont. The corn was being
hoed, and the rye will be ready to harvest in about two weeks.
Here the ladies--for they looked like ladies--worked in the field. They
had on their red skirts and Zouave jackets, some of them gayly trimmed,
and looked jaunty. We saw but few men in the field. They seemed to do
the ploughing, the hoeing being done by the women.
It is a question whether women’s rights do not prevail here, and the
men are at home making the bread and taking care of the children;
but the women and girls looked fresh and healthy, and swung the hoe
vigorously.
At every station you see armed police. They wear white coats and caps,
blue trousers with gilt buttons and trimmings; and we called them
handsome.
We enjoyed our ride through Bulgaria exceedingly. At Belgrade we had to
be overhauled again by the government dignitaries, as we were to cross
the Danube and enter Hungary and Austria. Hand-bags and everything
had to go to the custom-house. Cigars, whiskey, and dynamite seemed
to be the articles they were looking for, one about as destructive as
the other. The Congregational party had no trouble with anything but
the former, and not heavily loaded with that; but, after one hour of
unrolling of red tape and haggling away, our train was crossing the
Danube over a beautiful, substantial bridge. Passing through Servia in
the night, we shall not be able to trumpet forth her glory, but will
merely say it is a good country to sleep in, and Belgrade, her capital,
looked fine.
After we crossed the Danube, we swept out into a level plain, and soon
were lost in a fertile prairie, beautiful land so far as the eye could
reach, looking like the West, only it was dotted over with trees that
added to its beauty.
In this country the women take the same part in the field as in
Bulgaria; and we see but little improvement in farming tools, although
we saw them ploughing with ploughs that had mould boards turning the
furrow, and two small wheels running in front. On these ploughs there
were two and three yoke of oxen, even in light ploughing.
The oxen are the same breed that we saw at Rome,--white, with very
large horns running up into the air.
About noon we were running through a country of clay soil and much
standing water, and evidently the people had studied gooseology; for no
Vermonter ever saw such flocks of geese. One hundred in a flock was no
surprise, and we were leaving one flock and running into another for
hours.
At one o’clock our train pulled into a spacious depot, and we found
ourselves in an American-looking city of five hundred thousand people,
called Budapest, lying on the Danube, occupying both sides of the
river. We took carriages for the hotel, where we remained one day.
I hardly know how to hold up the town before you that you may get a
glimpse of its beauty. The place is but little known, but is rapidly
coming to the front, and, if not already, will soon be the finest city
in Europe. We come into it sweeping over the Peakos valley. As you look
upon the city and beyond, you see the advance guard or picket line of
the mighty Alps coming gracefully down to the Danube. On one of these
shoulders or arms of the mountain the king has his palace, with his
terraced gardens in front, of walks, trees, shrubbery, and flowers,
coming down to the Danube, and in the sunlight cast their reflections
in its waters, and become the crowning point of a beautiful picture.
The Danube goes sweeping down through the city. One side is level,
where the great marts of business have gathered, throwing up massive
buildings, not as high as those of Chicago, but from five to eight
stories, beautiful in structure, with statuary and ornamentation that
the most artistic eye cannot criticise.
Her streets are broad, and look as if they had been swept and
garnished. All over her borders are commons and small parks, beautiful
with art as well as nature. On the other side of the river, as I said
before, are those graceful elevations coming down from the Alps. Upon
these has climbed the residence part of Budapest, or at least from
appearance the wealthy have gone up there, building fine residences,
giving a fine background to the lovely city.
Budapest has considerable manufacturing. It is said to have a model
flouring mill, from which the mills of Minneapolis were patterned. She
has the finest suspension bridge in the world, spanning the Danube,
costing two and a quarter millions. Near the bridge in the square are
mounted two splendid statues of distinguished Hungarians. One is Count
Stephen Szechenyi, who stands there resting his eye upon two of his
great creations: one is the suspension bridge, and the other is the
Hungarian Academy of Science. The other statue is Francis Deak, the
sage of the country, sitting on a magnificent pedestal. This great
statesman succeeded in composing the contentions that had lasted years
between Hungary and Austria, and turning them into relations of firm
friendship, and has proved a great blessing to both nations.
From the suspension bridge, along the river bank for a long distance,
is what is called the Corso. Here runs a beautiful street that
carriages are not allowed on in the evening. This is lined with gardens
and small parks; and, being on the banks of the river, it is charming.
Here you must take a stroll in the evening, and see the brave men and
fair women, as well as children, of Budapest. Nowhere in our travels
have we seen a people apparently so happy. In going through this Corso,
you will see thousands of ladies and gentlemen, also children, in gay
attire, some walking, others sitting at their little tables, partaking
of some light viands with water or lemonade, chatting merrily. We
saw but very little beer or wine, nothing in the way of drunkenness
or rowdyism. The people seem to spend much time out doors; and we
have seen very few sickly, puny-looking people. God’s fresh air and
exercise seem to be a panacea for all ills.
Budapest, we understand, has fine schools, museums, art galleries,
etc., which we did not have time to visit.
Saturday, June 9, we took our train for Vienna, a run of five hours.
Our travel through Austria has been a succession of surprises, finding
it a beautiful farming country and scenery unsurpassed anywhere. In
travelling through this country, some of our party have had their faces
badly twisted by trying to pronounce the names of the stations and
towns as we come along, such as Tzaribrab, Szabadka, Kiskoros, etc.;
but it probably will not be lasting, and our friends will have no
trouble in picking us out when we return.
We reached Vienna Saturday evening, and are quartered at the Hotel
Oesterreichischen, and shall remain here until Wednesday morning, when
we leave for Paris, being eight hundred and fifty miles. The run is
made in twenty-four hours.
Vienna has some sixteen hundred thousand people, and is near the
Danube. There are two small tributaries of the Danube that run through
the city.
Vienna is known the world over, and it will be foolish for me to weary
you in taking you through the city or pointing out things that you
are familiar with. You will remember her bread at the World’s Fair at
Philadelphia in 1876, and we find she still retains the art. So we
are enjoying that part of the _table d’hôte_. Vienna at one time was
a walled city, that was when her borders were narrow to what they
are now; but the city grew, and they built outside, and the wall
became of little use and was taken away, and the ground was made into
a boulevard, and is called the Ringstrasse. It is a circular street
now in the centre of the city, and to go around it will make a trip
of some three miles. It is one hundred and eighty-five feet wide.
There are three drive-ways for carriages; but each side of the centre
one are walks for the people, some forty feet wide, lined each side
with trees. These with generous sidewalks next to the buildings make
a great thoroughfare, and nearly all of the public buildings and fine
residences are on this boulevard. You will find crowds moving on the
Ringstrasse at all times of day and night.
One thing new we saw at Budapest, also here in Vienna, is the way they
drive many of their single teams. The small wagons, instead of having
shafts or thills, as we do in America, have a pole; and the horse is
hitched in on the left-hand side as you sit in the wagon. The first one
I saw a lady was driving. I came very near going to her and offering
her my sympathies. I thought she had been unfortunate, and one of her
horses had broken his neck or something else, and she was getting home
with one horse the best she could; but she was too lively for me. I
was not able to reach her, and was saved the embarrassment; and I soon
learned that that was the way they were all driving, but I have no
desire to take the fashion home to America.
Sunday, the 9th, we went to the St. Stephen Church. It is the largest
cathedral in Austria, tower and spire four hundred and fifty feet
high. We heard beautiful music: organ, trumpets, cymbals, and fine
voices would take you almost from your feet. We saw them swing the
golden censer, burning incense. The rest of it was all Dutch to me.
In one of the chancels of the church was a sarcophagus of Frederic III.
We also took a drive to the king’s summer palace on the outskirts of
the city, and went through all its gaudy and elegant rooms, one room
only twenty-five feet square costing five hundred thousand dollars,
finished in mosaic. The grounds and gardens, which were immense in
size, were more enjoyable than the house. Here the king entertains his
royal guests that come from other countries.
We also visited the Rathhaus, what we would call a town house. It was
a building of great capacity, elegant in finish. In it is one hall
three hundred feet long, sixty feet wide, with a colonnade and balcony
fifteen feet wide, running the whole length, two rows of chandeliers
the length of the hall. This is where they have their banquets and
public gatherings. In this building the business of the nation is
transacted. The building was dedicated in 1883, the two hundredth
anniversary of the nation’s freedom from the Turks. It cost six
millions, and is an attractive ornament to Vienna.
I will call your attention to the Capuchin church. Under this church
are large vaults, subterranean passages. Here you will find the royal
families of Spain and Austria sleeping their last sleep. There are one
hundred and ten already placed there. Many of the sealed caskets are
kept covered with flowers. Maximilian’s casket was pointed out to us.
It used to be the custom in olden times, when a lady of the royal
family was to be married, to place her here the night before the
nuptials. One lady died the next morning from the shock this ordeal
gave her.
A few minutes’ walk from here we will step into the Augustinian
church, and see the beautiful marble statues standing at the tomb of
Archduchess Maria Christina, expressing sorrow and benevolence. This
was Canova’s masterpiece.
As you go around the Ringstrasse, you will notice a large square
or park, with fountains, trees, and flowers. Each side there are
imposing-looking buildings. One is the museum, the other is the
building of natural history. Though you are going to Paris and London
and will have a chance to see great things in this line, yet it will
pay you to drop in for a half-day at each place.
The mineral collection in the natural history building is said to be
the finest in the world. We saw an opal valued at one million. They
have collections from all over the world. Saw Vermont granite and
marble, Michigan copper, etc.
The parks and gardens of Vienna are delightful. You must be sure and go
to the Prater. This is a vast territory just outside the city, shaded
with trees and shrubbery, and is fitted up for all kinds of amusement,
restaurants and gardens where you can go and get coffee, lemonade,
beer, and anything to eat you desire, bands of music playing in all
directions. In the evenings thousands upon thousands of people are
gathered here for an hour of enjoyment; and, if you wish to see Vienna
in all its life and gayety, then go to the Prater.
As you pass through the streets of Vienna, you will be interested in
the express wagons. They are drawn by large dogs, usually men or boys
with them, but occasionally women are seen doing the trucking of the
city. Wednesday, the 12th, at 9 A.M., our train, the Oriental express
for Paris, left the station with all hands on board, and went sweeping
out into the country of hills and vales, embowered with trees and
shrubbery, among which nestled cottages and villas; and occasionally
upon some hill-top would be seen a castle, standing like some monarch,
owning all he could survey. Farther on comes the broad field, with the
tiller of the soil holding possession.
About 2 P.M. we crossed the line into Germany, where we could see the
forest that had been planted in rows, beautiful spruces, tall, straight
as arrows, fields of clover and grain,--these views constantly changing.
At four o’clock for miles we went sweeping around the outskirts of
Munich, covering acres of plain and level country, dotted over with
tall chimneys, and from appearance was a real manufacturing city.
Iron, cotton, and leather goods are made here, but the greatest of all
productions is her beer. Munich beer is known everywhere, and goes out
of Munich every day by the train-loads.
Leaving this place, we soon plunged in among the mountains, following
down a meandering river for miles.
We had all day long been drinking in the beautiful scenery, and were
thankful that scenery was not intoxicating. If it had been, twilight
would have found us in bad condition. We looked about for a Joshua to
stay the sun, that we might have daylight all the way to Paris; but not
a Joshua to be found. So Night spread her mantle over the scene; and
we went to our berths, rising at four the next morning, finding the
country as beautiful as ever, though the farming lands from appearance
not as fertile as Austria and Germany.
We are now in France, and begin to enter the suburbs of Paris. It is
evident that Germany and France pay great attention to forestry. The
canals, roads, and everything else seem to be lined with trees, besides
acres of forests that have been sown or planted.
We shall remain here some six days, and then push on to London.
Our itinerary is about ended for this side of the Atlantic, and I drop
my pen here.
Now I have taken you across the Atlantic, through the Mediterranean,
Ægean, and Marmora Seas, have been with you on the Nile, traveled over
land with you through Italy, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Greece, Turkey,
Bulgaria, Servia, Hungary, Austria, Germany, and into France, and you
ought to be able now to travel alone; for I must hurry away to old
Vermont, and to a people that I expect have never looked as handsome to
me as they will when I next meet them.
If you get into trouble, write me; and I will send you my passport,
and perhaps my letter of credit, although it will probably look thin
when I reach Springfield, but there will probably be enough left to
help you out. I shall be glad to see you when you return, and we will
talk over the sights, scenes, and wonders of the last four months.
PARIS TO SCOTLAND.
When I bade you good-by at Paris June 12, the Oriental party had their
faces turned toward New England, and the Vermonters had dreams of the
Green Mountain State. Our itinerary was taking us through to New York
without any stay of proceedings anywhere. Though our tickets would hold
good through the season, the party decided to break up in the beautiful
city of Paris, and each one take the reins in his own hands.
Our managers went to their homes, and we were left as free as the
breezes of the mountains. For one, I was anxious to see old Scotland,
and look over the places where our grandfathers and grandmothers are
sleeping, and shake hands with our cousins, see the country where the
pure Scotch blood flows freely in the veins of the people,--an article
that is current not only in New England, but the world over.
I shall be only too happy to take you to Edinburgh, Glasgow, and
through the Trossachs, getting the most we can out of Scotland in the
time allowed us. If I do this, I might as well pick up the thread where
I dropped it June 12. I shall not detain you very long either in Paris
or London.
In Paris the first proper thing to do is to take a small boat up the
Seine, stopping at the Eiffel Tower, where you can ascend up into the
heavens either in a balloon or go up in the elevator of the tower. The
balloon has been started recently as an opposition scheme. It has one
advantage in this way, you can go as high as you please. It is held by
a rope; and, when you get all of the ethereal regions you care for,
they pull it down. However, when you are up in these institutions,
Paris is spread out before you like a map; and, if you have taken a
guide with you, which is the best thing to do, he will point out all
the wonderful things of the city, and, when you return to your hotel,
you start out more intelligently than you could without this panoramic
view.
As you come up from the boat near the obelisk I referred to in my
Egyptian letter, on the Rue Champs Elysées, the finest street or avenue
probably in Paris, looking in one direction you see the Tuileries, the
other way the Royal Arch of Napoleon.
This arch is a wonderful structure, standing on a slight elevation.
The great warrior had the streets laid out so that they radiated from
this point like the spokes of a wheel, in order that he might plant
his cannon at this arch, and sweep the city in all directions. But
the requiem has been chanted over this great general; and he is now
sleeping in Hôtel des Invalides, a place you will want to visit before
leaving the city. The sun, as it shines through the pale blue and
yellow glass, gives a peculiar icy appearance, and will prove to be a
picture unlike anything you ever saw before. Here you will see some of
the cannon he captured, as well as the flags of other nations that he
gathered in his hard-fought battles. On the pavements around his tomb
are inscribed the names of the battles he won.
Leading from the altar above to the crypt beneath are flights of steps,
at the foot of which is a bronze door with two caryatides in bronze,
by Durot, one bearing a sceptre and crown, and the other a globe. Over
this door are words taken from Napoleon’s will, which your guide will
interpret in English, as follows: “I desire that my ashes shall repose
on the banks of the Seine, among the French people I have loved so
much.”
When we consider the thousands that lost their lives to gratify his
pleasure and ambition, it sounds rather ironical. Hôtel de Ville
is another place that will fill your eyes with admiration. The old
building that stood there was commenced in 1533, and was nearly a
century in building. It was destroyed in 1871. The Communists had taken
possession of it, using it for several months as their headquarters,
and had stored in the building large quantities of explosive material.
When they were attacked by the soldiers, who shot every one that came
out, some foolhardy fellow inside touched off the explosives, which
destroyed the building and all there was in it.
In this condition it remained many years, but was finally rebuilt in
greater splendor than the original.
The Champs Elysées is very broad, and up the avenue, past the Royal
Arch, the people drive to the two-thousand-acre park; and afternoons
it is full of people going and coming to that resort. Much of the way
of this great avenue it is virtually a park. On either side and in the
groves are built theatres and anything and everything for amusement,
lighted in the evening with thousands of globe lights. A stroll up and
back the Champs Elysées from 8 till 11 P.M. will feed the curiosity of
any Yankee that may happen to be in Paris. One evening will be enjoyed
at the opera, where you will see the finest opera building in the world.
Place de la Concorde is one of the finest squares in Europe, and
carries with it much of historical interest. It was once called Place
de la Révolution. Here the guillotine was erected. Louis XVI. lost his
head here, also his queen, Marie Antoinette, Madame Roland, Charlotte
Corday, as well as hundreds of the nobility.
Some morning early, say eight o’clock,--for that is early in
Paris,--you had better visit Les Halles, the great market, situated at
the rear of the Rue St. Honoré. This is a wonderful sight, and gives
you some idea of the gastronomical powers of the French people, or, in
other words, the amount it takes to feed a large city. Le Panthéon, or
Sainte Geneviève, is situated on the hill Sainte Geneviève. This church
was founded in 1764 by Louis XIV., in accordance with a vow made by him
when ill at Metz.
It is built in the form of a Greek cross, and somewhat resembles the
Pantheon at Rome. In the vaults of this church have been placed the
bones of such men as Voltaire, Victor Hugo, and others of renown.
Visiting these old churches in Paris can be carried to any extent one
may wish; but most people get full of these things about the second
day, and prefer some other diet.
You can step into a meat market where they handle nothing but
horseflesh, and see the nice, fat quarters hanging there; also the
place where they make sausages out of mule meat.
We can visit the place where they erect the scaffold where they behead
the criminals. This is done on one of the main streets of Paris, free
to all. Paris has fine streets, which are kept beautifully clean. No
city, in my opinion, is ahead of them in that respect.
The people of France are groaning under taxation. Their debt is some
four thousand million dollars. They have half a million standing army,
another half million that drill a part of the time, also a million
men enrolled that they can call out on short notice. The priests
draw their money out of the state treasury. Sugar retails at twelve
cents per pound, and every pound that is made has to pay a duty to
the government. The idea of making beet sugar was first conceived in
France. It is said that necessity is the mother of invention.
At the time of the great naval battle of Trafalgar, although Nelson
lost his life, the English were victorious on the seas, crushing
out the navy of France. They had been having their sugar from the
islands. This supply was then cut off; and the people of France became
desperate, and were even on the verge of riots. Napoleon called
together his greatest chemists, and told them they must devise some way
to manufacture sugar; and it resulted in extracting the sweet from the
beet.
While in Paris, we visited the Sèvres china works. Their wares are
noted the world over. In their ware-rooms you will see large, elegant
pictures painted on porcelain and then fired or burned, which is a very
difficult thing to accomplish.
We have feasted our eyes as we have traveled through the Old World
on the works of the old masters, and seemingly nothing has outdone
the wonderful work of art accomplished by this company. The process
of manufacturing their wares was shown to us, and was exceedingly
interesting.
Before we leave for London, we will take a day and visit Versailles.
This can be done by railroad train or tramway; but the most enjoyable
way, if there is a company of you, is to charter a tallyho. It is a
ten-mile drive through charming scenery; and, with the jokes, puns, and
conundrums that accompany such a drive, it is a thing of anticipation
and delight.
Versailles is a place of some fifty thousand inhabitants. The main
thing to visit is the palace and grounds, with immense fountains that
play only the first Sunday in each month, except on special occasions.
Louis XIII. built the first part of the palace, and Louis XIV. added
to the original, and employed Le Brun to decorate the entire structure
inside and Lenôtre to design and lay out the grounds, expending some
forty million pounds.
This palace was used as the seat of the monarchy until 1789, when the
Assembly Nationale overthrew the government, giving a free hand to the
Revolutionists, who sacked the palace and ended its days as a royal
abode. Later Louis Philippe spent six hundred thousand pounds in
putting it in repair. He redecorated and converted it into a picture
gallery and museum; and, as a whole, it is to-day one of the finest
attractions of Paris. While there, you will want to visit the building
where the royal carriages are kept, those that have become _passé_.
There you will see the most expensive carriage ever built by any king
or monarch, which it takes some eight horses to draw. It never was used
but three times. Versailles is the first place to visit outside of
Paris.
Fontainebleau, thirty-four miles south-west from the city, comes next.
There you will find another palace and a wonderful forest of over
forty thousand acres. The cheapest and best way to get an idea of the
city of Paris or London is to hire a guide, and then take to the tops
of the tramways and buses, fare two pennies. By making a few changes,
you can go in all directions, and your guide, if a good one, will be
continually calling your attention to things of interest; and it also
gives you an idea of the broad acres these cities have flung their arms
around and appropriated to their use.
Having spent several days here in Paris, we might as well pack our
grips, and go through to London. This is about ten hours’ ride. You
can go by the way of Dover, where it takes but little over an hour to
cross the English Channel, which is a terror to all seasick people, or
you can go by the way of Newhaven, and be on the channel some three
hours. But, in looking over our tickets, I find we are to go by the way
of Newhaven. You can leave at 9 A.M. or 9 P.M., the latter taking you
through in the night, getting breakfast the next morning in London. The
former way you take in the whole thing by daylight, excepting on the
channel. There, if you are a good sailor, you are all right. Otherwise
you are more likely to let out than take in. However, it makes but
little difference. After the ten hours you will find yourself in the
largest city in the world; and you will find no place more convenient
and central than Hôtel Metropole, near Trafalgar Square, where stands
the statue of Nelson on a very high pedestal.
Around this square are clustered some of the best hotels in London.
The Metropole accommodates seven hundred people, and is always full.
Here every man must have a silk hat; and the ladies in the evening are
walking fashion plates, with a sprinkling of diamonds thrown in.
It will interest you to watch the head porter, a large, fine-looking
fellow, dressed in uniform, from 8.30 to 9.30, as he sends the
gentlemen and ladies away from the hotel, mostly to the theatres. The
hansoms and four-wheelers, as they call them, fill the square. The
porter has a whistle,--one whistle for hansom, two for a four-wheeler.
The drivers respond instantly to the call. You tell the porter what you
want, and you will be packed into your carriage and sent on your way to
your destination before you have time to think about it. He told me he
had frequently shipped three hundred in an hour.
I think the best thing to do is to take our trip into Scotland, and on
our return finish up London the last thing before sailing for New York.
The train we want leaves Euston Station at 10 A.M., due in Edinburgh
at 6.30, a run of four hundred and forty miles in eight and one-half
hours. It makes four stops, besides stopping twenty minutes for lunch
at Preston. So any school-boy can figure out about how fast we have got
to run. When the steam is on, the word “hustle” does not express it. We
just went flying, and had to average about one mile a minute; and some
of the way they claim to run seventy miles an hour.
We soon left London at our backs, passing through Bletchley, Rugby,
Stafford, Crewe, Preston, etc., going through the north of England.
This is an old country and under thorough cultivation, with its old
English oaks, beeches, etc., and much fine scenery.
After two hours’ run, we find we are passing over and among the great
coal fields; and we begin to see at our right and left the tall
chimneys rolling out their dense volumes of smoke, and we soon learn
that the great marts of manufacturing have located in this region.
Off at our right is Manchester with her great cotton mills. Beyond
are Huddersfield and Leeds, turning out the fine woollens. In another
direction is Birmingham, with her great iron-works. Farther on we see
at our left a beautiful valley; and we learn on inquiry that it is
Windermere, or what is called the English Lakes, and is a fine resort
of much gayety and a great place for coaching.
At 4.30 we found ourselves at Carlisle. When we leave there, we enter
Scotland, and the picture changes. We find ourselves in a farming
country, and everything looks charming: the small white cottages, neat
and tidy, and from appearance love reigns within; even the dogs in the
front yard smile when we go by, the chickens flap their wings for joy;
the cattle in the field are sleek and lazy, either clipping the green
grass or chewing their cuds with composure; the horses are willing and
strong, as they put their shoulders into the collars, and draw in the
large loads of grain and new-mown hay.
You will be delighted with the laddies and lassies of Scotland. The
latter can grace the parlor or perform the duties of the kitchen, and,
if necessity demands, can help their brothers in the field. It will do
you good to look at them. The rose and peach have left their impress
on their cheeks. The lass is one of those artless, light-hearted girls
that think it is no harm to be kissed when coming through the rye; and,
if I were one of the laddies, I should miss no opportunity in walking
through the rye with her.
The laddie soldiers are very attractive, with their caps with drooping
plumage, white waists and leggings and the Highland plaid skirt, and a
sash of the same material coming around under the left arm and up on to
the right shoulder, where it is fastened, then hanging down about to
the knee. This, with ruddy, fresh, healthy countenance, makes a fine
picture; and, if I were an artist, and wished to copy manhood in its
fulness, I would certainly go to Scotland.
But you see I have been loitering by the way, and have said many
things that might have been deferred until we reached Edinburgh, where
we arrived about on time, and took carriages for the Royal Hotel on
Princes Street, which is one of the main streets of the city and the
hotel one of the best.
Here we found Carnegie, who is the great iron king of America, and
wife. He has done much for Edinburgh. We saw one public building into
which he had put two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Some think Edinburgh the finest city in Europe. While I do not care to
risk my judgment or reputation in the matter, yet I am willing to say
that we were delighted with the place and its suburbs.
Lord Lytton has said that it is a divine pleasure to admire, and that
there are but few cities in Europe where the faculties of admiration
can be so cultivated as in the grand old capital of Scotland. Whether
it be antiquarian, romantic, picturesque, or scholarly, whatever is
sought for, the tourist will find plenty of food in Edinburgh.
The city of itself has a population of two hundred and thirty-six
thousand. While it is a seaport town, it seems to be dropped down upon
the Highlands of Scotland, and has its ups and downs, and is very
picturesque.
The first thing to attract your attention as you enter the city is
the castle. This is a summit of rock some four hundred feet above the
level of the sea. The top has a space of seven acres, and is a military
fortress. It reminds one of the Acropolis of Athens. This place was
used as a stronghold long before the authentic records of Scottish
history; but none of the present buildings, with the exception of the
little Norman chapel of Queen Margaret, date farther back than the
fifteenth century. At one time it had a tower on it sixty feet high,
called the tower of David II., erected about the year 1370.
In 1573 the gallant Kirkcaldy held the fortress for Queen Mary when it
was attacked by Sir William Drury, who had five batteries playing on
one point nine days, and David’s tower was battered completely down, so
that egress or ingress was impossible; and after thirty-three days the
gallant Kirkcaldy surrendered, and had to be let down, he and his men,
with ropes.
To-day the Highland laddies have their quarters there.
Calton Hill, farther north on a line with Prince Street, with an
elevation of three hundred and forty feet above the sea, is another
place of interest. On this is Dugald Stewart’s monument and the royal
observatory.
Here your curiosity will be excited when you see twelve stone columns
forming the end of a building, looking like the Parthenon at Athens.
You will ask some of the Scotch boys or girls that are playing about
there the name of the structure, and they will say it is Edinburgh
Folly. On further investigation we found that George IV. in 1822
commenced a monument to the Scotchmen that had fallen in the land and
sea battles of Napoleon’s time, and erected these twelve pillars at a
cost of one thousand pounds each, when the funds gave out; and there
it stands as a curiosity of the nineteenth century.
The finest thing on this elevation is Nelson’s monument, in circular
form, one hundred and two feet high, with winding staircase inside, and
battlemented summit, erected in 1815. On the flag-staff a huge ball is
rigged, and is moved by mechanism adjusted to the observatory, that
drops daily at one o’clock, Greenwich time, and communicates with and
discharges instantaneously a gun at the castle. You can pay threepence,
and go to the top of this monument, if you wish.
Scotland owes much to Sir Walter Scott. His Highland chief and other
works have thrown a beautiful picture of Scotland broadcast to the
world, and have attracted many tourists to the land so much admired by
the great author.
In front of the Royal Hotel stands a beautiful monument, about two
hundred feet high, costing some seventy-five thousand dollars, its
cruciform, Gothic spire supported on four early English arches, which
serve as a canopy for the marble statue of Sir Walter as he sits there
upon a granite pedestal, with a book in his hand, and beside him lies
his favorite dog, Maida. In the niches above the several arches are a
great number of statuettes of leading characters of Scott’s works, and
there are many medallion likenesses of national poets.
I think the symmetry and beauty of this monument are wonderful. Every
time I saw it I stopped and admired its beauty. The architect was
a self-taught genius by the name of George Meikle Kemp, who was
accidentally drowned in the Union Canal before this work was fully
completed.
A little west of this monument is a bronze statue of Adam Black, Lord
Provost and M.P. for the city, who was publisher of the Encyclopædia
Britannica.
East, there are many other statues, those of Livingstone, Christopher
North, Allan Ramsay, and Professor Simpson. These are all located in
Princes Street Gardens, a beautiful place for a ramble at twilight,
which at this season of the year in Edinburgh comes at a late hour. The
chickens here retire about ten in the evening; and the mother can begin
to scratch for them as early as three in the morning, if she wishes to
do so. There are virtually only some four hours of darkness. In the
winter this is reversed. Daylight is dealt out in small doses, darkness
in quantity. The only objection to Edinburgh is that it is too near
Norway, but I suppose our Scotch cousins think that what they lose in
winter they make up in the summer.
Burns, the poet, spent much of his time here. It was also the home of
John Knox, the great reformer. In the old part of the city you will see
the house where he wrote the History of the Reformation. This is where
he escaped the bullet of an assassin when it struck the candlestick
before him, while he was sitting in meditation. It is said to be one
of the oldest houses in the city. Knox died in this house in 1572, age
sixty-seven. You will be shown a balcony where he used to stand and
address the people. Near by the balcony are inscribed in Roman letters
the first and second great commandments.
In Parliament Square you will see a small surface bronze stone in the
ground, with the initials J. K. Here, Nov. 26, 1572, was placed all
that was mortal of John Knox. The nobles and citizens were gathered
there at that time, and Regent Morton pronounced over him a memorable
eulogium, in which he used these words: “Here will rest the ashes
of him who never feared the face of any man.” Courage is one of the
characteristics of the Scotch people. John Knox no doubt had his share.
The Mercat Cross, in one of the squares of Edinburgh, with its history,
is worthy of your attention. It is as old as Edinburgh itself. It was
destroyed in 1577; but in 1885, through the efforts of Mr. Gladstone,
it was restored, and around it to-day are clustered the memories of
perilous days. Here the citizens celebrated the accessions of all the
Jameses, the blue blanket was unfurled, at the sound of the bells of
St. Giles the burghers gathered to fight the English or to defend the
town from hostile inroads. It was the place where the crier stood to
proclaim the laws or sale of goods. James VI. and Charles I. endeavored
here to impose laws which Scotland refused to obey. Charles II.
followed in the same foolish way, and many victims of the persecuting
times came to a martyr’s crown at the cross.
The Holyrood Palace and chapel and Parliament Building are places of
interest; but one of the largest buildings in Scotland is the Museum of
Art and Science, four hundred feet long, two hundred feet wide, ninety
feet high, lighted in the evening by horizontal rods in the roof,
studded with gas-burners. The number of jets is five thousand.
You, no doubt, would enjoy staying longer in Edinburgh; but the wheels
of time are moving rapidly, and we will take the train to-morrow
morning for Melrose. About one and a half hours’ ride will give us a
delightful day.
SCOTLAND TO AMERICA.
Melrose is one of the delightful spots of Scotland; for I believe that
Sir Walter Scott worshipped the god of nature, and his heart was full
when he revelled in the beautiful scenery around Melrose. On arrival we
will visit Melrose Abbey first. This is the ruin of an old church or
convent.
They will show you the stone on which Sir Walter used to sit in
meditation. Many of the rich and beautiful thoughts found in his works
might have originated here.
After looking over this historical relic, we will engage a jolly
Scotchman with his carriage to drive us to Abbotsford, some two and
one-half miles, the home of Sir Walter Scott. Here you leave your
carriage in the main road, take a pathway that leads down into a
beautiful dell embowered with trees, and you soon see the home of
Scott; and you will decide that the architect had a mind of his own,
and has reared a building with some oddities, yet which, with its
towers, angles, and surroundings, is a thing of beauty.
A little west of the house is the meandering brook with its silver
stream as it goes rippling and singing its way onward. It is said that
this little stream gave this noted Scotchman a great deal of enjoyment
as he listened to its music wafted by the breeze to his library and
study rooms where he spent so much of his time.
The place is owned by Sir Walter Scott’s granddaughter, and is kept
just as he left it, and must be yielding her a good return, as every
one that enters pays an English shilling for the privilege. You will
find a very pleasant young lady there that will show you through the
house, giving all the information wished for; and it is a perfect
museum of itself, filled with relics presented to the great author by
kings, princes, and nobles.
Here you can look over his library of twenty thousand volumes, here
you see his chair and desk just as he left them, also the last suit of
clothes he wore, with his white stove-pipe hat, Scotch plaid trowsers,
shoes, say No. 8, but with more breadth than length.
The swords and implements of war seem to have a large share in the
exhibition. Whether this was Sir Walter’s taste or the taste of his
friends that presented them, I am not able to say, but am of the
impression that the rod and gun, with his favorite dog, Maida, and in
company with his Highland chief, Rob Roy, spending his leisure hours
among the hills and valleys of Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond, is where
Sir Walter found his enjoyment and recreation, and relief from hours
of toil. Not only that, but in these simple amusements he found the
inspiration that is seen in his works that we are enjoying to-day.
After drinking our fill of the scenes and surroundings of a lifetime,
we will retrace our steps to the place where we left our carriage, and
return to Melrose. We then drive to Dryburgh, some four miles, where
rest the ashes of Sir Walter Scott and family.
After three-quarters of an hour’s drive you will halt on the bank of a
small river, where you find a suspension foot-bridge. You cross this,
turn to your right, and a walk of twenty minutes, and you will find
yourself in a meandering pathway, with the beautiful trees of Scotland
all about you. You will say at once that this is a retreat for lovers;
and you soon come to the ruins of an old abbey, in which is the tomb of
Sir Walter and others.
The keeper of the place will tell you that Scott used to spend hours in
this retreat with his wife, when she was his best girl; and no doubt it
became one of the dearest spots on earth to him, and was probably the
reason why his earth’s journey was ended here.
As the sun seems to be dropping down in the western sky, we will return
to Melrose and take the train for Edinburgh, where we spend the night,
and take an early start in the morning, June 28, for Glasgow, going
through the Trossachs. The train leaves about eight in the morning. So
we have time for breakfast, and bid our cousins at Edinburgh good-by,
and receive a cordial invitation to come again, to which our hearts say
Yea and Amen.
Our train is soon sweeping us through the beautiful scenery of
Scotland. We go through Stirling, a place of beauty, with its ruined
castle, where we might spend a day with profit; but time is limited,
and we pass on to where we leave the train at Callander, taking coaches
for Loch Katrine, some half-mile or more this side of the boat landing.
We stop at the charming Hotel Trossachs for lunch; and, if you have
the time, it will pay you to stop over a day.
Good fishing is near at hand, the scenery delightful, the hotel the
personification of neatness, the cuisine excellent. But our coach is
ready, and we bid good-by to one of the loveliest spots in Scotland,
and go to the landing, where we find “Rob Roy” waiting for us.
This is a nice little skipper, and will carry some seventy-five
persons, if necessary, and is a much better boat in fair than foul
weather. But we were fortunate, it being one of June’s bright, charming
days; and all went merry as a marriage bell.
Probably Loch Katrine and her surroundings were never more charming in
appearance than this day that we saw her. If you are expecting to see
high and rugged mountains along her shores, you will be disappointed.
The highest elevation is only little more than a thousand feet.
This, to a New Englander, is rather a tame affair; but, like Lake
George, the scenery fills your soul with admiration. The shores are not
abrupt, but gradually recede, with foliage to the top of the hills;
and in many places the slopes are so gradual that the Highlanders have
their dwellings near the shore, with their fields and flocks climbing
back upon the mountains.
There seems to be a great variety of trees and foliage upon these
mountains, which give different shades of coloring. This, as you go
sailing down the lake, passing Ellen Isle and Silver Strand, will give
you a charming picture. “Rob Roy” is about one and one-half hours in
reaching Stronach Lochar, near the lower end of the lake, where we find
coaches to take us to Inversnaid, where we take a larger steamer on the
waters of Loch Lomond.
Loch Katrine was the little sister with her coquettish beauty. Loch
Lomond is more stately and dignified, but comely in appearance. At
Inversnaid there is a fine hotel; but we had satisfied the inner man
at the Hotel Trossachs. Therefore, we spent our time in admiring the
beauties of Inversnaid and surroundings, which is near the upper end of
Loch Lomond.
In some forty-five minutes after our arrival by coach we find ourselves
on board of a very comfortable steamer, with her prow headed down the
lake, commencing a three hours’ ride for the lower end of the lake,
where we take a car-ride of twenty miles to Glasgow.
As we pursued our journey, we found the lake somewhat narrow, giving
us beautiful scenery on our right; and on our left we passed Rob Roy’s
cave, also his prison where he held his victims until he secured ransom
money. You will see at our left where the city of Glasgow has tunnelled
under the mountains, and taken their supply of water, a distance of
thirty-four miles, costing millions.
Queen Victoria attended the opening of this great enterprise. Farther
on Ben Lomond looms up to a height of over three thousand feet, and
is the Mount Washington of that region. Birch, ash, oak, and in many
places the heather cover the sides of the hills and mountains with
charming effect. As we pass on the last hour of our sail, Loch Lomond
is much wider and filled with beautiful islands. About four o’clock we
tie up at the pier, and take a train for Glasgow, reaching our hotel at
half-past five.
June 27, Thursday morning, we start out to investigate Glasgow, a
city of five hundred thousand inhabitants, with suburbs of nearly
another half million. The Clyde passes through the city. This river is
the promoter of Glasgow, or, if you prefer, you can call Glasgow the
offspring of the Clyde.
It is the great ship-building port of the world. The river is not wide,
but is deep, so they can slide in the largest boats that plough the
ocean, and steam them down into the Atlantic. We will now step on board
a small steamer that plies up and down the Clyde, and go down the river
some five miles. On your right and left the staging poles and masts
look like a forest; and, when you hear the clanging of hammers and
chisels upon the heavy steel plates as they are being fitted, you will
decide at once that the man that can make the most noise is the best
fellow, and that every man’s effort is crowned with success.
We pass the yard where they have been and are building yachts that have
competed, and are to continue to compete, for the national cup. We also
pass the abattoir where they butcher nothing but American cattle.
Before they turned the prow of the steamer up the river, they pointed
out to us the town of Paisley, where the famous Paisley shawls
originated; but the day of that article has gone by, and they are
making other goods now.
But what will surprise you in taking this trip is the hundreds of
acres of ship-yards on the banks of the Clyde. This has brought in an
immense amount of money, and made Glasgow what she is to-day, the great
manufacturing city of Scotland.
The sewerage of the city empties into the Clyde, and the impurities
are making them trouble; and they are devising ways to take care of it
elsewhere, which will be a blessing to those that are on or near the
river.
We enjoyed our stay in Glasgow, though it was a short one, leaving in
the afternoon for Manchester, where we spent the night, going through
to London the next day, feeling that our trip to Scotland was a decided
success.
Saturday night found us nicely located and everything in running order
at the Hotel Metropole in London.
Sunday we go to hear Joseph Parker preach his twenty-fifth anniversary
sermon, also to Westminster Abbey to hear Canon Farrar. There it was
Flower Sunday, and children took part in the services, and everything
was in keeping with the flowery kingdom. Monday morning we will put in
an appearance there again, as you will find it an immense building and
a perfect burying-ground of itself; and whoever preaches there preaches
to the dead and the living,--which class is the best listeners is a
question.
The crypt is full of dead men’s bones; and the main part is the last
resting-place of many heroes, princes, and nobles. You will see many
inscriptions speaking of their honors and gallant deeds. One of the
honored ones fell at Ticonderoga. Perhaps Ethan Allen could give us the
circumstances. Westminster Abbey is old and honored, and is one of the
great attractions of London.
From here you had better go to St. Paul’s cathedral. There is the last
resting-place of the late General Gordon. Many a noted man in silent
manner will speak to you there, and you will be interested in hunting
for the heroes of olden times.
The architecture of this building is grand. You can revel in churches
in London any length of time if your taste runs that way.
But you may weary of these things; and we will take up temporal and
material things, and go to the Bank of England, the great financial
institution of London. There you will see them dropping the bags of
gold into strong boxes, strapped with iron, then lifted with blocks
and pulleys to a platform, where they are shipped to the four corners
of the earth. They informed us that the week before they had shipped
twenty-five million to France. They seem to be doing business on a
large scale. You will see every day late in the afternoon one hundred
or more soldiers marching from the barracks to the bank, and they
remain in and on top of the building through the night.
From here you can go to the Thames. This will give you an idea of the
manufacturing of London, which is located on the banks of this river.
Then go some eight miles up the Thames, and you reach Hampton Court,
where you can visit the palace with all its fine paintings, and see
the regal splendor of the kings, see one of the largest grape-vines in
the world with its twenty-five hundred bunches of grapes to tempt your
palate, also a wistaria of about the same proportion.
From there take a carriage, and drive through the two-thousand-acre
park, strewn with English oaks and beeches and a variety of trees with
beautiful deer seen in all directions. In going through this park, you
will visit the mammoth conservatories, with tropical plants and flowers
in great variety.
You can return to your hotel by rail or boat, as you may choose. You
are probably weary, as all sight-seers usually are when the shades of
eve close in upon them.
We shall want to go to the Tower and prison, and see the relics and
implements of execution and torture of olden times.
In that section of London you see the beef-eaters, with their pleated
bell-topped hats and peculiar dress. These are the old retired
soldiers, and it is considered quite an honor for the queen to send one
of these men with you on any expedition.
[Illustration: ONE OF “THE BEEF EATERS.”]
The British Museum is extensive, filled with sketches, Indian relics,
etc. The historical take the lead.
But if you wish for the beautiful in painting and sculpture,
productions of the great artists, then go to Kensington Museum,
which is some twenty minutes from Trafalgar Square by bus or hansom.
The latter are charming to ride in. They all have rubber tires; and
you hear nothing but the horses’ feet as they go clipping over the
pavement, which is usually of excellent quality.
A trip to Windsor Castle will be in order. A drive to Hyde Park,
and take in on our way Prince Albert’s monument, which was, from
appearance, patterned after Sir Walter Scott’s at Edinburgh, perhaps
a little more elaborate, but of the same general appearance. Prince
Albert sitting there in his royal apparel and gold lace is more
attractive than Scott with his Highland plaid trousers and coat to
match. But Sir Walter may live as long in the hearts of the people as
the other man.
Next let us look at the London Bridge across the Thames, where the poet
stood at midnight, when the clock was striking the hour, and the moon
shone over the city, etc.
The Houses of Parliament were erected in 1840 from a plan by Sir
Charles Barry, which was selected from ninety-seven sent in for
competition. Of Gothic style, it covers an area of eight acres,
contains eleven courts, one hundred staircases, and eleven hundred
apartments, and cost £3,000,000. It is situated on the Thames, and the
basement is said to be lower than the river at high water. The Clock
Tower, at the north end next to Westminster Bridge, is three hundred
and eighteen feet high, the Middle Tower is three hundred feet high,
and the south-west, Victoria Tower, the largest of the three, through
which the queen enters when opening Parliament, attains a height of
three hundred and forty feet. This building carries an immense clock,
with faces twenty-three feet in diameter. It takes five hours to wind
up the striking parts. A light in the Clock Tower by night and the
royal standard flying on Victoria Tower by day indicate that Parliament
is in session.
In the Clock Tower is one of the largest bells known, which is called
“Big Ben.” It weighs thirteen tons, and can be heard all over London.
The inside of this building is rich and imposing, and one can have the
privilege of passing through it on Saturdays from ten to four. You
enter on the west side, by a door adjacent to Victoria Tower. Policemen
are stationed in every room; and they hurry you through, merely giving
a chance for a glimpse at the regal splendor as you pass along. As
you enter, you pass through the Norman Porch, or hall. Turning to
the right, you enter the queen’s robing-room, forty-five feet long,
beautifully decorated, and containing beautiful paintings, the state
chair, etc., which will stir the admiration of every one. Next comes
the Royal or Victoria Gallery, one hundred and ten feet long. Through
this room the queen proceeds as she goes from the robing-room in solemn
procession to the House of Peers to open Parliament.
On leaving this gallery, you enter the prince’s chamber, a smaller
apartment, but of simple magnificence, being decorated with dark wood,
for which the Middle Ages were famous.
Here the stained-glass windows exhibit the rose, thistle, and shamrock,
emblems of England, Scotland, and Ireland. From here you can enter the
House of Peers, which is ninety feet by forty-five, and forty-five feet
high. The floor is largely occupied with long leather-covered benches,
sufficient to seat five hundred and fifty members.
In this room is the throne, covered with its richly gilded canopy.
Here also you will see twelve stained-glass windows, containing the
portraits of the kings and queens of England since the Conquest. At
night the house is lighted from outside through these windows.
This room, with its throne and paraphernalia for the kings, queens, and
lords of the nation, is superior to the House of Commons, which you
will pass through before leaving the building. The central hall will
attract your attention. It is in the centre of the building, octagonal
in shape, sixty feet in diameter, and seventy-five feet high, and
richly decorated. Here you will see Venetian mosaics, and glass mosaic
finishing, and fittings in keeping with the nation it represents.
From here you can go to Westminster Hall, where you can leave the
building with a feeling that you have walked the floor that has been
trodden by mental giants, lords, kings, and queens of the land.
We have enjoyed our trip to Scotland and our stay in London much more
than we expected, but our friends in Vermont are waiting our arrival;
and we will take passage on the “Lahn” July 3, leaving London at 10
A.M., with a run of two hours to Southampton, where we are put on to a
lighter and run out into the bay, and transferred to our steamer of the
German Lloyd line, not as large as the “Normannia,” that took us out on
our tour, but a boat we like quite as well.
The English Channel was remarkably civil to us, letting us out on to
the broad ocean without stirring up any bad blood or anything else
unpleasant.
The next day, the Fourth, was, of course, a memorable day to every
American; and, from the general appearance of the passengers, many were
from that land.
While our captain and crew were Germans, they were remarkably civil and
mindful of the Americans.
In the morning we found the dining-room decorated with the stars and
stripes. The band through the day played the national airs. At 6 P.M.
we had a course dinner. On the menu was illuminated ice cream, U.S.A.
Near the close of the feast the curtains were drawn at the windows,
the electric lights were turned off, and in came the stewards and the
waiters holding a receptacle or platter up as high as their heads,
with an inverted glass dish on it with a light inside. Around this
sat little Dutchmen, Yankees, and Japanese made of ice-cream, holding
little flags of the stars and stripes, little umbrellas, etc. The
marching was up and down, back and forth among the tables, until the
waiters had covered the whole hall. Of course, we Americans saw the
point, and cheered them lustily. It was certainly a unique celebration
to every one.
We had only two days of rough sailing, with racks on the tables; half
day and night of fog, when we had the pleasure of listening to the
music of the fog-horn; encountered no icebergs, and only one whale.
He saluted us by throwing water some twenty feet into the air, and
then went on his way, and we did ours. On the whole, it was a very
satisfactory passage, sailing July 3, reaching quarantine in the
evening of the 10th, landing early in the morning of the 11th, being
five months, less two days, from the time the “Normannia” swung from
her pier and headed her prow down North River, with the Oriental party
on board with high expectations, which have been more than realized,
being watched over by a kind Providence, giving a joyful experience and
safe return to our native heath, stronger, truer Americans than ever.
USEFUL HINTS FOR TRAVELLERS.
Those who have never crossed the ocean and travelled in foreign
countries would, no doubt, like a short chapter with a few suggestions
as to preparations for the journey and what to do after you weigh
anchor. First as to luggage and clothing: unless you have friends and
acquaintances among the royal blood in the old country, you had better
leave laces, frills, and fine jewelry at home; for you will probably
not have a chance to go on dress parade until you return to America.
Take strong, serviceable clothing, with easy fitting and strong
foot-gear.
You should prepare for the heat and cold. This can be done largely
with underclothing, and this will enable you to bring your baggage
into a small compass and light weight. Fifty-six pounds in the old
country is about the amount that goes through without extra charge.
Then the custom-house officers are always suspicious of large trunks,
and will give the owners of such more or less annoyance. A fair amount
of linen is desirable, though there is no trouble in getting washing
done in almost any city you may stop in. Celluloid collars and cuffs
for gentlemen are a fine thing, as they can be cleaned at any time, and
will reduce the washing bill.
Follow the above, and you will have no trouble in arranging your
wardrobe. I am indebted to a lady for the following suggestions in
regard to articles most needed. A serge or similar dress of wool is
suitable for ocean and ordinary travel, the skirt made of short walking
length. The present fashion of skirt and fancy waists seems to supply
a variety of costumes for all seasons without increasing the baggage
much, one black silk answering where more dress is required; and, with
a few fresh laces and ribbons, one can make quite a smart appearance.
For the donkey riding in Egypt, a mohair dress would be desirable, as
it easily sheds dust. If partly worn, it will be good enough. A common
divided skirt or equestrian tights or both are quite desirable; a straw
hat, with a sash (called a puggery) of light silk or lawn fastened
around it, falling in the back to protect the back of the head and neck
from the sun; also a large, light gauze veil to protect the face from
the dust and flies.
A white parasol or small umbrella lined with green is almost a
necessity, and can be easily carried while riding. Carry several pairs
of partly worn kid gloves. This costume will be equally suitable for
horseback riding through Palestine, with the addition of a water-proof
and rubbers. The white parasol is a good protection from the sudden
showers which often greet one in passing over the mountains of Lebanon.
Do not fail to have an unlined flannel wrapper, which can be worn over
the ordinary night clothing. It is necessary for the camping, and will
be found very comfortable in most hotels and on the steamers.
The common crocheted slippers should also be a part of the wardrobe;
for throughout Syria the floors are mostly of stone or cement, and
sometimes there are no rugs.
A yard of common white lace will be found very desirable as a screen
from flies, etc., if one would take a nap in comfort on the Nile.
The great bugbear is seasickness, which is the oldest and yet the
most modern disease we know anything about. Its symptoms, effects,
and results are probably the same now as they were when Jonah shipped
from Jaffa to Tarshish. Jonah was not a sailor; and, when the ocean
became so rough, he no doubt was seasick in his bunk, and did not care
a picayune whether they threw him overboard or not. It seems that the
whale that swallowed him caught the disease, and threw up Jonah after
three days,--the only case of contagion we know of. The stomach seems
to be the troublesome member; and, if you could leave it at home or put
it in your trunk, there would be but little trouble in crossing the
ocean.
The number of remedies is great; and, whichever one you take, you are
liable to wish you had taken the other. Drinking mineral water with
lemon in it a few days before sailing is said to be a preventive.
Put a capsicum plaster on the pit of the stomach the day you sail.
This I believe to be as good a remedy as can be found. Bromide of
soda is another panacea, and no doubt a good one. You had better take
with you a rubber hot-water bottle and a small medicine chest, with
laxatives, astringents, remedies for colds and fever attacks,--these
not especially for the ocean voyage, but to have with you in all your
travels. However, the best remedy is, take care of yourself, and make
up your mind that you are not going to be sick, certainly so when on
the ocean. Stay on deck, pay but little attention to the sea, whether
smooth or rough, be indifferent as possible to that part of your
surroundings; and, if you have to feed the fishes, go to the leeward
side of the boat, and not to the windward. If you find the waves are
getting the upper hand of you, then take to your berth, and keep on
your back until the sea becomes smooth.
Occasionally you will find persons that have to stay in their berth
the whole sea voyage, but these are rare cases. The crews that man our
ocean steamers are, as a rule, very polite and attentive, and of course
expect to receive tips, which should not be given until the last day.
Common fees are as follows: bedroom steward, $2; two table waiters,
$1.25 each; the stewardess, $1, unless you have to call on her often,
then pay according to services rendered; deck steward, $1, unless you
need extra attention, then you will desire to give him more.
You had better secure your steamer chair, if you wish for any, as soon
as you go aboard, rental $1 each. If they have a band, as they probably
will, you will be asked to contribute for that. As to the amount, you
will be governed by the ear for music you may have. So you see it will
be an easy matter to get rid of eight or ten dollars, although there
is no compulsion in any of these tips; but a person who wishes to take
a foreign trip and get along without tips bad better wear a coat
of mail, and expect to receive the anathema of all the waiters of a
foreign land. Tips in the Old World are the custom. The waiters work
for low wages or none at all; and, if they are polite and attentive, I
enjoy seeing them have a few loose shillings about them when I bid them
good-by. Cook & Sons and Henry Gaze & Sons are the two old established
firms of tourist agents in the old country, and are very reliable
firms. Raymond & Whitcomb have recently commenced tours abroad. Their
service in this country has been excellent, none better to travel with.
These firms usually charge about $10 a day, but you are relieved of all
care and anxiety. A small party can go independently, and hire their
guide when and wherever they may need one, as they can be found in any
country, price from two to four dollars per day. This divided among
six or eight amounts to but a trifle. In that way a party can travel
for six or seven dollars per day; and you can be quite independent,
stay as long or as short a time in a place as you please. If you have
some in your party that can speak French or German, it will help you
wonderfully. Have your passport, and with your letter of credit you can
get English or French gold, which is good in any country.
The money of the country you are in you should get rid of before
leaving that country to enter another. If there is no other way, and
you have your wife with you, hand it to her; for she will very quickly
find curiosities and articles you will like to bring home with you,
which will soon clean out the loose change you may have about you.
Heavy overcoats for gentlemen taking a sea voyage are the things to
have, and fur cloaks and steamer rugs for ladies. Below you will find
the denominations of money of different countries, giving their value
in American coin, which will be well for any one to study that is going
into those countries. Many people are exceedingly afraid of drinking
the water in a foreign land. There may be those that enjoy that
delusion for the sake of an excuse to drink wine and beer; but there
are many that would prefer the water if it could be taken with safety;
and there is no doubt that it can be, certainly in a hilly country. Use
your own judgment in the matter. When you think there is danger, drink
tea or coffee or water that has been boiled; and your countenance will
be more charming than it would have been, had you confined yourself
to the wine and beer of the land. Regarding hotel carriages, drives,
donkey rides, etc., always make your contracts beforehand.
_German coin._ _U.S. coin._
Carolin $4.92
Groschen (1/30 thaler) .02-1/3
Heller (1 pfennig) .00-1/4
Kreutzer (1/30 mark) .00-2/3
Krone (10 marks) 2.38
Mark (100 pfennigs) .24-1/4
Thaler (3 marks) .71-1/2
_English coin._ _U.S. coin._
Pound (20 shillings) $4.85
Crown (5 shillings) 1.21
Florin (2 shillings) .48-1/2
Guinea (21 shillings) 5.09-1/4
Penny (1/12 shilling) .02
Shilling (12 pence) .24
_Turkish coin._ _U.S. coin._
Asper (1/120 piastre)
Beshlik (5 piastres) $0.21
Lira (100 piastres) 4.40
Medjidie (20 piastres) .88
Piastre .04
Purse (500 piastres) 21.73
Shereefee 227.00
_Italian coin._ _U.S. coin._
Marengo (20 francs) $3.86
Scudo (5 lire) .97
Lire (100 centimes) .19-1/2
Soldo (1/20 lire) .01
Testone .32
_French coin._ _U.S. coin._
Centime (1/100 franc) $0.00-1/5
Decime (1/10 franc) .02
Franc .19-1/2
Sou (1/20 franc) .01
Transcriber’s Notes
Perceived typographical errors have been silently corrected.
Archaic and unusual spelling has been retained as in the original.
Illustrations have been moved nearer to the text to which they refer.
As a result, the page numbers listed in the illustrations table may be
incorrect.
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