PREFACE. TRAVELLERS in Palestine pass through the land in the saddle, and by night sleep in the tent. Neither tent nor saddle is conducive to close reading, and, if the traveller be only a Tourist, his object is to fill his mind with general impressions, and to leave the minute study of details for a more convenient season. The present volume is intended as a Handbook for Tourists; it does not, therefore, attempt to give exhaustive information, or to unravel the multitudinous threads of controversy woven around nearly every sacred site. It points out all that is to be seen, and endeavours to give concise information upon all subjects in which the Tourist may find interest. The special raison d'etre of the present volume is, that a work is required that shall be so clearly printed as to be read without difficulty, either on horseback or in the dim light of the tent; shall be arranged in such a manner, that in a moment any information may be ascertained; and shall contain the full text of Scripture references, so as to avoid the inconvenience of having to turn to the passage in the Bible. Nearly all Palestine travellers have complained of the inconvenience of reading from a double-columned or closely |