102 BURDEN-BEARERS. growth of wheat, barley, and other crops, than we found here. It being "bazaar-day," as it is called, at Lydda, our way was clogged and our progress hindered by the multitudes of men and animals which we met, bound for the place of traffic. Large herds of sheep and goats, and smaller herds of cattle, mules, and donkeys, were on their way to this "Derry Fair" of Ludd. These animals were for sale or exchange. Men and animals were met, bearing heavy burdens, consisting of the products of the country, upon their backs. Gangs of women were met, crippling under the vast weights which they were carrying on the top of their heads, all bound for the Lydda bazaar. On the heads of those women. we noticed baskets of lemons and oranges; baskets filled with loaves of bread and black pies; and baskets containing, each, four or five great earthen jugs, filled with I know not what. There were also on the heads of these toiling women, dressed carcasses of lamb, huge fagots of wood, and skins of goats filled with sour milk. In two hours or more we reached the foot of the Judean hills, and our path immediately became very rugged and steep. Those who marched with the American armies over the Cumberland Mountains to East Tennessee can realize what these Syrian roads are. As we advanced, our track grew more broken and precipi THE RUGGED ROAD-WAYS. 103 tous. We were frequently obliged to dismount, and lead our horses. We struck an old Roman road, which had once been a popular thoroughfare, over which gay women and gallant men had driven their chariots, and on which the wayfarer had plodded in his obscurity and want. But all these travelers, together with all they had and were, ages ago blended in common dust. The road has not been trodden for centuries. We followed along at its side for an hour or two, but seldom ventured upon its ragged bed. The olive and fig orchards were agreeable sights along this broken way, and fit resorts for the feathered tribes. As the sun was clouded, the birds were sweetly singing from every glen and bush; but no robins, jays, orioles, or other common NewEngland birds, were there. The day grew dark. The clouds hung low on the mountains. The magpie sought covert under broken ledges, and we hastened on to find shelter. Not having at hand the weather report from Washington, we could not know what to prepare for or expect. At ten o'clock a rain set in, driven by a strong western breeze; but, fortunately for us, it continued only about an hour. In Jerusalem it lasted through the entire forenoon, and was a violent, drenching storm. Our road, much of this way, was the dry channel of a brook, in which, at some seasons of the year, there is a wild, rushing torrent. We as 104 WATCHED BY THE SHEPHERDS. cended height after height in pressing forward to the top of the mountain chain. The hills and slopes all along bear marks of having been once. terraced to their highest points for the culture of vines and fruit-trees. We came to the region where only slight patches of ground were under cultivation, and where only a few scattering olivetrees were growing. Here the gray limestone ledges are so broad and extensive as to leave little room for herbage. Yet large flocks of sheep, goats, and cattle were seen cropping on these lonely hills, watched by their shepherds as in the pastoral days of Israel. Not a forest, great or small, was to be seen on these heights, or on any other part of our travels in the land of the patriarchs. UNDER THE OLIVE-TREES. 105 CHAPTER IX. STILL UPWARD. BETH-HORON. VALLEY OF AJALON.-THE GIBEON BATTLE-FIELD.— - JOSHUA.—"SUN, STAND THOU STILL."-TOWERING MIZPEH.-SAMUEL. — GIBEAH OF SAUL. -THE CITY OF NOB.SCOPUS HILL. FIRST SIGHT OF JERUSALEM. We are now approaching one of Joshua's famous battle-fields. Our road, if possible, is growing, step by step, more rough and difficult. In the language of another, we pass on, "now over sheets of smooth rock, flat as the flagstones of a London pavement; now over the upturned edges of the limestone strata; and now amongst the loose rectangular stones so characteristic of the whole of this district. There are, in many places, steps cut, and other marks of the path having been artificially improved." We pass Lower Beth-horon, on the slope of a lonely mountain. Two miles farther on we come to Upper Beth-horon, which stands on the crest of the highest elevation on that unfrequented line of travel. Here we dismount, and take shelter under two or three old, weather-worn olivetrees, for lunch. We are now thirty-five hundred feet above the sea-level, and the view is most strange and bewildering. The gray, bleak moun 106 NO OBELISK OR SLAB. tains, and the deep gorges right at our feet, look like pictures of a land that never existed. Turning back, the shining, sandy bluffs on the Mediterranean shore are distinctly seen for fifty miles, north and south; and the dark waters beyond shine like a mirror. Here, while the horses were feeding, and taking their rest, we wandered off to an old, deserted cemetery, where we found the resting-places of the sleepers marked by no obelisk or slab or inscription, where no tree spread its branches, and no flowers scented the air. Thus generations come and go, and are forgotten. This ancient village is perched on the very top of the mountain peak. It has a most dilapidated and tumble-down appearance. Many of the old stone buildings are deserted. "Its silent domes are now with moss o'erspread. There howls, with mournful blast, the whistling wind; There safe the fox from lofty window stares, Whilst, waving round his head, rank grass appears." Leaving Upper Beth-horon, we soon begin to descend to the valley of Ajalon, which we find richly clothed with grass and grain. Every step we now take, and every hill and slope and vale we see, is full of interest. Pursuing our way, we come next to the fertile plain of Gibeon, - the battle-field of Joshua. Who was this Joshua, the |