162

UNSPEAKABLE HORRORS.

of ghastly ruin, where the burning embers were half slaked in pools of gore.

And did not all the righteous blood shed upon the earth since the days of Abel come upon that generation? Did not many of that generation survive to witness and feel the unutterable horrors which Josephus tells? to see their fellows crucified in jest, some one way and some another, till room was wanting for the crosses, and crosses for the carcasses? to experience the deep silence, and the kind of deadly night which seized upon the city in the intervals of rage? to see six hundred thousand dead bodies carried out of the gates? to see friends fighting madly for grass and nettles, and the refuse of the drains? to see the bloody zealots gaping for want, and stumbling and staggering along like mad dogs? to hear the horrid tale of the wretched mother who, in the pangs of famine, had devoured her own child? to be sold for slaves in such multitudes that at last none would buy them? to see the streets running with blood, and the fire of burning houses quenched in the blood of their defenders? to have their young sons sold in hundreds, or exposed in the amphitheater to the sword of the gladiator or the fury of the lion, until at last, since the people were now slain, the holy house burnt down, and the city in flames, there was nothing further left for the enemy to do?

"In that awful siege it is believed that there

NUMBERS THAT PERISHED.

163

perished eleven hundred thousand men, beside the ninety-seven thousand who were carried captive, and most of whom perished subsequently in the arena or the mine: and it was an awful thing to feel, as some of the survivors and eye-witnesses and they not Christians-did feel, that the city had deserved its overthrow by producing a generation of men who were the causes of its misfortunes; and that neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was, since the beginning of the world."

164

CARRYING THE SWORD.

CHAPTER XIV.

A TURKISH REGIMENT.-STREET WRANGLE.—A CITY PICNIC. — JOUR. NEYING SOUTH.—THE PLAIN OF REPHAIM. OF THE HOUSE AND LINEAGE OF DAVID. — FLIGHT OF ELIJAH. -THE TOMB OF RACHEL. JACOB'S STORY. - BETHLEHEM. CONVENT OF THE NATIVITY. MIGHTY MAN OF WEALTH. RUTH AND NAOMI. THE

MARRIAGE-SONG.

WHILE at Jerusalem a regiment of Turkish infantry marched by our encampment, having on uniforms that were worn and faded, but armed with modern breech-loading rifles. The music of the band, which commenced when the officers saw the American flag floating from our tent, was inspiring, as martial music always is, but was more harsh than melodious. The officers carried their swords in a perpendicular position; but, instead of letting them rest on the breast and shoulder, they were stiffly held about a foot before the body. This appeared decidedly awkward and unnatural.

We were spectators of two dog-fights, and one fight between two Arabs in Jerusalem. The latter encounter was carried on in fierce gesticulation and ungrammatical profanity. It did not come to blood or blows, but it attracted an excited crowd; and serious results were prevented only by the timely interference of the by-standers. Our inter

AN UNPLEASANTNESS.

165

preter kept us posted as the war progressed. It appeared that one of the belligerents accused the other of fraud in a business transaction. The accused party flew into a rage in an instant. He did not let concealment, like a bug, gnaw on his hardened face; but he yelled, howled, bellowed, in broken Arabic. He gave the accuser a piece of his mind then and there. He threatened to make mince-meat of his body, "bones and all." But he got as good as he sent; for the accuser bravely held his ground, tried to get hold of his knife, and kicked, scratched, and bit those who were holding him at bay. This was the only "unpleasantness" we saw in all our wanderings in and about Jerusalem.

A Mohammedan picnic came near our encampment. The people poured out of the city, through Damascus Gate, in large numbers, and took position in a dense olive-grove. We stepped out, and became interested lookers-on. There were a great many children and young people present, whose ringing voices indicated the joyousness of the occasion. The ladies had on their best attire, I should judge. Some of them (and probably those who had the greatest personal attractions to boast of) unveiled their faces. The vast assemblage was vivacious and happy, but entirely decorous.

There were two other camps of tourists, very near ours, at Jerusalem, - one of Swedes and one of English. We exchanged courtesies with both. In the English camp, consisting of five persons,

166

AT THE COCK-CROWING.

there were two ladies; and they were the most enthusiastic travelers that we saw in Palestine. The Swedes were two young gentlemen, with their servants. They could talk broken English in a very interesting manner. They were well educated, and had accurate ideas of the growth and extent of our country, and of its beneficent government.

The season was called backward. Two weeks before we struck Jaffa the weather was stormy and cold throughout Syria. Grain and other crops were not so far advanced as we expected to find them. The first reaping we saw in Palestine was the sixth day of May, and this was under the very shadow of Ornan's threshing-floor on Mount Moriah.

On a bright May morning, just at the cock-crowing, our camp was all astir; and, before the sun appeared over the solemn crest of Olivet, our whole caravan was moving towards Bethlehem and Hebron, at the south. The air was cool, but agreeable. A fresh, healthy breeze was sweeping from the west. We were soon on the broad tableland, or plain of Rephaim. In the Old Testament it is called a valley. "The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.” This was when they were attempting to dethrone King David. Here we found the fields swarming with men, women, and teams, all busily engaged in agricultural work, such as plowing, planting, and sowing. They were putting in large fields of