LAWLESS PETRA. 187 wives are jealously guarded by the Moslem keepers. Every night a lamp is lowered into the vault, but it is withdrawn by day. This is one of those places which are equally revered, at the present day, by Jew, Mohammedan, and Christian; and there is no doubt whatever that here is the place where the ashes of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah, are sleeping the long sleep. While in camp at Hebron, a party of English people, male and female, came in from the south in a state of great trepidation, and pitched their tents near ours. They had been, not only basely insulted at Petra, but had also been robbed of all the money, jewels, relics, and every valuable thing that they had, except the clothes to their backs. The horses and tents, being the property of their Arab sutler, were not taken. No remedy for this outrage and robbery was to be found; for Petra, while nominally under the Turkish Government, is yet practically independent of all government. There is no way to enforce a claim against it, or to punish it, except by advancing upon it with an armed force. When on our return to Jerusalem, in the early morning, the singing of the shepherds, away on the lonely hills, while leading their flocks from one steep to another, for greener pastures, had a most melancholy tone. These shepherds go out in the morning, and return at the evening. After 188 ORCHARDS OF FRUIT-TREES. their flocks get well to grazing, and the heat of the day has become excessive, they seek restingplaces under the shadows of rocks and in sharp ravines, where they can both sleep, and watch for game. They generally carry guns, and are accompanied by dogs. Though there are no forests of native trees in any part of Syria, as one approaches Bethlehem, either from the north or south, he sees the great orchards of fruit-trees, which cover the valleys, and crown the slopes, even to their tops; and he finds them a pleasing imitation of forests. The same is substantially true of Hebron and its immediate vicinity: there, also, fruits and vines are abundant. But, between Hebron and Bethlehem, there is a long, dreary succession of gray limestone ridges, and hard, rocky glens, where hardly a tree or bush or patch of grass is to be found. Only a very little of this broken land is ever stirred by the plow. In short, as I have substantially said on a former page, there are, in a wide sweep of country here, no evidences of the presence of any inhabitants. Over these barren ledges and wastes, there are, here and there, shrubs growing in bunches, to the height of from two to five feet. The old stock, for want of nourishment, dies when about an inch. through; and the burden-bearing women, coming from somewhere, with bare hands and feet, are observed every day roaming over these rugged HEBRON TO JERUSALEM. 189 heights, gathering the dead brush, and carrying it away for fuel, in huge bundles, on their heads. At Solomon's Pools we made a détour to the left, leaving sweet Bethlehem at one side. We made the journey back from Hebron to Jerusalem in a day, and resumed our temporary home "on the old camp-ground." 190 AN EARLY START. CHAPTER XVI. DOWN TO THE JORDAN. — BETHANY —WILDERNESS OF JUDÆA. — FELL ELISHA'S FOUNTAIN. THE DEAD SEA — RAPTUROUS SWIM FORDS OF THE JORDAN. ANCIENT GILGAL. A WHITE CLOUD ON THE HORIZON. OUR caravan was always ready to move at the hour designated; for, among the many good qualities of our dragoman, punctuality was not the least. "Malook, we'll start to-morrow morning at five o'clock." Just as daylight began to tinge with the color of the orange the eastern horizon, our horses were eating their morning meal, and the aroma of hot coffee was issuing from the mouth of the cook's tent. At five o'clock we were all in the saddle for a three-days' tour to Jericho, the Jordan, and the Dead Sea. Passing down on the northern side of the city-walls, and turning the angle near St. Stephen's Gate, we dropped into the dark ravine, crossed the Kidron Bridge, and rode along in silence under the south-westerly wall of Gethsemane. We then pursued the usually traveled way, on the southerly slope of Olivet, halting a moment "over against the city," and another moment at the point where it is said the "withered fig-tree' NO PALM-TREE THERE. 191 stood, on which ground there is now a young and thrifty tree of that variety. A little farther on, we came to the desolate site of the humble little village where, it is believed, the colt was found tied at the door, and near which the admiring and enthusiastic populace broke down the palmbranches, and threw them into the road. But wonderful changes have been wrought in eighteen hundred years; and not a palm-tree is now to be found there, or in that immediate vicinity. We soon arrived at Bethany, an old, dilapidated village of small stone houses, situated on the eastern base of Olivet. This was the quiet, secluded home of Martha and Mary. The great Teacher often found repose and sympathy in the house of these devoted sisters. Martha was the more active and industrious of the two, but Mary the more spiritual. Martha, Martha, thou art troubled about many things: but one thing is needful." At this lonely hamlet, lying among the peaceful uplands, two miles from Jerusalem, we came to a short halt. Here we were shown the ruins, the crumbling walls, and the firm doorsteps, of the dwelling-house of the two women mentioned above; and we were also shown the reputed tomb of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. We looked at the site of old Bethphage, which, as I understand it, was but a part, a suburb, of Bethany itself. Fig-trees, which were once its distinguishing feature, are the trees which now stand in |