Mary Georgiana Emma Seymour Dawson Damer

“ There was a wild, ferocious expression of countenance prevailing among these Arabs, that we had never before been so much struck by; the very whiteness of their teeth and shape of their mouths gave them a false and savage appearance. One would 3
most unwillingly have met them in a less frequented path.
We left Bethlehem on our left, for the purpose of visiting the Pools of Solomon, and passed a fountain which our attendants pointed out as the spot where the shepherds first heard “the tidings of great joy.” ”

“ No meat of any kind but mutton and goat's flesh, can be had; beef seems to be unknown, and vegetables so scarce that a cauliflower made quite an epoch in our kitchen, and for potatoes we substituted rice, which is the grand and indeed chief sustenance of the people. ”

“ On leaving these wells or pools for Bethlehem, the aqueduct runs along the path you ride on, and here and there the ruins of villages are perceived, and a few green patches, produced by the water escaping 5
from the reservoir and acting refreshingly upon the thirsty land. Bethlehem looks as you approach it on this side much more like a fortress than a convent. It is surrounded by a good deal of cultivation, and much remains of the planted terraces of olives and vineyards ”

“ Arabs, Bedouins, armed to the teeth, and admirably mounted, are frequently met, and in the governor's yard we saw more than a hundred wild-looking men, who, we were told, served as a sort of irregular cavalry to the Pacha. ”

“ We called on Mr. Young to look at a Tartahuan or Sad-hakief, a sort of double palanquin, or cages, to be placed on each side of a camel, for our approaching journey. I am already compassionating the poor animal that is to have Minney and myself inclosed in these wooden residences.
We then proceeded with Mr. Y. and his intelligent old Jewish dragoman, Joseph, to visit David's tomb, situated near the gate of the same name, and inclosed by a mosque. ”

“ They are to be seen kneeling on the original stone, with tears of penitence rolling down their cheeks, and in the posture of humiliation, and deprecating in scriptural language the wrath of the Almighty, and praying for their restoration, and a renewal of his mercies. ”

“ John; which I imagined must be the Wilderness, till reminded that it was beyond Jordan. It is by tradition the birth-place of St. John the Baptist; but this is not corroborated by the mention or remains of any considerable town in that always desert tract of country; and as all the great dignitaries of the Jewish 6
church were at that period priests of a city, Zachariah must have dwelt in one, and that of Hebron is the locality that more distinctly points itself out; and there a tree is shewn as that under which Abraham leant when he entertained the strangers (angels.) ”