Show LETTERS FROM PALESTINE A voyage from port said egypt to this place does not possess much interest beyond the fact act that you are tra velling along the coast of a land sacred to jew christian and mohammedan alike the holy land laid I 1 left port said about four pm on the instants instant on board the austrian steamer austria and next morning about six the anchor was dropped d at dra jaffa the ancient joppa it fed happened a to be a tolerably calm sea th this morning so that one could land in a boat for a trifle but it is not always so the harbor is I 1 in n a very bad con condition 11 tion filled with rocks so that no larger vessels can therein find shelter it therefore happens sometimes that a boatman requires up to twenty francs for taking one on shore and sometimes when the sea is very unruly the ship cannot sto stop p at all and the passe passengers nj gers must for or good or evil go goto to the next harbor viewed from the seaside jaffa offers a very agreeable appearance it is built on the top of an isolated hill which stands prominent on the low coast landscape round bound about are considerable gardens and the horizon behind it ills is limited by the mountains of judea our steamer had goods to load in and out enough to keep the hands busy for the whole day until 7 in the evening among the articles sent on shore I 1 noticed particularly ticul arly beer and matches the former from germany and the latter from Jon koping in sweden I 1 had not before known that the cold north had to supply the sunny south with these fiery articles I 1 hope on another occasion to be able to give a more particular view of this well known place from the sacred writings from jaffa the ship follows the somewhat low coast of sharon until after a few hours voyage the mountain of carmel becomes visible after seven hours the ship has rounded round edthe the carmel and dropped her anchor in the bay where at the foot of the mountain the little city of haifa with the german colony appended to it is situated haifa is the of the ancients and has still some ruins to show of an old pier and other buildings these ruins are situated a few minutes 3 walk northwest of the german colony this city has about inhabitants most of whom are arabs there are also not a few jews who keep ke the trade going in their usual way of the arabs the greater part are edans and the rest greek catholics of the so called Mel rite haifa seems to be in a flourishing condition and has gained considerably in importance since the austrian line of or steamers has added it to its list of stopping places of course its whole color is oriental which means narrow dirty streets and houses built in a style of architecture common to american packing baxes bo aesy but notwithstanding this the place is comparatively nice and is always well spoken of in palestine in the city are two mohammedan mosques several christian churches an american monastery and other similar institutions there is therefore no lack of religious fluen ces here but christianity seems to progress very slowly if any at all among edans the missionaries have a hard job I 1 cannot help thinking of a friend of mine an earnest man and one very well educated he had spent some live five years in this country laboring as a missionary at somebody alses expense I 1 met him some years ago in copenhagen well I 1 said how many years have you been laboring in palestine five years he said did you make any converts while there oh no but I 1 thank god the arabs di dai I 1 not convert me and so I 1 think the protestant and catholic missionaries sion aries do very well as long as the arabs do not convert them the german colony gives one a very good impression its houses are mostly surrounded by g gardens addens and everything is clean and neat the colony has now some four hundred inhabitants and these live mostly by agriculture they have also some industrial enterprises A soa soap factory makes a very pure soap and has found a market for this chiefly on the american continent they have also a windmill and a steam mill both in good condition prominent is the culture of the vine most of the settlers have their vine 11 and also seem to be very fond of their wine it is well understood by the colonists that the temporal prospects of the colony are not great it seems to be difficult for the grow growing ng generation to find amplo employment ya here and they hn have ave to look w foreign countries for a livelihood A feeling is prevalent that the founding of the colonies here although done with the best of intentions waS a undertaking with no jodef def anite purpose in view I 1 ho hope that tha an acknowledgment of th this ye will lead to prepare the colonists for the acceptance of the gospel gos of jesus Mony christ morally the colony stando on a very high level I 1 am told that in all the years it has existed here not more than two cases of unlawful intercourse have been known no drunkenness is to be seen in the streets no swearing is heard DO fighting no gambling ambling g when you enter a house the first thing that attracts your attention is a ver verse from the bible put as a motto over thedoor tb the door edoor inside e everything very thing bears religious stamp of the old pietistic color the people even the young girls are dressed plainly with no regard for the requirements of SO ever changing fashion not even for the tasteful the meals are good but simple and it a appears ears that no n one is too busy to tn find d time after each meal to pray to god or to read reft a few verses from the bible and a psalm all arranged in a little book to be used one piece each day the year all this is good and colu were there more intelligence li gence more spiritual life corb understanding of of the word of god clod the servian colony in haifa would be an admirable place not found on this sinful globe of ours more interesting to tome me than the city and the colony is mount CAP mel to the top of which one cox can walk tolerably good road the word carme cr mel means I 1 I 1 vine mountain WWW berg the arabs call it or driebel ha r eliab the mountain of 0 saint elijah it is connected through a row of hills with the mountains of samaria and separates thereby jezreel fron sharon it is about nine miles IOU long and 5 metres at its high highest est point the greaff er part of the mountain is ia luxuriantly ian clothed with oak walnut olt olive and other tropical trees it jo w said that boags boars are found in sona parts of it in ancient times cardea was the southern border of the try to the tribes of asher ashbran dd manasseh last sunday afternoon I 1 took a walk up the mountain W order to see the monastery T tbt his is a large building with iron barred windows like a jail whether for the sake of kee keeping ping the monks w or the thieves out I 1 could not tell the brotherhood that flourishes here on the mountain top ww was formed in the century has had several trials to pa 0 through in 1821 the pasha kaaha who resided in akka abdallah had toe monastery and church utterly do w polished moli shed but in 1828 they thel were again rebuilt rebuilt larger and more elegant this was waa essentially through the efforts of the brothers GIOV Glo giovann vann 0 battista von frascati this n building italian style is situated situa metres above the sea where the te mountain falls almost larl laray yinto into the sea the church dedicated to the old prophet elijah conspicuous in this church is a 4 life size eize figure of the virgin mary with the child in her arms arm clothed in Q silk and adorned with a crown bl i which numerous jewels sparkle on n entering the church the priests were just busy burning the incense to the statues chanting their monotonous latin masses which were responded to from the organ gallery by choir boys and monks all chlon gorgeously attired according to the athion of the old roman two horned beast on the floor a few dark ark skinned arabs were kneeling and sometimes kissing the fl floor hese were evidently converts the ass being over an opportunity was sven vell to enter the cave over which he church has been built and which is claimed to have been one in which the prophet ebah aiyah at some alme me or other lived in this cave a etue of the prophet killing the priests of baal was seen very well carved in wood having visited carmel I 1 very na ally opened my bible to read the narrative ria tive of the events prominently with this mountain chere bere had been a great famine in israel no rain having come for three years and a half elijah 11 way was final nally u sent to announce bat that god 1 would W 0 ou ul again send rain when tte Ine eting the fearfully wicked ng ahab the prophet told him to aher israel on mount carmel nd also the four hundred and fifty prophete y hete of baal and the four hundred prophets of the groves which am ate at the queens table this bein being one the conference commentz com commenced Y van all opening speech of the prophet how long halt ye between two 0 o opinions if the C lord rd is god fallow him but if baal then follow him he further proposed to put pit this to a final test by finding ot t which god would answer prayer we e remember the issue the alti of baal cried out au all day dav un hey taley could do so no more but there came no answer elijah bent his s knees in earnest but quiet pray et and d the fire from heaven came evident went to all and made the peo people le shout the lord lo is godi god W the e lo 10 ioto rde is god upon this the peets ets of baal were all taken and ile commandment of ah to t eluah ely put w death by the river K kishon ishon af ter of abr this euah went up to the top r cannel and bowed himself to the t ground praying for the prom wea rain and while praying he nellt he ills his servant up to a point where 0 could look over the sea and watch tae g rising of the clouds seven ala fira the prophet prayed and seven t 00 the servant went to look bere tore 1 a little cloud was visible but this lae all was enough for the prophet s told loid the king to hasten home abild alf after a short while the whole was clouded and a great rain ca see I 1 rings kings chap 18 aj erous eaves caves found on the have slops pa of this mountain are said to tirs sm given gi ven the prophets during ahou of ree cution a welcome shelter arven r even pher dh n the greek 80 abin jagoras ya goras Is said to have mourned your ned here for some time the of the first christian cela awu turY y were very numerous on the carmel and many of the eaves caves exhibit marks of the work of human hands on the whole a walk on mount carmel is very interesting and awakens many memories from ancient sacred history I 1 must close my letter at this time hoping to be able to send a few lines again before long J M 8 hafla palestine jan 30 1889 the weather during the whole of this winter has been of so unusual a character in the holy land as to attract the attention also of certain circles in europe settlers who have lived here for more than twenty years assure us that they have never seen such a winter the so called early rain commenced in Nd november vember and it has continued with a few short intervals up till this time giving hope of a rich harvest if other other circumstances are favorable the amount of rain that had fallen u up to the middle of december was Y already greater than the total amount for the whole of last winter and all the water cisterns were then full the so called jobs well in the valley of kedron had already then commenced to flow this commonly does not take place before february or march another surprise to the inhabitants of judea was a snowfall that lasted for about two days to the music of roaring thunders the white snowflakes performed their aerial dances and when tired settled on the ground cove covering it with several inches of snow this was in the middle of december to the children who very seldom see snow this was a glorious opportunity for fun but not so to those who must look upon lite life from the serious point of view in dear utah we are prepared for winter with clothes and houses but not so here the snow here stopped all communication with the outer world 0 verland overland no one wants to leave his house if not compelled to and the poor natives in their miserable huts and scanty costumes suffer a great deal as also do their animals for which no supply of feed as a g general meral rule is laid by y the snow lasted only a couple of days and as soon as the sun again broke through the clouds his warm rays demonstrated his all quickening power and then the water completely flooded the country streets and roads were turned into brooks and rivulets and in many houses the lower rooms were filled with water one or two feet deep the lowest situated fields were turned into lakes and the brooks swelled to streams in haifa where I 1 have now been since january it has rained more or less every da day occasionally thundering and all the te time blowing a cold wind cold is however only a relative expression and must not be understood to mean a temperature below the freezing point on the contrary the thermometer indicates several degrees of heat but the air being so ae damp it wraps round one like a wet cloth and when sitting in it for days and weeks one soon feels it cold even if the thermometer indicates warm corones fo rones nerves and the thermometer do not always agree on the proper use of these terms I 1 SU suppose pose though that the thermometer is right however unwilling my shivering flesh is to admit that it is warm but facts we are told are stubborn things and some wonderful facts here present themselves when I 1 look out through the square hole in the wall chich which serves for window on my right side I 1 see the potatoes flourishing to the height of eight inches or more the peas are about to blos blossom soni and the barley stands thick and green an e equally wonderful sight sigh presents itse itself f on my left when looking through that hole in the wall for there the almond trees stand clothed in their luxurious dress of sweet flowers reminding me of summer in utah when the blossoms of the peach and apple trees fill the air with delicious fragrance and if I 1 take a walk on mount carmel I 1 find wild tulips narcissus an ani I 1 other flowers all swinging their little heads in the wind and smiling as if to ask Is not this a comfortable for table warm climate of course I 1 have to put on my overcoat a raincoat and a blanket and assent it is warm indeed there is no alternative but leaving the weather I 1 hope and pray that the blessing of heaven may be poured down on this country as abundantly spiritually as it is temporally indeed I 1 do believe that the time for deliverance is near the europeans who live here are as you already know mostly germans they have come here prompted romp by a desire to prepare palestine ales tine for the gathering of the jews and the coming of christ the movement commenced I 1 understand der stand in 1886 1836 in germany and after some years of agitation there were enough members gathered to form a kind of organization known as Temp lars they have now founded colonies in jerusalem where their headquarters have been since the year 1878 and in jaffa haifa and one or two other places I 1 have tried hard to find out what their real object was in founding these colonies but it is not easy to obtain an intelligent answer we have come here they say prompted by the prophecies cies which foretell the gathering of israel and the second coming of christ well and whit what are you going todo to do here of this they do not seem to have any clear idea in their doctrines they stand very near count followers but the modern views of the uselessness of baptism seem to have got hold of not a few members and so has also Walden stroms doctrine of the atonement divisions have followed as a consequence accompanied by spiritual sleepiness and coldness 0 ad and ana it is more |