Show church BETHLEHEM of tile nativity the tile S idlor iT lor camping and gravelin Trave hii conini in ill I 1 it A t the horses of tile holy lauff pil pal I 1 flora 1 1 F bulletins Bulletin 1 salynna may 1 1884 f bethlehem a fino fine horsch ride from jerusalem there the and back of an afternoon tho ph road lies across a stony uneven plateau its crest ret at the tile con jeha mai where 4 elijah is said to have becu been fed by angels aua I 1 was shown on oil the tile way tho well of isaac and the tomb ofra of rachel bethlehem stands on oil the crest of a steep ridge the rocky slopes of which aber built up in ill narrow high e terraces covered with olive trees tr c es accompanied only by b y my guide I 1 wound iny my way avay through the narrow crooked irregular streets up and down right and left to the church of tho th 0 nativity this thi or a portion of this thi was built by helena the mother of Co constan ustan tine in the early carly part of tho fourth cefi century tury the original nave with its ceiling of odthe the cedars of lebanon its ancient ancien fc and its beautiful corinthian columns of variegated marble is is still standing sta and is the common property of tho latin greek Gree kand and armenian churches this is not now used for religious iou s purposes but the transepts aro are occupied one by the tile gatins and tho the other bythe by the greeks and the central port portion idil by the armenians Armen ians and while hill I 1 was there services ser rices cs were going on oil at tho the time in the latin and the greek depart departments menta I 1 which arc are side by side without wit houran any between them ra a turkish sot sol iier dier in uniform IlDi form with a sword by his side and a gun erect stood like a statue on ilic division line a sym 01 ol ot of the tha state to preserve tho the leaco I 1 of course duc descended ended into the cavern where christ 13 is said to have been born and the identical spot is 13 marked by an inscription on tho the marble will ivall made to protect tho tile cred spot hie illic de virgine ba anria many other sights down here ut tile evidence on oil which their ap genuineness depends isso is so uncertain thai I 1 paid little attention it to them I 1 sec see no reason homeyer ho weyer why christ may not have been born here it has lins been objected that Aratt matthew liew in speaking of the tha visit of the tile magi says they came into tho the house where the young child was but as I 1 have stated in a former letter houses and caves eaves were of tho the same type and often ran into ono one another it was equally a house whether dug out of tho the rock or a natural cavern enlarged or having an all artificial coping of rock above ground another objection raised by dean stanley is that an ancient sepulchre has in modern times been discovered by the arabs in dismantling the premises and abar the jews con could never have been persuaded to use the lace once appropriated for the tile del dealt I 1 either as an all inn inn or for a home but this till 3 by no means proves that the niche for tile sepulchre may not have been cut at a later date on oil tho tile whole I 1 no why this may not have been the real site of tho the birth of jesus it was altogether probable that it wills SOMO similar humble grotto like liko roo room i of rock and more likely to have been underground than upon ground on an such buell a steep ridge I 1 visited tho the milk Grotto where mary is assaid said to have hid from froin herod previous t to 0 the tilo flight to egypt egypto and took ft a view the the fields or boaz where kuth ruth gleaned v winch lies i in n a valley under the I 1 western I 1 cra end of the steep steel spur on oil which bethlehem i built tha fields are now covered with olive trees and very fertile and look as if cluth must have been fortunate tui late when her hap hall va I 1 v to coi coico 0 upon the field of bo boaz z bethlehem has ilas one industry for aich which it is ran famous lyus jt it j is a busy manufacturing tbell 1 I cany ty or inure more manufacturing establishments each I 1 employing irom haft barf a dozen to 10 twenty mell itis the center of the tile production of curios in motter of pearl crucifixes cruci fixes acs cres cents brace bracelet letso chains beads paper imper knives plus pins sleeve buttons L duds and other till thing digs of endless furm form and variety vai iely lii aiom 1011 this point they a are distributed redistributed and sold in all till of palestine parts I 1 returned ta to jerusalem prepared to set out on oil the tile next day tho tile and 2nd of april for a grand camping campi tour through gal galileo i lee to damascus and beirut it may inny your readers rc adera to kno know W in tho tile makeup make up and nd furnishings of party as thi sull swill give them thein I 1 idea of bf the tile unproved proved method of traveling jn ill this tilis land there arc are in our proper nine irom england from scotland 1 one I from areland one clio ana and six america of these clergy mccau ta ts men mel two bankers two merchants to two doctors two farmers one publisher li and five indies accompanying us aro are our our conductor who speaks a half dozen languages including the Pales palestinian tongues our dragoman and fifty three other assistants there are eighty three horses and mules four tons of baggage 0 an aud d thirteen largo a ago tell tents ti i including n tho the one used as a dining room and tile one for a kitchen the tents aro furnished with folding ipg iron bedsteads mattresses clean linen and blankets camp stools it folding table and wash bowls nail null pitchers pi and other necessaries suid and py er each floats the of tho the na ila tiou to which the tile occupant belongs the tile trumpet sounds about 5 or loc lockin ln 0 the ie morning to cull call us then there 13 is a half balf hour bell nud and then the tike every E very morn morning 11 9 eggs chicken and mutton in i somo me form are arved teor beor coffee fresh milk butter and two kind jelly or marmalade e the tile butter is is poor as nearly all the tile butler butter I 1 have found this side of tho tile atlantic is it is 8 put up 1 l w without salt afisu ni ess eatenson eaten soo soona n 7 I 1 isi ours is pdt up in scaled fin cans holdi holding 11 g about a po pound und cacci b utis ut is rarely ra rely goodard goo good dand and as for kylian butter generally I 1 have long since ceased to experiment on it in ithan less half balf an hour after breakfast the cry to 70 horse horie is made and the whole camp is on the road roa d we ride three or four hours and stop by a spring or cool pure stream for two tw 0 or three hours to rest and lunch here mattin matting is spread under a shade aud and cold quid chicki cluck c en n hard boiled eggs ardiee ardi ei bacad and butter nuta nuts raisins raisins oranges oran and tind dates or figs arc a ic abundantly served and wo wb gather around and cat whilo while we are thus occupied the camping ma materials serials aro are sent forward with tho muleteers mule campden and cooks 80 a as to reach the place where wo io arc arp to camp for the night some sonic hours yours before us get the tile camp in in rea dinci and bare have tho the dinner well under way war after lunch we go forward and find our tents ready really so that we ire can go in ill at once if weary and ourselves on our beds soon after reaching camp an a nice ce cup of tea ii brought thour tents and we ire are soon rc rp fredred fre elied from oil our r fatigue a ti and ready for ar a ai ramble before dmar r f manri 11 sr is served about 6 and consists of soups three or four kinds of hot meats or fowls fowl Q fruits and I 1 puddings with about as much variety bety and form and as z many c changes of dishes as its io in a first clasa class hotel ho te I 1 I 1 the rhe cook is isa n french profet professional aI who is paid a napoleon a day il tho the horses aro light compact whole syrian horses they are about four fourteen tecil hall hands ds high they are shod with a shoe thoe that covers tile bottom of the tile foot except a slight opening sometimes in ill the center 1 without calks balks and turned behind I 1 this ilat flat shoe is nailed on with three nails having large project projecting ilig heads answering ering as aa c alks on oil C each B side ide close together near tho till toe tol this method motho d of sli leing the boic 1101 to is whole who lefoot foot necessary ilace azary to protect tho I 1 from froin the tile endless confusion of of sharp rocks or stones s which fill most of 1 the roads the tile horse picks hid his I 1 way carefully and lifts and plants his feet fet delicately and andyes N et quickly among tile ruc rucks ks rarely hitting his too or failing fai to find tho the one secure footing within with in reach ho he is apar a 1 fer 1 feet mountain horse when under t tue li 0 saddle and putdown put down toworu to work but the moment ho lie reaches C camp and anit is H left where lie can call ge get close 6 to tobis his associates socia 80 tes he ii ready to try his teeth or his heels As soon ston ai you seo E sr 11 tt k t t yo 1 uial kilow that t tho 1 next minute they will both be in tho air air on oil their forelegs fore legs and delivering strokes with iho tile directness and rapidity of a A t or seizing each other with i the tile teeth by tho the neck or leg and alii holding on like a bulldog jor or wh wheeling edling yun dAina nd sanding thir ir libels at the f buo OC liko tile hots ufa ga din gill these frays are ire by the camp melkey beut by pitch pitching inq stones at the tile combatants and anil then tying tha ti le horses apart r L may in advance to vonjj c deb io to bornt go aeral idea of the tile trip th that it it is 13 illa made just at the time when palestine ia 6 in its highut beauty everything wh i oil is OV over er green 13 is green liv li v and almost every everything thill which ever blooms is in bloom now au an I 1 english bota botanist of our arav party who has traveled trav clel a good go 01 deal L 1 saya aya lie never saw aw but ono country so r rich in in different ici of flora at one time as palestine all and d that was corsica though that it was as fai far in iny in of its hora flora wo we saw at times vast fields of lowers like tha field i of or california but generally I there were more me ie kinda in th tho 0 rauie savie landscape sometimes ai t this was licot not the case and we would see acres of blue lupine in one landscape acre idono little blue lower flower with fl a gill single 16 iiii oliue ite petal which s 1 i n eg up till in in the bottom of a basin 11 1 the water ha has stood but ia is dried up covers a compactly ever y inch of ground or nt at a little litile distance g le a ll 11 ll 11 I 1 the light lik li kelho etho bright ex expanse p a n afe of n sheet of water in several instances the ponds and find lakes wo lye 11 thought we saw at a it distan cere resol solved veil themselves when we came up to them into myriads of these little littler delicate beautiful low blue bluis flowers sometimes called innocence I 1 13 1 ED 3 D |