_October 5th, 1836._
We left Jaffa in the afternoon for Rumla, which lies about half way
from Jaffa to the commencement of the hill country, on the road
to Jerusalem--leaving the gate of Jaffa, (and I may add, there is
only one gate on the land side,) we took a north-east direction.
The point of land on which Jaffa stands, a kind of sandy knoll,
is higher than the country back of it. We of course made a small
descent, and for a considerable distance passed through gardens,
enclosed lots and fields, many of them well filled with trees, as
fig, orange, lemon, pomegranate, palm. The Indian fig was much used
for forming enclosures, and generally planted on a ridge of sand.
It makes a very good fence, as the prickles with which it abounds
prevent man or beast from coming much in contact with it. Some of
these gardens had wells and water-wheels, many of which were at
work, mostly with oxen, raising water for the benefit of the trees
and vegetables. There is much sand on the district that borders the
coast, and in many places directly on the coast the sand has fairly
taken possession--nothing is seen but fields of white sand.
At the distance of half a mile from the shore, the ground is very
little higher, I should think, than the surface of the water; and a
number of things indicate that this low district was once a marsh,
or at least much subjected to water. And now, in the rainy season,
much water would collect on it were it not for its loose and sandy
character, through which the water easily runs. The abundance of
water, found at a very little distance below the surface, may arise
from the fact that it is but little below the level of the sea; and
the sandy character of the district allows the water to percolate
freely, and thus supply what is taken up by man and vegetables.
It may be nine or ten miles from Jaffa to Rumla. The road is good;
it is over a plain, and except a little waving of the surface,
forming slight elevations and depressions, such as we often find on
the sea-coasts, and on the flat districts which border large rivers,
one would say it was level. These elevations suggest the idea
that the water may have once covered this plain; and in retiring
gradually from it, left those graceful elevations and depressions
which give a beautiful variety to its surface. But a small part,
after passing the gardens, was cultivated. From time to time we
passed portions that had been sown with grain--none of it, after
leaving the gardens, was enclosed--all lay open. We passed several
places where there were a few trees; they formed, however, but
little green spots on the face of this wide-spread and noble plain.
The greater part was destitute of verdure; the burning heats of
summer having burned up the grass; the crops, except an occasional
cotton field, being all gathered in. I think I saw no Indian corn,
although I had seen it on the Bokar, but of a very diminutive kind.
The cotton fields were few and small, and held out the promise of
but a light crop.
The plain is highly fertile, and if under proper cultivation would
yield largely. The soil is rich, deep, and very free from rock, at
least sufficiently so for all purposes of cultivation. We do not,
indeed, often meet with a finer district of land; but it is thinly
inhabited.
Rumla is a town of considerable size, and has some pretty good
houses. It stands on a slight elevation, and commands a fine view of
the plain out of which it rises. It is surrounded with gardens, many
of which are protected by hedges of the Indian fig. There are some
olive groves about the town; other fruit-trees, and the palm, are
also to be seen. Around the present town are ruins, walls, cisterns,
and other indications that the town was once spread over a much
larger space than it now covers. It is supposed to be the ancient
Arimathea mentioned in the New Testament, John xix. 38.
The ancient Lydda lies within a short distance of Rumla, not above
three or four miles; but I had not time to visit it, as my company
were urgent to proceed. It is, I am told, a poor village, and has
nothing to give it interest, unless it be the fact that is mentioned
of it in Acts, ix. 32, 38.
I ought to have mentioned respecting Rumla, that there is near the
town a very remarkable tower, old, and of a singular structure,
with some large apartments under ground connected with it. At what
time it was built, by whom, and for what purpose, is not now known:
probably, however, as a place of defence, and when built, the town
extended to, if not beyond it. The history of many things in these
regions is lost--irrecoverably lost--until that great day shall come
when the whole history of man shall pass in review, and all shall be
judged according to their works.
The American squadron left Jaffa only the day before we reached that
place. The commodore and a party of officers visited Jerusalem. A
large party spent a night at Rumla with the American consular agent,
and had made him a present of a large and beautiful flag, with a
notice of its presentation written on its border. If what was told
me at Jaffa be true, that some of the officers, on their return from
Jerusalem, rode from Jerusalem to Jaffa in five or six hours, it was
a matter-of-fact proof that the distance is less than the old books
of travel have stated. Ten hours was named at Jaffa as the usual
time--that would make thirty miles, at the usual mode of counting
three miles to the hour: this is probably the real distance.
We spent a Sabbath at Rumla; but as there was no Protestant worship,
and I could not have received much if any benefit from attending a
service in an unknown tongue, I remained in my room all day, and
found, although thus alone, that the Sabbath of the Lord is a most
wise and gracious appointment of Heaven for the benefit of man. He
needs times which may call his thoughts from worldly things, and
consecrate them more especially to God, and the things that relate
to the welfare of the soul. I have, therefore, whenever I could, in
travelling, rested on the Sabbath day, and found it good so to do.
In almost every step I take in this country I find myself on ground
referred to in Scripture; and it is with no little interest I walk
over places where the events recorded in God's word took place. But
even in those scenes I find it good to observe the Sabbath of the
Lord. I do not even go out to look at these places on the Sabbath:
the other six days may suffice for that. The Lord's day is better
spent as a day of rest and devotion.
We left Rumla on Monday morning for Jerusalem. Our course was still
a little south of east. The general character and condition of
the plain was much as the part of it already described, with the
difference that there was much less sand. Indeed there was little,
if any, to be seen--the soil was a fine, rich, black mould. The
state of cultivation was rather better, but still only a small part
was under the care of man. The country began more regularly to
rise as we approached the hill country. The rise was however very
gradual. Irregular and rounded hills became more numerous, but none
of them were steep. A road could pass over them in any direction;
they were rather pleasant swells than hills. More stones and pebbles
were mixed up with the soil, but not in quantities that would impede
cultivation. In truth, this part of the plain, that is from Rumla to
the hills, forms one of the richest and most lovely districts that
I have seen. We were above three hours in going from Rumla to the
hills, which would make the distance from Jaffa about eighteen or
twenty miles. The road however does not cross the plain at right
angles, but declined considerably to the south.
We passed no village worth naming. We did, indeed, pass a few huts
at one or two places, but too few to deserve notice. We passed
several places that appeared to have once been occupied, and saw
several villages at a distance, but they appeared small. In short,
the plain--the noble and celebrated plain of Sharon, appears to be
almost deserted; and while it has a fertility and extent, were it
occupied and properly cultivated, sufficient to sustain a nation,
it is now roamed over by a few flocks--has small patches of it
cultivated, and here and there a small, poor village to sustain.
With regard to trees, &c. the eastern part of the plain was on a
par with the western. It was only on little spots, and at a great
distance from each other, that a few olive and other trees were to
be seen. They were mostly confined to the immediate vicinity of the
villages, or where villages have once stood.
While passing over the plain of Sharon, it would have been out of
all propriety not to have thought of the rose of Sharon and the lily
of the valley. I did think of them, and was on the watch for them;
and so eager was I to get one, that could I have met with any sort
of a flower that would in any fair way have admitted the name, I
would most willingly have reported it, _but not one could I find_.
I consoled myself, however, with the thought, that I only shared
the disappointment which other travellers had experienced. For what
traveller in these regions has not sought the rose of Sharon, and
the lily of the valley? And what one has been able to assure and
satisfy the public that he has found them?
As we approached the hills, the face of the plain became more
uneven; the points of the ridges ran out irregularly, and more
rocks began to appear on the surface. The line of hills is however
more regular than is usual, and the transition from the plain to
the hills is more gradual than is usually found on the borders of
large plains. We passed over a low, rocky point of a ridge, and
saw some ruins; and at one place the large hewn stones and broken
pillars indicated buildings of some consequence. The hills are
not continuous ridges, but knobs, not very high, nor very steep;
the top rounded over. Many of them are separated from each other
almost to the base; but a greater number join at one or more sides,
at various heights from their bases. Taking the hollows, and the
passages between the hills, (and in some places there are little
level spots,) as the level of the country, I should say that the
general level, as we pass east, rises; and the height of the hills
above this general level, continues about the same for a great part
of the way from the commencement of the hills to near Jerusalem.
This district is well called the "hill country of Judea." Nothing
could better express it. They are usually in books called mountains;
but their size, that is their height above the general level of the
country, hardly entitles them to that appellation. They are rather
hills than mountains.
As we rode among the hills, we began to see a few small shrubs and
bushes of oak. Most of them, however, were small; few as high as a
man on horseback. There were also, at some places in the hollows,
where, during the rains, water flows, some bushes, thistles, and
other kinds of vegetation, but small of size and few in number. As
we passed farther in among the hills, the vegetation increased,
both as to size and quantity; it however never amounted to much.
We saw, from time to time, some orchards of olives, and a few
scattering trees; as we approached the higher part of the hilly
district, we saw some hills that were to some extent covered with
the olives. Still but a small, a very small part of the country
was thus made to minister to the wants and comfort of man. As we
advanced, the rock became more abundant; it was all limestone, mixed
in some places with veins of flint; usually horizontal, and often
projecting out on the sides of the hills, and much stratified; and
the various strata being of different degrees of firmness, causing
them to have a singular appearance. The soft stratum had in many
places disintegrated, and formed a stratum of earth, which entirely
concealed the rock; while the hard stratum formed a kind of wall,
and in many places, from its regularity in thickness and direction
round the side of the hill, it had much the appearance of having
been the work of man. In some places again, where a hard stratum
lay directly over a soft one, the crumbling away of the soft one
formed a kind of natural cave under the hard one; places could be
seen where a man might find shelter from the rain under rocks thus
hollowed out by the wearing away of a soft rock, while its more
sturdy fellow above held on to its proper size and shape. A ride
of between two and three hours, from the time we entered the hill
country, brought us to the higher part of the district. Our road
still lay along what may be called a hollow, and on each side of us
the hills rose to a considerable size.
We passed on this high district one or two villages. In one of
them were some pretty good houses, and an old ruin, which, from
its size and form, seemed once to have been a building of some
importance. The country around this village was in a better state
of cultivation; more trees, figs, and vines, than I had seen since
leaving Rumla. From a part of this high ground we had a most
extensive and fine view of the seabord; the deep black sea, till
where it met the sky; the white sand-hills along the shore, and the
wide and long plain of Sharon, extending as far as the eye could
reach, to the north and south, and coming up to the hilly district,
on the top of which we stood. The view was interesting, and
especially so when we thought how often the pious Israelites, when
going up to the house of the Lord, must have stopped at this place,
and looked back on that rich and lovely part of their inheritance.
The "flocks of Sharon" was a term which then expressed much; but now
few flocks feed there, and those of an inferior kind of cattle.
After taking this, as I supposed, farewell-look at the plain of
Sharon, the sea-bord, and wide-spread ocean behind it, we set
forward, and thought we must soon reach a point from which we could
see Jerusalem. We found, however, that we had to descend a hollow,
wind along it for some distance, and then a long ascent to make, to
gain about the same level from which we had taken our farewell-look
at the vale and sea behind us. Above half an hour must have been
spent in doing this. This is said to be the valley of Elah, where
David slew the Philistine. The precise spot where the engagement
took place is not known. We now found ourselves on ground which was
nearly as high as any near us. We had passed to our right, at some
considerable distance, a cluster of buildings on the top of a hill,
called the tomb of the Maccabees. It looked like a fort, or place
of defence, and was, as I am told, not long since, the residence of
Aboo Goosh, who used to make free with the property of other people;
in other words, was a notorious robber. But Ibrahim Pasha has taught
such gentry a good lesson. He has nearly, if not wholly, put a stop
to such practices; he has taken the matter into his own hands. What
people have to spare, he himself takes, or has taken from them;
and, indeed, much more than they are willing to part with; but as
to every fellow who chooses taking for himself, as was the old way
of doing things, why that is not now permitted. The time was, when
a company could hardly have passed from Rumla to Jerusalem, as we
did, without having been relieved of some of their cash, and perhaps
clothes into the bargain.
We passed a district where an immense quantity of stone had been
quarried and removed; the refuse stone lay in piles, and the
excavations showed that large quantities had been procured. The face
of the high ridge, or kind of table land, over which we now passed,
was almost wholly destitute of vegetation. A few thistles and an
occasional small thorn-bush might be seen; but a more naked district
I had not seen in the holy land. Several miles to the right, I saw
a hill or hills pretty well covered with trees of some sort--olives
I thought from their looks; and at a greater distance on our left I
saw several patches of trees on the side of a high and long ridge,
and a small village or two near them; but more immediately about
me, and over the whole face of the ridge which I was passing, all
was naked--all was destitute of vegetation, except a small enclosed
spot. I was struck not only with the absence of vegetation, but
with the enormous quantity of rough rock that almost literally
covered the face of the ground. Much of it lay in irregular patches,
projecting from eighteen inches to five or six feet above the little
earth that could be seen. It really appeared as if the district
was _given up_ to be _occupied by rocks_, to the exclusion of all
other matter. We soon began a slight but gradual descent, and after
a little, some towers came into view. These were the parts of
Jerusalem first seen. Presently we saw the top of the walls--the
minarets, the domes, and the whole city.
Jerusalem stands on the east side of a high, _flattish_ ridge,
which runs nearly north and south. To the west of the city, and at
some distance above, towards the top of the ridge, a small hollow
begins, and running south-east, deepens rapidly, and forms the
southern boundary of the city. This is the channel of the rivulet
Gihon. In it are the pools, the upper and lower; but it is only in
wet weather that there is water in them. The lower part is called
the valley of the Son of Hinnom. The brook Kedron, or the valley in
which the water would run, if there were any water,--for you must
know except during the rains it is a dry channel, runs nearly north
and south, and has a deep channel, with high steep banks. The valley
or ravine of Gihon falls into that of the Kedron, nearly at right
angles, with a high point forming the angle between them. On this
point the city of Jerusalem stands. It fills, or did originally,
the space that lies between these two ravines, for some distance up
both of them. The ground on which the city stands has a considerable
declination to the east, and is on the side of a hill, on the lower
end of the ridge, when it terminates abruptly at a deep ravine,
both on the south and east. The site has other inequalities. At the
south-east corner, next the Gihon, was the highest point. That is
the hill of Zion. Part of it is now without the walls, and used as a
burying-ground. The missionaries have recently procured a small plot
on Mount Zion for a burying-place, to be appropriated to Protestants
who may die at Jerusalem. A little north of Mount Zion, and close on
the bank of the Kedron, is Mount Moriah, or an elevation so called.
On this the temple stood, and on the same site now stands the mosque
of St. Omar. This elevation was formerly separated from Mount Zion
by a considerable valley. It is now nearly filled up, at least
that part within the walls, and much so without; still it is very
perceptible without the walls, and especially at the pool of Siloam,
which lies at the junction of this ravine with the valley of the
Kedron. Mount Zion was once connected with Mount Moriah by a bridge
or elevated causeway; but the filling up of the ground within the
walls has covered it, or supplied its place.
There is a large space around the mosque of St. Omar which forms a
fine promenade, but Christians are not allowed to enter it. They are
not allowed to enter the mosque, or at least this is the general
understanding. In many cases, however, it has been entered lately;
a party of English had been all through it, under the special
protection of the governor, but a few days before my arrival. There
is little doubt that in a few years, unless some reaction takes
place, free admission will be allowed, and many other foolish and
unreasonable customs and prejudices of the Mohammedans will pass
away.
Jerusalem has a high, strong wall around it, and is occupied by a
large body of the Pasha's troops. There are at present but four
gates open and used, several having been walled up some time since.
The Jaffa gate, by which we entered; the Zion gate being east of the
Jaffa, and on Mount Zion; St. Stephen's gate, which opens next the
valley of Kedron and north of Mount Moriah; and the Damascus gate,
which lies on the north side of the city. The highest part of the
city is a little west of the Jaffa gate, at the point where the wall
leaves the top of the hill near Gihon, and runs north and north-east
toward the Kedron.