SCENES IN THE LAND OF THE BIBLE.
A correspondent to a Boston paper gives this beautiful yet pathetic picture of the land our Saviour trod:— One of the most delightful mountain views that charm the traveler is the sunset glow of Lebanon. Sailing out of the harbor at Beirout a few days ago, we were entranced with the delicate, changing shades that creep over the goodly mountain and linger upon the summit of Sannin. Scarcely had the outlines of Cypress died away in the west when the moon rose over the mountains to illumine our course by the shore. Our good steamer seemed like some “waterwitch” on a beautiful lake, as we watched the sparkling waves and counted the lights on the hillsides. As we passed the coast of the Phoenician cities, “in thought I saw the palace domes of Tyre” and all the “treasures of her merchandise,” but the sandy shore is a lonely waste where the fisher spreads his net. Passing Carmel, we were in the morning in the roads at Jaffa. Here at sunrise appear the flourishing gardens and orange groves extending far to the plain of Sharon. The old hillside city is still alive. Already the Arabs are besieging our steamer with their usual din and scrambling for positions. Little boats are dancing over the waves, waiting for officials, and commissionaries are presenting their credentials. Near us lay a dark, old steamer, with two thousand recruits for the Balkans, and the quay was thronged with their friends bidding them farewell. Along the sandy beach were weeping women, chanting in Arabic their piteous laments and wringing their hands with all the intensity of Oriental grief.—Sel.