and lilac blossoms. We came to a large square ancient pool, or reservoir, well filled and in good repair, near to the governor's new residence, which is the handsomest dwelling-house I had seen in Palestine. It is built of well-hewn fine limestone, and enriched with marble pavements, columns, and arches. Mahmoud Bek Abdul Hady designed it himself.
We reëntered the town, and paused before the portal of the mosque. It was originally the entrance to a Christian church, as the design plainly shows. The clustered columns, the richly-foliated and varied capitals, the deep, dental, and zigzag moldings of the pointed arch, are of Siculo-Norman character. While we were carefully examining the details, signs were made to us—rather roughly—by some of the guardians of the mosque, that we were approaching too near to their place of worship, and lingering there too long; so we retired, and traversed the bazars. The shops were well stocked, and busy with buyers and sellers. There were small arcades especially devoted to the sale of tobacco; others were filled with the refreshing odor of green lemons, oranges, citrons, and shaddocks. The bazars for vegetables and prepared food were rather difficult to pass through; they were thronged with Turkish soldiers from the Pasha's camp, who were seeking their midday rations. Some of them were carrying large metal dishes, containing a medley of chopped vegetables, or deep earthenware plates, filled with pease-pudding, garnished with slices of lemon floating in oil; others hurried through the crowd with bowls of steaming soup before them, which very effectually cleared the way. There seemed to be no friendly feeling between the soldiers and the townspeople. Angry voices and loud cries surrounded us, and in several cases blows were exchanged before a bargain was settled. The long, narrow bazar where dried fruits, olives, rice, butter, and cheese were sold, led us to the entrance of an important mosque, the exterior of which is rich in relics of Christian art of the twelfth century. After pausing
