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DOMESTIC LIFE IN PALESTINE.

obliged to share our quarantine lodging. Mr. Graham lent us some of his tent furniture, cooking utensils, etc., and made our abode more comfortable.

When we sent to the market for provisions, we had to put the money in a cup of water to prevent infection, but we certainly looked more wholesome than any of the dirty little half-naked messengers who executed our commissions, and by whose aid we obtained fowls, goat's milk, coffee, rice, fruit, and vegetables, at a very reasonable rate.

There were two rooms in addition to ours opening into the court-yard. One was occupied by a party of Moslem travelers, and the other by the Franciscan pilgrims. The court-yard was in shade and cooler than the rooms, so with one accord we all took breakfast there.

The Moslems, after pouring water over their hands and feet, spread their carpets, prayed, and then sat round a dish of rice, butter, and tomatoes, putting their hands together into the dish. They ate rapidly and in silence, then washed their hands, and smoked chibouques and narghilés. The monks, who spoke French, Italian, and Spanish, invited us to share some of their conserves and sirups.

When the heat of the day had passed, we were allowed to take a walk, accompanied by a garde, to prevent our contact with human beings.

We gladly descended the steps of our prison, and reached the broad sands. The sun was going down, tinging the sea and the sky, and the white walls of Yâfa, with a red glow. We walked along the shore toward the south, with drifted sand-hills, more or less covered with vegetation on our left, and the waves of the sea approaching us on our right. We saw the skeleton of a camel half-sunk in the sand, and found many shells, and dorsal bones of cuttle-fish. About a mile from the quarantine station the beach was entirely composed of shells, most of them broken. The rocks, which form natural jetties, or rise up out of the beach, seem to be a sort of conglomerate of sand and shells, in