icisms of some passers-by. They were wondering who I might be, when one of them settled the question, very decidedly, by saying, "She is a foreigner belonging to the harem of Kamîl Pasha, and she is going to Jerusalem for safety, for there may be war in the neighborhood of Nablûs soon."
At a little after midday we rested for half an hour near to a well-side at the foot of a very steep hill. Cold fowls and bread and wine were spread for me, on a smooth block of stone. At one o'clock we started again, and attempted to ascend the hill, by one of the worst and most stony roads in the country. Simeon's clumsy saddle slipped down over the back of his horse; but he was fortunately able to save himself by clinging to the neck and mane of the animal, and then jumping to the ground. He directed the kawass to guide us by another road, even though it might be a longer one, saying to me, "I am afraid for you, for if any harm befall you, I shall not dare to see your brother's face again." I consented, though rather reluctantly, to take the longer and easier road. The scenery had quite changed. We had left behind us the pleasant plains of Ephraim, and the cultivated gardens and terraced hill-sides; and, with the exception of one unusually-fine oak, which stands conspicuously near to the ruins of an ancient castle, on a high ridge, we did not see a tree for several miles. But the beautiful poterium spinosum, in full leaf and blossom, grew profusely wherever there was any earth on the stony hills. We passed down a wild and narrow glen. The cliffs on each side were steep and abrupt, pierced with caverns, and channeled with water-courses, and in the bottom of the valley there were large rocks of fantastic form, percolated by rain, and tinted red, gray, orange-color, and lavender, relieved by black and white. On the rock-ledges above us there were scanty crops of barley, wheat, and lentiles, and olive and fig trees appeared again in small groups. Flocks of goats and larger cattle were being led out to seek for pasture by rather desperate-look-
