for an instant every few minutes, lighting up my room. Then there was silence and darkness, and I slept till seven, when another volley woke me, and I rose. Every one was busy, for Kamîl Pasha had issued a proclamation, ordering "all the people of Jerusalem to rejoice and be glad, and render thanks to God, and to illuminate their houses," in celebration of the announcement of peace between Russia and Turkey. The tinmen, and the dealers in "lamps, old and new," and the makers of lanterns, reaped a golden harvest that day. Contrivances for illuminating engaged every one. There was a great demand in the bazars for gilt wire and colored paper wherewith to incase wax candles.
At noon a busy and merry little party of English girls assembled at the Consulate. Paper roses and carnations grew rapidly beneath our fingers, and were fastened to the tree-branches and boughs with which Hadj Ali, the Egyptian groom, supplied us. He brought us a donkey load; but he had made his selection without any sentiment, and as he thought carrot-tops much more beautiful than olive-branches or laurels, he gathered the former in abundance. However, they made bright-green garlands, and had a pretty effect with our flowers, and no one could guess what they were. We had several visitors, who were much amused while we were making our garden grow. The Spanish Consul-General, the French Consul, and some English travelers came. The Pasha's Secretary, who peeped in several times, said he would report to Kamîl Pasha how thoroughly we were obeying the orders of the day.
The sun went down, and then by degrees the city was lighted up. Rings of light encircled the minarets and some of the domes. The Latin convent and Bishop Gobat's house were brilliant with flambeaus and cressets, and a flood of light streamed through the garlanded windows of the Consulate. Groups of white-sheeted women, and crowds of men and boys carrying torches and colored
