into the drawing-room to take coffee. They made strong professions and promises of faith and good will toward their "noble lady, Mrs. Finn," saying, that they would protect the property at the risk of their lives, and as if it were still their own. They went away evidently quite satisfied with the transaction.
On the 15th, Mr. and Mrs. Finn went to Urtâs, to stay there for a few days, for change of air, and to superintend the arrangements for inclosing and cultivating the recently purchased land. I was invited to spend a day with them, in company with an English traveler, Mr. W., and Skander Finn. We started from the Consulate at sunrise, and rode quickly across the plain of Rephaim to Rachel's Sepulcher, and over the hills by Bethlehem. A well-mounted kawass led the way, and a mule carrying Debihu, the Abyssinian servant, and a tent, followed. We reached the pleasant valley in about two hours. It looked to me more beautiful than ever, with its rippling streams, its flourishing fruit trees, and rose-bushes covered with flowers.
We found our friends waiting for us, seated at the wide entrance of a dry cave, in a white limestone rock, just above the new garden-ground. We went together up to Mr. Meshullam's cottage. His wife showed me a large sieve full of fine roses, which had been gathered before sunrise. We breakfasted in the rose-scented room, and then rested for a short time on the cushioned stone divan, under a large fig-tree, the thickly-growing leaves of which now afforded perfect shelter.
A ride was proposed, and we mounted. Mr. Finn led the way in a south-westerly direction, over a steep and pathless hill, which looked as if it had never been traversed except by wild goats and conies. When we commenced descending, we found it necessary to dismount; and, one after another, we led our horses, slipping and sliding, over large smooth inclined slabs of rock and loose stones, till we reached a broad level platform, where rich earth had rested, and formed a bed for wild flowers. Here we paused
