covered court on the house-top to dine, by lantern light. For dessert, among other fruits, we had a dish of large ruby-colored pomegranate seeds moistened with wine, and sprinkled with powdered sugar; bleached almonds formed the border of this tempting-looking dish.
The next day I was sitting in the oriel window at the British Consulate, with the Rev. Dr. Bowen, while Dr. Kayat was engaged with an English captain and a number of Arabs in the lower part of the room. Black clouds came traveling quickly from the west, over the lead-colored sea. Dr. Bowen observed, in the words of Christ, "When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower, and so it is." He had scarcely uttered the words when the clouds spread and fell in a tremendous torrent. The sea swelled, and rolled heavily to the shore. The ships looked as if they would break away from their anchors, and loud peals of thunder made the casemented recess in which we sat tremble violently. The captain hastened away, fearful for the fate of his struggling ship off such a rocky coast. When the rain ceased, and the sun shone again, I rode out with Dr. Bowen to visit Mr. Jones, an American missionary, who lived in the midst of a beautiful garden, east of the town. He had done a great deal of good in teaching the Arab gardeners and agriculturists habits of order and method, but he finds them very slow learners.
At sunrise the next day rain fell in torrents, and did not clear off till noon, after which I sat in my favorite window corner with Nasif Giamal, Mrs. Kayat's brother. We saw just below us, on the rudely-constructed "parade," a crowd of men and children, assembled round a fantastically-dressed man exhibiting a goat, which had been tutored to perform some curious tricks. It stood with its four feet close together on the top of a very long pole, and allowed the man to lift it up and carry it round and round within the circle; then the goat was perched on four sticks, and again carried about. A little band of music—fifes,
