well. At the east end the Mediterranean does not run into
a point as it does at Gibraltar, but comes up against a straight wall of
land which cuts it off squarely, and this straight line is the coast of
Palestine, better known as the Holy Land. If the schoolboys of Palestine
were set to draw a map of their own country, they would find it much
easier than a British boy would if told to make a map of his country.
For all that the Jewish boy would have to do would be to make a fairly
straight line, sloping a little out at the bottom end. There would be
hardly any indentations on it and only one small bay.

Palestine, of course, is the country of the Jews, though people of many
other races and nations live there, and thousands of the Jews are
scattered in all parts of the world. Some people dream of restoring all
the Jews to their own land, but it is difficult to see what good it
would do them. Palestine is held at present by the Turks, but everyone
can visit it when they please. It is not a very large country, only
about the size of Wales, and yet there isn't a country in the world to
equal it in importance. Thousands of people visit it every year in spite
of the fact that it is very difficult to get there. There are no good
harbours, and the landing at Jaffa, which is the principal port for
Jerusalem, has to be done in small boats. As we have to make our visit
in the winter we may find the sea rough and dangerous, and may even be
carried on north of Jaffa and have to come back on another boat as some
friends of mine did. The Holy Land is not great or powerful or even
beautiful nowadays, though in the spring the wild flowers are lovely.
Seen in the winter it is just a rather barren, stony land, with many
hills, and it is inhabited by very poor people. Yet this little country
has been more fought over than any other. For centuries there were
crusaders, or soldiers of the cross, who went out to try to conquer it,
to hold it in Christian keeping, but they did not succeed.

We must leave our heavy luggage at Port Said, to be picked up again on
our return, and only take what we can carry in handbags. The rather
small steamer which is to take us starts in the evening, and it is best
to go straight to bed on board, as we shall have much to go through when
we arrive to-morrow morning. After a rather disturbed night we are glad
to get up and dress and come on deck. The ship is at anchor off Jaffa,
tossing up and down on the grey w