just as the grain is
ripening, and carrying off the produce by night, or setting fire to
whatever they cannot seize in this hasty operation; and this takes place
about two hours from the citadel and garrison of Jerusalem. Do not ask
where is the Turkish government!

The people are driven to sow the grain upon these conditions, under risk
of having their own crops destroyed or devastated near their homesteads,
and in no case dare they offer any resistance.

I was once unwillingly present at a grievous scene near Elisha's
fountain. Nas'r Abu' N'sair, shaikh of the Ehteimat, one of the parties
at all times in the above-described partnerships, was seated smoking his
chibook beneath an old neb'k tree when some Christian peasants from
_Tayibeh_ approached him with deep humility, begging permission to sow
grain upon that marvellously fertile plain of Jericho. For some reason
which did not appear, it suited him to refuse the favour. In vain the
suppliants raised their bidding of the proportion to be given him from
the proceeds; they then endeavoured to get me to intercede in their
behalf, frequently making the sign of the cross upon themselves, thereby
invoking my sympathy as a fellow-Christian on their side; but on several
accounts it seemed most prudent for me to leave the parties to their own
negotiations, only speaking on their behalf afterwards by sending a
kawwas to recommend kindness in general to the Christian villages. It
may be that this step met with success, but I could not but be sincerely
desirous to have such Arab vermin as these mongrel tribes swept off the
land.

VI. SEBUSTIEH TO CAIFFA.

In October, 1848, I found myself at Sebustieh, the ancient Samaria,
having come thither from Jerusalem by the common route through Nabloos,
_i.e._, Shechem. Since that time I have often been there, but never
without a feeling of very deep interest, not only in the beauty of its
site, worthy of a royal city, or in the Roman remains still subsisting,
but also in the remarkable fulfilments of Biblical prophecy which the
place exhibits. The stones of the ancient buildings are literally poured
down into the valley, and the foundations thereof discovered, (Micah i.
6.)

We left the hill and its miserable village by the usual track through a
gateway at its eastern side. Down in the valley lay fragments of large
mouldings of public buildings, and the lid of a sarcophagus reversed,
measuring eight feet in length