to take the side trip to Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee by carriage;
the others, to make the excursion through the interior of Palestine on
horseback, camping on the way, and rejoining the main party in
Jerusalem.

At noon on Wednesday the Moltke anchored in the unprotected harbor of
Jaffa over a mile from the shore, as it is not safe for a large steamer
to approach nearer. This was the landing place in the Mediterranean most
dreaded by the tourists; for we had heard of jagged rocks that projected
their black heads from the water, and of rough seas that on windy days
broke over the rocks making the passage from the vessel to the dock very
dangerous. The weather, however, was fair and the sea unusually smooth
that noon as the tourists one by one dropped from the platform at the
foot of the stairway into the row-boats as they rose on the swell of the
waves. The boats were large and built expressly for this dangerous
harbor. Each boat was managed by eight men, six rowers, a helmsman, and
a bowman, and each boat carried about twenty passengers. As the Syrians
labored hard at the oars they chanted continually a prayer to Allah for
a fair passage.

After safely landing at the stone steps of the dock, we proceeded
through the streets to the special train which was waiting to carry us
up to Jerusalem, not stopping to visit the traditional house of Simon,
the tanner, where the Apostle Peter had a vision on the roof.

"The oranges of Jaffa are noted as being the finest in the world. Don't
fail to buy some," said a gentleman from California. "We raise good
oranges in my state, but ours are not quite equal to those of Jaffa."

Arab men and boys surrounded the tourists at the station offering
carefully packed baskets, each containing two or three dozen fresh,
juicy oranges at what seemed an extremely low price. When the train
started every compartment contained one or more baskets of the delicious
fruit.

[Illustration: IT WAS A TYPICAL SYRIAN GROUP.]

The journey from Jaffa to Jerusalem was literally "up;" for the Sacred
City is nearly three thousand feet above the sea, and four hours was
required for the trip of fifty-four miles. After leaving Jaffa the train
passed through a succession of interesting panoramic views: gardens
where richness of soil was manifested by the rankness of the growth of
the plants and flowers; groups of palm trees with long, rough trunks,
and tufted heads high in the air; long rows of tall, narrow-