ilgrim-house), a building
devoted by the Franciscan friars to the reception of rich and poor
Roman Catholics and Protestants.

I left my baggage in the room allotted to me, and hastened into the
church, to lighten the weight on my heart by fervent prayer. The
entrance into the church looks like the door of a private house; the
building is small, but still sufficiently large for the Roman
Catholic congregation. The altar is richly furnished, and the organ
is a very bad one. The male and female portions of the congregation
are separated from each other, the young as well as the old, and all
sit or kneel on the ground. Chairs there are none in this church.
The costume of the Christians is precisely the same as that of the
Syrians. The women wear boots of yellow morocco, and over these
slippers, which they take off on entering the church. In the street
their faces are completely, in the church only partially, muffled,
and the faces of the girls not at all. Their dress consists of a
white linen gown, and a large shawl of the same material, which
completely envelops them. They were all cleanly and neatly dressed.

The amount of devotion manifested by these people is very small; the
most trifling circumstance suffices to distract their attention.
For instance, my appearance seemed to create quite a sensation among
them, and they made their remarks upon me to one another so openly
both by words and gestures, that I found it quite impossible to give
my mind to seriousness and devotion. Some of them pushed purposely
against me, and put out their hands to grasp my bonnet, etc. They
conversed together a good deal, and prayed very little. The
children behaved no better; these little people ate their breakfast
while the service was going on, and occasionally jostled each other,
probably to keep themselves awake. The good people here must fancy
they are doing a meritorious work by passing two or three hours in
the church; no one seems to care _how_ this time is spent, or they
would assuredly have been taught better.

I had been in the church rather more than an hour when a clergyman
stepped up to me and accosted me in my native language. He was a
German, and, in fact, an Austrian. He promised to visit me in the
course of a few hours. I returned to the Nuova Casa, and now, for
the first time, had leisure to examine my apartment. The
arrangement was simple in the extreme. An iron bedstead, with a
mattress, coverlet,