DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5295#0180
HOLY LAND, AND CYPltUS. 147
strong healthy looking men, generally dressed in a loose
white frock and turban: they wear their beards, and have
a dark complexion; a leathern girdle, about four inches
broad, confines their frock at the waist, and contains a long-
Albanian knife. They were uniformly courteous, and wil-
lingly replied to my questions.
There are three villages on the road to Ramla, which are
not poorer in their appearance than many I have seen in
Sicily and the south of Italy : near them more pains had
been taken with the cultivation. The chief trees were olive.
Various villages appeared in the chain of mountains to the
east and north, behind which are those where Jerusalem
is situated. The road to Ramla might be passed in a car-
riage, and runs through ground of gentle ascent and descent.
The town is beautifully situated: its minarets surmount the
domes of the houses, and are intermixed with palm and
cypress: the surrounding verdure, broken ground, a ruined
mosque, said to be built in honour of a relation of Mahomet,
combined with a large plantation of olives, formed a complete
picture, which I had not time to sketch.
The convent to which I went is at the entrance of the
town : it is a square, surrounded by a strong wall, capable of
dclence, and intended for that purpose. The constant alarm
in which its inhabitants live renders it necessary to be ready
for any sudden attack. On arriving at the gateAvay, and
'a
v 2
strong healthy looking men, generally dressed in a loose
white frock and turban: they wear their beards, and have
a dark complexion; a leathern girdle, about four inches
broad, confines their frock at the waist, and contains a long-
Albanian knife. They were uniformly courteous, and wil-
lingly replied to my questions.
There are three villages on the road to Ramla, which are
not poorer in their appearance than many I have seen in
Sicily and the south of Italy : near them more pains had
been taken with the cultivation. The chief trees were olive.
Various villages appeared in the chain of mountains to the
east and north, behind which are those where Jerusalem
is situated. The road to Ramla might be passed in a car-
riage, and runs through ground of gentle ascent and descent.
The town is beautifully situated: its minarets surmount the
domes of the houses, and are intermixed with palm and
cypress: the surrounding verdure, broken ground, a ruined
mosque, said to be built in honour of a relation of Mahomet,
combined with a large plantation of olives, formed a complete
picture, which I had not time to sketch.
The convent to which I went is at the entrance of the
town : it is a square, surrounded by a strong wall, capable of
dclence, and intended for that purpose. The constant alarm
in which its inhabitants live renders it necessary to be ready
for any sudden attack. On arriving at the gateAvay, and
'a
v 2