DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5295#0184
HOLY LAND, AND CYPRUS. 151
St. Jeremiah*, where is the ruin of a handsome Christian
church, now converted into a stable: previous to this, I had
been stopped for the caphar, by one of the mountaineers on
horseback, and who paid no regard to my firman, and
scarcely deigned to make any reply to my objection to the
caphar. I was wiser than to continue the dispute ; I left the
mocarri to settle it; and found myself subject to still more
interruption at St. Jeremiah, where there was a band of
Arabs, armed with musquets, carousing under a tree. All of
them suddenly rising, and coming towards me, startled me;
their chief caught hold of my bridle, and bade me give an
account of myself; and, on my attempting to proceed, cast
that sort of ferocious look of anger, with a more authoritative
exclamation to halt, that made me reflect on the folly of any
resistance. As soon, however, as the mocarri had certified
I had paid the caphar, I was allowed to continue my
journey, and no farther notice taken.
The cultivation from this valley was generally vine, planted
in terraces formed on the sides by walls made of loose stones,
or by the natural strata of the soil. Some of the valleys were
crowned with towers, one of which was called that of Tubal.
* Pococke did not go the direct road from Ramla to Jerusalem; and sup-
poses Jeremiah, which lie did not pass, to he Anatoth, where the prophet was
born.
St. Jeremiah*, where is the ruin of a handsome Christian
church, now converted into a stable: previous to this, I had
been stopped for the caphar, by one of the mountaineers on
horseback, and who paid no regard to my firman, and
scarcely deigned to make any reply to my objection to the
caphar. I was wiser than to continue the dispute ; I left the
mocarri to settle it; and found myself subject to still more
interruption at St. Jeremiah, where there was a band of
Arabs, armed with musquets, carousing under a tree. All of
them suddenly rising, and coming towards me, startled me;
their chief caught hold of my bridle, and bade me give an
account of myself; and, on my attempting to proceed, cast
that sort of ferocious look of anger, with a more authoritative
exclamation to halt, that made me reflect on the folly of any
resistance. As soon, however, as the mocarri had certified
I had paid the caphar, I was allowed to continue my
journey, and no farther notice taken.
The cultivation from this valley was generally vine, planted
in terraces formed on the sides by walls made of loose stones,
or by the natural strata of the soil. Some of the valleys were
crowned with towers, one of which was called that of Tubal.
* Pococke did not go the direct road from Ramla to Jerusalem; and sup-
poses Jeremiah, which lie did not pass, to he Anatoth, where the prophet was
born.