DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5295#0185
152 TRAVELS IN EGYPT, NUBIA,
We passed the village of Kelaun, where the peasantry wel-
comed me with much cordiality. My umbrella became an
object of curiosity to them; and I was obliged, in spite of the
plague having begun to show itself in this part of the country,
to let it pass through their hands. My reward was to hear,
that " the Franks were certainly very ingenious." The
women did not conceal their faces ; many of them had very
good features. Here was a bridge over a water course, that
left signs of swelling considerably in the rainy season.
From hence there was little or no cultivation, though re-
mains of it might be seen on the sides of the mountains;
these became frightfully barren, extending far and wide, and
seemed to shut out Jerusalem from the rest of the world.
We at length got to the top of the last chain, and, looking
to the north, I saw another winding valley, in which were
villages in the midst of cultivation. The south was confined
by a continuation of the mountain. Jerusalem soon pre-
sented itself, in a small extent of wall, with battlements and
square towers: a few houses, and one mosque, appeared
above them; and behind these, at a considerable distance,
was a long range of hills, not very high, of a deep blue tint.
We arrived at the gates of the town at about one o'clock,
having been eight hours in the mountains, and eleven on the
journey. We entered by the gate of Sham (Damascus) at
Avhich a single janissary was stationed; passed through an
We passed the village of Kelaun, where the peasantry wel-
comed me with much cordiality. My umbrella became an
object of curiosity to them; and I was obliged, in spite of the
plague having begun to show itself in this part of the country,
to let it pass through their hands. My reward was to hear,
that " the Franks were certainly very ingenious." The
women did not conceal their faces ; many of them had very
good features. Here was a bridge over a water course, that
left signs of swelling considerably in the rainy season.
From hence there was little or no cultivation, though re-
mains of it might be seen on the sides of the mountains;
these became frightfully barren, extending far and wide, and
seemed to shut out Jerusalem from the rest of the world.
We at length got to the top of the last chain, and, looking
to the north, I saw another winding valley, in which were
villages in the midst of cultivation. The south was confined
by a continuation of the mountain. Jerusalem soon pre-
sented itself, in a small extent of wall, with battlements and
square towers: a few houses, and one mosque, appeared
above them; and behind these, at a considerable distance,
was a long range of hills, not very high, of a deep blue tint.
We arrived at the gates of the town at about one o'clock,
having been eight hours in the mountains, and eleven on the
journey. We entered by the gate of Sham (Damascus) at
Avhich a single janissary was stationed; passed through an