DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12665#0082
THE TEMPLE OF PETRA.
71
mits are wild and broken; in some places over-
hanging the opposite sides, casting the darkness
of night upon the narrow defile ; then receding
and forming an opening above, through which
a strong ray of light is thrown down, and illumi-
nates with the blaze of day the frightful chasm
below. Wild fig-trees, oleanders, and ivy were
growing out of the rocky sides of the cliffs hun-
dreds of feet above our heads; the eagle was
screaming above us ; all along were the open doors
of tombs, forming the great Necropolis of the city;
and at the extreme end was a large open space,
with a powerful body of light thrown down upon it,
and exhibiting in one full view the facade of a
beautiful temple, hewn out of the rock, with rows
of Corinthian columns and ornaments, standing out
fresh and clear as if but yesterday from the hands
of the sculptor. Though coming directly from the
banks of the Nile, where the preservation of the
temples excites the admiration and astonishment
of every traveller, we were roused and excited
by the extraordinary beauty and excellent condi-
tion of the great temple at Petra. Even in com-
ing upon it, as we did, at disadvantage, I remem-
ber that Paul, who was a passionate admirer of
the arts, when he first obtained a glimpse of it,
involuntarily cried out, and moving on to the front
with a vivacity I never saw him exhibit before or
afterward, clapped his hands, and shouted in ec-
stasy. To the last day of our being together, he
was in the habit of referring to his extraordinary
fit of enthusiasm when he first came upon that
71
mits are wild and broken; in some places over-
hanging the opposite sides, casting the darkness
of night upon the narrow defile ; then receding
and forming an opening above, through which
a strong ray of light is thrown down, and illumi-
nates with the blaze of day the frightful chasm
below. Wild fig-trees, oleanders, and ivy were
growing out of the rocky sides of the cliffs hun-
dreds of feet above our heads; the eagle was
screaming above us ; all along were the open doors
of tombs, forming the great Necropolis of the city;
and at the extreme end was a large open space,
with a powerful body of light thrown down upon it,
and exhibiting in one full view the facade of a
beautiful temple, hewn out of the rock, with rows
of Corinthian columns and ornaments, standing out
fresh and clear as if but yesterday from the hands
of the sculptor. Though coming directly from the
banks of the Nile, where the preservation of the
temples excites the admiration and astonishment
of every traveller, we were roused and excited
by the extraordinary beauty and excellent condi-
tion of the great temple at Petra. Even in com-
ing upon it, as we did, at disadvantage, I remem-
ber that Paul, who was a passionate admirer of
the arts, when he first obtained a glimpse of it,
involuntarily cried out, and moving on to the front
with a vivacity I never saw him exhibit before or
afterward, clapped his hands, and shouted in ec-
stasy. To the last day of our being together, he
was in the habit of referring to his extraordinary
fit of enthusiasm when he first came upon that