DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12665#0315
298
incidents of travel.
CHAPTER XVII.
Pilgrimage to the Jordan.—Pilgrim's Certificate.—The Tomb of
Samuel.—Last View of Jerusalem.—Questionable Company.—
Departure from the Holy Land.—Conclusion.
The next day I left Jerusalem; but, before leav-
ing it, I was witness to another striking scene,
which I shall never forget; the departure of the
pilgrims, fifteen or twenty thousand in number, for
the Jordan. At an early hour I was on horse-
back, outside St. Stephen's Gate. It was such a
morning as that on which I started for the Dead
Sea, clear, bright, and beautiful; the streets of the
city were deserted, and the whole population was
outside the walls, sitting under the shadow of the
temple, among the tombs of the Turkish burying-
ground; the women in their long white dresses,
with their faces covered, and the men in large
flowing robes, of gay and varied colours, and tur-
bans of every fashion, many of them green, the
proud token of the pilgrimage to Mecca, with pipes,
and swords, and glittering arms ; the whole Valley
of Jehoshaphat was filled with moving beings, in
every variety of gay apparel, as if the great day
of resurrection had already come, and the tenants
of the dreary tombs had burst the fetters of the
grave, and come forth into new life and beauty.
incidents of travel.
CHAPTER XVII.
Pilgrimage to the Jordan.—Pilgrim's Certificate.—The Tomb of
Samuel.—Last View of Jerusalem.—Questionable Company.—
Departure from the Holy Land.—Conclusion.
The next day I left Jerusalem; but, before leav-
ing it, I was witness to another striking scene,
which I shall never forget; the departure of the
pilgrims, fifteen or twenty thousand in number, for
the Jordan. At an early hour I was on horse-
back, outside St. Stephen's Gate. It was such a
morning as that on which I started for the Dead
Sea, clear, bright, and beautiful; the streets of the
city were deserted, and the whole population was
outside the walls, sitting under the shadow of the
temple, among the tombs of the Turkish burying-
ground; the women in their long white dresses,
with their faces covered, and the men in large
flowing robes, of gay and varied colours, and tur-
bans of every fashion, many of them green, the
proud token of the pilgrimage to Mecca, with pipes,
and swords, and glittering arms ; the whole Valley
of Jehoshaphat was filled with moving beings, in
every variety of gay apparel, as if the great day
of resurrection had already come, and the tenants
of the dreary tombs had burst the fetters of the
grave, and come forth into new life and beauty.