CHAPTER III.
FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM.
The Garden of Jaffa — Breakfast at a Fountain — The Plain of Sharon — The Ruined Mosque of Ramleh — A Judean Landscape — The Streets of Ramleh — Am I in Palestine? — A Heavenly Morning — The Land of Milk and Honey — Entering the Hill-Country — The Pilgrim's Breakfast — The Father of Lies — A Church of the Crusaders — The Agriculture of the Hills — The Valley of Elah — Day-Dreams — The Wilderness — The Approach — We see the Holy City.
"Through the air sublime,
Over the wilderness and o'er the plain;
Till underneath them fair Jerusalem,
The Holy City, lifted high her towers."
Leaving the gate of Jaffa, we rode eastward between delightful gardens of fig, citron, orange, pomegranate and palm. The country for several miles around the city is a complete level — part of the great plain of Sharon — and the gray mass of building crowning the little promontory, is the only landmark seen above the green garden-land, on looking towards the sea* The road was lined with hedges of giant cactus, now in blossom, and shaded occasionally with broad-armed sycamores. The orange trees were in bloom, and at the same time laden down with ripe fruit. The oranges of Jaffa are the finest in Syria, and great numbers of them are sent to Beyrout and
