Page:Travels from Aleppo to the city of Jerusalem, and through the Holy Land, in the year 1776.pdf/23

on, we made St. Jerom’s church our sleeping place; formerly fathers lived in it, but the Arabs came upon them in the night, and cut all their throats. June 15th, we arrived at the convent of Ramah about 10 in the morning, where we tarried till midnight, at which time there was a ship to depart, and some of us intended to embark. We put our provisions of bread and wine aboard, and so put to sea, keeping always near the shore for fear of a storm. After three days sail we arrived at Acrica, formerly Ptolemais, once a famous city of Galilee. Two days after we arrived at Tripoli, capital city of the kingdom of that name. We lodged here again at the consul’s house for a great many days, who treated us like princes; but the plague being raging in Aleppo, another gentleman and myself, took it into our heads to go and visit Loretto, a city of Italy. Loretto is a small fortified town, consisting of one street within the gate, and another without, the richest in the world. For, according to Catholic tradition, the chamber of the blessed Virgin, (in which she was born, and was saluted by the angel, and brought up her son Jesus till he was twelve years of age,) was brought by angels into Dalmatia, on the east side o the gulph of Venice, but the