MY DEAR HARRY:

V.

TYRE, Dec. 10, 18—.

You will naturally expect my account of this place to be particularly interesting, but I fear you will be disappointed. I have not been very greatly entertained here, and a two days' storm has put me in such a state of stupidity that it will be wonderful if some of it does not get into my letter.

But, according to custom, I will first tell you about our journey from Sidon to this place. How familiar are the words, "the coast of Tyre and Sidon." They are frequently mentioned in Bible history, and certain it is, that our Saviour once travelled through all the region I have been wandering over, for the last few days. We left Sidon on the sixth, pitched our tents near Sarepta in the afternoon, and remained there all night, and the next morning resumed our journey to this city, which we reached at noon. The distance is generally calculated at eight hours, but we chose to take

matters slowly, which makes travel much more enjoyable.

On the road from Sidon to Sarepta we saw several houses with white domes; occasionally a village with two or three of these in it. Mr. Hamilton tells me that these white-domed houses cover the shrines of prophets or holy men. Judging from the numbers we have seen during the short time we have been in the country, I should suppose that there had been a large collection of holy men in this region. Nearly every high hill has on it a sacred place

a willy or mazar, as they are called by the natives and to these the people go to worship. Some of these are very old, so old that it is not known whether they were built by Jews, Christians, Mohammedans, or Arabs, and therefore all these sects claim them, and use them in different ways for the same purpose. Father says these are the "high places" so frequently condemned in the Old Testament. They are generally situated in a grove or under a single tree.

When we arrived at Sarepta, we found our tents pitched under some tamarisk trees. After dinner we lay down for some time under the trees, for the sun was pretty hot by this time. As I lay there I began to understand how it is that people who live here long get into such

lazy habits. Everything around me was so quiet, and the air made me feel dreamy, not sleepy. I had a feeling that it would be much more agreeable to lie there always, and look up into the soft, clear Syrian sky, and think of all the splendid things I intended to do, than to have to work hard all my life, as we Western people do. And then, you know, one can think of things so much more splendid than he can ever do, let him work hard as he may. It was like a romance to me, any way, being there at all. I would shut my eyes for a few moments, then turn my head in any direction, and suddenly open them, always seeing something I was not accustomed to-palm trees, lovely little gazelles, queer-looking camels, and queerer-looking Arabs, the long wave of drifted sand, and the light feathery trees above me. I thought of Philadelphia, and how it was full of people, toiling from morning till night at all sorts of trades, manufactures and professions; heavily-loaded drays going through the streets; carts, wagons, and omnibuses rattling over the pavements; men, women, boys, girls, and horses all hard at work. Oh, dear! it fairly made me groan! And our old school-room rose before me. O! but there is plenty of hard work done there!

I thought of you, Mr. Harry, poring over your books, and wishing

yourself on the pond, skating. Skating! How that word changed the current of my ideas. I would not live in this country on any account, beautiful as it is. No snow! no skating! no sledding!

During these reflections everybody was asleep but me. When they woke up we four travellers started for a survey of Sarepta and the surrounding country. I should say Sarafend, for that is the name it is now known by, and I expect that is the only name you will find on your map. But I like the old names best. The ruins of Sarepta extend for a mile along the shore, and they are really ruins; there is very little shape or form about them. They have been dug over a great many times for building stones. Workmen were digging out stones when we were there. We asked them what they were going to do with them? They told us they were going to take them to Beirut ! These people have no reverence and respect for ancient things. They would tumble down the wall of a splendid temple, which had stood for centuries, with no more emotion than we would feel in overturning an old shed. No. wonder that all traces of the very ancient cities of this country are entirely lost. In the neighborhood of Sarepta there is quite a large extent of country which is covered with rubbish,

which rubbish was once ruins, which ruins marked the site of an ancient Greek city, called Ornithon. Thousands of years ago Ornithon disappeared from the face of the earth; hundreds of years ago Sarepta passed away, and now the little village of Sarafend is all that is left of them.

Sarepta is called Zarephath in the Old Testament. It was here the widow lived who entertained Elijah, and gave him of the little food she had when there was a famine. For this act of kindness, the Lord did not suffer her barrel of meal to waste, or cruse of oil to fail during the famine.* In Sarafend they showed us the cave where the widow had lived-at least so they told us.

The next morning we continued our journey, riding near the blue waves of the Mediterranean, and sometimes in them. We saw no villages, which I thought strange, but Mr. Hamilton says the people who cultivate these plains live among the mountains, and come down to the plain to do their work. This is because they are afraid of the wandering Arabs. When the Phoenicians lived here the whole coast was covered with great cities and thriving villages. That is because they were

* 1 Kings xvii.