Thierrard, a gardener who lives not far 

 from my hotel, where I would rind a few 

 bee hives. I hastened, and found 9 colo- 

 nies, in large earthern jars, of about 20 

 litres of capacity (5 gallons), and made 

 similar to the ones in which we put 

 lard, and with their opening below, on 

 a wide board. I took a few of these 

 bees and put them in a small phial of 

 alcohol. 



At the office of the Lloyds I was told 

 that the steamers visit Lanarca only 

 every 15 days. This fact was for me a 

 grave contretemps, for 8 days in the 

 island of Cyprus were sufficient, since 

 I had already 6 colonies bought and 

 waiting for me. Then remembering 

 the description I had read and heard of 

 Jerusalem and of the Holy Land, and 

 knowing that the far-famed city was 

 but 48 miles distant from Jaffa (point 

 of passage to Lanarca) I determined to 

 spend 8 clays in visiting these lands, re- 

 serving 8 days for my visit to Cyprus 

 Island. 



I therefore left Alexandria and 

 reached Port Said on Sunday, the 22d, 

 at about 8 a. m. Then a pilot came on 

 a small steamer and took the direction 

 of the ship towards the port, where I 

 saw several men-of-war, English, Tur- 

 kish and of every other nation. On a 

 French steamer, just arrived, was a 

 brother of the Viceroy of Egypt, going 

 to India, who was received with sover- 

 eign honors by the Turkish man-of-war, 

 which discharged 21 guns, while a troop 

 of soldiers, well clothed and armed, 

 were ranged on the shore. A two-oared 

 skiff conveyed me in the canal of Suez. 



There were in the neighborhood 

 neither bees nor bee-keepers, for bees 

 would perish on such a heap of sand. 



At 4 p. m., we left Port Said for the 

 old city of Jaffa, which we reached at 

 8 a. m. on Sunday, the 23d. This city 

 offers from the sea a splendid sight ; 

 but it is deception, for as soon as I 

 entered I found nothing but hovels or 

 huts. The very air seems to be vitiated. 

 The streets are narrow and filthy. 

 Either by my fault, or from the fault of 

 others who were unable to understand 

 me, or refused to understand, it was im- 

 possible to find a bee-keeper. Yet I 

 took some bees on the market while they 

 were sucking dates and grapes and put 

 them in alcohol. 



The country around Jaffa enjoys a 

 luxuriant vegetation; the gardens are 

 splendid. For 2 miles and more all 

 around are groves of orange, lemon and 

 citron trees. I measured a fruit of the 

 latter kind, which had 25 centimeters 

 of length (about 9 inches). As these 

 orchards never are watered by rain, the 

 inhabitants use hydraulic machines 



called norias. The water is kept in 

 large basins, stocked with small colored 

 fishes. The orchards, on account of their 

 sandy soil, are small, and are watered 

 in the evening. They are enclosed with 

 hedges of Indian fig trees, which are 

 very close and impenetrable. Contin- 

 uing my journey through Kamble, I 

 saw a road 2 kilometers long (1)4 miles), 

 and bordered with acacia hedges, 

 which exuded a very sweet odor. What 

 a pasture for bees. 



At Ramble I visited the apiary of the 

 Franciscan Fathers. They use earth- 

 en hives, about 35 to 40 centimeters 

 long and 18 to 20 wide (l 1 ^ ft.xS 1 ^ in.). 

 One of the ends is conic, with a hole to 

 the point for the passage of the bees. 

 The other end is shut up with a disc of 

 stone corked with dirt. They take 

 out the honey from this part. The sides 

 are placed horizontally, and the apiary 

 faces the east. From this apiary I took 

 also a few bees to put in alcohol. 



I remained at Ramble over night, and 

 started for Jerusalem in a carriage. 

 But I cannot advise any one to use such 

 a conveyance, for it is much less safe than 

 the saddle. In these countries the roads 

 are impassable, rocky and very steep ; 

 the carriages not very solid ; the horses 

 are good, it is true, but very poorly har- 

 nessed by their owners, who generally 

 are Prussian. 



Like every city belonging to Turkey, 

 Jerusalem shows to the traveler a 

 gloomy spectacle. It is no more the 

 city sung of by the Prophets ; the city, 

 with its 5 hills, is 779 meters high above 

 the sea ; it is a confused agglomeration 

 of dwellings, with narrow and ill-paved 

 streets, having no foot-paths. 



Around Jerusalem I found 2 bee- 

 keepers, with hives similar to those of 

 the Franciscans of Ramble. These 

 hives faced the south. At the ava ma- 

 rie of Nov. 2S I was on the Mount of 

 Olives, where I collected 3 bees on the 

 flowers of rosemarys. 



From Jerusalem I went to Bethlehem. 

 I visited the "■ Castle of the Cows," so 

 named because the cows of Solomon 

 were kept there by the Baschi-Bazar. 

 In this castle I found 200 hives similar 

 to those of the Franciscans. I saw one 

 of the colonies attacked by hornets, 

 which were fighting to rob the contents 

 of the hive. These hornets are the color 

 of coffee, with the point of their abdo- 

 men white. The hives were turned to- 

 wards the south and west. I took also 

 there a few bees for my phial of alcohol. 



From the "Castle of the Cows" I 

 went to St. John in the mountain. 

 There I saw an apiary of about 50 colo- 

 nies, with hives of the same material, 

 shape and capacity as the others. 



