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We passed some ruinous inns for pilgrims which stood 

 amidst miserable stony olive-yards that vividly reminded us of 

 the little fondas of the Spanish mountains ; and after a long 

 journey reached the bottom of the broad valley known as the 

 Wadi Kuloniyeh, about eleven in the forenoon. The village 

 of the same name lies on the hillside, and below it stands a one- 

 storied European hotel; for Palestine, as long as one travels 

 along the regular pilgrim-routes, is a tourist-beridden land, a 

 sort of sanctified Switzerland. In the one country the 

 stranger's love for the beauties of nature is turned to account ; 

 in the other it is his faith and devotion that are traded upon. 



At Kuloniyeh we halted, as our arrival in Jerusalem was 

 arranged for the afternoon, so in the meantime we took a 

 ramble about the hillsides, which were covered with grey- 

 green olive-woods growing on terraces, and a few bushes and 

 flat rocks. The barren country was burning under the 

 fiercest midday heat, and toiling about the steep slopes was 

 tiring work. All we saw was a Black-headed Jay, and a 

 grey Syrian hare which the Grand Duke wounded, but 

 could not find among the stones ; nor had Hoyos any better 

 luck with a jackal on the other side of the valley ; while I 

 only killed some of those ugly large black lizards that are 

 everywhere to be found in the rocky parts of Palestine. 



As the heat was getting quite unbearable we all returned 

 to the pilgrim's house, and lunched under some olive-trees at 

 the place where the Emmaus of the New Testament stood, 

 aad not far from the spot where David slew Goliath. Count 

 Caboga, our Consul-General, had come from Jerusalem to 

 meet us, and we were much interested in discussing with 

 him our future plans. After luncheon the whole party put 

 on full uniform, and the clergy of the different sects, with the 

 dragomen of the Consulates, who had already met us here, 

 rode back to Jerusalem to prepare for the grand reception. 



