<A JOURNEY IN THE EAST: 331 



We too soon set off, as the time was getting on, and our 

 entry had to be made punctually to the minute. 



Soon after our arrival we had to receive the Consuls, then 

 the Turkish authorities, the notables of the town in their 

 Eastern costumes, and afterwards all the heads of the 

 Christian and Jewish Churches. 



When all these very interesting visitors had left us, we 

 went out of the hospice and passed through one of the streets 

 and the old Damascus Gate to our imposing camp, which had 

 been pitched just outside the city walls, in a grove of stunted 

 olives near stony ground and heaps of ruins. Everything 

 had already been unpacked by the servants, so we at once 

 made ourselves comfortable, and it was very pleasant to get a 

 little rest after the fatigues and heat of the day. The sunset 

 was beautiful, the evening refreshingly cool, and dinner 

 having been despatched all was soon quiet in the camp. As 

 we were going to sleep, however, our ears- were saluted 

 with the incessant howling of the half- wild dogs within the 

 walls, and of the jackals which swarm round Jerusalem, espe- 

 cially in the neighbourhood of the slaughter-yards, which 

 were situated on the further side of a little valley near our 

 camp. 



Early on the morning of the 30th we all went, both 

 masters and servants, to the Hospice, and thence made a 

 pilgrimage to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Leaving 

 the chapel, we visited the great church and another little 

 chapel belonging to the small Franciscan monastery, which 

 also forms part of the buildings of the Church of the 

 Sepulchre. 



From the monastery we descended to the Church, and 

 examined the various relics, the points of historical interest, 

 the numerous side chapels, and all the spots connected with 

 legends or religious beliefs. Up the steps and down the 



