386 EXTRACTS FROM 



chilly Europe to which we were soon to return. The strings 

 of camels, the long-eared goats, the Arab horses, the pictu- 

 resque figures in their burnouses, the gay garments and large 

 turbans, the Eastern houses and burial-grounds, and all the 

 peculiar and attractive surroundings of Eastern life, which 

 had so long interested and charmed us, and to which we had 

 become so familiar and attached, were once more eagerly 

 gazed upon ; and w r e all strove to impress upon our memories 

 our last look at them, so that, hereafter, in the cold grey 

 winter days, when we poor Europeans are harassed and 

 tormented by the storms of the North, those scenes might 

 rise before our mental vision, and we might fancy ourselves 

 transported to the cradle of the human race, where Paradise 

 stood in the sacred golden and gorgeous East. 



Passing through one of the narrow streets of the small 

 town of Jaffa, which is built in terraces on the steep sides of 

 Mount Carmel, we soon reached the quay. One more step 

 on Eastern soil, one last look at the gay throng of people, 

 and the hard parting from the East, which we had learned to 

 admire and to love, was over. A boat from the ' Miramar ' 

 bore our party over the dancing waves to the ship, which was 

 here lying at anchor. 



Before nightfall we were under weigh, and the hazy out- 

 lines of the high mountains of the Asiatic coast vanished in 

 the shades of evening. The sea was rough, and we had an 

 uncomfortable time of it, the whole of the 13th of April 

 being spent in the open sea in chilly disagreeable weather. 

 Heavy clouds overcast the sky, and all was quiet on the 

 deck of the ' Miramar,' for many of us suffered much, and 

 the few who were all right watched the play of the waves, 

 lost in thoughts of the glorious East. After a life so full 

 of excitement and variety there is a certain reaction, and 

 one passes much time in dwelling on the memories of 

 happy days. 



