ix PALESTINE 219 



descendant of the oak under which Abraham's tent was 

 pitched when God appeared to him, and is probably one 

 thousand years old. The morning after our arrival the 

 Russian pilgrims at sunrise were kneeling round this 

 tree in prayer, and their soft harmonious chanting stole 

 away over the Plain of Mamre, and echoed gently from 

 the rocky hills around. 



Machpelah is now in the middle of Hebron (the 

 oldest city in Palestine, and seven years older than 

 Memphis), under a beastly mosque which Christians 

 may not enter. Trench and I offered 12 to be 

 allowed to go in disguised as Mohammedans, but were 

 refused. It is about a mile from Mamre, immediately 

 to the east. Returning, we had a lovely day, and 

 Bethlehem was most striking as we approached it from 

 the south-east. It stands out boldly against the sky 

 on a long, hog -shaped ridge, and the shepherds' 

 fields and the field of Boaz, where dear little Ruth 

 gleaned, are just below it in a wide stretch of green, 

 which is very striking, in the middle of stony mountains 

 and olive trees, terraced as in Italy. I have lots of 

 photos, and they will help you to realise it all, but 

 really to enjoy it, it must be seen. I bring you a little 

 souvenir from Bethlehem, and Trench and I are 

 collecting bulbs, in hopes they will grow at Pau. 

 Anything like the glory of the flowers, ' the lilies of the 

 field ' for I am sure it is a generic term as used by 

 Him I never saw. It is really a perfect galaxy of 

 beauty, red anemones, wild tulips, poppies, marigolds, 

 daisies, and thousands I don't know. In the fields 

 they grow amongst the bare spots near the stones. 

 We stopped at Mar Saba (a very queer old monastery 

 in a desperate gorge), camped in a very wild spot, and 

 the next day went through the * wilderness of Judea ' 

 to the Dead Sea. This is not a bit what I expected. 



