110 AREIVAL OF THE CARAVAN. 



urbs !" thought I, on perceiving the cornfields, 

 and what I supposed to be brick-kilns scatter- 

 ed in every direction. These and other ob- 

 servations of the same nature becoming audi- 

 ble, a friend at my elbow said, " It is true 

 those are heaps of unburnt bricks, neverthe- 

 less they are houses — this is the city of 



Five or six days after our arrival, the cara- 

 van at last hove in sight, and wagon after 

 wagon was seen pouring down the last decli- 

 vity at about a mile distance from the citj 



of 



To judge from the ^_, 



the men, an d the state of agreeable 

 ment which the muleteers seemed to be 

 laboring under, the spectacle must have been 

 as new to them as it had been to me. It was 

 truly a scene for the artist's pencil to revel in. 

 Even the animals seemed to participate in the 

 humor of their riders, who grew more and 

 more merry and obstreperous as they descend- 

 ed towards the city. I doubt, in short, whe- 

 ther the first sight of the walls of Jerusalem 

 were beheld by the crusaders with much 

 more tumultuous and soul-enrapturing joy. 



The arrival produced a great deal of bustle 

 and excitement among the natives. «Xo5 

 Americanos ! ''—''Los carros ! "— " La entrada 

 de la caravana!" were to be heard in every 

 direction ; and crowds of women and boys 

 nocked around to see the new-comers ; while 

 crowds of leperos hung about as usual to see 

 what they could pilfer. The wagoners were 

 by no means free from excitement on this oc- 



