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Greek story localized on these shores.) 

 Till recent years he was also shown the 

 remains of the ribs of another sea mon- 

 ster, the "great fish" that swallowed and 

 disgorged the prophet Jonah, whose tomb 

 he will see on the coast near Sidon. 

 When he proceeds toward Jerusalem he 

 passes Lydda, the birthplace of St. 

 George, where that youthful hero slew 

 the dragon. A little farther comes the 

 spot where another young champion, 

 Samson, the Danite, had in earlier days 

 killed a thousand Philistines with the 

 jaw-bone of an ass. 



Still farther along the railway line he 

 is pointed to the opening of the Valley 

 of Ajalon, where, according to the Book 

 of Joshua, the sun and moon stood still 

 while Israel pursued their enemies. An 

 hour later, as the train approaches Jeru- 

 salem, he looks down on the rocky gorge 

 in which St. Sabas, himself a historical 

 character, famous and influential in the 

 sixth century, dwelt in a cave where a 

 friendly lion came to bear him company ; 

 and from Jerusalem he can note the spot 

 at which the host of Israel passed dry- 

 shod over Jordan, following the Ark of 

 the Covenant, and near which Elisha 

 made the iron swim and turned bitter 

 waters to sweet. Thence, too, he can 

 descry, far off among the blue hills of 

 Moab, the mountain top to which Balaam 

 was brought to curse Israel, and where 

 "the dumb ass, speaking with man's 

 voice, forbade the madness of the proph- 

 et" (Numbers, Chapter XX; 2 Peter, 

 Chapter I). 



WILD MUSLIM LEGENDS 



These scenes of marvel, all passing be- 

 fore the eye in a single afternoon, are 

 but a few examples of the beliefs asso- 

 ciated with ancient sites over the length 

 and breadth of the country. All sorts of 

 legends have sprung up among Muslims, 

 as well as Jews and Christians, the Mus- 

 lim legends being indeed the wildest. For 

 nearly every incident mentioned in the 

 Old or New Testament a local site has 

 been found, often one highly improbable, 

 perhaps plainly impossible, which never- 

 theless the devout are ready to accept. 



The process of site-finding had begun 

 before the days of the Empress Helena, 



and it goes on still. (Quite recently the 

 Muslims have begun to honor a cave at 

 the base of Mount Carmel, which they 

 hold to have sheltered Elijah.) Nothing 

 is more natural, for the number of pil- 

 grims goes on increasing with the in- 

 creased ease and cheapness of transpor- 

 tation, and sites have to be found for the 

 pilgrims, 



CHRISTIAN PILGRIMS 



The Roman Catholics come chiefly 

 from France, but they are few compared 

 with the multitude of Russians, nearly all 

 simple peasants, ready to kiss the stones 

 of every spot which they are told that the 

 presence of the Virgin or a saint has hal- 

 lowed. 



To accommodate those pilgrim swarms, 

 for besides the Catholics and the Ortho- 

 dox, the other ancient churches of the 

 East, such as the Armenians, the Copts, 

 and the Abyssinians, are also represented, 

 countless monasteries and hospices have 

 been erected at and around Jerusalem, 

 Bethlehem, Nazareth, and other sacred 

 spots ; and thus the aspect of these places 

 has been so modernized that it is all the 

 more difficult to realize what they were 

 like in ancient days. 



Jews have come in large numbers ; they 

 have settled in farm colonies ; they have 

 built up almost a new quarter on the 

 north side of old Jerusalem. But even 

 they are not so much in evidence as the 

 Christian pilgrims. The pilgrim is now, 

 especially at the times of festival, the 

 dominant feature of Palestine. It is the 

 only country, save Egypt, perhaps even 

 more than Egypt, to which men flock for 

 the sake of the past ; and it is here that 

 the philosophic student can best learn to 

 appreciate the part which tradition and 

 marvel have played in molding the minds 

 and stimulating the religious fervor of 

 mankind. 



WHAT PALESTINE MIGHT BE 



Under a better government — a govern- 

 ment which should give honest adminis- 

 tration, repress brigandage, diffuse edu- 

 cation, irrigate the now desolate, because 

 sun-scorched, valley of the lower Jordan 

 by water drawn from the upper course 

 of the river — Palestine might become a 

 prosperous and even populous country 



