312 THE HOLT LAND. 



black serge, with, a broad bat upon bis head, put a 

 long staff in bis band and hung round him a scarf 

 and scrip. He was conducted to the borders of the 

 parish in solemn procession, with cross and holy water ; 

 the neighbours parted from him there with tears and 

 benedictions. He returned with cockle shells stitched 

 in his hat, as a sign that he had been across the seas, 

 and with a branch of palm tied on to bis staff, as a 

 sign that he bad been to Jerusalem itself. He often 

 brought also relics and beads ; a bag of dust to hang 

 at the bedside of the sick ; a phial of oil from the 

 lamp which hung over the Holy Sepulchre, and per- 

 haps a splinter of the true cross. 



When the Saracens conquered Palestine and Egypt, 

 they did not destroy the memorials of Jesus, for they 

 reverenced him as a prophet. Pious Moslems made 

 also the pilgrimage to Jerusalem ; and the Christians 

 were surprised and edified to see the turbaned infidels 

 removing their sandals like Moses on Mount Sinai, 

 and prostrating themselves upon the pavement before 

 the tomb. The caliphs were sufficiently enlightened 

 to encourage and protect the foreign enthusiasts who 

 filled the land with gold ; and although the palmers 

 were exempt from "passage" and "pontage," and 

 other kinds of black -mail levied by the barons on lay 

 travellers, they found it more easy and more safe to 

 travel in Asia than in Europe. The passion for the 

 pilgrimage of Palestine, which had gradually in- 

 creased since the days of Helena, and Jerome, 

 burst forth as an epidemic at the close of the tenth 

 century. The thousand years assigned in Revelations 

 as the lifetime of the earth were about to expire. It 

 was believed that Jesus would appear in Jerusalem, 

 and there hold a grand assize : thousands bestowed 



