380 EXTRACTS FROM 
We passed some ruinous inns for pilgrims which stood 
amidst miserable stony olive-yards that vividly reminded us of 
the little fondas of the Spanish mountains ; and after a long 
journey reached the bottom of the broad valley known as the 
Wadi Kuloniyeh, about eleven in the forenoon. The village 
of the same name lies on the hillside, and below it stands a one- 
storied European hotel; for Palestine, as long as one travels 
along the regular pilgrim-routes, is a tourist-beridden land, a 
sort of sanctified Switzerland. In the one country the 
stranger’s love for the beauties of nature is turned to account ; 
in the other it is his faith and devotion that are traded upon. 
At Kuloniyeh we halted, as our arrival in Jerusalem was 
arranged for the afternoon, so in the meantime we took a 
ramble about the hillsides, which were covered with grey- 
green olive-woods growing on terraces, and a few bushes and 
flat rocks. The barren country was burning under the 
fiercest midday heat, and toiling about the steep slopes was 
tiring work. All we saw was a Black-headed Jay, and a 
grey Syrian hare which the Grand Duke wounded, but 
could not find among the stones; nor had Hoyos any better 
luck with a jackal on the other side of the valley ; while I 
only killed some of those ugly large black lizards that are 
everywhere to be found in the rocky parts of Palestine. 
As the heat was getting quite unbearable we all returned 
to the pilgrim’s house, and lunched under some olive-trees at 
the place where the Emmaus of the New Testament stood, 
and not far from the spot where David slew Goliath. Count 
Caboga, our Consul-General, had come from Jerusalem to 
meet us, and we were much interested in discussing with 
him our future plans. After luncheon the whole party put 
on full uniform, and the clergy of the different sects, with the 
dragomen of the Consulates, who had already met us here, 
rode back to Jerusalem to prepare for the grand reception. 
