JERUSALEM TO BETI1LESEM* 371 
compaaieH its movements with a song, to mount upon little cy¬ 
lindrical blocks of wood, placed successively one above the 
other, and in shape resembling the diceboxes belonging to a 
backgammon table. In this manner the goat stood, first upon 
the top of one cylinder, then upon the top of two, and after¬ 
ward of three, four, five, and six, until it remained balanced 
upon the summit of them all, elevated several feet from the 
ground, and with its fore feet collected upon a single point, 
without throwing down the disjointed fabric wliereon it stood. 
The practice is very ancient. It is also noticed by Sandys.*' 
Nothing can show more strikingly the tenacious footing pos¬ 
sessed by this quadruped upon the jutty points and crags of 
rocks ; and the circumstance of its ability to remain thus poised 
may render its appearance less surprising, as it is sometimes 
seen in the Alps, and in all mountainous countries, with hard¬ 
ly any place for its feet upon the sides, and by the brink of 
most tremendous precipkes.f The diameter of the upper 
cylinder, on which its four feet ultimately remained until 
the Arab had ended his ditty, was only two inches ; and the 
length of each cyfinder was six inches. The most curious 
part of the performance occurred afterward; for the Arab, to 
convince tis of the animal’s attention to the turn of the air, in¬ 
terrupted the fk capo : as ofen as he did this, the goat tottered, 
appeared uneasy, and, upon his becoming suddenly silent in 
the middle of Iris song, it fell to the ground* 
After travelling for about an hour, from the time of our leav¬ 
ing Jerusalem, we came in view of Bethlehem, and halted to 
enjoy the interesting sight. The town appeared covering the 
ridge of a hill on the southern side of a deep and extensiye 
valley, and reaching from east to west; the most conspicuous 
object being the monastery, erected over the cave of the na¬ 
tivity, in the suburbs and upon the eastern side. The battle¬ 
ments and walls of this building seemed like those of a vast 
fortress. The Bead Sea below, upon our left, appeared so 
* Sandys saw this in Grand Cairo. “ There are in this city, and have beene of long, 
a sort of people that, do get their livings by shewing of feates with birds and beasts. 
exceeding therein all such as have bin famous amongst us.T have seen them 
make both dogs and goates to set their foure feet on a little turned pillar of wood, about 
a foot high, and no broader at the end than the palm of a hand: climbing from one to 
two set on the top of one another; and so the third and fourth; and there turne about 
as often as their masters would bid them.” Sandys’ Travels, p. 126. Lond 1637. 
f “ On the cliffs above hung a few goats; one of them danced, and scratched a® 
ear with its hind foot, in a place where I would not have stood stock still— 
For all beneath the moon,” 
■See s ‘ Gray’s letter to Wharton,” p. 375. Memoirs by Mason, Lond. 3775, 
