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17 September 1879 — Jaffa | |
Wednesday. 17th [September 1879]. Got up abt 5.30 & made haste to get our things together to go on shore. At 6 the consul of Jerusalem Mr Moore, & the Govr of Jaffa came on board & we went ashore in one of the boats of the country. There was a little swell but nothing alarming. We were received at the landing place by the Govr of the town & a guard of honor. H.E. took Henry, Alice & myself in his carriage to the house of a merchant wh lived just out of the town—& we found ourselves in the midst of Eastern life. The Syrians in their white garments & turbans. The master of the house we went to recd us most politely & spoke French very decently. He wore long baggy black trousers & a short jacked. He invited us to go up an outside stair to the 1st story, where was a large hall with four side rooms opening into it. After a little while the lady of the house came out of her room she wore a loose kind of white robe. Her hair hung down her back in 2 thick plaits & round her head she wore a brown muslin kerchief. She cd speak nothing but Arabic. Presently her niece, a fat girl in a shady brown satin appeared on the scene who wore her hair in the same fashion without the kerchief. She happily spoke French. At 9 we had some breakfast & then spent the morning talking & making a sketch out of the window. We were joined by a smart young lady in brilliant blue silk with towering hair in the height of fashion. She was the V Consuls daughter & spoke English & other languages. At abt 11 we had a splendid breakfast & afterwards we began to prepare for our journey. The Govr who had left us soon after our arrival returned & the niece in the brown satin at once covered her face as she passed thro’ the room where he was & told us that no women like to appear unveiled before the Turks. At last at abt 3.30 we started off on our journey to Jerusalem. Henry & the Govr in carriages—the servants on horseback—I got into a palanquin & Alice was going to do the same when our mules began to kick & plunge & Alice had to be put into a carriage. We had a pretty good road but my tartaravan went so slowly that after a while I got into the carriage also. We had an escort of zaptiehs & they rode abt all round us in the wildest manner. When we got to a village called Ramleh abt 6 o’cl we found the Govr & all the authorities seated on chairs in a semicircle and we alighted & had coffee & stayed abt 10 minutes when our carriage drove up to take us up again it came at such a pace that it knocked down a poor woman & she was actually under the horses feet when she was saved but was stunned. All ran to help her—but she was found to be an unfortunate leper & the cavass returned to me saying Non fa niente, è una cattiva donna cé no molte!!” & they all said she was shamming. This was hard upon the poor thing but the fact is that on receiving 2 mejidiehs she got up & retired & we went on to Latroon where there was a kind of stone inn with dinner prepared & tents for us close by. We went at once to our tents & got to bed. But we did not sleep much on acct of the dogs & horses all round us—& the jackals who came very near the tents from time to time & set all the dogs howling. However at 4 the next morng on | |
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