tiful avenue of trees-acacias, I believe—a distance of only six miles. The sun was low, the evening air was delicious, and we felt that we had done a faithful day's work.

Wednesday we visited one of the palaces of the Khedive, with the grounds, the American Consul having courteously procured us a permit. The grounds are beautiful, with abundant shrubbery and canals and fountains, with rustic bridges, rockeries, and pavilions. The place is new and gorgeous, with porticoes, columns, variegated marble pavements, furniture overlaid with gold, table tops of the finest marble in the richest mosaic, upholstered walls, splendid mirrors, and I know not what all. There are, in fact, two of these palaces in the same grounds, one used, I suppose, as a sort of summer house.

In the principal one, at the head of the first flight of stairs, is a column of white marble about six feet high. On the top of it is a winged, laughing, angel, dropping a twisted wire from his hand. On the face of the column, below, is a human head and face. Circling over this is the legend, "Eripuit cælo fulmen, 1750." The face is a good likeness of Benjamin Franklin.

Eleven miles from Cairo, down in the Delta, are the ruins of Heliopolis, the ancient On. Here was the temple of the sun in which Joseph's father-inlow, the "Priest of On," officiated. In this immediate vicinity was probably the "land of Goshen." Here were those wonderful obelisks, now all gone but one-gone to Rome, to Alexandria, to Paris. One now prostrate in the sand of Alexandria has been given to the English, and, if they think it worth

while, will be removed to London. One stands where it was first erected, perhaps at the very entrance of the Temple of the Sun. It looked down on the marriage of Joseph. It was probably the oldest of these wonderful granite monoliths, and has been standing here 4,000 years.

Our guide-book discouraged a visit here, but I would not have left Egypt without seeing this monument of the earliest Egyptian art for any reasonable consideration. We took the ride late in the afternoon, and a delightful ride it was, through avenues of tamarisks and acacias, along a causeway elevated above the overflow. On either hand were the green wheat-fields; and such wheat! It rivals the finest fields of California.

The ruins of Heliopolis are a mere quadrangular ridge of no great area-and the obelisk. There it stands in solitary grandeur. It is a granite monolith 70 feet high, on a pedestal 6 feet high, but 25 feet of it are now under ground. On three sides there are numerous figures in basso relievo. On one side I counted nine birds, intended, probably, for hawks. There are two knives, an ax, and perhaps other instruments. One figure, I thought, was intended for a monkey, and one was certainly a snake. In these indentations a sort of insect has made its nest of mud. Indeed, on one side, the shaft is almost covered with this insect-work. The column is pointed at the top, and is of the same style as the one at Alexandria which is called Cleopatra's Needle. No doubt this latter, as well as those at Rome and Paris, were removed from this very place.

Near by is the traditional fig-tree under which it is

said the holy family rested when they arrived in Egypt.

We had had a busy time in Cairo, and on Thursday morning left for Alexandria. Here we saw Cleopatra's Needle, and the twin shaft lying near it in the sand, the property of the British Government. The Needle is more lavishly decorated with sculpture than its mate at Heliopolis. We went also to see the catacombs, but were disappointed to find them of such small extent. We had reason afterward to believe that our dragoman had fooled us, not taking us to the most extensive ones. But we saw the real Pompey's Pillar, a wonderful granite obelisk. It differs from that at Heliopolis in two respects: It is round, while that is square; it is crowned with an expanding capital, while that is pointed.

On Friday morning, at 9 o'clock, we set sail in the steamer Apollo, of the Austrian Lloyd line, for Jaffa. As we steamed away we had a fine view of the city. An unfinished and abandoned palace on the sands of the harbor appeared on one side, and the new palace on the other. Long lines of breakwater lay above the surface. Pompey's Pillar loomed up in full view. As we turned a point, Cleopatra's Needle came in sight. Long lines of windmills, swinging their gigantic arms lazily around, lined the At last all gradually faded in the distance, and floated out of sight.

coast.

Saturday morning found us at Port Said, the Mediterranean mouth of the canal. It is a new place, and owes its existence to the canal. It can never be a place of any great importance. It is built on the

sand thrown up in digging the canal. There is nothing of interest to be seen, unless it be a palatial hotel built by the Prince of Holland. Here we lay all day, and at five o'clock sailed again to awake at Jaffa in the morning. So we are taking our first sail on the great Mediterranean Sea.

Can it be possible that we shall sleep at Jerusalem to-morrow night? So Dr. DeHass, the American Consul at Jerusalem, who got on board at Port Said,

assures us.

CHAPTER XXV.

FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM.

UNDAY morning, April 1, we awoke on the steamer Apollo, in sight of the mountains of Judea, which swell up boldly to the height of 3,000 feet. But we were yet a long way out at sea, and could see nothing but the outline of the ridge. As we approached we could see that a considerable extent of level country intervened between the shore and the mountains. The southern part of this low region was the Plain of Philistia-farther north it. was the Plain of Sharon.

As we neared the shore we could discern a line of

sand-hills, very low, lying along the coast-line, just above the water. This sand-bank was broken at one, and only one point, by a hill rising somewhat boldly but to no great height. On this hill, and covering a considerable part of it—especially the northern end -is the town of Jaffa (Joppa), interesting to us for several reasons. It was to Joppa that Hiram sent the timber he had prepared in Mount Lebanon for the Temple, in floats; here it was drawn out of the water, and then, by some means, transported to Jerusalem, a distance of about thirty-six miles. It was here that Dorcas lived and died-the good Dorcas, who set that example of active beneficence in the Church which has since been followed by so many godly women. But, above all, here it was that the gospel took its new departure for the conquest of the world. Here, on the housetop, by the side of the sea, Peter was prepared for his call to the Gentile, Cornelius, at Cesarea. From this moment the word of life was preached to men of all nations.

At 9:30 in the morning we landed at a flight of steps in the sea-wall, within a few rods of the site of the old tan-yard of Simon. This site is identified beyond any doubt. It is the only place by the "seaside" where there is water for the uses of a tannery. The removal of some old stone-works recently has laid bare the very vats in which the tanning was done. The first thing we did, before we went to our hotel, we visited this place. There we saw the fountain of living water, and ascended to the roof of the house which stands, if not on the very spot occupied by that of Simon the tanner, at least very near it. There we stood where Peter prayed and fell into a