THE HOLY LAND.

INDIA.

their manners and customs; I had lived where them as the servant of Christ; travelled extenthere were no other associates; labored among sively over their mountains and plains; and I had

them were not without some trials, I had never spent one melancholy hour, though often in solitude, and had been most mercifully preserved from serious illness, though often exposed to the burning sun by day, and tainted air by night. We touched at several places upon the continent of India, and upon the Malabar coast had evidence of the extent to which Roman Catholicism prevails among the people, as I counted at one time, with the help of a small telescope, no fewer than fourteen churches, all visible from the deck of the ship. In Bombay and its neighborhood I remained about a fortnight, and among other places visited the celebrated cave temples of Kennery and Elephanta. On Thursday, Jan. 10, 1833, I embarked for Kosseir in Egypt, in the Hugh Lindsay, a steamer belonging to the East India Company, commanded by Captain Wilson, accompanied by ten other passengers, on their return to England.

In ancient times the pilgrini from the Holy Land was regarded with a reverence bordering upon superstition. He was welcome alike to the cas-to thank God, that although the years spent among tles of the great, and the cottages of the poor. When the aged minstrel, with his harp and voice, had recited the story of some virtuous female or warrior brave, the excitement was continued by the palmer's tale, as the members of the family, from the highest to the lowest, assembled before the blazing fagot, at a greater or less distance from its cheering influence according to their rank; and bright eyes wept over the history of sufferings endured upon spots that had been consecrated by the bodily presence of the Son of God. The village green was at another time forsaken by its noisy occupants, when the pilgrim rested for a moment upon his staff, and was surrounded by a rude auditory, who gazed with mute astonishment upon his mysterious figure, whilst he repeated the tale of victories won by red-cross knights over pagan usurpers, and solicited the aid of charity, afforded with the greatest readiness to the wearied stranger. The times are now changed, and the simple tale of the traveller, no matter where he connected with that of the Scriptures, inasmuch as The history of India might be considered as may have wandered, fails to excite attention, un- it was in this region the systems of idolatry, which less there be combined with it the discoveries of it was one object of revelation to destroy, assumed science, or the flashes of a vivid imagination, or the recital of dangers and deaths. I shall in these lignant than in any other part of the world: but a power more extensive, more awful, and more marespects be pronounced one of the most unfortu- as the name of India occurs only once in the Old nate of travellers, having neither discovered a new Testament, and then incidentally, I shall resist the pyramid, nor been wounded, nor robbed, nor made opportunity that so temptingly invites me to encaptive; and if the countries I have visited fail in large, and confine my observations within the prothemselves to create interest, I fear that my read- per limits. It was probably at first peopled by ers will soon pass me on from their gate, without the descendants of Ham. The customs of the granting me even an equivalent to the pilgrim's people alter not with the course of time, and many fare, though all he required was a pallet of straw parts of the earlier books of the Bible are greatly on which to repose, and a loaf in his scrip to sa- elucidated by the common practices that are even tisfy the cravings of hunger. I had always, from now every day witnessed among the Hindoos. comparative infancy, a great desire to visit Jeru-The gospel is said to have been introduced into salem, and do not now regret the toils I have endured to accomplish my wishes. I should otherwise have been for ever a stranger to thoughts and associations as interesting as they are pure, and if I can succeed in imparting to the minds of others, even a small portion of the same salutary instruction, I shall consider that the greater task of telling my toils to the world, will not have been undertaken entirely in vain.

I embarked from Colombo, the capital of Ceylon, in a French ship, on the morning of Nov. 28, 1832, with feelings that are not to be described. The most important period of my life had been spent upon the shores I was then leaving. I had studied the language of the people, examined their religion, and become intimately acquainted with

India by the apostle Thomas, and the pretended place of his burial is still shown near Madras.

sians and Arabs to have been the site of Paradise, The island of Ceylon is supposed by the Perand is by them called Serendib. There is a mountain in the interior, rising more than 6000 feet above the level of the sea, on the summit of which is an indent not unlike the impression of a foot, by the Mussulmans to be that of Adam. There said by the Buddhists to be that of Buddhu, and are others who think that our venerable forefather was brought to this island after his expulsion from Eden, and died upon the mountain that bears his name.-Bochart has endeavoured to prove that Ceylon is the Ophir of Scripture, celebrated for the fineness of its gold. To this place the ships of

Solomon traded. They sailed from Eziongeber and near it is a small mosque. The bay is well upon the Red Sea, and returned after an absence of three years, laden with gold, precious stones, peacocks, apes, spices, ivory, and ebony. All these things are common products of the island, and at this day articles of export, except the first: it has diamonds and pearls, but the more precious metals are never found upon its shores.

where he bade a long farewell to the wife of his affection and the son of his pride, and expects soon to be received by them again with a kind warm welcome. We passed within sight of Mocha, so celebrated for its excellent coffee. The coffee imported immediately from this place is less valuable than that which is procured from other ports of Arabia, as it is mixed with berries of an inferior description brought over from Abyssinia. The sun shone full upon the white buildings of the town, and had we not already been deceived with a similar appearance, we should have gazed with admiration upon the apparent splendor of its minarets and towers. We could distinguish the tomb of a Mussulman saint who opposed the crusaders most stoutly at the siege of Acre. grove extends some miles on the southern shore. A dateThe British factory which formerly existed at this place has been abandoned some years.

The strong north-wester, that soon afterwards set in, obliged the captain to put into the port of Hodeida, as we could make no head against it, and were burning our coals to no purpose. The town is smaller than Mocha, and is protected by a range of castles. We found the place in possession of a party of Turks, who had rebelled against Mahomet Ali, pacha of Egypt, under pretence that they were unable to procure their arrears of pay. They were headed by Toorkee Bilmass. They first siezed upon Mecca and Djuddah, from both of which places they were driven by the regular troops. On evacuating the latter place, they took with them the whole of the pacha's fleet in this sea, consisting of several large ships. They had taken possession of several hundred miles of coast, including the towns of Mocha, Hodeida, and Zeebed. have been nominally under the government of These places the imaum of Senaar, an idle and effeminate chieftain. The rebels had hitherto conducted themselves with caution, but some of their party having had a previous quarrel with Seyd Addullah, governor of Mocha, required that he should be put to death. Three shots were fired through him, his body was carried a little way out of the town, and when his friends, the Wahabees, came to treat for his ransom, his body was shown to them, and they were told he had been shot in an attempt to make his escape. the governor of the town, Hussein Aga, who apWe paid a visit to peared to be in ill health, as did nearly the whole of his followers. It struck the mind with a feeling of melancholy to look at these men, and then at the peril of their situation: they were rebels against a more successful usurper, and the angel of death seemed already to be rejoicing over their blood, either from the hand of the private assassin, or the sword of the Egyptian on the battle plain. The aga conducted himself with great dignity.He was seated on a raised couch, attended by his soldiers, who stood without order around him, proud and powerful men, and added to the wild interest of the scene. passed round, we were presented with coffee, in When pipes had been small vessels, about the size and shape of egg cups, with gilt stands. We walked through the bazaar, and our appearance attracted a great number of gazers, who were prevented from annoying us by the attendants sent with us by the

aga.

5

who appeared to keep the people in great subSoldiers were stationed in all directions, mission, a lesson they much needed, from their extreme rudeness and constant disposition to quarrel. The houses are some of them highly ornamented, especially the entrances and windows.There are dwellings made entirely of the fibre of the date, interwoven upon a wooden frame. The Turks had some fear that the East India government might assist the pacha to reduce them, and it was perhaps to conciliate us as much as possible in their favor, that they paid us greater attention than in general they are willing to pay to strangers.

In the night of Feb. 2d, we were off Djuddah; was not possible to approach it in the dark. In but as it is surrounded by a number of reefs, it the morning it was still difficult to distinguish the reflected the rays of the sun like a mirror. The reefs, as there was a perfect calm, and the sea man at the mast-head suddenly called out, "Harda-port!" and from the poop, where I was standing, I saw through the gang-way the point of a rock that we had escaped by only a few feet.There was not much danger of our being lost; but the steamer might have been so much injured as to have been unable to proceed. We waited upon the governor, and found him to be a stout man, with a countenance indicative of much good nature. He conducted himself with more ease, but less dignity, than the aga. The room in which he received us looked towards the sea, and we sat in a recess lined with crimson cushions. The effendi excused himself from partaking with us of the coffee and pipes, as it was the fast of the Ramzan; but he chatted with us a considerable and the successes of Ibrahim Pacha against the time, principally relative to the rebellion at Mocha sultan. Upon taking leave, a servant was in attendance with sherbet. the house of Malam Yuseff, an Armenian, the English agent. sons are appointed as agents by the nearest conAt all the principal ports, persul or resident, to assist travellers and protect the interests of the nations they represent. They receive no salary, and deem the honor and collateral advantages a sufficient recompense. During the late wars, when Christian blood was flowing in power flying over a native dwelling often procopious streams around, the flag of an European tected the female from violation, and the man from death.

We next proceeded to

its vicinity to Mecca, from whence it is distant The importance of Djuddah arises entirely from about 40 miles. pilgrims arrive who come by sea. It is the port at which all the well supplied. In one shop I saw spectacles, steel The bazaar is pens, knives, scissors, and many other articles of coral from the sea-shore, in the style we attribute European manufacture. The houses are built of to the times of the crusaders. The passages are narrow and steep, and would be more agreeable are lighted up at night; and this is the time of if more frequently cleansed. The coffee-houses enjoyment after the languor of the day, when striking groups of soldiers and citizens are seen sitting together in circles, listening first to the afterwards to a recitation from some ancient poet news of the day, then to some tale of blood, and

distant ports of India. After proceeding about 30 miles from the shore, this district is found to be well cultivated, and its coffee is the finest in the world. From its extreme richness, it was long thought that the spices, silks, and other treasures exported by its mariners from India, were its own native produce.

or historian, who unfolds the glory of their country war; and they are seen at times even in the most in brighter days. The fortifications of the town are perhaps the most extensive in Arabia. Upon the plain towards the north is a building that purports to be the tomb of our mother Eve. It has become ruinous; but the pacha has given orders that it shall be repaired, at the expense of 15,000 piasters. There are several Italians resident here, in the employ of the pacha. One of them is married; and his wife, when she walks out, is obliged to muffle herself up in the close dress of the country, out of respect to the prejudices of the people. She is young and interesting, and I could not but pity her, not having a single female companion of her own rank or religion with whom to converse. We had an opportunity of hearing the band of one of the pacha's regiments. It consisted of twenty performers, all natives of Egypt. They played several European tunes, all from notes; and though the execution was a little violent, it did them great credit. The troops are dressed in coarse red calico,-a close jacket and loose trowsers; but have not the soldier-like appearance of the native regiments of India. The officers are more respectable: they are dressed in the same form, but in good woollen cloth, with an additional jacket, something resembling that of our hussars. They, as well as the men, have a red cap, but no turban; and mustachios, but no beard. They are well paid, but are usually several months in

arrears.

No Christian until lately was allowed to go out of the gates of Djuddah, but they may now approach even to the entrance of the holy city without molestation. The pilgrims to Mecca are every year becoming less numerous. The desecration of the Wahabees, and the late siege it has undergone, will tend to bring it into greater disrepute; and we may hope that the Kaaba will soon be broken in pieces, and its fragments mingled in undistinguishable confusion with the sands of the forsaken desert. I could perceive the hills in the neighborhood of Mecca from the deck of the steamer, but the time allowed for taking in coals did not permit us to proceed far from the shore. It was the birth-place of Mahomet, who was born in 569, of the tribe of the Koreish, and was buried at Medinah in 632. Both places are considered sacred, but Mecca is the most considerable town, and is resorted to by a far greater number of pilgrims: they come from very distant parts, from China in the east, and from the pillars of Hercules in the west.

The ancient inhabitants of Arabia were idolaters, and adored the sun and moon, and the stars of the firmament. "If I beheld the sun when it shined," says an Arab of old, in clearing his character from the sins of his country, "or the moon walking in brightness; and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand; this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge; for I should have denied the God that is above."-Job xxxi. 26-28. The worship of the black stone of the Kaaba is of far earlier date than the origin of Islamism. In the first centuries of the church, the spread of Christianity in Arabia was rapid, but it sunk too soon into heresy, and was entirely swept away by the sword of Mahomet. It is an affecting thought, that with the exception of the monks near Mount Sinai, I know not that there is at the present time a single Christian minister of any description whatever, throughout the whole of proper Arabia.

The language of Arabia is one of the most copious in the world, and its ancient poets and historians yield to none in the strength and beauty of their style.

I was not able to penetrate far into the desert, but a single glance into its wastes may almost tell the tale of a thousand miles as to distance, and three thousand years as to time. It is here alone that the Arab is seen in his primitive simplicity, free as the gazelle, and both as swift in his speed, and unsettled in his dwelling-place as this beautiful wanderer upon the same plains. We are carried back at once to the age of the earliest patriarchs. The forms we see present unto us the picture of these ancient fathers, with scarcely a single alteration. We may listen to their language, number their possessions, partake of their food, examine their dress, enter their tents, attend the ceremonies of their marriage festivals, and present ourselves before the prince, still all is the same. At the well they water their flocks; they sit at the door of the tent in the cool of the day; they take "butter, and milk, and the calf which they have dressed," and set it before the stranger; they move onward to some distant place, and pitch their tent near richer pasturage; and all the treasures they possess are in camels, kine, sheep, and goats; men servants and women servants; and changes It will be seen from these notices, that the places of raiment. We may stand near one of their enupon the coasts of Arabia partake of the character campments, and as the aged men sit in dignity, or generally exhibited by towns under the dominion the young men and maidens drive past us their of Mussulmen rulers. The inhabitants are occu- flocks, we are almost ready to ask if such an one pied in trade, and among them are turks, Egyp-be not Abraham, or Lot, or Jacob, or Job, or Biltians, Hindoos, slaves from Africa, and a few Armenian and other Christians. The Arabs of the towns have lost many of the distinctive features of their race. In the division of Arabia Felix, a number of independent sheikhs rule over districts differing much in their extent and resources. The imaum of Muscat is at present the most powerful prince of Arabia. In his navy are several men-of

dad the Shuhite, or Rebekah, or Rachel, or the daughter of Jethro the Midianite: we seem to know them all. The mountains, and valleys, and streams partake of the same unchangeableness: not a stone has been removed, not a barrier has been raised, not a tree has been planted, not a village has been collected together. The founder of the race might come to the earth, and he would

recognize without effort his own people and his
own land.

It is doubted whether any tribes are yet left of
the aborigines of the country, though there be
many that claim this distinction. The families of
the desert are the descendants of Ishmael, the son
of Abraham. It was said unto Hagar, concerning
her son, by the angel of the Lord, "I will make
him a great nation," Gen. xxi. 18; and again,
"He will be a wild man; his hand will be against
every man, and every man's hand against him;
and he shall dwell in the presence of all his bre-
thren." Gen. xvi. 12. These prophecies have
been literally fulfilled. No nation has ever been
so great that could trace its origin to one single
head. The Roman empire was more extensive,
but it was one empire composed of many nations.
There are kingdoms in our own day whose ma-
jesty is brighter, but it is produced by the concen-
trated glory of many distinct families and tribes,
and cannot be claimed by any single people. The
Arabs are wild men: their hand is against every
man, and of necessity every man's hand is against
them. It is no protection to speak the same lan-
guage, or to profess the same religion. The cara-
van on its pilgrimage to Mecca is considered to
offer as lawful a booty as the bales of the rich mer-
chant, or the stores of the infidel stranger. Of
only one among all the streams of population by
which this earth has been covered, was this pro-
phecy uttered; and of only one would it have been
true. The surrounding countries of Egypt, Syria,
and Persia, have once and again changed their
rulers and their race.
the same. The march of conquest has been around
Arabia has ever continued
her, but has never penetrated into her wilds: still
she has retained her identity, an oasis of freemen
amidst a desert of slaves. That which was true
concerning her in the time of Moses, has been
equally so in every subsequent period of time; and
will still continue, until another prophecy be ful-
filled, and even "Arabia's desert ranger" shall
bow before the power that is supreme: then the
horse shall no longer stand ready caparisoned to
pursue and plunder the passing traveller; "Holi-
ness unto the Lord," shall be inscribed upon its
bells: then shall Isaac and Ishmael again meet
together in peace, to worship at one altar the God
of their fathers, and Jesus Christ whom he has
sent: their hand shall be with every man, and
every man's hand with them.

There is one tribe that deserves a more extended notice from the Christian recorder. I was not so favored as to obtain an interview with any of its people; but my information is derived from a gentleman who was many years the English resident for the East India Company at Mocha.There was this promise given to the descendants of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, of the family of Jethro, in the days of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah: "Thus saith the Lord of Host, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab, your father, and kept all its precepts, and done according to all he hath commanded you: therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before me for ever." Jer. xxxv. 18, 19. Jonadab had commanded his sons not to drink wine, nor to build houses,

nor to have vineyard, nor field, nor seed, but to ly obeyed, and the promise of God has been redwell in tents. These commands they have strictmembered. The Rechabites still exist, a separate people, glorying in their independence, and are called by the same name. They are excellent horsemen, and seem to fly through the desert with the speed of the winds. They acknowledge the law of Moses, but maintain that they are not Israelites. About 300 years ago a great number of them were driven from Yemen. Some of them are now found near the Gulf of Acaba. They frequently rob the caravans of pilgrims, and are much hated by the other Arabs and by all Mussulmans. It appears as if there was written upon every page of Arabia's extended history, and graven upon every rock in her deserts, with a pen more powerful than iron, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." Let him who readeth, understand.

THE RED SEA.

THIS sea is supposed to have taken its name from
the country of Edom, which borders upon it, and
signifies "red."
red sea-weed that is discovered in large quantities
Others derive the name from the
upon some parts of its surface. We passed seve-
ral extensive portions of this weed between Djud-
dah and Kossier. It is called "Yam Suph," or
"the weedy sea," both by Moses and David. It
the color of the sea is caused by a species of oscil-
was thought by a recent German traveller that
latoria, one of the small plants that are interme-
diate between animals and vegetables. We en-
tered the sea through the straits of Bab-el-Man-
deb. There are two passages of unequal width,
divided from each other by the island of Perim,
which was taken possession of by the English dur-
ing our war in Egypt, but is entirely destitute of
water. The Red Sea is about 1500 miles from
one extremity to the other. We could never dis-
tinguish the land on both bows at the same time.
It is visited by a few European vessels, that trade
principally to Mocha; the pacha of Egypt main-
tains a small fleet upon it for the passage and pro-
tection of his troops; and the vessels of the bor-
dering countries are seen skimming along in all
painted prows, and the ropes and sails made of
directions, laden deep with passengers, with high
the fibres of the palm. The coasts are lined with
coral, sometimes of most beautiful construction;
and when the day is calm, or the night is dark and
still, the mariner might think himself transported
to some enchanted land, the water is so clear, the
coruscations of light are so radiant, and the corai
beneath so extensively ramified; but the coasting
vessels are often from the same cause in extreme
danger, and though they are furnished with a false
keel, this is not always proof against the violent
strokes they have to bear. We were visited dur-
ing our progress by a few locusts and quails.

Feb. 9, and consequently did not proceed so far
I landed from the steamer at Kossier, in Egypt,
north as the place where the passage of the Israel-
ites was effected. It was more properly through
an arm of the sea than the main ocean, as must be