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Quarterly Statement has been greatly indebted during the past year to many distinguished explorers and scholars, who have sent in contributions to its pages. The Statement forms a valuable record of Palestine discovery, and of the opinions of those best qualified to form a judgment on topographical and other questions of interest connected with the Holy Land. It is surprising how much new matter comes to hand from time to time, showing that the functions of the Fund are by no means exhausted. Indeed, in certain directions, the work seems to be only beginning; as, for instance, the examination of the numerous ancient Tells in various parts of the country.

Mr. F. J. Bliss's detailed report of his work at Tell el Hesy is in the press, and will be issued shortly under the title of "The Mound of Many Cities."

In the January Statement of last year was published a translation of the cuneiform inscription on the Tell el Hesy tablet (now in the Constantinople Museum) by the Rev. Professor Sayce. In the present number will be found another translation of the same inscription by M. V. Scheil, which has been forwarded to us by Professor Petrie from Maspero's "Recueil des Travaux."

Although in ill-health, and feeling the weight of increasing years, Herr Baurath von Schick still continues to supply valuable information respecting new discoveries and changes in and around the Holy City. He also sends this quarter some further notes on the "Tabitha" ground near Jaffa.

Mr. Glaisher's paper on the rainfall at Jerusalem during the last 32 years is of great interest. It appears that the average annual rainfall during the last 16 years has been no less than 5·94 inches greater than in the previous 16 years.


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LONDON: HARRISON AND SONS, PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY, ST. MARTIN'S LANE.


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Patron—THE QUEEN.

LONDON:

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 CHAPTER II.

the essential differences between Garden City and other municipalities, one of the chief is its method of raising its revenue. Its entire revenue is derived from rents; and one of the purposes of this work is to show that the rents which may very reasonably be expected from the various tenants on the estate will be amply sufficient, if paid into the coffers of Garden City, (a) to pay the interest on the money with which the estate is purchased, (b) to provide a sinking-fund for the purpose of paying off the principal, (c) to construct and maintain all such works as are usually constructed and maintained by municipal and other local authorities out of rates compulsorily levied, and (d) (after redemption of debentures) to provide a large surplus for other purposes, such as old-age pensions or insurance against accident and sickness.

Perhaps no difference between town and country is more noticeable than the difference in the rent charged for the use of the soil. Thus, while in some parts of London the rent is equal to £30,000 an acre, £4 an acre is an extremely high rent for agricultural land. This enormous difference of rental value is, of course, almost entirely due to the presence in the one case and the absence in the other of a large population; and, as it


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ENERALISATION is impossible as regards “life” in Holland. There is a wide difference to be found in the habits of residents in the big cities, the provincial towns, and the villages. The Hague dines at eight, Amsterdam at seven, Utrecht at six, and Edam at three o'clock. With regard to mercantile or professional pursuits the custom varies, unless one considers the habitués of the Beurs, or Exchange. Twelve or fourteen hours oftentimes constitute the Hollander's working time. Very frequently


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Rh cannot be attributed to the action of any particular individuals, it is frequently spoken of as the "unearned increment," i.e., unearned by the landlord, though a more correct term would be "collectively-earned increment."

The presence of a considerable population thus giving a greatly additional value to the soil, it is obvious that a migration of population on any considerable scale to any particular area will be certainly attended with a corresponding rise in the value of the land so settled upon, and it is also obvious that such increment of value may, with some foresight and pre-arrangement, become the property of the migrating people.

Such foresight and pre-arrangement, never before exercised in an effective manner, are displayed conspicuously in the case of Garden City, where the land, as we have seen, is vested in trustees, who hold it in trust (after payment of the debentures) for the whole community, so that the entire increment of value gradually created becomes the property of the municipality, with the effect that though rents may rise, and even rise considerably, such rise in rent will not become the property of private individuals, but will be applied in relief of rates. It is this arrangement which will be seen to give Garden City much of its magnetic power.

The site of Garden City we have taken to be worth at the time of its purchase £40 an acre, or £240,000. The purchase money may be assumed to represent 30 years' purchase, and on this basis the annual rent paid by the former tenants was £8,000. If, therefore, there was a population of 1,000 persons upon the estate at the time of the purchase, then each man, woman, and child was contributing towards this rent-roll an average sum of £8 per


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30 annum. But the population of Garden City, including its agricultural land, is, when completed, 32,000, and the estate has cost them a sum on which they pay an annual charge by way of interest of £9,600. Thus, while before the experiment was initiated, 1,000 persons out of their united earnings contributed £8,000 a year, or £8 a head, on the completion of the town 32,000 persons out of their united earnings will contribute £9,600 a year, or an average of ''6s. a head''.

This sum of 6s. per head per annum is all the rent, strictly speaking, which the inhabitants of Garden City will ever be called upon to pay; for it is all the rent which they pay away, any further sum they pay being a contribution towards their rates.

Let us now suppose that each person, besides contributing annually 6s. a head, contributes an average annual sum of £1 14s., or £2 in all. In that case two things may be noticed. First, each person will be paying for ground rent and rates only one-fourth of the sum which each person before the purchase paid in ground-rent alone; and, secondly, the Board of Management, after the payment of interest on the debentures, will receive an annual sum of £54,400, which, as will be presently shown, would, after providing a sinking fund (of £4,400), defray all those costs, charges, and expenses which are usually met by local taxation.

The average annual sum contributed by each man, woman, and child in England and Wales for local purposes is about £2 a head, and the average sum contributed for ground rent is, at a very low estimate, about £2 10s. The average yearly contribution for ground-rent and local rates is, therefore, about £4 10s. It might,


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50 The literary education of a son (Pirki Aboth, v, 21) began with study of the Bible at five years of age, and of the Mishnah at ten; at fifteen a youth should study the Gemara or Comment on the Mishnah; at eighteen he should marry; at twenty he should study the Law; at thirty comes full strength; at forty understanding; at fifty a man may give advice; at sixty he is aged; at seventy hoary; at eighty still strong; at ninety only fit for the grave; and at an hundred already forgotten. This passage incidentally witnesses the well-known longevity of the Jews.

The trades of the Jews were very numerous and of different degrees, including the sale of silk and satin imported from the East and not yet made in Syria (Kelaim, ix, 2). Shoes and sandals were imported from abroad (ix, 7); oil was both exported and imported (Shebiith, vi, 5); glass was made by Jews in Palestine (Kelim, viii, 9), as it still continues to be made by natives at Hebron. The vessels made or sold were sometimes of great value, being of gold, silver, and bronze (Baba Metzia, ii, 8) as well as of glass; vases are mentioned as worth 100 or 1,000 zuzas (iii, 4), that is to say, from £5 to £50; they were also made of bone, wood, leather and pottery (Kelim, ii, 1). A bottle of fish (perhaps shark) skin is noticed (Kelim, xxiv, 11) and plates woven of withes (Kelim, xvi, 1), and bottles covered with rushes (Kelim, x, 4) and reed crates (Kelim, xvii, 1). Many of these vessels bear Greek names, and were sold to or bought from the Gentiles. Looking glasses (Kelim, xiv, 6; xxx,]) may probably have been of metal, like those found in Phœnicia. The only wooden bowls considered clean (xii, 8) were made of a kind of cedar wood.

In this connection two interesting inscriptions may be noticed (Waddington, Nos. 1854-2295); the first from Beirut is the tombstone of Samuel, son of Samuel the "silk merchant" (Σερικαρίος), a trader who was evidently a Jew; the second is from Bashan, in memory of Isaac the goldsmith. Neither unfortunately is dated, but at Palmyra (No. 2,619) Zenobius (otherwise called Zebedee) and Samuel, sons of Levi, son of Jacob, raised a memorial in Greek and Palmyrene in 212 and evidently were members of the Jewish colony in that city, which was still thriving in the twelfth century A.D. Some proselytes in this city appear to have had Jewish mothers and pagan fathers (T. J. Yebamoth, i, 6) as early as the time when the temple was standing. {See "Derenburg," pp. 22, 224.)

Linen seems to have been also an important article of trade, coming from India and from Egypt (Yonia, viii, 5), the latter no doubt in the ships from Alexandria (Oheloth, viii, 3). It was also carried on camels (Baba Kama, vi, 6); but flax was grown in Palestine itself (Baba Metzia, iii, 7; ix, 9). Flax grown at Nazareth in the twelfth century A.D. was considered equal to that of Egypt, but the high priests' robes were of Indian and Egyptian linen. Flax was the only wick allowed for the Sabbath lamp (Sabbath, ii, 3). Linen from Galilee is also mentioned (Baba Kama, x, 9).


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10 Branch Associations of the Bible Society, all Sunday School Unions within the Sunday School Institute, the Sunday School Union, and the Wesleyan Sunday School Institute, will please observe that by a special Resolution of the Committee they will henceforth be treated as subscribers and be allowed to purchase the books and maps (by application only to the Secretary) at reduced price.

The income of the Society, from September 18th, 1893, to December 20th, 1893, was—from annual subscriptions and donations, including Local Societies, £549 3s. 8d.; from all sources—£734 10s. 11d. The expenditure during the same period was £640 17s. 5d. On December 22nd the balance in the Bank was £343 16s. 4d.

Subscribers are requested to note that the following cases and casts can be had by application to the Assistant Secretary at the Office of the Fund:—

Cases for binding Herr Schumacher's "Jaulân," 1s. each.

Cases for binding the Quarterly Statement, in green or chocolate, 1s. each.

Cases for binding "Abila," "Pella," and "'Ajlûn" in one volume, 1s. each.

Casts of the Tablet with a Cuneiform Inscription found at Tell el Hesy, price 2s. 6d. each.

Casts of the Ancient Hebrew Weight brought by Dr. Chaplin from Samaria, price 2s. 6d. each.

Casts of an Inscribed Weight or Bead from Palestine, forwarded by Professor Wright, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A., price 1s. each.

Photographs of Tell el Hesy, showing the excavations, price 1s. each.

Back numbers of the Quarterly Statement.—In order to make up complete sets, the Committee will be very glad to receive any of the following numbers:—

While desiring to give every publicity to proposed identifications and other theories advanced by officers of the Fund and contributors to the pages of the Quarterly Statement, the Committee wish it to be distinctly understood that by publishing them in the (Quarterly Statement they neither sanction nor adopt them.

Subscribers who do not receive the Quarterly Statement regularly are asked to send a note to the Secretary. Great care is taken to forward each number


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Rh to all who are entitled to receive it, but changes of address and other causes give rise occasionally to omissions.

The authorised lecturers for the Society are—


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12

Application for Lectures may be either addressed to the Secretary, 24, Hanover Square, W., or sent to the address of the Lecturers.


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my last communication I spoke of "Tabitha's Tomb," at Jaffa, and other rock-cut tombs there, illustrated by drawings, plans, inscriptions, &c. To-day I wish to speak fully of Tabitha's Tomb and St. Peter's Church, at Jaffa.

We read in the Acts of the Apostles ix, 36–43: "At Joppa was a certain disciple named Tabitha. . . .. This woman was full of good works and alms deeds which she did. And it came to pass . . .. that she was sick and died. . . .. The disciples, hearing that Peter was at Lydda, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come they brought him into the upper chamber, and all the widows stood by him weeping and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them. But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down and prayed, and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive. And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord. And Peter tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon, a tanner," whose house was situated on the seashore, as it is afterwards stated (chapter x, 6, 32).

Now in this history we have the house of Tabitha situated somewhere in the place which was then called Joppa, and the house of the tanner, where Peter had his abode for many days, situated by the seaside, in the same town.

When Tabitha finally died she was no doubt buried, not in her house, but, as the custom of the time was, outside the town. Thus we have three distinct places which would be kept in memory and venerated by the early Christians. As places where such events took place afterwards became places for worship, and often had churches built over them, we may expect that this was the case in Joppa. As Jaffa is now a small city, until recently confined within a wall, and extensive gardens, with many houses in them, where also people are dwelling, the whole being called Jaffa, so I think it was in ancient times, and this seems to be indicated by the words (chap, ix, 42) "and it was known throughout all Joppa," implying the city and all outside dwellings belonging to or making up altogether the place "Joppa." This state of things must be kept in mind when one speaks of the traditional holy sites, and also, further, that the configuration of the ground is now in some decree changed from what it was in ancient times.

Since Robinson, the Nestor and originator of the opponents of


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14 doubtful traditions, many writers have followed in his steps, and in quoting what is stated by pilgrims daring past centuries, do this in such a way that one seems to contradict the other, or that it at least appears that these sites were shown in various ages at different spots, and hence no reliance is to be placed in what is shown to-day. For instance, the writer of "The Land and the Book" gives the Jaffa sites in the following words (p. 520). On the self-uttered question, "Did you find Tabitha's house?" he answers, "No!" and adds: "Well, our Consul discovered her grave in one of his gardens, and gave it to the Armenian Convent of Jerusalem. I examined the sarcophagus in its original bed, and there was the negative evidence in favour of Tabitha that there was no counter claim whatever. If not Tabitha's, whose tomb was it, pray?" And with regard to the house of the tanner, "it is certainly by the sea-side, and that is something, but, then, so is all Jaffa." Other writers speak similarly, but one may remark that the author of "The Land and the Book" asks for the house, and answers with a tomb, as if Tabitha had been buried in her own house. Tradition speaks of three different points.

Antoninus, A.D. 600, mentions the tomb of Tabitha, and, A.D. 728, Willibald says: "Joppa is a maritime town of Palestine where St. Peter raised the Widow Dorcas," and again, when coming from Lydda to Jaffa, "one comes to the Church of St. Peter the Apostle, and there he raised the widow," at the time in the suburbs.

Sæwolf, A.D. 1103, speaks of the larger Church of St. Peter as being near Jaffa, and hence outside the walls; and to speak of the larger implies that there was also a smaller one, which was very naturally erected on or near the house of Simon the tanner. We have therefore the three places. The smaller Church of St. Peter, probably in the town, at the tanner's house; the larger St. Peter's Church, in the suburb, at Tabitha's house; and the third was her tomb.

The Greek Patriarch gave the larger St. Peter's Church with the neighbouring cemetery to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, where then the Latins (or Franks) were ruling in the year 1114 A.D., under King Baldwin II. Here is the "Cemetery" mentioned, in which we may fairly conclude was also Tabitha's tomb. This cemetery, as is reported in the Quarterly Statement, 1874, p. 3, et seq., was found by M. Clermont-Ganneau, and has since been proved to have been the general cemetery of Jaffa, at the time of the beginning of the Christian era. Here are rock-cut tombs in great number, with epitaphs, so that the whole hill seems to be undermined with them. The city of Jaffa has a long and eventful history. It has been often destroyed and rebuilt; sometimes it was a small walled city; at other times, especially in the more ancient period, large and extensive, as walls and ruins, found occasionally under the surface, show. 1280 A.D. Alexander speaks of a rock near the sea, below which was the church and Simon the tanner's house. Troilo and Ladoire, and also Quaretinius, a few hundred years later, declare "that the house of the charitable Tabitha


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Rh had been formerly within the city of Jaffa, but the high ground on which it once stood is now outside the town, a quarter of a league from the then present city, near the road to Ramleh." This remark proves that it was believed that in the time of the Apostles Joppa was much more extended than in 1620 A.D., either embraced by a wall or consisting of the real city and extensive suburbs. Rauwolf found the city entirely destroyed, and only near the sea extensive ruins, and on the top of the hill some towers, with a small garrison to protect the harbour.

1738 A.D. Pococke speaks also of Tabitha's place, and understands by this, apparently, the ground where her tomb is shown, one mile distant from the then existing town. By the Greeks it was customary once in a year to go to Tabitha's tomb and worship there, so that the place was a kind of sanctuary. As in almost every place where Christians had churches, the Moslems either took away the churches and converted them into mosques, or sometimes destroyed them, or created in the vicinity a Mohammedan site, so here they established the Makam "Sheikh-Kebir," to which the ground round about now belongs. Even a village arose here, the stones for the houses being quarried on the spot, and thus many of the old rock-cut tombs being destroyed. This village is growing every year.

The Russians succeeded in buying a piece of this ground, and made there at first a garden or bayárah, and more recently built a nice church, which forms a landmark for the neighbourhood, as it stands on high ground, and can be seen from a great distance. The rock-cut tomb, which is now considered to have been Tabitha's tomb, is like the others, and, if not the real one, this must have been very near, and so the ground there is, with good reason, called Tabitha. But the exact sites of the larger St. Peter's Church and Tabitha's house seem to be now lost. The tanner's house is still shown in the town. Certainly it is not the ancient one, as the building is comparatively modern, but it may be not far from its real site. In the Crusading time there was near it a hospice, which now perhaps is the Hospice of the Franciscan Brethren, where many a pilgrim has found lodging and food.

By these remarks it is not meant to say that traditions are always correct, but to show that tradition is sometimes opposed on feeble grounds, and apparently from an inclination to deny all such, without looking properly into customs, legends, and history.

Herewith I send you a plan of the whole ground where the various excavations on Mount Zion have been made during the last four years, also detailed plans and sections of the excavations, which I have numbered from 1 to 8.


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16 No. 1 was done four years ago, and my report on it was published in the Quarterly Statement, 1890, p. 12, so it is not necessary to repeat anything here.

No. 2 was done afterwards. It is some 60 feet west of the first, and higher up the hill. My report on this was published in the Quarterly Statement, 1891, p. 19. Now I give a plan of all, with sections. A few feet north-west from the Mosaic—as already mentioned in my former reports—the remains of a Roman bath were found, of which I give now a plan and section. It is the lower part or fireplace. Already existing walls on four sides (remainders of a former room) were used, and lined with bricks round about; and in the centre a number of small piers were made, built also of bricks. One row was still standing, the others had tumbled over. On these brick piers of only a few feet high, the flooring rested, and the fire underneath could circulate between the piers and so warm the floor. The walls had side openings for the entrance of air, and on the north side, near the corner, was the door. The channel and the bricks of the bath mentioned were removed in subsequent excavations, and some older masonry laid bare, but of no special interest. South of the little house built up, in order to preserve the Mosaic (Quarterly Statement, 1891, p. 19), was found one of the very ancient small cisterns with steps leading down, all cut in rock, as shown on the drawings.

No. 3. Situated close to the southern road which goes down to Siloah (see Plan of Jerusalem, Quarterly Statement, 1889, p. 62). There the rock (scarped down) looked out from the ground, showing an opening, and hence, in the Ordnance Survey plan, scale $1⁄2500$ is put the word "cave." This cave was cleared from all earth, &c., and proved to have been once a room (not a cistern or a tomb), hewn entirely in the rock. On its west side a door leads into another room of great interest. Three sides of it are formed of rock walls; the fourth or northern side is built up with masonry of very nicely hewn and squared stones. The roof also is formed of a semi-circular vault of nicely hewn stones, thirteen in each row, put together without mortar (unless this has been washed away). The room is now $8 1⁄2$ feet wide and 12 feet long, and in the centre 12 feet high. It seems that the place was once longer, and that when the arching was made, the northern closing-up wall was made. On the south side there is, hewn into the rock, an apse-like niche, in the centre of which is standing a round pillar 3 feet high, giving the impression that the place was once used as a chapel. This apse or recess takes up more than half the southern wall, and on the western or remaining portion of this wall is cut into the rock, at its upper part, another but much smaller recess of a similar kind, its bottom being about 5 feet above the flooring of the room, which is of rock. This smaller recess, if I am not mistaken, ends above as a sky-hole. Over this room the earth was removed and a strong wall of hewn stone of moderate size was found, built good and strong and parallel with the line of the western side of the room below, as may be seen on the plan. There is some other masonry, but I could not make much of it. This wall was laid bare for a length of about


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 does the merchant or the lawyer have his office in his residence, and so it is hard to say when he leaves off the work which he has begun at an early hour. The Dutchman is systematic and methodical in the ways of his life, and day after day, previous to joining his family at the board, he will proceed to his favourite café or societeit (club), and prepare for the enjoyment of his meal with the absorption of some favourite “appetizer”; but in Holland, as with ourselves, the habit of “taking something before dinner” is dying out, and so is that of wine-drinking when ladies pay an afternoon call. In fact, the afternoon tea has swept all before it, and Dutch ladies now very seldom partake of advocaat, a kind of egg-nog once greatly in vogue at feminine gatherings.

At all times, and especially in the country, the Dutchman is from his early


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 youth a tremendous smoker. It is a common thing to see a four-year-old boy smoking a cigar, and enjoying it as much as he enjoys lekkers, a word which means much to young Holland. It includes every variety of sweetstuff, cakes, or fruit—anything, in fact, over which the youngster can lick or smack his lips. I can recall a journey on a draw-boat, or trekschuit, in the course of which, for the purpose of entering into conversation with a burly old Volendammer, I had tendered him a very large and specially strong Manila cigar. A small boy, garbed in the village costume, and appearing, indeed, a little fisherman every inch of him, looked at me wistfully, whereupon I gave him a small coin, suggesting to him that he should spend it on some kind of lekkers on reaching his destination. The manikin's face assumed a look of sore disappointment, and he


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 actually handed the stuiver back to me. I inquired the reason for this strange action of his grandfather—for so he turned out to be—and was told that the child preferred a “smoke.” I gave him his sigaar, which he lit as carefully as would an older and more experienced smoker, after which he proceeded to enjoy it with beaming countenance. Smoking is probably a protection against malarial diseases likely to be engendered by the canals. If so, this applies to men only, for the women eschew the use of tobacco. Tobacco is cheap in Holland, and an excellent cigar is to be had for three Dutch cents, or a fraction over a halfpenny. To purchase anything more expensive is to brand oneself a foreigner. On one occasion I entered the shop of a tabaksverkooper (tobacconist) in a little place on the Lek, and asked for a five-cent cigar. “You will find the


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Rh therefore, be safely assumed that the people of Garden City would willingly pay £2 per head in complete discharge of ground-rent and local rates; but to make the case the clearer and stronger, we will test the supposed willingness of the tenants of Garden City to pay such a sum as £2 a year for rates and rents in another way.

For this purpose, let us deal first with the agricultural estate, leaving the town estate to be dealt with separately. Obviously the rent which can be secured will be considerably greater than before the town was built. Every farmer now has a market close to his doors. There are 30,000 townspeople to be fed. Those persons, of course, are perfectly free to get their food stuffs from any part of the world, and in the case of many products will doubtless continue to be supplied from abroad. These farmers are hardly likely to supply them with tea, with coffee, with spices, with tropical fruits or with sugar, and their struggle to compete with America and Russia for the supply of wheat or flour to the town may be as keen as ever. But surely the struggle will not be so despairing. A ray—a beam of hope will gladden the heart of the despairing home-producer of wheat, for while the American has to pay railway charges to the sea-board, charges for Atlantic transit and railway charges to the consumer, the farmer of Garden City has a market at his very doors, and this a market which the rent he contributes will help to build up.


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 three-cent ones quite good enough. Wethouder Hendrik never smokes more expensive ones.” I could but follow in the steps of this worthy municipal councillor.

The Hollander may truly be said to “smoke like a chimney.” It is no uncommon thing to see a priest standing outside the church enjoying his cigar while the congregation is slowly filing in, only to throw it away at the very last moment, when the time comes for him to don his vestments. Dutch smokers are worthy successors to the late Heer van Klaes, of Rotterdam, who was actually enjoying his pipe when he died at the ripe old age of ninety-eight years, and whose story is told by De Amicis. Every day he smoked nearly five ounces of tobacco, and in his will he issued the following invitation to all lovers of the fragrant weed:


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Rh 30 feet, and seems to go further north, and also further south, even through under the surface of the present road, where (east of it) opens the mouth of another cave, or rather, as I think, a cistern, which is not yet cleared out, being, for the greater part, under the road. At the sharp corner, projecting into the road, the rock stands up with perpendicular sides; and this is the reason for such a corner. On the eastern side of the rock, and inside the Augustinian Brethren's ground, there is an old cistern, now restored and containing water; and here is the chief door to the ground of the Brethren, and a new road, which was made northwards, after it had been ascertained that nothing of much interest is underneath. On the top of the projecting rock a flight of steps is cut into it, formerly—when a building stood on the rock—leading down into the two above-mentioned rooms. This spur of rock is visible southwards, also in the road itself, and runs on to the neighbours' ground in a curved line, forming there a scarp.

No. 4. East of the latter, lower down the slope and 45 feet distant, is a similar rock, forming a sharper corner and causing a sharp bending of the road. In this rock is also hewn a somewhat double room, in a line from south to north. The entrance is from the road, and so outside the Brethren's ground, and this is the reason that it is not thoroughly cleared, and I cannot say more about it.

No. 5. Opposite, or on the southern side of the road, the ground belongs to a Moslem; he tried to cultivate it, and made excavations, laying bare the rock scarp there (the continuation of the one described above on the Augustinian Brethren's ground), and found two cisterns, both cut into the rock, and with steps cut in rock leading down to them. The eastern cistern is nearly square, each side measuring about 13 feet, and of considerable height; the steps going down are very steep. The western one is much larger, and the steps not so steep. On its southern side, besides the door, it once had an opening, like a window, very likely broken in when the place was used as a lodging for men, and afterwards for cattle. The proprietor has built on the side of the steps a kind of pool, and over the cistern itself, a little house. West of the latter is the opening or mouth of another cistern, the size of which I do not know.

No. 6. North of the last described place, and 80 feet north of the main road, is, on the Ordnance Survey plan, scale $1⁄2500$, inserted a "cistern" (which I show also on the large plan). Now 90 feet further north, and in a line towards a corner (not tower) of the city wall, was found another and once very large cistern, square in form, about 30 feet on each side, and about 20 feet high, entirely cut in the rock. The roofing is also rock, and without any support in the middle. Where the rock roof was thinnest, at the eastern part, is a large opening, now left as a sky-hole. I found the place already greatly changed. First there was made a trench or road to it, starting as a side branch from the new road mentioned above, and going westwards 70 feet wide to the entrance. The sides of this road are first only earth, then rock, at first not high, but becoming higher and higher to about 7 feet, as the rock is there rising.


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18 The surface of this road is 7 feet wide, and rises gently so that rain-water will quickly run off and not fill the trench. At its end an opening is broken into the wall of the cistern and built round with masonry and furnished with a door and lock, inside which a flight of steps leads down to its bottom. Along the north wall I found also new masonry of white hewn or squared stones, forming a row of eight loculi or places into which the coffins of deceased brethren may be put, and then walled up. One of the brethren is already lying there, and his place walled up. These loculi are about 3 feet above the ground, 2 feet 8 inches high and wide, and 8 feet 6 inches deep, so that there will be left room enough before the head of the coffin for a closing wall to be made flush with the building. The man who opened the place for me said there will be a second, and perhaps a third, row of such loculi built when the time comes that they are wanted. The large opening in the roof gives light to the place below. The annexed plan and sections will explain all this. About 100 feet north of this place, and nearly in the same line, excavations were also made, and old masonry and a cistern found, but they were so far covered up that I cannot describe them separately or give drawings of them, but, if God will, I will do this at some future time when more is cleared up.

No. 7. Higher up the hill, and nearer the city, a piece of ground has been cleared away at a place about 180 feet east of the western road, 50 feet north of the new boundary wall, and about 400 feet south of the city wall. It was found to be a rock scarp extending north and south. It has been laid bare for a length of 18 feet and to a depth of 10 feet. As it is not cleared to the bottom I cannot say how high the scarp may be, but it reminds one of the scarp at the Bishop Gobat School and the Protestant Burial Ground. A little more north, and only $7 1⁄2$ feet more west, a similar scarp rises out of the ground, not so high but in the same direction. Along the latter are the remains of former rooms, consisting of walls cut out from the rock to a height from 4 to 8 feet. There are three rooms of different sizes; the partition walls were left here rather stronger than those in No. 1. The northern room is the largest, and had, towards the east, two openings with a piece of rock between them. In the wall of the southern room is the mouth of a cistern which seems to be of large extent. In front of the rooms (east) is a nice pavement, partly of rock and partly of flagstones, which at the first view appears to be the flooring of a church, or of some similar large building, as it is of equal width (of about 20 feet) for a length of about 50 feet. But on closer examination it seems rather to have been a street of the ancient city, for no bases of pillars, or marks of such, or of other supports, are recognisable, and then the surface, although from west to east horizontal, slopes from south to north to the extent of about 18 inches. At first I thought it might in later time have sunk, but as everywhere the rock is visible, that cannot have been the case, and as no steps were applied to


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Rh level the decline I think it was not the flooring of a building but of a street, or rather a piazza, or open place, in front of the houses, for as a street it could not have extended far towards the south, as the high scarp is there. On the east side of the pavement is the mouth of a cistern, and along the edge of the pavement remains of a former wall, not thick, which I think formed the parapet of the paved square, which, if this were so, may perhaps be the roof of a row of rooms below. At the northern end things were different, but it is not uncovered enough to form an opinion of it. Coming from the west is a water channel cut in the rocks. Forty feet east of the large rock scarp a trench was made into the ground about 20 feet deep, when an opening appeared which was closed up again until the work of excavation is resumed. West of this site No. 7 stood formerly a building of rather modern date, inserted in the Ordnance Survey Map $1⁄2500$, about 15 years ago it was removed, when the Nebi Daûd people took the stones of it to build new houses. When I arrived in Jerusalem in 1846 this building was shown to me as standing on the place where St. Peter, after denying the Lord, wept bitterly, and, as I understand matters, it may really be the right place, and probably the brethren may find traces of the Cock-crow Church there. I cannot say the reason why they have not diggeddug [sic] there, but in so many other places without result, in so far as it concerns this church. Perhaps they do not know of the former existence of the building.

No. 8. Nearer to the city they also made some excavations, but without result, as in no place did they reach the rock.

Along the western main road they made a boundary wall only as high as the surface of the road—the surface of their ground being situated-about 3 feet lower. At its end, where the road begins to bend towards the Nebi Daûd gate of the city, a new entrance door is made, and the former watch-house removed. Eastwards a higher boundary wall is made, and also a piece below from the sharp angle corner southwards. The rest is enclosed by poles and iron wire grating.

I am sorry that the ground belonging to the brethren does not extend so far that there is hope of being able to dig at the site where very likely the old city gate might be found; I am also sorry to say that from the mode in which the work is done many things escape observation, and will be buried again for centuries. If the brethren dig at a place they have to remove the earth, and often they put it in places which were not thoroughly examined before, and then plant vines and other plants or trees there, and give up further excavation.

1. A minaret of the "Haram Esh Sherif," the one standing on the western wall and near the Mahkama and Bab es Silsileh, was hitherto


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20 surmounted by a spire made of wood and covered with lead. On its middle stood an upright strong beam, on which the rest was fixed, and this beam having become rotten had to be replaced by a new one, or some other top to be made to the minaret. The spire was entirely removed, and a dome-shaped stone top put on. The appearance from some distance is rather different now from what it was before, and one feels as if something were missing. Existing photographs have now to be altered in order to give a correct view.

2. In the street El Wad south of the Austrian Hospice, where there are shown the houses of the rich man and Lazarus (according to tradition), there were on its eastern side and close to the lane Daraj es Sarai, some inferior and partly-ruined houses, which were sold by the proprietors to some Jews, who pulled them down and built up a grand new building three storeys high, giving this quarter also a new and much better appearance. No diggings of any importance were made, but the new buildings were erected on old foundations, so that in regard of antiquity nothing of interest appeared. In order not to be obliged to put the new wall backwards to widen the street, they left the old walls, of about the height of a man, so no signs or proofs appeared (as I hoped) that the second wall ran through here, which I believe was the case, and hence the crooked line of the lane. If I had known the state of things at the proper time, I would have tried to obtain permission to make a shaft. Since it has become the custom to use iron beams or rafters for covering rooms, there is no need of such strong walls and foundations as when every room was vaulted with stones. The Jew used at the said house such iron beams, to avoid digging.

3. On the opposite side, or western slope of the valley (el Wad) in the Tarîk or Sarai al Kadîm, generally called Via dolorosa, on its southern side, and about the middle of its length, is situated (according to tradition) the House of Veronica. A few years ago it came into possession of the Franciscan brethren, who are since working there, breaking down unsound and Mohammedan masonry and replacing it with new, in a better style and durable, and so giving the building some dignity. Nothing of special interest was found, and as the place is on a slope, stairs take away a good deal of the narrow space. I have visited the place several times in the hope that I might see something of interest; especially as the back of this house leans against the hill, or, rather, the scarp with the second wall, but nothing was moved there.

4. The Rev. J. E. Hanauer thinks he has found one more of the Crusading Churches opposite the Austrian Hospice on the west, the lower part of which was once, for a time, the magazine of the Palestine Exploration Fund. I knew the place for a long time, and never considered it to have been a church, but when the Rev. J. E. Hanauer spoke about it to me I went there and examined the remains, which proved to be Mohammedan, and the building to have been once a small mosque. The place has been somewhat cleared, and people are living there now.

5. I recently examined the barracks at the north-west corner of the


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Rh Haram Esh Sherif, in order to find some remains of Antonia; although I have not found what I expected, yet it is an interesting place, and I am now about to draw plans, and to make some remarks and necessary explanations.

ascertained that the name "El Heidhemiyeh," given by the natives to Jeremiah's Grotto and the Skull Hill, is not, as has been supposed, a corruption of 'El Heiremiyeh,' the place of Jeremiah ("Tent Work," Edition 1879, vol. i, p. 373), but a corruption of "El Adhamiyeh,", which means the place of "El Adham." It is so called because it is a "zawieh,", or chapel of the dervishes of the Order founded by the celebrated Sheikh Ibrahim el Adham, of Damascus, whose date, according to Hughes' "Dictionary of Islam," is 161, i.e., about A.D. 777. The "Zawieh el Adhamiyeh" at Jeremiah's Grotto was, according to Mejir ed Din, A.D. 1490 (Uns ul Jelil, Arabic, Cairo edition, vol. ii, p. 412), built by the Emir Maujak, the Nayib (Viceroy or Lieutenant) of Damascus, and was endowed by him and others.

I would ask leave to retract the statement I made on pp. 298, 307, and 308 of the Quarterly Statement for 1892 that the mediæval cemetery near St. Stephen's seems, from the inscriptions on the tombstones of the deacons Nonnus and Onesimus, to have been known as that "of the Holy Resurrection (Anastasis) of Christ." That this was not the case is now clear from an inscription recently discovered and published since my "Notes on the Controversy respecting the Site of Calvary" were written. The inscription I refer to was found on the Russian property near Gethsemane. It is the epitaph of two porters "of the Holy Anastasis of Christ." Those whom it interests may read text and translation on p. 568 of the "Revue Biblique, 1892" (Paris, P. Lethielleux, 10, Rue Cassette).

A Moslem is excavating considerably in the open ground east of Christ Church, Jerusalem. This morning he begged me to examine what he considered an inscribed stone, which he had just dug up at a depth of about 10 feet below the surface. To my eye the supposed letters look like tool marks, but I send a squeeze, as it may prove to be something more.

September 12th, 1893.


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22

are four principal Orders of Holy Men,, Shale illah ya rajâl Allah, an exclamation used in reference to a man mentioned, and which ought always to be said when a holy name is pronounced. It means "God's party, yea, men of God." The exact time when the four men lived I could not make out. They are: 1. Sultan 'Abd el Kader; 2. Sîdna Ehmad el Erfa'i; 3. Il Seyyed Ehmad el Badawi; 4. Sîdna Ibrahim el Dsuki. They may probably have lived about or after the Crusades. At all events the Tangiers traveller, Ibn Batoutah, mentions the Erfa'i in 1326 A.D. The East has always been filled with such people, and their disciples, or Darawish, as they here call them, have always quarrelled as to whose sanctity is greatest. One day Bajazid and his Derwishes met 'Abd el Kader and his Derwishes, and a dispute arose between them as to who was holier. A tree near by was beckoned to come by 'Abd el Kader, so it uprooted itself and stood still, but when Bajazid called the tree it came to him, whereupon 'Abd el Kader at once dismissed his Derwishes, and said, as he was not holier than Bajazid, he would give up being their leader, and went and lived 40 years in a mountain, with one knee bound, so that he could not kneel down and pray and get up, and so he became crippled. These men have existed,, before they were born, and before the Prophet Mohammed. They all have supernatural powers or secrets,, and have the power to appear now and then. They have drunk Paradise water,, Moyet el Ḳosar, and had it in Paradise jugs, , Sharbet el Sulah, with them.

I. Sultan 'Abd el Kader el Kheirani, Sultan el Saleeheen, also called Araj Abu Dirballa Bâz Allah—

Before he was born he was to be a Wély, therefore he is also called Asbak,, the preceding. When his mother, Kheira, was yet a young girl, gathering wood, all her companions left her, and a lion was going to eat her, so he appeared, killed the lion, and bound the wood with a serpent. At another time a man was going to violate her—he again appeared and saved her. When she got married and became with child, he told her, out of the womb, that it was he who had saved her twice before she was his mother. As soon as he was born, he confirmed what he said before, and was acknowledged as a Wély. The world was then all under the influence of the Dsuki, the Erfa'i, and the Badawi; he claimed partnership with them, and as they would not give it him


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Rh they went to Medina to the prophet Mohammed, who referred to the angel Gabriel, who himself had given him Paradise water. But the angel again went to God, and God acknowledged him as a fourth partner; for there was a prisoner among the Christians who called for help; the Badawi would have brought him within three hours, the Erfa'i within two hours, and the Dsuki within one hour—but 'Abd el Kader flew off and brought him within half an hour. They all now acknowledged him. 'Abd el Kader was looking to the west for a throne. When he was going to Algeria he met Bajazid, and, as above mentioned, remained forty years, whilst he was crippled, without praying; so the angel Gabriel came and asked him to pray, but he said he would only kneel down on the neck of Bajazid. So Gabriel went to tell God, and God allowed him to kneel down on the neck of Bajazid and Majazid. . The last expression means to whom will become more. He then became the holiest of the orders. He then loosed his knee, but limped ever after—wherefrom his title, the limper. He wore a white woollen shirt only; his Derwishes ought to wear no other, and the more their garments are patched the more honourable they are before God. He now knew that he was going to be buried in Bagdad, and sent there to have an abode for him to pray,, Khalwé, and a well for his ablutions, but the Wélies of Bagdad sent a plate of milk, full to the brim, and asked him to drink from this without spilling a drop, saying, "As little space as there is left for your fingers in this plate, so little is there any space in Bagdad for you." 'Abd el Kader then stretched out his hand to Paradise and brought a rose, covered the milk, and sent it back, telling them, "As I covered this milk with the Rose, so will I take you under my protection." They at once knew the Paradise rose, and acknowledged him as their protector. He settled and married in Bagdad, and dreadfully persecuted the Devil-worshippers,, Abadeen el Shetân, who hate him to this day, for they still exist. He died and left sons and daughters. He had a son who used to hate women, because he "walked with God." His father told him to leave Bagdad, because he could not thus live with human beings. Next morning he was dead, and when they wanted to carry him off to be buried, his bier flew off to Alouss, in the midst of the Euphrates, where his abode is still visited. Another son, Sidi 'Abd el Jabbar,, is buried near his father in Bagdad, where only clean women can light and clean the abode; men are not allowed to enter. One day the father and son were praying, when a serpent came along to visit 'Abd el Kader. She had eight horns, four big ones and four small ones alternately, as a crown on the head. The son being afraid, kicked her away. When the father had done praying, he reproved his son for interrupting his prayer. The serpent asked a place in Paradise, which he promised her, and she told him to kill her at once, that she may enjoy it at once. The son killed her, and her head is still hanging there to this day.


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24 When the Devil-worshippers again increased, he asked for a cannon from the Sultan Murad, of Constantinople, because when he ('Abd el Kader) was dead, the, Erfad, Devil-worshippers, soiled his grave; so Sultan Murad pushed a cannon, which went alone to Bagdad, the Sultan following it; it then began shooting by itself, till all the Erfad were killed. He then told the cannon to be quiet, but the cannon would not. He gave it a mighty push, and still it would not. He then tore open its mouth, whereupon it was quiet; the signs of the Sultan's fingers are still visible, and the cannon is chained, lest it begin again.

He has many of his Derwishes living in the beautiful Haram and Mosk belonging to them, and money is brought there plentifully from all Mohammedan countries to embellish his monument and feed the servants attending to it and to the lands belonging to it. They wear the white cap or turban, the colour of 'Abd el Kader. His standard also is white—in fact, though he presides more especially over all kinds of weapons, and his Derwishes have power to deprive the sword of its strength, yet he is the peace-maker, as his colours and name indicate. Previous to entering the Order, the candidate goes to some holy man of the Order he wishes to belong to, and studies his duties as Derwish. He lives under observation, and if the sheikh finds him fit, he puts his hand on his head, repeating the Fattiha seven times, and says, "Have you made up your mind to walk and keep the way of our Lord the Badawy?" , and, after the affirmative, takes a piece of sugar, spits on it, and having told him all he should do, and what is forbidden, gives him the sugar to eat and spits in his mouth, and tells him, "God and your Lord (the founder of the Order) will punish you for your faults, and be with you in your needs." The newly-admitted can at once work wonders, and with drums and cymbals the feast is made (after paying the fee). The candidate is beaten with swords, and struck on the head, and the endless Hei and Allah are repeated. A real Derwish must openly wear his master's colours and uniform. Men are often initiated into the Orders without carrying about the spear and begging, which they ought to do. The candidate is received on a Thursday evening generally, as they mostly then hold their religious exercises,. The man comes to the highest in rank, a Khalify,, and says, "I beg to be admitted to the Order of our Lord the Sheikh 'Abd el Kader, all here present to be witness." Nothing is done then till a certain sum is paid, from 3 piastres up to £1, when a diploma is given with the names of the generations of the sheikh initiating him written thereon, up to 'Abd el Kader. If the sum is the highest, besides the power to work miracles and tread on fire or swallow it, to wound with swords and heal the wounds, to hold serpents and every poisonous animal, is inscribed on it. Often single letters following each other, or a sentence of the Koran, are written on the diploma. But to seal the real reception a lamb or goat is killed, and the Derwishes of the neighbourhood join in the


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Rh feast; they all eat it as on all other occasions. Elisha had also to slay oxen and boil their flesh and give it to the people before following Elijah, 1 Kings xix, 20–21. The turban of the new sheikh also is put on by the Khalify, and lie becomes, Mu'amam. This is the first degree. The second degree is the Naḳeeb, ; he has charge of the instruments. When they are brought forth, the Naḳeeb calls down the blessing on them before the ceremonies begin; thus: "God's party, we say the Fatiha to these instruments, to the presence of the prophet, and to our Lord Khadder Abu 'l'Abbas, and to his brother Elijah, the holder of these instruments, or the guardian." This is repeated three times before the music begins; the instruments are generally the standard,, Reiey; the small drum, , Bâz; the cymbals, , Kasséy; and the big drum or Nobéy,. They never have any wind instruments, as the Jews of old, though the functions of the Naḳeeb seem very much the same as those of Heman and Jeduthun, as mentioned in 1 Chron. xvi, 42. "Those that should make a sound, and with musical instruments of God."

Incense is now burned, and the whole congregation praise the Lord, the ceremony resembling the description of the singers (Levites) at the consecration of the temple at Jerusalem in 2 Chron. v, 13. The highest in rank is the Khalify, who can confer the Order upon another person, as he is the substitute of the sheikh to whose Order he belongs. He may also be Khalify to several Orders, which is not usually allowed to the Naḳeeb or simple Derwish. As a rule, they are respected by anybody who knows them to be Derwishes, though much depends on the influence of the family he belongs to. Thus a Khateeb, of Beit Dejan, ridiculed a Derwish in a piece of poetry; the Derwish appealed to his Order, and the Derwishes of the region gathered in the house of the Khateeb to judge the case, and punish him accordingly.

Sheikh Saleh,, of Safrie, a village only a mile east of Beit Dejan, who was always ready to ridicule everything, wrote some poetry on a Derwish of the Order of the Seied el Badawi. This Derwish, the Sheikh Abd er Rahman Abu Ja'coub, is almost blind, and on that account had a nickname, Di'hnan,. He went out one day and stumbled over the carcase of a mule and broke his arm, which so much amused our bard, the Khateeb, that he composed the following rhymes :—


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26 {| width="100%"
 * My rhymes with measure I began,
 * Abtadi wanzim wa awzan
 * Listen what happened to Dihnan;
 * Wali jara la Dihnan
 * His hoe on his shoulder, eastward he went,
 * Hamel faso wa muhawed
 * Towards Sheikh Ethman's monument.
 * Imsharek darb el Sheikh Ethman
 * A carcass met him in the way;
 * Lakato hal if'tissét
 * He stumbled at it and hurt itself.
 * Waka' tiha riji' mawju'
 * A rib has touched him, so we heard,
 * Wa sabahu dale' min il dulu'
 * And a bowel spilt upon his beard.
 * Wa nashab fi dakno il musran
 * When he thus fell, and was inclined,
 * Liman waka' fiha wa mal
 * His right hand broke.
 * Inkasrat idahu il shamal
 * He called out with all his voice,
 * Saah' bisotahu ya irjal
 * Come and help me, oh 'Urjan! (his kindred).
 * Ifza'uli ya 'Urjan
 * When the news went to his house,
 * Rah' il khabar 'alla l-beth
 * Ba'bul and Bkheth, his children, cried:
 * Sa'hat Ba'bul wa Bkheth
 * }
 * And a bowel spilt upon his beard.
 * Wa nashab fi dakno il musran
 * When he thus fell, and was inclined,
 * Liman waka' fiha wa mal
 * His right hand broke.
 * Inkasrat idahu il shamal
 * He called out with all his voice,
 * Saah' bisotahu ya irjal
 * Come and help me, oh 'Urjan! (his kindred).
 * Ifza'uli ya 'Urjan
 * When the news went to his house,
 * Rah' il khabar 'alla l-beth
 * Ba'bul and Bkheth, his children, cried:
 * Sa'hat Ba'bul wa Bkheth
 * }
 * Come and help me, oh 'Urjan! (his kindred).
 * Ifza'uli ya 'Urjan
 * When the news went to his house,
 * Rah' il khabar 'alla l-beth
 * Ba'bul and Bkheth, his children, cried:
 * Sa'hat Ba'bul wa Bkheth
 * }
 * Ba'bul and Bkheth, his children, cried:
 * Sa'hat Ba'bul wa Bkheth
 * }
 * Sa'hat Ba'bul wa Bkheth
 * }
 * }


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28


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Rh


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Rh The shepherd boys and people of all ages sang and repeated these verses till the offended Derwish complained to his co-fraternity, and the Khateeb had to pay two hundred rottles of rice and a hundred sacrifices, sheep or goats. After trying to get the sentence changed, and having given supper to the thirty Derwishes assembled, and breakfast the next morning, without obtaining pardon he left the assembly and did not appear again in the village for some time. The Derwishes carried away what he possessed. This was a great offence; smaller offences also are punished. Throwing down the turban of a Derwish may be atoned for by a single sacrifice, but never for less.

II. The Sheikh Ehmad el Erfa'i, as his name indicates, is the Viper-charmer, and therefore his Derwishes are expected to touch vipers and all poisonous things, without being hurt, by calling out to their Lord,  "Help! oh, Viper-charmer." His part in the world was the desert and desolate places. His Derwishes have also the white or parti-coloured cap. His standard is red and white; he is the most jealous of the four saints, and will not allow his Derwishes to leave his Order and join another. The Derwishes ought never to kill serpents for fear of them, but always invoke his name. His tomb is in Bosra, near the mouth of the Euphrates. His Derwishes, and even Christians of Palestine and Syria, told me about a pond near his Makam so full of poisonous serpents that the poison swims on the top of the water as yellow as sulphur or melted butter. As the spot is at a considerable distance from the Euphrates, all wild beasts assemble round it to drink, but are afraid of the poison. Every Friday an antelope,, karakand, comes there; all the beasts get up, and the antelope, gravely approaching, strikes the water with its horns, first in one way, then in the other, making the sign of the cross (this is the Christian version), when all poison becomes dissipated, and the beasts approach and drink, after which the poison again covers the face of the waters for a whole week, suboo'aa. A man who was offered £300 to bring a horn of this antelope was struck with awe, and would not when he saw it. Rubbed in oil, this horn is even as efficacious against serpent bites as the horn of the cerastes, and therefore is invaluable.

The Derwishes belonging to this Order generally carry about serpents in leather bags for show, and perform with them. The Egyptians have a better serpent for real plays; although very deadly, the Fi, the Haje', or Egyptian cobra (Naja Haje'), is found in the southern part of Palestine only. This serpent lifts up the fore part of its body, graciously swinging itself to the sound of the Neie,, but here the Derwishes keep the people in ignorance as to the danger of the different kinds whether they are venomous or not, and they know them well enough. A Derwish of the Erfa'i Order used to come to my house at Jaffa with snakes, the most


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30 showy of them being Zamenis carbonarius, the shiny black serpent known as the by the natives, and greatly feared in some districts. It is one of the longest serpents, and on account of its powers of raising itself dreadful stories are told about it, as lying in the ways and making them impassable, cutting a man in two by twisting itself round his body. It does not live long in captivity. It refuses food, and in the bags of the serpent-charmer dies very soon. They give it bran, supposing it to eat this. The fields of Palestine abound with them, and it is easier to find another than to keep the old one. They lose their shining colour when in captivity for more than a week. They live in one place, and never go far away. A carbonarius that I let loose in the field near the house remained in the vicinity for years, coming out in the warm hours of the day, and hiding during the hottest. Next to this, the Coluber Æsculapii is mostly carried about by Derwishes; it is a very showy serpent, often as thick as a man's arm, and nearly 2 metres long, it resists hunger a good deal better than the carbonarius. The snake-charmers take the snakes simply out of the bag, put them round their neck, and make them run on the ground. A snake seldom attacks its owner, and if it does bite, the man licks the tiny wound it makes—wholly without danger—to the great astonishment of the bystanders, and coppers flow in on such occasions.

Besides these two they have the Zamenis viridiflarus, which they call Yahudieh, or Heiet el Beit, (Jewess or house serpent), then the Cœlopeltis lacertina,, Rabda, and the Coluber quadrilineatus,  Nashabé, the jumper, of which serpent they have many tales, as its flying across valleys, and even penetrating camels, from its velocity, and many fear it greatly. This is probably the serpent mentioned, Isaiah xiv, 29, a fiery flying serpent. The Eryx jaculus—known as Barjeel, is supposed to be one of the most deadly serpents, though as innocent as any serpent can be. An Erfa'i Derwish handled them with the greatest caution, and was greatly astonished to see me take them up without previous talk; although he well knew that he himself was not poison-proof, he considered me initiated into some real secrets, altogether unknown to him, and wondered why I never handled the Daboia-Xanthina, which is a very deadly snake. The Daboia, in fact, is the only poisonous serpent I found with such Derwishes, but they get rid of them as soon as they can, and change them for show's sake with the finer spotted Coluber Zamenis Viridiflarus. As an excuse they say that the viper (Daboia) is deaf, and does not hear the invocation of the very holy Erfa'i. I have known several ignorant Erfa'i Derwishes misled by the idea that all serpents are venomous, and having tried all kinds without danger, also treat the Daboia viper in the same way. Two, I know, died in 1892—the one working at Jaffa was warned by the owner of the grounds, but invoked the Erfa'i. He felt his strength going about an hour after the bite, and twenty-four hours afterwards was


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Rh dead. Another Derwish was bitten in the thumb in June, 1892, in the environs of Lydda. No particulars are known about him. He came to the Mosk at Lydda and fell down in the court, and died without letting the Daboia go; he had choked her, for they both were found dead. Happily most Derwishes well know the dreadful effect of the bite of this serpent, and the rapidity with which the fangs are replaced when taken out. It is true the fangs can very easily be plucked out, but others soon come in their place. I found seven fangs on each side. Daboias resist hunger for an astonishing length of time. I have never seen them take any food, though I kept several upwards of a year without their touching the food given them, such as live mice, lizards, or other serpents. When a Derwish is initiated into this Order, he takes a piece of sugar from the mouth of the Khalify, and, whilst the Khalify reads his verses, appointing him to the Order, and making him serpent and poison-proof, he spits in his mouth from time to time, as giving him of his juice; this is also often done to others not belonging to the Orders, to make them serpent-proof—Christians, Jews, or Mohammedans. But even these serpent-proof candidates, and  (literally surrounder and surrounded) (by the protection of the Erfa'i), do not always touch serpents, although in the act of being "surrounded," a serpent is to be put round the neck of the candidate, and the ear-lap bitten by the serpent; the Hawi then licks it up, invoking his Lord. It seems a grey falcon is the bird par excellence into which the Derwishes, or at least the Khalify, can sometimes be changed, or at least which the Chief of the Order appears and protects. Ibn Batoutah, the Tangiers traveller, says that "the virtuous Sheikh Ehmad el Erfa'y lived in Um Obeidah, and had great friendship with Abu Medin Sho'aib, son of El Hosain. Sheikh Ehmad had palm-trees. One year, when he was cutting the dates, he left a bunch for his brother Sho'aib, . They afterwards met in the holy station at 'Arafat. The servant of Sheikh Ehmad, Reslan, had heard about the dates, and asked him if he now wanted them. Sheikh Ehmad allowed him to have them, and soon after he laid the dates before them. The people of the abode of the Sheikh Ehmad afterwards said that in the evening of the day of 'Arafat they saw a grey falcon,, come down on the palm-tree, take the dates and fly away in the air. Thus in Damascus, near the gate Eidjabiyeh, on the burying-place of the pious Reslan, this was written A.D. 1326.

III. The Seyyed Ehmad el Badawy was considered the most holy before Abd el Kader, and is still so acknowledged, at least by his Derwishes. They wear the red woollen turban, and have a red standard. His tomb is in Tantah, in Egypt, and his feast is held about the Nile overflow. This Order is the most popular, and greatly venerated in Palestine. In the processions they are very wild, beating themselves, and sticking great


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32 pins into their cheeks and near the eyes; they stand on swords, eat cactus-leaves, and drink the water which remains from hand-washing of an assembly. When once aroused to holiness they much resemble brutes. Although el Badawy himself never married, he is very liberal towards adulterers; it is said a pious Mohammedan went to visit his grave, and found an immense multitude there, and among them a man and woman in the precincts in a very indecent position, so, without finishing his visit, he turned away and was going home, when his beast staled in the waters of the Nile. A horseman reproved him, saying, "Why defilest thou the stream?" but the pilgrim remarked that the stream was broad, and could not be defiled by such a little thing. Well, then, said the Badawy—for it was he—"Go back and feast, an adulterer can no more defile the abode of the Badawy than this urine can the stream."

The daughter of Bari,, was the most handsome of women that ever lived, and she was a Derwishá. One day when Badawy, Erfa'i, and Dsuki were in the plains of Mesopotamia, Bint Bari took a Paradise jug and wanted to drink it all, leaving none to the others. Erfa'i went, but was afraid to look at her for fear of losing his holiness, for a Derwish may not look at a woman and wonder at her beauty. Dsuki then went, but without success, so the Badawy put on old ragged clothes, full of lice, and came to her palace at Bagdad. Of course, as a Derwishá, she at once knew he was coming. He asked for the water, which she would not give up. She lifted her two veils,, hut he could not be moved by her beauty; so he said, "Earth! swallow her," and the earth swallowed her to her knees. Then he asked her the water, but without success. A second command to the Earth, and she was swallowed to the stomach, a third to the breast; and then she said, "Will you marry me?" He told her to put forth her hand, and he spat through it to the earth, and said, "Your hand cannot stand my spittle, how will you stand me in marriage?" Still she refused, but after a fourth command, when the earth had swallowed her up to the neck, she ordered a servant to bring the water. Nevertheless, she is in great enmity with these Orders, and wars against them from the sky, throwing stones at them—and hence the Derwishes of these Orders always look up in the sky for fear of Bint Bari. Sheikh 'Ali was the Naḳeeb of the Badawy, and a very turbulent Derwish, who always wanted to have his Lord give him power over something, and troubling him. So the Badawy had a stick and threw it away, and said, "Where you find this stick you shall dwell, and not leave your place; you shall have plenty, and your sacrifices shall come to you as this stick went." So he followed and found the stick north of Jaffa. A harem is built there, and a yearly market is held there. Sîdna 'Ali is a guardian of the sea ; any ship in danger has only to invoke him, and undoubtedly will be saved, no matter of what nation. An English captain promised £100 to Sheikh 'Ali if he were saved, and eventually went back to England. Having no means of sending the money, he put it into a hollow piece of wood, which he pushed into the sea. Years


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Rh passed by, and the captain visited Jafla again, and, for curiosity's sake, rode up to Sîdna 'Ali. When he came there he found the log of wood in the court-yard, which some Derwish had brought in from the sea-shore. He told the servant of the harem to "please find £100 enclosed." He told him his story, and since that time the English also believe in Sidna 'Ali's power over the waves.

It is a speciality of Sîdna 'Ali to procure for himself the vows sent to him in every shape or manner. If a goat is sent to him from any part he receives it. Grapes, wheat, bread, are received by attraction, though most gifts are brought to him at the annual feast, when all the people of the plain go to visit his shrine. These feasts generally last three days, some time in July, but they never receive the same attention as the Rubin feast, south of Jaffa. Sîdna 'Ali is particularly charged to keep back the sea waters from the land, though they acknowledge this to be done by divine force,, Kudra illahié The ancient town of 'Arsuf, the ruins of which are only some quarter of a mile away, was miraculously thrown down by Sîdna 'Ali in a war against the infidels when they were greatly in want of water and hardly pressed upon by the enemy.

IV. Sîdna Ibrahim el Dsuki,, has his tomb in Dasuk. He has a yellow flag and turban. Like the other two, his followers are at enmity with Bint Bari, who belongs to the 'Ajami Order. The Dsuki has a Khalify in Kǔryet el 'Enab. When he goes to Beit Mahsîr, he has to pass by or below the abode of the 'Ajami on the hill above Beit Mahsîr; but he never can pass there unprotected, as the 'Ajami is still angry for the water-jug of Paradise. So he always goes, not on the 'Ajami's lands, but on others close by, for fear of being killed. On the 6th of November, 1891, the Sheikh Ibrahim el Enbawi,, died, leaving a son of 14 years, and this man is a Khalify. The holiness is hereditary, the forefathers having been traced back for some centuries. When Sheikh Ibrahim died, he wrought many miracles. 1. He died quietly sitting. 2. He had told his relatives not to weep at his death, but as soon as his daughter knew he was dead, she threw out her arms and could not draw them back again. The son then took his father's mantle (see 2 Kings, ii, 13–14), and rubbed the daughter's arms, so she got right again, and they omitted the usual wailing. 3. He groaned after he was dead. 4. His standard spread horizontally over his dead body when the bearer of it walked before the bier. The Mukhtar,, or Mayor, of Abu Ghôsh, of the famous Abu Ghôsh family, wanted to put the turban of his father on the young hereditary sheikh, but he refused to be "crowned" by an inferior, and himself put the turban half round and left the other half hanging down, till he is old enough to go to Dasuk, in Egypt, and receive his coronation, , from


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34 his own Khalify, as all his forefathers did. He is greatly venerated, and will obtain money enough from the believers to go to Egypt with all pomp, as becomes him.

As already mentioned, Bint Bari and the 'Ajami are minor Derwish Orders. The 'Ajami,, who has several mosques or makâm in Palestine, is a very angry sheikh. He never pardons offences, but strikes dead at once, or lames, or gives some such sign of his real existence, as is mentioned in "Folklore" (Quarterly Statement, 1893, p. 219). Sometimes a man may be initiated and become an acting Derwish at once—that is, he takes a spear and the cap or turban of his Lord and becomes a Fakir,, a poor man, living on charity. He may do this only for a time, but generally the Fakirs remain so all their life. Usually they take up poverty, after having assisted for several years as an unrecognised Derwish, going about their work as usual, with no outward sign. The rosary may or may not be the only thing they carry, but they are not necessarily Derwishes because they carry the rosary. When they become wandering Derwishes who have made the vow of poverty, no matter to what Order they belong, they grow their hair and wear old and patched garments. The hair-growing seems to have its origin in the law of the Nazarites (Numbers vi). It is a great trouble for the fellahîn to have long hair, because of the vermin, and it is thus considered to take away the comforts of life, which is its main object. It is also, of course, a visible sign of the man being a Derwish. If a Derwish commits a sin, does anything unlawful in his Order, he must repent and never do it any more; also, other Derwishes of his Order come and beat him, or, as the case may be, reject him altogether from the Order. A pilgrimage to Mecca may take away some sins. The rosaries they wear are made of olive or storax wood,, 'Abhar, and have a hundred or a thousand beads, to facilitate repeating the name of God as often as possible daily.

The mass of fellahîn consider Derwishes to be really holy, and respect them, even kissing their hands when they are known. They also believe that they can wound persons or animals with their swords or with their spears, and heal the wounds immediately by invoking their Lord. A Derwish, called Sheikh Hamdan,, (the title "Sheikh" is given to a Derwish when he is acknowledged as such), lived in Urtâs for several years. He came from 'Allar el fôka, and had his scenes of fukur every Thursday evening. He was much respected by some, but the Urtâs people in general did not think very much of his holiness—nevertheless, some were initiated by him, and especially an elderly man, who gave him hospitality. His fits of fanaticism led him to run over the rocks and mountains round about, where he met his Lord the Badawy. On such occasions he often ran away naked. His friend and host, who was somewhat simple-minded, believed in his Derwish, and was initiated by him, receiving a sufficient quantity of stripes on his head to stun him. The new Derwish, Ethman,


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Rh or, was quite persuaded of his power of working miracles. On one occasion I saw him push a huge iron pin through his cheeks, one side in and the other side out. After it was pulled out, his cheek was found pierced through and bleeding, upon which Sheikh Hamdan spit on it, and washed it away, calling to his Lords. This is the only "wonder" I saw. The man bled very little, and probably was accustomed to pierce the cheek, though the holes did not remain, but completely healed. However, on one occasion Sheikh Hamdan, an unmarried man, in one of his frantic runs, seems to have given a rendezvous to the fair daughter of Ethman, and in course of a few months the sheikh disappeared—called to Egypt by the Badawy. He has never again been seen at Urtâs, and the daughter was delivered in secret by a Bethlehem midwife. Sheikh Hamdan lost respect and holiness, and became a camel driver many years afterwards in his own village. As a rule, the Derwishes are married men—at least, marriage has nothing to do with being a Derwish.

Sultan Badr,, has his abode in Deir es Sheikh, a village in Wady Isma'in. He is said to have been a descendant of Hassein, the grandson of Mohammed, and when war waged between the Egyptian and Syrian Khalifs, was killed near Deir es Sheikh. The now living direct descendant is Sheikh Ethman, a man about 50 years of age, with fine features, tall and very sober in speech. About the years 1874–1882 he lived partly at Urtâs and partly at Deir es Sheikh, and during these years he was voluntarily dumb, his noble ancestor having asked him not to speak for this time, and thus to avoid sin; he would always talk by signs. He was greatly venerated by everybody, both fellahîn and townspeople, and even the Pasha of Jerusalem would rise when he came to the Seraia, and generally presented him with garments. This sheikh, as a descendant of Sultan Badr, relative of Mohammed, wears the green turban. When Ibrahim, Pasha of Egypt, was ruler of Palestine he took away many lands belonging to Welies and such holy men, but when he sent his soldiers to take Deir es Sheikh, a swarm of bees attacked the regiment, and as often as they tried to come up, bees kept them back. Then they knew that these bees were none else but Sultan Badr himself defending his abode. (The inhabitants of Sheikh, a village near Hebron, also claim relationship with the prophet, and wear the green turban.) Sheikh Ethman, the dumb, when I met him about 1889, had finished his vow, and was again allowed to speak, his ancestor, Sultan Badr, having withdrawn his injunction. Also this sheikh, who was respected in almost all southern Palestine, lost a great deal of his prestige on being found acting against the Government in a criminal affair. Instead of showing his power, he simply denied having done anything. The following were the circumstances:—

A murderer, who was brother-in-law of Sheikh Ethman, was brought, bound, to Jerusalem from Hebron, passing along the Wady el Biâr to


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36 Solomon's pools. Above Deir el Benât, Sheikh Ethman and six Urtâs people were hidden behind the rocks, and all of a sudden jumped out shouting and swinging swords, and frightened the two gendarmes accompanying the murderer. Feigning to be the avengers trying to kill the convict, they cut loose the handcuffs and set him free. Not long afterwards an officer and twelve gendarmes came to Urtâs. All the culprits, except Sheikh Ethman, had left the village and hidden in the cave of Khureitûn. The officer did not care for his holiness, and began administering a flogging, whereupon the sheikh seized an opportunity of slipping away. This occurred in 1881, and since then the sheikh has lost a good deal of his esteem both in the country and in towns.

Different districts have sheikhs of this class, of more or less sanctity, but these do not belong to the Orders, but are hereditary sheikhs, like Sheikh Ibrahim Nasr, of Kŭryet el 'Enab, already mentioned. The Rubin Bedawîn, too, have a hereditary family of Derwishes, descendants of the Sheikh Zooeied,. Their sanctity is of a quiet kind. Hamed, a Derwish, was cheated by his partner, but Sheikh Zooeied took revenge and struck the wife of, the cheat with insanity. A Bedawy told me that one day, running through the Rubin marshes, where there are plenty of buffaloes, a buffalo all at once pursued him, and would have gored him to death had he not taken his gun and aimed at the animal, at the same time crying to the sheikh, "Yellah, ya Sheikh Zooeied,", when suddenly the animal stood still, looked at him, and turned away.

A Derwishá (female Derwish), living at Sîdna 'Ali, north of Jaffa, with a green head-dress and veil, is consecrated as the prophet's foal,. Her way of begging or asking alms consists simply in neighing just as a young foal would, never saying any more. She can


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Rh often be seen in the streets of Jaffa going from shop to shop neighing. Sheikh Ibrahim Abu Rabah', originally from Beit Dejan, now one of the notables of Jaffa, is Khalify of the four Orders of Derwishes, i.e., he can deliver the diplomas. He has the power to work miracles; as already mentioned, his mare fought in the Turco-Russian War. Many Derwishes also, as grey falcons, used to hover above the Turkish army, and catch the shells or musket-balls as they flew. The general idea of these Derwishes, and the reason why they exist, is that they may not sin. By wearing bad clothing, being absorbed in prayer, having no earthly comfort, and going about asking alms, they are supposed to keep their souls pure, and the more welies, nebies, and holy places they visit, the more they have "merit before God,"

A Derwish in my service was trying to qualify himself for becoming a wandering Derwish. But he was irascible, and that would not do for a good Derwish. He was fond of arms and shooting; but extinguishing life, even that of a caterpillar, was sinful in a Derwish. He was also fond of good dress, and was sorry for it. He went twice on foot from Jaffa to Bagdad to visit as many welies as possible, and he hoped, by the grace of 'Abd el Kader, in Bagdad, to become converted. On one trip he was absent eight months, suffered hunger and thirst and fatigue through the Syrian desert, even wore bad clothing in the time of his pilgrimage, never omitted the five regular prayers and his own voluntary prayers, but after all returned to his passions—good clothing, bearing arms, and ill-temper. The poor fellow was much perplexed about it, and told me he could be no real good Derwish as long as he did not put aside all these sins, that he knew Derwishes who even let themselves be beaten without reply. He even went further and said the 38th to 42nd verses of the fifth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel seem to be wholly written for, and ought to be kept by, a real Derwish. A Derwish is never completely sanctified till he has done all, and then he may even see angels. Angels communicate with and minister to Derwishes. They have shining faces, as the full moon, and have green veils, but this is a secret which may not be divulged. A Derwish who had regular visions, invited another Derwish in Ramleh to come and see in what company he passed his time. When alone on his way home the spectator thought to tell what he had seen, but on beginning, was struck dumb, became insane and died, and the first one soon died also, because


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38 he could not keep his secret to himself. My Derwish did not know whether he ought to have told me so much. He took away his papers, when I wanted to see them, and would never again talk about Derwishes. He said he would ask a Khalify whether it was lawful to show his papers, but ever afterwards avoided talking on the subject. He had a drum on which he used to perform alone, repeating chapters of the Koran and prayers, and accompanying them by interrupted knocks on the drum. Finally he quitted my service. Several others have told me such things as the above, but referred me to the Khalify for more. Some have their secret direct from God, and these do not belong to any of the orders, but belong to God's order. On Ramadan nights they may be heard calling the faithful to their prayers, going from house to house and chanting, accompanying the chants with the drum (other derwishes also do this):—

They then get food or not, according as the people have to spare.

A Derwish may become a, walieh (female), and then sits among women, as he is for the moment changed into a woman; the term "walieh" is the feminine of wely, and the woman is considered in many instances holy, as being the mother of mankind, carrying no arms, and often suffering beating, baking the bread, entering the oven. The oven is considered a wely; but the woman is only theoretically a walieh; she turns to be a woman,, in ordinary cases, and even an outcast of society. . Ba'id minak mara. "Be it far from you—a woman"—is an expression used when talking of a woman generally, and which does not at all indicate the theoretical esteem and respect of the walieh. Although the Derwishes may have a good deal of freedom in their behaviour towards women, very few cases of the abuse of such liberty are told, and it can never have been tolerated, unless amongst the most simple-minded. The natural jealousy of the fellahîn would prevent it.


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series of daily observations of rain was begun by Dr. Chaplin in the year 18 1, and was continued by him for the long period of 22 years till the end of 1882: they have since 1883 been continued under the auspices of the Palestine Exploration Fund.

The rain gauge used during the first six years was a float gauge by Newman, and since then a certified 8-inch gauge by Negretti and Zambra. During four years the gauges were placed side by side; the float gauge registered during these four years 88·83 inches, and Negretti and Zambra's gauge 93·25 inches, and the readings by Newman's gauge have been corrected so as to give results in accordance with the 8-inch gauge.

Dr. Chaplin says the position of the gauges was in a garden within the city, about 2,500 feet above the level of the Mediterranean, open on all sides, the houses which bound it on the south and west, being too far removed to influence the fall of rain on the pluviometer.

The results of the observations during the 22 years ending in 1882 have been discussed by Dr. Chaplin in seasons, and the results were published in the Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund for January, 1883.

The observations since 1883 have all been made by the 8-inch gauge and in the same position as that adopted by Dr. Chaplin.

Table I shows the fall of rain in every month during the 32 years ending with 1892.

In looking over the table the first thing noticeable is the very great difference in every month of the rainy season, between the falls in the same month in different years; for instance, in January the fall in the year 1873 was 0·13 inch, whilst in 1878 it was 13·39 inches.

Table II (see next page) shows the three heaviest and the three lightest falls of rain in every month excepting June, July, and August in the 32 years:—


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40

These differences are remarkable, and it will be noticed that in every month of the rainy season there are instances of the fall being less than one inch. These cases in the autumnal months must be very serious for the husbandmen, for the ground cannot be in a lit state for the reception of seed. Whilst in the same months in other years the falls have been large, in one case, December, 1888, as large as 16-40 inches, this is the largest fall in one month in the 32 years; the next in order are:—


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Rh

Of these heavy falls five were in January, three in February, two in March, and three in December; the fall of rain in every other month was less than 10 inches.

There were, however, a good many other heavy falls; there were six exceeding 9 inches, of which three were in January in the years 1861, 1863, and 1867; one in February, 1886, and two in December in the years 1873 and 1890; five exceeding 8 inches, one in January, 1874, two in February in the years 1877 and 1884, and two in December in 1868 and 1892; there were 10 exceeding 7 inches, all between November and .January, 18 exceeding 6 inches, 9 exceeding 5 inches, 16 exceeding 4 inches, and 23 exceeding 3 inches.

The largest fall of rain in three consecutive months was 32·23 inches, ending February, 1878; the next in order was 30·52 inches, ending January, 1889; the smallest in three consecutive months was 3·10 inches, ending February, 1870; and the next in order was 3·88 inches, ending January, 1870.

The numbers in the last column of Table I shows the average fall of rain in every month; the largest is in January, the next in order December, then March and April. The number at the foot of each column shows the fall of rain in the year; the three smallest are 13·39 inches in 1870, 13·56 inches in 1889, and 14·41 inches in 1876. The three greatest are 37·79 inches in 1888, 35·51 inches in 1890, and 34·72 inches in 1891. The mean of the three lowest was 11·44 inches below the average; and the three highest was 10·78 inches above the average. It is remarkable that the fall of rain in the years 1864, 1870, 1876, and 1889 were all less than the fall in the month of December, 1888, and that the fall in the year 1881 was only 0·1 inch larger. It may also be noticed that the fall in the month of January, 1878, was the same in amount with the fall in the year 1870.

The average annual fall of rain is shown at the foot of the last column and is 25·23 inches, being very nearly the same as in London, but how differently distributed! By laying the annual falls down as a diagram the results can be seen at once. The first thing to be noticed is the evident increase of the fall of rain in the later years of the series, and the


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42 next, that up to 1878 no fall of rain had reached 30 inches, the nearest approach being 29·75 inches in 1874; but on the diagram in eight years, viz., 1878, 1880, 1883, 1886, 1888, 1890, 1891, and 1892, the points are all well above 30 inches. It is remarkable that the largest fall of all, in 1888, should be followed in 1889 by one so small as 13·56 inches, being, in fact, the lowest but one in the 32 years.

By taking the means of the annual falls in two equal periods of 16 years, the first in the years 1861 to 1876, the mean is 22·26, and in the second, in the years 1877 to 1892, the mean is 28·20; therefore, the mean annual fall in the second half of the series is 5·94 inches greater than in the first half. This is very remarkable.

By comparing the average rainfall for each month, as shown in the last column of Table I, with the monthly fall of the same month in every year it will be seen that in every month, for three, four, or five successive years, the fall has been either above or below the mean; and—

In January in 16 years the fall was above and in 16 years below the mean.

In February in 13 years the fall was above and in 19 years below the mean.

In March in 13 years the fall was above and in 19 years below the mean.

In April in 13 years the fall was above and in 19 years below the mean.

In October in 7 years the fall was above and in 25 years below the mean.

In November in 13 years the fall was above and in 19 years below the mean.

In December in 15 years the fall was above and in 17 years below the mean.

In January of those above the mean there were four successive years, viz., 1861, 1862, 1863, and 1864, and two groups of three each, in 1885, 1886, and 1887, and 1890, 1891, and 1892. Of those below the mean there were two groups of four each, viz., to 1873 and 1879 to 1882.

In February above the mean there was only one group of three, in the years 1872, 1873, and 1874; of those below the mean there were three groups of three and one of four, viz., in the years 1862, and 1864; 1869, 1870, and 1871; 1879, 1880, and 1881, and 1887, 1888, 1889, and 1890.

In March of those above the mean there were two groups, one of three and one of five, viz., in the years 1879, 1880, and 1881, and 1883 to 1887. Of those below the mean there were three groups, of six, three, and five years, viz., 1864 to 1869, 1876 to 1878, and to 1892.

In April above the mean there were two groups, one of four and one of three years, viz., 1867 to 1870, and 1880 to 1882; below the


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Rh mean there were three groups, two of three and one of five years, viz., 1864 to 1866, 1871 to 1875, and 1877 to 1879.

In November above the mean there were two groups of three, viz., 1872 to 1874, and 1890 to 1892; below the mean there were two groups, one of seven and the other of three years, viz., 1865 to 1871, and 1878 to 1880.

In December above the mean there were two groups of three, viz., in 1871 to 1873, and 1890 to 1892; below the mean there were three groups, two of three and one of four successive years, viz., 1864 to 1866, 1874 to 1876, and 1881 to 1884.

Therefore, in every month of the rainy season the fall has been above the mean for three or four years in succession; once in March it was above for five years. The fall also has been below the mean for three or four years consecutively; once, both in March and April, it extended to five years, and once, also in March, to six years, and in November there were seven in succession below the mean.

Comparing the yearly falls with the average, viz., 25·23 inches, the first group of three below the mean was in the years 1864, 1865, and 1866. The next is a group of five years, viz., from 1869 to 1873, and besides these there are no two years in succession below the mean.

The first two years in succession above the mean was in 1867 and 1868; the next two years, 1874 and 1875, the next 1882 and 1883; then four years, 1885 to 1888, and three years, 1890, 1891, and 1892.

From the long group of five years of deficient rainfall, ending in 1873, no two dry years have come together, and five years only out of the subsequent 19 have been below the average, and the remaining 14 above, made up of three instances of two successive years of excess, one of four, and one of three. From the five dry years, ending 1873, there has been a gradual increase of rain, and future observations will be looked forward to with very great interest indeed, for it is not possible to infer whether the years ending 1873 were the lowest in a cycle of years, or whether the climate is changing.

From Table III it appears that the number of rainy days has varied—

In the months of the rainy season the days of rain have been as few as 1, 2, or 3 in some years, and as many as 17 to 20 in other years.


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44 Also from the table it appears that in June rain fell on one day in the years 1885 and 1888, and that in August it fell on one day in the year 1890.

From the numbers in the last column of Table III (see p. 39), showing the average number of days of rain, it appears that January has the greatest number, 12, and the next in order are February and December, each 10, then in order March, 8, November, 6, April, 5, and May and October 2 each.

The sum at the foot of each column shows the number of days of rain in that year; the numbers vary from 36 in the year 1864 to 73 in the year 1890. By taking the means of the first half, viz., from 1861 to 1876, the average value is 52, and of the second half, viz., from 1877 to 1892, the average value is 58. The mean number of days for the whole period is 55.

November, 1893.

numbers in column 1 of this table show the highest reading of the barometer in each month; of these the highest appear in the winter, and the lowest in the summer months; the maximum for the year is 27·668 inches in January. In column 2 the lowest in each month are shown; the minimum is 26·997 inches in April. The range of readings in the year was 0·671 inch. The numbers in the 3rd column show the extreme range of readings in each month; the smallest, 0·144 inch, is in August, and the largest, 0·531 inch, in January. The numbers in the 4th column show the mean monthly pressure of the atmosphere; the highest, 27·486 inches, is in December, and the lowest, 27·285 inches, in July. The mean pressure for the year was 27·380 inches; at Sarona the mean pressure for the year was 29·859 inches.

The highest temperature of the air in each month is shown in column 5. The highest in the year was 105° on both the 6th and 9th of August; at Sarona the maximum temperature on these days was 88° and 89° respectively. The first day in the year the temperature reached 90° was on May 29th, and the temperature reached or exceeded 90° on two other days in this month. In June there were 8 days when the temperature reached or exceeded 90°; in July, on 7 days; in August, on 10 days; in September, on 1 day; and in October, on 4 days. Therefore the temperature reached or exceeded 90° on 33 days in the year. At Sarona the temperature reached 90° as early as April 13th, and reached or exceeded 90° on only 14 days in the year; the highest in the year at Sarona,