night. After eleven hours ride, we pitched our tent at Aboo Jilbana. After the heat of yesterday, and our ride last night, we all find ourselves unwell.

"16. Resumed our journey at five in the morning. Soon came upon a harder road than we had found for several days. It was at no great distance from the sea. The salt water had overflowed it, and had been evaporated by the sun, leaving a considerable thickness of salt on the ground. At two, we came upon the shore of the Mediterranean, where the waves were rolling, and foaming, and breaking, in a most beautiful and majestic manner. Turning from the sea-shore, and passing over a mountain of sand, we came in a little while to El Arish, a village situated in the desert. At Messaoudia, a watering place on the sea-shore, the caravan separated, and one part took a different rout for Gaza. After riding ten hours and a half, we pitched our tent on the plain near the village. Our shekh belongs to this place. When he and his attendants met with their friends, we had an opportunity to observe a singular mode of salutation. They took each other by the hand, put their foreheads together, and smacked their lips, but without bringing their faces in contact. They repeated this joining of foreheads and distant kissing four or five times, saying, 'Peace;' 'Well?' 'Thank God;' 'How are you? Thank God;' Peace.' 'God give you peace.' 'God bless you.'

"In conversation with the Greek, who is from Tocat, he told us that there are in that place 100 or 150 Greek houses, a bishop, six priests, and two churches. One priest is from Greece, and knows Greek; the rest understand only Turkish, though they perform their service in Greek, repeating the words, parrotlike, without understanding them.

TO REV. DR. WOODS OF ANDOVER.

"April 17. I sit down to address you in my tent near a little village, El Arish, of perhaps 200 inhabitants, after travelling eight days over hills and plains of sand, without a human dwelling. We are still in the desert, and have to travel one day more before reaching the cultivated country. I can form a better idea now, then I ever could before, of the strength of those temptations which led the Israelites to murmur in the desert. Alas! I fear many, who call themselves Christians, murmur in circumstances a thousand fold less trying than theirs. Our heavenly Preserver has kept us, and we now look forward with inexpressible interest to the moment, when we shall enter the HOLY CITY."

"18. Crossed some cultivated fields, and through the day found the country exhibiting more of verdure, than we had seen before since entering the desert. About noon there was a shower of rain, soon after which we crossed the valley of Zaaka, and found a monument erected at the grave ofa Mussulman shekh.

"After riding nine hours and a half, we pitched our tent at Bur el Khoor, a large plain covered with grass and shrubs, on which several large flocks of sheep and goats were feeding, under the direction of Arab shepherds and shepherdesses. We walked up to the top of a sand hill near our tent, where we had a delightful view of the plain. After being so long in the wilderness, this view was indeed cheering. We have now just left the dominions of Mohammed Ali Pasha, and entered modern Syria. Whether we are yet within the limits of ancient Palestine, or not, we do not know. The valley of Zaaka is no doubt a torrent in the rainy season. Possibly this is the river of Egypt. See Gen. xv, 18, and Josh. xv, 4. If so, we are already in the promised land. While in the desert, we have found comfort in singing,

'Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land."

"From the top of the hill, near our tent, we lifted up our eyes and looked 'northward and southward, and eastward and westward,' and thought of the dangers we had escaped, and the prospect before us. How trying it must have been to Moses, after wandering forty years in the wilderness, to be told that he must not enter the good land which his eyes beheld. In the evening read the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th chapters of Deuteronomy, which were extremely interesting to us at this time. We are now entering the land of Canaan.

"19. In the morning we found that some bold Bedouin had made his way into our encampment, and carried off a saddle. Mustapha went out, and finding a Bedouin, charged him with stealing it, and began to chastise him. He gave a signal, and a number of armed Bedouins made their appearance at a distance. The surrounding country was full of them; and, as all would be likely to unite together in case of a disturbance, it was thought prudent to leave them in quiet possession of the saddle, and to proceed as soon as possible. At six, the caravan moved off the ground. As we proceeded, we found a gradual increase of vegetation, and cultivated fields became more frequent. At half past ten, we passed a well of water and some ruins. Two pillars of grey granite were standing. This place is called Rofa. This is probably the ancient Rophia, which was the first town in Syria, Rhinocalura (probably El Arish) being the last in Egypt. At half past eleven, after crossing a mountain which is called on one of our maps a continuation Mount Seir, we came to the village Khan Yoanos (the Inn of Jonas,) the first village we have seen in Syria. It is surrounded by gardens, and is inhabited by Mussulmans, who have a tradition that the Prophet Jonas once was here. East of it on a hill is another Mussulman village.

"From Khan Yoanas we travelled several hours over a wild and beautiful plain, filled with herds of camels, sheep and goats, which were generally tended by Bedouin women. This is the ancient land of the Philistines. Here we were continually harassed by the Bedouins, who seem to spring up like hydras in every corner. First came ten or twelve armed with swords and matchlocks. Their dress was mere

ly a turban on the head and a piece of cloth tied round the waist. They met our guide and camel drivers, took each other's hands, kissed, and had all the appearance of friends. It was, however, soon found that they wanted money. Our guide told them they must exact nothing from us, because we were Englishmen; for we travel with English passports, and though we tell our attendants that we are Americans, yet they know no difference between us and Englishmen, having never before seen Americans, or heard of America. The name of Englishman is so much respected even among Bedouins, that we were not molested. For two hours, however, as we moved along, our attendants were engaged in loud and violent disputes with these and other companies of Bedouins, who came up after they went away. They extorted a few dollars from the Armenians and Greeks, and at last took an ass from one of the Arabs. Our shekh knew all these free-booters, and it is probably owing to his acquaintance with them, and his faithfulness to us, that they were so easily satisfied, and that we met with so little trouble from them. He says most of the Bedouins are much worse than these, and yet he called these satans (shaitan.)

"Under a large sycamore tree we saw women and children threshing barley on the ground with long sticks. Near by was a shepherdess tending a large flock, with her crook in her hand, and the skin of a lamb, having the wool on, thrown over her shoulders for a shawl.

"At half past five, after riding eleven hours and a half, we arrived at Gaza; took two small dirty apartments in a large filthy khan, and put up for the Sabbath, thankful that we were not among deserts of sand, or bands of Arab free-booters, so as to be obliged to travel on the Lord's day. Gaza is the city whose gates Sampson carried away, and where he slew 3000 Philistines at his death. We had no very good opportunity to judge of the population of the place, but probably the estimation, given by geographers, of 5000, is not far from the truth. Mussulmans never take a census, unless it be an enumeration of the houses in order to tax them. The city stands on a little elevation. The houses are all built of stone, but make a very mean appearance. The scenery around is beautiful.

TO MRS. H. S. OF BRAINTREE.

"Gaza, April 20, 1823.

"I address you from the land of the Philistines, from one of the oldest cities in the world. I think it the city mentioned Gen. x. 19. If so it has retained the same name which it now bears almost from the time of the flood. It was one of the principal cities of the Philistines, and was inhabited by the Anakims. It was afterwards taken by Judah, and at a subsequent period became the theatre of one of Samson's extraordinary exploits. It was the subject of several awful denunciations in the Prophets. It is mentioned in an interesting narrative in the New Testament. This is my first Sabbath in the land of Canaan. We have just come from Egypt through the wilderness, by the way which the Israelites were not allowed to take, lest when they saw war, they should turn back into the land of Egypt. We dreaded the journey through the wilderness, but the Lord has preserved us from every danger; and though we have serious fears of robbers between this and Jerusalem, yet we have strong hopes that after a few