May 28th.

At five o’clock in the morning Mr. Bartlett’s servant came to fetch me away, as we were at once to continue our journey.  I betook myself to the house of the English Consul, where I found neither a horse nor any thing else prepared for our departure.  It is necessary to look calmly upon these irregularities here in the East, where it is esteemed a fortunate occurrence if the horses and mukers (as the drivers of horses and donkeys are called) are only a few hours behind their time.  Thus our horses made their appearance at half-past five instead of at four, the hour for which they had been ordered.  Our baggage was soon securely fixed, for we left the greater portion of our effects at Joppa, and took with us only what was indispensably necessary.

As the clock struck six we rode out of the gate of Joppa, and immediately afterwards reached a large well with a marble basin.  Near places of this description a great number of people are always congregated, and more women and girls are seen than appear elsewhere.

The dress of females belonging to the lower orders consists of a long blue garment fastened round the throat, and reaching below the ankle.  They completely cover the head and face, frequently without even leaving openings for the eyes.  Some females, on the other hand, go abroad with their faces totally uncovered.  These are, however, exceptional cases.

The women carry their water-pitchers on their head or shoulder, as their ancestors have done for thousands of years, in the manner we find represented in the oldest pictures.  But unfortunately I could discover neither the grace in their gait, the dignity in their movements, nor the physical beauty in their appearance, that I had been led to expect.  On the contrary, I found squalor and poverty more prevalent than I had thought possible.  We rode on amid the gardens, every moment meeting a little caravan of camels.  Immediately beyond the gardens we descry the fruitful valley of Sharon, extending more than eight miles in length, and to a still greater distance in breadth.  Here and there we find villages built on hills, and the whole presents the appearance of an extremely fertile and well-populated region.  In all directions we saw large herds of sheep and goats; the latter generally of a black or brown colour, with long pendent ears.

The foreground of the picture is formed by the Judaean mountains, a range apparently composed of a number of barren rocks.

A ride of two hours through this plain, which is less sandy than the immediate neighbourhood of Joppa, brought us to a mosque, where we made halt for a quarter of an hour and ate our breakfast, consisting of some hard-boiled eggs, a piece of bread, and a draught of lukewarm water from the cistern.  Our poor beasts fared even worse than ourselves—­they received nothing but water.