HAIFA
OR
LIFE IN MODERN PALESTINE

PREFACE.

The expectations which have been excited in theminds of men by the prophecies contained inScripture, and the hopes which have been rousedby them, have ever invested Palestine with anexceptional interest to Biblical students; while itssacred conditions, historical associations, and existingremains prove an attraction to crowds ofpilgrims and tourists, who annually flock to theHoly Land. As, however, the impressions of aresident and those of a visitor are apt to differwidely in regard to the conditions which actuallyexist there, and the former has opportunities ofresearches denied to the latter, I have ventured tothink that a series of letters originally addressed tothe New York ‘Sun,’ and extending over a periodof three years passed in the country, might not bewithout interest to the general reader. Many ofthese will be found to deal chiefly with archæologicalsubjects, which must, indeed, form the mainsubject of attraction to any one living in thecountry, and conversant with its history.

A flood of light has been thrown of recent yearsupon its topography, its ancient sites, and the extensiveruins which still exist to testify to its onceteeming population, by the prolonged and valuableresearches of the “Palestine Exploration Fund” ofLondon.

As, however, these are embodied in volumes soexpensive that they are beyond the reach of thegeneral public, and are too technical in their characterto suit the taste of the ordinary reader, I havein many instances endeavoured to popularise them,availing myself extensively of the information containedin them and in Captain Conder's excellent‘Tent Work in Palestine,’ and quoting freely suchpassages as tended to the elucidation of the subjectunder consideration, more especially with regardto recent discovery at Jerusalem; but which, asI was grubbing about, I have not been able todefine as exactly as I should have liked to do hadall the publications been beside me at the moment.

The experience and investigation of the last threeyears, however, have only served to convince me thatthe field of research is far from being exhausted,and that, should the day ever come when excavationon a large scale is possible, the Holy Land will yieldtreasures of infinite interest and value, alike to thearchæologist and the historian.

Haifa, 1886.

CONTENTS.