took place so gradually, that, before they seemed to realise it, most of the party and all our belongings were far off across the plain, and I was left amongst them by myself.

But they did not trouble about this, so long as they held me, the leader of the party, as a hostage, and this they showed themselves determined to do. Many hands were laid on my horse's bridle, and their truculence, now they had me alone, knew no bounds. But my steed was a thoroughbred young Arab stallion, who afterwards carried me from Jaffa to Jerusalem, in days when the road, some forty miles long, through three mountain passes, was no better than a goattrack, in three hours and fifty minutes, at a hand gallop, with but few stops the whole way; and I had learnt to vault into the saddle upright at one spring

-an important accomplishment in Palestine. So, carefully putting on a pair of spurs, I went forward as if to pay the men collected round my horse, and then suddenly, before they had the least suspicion of what I was about to do, I bounded into the saddle, taking care to touch my Arab lightly on each flank with my spurs as I did so, and seized the reins. As I had calculated, nothing could withstand the noble rage of my young stallion, when, first stung by my spurs, he next realised that strange men with curses and oaths were trying to stop him. In a few moments he had with great violence scattered the crowd, broken from all the hands that held him, and darted off at his fleetest gallop after our party, now

far away on the plain. As he leaped forward, it was with intense satisfaction that I threw to the "keepers one of the smallest coins I could find, telling them it was quite enough for thieves.

It is really very difficult to get at once faithful, fearless, strong, and vigilant "keepers." Many, like these men at Jenin, will themselves conspire to rob, or to permit others to rob, the very tents they are paid to guard. Again, even when they are honest, as what happened to us at the Sanatorium will show, they need great courage and strength, and have to run great risks, in dealing with the dangerous armed burglars of a land like Palestine. Besides, as my readers will now well understand, they have to overcome their own superstitious fears of evil spirits, which give them an overwhelming dread of darkness. And last, but not least, where they are honest, valiant, powerful, and strong-minded, they still find it very difficult to keep awake all night, especially as they are often told off for this work after they have been labouring all day in the fields.

Well has the Psalmist alluded to the weariness of those who keep a faithful watch, and how they long for day during the tedious lonely hours of darkness:—

My soul [waits] for the Lord

More than keepers for the morning,

[More than] keepers for the morning."1

1 Ps. cxxx. 6. The word used here in the Hebrew for "keeper” is shoamair, from shamar, "to keep watch," "to guard." This is the term usually employed in Scripture to denote the office I have described.

Eastern employers require their "keepers" to call out loudly at intervals, so that they may be assured that they have not fallen asleep, and in order to let robbers know that a watch is being kept and frighten them away. We Europeans require them to blow a whistle every now and then for the same purpose. Yet, in spite of all precautions, the careless or wearied "keeper," as soon as the camp is quiet, is constantly falling asleep. Of all the "keepers" I have employed, I have known none who could be trusted to remain awake the whole of the night.

How cheering and beautiful in the light of these facts is the figure of God's watchful care over His people on their journey through life given us in that traveller's psalm, the 121 st, one of the fourteen "psalms of ascendings," or "goings up," sung to cheer the Hebrews on their three annual pilgrimages up to Jerusalem from all parts of the country, to keep the feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles :—

"He who keeps thee will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel

1 Ps. cxxi. 3-5.

See also the plain references to this office in Ps. cxvi. 6 and cxlvi. 9, where, in each instance, the word "preserveth" is "keeps," "acts as keeper (shoamair) to."

THE EGYPTIAN RAM-HEADED GOD AMON, HOLDING IN HIS RIGHT HAND

THE CUCUPHAS SCEPTRE.

CHAPTER V.

PICTURES OF PALESTINE "HIGH PLACES" AND "HOLY PERSONS.”

I HAVE spoken repeatedly of the gross superstition in which the Fellahheen of Palestine are sunk, but there is one form of this which calls for very special notice. The traveller through Palestine is soon struck by the solitary and very conspicuous white-washed stone building, about ten feet square and eight feet high,

surmounted by a small dome, which he sees from time to time crowning the height of some distant hill. But the resident in the Holy Land, who is constantly treading its by-ways, soon finds other features connected with these monuments, or monumental tombs, for such is their true character. In a word, we have here, without doubt, the "places," or, as they are sometimes called, the “high places,” of the Canaanite nations, afterwards too often adopted and used by Israel, who at their entrance into the land were specially charged to destroy them.1 The modern Arabic name of these tomb-sanctuaries is Mukam, unquestionably their Hebrew name Makoam. In the work of the survey of Western Palestine no fewer than three hundred of these Mukams were found and marked on the map. Major C. R. Conder, whose three years spent amongst the Fellahheen gave him exceptional opportunities for ascertaining the fact, asserts that "it is in worship at these shrines that the religion of the peasantry (Fellahheen) consists. Moslem by profession, they often spend their lives without entering a mosque, and attach more importance to the favour and protection of the village Mukam than to Allah himself, or to Mohammed, his prophet." Nor will this surprise those who have long come to the conclusion that these same Palestine Fellahheen are descendants and representatives of the heathen Canaanitish nations who originally held the land of Israel.

1 Deut. xii. 2, 3.

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