Page:Domestic Life in Palestine.pdf/105

98 The little town of Haifa was in sight—flags above all the Consulates were waving a welcome to Mr. Finn and my brother. I was quite surprised to recognize so many; they were French, Austrian, Prussian, Greek, Dutch, and American, and made the place look quite cheerful. We rode through a beautiful olive grove in the plain at the foot of the hill, crossed several stubble-fields, some rocky waste land and young plantations, and found the tents of Mr. Finn under a large terebinth-tree, near to the sea-shore, not very far from the west wall of the town. Visitors were coming and going all day, and coffee and pipes were in constant requisition.

The view from the open tent, looking toward the north, was very lovely. I will try to make you see it as I saw it on that sunny afternoon. Fancy a foreground of white rocks and dark thorny bushes; then a stony bridle-path, skirting a garden which gently slopes toward the shore, so that the broad sands are quite concealed by its fruit trees, and the blue sparkling sea looks as if it came close up to the hedge of prickly pears below. On the left-hand side of the picture the sea meets the sky; but from the right a range of undulating hills, tinted with crimson, purple, and orange, extend more than half-way across it, terminating in a bold white cliff or headland, called Ras el Abiod—the "Promontorium Album" of Pliny—standing out in strong contrast to the dark-blue sky and  darker sea. The opposite shore of the bay, nine miles distant, is marked by a level line of white sand, which seems to separate the sea from the green plains at the foot of the hills; and on a low promontory to the right of Ras el Abiod the proud-looking little city of ’Akka is conspicuous, and forms the central point of the picture. Above the clearly-defined summits of the hills silvery clouds are resting. Mount Hermon rises in the distance, pale and shadowy, till the sun is low, and then it is tinged with gold and violet. Four ships are at anchor on the right, and a vessel in full sail is entering the bay from the north.

A man-of-war is