Page:Domestic Life in Palestine.pdf/219

212 disturbed and disconcerted him by screaming lustily. He strongly objected to the taste of the salt, and to the application of the water to his head, and of the oil to his chest. It was a relief to every one present, especially to the priest, when the ceremony was over, and the "newly-made little Christian"—as they all called him —was comforted in the arms of his nurse. We returned to the French Consulate. There was a large gathering in the marble-paved salon, where the happy mother received the congratulations of her neighbors, for Judas was her only son. It was quite a fête-day in Hâifa, especially among the Latins. Oranges boiled in sugar and spice, lemons cut up and preserved in honey, all sorts of Oriental confectionery made of sweetened starch and gums, and French bonbons and liqueurs, were distributed.

I took leave of the assembled guests, and strolled with my brother out at the West Gate. The declining sun was brightening the green slopes, the trees, and white rocks of the Carmel range. A small pink flower had sprung up plentifully in the stony places of the plain. Each blossom was in the form of a foliated Greek cross, and the small green leaves were heart-shaped. We sat on the mossy trunk and in the lengthening shade of a large locust-tree, discussing the events of the day, enjoying the scene and the silence; for we had wandered quite out of sight of the town. We were in the midst of a grove of fig, locust, and olive-trees. The ground was carpeted with wild flowers; the hills, fragrant with aromatic herbs, rose behind us and the broad sea, red with the rays of the setting sun, was before us.

Our tête-à-tête was interrupted by the approach of our kawass, who came to announce the arrival of a special messenger from Jerusalem. The messenger himself soon appeared. He was a tall, powerful-looking African, very black and bony, clad simply in a coarse, unbleached cotton shirt, girdled with a leather strap. A large white turban protected his head and shaded his face. His wide, pliant