Page:On the Desert - Recent Events in Egypt.djvu/120

 welcome. It was the Econome, who receives pilgrims and guests. We find that the Convent has a sort of double head, spiritual and temporal (like the Tycoon and the Mikado of Japan) — a Prior, who is the spiritual head, and an Econome (Ækonomos), who is the business manager. It was with the latter we had most to do. The other kept himself hid in the recesses of the Convent, with his mind fixed on heavenly things, in the dim religious light appropriate to one of his sacred character; while the Econome was by no means

 . . . Too wise or good For human nature's daily food,"

but a jolly monk, who could talk and laugh with the most worldly visitor. As he led our way into the interior, we were azain reminded that we were entering a fortress. The walls are seven feet thick, quite sufficient to resist any attack but that of modern artillery. The postern is just high enough for a man's head, and the passage so narrow that it admits but one person at a time. The door which shuts this entrance is like the door of a prison, of massive oak, barred and spiked with iron. Entering here a few feet, and turning sidewise, we were led along one passage after another into an open court, then down-stairs and up-stairs, by a path so winding that it was several days before I could find my way, into the large room of the Convent, where strangers are received. Here several of the brethren soon appeared with pleasant salutations, and notably the Archimandrite of Jerusalem, who has been some months at the Convent, and who, to my great joy, addressed me in French, so that I was immediately in communication with him. The others I had to turn over entirely to Dr. Post, as they spoke little but Arabic. He is a large man, of fine presence and open countenance, who has seen a good deal of the world, having lived five years