curiously ornamented, while attached to the top of it by brass chain was an iron spoon. This is the coffee-roaster. Opposite stood the mortar, of black wood, carved with quaint devices and figures, and beside it was the pestle, about two feet long, also finely carved. I had never before seen such a complete coffee-service, and I consequently sketched them roughly in my note-book.

I presented our letter of introduction, and the sheikh, after reading it and seeing coffee properly served, left the room. In about half an hour he returned, and invited us to another apartment in the harîm, which had been prepared specially for ourselves. Here we found comforts such as we had not anticipated. The floor and divans of the spacious apartment were covered with rich Persian carpets, and cushions of embroidered velvet were arranged against the wall, while three immense mankals of blazing charcoal diffused an agreeable heat through the chamber.

Our kind host, in introducing us to our new quarters, made many apologies for the poor accommodations he offered us; his best furniture, he said, had all been removed to the city during the time of the war, and he had not yet brought it back.

Sheikh Ass'ad 'Amer is a member of the noblest family in the Haurân, and he is, besides, one of the handsomest men I have seen in Syria. His countenance is mild, and the expression of his features very pleasing. A soft voice, and gentle but easy and dignified manners, sufficiently indicated the character we had heard of him-that of a man humane, hospitable, and courteous to all. His appearance had little of the fierce daring that is almost universally pictured in the countenances of his race, but the compressed lip and calm steady eye show that he does not lack the courage and firmness which appear to be inherent in the Druze people. We were afterwards informed that he had taken no part in the late war, and that he had sent all the Christians of Hît and Hiyât to Damascus, to escape the ravages of the soldiers and Arabs. Indeed, one would suppose that the history of his family might afford too fearful proofs of the horrors of war for him again lightly to engage in it. Three of his brothers and four of his nephews were slain in battle, and of these four fell by his side in one day!

Our reception in his house and his attention to us during our short stay were in every way calculated to establish the high name he has obtained for generous and profuse hospitality. Had it not been for his deserved popularity in this respect, combined with the mildness of his rule and his kindness to all under him, he could not

have dared to remain neutral during the war.

Next to

bravery in battle, to be reckoned hospitable is the proudest distinction an Arab chief can obtain. A plentiful repast of honey, dibs, butter, and various kinds of sweetmeats, was served up soon after our entrance, and at sunset a feast was prepared for us which far surpassed anything of the kind I had before seen. A whole sheep, roasted and stuffed with rice, graced the centre; beside it was a huge dish of pillau, some three feet in diameter. Round these were ranged nearly twenty other dishes of various kinds of dainties, including fowls, soups, kibbeh, burghul, and a host of others. Round these again were ranged the thin cakes of bread in little piles, on the top of each of which was placed a wooden spoon, the only instrument used in this primitive land in taking food, and even this is a recent importation. All the dishes were of copper, tinned, and they were placed on a large circular mat in the middle of the floor. The guests squatted round the dainties, each one stretching forward hand or spoon, and helping himself to whatever he preferred. We were first invited to dine, and, having finished, the other guests, with the servants, advanced. Then a portion was set aside on a separate mat for the sheikh; and the members of his household, retainers, and such of the villagers as were present, afterwards fell upon the remainder. Before this third relay the pyramid of rice soon disappeared; the bones of sheep and fowls were stripped of every vestige of flesh; and the soup, burghul, and pillau were thrown into one huge dish and speedily devoured.

But enough of a Druze feast. Even so much I would not have inflicted on my reader, but that it serves to show

the primitive state of society in this country, and that, in this ancient kingdom of Bashan, the lapse of three thousand years has effected but little change in manners and customs. The hospitality of former days still remains— strangers could not then pass the house or tent of the patriarch without being constrained to go in and take food; and so it is even now. The wonderful expedition in the preparation of food, when the lamb, or kid, or fatted calf was brought and killed, and the bread was kneaded and baked, and the dainties thus hastily prepared were set before the stranger-all this is illustrated here, at the present time, and in the ordinary incidents of every-day life. It seemed to me, as I wandered among these hills of Bashan, as if time had retrograded many long centuries. The strange stories I used to read in boyhood beside a mother's knee, in that ponderous old Bible, were now realized. These surely are the tents of Abraham; or these are the dwellings of Israel. These are the very salutations with which the patriarchs were wont to address strangers; and these the prayers for their safety and welfare when they took their departure. At whatever house we lodged a sheep or a lamb was killed for us, and fresh bread baked. It was sometimes near sunset when we reached the house; but in due time the dainties appeared. To whatever village we went among the Druzes, pressing invitations were given us to stay and eat. Once and again has one seized my horse's bridle, and said, "Will not my lord descend while his servants prepare a little food?" In one village our intercession saved a lamb which we saw hurried away to slaughter just as we entered the street, before even a word had been spoken. The chief had seen us approach

ing, and "he made haste to kill a lamb;" fortunately we were in time to save it, by assuring its hospitable master that we could not remain. At another village where we took refuge from a passing shower, we observed the flour taken and the water poured upon it, to prepare unleavened cakes; and it was with much difficulty we could prevent the work from being prosecuted.

These things may seem trifling; but they are trifles which strikingly illustrate Bible stories. It is by such incidents that Bible scenes are indelibly impressed on our memories, and the truthfulness of the narratives in God's Word irresistibly forced on our minds. Could stronger evidence be given of the truth and faithfulness of a narrative some three thousand years old, than the witnessing of every little circumstance attending it realized in the ordinary customs of the people now residing on the spot where it was first enacted? Bible story assumes a living character when studied in this land. The localities, the costumes, the manners and customs, are unchanged. The language too, though different, is nearly allied to the Hebrew; and the modes of expression and set forms of salutation are almost identical.