of Him who said: “Pray not upon the street corners, to be seen of men; but pray secretly, and your Father who seeth in secret, will reward you openly.” The valley was charming, even when viewed from the hilltop; but the laughing water, the green foliage and the golden fruit have grown more and more beautiful as we have approached nearer to them. “Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus,” are each divided into eight artificial channels, so there are sixteen small rivers flowing through the city, bringing fresh and sparkling water into almost every yard. The luxuriant vegetation of this well-watered valley is never scorched by summer’s fierce heat, nor chilled by winter’s frosty breath. It is a perpetual growth. Flowers and fruits are always on the trees, fragrance and music always in the air. Damascus is the capital of Syria. It has one hundred and eighty thousand inhabitants, and a large manufacturing interest. As a commercial and distributing centre, it has no equal in the Orient. Great camel caravans are constantly arriving from, and departing for, Palmyra and Bagdad, and all the other more important cities of Persia and central Arabia. Being an inland city, hence unaffected by European thought and civilization, Damascus is exclusively Eastern; and is, therefore, the best place on earth to get correct conceptions of Oriental life and ideas. Coming into the midst of the city, we find the houses are quaint and characteristically Eastern. From their appearance, one would suppose that they were built 1,500 or 2,000 years ago. Most of them are one story high, and are built of stone, and large sun-dried brick made half and half of straw and white clay. Sometimes a dozen or twenty houses are covered by the same roof. On going into some of these miserable-looking huts, we are reminded that “often in wooden houses golden rooms we find.” Some of these wealthy Damascene merchants live in style—not in American or European style, but in style after the Eastern idea. Their houses, though small, and rough of exterior are richly furnished. Frequently they are lined with marble. The walls and ceilings are beautifully frescoed, while the floor is laid with rich Persian carpets. And yet in these houses we find no chairs, tables or bedsteads. The merchants, though dressed in silks, sit flat on the carpet or on small mats. Their beds consist, usually, of pallets made of soft and beautiful Persian rugs. “A strange way for wealthy people to live,” you say. Well, yes, it is decidedly strange to you; but you must remember that your way of living would be just as strange to these Damascene folk.