On the road we stopped at the little cupola building which is usually supposed to be the tomb of Saladin, but is really only a little betort raised to his honour by Sultan Selim. The real tomb is twelve hours south of Damascus, near a place called Gibba, according to a Sheikh, whom we met here. From Bal Allah, the “Gate of God,” through which the pilgrims to Jerusalem and Mekka go, we rode round the town, to the left, through the pleasant orchards of olives, poplars, mulberry, and giant-sized apricot trees; the latter produce the most delicious apricots, which are dried, and under the name of Mishmish are sent all over the world. We then came to the burying ground of the Jews, where they were just letting down a body into the grave, and according to their custom here were calling out the praises of the dead. Not far from there lies the Christian burial-ground, in the neighbourhood of which the place is pointed out where Saul was thrown to the earth by the heavenly vision. From thence our way lay over a little bridge to the town wall, in which they showed us, near a gate which is now bricked up, the window through which Paul was let down. We continued along the wall till we came to a beautiful Roman gate, with three entrances, the _Porta Orientalis_, through which we came to the house of Ananias, and the cave in the rock, which is now turned into a chapel. Then we rode through fruit and olive gardens to a neighbouring village Gôba, where Elisha crowned Hazael king of Syria, and Elijah was fed by ravens in the cave. We visited also the tomb of the great Arabian mystic, the renowned Sheikhs Mohieddin el Arabi, on our road from Damascus, in Salhîeh, which is situated near, and we thought also of his master the Sheiks Shedeli, who discovered how to make a drink of coffee, and used to keep his pupils awake with it. In Palestine we wandered about the tombs of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel; of Joseph, David, Solomon, and the Prophets; of Christ, his parents and his disciples. Here we came to the tombs of Noah and Abel, and soon also to Seth’s; we trode the fields of the paradise of the first human pair. What a singular feeling it is to travel in a country where legends can be occupied on such subjects!