The only antiquity to detain the traveler a single hour is the traditional house of Simon. Like all Eastern dwellings, it is constructed of stone, square in form, with a flat roof, and may have stood for centuries, as, without violence, it will endure for hundreds of years to come. Standing near the seaside, both the location and structure of the building are in harmony with the inspired narrative, and a venerable tradition points to it as once the residence of a tanner. The entrance is through a low gallery, before which the servants of Cornelius stood inquiring for Peter. Within is a small court-yard, containing a well of excellent water, and from the court a stone staircase leads to the roof, from which I enjoyed a commanding view of the sea, over whose blue waters had glanced the apostolic eye as Peter sat beneath those clear expanded heavens from which descended the symbolic sheet, opening to his Jewish understanding the purposes of the divine mind. Plucking a leaf from the solitary tree adorning the court, I entered the interior, which is now occupied by the Moslems as a place of prayer, and by whom it is revered no less for its antiquity than for its traditional sacredness. Excepting its gardens, Joppa is neither clean nor beautiful. The streets are narrow and irregular, and the best buildings have no claim to architectural elegance. Inclosed by a stone wall, the city has a single gate, opening toward the east. Near it, and around a pretty Saracenic fountain, are the famous fruit-bazars of Jaffa, where are sold the finest oranges and lemons in the world. Here also is the seat of justice, where the cadi[414] tries all civil and criminal suits, sitting, as in Bible times,[415] in the gate of the city. As of old, Joppa is a sea-port town of considerable trade, and, if possessed of a good harbor, would be the most flourishing maritime city of Palestine. The products of its immense fruit-orchards, together with the silk and soap here manufactured, are exported in large quantities to the cities on the Mediterranean coast. Illustration: JAFFA FROM THE NORTH. Possessing a population of 5000 souls, a fifth of whom are Christians, 200 Jews, and the rest Moslems, the basis of social and political distinction is religion rather than nationality. The Mohammedans have several mosques, the Jews a synagogue, the Latins, Greeks, and Armenians have each a convent, for the entertainment of pilgrims _en route_ for the Holy City. Under the direction of Dr. Barclay, who combines the two professions of physician and missionary, a society has here been formed called the “Abrahamic Coalition,” the object of which is the gathering together in one large community all the indigent Jews in the East, and locate them on the Plain of Sharon, securing to each a small piece of land, and otherwise aiding the colonists in practical agriculture.