Peter and John, after having confirmed the Church of Sebaste, set out again for Jerusalem, on their return evangelizing the villages of the country of the Samaritans.[9.12] Philip the Deacon continued his evangelizing travels, bending his steps towards the south, towards the ancient country of the Philistines.[9.13] This country, since the advent of the Maccabees, had received a strong infusion of the Jewish element;[9.14] although Judaism was still by no means dominant there. During this journey Philip accomplished a conversion which made some noise, and which was much talked about on account of a particular circumstance. One day as he was going along the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, quite a deserted road,[9.15] he met a rich traveller, evidently a foreigner, for he was riding in a chariot, a mode of locomotion which was at all times almost unknown to the inhabitants of Syria and Palestine. He was returning from Jerusalem, and gravely seated, he was reading the Bible aloud, according to a custom then quite common.[9.16] Philip, who thought that in everything his actions were guided by an inspiration from on high, felt himself drawn towards his chariot. He placed himself alongside of it, and quietly entered into conversation with the opulent personage, offering to explain to him the passages which he did not understand. This was a fine occasion for the evangelist to develop the Christian thesis upon the figures of the Old Testament. He proved that in the prophetic books everything related to Jesus; that Jesus was the solution of the great enigma; that it was of Him in particular that the All-Seeing had spoken in this fine passage: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; as a lamb that is dumb before its shearers, he opened not his mouth."[9.17] The traveller believed him, and at the first water that they met, "Behold, here is water," said he, "why could I not be baptized?" The chariot was stopped; Philip and the traveller descended into the water, and the latter was baptized.