As soon as the arrangements had been completed Ali disappeared from the hotel, and was not again seen till evening. He was busy with his preparations for the journey, as it was necessary for him to hire additional horses, and secure a stock of provisions sufficient to carry them through to Damascus with what he could purchase on the route. The pack-train, with the tents and provisions, was sent away in advance. The party had a long ride before it for the next day, and before nine o'clock everybody was in bed. [Illustration: SCENE ON THE OVERLAND ROUTE FROM JERUSALEM.] They were off by daybreak, leaving the city by the Damascus Gate, which we have already seen in their company. They passed near the tombs of the kings, and descended into the Valley of the Brook Kedron, which is here much smaller than where they crossed it at Mar Saba. They met a few natives on their way to the city, with trains of donkeys laden with vegetables and grain for sale in the markets of Jerusalem, and in one place they were crowded against a rough wall by a line of camels that kept the road to themselves in the manner for which those animals are famous. The road, though used for centuries, is impassable for wheeled vehicles, and the beasts of burden that traverse it follow in the footsteps of those who preceded them ages and ages ago. In several places the route was over rocky ridges, where all the earth had been swept or washed away, leaving the ledges entirely bare. Frank observed that the feet of the camels had worn broad holes in the rock; the Doctor recalled to him the proverb hitherto quoted, that a continual dropping will wear away stone, and said the feet of the camels had dropped for hundreds of years in the same places, so that it was no wonder the stones were worn away. From Jerusalem to Nabulus is a ride of eleven hours; it is customary for travellers to pass the night at Bireh or Ramallah, as the majority of tourists are unwilling to make the entire journey in a single day. But our party had tested its ability to endure fatigue, and determined without hesitation to reach Nabulus before night if possible. It was for this reason that an early start was made, and the halts along the road were few and short. [Illustration: BY BABEL'S STREAM.] The farewell view of the Holy City was taken from the side of the Hill of Scopus, which was reached by ascending from the Valley of the Kedron. Its domes and minarets stood out clear and distinct under the deep-blue sky of Palestine, and every member of the party was reluctant to turn away his eyes from the place which is sacred in the thoughts of every Christian, and familiar to his ears since he first heard the stories of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of the Saviour of mankind. Frank called to mind the words of the Israelite by Babel's stream: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth."