A ride of less than half an hour brought them to the walls of Nabulus; the white tents ready to receive them on the camping-ground outside the town were a welcome sight. [Illustration: THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA.] CHAPTER XXVIII. FROM NABULUS TO NAZARETH, SAMARIA, JENIN, AND THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. "Nabulus or Nablous, the ancient Shechem," wrote Frank in his journal, "is nearly as large as Jerusalem, though not so well situated. It has about thirteen thousand inhabitants, if the guide-book is to be trusted, and almost all of them are Moslems. There are one hundred and fifty Samaritans here, and five or six hundred Christians belonging mostly to the Greek Church, and there are a few Jews and other people not included in the above list. The town appears more prosperous and active than Jerusalem, and it is evident that the people are more industrious, and rely less on what they can make out of strangers. [Illustration: VIEW OF NABULUS.] "We have walked through the town and looked at the bazaars, which are much like those of Jerusalem and Jaffa. The streets are so badly paved and full of dirt that we could easily believe we were again in the neighborhood of the Tower of David and Mount Moriah. The guide told us that the town had considerable trade with the country east of the Jordan, and a good deal of wool and cotton found its way from here to the seaboard, whence it was shipped to England and France. The country in the vicinity produces large quantities of olives, and there are more than twenty factories engaged in making soap from olive-oil. We passed one of these soap factories, and found the smells that arose from it were anything but agreeable. "Seeing the olive-trees and the soap factories has made us desirous of knowing something about the manner of extracting the oil. Here is what we have learned on the subject: "The custom of the country is not to allow any picking of the fruit of the tree until a day has been appointed by the authorities. If any olives fall to the ground before this date, they are gathered and preserved in brine or oil for eating, as they are the fattest olives from the trees, and fully ripe when they fall. "On the day appointed for the gathering of the olives a public crier goes out and announces it. Then the people go to the orchards and gather the olives by beating or shaking the trees, very much as they gather the lower grades of apples in the New England States. The best olives are picked out for eating, and only the poorer ones are pressed for oil. "Ten or twelve gallons of oil are often made from the product of a single tree, and an acre of good olive-trees will give a crop worth a hundred dollars. A good crop is only gathered every other year, and the olive seems to have its 'off season,' like the American apple and peach. [Illustration: AN ANCIENT OLIVE-PRESS.]