"We have seen several olive-presses, and they are very simple. There is a stone pan about six feet across and twelve inches deep, with a hole at one side for the escape of the oil. A roller of stone, with a hole through the centre for a long handle, is placed in the pan, and the apparatus is complete. [Illustration: WOMEN WORKING AN OLIVE-PRESS.] "The olives are thrown into the pan, and then two men (or women) grasp the opposite ends of the handle and walk around in a circle; the weight of the roller crushes the olives, and after a while the oil flows slowly from the hole in the side of the pan. When the olives are crushed to a pulp, and no more oil will flow, the mass is mixed with water and placed in bags of coarse cloth. The remaining oil is forced out by treading with the feet, or by crushing in a press with heavy weights. The process of extracting oil from the olive was well known to the ancient inhabitants of the country, and is often mentioned in the Bible. [Illustration: ANCIENT LAMPS (MATT. XXV. 1).] [Illustration: MODERN LAMPS.] "A great deal of olive-oil is sent from Palestine to other countries. It is an important article of food for the inhabitants, and takes the place of butter, and also of animal fat for cooking purposes. It is used for giving light, and is burnt in flat lamps of terra-cotta or other ware; some of the lamps are covered while others are open, and in either case there is a lip or projection at one side for the wick. In ancient times the wealthy inhabitants had lamps of silver and gold; and they are mentioned among the adornments of Solomon's Temple as having been made of the latter material. We have seen great numbers of these Eastern lamps, of terra-cotta, tin, and occasionally of brass. The lamps carried by the Ten Virgins--'five of them were wise, and five were foolish'--were undoubtedly of the exact form as those of to-day. "So much for one of the industries of Nabulus, and of the land of the Bible generally. "We went to the great mosque, which was once a Christian church, built by the Crusaders, and afterward belonging to the Knights of St. John. In another part of the town is the _Jama-el-Kadra_, a mosque which is asserted to stand on the spot where the brethren of Joseph brought his coat to Jacob. It was formerly a church, like the great mosque, and the guide pointed out some of the crosses of the Crusaders that the Moslems had not been able to obliterate altogether. Then we went to the quarter of the Samaritans, which was the most curious of all the sights of Nabulus. "The origin of the Samaritans is described in 2 Kings xvii. 24-41, and the present sect at Nabulus is supposed to be descended from them. Two hundred years ago there were small bodies of them in Cairo, Damascus, and one or two other places, but the only one now in existence is that which we are describing. [Illustration: SAMARITANS BEARING TRIBUTE--AN ASSYRIAN SCULPTURE (2 KINGS XVII. 3).]