The chief business of Palestine is religion. There is a religious instinct which must be reckoned with all the time. Its importance in Eastern life can scarcely be over-estimated. In Syria, there is, first of all, a Semitic core enshrouded by the specific religious faith and ritual of the time. In the peasantry, of whatever faith, this racial element is strikingly constant. Eastern life simply cannot be understood apart from religion. And yet the natives of the country are not, strictly speaking, theological in their way of thinking. They have little conscience as to doctrine. Church-membership is to them what citizenship is to us. Their great desire at present is, not to seek true doctrine, but to escape the persecutions of government and as many as possible of the uncertainties of life, by getting into official relation with a convent or other ecclesiastical establishment, a foreign consulate or a business under the protection of foreigners. Connection with such institutions affords a measure of immunity not enjoyed by the unattached native. Just so any member of a Christian church has the patronage of those at the head of his church, who are jealously alert to withstand state encroachment. In the treacherous waters of Eastern life ecclesiastical trappings are as life-belts, not to be discarded. There is little opportunity for the higher ethical considerations and religious growth so long as the solid footing of fair conditions of life and industrial freedom is denied. So long as the most lucrative and the securest positions are those of clients of some ecclesiastical establishment, so long will a religion of loaves and fishes, whatever the sect, prevail. When entering on a study of religious conditions in Palestine or in any other Asiatic country the Westerner should seek the equipment of a sensibly poised sympathy and unfailing courtesy. Just as in the cities the mosks and minarets (properly called _mâdhaneh_) are the most notable religious objects presented to view, so in the country the eye is first caught by the white domes[107] and clustered trees of the shrines called _maḳâms_ and generally designated by the peasantry as _wilys_ or _shaykhs_. The holy place of the wily or shaykh of Ḳaṭrawâny will illustrate the significance of these places, which are usually situated on hills.[108] The shrine of Ḳaṭrawâny is a two-domed building, surrounded with trees, north of the village of BÎr-Zayt. A shaykh from the village of ‛Aṭâra, north of Jifnâ, went down toward Gaza. He lived, died and was buried in a place called Ḳaṭrawâny (or Ḳaṭrah). But the belief came about that his spirit came back to this place near ‛Aṭâra. So a sepulcher was built for him there on the hill where his spirit was supposed to be, and the place is now a shrine. On a ride to the north of this spot we passed two Moslem pilgrims who were, apparently, from middle Asia. They seemed to be making a tour of the shrines. ----- -----