Once landed at Haifa, thenceforth the Imperial expedition will be
entirely under the guidance of Messrs. Thomas Cook and Son, the
well-known tourist agents, Mr. Cook himself personally conducting
the party to Jerusalem. The Sultan had previously offered tents,
horses and carriages for the journey, but these the Emperor at
first declined, as he was anxious to avoid giving any political
significance to an expedition undertaken solely on religious
grounds, and for the purpose of the formal opening of the Church
of St. Saviour or the Redeemer. At the earnest solicitation of
the Sultan, he, however, finally consented to use horses, mules,
carriages, and wagons provided by the Turkish monarch. The journey
will be performed in true Oriental style, everything else necessary
being furnished by Thomas Cook and Son.
[Illustration: HAIFA, AND THE BAY OF ACRE.
(_The Landing-Place of the Imperial Party._)]
The Kaiser will make the journey on horseback, the Kaiserin in an
open carriage. The route is to be exactly the same as that followed
by ordinary tourists, and the entire party will camp out at night
in the usual way. The first day's journey will occupy nine or ten
hours, and tents will be pitched for the night outside Cæsarea,
in full view of the Mediterranean. Thence the party will ride to
Jaffa, a journey of ten hours. The town is beautifully situated, and
extensively planted with orange groves. There is a good carriage
road from it direct to Jerusalem, and a railway, which was opened
some six years since. The Imperial party will spend the night under
canvas outside the city, the view of which has an added interest,
inasmuch as there is within its walls a considerable German colony.
The remainder of the journey to Jerusalem will be carried out in
the same manner over ground that is scripturally historical and
highly picturesque, passing as it does over the Plains of Sharon, by
Lydda and Emmaus--where Christ walked with His disciples after the
Resurrection--and so on through the Valley of Ajalon, by Kirjath and
Jesrun; arriving at Jerusalem on Saturday, October 29th, where tents
will be pitched on ground acquired by the Evangelical Jerusalem Fund.
[Illustration: THE JAFFA GATE AT JERUSALEM.
(_From here the Emperor and Empress go on foot to the Holy
Sepulchre._)]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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