back door munching hay. It looked almost old enough to have been the beast upon which the wounded man was brought to the inn. Nevertheless, it was good to look upon the place-if not the house-where Christ's hero did his bit, not only of cash, but of personal sacrifice, to help an unknown fellow being-one of a different, and even despised, race.

DOWN THE WILD WASTES

Of the hills and mountains we can only say with Browning, "A common grayness silvers everything." On down we go-not a residence to be seen. Such a wild waste cannot be found elsewhere; Egdon heath, despite Thomas Hardy's creepy description, must be something like a park beside it. We descend to sea level, according to a signboard by the wayside. Twelve hundred feet more we are to drop in the heat and dust to the Jordan valley. Presently, on the plain far below, the Salt Sea spreads out before us, low and flat, like a sapphire mirror. Now we are entering the Plain of Sodom which Lot chose, leaving Abram the barren hills -and God! Salt begins to grind under our wheels, and the ruts look like snow furrows. The small parched vegetation seems stunted, with briny crystals hanging pendant from its leaves. The atmosphere becomes brackish. We draw up on the beach composed of sand and salt. Some of our party are already swimming. Crude bathhouses of waste boards and scrap sheets of tin have been improvised to catch pennies from tourists. A man is sitting upright in the water, holding an umbrella to shield him from the burning sun-also to prove

that one can float in the Dead Sea. Indeed, it is almost impossible to sink, as the water is nearly ten times as salt as the ocean!

To the east rise the mountains of Moab, Mount Pisgah topping all. Here Moses stood, and somewhere, yonder in those hills, he lies buried-no man knows where. Here is a mountain lake forty miles long by ten miles wide, thirteen hundred feet below sea level and shut in on all sides, with no outlet whatsoever. It receives six and one half million tons of fresh water daily, the river Jordan pouring into it from Galilee. The same amount is evaporated daily. This lake could be just as beautiful as Lake Geneva. But nobody wants to stay here. It gives out nothing-always receiving, but not sharinghence abhorred by man and beast. Galilee or Lucerne. There were boats and two large motor boats. pleasure yachting! There is a Moab, beyond those yellow hills. ing the war that they could transfer corn from Moab by boat and thus shorten the route to Jerusalem seven days. Turks also still engage in shipping salt. At the south end lay ancient Sodom; Gomorrah was at the north of this lake. There was much speculation as to Lot's wife. The camels have licked the pillars so low that no one could recognize Mrs. Lot.

Contrast it with Lake sailboats, a few rowWhy? No fishing or brisk commerce with The Turks found dur

ON TO JORDAN

Let us drive north to Jordan and thence to Jericho. Here we come to the celebrated ford where John baptized. The Jordan is not large, nor is it a beautiful river.

Naaman had no very good word for it-until he obeyed Elisha and dipped in it seven times and was healed of his leprosy! Jordan means "tumbling" or "descending," and it justifies its name. Twisting and plunging, it hastens with impetuosity its eighty miles from Galilee to the Dead Sea, winding many more miles because of its tortuous course. We stand and sing "On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand" to keep our promise made to our son on leaving America. But Jordan's banks are not "stormy," nor can one here "cast a wistful eye" to a "fair and happy land" where promised possessions lie. The land to be seen from here is not worth seeing. But it is glorious farther back on the hills. Much truer, then, is the hymn:

"Filled with delight, my raptured soul
Would here no longer stay;

Tho' Jordan's waves around me roll,
Fearless, I'd launch away."

The banks are steep and slippery, the water three to ten feet deep. The river is not navigable. A rowboat is at hand, and for twenty-five cents each a Syrian rows a number of our party up the river a short distance and returns. This is the traditional place where Joshua led the Israelites across on dry land. Here Elijah and Elisha likewise crossed, and over yonder on the other side the chariots of fire took Elijah up. Here the manna ceased after a daily supply for forty years. There is a large booth or brush arbor on the shore here. In this the Greek Catholics worship every Easter, coming to the Jordan to be baptized by their patriarch or archbishop. Between Easters the booth is a sort of museum and resting place for tourists. A stuffed wildcat glares at me