Traveller.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 346, 25 December 1902, Page 7

Traveller.

JAFFA GATE Off JERUSALEM. S|S|ftUTSIDE the Jaffa Gate, which &QJT ? d J oinH fcEe Tower of David, and Wgr& is *he chief entrance for trade, travel and pilgrims into the Holy jw!f|M a a **rge square surrounded by l WfW§ OOlnm i ß 'ion and brokerage offices, \ I JI V OT corrala and khans, tbe busiest plaoe iifJiifea, where all th* oenturie3 and all the raoes meet and hustle each other. It ia the horse and oamel market of Jerusalem,; the headquarters of the saddlers, farriers and veterinarians, the starting place ©f the caravans that leave and the camping place of those that eater the city. It is the rendezvous of buyers and sellers of all classes of produce and merchandise, a general market at which anything can be bought er ordered, a sort of bourse or exchange and chamber of commerce, It ia the court and the parlia- : ment of tbe masses, where * they hold public meetings, discuss politics and theology and gossip about the stats of 'affairs. It is an employment agency, where groups of laborers and hubbandmen and mechanics sit around and sleep in the Bun while waiting to be hired, and where angry women come to hunt for truant . husbands and lovers.' Here complaints are made to the police officers, and lawyers consult with, clients ' from "the -"country, 5 says William E. Curtis, in the Chicago Beoord-Herald. It ia an unpaved and dus'-"-*forum, -littered with rubbish and filth,* , By arming with mangy doge, obstructed by ugly camels, which chew their cud in indifference and give their whole mind to the purpose of their stay there, which is rent. Professional letter writers, ; with a scholarly air, wearing spotless white turbans and Jong white cotton cloaks, sit around with ink horns and blocks of paper in convenient corners, sheltered by umbrellas from the heat of the sun,,just as they havo done in the public places of Jerusalem since the days of David. Money changers have little tables with piles of coins before them; dealers in pottery, saddlery, bread? and other necessaries of life required by the caravans have little stands against the walls. Arab and Jewish girls are about chaffing their admirers and selling baskets of f rait; venders of lemonade and sherbet, with jigskins hung over their. shouldera, which look as if they would burst With their contents, clink their brass Cups 'With a musical rhythm to attract attention. Sharp-looking old men offer the camel ,drisere' s '*ojarien, beads and amulets to jljaifg around the necks of their animals, to '>%ep off :the evil eye; itinerant barbers do W briSk-| business all day out of doors, shaving the beads of the Bedouins. You can hire here horses/ saddles, camels, donkeys and any other kind of beast by the hour or the day or the week, or by the distance; you can charter camel trains for any place within the limits of> Asia Minor or Egypt; you can contract for the transportation of freight to any point, and you can buy or sell anything that is marketable. . rTr

I A PAINTED VILLAGE. In Switzerland there is a village where the inhabitants ara' so favoured as to have original works of art executed upon the outside of their houses. The picturesque corner of Switzerland is known to English visitors by the pretty name of the ' Painted Village.' It is not far .from the shores of Lac Leman, being about four or five kilometres from Clarens, now little more than a continuation of the popular resort of Montreux, bub formerly famed as one of, the resting places of Byron—the house where he lived now bearing a tablet—as'well as being a favourite resort with E'busseau, Gambetta, and various other personages known to fame. ' ag A QUBBB PIOTUBK GiJ&IiBBT, •;, ¥o the postal authorities, the name by which the English-speakiag christened it, the village is known as? St. L9gier. To the rambler taking a stroll in. the neighbourhood it comesCwith something of bewilderment to happen unexpectedly upon a cottage having a ] spirited chalk drawing—of a dog ..fight, it may be —executed upon its otherwise,; undistinguished • walls. He glances at this .with a certain amount of interest- and curiosity, but merely imagines jit to be the abode of some original ajad artistically-minded person, or, perhaps, a village Hogarth,! whose. superabundant artistic energies find an Outlet by! ornamenting his house in this somewhat I unusual fashion. A little .further on;, however, he rubs his eyee at sight of abarn door with an oil sketch of a sergeant de ville on one side and a Swiss peasant woman on the other. ■ After that quite a vista of painted houses,' kp«penß out before his astopished gaz;. Some of the pictures are in black and white—or, 5 at least, black and whatever colour the wall happens to be—others are done in oils. Some of the, iworks of art-

lurk, in unsuspected corners or on inconspicuous side walls* t while others are placed beside the front door. a realistic head peeps weirdly §ui s#one loun'dytfre side of a house, feaanaing one a little' of the Wiertz Museum at Brussels; while now and then a barn door is employed as a background, the stiles: of the door being ingeniously made to serve as a frame, i Altogether, although the paintings are not remarkable as works of art or the method that of the frescoed paintings, of St, Mark's, J Venice, there is, nevertheless, a certain interest peculiar to itself in this display of openair art. \ '"'■ : >* -° "*B»**** '•; ■ ■ ■■:>'

The way. in/wThich o£ Si. Legier firat "came by was at the band of t&jjfaame—whoso birthplace it was. lii ftj&ejßsriy'; days ..off his artistic career Sk Beguin apparently found the seductive blank walla of his; fellow townspeople a temptation to his budding artis'.ic powers, or possibly the supply~of r Gahvas; on which to j?uperabundant, 'energies became a difficulty to him. ? At any rate, his art spread itself generously over the walls of his native villago in a ssriea of spirited sketches. Later in his career M Beguia vwent to. -Paris, where, as ? migh have tfesn expected from the,display of somuch industry, he gained repute as an • artist. As a matter of fact, it is said thai after his departure from St. Legier freel pictures did not fail to appear oh the wallr,' and it is easily discernible that they were not all executed by the same-hand. Who was responsible for the additional ones seems doubtful, but it is probable that 'more than one,hand added ttie fresh gems ito this out-of-door art gallery. It is certainly a quaint and interesting way of. | recording the village annals. ~"' ..."