To be competent to supply
such accommodation, it will easily be apprehended that they are of
considerable size. They are in truth monastic establishments of the
first class, as large as citadels, and almost as strong. Lofty stone
walls enclose an area of acres, in the centre of which rises an
irregular mass of buildings and enclosures; courts of all shapes,
galleries of cells, roofs, terraces, gardens, corridors, churches,
houses, and even streets. Sometimes as many as five thousand pilgrims
have been lodged, fed, and tended during Easter in one of these
convents.
Not in that of Terra Santa, of which a Protestant traveller, passing for
a pilgrim, is often the only annual guest; as Tancred at present. In a
whitewashed cell, clean, and sufficiently airy and spacious, Tancred was
lying on an iron bedstead, the only permanent furniture of the chamber,
with the exception of a crucifix, but well suited to the fervent and
procreative clime. He was smoking a Turkish pipe, which stretched nearly
across the apartment, and his Italian attendant, Baroni, on one knee,
was arranging the bowl. 'I begin rather to like it,' said Tancred. 'I am
sure you would, my lord. In this country it is like mother's milk,
nor is it possible to make way without it.
Pages:
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269