A Visit to the Holy Land, Egypt, and Italy by Ida Pfeiffer
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page 32 of 388 (08%)
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and lemons are seen here in great numbers, like the commonest of our
fruits. The prices are of course very trifling. The cauliflowers brought from Asia Minor are particularly fine. I noticed many as large as a man's head. In the evening I was required to repair to the harbour and re- embark. It is almost impossible to form an idea of the confusion which reigns here. A wooden railing forms the barrier between the healthy people and those who come from or intend travelling to a country infected with the plague. Whoever passes this line of demarcation is not allowed to return. Soldiers, officers, government officials, and superintendents, the latter of whom are armed with sticks and pairs of tongs, stand at the entrance to drive those forcibly back who will not be content with fair words. Provisions and other articles are either thrown over the barrier or left in front of it. In the latter case, however, they may not be touched until the bearers have departed. A gentleman on the "plague" side wished to give a letter to one on the other; it was immediately snatched from his hand and handed across by means of a pair of tongs. And all this time such a noise and hubbub is going on, that you can scarcely hear the sound of your own voice. "Pray hand me over my luggage!" cries one. "Keep farther away! don't come near me, and mind you don't touch me!" anxiously exclaims another. And then the superintendents keep shouting--"Stand back, stand back!" etc. I was highly entertained by this spectacle; the scene was entirely |
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