Splendid description of primitive conditions 150 years ago. Archaeology in the Holy Land was in its infancy. Communications were rudimentary. The construction of the first railway from Jaffa to Jerusalem was authorised in 1875 but it was doubtful whether it would pay as there was no trade of any importance in Southern Palestine and the yearly influx of pilgrims was of short duration. The only modern roads in Syria were the diligence routes from Beirut to Damascus and the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem. This a very scarce English first edition and the second edition was not published until 1894. Endpapers dated April "1887". First edition. xvi, 610pp; with 18 maps, 43 plans, a panorama of Jerusalem, and 10 views; publisher's variant coarse-grained binding, gilt lettering bright; slight wear to binding; some foxing on map showing routes to the levant opposite the title-page, mainly on the reverse; overall a very good copy.