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VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND, EGYPT, AND ITALY
By Madame Ida Pfeiffer.
Translated from the German by H. W. Dulcken.
PREFACE BY THE VIENNA PUBLISHER
For two centuries the princes and nations of the West were accustomedto wander towards the land of the morning. In vain was the noblestblood poured forth in streams in the effort to wrest the country ofour heavenly Teacher from the grasp of the infidel; and though the ChristianEurope of the present day forbears to renew a struggle which, consideringthe strength that has been gradually increasing for the last six hundredyears, might prove an easy one, we cannot wonder that millions of thevotaries of Christianity should cherish an earnest longing to wanderin the paths the Redeemer has trod, and to view with their own eyesthe traces of the Saviour’s progress from the cradle to the grave.
In the generality of cases, however, the hardships, dangers, anddifficulties of such a journey were sufficient to overthrow the bravestresolution; and thus the wishes of the majority remained unfulfilled.
Few men were found to possess the degree of strength and endurancerequisite for the carrying out of such an undertaking; but that a delicatelady of the higher classes, a native of Vienna, should have the heroismto do what thousands of men failed to achieve, seemed almost incredible.
In her earliest youth she earnestly desired to perform this journey;descriptions of the Holy Land were perused by her with peculiar interest,and a book of Eastern travel had more charms for her than the most glowingaccounts of Paris or London.
It was not, however, until our Authoress had reached a riper age,and had finished the education of her sons, that she succeeded in carryinginto effect the ardent aspiration of her youth.
On the 2d of March, 1842, she commenced her journey alone, withoutcompanions, but fully prepared to bear every ill, to bid defiance toevery danger, and to combat every difficulty. That this undertakingshould have succeeded may almost be looked upon as a wonder.
Far from desiring publicity, she merely kept a diary, in order toretain the recollections of her tour during her later life, and to impartto her nearest relatives the story of her fortunes. Every evening,though often greatly exhausted with heat, thirst, and the hardshipsof travel, she never failed to make notes in pencil of the occurrencesof the day, frequently using a sand-mound or the back of a camel asa table, while the other members of the caravan lay stretched aroundher, completely tired out.
It was in the house of my friend Halm that I first heard of thisremarkable woman, at a time when she had not yet completed her journey;and every subsequent account of Madame Pfeiffer increased my desireto make her acquaintance.
In manners and appearance I found her to resemble many other womenwho have distinguished themselves by fortitude, firmness of soul, andmagnanimity; and who are in private life the most simple and unaffected,the most modest, and consequently also the most agreeable of beings.
My request to read our Authoress’s journal was granted withsome timidity; and I