How I Spent My Five Weeks' Leave.

Abyssinia when he conquered the island and subdued the natives A . D . 4868 ? We push on , and encamp on the heights of Lebanon , within three hours' ride of Beyrout , and next day ( 27 th ) , ride down , thoroughly enjoying the magnificent view .

We dine at the hotel , aud bidding adieu to our Dragoman , and giving bakshish to our attendants , with all of whom we part on excellent terms , I sally forth to refresh myself after my labours with a Turkish bath . This is very nice , but I must

say the baths , here and at Damascus , are not nearly so good as the Turkish bath in Jermynstreet , which is the best I ever was in . Bidding a hasty farewell to the Consul , Mr . Rodgers , whom I found extremely kind aud polite , we all go on board the Cupid , and are off at 8 p . m . to join the fleet at Rhodes .

We coast along Cyprus , but do not stop , and arrive at Rhodes on Friday , the 29 th of May . The fleet has not arrived yet , so we anchor , and I go ashore to see the place . " Stare super vias antiquas / ' to stare at old Rhodes ! This place is

very interesting to one well acquainted with Malta , ¦ on account of having so long been the stronghold ¦ of the Knights , whose two memorable sieges there will never be forgotten . It is said that they only gave iu at last when their stock of gunpowder was

exhausted . The Consul told me the following curious story : — " While the Knights held Rhodes an election of their Grand Master took place , and a Knight who was the unsuccessful candidate organised a conspiracy to make himself Grand Master by force of arms . Being joined by some discontented and

turbulent Knights , they began to lay in great stores of arms and amunition , and a large quantity of gunpowder was secretly stored in the vaults under St . John ' s Church . The conspiracy was discovered , and the would-be Grand Master hung ;

the other conspirators were banished , and no one "knew that the vaults were full of powder . The siege was past , and the place had surrendered for want of powder , whilst had the Knights but known of the twenty tons beneath their feet , they might

perhaps have held out successfully . As it was the Turks took possession , and for 350 years the posvder lay unsuspected . Then came the earthquake and split the tower from top to bottom , the rent extending to the foundations and the vaults . Some months

afterwards came a thunderstorm ; the lightning struck the tower , ran down the huge rock , fired the magazine , and sent the whole thing into the

How I Spent My Five Weeks' Leave.

air ! This reads like romance , but it is simple fact . Many people were killed or injured , and one young lady was buried beneath fragments , which , however , formed a sort of arch over her , and though thus shut up for three days , yet she recovered , "

Rhodes looks very pretty from the sea ; the queer old fortifications and towers , the cluster of windmills on the extreme right , the hill at the back of the town rising to a considerable elevation above it , covered with fruit trees , etc . ; the bright blue sky ,

and the beautiful clear sea , —all combine to form a most attractive picture . It is a pity that the most elegant and conspicuous of the towers , the Arab tower , has within the last few years fallen down . The " Street of the Knights" is most

interesting , where numerous shields , coats of arms , etc ., carved in marble , are built into the walls , and over the 'doors , very much as they are at Malta .

The site ofthe explosion is curious ; it looks like the crater of a volcano , and allround are fragments of the church ; here an entire wall of the building , laid upon its side , pillars and all ; there an arch still standing , though its centre part , keystone ,

etc ., are blown out . Good masonry to hold together like this ! We visit the site of the breach in the old walls , which was so nobly defended , and through which Solyman at last entered . I do not think in the annals of military achievement there

is a more splendid defence on record than that of the Knig hts of Rhodes . Two places are shown as the spot where the Colossus stood ; the Consul supporting one theory and the Vice-Consul the other . A beautiful little figure of Somnus ,

represented as a sleeping boy , ivas shown us by the Consul . It was dug up somewhere on the opposite coast , aud has been purchased for the British Museum .

On Monday evening , June 1 , Ave leave for Malta , coasting along Crete . We make a splendid run to Malta , where we arrive early on Thursday morning , June 4 . So bidding farewell to our kind and hospitable captain , I hurry ashore to report

myself to the " big wigs " and my adventures to my friends , who all agree that I have made good use of my time , and seen a good deal during MY FIVE AVEEKS' TOUK .

MASONIC MUSIC . —The choir of Lodges Concord and Emulation at Bornhay have heen united , and will hereafter assist iu the vocal part of the ritual at the meeting * of hot . !) lodges . Meetings for singing practice are helel weekly at the Masonic I Hall , JAazagon .