The Jordan valley and Petra . hands, and able tomake only the most hurried examination. Othershave lacked the eye of the artist, and perhaps alsothe gift of color in their mental make-up; but eventhe most sober and least sentimental have lefttestimonies that fully substantiate Petras claim tobeing unique among the many sights of theearth. John Stephens, in 1835, speaks of the dark back-ground of the stony rampart, with veins of whiteand blue, red, purple, and sometimes scarlet and lightorange, running through it in rainbow streaks,and within the chambers where there had beenno exposure to the
The Jordan valley and Petra . hands, and able tomake only the most hurried examination. Othershave lacked the eye of the artist, and perhaps alsothe gift of color in their mental make-up; but eventhe most sober and least sentimental have lefttestimonies that fully substantiate Petras claim tobeing unique among the many sights of theearth. John Stephens, in 1835, speaks of the dark back-ground of the stony rampart, with veins of whiteand blue, red, purple, and sometimes scarlet and lightorange, running through it in rainbow streaks,and within the chambers where there had beenno exposure to the action of the elements, thefreshness and beauty of the colors in which thesewaving lines were drawn gave an effect hardly in-ferior to that of the paintings in the tombs of theKings at Thebes. Edward Robinson, in 1838, speaks of an end-less variety of bright and living hues, from thedeepest crimson to the softest pink, verging alsosometimes to orange and yellow. These varyingshades are often distinctly marked by waving lines,. > PL, Petra 125 imparting- to the surface of the rock a successionof brilliant and changing tints, like the hues ofwatered silk, and adding greatly to the imposingeffect of the sculptured monuments. Dr. Stephen Olin, in 1840, says in his narrative : The rocks of Petra are adorned with such a pro-fusion of the most lovely and brilliant colors as I be-lieve it is quite impossible to describe. Red, purple,yellow, azure or sky blue, black and white, are seenin the same mass in successive layers, or blended soas to form every hue and shade of which they arecapable, as brilliant and as soft as they ever appearin flowers, or in the plumage of the birds, or in thesky when illuminated with the most glorious sun-set. The red perpetually shades into pale or deeprose or flesh color. The purple is sometimes verydark, and again approaches the hue of the lilac orviolet. The white, which is often as pure as snow,is occasionally just dashed with blue or red. Theblue is
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