Jerusalem,1836.

One of the first objects that we visited after our arrival was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It so happened that the day after our arrival was one of the many days, which for some reason I know not what, is called a festa, and this church was opened. This was what we desired, as it is not accessible at all times. This church is said to be built over the place where our Lord was buried; and it also includes the place where he was crucified—that is, it includes that part of Calvary on which the crosses of our Lord and the others who were crucified with him were fixed—and the garden in which Joseph's tomb was placed. It ought, therefore, to have been without the city, as our Lord was crucified and interred without the city. Heb. xiii. 12, and John xix. 41. The excuse for its being in the city is, that the city does not now occupy the same ground that it did at that time—its walls were farther west and north—and the present walls take in what the old walls, when those transactions took place, left out. It appears to me very manifest, that the places now shown as the places of crucifixion and interment, must have always been within the city. A wall so run as to leave it out, would be located in a way that no wise builder would ever think of in running a wall to defend a city situated as Jerusalem is. These places are not on a hill, but rather in a low place or hollow, and the wall in passing to the east of it would leave so much higher and better ground close to it on the west, and would so straiten the space between it and the ground occupied by the temple, and take so irregular and winding a route to enclose sufficient ground to hold the city, that I must believe that a wrong place has been fixed upon as the spot where those memorable things transpired. It is, however, a matter of trifling importance; we know they took place near Jerusalem. There is no virtue in the spot where they took place more than in any other. But the poor, blind, superstitious people believe, and are taught to believe, that there is great, yea, saving virtue obtained in visiting these places.

The church of the Holy Sepulchre is a large, and in some respects a good-looking building, especially the circular room with the large dome over the holy sepulchre, as seen from the inside, for it is surrounded with other buildings, and so connected with them without that it makes but a feeble impression. It needs to be large, as it contains a chapel for each of the Christian sects which prevail in the East, as the Greeks, Latins, Armenians, Copts, Syrians.

We entered at the north side. There is a small open space before the door, which once belonged to the church, but most of the pillars are removed. The doors of the church are large, and there is usually one or more Turks acting as door-keepers. As there are always monks and priests in the church to take care of it, attend to the lamps, perform the sacred offices, &c., there is a small opening through the door, by means of which food and other necessaries are passed to them at those times when the doors are shut. Some monks and priests, it is said, spend weeks, and it may be months, in the church, without once going out of it; they no doubt think this a most meritorious act.

Immediately on passing the door of the church, we came to a large, flat, marble stone, a little elevated from the floor, having small marble pillars at the corners, and an ornamental covering above it. This is called the "stone of unction." It is pretended that the body of our Lord was laid on it while he was anointed, or rather when he was taken from the cross, and rolled up in linen with the spices, by Joseph and Nicodemus. East of the "stone of unction," and within a few yards of it, there is an ascent of several steps, called the ascent of Calvary; and on the top, which is called Calvary, three holes were shown, said to be the holes of the three crosses, on which our Lord and the two thieves were nailed. The middle one stands rather in advance of the other two. Below this, in a cave-like place under the spot where the crosses stood, is shown the split in the rock caused by the earthquake, which took place at his death. These places are, however, so fenced about with metal plates, doors, bars of iron and wire network, that you can barely see and touch them, and that with a poor light; all arranged to prevent too close an examination—all adapted to increase the superstition and blind credulity of the people.

The Empress Helena, Constantine's mother, was the great patron of all the holy places, and built churches upon them. How she ascertained for a certainty the precise spots is not so clear; but that she selected certain spots and had churches erected on them is admitted. So great an advocate for such matters, ought of right to have some honour shown her. They have, therefore, east of Calvary, and at a few yards' distance, prepared a chapel for her. It is a low, damp place, quite under ground, and does not do her much credit. It was down in this place, however, that she found the true cross, it is said, and an odd thing is told about her identifying it. Three crosses were found, and the question was, to which one of the three was our Lord nailed, for it would have been a fatal mistake to have selected for such deep veneration, amounting nearly to worship, the one on which the thief was nailed, instead of the one on which our Lord hung. Helena was not more zealous in hunting for places and things, than fertile in expedients to identify them. A child, either sick or dead, was brought and laid on the crosses, and strange to tell! it was made well when it touched a certain one. This was ample proof that it was the true cross.

Another thing was found in this place, now set apart as the chapel of Helena. She found Adam's skull, which came out of the rent made in the rock caused by the earthquake. How she identified it, the account, as I received it, did not relate. No doubt she contrived some way to do it. Many such things are gravely told to the poor deluded pilgrims that resort here, and many believe them. And to tell all such folly and nonsense, and to fill their minds with them, is the business of the monks and priests, instead of teaching them the great leading truths of the word of God, and urging the nature and necessity of personal holiness and practical religion.

We returned from the chapel of Helena to the stone of unction. A wall is run up between this and the main body of the church, forming the place in which it lies into a kind of entry or antechamber. Passing a few steps to the west, we turned short to the north, and found ourselves in the body of the church, which is large and nearly circular, with a large dome over it, and lighted chiefly from above. In the middle of this large room stands a small building called the holy sepulchre. It may be sixteen feet by ten, and ten or twelve feet high. It is divided into two rooms. The first, which is to the east, forms a kind of entry, and is entered at the east side. In the middle of this first room is a place or seat, not unlike a little table or stool. This stands on the place where the stone lay, after the angel had rolled it from the door and sat on it. There are twelve or fifteen lamps burning in this room; and through the walls are several holes, out of which the light or holy fire comes, while the bishop plays off that lying miracle to the poor deluded pilgrims. This miracle is performed at Easter. The second room is the sepulchre. On the north side of it lies a large marble tombstone, about as high from the floor as a common tombstone would be. The remainder of the room is not much larger or wider than will allow two persons to pass each other with ease. In this room are about forty lamps, which, with those in the outer rooms, are the property of different leading sects, as the Greeks, Latins, and Armenians. For much as they hate and quarrel with each other, matters are so arranged that each shall have a chapel in the church and lamps in the holy sepulchre.

East of the holy sepulchre and separated by a slight partition, is the Greek chapel. This is the best chapel of the establishment—is neatly fitted up, and has some pretty good paintings. In the middle there is a kind of pillar, and on the top of that is marked the centre of the world. How they found out the precise spot my guide did not tell me, nor who was the happy finder. Possibly the good Helena who found so many things, for she had a wonderful talent for such matters.

To the north of the holy sepulchre lies the Latin chapel. It is richly furnished, and possesses some antiques that are among the curious, such as the sword and spurs of Godfrey of Bouillon. This chapel has also a pretty good organ, and the organist was so polite as to play us several tunes.

At the west end of the holy sepulchre, and in contact with it, is a small chapel for the Copts. It is but a few feet square, and is like a shed or tent-like place, put up against the end of the sepulchre. This chapel stands, of course, within the large circular room in the middle of which the holy sepulchre is placed. To the west, and only separated by a slight wall, is a small chapel for the Syrian Christians. It is a small dark place, seldom if ever used. Adjoining it is the tomb of Nicodemus, a little dark hole quite in keeping with his fear of the day when he came to Jesus by night; but as he afterwards came out openly in favour of his lord, he deserved a better tomb than they have allowed him.

To the south of the holy sepulchre, but raised so as to permit the entrance to pass under it, is the chapel of the Armenians. It does not equal that of the Greeks or Latins, but far exceeds the Copts and Syrians'. Thus the large and nearly circular area with a dome over it, in the middle of which the holy sepulchre is placed, is surrounded with chapels, separated from it by single walls, through which they are entered from the large area. All this mass of building is called the church of the holy sepulchre. There are a number of other places pointed out, in and about it, as places at which some of the facts recorded are said to have taken place—as where the centurion stood, who declared his belief that Jesus was the Son of God. But I have said enough about these places. My memory was so burdened with these things, it would not be strange if I should have lost some on the way, and possibly I may have misplaced some of them, not designedly however, in giving this brief detail.

There are nearly twenty convents in and about Jerusalem. The Greeks have, if I recollect aright, thirteen. Most of them are, however, very small. Their large one is directly adjoining the church of the Holy Sepulchre; and the top of the church (not the dome) may be used as a terrace for its inmates. From the top of the convent I passed over most of the top of the church, or of the chapels contained within its walls. This large monastery is able to receive and entertain many pilgrims—this is one design of those establishments. The Latins have a very large monastic establishment. It covers several acres of ground; is so constructed as to be capable of making a good defence; is a strong fort. It is a community of itself, and has within it provision for carrying on all kinds of work. It has smiths, carpenters, shoemakers, tailors, millers, bakers, chandlers, and I know not how many other artisans within it. The Armenians have a large establishment of a similar kind, which is said to be equally capacious, and in good condition. While these establishments no doubt are of use in the way of entertaining pilgrims, they are most corrupting; as it is their interest to promote superstition among the people. From their number, wealth, and influence, they are able to effect almost any object they please, and defeat any one that falls under their displeasure. They will, humanly speaking, be one of the greatest obstacles to all missionary efforts to spread the light of truth in Jerusalem, and dispel those dark and foul superstitions that have long been gathering over these, so called, holy places.

A few days after our arrival, we set out one morning to make a tour of the city. We went out at the Jaffa gate, which is situate at the south side of the southern corner, and near the edge of the valley of Gihon. Up this ravine, a mile or more, is the upper pool of the fuller's field, mentioned in 2 Kings, xviii. 17. It is made by running a strong wall across the ravine, walling the sides and covering them with a water-proof cement. There was no running water in this ravine at present, nor is there often except in the rainy season. A little east of the Jaffa gate is the lower pool. It is made in the same way as the upper pool. The wall is used as a bridge—the road passing the ravine on it. There is no water in this pool.

The valley of the Gihon becomes deeper as it passes eastward to where it meets the Kedron. Below the second pool it takes the name of the Valley of the Son of Hinnom or Tophet. It was formerly used for many unclean purposes—some of the most abhorrent kinds of idolatrous worship was once practised here—the burning of children to Moloch, Jer. vii. 31. The valley appears to have been much contracted by the great quantity of rubbish of all kinds which has been thrown into it from the city. A road from the Jaffa gate passes down the valley, dividing at the lower pool. One part passes to the south side, and winding along the top of the bank for some distance, crosses the plain southward to Bethlehem. The other winds down the valley until it reaches the bottom—then along the valley until it meets the one from the valley of Kedron, following the course of the united valleys towards the Dead Sea. On the south side of the valley of Hinnom, and near its junction with Kedron, is the potter's field. It is a small parcel of ground near the top of the bank with an old ruined house on it. There was a small level spot thirty feet below the top of the bank, at the bottom of a thick stratum of horizontal rock. Walls have been made enclosing a part of this—the face of the rock forming the south wall of the building. The roof, which is flat, is on a level with the top of the bank; and in it are a number of holes, through which they used to throw the dead bodies. It is not used now as a place of interment, and is fast going to ruin, part of the walls having fallen in. All along the south side of the valley are to be seen old tombs cut in the rock—some are of considerable size, having several rooms—some are so large as to be used by mules, donkeys, and other animals, as places of refuge from the noonday heat of the sun.

At the junction of the valley of Hinnom with that of the Kedron, which is nearly at right angles—the Hinnom running nearly east and the Kedron nearly west—there is a level space of several acres, laid out in gardens, and well set with trees. These gardens and trees continue up the valley of the Kedron, which is wider than that of the Hinnom, for some distance; this rich and beautiful-looking spot, watered by the fountain of Siloam, is called the King's Dale. These valleys have all steep, high banks. To the east of the Kedron lies Mount Olivet, which runs north and south, and is separated from the hill on which the city stands only by the deep, narrow valley of the Kedron.

Mount Olivet terminates abruptly, or rather a break is made through it nearly in a line with the valley of Hinnom, bearing a little to the south of east. At the mouth of this new valley, which lets off the water (when there is any) to the eastward, is a small pool, and adjoining it is a kind of resting or lounging-place, now much neglected—and close by is the well of Nehemiah, which is very deep, and we infer from indications about it, that formerly it was much used; but it is now almost entirely neglected. This is supposed by some to be the En-rogel in 2 Sam. xvii. 17. Down this valley there are a number of gardens, and fig and olive trees.

Turning up the valley of the Kedron, we passed some pretty gardens and lots of ground well set with the fig and other fruit trees. A few hundred yards brought us to the pool of Siloam. It lies in the mouth of that little ravine I mentioned as separating Mount Zion from Mount Moriah, and is now much filled up within the walls, which cross it at some distance from its mouth. It has, no doubt, been much filled without the walls, still it is very manifest on the outside, and near its mouth. There is quite a high bluff on the Moriah side, near the pool. This valley was formerly called the valley of the Cheesemongers. It was over this valley that Solomon is said to have made that splendid ascent to the house of God from Mount Zion, where his palace stood, that struck the Queen of Sheba with so much astonishment. 1 Kings, x. 5. The pool of Siloam is small, not more than twenty or twenty-five feet long, and ten or twelve wide. It may be eight feet deep, with only eighteen or twenty inches of water in it. It is fed by the fountain of Siloam, which rises about three hundred yards farther up the valley, and is taken under ground through the point of the hill which projects into the valley from Mount Moriah, and comes out at this place. The water passes through the pool, and is conveyed by a channel to the edge of the valley of the Kedron, (for the pool is a little up the valley of the Cheesemongers, say twenty-five or thirty yards,) then it passes through a set of troughs, where the people come to obtain water for themselves and their cattle.

A considerable part of Mount Zion, the part which forms the point of the angle between the valley of Hinnom and that of Kedron, is not now included in the city. The wall no doubt formerly ran down the valley of the Gihon to the point keeping close on the edge of the precipice, up the valley of the Kedron, crossing the valley of the Cheesemongers at the mouth, and keeping on the precipice, passed Mount Moriah. The remains of the basement of the wall that crossed the mouth of the valley of the Cheesemongers may yet be seen, south of the pool of Siloam, near the large trough into which the water flows from that pool. The present wall of the city leaves the edge of the bank of the valley a little east of the Jaffa gate, and traversing for a little space the higher part of the hill of Zion, but leaving a large part of it to the right, takes nearly a straight course across the upper part of the valley of the Cheesemongers to Mount Moriah, leaving out most of this valley, and also the angle of Mount Moriah, which is between the valley of the Kedron and the valley of the Cheesemongers. Much of this space is now made the depository of rubbish and filth of all sorts. The whole face of the hill, both on the Gihon and the Kedron side, is evidently much enlarged, and made to project into the valley, from the quantity of rubbish thrown over it. Once it must have been a high and almost, if not altogether, a perpendicular bank, but now the rubbish has almost wholly hidden the face of the rock, being visible only in one or two spots; thus forming a steep but sloping bank of rich, soft earth. Some parts of it are planted with trees, and portions are used for cultivating vegetables of various kinds. The present walls were, if I mistake not, built by Caliph Omar, the successor of the celebrated Saladin, who warred so bravely against the Crusaders, and wrested Jerusalem and most of their possessions in Palestine from them. We saw in the lower part of the wall on Mount Moriah, many rocks of a very large size; but none that equalled those at Baalbec. The style of building in the walls at Jerusalem reminded me of those parts of the walls of Baalbec of a more recent erection, especially that on the east side and adjoining the great temple.

A few hundred yards north of the pool of Siloam, we came to the fountain of Siloam. This is a small spring on the city side of the valley, and nearly opposite the corner of the city wall, where it meets the precipice, and includes the space occupied by the temple. Milton therefore was nearly right when he spoke of

This fountain is in a place like a cave, artificial, however, as all the appearances indicate. You descend eight or ten steps which lead down into the side of Mount Moriah—there you find a stream of indifferent water. The quantity of water is not large, and it is said that it has more water in it one part of the day than in the other, more, for example, in the morning than in the afternoon. What is the cause of this is not certainly known. Possibly it may be the syphon form of the passage through which the water flows. There are many cases of syphon springs. It may, however, arise from some connexion which this fountain has with the water, brought by an aqueduct to the mosque of St. Omar, on Mount Moriah. The quantity of water brought is too great to be all used in the service of the mosque, and as none flows from the platform, it has most likely some passage under ground, and may possibly find its way to the fountain of Siloam. The depth of the fountain below the surface of the ground does not allow the water to flow off. A passage is cut on a level with the fountain, large enough to admit a man to walk erect for some distance. It passes into the hill, and under that high point of Mount Moriah which lies between the valley of the Kedron and that of the Cheesemongers, and comes out at the pool of Siloam. When this work was done is not known.

The part of Mount Olivet near and opposite Mount Moriah, is very much covered with Jewish graves. It is the favourite Jewish place of interment. The rock is horizontal, and in many spots next the valley, much of the face of the rock is bare. Parts of the stratum are sufficiently thick to allow tombs to be cut in the face of it, and by hollowing the softer stratum, caves have been formed for the deposite of the dead. There is at one place a little village almost entirely made up of old tombs that have been altered more or less. Near the fountain of Siloam, are several sepulchral monuments of more distinction than the mixed multitude that cover the side of the mountains. The most remarkable are, the tomb or pillar of Absalom, as it is called in 2 Sam. xviii. 18, that of Zechariah, and Jehoshaphat. The tomb of Absalom is in the form of a house about twelve feet square, hewn out of a solid rock, except the top, which has a round cover of stones, neatly put together, and rising like a short cone. It is hollow, and appears originally to have had but one small entrance, high up in front, which was probably stopped with a stone made to fit it. Several large holes have been broken through the sides. The side walls appear to have been from eighteen inches to two feet thick, leaving within quite a neat little room. It was probably designed as a place of interment for himself. He found one, however, in a very different place,—in a pit, and, instead of resting in the neat stone chamber he had prepared with so much care, he had a great pile of stones thrown on him. We saw here a striking sample of the Arab custom of throwing stones at the graves of persons whom they abhor for their crimes. There are large piles of stones in and about this monument, which persons in passing have thrown at it, to express their hatred of Absalom for his unnatural rebellion against his father. The stratum of rock at this place is much more thick and compact than is usually met with in these regions.

The tomb of Zechariah is much like that of Absalom, and stands but a short distance south of it. The style of architecture is not precisely the same—there is no door to it that I could find, and of course could not ascertain whether it was hollow. There is behind it, in the open space that has been cut between it and the rock from which it is separated, a hole, which descends, but so winding that it is soon lost. It was so filled up that we could not descend it. It may have some connexion with the inside of this building, and have been intended for a secure place of interment.

About half way between the pillar of Absalom and the tomb of Zechariah, is the tomb of Jehoshaphat. The same compact rock is made use of, but it is of a different order of building. In this case, several large rooms are hewn out of rock connected with each other. A large front door or opening separated by pillars, and enriched with carved work, is cut in the face of the rock, eight or ten feet from the ground. The way of access is through a small, low hole, at the outside, near the tomb of Zechariah. After entering a few feet the space becomes larger, soon you can walk erect. The passage ascends a little, and opens into a fine large room, in the front of which is the large door that I have described. This room is of course well lighted, and would make no uncomfortable habitation. From this front room, doors and passages lead to others that lie farther in the hill, and of course are dark, except the little light they may receive from the antechamber. I wonder that this place is not occupied as a residence, as it must, I think, be much better than any of the tombs a little to the south, that are thus occupied.

Three or four hundred yards north of Absalom's pillar we came to the place pointed out as the "Garden of Gethsemane." It lies on the Mount Olivet side of the valley, not far from the bottom. There are four or five acres at this place, partly in the valley and partly on the foot of Mount Olivet, that have been laid out in gardens, and some of them are still cultivated. There are a number of olive-trees, some of them old and large. They point to one of the enclosures, as the Garden of Gethsemane, where our Lord was in agony, and where Judas led the band who took him. As is customary, the priest will tell you the precise spot where the disciples slept—where our Lord withdrew—and where Judas betrayed him. That somewhere here was the place where those transactions took place, is not unlikely, but it is all idle folly to pretend to be able to designate the precise spots.

A little north of this is a chapel under ground, said to be the tomb of the Virgin Mary. It is near the valley, a little on the Mount Olivet side. A small part of the top of the building is above ground, but the great body is below. We descended a wide, noble flight of steps for ten or fifteen feet, and then we had a great display of lamps and other rich ornaments, with a large altar in front. At our right was a recess or little room, shown as the tomb of Mary; and about half way up the steps were recesses on both sides, said to be tombs of—I forget whom—Anna, perhaps, and other females mentioned in the Gospels. When this place was made, or by whom, I am not able to say. It is, however, one of the best pieces of under-ground building that I have seen, and is in good keeping. But how all these good people were found, after centuries had passed away, is not for me to tell.

The gate of St. Stephen is nearly opposite the tomb of Mary, and a road leads up from near the tomb to the gate. About two-thirds of the way from the gate to the bottom of the valley, they point out the place where Stephen, the first martyr, was stoned. It is rather singular that they have erected no monument over it. It is designated by a ledge of rocks, which projects from the ground.

Mount Olivet is higher than most of the ground on which the city stands—higher than Mount Moriah, and about as high as the ground above the Jaffa gate on the top of the ridge. There are a few olive-trees scattered over the mount, but not as many as I had been led to suppose. There is a mosque near the top of it, nearly opposite Mount Moriah, and what is singular, there is a small church in the inside of the mosque. The mosque is not used at present, and was probably a part of the church formerly. The church is said to be built on the spot from which our Lord ascended; and they gravely showed us what they said was his track, or the print of his foot. We know, however, that the ascent was nearer Bethany, which lies on the east side of the mount. Luke xxiv. 38.

While the Jews chose Mount Olivet as their burying-ground, the Mohammedans love to inter their dead on Mount Moriah, outside the wall, and as near as they can to the mosque of St. Omar. They extend these interments beyond the gate of St. Stephen, as there is more room outside the walls, north of this place, for this purpose. Thus the Jews bury on Mount Olivet, the Mohammedans on Mount Moriah, and north of it along the outside of the city walls, and the Christians on Mount Zion. There may be other burying-grounds occupied by each of these classes of persons; but these appear to be the ones most in use at present.

The north and west sides are the most assailable parts of the city. The wall there runs on ground nearly level; it is, however, high and strong. The rock for making it appears to have been raised from a space twenty or thirty feet outside the wall, and thus a pretty deep ditch has been formed, which gives much strength to the wall as a means of defence. There is north of the city an extensive grove of olives, and a few other trees. It seems to me almost certain, that the city must once have extended farther north and north-west. The old ruins and cisterns indicate that buildings have extended in that direction.

I had often heard of the Sepulchres of the Kings, and took this occasion to visit them. They are about a mile north-west of the city wall. Instead of being on the side of a hill as I expected, I found them on a level part of the plain. That part of the plain, as indeed is usual, is based on a horizontal stratum of rock. At this place the rock is more firm and compact than usual. A space, perhaps forty feet square, has been cut down fifteen or twenty feet, perhaps originally twenty-five or thirty feet, and the whole of the rock removed, leaving the sides regular and smooth, like the walls of a house. Parallel to the south side, and at the distance of eight or ten feet, a graduated road has been made fifteen or twenty feet wide, on a moderate descent, which brings it down near the south-east corner, to nearly the same level with the floor within. A noble archway is hewn through this wall, wide enough to admit three or four men abreast. The whole is evidently much filled up—enough remains to show that it was well planned and well executed.

Within this house-like place that I have described, and at the western side, about eight feet of the upper part is covered with sculpture of various kinds, wrought on the face of the rock. It is rich, and of admirable execution. The part under this is hewn away, and a kind of portico made, twenty feet long, ten or twelve feet wide, and twelve feet high. I give these as the probable dimensions, as I did not measure them. At the south end of this portico, the rubbish, which had accumulated several feet, has been removed, and an opening was found cut through the solid rock. Only so much of the rubbish was removed as would enable a person, by creeping, to enter. After creeping a few feet, we entered a room of considerable size, say twelve feet square. From this room doorways opened to another room, and from this to others; most of them on the same level, but some of the passages lead to rooms below, and, in one place, the hollow sound which the floor gave clearly showed that there were yet other excavations beneath. These rooms had niches all around for receiving the dead.

Originally these doorways had stone doors, with stone hinges. The place for hanging the doors was obvious, and we saw several of the broken doors made of a single stone slab. In one of the inner rooms we saw some richly carved covers of a sarcophagus; the sarcophagus itself was gone. The door of this room was lying there nearly entire; it was richly carved, and wrought in a kind of panel-work. The stone hinges were like those wooden hinges which we often meet with in cabins, stables, &c. On one side of the stone a piece is left at both ends to project out a few inches; holes are cut in the doorway of such a size as will receive these projections, the upper one made deep, the door put in, and made to turn on these points. These tombs, although called the Tombs of the Kings, are not believed to have been the place where the kings of Judah were interred. We are told that they were usually buried in the city of David,—that is, on Mount Zion. 2 Chron. xxiv. 16. We know not why they are so called; possibly because they are the most remarkable sepulchres that are known in the vicinity.

Learning that at the distance of a mile or two to the north-west, on the same plain, there was a remarkable set of sepulchres, called the Sepulchre of the Judges, we concluded to visit them also. There are extensive beds of rock in this part of the plain, and in many places its upper surface is six, eight, and ten feet above the level of the soil. The rock is softer than that at the sepulchre of the kings, being of that soft, friable limestone, which, from the ease with which it is worked, is so much used in building. I could see that in all directions it had been quarried and removed.

Advantage was taken of a place where the rock rose eight or ten feet above the ground. It was cut so as to make a plain, smooth front. Then a little porch-like place is hewn out, not unlike that described at the sepulchre of the kings, the rock being left above for a cover. A door was then cut in, with some rich carving over it. This led into a large room, around which were a number of niches for depositing the dead. Doorways opened at the three sides to other rooms, and around these were niches—from these again to others. Passing down through a hole in the corner of the first large room, we found that there was one under it of nearly the same size. It was in a less finished state than any of the others. It is usually said, that there are seventy or seventy-two of those niches for corpses—the number of judges in the Jewish sanhedrim. We could not make out that number. We found sixty-eight or sixty-nine, if my memory be correct.

Many ruins are to be seen on this plain to the north and north-west of the city. There are many olive-trees scattered over it; and wherever the massy, compact limestone rises to a height and size that will admit of it, you are almost sure to see tombs cut in it.

There are several pools in the city. About half way from the Jaffa gate to the church of the Holy Sepulchre there is one of large dimensions; it is surrounded by houses, and is, I think, called the pool of Hezekiah.

An aqueduct can in part be traced from the upper Gihon to the city in the direction of this pool, and possibly it may be the work of Hezekiah, mentioned in 2 Chron. xxxii. 30. "He stopped the upper water-course of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David."

The pool of Bethesda lies near the gate of St. Stephen, and almost adjoining the large open square, on which the mosque of St. Omar now stands. It is now dry, and has not the appearance of often having water in it. It is a small place. Several arched places are shown at one end, as a part of the five porches mentioned in the Gospel.

In truth, Jerusalem is badly, very badly supplied with water. Most of the houses have cisterns for rain water, but there is but little of good spring or running water. The fountain of Siloam, which is small and not good, is the only spring I have seen in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Water is brought in for the use of the mosque of St. Omar in pipes from the pools of Solomon, not I think for general use.

The streets of Jerusalem are narrow and filthy; the houses have an old and weather-beaten appearance. There is one peculiarity about them which is rather singular. I saw something of it at Jaffa and at Rumla. The dome roof is almost universal. To me it has a pretty appearance, and is a much better defence against rain than the flat roofs which are so universal at Beyroot, and all the towns and villages in the northern part of Syria.

This mission find their chief employment in distributing books and conversing with the people, and find a good deal to encourage them in their work. There is an increasing disposition among the Mohammedans to have intercourse with them, and to converse with them on the subject of religion. This is a promising circumstance.