There was one with a droll but merry countenance, who told stories and per- Instrupetrated jokes, to the infinite amusement of the audience, and now and then he mental

music.

KAMANJEH, AND PERFORMER ON IT.

PART

IV.

played with spasmodic jerks and ludicrous grimaces upon an instrument called kamanjeh. There were also players on the guitar, and one of them had a very large instrument of this kind, over whose chords his nimble fingers swept, at times, like magic. The notes are much louder than those of an Italian guitar.

904

Music of

the

country.

MODE OF PLAYING THE 'OOD.

The Greeks, and especially the Albanians, manage this 'ood with the greatest skill. They have a small kind, which they take with them in their extemporaneous pic-nics, and on the shady bank of some murmuring brook they will sit by the hour and sing to its soft and silvery note.

But the most popular of all music in this country are the derbekkeh, the tambourine or deff, and the nŭkkairat or kettle-drum, with cymbals, castanets, and the clapping of hands. At weddings, birth-days, and all other festal

DEFY TAMBOURINE.

CASTANETS

XLIV.

gatherings, this is their chief entertainment; and they will beat the derbek- CHAPTER keh, thrum the deff, rattle the castanets, and clap their hands in concert, without weariness or intermission, until long after midnight.

I attempted to look into the Temple area this morning, at the pool inside of Temple St. Stephen's Gate, but was rudely ordered away by some loungers within. area. This is the only instance in which I have been insulted during my walks about Jerusalem.

Omar.

The Moslems have become suddenly very fanatical in regard to this holy Mosque of Harem, owing in part to the injudicious behaviour of travellers. In company with a large party I was taken in by the British consul, and the old sheikh of the Harem treated us with great respect, showing everything about the Mosque without reserve, and allowing us afterward to ramble as we pleased in the vaults below, and over the area above, without any surveillance whatever.

We entered by a small rude door near the north-west corner of the area, and walked in our ordinary shoes to the raised stoa upon which the Mosque of Omar stands. Here we put on red morocco shoes, purchased from the bazaars for the purpose, and kept them on until we left the Mosque of El Aksa.

Mosque of

The first thing that struck me within the enclosure of the Harem was its The great size. It contains about thirty-five acres more or less; for, owing to irre- Harem, or gularities in its outline and boundaries, it is not possible to arrive at entire Omar. accuracy. It is about 1500 feet on the east side, 1600 on the west, 1000 on the north, and 900 on the south end. This large enclosure undoubtedly takes in, on the north, the whole area of the Castle of Antonia. I noticed that the rock on the north-west corner had been cut away, leaving a perpendicular face, in some parts at least twenty feet high.

The surface is not a perfect level, but declines in various directions. From the entrance we walked over smooth bare rock, descending rapidly toward the south-east, then rose over green sward to the foot of the stoa, which may be elevated about twelve feet at the north end. There is also a large descent southward from the Mosque of Omar to El Aksa, and on the east side there is quite a depression at the Golden Gate.

ing.

The stoa is not paved with marble, as has been often stated, but with slabs The build. of the ordinary flagging-stone of this country. We have admirable drawings of the Mosque of Omar and its surroundings, and from them one obtains a good idea of the whole affair. The pen-pictures are immensely over-drawn, and the coloured views are glaring exaggerations. Externally, at the base, the edifice is an octagon of about one hundred and seventy feet diameter, each of the eight sides being sixty-seven feet long. There are four doors at the opposite cardinal points. The dome is sustained by four great piers, and has twelve arches, which rest on columns. There are also many other columns with arches which mark off the inner aisles. But you can study the details of this curious edifice in the works of Williams, Catherwood, Bartlett, Fergusson, and many others, if you have a desire to do so. Dr. Richardson's account of what