A longer and more intimate acquaintance with Jerusalem, however, does not fail to correct this too favourable impression, and demonstrate the existence and general prevalence of the poverty and even wretchedness which must result, in every country, from oppression, from the absence of trade, and the utter stagnation of all branches of industry.

Considerable activity is displayed in the bazars, which are supplied scantily, like those of other Eastern towns, with provisions, tobacco, coarse cottons, and other articles of prime necessity. A still larges business is done in beads, crosses, and other sacred trinkets, which are purchased to a vast amount by the pilgrims who annually throng the holy city. The support and even the existence of the considerable population of Jerusalem depend upon this transient patronage, a circumstance to which a great part of the prevailing poverty and degradation is justly ascribed. The worthless articles employed in this pitiful trade are, almost without exception, brought from other places, especially Hebron and Bethlehem; the former celebrated for its bawbles of glass, and the latter chiefly for rosaries, crucifixes, and other toys, made of mother-of-pearl, olivewood, black stones from the Dead Sea, &c. These are eagerly bought up by the ignorant pilgrims, sprinkled with holy water by the priests, or consecrated by some other religious mummery, and carried away in triumph, to be worn as ornaments to charm away disease and misfortune, and probably to be buried with the deluded enthusiast in his coffin, as a sure passport to eternal blessedness. With the departure of the swarms of pilgrims, however, even this poor semblance of active industry and prosperity deserts the city. With the exception of some establishments for soap-making, a tannery, and a very few weavers of coarse cottons, I could

not learn that there are any manufacturers properly be longing to the place. Agriculture is almost equally wretched, and can only give employment to a few hundred people. The masses really seem to be without any regular employment. A considerable number, especially of the Jews, professedly live on charity. Many Christian pilgrims annually find their way hither on similar resources, and the approaches to the holy places are thronged with beggars, who in piteous tones demand alms in the names of Christ and the blessed Virgin. I have made careful inquiries of intelligent gentlemen long resident here, with regard to the general condition of the people, who all agree that nearly the whole population are in abject poverty. A few Turkish officials, ecclesiastical, civil, and military; some remains of the old Mohammedan aristocracy, once powerful and rich, but now much impoverished and nearly extinct, together with a few tradesmen in easy circumstances, form almost the only exceptions to the prevailing indigence. There is not a single broker among the whole population, and not the smallest sum can be obtained on the best bills of exchange short of Jaffa or Beyrout.

After these general remarks upon the present city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants, which, being founded on observations made at various times and on information derived from several persons during my stay in Palestine, belong to no particular day, I return to my journal, and propose to describe the objects of interest in the order of my visits to them. These visits were, in most instances, frequently repeated, and I shall not hesitate to blend with the record of first impressions, made immediately upon the spot, the additional facts and reflections which were derived from subsequent opportunities.

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CHAPTER V.

Interesting Objects outside of the Walls -Reservoir by St. Stephen's Gate. -Place of St. Stephen's Martyrdom.-Bridge over Cedron.-Grotto of the Virgin.-Dimensions.-Ornaments.-Portrait of Mary.-Tombs of Joseph and Anna.-Crowd of Devotees.-Absalom's Pillar.-Tomb of Jehoshaphat.—Tomb of St. James.-Tomb of Zacharias.—Authenticity of these Monuments.-Their peculiar Style.-A Conjecture.-Extensive Jewish Cemetery on Olivet.-Style of their Monuments.-The Jews.Bridge.-Fountain of the Virgin.-Ebb and Flow of this Fountain.-Subterranean Passage.-Valley of Jehoshaphat.-Village of Siloam.-Mount of Offence.-Pool of Siloam.-The Siloam of the Bible and Josephus.Its Connexion with the Fountain of the Virgin, and with the Temple.— Hezekiah's Aqueduct.-Pool of Bethesda.-Not identical with the Fountain of the Virgin, but probably with Siloam.-Place of Isaiah's Martyrdom.-Credulity of Mohammedans.-Well of Nehemiah.-Tradition.En-rogel.-Expansion of the Valley.-King's Dale.-Course of the ancient Wall.-Aceldama.-Its Identity.-Ancient Jewish Tombs.-Tombs of the Prophets.-Mount Zion.-Valley of Hinnom.-Tophet.-Country House of Caiaphas.-Hill of Evil Counsel.-Southern Slope of Zion.Vestiges of the ancient Wall.—Wheat Fields.-Employments of Females. -Sepulchre of David.-Jewesses.-Church.-"Upper Room."-House of Mary.—Palace of Caiaphas.-Christian Cemeteries on Mount Zion.American.-Latin.-Grave of a Countryman.-Greek and Armenian Cemeteries.-Zion without the Walls.-Lower Pool of Gihon.-Ancient Reservoir.-Valley of Gihon.-Aqueduct from Solomon's Pools.-Upper Pool.-Fountain of Gihon.-Turkish Cemetery.-Conduit.-Stopping of the Fountains by Hezekiah.-The Fullers' Field.-Pool of Hezekiah.Pool of Bathsheba.-Scarcity of Water about Jerusalem.-Artificial Reservoirs. Private Cisterns.-Great Number of ancient Cisterns.-Paucity of Streams and Springs in the Land of Judah.-Scripture Allusions.The Routes of Armies.-Scene of John's Ministry.-Of Christ's.-Grotto of Jeremiah.-Mohammedan Burying-ground.-The Damascus Road.Olive-trees and Tillage.-Valley of Jehoshaphat north of the City.Vestiges of the ancient Wall.-Old Cisterns.-Tombs of the Kings.Description.-The Approach.-The Interior.-Ornaments.-Style of Architecture.-Tombs of the Judges.

APRIL 17. This day was devoted to visiting several objects of interest situated outside of the walls of Jerusalem. Passing out by Stephen's Gate, where some soldiers keep

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RESERVOIR BY ST. STEPHEN'S GATE.

watch, and a number of idlers are always congregated, I turned to the left, and, at the distance of one hundred yards or more, came to a large cistern of an ancient appearance. It is walled with stone, and lined with a cement composed of lime, sand, and gravel. The water, which did not seem to be pure or fit for drinking, is yet much used, if I may judge from the number of persons who resorted there with goatskin bottles and earthen vessels during my short stay. The steps that lead down into the reservoir are a good deal out of repair, and the water is raised by a rude windlass at the angle nearest the city gate. It is of a whitish colour, and much exposed to impurities in this open place, where the wind often carries along clouds of dust. This cistern is dependant upon the rains for its supply, and it is not easy to conjecture how the water is collected, as the form of the adjacent ground is not favourable to that object, and there is no visible channel by which it can be conducted hither from the higher grounds farther north. A subterranean channel probably exists. I heard no name for this reservoir, nor did I learn that any peculiar importance, historical or traditionary, is attached to it. I have already said that it has the appearance of being ancient, and it is interesting as a probable relique of Jewish workmanship. It is thirty-seven paces in length and thirtyone in breadth. I had no means of ascertaining the depth, and, as it was partly filled with water, there was no room for conjecture. The height of the wall above the water may have been twelve feet.

Near the path which leads from St. Stephen's Gate to the Mount of Olives, and less than half way to the bottom of Cedron, a rock is pointed out by the monks as marking the spot where St. Stephen suffered martyrdom-a transaction from which the gate derives its name. There is no certain evidence that this particular locality was the theatre of that atrocity, though it seems highly probable that it took

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place in this immediate vicinity. The council before which Stephen was arraigned held its sittings upon the grounds of the Temple, which are very near St. Stephen's Gate, on the south. He seems not to have been regularly condemned, but to have been borne away from the tribunal by an infuriated mob, impatient for his blood, and put to death as soon as they could get out of the city. The gate, which derives its name from their crime, or one which must always have occupied the same or nearly the same site, was that through which, under the circumstances, they would naturally pass, and the spot marked by the tradition was near, and as likely as any other to be selected for their purpose.

Descending to the deep, dry bed of the Brook of Cedron, and crossing the bridge, which consists of a single arch, and may be twelve feet above the channel, I turned to the left to visit the church, or, more properly, perhaps, the tomb of the Blessed Virgin. A court of considerable extent, and sunk several feet below the surface of the earth, lies before the entrance. The descent is made by fortyseven broad marble steps, each twenty-four feet in length. The church is subterranean, though some of the higher constructions are conspicuous above ground. This staircase has altars on the right and left, and a lofty arched ceiling above. The body of the church is forty paces in length, is very lofty, and has an arched ceiling. It is hung with a profusion of lamps, earthen, brass, silver, and, I think, gold, which are no less necessary than ornamental in this deep cavern.

The principal chapel is the alleged tomb of the Holy Virgin. This is lavishly decorated, but the ornament most highly prized is a picture of Mary, which is kept covered. The monk who acted as cicerone drew aside the veil for my gratification. This picture exhibits the Virgin with great strength of features and expression-a heroine rather