part of the hill; a second passes up more circuitously to the left, where the hill retires a little and has a more gradual slope; and the third winds up along the face further South. The sides of the mountain are still sprinkled with olive-trees, though not thickly, as was probably the case of old; and a few other trees are occasionally seen. I took the middle path, which brought me out at the church of the Ascension and the mosk, situated on the summit.' Around them are a few huts, forming a miserable village. Here one is able to look down upon the city and survey at least the roofs of the houses. The view may be said indeed to be a very full one; but it is not particularly interesting. It presents a dull mixed mass of roofs and domes; but the distance is too great to be able to distinguish the buildings or the topography of the city any good degree. A more pleasing view is obtained from various points lower down the side of the mountain. in From the church on the summit, only the city and the western prospect are visible; the eastern view being cut off by a higher part or ridge of the hill some twenty or thirty rods further East, with a Wely or tomb of a Muslim saint upon it. From this Wely one obtains a commanding view of the northern end and portion of the Dead Sea, and also of the adjacent country, including a large part of the valley of the Jordan, as well as the naked dreary region lying between Jerusalem and Jericho, and between Bethlehem and the Dead Sea. The course of the river Jordan could be traced by the narrow strip of verdure which clothes 1) The various supposed sites of scriptural events, which the monks have fixed upon the side of the Mount of Olives, may be seen in Maundrell, Prokesch (p. 80), and other travellers.-Edrisi speaks of a large church on the ac clivity, called Pater Noster; p. 344, ed. Jaubert. This is probably the same mentioned by Sir J. Maundeville, as on or near the spot where Jesus taught his disciples the Lord's prayer; p. 96. Lond. 1839. its banks. Beyond its valley, the eastern mountains stretch off northward and southward in a long even ridge, apparently unbroken. They present to the view, as here seen, no single peak or separate summit, which could be taken for the Nebo of the Scriptures. At a considerable distance N. of Jericho, indeed, a loftier summit is seen, forming the highest point of the mountains of Gilead, just North of es-Salt; but this could not have been Nebo. The atmosphere was at the time perfectly clear, and the waters of the Dead Sea lay bright and sparkling in the sunbeams, seemingly not more than eight or ten miles distant, though actually much further off. I unfortunately neglected to look for Kerak, which would doubtless have been visible in so clear a day. When we sought for it in a later visit, the haziness of the atmosphere prevented us from distinguishing it.— Towards the W. and N. W. the view extends to the Terebinth Valley so called, and the high point and mosk of Neby Samwîl. I returned down the mount by the more southern path; from which a branch led me across the Jewish cemetery to the Tombs of Absalom and Zechariah so called, at the bottom of the valley, just under the S. E. corner of the wall of the mosk and city. Here is the narrowest part of the valley. Close by the tombs is a well, which then had water, though it seemed not to be used; and here is also another bridge of stone over the torrent-bed with a fine arch. From this point a rugged foot-path ascends towards St. Stephen's Gate; entering which, I returned home by the Via dolorosa. JEWS' PLACE OF WAILING, ETC. In the afternoon of the same day, I went with Mr. Lanneau to the place where the Jews are permitted to purchase the right of approaching the site of their temple, and of praying and wailing over its ruins and the downfall of their nation. The spot is on the western exterior of the area of the great mosk, considerably South of the middle; and is approached only by a narrow crooked lane, which there terminates at the wall in a very small open place. The lower part of the wall is here composed of the same kind of ancient stones, which we had before seen on the eastern side. Two old men, Jews, sat there upon the ground, reading together in a book of Hebrew prayers. On Fridays they assemble here in greater numbers. It is the nearest point in which they can venture to approach their ancient temple; and fortunately for them, it is sheltered from observation by the narrowness of the lane and the dead walls around. Here, bowed in the dust, they may at least weep undisturbed over the fallen glory of their race; and bedew with their tears the soil, which so many thousands of their forefathers once moistened with their blood. This touching custom of the Jews is not of modern origin. Benjamin of Tudela mentions it, as connected apparently with the same spot, in the twelfth century; and very probably the custom has come down from still earlier ages. After the capture of Jerusalem under Adrian, the Jews were excluded from the city; and it was not till the age of Constantine that they were permitted to approach, so as to behold Jerusalem from the neighbouring hills.2 At length they were allowed to enter the city once a year, on the day on which it was taken by Titus, in order to wail over the ruins of the temple. But this privilege they were 1) Benj. de Tud. par Baratier I. p. 90. 2) Sulpic. Sev. Hist. Sacr. II. 45. Euseb. Chron. Also Euseb. in Psalm. ed. Montfauc. p. 267, 382. obliged to purchase of the Roman soldiers.-According to Benjamin, as above cited, the Jews in his day regarded this portion of the wall as having belonged to the court of the ancient temple. Turning back somewhat from this spot, and threading our way through other narrow lanes with sharp corners, and then through a tract planted with the prickly-pear, we came to the S. W. corner of the area of the great mosk, where the wall is quite high. Around this corner is an open level plat of ground, which was now ploughed, extending to the city-wall on the South. This latter, which here runs from W. to E. is low on the inside, but high on the outside; forming a high offset between the level plat above and the open fields further South. Further East this wall turns North at a right angle and unites with the southern wall of the area of the mosk, about one third of the way from its S. W. to the S. E. corner. stones in the lower part of the wall of the area at the S. W. corner, are of immense size; and on the western side, at first view, some of them seem to have been started from their places, as if the wall had burst and was about to fall down. We paid little attention to this appearance at the time; but subsequent examination led here to one of our most interesting discoveries. South of this corner, in the city-wall, and near the bed or channel of the Tyropoeon, is a small gate now closed up. This the monks in their zeal to find an application for all scriptural names, have honoured (or dishonoured) with the name of the Dung Gate; al 1) Münter l. c. Hieron. in Zephan. c. i. 15, “Et, ut ruinam suae eis flere liceat civitatis, pretio redimunt; ut qui quondam emerant sanguinem Christi, emant lacrymas suas. Et ne fletus quidem eis gratuitus sit; videas in die quo capta est a Romanis et diruta Je The rusalem, venire populum lugubrem.... plangere ruinas templi sui; et miles mercedem postulat, ut illis flere plus liceat."-See also Gregor. Nazianz. Orat. XII. Valesii Annot. in Euseb. Hist. Ecc. IV. 6. though neither the ancient gate of that name, nor the ancient wall, could have been anywhere in this vicinity. The present city-wall is built for the most part with a breast work; that is, the exterior face is carried up several feet higher than the interior part of the wall, leaving a broad and convenient walk along the top of the latter for the accommodation of the defenders. This is protected by the parapet or breastwork, which has battlements and loopholes. There are also flights of steps to ascend or descend at convenient distances on the inside. Mounting upon the city-wall in this manner near the area of the mosk, we kept along over the Dung Gate so called, and up Mount Zion, passing a well with water on the way; and then descending from the wall near the Gate of Zion, we returned home through the Jews' quarter on the N. E. slope of the same hill. UPPER POOL, GIHON, ETC. In the afternoon of the following day, (Thursday, April 19th,) Messrs. Smith and Nicolayson and myself took a short walk to look at the ground and objects West and Northwest of the Yâfa Gate, and along the road to Yâfa. We went first to the large tank lying in the basin which forms the head of the Valley of Hinnom, or more properly perhaps of the Valley of Gihon; since this would seem to be the quarter to which that name of old belonged. The tank was now dry; but in the rainy season it becomes full; and its waters are then conducted by a small rude aqueduct or channel to the vicinity of the Yâfa Gate, and so to the Pool of Hezekiah within the city. The tract around this tank, especially towards the N. E. is occupied as a Muslim cemetery, the largest around the |