these two principles, we were able to arrive at many results that to us were new and unexpected; and it is these results alone, which give a value (if any it have) to the present work.

In Jerusalem itself, circumstances favoured our determination. The presence of our countrymen and friends enabled us to live aloof from the convents, and pursue our inquiries with entire independence; a privilege which all travellers cannot command.' During the whole time of our sojourn in the Holy City, it so happened that I never entered the Latin convent, nor spoke with a monk. This neglect was not however intentional; for I several times made an appointment to visit the convent, and my companion was there repeatedly. Once only we visited together the great convent of the Armenians, to call upon an English friend who was residing there; and we took this opportunity to look at the richly decorated, but tawdry church of St. James connected with it, which former travellers have sufficiently described. Among the Arab population our inquiries were frequent and minute; and they were answered with kindness and often with good fruit. Yet, as might have been expected, we found less of new information among the Arabs in the Holy City itself, than in other parts of the country. The names of the chief natural features in and around Jerusalem, have been so long and in general so correctly fixed, and have become so familiar to the Christian ear, that whether adopted by the Arabs or not, the Christian traveller involuntarily employs them. Especially is this the case, where the ancient appellation has been dropped by the common people. Thus, who

1) The Latin convent has in former years erected a building, the Casa nuova, expressly for the entertainment of travellers and stran

gers. This is a great convenience in such a city, where inns are unknown; and most travellers are compelled to avail themselves of it.

would abandon the hallowed name of the Mount of Olives, for that of Jebel et-Tûr? or Bethany, for el'Azarîyeh? In like manner the names of the Vallies of Jehoshaphat or the Kidron and of Hinnom, have become so fixed in Christian usage, that we even forgot at the time to inquire, whether the Arabs now give them a different appellation.'

After these preliminary observations, the reader will be prepared to judge for himself of the following description and details of the Holy City and its antiquities. This account contains nothing but what we ourselves saw, or what we learned on native authority; and is wholly drawn out from our notes written down upon the spot;2 together with such historical notices as I have been able to collect. The convents and churches and mosks have been described time and again by other travellers; and the traditions of the church and of the monks lie before the Christian world in hundreds of tomes of every size, from the ponderous folios of Quaresmius down to the spruce duodecimos of the Modern Traveller. We did not particularly examine these objects; and therefore I do not describe them.

In respect to those points in which the following account may seem to be at variance with those of former travellers, I have only to say, that we always aimed at the truth according to the best of our ability; and the public must judge of the degree of credit due to our assertions. To point out discrepancies and refute the errors of others, would be a thankless task; and therefore, except in a few special cases, I leave these matters to the consideration and judgment of those who are interested in such researches.

1) Since the above remark was written, I have ascertained that the Arabs employ the same names, viz. Wady Kidron or Yehoshâfat, and Wady Jehennam.

2) I must here except the notices kindly communicated to me since my return by Mr. Catherwood.

I. GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY.

Jerusalem, now called by the Arabs el-Kuds, "the Holy," and also by Arabian writers Beit el-Mukdis or Beit el-Mukaddas, "the Sanctuary," lies near the summit of a broad mountain ridge. This ridge or mountainous tract extends without interruption, from the plain of Esdraelon to a line drawn between the South end of the Dead Sea and the S. E. corner of the Mediterranean; or more properly, perhaps, it may be regarded as extending as far South as to Jebel 'Arâif in the desert; where it sinks down at once to the level of the great western plateau. This tract, which is everywhere not less than from twenty to twenty-five geographical miles in breadth, is in fact high uneven table land. It everywhere forms the precipitous western wall of the great valley of the Jordan and the Dead Sea; while towards the West it sinks down by an offset into a range of lower hills, which lie between it and the great plain along the coast of the Mediterranean. The surface of this upper region is everywhere rocky, uneven, and mountainous; and is moreover cut up by deep vallies which run East or West on either side towards the Jordan or the Mediterranean. The line of division, or water-shed, between the waters of these vallies,-a term which here applies almost exclusively to the waters of the rainy season,-follows for the most part the height of land along the ridge; yet not so but that the heads of the vallies which run off in different directions, often interlap for a considerable distance. Thus, for example, a valley which descends to the Jordan often has

1) Abulfed. Syr. ed. Köhler, p. 9. Edrîsi ed. Jaubert I. p. 341. Freytag Lex. Arab. III. p. 408.Edrisi also once gives it the name

Aurashalim, which is said to be sometimes used by the native Christians; 1. c. p. 345.

its head a mile or two westward of the commencement of other vallies, which run to the western sea.

From the great plain of Esdraelon onwards towards the South, the mountainous country rises gradually, forming the tract anciently known as the mountains of Ephraim and Judah; until in the vicinity of Hebron it attains an elevation of nearly 3,000 Paris feet above the level of the Mediterranean Sea. Further North, on a line drawn from the North end of the Dead Sea towards the true West, the ridge has an elevation of only about 2,500 Paris feet; and here, close upon the water-shed, lies the city of Jerusalem.1 Its mean geographical position is in Lat. 31° 46′ 43′′ N. and Long. 35° 13′ E. from Greenwich.2

Six or seven miles N. and N. W. of the city is spread out the open plain or basin round about el-Jîb (Gibeon), extending also towards el-Bîreh (Beeroth); the waters of which flow off at its S. E. part through the deep valley here called by the Arabs Wady Beit Hanîna; but to which the monks and travellers have usually given the name of the Valley of Turpentine,

The adjacent hills are two or three hundred feet higher.-The height of the Mount of Olives, according to Schubert, is 2555 Paris feet.

1) According to Schubert's measurements, the town of Hebron has an elevation of 2664 feet. Russegger gives the same at 2842 feet. 2) The Latitude here given is the mean of four observations, viz. 31° 46′ 34′′ Reisebeschr. Bd. III. Anh. S. 116. 31 47 47 Zach's Monatl. Corr. XVIII. S. 542. 31 46 46 Comm. by Sec. of R. Geogr. Soc. Lond. Moore and Beke 31 45 45 Journ. of R. Geogr. Soc. Lond. Vol. VII. 1837. p. 456.

Niebuhr

Seetzen
Capt. Corry

Mean 31° 46′ 43′′

differing only 3" from Corry, and 9" from Niebuhr.

The Longitude is that found by Capt. Corry from a lunar observation in 1818, kindly communicated by the Sec. of the R. Geogr. Soc. London. This is the only tolerable observation yet made for the Longitude. Seetzen indeed observed imperfectly at three different times; but his results vary more than a degree from each other.

The middle one is 32° 46' E. from Paris, or 35° 6' 24" E. from Greenwich. See Zach's Monatl. Corr. XVIII. S. 544. Berghaus has 32° 53′ 09" E. Paris: 35° 13′ 33′′ E. Greenwich; a casual approximation deduced from a comparison of Itineraries from Yâfa. Memoir zu seiner Karte von Syrien, pp. 28,

29.

or of the Terebinth, on the mistaken supposition that it is the ancient Valley of Elah.' This great valley passes along in a S. W. direction an hour or more West of Jerusalem; and finally opens out from the mountains into the western plain, at the distance of six or eight hours S. W. from the city, under the name of Wady es-Surâr. The traveller on his way from Ramleh to Jerusalem, descends into and crosses this deep valley at the village of Kulônieh on its western side, an hour and a half from the latter city. On again reaching the high ground on its eastern side, he enters upon an open tract sloping gradually downwards towards the East; and sees before him, at the distance of about two miles, the walls and domes of the Holy City, and beyond them the higher ridge or summit of the Mount of Olives.

The traveller now descends gradually towards the city along a broad swell of ground, having at some distance on his left the shallow northern part of the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and close at hand on his right the basin which forms the beginning of the Valley of Hinnom. Further down, both these vallies become deep, narrow, and precipitous; that of Hinnom bends South and again East nearly at right angles, and unites with the other; which then continues its course to the Dead Sea. Upon the broad and elevated promontory within the fork of these two vallies, lies the Holy City. All around are higher hills; on the East, the Mount of Olives; on the South, the Hill of Evil Counsel, so called, rising directly from the Vale of Hinnom; on the West, the ground rises gently, as above described, to the borders of the great Wady; while on the North, a bend of the ridge connected with the Mount of Olives, bounds the prospect at the distance of more than a mile. Towards the S. W. the

1) 1 Sam. xvii. 2, 19.