CHAPTER XXIV.

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM.

WE had appointed this morning for our return to Jerusalem, and my little alarm-clock has again set Jericho in motion. The temperature is forty-nine degrees, and the sky threatens rain. At fifteen minutes past seven o'clock we are on the way; and, having taken all the observations we thought necessary, we press on rapidly. The rain has been falling plenteously, and ever and anon the cold wind sweeps down the valleys.

On entering Bethany everything is ruinous, desolate, and in dirt; and nothing but the general country is interesting. On the top of the hill, on the left of the road through the village, is an old mosque, very uninviting on approach, but beautiful in the distance. There are walls and trees, and the appearance of gardens on the left which depend for their existence upon the terraces, which in some places are already broken. This is the city of Mary and Martha,the Bethany of the present day. It appears to me impossible that it should have been thus in the time of the Saviour. The Christian principle, it would seem, would have made one clean and comfortable spot in the village, especially if (as some suppose) it was the city, in point of property, of Lazarus and Mary. Their residences, at least, would have formed an exception to the present appearance. Now everything overruns with mud, is suffocated with impure air and filth, and oppresses one with the sense of how far our humanity can sink.

On passing over the Mount of Olives, at thirty minutes

past eleven, there was a genuine hail-storm, the thermometer standing at forty-six degrees; and in fifteen minutes I dismount at the door of our convent-home. I had the expectation during my cold journey that when at the convent I should soon change my wet clothing, and by the aid of fire" dry off" and be comfortable, especially in our little room. This somewhat increased my desire to hasten homeward. But what a disappointment! Everything is cold, damp, and clammy within the rain drops through the ceiling and stains my clothes and bed. Without, the thermometer has sunk to forty-one degrees-the coldest weather we have yet experienced in the land—and again the hail is falling. The difference of temperature between this place and the Jordan is quite perceptible without the aid of the thermometer.

Taking advantage of a slight cessation in the showers, I walked out to a projection of the Mount of Zion, which is across the little valley at the south-west corner of the temple-area. The celebrated remains of the bridge which once connected Mount Zion with the present Haram grounds spring from the south-west corner of the wall of the grounds of the Mosque of Omar. Here, and on the south-east corner of the city, are the largest stones, which still retain their position in the wall apparently as they were in the time of the Saviour. But there is an impression resulting from a comparison of the level of the grounds of the mosque with the ascent of this bridge, which is worthy of attention. It is, that the present level of the Haram grounds could not have been much lower than at present, and those structures of the temple found at present to exist under ground were undoubtedly the foundation-cells and arches of the previous structures, and not, as some suppose, once above the ground. It is not reasonable to think that any new stones would have been introduced to make the new walls and buildings; and hence the stones in this place would have been used and not permitted to accumulate to any great depth. In some places this might have been

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otherwise, especially where there were previous ruins or depressions, as has been proved near the foundation of the English church near the Tower of Hippicus. In some parts of the city the ruins reach down many feet, whereas in others evidently there are none, and there the buildings are on foundations free from any rubbish. If the ground could be laid clear of all ruins whatever, the general configuration would doubtless be greatly altered, and some questions have additional light thrown upon them which never can be obtained till such uncoverings or excavations are made. The width of the arch of the bridge was about forty-eight feet, one stone in which seems to have been fractured, and previously to have measured nearly thirty feet in length. One is about six feet in thickness. This bridge is supposed to have been referred to among other wonders of Solomon's time, when it is said that the Queen of Sheba saw "the ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord" (1 Kings x. 5; 2 Chron. ix. 4). Near the bridge is the Mosque el Aksa with a dome, presenting externally more of the appearance of a red-stained factory than that of a mosque.

In the hollow, over which the ancient bridge passed to Mount Zion, there are plants of the prickly pear, often described, but which at this time of the year (January) has no thorn, though the leaves are as large as any previously seen. This little valley is the Valley of the Cheesemongers, the Tyropoon of Josephus. Here coins are frequently picked up after showers by the children who search for them. Quite a number of these coins were exhibited to me by Dr. Barclay, of Jerusalem, one of which was only a little over one-quarter of an inch in diameter and weighed ten grains, and yet not much corroded, though the figures were almost illegible, from imperfect stamping. A coin of "Herod the Ethnarch"-probably from this valley, or not far off has been shown me. Archelaus, who "reigned in the room of his father Herod" (Matt. ii. 22), was called ethnarch, yet such was the character of Herod the Great