nation; that where he was scourged, and the crown of thorns placed on his head; that where he was mailed to the cross, &c. We saw the fissure in the rock which was rent by the earthquake at the time he gave up the ghost, together with the place where the soldiers cast lots for his garments, and the spot where his body was embalmed. The whole of this very extensive building, in which the Greeks, Latins, Armenians, and Copts, have each respectively a chapel, stands on Mount Calvary. We visited each of these chapels. Near to that which was built by St. Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, in commemoration of the finding of the cross on which our Saviour was crucified, we saw the cavern which was formerly the grand reservoir of water, that contained the cross. In the middle of the Greek chapel stands a marble basin fixed on the ground, which the Greek priests told us was not only placed in the centre of the pile of buildings, but in the centre of the universe. This beautiful chapel is built of yellow and white marble; and several of the columns are of verd antique. We next proceeded to the chapel where Mary visited Jesus, the pavement of which is of beautiful marble, inlaid and ornamented with much taste. In the course of our inquiries we saw the tomb of Baldwin, governor of Jerusalem, who was killed during the crusades. The beauty and grandeur of these buildings do great credit to the age in which they were executed. Over the gate which led us to the elegant structure, erected by the order of St. Helena, in which the holy se we pulchre, and the memorable spots I have noticed above, are enclosed, saw the vestiges of several pieces of fine sculpture, together with a considerable number of marble and granite columns, of the Corinthian order, and other architectural decorations. The Armenian church, a fine and elegant structure, was ornamented by several good scriptural paintings. The fathers pointed out to us the spot where the head of St. James was deposited, after he had been decapitated at Caissa. We rose at five in the morning of the 18th, and went to the chapel, where mass was performing. We breakfasted shortly after, and at seven o'clock left Jerusalem on our way to Bethlem, accompanied by the superior and several of the monks belonging to the Latin convent, in which we had taken up our residence. On our quitting the city, we passed Mount Sion, on which the walls of the city are partly built, and which is separated by a valley from the hill where Judas Iscariot sold Jesus for thirty pieces of money. The road winds over a part of this hill. After an hour's journey, we reached a convent built by St. Helena, from whence we had a view of Bethlem, the road leading to which is extremely rocky, and of a very dreary appearance. On approaching, the Dead Sea was in our view. Bethlem stands on a lofty mountain, the soil of which abounds in chalk and marl. The inhabitants came out to welcome us on the road; and this was done by the women, by a most hideous shrieking noise, accompanied by gestures and distortions, which it would be difficult to describe. On our passage through through the streets, the houses were thronged with people. As we approached the convent, in which we were received with great hospitality, we passed beneath the ruins of an ancient gateway, and afterwards entered a lofty building, erected by St. Helena, anciently styled the temple, but now the convent of St. Catharine. It is ornamented with at least fifty lofty and beautiful columns of marble, of the Corinthian order; and has on its walls the remains of several fine paintings in fresco of scriptural subjects, representing the apostles, patriarchs, &c. The beauty and symmetry of the temple have been in some measure destroyed by a portion of it, which they have converted into a chapel, having been divided off by the Greeks, who received permission from the Turks to do so, on their consenting to pay an annual contribution. After having partaken of an excellent breakfast provided by the superior of the convent, we went to see the three surprising basins built by Solomon, near to which he is said to have spent much of his time. The pools, or basins of Solomon, are three in number, and situated in a sloping hollow of the mountain, one above another; so that the waters of the uppermost descend into the second, and those of the second the third. Their figure is quadrangular. The breadth is nearly the same in all, amounting to between eighty and ninety paces. In their length they differ; the first being about 160 paces long, the second 200, and the third 220. The depth of each is considerable. They are lined with stone, plaster ed, and in a tolerable state of repair. They contained, however, but little water when I visited them. The monks, by whom we were accompanied, considered these pools or basins, as one of the greatest antiquities in the country. They are distant two hours jour ney from Bethlem; and the road which leads to them, consisting entirely of rocks, is almost impracti cable. These basins supplied the inhabitants of Bethlem and Jerusalem with water by means of aqueducts, which appeared, however, at the time of our visit, to be somewhat out of repair. In the vicinity of the pools we noticed a Turkish fort; and, not far from it, the source or spring, by which the basins are supplied with water, as well as by the rains which cocasionally fall upon the neighbouring mountains during the winter sea as every other interesting particular, pointed out to us. The manger was, for the same reason as the sepulchre, cased over with marble, to prevent the pilgrims from mutilating it, and carrying off with them fragments of such precious relics. We were afterwards conducted to a variety of memorable spots, and, among them, to the deep and immensely large cistern, into which the bodies of the infants, murdered by the command of Herod, were thrown. Near to this cistern the tomb of St. Jerome was situated. The convent of St. Catharine, in which at one time twenty monks resided, but the number of whom was now reduced to eight, and the Greek and Armenian convents, being all of them within the same walls and enclosure, so as to constitute one large and entire building only, all the ever memorable places within Bethlem which the sacred writings have recorded, are in this way built over and preserved. The inhabitants of Bethlem consist, for the greater part, of Greeks, Armenians, and Arabs converted to Christianity. Among its population but few Turks are to be found. The dress of the men, like that of the neighbouring peasants, is extremely simple, and consists of a long white chemise, or frock, with a girdle fastened round the waist. Very few of the poorer sort, whether males or females, wear shoes. The women are dressed in a blue chemise, with a cotton belt or girdle, and cover the head with a long white veil, which flows loosely down the back. Their complexion is very dark, approaching almost to black. They are very laborious, and submit to every de scription of drudgery. They are betrothed as soon as they come into the world; and marry at the early age of twelve years. Bethlem standing on an eminence, and on a chalky soil, is justly considered by the inhabitants as possessing a very salubrious air; in proof of which I observed but few among them who had a sickly appearance. There were indeed some cases of ophthalmia, but very rare. The sides of the mountain on which this town is situated were, as well as the summit, interspersed with fine vineyards, banked in with stones, which must have cost a prodigious labour to the cultivators. The grapes they yielded were res markably large, and finely flavoured. In addition to these we saw figs, pomegranates, and an abundance of olives, on which fruits the inhabitants in a great measure subsist. In the vallies some corn is produced; and the bread made from it is of an excellent quality. The dews, which fall in great abundance, are highly favourable to the vegetation in general. On the 19th, at eleven in the morning, we left the convent at Jerusalem, on our way to the Mount of Olives, situated at about a mile's distance from the walls of the city. Our attention was then directed to the sepulchres of the kings, which the monks consider as the third wonder in that part of the world. To inspect them, we entered at the east side, through an opening cut out of the solid rock, which brought us into a spacious court of about forty paces square, cut down into the rock, with which it is encompassed instead of walls. On the south side of this court there is a portico, nine paces long, and about four broad, in like manner hewn out of the natural rock. It has a kind of architrave running along its front, and although time has certainly deprived it of some of its beauties, yet it still exhibits the remains of excellent sculpture of flowers, fruits, &c. On the left hand within this portico, we entered a small aperture upon our knees and hands; the passage was become difficult on account of the accumulation of rubbish collected at its mouth. We reached at the commencement a large square chamber, cut with great neatness and exactness out of the solid rock. From this chamber we entered a second, which led to several more, five or six in all, one within the other, nearly of the same description as the first, except that in the interior chambers there were niches or sepulchres, for the reception of the dead. Each of these caverns or chambers had niches for four, six, or eight bodies. The mutilated portions of the sarcophagi, ornamented with fine sculpture, lay scattered upon the ground, as well as the fragments of the stone doors by which these chambers had been anciently closed. The lid of one of the sarcophagi, seven feet in length, having on it grapes, leaves, acorns, and various other devices, very beautifully sculptured, was in an entire state. A door of one of the chambers was still hanging. It consisted of a mass of solid stone, resembling the rock itself, of about six inches in thickness, but in size less than an ordinary door. It turned upon the hinges contrived in the manner of axles. These hinges were of the same entire piece of stone with the door, and were received into two holes of the immovable rock, one at the top, the other at the bottom. In some of these chambers the dead bodies were laid upon benches of stone; others had sepulchres cut in the form of ovens. In the different chambers which I entered, I imagine from forty to fifty bodies might have been deposited. Whether the kings of Israel or of Judah, or any other kings, were the construc tors of them, they have certainly been contrived with infinite ingemunity,and completed with immense labour. Having withdrawn from these interesting mausolei, or caverns, we proceeded to the sepulchres of the Virgin Mary, of her mother, and of Joseph, all of them situated in the valley of Jehoshaphat, and over which was erected a large stone building, reconstructed by the Armenians about forty years before. It was in the vicinity of this spot that St. Stephen was stoned. To reach the sepulchres, which were in the interior part of a cavern, dug from the solid rock, we had to descend a flight of forty-eight steps. The Virgin's sepulchre was lighted by lamps, which were constantly kept burning at the joint expense of the Greeks, Armenians, and Copts. I brought away with me several small pieces of the rock, cut in squares, which the inhabitants take care to provide for the gratification of the curious traveller. Contiguous to the building erected over the sepulchres, we entered a cave, in which our Saviour is said to have sweated blood. The monks by whom we were accompanied, pointed out to us several large, and apparently ancient, olive trees, which, they assured us, were in existence in the time of our Sa viour, and which stood in the front of the building. We did not presume to question their erudition on this point of natural history; but could not help admiring the attention they bestowed on them, in encompassing their roots by stones, and filling up the cavities of their decayed trunks with the same materials, for their better preservation. On our quitting this spot, we went to the Mount of Olives, a very steep hill, on the east side of Jerusalem, the valley of Jehoshaphat lying between the mount and city. On our reaching its summit, we were conducted to a small circular build ing, in which the reverend fathers pointed out to us the impression of our Saviour's foot in a stone, when he ascended into Heaven. The Christian inhabitants, when they visit the Mount of Olives, do not content themselves with saluting this cavity in the stone, but also rub on it the fragments of marble taken from the rock beneath, at the sepulchre of the Blessed Virgin. The small building erected over the place of ascension is contiguous to a Turkish mosque, and is in the possession of the Turks, who derive a profit from showing its contents; and who also subject the Christians to an annual contribution for a permission to officiate within it, according to their ritual, on Ascension-day. At the distance of about an hundred yards from the mosque is the spot where the angel appeared to Jesus, warning him to ascend, as his place was not on earth, but above; and where the apostles were assembled at the moment of his ascension. From the mosque itself we had a fine and commanding view of Jerusalem, Mount Sion, and the Dead Sea. in passing afterwards through the valley of Jehoshaphat, we were gratified by the view of several memorable spots. We saw, among others, the tombs of Absalom and Zechariah, and visited the place where the apostles concealed themselves when Jesus was led by. We were next conducted to the well of St. Barb, at the foot of Mount Sion, where the vestments of Jesus were washed; and, at an inconsiderable distance from it, inspected the wells of Nehemiah. On leaving the valley of Jehoshaphat, we passed to the right of the place where the body of the prophet Isaiah was separated into two parts. In ascending Mount Sion, we saw, on the acclivity of an opposite mountain, a building erected on the spot where Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. On reaching the summit of the mount, a church and convent, belonging to the Armenians, were pointed out to us, situated at a small distance from the entrance gate, leading to the back part of the city. It was there, the monks informed us, that the cock crew when Peter denied Christ. Without the city walls, and on Mount Sion, there is a Turkish mosque standing on the ground where king David was buried, and where our Saviour instituted the Lord's supper. RHODES HOUSE LIBRARY |