possibly descendants of those which stood here in the time of the Gospel. A most interesting walk can be taken from here along the Valley

of Jehoshaphat, generally known to the indigenous Christians as the Valley of the Lady Mary (Wady Sitti Maryam), because it contains the traditional tomb of the Virgin,—which skirts the eastern side of the city and the Temple enclosure. On the eastern slope of the valley are several curious sepulchral monuments, all carefully identified by tradition as the tomb of Absalom-the "pillar in the king's dale," which he reared up for himself-of Jehoshaphat of St James, and of Zachariah. The Christians take the last named to be the father of St John the Baptist, while the Jews prefer to identify him with Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, who was stoned in the court of the Temple in the days of King Joash. The Koran solves all difficulties by declaring that not only these two Zechariahs, but also Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, were in reality one and the same person. The Prophet was not strong in chronology. Beyond the tombs comes the picturesque little village of Siloam, a group

of white flat-roofed houses, perched half-way up the hill; while, almost opposite, is the entrance to the subterranean Pool of Siloam. Further on down the valley, on the road to Mar Saba, is the historic fountain of En Rogel, where Adonijah held his famous feast. We turn to the right, before reaching it, under the wild hill where tradition places the Field of Blood, and so up the Valley of Hinnom, and past the Pools of Gihon to the Jaffa Gate. Many other small excursions of interest may be made by those whose time is not limited; but for most of the places more intimately connected with the Bible story, one must go rather farther afield.

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IV.

THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERUSALEM: BETHLEHEM, BETHANY, JERICHO, AND THE DEAD SEA.

IF it could be cast up to Bethlehem in ancient days that she was little among the thousands of Judah, there could at least have been few of the rival cities that had a prettier or pleasanter site. There is something peculiarly attractive in the first view of the little white town, nestling into a nook of the hills, with the great basilica of the Nativity standing out at one end, the motherbuilding of the city, in a proud supremacy unchallenged by mosque or synagogue; for the people of Bethlehem, with few exceptions, are Christians. The scene is full of memories, too; the fields in the valley below us are those where Ruth gleaned after the reapers, and David watched

his father's sheep. There, too, those other shepherds watched many centuries later who saw the heavenly host singing glory to God in the highest; and over the road we have just travelled came those mysterious sages from the far East, whose learning had somehow opened to them the knowledge concealed from all other men but the handful of rough peasants who knelt with them by the side of the cradle. The town indeed is of little interest, but there is a cheery kindly air about the people who crowd round the carriage with smiles of welcome-and perhaps, also, of anticipated profit, for few visitors leave Bethlehem without expending ruinous sums on the wonderful mother-of-pearl work for which the place is famous. But of this we cannot yet think, before our pilgrimage is accomplished.

We had some apprehensions, as we entered the stately Greek church, that here, too, we should find an excessive wealth of ecclesiastical ornament concealing from us what we wished to see; but it was not of this that we had to complain. The Grotto of the Nativity is at least recognisable in form for what it may have been when the Holy Family were sheltered here, and

the ornamentation is in good taste. The traditional site of the Nativity is marked by a single silver star, above which hang the lamps placed there in pious emulation by the various Christian sects. Happy would it be if their rivalry could stop there, so that the devout pilgrim might be spared the sore sight of the Turkish sentinel posted over against that sacred spot. It is impossible to imagine a keener satire on Christian doctrine and Christian practice than is afforded by the spectacle of an infidel soldier standing on guard before the cradle of the Prince of Peace, to prevent his disciples from flying at each other's throats. The sentry is stationed here by the Turkish authorities—with two or three comrades within call, sitting on the steps leading to the choir of the Greek church above-not as an insult to Christian sentiment, as one is tempted to imagine at first, but as a bond fide precaution, the necessity of which has been shown. It is not so very long since, we were told, the Greek and Latin priests came actually to blows in the church; and the dormant ill-feeling which always remains between the sects, is unfortunately excited afresh by any occasion of