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stream that joins the brook Gihon, near its junction with the Kedron; but both these latter streams were dry during our visit. This lower pool is that mentioned by Josephus, under the name of "Solomon's pool ;" and by Nehemiah, as "the pool that was made."

We next turn into the valley of Hinnom, which is bounded on the north by the southern slopes of Sion, that are here cultivated and divided into olive yards and corn fields. A few caves and rockcarved vaults occur in this locality; one in particular our guide pointed out to us as the cave where Peter hid himself after the denial of his Master. The south side of the valley is steep and rugged, and gradually rises into a hill having two summits; both of which are, however, lower than that of Sion. The western of these elevations is of a remarkable conical shape, corresponding to the description given of it by the sacred historians. It has been called the Mount of Offence, because on it, it is thought were erected the high places to Ashtoreth and Molech; which Clarke supposed that he discovered in the remains of a cistern on the Mount of Olives. The locality is very likely to be that on which they were erected; for the valley immediately beneath it was long noted as a place desecrated by the idolatrous worship of Tophet and Molech. Sandys states that, from the church of the Armenians on Mount Sion, he "descended into the valley of Gehinnon, which divideth Mount Sion from the Mountain of Offence; so called, for

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PAINTED CHAMBERS.

that Solomon by the persuasion of his wives here sacrificed to Chamock and Moleck; but now by the Christians called the Mountain of Ill Council, where they say the Pharisees took council against Jesus; whose height yet shows the relics of no mean buildings."

Toward the eastern extremity of this valley, and in the side of the hill that forms the eastern elevation of the Mountain of Offence, are the sepulchres of the sons of David, that I noticed before; and also those discovered by Dr. Clarke. Among these there is one pointed out as the tomb of Isaiah, who, tradition says, was sawn asunder at the Oak Rogel, beside the well where Nehemiah is reported to have discovered the sacred fire on the return from the captivity. These places are pointed out near to the spot where the watercourses of Gihon and Kedron unite in the neighbouring valley. There is also another crypt called the cave of the apostles, on the walls of which are some remains of fresco, in a very tolerable state of preservation; and it is placed among those which contain the Greek inscriptions before alluded to, particularly that of the word " Sion." I am inclined to think, however, that those sepulchral grottos which contain paintings and Greek inscriptions, were used as small oratories or chapels during the times of persecution, some hundred years ago; and at a period subsequent to the establishment of the Greek church; for the style of the painting is undoubtedly that of the modern Grecian-a

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style whose peculiarities are so obvious and remarkable, as to prevent its being mistaken for any other; and the inscription with a cross before it, is in all probability coeval with the date of such use. These many chambered sepulchres are all hewn out of the solid rock; but they invariably correspond to the type of the eastern tomb, having horizontal benches for the bodies ranged along the sides.

At the foot of this hill, where it rises from the valley, is pointed out the Aceldama, or Field of Blood, said to be that purchased by the Jewish priests with the thirty pieces of silver that Judas had received for betraying his Master, but which he afterwards returned in remorse. The transaction is thus recorded by the evangelist :-" Then Judas which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, what is that to us? see thou to that. he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, it is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called The Field of Blood, unto this day."* This * Matthew, xxvii. 3-8.

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And

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OPINION OF DR. ADAM CLARKE.

same transaction is thus noticed in the Acts of the Apostles "Now this man (Judas) purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama,*

*"Aceldama-This proper tongue was not the Hebrew, for that had long ceased to be the proper tongue in Palestine; it was a sort of Chaldaio-Syriac which was commonly spoken. The word in the Syriac version is Chacal-demo, and literally signifies the field of blood, because it was bought by the price of the life or blood of the Lord Jesus."—Adam Clarke.

The same learned commentator thus reconciles the discrepancy of the account of the same transaction, given in Acts and in Matthew:—“ Probably Judas did not purchase the field himself, but the money for which he sold his Lord was thus applied. See Matt. xxvii. 6-8. It is possible, however, that he might have designed to purchase a field or piece of ground with this reward of his iniquity, and might have been in treaty for it, though he did not close the bargain, as his bringing the money to the treasury proves; the priests knowing his intention might have completed the purchase, and, as Judas was now dead, applied the field thus bought for the burial of strangers, i. e. Jews from foreign parts, or others who, visiting Jerusalem, had died there. Though this case is possible, yet the passage will bear a very consistent interpretation without the assistance of this conjecture, for, in ordinary conversation, we often attribute to a man what is the consequence of his own actions, though such consequence was never designed nor wished for by himself; thus we say of a man embarking in a hazardous enterprise, he is gone to seek his death; of one whose conduct has been ruinous to his reputation, he has disgraced himelf; of another who has suffered much in consequence of his crimes, he has purchased repentance at a high price, &c. &c. All these, though undesigned, were consequences of certain acts, as the buying of the field was the consequence of Judas's treason."

that is to say, The Field of Blood."* This Field of Blood still retains its name, and is called in every language, and by every people within or about Jerusalem, Jews, Christians and Mohammadans, Aceldama. It is not far distant from the stream of Gihon; and at the period of our visit, there were still the marks and remains of bricks and pottery-ware in the adjoining ravine; a place likely to be used for their manufacture, as it contained the clay suited for such purposes, and was in the vicinity of a rivulet. Toward the upper end of this enclosure, the traveller is shown among the many wonders to which tradition, ignorance, and credulity in this country attach the credence due only to historic record, a large, square chamber, sunk in the earth, partly excavated in the rock upon the side of the hill, and partly built of masonry. It is arched at top, and there were formerly on the outside, a number of small cupolas, like the tops of furnaces, with a hole in the centre of each, through which were let down the dead bodies to the vault beneath; much in the same manner as is practised in Naples, at the present day. A tradition existed that the earth in the bottom of this cavern was possessed of some extraordinary destructive or corrosive power; for it was said to completely consume the bodies thrown into it in twenty-four hours; and on account of this supposed quality, ship-loads of it

*Acts, i. 18, 19.