than three persons to kneel there without being very much crowded. There are three holes cut through the roof of this place, to give vent to the smoke of the lamps that are kept continually burning; and just over these holes is erected a small cupola, covered with lead, supported by six double Corinthian columns, which look like porphyry. When it rains, the water falls through the opening in the dome of the church upon this cupola, from whence provision has been made to carry it off. The chapel is surrounded on the outside by ten beautiful pillars of white marble, adjoining to the wall, and sustaining a cornice. The lamps that are always burning within make the place immoderate hot; however, the Latin priests endure it so as to say. mass at the altar, which, as I observed before, is at present their peculiar privilege.

In the afternoon the congregation assembled in the area before the holy sepulchre, where the friars spend several hours in singing the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and afterwards made the usual procession round the church, with which the ceremony of this day was concluded.

The holy sepulchre was set open very early on Easter Sunday, and the fathers put on a face of joy, as if it had been the very time of our Lord's resurrection. Mass was celebrated in the morning, just before the sepulchre, where the father guardian had a throne erected, and being clothed in episcopal robes, with a mitre on his head, he gave the host to all Christians that were disposed to receive it, several Turks standing by as spectators. This being over, a pretty large company, of which we made a part, went out of the church, and dined at the Latin convent.

After this refreshment, we spent the remainder of the day in viewing some of the remarkable places within the city, accompa nied by one of the Latin fathers. We were conducted to see the palace of Pilate, or rather the place where it stood, for its room is now taken up by an ordinary dwelling house. It is not far from St. Stephen's gate, which is on the East side of the city; and from the terrace of this house we have a distinct view of the area where anciently stood the famous temple of Solomon. In

deed the only good sight we can get of it is from hence; for the Turks having inclosed it, and built a mosque there, a Christian is not permitted to go within its borders, without forfeiting his life, unless he has a mind to save it by renouncing his religion. To level such a spacious area as it appears to be, upon such a strong rocky mountain, must have cost incredible labor, but perhaps no place in the world is fitter for an august building. It lies on the top of Mount Moriah, over against the Mount of Olives, the two mounts being separated by the valley of Jehoshaphat. The Turkish mosque that is built in the middle of it is of an octagonal figure, supposed to stand upon the same ground that was formerly taken up by the Holy of Holies; and, though it is neither a large nor elegant structure, it makes a grand appearance merely by the advantages of its situation. On the South side of the area is another mosque, formerly the church of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin.

From this pretended palace of Pilate, which is now the residence of the sangiack, begins what the Christians call the Dolorous Way, that is, the way that our Lord was led from hence to Mount Calvary, the place of his crucifixion, which is about a mile distant. As we come out of the house there is a descent, where was anciently what they call the Scala Sancta, or Holy Stairs, which they say were carried to Rome by Constantine, or his mother Helena. They obtained the name from our Saviour's having gone up and down them several times, and particularly when he was conducted to the place of his passion. Not far from hence we passed under an old arch that crosses the street, on the East side of which there are two windows, separated only by a little marble pillar,, where Pilate is said to have presented Christ to the people, saying "Behold the Man." About a hundred paces farther we are shown the ruins of a church, built on the place where they tell you the Blessed Virgin fell into a swoon, when she saw our Lord bearing his cross, and used despitefully. Fifty or sixty yards from hence is the place where they met with Simon, the Cyrenian, and compelled him to bear our Saviour's cross, after he had fallen down several times under

the heavy burden. Turning a little on the left hand, we are shown the place where our Saviour said to the women, "Weep not for me, but for yourselves and for your children;" and over against it, they say, stood the house of the rich glutton. Soon after this we came to the house of Veronica, who, seeing our Saviour's face smeared with sweat and blood, made way through the crowd, and wiped it with a white handkerchief, on which our Lord, in testimony of his thankfulness for that charitable of fice, left the resemblance of his face miraculously stamped; which they say is still shown at St. Peter's, in Rome, on certain festivals. At some distance from this house we passed by the Gate of Judgment, through which malefactors were anciently led to the place of execution, and which stood in the Western wall of old Jerusalem, but is now considerably within the city. From hence we ascend the East side of Mount Calvary, which needs no farther description.

On Easter Monday, the Mosolem, or governor of the city, set out with a body of four hundred horse and foot, according to annual custom, to convoy the pilgrims towards the river Jordan; for in this part of the Holy Land the Arabs are so powerful and insolent, that there is no travelling without such a guard. For this protection, each Frank pilgrim pays twelve dollars, except the ecclesiastics, who pay but six; and finding ourselves obliged to pay this sum, whether we took the journey or staid in the city, we resolved to make a part of the company. We were in all about two thousand five hundred pilgrims, of every age, sex and nation; some on asses, some on mules, and others on horseback. Going out at St. Stephen's gate, and having crossed the valley of Jehoshaphat, and part of Mount Olivet, we came in half an hour to Bethany, which is at present but a small village. As soon as we enter it, we see an old ruin, which they call Lazarus's castle, supposed to have been his dwelling house; and at the bottom of a little descent they show his sepulchre, wherein he lay when our Saviour raised him from the dead. This place is held in great veneration by the Turks, who use it as an oratory, and demand a small caphar of the Christians for being admitted to see

it. Not far from hence we passed by the supposed habitation of Mary Magdalen; and then descending a steep hill, we came to a well called the Fountain of the Apostles, because here, according to tradition, they used to drink and refresh themselves in their passage between Jerusalem and Jericho.

From hence we travelled through an intricate way among hills and valleys of a very barren aspect, but discovering however sufficient signs of the industry of the ancient husbandmen. After some hours riding we came to a mountainous des ert, in which, it is said, our Saviour was tempted by the devil. Looking down into a deep valley, we spied the ruins of some small cells and cottages, formely inhabited by hermits, who could not have chosen a more comfortless and desolate place, or more fit for the purposes of penance and mortification. But to make us some amends, the tops of these abandoned hills afforded us a delightful prospect of the mountains of Arabia, the Dead Sea, and the plain of Jericho ; into which last we descended after about six hours march from Jerusalem.

Turning up the plain on the left hand, and keeping that course for near an hour, we came to the foot of an exceeding high mountain, called Quarantania, whither, they tell us, the devil took our Blessed Lord, when he showed him the kingdoms and glories of the world.* The ascent is not only difficult but dangerous; and yet there is a chapel on the top of it, and another about half way up; besides several caves or holes in the side of the mountain, formerly the residence of hermits, and still resorted to by some zealots, who keep their lent there, in imitation of the forty days fasting of our Saviour. Abundance of Arabs likewise shelter themselves in those caves, who have fire arms, and generally oppose the passage of the pilgrims up the mountain, unless they purchase leave by paying their exorbitant demands.

Leaving this mountain, and having passed by the ruins of an aqueduct and a convent, we came to the fountain of Elisha, so called on account of its being miraculously purged of its brackish taste by that prophet.† Its waters are received in a large *Matth. iv. 3.

+ Kings ji, 19..

basin, from whence they issue, and dividing themselves into several streams, are dispersed over the plain from thence to Jericho, and render it extremely fertile. A mile distant from hence stands Jericho, once a famous city, but now a mean village, inhabited by Arabs, consisting of thirty or forty houses; near which the governor of Jerusalem, with his forces, and the whole company of pilgrims, pitched their tents. Not far from our camp, they showed us an old square stone building, which they told us was the house of Zaccheus.

Jericho was a wealthy city, in the tribe of Berjamin, the first which Joshua took from the Canaanites, the walls of it falling down on the shouts of the Israelites, the sound of seven rams' horns, and the circumvention of the ark of the covenant; and no soul in it was spared, except the harlot Rahab and her family, who had been instrumental in saving the spies that had been sent by Joshua into the city, which was now burnt to the ground, and a curse pronounced against the man that should rebuild it.* In the days of Ahab, however, above five hundred and fifty years after, it was rebuilt by Hiel, the Bethelite, who had the curse inflicted upon him according to Joshua's prediction.† But we must not understand this in the strictest sense, as if there had been no such city as Jericho from Joshua to Hiel; for in Eglon's time we read of the city of Palm Trees, which is the same; and of Jericho in David's days, who ordered his ambassadors to stay there till their beards were grown again, which had been cut off by Hanun, king of Ammon. We may suppose, however, that it was inconsiderable till its restoration by Hiel, after which it grew famous on many accounts, and was ennobled by the Schools of the Prophets. In the time of the seoond temple this city yielded to none in all Judea, except Jerusalem; for it had a royal palace in it, where Herod the Great ended his days; an hippodromus, where the Jewish nobility were shut up, on purpose to

* See Joshua chap. vi. throughout.

† Compare 1 Kings xvi. 34, with Joshua vi. 26. Judges iii. 13.

|| 2 Sam. x. 4, 5.