re natural children of the East wept for
joy, and, as in the army of the Crusaders, the word Jerusalem!
Jerusalem! was repeated from mouth to mouth; but we, who consider
ourselves civilized and superior beings, repressed our emotions; we were
above showing that we participated in the feelings of our barbarous
companions. As for myself, I would have got off my horse and walked
bare-footed towards the gate, as some did, if I had dared: but I was in
fear of being laughed at for my absurdity, and therefore sat fast in my
saddle. At last I blew my nose, and, pressing the sharp edges of my Arab
stirrups on the lank sides of my poor weary jade, I rode on slowly
towards the Bethlehem gate.

On the sloping sides of the valley of Gihon numerous groups of people
were lying under the olive-trees in the cool of the evening, and parties
of grave Turks, seated on their carpets by the road-side, were smoking
their long pipes in dignified silence. But what struck me most were some
old white-bearded Jews, who were holding forth to groups of their
friends or disciples under the walls of the city of their fathers, and
dilating perhaps upon the glorious actions of their race in former days.

Jerusalem has been described as a deserted and melancholy ruin, filling
the mind with images of desolation and decay, but it did not strike me
as such. It is still a compact city, as it is described in Scripture;
the Saracenic walls have a stately, magnificent appearance; they are
built of large and massive stones. The square towers, which are seen at
intervals, are handsome and in good repair; and there is an imposing
dignity in the appearance of the grim old citadel, which rises in the
centre of the line of walls and towers, with its batteries and terraces
one above another, surmounted with the crimson flag of Turkey floating
heavily over the conquered city of the cross.

We entered by the Bethlehem gate: it is commanded by the citadel, which
was built by the people of Pisa, and is still called the castle of the
Pisans. There we had some parleying with the Egyptian guards, and,
crossing an open space famous in monastic tradition as the garden where
Bathsheba was bathing when she was seen by King David from the roof of
his palace, we threaded a labyrinth of narrow streets, which the horses
of our party completely blocked up; and as soon as we could, we sent a
man with our letters of introduction to the superior of the Latin
convent. I had letters fro