e position of the city, the depression which it causes in the
mass of buildings is not very perceptible, except from the latter point,
Moriah is the lowest of the mounts, and hangs directly over the Valley of
Jehosaphat. Its summit was built up by Solomon so as to form a
quadrangular terrace, five hundred by three hundred yards in dimension.
The lower courses of the grand wall, composed of huge blocks of gray
conglomerate limestone, still remain, and there seems to be no doubt that
they are of the time of Solomon. Some of the stones are of enormous size;
I noticed several which were fifteen, and one twenty-two feet in length.
The upper part of the wall was restored by Sultan Selim, the conqueror of
Egypt, and the level of the terrace now supports the great Mosque of Omar,
which stands on the very site of the temple. Except these foundation
walls, the Damascus Gate and the Tower of Hippicus, there is nothing left
of the ancient city. The length of the present wall of circumference is
about two miles, but the circuit of Jerusalem, in the time of Herod, was
probably double that distance.

The best views of the city are from the Mount of Olives, and the hill
north of it, whence Titus directed the siege which resulted in its total
destruction. The Crusaders under Godfrey of Bouillon encamped on the same
hill. My first walk after reaching here, was to the summit of the Mount of
Olives. Not far from the hotel we came upon the Via Dolorosa, up which,
according to Catholic tradition, Christ toiled with the cross upon his
shoulders. I found it utterly impossible to imagine that I was walking in
the same path, and preferred doubting the tradition. An arch is built
across the street at the spot where they say he was shown to the populace.
(_Ecce Homo_.) The passage is steep and rough, descending to St. Stephen's
Gate by the Governor's Palace, which stands on the site of the house of
Pontius Pilate. Here, in the wall forming the northern part of the
foundation of the temple, there are some very fine remains of ancient
workmanship. From the city wall, the ground descends abruptly to the
Valley of Jehosaphat. The Turkish residents have their tombs on the city
side, just under the terrace of the mosque, while thousands of Jews find a
peculiar beatitude in having themselves interred on the opposite slope of
the Mount of Olives, which is in some places quite covered with their
crumbling tombstones. The bed of the Brook Kedron is now dry an