od, took his flight
to Heaven he rose from this sanctified place, which is nearer to Heaven
than any other spot on earth, leaving as a memorial the impression of
his foot which you now see there in the rock. The print of the hand in
the rock near the footprint was made by the angel Gabriel when he
prevented the rock from following the Prophet in his ascent."

At the foot of the flight of steps which the tourists descended on their
way from the marble platform of the Dome of the Rock to the Mosque of El
Aksa, the tourists encountered Turkish photographers, who, hoping that
the Americans would gladly make use of their services, had been
patiently awaiting their arrival. But the tourists were well supplied
with their own outfits, and these amateurs, disdaining the offered
professional services, secured snapshots themselves.

"What!" said one of the amateurs indignantly, "let the Turks take us?
No! let some of the party stay on the steps and we will take the picture
and include the Turks in it."

While returning through the extensive grounds of the Haram, one of the
tourists lighted a pipe. Immediately a Moslem guard approached and with
unintelligible words, made it known by his frowning face and threatening
gestures, that the pipe must be extinguished.

CHAPTER XII.

THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

The floor of the vast Church of the Holy Sepulchre is below the level of
Christian Street. We descended to the church through a narrow alley
about a hundred feet in length, which by slopes and steps led downward.
On each side of this alley peddlers had stands for the sale of beads,
rosaries, crucifixes, candles, and souvenirs, which they earnestly
besought the visitors to buy. The church is so surrounded by other
buildings that it could not be seen until we arrived at the foot of the
alley, where a few steps to the left led down to a wide stone paved
court. Even then only the rough stone facade and the top of the dome
were visible. The door was guarded by Turkish soldiers, but they did not
object to our entrance.

Within the Church, in the centre of the vestibule, we paused beside a
marble slab six feet in length, elevated slightly above the stone floor.
A canopy overspread the marble and at the sides of the canopy stood six
immense ornamented silver candlesticks rising higher than our heads. In
these were tall candles.

"This is the Stone of Unction," said the guide. "On this marble the body
of Jesus lay wh