izes its first victims.

The Greek convent is not only very handsome, but of great extent.
Hither most of the pilgrims flock, at Easter-time to the number of
five or six thousand. Then they are all herded together, and every
place is crowded with occupants; even the courtyard and terraces are
full. This convent is the richest of all, because every pilgrim
received here has to pay an exorbitant price for the very worst
accommodation. It is said that the poorest seldom escape for less
than four hundred piastres.

Handsomest of all is the Armenian convent; standing in the midst of
gardens, it has a most cheerful appearance. It is asserted to be
built on the site where St. James was decapitated, an event
commemorated by numerous pictures in the church; but most of the
pictures, both here and in the remaining churches, are bad beyond
conception. Like the Greeks, the Armenian priests enjoy the
reputation of thoroughly understanding how to make a harvest out of
their visitors, whom they are said generally to send away with empty
pockets. As an amends, however, they offer them a great quantity of
_spiritual_ food.

In the valley of Jehosaphat we find many tombs of ancient and modern
date. The most ancient among these tombs is that of Absolom; a
little temple of pieces of rock, but without an entrance. The
second is the tomb of Zacharias, also hewn out of the rock, and
divided within into two compartments. The third belongs to King
Jehosaphat, and is small and unimportant; one might almost call it a
mere block of stone. There are many more tombs cut out of the rock.
From this place we reach the Jewish burial-ground.

The little village of Sila also lies in this valley. It is so
humble, and all its houses (which are constructed of stone) are so
small, that wandering continually among tombs, the traveller would
rather take them to be ruined resting-places of the dead than
habitations of the living.

Opposite this village lies "Mary's Well," so called because the
Virgin Mary fetched water here every day. The inhabitants of Siloam
follow her example to this day. A little farther on is the pool of
Siloam, where our Lord healed the man who was born blind. This pool
is said to possess the remarkable property, that the water
disappears and returns several times in the course of twenty-four
hours.

At the extremity of the valley of Jehosaphat a small hill rises like
a keystone; in this hill are several grottoes, fo