rmed either by
nature or art, which also once served as sepulchres. They are
called the "rock-graves." At present the greater portion of them
are converted into stables, and are in so filthy a state that it is
impossible to enter them. I peeped into one or two, and saw nothing
but a cavern divided into two parts. At the summit of these rock-
graves lies the "Field of Blood," bought by the priests for the
thirty pieces of silver which Judas cast down in the temple.

In the neighbourhood of the Field of Blood rises the hill of Sion.
Here, it is said, stood the house of Caiaphas the high-priest,
whither our Lord was brought a prisoner. A little Armenian church
now occupies the supposed site. The tomb of David, also situated on
this hill, has been converted into a mosque, in which we are shewn
the place where the Son of Man ate the last Passover with His
disciples.

The burial-grounds of the Roman Catholics, Armenians, and Greeks
surround this hill.

The "Hill of Bad Counsel," so called because it is said that here
the judges determined to crucify Christ, rises in the immediate
vicinity of Mount Sion. A few traces of the ruins of Caiaphas'
house are yet visible.

The "Grotto of Jeremiah" lies beyond the "Gate of Damascus," in
front of which we found, near a cistern, an elaborately-sculptured
sarcophagus, which is used as a water-trough. This grotto is larger
than any I have yet mentioned. At the entrance stands a great
stone, called Jeremiah's bed, because the prophet is said generally
to have slept upon it. Two miles farther on we come to the graves
of the judges and the kings. We descend an open pit, three or four
fathoms deep, forming the courtyard. This pit is a square about
seventy feet long and as many wide. On one side of this open space
we enter a large hall, its broad portal ornamented with beautiful
sculpture, in the form of flowers, fruit, and arabesques. This hall
leads to the graves, which run round it, and consist of niches hewn
in the rock, just sufficiently large to contain a sarcophagus. Most
of these niches were choked up with rubbish, but into some we could
still see; they were all exactly alike. These long, narrow, rock-
hewn graves reminded me exactly of those I had seen in a vault at
Gran, in Hungary. I could almost have supposed the architect at
Gran had taken the graves of the valley of Jehosaphat for his model.

CHAPTER VIII.

Bethlehem--Rachel's grave--Convent at B