On the N. a bend of the ridge, connected with the Mount of Olives, bounds the prospect at the distance of more than a mile. The breadth of the whole site of Jerusalem, from the brow of the valley of Hinnom, near the Jaffa gate, to the brink of the valley of Jehoshaphat, is about 1,020 yards, or of a mile, of which distance 318 yards are occupied by the area of the great mosque El-Harem esh-Sherif, commonly called the mosque of Omar. The country around Jerusalem is all of limestone formation, and not particularly fertile. The rocks everywhere come out above the surface, which in many parts is also thickly strewed with large stones; and the whole region has a barren and dreary aspect. Yet the olive thrives, and fields of grain are seen in the valleys and level places. Neither vineyards nor fig trees flourish near the city. Jerusalem is surrounded by high walls, built by the Turkish sultan Solyman the Magnificent in 1542. They are 15 feet thick, and vary in height with the inequalities of the ground from 25 to 70 feet. Their total circuit is 4,326 yards, or about 23 m. The city is irregular in its outline, but approaches a square whose 4 sides nearly face the cardinal points. It has 5 gates, two on the S. and one near the centre of each of the other sides. On the W. is the Hebron or Jaffa gate, the chief entrance to the city. On the N. is the Damascus gate, on the E. St. Stephen's, and on the S. the Zion gate and an obscure and little used portal called the Dung gate. The streets are narrow, winding, and dirty, and badly paved where paved at all. The houses are well built of limestone, cream-colored and streaked with blood-red, and are for the most part 2 or 3 stories high, with a plain front without windows in the lower stories, and with doors so low that a person must stoop to gain entrance. The roofs are terraced or rise in domes, and the apartments receive their light from interior courts, which in the larger houses form cool and agreeable promenades secluded from public view. The principal apartments are upon the second story, the lower story being occupied by lumber rooms, kitchens, stables, cisterns, and offices.-Ancient Jerusalem, as it existed in the time of Christ, or somewhat later at the time of its conquest by the Roman army under Titus, A. D. 70, is described by Josephus as built upon two hills, between which lay the valley Tyropæon or the valley of the Cheesemakers, to which the buildings on both hills came down. The upper hill was much higher than the other, and was called by King David the Fortress, but Josephus calls it the Upper Market. The other hill, on which was the lower town, was called Akra, and was in the shape of a crescent. Opposite Akra to the S. E. was Moriah, on which stood the temple. Moriah was naturally lower than Akra, from which it was separated by a broad valley; but in the time of Simon Maccabæus Akra was cut down o that the temple rose above it, and at the same time the valley between it and Moriah was filled up. Both the hills on which the upper and

lower towns stood were externally protected by precipices and deep valleys. The ancient city was defended at the time of the Roman siege by three walls, the most ancient of which appears to have enclosed Mt. Zion, part of which is outside of the modern city. The second wall enclosed the whole of Akra excepting that part of its E. side which fronted the temple area on Mt. Moriah, and the S. side toward the valley which separated the lower from the upper city. In the first century of the Christian era, the city having extended northward beyond the second wall, a third wall was built to protect this suburb, which was called Bezetha. The total circumference of the ancient city, according to Josephus, was about 31 m. With regard to the details of the ancient topography there is much uncertainty, and great controversy. One of the most recent investigators, the Rev. Dr. Thomson, after nearly 25 years' residence in Palestine, says: "It is my own decided impression that no ingenuity can reconstruct the city as our Saviour saw it, or as Josephus describes it. No man on earth knows the line of the E. and S. E. portions of the first wall, nor where the second began, nor how it ran after it began, nor where the third wall commenced, nor one foot of its circuit afterward; and of necessity the locations of castles, towers, corners, gates, pools, sepulchres, &c., &c., depending upon supposed starting points and directions, are merely hypothetical. One hypothesis may have more probability than another, but all must share the uncertainty which hangs over the data assumed by the theorizers." -The most striking view of Jerusalem is from the summit of the Mount of Olives, about half a mile E. from the city, which it completely overlooks, every considerable edifice and almost every house being distinctly visible. The city, seen from this point, appears to be a regular inclined plane, sloping gently and uniformly from W. to E. or toward the observer, and indented by a slight depression or shallow vale running nearly through the centre in the same direction. The S. E. corner, that which is nearest to the observer, is occupied by the great mosque and its extensive and beautiful grounds, covering Mt. Moriah, the site of the ancient temple, and comprising about one eighth of the whole of the modern city. It is covered with greensward, and planted sparingly with olive, cypress, and other trees, and is the most beautiful feature of the town. The S. W. quarter, embracing that part of Mt. Zion which is within the modern town, is to a great extent occupied by the Armenian convent, an enormous edifice, which is the only conspicuous object in this neighborhood. The N. W. is largely occupied by the Latin convent, another very extensive establishment. About midway between these two convents is the castle or citadel. The N. E. quarter of Jerusalem is but partially built up, and it has more the aspect of a rambling agricultural village than of a crowded city. The vacant spots here are green with