toll of all travelers, and especially pilgrims, on their way to Jerusalem. For many years he and his tribe were a terror to the country. His little stone castle is situated at a point where the gorge through which the road passes is so narrow that the traveler, once under the range of his guns, could find no way of escape. As we ascended the mountain we saw the Palestine oak, the terebinth, the tamarisk, and the carobtree. This latter bears a long seed-pod, the seed being much like a bean. This bean is eaten by the people. We saw large quantities of it in the market at Jaffa. It is supposed that it was the pod of this tree that our Lord referred to in the parable of the prodigal son as the "husks which the swine did eat." After a toilsome ascent we reached the summit of the range, from which the Plain of Sharon, and of Philistia, come into full view, and even the sand-bed on the shore, and Jaffa, and the waters of the Mediterranean sea beyond. Still farther on we came to what was in the oldest times called Kirjath-Baal, and later Kirjath-Jearim. This is believed to be the Emmaus of the New Testament, and therefore has a very special interest for Christians. At about this point the Neby Samwil appearsMount Samuel, as we would call it. There is a tomb on the summit of it, which is called the tomb of Samuel. It is believed to be the site of the ancient Mizpeh, and the principal seat of Authority when Samuel judged Israel. It is said to be the most elevated summit in all this range of mountains, and is in sight pretty much all the time from the neighbor hood of Emmaus until we are within a mile of the city. Some distance farther on, in a very pretty valley, is the convent of St. John the Baptist, a mile or so to the right of the road. It is on the traditional birthplace of John the Baptist, in the "hill country of Judea." There is no doubt of its being in Judea, and a "hill country." This latter is very plain to be seen. But the tradition as to the exact birthplace of the Baptist is altogether arbitrary. One might as well undertake to find the grave of Moses as the birthplace of John. There is another tradition which locates the death of Goliath in this same little valley, and this is probably true. At any rate, the dry brook which runs through it has millions of stones in its bed, just the size for the sling, and I myself picked up three or four smooth ones, just the sort to kill a giant with. One that I got I imagine is the exact fellow of that one which brought down the Philistine braggart who had "defied the armies of the living God." We were now within four miles of Jerusalem, the city of the Great King. It seemed to us a strange thing to be here. H. remarked upon the fact that we were approaching the city in a pleasant carriage, while our Lord made his journeys to it on foot. A strange feeling took possession of me-a sense of my unspeakable unworthiness. I did indeed "blush in all things to abound-the servant above his Lord." The approach to the city from this side gives no view of it beforehand. You see nothing within the walls, scarcely, until you enter. But outside of the walls are many new buildings of an excellent class, They have been erected within a few years by Jews who have come here from Europe. H. and I chose to enter the city only in each other's company, and on foot. We approached slowly, and, I believe, both of us in the spirit of prayer. Even after we passed through the gate of the lofty wall we could see nothing but the nearest buildings, for on this side we were on the highest ground in the city. Yet the first thing we saw, just within the gate, was the Tower of David, no doubt the oldest building here. One part of it is of the peculiar beveled stone which was the work of the old Phoenicians. This part of the Tower-the old citadel-is believed by intelligent archæologists to date from the reign of Solomon. It is known that Titus spared it when he took the city. Near this is the Mediterranean Hotel, where we lodged. So we are living on Mount Zion! This is the very hill which the Jebusites held for so many centuries after all the rest of the country had been occupied by the chosen people, and from which David dislodged them at last, taking possession of it as the capital of his kingdom. Here Solomon built his splendid palace. On this hill was all the pageantry of his magnificent reign. At the very foot of the east wall of our hotel is the "pool of Hezekiah," closely surrounded by houses on all sides, the massive stone walls of which spring up out of the very water of the pool. We were only just introduced into our room when Dr. De Hass, the American Consul, took us on to the flat roof of the hotel, to point out to us the various localities of the city. Immediately before us, and on the other side of the city, was the great mosque of |