as every other interesting particular, pointed out to us. The manger was, for the same reason as the sepulchre, cased over with marble, to prevent the pilgrims from mutilating it, and carrying off with them fragments of such precious relics. We were afterwards couducted to a variety of memorable spots, and, among them, to the deep and immensely large cistern, into which the bodies of the infants, murdered by the command of Herod, were thrown. Near to this cistern the tomb of St. Jerome was situated. The convent of St. Catharine, in which at one time twenty monks resided, but the number of whom was now reduced to eight, and the Greek and Armenian convents, being all of them within the same walls and enclosure, so as to constitute one large and entire building only, all the ever memorable places within Bethlem which the sacred writings have recorded, are in this way built over and preserved. The inhabitants of Bethlem consist, for the greater part, of Greeks, Armenians, and Arabs converted to Christianity. Among its population but few Turks are to be found. The dress of the men, like that of the neighbouring peasants, is extremely simple, and consists of a long white chemise, or frock, with a girdle fastened round the waist. Very few of the poorer sort, whether males or females, wear shoes. The women are dressed in a blue chemise, with a cotton belt or girdle, and cover the head with a long white veil, which flows loosely down the back. Their complexion is very dark, approachang almost to black. They are very faborious, and submit to every de They are scription of drudgery. Bethlem standing on an eminence, and on a chalky soil, is justly considered by the inhabitants as possessing a very salubrious air; in proof of which I observed but few among them who had a sickly appearance. There were indeed some cases of ophthalmia, but very rare. The sides of the mountain on which. this town is situated were, as well as the summit, interspersed with fine vineyards, banked in witla stones, which must have cost a prodigious labour to the cultivators. The grapes they yielded were remarkably large, and finely flavoured, In addition to these we saw figs. pomegranates, and an abundance of olives, on which fruits the inhabitants in a great measure subsist. In the vallies some corn iз produced; and the bread made from it is of an excellent quality. The dews, which fall in great abundance, are highly favourable to the vegetation in general. On the 10th, at eleven in the morning, we left the convent at Jerusalem, on our way to the Mount of Olives, situated at about a mile's distance from the walls of the city. Qur attention was then directed to the sepulchres of the kings, which the monks consider as the third wonder in that part of the world. To inspect them, we entered at the east side, through an opening cut out of the solid rock, which brought us into a spacious court of about forty paces square, cut down into the rock, with which it is encompassed instead of walls. On the south side of this court there is a portico, nine paces long, and about about four broad, in like manner hewn out of the natural rock. It has a kind of architrave running along its front, and although time has certainly deprived it of some of its beauties, yet it still exhibits the remains of excellent sculpture of flowers, fruits, &c. On the left hand within this portico, we entered a small aperture upon our knees and hands; the passage was become difficult on account of the accumulation of rubbish collected at its mouth. We reached at the commencement a large square chamber, cut with great neatness and exactness out of the solid rock. From this chamber we entered a second, which led to several more, five or six in all, one within the other, nearly of the same description as the first, except that in the interior chambers there were niches or sepulchres, for the reception of the dead. Each of these caverns or chambers had niches for four, six, or eight bodies. The mutilated portions of the sarcophagi, ornamented with fine sculpture, lay scattered upon the ground, as well as the fragments of the stone doors by which these chambers had been anciently closed. The lid of one of the sarcophagi, seven feet in length, having on it grapes, leaves, acorns, and various other devices, very beautifully sculptured, was in an entire state. A door of one of the chambers was still hanging. It consisted of a mass of solid stone, resembling the rock itself, of about six inches in thickness, but in size less than an ordinary door. It turned upon the hinges contrived in the manner of axles. These hinges were of the same entire piece of stone with the door, and were received into two holes of the immovable rock, one at the top, the other at the bot tom. In some of these chambers the dead bodies were laid upon benches of stone; others had sepulchres cut in the form of ovens. In the different chambers which I entered, I imagine from forty to fifty bodies might have been deposited. Whether the kings of Israel or of Judah, or any other kings, were the construc tors of them, they have certainly been contrived with infinite inge nunity,and completed with immense labour. Having withdrawn from these interesting mausolei, or caverns, we proceeded to the sepulchres of the Virgin Mary, of her mother, and of Joseph, all of them situated in the valley of Jehoshaphat, and over which was erected a large stone building, reconstructed by the Ar menians about forty years before. It was in the vicinity of this spot that St. Stephen was stoned. To reach the sepulchres, which were in the interior part of a cavern, dug from the solid rock, we had to descend a flight of forty-eight steps. The Virgin's sepulchre was lighted by lamps, which were constantly kept burning at the joint expense of the Greeks, Armenians, and Copts. I brought away with me several small pieces of the rock, cut in squares, which the inhabitants take care to provide for the gratification of the curious traveller. Contiguous to the building erected over the sepulchres, we entered a cave, in which our Saviour is said to have sweated blood. The monks by whom we were accompanied, pointed out to us several large, and apparently ancient, olive trees, which, they assured us, were in existence in the time of our Sa viour, and which stood in the front of the building. We did not presume to question their erudition on this point of natural history; but could not help admiring the attention they bestowed on them, in encompassing their roots by stones, and filling up the cavities of their decayed trunks with the same materials, for their better preservation. in passing afterwards through the valley of Jehoshaphat, we were gra tified by the view of several memorable spots, We saw, among others, the tombs of Absalom and Zechariah, and visited the place where the apostles concealed themselves when Jesus was led by. We were next conducted to the well of St. Barb, at the foot of Mount Sion, where the vestments of Jesus were washed; and, at an inconsiderable distance from it, inspected the wells of Nehemiah. On Isaiah was separated into two parts. In ascending Mount Sion, we saw, on the acclivity of an opposite mountain, a building erected on the spot where Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. reaching the summit of the mount, a church and convent, belonging to the Armenians, were pointed out to us, situated at a small distance from the entrance gate, leading to the back part of the city. It was there, the monks informed us, that the cock crew when Peter denied Christ. Without the city walls, and on Mount Sion, there is a Turkish mosque standing on the ground where king David was buried, and where our Saviour instituted the Lord's supper. On our quitting this spot, we went to the Mount of Olives, a very steep hill, on the east side of Jerusalem, the valley of Jehoshaphat lying between the mount and city. On On leaving the valley of Jehoshaour reaching its summit, we were phat, we passed to the right of the conducted to a small circular build-place where the body of the prophet ing, in which the reverend fathers pointed out to us the impression of our Saviour's foot in a stone, when he ascended into Heaven. The Christian inhabitants, when they visit the Mount of Olives, do not content themselves with saluting this cavity in the stone, but also rub on it the fragments of marble taken from the rock beneath, at the sepulchre of the Blessed Virgin. The small building erected over the place of ascension is contiguous to a Turkish mosque, and is in the possession of the Turks, who derive a profit from showing its contents; and who also subject the Christians to an annual contribution for a permission to officiate within it, according to their ritual, on Ascension-day. At the distance of about an hundred yards from the mosque is the spot where the angel appeared to Jesus, warning him to ascend, as his place was not on earth, but above; and where the apostles were assembled at the moment of his ascension. From the mosque itself we had a fine and Description of Antiquities in the Neighbourhood of Alexandria, with a particular Account of Cleopatra's Needle, and of Pompey's Pillar. By Sir R. Wilson. HE exterior walls of Old Alex commanding view of Jerusalem,andrid, flanked with many old Mount Sion, and the Dead Sea. In descending the mountain, and mouldering towers, form beautiful VOL. XLIV. 3 F ruins, ruins, pleasing the eye even in the midst of desolation. The circumference of the wall must be near four miles. In the centre of the sides, in a regular line, and fixed in horizontally at the distance of about ten yards from each other, are large pillars of granite, but whether so placed for ornament, or to strengthen the wall, is not evident: the inference is, however, direct, that these divided columns formerly belonged to a city much more ancient, and which probably was the magnificent Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great, a city without a rival in the world before or since. At a distance these projecting ends resemble guns run out from the broadside of a ship. Within this wall are the massive ruins of the Temple of the Sun; and many gigantic pillars of granite remain, which impress with the highest idea of its former grandeur: there are also many large fragments lying in every part, of which Sçavans attempt an appropriation to their original buildings. The gate of Rosetta is an elegant specimen of the Saracen taste in architecture. On the space between the walls and the sea are lying innumerable blocks and pillars of granite, porphyry and marble, the ruins also, probably, of the ancient Alexandria, and which seem to have been made use of by the Turks as monumental stones, since this ground formed their burial place. About thirty yards in the rear of the French entrenchment, as before represented, stands Cleopatra's needle, and one of equal magnitude is lying close by horizontally. The French uncovered this since their arrival, the apex being only visible before. The form of these obelisks is of considerable elegance, and their magnitude is enormous, considering that each is only one piece of granite; their height is sixty-three feet, and base seven feet square; their sides are covered with hieroglyphics, which on the eastern front of the one that is upright are much effaced by the wind. Tradition affirms that they ornamented the gate of Cleopatra's palace. From the quantities of mar ble, &c. &c. found near the spot, probably the residence of the sove reigns of Egypt was placed there. Much is it to be lamented, that such a superb monument of the Egyptian expedition has not been already brought to England. The zeal of lord Cavan urged an attempt, but the swell of the sea destroyed the quay he had constructed to embark it from, and the funds are so exhausted as not to admit the forma tion of others; yet surely this is a project worthy the cooperation of government, and the country at large. This obelisk would worthily re cord an illustrious campaign, and animate with emulous pride the rising generation. Nor could the possession be regarded by other nations with those sentiments of regret and aversion which the pillaged treasures in the museum at Paris, notwithstanding their excellence, inspire. This trophy could not be deemed, like those, an emblem of national shame, perpetuating the memory of nefarious crimes and horrible devastation. Humanity would rather exult on secing a monument erected, which might convey instruction and exam plo ple to future British armies, whilst the arts and sciences would have no cause to mourn the removal *. The next remarkable object is Pompey's pillar, which stands on the south-west of Alexandria, within 100 yards of the inundation, and on the exterior of which runs the canal of Alexandria. At a distance the appearance is noble; approached closer, the pillar is lovely beyond description. The dimensions are so stupendous, as would in a rude stone excite wonder, but when the elegance of the capital, the beauty of the shaft, and the proportioned solidity of base are combined, the eye rests on this pillar with delight, as the chef d'œuvre of the arts. Let imagination be raised to the utmost conception of perfection, and this perhaps is the unique excellence which would answer such expectation. Pompey's pillar is of the Corinthian order, and eighty-eight feet six inches in height: the shaft formed of a single block of granite, retaining the finest polish, except where the wind on the north-east front has chased a little the surface, is sixty-four feet in height, and eight feet four inches in diameter. At the base of the pedestal is an aperture made by the Arabs, who, in the hopes of finding money bu ried underneath (the only idea attached by them to the admiration of Europeans), endeavoured to blow up the column. Not understanding * Lord Cavan, during his subsequent command at Alexandria, directed a working party to remove the ground near the needles, when the pedestals of both were discovered. The obelisk which is upright was found to stand upon a pedestal of six feet in height, but immediately resting on four brass blocks, or what properly are called dogs. When lord Cavan was deterred from again prosecuting his design of embarking the obelisk, which was lying down, by the commander in chief in the Mediterranean declining to sanction and patronize the measure, he raised it horizontally on a block of granite, so that a man can walk upright under it. The original pedestal which he found reversed, he had raised on its outward angle, and excavating the granite sufficiently to place in a piece of all the coins of George the Third's reign and the present sultan, he restored the surface by the marble slab, on which was sculp tured the inscription to be seen in the appendix. It is to be hoped, however, that the government and the country will second his intention of still securing this noble monument for England. The expense of bringing it home is estimated at about 15,000/.; a sum which the two services alone would with pleasure raise, although the officers of both are not over well paid. The measurement of the obelisk is accurately ascertained, and is as follows: Ft. IR. 7 7 by 7 O A female head sculptured in marble was found near the pedestal, and is brought home by lord Gavan. |