respondence of title, and no trace of any corroborative evidence, M. De Saulcy declares (Vol. II. p. 66): “My own conviction, without the slightest hesitation, is, that these ruins, extending over a space of six thousand yards, are in reality the ruins of the Scripture Gomorrah. If this point be disputed, I beg my gainsayers to tell me what city, unless it be one contemporary with Gomorrah, can have existed on the shores of the Dead Sea at a more recent period, without its being possible to find the slighest notice of it either in the sacred or profane writings." But in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis the vicinity of Sodom to Gomorrah is shown by their both suffering spoliation at the same time, by the same hand; and in the nineteenth chapter, Abraham, witnessing the destruction of one city, sees the other perish at the same moment, according to M. De Saulcy at a distance of seventy miles, and by the same eruption or discharge!

Had not this highly intelligent French gentleman underrated the discoveries of our own countrymen, in a field where they have distinguished themselves by an energy and good sense, a perseverance and fortitude, suitably rewarded by remarkable success, his principal error would have been spared, nor would he have failed to see that the valley running south from the Dead Sea, where Lieutenant Lynch longed to pursue his examination, was the spot in which new and valuable intelligence was to be sought, at any rate, was an unexplored territory, the possible path of the Jordan through which ought to have been scientifically determined long ago.

M. De Saulcy's studies around Jerusalem are interesting and valuable. He was neither disposed to reject all local legends, like Dr. Robinson, nor to rely upon them as requiring no corroboration, like most Roman Catholic travellers. In this spirit he has restored its old designation to the "Tomb of the Kings," the finest ancient sepulchre outside of the city, a sarcophagus-lid from which he has deposited in the Louvre as "the covering of David's tomb"; nor has he displaced any of the principal names belonging to the neighborhood, not even " Absalom's Pillar." He is quite positive regarding the remains of the original inclosure of the Temple.

"I was aware long since that there exists, in the interior of Jerusalem, a portion of the wall which the Jews have in all time

considered a fragment of the original building. On arriving in front of this venerable relic I was struck with admiration : up to a height of more than twelve yards from the ground, the original building has remained entire; regular courses of fine stones, perfectly squared, but with an even border, standing out as a kind of framework, inclosing the joints, rise over each other to withA moment's examin two or three yards of the top of the wall.

ination is enough to ascertain without any doubt that the Jewish tradition is positively correct: a wall like this has never been constructed by Greeks or Romans; we have evidently a sample of original Hebraic architecture. The portion left to the Jews as a place of prayer-offering is nearly thirty yards." Vol. II. p. 98.

All this is highly probable. It is the universal feeling at Jerusalem, that the lower part of the outer wall is composed of the identical stones laid by Solomon. Monks and Moslems, Franks and Arabs, pilgrims and consuls, unite in an opinion which two facts go a great way to establish. First, no party that have held Jerusalem since that capture by Titus which seems only to have destroyed the Temple buildings, have had any interest in removing these outworks, which served to minister in turn to Roman, Christian, and Mohammedan devotion. And, second, none but the Romans had energy enough to tear up such a massive substructure,the Turks never putting themselves to any needless pains, the Crusaders being too few to entertain any such conceptions of exhausting labor, - the Arabs holding the city too short a time to make much havoc. And to all these conquerors the guardian spirit of prayer appeared to hover over the consecrated mount, which the Saracen honors as the last resting-place of his Prophet's foot before he mounted to Paradise, and the Christian reveres as the future shrine of his noblest earthly offering to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

It is almost inexplicable that Dr. Robinson's most interesting investigation of " Siloa's brook, which flowed fast by the oracles of God," should have escaped our author's attention. He thinks it "a question which will ever remain without solution" as to the connection of the Well of Job and the Pool of Siloam with the Fountain of the Virgin and that of Gihon; he even regards as an idle tale the report of a noise of "subterraneous rushing

waters heard in the dead of night near the Damascus gate." Dr. Robinson deserves credit for nothing more than his prolonged and conclusive examination of this ancient aqueduct. He himself witnessed the sudden rush of the waters, which in the stillness of night might be perceptible to the watchful ear; he himself traced their course from the Fountain of the Virgin through the underground passage into the Pool of Siloam. He has left little doubt upon the fact of its irregular swelling and sinking being caused by the flood occasionally bursting in from the subterraneous cistern of the Temple. The Well of Job, the ancient Enzogel, seemed on the spot to communicate with the Pool, though no investigation has yet been made as to its supply. Kitto well remarks, that we learn to consider these waterworks as the least doubtful vestiges of antiquity in all Palestine.

The view of Jerusalem and its environs from the lovely Mount of Olives is thus happily given:

"From the summit, the view is surpassingly fine. To the westward you behold Jerusalem, the scene of the most marvellous event that ever took place upon earth, and the range of hills extending beyond towards the sea; to the southward, the plain leading to Bethlehem; at your feet, the valley of Hinnom, the valley of the Kidron, and the valley of Jehoshaphat; to the northward, the ridges rising successively over each other, like the steps of a ladder, in the direction of Naplonse; and lastly, behind you, the desert of Judea, the valley of the Jordan, the Dead Sea, looking like an immense caldron full of molten lead; and still farther on, the dark, rigid outline of the mountains of Moab and Ammon. This is a spectacle one might gaze on for ever with the deepest emotion, and which cannot be left without regret, often turning back to enjoy the sensation it gives birth to as long as possible."

Our traveller bursts into raptures upon the Gerizim ruins, is perfectly sure of their antiquity, and cannot even yield to Dr. Robinson, that they might have been employed by the Romans as a fortress. Unfortunately, we see at Baalbec, that, where there was a fertile valley thronged with restless inhabitants, it required a military post to keep them in check, to maintain communication with other garrisons, and to form places of refuge for provincial officers in case of insurrection. The richest portion of Palestine, as these well-watered plains have

ever been, a population sufficient to require the supervision of a strong garrison must have tilled these fields, luxuriated in these groves, rejoiced in the murmur of these waters, and feasted upon this ever-verdant landscape.

His description of the ruins we give in as few words as possible; they have been very seldom visited:

"Let us now examine the ruins upon the summit of Mount Gerizim. To the south of the large inclosure, and seventy-five yards towards the southeast angle, is a platform of rock facing the west, surrounded by foundations of walls by which it must have been inclosed. It is easy to discern that the original form of this rock was a polygon, with three long sides perpendicular to each other, each eleven yards long, to which were joined two smaller sides of six yards each. This platform is the Samaritan altar; here the victims were sacrificed, and their blood ran into the adjoining well. From this spot commence the ruins of a very considerable city. There is one singular structure built on the rock, one hundred and fifty yards in front of the platform of sacrifices, perhaps a chapel of Christian worship, its walls, four feet thick, forming a square of thirty-six feet on each side. The plan of the principal figure is a quadrilateral inclosure, having All the prinsquare projections at each angle, probably towers. cipal walls are four feet thick. In the interior, resting upon the walls, are many chambers erected at different periods. In the centre of the inclosed platform stood an edifice, the inside of which was octagonal, and its entrance corresponded exactly with the principal gate of the inclosure. On the sides adjacent to the entrance were buildings resembling chapels, the doors of which opened into the interior. The guide called it the Keblah, the praying-place of the Samaritans.

"There is a second exterior inclosure, and between these inner and outer walls a Moslem cemetery; and to the north of this, a magnificent pool now dry, thirty-five yards long by more than eighteen wide. In its northern wall is a niche admirably carved, denoting superior skill in the art." — Vol. II. pp. 364-370.

In the remainder of Syria, through which he took the usual route from Jerusalem to Tiberias, Safet, Damascus, and Baalbec, to Beyroot, this very independent exploration adds little to what we possessed before.

Kafr-Kenna, which lies directly upon the usual track from Nazareth to Tiberias, De Saulcy believes to be the Cana of the marriage miracle, in opposition to Dr.

Robinson,-in opposition to the hint given by the name of some ruins to the northwest, Kana-el-Jelil," in opposition to a guide which he himself has been so eager to follow in other cases, and, as we have shown, not without reason. As the true site lies away from the customary travel, we fear it will be a hopeless task to prevent the substitution of a recent pretender, in place of the original owner of a tenderly hallowed name. But it

is a pity that the fragments of waterpots seen at KafrKenna by Clarke should have been replaced by a whole new one, and this again by two, which we are devoutly thankful the bad character of the people induced some American travellers to pass without the compliment of a visit.

His description of Tiberias is one of the best things in a sufficiently prosy narrative.

"We are outside the walls of Tabarieh. There is not a cloud in the sky, every corner of the ground is decked with a lovely garment of plants and flowers; everywhere on the waters that reflect the azure sky are thousands of fowl, flying, sporting, and diving. Before us lie the ruins of the Tiberias of Herod, levelled with the ground; over which the plough passes with each succeeding year, displacing the innumerable shafts of columns that still rise above the fields. In the far horizon lies the green valley of the Jordan; and on the opposite side of the lake are the rich and beautiful mountains of Haouran. In whatever direction you turn, you look on the soil marked by the footsteps of our Saviour and his disciples, and the waters upon which they sailed, all shining with the most translucent atmosphere. You may traverse the world without finding a panorama to compete with this." Vol. II. p. 436.

Capernaum M. De Sauley thinks that he found at the Ayn-el-Medaourah, or Round Fountain, directly on the border of the Galilee Lake, where Dr. Robinson satisfied himself no considerable place could have been, by that infallible test, the absence of ruins. There are also two other witnesses, which testify that the site of this eagerly sought city is not to be found in our time. First, that Capernaum was, as De Sauley admits, on the direct easterly road from Nazareth to Tiberias; and not only is that well-known track destitute of suitable remains, of mounds of rubbish even, as well as more stately ruins, but every spot hitherto selected has