Page:Domestic Life in Palestine.pdf/362

Rh rock above. Here we lighted our candles, and Mr. Graham drew my attention to three holes leading in different directions. He entered the central one, moving backward and pushing his way along on the ground. I crawled in head-foremost and much more easily. We were gradually descending, and presently came to a corridor which branched off in a curve on each side, forming part of a circle of which the chamber we had left seemed to be the center. This corridor was about ten feet high and six feet broad; it was vaulted and cemented, and the floor, of rock, was made level. There were a great number of chambers and niches in the walls, but there were no remains of coffins of any kind. From this gallery, which was only a quadrant, other passages branched off. We entered one which led us to a gallery of the same kind, but larger, and forming part of a more extended circle. Mr. Graham advised us not to venture into the passages which he had not previously explored, for they are rather puzzling, and the place is quite a maze to an unguided stranger. The outer quadrant is said to be 115 feet in length, and sixty feet distant from the circular chamber which is its center. The passages which lead to and unite the two quadrants are roughly hewn in the rock. Some of the narrowest ones look like natural fissures. The ground on which we walked or crawled was close, firm, and dry, and neither dusty nor sandy.

The atmosphere was chilly and yet oppressive. We made our way back to the mouth of the well, and were glad to see the sunshine through the green leaves of the mulberry trees, and to breathe the fragrant air again.

The range of Olivet is divided by slight depressions into three parts. On the northern hill the little tower which we occupied is the most conspicuous object. The central and highest elevation is crowned by the village El Tûr. On the southern hill there are no buildings, but the olive-trees are more numerous than op any other part of the range. We