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Rh doorways, served as stepping stones; and in many places horses were haltered to large perforated blocks, which projected from the walls.

We made our way along the Via Dolorosa, pausing, sometimes, while a long line of donkeys, laden with stones or brushwood, jogged by, enveloped in a cloud of dust; or when a string of unwieldy camels, bearing melons to the market, almost blocked up the way.

We met the colonel of the Turkish cavalry, and several officers. They kindly invited me to mount the rude steps leading to a broad and elevated terrace of the Seraglio, or Pasha's Palace. From this central and lofty spot, I first gained a general idea of the city, and the surrounding hills. The building on which I' stood was partly formed by the north wall of the Haram, or Great Mosque inclosure; and thus, looking toward the south, I overlooked its entire area, which is almost equal in extent to one-quarter of the whole city. In its center the well-known Kubbetes-Sakhara, or "Dome of the Rock," stands.

The beautiful cupola, resting on a circular base, crowns a wide-spreading octagonal building, each side of which is ornamented with six lofty arches, and the lower part is faced with bright enameled tiles of many tints. This building is on a large square platform, raised considerably above the other parts of the inclosure, and is approached from six points by broad flights of steps, which lead to light and graceful entrances, divided by three or four elaborately-carved columns and pointed arches. There are many little praying niches and stone canopies, supported on columns, and alabaster pulpits on the platform, as well as in the grass-grown inclosure below, where the white stone walls and domes are relieved by the dark beauty of the cypress and the silvery shade of olives, and some few shrubs in flower. A beautiful grove of trees leads to the Mosque-el-Aksa, which is in the southern part of the area, where its long and gabled roof, large dome, and Saracenic façade are conspicuous. Groups of white-turbaned Mos-