Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/208

172 defying the ungenial elements: under no circumstances could a better view be obtained.

Looking away in the far distance, towards the table-land of Moab, past "the green domed mosque," and through the deep depression of the Kedron Valley, the upper terrace of limestone, and the lower of sandstone of a faint reddish hue, were clearly discernible; while the sunlight brought out in relief the bold headlands and ridges, and cast into shadow the deep furrows and glens which descend into the Jordan valley along the Land of Gilead on its eastern side. Amongst these, the cliffs bordering the gorge of the Wâdy Zerka Maïn were the most prominent. It was truly astonishing how objects so distant could be seen so plainly. I was able to distinguish even the bands of colouring of the sandstone cliffs at this distance, which was over twenty-five miles in a straight line! Withdrawing our eyes from these distant points, we observe how truly the hills are said to "stand round about Jerusalem," in almost every direction, except the gorge of the Kedron which forms the natural outlet for the waters which descend, on the one hand, from the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and on the other from the Valley of Hinnom. Looking across the valley towards the east, there lay the Mount of Olives, crowned by its mosque and minaret, from the summit of which we had enjoyed so extensive a prospect on the morning of our descent into the plains of Jericho, crossed by the road from Bethany, and recalling an event ever memorable in Christian annals. Below, towards the right, the little Garden of Gethsemane, shaded by its ancient olive-trees, and decorated with flowers. In our immediate front is the beautiful dome of the mosque of Omar, standing as a stately monument over a spot once the "Most Holy Place" of the children of Israel, now regarded as sacred by Jew, Moslem, and Christian alike; a little beyond, the Church of El Aksa, built over the ancient approaches to the Temple of Solomon. Around, extends the spacious court of the Temple, white with unmelted snow.

Looking across the domes and flat-roofed houses, crowded together, and beyond the Damascus Gate towards the north, there may be observed a low, flat-topped hill, usually covered with grass, now with a sheet of snow; and breaking off in the direction of the city wall in a cliff of limestone rock. A cave, known as "Jeremiahs Grotto," where the prophet is supposed to have dwelt when penning the Book of Lamentations, has been hewn in the face of the cliff. The hill is the property of a Sheikh, and its summit is used as a Moslem burying,