Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/209

Rh ground. Unprofaned by any structure, secular or sacred, this platform "without the Gate," and overlooking the city from the north, as Olivet does from the south, is now generally regarded as Mount Calvary. For myself, I feel confident that this is so; and I am happily spared any necessity for adducing arguments in favour of this view, after those which have been so clearly stated by Captain Conder. Seen in certain directions, the rocky platform bears a not unfanciful resemblance to a skull, which may have given to it the name of "Golgotha." It lies beyond the gates of the city; and an ancient Roman road has been discovered to lead from the precincts of the temple in this direction—probably that by which the Saviour was led to Calvary. No determination carries with it more interest, or certainty, than that of the place of the Crucifixion. It is exactly on the opposite side of the city from that of the Mount of Olives, where the Lord first "beheld the city and wept over it."

Such is the scene which presented itself on the day previous to our departure—one of indescribable interest rather than of beauty; but so rich in the memorials of the past, that no scenic beauty could enhance the interest in the mind of the Christian traveller.

Having taken leave of our friends, we left Jerusalem on Friday morning, 25th January, for Jaffa, in order to catch the Austrian Lloyd's steamer which was to touch at that port, on her way to Constantinople. Snow covered the country all the way to the entrance of the Bab-el-Wâdy. We passed a carriage imbedded in the snow drift, which had been left behind, horses and passengers having proceeded onwards to Jerusalem. The storm had made much havoc amongst the olive groves; and notwithstanding the Government prohibition against cutting firewood, abundance of this material had been provided by the power of the winds, especially amongst the older trees. As we rode over the plain of Ramleh, the early flowers were already beginning to decorate