and resembles an enormous chasm or moat, separating two different regions
of the earth. The _khamseen_ was blowing from the south, from out the
deserts of Edom, and threw its veil of fiery vapor over the landscape. The
muezzin pointed out to me the location of Jericho, of Kerak in Moab, and
Es-Salt in the country of Ammon. Ere long the shadow of the minaret
denoted noon, and, placing his hands on both sides of his mouth, he cried
out, first on the South side, towards Mecca, and then to the West, and
North, and East: "God is great: there is no God but God, and Mohammed is
His Prophet! Let us prostrate ourselves before Him: and to Him alone be
the glory!"

Jerusalem, internally, gives no impression but that of filth, ruin,
poverty, and degradation. There are two or three streets in the western or
higher portion of the city which are tolerably clean, but all the others,
to the very gates of the Holy Sepulchre, are channels of pestilence. The
Jewish Quarter, which is the largest, so sickened and disgusted me, that I
should rather go the whole round of the city walls than pass through it a
second time. The bazaars are poor, compared with those of other Oriental
cities of the same size, and the principal trade seems to be in rosaries,
both Turkish and Christian, crosses, seals, amulets, and pieces of the
Holy Sepulchre. The population, which may possibly reach 20,000, is
apparently Jewish, for the most part; at least, I have been principally
struck with the Hebrew face, in my walks. The number of Jews has increased
considerably within a few years, and there is also quite a number who,
having been converted to Protestantism, were brought hither at the expense
of English missionary societies for the purpose of forming a Protestant
community. Two of the hotels are kept by families of this class. It is
estimated that each member of the community has cost the Mission about
£4,500: a sum which would have Christianized tenfold the number of English
heathen. The Mission, however, is kept up by its patrons, as a sort of