href="@public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@41569@[email protected]#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">[23]. This wall is not of uniform height, but varies from thirty-six to forty-two feet. Its thickness also varies in different parts, from four to five and five and a half feet. The whole wall is crowned by battlements, and makes a great number of angles; of these there are more on the south than on the north; while on the east it forms nearly a straight line, and on the west, two segments, meeting in a very obtuse angle at the Jaffa gate. Here rise some towers[24], and the old fortress, called the Castle of David[25]. This constitutes the feeble nucleus of the fortification of the city, and is of no importance whatever in the present state of military science. The form of the city is an irregular trapezium, the longest side of which is the north, the next the south; the east is shorter than either of the former, the west the shortest of all.

The walls contain eleven gateways[26], five of which are closed up.

1st. On the north, the gate of Damascus, called by the Arabs Bâb-el-'Amud, or The Gate of the Column[27]. Through this is the road to the ancient land of Ephraim, and so to Nablûs and Damascus. It is also the gate of honour by which all the Mohammedan authorities who arrive as governors or as visitors to the Holy City make their first entry. This gate is better built than any of the others, and presents a fine appearance; its Saracenic architecture is magnificent; the few arabesques and ornaments are of excellent workmanship. Inside, on the right-hand wall on entering, is a Cufic inscription.

2nd. Proceeding eastwards, about 780 feet from the gate just described, is the gate, commonly called that of Herod, which has been walled up for some few years, to save the expense of a guard. The Arabs call it Bâb-ez-Zaheri, which some translate as Gate of Gardens. Close to this gate is a small reservoir, called the Pilgrim's Pool, in memory of a maiden who made a vow to walk to Jerusalem barefoot and fasting, and died of exhaustion on reaching this spot.

3rd. Continuing along the eastern side and turning to the south, after passing by a ditch excavated in the rock, we come to a pool and to the Gate of Saint Mary, Bâb-Sitti-Mariam of the Arabs, called by many S. Stephen's Gate. Over the gateway are four lions in bas relief, said traditionally to have been placed there by the Khalif Omar[28]. The pool is called Birket-Hammam-Sitti-Mariam, or the Pool of the Bath of our Lady Mary. This gate leads to the valley of Kidron, commonly called the valley of Jehoshaphat, to Bethany, and to Jericho.

4th. At a short distance, towards the south, is the Golden Gate[29], which would open upon the area of the Haram-es-Sherîf. This is the most richly ornamented of all, and is remarkable for its architecture, of which I shall presently speak at greater length. It has long been closed up, doubtless on account of a legend, to which much importance is attached by the natives, which states that through this gate a sovereign from the west will enter, on a Friday, and make himself master of the city. In consequence, many resort to the gate every Friday to offer their mid-day prayer and to entreat God to deliver them from foreign invasions.

5th. Within a short distance is a very small gate, also built up, which M. de Saulcy was the first to recognize, (in my opinion wrongly,) as the gate of Jehoshaphat of the period of the Crusades.

6th. Passing the south-east corner of the wall, and proceeding westward, we observe a gate with a pointed arch, also walled up.

7th. Continuing in the same direction we find a triple gate, also closed with masonry.

8th. The southern gate, called by the Mohammedans Bâb-el-Huldah, Gate of Huldah[30]. This gate, now disused, is under the Mosque el-Aksa. Of its ornamentation I shall speak more fully in another place.

9th. Still keeping along the southern wall in a westerly direction we find the small Dung Gate, called by the Arabs Bâb-el-Mogharibeh, Gate of the western Africans. It is not kept open throughout the year; but when there is a scarcity of water in the city, it is used by the water-carriers.

10th. Ascending towards Sion, we reach the Sion Gate, Bâb-Neby-Daûd, (The Gate of the prophet David,) so called because it leads to the Sepulchre of David, which is at a short distance. Through it too is the way to the Christian and Jewish cemeteries.

11th. Lastly, on the west is the Jaffa Gate[31], or in Arabic, Bâb-el-Khalíl, (Gate of Hebron,) because through this gate is the best and shortest road to Hebron.

The appearance of Jerusalem within the walls is sombre and sad, offering no attraction to the eye, and filling the mind with deep melancholy. With the exception of the esplanade of the Haram-es-Sherîf, the city presents but a mass of buildings without order or design, very few of which deserve special attention. The cupolas of the Church of the Resurrection, that of the new Jewish Synagogue, and some minarets, are the only edifices which tower above the others, and the forms even of these are not pleasing. The panorama of Jerusalem, as seen from Olivet[32], is striking from the feelings it awakens and the reminiscences it calls up; but it conveys no idea of life. It is in truth the panorama of a Deicide city. The streets and lanes entangled in the labyrinth of houses are irregular, narrow, dirty, and ill-paved; through many of them flow open sewers, receiving the drainage from the houses, and filth of all kinds abounds. There was a period when it was even thought desirable to leave the gates of the city open at night, in order that hyenas and jackals might enter and purify the streets by devouring the carcases of animals that were lying about.

The vaulted bazaars, which in many cities of the East are so full of life and activity, at Jerusalem look rather like caves containing sepulchral cells, and the visitor must be careful where he stands, lest some portion of the ruinous wall fall upon him, where he sets his foot, or against whom he brushes in the street. With few exceptions, the fronts of the houses present nothing but rows of windows with iron-bars, or