America, but have not made any proselytes.

From these numbers it results that the whole population, as I have already stated, amounts to 20,453.

Compared with the space surrounded by the walls the population is very small. Without including the large area of the Haram-es-Sherîf, Jerusalem could easily contain at least three times as many inhabitants as it now does. If indeed the houses were built two or three stories high, if those belonging to the Government and the mosques were occupied, if those now tottering or in ruins were rebuilt and made habitable, if the numerous convents of the different religious communities contained a number of inhabitants in proportion to their sizes, if also the plots of land now abandoned, covered with rubbish or occupied by gardens, were partially built over, there would be no lack of room for a greatly increased population. From this it is evident that, even if the city did not contain the exaggerated number of more than a million at the time of the siege by Titus, the amount of its inhabitants might have been considerable, especially when Ophel and the southern part of Sion were within the enclosure, thus augmenting the habitable space by more than a third.

To complete the description of the present state of Jerusalem, a few words may be said about the sources of water and the sewers, which at present so insufficiently supply the wants of the city. First come the cisterns for rain-water, which are thickly sprinkled over Jerusalem and its suburbs; one at least being possessed by every landholder and community. When, during the summer-months, the supply of rain-water fails, the peasants of the neighbouring villages, especially of Siloam (where it is drawn from the well of Joab, Bir-el-Eyub), drive a thriving trade as water-carriers. Such is the sad state of a city once so well supplied with water from the works constructed by its former kings and the Herods, which are now for the most part in ruins.

The conduit of Solomon (by many called that of Pilate), which constantly supplied Jerusalem from the fountains of Etham, still exists, and by it during the last few years (by direction of Kiamil Pasha and Surraya Pasha) the water was, under my care, again brought into the city. Owing to the length of the aqueduct (about three hours' journey) it was impossible to protect it from the Arabs, whose wanton injuries before long cut off the supply of water. On the west, the Pool of Mamillah, though partly filled with earth, catches the rain-water, which is conveyed from it by a dilapidated conduit into the so-called Pool of Hezekiah, inside the city. This, during a few months of the year, supplies a bath. The water, being mixed with dirt and the drainings from the sepulchres round Mamillah, is not fit to drink. The Pool by St Mary's Gate, being in bad repair, contains very little water; during twenty or thirty days in the year it supplies the bath close to the wall, within the city, called Hamman-sitti-Mariam. A similar reason to that mentioned above renders this water also unfit for drinking. The Pilgrims' Pool, on the north, close to Herod's Gate, is too small to be worth further notice. The Pool at the head of the Valley of Kidron, on the north, is filled with earth and stones. That of Birket-es-Sultan on the west cannot hold water, as it escapes by the south wall. The great Pool of Siloam is now filled with earth and converted into a garden. The Pool of Bethesda, within the walls, is almost choked with earth and refuse that has been thrown into it; by this time it would have been quite filled up, had not Kiamil Pasha, at my earnest request, put a stop to the practice in 1856. Within the Haram-es-Sherîf the great cistern at the south-east corner is not only in ruins but so filled with rubbish as to be useless. This is the effect not so much of time as of Vandalism and of the carelessness of Mohammedans about keeping up ancient monuments; when they are gone they regret their loss, but take no pains whatever to preserve them.

The waters naturally unfit for drinking are, inside the city, the springs of the Hammam-es-shefa (Bath of Shefa), situated near the western side of the Haram-es-Sherîf. The water supplies the neighbouring bath, but has a disagreeable taste. Outside the city is the spring called the Fountain of the Virgin, that runs into the Pool of Siloam. It is used for irrigating the gardens of Siloam and for domestic purposes. Neither of these springs gives a copious supply of water.

The city is full of sewers, the principal being that which, beginning from the Damascus Gate and following the line of the central valley, goes out under the south wall at the Dung Gate, and continues along the western side of the same valley till it comes to the great Pool of Siloam. Another goes along the Street of David, joining the former on the east. All are in the worst possible condition, and annually stand in need of repair, as they frequently become choked up by the accumulated filth.

The above brief sketch may suffice for the present; the subject will be treated in detail, and further information given in a future chapter.