St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1903-08-05
In Jerusalem.
EDITOR CALIFORNIAN:

| LuSu uOWH at tnc pusy, puolhbS StiSSe
below, and at the crowds OF Russian pill
| grims with their tapers ready to light at
the Church OF the Holy Sepulchre. Our
first days were spent in tour to Jericho,
passing the Brook Cherith and the lonely
desolate hospices on our way. We saw
the barren space where Herod's famed
and beautiful city of Jericho-the one
mentioned in the New Testament. stood,
now nothing but dreary plain. We
passed on to the mounds which mark
the ancient city which Joshua compassed,
and drank OF Elisha's well near. We
drove to the Dead Sea, which was clear
and blue, and looked out upon the
Mountains of Moab, "On Nebo's lonely
mountain" on the site of the Castle of
Macheerus, over the dreary, treeless
"plain of the Salt Sea-" where Abraham
and others had their contests-on to the
river Jordan with its fertile fields near
and wooded banks where the birds sang
in the aspens and willows and tamarisks
and poplars, where the soft clay pre-.
vented our wandering too near, and
where we took some of the waters,
charged with animalculae and i'll saw
CURED, to boil and keep. The Russian
pilgrims had been there, two days before,
bathing in their shrouds, which they
dried, muddied and brown, though they
were, and preserved sacredly for their
burial. We gazed upon the peaks of
Quarantania which some think was the
mount of Christ's temptation, and sad
and lonely enough they looked. A her.
mitage near, clings to the rocks "like a
wasp's nest" / found some pretty pink
heather like flowers on the lonely plain,
and we stayed over night at the modern
city of Jericho and had rare views of the
Hills of Moab on the one hand, and the
desert peaks on the other. We returned,
pausing at the Inn of the Good Samari-
tan, with many thoughts of our Lords
journeys to Jericho, and tarried at Beth
any on our way to the sacred city We
entered the garden OF Gethsemane in the
early morning, but the Russian pilgrims
were before us, passionately and devoutly
kissing every sacred stone and relic and
shrine. 1t was warm bright afternoon
when we visited the Temple Area. Our
path from Mt. Zion lay through dirty
narrow lanes and under vaulted passages,
till we reached the south entrance, whence
we emerged upon a green esplanade
dotted with olive trees and buildings of
Saracenic architecture, domes, cloisters,
minarets, arches, and near the center,
upon broad raised platform stands the
celebrated Mosque of Omar, the Kubbet-
es-Sakrah or Dome of the Rock. Under a
beautiful structure adorned with ancient
and lovely pillars we put on slippers, re-
quired in every Mosque) and entered the
dome. The building is octagonal. The
lower part of the wall is laid in marble
in intricate patterns, above are painted
windows with stained glass, the spaces
lined with Saracenic tiles in arabesque
designs. There is an appearance of rich
ness and warmth. The dome is sup
ported by four pillars and two rows oil
marble columns of great age and beauty.
There are mosaics, traceries, patterns Of
leaves, blossoms and fruit and inscrip.
lions on the walls, and the gilded grill is
said to be the finest in the world. With.
in the grill is the sacred rock, an irregu
lar boulder of lime stone 60 feet long an6
standing about five feet higher than the
pavement, on which we were, when look
ing through the grill
This celebrated stone is the traditional
site of Mt. Moriah, where Abraham
came to sacrifice Isaac; it marks the
threshing floor of Oman, the Jebusite
it was probably the "stone OF sacrifice,
used in Solomons Temple. After til,
Moslems took possession it became thei
most sacred and venerated place of wor
ship next to Mecca. There are man,
imaginative Mohammedan tales con
, nected with it. Below is a cave, will
. four affairs. Everywhere are signs O
cisterns and water supplies, all very an
e cient and yet improved and modernized
a The Mosque OF 81 Aksa is huge basilc
C with seven aisles, and rich carpets, fin
D columns and capitals and pulpit inlai
e with ivory and mother of pearl. Belo,
l. was the vast substructure known a
: Solomons Stables, and used, probabl
n as stables in Saracenic times. We sa,
l. the walled gate, where the golden gat
K stood, and later at evening tide we stoo
a outside the ancient wall in the lew.
! wailing place. As we assembled the He
ram wall and looked over to the Noun
of Olives, and upon other well know
historic places, we tried to picture t
: ourselves Solomon's Temple, Zerubbabel
Temple and Herod's magn' icent struc
. ture. We thought of the joy over tt
first, the sacred pleasure at the recol
. struction of the second, Christ's visit t
y. the third and then of the awful dool
that had overtaken this area, of the al
darkened with missiles, of the hungt
and famine of the 600, 900 bodies throw
4 down into the valley OF Jehoshaphat b.
low, of the fire and burning, the pillae
and destruction OF the awful seig
Though Titus had wished to save SOM
: thing to mark his victory at last ever
structure was RACED save a part of til
western wall used as Roman rarnar