A VISIT TO JERUSALEM.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 20, 3 September 1881, Page 4

A VISIT TO JERUSALEM.

A correspondent writes : — Jerusalem now contains about twenty-four thousand of generally very poor people— the Jews, contrary to experience elsewhere,' being the poorest. The city is walled in, and has five gates, four of which are closed every night at sunset and the fifth guarded. The town is badly built,; unlighted — the inhabitants, should they, be out at night, carrying lamps — and! the streets so dirty, irregular and ill-! paved that walking or riding is almost unpleasant. As for a carriage or con-; veyance of any kind, such a thing was! never inside the walls, and it is only. re- ; cently that one could be got even inj Jaffa. A Mahometan is your genuine' Conservative. Jerusalem is a city of! historical and religious wonders, and it! would be hard to say what religion pos-i sesses the most. The Church of the! Holy Sephulcre not only contains the tomb of Christ, but that of Adam, of Joseph, of Nicodemus, of Melchizedech, of Godfrey of Bouillon, and Baldwin, It also contains the spot which is the! centre of the earth and from which thoi earth was taken to make Adam, besidpsi innumerable other objects of interest.! The really beautiful Mosque of Omar, which stands upon the site of Solomon's Temple, contains the rock upon which Abraham was about to offer up Isaac, and from which Mahomed upon fiej back of his steed ascended to heaven. The rock, it appears, wished to go with him, but was held down by the Angel Gabriel — Gabriel's finger-marks, pretty deep ones, are there to show for them-i selves. There is also a stone into whichj Mahomet drove nineteen nails ; each! nail marks an epoch in the world, andj when the last shall be taken out the; world shall end. One day the devil got at this stone and had taken sixteen out before he was stopped by the Angel Gabriel. Be grateful to the angel. Thesdi are not bad as far as they go, but the 1 mosque contains much more. In cavern underneath the rock I saw th^ praying places of Elijab,David,Solomonl Abraham, and Mahomet. The rocky ceiling contains the impress of th^ latter's seal, and underneath the cavern! the floor of which sounds hollow — ie the well of evil spirits. One thing greatly pleased me about JerusalemL and that wa3 the certainty with which thfe guides knew the exact spot upon whici everything happened. It is so satiefaci tory J