and all around. By the light of the torches, which we must now be supposed to kindle, we discern three low doorways. Two of them are on the south side of the room, and one on the west side. (See the plan.) These entrances to the vaults were closed by stone doors, with carved panels, shutting from within: the doors have been thrown down and broken, and the fragments yet lie about. One of them was still in its position in Maundrell's time. This hall serves as a kind of second vestibule, for no tomb is to be found therein. Three small niches, cut triangularly into three sides of the room, and designed apparently for sepulchral lamps, are still visible; and on the ceiling may be traced the names of various travellers who have descended into this domain of darkness and the shadow of death.

But we must not linger here. And we will continue our explorations in the order indicated in the sketch. The first we enter, then, is the tomb marked 1, which is reached by passing through the low left-hand doorway in the southern wall of the antechamber. We find this to be a small apartment, about twelve feet square. On the eastern and southern sides there are low niches or crypts, three on a side, with narrow entrances, intended as places of deposit for dead bodies; but we find no remains of their former occupants here now. Indeed, it is the opinion of De Sauley, who was here five years ago, that only two of the six ever received the illustrious tenants for whom they were designed, the remaining four being plainly in an unfinished condition. An explanation of this singular fact will be given presently.

Leaving this group of sepulchres, we enter the adjoining chamber, marked 2. This is of somewhat larger dimensions than its neighbour, and is also pierced for three tombs in each of its western and southern faces. Of these crypts, the first, or righthand one of the western face, has no recess. The

next two have been finished and occupied. The tomb on the right-hand side of the southern face has only been marked out, so that it can never have contained a sarcophagus; the other two are complete tombs. But we here meet with a peculiarity not observable in the first chamber. Near to the doorway by which we entered, is a recess in the rock, which leads, by a staircase of six steps, succeeded by an incline plane, to another and lower vault, having a large niche on three of its sides, in which once stood sarcophagi of white marble, elegantly sculptured with flowers and wreaths. These are now shattered, and the fragments strewed about upon the floor. The only exception to this sad destruction consists in the lid of a sarcophagus, ornamented with sculptured roses, which still exists in a tolerable state of preservation. The tinted outline, marked 4, indicates the position of this subterranean sepulchre.

We again return to the antechamber, and passing through the aperture in the western wall, gain admission to the last and largest group of tombs. The floor in the centre of the chamber 3, as in the others just visited, is considerably depressed, leaving a rocky banquette all round. Here, unlike the others, each of the three faces is pierced with three semicircular openings, giving access to nine niches in all. Some of these vaults are provided, above the bed on which the sarcophagus was placed, with recesses for sepulchral lamps, similar to those noticed in the entrance hall. They likewise bear evident traces of the lamps which burnt there in ancient times. Most of these niches, it will be observed, on reference to the plan, have at their upper extremity an additional recess, which would be concealed while the sarcophagus occupied its place, and the tomb remained unviolated. It is the opinion of De Sauley that where these recesses existed, they were filled with the treasure which was usually buried with the Hebrew monarchs.

Below the bed of the centre niche in the wall, there is a small opening, rather difficult to get through. Attempting the task, however, we come upon a sloping descent, leading downwards to a large lower chamber (marked 5). At the extremity opposite the entrance are two stories of shelves, disposed close to each other like the steps of a staircase. As there are no niches here, it is evident that the only sarcophagus that can have been placed in this room must have been stationed on a raised bed on the western side, which is surmounted by a semicircular arch, and was plainly designed for some such purpose. This monument would appear to have had a very peculiar destination. What that is supposed to have been we shall speedily see. In this sepulchral chamber were lying until recently, the two mutilated halves of a lid to a sarcophagus, most richly and exquisitely sculptured. They are now deposited in the Louvre at Paris.

were

A glance at the plan will show that the vaults are all excavated in a southern direction in relation to the vestibule. This circumstance has led several intelligent explorers to suspect that another entrance must exist to similar sepulchral vaults in the northern quarter. During Dr. Robinson's visit, men employed to clear away the accumulated rubbish from the end of the porch opposite to the present entrance. They laboured for several days under the eye and guidance of the great American traveller, and laid bare the rocky floor, but without discovering the slightest trace of any opening. The same idea of a second entrance had previously occurred to Irby and Mangles; and when on their way to Palestine, they had used every exertion at Constantinople to procure a firman, authorizing them to excavate and ascertain the fact; but the request was denied by the suspicious Moslems. With characteristic pertinacity, they renewed their attempts to obtain permission of the

Governor on arriving at Jerusalem, with a like result. Still undaunted, they undertook the excavation themselves secretly by night-the working party consisting of five travellers and their five servants. After toiling for many hours, they came in the morning to a large block of stone on the spot where they expected to find an entrance. They succeeded during the day in breaking the stone, but their proceedings were discovered and prohibited by the authorities, just as they seemed on the verge of solving the great secret.

The heat of these sepulchral vaults is so oppressive, that we are glad to escape from their confinement into the open air and the clear daylight. Any lengthened stay in these chambers of death is the more disagreeable, as from all the walls and ceilings there is continually oozing and falling a drizzling moisture, which renders the work of exploration extremely unpleasant. And now that we are once more beneath the serene azure of a Syrian sky, let us seat ourselves upon one of the fallen masses of rock which encumber the court, and examine the ingenious theory propounded by De Sauley respecting these supposed royal sepulchres.

As they have been, by different travellers and writers, represented in turn as being the tombs of the Asmonean Princes, of Alexander Jannæus, of the Herods, and especially of Helena, queen of Adiabene, and of Izates, her son, the French savant starts by attempting to disprove the claim of any of these personages to the monument in question. He then, proceeding on the assumption that these are the sepulchres in which the kings of the dynasty of David were interred, examines all the passages, both in the Scriptures and in Josephus, in which the royal funerals are described. To give these citations would require more space than we have at our disposal. We must, therefore, content ourselves with a recapitulation of the results of this interesting investigation. To render our remarks intelligible, we present below a list