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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



far failed to come up to the mark fixed at the 

 outset by its promoters, if few striking or sen- 

 sational discoveries have been announced, and 

 many of the disputed sites and other topographi- 

 cal or archaeological problems remain as uncer- 

 tain as of old, it is beyond dispute that a great 

 deal has been added to our knowledge both of the 

 Holy Land at large and of its sacred capital. The 

 large-scale ordnance map, shortly, we hope, to 

 be published, will alone' amply repay the outlay 

 upon the expedition. The labor bestowed upon 

 the identification of sites, chiefly by means of a 

 heedful study of the existing vernacular names, 

 has supplied innumerable points of contact, in 

 addition to those of previous less systematic trav- 

 elers and explorers, between the Bible-text and 

 the present features of the country. In Jerusa- 

 lem itself, though only here and there has the 

 surface of the soil been more than scratched, 

 while local jealousy has forbidden ground even to 

 be struck where the problem of problems awaits 

 solution within the sacred area of the Haram, 

 there has, notwithstanding, been a great deal 

 done to settle the basis for future inquiries, and 

 to narrow the boundaries of investigation, while 

 establishing particular points of no mean value. 

 Of the labors and hardships undergone in work- 

 ing up to this point of topographical knowledge 

 the book before us gives a sketch as graphic in 

 its details as it is modest and retiring in its tone. 

 In the annals of the distinguished corps of royal 

 engineers there can be few tales of patient toil 

 and hourly risk of life more worthy of record 

 than those which make up the unassuming nar- 

 rative of " Underground Jerusalem." Shafts 

 had to be sunk through rubbish and broken 

 stones, which in the course of centuries had ac- 

 cumulated to a depth of a hundred feet or more. 

 One main difficulty in that treeless country was 

 the providing the wooden frames with which the 

 shafts had to be lined. Low and narrow galler- 

 ies were then driven horizontally to right or left, 

 in which the miner, often on bended knee, by 

 the dim light of an oil-lamp, worked his perilous 

 way through layer after layer of loose earth or 

 stone-chippings, loose stones occasionally burst- 

 ing in upon him like water, or huge blocks crash- 

 ing in upon the void thus made, crumpling up 

 the wooden frames like paper, and threatening 

 the explorer with instant death. No wonder 

 that Captain Warren could speak of the strain 

 upon the nerves during this work as intense, re- 

 quiring the greatest fortitude and self-control on 

 the part of himself as leader, of the hardy and 

 intrepid corporal or sergeant who stoutly sec- 



onded him, and the much-enduring fellahin who 

 had to be alternately coaxed and drilled into the 

 requisite obedience. Even the power of restrain- 

 ing the involuntary movement of the muscles 

 would fail at times under such tension, so that 

 their limbs refused to obey the will, and the men 

 had to be told off to duty above-ground until 

 they once more became cool and collected. Cap- 

 tain Warren himself became familiar with this 

 strange effect of nervous influence. Through all 

 this he was often left without remittances, the 

 fund being his debtor to the full extent of his 

 private means. Added to these constant draw- 

 backs, and perhaps most formidable of all, were 

 the jealousies of Jews and Mohammedans alike, 

 whose holy places or associations were threat- 

 ened by Frankish intrusion, and the dull and 

 stupid opposition of the Turkish pashas, who 

 were at length generally best dealt with by a 

 front of bold defiance. All things considered, 

 Captain Warren may well be proud of the results 

 he has to show from his seven years' researches. 

 Until the time comes when a more liberal firman 

 or a greater relaxation of local prejudices opens 

 the area of the Noble Sanctuary itself to direct 

 and thorough excavation, it is not clear what 

 fresh discoveries of value are to be looked for 

 within the immediate range of his investigations. 

 What may be laid down as absolutely fixed, 

 and as forming the groundwork of all further de- 

 tail, is the approximate parallelogram of solid 

 masonry forming an artificial face to the native 

 fortress of the Haram mount. That the date of 

 this grand wall goes back in part to the time of 

 Solomon is to be inferred from the masons' marks 

 in red paint found upon the lowest tier of stones 

 near the southeast angle, and held, on the au- 

 thority of scholars so well qualified as Dr. Peter- 

 mann and Mr. Deutsch, who saw them on the 

 spot, to be Phoenician letters. Even though the 

 other portions of the wall, which here and else- 

 where attains from the base (through the rub- 

 bish) the full height of 150 feet assigned to it by 

 Josephus, be referred to the time of Herod, there 

 13 convincing proof that the present Haram area 

 was, in the time of our Lord, included within the 

 circuit of the city wall. The idea, then, of the 

 Sakhrah, or holy rock, in the very centre of the 

 area, having been the site of the Saviour's bury- 

 ing-place — the key of Mr. Fergusson's extraordi- 

 nary position — must be sent to the same limbo 

 as the wonderful theory of the Turanians being 

 the only builders, and Stonehenge being a Buddh- 

 ist reliquary tope. No criminal, it is well known, 

 could by Jewish law be executed or buried with- 



