Observations on Jerusalem. 17 
Hinnom, néar the Yafa Gate, to the brink of the Valley of Je- 
ebaphat. 4 is about 1020 yards, or nearly half a geographical 
mile ; of which distance 318 yards are occupied by the area of 
the great mosque El-Haramesh-Sherif. North of the Yafa 
ree the city wall sweeps round more to the west, and in- 
creases the breadth of the city in that part. 
The country around Jerusalem is all of limestone formation, 
and not particularly fertile.* The rocks everywhere come 
out above the surface, which, in many parts, is also thickly 
strewed with loose stones ; and the aspect of the whole region 
is barren and dreary. Yet the olive thrives here abundantly, 
and fields of grain are seen in the valleys and level places ; 
but they are less productive than in the region of Hebron and 
Nabulus. Neither vineyards nor fig-trees flourish on the high 
ground around the city, though the latter are found in the 
gardens below Siloam, and are very plentiful in the vicinity 
of Bethlehem. 
2. Climate. 
The climate of the mountains on which Jerusalem is situated 
differs from that of the temperate parts of Europe and Ame- 
rica, more in the alternations of wet and dry seasons, than in 
the degrees of temperature. The variations of rain and sun- 
shine, which in the west exist throughout the whole year, are 
in Palestine confined chiefly to the latter part of the autumn 
and the winter, while the remaining months enjoy almost un- 
interruptedly a cloudless sky. 
The autumnal rains, the “ early rains” of Scripture, usually 
commence in the latter half of October or beginning of Novem- 
ber, not suddenly, but by degrec¥, which gives opportunity for 
the husbandman to sow his fields of wheat and barley. The 
rains come mostly from the west or south-west,} continuing 
%* The limestone of the neighbourhood of Jerusalem appears, from the ob- 
servations of Russegger and others, to belong to the Jura formation, with 
occasional patches of superimposed chalk strataa—Enp1r. 
t Luke xii. 54.— When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway 
ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.” These words were spoken 
by our Lord at Jerusalem. 
VOL. XXXII. NO. LXUT.—sanuary 1842. B 
