RUINS OF JERUSALEM. 



not been one who did not encourage the Jerusalem manufactories 

 by the purchases he made. It offers an easy method of obtaining 

 a large quantity of acceptable presents, which occupy little space, 

 for the inhabitants of Greek and catholic countries, as well as for 

 Turks and Arabs. We provided ourselves with a considerable 

 cargo, and found them useful in our subsequent journey. The 

 custom of carrying such strings of beads was in use long before the 

 Christian aera ; and the practice of bearing them in the hand pre- 

 vails, among men of rank, all over the east. It is not so easy to 

 account for the origin of the shell, as a badge worn by pilgrims : 

 but it decidedly refers to much earlier oriental customs than the 

 journeys of Christians to the Holy Land, and its history will pro. 

 bably be found in the mythology of eastern nations. Among the 

 substances which they had wrought in the manufacture of rosaries, 

 and for amulets, we were glad to notice the black fetid limestone of 

 the Lake Asphaltites ; because it enabled us to procure very large 

 specimens of that mineral, in its natural state. It is worn in the 

 east as a charm against the plague ; and that a similar superstition 

 attached to this stone in very early ages, is evident from the cir- 

 cumstance of our having afterwards found amulets of the same 

 substance in the subterranean chambers below the pyramids of 

 Saquara, in Upper Egypt. The cause of the fetid effluvia emitted 

 from this stone, when partially decomposed by means of friction, 

 is now known to be owing to the presence of sulphureted hydro, 

 gen. All bituminous limestone does not possess this property. It is 

 very common in the sort of limestone called black marble in England, 

 though not always its characteristic. The workmen employed by 

 stone.masons often complain of the unpleasant smell which escapes 

 from it during their labours. The ancient Gothic monuments in 

 France frequently consisted of fetid limestone. The fragments 

 which we obtained from the Dead Sea had this property in a very- 

 remarkable degree ; and it may generally be observed, that the 

 oriental specimens are more strongly impregnated with hydro.su!. 

 puret than any which are found in Europe. The water of the 

 Dead Sea has a similar odour. The monks of St. Salvador kept it 

 in jars, together with the bitumen of the same lake, among the ar. 

 tides of their pharmacy ; both the one and the other being also 

 esteemed on account of their medical virtues. 



We set out to visit what are called the Holy Places. These are 

 all amply described by at least an hundred authors. From the 



