JEKUSALEM, PAST AND PRESENT. 



263 



adopted by King David as the capital of the Jewish monarchy, 

 it is still great and thriving ; a growing city for, outside the 

 walls, what was called " the new Jerusalem " was steadily 

 rising up. 



There are many routes to Jerusalem, but perhaps for the 

 modern traveller the most usual way is to land at Jaffa, and to 

 proceed thence by road or railway. Jaffa has a bad 

 Landincr harbour, and landing there is frequently both 

 at Jatta. difficult and disatvreeable on account of the 



o 



dangerous nature of the reefs. Of the old town 

 there is very little left, and the place has completely 

 Town of changed, even since the times of the Crusaders, 

 • when King Kichard 1. fought with vSaladin under 



its walls. 



From Jaffa, it is best for the traveller to go on by train, as the 

 railway runs over an interesting district, and as the train goes 



very slowly, while climbing the ascent of 2,500 feet, 

 Eaihvay to it is easy to get a good idea of the features of the 

 Jerusalem, land. The railway goes first through the low 



country formerly occupied by the Philistines, and 

 then turns east into the mountains of Judrea by the Wady 

 es-Surar, known in the Bible as the Valley of Sorek, the site of 

 many battles l)etween the Israelites and the Philistines. Then, 



passing through a narrow gorge, the railway mounts 

 Jerusalem higher and higher, until it reaches the station at 

 Station. Jerusalem, 2,500 feet above sea level. The railway 



station is outside the walls to the south-west, and 



a cab-ride of about three quarters of a mile — fancy 

 The Jaffa. ^ cab-rank in the city of the Prophets — takes the 

 Gate. traveller up to the Jaffa Gate, a busy place, the 



centre of the life of modern Jerusalem ; close to 



this gate is Al Kal'a, the citadel of Jerusalem, 

 founded upon the site of the palace of Herod the Great. 



The prevalent notion that Jerusalem is an exceedingly hot 

 city is wrongly based, for although fairly hot in summer, it 

 is very cold in wdnter, and the Lecturer once saw six inches 

 of snow there at the beginninty of March. Tourists <»;oin<>; to 

 Jerusalem certainly ought not to date their visit before the 

 beginning of April at the earliest. 



To one who arrives at Jerusalem for the first time it is 

 Plan of impossible to realise what the ancient city was like, 

 Jerusalem, as the form of the ground has entirely altered. 

 The Hills ^^^^ what now appears to be a comparatively level 

 and Valleys, surface, covered with houses, was formerly intersected 



