274 
east, is surrounded by precipices bounded by walls on 
the south-east, east, and west sides; having only a small 
level towards the south, which leads to the sepulchre 
of David; and a larger one to the north, which forms 
the summit of the mountain, over which is the road to 
Jaffa. 
The streets of Jerusalem are tolerably regular, straight, 
and well paved, several having footpaths, but they are 
narrow, dull, and almost all are more or less on the 
descent; the houses are generally two or three stories 
high, with few windows, and extremely small doors. 
The fronts are quite plain, simply constructed of stone, 
without the least ornament; so that in walking the 
streets, one might fancy one's self in the galleries or 
corridors of a vast prison. In short, they exemplify the 
truth of the descriptions of Jeremiah. What a contrast 
to the fine streets of Mecca, which are so ornamented 
and so gay! I never expected to find this disadvantage 
in a city inhabited for so many ages by Christians; but 
facta est quasi vidua, domina gentium. 
The buildings are in general well constructed of fine 
free stone, but by a singular whim all the doors are so 
small, that it is commonly requisite to bend the body 
nearly double to be able to enter them. Some houses 
have small gardens; and a thing worth remarking is, 
that there is no considerable vacant space in the city; 
so that Jerusalem, which occupies a much less extent 
of ground than Mecca, contains, according to my in- 
formation, nearly thirty thousand souls, without in^ 
eluding the population of some small suburbs without 
the city. 
I did not observe at Jerusalem any square, properly 
so called; the shops and markets are in the public streets, 
as at Mecca. Provisions are abundant, and very cheap; 
