280 
to present a great number of defenders; a stranger is 
tempted to look upon it as an impregnable place; but 
when he examines attentively its position, the first illu- 
sion disappears, and he remains convinced that it is a 
post incapable of sustaining a severe assault; because, 
on account of the topography of the land, it has no means 
of preventing the approaches of an enemy; and on the 
other hand, it is commanded at the distance of a gun- 
shot by the Djebel Tor, or Mount of Olives. 
The mountain upon which Jerusalem is built is 
entirely destitute of vegetation, and is composed of 
basaltic rock, making a transition to the trapp species 
like most of the neighbouring mountains. 
The climate of Jerusalem, although situated near the 
tropic, is cold, on account of its position on an eminence 
considerably above the sea. During my stay in the 
month of July, the thermometer expose^! at noon, never 
passed 23° 5',* and I have seen it at 17° 3'f in the 
morning. The wind was always west, and the atmo- 
sphere variable. I was assured that a great deal of snow 
fell during the winter, and that the rains were generally 
abundant. 
I did not perceive many old men at Jerusalem; there 
are however more than at Mecca. 
The country people remark that those years, in which 
there is much snow, are generally remarkable for an 
abundance of olives. I remarked that the wind acquires 
here an extraordinary rapidity. 
* 85° Fahrenheit. 
f 62|° Fahrenheit. 
