THE ARAB GUARD TO THE DEAD SEA. 
367 
out of Jerusalem by the Jaffa gate, and went down to Job’s well. 
There was no guard there ; not the sign of a guard ; nothing 
but the well and two asses. So, having nothing better to do, 
we (my friend and myself, and not the asses) sat down on 
the top of the stone wall and amused ourselves throwing peb¬ 
bles into the well. It appeared to be very deep—perhaps 
about a hundred feet. I had no doubt at all of its antiquity. 
It looked old enough ; but whether Job had authorized the 
naming of this spot after him, or whether it was merely a 
freak of fancy on the part of the Latin monks, we could not 
tell. Historians differ so much touching the location of these 
wells and their right names, that I was always content to let 
them settle the knotty points, and thank God for the fresh 
water, when I found any. A queer, ruinous old place Job’s 
well was, consisting of a very deep hole in the solid rock, with 
a pile of broken walls and a moss-covered dome over it, in 
the Judean style, built perhaps some few centuries ago ; for 
I believe no historian pretends that any thing but the well 
itself can be traced to scriptural times. It lies in a blanched 
and arid valley of rocks, close down by the foot of Mount Zion. 
FIT,OUT MR ON THE ROATl TO .TERHKAT.EM. 
