Mount Sion*- 
S. The house of* Simon the Pliarisee, 
where Magdalen confesse^d her sins. 
Here, in the eastern part of the city, is a 
church totally in ruins. 
4. Tile monastery of St. Anne, the 
mother of the Blessed Virgin, and the 
grotto of the immaculate Conception, 
under the church of the monastery. This 
Convent has been turned into a mosque, 
but admission may be obtained for a 
f riding sum. 
5. 'Tile prison of St. Peter, near Cal¬ 
vary. This consists of nothing but old 
walls, in which are yet shewn so'me iron 
staples. 
b. Zehedee’s house, situated very 
near St. Peter’s prison ; now a spa¬ 
cious church belonging to the Greek 
Patriarch. 
7. The house of Mary, the mother 
of John Mark, where St. Peter took re¬ 
fuge when he had been set at liberty 
by the angel. It is a church, the 
duty of which is performed by the Sy¬ 
rians. 
8. The place of the martyrdom of St. 
.Tames the Great. This is the Armenian 
convent, the church of which is very ricli 
and elegant. 
MOUNT STON. 
Turning to the left, as soon as we had 
passed the gate, we proceeded south¬ 
ward, and passed the Pool of Beersheba, 
a broad deep ditch, hut without water ; 
and then ascended Mount Sion, part of 
wliich is now without the city. 
The name of Sion tloubtless awakens 
grand ideas in the mind of the reader, 
who is curious to hear something con¬ 
cerning this mount, so mysterious in 
Scripture, so highly celebrated in Solo¬ 
mon’s song—this mount, tiie subject of 
the benedictions or of the tears of the 
prophets. 
This hill, of a yellowo'sh color and bar¬ 
ren appearance, open in form of a cres¬ 
cent towards Jerusalem. This sacred 
summit is distinguished by three monu¬ 
ments, or more properly by three ruins ; 
the house of Caiaphas, the place where 
Christ celebrated his last supper, and the 
tomb or palace of David. From tiie 
top of the hill you see, to the south, tlie 
valley of Ben-Hinnon; beyond this the 
Field of Blood, purchased wdth the 
thirty pieces of silver given to Judas, the 
Hill of Evil Counsel, the tombs of the 
Judges, and the whole desert towards 
Hebron and Bethlehem. To the north, 
thg wail of Jerusalem, which passes over 
'Pool of Siloe, 6G j 
the top of Sion, intercepts the view- of 
the city, the site of vviiich gradually 
slopes from this place towards tlie valley 
of Jehoshaphat, 
The residence of Caiaphas is now a 
church, the duty of wiiich is performed 
by the Armenians. David's tomb is a 
small vaulted room, containing three se¬ 
pulchres of dark-colored stone ; and, oti 
the spot where Christ held his last sup- 
]ier, stand a mosque and a Turkish iios- 
pital, formerly a church and monastery, 
occupied by tlie Fathers of the Holy 
Land. This last sanctuary is equally 
celebrated m the Old and in the New 
Testament. Here David built himself a 
palace and a tomb; here he kept for 
three months the Ark of the Covenant; 
here Christ held liis last passover, and 
instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist; 
here he appeared to his disciples on tiie 
day of his resurrection ; and here the 
Holy Ghost descended on the apostles. 
The place hallowed by the Last Supper 
was transformed into the first Chrisriaii 
temple the world ever beheld, where St, 
James the Less was consecrated the first: 
Christian bishop of Jernsaiem, and St, 
Peter held the first council of the churciu 
Finally, it was from this spot that the 
apostles, in compliance with the injunc¬ 
tion, to go and teach all nations, de¬ 
parted without purse and wirhout scripj, 
to seat tlieir religion upon all the thrones 
of the earth. 
POOL OF SILOE. 
Having d escended IMount Sion, on the 
east side, 'w'e came at its foot, to the 
fountain and pool of Siloe, where Chris£ 
restored sight to the blind man. The 
spring issues from a rock, and runs in a 
silent stream, accoi’ding to the testimony 
qf Jeremiaii, which is contradicted by a 
passage of St. Jerome. It has a kind 
of ebb and flood, sometimes disciiarging 
its curresit like the fountain of Vaucluse, 
at others retaining and scarcely sulferiug 
it to run at all. 
According to Josephus, this miraculous 
spring fiowmd for the army of Titus, and 
refused its waters to the guilty Jews. The 
pool, or rather the two pools, ofthe same 
name, are quite close to the spring. They 
are still used for washing linen as for¬ 
merly ; and we there saw some women, 
who ran away abusing us. The water 
of the spring is brackish,' and has a very 
disagreeable taste; people still liatfie 
tlieir eyes with it, in memory of the 
miracle performed on the man born blind. 
Near 
