XI. THE BROOK KIDRON. TOPOGRAPHY.-The Valley of Jehoshaphat-Jewish Tombs-Gloomy THE CHASTISEMENT OF DAVID.-His Grievous Fall-The Rebellion of GETHSEMANE. The Agony and Bloody Sweat-The Suretyship of Jesus--Resurrection-Present State of the Garden. WE come now to speak of that stream which few persons will scruple to designate as the most interesting in the world. The Jordan is a far more imposing river, and its history, like that of many other of the Sacred Streams of which these pages treat, is a history of miracle, while no direct miraculous interposition marks the Kidron. Yet, associated as it is with Jerusalem and Gethsemane, with the sorrows of David, and with the agony of Jesus, a halo of radiance encircles the Kidron, that belongs to none other, even of the rivers of Palestine. Jerusalem is half enclosed by this stream, which, rising about half a mile from its north-west corner, winds round the north and east sides of the city, receiving the brook Gihon at the south-east corner, after which it passes off by a precipitous ravine to the Dead Sea. In general it is but the dry bed of a winter torrent, which is not always filled even during the rainy season. Dr. Robinson's remarks would imply that the presence of water in the ravine is rare, and considers, that even in ancient times, it was no more abundant than at present. Mr. Rae Wilson, however, found it in a different condition. When he visited it there appeared to be a regular stream of water in the channel, the ground having been saturated by the autumnal rains, and he states. that it often rushes with great impetuosity. Indeed, the very existence of a bridge over it, appears to be a sufficient indication, that at particular seasons this brook is with difficulty, if at all, fordable. The ravine, through the bottom of which the Kidron flows, is at its commencement merely a slight depression between the hill Scopus and the city, which gradually deepens, until it becomes a gloomy valley; on one side of which rises the Mount of Olives, and on the other the steep cliffs of Moriah, with its summit crowned by the wall of Jerusalem. This ravine is now commonly known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat; but the application of this name to it seems to be comparatively modern. The sides of this glen are crowded with innumerable tombs; for this has been from time immemorial the Jewish burying-place. To lay his bones with those of his fathers in the Valley of Jehoshaphat is the dearest ambition of the exiled son of Abraham; for which he is often content to travel from the ends of the earth, and to spend the remainder of his sorrowful days at Jerusalem in poverty and contempt. For in this valley he believes that Jehovah will by and by sit in judgment upon the nations; in that great controversy, the issue of which will be, that " Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation." The lower course of the Kidron lies through a gloomy gorge of singularly wild character, which has not been often traced by travellers. Dr. Wilson says, it is deep, romantic, and desolate throughout. About midway it divides into two branches, leaving a sort of chalky island between them; but these again meet at about a mile distant. THE VALLEY OF FIRE. 281 On the very brink of this "fearful and wonderful ravine," not very far from midway between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, stands the Convent of Mar Saba; said to have been built about the beginning of the fifth century. It consists of "a congeries of erections on different levels, of various forms, and of unequal altitude, the highest being a watch-tower, and a tower of defence against the Arabs." It contains an establishment of Greek monks, who afford hospitality both to travellers and to the native inhabitants who seek it. The sides of the rugged precipices which form the chasm, running down to an immense depth, are perforated with innumerable caverns, where once thousands of ascetics resided; a sort of troglodyte city. A tradition is preserved in the convent, that 80,000 of these hermits were massacred by the Saracens ! The remainder of this "horrible ravine " seems to be of the same character. Captain Lynch lately entered it from the shores of the Dead Sea, and traversed it upwards to Jerusalem. It is called in its lower course the Valley of Fire; it is shut in, on each side, by high barren cliffs of chalky limestone, which, while they exclude the air, throw their reverberated heat upon the traveller. The torrent-bed is interrupted by boulders, and covered with fragments of stone. "The sight, from the bottom of the ravine, is one well calculated to inspire awe. The chasm is here [in the vicinity of the convent] about 600 feet wide and 400 deep,-a broad deep gorge, or fissure, between lofty mountains, the steep and barren sides of which are furrowed by the winter rains. The numerous excavations present a most singular appearance.”* *The Dead Sea and the Jordan, p. 387. ness are seen. Even in this yawning gulf some traces of loveliA few fig-trees fringe the bed of the torrent, and gardens, with pomegranate-trees, and a single palm, surround the convent. The lower parts of the ravine presented a few flowers to the lastmentioned travellers; the scarlet anemone and the THE POMEGRANATE. purple-blossomed thistle being the principal ones. They mention also the white henbane, the dyer's weed, the dwarf mallow, commonly called "cresses," and the caper plant, believed to be the "hyssop that springeth out of the wall," the unexpanded flower |