Jews; but there seems to be no ground, either in the Scriptures or Josephus, for connecting it with the valley of the Kidron. .... The name Jehoshaphat, however, was already applied to it in the earliest ages of the Christian era; .. there is, therefore, no good reason why we should not employ this name at the present day. . . . .

"Below (the fountain of En-rogel) the valley of Jehoshaphat continues to run SS.W. between the mount of Offence and the hill of Evil Counsel, so called. . . . (The valley afterwards bends off to the south-east, and pursues its way to the Dead Sea.) Below the well... it is full of olive and fig-trees, and is in most parts ploughed and sown with grain. Further down, it takes the name among the Arabs of Monk's Valley,' from the convent of St. Saba situated on it; and still nearer to the Dead Sea it is called 'Fire Valley.'" Of this part of the valley Mr. Robinson has the following notice in a subsequent visit. "We came to the deep and almost impassable ravine of the Kidron, coming down by Mâr Saba, and thence called 'Monk's Valley,' but here bearing also the name 'Fire Valley.' At this place it was running in a deep narrow channel between perpendicular walls of rock, as if worn away by the rushing waters between these desolate chalky hills. There was, however, no water in it now; nor had there apparently been any for a long time. It enters the (Dead) Sea (just below the promontory called) Râs-el Feshkhah, the northernmost promontory of the Dead Sea,... eight hundred or a thousand feet above its waters.

No

"The channel of the valley of Jehoshaphat, the Brook Kidron of the Scriptures, is nothing more than the dry bed of a wintry torrent, bearing marks of being occasionally swept over by a large volume of water. stream flows here now except during the heavy rains of winter, when the waters descend into it from the neighbouring hills. Yet even in winter there is no

constant flow . . . nor is there any evidence that there was anciently more water in it than at present. Like the (valleys) of the desert, the valley probably served of old, as now, only to drain off the waters of the rainy season."-ROBINSON'S Researches, vol. i. pp. 396, 401, 402. ii. 249, 250.

"Some surprise has been expressed by travellers at perceiving the channel of the Brook Cedron sometimes dry, and at others overflowed with sudden torrents. Such observations are just, but with reference only to that particular season of the year when they happened to be made; for at the time I was in Jerusalem, there appeared to be a regular stream of water in the channel, the ground having been saturated by the autumnal rains, and 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, which is referred to in Scripture, is with difficulty, if at all, fordable. It discharges itself into the Dead Sea. An idea has been entertained that the name Cedron, signifying dark or black, originated from the number of cedar-trees formerly planted on its banks, which overshadowed it, but there exists no proof of this at the present moment. The blood of the sacrifices from the temple (2 Chron. xxix. 16.) ran by a drain into this brook, and as it served for a similar purpose to the adjacent lands, its necessarily discoloured waters afford a more probable derivation of its name.

Willow-trees anciently grew upon the banks of this brook, but none are now to be seen. It was beside this stream that Asa (2 Chron. xv. 16.) burned the idol his mother had caused to be set up; and into it the Levites threw all the uncleanness of the temple at its purification by Hezekiah. (2 Chron. xxix. 16.) During a drought, the inhabitants have no other resource than this brook for supplying themselves with the indispensable article of water."-RAE WILSON'S Travels, vol. i. pp. 244, 245.

MOUNT OF OLIVES, OR OLIVET.

SCRIPTURE NOTICES.

"AND David went up by the ascent of Mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered; and he went barefoot: and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up."-2 Samuel xv. 30. (See verse 32, &c.)

"And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south."-Zechariah xiv. 4.

Brook Kedron-Garden of Gethsemane-Road to Bethlehem.

"And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which, at your entering, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat; loose him, and bring him hither. . . And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon. And as they went, they spread their clothes in the way. And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice, for all the mighty works that they had seen; saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven, and glory in the highest . . And when

he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in

this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes."-Luke xix. 29. -44. (Matt. xxi. 1; Mark xi. 1.)

"And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, asked him privately, Tell us, when shall these things be?" (the destruction of the temple, &c.) — Mark xiii. 3. (Matthew xxiv. 3.)

"And in the day-time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives."-Luke xxi. 37. (John viii.1, 2.)

"And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives . . . Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter, and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy." –Matthew xxvi. 30, 36. (See whole Chapter. Mark xiv. 26-32.)

"This mountain, so celebrated, both in the Old and New Testaments, is called by the Arabs, Jebel et Tûr, and lies on the east of Jerusalem, from which it is separated only by the narrow valley of Jehoshaphat. It is usually said to have three summits; . . . towards the south it sinks down into a lower ridge over against the well of Nehemiah, called now... the mount of offence, in allusion to the idolatrous worship established by Solomon, in the hill that is before (eastward of) Jerusalem.' Across this part leads the usual road to Bethany

(From the middle summit) there is a commanding view of the Dead Sea, and the adjacent country, including a large part of the valley of the Jordan, and the dreary region between Jerusalem and Jericho, and between Bethlehem and the Dead Sea. The course of the river Jordan may be traced by the narrow strip of verdure which clothes its banks. At a considerable 1 1 Kings xi. 7, 8.