Tradition also is valuable as confirming the identification of sites, although it might be insufficient if it stood alone. In the case of Jacob’s Well, near Nablous (Shechem), the Hebrew and Samaritan traditions, the Mohammedan and Christian traditions, all agree. There is agreement also about the grotto at Bethlehem, under the Church of the Nativity, as the place of Christ’s birth. There can be no question that the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought for a burial place, is that which is now covered by the great mosque at Hebron. And here again we have that valuable consent of traditions--Jewish, Christian, and Moslem--which seems to distinguish the true sites from those less genuine concerning which two or more discordant traditions have arisen. The Prince of Wales, Dean Stanley, and a few other Europeans have been admitted into the mosque; but it seems very doubtful if any living being has ever descended into the mysterious cavern beneath the floor since the Moslem conquest of Palestine. The surrounding wall of the mosque is also one of the mysteries of Palestine, and a monument inferior only to the Temple Enclosure at Jerusalem, which it resembles in style. The Temple Area at Jerusalem is still a sanctuary; and the Tower of Antonia maintains its military character in the present Turkish barracks. In Palestine we find a Mohammedan mosque where a Christian church used to be--and built from the same materials. The church in its time had followed a Jewish synagogue. Throughout the country for thousands of years the people have gone on living in the same way and in the same place, and calling the places by the same names. The name of almost every village is Hebrew, and each stands on the great dust-heap into which the ancient buildings have crumbled. The Hebrew names are retained, and are scarcely changed since the days of Abraham, because the peasantry are really Semitic in descent. In those parts of the country which are seldom visited by Europeans the natives were much astonished to see the Survey party at work. At one place called _Baka_ (in the Sharon district) the great gig umbrella over the theodolite attracted much attention, and the chief delight to elderly men was a peep through the theodolite telescope. “What do you see, O father?” cried the less fortunate who crowded round the observer. “I see Hammad and his cows, two hours off, as if he were close here!” replied the delighted elder.