in a hall not large, but rather lofty, which opened into the court, and along the inner walls had comfortable divans. To the left, near this niche, was a dining-room; on the right we mounted a staircase to the upper rooms, where we lived. These were wainscotted all round, and the walls and ceiling were decked with gay painting, gilding, and silvering. We afterwards saw several more of the best houses in Damascus, which all from outside appeared almost miserable, but internally displayed an oriental magnificence that was to be found nowhere else in this most charming country. And in this manner they sometimes build at the present time, at least, if we may judge by some of the small palaces, which have only been built within the last ten or twenty years. There reigns here a profusion of the use of marble and other valuable stone in these courts, halls, and rooms, such as we only find in royal palaces in our own country. The beautiful open halls, which are always built with a high arch in front, are found sometimes on two or three sides of the court, and have very often a small fountain, as well as the great one, which never fails to stand in the middle of the court, generally overshadowed by trees, which grow out of the middle of the marble slabs. The next day we spent entirely in looking through the city, and particularly the large bazars in which are spread out beautiful stuffs, worked with gold and silver, magnificent arms, and other oriental articles of luxury. We visited the great Khan, with its nine splendid domed chambers; it is a kind of exchange for the most distinguished tradespeople; then the grand mosque of the Ommiades, which is kept with the utmost sanctity, and whose hall of pillars is 550 feet long, and 150 feet broad. It was formerly a Christian church, which must also have been built on the foundations of a Romish Temple of Juno. We were not allowed to enter, only to look in at the numerous open doors, and were even prevented by a fanatical Mussulman from going upon the roof of a neighbouring house, so that we were obliged to put it off till the next day. We were also shown a splendid plane-tree, thirty-five feet in circumference, which is in the middle of a street, near a well, called after an old Sheikh Ali, who is said to have planted the tree; we went also into the inviting coffee-house on the cool side of the stream. The next day we rode to the south gate of the city, called Bab Allah, towards which leads a perfectly straight street, more than an hour long, between magnificent shops, mosques, work-shops, and other buildings, which merits its name of “the street called Straight” (ἡ ῥύμη ἡ χαλουμένη εὐθεῖα), in which Saul lived when he was converted by Ananias.--(Acts ix. 11.)