The hill is about 400 feet in height, and in most parts is of difficult ascent; it was well adapted for defence, and the extensive and massive ruins on the top show that it was a place of considerable strength. This was probably the _upper_ city: for the site of the “Nether-Beth-Horon,” we must look among the broken ground that skirts the lower part of the eminence. This was a place of importance, as it commands the entrance of the winding ravine, along which the road ascends from the plain into the mountainous district, or what is called in the first chapter of John, the “hill country” of Judea. The entrance into this ravine is about two miles east from Beth-Horon; and as it stood gaping before us, with the mountains on either side towering to a great height, while the representations of travellers had led us to expect beyond it only mountains, still darker and more dreary, we turned some reluctant looks backward towards the plain. The roads over these mountains we had been also informed by Mr. Damon, were the worst possible; but in this latter respect we were to meet with an agreeable disappointment. One of the consuls at Jaffa, a merchant, (I believe the Sardinian consul,) in order to divert the trade of the Mecca and Jerusalem caravans from Damascus to his own city, had lately put the road in excellent order. In many places he had blasted rocks, and at others had built up walls; the operation had been an expensive one, and the enterprise of the gentleman merits a better reward than I am afraid it will receive. As we were entering the ravine, we met a company of Egyptian soldiers; and, further on, in a narrow part, encountered a much larger force, returning to the west. They had with them a great number of camels loaded with baggage and accoutrements, and often with field-pieces, some of the latter (brass six pounders) being lashed to spars which were fastened to the backs of two camels, one before the other. The soldiers, though the balance of power was greatly on their side, were very civil; and in no instance showed a disposition to offer annoyance, or give us unnecessary trouble. It was in this pass that the Roman army, under Cestius, were almost totally destroyed. We found the ascent up to the ravine, though long, yet far from being toilsome. At the summit, at a spot commanding a view of all the plain of Sharon and the sea beyond, we stopped in an olive grove for dinner. This was near the village of the ex-robber, prince Aboo Ghoosh; but a change has come over the country under the sovereignty of Mohammed Ali, for the people did not even come to look at us.