Directly opposite the village of Siloam is the famous Fountain of the Virgin, situated at the base of Mount Ophel. It derives its name from the monkish legend that here the mother of Jesus was accustomed to wash her linen. The Turks, however, call it the “Fountain of the Dragon,” from the superstition that, as it is a remitting fountain, a dragon lives within it, who stops the water when awake, but when he sleeps the water flows. The reservoir is a tunnel-like cavern, twenty-five feet deep, excavated in the southern side of Ophel. Sixteen steps lead down to a platform twelve feet wide, over which a chamber has been built of old stones ten feet high and eighteen long. From this platform there is a flight of fourteen steps, from beneath the lowest of which the water issues, which, after rising to the height of three feet, flows over a pebbled bed, and, passing through a channel, mingles with the waters of Siloam. Penetrating the mountain, this winding channel is two feet wide, from four to twenty high, and more than 1750 long. Illustration: FOUNTAIN OF THE VIRGIN. The source of this fountain is unknown. Though subterranean water-courses, which penetrate Zion, Ophel, and Moriah, have been explored, yet it has never been ascertained whether the water flows from a fountain beneath the Temple area, or from some great central reservoir in the heart of one of the hills, from which are supplied, by lateral conduits, the numerous wells, cisterns, and fountains that here abound. For ages it has been a remitting fountain, flowing at intervals two or three times a day, and suggesting to the mind of some that this is the Pool of Bethesda. Its location, however, is more in harmony with Nehemiah’s description of the King’s Pool.[147] For centuries the taste of the water varied at different seasons of the year, being at intervals sweet, bitter, brackish, and tasteless, which arises from the mineral and vegetable substances through which it flows, or from the waters of the bath, coming down from above and mingling with that of the fountain. Winding round the foot of Ophel, we entered the delightful gardens of Siloam, called in Scripture the “King’s Dale.”[148] They extend from Kefr Silwân to the Pool of En-Rogel, and cover an area a mile in length and 150 yards in breadth. Unequaled in fertility, these gardens surpass in beauty any other spot in the environs of Jerusalem. Irrigated by rills from the neighboring fountains, they yield abundantly the most delicious figs, almonds, and olives, together with many varieties of Syrian vegetables. Rented by many tenants, the land is divided into small plots; and when viewed from an adjacent hill-side, where is seen to best advantage the deep green of the herbs, the maroon color of the soil, and the bright hues of the flowers, it has the appearance of an elegant carpet.