Let us now visit the Grotto of Jeremiah, where, according to tradition, the Prophet composed the Book of Lamentations. At the first glance we recognize it as the continuation of the caverns we have just quitted; and noticing the horizontal strata of limestone, from which the great blocks in the city-wall have been extracted, can readily conceive that those huge masses, mentioned by Josephus[818], may have been quarried here, although we cannot now find any traces of them. To enter this grotto we must obtain permission of a dervish, the keeper of the place; who, however, never refuses, as he not only hopes to receive a present, which he applies to adorn his retreat, but also is a man of a kind and courteous nature. On passing the entrance we find, on the right hand, a large rectangular chamber, the walls of which at first sight appear to be entirely Arab masonry; but a careful examination detects large blocks of Roman workmanship, especially in the lower parts, and a piece of wall of the date of S. Helena. I am confirmed in my opinion on this point by the words of Nicephorus Callistus[819], who informs us that this Empress built a church near the grotto; therefore it is not improbable that these may be the remains of that edifice. To the east of the above chamber is a little irregular court, on the north of which is a very deep cistern excavated in the rock; and on the south is a cavern of great size, which has been converted into a cistern. This is perhaps the origin of the tradition that here was the dungeon in which the prophet was placed[820]. The tradition is inadmissible, whatever system be adopted for the line of the third wall; for in any case this place would be outside the second wall, and therefore a palace and a prison[821] would not occupy this position. Beneath the vaulting formed by the rock is the tomb of a Mohammedan santon, and a court enclosed by a low wall, in which the followers of the Prophet come to pray; where also the good-natured dervish has sometimes allowed the parties of distinguished travellers to lunch after a long excursion round the city-walls. The interior of the grotto in every part affords unquestionable signs of its having been a stone-quarry; for the cavities left by the blocks are still visible, and the holes on which the workmen have been engaged. I think therefore that this place was separated from the Royal Caverns[822] in quarrying stone, and may, strictly speaking, be called a part of them. Dr Schultz[823] has endeavoured to identify the grotto with the monument of Alexander Jannæus, because of the statement in Josephus[824], "that John and his party defended the tower Antonia, and the northern cloister of the Temple, and fought the Romans before the monuments of King Alexander." As these posts were held by John, after Titus had taken the outer line of walls, this position is of course inadmissible according to my theory; but putting that out of the