portion of his property to his wretched fellow-citizens; and further, he made a vow to distribute corn, meat, and wine, among them at this place, every year at the feast of Purim; so that they might be able to share in the general joy, and celebrate the festival in a proper manner. So sped the years; the evils of the war were beginning to be less felt, when the new generation, seduced by a false Messiah named Cosiba, again endeavoured to shake off the Roman yoke. The aged man still remembered too well the miseries of the former siege; he implored his brethren to abandon their fatal determination, relating to them what he had seen and suffered; but his efforts were fruitless. At length it was revealed to him from heaven that soon the city would again be destroyed by the armies of Hadrian. For the last time he tried to induce the rebels to submit, but in vain; then, preferring to die rather than witness the misfortunes of his country, he prayed to God to remove him from the earth; the roof of the cavern fell in, and buried him in its ruins under the heap which still lies before its mouth. Still however, every year, at the feast of Purim, the dead man takes a piece of money from his hidden treasures, and places it on the rock in order to continue the 'alms of food' to the poor." Before 1857 there was an isolated mass of rock in the middle of this monument, to which the Rabbins and a great number of people came on their feast of Pentecost to pray and read the Pentateuch, but it has now disappeared, because, in building the Austrian hospice, this place was used as a stone quarry, and greatly mutilated. It is to be hoped that what remains will not be destroyed by a repetition of this vandalism, when another work of charity is executed for a European nation. On ascending the Kidron Valley we find, on its northern bank, a place, commonly called the Tomb of Simon the Just. A few years ago a Mohammedan, seeing that it was frequented by the Jews, affixed a door to it, expecting that he would be able to extract money from those who wished to visit it. He has not been disappointed in his hopes, and reaps large gains. Whether the name is rightly given, I do not know; but it is not contrary to any tradition. The interior is not remarkable; only there is a small cistern, well constructed, on the side of the casemate vault. The Jews visit this spot for prayer at all seasons, but especially when rain is needed for the country, after it has been parched during nine months by a blazing sun.