asserts that, in times long since past, there was a high tower on this spot; he is indeed not altogether mistaken; for, in the days of Herod, the cloister with its four rows of columns stood here; high enough to afford a beautiful view[328]. Just on the north of the site of this is a staircase leading down into a chamber lighted by loopholes in the outer wall of the _Haram_. After passing the upper doorway we have on the right hand a small aperture, through which we can look into the great vault, and see some of its many columns. In the south wall at the end of the chamber the keeper points out a marble basin in the form of a cradle, as the one which held the Infant Jesus, when He was brought to the Temple for circumcision; and shews the places occupied by the Virgin Mary and S. Joseph, and the two niches where stood the Prophets Zacharias and Ezekiel. The story is worthless, but the view of the grotto excavated partly in the rock and of the enormous blocks in the wall is very interesting. On quitting this place we observe a large terrace formed above the subterranean vault. I descended by a large hole close to the south wall of the _Haram_, and on arriving in the great chamber, saw a forest of columns supporting the roof, rising among heaps of earth and ruins. I believe that this immense building was originally constructed by Solomon, in order to increase the area of the platform of the Temple; and at the same time to contain water, which was used in such quantities in the service of the Sanctuary; the height of the vault, measured near the south-east corner, is 39 feet above the floor of rock; which I found after digging through a layer of earth. It is lower towards the north, for the rock rises there, as it does towards the north-west corner, where I had great difficulty in finding it, from the accumulation of rubbish. The whole building has evidently undergone restoration at different periods; as is shewn by its irregular shape and the condition and different kinds of masonry of the present walls. Of these the east and south walls (being part of the _Haram_ wall) are Herodian work; at the south-east corner, by the chamber of the cradle of Christ, which we have already visited, we see Roman work in the inner wall and in some masonry on the north, at which point it is evident that the size of the vault has been diminished; some other small walls in the interior belong to a much later period, perhaps that of the Crusades. The plinths of the numerous columns are rusticated in the Herodian style, but their shafts are Roman. Their length diminishes towards the north owing to the rise of the rocky floor towards the main mass of the hill on that side; which however is generally not visible from within, as it is faced with masonry. The whole vaulting, supported by semicircular arches, is Roman. I consider therefore that the last restoration was made by order of Justinian, but cannot allow that the whole building dates from that