Beit Jibrîn is famous for its great caverns, hollowed out in the white soft rock on every side of the village. They have generally names of little importance, but one is called “Cavern of the Fenish” (or Philistines), and the ground near it is “the Garden of the Fenish.” It is, perhaps, from these great caves, numbering eleven in all, that the place came to be considered as a former habitation of the Horites, or “cave-dwellers.” Jerome states that Eleutheropolis, or “the City of Freemen,” was once inhabited by the Horites, which he renders “freemen.” This idea is derived, as are many of Jerome’s more fantastic criticisms, straight from the Jews, for the same connection between these two names is to be found in the Talmud. The question of the date of the great caverns is difficult. One of them has been enlarged, so as to cut into an old Jewish tomb, and it must therefore be comparatively recent. In another there are niches for funeral urns, which date back no doubt to Roman times. Others have inscriptions in Cufic on the walls, containing in one instance the name of Saladin. In one we discovered rudely-carved figures, perhaps intended to symbolise the Crucifixion, and there are many Latin crosses, and apses pointing east. One long tunnel with sculptured walls is called “the Horse’s Cavern,” but it seems to have been a chapel, fifty feet long and eighteen wide. Altogether there is not any evidence that the caverns, as they now exist, are older than the twelfth century, when the town was fortified, and there are indications that, if not originally excavated, they were at least enlarged in times subsequent to the Jewish epoch. There are, however, near Beit Jibrîn, ancient tombs (one having thirty-four Kokim), and also cisterns and wine-presses, showing the village to be a Jewish site, and a great vault containing 1774 niches for urns; there are also domed caverns with flights of rock-cut steps, which seem to have been used for storing water. The site is extensive, and several days were occupied in its exploration; but it is not a naturally strong position, and we should not therefore expect it to represent any one of the great Palestine strongholds. [Illustration: COLUMBARIA NEAR BEIT JIBRÎN.]