"From the Garden of Gethsemane we ascended the slope by a steep path which carried us to the summit in fifteen or twenty minutes, or would have done so if we had not stopped several times on the way to look back at Jerusalem. The summit of the hill is said to be two hundred and twenty feet above Mount Moriah, and consequently we looked down on the Holy City, and had its entire outline before us. We could trace the course of the brook Kedron, the Valley of Hinnom, the hills of Zion and Moriah, the village of Siloam, near the celebrated pool, and directly in front of us lay the Haram enclosure, where once stood the Temple of Solomon, but now occupied by the mosques we have already described. To the east, and far below us, were the blue waters of the Dead Sea, with the mountains of Moab bounding the horizon. Owing to the clearness of the atmosphere the Dead Sea appeared close to us, and it seemed not an impossibility to shoot a rifle-ball from where we stood so that it would fall upon its surface. The wilderness of Judea, the valley of the winding Jordan, the 'Mountain of Offence,' the 'Hill of Evil Counsel,' the heights of Bethlehem, and other places named in Scripture were pointed out by the guide. In fact, the view from the Mount of Olives includes so much of which we have read, that it is impossible to recall everything without a great effort of memory. For the biblical interest of the spot I cannot do better than quote the following: "'No name in Scripture calls up associations at once so sacred and so pleasing as that of Olivet. The "Mount" is so intimately connected with the private life of the Saviour that we read of it and look at it with feelings of deepest interest and affection. Here he sat with his disciples, telling them of wondrous events yet to come--of the destruction of the Holy City, of the sufferings, the persecutions, and the final triumph of his followers (Matt, xxiv.); here he related the beautiful parables of the "Ten Virgins" and the "Five Talents" (Matt, xxv.); here he was wont to retire on each evening for meditation and prayer, and rest of body, when weary and harassed by the labors and trials of the day (Luke xxi. 37); and here he came on the night of his betrayal to utter that wonderful prayer, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matt. xxvi. 39); and when the cup of God's wrath had been drunk, and death and the grave conquered, he led his disciples out again over Olivet as far as to Bethany, and after a parting blessing ascended to heaven (Luke xxiv. 50, 51; Acts i. 12).' [Illustration: A SYCAMORE-TREE.]