Directly under the plateau on which Solomon’s Temple stood is a great catacomb, which once formed a part of one of the Jerusalems of the past. Let us first visit these underground caves before going into the mosque. Descending the steps, we come into a wilderness of vaults with roofs upheld by pillars and arches of stone. Some of the stone blocks are of enormous size. I have measured one which is eight feet wide and fifteen feet high. These stones are beautifully laid. They are closely joined and show mechanical ingenuity in their construction. The pillars are about four feet square, and some of them have holes bored through the corners. It is claimed that the vaults were constructed by Solomon for his stables, and that the holes in the columns were the tying places for the horses. In some of them are stone mangers, which the guides say were used long ago. Others claim that this stable story is a fiction, and that the excavations were made in erecting the Temple and the great columns put up to sustain its platform. However that may be, the architecture is wonderful for that time, or, indeed, for our own. There are altogether a hundred or more vaults, and the mighty stones which wall them are so heavy that it would be impossible to handle them nowadays without the use of machinery. Since the site of Solomon’s Temple is now a Mohammedan shrine, and under their control, Christians cannot visit this place unless they first obtain an official permit. This I obtained through our American consul, who not only arranged for a soldier to escort us, but sent along his chief _kavass_, so that we have two guards with us as we walk about. The _kavass_ is a sort of majordomo of the consul. He has two of them, tall, straight Syrians attired more gorgeously than Solomon in all his glory. They wear vests covered with bands of gold embroidery, with long, flowing sleeves like those of the ladies of the Middle Ages. They wear big, baggy trousers, each pair of which would make two full suits for a fat man. They have enormous scimitar-like swords at their sides and carry ebony staffs as thick as the handle of a baseball bat topped with great knobs of silver as big as your fist. The United States Government furnishes the outfits, except for the swords. Formerly, whenever our consul came out of the cavernous region of his hotel or walked down the narrow stone stairs of his office, these two gaudy officials preceded him, making the pavements ring with their staffs as they cleared his path. When he stepped across the way to church, though the streets were deserted and a baby might go about without danger, a _kavass_ always went with him and waited outside the building until His Excellency was ready to return. Such extreme pomp as this has, however, begun to go out of style, though the consul still has his strikingly garbed _kavasses_ to lend the dignity expected of Uncle Sam’s representatives.