The cock which reminded St. Peter of his denial of his Master has many descendants. You may see some of them in this market, tied by the legs and lying on the stones. The Holy City has no ordinance against crowing cocks, and nearly every family here keeps its own rooster. There are so many that the city resounds with their music, and about daybreak they start up a concert which murders sleep. I am living in the heart of Jerusalem—I might as well be in a barnyard. The rooster symphony begins with sunrise and keeps on until evening, and then the donkeys and camels take up the strain. The donkeys bray louder than did Balaam’s ass, and the camels whine and grumble all night. In addition to these noises, there are others which trouble the tourists. The people rise with the chickens and the stone streets reëcho their steps. The birds sing and the pedlars shout. At the same time the bells begin ringing to show that it is day, and the trumpets of the soldiers in David’s Tower add to the din. One can easily sleep in a railroad depot or near a boiler factory, for the noises there are of one or two kinds and the ear comes to know them. Here there is a new sound every minute. CHAPTER XVI EXCAVATING OLD JERICHO To-day I have walked through streets which were probably thronged when Moses and the Israelites were wandering in the Wilderness, and have tramped up and down staircases of clay built hundreds of years before Christ was born. I have been in the ruins of old Jericho, the city Joshua captured over three thousand years ago, now brought to light again by modern excavations. The place is only about fourteen miles from Jerusalem as the crow flies. It lies on a little plateau, just under the mountain upon which it is said our Lord was tempted by the devil and promised the world. It is about three miles from the present town of Jericho, where I am stopping, and within easy access of it. The excavations at Jericho are the work of the Austrian Ministry of Education. When they dug into what seemed only mounds of earth the remains of a great fortified city were found. This city was undoubtedly the Jericho of Canaan. It lies on a height surrounded by great walls some of which are of stone. It has inner walls and a citadel and was flanked with strong towers. The heart of the city is about twelve hundred feet long and five hundred and twenty-five feet wide. Many of the houses have been unearthed. In one of them, which is supposed to have been built twenty-seven hundred years ago, there was found an uncovered courtyard. The house seems to have been abandoned during a fire, and for some reason or other is better preserved than most of the others. It contained a red sandstone mill for grinding meal and water vessels of various shapes. It had plates and jugs as well as lamps and iron vessels with handles of deer horn.