viving footmark as it looked in his
day, 1322: "From that mount our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven
on Ascension Day, and yet there appears the impress of His left foot
in the stone." What is now seen in the place is a simple rude cavity
in the natural rock, which bears but the slightest resemblance to the
human foot. It may have been artificially sculptured, or it may be
only one of those curious hollows into which limestone rocks are
frequently weathered. In either case it naturally lent itself to the
sacred legend that has gathered around it.

In the Kaaba, the most ancient and remarkable building of the great
Mosque at Mecca, is preserved a miraculous stone with the print of
Abraham's feet impressed upon it. It is said, by Mohammedan
tradition, to be the identical stone which served the patriarch as a
scaffold when he helped Ishmael to rebuild the Kaaba, which had been
originally constructed by Seth, and was afterwards destroyed by the
Deluge. While Abraham stood upon this stone, it rose and sank with him
as he built the walls of the sacred edifice. The relic is said to be a
fragment of the same gray Mecca stone of which the whole building is
constructed,--in this respect differing from the famous black stone
brought to Abraham and Ishmael by the angel Gabriel, and built into
the north-east corner of the exterior wall of the Kaaba, which is said
by scientific men to be either a meteorite or fragment of volcanic
basalt. It is popularly supposed to have been originally a jacinth of
dazzling whiteness, but to have been made black as ink by the touch of
sinful man, and that it can only recover its original purity and
brilliancy at the day of judgment. The millions of kisses and touches
impressed by the faithful have worn the surface considerably; but in
addition to this, traces of cup-shaped hollows have been observed on
it. There can be no doubt that both these relics associated with
Abraham are of high antiquity, and may have belonged to the
prehistoric worship which marked Mecca as a sacred site, long before
the followers of the Prophet had set up their shrine there. In the
sacred Mosque of Hebron, built over the cave of Machpelah, is pointed
out a footprint of the ordinary size on a slab of stone, variously
called that of Adam or of Mohammed. It is said to have been brought
from Mecca some six hundred years ago, and is enclosed in a recess at
the back of the shrine of Abraham, where it is placed on a sort of
s