Magdalene and the other Mary were born. These houses are all
inhabited by Turks, but any one may obtain admittance upon payment
of a small fee.

The following day I visited the church of the Holy Sepulchre. The
way lies through several narrow and dirty streets. In the lanes
near the church are booths like those at Maria Zell in Steiermark,
and many other places of pilgrimage, where they sell wreaths of
roses, shells of mother-of-pearl, crucifixes, etc. The open space
before the church is neat enough. Opposite lies the finest house in
Jerusalem, its terraces gay with flowers.

Visitors to this church will do wisely to provide themselves with a
sufficient number of para, as they may expect to be surrounded by a
goodly tribe of beggars. The church is always locked; the key is in
the custody of some Turks, who open the sacred edifice when asked to
do so. It is customary to give them three or four piastres for
their pains, with which sum they are satisfied, and remain at the
entrance during the whole time the stranger is in the church,
reclining on divans, drinking coffee and smoking tobacco. At the
entrance of the church we noticed a long square stone on the ground;
this is the "stone of anointing."

In the centre of the nave a little chapel has been built; it is
divided into two parts. In the first of these compartments is a
stone slab encased in marble. This is vehemently asserted to be the
identical stone on which the angel sat when he announced our Lord's
resurrection to the women who came to embalm his body. In the
second compartment, which is of the same size as the first, stands
the sarcophagus or tomb of the Saviour, of white marble. The
approach is by such a low door that one has to stoop exceedingly in
order to enter. The tomb occupies the whole length of the chapel,
and answers the purpose of an altar. We could not look into the
sarcophagus. The illumination of this chapel is very grand both by
night and day; forty-seven lamps are kept continually burning above
the grave. The portion of the chapel containing the tomb is so
small, that when the priest reads mass only two or three people have
room to stand and listen. The chapel is entirely built of marble,
and belongs to the Roman Catholics; but the Greeks have the right of
celebrating mass alternately with them.

At the farther end of the chapel the Copts have a little mean-
looking altar of wood, surrounded by walls of lath. All round th