so by the Turks, who bring many a cruise of oil to
fill the lamps after they have cleaned them. In this grotto the
Holy Family concealed themselves before the flight into Egypt, and
the Virgin for a long time nourished the infant Jesus with her milk,
from which circumstance the grotto derives its name. The women in
the neighbourhood believe that if they feel unwell during the time
they are nursing their children, they have merely to scrape some of
the sand from the rocks in this grotto, and to take it as a powder,
to regain their health.

Half a mile from this grotto we were shown the field in which the
angel appeared to announce the birth of the Redeemer to the
shepherds. But our newly-arrived friends were not able to visit
this spot. They were fain to content themselves with a distant
view, as it was high time to think of our return.

ST. JOHN'S.

On the 4th of June I rode out, accompanied by a guide, to the birth-
place of St. John the Baptist, distant about four miles from
Jerusalem. The way to this convent lies through the Bethlehem Gate,
opposite the convent of the "Holy Cross," a building supposed to
stand on the site where the wood was felled for our Saviour's cross!
Not far off, the place was pointed out to me where a battle was
fought between the Israelites and the Philistines, and where David
slew Goliath.

Situated in a rocky valley, the convent of St. John is, like all the
monasteries in these lands, surrounded by very strong walls. The
church of the convent is erected on the spot where the house of
Zacharias once stood, and a chapel commemorates the place where St.
John first beheld the light. The ascent to this chapel is by a
staircase, where a round tablet of stone bears the inscription,

"HIC PRAECURSOR DOMINI CHRISTI NATUS EST."

Many events of the prophet's life are here portrayed by sculptures
in white marble.

About a mile from the convent we find the "Grotto of Visitation,"
where St. Mary met St. Elizabeth. The remains of the latter are
interred here.

On the very first day of my arrival at Jerusalem I had made some
observations, during a visit to the church of St. Francis, which
gave me any thing but a high opinion of the behaviour of the
Catholics here. This unfavourable impression was confirmed by
subsequent visits to the church, so that at length I felt obliged to
tell Father Paul that I would rather pray at home than among people
who seemed to attend to any thing rather th