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or loculi, for the reception of the bodies, as appears on the plan. I have explored scores of sepulchres at Ladakîyeh closely resembling this at Jerusalem, and there are many in the plain and on the hillsides above us here at Sidon of the same general form-chambers within chambers, and each with niches for the dead, variously arranged according to taste or necessity. The interior of not a few of these about Sidon was plastered originally, or in after ages, with a hard cement or stucco, which is still quite perfect in some of them. In one I found a Greek inscription drawn in the stucco before it hardened. In others there were such inscriptions written on the plaster with red ink. One large one is adorned with wreaths of flowers and small birds, with palm, orange, and other trees, such as are now found in the gardens below. These would seem to prove that the orange had been cultivated at Sidon from a very remote age. But I am inclined to believe that this stuccoing, writing in Greek, and painting upon the tombs took place long after they were first hewn in the rock, probably after the original occupants had returned to utter dust. I am confirmed in this suspicion from examining a large tomb which was uncovered last winter on the plain. The surface above it had been used from time out of mind as a summer threshing-floor. A shaft, sunk about ten feet through the soil, exposed a low door in the face of the rock opening into a room thirty feet long by twelve broad. The ceiling and walls are stuccoed and ornamented with various figures in red paint; and a Greek inscription, written with the same paint, runs quite round the room as a sort of ornamental border. It is much the longest inscription I have seen, and the letters are large, well formed, and as perfect as the day they were laid on. This was not the first time that this tomb had been opened, for all the antiquities it contained had been removed, and it was nearly full of earth, thrown there from other tombs connected with it. Something about this chamber suggested the idea that it was a kind of subterraneous oratory, and not a sepulchre. In short, that it was one of those underground sanctuaries among the tombs, where the early Christians are

said to have met for worship in times of cruel persecution. The whole area in this neighborhood is undermined by tombs, and, if one had funds to excavate them, many curious discoveries might be made. I need hardly remind you that sepulchres hewn in the rock are mentioned in many passages in the sacred record.

IX. SIDON-Continued.

11th. We have had a delightful ramble along the aqueduct and through the vast fruit-orchards, and my respect for old Sidon has decidedly risen by the excursion. What may be the present population of the city and her gardens?

It is not possible to arrive at perfect accuracy, as there are no statistics kept by the government. The number of inhabitants is said to be about 9000. Of these, 6800 are Moslems, including the Metawelies, 850 Greek Catholics, 750 Maronites, 150 Greeks, and 300 Jews. These are ecclesiastical returns, and they are always understated, in order to diminish the taxation, which is assessed according to the people's ecclesiastical relations. The entire population is therefore not far from 10,000. This is a small figure for a city called "great," even by Joshua. Nor is she increasing, or likely to increase much for years to come. Beirût is too near, and draws every thing into her all-absorbing vortex. Sidon exports tobacco, oil, fruit, and silk, but the amount is small, except in tobacco, which is, in fact, the main dependence of her merchants. It is all sent to Egypt.

Are there no antiquities about Sidon?

Not many, and none very striking. She is too old. Her decline commenced "before antiquity began." There are a few things, however, besides the tombs, in which her greatness was buried thousands of years ago, which are worthy of attention. The immense stones, which form the northwest angle of the inner harbor, each one being some ten feet square, were no doubt put there in the days of Sidon's early prosperity; but it is surprising that the ancient inhabitants allowed the ledge of rocks on the seaward side to

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be quarried away for building-stone. This invaluable barrier has thus been so much lowered that the sea breaks over into the harbor in every storm, not only endangering the ships and boats, but causing a strong current to set eastward under the arches of the causeway which leads to the castle. These arches will, ere long, give way, as others have before, and thus the castle will be cut off from communication with the city. This castle itself, though mostly in ruins, has something to interest the antiquary. The oldest part is built nearly solid, with a large number of granite columns placed at regular intervals in the wall; this shows, of course, that it was not erected until after the columns had become part of Sidon's ancient ruins; nevertheless, it is built of very heavy stones, having the Phoenician bevel, and probably dates back to the beginning of our era. The slightly-pointed arch in the most ancient part does not prove it to be modern, for I have seen this kind of arch in buildings undoubtedly older than the Saracens; nor do I believe that these barbarians ever invented any arch. They found one to their taste, which they modified and appropriated to their own structures. I called your attention to the old wall which extended along the shore northeast to the little brook Kumly; from thence southward it is not easy to trace it for some distance; but it kept along the terrace which rises above the general level of the plain, and bent round-west to the sea about twenty rods to the south of the present upper castle. The Tell on which this castle stands is artificial, and, what is more remarkable, is made up, in a great measure, of old pottery, rubbish of houses, and thick beds of broken purpura, thrown out from Sidon's ancient manufactories of purple dye. The bluff facing the sea shows this conglomeration at least twenty feet thick. Southeast of the upper castle is a mazar, frequented mostly by Jews, and called Sidōne. The people do not know who he was; and, if it were a shrine dedicated to old Sidon himself, there would be nothing strange in the fact that the Jews frequent it. So they do Neby Seijûd yonder, on the top of Jebel Rihan, and many other places of the same character, al