about his ears he removes into another, and permits rubbish and vermin to accumulate as they will in the deserted halls. Tottering staircases are propped to jire- vent their fall; and, when the edifice becomes uiiteiia- ble^ the occu])ant seeks another a little less ruinous, leav- ing the wreck to a smaller or more wretched family, or, more probably, to a goatherd and his flock. Habita- tions which have a very respcctaljle appearance as seen from the street, are often found, upon entering them, to be little better than heaps of ruins.
Notliing of this would be suspected from the general appearance of the city as seen from the various com- manding points without the walls, nor from anything that meets the eye in the streets. Few towns in tho East offer a more imposing spectacle to the view of the approaching stranger. He is struck with the height and massiveness of the walls, which are kept in perfect repair, and naturally produce a favorable opinion of the wealth and comfort which they are designed to protect. Upon entering the gates, he is apt, after all that has been published about the solitude that reigns in the streets, to be surprised at meeting large numbers of peo- ple in the chief thoroughfares, almost without excep- tion decently clad. A longer and more intimate ac- quaintance with Jerusalem, liowever, does not fail to cor- rect this too favorable impression, and demonstrate the existence and general ])revalence of the poverty and even wretchedness which must result in every country from oppression, from the absence of trade, and the ut- ter stagnation of all branches of industry. Considerable activity is displayed in the bazaars, which are supjilied scantily, like those of other Eastern towns, with provis- ions, tobacco, coarse cottons, and other articles of prime necessity. A considerable business is still done in beads, crosses, and other sacred trinkets, which are purchased to a vast amount by the pilgrims who annually timing the holy city. The support and even the existence of the considerable population of Jerusalem depend upon this transient patronage — a circumstance to which a great part of the prevailing poverty and degradation is justly ascribed. The worthless articles employed in this pitiful trade are, almost without exception. Ijroiight from other places, especially Hebron and Bethlehem— the former celebrated for its baubles of glass, the latter chiefly for rosaries, crucifixes, and other toys made of mother-of-pearl, olive-wood, black stones from the Dead Sea, etc. These are eagerly bought up by the ignorant pilgrims, sprinkled witli holy water by the priests, or consecrated by some other religious mummery, and car- ried off in triumph and worn as ornaments to charm away disease and misfortune, and probably to be buried with the deluded enthusiast in his coffin, as a sure pass- port to eternal blessedness. With the departure of the swarms of pilgrims, however, even this poor semblance of active industry and prosperity deserts the city. With the exception of some est.iblishments for soap-making, a I tannery, and a ver\' few weavers of coarse cottons, there [ do not appear to be any manufacturers properly belong- I ing to the place. Agriculture is almost equally wretch- [ ed, and can only give employment to a few hundred I people. The masses really seem to be without any reg- ular employment. A considerable number, especially of the Jews, professedly live on charity. INIany Chris- i tian pilgrims annually find their way hither on similar j resources, and the aiiproaches to the holy places are thronged with beggars, who in piteous tones demand alms in the name of Christ and the blessed Virgin. The general condition of the pojiulalinn is that of aliject pov- erty. A few Turkish officials, ecclesiastical, civil, and military; some remains of the old Mohammedan aris- tocracy— once powerfid and rich, but now much impov- I erished and nearly extinct; together with a few trades- j men in easy circumstances, form almost the only excep- tions to the prevailing indigence. There is not a sin- gle broker among the whole population, and not the j smallest sum can l)e obtained on the best bills of ex- i change short of Jaffa or Beirut.
jerusale:\i
860
JERUSALEM
5. The population of Jerusalem has been variousl}- estimated by different travellers, some making it as high as 30,000, others as low as 12,000. An average of these estimates would make it somewhere between 12,000 and 15,000 ; but the Egyptian system of taxa- tion and of military conscription in Syria has lately fur- nished more accurate data than had previously been ob- tainable, and on these Dr. Kobinson estimates the popu- lation at not more than 11,500, distributed thus :
Mohammedans .
Jews
Christians
4,500 3,000 3,500
If to this be added something for possible omissions, and the inmates of the convents, the standing popula- tion, exclusive of the garrison, would not exceed 1 1 ,500. Dr. Barclay is very minute in regard to the Christian sects, and his details show that Kobinson greatly under- estimated them when he gave their number as 3500. Barclay shows them to be in all 4518 (p. 588). The latest estimate of the population is that of Pierotti, who gives the entire sum as 20,330, subdivided as follows : Christian sects, 5068; Mosleips (Arabs and Turks), 7556; Jews, 7706.
TJie language most generally spoken among all class- es of the inhabitants is the Arabic. Schools are rare, and consequently facility in reading is not often met with. The general condition of the inhabitants has al- ready been indicated.