"The Pool of Siloam is in the Valley of Kedron, at the south-eastern termination of Mount Zion, where a little brook joins it, but is not a part of the main stream of Kedron. There is no Biblical place around Jerusalem more clearly identified than this. Doctor Thomson says it is beyond question the pool where the man born blind was sent by Christ to wash, in order that he might receive sight. It is mentioned many times in history, and its waters are known to flow irregularly. The fact has been verified by several travellers, and was positively stated by the guide who took us there.
"The sides are broken down in several places, and a good deal of rock has fallen in. There is a recess at one corner where steps go down to the bottom, and we found several women descending these steps to bring water from the pool. As we looked from one end of the pool the walls of Jerusalem formed the background of the picture, and we carried our thoughts back to the time when the blind man came from the city to wash in the water of Siloam, that he might bear witness to the miracle performed by the Saviour of mankind.
"There is a small village near the pool. Its inhabitants are said to be Moslems, and they derive quite a revenue from the backsheesh they extort from visitors. We did not remain long at the place, as there were many interesting things to be seen in our walk, and our time was precious.
QUARRIES UNDER JERUSALEM.
"We visited several tombs hewn in the solid rock, but they did not seem of much consequence when compared with the tombs we had seen in Egypt. Of more interest were the quarries, which extend a considerable way beneath the city, and are supposed to have furnished the stone from which the Temple of King Solomon was built.
"We entered them near the Damascus Gate, descending into a hole that sloped rapidly downward, and soon found ourselves in what might have been a chamber of a natural cavern. The marks of the chisels and other tools of the workmen were plainly to be seen, and there were pillars of rock left standing to support the roof. We must have gone seven or eight hundred feet from the entrance before reaching the end, and in many places the way was so rough that we climbed rather than walked along. At the point farthest from the entrance there is a stone that was evidently abandoned when a few hours' additional labor would have detached it. The indications are that the process of quarrying stone was the same in Jerusalem as in Egypt. Wedges of wood were driven into channels and grooves and then swelled, by being wet with water, till their expansive force became too great for the stone to resist.
"Parts of these quarries are directly beneath the city, and they are so extensive that some writers have declared that the whole of Jerusalem might be buried in them. There is a tradition that a passage once led from the Temple to the quarries, but there is good reason to doubt its existence. We wandered about for some time in the quarries, and were glad when the guide brought us once more to the light of day."