north wind! and come, thou south! blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out."
The stream led us to the bottom of the valley, and then took its way rather more gently in a narrow bed, bordered with grass and brook-lime speedwell, close to the hill side, which was festooned with masses of maiden-hair and mosses of the most vivid green. We walked on a raised stone path, or viaduct, across the gardens, and passed through a field of tall broom-corn, every stem of which was crowned with a plumy tuft, and wreathed with convolvulus, pink and white. We saw a number of gardeners at work, in the employ of Mr. Meshullam. He has a shop in Jerusalem, exclusively for the sale of the fruit and vegetables from this spot. He has introduced many fruit trees and vegetables which had never before been cultivated in the East; and they thrive well, especially the seeds and slips from America. Were it not for the vigorous protection afforded to him by Mr. Finn, however, he could not resist the encroachments of the Arab tribes in the district, and the fruitful valley would soon be a desert.
After taking leave of the Meshullams, we rode up the valley to see the three great pools, one above the other, which collect the springs of the neighborhood. The largest and lowest is 582 feet long, and 50 feet deep; the next is 423 feet long, and 39 feet deep; the upper one is 380 feet long, and 25 feet deep. Clear blue water half filled these tanks—a precious reserve for the dry season. The bottom of the upper pool is higher than the top of the next, and so with the second and third. They are partly formed of excavations in the rock, and partly of immense hewn stones. These are called Solomon's Pools; and he perhaps thought of them, and of his gardens at Urtâs, when he said, "I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits; I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees." No doubt the fountain and streams which supply these pools found their way down the valley
