66

task of editing with remarkable care and discrimination, but I fear that the transcript was in two or three instances inaccurate, and at the time of publication it was unfortunately not in the power of M. D'Avezac to have it collated with the original. One omission of some importance for the architectural history of the church of the Holy Sepulchre was very kindly pointed out to me by Professor Willis, and has been corrected in the translation. In describing this church, the text as printed by M. D'Avezac contains the words, Ista oratoria sanctissima continentur in atrio Dominici sepulchri ad orientalem plagam. In lateribus autem ipsius ecclesiæ suæ capellæ sibi adhærent præclarissimæ hinc inde, sicut ipsi participes Dominicæ passionis sibi in lateribus constiterunt hinc inde." In the original manuscript the passage stands thus, and is rendered intelligible-"Ista oratoria sanctissima continentur in atrio Dominici sepulchri ad orientalem plagam. In lateribus vero ipsius ecclesiæ duæ capellæ sibi adhærent præclarissimæ hinc inde, Sanctæ Mariæ scilicet Sanctique Johannis in honore, sicut ipsi participes Dominicæ passionis sibi in lateribus constiterunt hinc inde."

These four narratives are here translated for the first time. In translating Bernard, the text of Mabillon has been compared with that of Michel. The narrative of Arculf has been somewhat abridged, and relieved of some miracles and theological observations that are totally without interest. It may be right to observe, also, that in the original manuscript this narrative is accompanied with plans of churches, copies of which are given in the edition of Mabillon, and in the editions of Bede's abridgement.

The translation of the Saga of Sigurd the Crusader, is taken, by the obliging permission of Mr. Laing, from his recently published "Hemskringla," or "Chronicle of the Kings of Norway."

A number of editions, and several translations, of the travels of Benjamin of Tudela, have appeared, but the only strictly correct one is that published by Mr. A. Asher, Berlin, 1840. The translation published in the present volume is a mere revision of the English version by Mr. Asher, altered a little in the language, to make it more suitable for the popu lar English reader. My notes are chiefly abridged from the valuable volume of notes published by Mr. Asher in 184.

The only edition of the English text of the book of Sir John Maundeville which correctly represents an original manuscript, is that published from the Cottonian Library in 1725, of which a reprint appeared in 1839, with an introduction, and some additional notes by Mr. Halliwell. The language of this edition has been modernized for the present volume. The travels of Bertrandon de la Brocquière are preserved in a manuscript preserved in the Royal Library in Paris, from which they were published, with some abridgment and in modernized French, in the fifth volume of the Mémoires of the Institute of France, by Legrand d'Aussy. They were thence translated into English by Mr. Johns, and printed at his private press at Hafod, in 1807. This translation, which has become a rare book, has been here slightly revised, and a few illustrative notes have been added. Maundrell's journey is reprinted from the original edition.

Brompton, Aug. 28, 1848.

THE TRAVELS OF BISHOP ARCULF

IN THE HOLY LAND.

TOWARDS A.D. 700.

WRITTEN FROM HIS DICTATION, BY ADAMNAN, ABBOT OF IONA.

ARCULF, the holy bishop, a native of Gaul, after visiting many remote countries, resided nine months at Jerusalem, and made daily visits to the surrounding districts. He counted in the circuit of the walls of the holy city eighty-four towers and six gates, the latter being distributed in the following order :— the gate of David on the west of Mount Sion, the gate of the valley of the Fuller, St. Stephen's gate, Benjamin's gate, the little gate leading by a flight of steps to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and the gate called Tecuitis; of which, the three most frequented are, one to the west, another to the north, and a third to the east. That part of the wall which, with its towers, extends from the gate of David over the northern brow of Mount Sion, which overlooks the city from the south, to the precipitous brow of the same mountain which looks to the east, has no gates.

The city itself begins from the northern brow of Mount Sion, and declines with a gentle slope towards the walls on the north and east, where it is lower; so that the rain which falls on the city runs in streams through the eastern gates, carrying with it all the filth of the streets into the brook Cedron, in the valley of Jehoshaphat. On the 15th of September, annually, an immense multitude of people of different nations are used to meet in Jerusalem for the purpose of commerce, and the streets are so clogged with the dung of camels, horses, mules, and oxen, that they become almost impassable, and the smell would be a nuisance to the whole town. But, by a miraculous providence, which exhibits God's peculiar attachment to this place, no sooner has the multitude left Jerusalem than a heavy fall of rain begins on the night following, and ceases only when the city has been perfectly cleansed.

On the spot where the Temple once stood, near the eastern wall, the Saracens have now erected a square house of prayer,

B

in a rough manner, by raising beams and planks upon some remains of old ruins; this is their place of worship, and it is said that it will hold about three thousand men. Arculf also observed many large and handsome houses of stone in all parts of the city, but his attention was more especially attracted by the holy places.

The church of the Holy Sepulchre is very large and round, encompassed with three walls, with a broad space between each, and containing three altars of wonderful workmanship, in the middle wall, at three different points; on the south, the north, and the west. It is supported by twelve stone columns of extraordinary magnitude; and it has eight doors or entrances. through the three opposite walls, four fronting the north-east, and four to the south-east. In the middle space of the inner circle is a round grotto cut in the solid rock, the interior of which is large enough to allow nine men to pray, standing, and the roof of which is about a foot and a half higher than a man of ordinary stature. The entrance is from the east side, and the whole of the exterior is covered with choice marble to the very top of the roof, which is adorned with gold, and supports a large golden cross. Within, on the north side, is the tomb of our Lord, hewn out of the same rock, seven feet in length, and rising three palms above the floor. These measurements were taken by Arculf with his own hand. This tomb is broad enough to hold one man lying on his back, and has a raised division in the stone to separate his legs. The entrance is on the south side, and there are twelve lamps burning day and night, according to the number of the twelve apostles; four within at the foot, and the other eight above, on the right-hand side. Internally, the stone of the rock remains in its original state, and still exhibits the marks of the workman's tools; its colour is not uniform, but appears to be a mixture of white and red. The stone that was laid at the entrance to the monument is now broken in two; the

* Jerusalem was first captured by the Saracens, under the khalif Omar, in 637, about sixty years before it was visited by Arculf. The patriarch Sophronius, when requested by Omar to point out a place for the erection of a mosque, is said to have taken him to the ruins on the site of Solomon's Temple, which had been deserted by the Christians, and where the building known as the Mosque of Omar was subsequently built. Until Arculf's time, the Mohammedans appear, however, to have had but a rough and temporary erection, unless the worthy bishop's pious zeal would not allow him to speak of the mosque otherwise than disrespectfully.