A Mason's Notes Of Travel In Asia.*

A MASON'S NOTES OF TRAVEL IN ASIA . *

JERUSALEM . PERHAPS the readers of the Liberal Freemason would like to know just what is to be seen on the spot once occupied by the Temple of King Solomon . We were accompanied by our Dragoman , an officer of the Governor of Jerusalem , and the Janizary of the American Consul . Conducted first

through the series of dark and dirt y arches called the Cotton Bazar , we wei'e admitted to a gate and found ourselves on a paved platform containing several acres of ground . Ascending a broad flight of steps , we came to a smaller platform which is supposed to occupy the same level as the original Temple . In the centre of this stands the Kubbet es-Sakhra , or Dome of the Rock . It is a building octagonal in shape , each of its sides being sixty-six feet in length ,

and is covered with porcelain tiles as far as the pedestal , which is of marble . The dome which surmounts this structure is about one hundred feet high , and sixty-six in diameter . There are two rows of pillars and piers supporting this structure . The pillars are of different kinds , aud were certainly made for other buildings , some of them possibly for the Temple itself . Immediately beneath this dome is a large unhewn rock , which has many traditions connected with it . It is the summit of Mount Moriah , and has been

consecrated to Divine worship from time immemorial . We were taken down underneath this rock , and told marvellous tales concerning it , such as that the hole in the centre of it was made b y Mahomet when he ascended to Heaven . Near the East door stands a beautiful little structure resembling a modern pavillion , and called David ' s place of judgment . The pavement consists of beautiful mosaic . We next descend a flight of twenty-one stepsandpassing by fountains

, , and cisterns of great antiquity , we come to the Mosque El-aksa , a complex of pile of buildings , the principal axis of which forms a right angle with the south wall of the Temple precincts . A part of this building was erected , and the whole was occupied by the Knights Templar , who called it the Portions Palatium , or Templum Salomonis . The vaults beneath this church , which are reached by a descent of twenty-six stepsare supported by a thick monolithic

, column in the centre , the capital of which is ornamented with acanthus or palm leaves . This vault seems to have been once a porch belonging to the Double Gate , which is now walled up . A fragment of stone built into the wall upside down , bears an inscription with the name of the Roman Emperor Antoninus .

Large substructions were built b y King Solomon on the top of the Mount , in order to have a plateau of sufficient size for his purpose . At the South East corner of this plateau we were conducted down into a portion of these substructions , which are now called Solomon ' s Stables . It is certain that the Templars stabled their horses here , and the rings to which they were fastened still exist . On the East side this plateau is bounded b y the city wall , in which

there is one gate which is walled up . It is the most beautiful gate of the whole city . The Muslims have a tradition that if this gate should he opened their power here would fail . But the most interesting place about these grounds is the so-called Wailing Place of the Jews . This is most undoubtedl y a portion of the outer wall built by King Solomon ; and here every Friday the faithful Jews , young and old , gather , and , with their faces turned to the wall , weep and mourn for their