ABSTRACT
But this was but a slight alteration of the original character of Jerusalem when compared with the changes brought about by other communities. I have told my readers that the first to settle outside the town walls had been the Russians, who had erected a number of large establishments, such as hospitals, hospices, etc., for their numerous pilgrims. They had afterwards built a high tower on the top of the Mount of Olives. This had so changed the landscape that I had some difficulty in finding that hill again which now seemed to be no more than a slight elevation of the soil. All nations and all religious communities vied with one another in erecting churches, convents, schools, hospitals, homes, etc., on all sides of the town, especially on the northern and north-western sides, which are not separated from the old city by deep-cut valleys as the other sides are. All that country which I knew so well had been built over and so changed that I could only trace the old features with the greatest difficulty. Religious zeal had been stimulated by speculation in land which fetched good prices. All the Consulates and most of the other public buildings had been moved from the inner city to the new north-western suburb. The German Consulate was a comparatively new building to the right of the road leading to Jaffa. The German orphanage and hospital were now in the same neighbourhood.
