a town of Palestine, famous for the birth of Jesus Christ. It was once a flourishing town, but is now only a poor village. It is situated two leagues south east of Jerusalem, on an eminence, in a country full of hills and valleys, and might be rendered very agreeable. The soil is best in all those districts: fruits, vines, olives, and sesame succeed here extremely well; but cultivation is wanting. They reckon about 600 men in this village capable of bearing arms upon occasion; and this often occurs, sometimes to resist the pacha, sometimes to make war with the adjoining villages, and sometimes in consequence of intestine dissensions. Of these 600 men, about 100 are Latin Christians, who have a vicar dependent on the great convent of Jerusalem. Formerly their whole trade consisted in the manufacture of beads; but the reverend fathers not being able to find a sale for all they could furnish, they have resumed the cultivation of their lands. They make a white wine, which justifies the former celebrity of the wines of Judea, but it has the bad propriety of being very heady. The necessity of uniting for their common defence prevails over their religious differences, and makes the Christians live here in tolerable harmony with the Mahometans, their fellow-citizens. Both are of the party Yemani, which, in opposition to that called Kaifi, divides all Palestine into two factions, perpetually at variance. The courage of these peasants, which has been frequently tried, has rendered them formidable through all that country. Here is a church built by St Helena, in the form of a cross, which is very large; and from its top may be seen all the country round about. The roof is lofty, flat, and composed of cedar on the inside, and leaded without. Both sides of the nave are supported by two rows of marble pillars, each made of one piece, and eleven in a row, insomuch that they make as it were five naves, separated from each other by these rows of pillars, in each of which is the picture of some saint. On the wall over the pillars there Bethlehem is a very beautiful mosaic work, on a gold ground. The walls were formerly overlaid with fine marble, but the Turks have taken it to adorn their mosques. The three upper ends of the cross terminate in three semicircles, having in each an altar. Over the chancel there is a stately cupola, covered with lead on the outside, and within adorned with mosaic work. Close to the church is the monastery of the Franciscans; which is large, but indifferently built. The gardens are defended with strong walls, and at the north-west of them stands a tower now almost in ruins. Their chapel is better taken care of. Through this there is a passage to a square cave, where they say the Innocents were buried. Beyond this there are passages to the tombs of St Jerome, St Paula, Eustochium, and Eusebius of Cremona. Beyond these there is a grot or cell, which they say was the lodging place of St Jerome when he translated the Bible. Another entrance leads to a vault or chapel, 12 feet wide and 40 long, whose floor is paved, and sides lined with white marble, and the roof is adorned with mosaic work, now much decayed. At the end of this there is an arched concavity, with an altar, over which is a picture of the nativity, and under it a vault, the middle of which is a star made with stones of various colours, to mark the place where they say our Saviour was born; and near this is the manger where they pretend he was laid; it is hewn out of a rock, and is now flagged with white marble.

a town of the Netherlands, in the province of Brabant, subject to the house of Austria. E. Long. 4. 40. N. Lat. 51. 2.