The self-government of the peasants is a reproof to their foreign rulers. Naturally a docile people, they obey their Sheikhs and elders implicitly, and have notions of equity, as well as of charity and mutual helpfulness among neighbours. Their moral code is theoretically strict, especially as regards the women. In the bottom of a valley west of Beit ’Atâb, is a curious cavern with a stalagmitic gallery round it, which is called Mughâret Umm et Tûeimîn—“cavern of the two side galleries.” At the end of it is a great well-shaft in the rock, some sixty feet deep. It is said that a woman pronounced guilty by the elders is brought to the cave and cast down this horrible well. A similar cave exists in the Anti-Libanus, and a similar use is there made of it. In spite of this, the stories told by lepers and others make it clear that the Fellahîn are as immoral as they well can be.

The above sketch is intended rather to draw attention to a people well worthy of study than to form an exhaustive account of their manners and customs. In language, in dress, in religion, and in customs, they represent in the nineteenth century a living picture of that peasantry amongst whom Christ went about doing good; and, indeed, the resemblance is equally striking when they are compared with the earlier inhabitants of the land, from the days of Samuel downwards; and the parallel is so remarkable that it seems justifiable to dub the Fellahîn by the simple title of “modern Canaanites.”

A BEDAWI WOMAN.
A BEDAWI WOMAN.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE BEDAWÎN.

THE last two chapters have been devoted to the settled population of the villages in Palestine, the antiquity of the race being evidenced by the language and customs. The peasantry must not be confounded with the Bedawîn or nomadic tribes, living in the uncultivated districts; for the two nations are quite separate branches of the Semitic people, and they themselves acknowledge the distinction. The Bedawi speaks with the greatest contempt of the Fellâh, and rarely, if ever, do intermarriages occur, as both sides would consider themselves degraded by the alliance. The Fellahîn call the nomadic people Arabs, and the nomads call themselves Bedawîn, both names being derived from their place of abode—the wild lands of the broad southern and eastern plateaux.

The narrow peninsula of cultivated hills, in which the settled population lives, is surrounded by the broad sea of desert, over which the Arab delights to roam. Thus from the great Moab plateau and from the mountains of Gilead, from the southern Desert of Wanderings, and from the western plain of Sharon, the wave of nomadic life is constantly lapping against the mountains of the Fellahîn. This wave has its ebb and flow, which even in the last five years has been very marked. In time of peace the Government is strong, and the Arabs are driven back to the deserts; but in time of war the outlying encampments of the great eastern and southern tribes encroach upon the village lands, and the armed horsemen extort blackmail from the border towns and hamlets. On the whole, however, the settled people seem to be gaining ground, and especially in Lower Galilee; in the Sharon Plain the Bedawîn are mere shadows of their forefathers, only a few miserable tents of degraded Arabs, whom the peasants call “cousins of the gipsies,” being left to represent the once powerful tribes which, under Akil Agha, were the terror of Palestine. These small encampments, surrounded as they are in Philistia by the arable land, resemble the pools left by the retreating tide on the shore of the sea, which, unless the wave return, must gradually disappear.

The time-honoured conflict between two races is noticed, as it is almost unnecessary to observe, in the Bible records. The Arabs are mentioned in the Old Testament (Neh. iv. 7), and the hosts of Midian, with their countless camels, were no doubt the ancestors of the modern Bedawîn. The nomadic people are most interesting to the student of the earlier Jewish history, before the consolidation of the nation in Samuel’s time; for if among the peasantry we find a vivid picture of the life and customs of the later period, it is from the Bedawîn that we learn most that can throw light on the Patriarchal times, and on the life of Abraham and of his immediate descendants.

A study of the Arabs is carried on under difficulties west of Jordan. The great tribes are found either east of the river, or in the desert of the Tih, and in order to form a really good estimate of Arab character, it would be necessary to live in these remote districts for many years, following the migrations of one of the great tribes. The Arabs of the Jordan Valley are probably not of pure blood, and seem in some cases to have been mixed up with negroes, flying to the deserts from Damascus and other towns. The tribes are very small and scattered; many are offshoots of the Sugr and ’Anezeh nations, whose countless tents stretch away far into the Eastern desert; others have migrated from the north, and one tribe—the Tâ’amireh—is of Fellâh origin, though now nomadic.

The migrations of the western tribes do not extend over large tracts, but are confined to small districts marked by recognised boundaries. Thus Wâdy Fŭsâil is the border between the Mes’aid and the K’abneh Arabs, and the Plains of Jericho belong to the Abu Nuseir. In the Desert of Judah, the two most powerful tribes are the Tâ’amireh, who wear turbans and sow corn, and the Jâhalîn; south of these are the Dhullâm, and south of Beersheba the ’Azâzimeh. West of this last great tribe are the Tiyâhah round Gaza; and the Terabîn extend towards Egypt. The Arab clans in Philistia and Sharon are too numerous and insignificant to require notice; and in Galilee also there is a large number of very small tribes. The above enumerated are the most important Bedawîn divisions west of Jordan; but the Sugr, from the east, occupy in spring the whole of the Valley of Jezreel, and in times of disturbance they enter the Plain of Esdraelon.

Within the assigned limits, the migrations of a tribe over some 200 to 400 square miles are regulated by the temperature of the seasons, and by the pasturage and water supply. Ranging from one spring to another, and from the sheltered valleys visited in winter to the favourite camps on breezy slopes in summer, the nomads seem to resemble the Hebrews at the period when, for forty years, they lived in the wilderness—not, as we often imagine, travelling steadily in one line, but rather ranging over the small area of the Sinaitic peninsula, till the time for a further migration arrived.

The camps are scarcely ever placed in the immediate neighbourhood of water, but the Arab women go perhaps a mile away from the tents, and bring the needful supply in the black skins (Ghirbeh), carrying them on their backs or on diminutive donkeys. I have often asked the Arabs why they did not pitch close to the water, but never got a satisfactory answer. They have probably learnt from experience that the low ground near water is often malarious, and the great requisites for a camp seem to be shelter and concealment. The situations are not always, however, wisely chosen; for, in more than one instance, a sudden thunderstorm in the hills has brought a flood down the great valleys, in the bottom of which the smaller groups of tents are often found, and the water has carried away and drowned the whole settlement, together with its flocks.

The scantiness of pasture and of water supply, obliges the Arabs to divide themselves into numerous small camps, dotted over their territory. The Sheikh of the tribe, with his family, generally collects the largest encampment round his tent, and this forms the rendezvous of the rest. Among the Arabs of the Judean desert the largest number of tents in one camp is about thirty, and these contain some thirty families, or over a hundred persons. The total numbers of a tribe like the Tâ’amireh are about 1000 persons, or 300 tents, but the average is about 100 families.

The tents are arranged in different ways. Among the Sugr a large encampment was set out in parallel lines some fifty yards apart, the tents in each row being close together, end to end. Among the Tâ’amireh and Jâhalîn the usual form is a rectangle. The average length of the tent is from twenty to twenty-five feet, but the small ones will sometimes be only ten feet long, and the larger forty feet. The distance between two tents in a line is about four feet. Thus a camp of twenty tents occupied a space of two hundred feet by seventy feet. In another case the form was a triangle, the reason of this arrangement being that the flocks are driven into the enclosure at night, and thus protected from the attacks of robbers or prevented from straying by themselves.

The Arab tent is extremely unlike the usual representations, in which it is shown either as a sort of hut, as among the Turkomans, or as a bell-tent, instead of a long black “house of hair,” with a low sloping roof and open front. It has, however, been carefully described by Burckhardt, and there is little to add to his account. The canvas of the roof and side walls is of goat’s hair, black, with occasionally stripes of white running horizontally (Cant. i. 5). The pieces of stuff are about two feet wide, and thirty to fifty feet long. The tent has generally nine poles (’Awamîd), arranged three and three, those in the centre being the longest; thus the tent has a low ridge both ways in order to run the rain off. The cloths at the side can be easily removed as the sun or wind requires, one side being always left open. The tents are supported by cords and by pegs (Autâd), which are driven with a mallet (Judg. iv. 21). The average height of a tent is about seven feet.

Frail and cold as these habitations might be thought to prove in winter, they are really far more comfortable than would be expected. Being so low, the wind does not blow them over, and they are, moreover, most skilfully pitched, generally below a steep bank or low swell. Even in heavy storms I have found the interiors dry, and the heavy canvas does not let the rain through. The Arabs, however, suffer very much from rheumatism in winter. In summer they occasionally inhabit reed huts (’Arîsh), which are cooler than the tents.

The language of the Bedawîn differs from that of the peasantry, being nearer to that of the Arab tribes from the neighbourhood of Mecca, and thus to literary Arabic. Their names for natural objects are not always the same employed by the Fellahîn, and they are seemingly less ancient, though this difference is also partly due to the different character of the ground in the districts which the nomads inhabit. The old names are not preserved among the Arabs as they are among the peasantry, but descriptive titles have, as a rule, replaced the former nomenclature. These facts tend rather to confirm the views already expressed as to the antiquity of the Fellâh race, contrasted with the more modern settlers who have encroached on their territory.

The Bedawîn have, in addition to their ordinary language, a kind of slang, which they use among themselves, and which we were quite unable to understand. The corrupt pronunciation of ordinary words also renders it very difficult for any one accustomed to the peculiarities of the Fellâh dialect to comprehend the Arabs.

The character of the Bedawîn is not so easy to penetrate as at first appears. They are a crafty and reserved people, with strong ideas of policy and prudence. Nothing is more disagreeable to an Arab than to be made to look foolish, and they are careful not to put themselves in a false position. They also conceal under an affectation of carelessness and indifference a very keen perception of what is going on. I have often watched a Bedawi walking by my side, and noticed how carefully he scanned every pebble in the road, and how the slightest sign of life—a bird, a gazelle, or a distant figure—attracted his attention at once, long before I had observed anything. Their sight is generally very clear and good, and their agility and endurance are astonishing.

A traveller visiting a camp might easily imagine his hosts to be too lazy to move; but if he wakes from a doze, he will be astonished to see these grave, solemn figures, skipping like squirrels or creeping like cats, inspecting perhaps his property, or endeavouring to make sure that he is asleep. This sudden change of demeanour is quite in accord with the Arab character, and the skill with which they conceal their intentions and thoughts makes them very dangerous enemies.

The creed of a Bedawi is that a man should be terrible to his enemies, and the assumed sternness of their faces is sometimes rather ludicrous. In making an attack they will be careful to ascertain first that they are really in a safe majority, and if they are outnumbered, they hide in the undulations of the ground, in a manner which would excite the admiration of any military man.

The Bedawîn are very trustworthy; they keep their promises honourably, and their law of hospitality is strictly and chivalrously observed. The murder of a guest who has eaten salt in their camp, is, I believe, almost unknown, and they have a righteous horror of shedding blood, as the blood-feud must go on until some heavy indemnity has been paid. The life of any European is thus probably quite as safe among the Arabs as in London.

Among those tribes which live beyond the corrupting influences of townsmen, the character of the Bedawîn is said to be very noble; their chivalrous and courteous demeanour, and their generosity, are praised alike. Unfortunately, the tribes with which we lived are settled on the border-land, and have been much spoilt by intercourse with greedy peasants. We found them generally very avaricious, though in some cases their ideas concerning money were amusing from their simplicity.

With their friends, the behaviour of the Arabs is kindly and unaffected; and especially among the Abu Nuseir we met several specimens of what we should call “good fellows” in England. The hostility usually shown to strangers is due to the unceremonious way in which travellers will enter their country, without conforming to any of their ideas of courtesy and etiquette.

There is no greater mistake than to regard the Arabs as barbarous or uncivilised. They have a peculiar civilisation of their own, which is suited to their wants, and a system of government with recognised laws, which are strictly enforced. Their life is, in fact, a perfect picture of a patriarchal system, suited to a people who are not numerous, nor engaged in any very complex transactions; they acknowledge certain leaders, generally hereditary, but who are only obeyed because they have obtained for themselves a reputation for wisdom in council, and prowess in the field. These chiefs direct the policy of their tribe in its relations with other Arabs, or with the Turkish nominal Governors, and their tact and ability are often remarkable. The main duties of the elders are the arrangement of marriages, and of treaties with other tribes, and the settlement of disputes, which are submitted to them and regularly tried. The Sheikh has the power of life and death, of peace and war, and unless he disgraces his tribe by a blunder, he is pretty sure of prompt and general obedience.

The costume of the Bedawîn is so simple, that it may probably have remained unchanged since the days of Abraham. They wear the same shirt which has already been described as used by the peasantry, and generally they wear also the ’Abba; but their head-dress is the Kufeiyeh, except among the Tâ’amireh, who, as before stated, are not true Bedawîn. The Kufeiyeh is a shawl made of silk or cotton, with tassels on two opposite edges; it is about a yard square, and is folded diagonally, and placed on the head with the point of the triangle behind. A cord of hair or rope is wound twice round the forehead and head, coming down behind the ears almost to the nape of the neck, and this holds the shawl in place; the cord is called the Aghâl, and is commonly black.

The head-dress thus formed is extremely comfortable, and for four years we scarcely wore any other. The poorer Arabs wear only the shawl and cord; the richer have felt and cotton caps inside it. The Kufeiyeh is the best possible protection from the sun, for the tight cord over the temples is a preventive against sunstroke, and the ends of the shawl can be drawn over the face and tucked into the Aghâl, thus shielding the eyes from the midday glare.

Another distinctive article of Bedawîn dress is the sandal, which also requires special description. It is a skeleton shoe with a light leather sole, which is supported by a string of hide, passing beneath the ankle and above the heel, and then brought round between the great toe and the second toe, where it is attached to the sole; this string is then drawn tight, and fixed with a leather button. The sole is further connected with the string by two straps on either side, and the whole structure fits almost as tight to the foot as a shoe. Such, no doubt, was the sandal mentioned in the Bible, and not the complicated cross-gartering which is commonly represented in pictures of Old Testament incidents.

In the winter the Arabs also wear, under the ’Abba and over the shirt, a sheep-skin jacket, the woolly side in, the outside tanned a sort of brick-red colour. This garment looks very comfortable; but the bare legs and scanty skirts of the Bedawîn give them a most miserable appearance in the cold weather.

The weapons of the Arabs are different from those of their forefathers; and in the adoption of gunpowder and tobacco, we find evidence that they are not incapable of making use, as far as is convenient to themselves, of civilised inventions. Even in the Jordan Valley I have seen French cigarette-papers used; and this more convenient method of smoking has in the sea-side towns quite taken the place of the old-fashioned pipes, and is making rapid progress among the peasantry also.

The Arabs carry the sword, gun, and lance (Rumh), the last being mentioned in Scripture. The sword (Seif) has a short and straight blade, resembling a large knife. The gun (Barûd) is of great length—often five feet from muzzle to stock—and is bound with brass; the stock is very much lighter than with us; the piece is often loaded with stones, and very indifferent powder is employed. The lock is, I believe, invariably a flint one. The powder is carried in a ram’s horn, which is attached to the leather belt.

The bow, javelin, buckler, and shield seem to be now obsolete, though mentioned by travellers of the present century as still in use among the Arabs. The introduction of firearms is no doubt the reason of the disappearance of these weapons.

The helmet and coat of mail are still found among the tribes east of Jordan; the first being a light iron cap (Kub’ah), with a spike on the top, and a thin plate to protect the nose; the latter, a garment, with sleeves, which descends to the knees, or rather lower; these coats are of links closely woven, and are of considerable weight.

The Arabs seclude their women more than is the custom among the peasantry, and they are carefully veiled in presence of a stranger. Each tent has its Harîm, or women’s partition, and this, no doubt, is alluded to in the passage where Isaac is said to have brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah’s tent (Gen. xxiv. 67). The women, however, enjoy greater consideration than among the Fellahîn, and an old woman is sometimes admitted into the council, and becomes a power in the state—a privilege which has as yet only been claimed by a small minority in our own country.

The dress of the Arab women is remarkably becoming, and their appearance is imposing, as they sweep over the grass, in long trailing garments with ample hanging sleeves; their faces are swathed in a shawl head-dress, generally of dark colour, which is bound over the mouth, and leaves the nose and eyes exposed; their black curly locks are also hidden, except in the case of young girls. The under-dress is indigo coloured; the upper, which is very wide, with large sleeves and open in front, is generally of a dull olive-green; thus the general effect of their costume is very dark, and their faces are discoloured by extensive tattooing and by the blue paint on the under lip, which is dyed all over to give greater brilliance to the appearance of the teeth. It is curious to note that the women, as a rule, are ugly, while the men are handsome.

When going to fetch water, the women wear only the under dress, which they tuck and tie up until they present most comical figures. A great part of their lives seems to be spent in going to and fro between the tent and the spring, with their little black donkeys, or in sitting squatted on the edge of the stream, beating the clothes, which require washing (and generally require it very much) with a stone.

The women are all cooks, and their cookery is excellent in its way. They grind the corn in a stone hand-mill; and make thin cakes of unleavened bread; and butter and cheese by shaking the milk in a skin which is hung up on sticks. Even on their raids the Arabs take with them one or two young women to cook for the party.

The occupations of the men in time of peace are mainly pastoral. The wealth of the Arabs consists in their horses, flocks, herds, and camels. Among the Abu Nuseir, a regular trade in beasts goes on, and they act apparently as agents for the sale of animals of other tribes. The immense number of the animals which are pastured in the apparently barren and waterless waste is astonishing. I have seen the plains of Beersheba swarming with camels, and the Plain of Esdraelon has sometimes been quite covered with the flocks and herds of the Sugr.

The eastern Arabs pride themselves on their horses, but west of Jordan there are scarcely any. The mares are hardly ever sold, and often belong to more than one owner. Thus it is possible to buy the “head” of a mare, which means to own it, subject to the rearing of a colt for each of the owners of the “body” and “tail,” who claim the young ones at a certain age. The Arab horses are small and light; the better class walk very slowly, and they can neither jump nor trot, but their powers of endurance and their hardihood are immense, and their speed at a gallop is generally fair; they are rarely vicious, and their paces are pleasant when they are properly trained.

The Arabs scarcely ever attack a neighbouring tribe, but they prefer to journey a distance of several days before committing any outrage, and they retreat as rapidly as they came when once the booty is captured. These marauding excursions are called Ghazû, and are the main events of their lives; the whole of their affected listlessness is then laid aside, and each Ghâzi, or “champion,” vies with the others in his feats of daring and activity. The appearance of a party of the Bedawîn horsemen, charging with long lances trembling in their hands and held horizontally over the head, is extremely picturesque and imposing.

The Arab, in time of peace, does not require much amusement; he is content to sit quiet, smoking and drinking coffee. Among the more degraded, however, the Egyptian dancing-girls are sometimes welcomed, and all the tribes indulge occasionally in what is termed a Fantazîa, a word apparently of Italian origin, and introduced by the Franks.

These Fantazîas we often saw, but perhaps the most effective was that executed in our honour at Engedi. A single Arab faced four others, and held a sword over his head in both hands. The performance began by an extemporary song from the sword-bearer in honour of the Kabtân and his party, the other four Arabs clapping their hands in regular time. Suddenly this ceased, and they advanced towards the swordsman, uttering in a sort of growl, the word “Sŭ-hûbb, Sŭ-hûbb,” repeated many times. The swordsman also advanced, and then recoiled, and the four, closely packed shoulder to shoulder, began to clap their hands, and crouched as if about to spring. The swordsman then crouched down and writhed to and fro, almost kneeling, as if in mortal combat. After a few moments he sprang up as though victorious, and began his song again, while the four, as if enchanted, stood erect, clapping their hands and swaying their bodies backwards and forwards. The growling and struggling were again repeated, and the dance seemed to be intended to represent the combat of a single hero against many foes.

The night was dark, and the wild scene was only dimly visible by the fitful blaze of a fire of thorns, which sometimes flared up and showed the eager excited faces and lank wiry figures, giving them the appearance rather of wizards engaged in some terrible incantation than of ordinary sword-dancers. Finally, the triumphant hero sung the praise of the “Konsul Kabtân,” and alluded delicately to the probable “bucksheesh.” The other four here joined very heartily in the chorus.

It was remarkable that the Sheikh of the tribe could be seen, a few yards off, engaged in prayer during the greater part of the time that this strange dance was going on. His attention appeared to be in no way distracted by the noise, and there was nothing, in Arab estimation, incongruous in the two occupations which were being thus carried on at the same time.

Such is the simple life of the Arab tribes. Except in the use of tobacco and gunpowder, these people seem unchanged since the days of Abraham. It was thus no doubt that that Patriarch travelled to and fro with his flocks, herds, and servants; thus he made war and entered into treaties with the surrounding tribes. The wells which he dug, and which had to be re-opened by Isaac, were perhaps similar to the Hŭfeiyir, or “pits,” which the Arabs now dig in the beds of great valleys, as for instance at Gerar and Beersheba.

The Bedawîn are very religious, and observe the appointed hours of prayer much more devoutly than most of the Fellahîn; if water is obtainable, they wash their hands, arms, legs, and faces before praying, and we were often considerably hindered in our Survey work by the inconvenient piety of the Arab guides. It is said that the Arabs east of Jordan are pagans, and that moon-worship and yet more curious rites exist among them. These practices date from the times of “ignorance,” before the proclamation of El Islâm, but I have never seen anything of the kind among the tribes with whom we lived.

The Arabs have many traditions, chiefly relating to their own origin and to the descent of their clans. As they despise writing, regarding both this and the cultivation of the ground as degrading, and only fit for peasants, these traditions are handed down from mouth to mouth; the stories naturally become more marvellous every time that they are repeated, and in some cases they present historical confusions, as at Jericho, where the Imâm ’Aly, Companion of the Prophet, is said to have fought a battle with Abu ’Obeideh ibn el Jerrâh, who was a well-known Moslem general of the time of Omar, and the conqueror of Jerusalem. The contest between ’Aly and Moawîyeh, which led to the separation of the Shiahs and Sunnis, did not, however, commence until after the death of Othman, successor of Omar.

I have already alluded to the curious fact that Christian legends of the middle ages are current among the Abu Nuseir Arabs round Jericho, the case of the “high mountain” of the Temptation being the chief instance. There is also a legend well known in the Jordan Valley and in Galilee, of a famous chief named Zîr. He is said to be the maker of certain curious pits dug in a line near ’Ain Fusâil, and connected with an old aqueduct. The same legend is connected with pits found east of Jordan, possibly intended for the same use, which was apparently the collection of water. Zîr also found his way to the Nazareth hills, and the acacia-trees near Semûnieh are said to have grown from his tent-pegs.

The Bedawîn reverence the tombs of their own ancestors, and, in some cases, of those of other tribes. The Abu Nuseir are descended from a tribe which had a peculiar reputation for sanctity, and which was free to roam among the rest as a company of Derwishes. Some of these Arabs were, by mistake, killed by the Egyptian Government, and their graves are shown in a valley called the “Holy Valley,” near Mar Sâba. Any Arab entering this valley makes use of the expression, “Your leave, O blessed ones,” and kisses the tombstones on passing. A second place of the kind exists not far north of Engedi, where are the graves of certain of the Rushâideh tribe, who were massacred by Ibrahim Pacha. On passing this spot our guides kissed the rude headstones very reverently.

There are many grave-yards in the desert, generally near sacred places or large trees, or on the top of the larger Tells. In one or two instances a whitewashed tomb is built, in the middle of the cemetery, over the body of some noted Sheikh, and necklaces, or the furniture of a horse, are hung as gifts upon it. The Arabs often bring the dead bodies from a considerable distance in order to inter them in the cemetery of the tribe.

There is one habit of the Bedawîn which has given rise to misconceptions, and is worthy of notice. The camels and other property are marked by a recognised tribe-mark called Wusm. Each tribe, and each division of a tribe, has its mark, and some are curious. The Rushâideh mark is a circle with a cross—resembling the astronomical sign for Mars. The Jâhalîn have a T, a cross, or a C with a dot in the centre. The Tiyâhah have two parallel strokes, the Dhullâm have three, and the K’abneh a double cross. These marks are found on the flanks of the camels, on the grave-stones, and on ruined buildings. Thus at Masada the gateway is covered with the Rushâideh and Jâhalîn marks, the reason being that the Arabs believe that a hidden treasure exists there, and they therefore assert their ownership by putting the tribe-mark on the place.

Two traditions are very commonly repeated among the Bedawîn. The first is that hidden treasure exists in certain places, and can be discovered by the use of incantations. There is some foundation for this expectation of finding treasure, for it seems to have been common to bury money in old times, as indeed it still is; and the hoards are found from time to time. A quantity of gold Alexanders were lately found in the neighbourhood of Tyre, and a number of shekels were discovered near Jericho in the winter of 1873, and were brought to us in Jerusalem; these were subsequently pronounced genuine in Europe. In Haifa also a treasure of Byzantine coins was found under the sill of a doorway in the gardens. The Arabs have exaggerated ideas on this subject, and they suppose treasures to lie hidden in every ruin.

The second common idea is that the desert was formerly cultivated and full of water. All over the plateau west of the Dead Sea ruins are shown which are said to be remains of former vineyards, and even the Roman camps at Masada are so called. This idea is also perhaps founded on fact: “the vineyards of Engedi,” mentioned by Solomon, have entirely disappeared together with its palms, and the palms of Jericho have left only two survivors. The Crusaders cultivated sugar in three places along the Jordan Valley, yet only the ruins of their mills and aqueducts are now left, with the semi-fossilised stalks of the sugar-canes near Beisân. But although the country is thus shown to have been at one time more productive, still no such entire change as the Arabs suppose is likely to have taken place, for the desert is called desert in the Bible, and the Dead Sea plateau is the old Jeshimon or “solitude.”

The preceding pages will, I hope, serve to show how broad is the distinction between the peasantry and the nomadic people, and how interesting is the study of both the races as throwing light on the Bible narrative. We must now pass on to consider briefly the other inhabitants of the Holy Land.

CHAPTER XXIII.

JEWS, RUSSIANS, AND GERMANS.

The largest section of the Jews in Jerusalem is that of the Ashkenazim, which comprises the fair-haired sallow German Jews, with the Polish, and the gigantic Russian Jews. The Ashkenazim are subdivided into national communities, and also into religious sects, all of the “high church” order, including the Parushim (or Pharisees), the Chasidim (or Assideans of the Book of Maccabees), the Chabad, and the Varshi. These four sects agree in recognising, in various degrees, the authority of the Talmudic law, and the traditions of the elders.

Next in order come the Sephardim, or Spanish Jews, who still wear the black turban originally imposed on them by the laws of the mad Caliph Hâkem; they include also the Mughrabee Jews, who speak Arabic. In their physique, and the dignity of their appearance, the Sephardim are far superior to their European co-religionists; they also belong to the extreme party of the Chasidim and Varshi, in whose synagogues they will pray when not near to one of their own.

The old Sadducean party is now represented only by the Karaites, or “low church” Jews, who discard the authority of the Mishnic or Oral law, and do not admit the authority of the Talmudic commentators. In Jerusalem they have but one small synagogue, and their number in the city is probably not above a hundred; the greater part of the Karaites are now found in Baghdad, Arabia, and Russia.

Many of the Jews are shopkeepers, others are money-changers, and a few are craftsmen and farmers; but a great number live on the Halûkah, or alms, collected from their brethren in Europe to support the poor in Jerusalem. Many are under the protection of the foreign Consulates, and they have of late years gained considerable immunity from Moslem persecution.

The Jews always live in a distinct quarter. The Jewish quarter in Jerusalem in the middle ages was, however, that now occupied by the Moslems. Their streets are not remarkable for cleanliness; thus at Tiberias the “king of the fleas” is said to hold his court, and if one half the stories which have been related to me by trustworthy witnesses were admitted, the Ashkenazim must be the dirtiest people on the face of the earth.

The good qualities of the Jews are numerous: they are energetic and able, very courteous to strangers, and charitable to one another; but they are fanatical to the last degree, and Palestine under the government of Oriental Jews would probably be closed against outer influence even more effectually than it is under the Turks.

The Jewish costume is more curious than picturesque; their weedy figures are clad in the Kumbaz or striped cotton gown, under which they wear a shirt, and white drawers, with cotton stockings. On their feet they have low leather shoes, on their heads a soft felt hat. On feast-days they appear in a fur cap, just like that commonly represented in Rembrandt’s pictures—no doubt the Jewish dress of his own days; and their gabardines are also edged with fur. The Spanish Jews wear a dress not unlike that of the better class of Moslems, and are indeed often only distinguished by their black turbans. The Jewish women wear sometimes the native dress with the Izâr, sometimes European print gowns, with gaudy Manchester shawls over their heads. The men of the Pharisees and other high-church sects, are also distinguished by the love-lock, a long lank curl which hangs down in front of the ear beside the cheek, and is, to the eyes of an European, one of the ugliest and most unmanly fashions which could be invented.

The position of Jewish women is not enviable; they are divorced on the smallest pretext, even for cooking a dinner badly, and they live in constant anxiety. One Jew, whom I met at intervals, had three wives in the course of as many years, and this is, I believe, no uncommon occurrence. The women are extremely superstitious, and I have been told of their mixing their own nail-parings, or locks of hair, in their husband’s food in order to secure their affections.

The Jews venerate the tombs of many of their ancestors. Thus at Tiberias the tomb of the great Moses ben Maimon, or Rambam, commonly known as Maimonides, is shown together with several other sepulchres of famous Rabbis; at Meirûn in Galilee the sepulchre of Simeon bar Jochai, the builder of twenty-five synagogues, is yearly the scene of a curious festival; at Shechem the Jews visit Joseph’s tomb, and make sacrifices of gold-lace, shawls, and other articles, as they do also at Meirûn; in Jerusalem the sepulchre of Simon the Just is also the scene of an annual feast.

The Jewish attitude in prayer is one of the most extraordinary peculiarities of the nation. The prescribed key, for intonation of the prayers, is high and nasal, and they sway their bodies backwards and forwards with much energy, as they sing. The scene thus presented in a synagogue is almost ludicrous, and no one ignorant of the language, would give the worshippers credit for their beautiful and affecting liturgy, which has influenced our own far more than we are ourselves, as a rule, aware.

And now turning from the native population to the foreign element in the country, a few words may be devoted first to the Russian pilgrims.

The reasons which induce the Russian Government to promote pilgrimages to Palestine are best known to themselves; the fact remains that the pilgrims receive Government help. The great hospice on the west side of Jerusalem, capable of accommodating 1000 persons, was founded in 1860, and includes the Russian cathedral; at Easter this large building is quite full, and the town swarms with Russian men and women. The strength and endurance of these peasants is wonderful: old women of sixty or seventy trudge on foot from Jaffa to Jerusalem, a distance of thirty-five miles by road; they undergo the fatigues of the crowded Easter ceremonies, and then walk down again to the coast. The savings of a whole life are sometimes expended on such a pilgrimage, and the only reward is the bunch of wax candles which, together perhaps with a coarse lithograph of some saint, the pilgrim brings back to his native village, where he enjoys henceforth the reputation for sanctity which the pilgrimage ensures.

The scene in the Russian cathedral at Easter time, is striking and instructive. The building is of modern Byzantine architecture, with a fine peal of bells. The walls are painted salmon-colour, with an intricate arabesque in blue and red; the screen in front of the apses is of light oak, with pictures let in and brightly coloured on gold backgrounds; the central gate in this screen is of brass, with silver lamps and candlesticks placed in front.

The congregation generally consists principally of women, but to the right stand the men, unkempt and uncombed, their furrowed features peering out from shaggy locks and long beards, their clothes of dull colours and thickly padded, their feet and legs cased in huge knee-boots. The women wear the same neutral tints, and knee-boots; they have heavy shawls over their heads. The priests are also bearded, with hair down to their shoulders—truly a barbarous priesthood, with a barbarous congregation. The Saviour is represented in Russian pictures with a similar beard and hair.

The religious ecstasy of the congregation was always intense. They took no part in the service, but continued to cross themselves, and knelt at intervals to kiss the floor, many knocking their heads so hard against it as to be heard at the other end of the church. Small tapers were burnt on the great silver candlesticks, and those who stood near the door passed the taper to those in front, each person bowing to the one who handed it, until those near the screen received it; it was then lighted, and when half burnt was put out, and left for its owner to claim.

The ritual was impressive; six choristers in ordinary dress stood round a great lectern just outside the screen, at the top of the steps leading up to it. The bass voice was fine, and the tenor very sweet; the service is frequently attended by Europeans in Jerusalem for the sake of the music.

A tall priest in a rich robe of cloth-of-gold and dark red velvet, stood before the brass gates, a crown on his head, a censer in his hand. His intoned sentences were answered by the responses of the choir. Presently the gates opened, and three priests came out of the mysterious sanctuary, where the golden candlestick and reliquaries could be seen on the altar. The Archimandrite, in flowing robes of black satin, with a broad stole of cloth-of-gold, his head veiled, and his long grey beard covering his breast, swept down the steps; he was preceded by black-robed acolytes, and followed by two other priests scarcely less magnificently dressed. The Gospel was read at a lectern in the middle of the congregation, the censer was swung, and the great bells boomed out during the lesson.

I have attended many religious services, Christian, Jewish, and Moslem, but none more remarkable for barbaric grandeur and pomp. The songs of Latin monks, the shrill nasal clamour of the Armenians, the Jewish gesticulation, are all far less dignified than the solemn chants of the Russian cathedral. The fanaticism of the pilgrims, drawn from the lowest and most ignorant peasant class, surpasses anything in Christendom, and is only equalled by that of the Moslems.

Another large section of the Easter pilgrims in Jerusalem is formed by the wealthy and powerful Armenian sect, to whom the church of St. James on Zion belongs—a very interesting building, carpeted with rich rugs, and lined with tiles and tortoise-shell. The visitor is here sprinkled with rose-water, and valuable jewelled missals are presented for the congregation to kiss.

The remaining nationalities found in Palestine may be briefly dismissed. On Carmel, and in Upper Galilee, the Druses form a large percentage of the population; but their life and habits have been discussed by well-informed writers, and there is no space to enlarge here on their curious admixture of Aryan and Semitic ideas, or on their belief in the duality of the Divine nature, and in incarnations of the Deity. There are also gipsies in Palestine, who engage in the usual occupations of gipsies, and who are called Naury. They have almost forgotten their own language, and speak Arabic as a rule. At sea-side towns there is a curious mixture of mongrel nationalities—Maltese, Greeks, Slavs, and Levantines, with stray specimens of most European nations—a class as uninteresting as they are degraded.

We may now consider the history of the rise and progress of the two German colonies which have obtained a footing in Palestine; for without some account of these enterprises the sketch of the inhabitants of the Holy Land would be incomplete.

The German colonists belong to a religious society known as the “Temple,” which originated among the Pietists of Wurtemburg, who, without leaving the Lutheran Church, separated themselves from the world, and engaged in Sunday meetings for prayer and edification. The Pietists accept as their standard the explanation given by Dr. J. A. Bengel (in his Gnomon of the New Testament), of the prophecies in the Revelation. Among the friends and disciples of Bengel was a certain Dr. Hoffmann, who obtained from Frederick, the eccentric King of Wurtemburg, a tract of barren land at Kornthal, where his disciples established a Pietist colony, which he intended to transplant later to Palestine. Hoffmann, however, died, and his followers remained contentedly on their lands; but Hoffmann’s son was not forgetful of his father’s designs, and instituted a new colony at Kirschenhardthof, with a special view to its final removal to the Holy Land. Among his earliest disciples was Herr G. D. Hardegg, who became in time a leader among the Temple Pietists.

The younger Hoffmann (Christopher) visited Palestine about 1858, and, in 1867, a small trial expedition of twelve men was sent out. They settled in reed huts near Semûnieh, on the edge of the Plain of Esdraelon, west of Nazareth; and in spite of the warning of friends who knew the unhealthy climate of that place, they remained in the malarious atmosphere of the low ground near the springs, until they all died of fever.

On the 6th of August, 1868, Christopher Hoffmann and G. D. Hardegg left Kirschenhardthof, and in October they reached Palestine; after visiting various places, they resolved on settling at Haifa and Jaffa, and bought land in both places. The Haifa colony was the first founded, that at Jaffa being some six months younger. Hardegg became president of the former, and Hoffmann of the latter.

The religious views of the colonists are not easily understood, and I believe that most of them have rather vague ideas of their own intentions. Their main motive for establishing colonies in Palestine, is the promotion of conditions favourable to the fulfilment (which they expect to occur shortly) of the prophecies of the Revelation and of Zechariah. They suppose it to be a duty to separate themselves from the world, and to set an example of a community living, as closely as possible, on the model of the Apostolic age. The spread of infidelity in Germany appears to be the main cause of this separative tendency among the Pietists.

The tenets of the Temple Society are probably best summarised in the “Profession of Faith of the Temple,” published by Herr Hoffmann, and including five articles as below:

“First. To prepare for the great and terrible day of the second coming of Jesus Christ, which, from the signs of the times, is near. This preparation is made by the building of a spiritual temple in all lands, specially in Jerusalem.

“Secondly. This temple is composed of the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor. xii. 4), which make the true Church, and every one should strive to possess them.

“Thirdly. The means to obtain these is to seek the Kingdom of God, as described by the prophets (Isaiah ii. 2, xix. 25; Ezek. xl. 48).

“Fourthly. The Temple of Jerusalem is not a building of dead, but of lively stones; of men of every nation (1 Pet ii. 4-10) united in the worship of God in spirit and truth.

“Fifthly. The Temple service consists of sacrifices such as are described in the New Testament” (Rom. xii. 1; Heb. xiii. 15, 16; James i. 27).

The writings of Hardegg are far more diffuse and mystic. The main peculiarity which I have been able to extract from them, is the belief that it is not to the Jews, but to the true Israel (by which he apparently understands the Temple Society to be intended), that prophecies of a return to Palestine are to be supposed to refer.

I have stated as far as possible the apparent religious beliefs of the community, but there seem to be many shades of doctrine among them; all, however, agree in an expectancy of some immediate change in the world’s affairs, in the arrival of Armageddon and the Millennium, and in the fulfilment of all prophecy.

In 1875 I had the opportunity of attending one of the Sunday services, in the colony at Haifa. The congregation was devout and earnest; the service was simple and free from extravagance of any kind. The president offered up a long prayer in German, a hymn was sung with the usual musical good taste of Germans, and a chapter of the prophecy of Zechariah read. The president then delivered an exhortation, announcing the immediate advent of the Saviour, who would “suddenly come to His temple.” Other elders followed, speaking with much earnestness, and another hymn was sung, after which the congregation quietly dispersed from the bare schoolroom in which they had assembled. A discussion of the affairs of the colony often immediately succeeds the religious services.

Of the history of the Jaffa colony we gathered comparatively little. They have two settlements—one called Sarôna, about two and a half miles north of the town, consisting, in 1872, of ten houses; the second, nearer the walls of Jaffa, was bought from the surviving members of an American colony which came to grief, and this settlement included thirteen houses, with a school and an hotel, the latter kept by Hardegg’s son who also represents the German Government in Jaffa.

In 1872 the Jaffa colony numbered one hundred men, seventy women, and thirty-five children: two of the colonists were doctors, and some twenty were mechanics, the rest being farmers. They employed a few natives, and cultivated 400 acres of corn-land, paying the ordinary taxes to the Turks. The children are taught Arabic, and European languages, also Latin and Greek. The houses are clean, airy, and well built, and the colony wears an aspect of industry and enterprise, which contrasts with the squalor and decay of the native villages.

With the Haifa colony we became more intimately acquainted, by living in one of the houses for three months, during the winter of 1872-3, and again in the hotel of the colony, for about two months, during 1875, when we saw a good deal of the working of the community.

In 1872 the colonists numbered 254—forty single and forty-seven married men, thirty-two single and fifty-one married women (four widows), and eighty-four children. There were about fifty mechanics, and the settlement consisted of thirty-one dwelling-houses. The land was 450 acres of arable ground, with 140 olive-trees, and 17 acres of vineyard.

In the first three years of its existence only seven deaths occurred in the colony, but the mortality increased later; in 1872 there were eighteen deaths among the 205 colonists at Jaffa, which were due principally to fever, but such a death-rate has never yet occurred at Haifa.

The little village of well-built stone houses is situate west of the walled town of Haifa, under the shadow of the Carmel range. A broad street runs up from the shore towards the mountain, and the greater number of the buildings stand, in their gardens, on either side. Close to the beach is the Carmel Hotel, kept by a most obliging and moderate landlord, and a little farther up are the school and meeting-house, in one building. Mr. Hardegg’s dwelling, farther east, is the largest house in the colony. The total number is stated at eighty-five, including buildings for agricultural purposes.

In 1875 the colonists numbered 311, having been reinforced principally by new arrivals from Germany; the increase of accommodation since 1872 was thus far greater than that of settlers. The land had also increased, in the same period, to 600 acres, with 100 acres of vineyards and gardens; but the soil of the newly-acquired property near Tîreh, in the plain west of Carmel, is of very poor quality, and the Germans have not yet succeeded in their favourite scheme of obtaining grounds on the top of the mountain, where the climate and soil are both good.

The live stock consisted of 75 head of cattle, 250 sheep, goats, and pigs, and 8 teams of horses. A superior American threshing-machine had been imported. The trades followed are stone-cutting and masons’ work, carpentry and waggon-making. Blacksmiths, coppersmiths, tinsmiths, joiners, shoemakers, tailors, butchers, harness-makers, turners, soap-makers, vintners, and quarrymen, are also found among the colonists. There has been an attempt to trade in soap, olive-oil, and olive-wood articles, but, for these undertakings, more capital is required than the Germans at present possess. A good wind-mill, and an olive-press, have been brought from England. A tannery was also being put up in 1875, and a general shop exists, which the natives, as well as the Germans, frequent.

The colonists were many of them employed on the English orphanage at Nazareth, which Mr. Shumacher designed and built; and all the masons’ and carpenters’ work was executed by the Germans. The colonists also have done much to clear the road from Haifa to Nazareth, though they have not made it, considering that, from a professional point of view, it is not yet a made road at all. Their waggons are now driven between the two places, and the natives employ them for moving grain.

The schools in the colony, for the children and younger men, are two in number. In the upper school, Arabic, English, French and German, arithmetic, drawing, geography, history, mathematics, and music are taught; in the lower, Arabic and German, writing, arithmetic, and singing; in both religious instruction is given; and the girls are taught knitting, sewing, and embroidery.

The colony has thus been sketched in its religious and practical aspects. Though much talk has been expended on the question of colonising the Holy Land, there is no other practical attempt which can compare in importance with that of the Temple Society. It remains to be seen what the success of the undertaking will be.

The colonists belong entirely to the peasant and mechanical classes, and even their leaders are men comparatively uneducated. As a rule they are hard-working, sober, honest, and sturdy; and, however mystic their religious notions may be, they are essentially shrewd and practical in their dealings with the world. They are a pious and God-fearing people, and their natural domesticity renders it highly improbable that they will ever split on the rock which wrecked the former American colony, whose President, it appears, endeavoured to follow the example of Brigham Young by introducing polygamy. The German colonists have also a fine field for enterprise, in the introduction into Palestine of European improvements, which are more or less appreciated by the natives; and, as they have no other community to compete with, they might be able to make capital of their civilised education. The wine which they sell is comparatively excellent, and finds a ready market, as do also many of their manufactured articles.

Such is one side of the picture, but when we turn to the other, we find elements of weakness, which seem to threaten the existence of the colony.

In the first place, there is apparently no man in the community of sufficiently superior talent or education, or with the energy and force of character, which would be required to control and develop the enterprise. The genius of Brigham Young triumphed over the almost insuperable difficulties of his audacious undertaking, despite even the prejudice which the establishment of polygamy naturally raised against his disciples. However superior in piety and purity of motive the leaders of the Haifa colony may be, they cannot compare with the Mormon chief in the qualities to which his success was due.

In the second place, the colonists are divided among themselves. In 1875 we found that Herr Hardegg had been deposed (temporarily, I understood, till he changed his views) from the leadership of the colony, and he had been succeeded by Herr Shumacher, a master-stonemason and architect, who is, moreover, the representative of the American Government at Haifa. This deposition of the original leader had caused dissensions among the Germans, and several of the influential members did not attend the Sunday meetings.

To internal troubles external ones were added. The colonists are not favourites either with natives or with Europeans, with Moslems or with Christians. The Turkish Government is quite incapable of appreciating their real motives in colonisation, and cannot see any reason, beyond a political one, for the settlement of Europeans in the country. The colonists therefore have never obtained title-deeds to the lands they have bought, and there can be little doubt that should the Turks deem it expedient, they would entirely deny the right of the Germans to hold their property. Not only do they extend no favour to the colony, though its presence has been most beneficial to the neighbourhood, but the inferior officials, indignant at the attempts of the Germans to obtain justice, in the courts, without any regard to the “custom of the country” (that is, to bribery), have thrown every obstacle they can devise in the way of the community, both individually and collectively.

The difficulties of the colonists are also increased by the jealousy of the Carmelite monks. The Fathers possess good lands, gradually extending along Carmel round their fortress monastery; they look with disfavour on the encroachments of the Germans, and all the subtlety of Italians is directed against the German interests.

The peculiar views of the colonists, moreover, cause them to be regarded with disfavour by influential Europeans in the country, who might do much to help them. They are avoided as religious visionaries, whose want of worldly wisdom might, at any time, embroil their protectors in difficulties not easily smoothed over.

The community has thus to struggle with a positively hostile government, while it receives no very vigorous support from any one. The difficulties are perfectly well known to the native peasantry, who, with the characteristic meanness of the Syrians, take the opportunity to treat with insolence people whom they believe they can insult with impunity. The property of the colonists is disregarded, the native goatherds drive their beasts into the corn, and several riots have occurred, which resulted in trials from which the colonists got no satisfaction.

The indiscretion of the younger men has brought greater difficulties on the community; they have repaid insolence with summary punishment, and finding no help from the Government, have in many instances taken the law into their own hands. Thus the colony finds itself at feud with the surrounding villages, and the hostile feeling is not unlikely to lead to very serious difficulties on some occasion of popular excitement.

There are other reasons which militate against the idea of the final success of the colony. The Syrian climate is not adapted to Europeans; and year by year it must infallibly tell on the Germans, exposed as they are to sun and miasma. It is true that Haifa is, perhaps, the healthiest place in Palestine, yet even here they suffer from fever and dysentery, and if they should attempt to spread inland, they will find their difficulties from climate increase tenfold.

The children of the present generation will probably, like those of the Crusading settlers in Palestine, be inferior in physique and power of endurance to their fathers. Cases of intermarriage with natives have, I believe, already occurred; the children of such marriages are not unlikely to combine the bad qualities of both nations, and may be compared to the Pullani of Crusading times. It seems to me, that it is only by constant reinforcements from Germany that the original character of the colony can be maintained; and the whole community, in Palestine and in Germany, is said not to number more than 5000 persons.

The expectation of the immediate fulfilment of prophecy has also resulted in the ruin of many of the poorer members of the colony, who, living on their capital, have exhausted it before that fulfilment has occurred. The colony is thus in danger of dissolution, by the gradual absorption of the property into the hands of those who originally possessed the most capital; and in any case it is very likely to lose its original character of Apostolic simplicity, some of the members becoming the servants and hired labourers of others.

The natural desire of those members who find themselves without money, is to make a livelihood by any means in their power. Where every man is thus working separately for himself, the progress of the colony, as a whole, is not unlikely to be forgotten, and the members may very probably be dispersed over Palestine, following their various trades where best they can make money.

Such are the elements of weakness in the society. In ten years it has made comparatively little progress, and ten more may perhaps see the colony decaying. Meantime the settlers might be examples to the natives (if Syrians would condescend to learn) of the advantages of European habits of industry and enterprise under very adverse circumstances. The little village of red-cheeked, flaxen-haired peasants, with cheery salutations, and honest smiling faces, is a pleasant place to visit; the women in their short skirts and brown straw hats, and the men in felt wideawakes and grey cloth, contrast most favourably with the dirty, squalid, lying Fellahîn. On the Sunday moonlight nights the sounds of the fine old German hymn tunes may be heard, softened by distance, along the beach, as the rings of men and boys stand chanting in the cool night air. A fresh sea-breeze blows all day among the acacia trees which flank the dusty street. The long heavy carts come rumbling by, the horses, harnessed with high-peaked yokes, looking rather light in comparison with German cart-horses in Europe. The flags of the Consulates are hoisted on Sundays, and the whole colony is seen soberly marching down to the meeting-house, where they are weekly comforted with the assurance that the end will soon come, and the Temple Colony be acknowledged, by God and man, to be the example of the whole world, and the true heir of the Holy Land and of Jerusalem.

The colonists freely allow the difficulties which beset their path. Meanwhile, should European attention be ever generally turned to Syria, it may be a matter of no little importance, that men acquainted with the language and the people, and, at the same time, trustworthy and honest, are to be found, who could render material assistance to new-comers, even though not attracted to the land by the belief that it is the natural inheritance of a true Israel, composed of any other nationality except the Jews.

HAIFA.
HAIFA.

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE FERTILITY OF PALESTINE.

Palestine is described in the Pentateuch as “a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains, and depths, which spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates, a land of oil-olive, and honey” (Deut. viii. 7, 8); and these verses epitomise the natural features, and the cultivation of modern, quite as well as of ancient Palestine. Two points, then, should be considered: first, is there any change in the water-supply or climate? secondly, is there any decrease in the amount of woodland and forest?

The question of water-supply lies, indeed, at the bottom of the whole inquiry. We have, unfortunately, no ancient observations which can be compared with those now taken, from which comparison positive information as to the amount of the rainfall, and the volume of the rivers, might be deduced; but we have very important indications that the character of the water-supply is unchanged.

In the first place, we have geological indications. Throughout the country two formations alternate; namely, a hard crystalline limestone of the Neocomian period, and a soft, porous chalk, or marl, of the Cretaceous epoch. Where the hard limestone prevails springs occur, especially at the juncture with the over-lying, porous, and unconformable chalk, but where there is a great thickness of this latter, the water-supply is either from deep wells or from artificial tanks and cisterns. We have no reason for supposing the geological formation to have undergone any change since the days of Moses; and indeed we have every reason for judging that the distribution of the springs was then the same as now; for those parts which are now dry and desert—the Negeb, or “dry land,” the Jeshimon, or “solitude,” the wildernesses of Ziph, Maon, and Bethaven—receive titles in the Bible which are derived from the dry and barren appearance that these districts also presented in earlier times.

Secondly, we find that the Hebrew terms, used for various kinds of natural or artificial sources of water, are still in use, and of these terms no less than eight refer to tanks, pools, or cisterns: the Hebrew words ’Ain (a spring), Nahr (a perennial stream), Bir (a well), Jubb (a ditch), Hufr (a pit), Birkeh (a tank), Bassah (a marsh), are still ordinary words in the language. The springs mentioned individually in Scripture—the fountains of Samaria and of Jezreel, of Engedi and Jericho, for instance, are found to be still plentiful and perennial; and it must not be forgotten that there are twelve considerable streams in the country, which contain water even to the end of the dry season, without counting the Jordan.

Thirdly, the great numbers of ancient tanks and cisterns, occurring in the districts where there are no springs, and in connection with Jewish ruins and Jewish tombs, show the necessity which existed, even at an early period, of storing rain-water for the supply of the towns.

Yet further, we can prove that the character of the seasons is unchanged. In the Mishna, there are minute directions regarding the prayers to be put up for rain. The supplications commenced in October, and continued until the Passover was finished. Three days of fast occurred in the end of October, if no rain had fallen, and three more about the middle of November. “But if these days of fasting be not heard, then shall they leave off selling and buying, the building of houses and the planting of trees, marrying and giving in marriage, and they shall leave off greeting one another ... until the end of the month Nizan (the middle of April). For if no rain be given until then, it is a manifest sign of the curse, since it is said, ‘Is it not wheat harvest to-day?’ ” (Mishna, Taanith I.).

From this extract it is clear that rain was expected in October, at which time the first showers now begin, and was not expected later than the middle of April, when the “latter rain” or spring showers now fall; between these limits the rainy season is continuous, the heaviest storms being in January, and the average annual rainfall about twenty inches. It is also recorded that years of drought have, from the earliest times, occurred at intervals (as mentioned in the history of Abraham, or of Jacob, or in the time of Ahab), just as dry years still afflict the country from time to time.

As regards the seasons, and the character and distribution of the water-supply, natural or artificial, there is thus, apparently, no reason to suppose that any change has occurred; and with respect to the annual rainfall (as observed for the last ten years), it is only necessary to note that, were the old cisterns cleaned and mended, and the beautiful tanks and aqueducts repaired, the ordinary fall would be quite sufficient for the wants of the inhabitants, and for irrigation.

The climate has, however, to all appearance materially changed for the worse. The plains of Jericho are no longer a “region fit for gods,” and the climate of the maritime plains, in autumn, is little less than deadly; but this would indicate, not a decrease, but, if anything, an increase, in the amount of rain, as the miasma is due to the stagnant water collecting in marshes and pools. The main cause of the malarious nature of the climate, seems to be the neglect of proper drainage. The splendid works of the Romans are in ruins; the great rock-cuttings, which let out to the sea the water now soaking in the marshes of Sharon, are filled up with earth; Herod’s aqueducts, which irrigated the plains of Jericho, are destroyed, and no attempt is ever made to enforce sanitary regulations, or to promote public drainage or irrigation works.

Turning next to the question of the decrease of timber, it is important first to obtain a clear idea of the character of the old vegetation described in the Bible. It will then appear that the change is not one of kind, but only of degree.

The ordinary words, used in the Hebrew of the Old Testament, for the wild growth of the country are three—Choresh, Jaar, and Etz, none of which are now employed in the modern nomenclature. Choresh means “tangled,” and would thus apply to copse, rather than to timber-forest; Jaar signifies “luxuriant,” and would also refer to thickets of dwarf trees and of shrubs, quite as well as to forest trees; Etz is a “strong tree,” but this does not imply that the tree forms one of a large number, for the word is often used of single trees.

The wild growth of the country now consists generally of single trees, and of scrub or copse. In Galilee there are good-sized trees, but none in Judea, excepting solitary sacred oaks and terebinths, sycamores, and carob trees. The western slopes of the watershed are thickly clothed with dark lentisk bushes, dwarf oak, spurge laurels, hawthorn, and a variety of other shrubs, which spread over the ridges, and form in parts an impenetrable tangle. There is every reason to suppose that this is the kind of vegetation which, in the earlier times, existed in uncultivated districts, for it seems unlikely that, there was ever much greater thickness of soil on the ridges, such as would be required for forest trees.

It must not, however, be supposed that Palestine is entirely devoid of woods. A thick forest of oak extends between Carmel and Nazareth, with underwood below the trees in parts. An open woodland occurs on the low hills south of Carmel, and in the northern part of the plain of Sharon—remains of the “mighty wood” of Strabo, and the “Forest of Assur” of the twelfth century; from these oaks Sharon takes its Greek name Drumos, and they form some of the prettiest scenery in the Holy Land.

There are indications, throughout the country, of a certain amount of local change in the wild growth, and also of a decrease in the number of trees. The old wine-presses and towers, on Carmel, and in other parts, are now found in the middle of copses, which have evidently spread over ancient cultivated districts; but, on the other hand, there are at present no forest laws, and the peasants hew and even burn down the trees for firewood (Hatab), or cut off the roots (Kormah), which are dug up and also sold for burning; this wanton, and wasteful, annual destruction of the trees, cannot fail to have materially affected the appearance of the land.

The watershed of the country forms the limit of the thickets; the western slopes, exposed to the fresh sea breeze, are covered with shrubs, the eastern are bare and desert; this natural phenomenon is no doubt unchangeable, and a minute examination of the country tends to show that the eastern districts, which are now without wood, were also treeless in Bible times.