A WEEK or two later, after we had sailed from Alexandria and were on our way across the Mediterranean from Africa to Europe, we thought it would be very profitable to talk over what we had learned about Palestine during our pleasant sojourn in the Holy Land. As we wished to carry away some definite and exact knowledge, as well as general impressions, we went about this review very systematically. We talked the matter over the day we sailed from Egypt, and assigned to each of the boys papers on certain themes, with the understanding that they should be ready on the third day after. They were promptly prepared, and were read on the afternoon of the day that our ship was nearing the southern coast of Italy. I remember that the night following we sailed through the Straits of Messina, and were up at 2 o'clock A.M. to see the famous volcano, Stromboli, sending its light across the waters.

      Will's paper was the first one read, and I, fortunately, induced the boys to leave their papers [378] with me, so that I can give them just as they were read to an audience consisting of the most of those who had accompanied us in our tour of Palestine. The subject of his paper was:

      "Palestine," so his paper began, "although it has filled so great a place in the world's history, was a small country compared with other great States, both ancient and modern. Dan, where we camped one night on our way to Damascus, was the northern limit of the country. From 'Dan to Beersheba,' the most southern point of Palestine, was in a straight line, about one hundred and fifty miles. The country west of the Jordan was the ancient Canaan. This country contains about 7,800 square miles, or is about the size of the State of New Jersey. All of this did not, however, pass into the possession of the Jews; hence we have to reduce the figures for the actual possessions of the tribes west of the Jordan to about sixty-six hundred square miles, or less than the State of Massachusetts. This is the Palestine of Christ, but in the earlier times there were two and a half tribes east of the Jordan. When we add their territory to that west of the Jordan, we make the whole area, at its greatest, about 12,000 square miles. Of course the dominions of David and Solomon were much greater, for they compared all the country as far [379] as the borders of Egypt and to the Euphrates river.

      "I confine myself," said he, rather complacently, "to the country west of the Jordan. This section is divided by nature into three sections. There is, first, the Maratime Plain, running along the whole Mediterranean coast, between the mountains and the sea. In some places, especially north of Mount Carmel, it is quite narrow where the mountains push down close to the sea. To the south of Mount Carmel it widens and is from eight to twenty miles in breadth. It is usually very fertile, except where the sand is blown in from the sea. On this seacoast plain stood Gaza, where Samson pulled down the Idol Temple and died, the Philistine cities of Ashdod, Ekron and Askalon, Joppa the seaport, Cæsarea, Acre or Ptolemais, Tyre and Sidon.

      "Next to the east of this plain comes the mountain region, the real Palestine, the home of the Israelites during most of their history. This is the backbone of the country. It is an extension of the chain of mountains southward, which is called Mount Lebanon further north, and extends south, gradually sinking, to Arabia. In the northern part this mountain district is called Galilee. There is one break in the chain where the Plain of Esdraelon lies between the mountains of Galilee and of Samaria. This great plain extends clear across Palestine, and is in its widest part about fifteen miles in breadth. South of it comes the [380] mountain district of Samaria, and still north of this comes Judea. All the cities so famous in Jewish history were in the mountain region. You know from personal observation that Nazareth, Jezreel, Shechem, Bethel, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Hebron were mountain cities.

      "Still further east is the third natural division of Palestine. It is the Jordan Valley, a long, deep valley, extending from the sources of the Jordan, at the base of Mount Hermon, to the Dead Sea. The valley is narrow above the Sea of Galilee, but widens below to a breadth of over twelve miles. One remarkable thing about this valley is that it lies below the level of the sea. At the Sea of Galilee it is about 660 feet below, and at the Dead Sea it is over 1300 feet below. If the waters of the Mediterranean Sea were let in, the Jordan Valley would become a great lake about one hundred miles long, twelve miles wide, and in places a quarter of a mile deep. In the Jordan Valley stood the cities about the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Magdala and Tiberias, the city of Jericho, and the cities of the plain which were destroyed in the times of Abraham and Lot.

      "The principal bodies of water are the Mediterranean or 'Great Sea' on the west, and the Jordan, with its three lakes, 'The Waters of Merom,' the Sea of Galilee, and the Dead Sea, on the east. The River Jordan is about one hundred and fifty miles long, rises in Mount Hermon, runs south into the [381]

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF PALESTINE. [382]

'Waters of Merom,' now called Lake Huleh, and after it empties from this lake descends to the Sea of Galilee. At Huleh it is above the level of the Mediterranean Sea. The Sea of Galilee is about 660 feet below. This lake is about thirteen miles long, and six miles wide. From hence the Jordan descends rapidly, and at its mouth, where it empties into the Dead Sea, is about thirteen hundred feet below the ocean level. The Dead Sea is, in many respects, the most remarkable body of water on the earth.

      "The other streams of Palestine, though sometimes called rivers, are usually small. The Kishon is the most famous. It drain the Plain of Esdraelon, and empties into the sea bear the northern base of Mount Carmel. It is a rushing river during the rainy season, but before the close of the dry season has ceased to run, except for eight or ten miles of its lower course.

      "The principal MOUNTAINS are Mount Hermon, in the north of Palestine, where the Savior was transfigured, which is over 9,000 feet high; Jebel Jermuk in Galilee, which is 4,000 feet; Mount Ebal in Samaria, which is 3,075 feet, and Mount Hebron, which is 3,030 feet. The mountain highlands usually lie from 1,800 to 3,000 feet above the ocean level.

      "Among the famous mountains not so lofty as those just named are, the Mount of Beatitudes, now called the Horns of Hattin, 1,200 feet high; [383] Mount Tabor, 2,000 feet high; Mount Carmel, 1,750 feet high; Mount Gilboa, 1,715 feet high; Mount Gerizim, 2,850 feet high; Mount Zion, 2,550 feet high, and the Mount of Olives, 2,665 feet high.

      "This," said he in conclusion, "is a very imperfect outline of Palestine Geography, but I was afraid that I would make my paper too long."

      "You have failed to mention one important river," said Bayard. "One would think that you ought to remember it from the incident that occurred at the bridge north of Tyre, when you tried to water your horse, but instead, took water yourself (see page 98). The river called Leontes, or Litany, is almost as large as the Jordan. Why did you omit it?"

      "Because," said Will, "I was giving the rivers of Palestine, not those of Syria. If I were giving them, I ought to have named the Orontes, and the rivers of Damascus."

      "Will is right," said I. "The Leontes, though running through territory to the Tribes, was not within the Palestine actually possessed by the Hebrews. It is not one of the rivers of the Bible."

      The next paper was read by David. The subject which had been assigned to him was

      "Palestine," he began, "lies in the latitude of the southern half of the States of Georgia and [384] Alabama, and hence would naturally have a warm climate. Since it lies along the coast, with a great body of water on the west, it is more moderate in the winters than the States just named. Frost is unknown upon the Seacoast Plain, or in the Jordan Valley. On the mountain uplands, over 2,000 feet above the sea, in the vicinity of Jerusalem, for instance, snow sometimes falls, but usually remains only a few hours, and sometimes the temperature is below the freezing point, but never far below. According to the records of Dr. Barclay, our missionary in Jerusalem, the average temperature for the year at Jerusalem was 66.5 degrees. He never saw ice more than an eighth of an inch in thickness. The lowest point the mercury ever reached while he was there was 28 degrees.

      "Instead of the distinct seasons of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, Palestine has really only two seasons: the rainy and the dry. Unlike our country, the rains do not extend through the year, but are confined to one season. The summer and early fall are dry, but in the latter part of October there will be an occasional rain. You remember that rain fell on us one night while we were in Galilee. In November the rains become more frequent. This is seed-time. The ground is prepared and the crops of grain are sown. We saw some plowmen at work, and a sower sowing his seed, near the site of old Samaria. In December it rain [385] very often--often for several days in succession, followed by a day or two of fair weather. In January the rains begin to slacken, but in February the rains are very abundant. After February only an occasional rain falls. About the first of April the showers entirely cease, and for six months the country is rainless. During this dry season gardens need to be irrigated, but the grain crop has been matured by the winter rains. One who sees the country in September would suppose that it was a rainless land, but Dr. Barclay's observations at Jerusalem showed that the average annual rainfall was greater than in the Mississippi Valley. It was about sixty inches, or five feet a year. Harvest begins in the valley of the Jordan about the first of April, the barley harvest coming first, and the wheat harvest about three weeks later. The harvest on the highlands about Jerusalem and Bethlehem is over a month later than that in the Jordan Valley, and extends from the first of May until June. If the 'early' rain is delayed so that the farmer cannot sow in November or early December, the prospects for a crop are not good. If the 'latter rain,' the occasional showers of March, fail him, the growth of the grain is arrested, and his hopes are disappointed. If the 'early and the latter rain' fall, he is sure of an excellent harvest.

      "When the spring comes and the dry season is just beginning, the whole country is clothed in grass [386] and flowers. It is of this delightful season that it is said: 'For lo, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear upon the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; the fig tree ripeneth her green figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth a goodly fragrance' (Song of Solomon 2:10-13).

      "As the dry season comes on, however, vegetation withers, the fields lose their freshness, and the landscape becomes bare and parched. The burning sun dries up moisture until the treeless portions of the country look like a desert. This is especially true of the eastern slope of the mountain highlands. On the west this plateau is struck by the fogs and moist winds that are borne up from the sea, and heavy dews are deposited; but the eastern slope, next to the Jordan, has not this advantage, and, as we saw while we were there, they look in the latter part of October as though they were blasted by everlasting fires.

      "The climate is usually a pleasant one in most parts of the country. The heat is extreme, especially in the summer, in the deep depression of the Jordan Valley, but in the upland country, and on the Seacoast Plain, the breezes that almost always spring up from off the sea towards noon moderate the temperature. The mercury does not often reach ninety degrees Fahrenheit.

      "There is one exception. When the 'east wind' [387] blows, the wind off the deserts to the south and southeast of Palestine, then the heat becomes stifling. This wind is called the Sirocco, and comes hot and dry from the desert. It is parching to vegetation, and depressing to men. You remember how uncomfortable it made up one day when we were on tour.

      "THE PRODUCTS.--These vary with the various districts of Palestine. Wheat and barley are raised successfully wherever there is a limestone soil. This is true of all Palestine, except the slope to the Jordan. Among the fruit trees in all the upland region the olive and the fig are abundant. The olive flourishes wherever it can find soil to root, and lives to a great age. It might be called the staple product of Palestine. The landlord at Fiel's Hotel, Jerusalem, told me that it was estimated that a million olive trees had been planted in Palestine within ten years. You know that we met with them everywhere in the hill country, from Hermon to Hebron. They are said to be very profitable. Grapes are also abundant, and very fine, though not cultivated as much as formerly on account of the Mohammedan prohibition of wine.

      "In the Maratime Plain the orange, the lemon and the pomegranate are also cultivated. The orange is raised in great quantities about Sidon and Jaffa for export. It is not named in the Scriptures, and has been introduced into Palestine [388] since the Scripture times. The mulberry is also planted extensively in order to provide food for silk worms. The fig is very prolific and bears two or three crops a year. The date palm we saw in a number of places along the Seacoast Plain, especially at Joppa, but not in the highlands. Melons also are easily raised, and are very abundant on the plains. Many are shipped from Joppa to other ports. In fact, almost every kind of vine, fruit and vegetable is produced in great abundance. Among the products not already mentioned, I might add that cotton, flax, hemp, bananas, sugar-cane, sweet potatoes and Indian corn are all cultivated more or less. There is also another kind of grain called durrah, or dourra, which is extensively produced. It is a kind of millet, and is planted about the close of the rainy reason, roots deeply, and ripens early in the fall. One would think that it was corn when small, but it bear its grain on the top, much like sorghum, only that the head is much smaller. It produces very abundantly, is ground into meal, and used for food of man and beast.

      "The more I have looked into the subject the higher is my opinion of the ancient fertility of Palestine. Much of it is stony, and much of the soil is washed off the hills. The land is never fertilized by the natives, and is not cultivated; it is only scratched with a forked stick that is called a plow. No other country would continue productive which had been farmed for a thousand years [389] the way Palestine has been under the Turks. I believe that intelligent farming would still make it a very productive country."

      When David had ended his paper, Will remarked that there was one product of Palestine that he found more abundant than any other, but which David had omitted to mention. "I found," said he, "thorns everywhere except in the cultivated fields. Brambles and thistles grow rankly over the plains; cactus hedges surround the villages and the gardens; the hills are covered with a scrub wood that is almost always thorny. Down at Jericho I got into the brush as I was hunting the fountain-head of Elisha's Spring, and I thought I would never get out on account of the thorns that held me fast."

      "Neither did I mention," said David, "Abraham's oak, or the sycamore of Zaccheus. I was trying to give the fruits and grains which are produced by cultivation."

      Bayard was now called on to read his paper. It treated of

      "The population of Palestine," he began, "has changed at various times in its history. When Abraham came here 'the Canaanites and the Perizzite dwelled in the land' (Gen. 13:7). Four hundred years later came the Israelites who conquered all the mountain portion of the country, [390] but the Seacoast Plain remained in the hands of its former inhabitants. After many ages the Jewish nation was nearly destroyed by the Romans, and most of the people who remained were converted to Christianity. About twelve hundred years ago Palestine was conquered by the Mohammedans, and with the exception of about a hundred years, has been in their hands ever since. The inhabitants to-day are descended from old Canaanites, from Jews, Samaritans, Greeks, Romans, Arabs and Turks. It would be hard to classify them by race. It is easier to divide them into classes by their religions.

      "The whole population included within the area of ancient Palestine is estimated at about 650,000, which is probably not more than a tenth of what it contained in the time of Christ, or that it would now maintain. The Mohammedans are far the most numerous, and may be divided into Turks, Fellahin and Bedouin. The Turks are not very numerous, but they represent the rulers of the country, and are not a lovely people, according to my ideas. The Fellahin are the Arabs, or other descendants of the ancient inhabitants who live in town and villages. The Arabs who roam over the country and live in tents are called Bedouin. I do not think much more of these last than of the Turks. Indeed, I have thought that if two or three thousand cowboys, such as I have seen in Colorado, could be turned loose among the Bedouin with Winchester [391] rifles, it would be a good thing for Palestine. The Fellahin are patient, and would probably be industrious if they had a little more encouragement. They are greatly imposed upon, are robbed by the Turks and Bedouin, are usually very poor, live in wretched dirt or stone hovels with their cow and donkey, and are all ready to beg of a stranger. I do not believe I ever met one without having him extend his hands and cry out, Backshish! But I feel sorry for them. They have no chance.

      "They do not gather statistics in this part of the world as carefully as Mr. Superintendent Porter did in the census of the United States; hence, I cannot give exact figures. I suppose that about 500,000 of the inhabitants of Palestine are Mohammedans.

      "The Christians are next in numbers. These are mostly the descendants of the Christian population which was in the country when Palestine was conquered by the Arabs. We could only make a guess as to how many there are in Palestine. The Eastern Church, otherwise called the Greek Church, is the most numerous. Its statistics give 26,000 members. Next in number is the Latin or Catholic Church, but I have not seen their figures. The Armenians also have quite a number of adherents, and there are smaller numbers of other churches. In Nazareth and Bethlehem the Christians make most of the population, and there is a large Christian population in Jerusalem, while [392] Christians are found, more or less, over the whole country. I do not include the Christians of Tyre and Sidon, and the Lebanon, of whom there are said to be over 200,000 in all.

      "The Jews, the ancient owners of Palestine, are not numerous, but are increasing. The most recent estimate that I have seen is that of Dr. Selah Merrill, who was long the U.S. Consul in Jerusalem. He think that there are about 42,000 Jews in the country. Of these he says that there are 25,000 in Jerusalem; in Tiberias about 3,000; in Safed over 6,000, and the rest in other towns. There is of late years quite an immigration of Jews to the country.

      "There is one people found in quite small numbers now, which represents another ancient religion. In the time of Christ the Samaritans were a numerous people. They are now reduced until there are only from 150 to 160 of them remaining. Their only community is in Nablous, where they have a synagogue and a priesthood.

      "There are a few Europeans, perhaps two thousand in all. Of these there are a thousand German settlers belonging to the religious body called the 'Temple': a very excellent and industrious people, who are showing what can be done with the soil of Palestine by improved culture."

      When Bayard closed, I remarked that the figures for the Jews in Palestine, which he had quoted from Dr. Selah Merrill, were probably entirely too small. [393] Rev. Wm. Ewing, a missionary, who had lived for many years at Safed and Tiberias among the Jews, declares that they underestimate their numbers everywhere, because the Turks assess taxation according to numbers. Besides, if the Turks thought that they were becoming too numerous they would prohibit the immigration of the Jews into the country. Mr. Ewing says that the best authorities among the Jews themselves state confidentially that there are about 100,000 Jews in the country. He says, however, that a great many of them are worthless, and are supported mostly by the charities of the rich foreign Jews, who pay vast sums to aid the Jews in Palestine.

      Some one inquired whether in his estimate of the Christian he designed to include those in the Lebanon region, "For," said he, "I have understood that there are 200,000 of the sect called Maronites alone. These, I believe, are mostly scattered through the region of the Lebanon."

      "No," replied Bayard, "the estimate I found did not include the Lebanon, nor the cities of Beyrout, Tyre and Sidon, but only those found in the land occupied by ancient Israel."

      Another gentleman then remarked that these papers were very satisfactory, but that in order to complete the survey we ought to have one giving an outline of the history of the country. We had not provided for such a paper, but we finally [394] prevailed on Mr. Crunden, who had devoted much time to the subject, to give us what he called

      "The history of Palestine really begins with Abraham. Before his time the country was occupied by the Canaanites, a name applied to various races. Among these Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived as sojourners, until Jacob and his family were called down to Egypt. After a period of about four hundred years, their descendants, now a nation, were led back by Moses, who died before they crossed the Jordan, and these, divided into twelve tribes, crossed, under the leadership of Joshua, and finally effected the conquest of all Palestine except the Seacoast Plain. The country was then parceled out among the Twelve Tribes.

      "After the death of Joshua came the period of the Judges, who, including Samuel, ruled Israel for over three hundred years. The people finally became tired of the unsettled government of the Judges, and asked for a king. The monarchial period now began, with Saul as the first of the kings, followed by the glorious reigns of David and Solomon. This was the time of the greatest power and glory of Israel. After the death of Solomon the country was divided into two kingdoms, the Northern Kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam with ten tribes, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah under Rehoboam with two. This [395] occurred about B.C. 975. From this time the greatness of the race departed. The Kingdom of Israel lasted for about two hundred and fifty years longer, when it was destroyed by the Assyrians. The Kingdom of Judah lasted for three hundred and eighty years after the separation, and then was destroyed by the Babylonians. The splendid temple of Solomon was leveled with the earth, and the remnant of the nation carried into captivity at Babylon. It seemed as though the Jewish nation was utterly destroyed.

      "God decreed otherwise. After a period of seventy years, as the prophets had predicted, a part of the nation returned from exile, rebuilt the city, the temple, and finally the walls. This was over 500 B.C. The country was, however, subject to the Persians, who had conquered Babylon, and was a part of the Persian province of Syria. About B.C. 323, when Persia was conquered by Alexander the Great, it passed under the Macedonians. Then came a period of oppression which continued for about one hundred and fifty years. The oppression finally became unendurable, and about B.C. 168, the Jews rose in revolt under the Maccabees; and at last succeeded in securing their independence.

      "This revival of the ancient freedom ended, however, a hundred years later, when the Roman general, Pompey, in B.C. 63, took the city of Jerusalem. From that time Judea was really a Roman [396] province, though in B.C. 37, Herod the Great was allowed to mount the throne. He ruled as a Roman subject, and continued upon the throne until after the birth of Christ, but shortly after his death the country was placed under Roman governors. You remember that Pontius Pilate was governor when Christ was crucified.

      "The severity of the Roman government and the impatience of the Jews caused them to rise in rebellion in A.D. 68, and resulted in the siege and destruction of the city of Jerusalem and of the temple in A.D. 71. The awful calamity was predicted by Christ in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. The city was totally destroyed, more than a million men lost their lives, the remnant of the nation was scattered, and it again seemed as if the Jewish race would perish from the earth.

      "For fifty years Jerusalem disappears from history, then the nation sprang up from the earth, to make an effort for freedom once more under Barochba, 'the Son of a Star,' and a half million of them perished in a fruitless attempt. After this Jews were forbidden to come in sight of Jerusalem, and little is known of the city until Constantine the emperor became a Christian, and his mother, about A.D. 325, came to Jerusalem to restore the holy places. From this time it was a Christian city until A.D. 636, when it was taken by the Mohammedan Arabs under Omar. Then was built the mosque which stands on the site of the temple. [397] From this time, excepting for eighty-seven years, when the Crusaders had possession, Palestine has been under the rule of the Mohammedans. Probably no other country has been so often harassed by war. Jerusalem has had twenty-seven sieges, has been taken seventeen times, and has been, several times, totally destroyed; yet you saw that it at this time is still a populous city, a city that exhibits as many signs of progress as any that you saw in Asia. If Palestine could have a good government, as it perhaps will, before many years, it would become a flourishing portion of the earth, and might become again very influential in moulding history."

      After Mr. Crunden closed we continued to talk for some time about the probability of the overthrow of the Turkish rule and the restoration of a Jewish State in Palestine. Some thought that this would be done and was clearly predicted by the prophets. Others thought that such predictions referred not to a literal Israel, but to a spiritual Israel. Some thought that Palestine was destined to fall into the hands of Russia, while other insisted that Great Britain would finally assume a protectorate. Before we had settled these questions to our satisfaction, some one cried, "Sicily can be seen on the left!" "The peak of Mount Ætna is visible!" These tidings brought our session to a sudden end.

[YFBL 378-398]