ויי. The phenomenon, here described, is produced by a diminution of the density of the lower stratum of the atmosphere, which is caused by the increase of heat, arising from that communicated by the rays of the sun to the sand with which this stratum is in immediate contact. This phenomenon existed in the great desert of Judæa, and is expressly alluded to by the sublime and elegant Isaiah,2 who, when predicting the blessings of the Messiah's spiritual kingdom, says,— No one remains with him, not even his old and faithful ser- | reside, as a good land—a land of brooks of water, of founvant; no one will stay and die with him; all pity his fate, tains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills. How but no one will be his companion." justly this corresponded with the actual state of the country, the preceding pages have shown:-Moses further added, that it was a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees, and pomegranates, a land of oil, olive, and honey, whose stones were iron, and out of whose hills they might dig brass. The enemies of Revelation, forming their notions of its former exuberant fertility from the present state of the Holy Land under the Turkish government, have insinuated that it never could have been the lovely and fertile spot which the Sacred Writings affirm it to have been: but a concise statement of its productions, as we may collect them from the Scriptures, together modern voyagers and travellers, will all concur to establish with the attestations of ancient profane writers, as well as of the unimpeachable veracity of the inspired writers. The glowing sand3 shall become a pool, And the thirsty soil bubbling springs. And it is not improbable that Jeremiah refers to the serâb or mirage when, in pouring forth his complaint to God for mercies deferred, he says, Wilt thou be altogether unto me as waters that be not sure? (marginal rendering of Jer. xv. 18.) that is, which have no reality, as the Septuagint translators have rendered it, ύδωρ ψευδες ουκ έχον πίςιν. Frightful as the horrors of the deserts are, they are aug-lent temperature of the air, which was never subject to exmented beyond description, should the traveller be overtaken by one of those sand-storms, which prevail during the dry seasons. Sometimes the high winds raise into the air thick clouds of dust and sand, which, descending like a shower of rain, most grievously annoy all among whom they fall, and penetrate the eyes, nostrils, ears, in short, every part of the human frame that is exposed to it. At other times the sands are drifted into such heaps, so that, if any storm of wind should arise, the track is lost, and whole caravans perish in the inhospitable wilderness. Such are the showers of powder and dust, with which Moses denounced that God would scourge the disobedient Israelites, in Deut. xxviii. 24.4 SECTION II. ON THE FERTILITY AND PRODUCTIONS OF THE HOLY LAND. I. Fertility of the Holy Land.-II. Its productions ;-1. Vegetables;-2. Cattle;-3. Mines.-III. Testimonies of ancient and modern authors to its fertility and populousness.-IV. Calamities with which this country was visited;-1. The Plague ;-2. Earthquakes ;-3. Whirlwinds ;-4. The devastations of locusts;-5. Famine ;-6. The Simoom, or pestilential blast of the desert.s I. MOSES, addressing the Israelites a short time before his death, characterized the country whither they were going to Belzoni's Narrative of his Operations and Researches in Egypt, &c. (4to. London, 1830), pp. 341-343. In another part of his volume, Mr. B. more particularly describes the mirage (for such is the appellation by which this phenomenon is now commonly known), in the following terms: - It generally appears like a still lake, so unmoved by the wind, that every thing above is to be seen most distinctly reflected by it. If the wind aguate any of the plants that rise above the horizon of the mirage, the motion is seen perfectly at a great distance. If the traveller stand elevated much above the mirage, the apparent water seems less united and less deep; for, as the eyes look down upon it, there is not thick II. The Holy Land is said to have exceeded even the very celebrated land of Egypt, in the abundance of its PRODUCTIONS. To this wonderful fertility many circumstances are supposed to have contributed; such as the generally excelcessive heats (except in the plain of Jericho) or colds; the regularity of its seasons, especially of the former and the latter rain: and the natural richness of the soil, which is a fine mould without stones, and almost without a pebble. their obedience (Psal. lxxxi. 16. and exlvii. 14.); and so abun1. A plenty of WHEAT was promised to the Israelites on dant was the produce of the wheat and barley, that sixty and a hundred fold rewarded the toil of the cultivator. (Gen. xxvi. 12. and Matt. xiii. 8.) This was sometimes stored in subterraneous granaries, which in 1 Chron. xxvii. 25. are termed storehouses in the fields. Such granaries are still in use among the Moors. The wheat of Minnith and Pannag was particularly celebrated, and so plentiful that it was exported to Tyre. (Ezek. xxvii. 17.) In the treaty concluded between Solomon and Hiram king of Tyre, for the building of the temple, the Hebrew monarch was to supply the latter annually with twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household (1 Kings v. 11.), and the same quantity for the hewers that cut timber (2 Chron. ii. 10.), together with an equal number of measures of barley. More than a thousand years after this time, the coasts of Tyre and Sidon were supplied with corn from Palestine. (Acts xii. 20.) This country also abounded with HONEY, not only that made by the domesticated or hived bees, but also with honey made by bees in a wild state, and deposited on rocks and in the hollows of trees (1 Sam. xiv. 25. Deut. xxxii. 13. Psal. lxxxi. 16.), which formed a part of the food of John the Baptist in the wilderness. (Matt. iii. 4.) The Mount of Olives and other districts in Judæa and Galilee produced the finest OLIVES; and the red wines of Lebanon were particularly celebrated for their fragrance. (Hos. xiv. 7.) The wines of Helbon furnished a profitable article of export to Damascus (Ezek. xxvii. 18.): and modern travellers attest the size and weight of the clusters of GRAPES still produced in Palestine, which will account for the spies carrying the cluster of grapes cut down in the valley of Eshcol (Num. xiii. 23.) between two upon a staff. ness enough in the vapour on the surface of the ground to conceal the earth from the sight; but, if the traveller be on a level with the hori zon of the mirage, he cannot see through it, so that it appears to him clear Various herbs, shrubs, and trees imparted beauty and frawater. By putting my head first to the ground, and then mounting a camel,grance to this highly-favoured land. Among the herbs and the height of which from the ground might have been about ten feet at the most, I found a great difference in the appearance of the inirage. On shrubs, the aloe (Psal. xlv. 8. Prov. vii. 17. Sol. Song iv. approaching it, it becomes thinner, and appears as if agitated by the wind, 14.), the hyssop (1 Kings iv. 33. Matt. xxvii. 48. Mark xv. like a field of ripe corn. It gradually vanishes, as the traveller approaches, 36.), the rose, especially the rose of Sharon (Sol. Song ii. 1.), and at last entirely disappears, when he is on the spot." (p. 196.) the lily (Ibid. ii. 16. iv. 5. v. 13. Matt. vi. 28.), the spikeClarke has described the mirage, as it appeared to him on his journey to Rosetta, in 1801. (Travels, vol. iii. p. 371.) Similar descriptions, but none so full as that of Mr. Belzoni, may be seen in Sir J. Malcolm's Hist. of Persia, vol. ii. p. 512; in Elphinstone's Account of the Kingdom of Caubul (p. 16. 4to. London, 1815); Kinneir's Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire (p. 223. 4to. London, 1813); Lieut. Pottinger's Travels in Beloochis tan and Sinde (p. 185. 4to. London, 1816); in Dr. Della Cella's Narrative of the Bey of Tripoli's Expedition, in 1817, to the Western Frontier of Egypt, (p. 58. London, 1822. 8vo.); in Mr. Madden's Travels in Turkey, &c. vol. I pp. 199, 200. London, 1829; and Mr. Rae Wilson's Travels in the Holy Land, Egypt, &c. vol. i. p. 67. Dr. Henderson has described the Serâb as it appeared on his journey towards Kherson in the Crimea, Biblical Researches, pp. 278, 279. (London, 1826. 8vo.) Isa xxxv. 7. Bp. Lowth's translation. The phenomenon referred to by Isaiah, is termed by the Arabs, as well as by the Hebrews (SeraB); and to this day the Persians and Arabs make use of it, by an elegant metaphor, to express disappointed hope. Fragments supplementary to Calmet's Dictionary, No. 172. In the London Weekly Review, No. 1. (June 9th, 1827), there is an animated and graphic delineation of one of these terrific sand storms in the desert, extracted from the manuscript Journal of the intelligent traveller Mr. Buckingham, who was exposed to its fury for several hours, and, with his companions, was providentially preserved from destruction. Besides the authorities cited in the course of this section, the following works have been consulted for it; viz. Relandi Palæstina, tom. i. pp. 373-391.; Schulzii Archeologia Hebraica, pp. 9-16.; Pareau, Antiquitas 23.; Hasselquist's Travels; Dr. Shaw's Travels, vol. ii. pp. 138-153.; and Υσσωπος. In this passage Jesus Christ is commonly supposed to have referred to the white lily or to the tulip; but neither of these grows wild in Palestine. It is natural to presume that, according to his usual custom, he called the nard (Mark xiv. 3. 5. Sol. Song i. 12.) the carob tree (xar, | to which David withdrew to avoid the fury of Saul. (1 Sam. Luke xv. 6.), the spina Christi or thorn of Christ, the man- xxii. 5.) To these, perhaps, may be added,— srake (a species of melon), (Gen. xxx. 14. Sol. Song vii. 13.), the myrtle (Isa. xli. 19. and lv. 13. Zech. i. 8.),3 and the mustard tree (Matt. xiii. 31, 32.), may be distinctly noticed.4 Although modern travellers do not mention the existence of any woods or forests, or, indeed, any considerable number of trees, yet it appears that, anciently, the Holy Land was well covered with wood. We read of several FORESTS and WOODS in the Sacred Writings, particularly,— (1.) The FOREST OF CEDARS on Mount Lebanon. See 1 Kings vii. 2. 2 Kings xix. 23. Hos. xiv. 5, 6. These noble and beautiful trees, which are unrivalled in grandeur and beauty in the vegetable kingdom, have furnished the inspired writers with numerous exquisite similitudes. "To break the cedars, and shake the enormous mass in which they grow, occur among the figures which David selects to express the power and majesty of Jehovah (Psal. xxix. 4, 5.), to the full understanding of which their countless number at one period, and vast bulk, ought to be kept in view. By the planting of a cedar the prophet (Ezek. xvii. 22. 24.) has described the kingdom of Christ: the growth and extent of the New Testament church, and the prodigious increase of her converts, are also beautifully set forth by the Psalmist under this emblem. (Psal. xcii. 12.) Of this particular wood, we find that Solomon made himself a chariot. (Song iv. 11.)..... The prosperity of the righteous is compared to the cedar; and it is further employed to denounce the judgments of God on men of proud and high minds. (Psal. xxix. 4.) The conversion of the Gentiles also to the worship of the true God is expressed in terms highly beautiful (Isa. xxix. 17. xxxii. 15.), as also the prosperity of the kingdom of Christ. (Isa. ii. 2.) | Those who encompassed the priests at the altar are also compared to them, as also the glory of wisdom. (Ecclus. xxiv. 15.) It may be further added, that cedar trees, uniting so many qualities well adapted for building, afforded ample materials for the structure of the temple, and were sent by king Hiram to Solomon for that purpose. (1 Kings v. 10-15.)" Every thing about the cedar tree has a strong balsamic odour: this probably is the smell of Lebanon, mentioned in Sol. Song iv. 11. and Hos. iv. 16. (2.) The FOREST OF OAKS on the mountains of Bashan (Zech. xi. 2.): we may judge of the high estimation in which these oaks were held, from an incidental expression of the prophet Ezekiel; who, speaking of the power and wealth of ancient Tyre, says,-Of the oaks of Bashan they have made thine oars. (Ezek. xxvii. 6.) Groves of oaks, it is well known, were the scenes of idolatry in those remote times, on account of the grateful shelter which they afforded to the deluded worshippers. The prophet Ezekiel expressly alludes to this practice. (Ezek. vi. 13.) (3.) The FOREST or WOOD of Ephraim, which the children of Ephraim began to cut down (Josh. xvii. 15.), was still standing in the time of David: here Absalom was suspended from an oak, and was slain. (2 Sam. xviii. 6. 8. 17.) The wood in the vicinity of Bethel mentioned in 2 Kings ii. 24. appears to have been part of the wood of Ephraim. (4.) The spacious FOREST of Hareth in the tribe of Judah, attention of his hearers to some object at hand; and as the fields of the Levant are overrun with the amaryllis lutea, whose golden liliaceous flowers, in autumn, afford one of the most brilliant and gorgeous objects in nature, the expression of Solomon in all his glory not being arrayed like one of these, is peculiarly appropriate. Should this conjecture prove correct, we learn a chronological fact, respecting the season of the year when 1 "The modern Greeks still call this fruit by the same name, para, and sell them in the markets. They are given to swine, but not rejected as food even by man.' ." (Hartley's Researches in Greece, p. 241.) This shrub is supposed, and not without reason, to be the plant which the Sermon on the Mount was delivered. supplied the crown of thorns, with which mockery decked the Saviour's brow before his crucifixion. For this purpose it must have been very fit; as its thorns, which are an inch in length, are very strong and sharp. It is not unlike a willow in growth and flexibility; and as the leaves greatly resemble those of the ivy, it is not improbable that the enemies of Christ chose it, on account of its similarity to the plant with which it was usual to crown emperors and generals: so that calumny, insult, and derision might be meditated in the very act of punishment. Hasselquist's Voyages in the Levant, p. 288. Three Weeks in Palestine, p. 83. From the passage above referred to, it should seem that the myrtle tree attained a considerable size. In the Morea, an intelligent traveller (Mr. Emerson) states that he travelled for hours through an uncultivated track, while the groves of myrtle formed an almost continuous arbour overhead, "covered here and there with its delicate white flowers, and exhaling at every motion the most delicious perfume, whilst its dark polished leaves combined coolness with beauty." Letters from the Egean, vol. i. p. 113. For copious accounts of these and other vegetables, as well as of the ani mal and mineral productions mentioned in the Scriptures (many of which it falls not within the limits of this work to notice), the reader is referred to Dr. Harris's Natural History of the Bible. • Rae Wilson's Travels in the Holy Land, &c. vol. ii. p. 105. 3d edition. (5.) The THICKETS on the banks of the Jordan, in Zech. xi. 3. termed the pride of Jordan, which anciently were the coverts of wild beasts, and are to this day composed of oleanders, tamarisks, and other shrubs. Among the trees, which adorn Palestine, the PALM TREE claims the precedence of notice, on account of its singular utility; it affords a grateful shelter, an agreeable fruit, and a most delicious wine. The finest palm trees grew in the vicinity of Jordan and Engeddi; and they still flourish in the plain of Jericho, which city was anciently termed by way of distinction the City of Palm Trees. In 1818, however, its plantation of palm trees were reduced to about one dozen;7 and, in 1825, the "City of Palms" could not boast of one of these beautiful trees around it.8 The palm trees of Judæa are celebrated by Strabo, and by Josephus,10 who has particularly noticed the palm trees of Jericho. The palm tree was the common symbol of Palestine, many coins of Vespasian and other emperors" being extant, in which Judæa is personified by a disconsolate woman sitting under a palm tree. A vignette of one of these is given in p. 91. supra. As the momentary prosperity of the wicked is frequently compared to the transient verdure of grass; so the durable felicity of the righteous is in Psalm xcii. 12. likened to the lasting strength and beauty of the palm tree. "But chiefly is the comparison applicable to that Just One, the King of Righteousness and Tree of Life; eminent and upright; ever verdant and fragrant; under the greatest pressure and weight of sufferings, still ascending towards Heaven; affording both fruit and protection; incorruptible and immortal,”2 Besides the palm trees, Jericho was celebrated for its fragrant balsam, mentioned in the Scriptures under the name of the BALM OF GILEAD. (Jer. viii. 22. xlvi. 11. li. 8.) This balsam, which exudes from the opobalsamum or balsam tree, was mentioned by Strabo;13 and two plantations of it existed during the last war of the Jews with the Romans, for which both parties fought desperately, the Jews, that they might destroy them; the Romans, that they might prevent them from destruction. Since the country has been under the government of the Turks, the balm of Gilead has ceased to be cultivated in Palestine, though it is found in different parts of Arabia and Egypt. At present, it is collected chiefly in Arabia, between Mecca and Medina, and is therefore sometimes called the balm of Mecca. Its odour is exquisitely fragrant and pungent. It is very costly, and is still in the highest esteem among the Turks and other oriental nations, both as a cosmetic and as a medicine for the cure of external wounds. OLIVE TREES are now, as anciently, abundant and fruitful; and the culture of them continues to form a particular object of attention. The expression-Oil out of the flinty rock (Deut. xxxii. 13.) plainly denotes, that it was not in rich land only that this most valuable tree should grow; but that even the tops of the rocks would afford sufficient support for olive trees, from which they should extract abundance of oil. Accordingly we are informed that, although the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem is rugged and uncompromising, yet even there the olive and vine might flourish under proper culture. 14 Various similitudes are derived from the olive tree by the inspired writers; as well as from the vine, which affords a triple produce in each year. POMEGRANATE and APPLE TREES were likewise cultivated to a considerable extent (Num. xiii. 23. Deut. viii. 8. Joel. i. 12.), as also was the almond tree, whose fruit is ripe and fit to gather about the middle of April. The citron tree was in great request for its fragrant and refreshing shade, as well as for its delicious fruit. (Sol. Song ii. 3. where it is mistranslated apple tree.) FIG TREES are very common in Palestine, and flourish in a dry and sandy soil: although in our climate they are little more than shrubs, yet in the East they attain a considerable height, and some of them are capable of affording shelter to a large number of horsemen. The shade of the fig tree is very pleasant; and to sit under it is an emblem of security and peace. (Mic. iv. 4.) Fig trees begin to sprout at the time of the vernal equinox. (Luke xxi. 29, 30. Matt. xxiv. 32.) On the various products of the palm tree, see Kampfer's Amanitates • Lib. xvi. vol. ii. p. 1085. Oxon. 1807. folio. 10 De Bell. Jud. lib. i. c. 6. 6. lib. iv. c. 8. § 3. 11 Dr. Shaw has enumerated them. Travels, vol. ii. p. 151. 12 Bp. Horne's Commentary on Psal. xcii. 12. (Works, vol. ii. p. 145.) 18 Líb. xvi. vol. ii. p. 1085. 14 Jowett's Researches in Syria, p. 305. Dr. A. Clarke on Deut. xxxii. 13. carried to Jerusalem, and, according to Jerome, one of the gates of that city was from this circumstance denominated the Fish-gate. The Dead Sea furnished abundance of salt for curing their fish, for which purpose it was said to be superior to every other kind of salt. -as a The fruit makes its appearance before the leaves and flowers, and the foliage expands about the end of March. The fig trees of Palestine are of three kinds :-1. The Untimely fig, which puts forth at the vernal equinox, and before it is ripe is called the green fig, but when it is ripe the untimely fig. (Sol. Song ii. 13. Jer. xxiv. 2. Hos. ix. 3.) It comes to ma- 3. Although we have no evidence that the Jews wrought turity towards the end of June (Matt. xxi. 19. Mark xi. 13.), any MINES of iron or copper; yet the researches of modern and in flavour surpasses the other kinds.-2. The Summer or travellers have ascertained that the mountains of Palestine dry fig: it appears about the middle of June, and is ripe in contain iron, particularly those whose summits and sides are August.-3. The Winter fig, which germinates in August, occupied by the industrious Druses. A vein of coal has also and does not ripen until about the end of November: it is been discovered; but there is no one to sink a mine. Report longer and of a browner colour than the others. All figs, says, that there was anciently a copper-mine at Aleppo, when ripe, but especially the untimely, fall spontaneously. which (M. Volney is of opinion) must have long since been (Nahum iii. 12.) The early figs are eaten, but some are dried abandoned. These facts, however, substantiate the accuracy in the sun, and preserved in masses, which are called cakes of of Moses in his description of the Promised Land,— figs in 1 Sam. xxv. 18. xxx. 12. 1 Chron. xii. 40. It is well land whose stones are iron, and out of whose mountains thou known that the fruit of these prolific trees always precedes mayest dig copper (Deut. viii. 9.), as the Hebrew ought to be the leaves: consequently, when Jesus Christ saw one of them rendered, there being no such thing in nature as a bruss mine. in full vigour having leaves (Mark xi. 13.), he might, accord- III. In perusing the Scripture accounts of this highlying to the common course of nature, very justly look for fruit, favoured country it ought to be considered that it was then and haply find some boccores or early figs, if not some winter inhabited by an industrious people, who knew how to improve figs likewise upon it. The parable in Luke xiii. 6-9. is every inch of their land, and by their good husbandry had founded on the oriental mode of gardening: and the method made even the most desert and barren places to yield some of improving the palm (whose bareness may be remedied in kind of production; so that the very rocks, which now appear the way there mentioned) is transferred to the fig tree. quite naked, then yielded either corn, pulse, or pasture. The SYCAMORE TREE flourished in Palestine as well as in Every man had his own land to improve; and when, in adEgypt: its leaves are like those of the mulberry tree; and its dition to these facts, it is considered that a warm country will sweetish, watery, but somewhat aromatic and not disagree- support more people than a cold one, the people in southern able fruit, comes to maturity several times in the year, with- climates being satisfied with less food than in northern; and out observing any certain seasons. It resembles that of the that the dominions of David and Solomon comprised a greater fig tree in appearance, but differs from it in having no seeds extent of territory than many apprehend; we can be at no within. This tree does not grow from the seed, but is pro-loss to account for the vast multitude of inhabitants, which pagated by the branch: it produces abundance of fruit, which the Scriptures assert that Palestine anciently supported, espegrows in a peculiar manner,-not on the extremities of the cially when their statements of its fertility and population are boughs as in other trees, but near the trunk. It is a large confirmed by the testimonies of profane historians. tree, attaining a considerable height, which circumstance will account for Zacchæus's climbing up into a sycamore tree in order that he might see Jesus. Its timber appears to have been anciently used in building. (Isa. ix. 10.) It affords a very grateful shade. From its fruit the Arabs extract an oil, which they sell to travellers, who keep it among their other holy things, and pretend that it possesses a singular virtue in curing wounds, for which reason they call it the oil of Zacchæus, attributing its virtue to the stay which Zaccheus made upon the tree! (Luke xix. 4.) The PRICKLY PEAR, which most probably is the thorns mentioned in Hos. ii. 6., is a cumbrous shrub, which grows to a prodigious size, and affords one of the firmest and most secure fences imaginable.1 2. But the Holy Land was eminently distinguished for its abundance of CATTLE, to the management and rearing of which the inhabitants chiefly applied themselves,2 The hilly country not only afforded them variety and plenty of pasture, but also of water, which, descending thence, carried fertility into the low lands and valleys. The most celebrated pasture grounds were on each side of the river Jordan, besides those of Sharon, the plains of Lydda, Jamnia, and some others of less note. The breed of cattle reared in Bashan, and on the mountains of Gilead and Carmel, were remarkable for their size, their strength, and fatness, to which there are frequent allusions in the Scriptures. The cattle of the Israelites comprised every sort of animal that afforded either food or clothing, or was applicable to other useful purposes, as sheep, oxen, goats, camels, and asses. The last-mentioned animals were of a more handsome form than are seen in our colder climate; hence they were chiefly used in travelling in this hilly country, even by persons of rank. Horses do not appear to have been in use, until after the establishment of the monarchy. The various rivers, especially the Jordan, the Lake of Tiberias, and the Mediterranean Sea, afforded great variety and plenty of FISH, vast quantities of which were 1 Rae Wilson's Travels in the Holy Land, &c. vol. i. p. 177. 3d edition. For a particular account of the vegetable productions of the Holy Land, the reader is referred to the Hiero-Botanicon of Celsius (Upsale, 1745-1747, in two parts or vols. 8vo.); and for its zoology to the Hierozoicon of Bochart (folio, Lug. Bat. 1714, or in three vols. 4to. Lipsia, 1793, and following years.) The reader who may not be able to consult these elaborate works, will find much useful information concerning the plants and animals of the Holy Land, in Professor Paxton's Illustrations of Scripture, part ii. vol. i. EP. 297-567. vol. ii. pp. 1-359.; and particularly in Dr. Harris's Natural History of the Bible, already referred to. The whole of the scenery (says Dr. Richardson), since we entered Palestine, amply confirms the language of Scripture, that this is a land flow. ing with milk and honey,-a land for flocks, and herds, and bees, and fitted for the residence of men, whose trade, like the patriarchs of old, was in cattle." Travels along the Mediterranean, &c. vol. ii. p. 374. Thus, Tacitus describes the climate as dry and sultry; the natives as strong and patient of labour; the soil as fruitful, exuberant in its produce, like that of Italy, and yielding the palm and balm tree. Libanus or Lebanon is stated to be the loftiest mountain in the country, and to rise to a great height, affording a grateful shade under its verdant groves, and even in the ardent heat of that sultry region as being covered at the top with perpetual snow. Justin confirms the account of Tacitus, respecting the exuberant produce of Palestine, its beautiful climate, its palm and fragrant balsam trees. The palms of Judæa are celebrated by the elder Pliny; and Ammianus Marcellinus commends the beauty of the country, and its large and handsome cities. But the most memorable testimony is that of Josephus the Jewish historian, which appears in various parts of his writings. Not to multiply unnecessary examples, we may state briefly, that after describing the boundaries of the regions of Upper and Lower Galilee, of Peræa and Samaria, he speaks of their fertility and produce in the following terms: The two Galilees have always been able to make a strong resistance on all occasions of war: for the Galileans are inured to war from their infancy, and have always been very numerous. Their soil is universally rich, and fruitful, and full of plantations of all sorts of trees; so that its fertility invites the most slothful to take pains in its cultivation. Accordingly the whole of it is cultivated by its inhabitants, and no part of it lies idle. Although the greater part of Peræa, he continues, is desert and rough, and much less disposed for the production of the milder sorts of fruits, yet in other parts it has a moist soil, and produces all kinds of fruits. Its plains are planted with trees of all sorts; the olive tree, the vine, and the palm trees are principally cultivated there. It is also sufficiently watered with torrents, that issue from the mountains, and with springs which never fail to run, even when the torrents fail them, as they do in the dog-days. Samaria is entirely of the same nature with Judæa. Both countries are composed of hills and valleys; they are moist enough for agriculture, and are very fertile. They have abundance of trees, and are full of autumnal fruit, both of that which grows wild, and also of that which is the effect of cultivation. They are not naturally watered by many rivers, but derive their chief moisture from rain water, of which they have no want. The waters of such rivers as they have, are exceed ingly sweet; and in consequence of the excellence of their | for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. (Psal. cvii. 34.) grass, the cattle reared in these countries yield more milk" But it has been through the instrumentality of this very than do those of other places.' wickedness, the increasing wickedness of the inhabitants, that the awful change has been effected. Were good government, good faith, and good manners to flourish in this and for half a century, it would literally become again a lund flowing with milk and honey: the proper fruits of the mountains, honey and wax, would be collected by the industrious bee from myriads of fragrant plants: the plains, the valleys, and the upland slopes, would yield corn for man, and pasturage for innumerable flocks and herds. Such a stupendous and delightful change might well gladden not only every child of Israel, but the heart of every Christian.”9 IV. Yet lovely as Palestine confessedly was, its beauty and the comforts it afforded were not unalloyed: among the CALAMITIES of various kinds, which at different times visited the inhabitants, the pestilence, earthquakes, whirlwinds, the devastations of locusts, famines, and the pestilential Simoom, demand to be distinctly noticed. 1. Palestine is now, as it anciently was, often afflicted with the PLAGUE; which makes its entrance from Egypt and the neighbouring countries. This tremendous scourge is frequently mentioned in the Sacred Writings. From the insidious manner in which it is first introduced into a country, it is, perhaps, termed the pestilence that walketh in darkness. (Psal. xcí. 6.) On the division of the land of Canaan, we are informed (Josh. xv. 20—62.) that not fewer than one hundred and twelve walled cities fell to the lot of the tribe of Judah. Many centuries afterwards, Josephus states that the regions of Samaria and Judæa were very full of people, which he notices as the greatest sign of their excellency; that in the two Galilees the villages were extremely numerous and thickly inhabited; and that there also were great numbers of the larger cities, the smallest of which contained a population of fifteen thousand souls. From the two small provinces of Upper and Lower Galilee alone, Josephus collected an army of more than one hundred thousand men.4 These statements abundantly confirm the narratives of the sacred historian relative to the fertility and vast population of the Holy Land. Compare Num. xi. 21. Judg. xx. 17. 1 Sam. xv. 4. 1 Chron. xxvii. 4—15. 2 Sam. xxiv. 9. and 2 Chron. xvii. 14—19. | Nor are the testimonies less satisfactory, which have been given by Maundrell, Shaw, Hasselquist, and other modern travellers, who have visited this country, and especially by Dr. Clarke, who thus describes its appearance between Napolose or Sichem and Jerusalem:-The road," says he, "was mountainous, rocky, and full of loose stones; yet the cultivation was every where marvellous: it afforded one of the most striking pictures of human industry which it is pos- 2. This region, being mountainous and near the sea, is sible to behold. The limestone rocks and valleys of Judæa often shaken by EARTHQUAKES, 10 from which, however, Jeruwere entirely covered with plantations of figs, vines, and olive salem seems to have suffered little if at all. (Psal. xlvi. 2— trees; not a single spot seemed to be neglected. The hills, 5.) Sometimes these earthquakes were accompanied by from their bases to their upmost summits, were entirely land-slips, in which pieces of ground, lying on a declivity, covered with gardens: all of these were free from weeds, and are removed from their place. To these (which occasionally in the highest state of agricultural perfection. Even the sides happen in the present day," and which are not uncommon in of the most barren mountains had been rendered fertile by Barbary)12 the Psalmist alludes when he speaks of the mounbeing divided into terraces, like steps rising one above an-tains being carried into the midst of the sea (Psal. xlvi. 2.), other, whereon soil had been accumulated with astonishing of their skipping like rams, and the little hills like young sheep labour. Under a wise and beneficial government, the produce (Ps. cxiv. 4. 6.); and also the prophet Isaiah (xxiv. 20.) of the Holy Land would exceed all calculation. Its perennial when he says that the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkharvest; the salubrity of its air; its limpid springs; its rivers, ard, and shall be removed like a cottage. These terrible conlakes, and matchless plains; its hills and vales: all these, cussions have supplied the sacred prophets and poets with added to the serenity of its climate, prove this land to be in-numerous figures, by which they have represented the condeed a field which the Lord hath blessed (Gen. xxvii. 27.): cussions and subversions of states and empires. See parGod hath given it of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the ticularly Isa. xxix. 6. liv. 10. Jer. iv. 24. Hag. ii. 6, 7.′22. earth, and plenty of corn and wine." Such being the state of the Holy Land, at least of that part of it which is properly cultivated, we can readily account for the vast population it anciently supported: and although this country, generally speaking, by no means corresponds with the statements we have of its former exuberant fertility and population, yet this is no contradiction to the narrative of the sacred writers. The devastations of the Holy Land by the Assyrians, Chaldees, Syrians, Romans, Saracens, the European crusaders, and Turks, together with the oppressions of the inhabitants by the Turks in our own time (who not only do not encourage agricultural industry, but also extort to the uttermost from the husbandmen), to which are to be added the depredations of robbers, and the predatory incursions of the Arabs, all concur satisfactorily to account for the present state of this country; and, so far is it from contradicting the assertions of the Sacred Writings, that it confirms their authority; for, in the event of the Israelites proving unfaithful to their covenant engagements with Jehovah, all these judgments were predicted and denounced against them (Lev. xxvi. 32. Deut. xxix. 22. et seq.); and the exact accomplishment of these prophecies affords a permanent comment on the declaration of the royal Psalmist, that a righteous God turneth a fruitful land into barrenness, 3 Ibid. lib. iii. c. 3. § 2. 1 Josephus de Bell. Jud. lib. iii. c. 3. §§ 2, 3, 4. The most important facts relative to the fertility of Palestine, recorded by Maundrell and Dr. Shaw, are collected by Dr. Macknight in discourses vi and vii. prefixed to the first volume of his Harmony, and the testimonies of Hasselquist and others are collected by Mr. Harmer. (Observations, vol. i. pp. 243-250.) Their accounts are corroborated by Mr. Buckingham, in his Travels among the Arab Tribes, p. 141. Travels, vol. iv. pp. 283-285. "In the north of Palestine," says a recent traveller, "there are many beautiful and fertile spots, but not so in Judæa. The breath of Jehovah's wrath seems in a peculiar manner to have blasted and withered the territory of the daughter of Zion. What a change has been wrought in the land, once flowing with milk and honey!"-See the Journal of the Rev. J. Connor (who was in Palestine in the spring of the year 1820), in the Appendix to the Rev. Mr. Jowett's Christian Researches in the Mediterranean, p. 441. (London, 1822. 8vo.) Volney has given some painfully interesting details on the oppression of the agricultural inhabitants of Palestine, by their barbarous masters, the Turks. Travels in Egypt, &c. vol. ii. pp. 341-347 Matt. xxiv. 7. 3. TORNADOES or WHIRLWINDS, followed by thunder, lightning, and rains, were also very frequent during the winter and cold seasons. Whirlwinds often preceded rain. In the figurative language of the Scriptures, these are termed the commandment and the word of God (Psal. cxlvii. 15, 18.);13 and, as they are sometimes fatal to travellers who are overwhelmed in the deserts, the rapidity of their advance is elegantly employed by Solomon to show the certainty as well as the suddenness of that destruction which will befall the impenitently wicked. (Prov. i. 27.) They are alluded to by Isaiah, as occurring in the deserts which border on the south of Judæa (Isa. xxi. 1.); and they appear to blow from various points of the compass. The prophet Ezekiel speaks of one that came from the north (Ezek. i. 4.); but more frequently it blows from the south (Job xxxvii. 9.), in which case it is generally attended with the most fatal consequences to the hapless traveller. Mr. Morier, describing the whirlwinds of Persia, says, that they swept along the country in different directions, in a manner truly terrific. "They carried away in their vortex sand, branches, and the stubble of the fields, and really appeared to make a communication between the earth and the clouds. The correctness of the imagery used by the prophet Isaiah, when he alludes to this phenomenon, is very striking. The whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. (Isa. xl. 24.) Chased as the choff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. (Isa. xvii. 13.) In the Psalms (lxxxiii. 13.) we read, Make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind. This is happily illustrated by the rotatory action of the whirlwind, which Jowett's Christian Researches in Syria, p. 309. 10 The coast in general, and indeed the whole of Asia Minor, is still subject to earthquakes. In 1759 there happened one, which caused the greatest ravages, destroying upwards of 20,000 persons in the valley of Balbec. For three months the shocks of it terrified the inhabitants of Lebanon so much, that they abandoned their houses and dwelt under tents. (Volney's Travels, vol. i. p. 283.) In the autumn of 1822 another tremendous earthquake, or rather a succession of earthquakes, desolated this region. 11 See a description of one in the same work, vol. i. p. 278. 12 Shaw's Travels in Barbary, &c, vol. i. pp. 277, 278. 13 The Arabs, to this day, call them good news or messengers: and in the Koran they are termed the sent of God, c. 77. p. 477. of Sale's translation, 4to. edit. frequently impels a bit of stubble over a waste, just like a wheel set in a rapid motion."! From these phenomena, the sacred writers have borrowed many very expressive figures and allusions. Compare Psal. xviii. 8-15. xxix. 1-10. lv. 8. lxxxiii, 15. Isa. v. 30. viii. 7, 8. xi. 15. xxviii. 2. xxix. 6. Jer. xxiii. 19. Matt. vii. 25. dreary plain on the coast of the East (or Dead) Sea, and others into the utmost (or Mediterranean) Sca. (Joel ii. 20.) These predatory locusts are larger than those which sometimes visit the southern parts of Europe, being five or six inches long, and as thick as a man's finger. From their heads being shaped like that of a horse, the prophet Joel says, that they have the appearance of horses; and on account of their celerity they are compared to horsemen on full gallop (ii. 4.), and also to horses prepared for battle. (Rev. ix. 7.) The locust has a large open mouth; and in its two jaws it has four incisive teeth, which traverse each other like scissors, and from their mechanism are calculated to grasp and cut every thing of which they lay hold. These teeth are so sharp and strong, that the prophet, by a bold figure, terms them the teeth of a great hon. (Joel i. 6.) In order to mark the certainty, variety, and extent of the depredations of the locusts, not fewer than eight or nine different appellations, expressive of their nature, are given to them in the Sacred Writings. What tornadoes are on land water-spouts are at sea, the vacuum being filled with a column of water, instead of earth, sand, &c.—To this phenomenon the Psalmist refers. (xlii. 7.) 4. Frequently the country was laid waste by vast bodies of migrating LocUSTS, whose depredations are one of the most terrible scourges with which mankind can be afflicted. By the prophet Joel (ii. 11.) they are termed the army of the Lord, from the military order which they appear to observe: disbanding themselves and encamping in the evening, and in the morning resuming their flight in the direction of the wind, unless they meet with food. (Nah. iii. 17. Prov. xxx. 27.) They fly in countless hosts (Jer. xlvi. 23. Judg, vi. 5.), so as to obscure the sun, and bring a temporary darkness upon the land. (Joel ii. 2. 10. Exod. x. 15.) The noise made by them is compared to the noise of chariots (Joel ii. 5.): and wherever they settle, they darken the land. (Exod. x. 15.) If the weather be cold, they encamp in the hedges, until the sun rises, when they resume their progress (Nah. iii. 17.), climbing or creeping in perfect order. Regardless of every obstacle, they mount the walls of cities and houses, and enter the very apartments. (Joel ii. 7—9.) They devour every green herb, and strip the bark off every tree (Exod. x. 12. 15. Joel i. 4. 7. 10. 12. 16. 18. 20.), so as to render the land, which before was as the garden of Eden, a desolate wilderness, as if it had been laid waste by fire. (Joel ii. 3.) The noise made by them, when committing their ravages, is compared to the crackling noise of fire among the dry stubble, or a mighty host set in battle array. (Ibid. 5.) So fearful are the effects of their devastations, that every one was filled with dismay (Ibid. 6.), and vainly attempted to prevent them from settling on their grounds by making loud shouts (Jer. li. 14.), as the inhabitants of Egypt, and the Nogai Tartars' do to this day. What aggravates this tremendous calamity is, that when one host is departed, it is succeeded by a second, and sometimes even by a third or a fourth, by which every thing that has escaped the ravages of the pre-imagine that fire had followed their progress. Fire itself, ceding is inevitably consumed by the last company. As Arabia is generally considered as the native country of these depredators, they were carried thence into Egypt by an east wind (Exod. x. 13.), and were removed by a westerly wind (19.) which blew from the Mediterranean Sea (that lay to the north-west of that country), and wafted them into the Red Sea, where they perished. On their departure from a country, they leave their fetid excrements behind them, which pollute the air, and myriads of their eggs deposited in the ground, whence issues in the following year a new and more numerous army. They are generally carried off by the wind into the sea, where they perish; and their dead bodies, putrefying on the shore, emit a most offensive, and (it is said) sometimes even fatal smell. The plague of locusts, predicted by Joel, entered Palestine from Hamath, one of the northern boundaries, whence they are called the northern army, and were carried away by the wind, some into the ■ Morier's Second Journey, p. 202. Mr. Bruce, in his Travels to discover the source of the Nile, was surprised by a whirlwind in a plain near that river, which lifted up a camel and threw it to a considerable distance, with such violence as to break several of its ribs; whirled himself and two of his servants off their feet, and threw them violently to the ground; and partly demolished a hut, the materials of which were dispersed all over the plain, leaving the other half standing. Mr. B. and his attendants were literally plastered with mud; if dust and sand had risen with the whirlwind in the same proportion, instead of mud, they would inevitably have been suffo cated (Travels, vol. vi. p. 346.);-a disaster which the late enterprising traveller Mr. Park with difficulty escaped, when crossing the great desert of Sahara in his way to explore the sources of the Niger. Destitute of provi sions and water, his throat pained with thirst, and his strength nearly ex hausted, he heard a wind sounding from the east, and instinctively opened his parched mouth to receive the drops of rain which he confidently expected, but it was instantly filled with sand drifted from the desert. So immense was the quantity raised into the air and wafted upon the wings of the wind, and so great the velocity with which it flew, that he was compelled to turn his face to the west to prevent suffocation, and continued motionle as till it had passed. Park's Travels, p. 178. The Rev. Mr. Hartley, an English clergyman, who visited Thyatira in Jane, 1926, thus describes the ravages of these destructive insects:-"I am perfectly astonished at their multitudes. They are, indeed, as a strong people. set in battle array: they run like mighty men; they climb the walls like men of wear. I actually saw them run to and fro in the city of Thyatira; they ran upon the wall: they climbed up upon the houses; they entered into the windows like a thief. (Joel ii. 5. 7, 9.) This is, however, by no means one of the most formidable armies of locusts which are known in these Countries." Missionary Register, July, 1827, p. 328. • Light's Travels, p. 56. Belzoni's Narrative, p. 197. Such are the Scripture accounts of this tremendous scourge, which are corroborated by every traveller who has visited the East. The quantity of these insects (to whose devastations Syria, Egypt, and Persia, together with the whole middle part of Asia, are subject) is incredible to any person who has not himself witnessed their astonishing numbers. Their numerous swarms, like a succession of clouds, sometimes extend a mile in length, and half as much in breadth, darken the horizon, and intercept the light of the sun. Should the wind blow briskly, so that the swarms are succeeded by others, they afford a lively idea of that similitude of the Psalmist (cix. 23.) of being tossed up and down as the locusts. Wherever they alight, the land is covered with them for the space of several leagues, and sometimes they form a bed six or seven inches thick. The noise which they make in browsing on the trees and herbage may be heard at a great distance, and resembles that of an army foraging in secret, or the rattling of hail-stones: and, whilst employed in devouring the produce of the land, it has been observed, that they uniformly proceed one way, as regularly as a disciplined army upon its march. The Tartars themselves are a less destructive enemy than these little animals; one would indeed, consumes not so rapidly. Wherever their myriads spread, the verdure of the country disappears as if a covering had been removed; trees and plants, stripped of their leaves and reduced to their naked boughs and stems, cause the dreary image of winter to succeed, in an instant, to the rich scenery of the spring. They have a government among them, similar to that of the bees and ants; and, when their king or leader rises, the whole body follow him, not one solitary straggler being left behind to witness the devastation. When these clouds of locusts take their flight, to surmount any obstacle, or to traverse more rapidly a desert soil, the heavens may literally be said to be obscured by them. In Persia, as soon as they appear, the gardeners and husbandmen make loud shouts, to prevent them from settling on their grounds. To this custom the prophet Jeremiah, perhaps, alludes, when he says,-Surely I will fill thee with MEN as with locusts, and THEY SHALL LIFT UP THEIR VOICE AGAINST THEE. (Jer. li. 14.) Should the inhabitants dig pits and trenches, and fill them with water, or kindle fires of stubble therein, to destroy them, rank presses on rank, fills up the trenches, and extinguishes the fires. Where these swarms are extremely numerous, they climb over every thing in their way, entering the inmost recesses of the houses, adhering to the very clothes of the inhabitants, and infesting their food." Pliny relates that, in some parts of Ethiopia, the inhabitants lived upon nothing but locusts salted, and dried in the smoke; and that the Parthians also accounted them a pleasant article of food. The modern Arabs catch great quantities of locusts, of which they prepare a dish by boiling them with salt, and mixing a little oil, butter, or fat; sometimes they toast them before a fire, or soak them in warm water, and without any other culinary process, devour almost every part except the wings.7 They are also said to be sometimes pickled in Volney's Travels in Egypt and Syria, vol. i. p. 286. Harmer's Observations, vol. iii. p. 319. Shaw's Travels, vol. i. pp. 340-343. Morier's Second Journey, p. 100. Sir Wm. Ouseley's Travels in Persia from 1810 to 1812, vol. i. pp. 195-200. (4to. London, 1819.) Mr. Dodwell has given an interesting account of the ravages of the locusts in Greece; where, however, they are smaller than those of the Levant. See his Classical and Topographical Tour, vol. i. pp. 214, 215. Pliny, Hist. Nat. lib. vi. c. 30. and lib. x. c. 28. • Baron De Tott's Memoirs, extracted in Harmer's Observations, vol. iii. employed in filling bags with locusts, to be preserved and eaten like p. 319. At Busheher [or Bushire] in Persia, Mr. Price saw "many Arab women shrimps." Journal of the British Embassy to Persia, p. 6. London, 1825. fol. |