Show PALESTINE AND SYRIA A country which is destined before many years to attract the attention of the whole civilized world through the events that will take place here as the closing scenes of our present era and the commencement men cement of that long predicted millennial millennia reign of the son of dod is well worth knowing something about in some former letters I 1 I 1 have endeavored to take the readers of this journal along with me on a flying trip through palestine by means of which I 1 hope they have obtained such impressions of the country and the people as are likely to imprint themselves on the mind of a tourist who takes his observations as he hurries through the various places in this I 1 would like to give a more general view a perspective spec tive as it were of the whole I 1 gather my information from the most reliable sources I 1 have at hand THE COUNTRY A glance at the map shows that syria is a mountainous country lebanon and anti lebanon in the north carmel the mountains of galilee with tabor as the highest to top p t the e mountains of ephraim G Gilb 11 oah ah E ebal bal garizio Gari zim the mountains tai of judda with mount olivet are all more or less known from the sacred history three plains in palestine are also well known the plain of sharon in the west wesa by the coast the plain of jezreel in the north and the plain of jordan in the east this last plain has one of the most peculiar formations on the surface of the tae earth at its upper end we find the lake where the first sources of the jordan flow together and are gathered from there the river hastens onward resti resting n OW awhile in the lake Tib erias ap 2 meters lower than the sea and then it rapidly finds its way through a rich verdant country down to the lower end of the plain or valley where it expires in the bosom of the dead sea metres below the surface of the sea the very country of palestine its ite mountains and plains its lakes and rivers all viewed together are truly wonderful CLIMATE the great variations in the physical formations of syria cause a great many differences the v various a x IOU 1 s parts arts of the country small t though 0 ug h ft it is have not at all the same climate at the same season of the year by traveling from the lower parts of the valley of jordan and to the highest top of lebanon one can in a short time enjoy all sorts of temperature from the tropical one to that of the northern parts of norway and because of the fact that the mountain ranges go chiefly north and south the rain is rather unevenly distributed the clouds strike against the mountains and empty themselves on the west side leaving the hot dry currents of air for the east side of the mountains this Is a phenomenon of no little importance on the coast the southwest is the predominating wind it blows generally days in the year next comes the west wind neither of these bring rain as a rule the southeast and the east wind bring the hot and depressing arrowo which often lasts five dayland day sand generally finishes with a south southwest wind and heavy showers of rain in beirith Bei ruth inches of rain fall yearly towards the south the rain supply is less in jerusalem comes only 23 inches and on the border of the sinai desert no rain at all is had in the northern parts of syria the rain is both more abundant and more regular that is by the coast in anti lebanon the rain is scarce the real rainy season the early rain bain commences at the end of be september tem it is quite heavy in 0 october then the people who have lived on the summer resorts again find their way home to town and the farmers look to their fields for now the soil is soft enough to be plowed and sowed bowed december and to the middle of march is the real rainy sea son may the rainfall comes only as an exception but is much coveted by the farmers and gardeners from may to september there is generally not lot a cloud to be seen the sky is as copper 31 the temperature is not so chainge changeable as it sometimes has been said to be the greatest difference is shown during the rainy season particularly in march in 1877 during a acir rocco the thermometer once rose to 32 deg celcius and then fell to 6 deg c during the last 12 years the highest temperature observed was 38 deg c and the lowest deg c but these are exceptional cases the middle temperature of the summer is 29 deg c that of the winter 12 deg c this is on the coast in the inland it is otherwise the highest observed temperature in jerusalem is 33 deg c and in the jordan valley 43 deg c tn in the shade A difference of 25 d deg in one day is sometimes 0 observed the morning beir being cool and the middle of the day depressingly hot the fact that the country has been deprived of its forests is no doubt the ground of these phenomena but notwithstanding all the climate is healthy having a beneficial influence on the human constitution and when once the country again becomes settled and cultivated properly it will be a para paradise dise in many respects THE E FLORA among the numerous nun berous specimens of the productions of the motherly soil we notice palm trees fig trees olive trees oaks A species of cactus forms thick impenetrable hedges and grows to an astonishing height in the jordan valley grow also acacia and papyrus cultivated are wheat barley sor sorghum hum rye corn beans and peas cotton n and sugar cane and also flax are cultivated in several places besides these potatoes cucumbers onions melons and numerous other kinds of vegetables almonds lemons plums nuts and other fruits adorn the gardens while the johannes bread grows wild vines grow everywhere and yield a wonderfully abundant crop THE among the tame animals sheep are the most important mutton is an essential dish on the table of the syrians and the sheep milk is highly estimated the goats are kept more for the sai sake of the milk than for the flesh the oxen are kept in order to pull the plows but their flesh is not desired blows tn n fact many ot of the oxen I 1 have seen did not seem to have any flesh at all they were merely skin and bones unable to move except on the of the sharp goad of the inhuman drivers pigs are only kept by christians the association of ideas is not exactly beautiful but correct the horses and donkeys mules and camels perform the work elsewhere done by railways slowly but truly cats dogs chickens pigeons and bees are well utilized also tame animals the animals give not only meat milk clothes and means of transportation but also fuel the dried excrements being extensively used for that purpose wild animals are bears wolves bitenas hy by senas tenas jackals jackala jac kals foxes boars baars gaz elles hares and others this is a country where the sons of nimrod need not lack work the mediterranean and the lake of biberias Tib erias abound in fish snakes and scorpions are very numerous as are also various kinds of birds I 1 will say nothing of the thousands of little lively animals which are found in every arabian house bouse and carried round by every native as his nearest bosom friends MINERALS nowhere is mining carried on to any extent worth mentioning I 1 ng I 1 have not heard of any place e where the precious or common metals are being found but perhaps nobody has searched tb the mountains for them in lebanon are found sandstone and marble brown coal amber and bitumen also in other places coal is found taken all in all palestine has yet all the resources which it anciently had id and which made it a country flowing 0 ng with milk and honey with the blessing of god it sustained during the time of david and solomon about fl five ve millions of people ile compare II 11 samuel 24 9 or between f and to every square mlle mile a proportion such as is now found foun in yorkshire england the present syria is about four times the size of the kingdom of david and has only two even these are supported with difficulty culty the reflections are easily made THE inhabitants anciently syria was inhabited by jews phoenicians Phoenicia ns and Arams eans all of semitic origin it has a always ways been the scene of mighty commotions now in the hands of one nation now of another thus a mixture of races has been the result and the origin of the present population is in many instances not traceable the mao roman man and the Byzant lc le conquerors have not been able to imprint their markson marks on this population to any extent compared to what the arabs have done since their invasion A D they have given the population their language theli their customs and in a majority of cases their religion the crusaders although swarming here for yead eab have left no other marks hawty kaffl than some old ruins the greatest part of the inhabitants of syria are therefore now called alad arab sons of arabs that is arabian speaking syrians their dialect is different from that of the central arabia and from that of egypt but arabian scholars assert that the difference between the various dialects of the arabians is not so great as the difference between the dialects spoken for instance in various parts of england a rather remarkable fact when you consider the great reat distances of the country the tad bad communications and the non education of the people the northern parts of syria are inhabited by a turkish arabic amble speaking population or by turkish speaking armenians Armen ians and kurds burds in palestine a number of strangers re reside side who keep themselves strictly separate from the arabs particularly noteworthy are the jews who have emigrated from poland galic la roumania Bou mania and other parts of eastern europe u rope and who speak the ugly dialect known as jews dutch a dialect which is sometimes dignified with the name hebrew although that is a bad libel on the beautiful language of moses and david these jews are numerous in jerusalem biberias Tib erias and hafed estimated at sonie some souls germans mostly inose from schwaben have settlements in jerusalem jaffa baand and haifa and amount to some 1200 souls in all the bedouins Bedou ins have also preserved their race from intermixture with strangers and are easily recognized by their dark complexion and characteristic features their number is estimated at souls mixed as is the population su so are the religions besides the madans with their various sects and nuances of belief we find greek orthodox syrian jacobites american orthodox greek catholic or united greek syrian catholic or united syrian armenian catholic or united marosites Maro roman Cat catholic casholle holle protestants of different sects jews and samaritans samaritana Samar itans this is a long edifying list illustrative of the doctrine of of the unity of the church the one body under one head it is a wonder indeed that the christians have been able to mutilate the church and to strew her limbs about in so many directions direct ins ms and it is a still greater wonder that they are not ashamed of themselves when looking at their work the turks must be lauded for their tolerance although they do not like and I 1 do not blame them under the circumstances if I 1 am allowed to borrow friend zanes words yet they let ie everybody alone in their worship true there is no constitution guaranteeing an sacredly everyld everybody ody liberty of worshipping wor shipping god according to the dictates of his conscience but this right exists do de facco and that A ia after all the the chief point habitations the houses are mostly built of stone with narrow openings or holes for windows the form is simply that of a box A roof is here a si simple m ile thing A few pieces of timber paid laid one way a lot of rubbish the other way and the whole covered with earth the poorer people have only one for themselves them selve s and their animals the better off have a lower floor for their animals and an upper floor with one or more rooms for their own dwelling the houses of the wealthy portion are built on the same principle but with this difference they have a whole complex of boxes put together generally arranged round a yard tard and the fronts are ornamented ornament edwith with overbuilt over built balconies the furniture is always very simple s the floors of cement are covered with carpets and mattresses the bedclothes are stowed away during the daytime and at evening spread on the floor in the cities the wealthy people add such luxuries and ornaments as their fancy suggests THE DRESS inthe in the cities particularly among the Christi Christia abs hs the euro european peau customs slowly begin to a appear ppe arbut but the oriental wide clothes with t their heir manifold and gay colors are preva lent the most prominent martof part of the apparel of the gentlemen seems to be their trousers if the reader will please to imagine a big sack with two holes at the bottom from which a couple of feet and ankles protrude he be has a correct idea of that necessary piece of apparel the upper part of the body ls is covered with a waistcoat and a short jacket sometimes nicely embroidered 1 or with a waistcoat with sleeves round bound the waist a long shawl or plaid is slung as a girdle this is often of silk the head is covered with the red jez jes or garbusch thel the arabs also wind a cloth round tills this jez lez old men and ministers like lia 0 black head ornament the so called cruses and learned men wear snowwhite turbans and the descendants 0 01 JL mohammed wear as a peculiar mark of honor green ones the common foot covering is the fu european but also a kind of wooden shoe of which very peculiar peculia 1 shapes are seen it ah however be added that a v set of clothes is worn only by Y the wealthy ones it appears ehst tha any of these articles can be disposer of without inconvenience excel the head covering that to ia ewal essen ila wan arab however naked hm has iiams ways his head well wrapped up we 6 ladies also wear trousers tied under the knee or round the ankles awarding to creed creech mohammedan or christian u and over these a long coat at of some thin stuff when at otome they wind around their head kind of handkerchief which like a diadem adorns their fore heads fads common is a white embroidered broidered broi broi dered vest the farha which f wa very graciously from the head wv the shoulders and back V very ery f bently N quent ly is also a kind of overcoat liki fw a large sheet which is tied round the waist drawn over the ilma ba and unwrapping wrapping en the whole body auy completely regardless of form or figure the face is also generally tene rally jeered by the ladies in t the tt e cities their their sisters in the country are bare ced among the cruses the ladies ear a black veil which covers the hole face except one eye the toot ot covering is often very luxurious etere biere as elsewhere the ladies are rond of ornaments bracelets of kaaa or of metal rings on fingers on toes and in the ears axe are coveted often the ladies wear a hole collection of silver coins strung ung on a string over the hair As aeh nuch as 20 or more are thus laid like ake a diadem over the head very often en the hands and the face are wooed coed with all sorts of blue streaks alid crosses and stars the lips lip are bartimes Bae times blue and the nails red alad tt go on nothing can be more egly than this but I 1 suppose the lies here are of a different and it is best not net to judge too verely merely perhaps the ladies of europe rope and america have too a ou or two that might be dropped advantageously from I 1 rom an seit kestne hevery point or of view J M S HAIFA april 11 1889 |