On the Soily Productions^ ^c. of Palestine. 211 



land of Judah might not enable it to support as large a population 

 as it did in the days of Herod or of David. 



A few hours south of Jerusalem there is an evident improvement 

 in the soil, and the traveller begins to realize that he is in a good 

 land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, that spring out 

 of the valleys and hills. The " mountains of Ephraim" are at this day 

 the best cultivated partof Palestine, a peculiarity to which their security 

 from the Bedouins contributes, perhaps, more than the natural ad- 

 vantages of the soil. Still the land is fertile. Wherever wheat was 

 sown, in the valleys or on the loftiest terraces, it looked well, especi- 

 ally when the utter want of skilful tillage, and the inattention to 

 manuring, which universally prevail, are taken into the account. The 

 vines, and the fig, olive, pomegranate, and other fruit trees, had uni- 

 versally a thrifty and even luxuriant appearance. They seemed to 

 thrive best in the most unpromising places ; and wherever a break in 

 the rock would allow of the planting of an olive or fig tree, it appeared 

 to attain its utmost size and perfection. I was often reminded of the 

 doubtful Scripture phrase, "oil out of the flinty rock." I ought to 

 say that there is no waste land in this country. Wherever there is 

 soil, it is productive. The slight exceptions to this remark exist on 

 the edge of the desert, and on the sea-shore. I mean to say, there 

 is no untillable swamp or marsh-land — no tracts too wet, or cold, or 

 poor, to promise fair returns to the husbandmen. I need not add to 

 what has already been said of the fertility of the great plain of Es- 

 draelon, which, under various names, and with some intervening 

 mountain ridges, stretches from the Sea of Galilee to the neighbour- 

 hood of Acre and the Mediterranean. Almost every part of Palestine 

 seems very capable of producing bread for its inhabitants, but this is 

 by eminence the corn country of the Holy Land, and, under proper 

 tillage, would supply bread stuff for millions. Palestine, we know, 

 exported corn in the time of Solomon, when at the height of its 

 population, and also in the age of Herod, when, too, it was fully 

 peopled. 



I put this question to nearly every traveller whom I met within 

 or from the Holy Land, What is your opinion of the natural fertility 

 of this country, and of its capability to feed a large population ? and in 

 every instance the reply was strongly in corroboration of the senti- 

 ments I have here advanced. 



Any practical attempt to restore Palestine to its former prosperity 

 must be based on the revival of agriculture. There is now really no 

 basis for any extension of commerce, and a colony of tradesmen, such, 

 for instance, as the return of the Jews would give the country, would 

 only increase its poverty and wretchedness. The Duke of Ragusa 

 advised Mahommed Ali to make Palestine and Syria an immense 

 sheep-walk, and this should probably be the first object of a colony 

 here. Every part of the country is adapted to this business, and wool 

 to a vast amount might be raised for exportation, with little expense 



