^64 Phyfical Ohfer'ontions &c. 



During the Summer Seafon, thefe Countries are rarely refreflied 

 with Rain", but enjoy the like Serenity of Air, that hath 

 been taken Notice of in Barhary. 



'rilnf'''"'^ In the Beginning oi^pril, the Barley, all over the Hofy Lmtd, 

 was in full Ear, and, about the Middle, began to turn yellow 

 in the fouthern Diftridls. For it was as forward near Jericho^ 

 in the latter End idi March, as I found it to be, in the Plains of 

 Acre, a Fortnight after. But the Wheat was very little of it in 

 Ear, at one or other of thofe Places : and, in the Fields nQMBeth- 

 lehem and Jerufalem, the Stalk was little more than a Foot high. 



"ΐΐ w^S^^'^^ Boccores likewife, or firft Ripe Figs, were hard and no big- 



7fe^//,« April, ger i-jj^^j;, Qur common Plums ; though they have then a Method 

 of making them palatable, by fteeping them in Oyl. According 

 therefore to the Quality of the Seafon, {An. 1711.) when I 

 travelled in the Holy Land, I very much doubt, whether the 

 Firft-Fruits could have been oifered at the Time appointed, 

 without intercalating' the ["nt<i] F'e-adar, and poftponing 

 thereby the PalTover, for at leaft the Space of a Month. 



The Sod a»d The Soil both of the maritime and inlaiad Parts of Syria and 

 Thoenice, is of a light loamy Nature , rarely requiring more 

 than one Pair of Oxen to plow it. Befides all Sorts of excellent 

 Grain and fuch vegetable Diet as hath been defcribed in the Fruit 

 and Kitchen Gardens oi Barhary, the chief Produce is Silk and 

 Cotton. The Inhabitants fend the Eggs of the Silk- Worm, as 

 foon as they are ilied, to Cannohine, or fome other Place upon 

 Mount Libamis, where they are kept cool, without Danger of 

 being hatched, 'till the Mulberry Buds are ready for them in the 

 Spring. The fame Caution is ufed at Limefole and other Places 

 in the Ifland of C/prm, by preferving them upon what they 

 call {Jihlel Krim) The Great Mountain. The whole Oeconomy 

 and Management of the Silk Worm is at prefent fo well known 

 in England, that nothing need be faid upon that Subjed. 



I This known Quality of the Summer Seafon is appealed to \ Sm)u 12. 17. Is tt mt 

 Wheat Harveft to Day ? / will call unto the Lord, and hefiallfend Thunder and Rain : which 

 inuft have been looked upon as an extraordinary Phxnomcnon at that Time of the Year. 

 2 njU^n ΠΝ f'"l3j;0 PJD'D n^Siy Sy• &c. i. e. Propter tres cafus intcrcalabant in anno; 

 propter Epocham anniSolaris ; propter fruges maturas & propter frudus ar'oorum. Si Judiccs 

 animadvcrtilTent nondum maturas eife fruges, icd adhuc lerotinas eflc, ncque frudus arbo- 

 rum, quibus mos eft tempore pafchali florcrc ; illis duobus argumentis nitebantur & intcr- 

 calabant in anno. Ac quanquam Epocha anni antevertcbat fextam dccimam menfis Nifan, 

 tamen intcrcalabant, ut rrumentusn maturum ciTet, ex quo offerretur manipulus inxviNilan, 

 & ut fruftus florercnt more omnium. ** Judices computo inito fciebant fi Tebupba Nifan 

 effet in fextadecima Nifan aut poftj & intcrcalabant in eo anno, mutato Nifan in Adar ge- 

 minum, nimirum ut Pefach incideret in tempus frugum maturarum &c. Maimonid. apud 

 y. Scalig. de Emendat. Temp. 1. 2. p. 104. 



Though 



