^68 Phyfical Ohfervations &c. 



of Judah and Benjamin, we fhall find that the Lot, (even of 

 thefe Tribes which are fuppofed to have had the moft barren 

 Part of the Country,) fell to them m a fair Ground, and that 

 Their's was a goodly Heritage. 

 The Moun- The ttiountainous Parts therefore of the Holy Land were fo 

 'miuT far from being inhofpitable, unfruitful, or the Refufe of the 

 ra/lp,' Land of Canaan, that, in the Divifion of this Country, the 

 Mountain of Hebron, was granted to Caleb as a particular 

 Favour. (Jofh. i^. i%.) We read likewife, that, in the Time 

 oi yifa, the Hill- Country of Judah {rChron. 14. 8.) mufter. 

 ed Jive hundred and eighty thoufand Men of F'alour ; an Ar- 

 gument, beyond Difpute, that the Land was able to maintain 

 Them, befides double the Number, that may be fuppofed, of 

 old Men, Women and Children. Even at prefent, notwith- 

 ftanding the Want there has been for many Ages of a proper 

 Culture and Improvement, yet the Plains and Valleys, though as 

 fruitful as ever, lye almoft intirely negle6led, whilft every 

 little Hill is crowded with Inhabitants. If this Part therefore 

 of the Hoi)' Land was made up only of naked Rocks and 

 Precipices, how comes it to pafs> that it lliould be more frequent- 

 ed, than the Plains of Efdraelon, Ramah, Zahulon, or ^cre, 

 which, to borrow an Expreflion from Mr Maundrell, is a 

 Country very delightful and fertil beyond Imagination ? For 

 it cannot be urged, that the Inhabitants live with more Safety 

 in this Situation, than in the Plain Country ; inafmuch, as there 

 being no Walls or Fortifications to fecure either their Villages 

 or Encampments; there being likewife few cr no Places of 

 difficult Accefs ; both the one and the other lye equally expofed 

 tothelnfults and Outrages of an Enemy. But the Reafon is 

 this, that they find fufRcient Conveniences for themfelves, and 

 much greater for their Cattle. For here they themfelves have 

 Bread to the full, whilft their Cattle brooze upon a richer 

 Herbage, and both of them are refrelhed by Springs of excel- 

 lent Water, too much wanted, in the Summer Seafon, not only 

 in the Plains of This , but of Other Countries in the fame 

 Climate. 

 ThePiants of J travelled in Syria and Thoenice in December and January^ 

 ^"''' ' and therefore had not a proper Seafon for Botanical Ohferva- 

 tions. However the whole Country looked verdant and chearful : 

 and the Woods particularly, which abound chiefly with the 



Gall- 



