THE SUB-TROPICAL ZONE. 153 



On reaching Suez, no prospect we think could be more 

 dreary ; not a single tree, nor a shrub, nor a vestige of a 

 green herb to relieve the eye from the glare of the yellow 

 sand ; so, as we have no inducement to stay here, and are 

 bent on visiting Palestine, we again resign ourselves to a 

 long desert journey to Gaza, learning patience as we go 

 from the patience of our camel. 



After so many miles of sandy desert, the sight of fertile 

 black soil as we reach the neighbourhood of Gaza is 

 really a cheering sight ; here, as everywhere else on these 

 shores of the Mediterranean, we are refreshed by the sight 

 of numbers of Date-palms ; and in the gardens, which are 

 watered by limpid streams, Pomegranates and Oranges grow 

 spontaneously. As we proceed on our journey towards the 

 ancient Hebron, our road lies through a long hollow, inter- 

 spersed with rocky elevations, with groves of Pines and 

 stunted Oaks, and a few plantations of Vines and Olives. 

 And now we take every step with reverence as we enter the 

 Holy Land. Some ten miles further on stands the village 

 of Bethlehem, on an eminence surrounded by hills and val- 

 leys, whose fertile soil produces Vines and Olives and other 

 fruits. A few miles more, and we pass on through the 

 valley of Hinnom towards Jerusalem ; not at this time how- 



