MY HOME IX PALESTINE. 123 



four or five loading with barley, wheat, the maize of 

 the country, sesame, carob- beans, and other native 

 products, among which may be mentioned olive-oil, 

 nuts, cheese, colocynth, and, sad to relate, charcoal 

 There is an express prohibition against the exporta- 

 tion of this article, as it is made at the expense of 

 the remaining woods which still cover Carmel and 

 some of the neighbouring hills. It is painful to see 

 this denudation going on when the urgent need of 

 the country is more wood, and when it is so necessary 

 to prevent its further desiccation ; but the most strin- 

 gent enactments of the Government are always to be 

 overcome by backsheesh, and the exportation of char- 

 coal takes place openly under the eyes of the authori- 

 ties. There can be no doubt, now that it has once 

 fairly made a start, that Haifa is destined to become 

 the most important port in Palestine. With the vast 

 and fertile plain of Esdraelon as a back country, across 

 which a railroad could be constructed without difficulty 

 to the great grain-producing district of the Hauran, 

 and a sufficient outlay of capital on its harbour, it 

 would be the natural outlet for the chief products of 

 the country. 



Its commercial development may be left, however, 

 to the laws which govern trade ; it has been rather 

 to the tourist or invalid that I have sought to recom- 

 mend it, than to the capitalist. It is impossible to 

 conceive a more agreeable climate during the winter 

 months than it offers. From October to January the 



