THE SIGNIFICANCE OP THE GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE. 175 



" All the Syrian religions reflect the Syrian climate. Israel 

 alone interprets it for moral ends, because Israel alone has a 

 God Who is absolute righteousness. Here again is another 

 instance of those many points at which the geography of Pales- 

 tine exhausts the influence of the material and the seen, and 

 indicates the presence on the land of the unseen and the 

 spiritual." {H.G.H.J., p. 76.) 



The Desert of the Wanderings. 



Generally in January and February there is plenty of rain 

 ■over the Tih — so much so that water for drinking, both for 

 man and beast, can be found every few miles in the plain, and all 

 •over the hills. During November, December and March there 

 are often dense mists, moist fogs, and heavy dews, which 

 saturate the shrubs with moisture, and even deposit moisture 

 amongst the rocks, so that flocks do not require to go to water. 

 These mists depend upon the wind, and often alternate with 

 intense droughts. The rainfall may roughly be estimated at 

 12 inches per annum. Sheep do not thrive during the hot 

 weather, but goats seem to enjoy it. There are no cattle. The 

 Bedouin congregate together during the summer near the 

 springs of water and palm-groves. In the spring they have 

 grass and water everywhere, and are free to go where they like. 

 In winter they are in great straits, for they have to go where 

 they can find herbage, and yet have to drive their flocks to 

 water, sometimes a distance of twenty miles or more. This 

 they do about twice a week, sending their camels for water for 

 the camp when they have quite run out of it. It is quite a 

 mistake to suppose that the Bedouin do not grow corn. Each 

 tribe has its cultivated land (as well as its palm groves), and 

 they grow as much corn as they require for their sustenance. 



The Peninsula of Sinai. 



The rainfall in the peninsula is at the present time consider- 

 ably less than in the desert of the Tih, and the drought is 

 excessive. It is ascribed to the gradual decrease of the trees — 

 since the Egyptian government imposed a tax of charcoal on 

 the Bedouin. There are the remains, in the valleys, of culti- 

 vated lands abandoned for years on account of the drought. In 

 these places there still exist the corn magazines and watch 

 houses. Every Bedouin family has its garden of palm-trees — the 

 date stones are boiled down for the goats. 



