Palestine Papers II. THE Agricultural Possibilities of Palestine Compiled from "Palestine," the Organ of the British Palestine Committee Price 5 Cents NEW YORK FEDERATION OF AMERICAN ZIONISTS 1918 \ PALESTINE AKK4 < o o a TU8fiATWrii/l 'bATK-AM.M.£JN The Agricultural Possibilities of Palestine The Greater Hauran and Kerak In considering the possibilities of Palestine \vc are inclined to focus our attention upon that part of the country with which the main events of Jewish history and the establishment of the Jewish colonies in modern times has familiarized us, Judaea, Samaria and Galilee. The imminence of our undertaking work in Palestine on a large scale, however, has made it imperative that we regard the country rather from an economic and statesmanlike than a traditional and sentimental viewpoint, and in doing so we are reminded that the land lying east of Jordan, extending from Mount Hermon to the Eiver Arnon, is destined to play an important role in the future de- velopment of Palestine. This Transjordanian territory* is included within the Turkish administrative provinces (Mutessarifliks) of Greater Hauran and Kerak. The former is bounded on the south by the River Jabbo, and extends northward as far as the district of Damascus. On the west the Ghor (the Jordan Valley) separates it from Western Palestine, and on the east it gradually merges into the desert plateau. It thus comprises in the north the Jolan (Gau- lanitis), the Plateau of Hauran, the lava hills of El Leja, and in the south the Land of Gilead. Greater Hauran is roughly divided into two halves by the Hedjaz railway, which, running from north to south, approximately forms the eastern frontier of the habitable and cultivable districts of this province. East of the railway are barren and rocky hills, either of basaltic or volcanic formation, and east of these lies the great Syrian Desert. The Hauran and Gilead from an immense table land, intersected in the center by the Yarmuk and its tributaries, whose banks are steep and rocky gorges which rise to the plateau above. Its length is from fifty to fifty-five miles, and its breadth at its greatest point is twenty- five to thirty miles. The plateaii is of basaltic formation, but owing to ancient volcanic action the whole surface has been covered with lava, in many places to a great depth. As in other volcanic coun- * Population of the Mutessarifliks of Hauran and Kerak in 1915, from The Economic Possibilities of Syria, by Arthur Euppin. Kerak Hauran Gaza Population Caza Population Kerak Salt .. Maan Tafileh 19,551 Hauran 37,235 Ajlun . 5,730 Basrel Harir 7,750 Sueda Azruah .... Masmieh . . . 27,691 61,500 26,448 34,260 39,382 13,825 Total 70,288 Total 183,106 5 tries the lava has become disintegi-ated, and has formed a reddish- brown loam of great fertility. It is capable of growing wonderful cropSj and its yield, both as regards quality and quantity, has no equal in the whole of Syria and Palestine. The geogTaphical situation of the Hauran makes it a political and economic necessity to the power which holds Western Palestine. Forming as it does a natural bastion to Galilee and the Esdraelon Valley, its possession protects one of the main arteries of communi- cation in Palestine from attacks from the north. It was the sub- jugation or benevolent neutrality of the inhabitants of the Hauran which enabled the Babylonian and Assyrian hordes to conquer Israel and then Judaea. Through the Hauran ran the main caravan routes from Damascus and the north, which, traversing the En Nukra, crossed the Jordan at Jisr el Mujamiyeh, and thence traveled to Beth- Shan (Scythopolis) from which town roads radiated to Samaria, to the Esdraelon Valley, and to the Maritime Plain and Philistia. The Hauran thus assumed the position of the natural outpost of North- eastern Palestine. Judaea and Samaria have always been more easily invaded from the east. The Israelites had been repeatedly driven back whilst attempting the invasion of Palestine from the south. It was only after they had passed through the plateau of Moab which stands as an eastern bastion to the Judaean plateau that they were able to cross the Jordan and capture Jericho. In a like manner the invaders of Palestine from the north had first to traverse the great plateau of Hauran before they could enter the rich and fruit- ful Galilee and the fertile Vale of Esdraelon. In the Hauran was formed one of the most famous confedera- tions of ancient history' — the League of the Decapolis. It was a league of cities originally ten in number, hence the name of the league, but later increased to eighteen. The original cities were Damascus, Raphana (Kenoth) in the north; Hippos and Gadara, near the shores of the Sea of Galilee; Pella and Dion in Ajlun; Scytho- polis (Beth-Shan, Beisan), the only member of the league west of Jordan, and Gerasa and Philadelphia (Pabboth-Ammon) in the south. The object of the league was to present a solid front against the Arab bands, which, inhabiting the western fringe of the Syrian desert, marauded and damaged the fertile plain of the Hauran and the fruitful luxuriance of Gilead. It is interesting to trace the rise of these free civic communi- ties in Palestine, which were essentially a product of Greek civiliza- tion, and a foreign body on the Jewish State. In the wake of Alex- ander the Great's conquests, there flowed not only a stream of immi- grants, but also an ever-growing flood of Greek thought and culture, which came into deadly conflict with Jewish tradition and idealism. The names of Pella and Dion are Macedonian and betray the origin of the early settlers. The whole basis of Greek political civiliza- tion was urban; and the system of Alexander was to hold the coun- try by a number of city communities which became centers of culture and administration. Thus there grew up in Palestine and Syria a number of so-called free cities which, in accordance with Greek practice, enjoyed almost complete autonomy. The Greeks in Alex- 6 ander's time were at the height of their military prestige, and, with- out interfering unduly in the life of the people among whom they settled, their cities were strong enough to bring them within their sphere of political influence. Preeminent representatives of this type of city civil state were the three important Mediterranean ports, Sidon, Tyre and Askalon. As illustrating the influence which the two northern ports wielded, the area which they administered amounted to approximately seven to eight hundred square miles, and included Beirut in the north. Acre in the south, and the whole of the rich and fertile coastal plain. The rights and privileges of the free cities at this period were many, and included amongst others the minting of coinage, the imposing and collecting of taxes, the right of maintaining armies, the right of asylum and of property, and the privilege of making alliances with other free cities, and similar forms of independent authoiity. The story of the quarrel between Hellenism and Judaea is a long one. Normally tolerant in religious matters, the Greeks could not understand a theocracy like that of Judaea, and in an evil moment they began a ferocious persecution of the Jewish religion. There was a strong Hellenizing party amongst the Jews, who did not any more than other eastern nations escape the fascination of Greek civiliza- tion, and to the hatred of the foreigner was added the bitterness of civil strife. In addition the Puritanism of the Jews (if the anach- ronism will be allowed) was grossly affronted by the moral license of the Greeks. Under the circumstances it was inevitable that the persecution that the Greeks had begun should be retorted on the Greeks, when the military genius of Judas Maccabaeus put it into the power of the Jews. The time of the Maccabees was a time of great tribulation for these free cities; Jaffa and Scythopolis, in particular, suffered terribly. When Pompey conquered Palestine for Rome, one of the cardinal principles of his policy was to revive this Greek civilization. The rights of the old free cities were, however, much restricted, and most of them were put imder the authority of the Roman legate of Syria. They retained the right of coinage, of asylum, and of property, but Rome now levied tribute on them, and their inhabitants were liable to military service in the ranks of the Roman legions. Even the once powerful Sidon and Tyre had dwindled, and Beirut, Acre, and the Hinterland now formed part of the Roman Province of Syria. The cities of the Hauran were simi- larly dealt with, and it is worth noting that Pompey, on his way south from Damascus to the conquest of Palestine, went by way of the Hauran and Gilead (Ajlun), taking over these old Greek settle- ments on the way. Unlike Pompej^, Julius Caesar was pro-Jewish, and his policy of favoring the Jews rather than the Greeks or their Arab neighbors was dominant for nearly two generations in the Roman foreign office. Herod, who was given Gadara and Hippos, appointed a Jewish Governor, and, in the words of the historian, "declared freedom from taxes and the land became full of people." Under his rule the Hauran was transformed from a "home of robber bands into a well-governed and peaceful province."' His descendants 7 had nominal sovereignty east of Jordan right do^vTi to Trajan's time, but the real masters were the Nabatean Arabs. A glance at the map will show that the cities of the Decapolis were dispersed fanwise across the main roads of Eastern Palestine, which radiated from Scythopolis, an important junction of roads from Damascus to Samaria, Judaea, and the Mediterranean. Its situation was of primary importance to the Decapolis, for it commanded the line of communication to the sea and to the Greek cities of the coast. Radiating from Scythopolis were three roads which crossed Eastern Palestine; on the northern road lay Hippos; on the central Gadara, Abilah and Edrei, and on the southern Pella, Dion and Gerasa, and Philadelphia. Eaphana and Kanata were the northern outposts of the Decapolis ; a second Kanata, and Bosrah the outposts of the desert. The great period, if not in the history of the league, at any rate in that of the cities that composed it, came under Trajan. He abol- ished the rule of the two client states of Agrippa and the Nabatean kings and substituted the direct rule of Eome. In this country everything depends on the keeping of the peace by a strong military force, and though the league of the Decapolis had done much, Rome naturally was able to do much more. Bosrah became a legionary camp, and a chain of forts, laid out at uniform distances of three leagues apart in the heart of the desert, secured the trade routes and gave the Hauran a period of prosperity such as it had never enjoyed before. With the exception of Damascus and Scythopolis all the Greek settlements that belonged to the Decapolis wei-e now in the newly-formed Roman province of Arabia. "Building obtained an impetus which was not again arrested. Everywhere rose houses, palaces, baths, temples, theatres, aqueducts and triumphal arches; towns sprang from the ground within a few years, with the regular construction and the symmetrically disposed colonnade which marked towns without a past, and which are, as it were, the inevitable uni- form for this part of Syria during the imperial period." (Melchior de Vogue). According to Mommsen there were nearly three hundred towns and villages on the eastern and southern slope of the Hauran, and this splendid civilization endured until the decline of the mili- tary power of the Roman empire again let in the invaders from the desert. Unlike other provinces of the empire, the Hauran did not be- come completely Roman in character. The inhabitants always re- mained Semitic, though they imitated Roman manners and spoke the Greek tongue. In the realms of art the treeless state of the Hauran did not permit the Roman style of architecture to be used. The large basaltic rocks and columns were employed in the erecting of houses and public buildings, and resulted in a new form of archi- tectural design which was not Roman. De Vogue speaks of the Hauran architecture as "the first essays toward the Byzantine style of architecture." Because the Hauran retained a great deal of its independent Semitic character, there was a continuous stream of immigrants from the surrounding Arab tribes. The history of the Hauran during the decline and fall of the Roman empire is a record of the increasing encroachments of the 8 robber bands ou the fertile plain and the luxurious cities of this province. Once the strong hand of Eome had been withdrawn from the protection of the Hauran it became an easy prey. Towns and villages were abandoned by their enervated inhabitants. No serious attempt was made by the Crusaders to conquer the Hauran and turn it once again into a rich and fruitful province. And with the con- quest of Palestine by the Turks all hope of a prosperous and well- developed Hauran disappeared. The Jolan The Jolan (Gaulanitis) is that portion of the administrative province of Greater Hauran which is bounded on the west by the eastern shore of Lake Huleh (fSea of Merom) and in the north by the foothills of Mont Hermon, which comprise numerous extinct vol- canoes. Its southern frontier is the Eiver Yarmuk (Shariat el Menandireh) and Ajlun, and on the east it is separated from the Hauran Plateau by the Eiver Nahr el Allan. Geographically it forms part of the central range of Western Palestine, from which it was separated by the upheaval and consequent subsidence of what is now the Jordan depression. The Jolan thus forms a plateau which has an average height of 3,950 feet above sea level, and about 3,633 feet above the level of Lake Tiberias. It is not, however, the whole of this region which can lay claim to the celebrated fertility and prodixctivity of the Hauran; for in the north and west central portions it is covered by rocks and stones, which prevent it from being cultivated. That is a wild and waste country, covered with huge volcanic rocks and masses of lava. Unlike the rest of the Jolan, and except for a small space near the watershed in the northeastern Jolan, it cannot be said to hold much promise of agricultural development. On the other hand it forms wonderful pasturage. Mr. G. Schumacher, who surveyed the Jolan on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund, writes of this region: "Wherever between the hard solid basaltic rocks there is a spot of earth, or an opened rift visible, the most luxurious grass springs up both in winter and in springtime, and affords the richest green fodder for the cattle of the Bedawin; for this part of the Jolan possesses a great source of wealth in its perennial springs, so that the heat of summer never scorches all the vegetation, and round the springs there is always a fringe of green." The lack of tillage possibilities is thus somewhat compensated by this valuable pasture land. The cattle-breeding industry of Palestine has suffered in the past, espe- cially in the Jewish colonies, for the want of good green fodder, but there is no reason why this industry should not be successfully de- veloped, and flourish in Northern Jolan. Mention has been made of a small fertile area in northeastern Jolan. This small region, surrounded by extinct volcanoes, is cov- ered by rich red volcanic soil, for which the Hauran is famed. Here wheat and corn flourish, as well as barley, lentils, and peas. Eefer- ence must also be made to the swamps and marshes of Lake Huleh, which form an excellent soil for a first-class quality of rice. Tobacco, also, is cultivated in the north of the Jolan, near Za'ora. 9 In direct contrast to the stonj' northern Jolan is the southern Jolan, which is practically stoneless, and which is covered by a won- derfully fertile rich red soil. The crops consist of wheat, barley, Turkish maize (dura), and sesame, although almost all kinds of cereals can be grown on this soil. In still further contrast to the northern section of the Jolan the southern region possesses very little pasture land. Here there are practically no springs, which abound in the north. All that is required to transform what is now waste land into fields of wheat and barley is an industrial and intelligent popula- tion. There would be no difficulty with modern methods of agriculture and their scientific application, in developing a prosperous and valu- able settled industry. And in this connection it is interesting to note that the difl:erenees between the northern and southern Jolan have resulted in two distinct forms of communal life. In the north, a coun- try of shepherds, the inhabitants live in tents, and are nomadic ; in the south village colonies have been formed, and a more settled form of life exists. It is true that only the areas around the villages are culti- vated, but the land is sufficiently fertile to guarantee the necessities of life, even though cultivated in the most primitive manner. As elsewhere in the Hauran, north of the Yarmuk, the country is almost treeless, except here and there, where are found single, or small groups of terebinths — a thorn bush — or a few oak trees ; of course fruit trees are practically unknown. This treeless state would seem all the more remarkable when it is pointed out that the climate and soil of the Jolan are favorable to arboriculture. The reason for this lack of trees is the improvident and tlioughtless extravagance of the Arab inhabitants in cutting down all the trees for fuel in the winter. No attempt is made at substitution or re-afEorestation, and thus centuries of tree felling have resulted in denuding the country of all its timber. All kinds of trees indigenous to the rest of Palestine can be grown in the Jolan. The Turkish officials have been successful in planting fruit trees, such as fig trees, sycamore, and even vines, in their own private grounds. The climate of the Jolan is excellent. The winds from the Medi- terranean blow across the low hills of Galilee, and temper the heat of the plateau. The differences of night and day temperature vary, but the nights are very cold, and a heavy dew falls. Snow and ice are a common occurrence in the winter, especially in the north. It is a healthy climate, except in the marshes of Lake Huleh, which have become malaria breeding swamps. Drainage of these swamps would do much to mitigate the danger of malaria. The Jolan is intersected by its chief river, the Nahr er Rukkad, which, rising in the foothills of Hermon, runs from north to south and joins the Yarmuk near Arkub er Bahwah. The Nahr er Eukkad is a swiftly flowing stream, and in its course forms numerous water- falls, which turn many mills even today. The N"ahr el Allan, a river of like importance, also has its source in the foothills of Her- mon, and running southward separates the Jolan from the Hauran Plateaii, thus forming the eastern limit of the Jolan. It also joins the Yarmuk near Kom el Kussub. Between these two rivers lies the most fertile soil of the Jolan. The problem of irrigating this region 10 is simplified by the flooding of tliese two rivers during the spring, when the snows of the hills begin to melt. The building of dams, and diverting the superfluous waters into reservoirs and cisterns, would maintain a continual supply of water during the whole year. Power for pumping the water into the irrigation canals and thence to the fields and farms is at hand. The Hauean East of the Jolan lies the rich and fertile Hauran Plateau, — Hauran proper — which gives its name to the whole province. In the north it rises from the foothills of Mount Hermon by terraces, three to four miles wide, and finally reaches a height of over two thousand five hundred feet above the sea level. Towards the south this plateau descends and becomes a rolling stretch of prairie land; towards the southwest, in the direction of the Yarmuk, it falls to a heiglit of eleven to twelve hundred feet, whilst towards the Decapolis and Jebel Ajhm it falls to a level of fourteen to fifteen hundred feet. This relatively lower prairie land is called by the Arabs En Nukra or "The Hoi- low," and it contains a rich and productive soil. In the northea.st of Hauran is situated the remarkable cliain of lava hills, the El Leja (the ancient Trachon). In the southeast, separating Hauran from the desert, lies the volcanic Jebel ed Druz, sometimes called the Jebel Hauran, whose peaks rise to a height of over six thousand feet. Thus Hauran proper comprises two distinct regions, each of which has played its part in the history of this famous province; in the west the fertile plateau and prairie plain, and in the east the hills of the El Leja and the mountains of Jebel ed Druz. These two regions are divided from each other by the Hedjaz Kailway, which intersects Hauran from north to south, almost dividing it into two equal halves. To the west of the railway lie the famous wheat lands, and to the east rise the lava hills and mountains, with their wild ravines and gorges. Hauran proper is then bounded on the north by the southern ex- tremity of the Damascus territory, approximately the Nahr el A'vai (the Pharpar). On the west the plateaii is a continuation of the Jolan, and further south the limit is the Nahr el Allan. The Jebel ed Druz lies astride the eastern frontier, separating Hauran from the great Syrian Desert; while the Jebel Ajlun and the Decapolis form the southern boundary. Hauran thus comprises a territory 45 miles long, with a breadth of 35 miles. Geologically Hauran difllers greatly from the rest of Pales- tine. Its geological formation is mainly basaltic, and most of the hills are of volcanic origin. The sombre mountains of the Jebel ed Druz are purely volcanic. "The network of lines chosen by cartog- raphers to represent the El LeJa as a symbol of a lava field well rep- resents the confused mixture of fertile patches of wheat, and rough, naked masses of dark volcanic rock, over which last both man and beast must walk warily for fear of broken legs." The country in the northwestern section of the Hauran is covered with volcanic mounds and is stony. Like northern Jolan it provides excellent pasturage. But towards the south and east this stony surface disappears and gives place to a stoneless, magnificent, reddish-brown soil, the fertility 11 and productivity of which have made the Hauran famous. Here all kinds of cereals can he cultivated— wheat, barley, oats, sesame— and the yield is more than one hundredfold. Even today, though the Hauran Plateau and the En Nukra are sparsely populated, and though only the area around the villages is cultivated, the average annual yield of cereals prior to the war amounted to approximately 330,000 tons. Sir George Adam Smith writes of En Nukra : "It is a land of harvests, and if you traverse it in summer, fills you with the wonder of its wealth." The river system of Hauran is mainly composed of the tributaries and confluents of the Yarmuk, the sources of which are largely found m the Jebel ed Druz. During the summer months the upper reaches of these streams dry up, but the rains and the melting snows during the wet season and early spring flood the river beds and form swiftlv flowing rivers. In the north of the Hauran Plateau there rises the Wadi el Ehreir, which, beginning as the Wadi el Harram, takes a southerly course. After crossing the Hadj Koad at Dilly it assumes the name of El Ehreir. At its junction with the Wadi el Ghariyeh it turns southwest and finally joins the swiftly flowing streams the Wadi Tell esh Shihab and the Wadi esh Shellaleh, the junction of the three rivers forming the Yarmuk. The Wadi Tell 'esh Shihab rises in the hills of the Jebel ed Druz and the esh Shellaleh in Ajlun. The three streams and their branches practically drain the whole of the Hauran. The physical configurations of the Hauran and the character of its rivers make the problem of irrigation easy of solution. The main watershed forms the eastern frontier of this region, and the rivers flow westward into the plateau and plain which contain the cultivable lands. During the wet season the rivers become swollen torrents, often overflowing their banks, and forming steep cascades and waterfalls— those of the Wadi Tell esh Shihab being some of the most beautiful in Syria and Palestine. The climate of the Hauran is temperate. The winds of the Mediterranean deposit their rain-bearing clouds on the slopes of the plateau of the En Nukra. In the north snow is a common occur- rence, and often lies on the ground for two or three weeks. As the winds rise and reach the higher altitudes of the Jebel ed Druz they deposit their rain, and the dry river-beds become swift torrents. The high altitude of the Hauran makes it comparatively cool in summer, and on the western plateau of El Belka the nights are cold. The climate of the Hauran Plateau thus corresponds to that of Central Europe. GiLEAD South of the Eiver Yarmuk lies the Land of Gilead, part of which, as far as the Eiver Jabbok (Wadi ez Zerka) is included in the Turkish administrative province of the Hauran. The Land of Gilead forms part of the Eastern Eange, which, beginning in the north- eastern corner of Palestine as the Anti-Lebanon, successively forms the Jolan and Hauran plateaus, the hills of the Ajlun, the Jebel Gilead, the Moab Plateau, and finally merges into the Arabian Desert. In the center of this range, sandwiched in between the Pla- 12 teaus of Haiiran and Moab, lies the region which in ancient times was known as the Land of Gilead. Gilead, therefore, comprises the territory which is bounded on the north hy the Yarmuk and on the south by the Wadi Heshban, which approximately separates the Moab Plateau from the ridges to the north of it. Prom the western frontier the valley of the Ghor (Jordan depi-ession) rises by steep terraces to the Jebel Ajlun, and the Jebel Gilead, which on the east merge into the Syrian Desert and the foothills of the Jebel ed Druz. About twenty-five miles north of the Wadi Heshban is found the Eiver Jabbok. This river, flowing into the Jordan, intersects Gilead and divides it roughly into two parts ; the northern section containing the Ajlun region, and the southern the Jebel Gilead and the plateau to the southeast, which in former times was known as Ammon. Gilead is thus, roughly, fifty-five miles long, with a breadth of from twenty to twenty-five miles. Many writers in describing the country east of Jordan extend the limits of the Land of Gilead as far south as the Eiver Arnon. As will, however, be seen from an examination of the map of Eastern Palestine, the district south of the Wadi Heshban is properly included in the Plateau of Moab, and geographically does not belong to the hill country of Gilead. The treeless tableland of Moab is in great contrast to the wooded ranges of the Jebel Gilead, and of AJlun, intersected by valleys and covered with orchards and fields of corn. Indeed, it is the woods and forests of Gilead which have so much influenced its history and development, and which make it today one of the most desirable provinces in Syria and Palestine. A well-known traveler and writer says: "Jebel Ajlun presents the most charming rural scenery that I have seen in Syria. A continued forest of noble trees, chiefly the evergreen oak, covers a large part of it, while the ground beneath is clothed with luxuriant grass, and decked with a rich variety of wild flowers." Again, Canon Tristram in his "Topography of the Holy Land" writes: "No one can fairly judge of Israel's inheritance who has not seen the luxuriant exuberance of Gilead." A description of the scenery of Gilead would be very familiar to Europeans, for it closely resembles the fertile region of Western Europe. It is made up of streams, springs, and woods. The herbage of its pastures is luxuriant, and the cattle are often knee deep in grass. As in Northern Jolan, this country possesses vast possibilities for a prosperous cattle-breeding industry. Even now the Arab tribes for miles around bring their flocks to feed on the rich pastures. The hills of Gilead rise to an average height of three to four thousand feet above the sea level, and the eastern summits of the Jebel Ajlun, in Northern Gilead, are the highest in Transjordania. They rise a little over four thousand feet above sea level, and about six thousand four hundred feet above the Dead Sea. On the western side they rise by steep slopes and terraces, intersected with tracts of fertile land. In the north the chain of peaks forms a broad ridge of uneven tableland. The Jebel Ajlun, like almost the whole of Gilead, is intersected by numerous deep valleys and gorges. These valleys are covered with fields of corn, wheat and barley, relieved by tracts of rich pasture land. They stand in great contrast and form a 13 happy picture with the well-wooded slopes of the hills. The two main valleys of the Ajlun running down to the Jordan are the Wadi Yabis and "the Wadi Ajlun. The Wadi Yabis crosses the Jebel Ajlun in a southwesterly direction, immediately to the north of Jabesh- Gilead. The Wadi Ajlun opens out to the west of Suf (the supposed site of the Biblical Mizpeh), and also takes a southwesterly direction down to the Jordan. There is no region in Palestine except the Hau- ran which possesses more favorable conditions for the b\xilding up of a thriving rural life than the Ajlun. With its fertile soil, its rich pastures, and its orchards, and its almost temperate European climate, Ajlun offers attractive conditions for an intensive colonization. Con- der, in the report of his survey of Palestine, observes that the ravines and hill slopes of the beautiful Sorrento scenery near Naples, both in fauna and flora, very nearly approach the natuj-al history of Gilead. The hill system is roughly divided by the valley of the Jabbok into two. To the north lies the Jebel Ajlun, to the south the Jebel Gilead and El Belka, the foothills of which merge into the Moab Plateau. These ridges and hills are covered with forests of trees, very closely set, and often containing oak trees reaching to a height of fifty to sixty feet. Whereas the Hauran and Jolan were denuded of their w^ood by the senseless felling of trees and cutting of timber, Gilead, thanks to the sparseness of its population, has escaped the axe of the Arab. Not only oaks but the wild almond tree, the mock orange tree, caroub trees, and terebinths grow here in abundance; ancient olive trees are found near the villages and ruins. There