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| Title | Picturesque Palestine, Sinai, and Egypt, Vol. 2 |
| Creator (LCNAF) |
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| Publisher | D. Appleton and Company |
| Date | 1883 |
| Description | Index: Phoenicia and Lebanon / by the Rev. H. W. Jessup -- The Phoenician plain / by the Rev. Canon Tristram -- Acre, the key of Palestine, Mount Carmel and the river Kishon, Maritime cities and plains of Palestine / by Miss M. E. Rogers -- Lydda and Ramleh, Philistia / By Lt. Col. Warren -- The south country of Judaea / by the Rev. Canon Tristram -- The southern borderland and Dead Sea / by Professor Palmer -- Mount Hor and the cliffs of Edom, The convent of St. Catherine / by Miss M. E. Rogers -- Sinai / by the Rev. C. P. Clarke -- The land of Goshen, Cairo, Memphis, Thebes, Edfu and Philae / by S. Lane-Poole. |
| Subject.Geographic (TGN) |
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| Genre (AAT) |
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| Language | English |
| Type (DCMI) |
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| Original Item Location | DS107 .W73 v.2 |
| Original Item URL | http://library.uh.edu/record=b1703789~S11 |
| Digital Collection | Exotic Impressions: Views of Foreign Lands |
| Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/exotic |
| Repository | Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library, University of Houston Libraries |
| Repository URL | http://info.lib.uh.edu/about/campus-libraries-collections/william-r-jenkins-architecture-art-library |
| Use and Reproduction | No Copyright - United States |
| Identifier | exotic_201304_015 |
| Title | Page 103 |
| Format (IMT) |
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| File Name | exotic_201304_015_121.jpg |
| Transcript | ACRE, THE KEY OF PALESTINE. IQ3 in diameter, and this renders it especially interesting (see Mark xvi. 4), for tombs of this kind are now very rarely met with (refer to page 100, vol. i.). Lieutenant Conder has carefully examined it, and he says that its " three loculi are cut in the very hardest stone." Immediately to the east of Haifa there is a little valley called Wady es Sallb (the Valley of the Cross). It is famous for its profusion of fragrant herbs, such as salvias of many kinds, wild thyme, lavender, and rosemary. Wild asparagus, too, may be gathered here. When an Arab story-teller interrupts the thread of his narrative by describing details too minutely, he is rebuked for quitting the main road to wander right and left into the wad I find it rather difficult to avoid this error now, for every valley and ravine of Mount Carmel has some especial attraction for me. But I must hasten onwards. A reference to the map will show that the central ridge of Carmel extends in a south-easterly direction from the Carmelite monastery, which is five hundred and fifty-six feet above the sea, and ri gradually till, at the Druse village of Esfia, a distance of about ten miles, it attains the height of seventeen hundred and forty-two feet. Between these two points there is not a single habitation and no cultivation of any kind. Large expanses of the undulating table-land are covered with thorny burnet (Poterium spinosuni), shrubberies of myrtle, box and bay tr« thickets of arbutus and evergreen oaks, with small groups of wild olive and pine trees here and there. Clematis and bryony travel from tree to tree, and a multitude of wild (lowers spring up after the winter rains. The Styrax officinalis flourishes here, and tall hollyhocks, red and pink, may frequently be seen. Many ruined sites and ancient cisterns, mill-stones, and oil and wine presses, remain to show that the mount was formerly well peopled and carefully cultivated. It is said that as recently as the second decade of this century there were seventeen villages still in existence, and inhabited by Druses. In the troublous times which followed they were nearly all destroyed, and only two now remain on Mount Carmel, namely, the above-mentioned Esfia, and Daliet el Kurmul, two miles and a quarter south-west of it. It is somewhat remarkable that at this latter place alone the ancient name of the mountain is preserved by the native population. It was evidently called Daliet el Kurmul (Carmel) to distinguish it from the Daliet of the Ruheh district. Daliet signifies "trained vine," and el Kurmul represents ba-mn, "the vineyard of God," hence it is " the trained vine of the vineyard of God." The vine is still carefully cultivated here as well as at Esfia, and corn-fields, orchards, and olive-yards give a cheerful aspect to these isolated Druse villages. There are a j few Christians living here, on friendly terms with the Druses, but they are easily distinguished by their dress, which is like that of the people of Nazareth. The houses are built of stone, and form a pleasant contrast to the mud-built hovels of the: villages in the plains. The roof of the highest house of Esfia, which is situated on the highest point of the main ridge of Carmel, was chosen as the trigonometrical station during the recent survey, much to the satisfaction and pride of its owner. I stayed at Esfia for a short time once during a hot summer, greatly enjoying the cool fresh mountain air, and I can testify to the extreme kindliness of the people. They are greatly superior in appearance and |