On the botany of Palestine the following works may be consulted : Sha^v, Travels in Barbary and the Le- vant, 1808; Hasselquist, Voyages and Travels in the Le- vant, 1766 ; Schubert, Reise, 1840 ; Kitto, Physical Hist, of Pal. ; Russell, Natural Hist, of Aleppo ; also papers in Transactions of Linn. Society, vol. xxii; and Natural Hist, Rev. No, v. See Botany.
2, Animals.— li!\\e zoology of the Bible, like the bot- any, is fully treated in this work under the names of the several animals. All that is needed in this place, therefore, is to group together the principal animals at present found in the diiferent parts of Palestine, refer- ring the reader for fuller particulars to the separate ar- ticles, and to the works mentioned at the close. It may be remarked that comparatively little is known as yet of the fauna of Palestine, The great majority of trav- ellers who visit the country have not time, and even if they had they do not possess the scientific knowledge necessary to minute researches in natural history,
(1.) The domestic animals of Palestine are, with one or two exceptions, those common in this country. The horse is small, hardy, and sure-footed, but not famed either for speed or strength. The best kinds are bouglit from the Bedawin of the Arabian desert. Asses are numerous; some small and poor; others large and of great strength; and others, especially the white kinds, prized for their beauty and easy motion (comp, Judg. V, 10). Mules are chiefly used as beasts of burden. As there are no roads and no wheel carriages, the mules are the carriers of the country, and are met on all the leading thoroughfares in immense files, garnished pro-
PALESTINE
574
PALESTINE
fusely with little bells and cowries. The camel is also employed for carrying heavier burdens, for performing more lengthened journeys, and for traversing the neigh- boring deserts. The best camels are bought from the wandering Arabs. The ox of Western Palestine is mostly small and poor, owing doubtless to hard work and insufficient food; but travellers have seen great droves of tine fat cattle upon the rich pastures of Jaulan. Tiiere is a very tall, lank species in the plain of Da- mascus and in parts of the Hauran. Oxen are now very rarely slaughtered for food in the interior. They are mainly kept for field-labor and for '• treading out the corn." The buffalo is found in the valley of the upper Jordan ; but few if any specimens are met with else- •wherc in Palestine. Large-tailed sheep abound, and form the principal article of animal food. Flocks of the long-eared Syrian goat cover the mountains in all parts of the land. They are the chief producers of milk and butter. The common street dog infests the towns, vil- lages, and encampments, belonging to no one, though tolerated by all as a public servant — the only sanitary officer existing in Palestine. There is another variety employed by shepherds. Cats, like dogs, are common property, and are rarely seen domesticated like our own.
(2.) The icild animals include the brown Syrian bear, found in the upper regions of Galilee and in Jabel el-lleish; the panther in the hills of Judaa and Samaria, and in the thickets of the Jordan ; jackals in immense numbers everywhere; wolves, hyenas, foxes; wild swine in the marshes of the Jordan, and in the thickets of Bashan and Gilead ; gazelles and fallow deer on the plain ; the ibex or wild goat in the wilderness of Judoea; the hare and the coney (called by natives u-ebei-) ; the sijuirrel, mole, rat, mouse, and bat. Porcupines and hedgehogs are rare ; Mr. Poole saj-s badgers abound at Hebron (Journal R. G. S. xxvi, 58).
(3.) Reptiles exist in great variety. Some parts of the country swarm with them. The most common are lizards, which may be seen basking on every rock, and bobbing their hideous heads up and down on every ruin. Serpents of various kinds are numerous; the scorpion, tarantula, and chameleon are not so abundant. Frogs in vast numbers crowd the marshes and moist districts, and till the air with their roar on the still summer even- ings; the tree-frog and toad are also found; and little tortoises crawl over dry plains, and along the banks of pond and stream. The crocodile is said to exist in the Crocodile River, now called Nahr Zerka, in the plain of Sharon. Of this Dr. Thomson writes : " You will be surprised to hear that there are now living crocodiles in the marsh, but such is the fact. These millers say they have seen them often ; and the government agent, a respectable Christian, assures me that they recently killed one eighteen spans long, and as thick as his body. I suspect that, long ages ago, some Egyptians accus- tomcil to worship this ugly creature settled here, and brought their gods with them !" {Land and Book, ii, 244). The creature seen at this place (if indeed the whole story was not a pure fiction on the part of the Arabs) was doubtless the Monitor Xiloticus.
(4.) Birds of prey are very immerous, including eagles and vultures, in the neighborhood of Lebanon ; hawks in great variety, and ravens all over the land ; and owls, which hoot and scream during the still night. Storks pay passing visits, and occasionally the white ibis is met with; the heron, gull, and lapwing are also found. The rocky hill-sides abound with partridges and quails; the cliffs in the glens with pigeons; the bushes with turtle- d»ves; and the lakes and marshes with ducks, teal, and other water-fowl. We also find the jay in some beau- tiful varieties; the kingfisher, the woodpecker, the sparrow, the swallow, the cuckoo, and many others. Domestic fowls are not numerous in Palestine. A few barn-door fowls may be seen in the villages, but ducks, geese, and turkeys are extremely rare.