The opinions just stated in regard to the fertility of ancient Palestine
receive an ample confirmation from the Roman historians, to whom, as a
part of their extensive empire, it was intimately known. Tacitus,
especially, in language which he appears to have formed for his own use,
describes its natural qualities with the utmost precision, and, as is his
manner, suggests rather than specifies a catalogue of productions, the
accuracy of which is verified by the latest observations. The soil is
rich, and the atmosphere dry; the country yields all the fruits which are
known in Italy, besides balm and dates.[6]

But it has never been denied that there is a remarkable difference between
the two sides of the ridge which forms the central chain of Judea. On the
western acclivity, the soil rises from the sea towards the elevated ground
in four distinct terraces, which are covered with an unfading verdure. The
shore is lined with mastic-trees; palms, and prickly pears. Higher up, the
vines, the olives, and the sycamores amply repay the labour of the
cultivator; natural groves arise, consisting of evergreen oaks, cypresses,
andrachnes, and turpentines. The face of the earth is embellished with the
rosemary, the cytisus, and the hyacinth. In a word, the vegetation of
these mountains has been compared to that of Crete. European visitors have
dined under the shade of a lemon-tree as large as one of our strongest
oaks, and have seen sycamores, the foliage of which was sufficient to
cover thirty persons along with their horses and camels.

On the eastern side, however, the scanty coating of mould yields a less
magnificent crop. From the summit of the hills a desert stretches along to
the Lake Asphaltites, presenting nothing but stones and ashes, and a few
thorny shrubs. The sides of the mountains enlarge, and assume an aspect
at once more grand and more barren. By little and little the scanty
vegetation languishes and dies; even mosses disappear, and a red burning