The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1856-07-31

iuf0 0YeratIOO one OF tHU-S SIcStt pOAthCoA 1CTOiulAO1s
which sweep an Industrious nation from the surface
of the earth, or replace it by a barbarous one, the
soil will cease TO Weld its haryests Of corn, the rice
fields will dry. not, to be replaced by the ancient
forest, but to make room for the stepPe' the desert.
Let US follow up this reflection more Ii ueldi
setting aside the rexei question of the cradle OF mankind,
leaving it unsettled, whether Paradise vas IN the table land Of
Armenia, in the lovely vale OF hasnmfefs OF hsAI I - r - n.uus o.
the two mighty rivers Of Central Asia-there can De no quesaon,
that the first migrations Of men took place tgg Tmls "a potion
land, between and around the Euphrates ai tsih ahI along
the shores OF the Caspian Sea There we see at the earliest dawn
Of history. mighty empires flourish, not blooming into existence,
but having already passed over that maturity OF natural dsVel-
opmens. where the rough virtue, OF the founders, ae softenat
~ sciences snring into existence We actually find them in the
last stare of degeneracy, where refinement dissoiyes itself into
XoIrntn7usness. and the efeminacy Of manner indicates the in
peni!ng dissolution of the body polite. A succession OF four
great empires, one taking the place oil 'he oeneT, PASS before
0,r a=tonisbed ewes, before even authenticated history o@glns-
and xpt the wondrols monuments, extracted by modern search
= 14 fryn the fr4on If the earth. lift from them the veil of myth,
~ III, h4ni = - = ~ ~ its s1noort. To this centre, points the tradi
ton Of the yedas, the Holy Writ OF the Jews - an as
toncal evidence of the Caucasian tribes, as their origin.
Fem there The man Of Ur came with his focks.to settle by the
Lords command in Canaan from there EMERGED the peIasd
If their choice. and later the GOths, Huns, Mougols and last the
Turks, TO crush the decaying mpii 60 % ~ 81 10 exterrninaso
il. With them travelled their inseparable composers. the eere
a. me tLlaes u hI ~ = 5ic r. ho,enists now search for the origoaI
hon. orae . tb1se useful plants. disseminated though they see over
The whole expanse of the globe, while all historical records traee
oI - .n ~ IN IT, grspe Which already tempted Noah's weaI-
ness; the fg, date and olive, intimately associated with patrar-
paraded in Lucunus' triumphal entry in Rome! the lemon.
grange, mulberry and many other oil the precious gIits ola
bountiful Providence, which delight the senses OF mortals, Al
testimony comedies that these countries were amongst the mast
favored Of Natures creation, swelling under exuberaut prolific
ness. From the remotest times OF aniiGa.ty man let attracted
towards these regions, and generation followed upon generation,
populOus cities were destroyed. to be superseded oy others mors
splendid. As late a : the TINS o A "a t ne - oLl4s
cr's historian tells u Of the country between the llgrls aud Ea-
phatez, that {" its soil Is 50 rich and fecund, that they say, the
cattle must be driven off from time TO ime, lest they per1shfon
surfeit.' Compare with this the reports ofrecent travellers; Tao
the i csln:ry IS rr.en and blooming on both sides Of the HTsr 7
have 70 limit it by the addition. that the fertility eXten1S only T.
few miles inland, but beyond all is sandy desert. Most sn- /
entire " want mt Of FIR trees 81 ; Har9 the iaat dive days : [ have rss, not seen on. |
any in their lives. There were tracts Of twenty or thirty miles,
where there was not 8 much $ a shrub, though there is no
did not cross one or two rivers, large or SMALL" These remarks
A few degrees farther east the forty marble columns, time out
lasting monuments Of she royal city OF Persepois, loom as mel
desert. Not more than one tenth of the whole area Of Persia,
is at present available for cultivation the rest consists Of sand
more the land Canaan. which flowed with milk and honey ;
( the physiognomy Of n~eighboring Arabia seems to have extended
over its eastern half The waters of Merom make room for rice
fields during three fOurths of the year, aud the jordan, the
leaves a dry bed in summer between Merom and Chnnereth,
and near the Dead Sea-, at the terminus Of its course,
thinneI; the site of Jericho. the city of Palms, is now
occupied bx the movable tent of the wandering Bedouin.
Palms and ruins are missing. Mount Carmel alone with its
thickly wooded slopes and densely covered valleys. in which
myriads Of limpid brooks rTl through a luxuriant verdure. seem,
to redeem the old renown of the Promised Land, while the plain
of Sharon and the hiHy country of SamaHa Only clothe them
is not Moslem Incidence alone, that has to account for these
I changes. To finish the picture with the poeClcal words Of the
Ilustrious sehleiien: = M Pythagoras in Egypt need now for
bid his disciples the use of the lotus bean for the sod has lost
which cheered the guests of Cleopatra and was found ~orthy the
praise Of Horace, it has ceased to grow: The assassin viii no
longer find concealnent in the sacrefpine forest Of POseidon, 70
lay in wait for the bard, that hurries To the OIymPian games.
The PIMA has long ago fel from the approaching climate Of the
desert to the heights of the arabian peaks. Where are now the
pastures, where the fields around the sacred mansion of Daria-
mas, which along the foot Of moisture dripping Mount liza, fed
three thousand mares. Who would now speak of a Xar5hus
impeHing its waves? who would realize a horsefeedng Argos:"'
One. simple observation is significant. The clover which
requires a moist climate for its cultivation, has gradually receded
from Greece t. Italy, and from there to Southern Germany Shsre
drought OF summer. Perhaps another singular fact mary find
number Of Indigenous species of plants thxp Europe.
Let US ok at the other side of She f1fdre. Eighteen hun
hard names from Tacitas, Terra in anioersam aat silris
horrida, aat p~al4didns fada, frngiferarn"a Gr6oram inPa;
No fruit trees he tells Is could grow there. The great rivers
Rhine and Danube were every winter covered with so solid 5
crust of ice, that the barbarians would make their predatory in
cavalry, wagons and material. The elk and reindeer, now con-
the vast extent of the Iiencynian forest. An descriptions OF
those times would convey the impression, as if it had been a
Germany with which the Romans at that time had become best
f p sa1a5e'sd' were the regions along the borders Of the Rhine and
Now place yourself in imagination ON a sunny Nav day upon
the hill of schloss Johannisberg, and let your eyes pass slowly in
a circle around you. Is that the same country described by the
Roman! Is this the sun that shcne on his nations legions? A
eheckered cloth of vineyard, cornheld and Orchard, seems to be
I h5ndsa@ ose Tj,l t ! u gonrisHigs paaln' 9, only ~ to b, be i in ERR IPeshb ~
filed with exotic plants. Take a jaunt over the Bergstrasse,
4 hHpuS III lpOI Ol Ine OuenNalu, Ir some sixty English miles you
walk through a forest, not of soRbre oak and pine. but of fruit
trees of every description, the scent of whose blossoms peryades
the air with fragrance and fills the heart with delight. In sum
mer shiploads of cherries, float down the river, and during the
vintage In the fall OF the year, the whole population abandons its
habitual occupations to Gull grapes and press them in watts,
amidst a never ending frenzy of mirth and gaiety. This is the
country where neither cherry nor grape would ripen in Tacitls'
time GOOD wine IS now made in Germany as far north as fifty
one degrees.-As late as the time of strabo, it was thought that
ie grape would not ripen north of the Cevennes. At the pres
ent DAY the finest peaches are raised at Montreuil near Paris,
and france is considered the greatest wine producing country OF
the world.
L have tried to delneate in a few general sketches the two
phases OF the revolution, which civiiisation-for this l take to be
equivalent with agricuiture-prOduce on the surface of the
stoDe. In the hrst an almost uninhabitahe country. the peren
NAL mlsts of which hardly allowed the suns rays 10 touch the
ground, has been converted into a lovely garden in the second
the happlest regions of the earth have been Transformed intos un-
burnt deserts. we ask for the immediate cause of these chan
Ses, we are besides a few accessory agencies, led to the dsaP-
pearance OF the original perennial vegetation and more esPecIaIhy
Inc trees: wherever the hardy pioneer fixes his fireplace, ~
nrst work Is to lay the AK on the noble king of the forest h 10
chooses woodland in preference. unless rich alluyial bottom lsnu
be at hand, because the organic decay, which has gone oil Nf
centuries under its shadowy roof, has enriched "a sMl WITH hE
mus, has menowed the stiff clay or rendered more compact mo
light sand What then is the effect OF forests upon SOIL, upon
climate and vegetation?