The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1869-03-07

CLIMATE or PAIEsrrHE. The seasonsof
the Holy Land are properly two--the rainy
and the dry. The rainy season commences
In the latter part Of October or early in
November; and the frat autumn showers
appear TO DO what is meant In the Bible BY
Tie q first or q foxrner rain. q In au-
SuEnn,n DE-. Robinson observes, !" the whole
land becomes dry and parched, the eisterns
are nearly empty, the few streams and
fountains fail, and all natare, physical and
return Of tho rainy sees0n. Mists snd
clouds Begin TO make their appearanee5 and
showers occasionally 90 falfy the husband
man COWS his seed, and the thiraty earth is
soon direnched with an abundance Of fain.r
The showers come up from the west or
southwest. Thus our Lord says, When
ye see cloud arise out of the west, straight
way We say, there cometh shower; and
so it is.s Thus, also, after the three years.
drought in the time of King Ahab, the
messenger of Elijah, posted ON Mount Car
mel, and looking out over the Meditefra-
mean, at length "saw al little cloud rise out
of the sea like mans hand !" this grew
and spread towardsthe land, and soon " the
heaven was black with clouds and wind,
and there was a great rafn.n 6yf
A few fine days follow these IL fly
rains" and afford the farmer an opporH atty
to sow his wheat and barley in the nA,est-
ened earth. Then the rainy season sets in
.WlLft IfeQueAb SLlOWcEe, Oittn hcsSNy bu0
accompanied by thunder and lightning.
One of these thunder storms David describes
in Psalm xix, where no shows us the
storm gathering upon the sen, bursting on
the COAST, rocking Mount Lebanon, and
sweeping across the land, while in the
temple the awe-struck people adore the
mighty God of Israel.
During January and February the mean
of Jerusalem is AZ deg. min.
Snow sometimes falls, but does not rest
long on the ground. The cold is not severe,
and the frosts only touch tue surface of
still waters, without penetrating the
earth. From November to March there
and fertilize the soil, and bring forth the
grain-which, as the spring sun returns,
grows rapidly. The rains, however, now
become less frequent, and after March there
are only few highly priced showers the
I" latter rain of Scripture, ~Deut. vi, IA,
serving to swell and ripeu, the growing
crops, which the hot sun soon after brings
to maturity. DIR. Robinson records a
thunder storm in May, with heavy rains !;
but considers It Q very unusual phenomenon
Ia q III and May the harley ana srsuusrr
ripen and are harvested and afterwards in
apricots, almonds, figs, grapes,
dates, olives etc. Meanwhile not drop
of rain falls from the sky. Day after day
it's clear blue remains unbroken by n pass
ing cloud. Kahn IL harvest time would be
D memorable phenomenon, or even re-
interposition of Providence, as
In the days of Samuel. Sam. xii. 16--ls.
Only I" the dews of heaven from above"
falling plentifnlly during the night, miti-
gates the parching heat. Towards the
close of this season, /" the total absence of
rain destroys the verdure of the fields, and
gives to the whole landscape the aspect of
barrenness and drought The only green
thing which remains is the foliage of the
fruit trees, and occasionally vine
yards and fields of millet.r
Yet the heat is not excessive, on the high
liable lands at least; the average temper
lture in July being II deg. min. The
climate, therefore, Is justly regarded as in
and healthy. An occasional hot
wind, however, from the southern or east
,rn desert, parches every thing with It's
sitting heat. On the sea coast, also, and in
.he sunken valley of the Jordan, the heat
prejudicial to strangers.