Milford chronicle., 1893-03-03
'GARDENs 0F SIDON.
SCENES or RARE BEAUTY IN THE OLD
pHGNlciAN CITY.

An Ancient city Noted For It's Many
Groves and Gardens-Ph@nicIa as She
Appears Today-The Dress Of Its People.
Their Garments ana Their Arms.
The dewdrops glittered in the light Of
the just rising sun, and the air was heavy
with sweet odors Of hundreds Of orange
and lemon trees with white blossoms
The scene was a picture Of marvellous
fertility. Orange thickets, yellow and
white with their double burden of fruit
and flowers; lemon, apricot and fig trees,
interspersed with the more tropical palm
and date, all growing in the greatest
luxuriancc. At times we saw she queer
shaftlike leaves Of the banana, often 10
feet in length. An occasional mulberry
orchard explained the presence Of an en-
terprising silk mandatory near by.
Every few yards little brooks babbled
along, the absolute essential Of this lux
uriance.
It is not strange that this paradise Of
flowers and fruit is much frequented by
the Inhabitants Of the crowded, dirty
-AWAa AN4 lAA ANA AAAt AALUlAM AllEo6
fair gardens and fail to perceive why the
worship Of the old Sidonians was so
closely connected with the grove, and
how from natures rich profusion about
them they learned to worship the idea Of
fertility, which was the essence Of their
religion. The ancient Sidon, too, was
not crowded down close by the sea, but
was situated farther back in the plain,
and thus was enriched by a ring Of en-
erald.
On the outskirts Of the gardens we |
caTne to the catacombs of old Sidon, /
which have been excavated by the |
French. In the soft limestone rock ex-
tend long series Of connected chambers
which have contributed a few rude
statues, several sarcophaG and num-
mics to the very few mementos which
we have Of that enterprising people
who secured their alphabet in Egypt
and carried it to Greece, and thus trans
Initted, with certain changes, the letters
with which we communicate our 18th
century ideas. More Of the aesthetic art
Of Ph0nicia is to be seen today in
Athens than in all Palestine. There in
NAAN
inlaid daggers, tho beautiful ornaments !
and the facsimiles Of the beaten gold
cups which were also manufactured by
these artisans Of oriental antiquity to
grace the temple Of Solomon at Jerusa-
lem. Every ruin Of that ancient world, '
in Phonicia or not, when laid {
bare bears ample testimony to the skill {
and enterprise Of this Semitic nation of q
traders.
Leaving these old tombs and the 2
thoughts that they inspired, we were I
soon studying Phmnicia as she appears s
today. On our left extended tho Leba- /
non range, while in the distance rose 0
Mount Herinon, clad in snow, glistening r
ike Pentehcus marble in the midday il
iun. On the right was the blue sea, in 0
% which we ere long took a plunge. Be 7
ore us the narrow bride path extended, v
low through fertile although only half n
,ultivated fields, now over a rocky prom. a
iptory, which often jutted into the sea, I
were rare and generally II
luddled together for protection against "
he Arab incursiOns.
On the highways we often met these
modern ,EepIgssastati and probable de-
eenda4ts Of the ancient Midianites .
= iglaU eCalar fellows, with the dark h
was teees sI4 an9.sH5,' 9esH, 4 I.a card 8. - -
ssed on Il. ~ apaqriss' - that hi