The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-12-24
The Two Palestines

Dean Stanley once said tfiat III
orher land than Palestine could inc
bible have been written in way -
~eacb the understanding of all men,
.vba imagery from which the ScrlptuIai
lessons are taught is drawn from 'ii0
annals of simple, everyday FOLK WHO
lived in region and amid climates
end conditions which have their couh-
4aroarts all over the earth's surface.
had tfe inspired authors dwelt In IN
dia their work would have caught an
unfamiliar local hue. So, likewise, II
+bev had lived on the banks Of the
Nile sacred history filed with the
,nvstic symbolism of Egypt and record
ing a mode of life which existed no
where else could not have been maze
intelligible to mankind at large Every
opa NAV readily draw a lesson from
the parable of the sower, but learheo
commentary is needed to interpret the
life that went OH where Memnon sang
and Isis and Osiris held their mytho-
all humankind responds to IN the
early history of the Judean race
whether the record was made among
the cedars and SHOWS of Lebanon, on
the Bethlehem sheep pastures, among
the blistered sands of the Euphrates
desert, or in the warm and fruitful
valley of the Jordan.
But after all does Palestine stand
alone among the countries of the world
as the place where a cosmopolitan
Scripture could have been written?
Is it not true that all which gives the
Holy Land its climatic range and phys
ica1 popularity belongs with equal
right to California? Are not the flora
and fauna of this State, the natural
and acquired products, quality of the
soil, configuration of the land, seasonal
changes, even native customs, pursuits
and architecture. Identical with those
of Palestine? OF all widely separated
countries in the world do not Califor-
MIA and the Holy Land most closely
resemble one another?
SIMILAR TOPOGRAPHY.
A survey or map of Palestine re-
veals this State in miniature. Both
lands are crossed by the same parallels
of north latitude. The country of the
Bible covers $50 geogra phical miles, but
that portion which is of the most vital
interest to the Christian world is a
smaller strip of land running north and
south along the shore of the sea. This
territory is about $50 miles in length
and from fifty to sixty miles wide. Its
coast land rises gently to the foothills
of parallel ridge of mountains, the
latter showing signs of volcanic origin.
The seward slopes of the range are
dotted with live oaks and the country
below is famous for its wheat and cit
rus fruits. The average height of the
mountains is about 5000 feet, with here
and there a greater elevation, not I'M
like Tamalpais or Mount Diablo. The
region between the range and the sea
is traversed by ravines which between
May and November are often dry and
choked with sand, but which carry tur-
bid foods during the rainy season. On
the east side of the Seaboard noun
tains the limestone and granite cliffs
look down upon the verdant hundred
mile parallel known as the Jordan val
ley, a region which corresponds in near
~ ali Things out size 10 the San JOd-
quin valley and has the geographical
counterpart of TuIare Lake in it's Dead
Sea
When spring comes this valley shows
long stretches of varied color The
pale pink of the phloX mingleS with
the brilliant yellow of the poppy, the
deep red of the anemone the white OF
garlic, the purple of saliva and the
hues of lavendar marigold and of the
earlier narcisSus. Here and there are
low hills. covered in some places with
chaparral, and along the streams are
gardens and olive orchards. In autumn