The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1922-10-05

prepared by the National Geographic
Society. Washington. D. c.
Palestine, home Of Christianity, tn,
British mandate for which has JUS
bees formally approved by the council
OF the League OF Nations, has prob
ably never been better described thar
by she late YisCOunt Bryce, former
British ambassador to the United
States. In a communication 10 the
National Geographic society, he wrote
OF the Holy Land as follows:
Palestine is tiny little country.
Though the travellers handbooks pre-
pare him TO find II small, II surprises
him by being smaller than he expected.
Taking IL as the region between the
Mediterranean on the west and the
Jordan and Dead sea on the east, from
the spurs Of Lebanon and Hermon on
the north to the desert at BecrSheba
on the south, II IS only 10 miles long
and from 80 to co brOad-that is TO
say, 1t Is smaller than New Jersey.
whose area is 1900 square miles.
OF this region large parts did not
really belong to ancient Israel. Their
hold on the southern and northern
districts was but slight, while in the
southwest a wide, rich plain along the
Mediterranean was occupied by the
warlike Philistines. who were some
times more than match for the He
brew armies. Israel had, In fact. little
more than the hill country. which lay
between the Jordan on the east and
the maritime plain on the west King
David in the days Of his power, looked
down from the hill cities of BENJAMIN.
Just north of Jerusalem, upon Phil
istine enemies only % miles off. on the
one side, and looked across the Jordan
to MOabite enemies about as far off
on the other.
Nearly all the events in the history
Of Israel that are recorded in the Old
Testament happened within a terri |
tory no bigger than the state of Con-
necticut, whose area is 1900 square |
miles; and into hardly any other coun-
try has there been crowded from the
days of Abraham till our own SO much
y,
that have been recorded and deserve
to be recorded In the annals Of man.
kind.
Its Smallness Is Visible.
Nor Is II only that Palestine Is
really a small country. The traveller
constantly feels as he moves about
that 1t Is a small country. From the
heights a few miles north Of Jeru-
salem he sees, looking nOrthward q
far-off summit carrying snow for eight
months In the year. 1t Is Hermon.
nearly 10000 feet high - Hermon.
Whose fountains feed the rivers Of
Damascus. But HermOn is outside the
territory of Israel altogether, standing
In the land of the Syrians: so. too.
1t is Of Lebanon. We are apt to think
of that mountain mass as within the
country, because Is also Is frequently
mentioned in the Psalms and the
Prophets, but the two ranges of Leb-
anon also rise beyond the frontiers
OF Israel. lying between the Syrians
OF Damascus and the Phoenicians OF
the West.
Palestine Is country poor in any
natural resources. There are practicai.
~ no minerals. no coal. no iron, no
copper, no silver though recently
some oil has been discovered in
the Jordan valley. Neither are
IRE any large forests, and though
and may have been better wooded
he days Of Joshua than II Is now
ere Is little reason to think that
the woods were of trees sufficiently ,
large to constitute source of wealth ,
A comparatively small area is fit for ,
tillage. .
To an Arab tribe that had wandered
through a barren wilderness for 40 s
weary years, Canaan may well have
seemed a delightful possession; but :
many county In Iowa. many a de- +
partment In France. could raise more
vain or wine than all the Holy Land |
There is one stretch of fertile. level
and 20 miles long and from 3 to 9 |
niles wide-the Plain Of Esdraelon. '
'ut with this exception II Is only in I
he bottoms and on the lower stones S
Z few valleys, chiefly In the terri a
Dry Of Ephraim from Bethel north n
'ard and along the shores Of the Bay v
Acre. that one sees cornfields and S
live yards and orchards. Little wine a
now grown. D
Such wealth as the country has II
insists In Its pastures. and the ex. cl
'ession "a land flowing with milk fl