subsisted on their herds and flocks, than of arable to those who
lived by tillage, the portions of the latter, therefore, must be
considerably reduced. On the other hand, the extraordinary fertility
of the whole country must be taken into the account. No part was
waste; very little was occupied by unprofitable wood; the more fertile
hills were cultivated in artificial terraces, others were hung with
orchards of fruit trees; the more rocky and barren districts were
covered with vineyards. Even in the present day, the wars and
misgovernment of ages have not exhausted the natural richness of the
soil. Galilee, says Malte Brun, would be a paradise were it inhabited
by an industrious people, under an enlightened government. No land
could be less dependent on foreign importation; it bore within itself
every thing that could be necessary for the subsistence and comfort
of a simple agricultural people. The climate was healthy, the seasons
regular; the former rains, which fell about October, after the
vintage, prepared the ground for the seed; the latter, which prevailed
during March and the beginning of April, made it grow rapidly.
Directly the rains ceased, the grain ripened with still greater
rapidity, and was gathered in before the end of May. The summer months
were dry and very hot, but the nights cool and refreshed by copious
dews. In September, the vintage was gathered. Grain of all kinds,
wheat, barley, millet, zea, and other sorts, grew in abundance; the
wheat commonly yielded thirty for one. Besides the vine and the
olive, the almond, the date, figs of many kinds, the orange, the
pomegranates, and many other fruit-trees, flourished in the greatest
luxuriance. Great quantity of honey was collected. The balm tree,
which produced the opobalsamum, a great object of trade, was probably
introduced from Arabia in the time of Solomon. It nourished about
Jericho and in Gilead."