DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5074#0309
MOUNT CAEMEL.
291
richly repaid by the delicious fertility all round one,
and the pretty views on all sides. There is nothing
grand here — but for quiet, tranquil beauty, "the excel-
lency of Carmel" is very charming, and among the many
changes in the sacred sites, it is pleasant to find this moun-
tain still worthy of its name,— a full orchard, a fruitful
field, is the meaning of the word. Having crossed the town
we were soon upon the mountain, winding up its steep
sides, among thick, low woods of prickly oak, laurus-
tinus, and other shrubs, with quantities of honeysuckle,
and the ground variegated with all the hues of the rain-
bow from the innumerable varieties of wild flowers
which grew everywhere. We still looked back over the
plain and the blue sea, until reaching the brow of the
mountain we lost it on this side, to find it again on
the other to the south, beyond the ranges of Judsean
hills; now came about twelve miles of undulating
ground, like park-land at home, bright, grassy, flowery
lawns, studded with oaks of various kinds, plane, tere-
binth and caroub, with thick brushwood of lovely
storax, and sometimes a wild olive-grove. Then, as we
neared the south-eastern end of this long ridge, the
plain of Esdraelon opened out before us with Tabor,
and Gilboa, and Little Hermon, and the Bashan
mountains beyond Jordan, while, behind the hills to
the north, beautiful Hermon appeared looking so close
to Tabor as to realise one of the Psalmist's expressions,
" Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Thy Name." About
an hour and a half after passing through the Druze village
of Esfiyeh, we reached the easternmost termination of
the ridge, and seated ourselves under a spreading oak to
enjoy the wide-spread view. Somewhat to our right,
on a little grassy plateau, below our position but high
above the plain, we saw the traditionary site of the
V 2
291
richly repaid by the delicious fertility all round one,
and the pretty views on all sides. There is nothing
grand here — but for quiet, tranquil beauty, "the excel-
lency of Carmel" is very charming, and among the many
changes in the sacred sites, it is pleasant to find this moun-
tain still worthy of its name,— a full orchard, a fruitful
field, is the meaning of the word. Having crossed the town
we were soon upon the mountain, winding up its steep
sides, among thick, low woods of prickly oak, laurus-
tinus, and other shrubs, with quantities of honeysuckle,
and the ground variegated with all the hues of the rain-
bow from the innumerable varieties of wild flowers
which grew everywhere. We still looked back over the
plain and the blue sea, until reaching the brow of the
mountain we lost it on this side, to find it again on
the other to the south, beyond the ranges of Judsean
hills; now came about twelve miles of undulating
ground, like park-land at home, bright, grassy, flowery
lawns, studded with oaks of various kinds, plane, tere-
binth and caroub, with thick brushwood of lovely
storax, and sometimes a wild olive-grove. Then, as we
neared the south-eastern end of this long ridge, the
plain of Esdraelon opened out before us with Tabor,
and Gilboa, and Little Hermon, and the Bashan
mountains beyond Jordan, while, behind the hills to
the north, beautiful Hermon appeared looking so close
to Tabor as to realise one of the Psalmist's expressions,
" Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Thy Name." About
an hour and a half after passing through the Druze village
of Esfiyeh, we reached the easternmost termination of
the ridge, and seated ourselves under a spreading oak to
enjoy the wide-spread view. Somewhat to our right,
on a little grassy plateau, below our position but high
above the plain, we saw the traditionary site of the
V 2