Here and there we find villages built on hills, and the whole presents the appearance of an extremely fertile and well-populated region.

In all directions we saw large herds of sheep and goats; the latter generally of a black or brown colour, with long pendent ears.
The foreground of the picture is formed by the Judaean mountains, a range apparently composed of a number of barren rocks.
A ride of two hours through this plain, which is less sandy than the immediate neighbourhood of Joppa, brought us to a mosque, where we made halt for a quarter of an hour and ate our breakfast, consisting of some hard-boiled eggs, a piece of bread, and a draught of lukewarm water from the cistern.

Our poor beasts fared even worse than ourselves--they received nothing but water.
On leaving this place to resume our journey across the plain, we not only suffered dreadfully from the heat, which had reached 30 degrees Reaumur, but were further persecuted by a species of minute gnats, which hovered round us in large swarms, crept into our noses and ears, and annoyed us in such a manner that it required the utmost of our patience and determination to prevent us from turning back at once.

Fortunately we only met with these tormentors in those parts where the corn had been cut and was still in the fields.

They are not much larger than a pin's head, and look more like flies than gnats.