From the rocky heights a fertile land was visible.

Green meadows watered by shining streams adorned the valleys, and groups of pines, fig trees, olive trees, and cedars, the slopes and the hill-tops.

Vines and dewy roses were in the hedges.

A full-voiced choir of birds and fresh breezes from the Lake filled the soft air.

Westwards the blue waters of the Mediterranean might be discerned, and in the east, through distant clefts in the rocks, the shimmer of the Dead Sea.