Fruit I saw none, with the exception of the little apricots called mish-mish, which are not larger than a walnut, but nevertheless have a very fine flavour.  It is a pity that the inhabitants of these countries contribute absolutely nothing towards the cultivation and improvement of their natural productions; if they would but exert themselves, many a plant would doubtless flourish luxuriantly.  But here the people do not even know how to turn those gifts to advantage which nature has bestowed upon them in rich profusion, and of superior quality; for instance, olives.  Worse oil can hardly be procured than that which they give you in Syria.  The Syrian oil and olives can scarcely be used by Europeans.  The oil is of a perfectly green colour, thick, and disgusting alike to the smell and taste; the olives are generally black, a consequence of the negligent manner in which they are prepared.  The same remark holds good with regard to the wine, which would be of excellent quality if the people did but understand the proper method of preparing it, and of cultivating the vineyards.  At present, however, they adulterate their wine with a kind of herb, which gives it a very sharp and disagreeable taste.

On the whole, the neighbourhood of Jerusalem is very desolate, barren, and sterile.  I found the town itself neither more nor less animated than most Syrian cities.  I should depart from truth if I were to say, with many travellers, that it appeared as though a peculiar curse rested upon this city.  The whole of Judea is a stony country, and this region contains many places with environs as rugged and barren as those of Jerusalem.

Birds and butterflies are rarely seen at the present season of the year, not only in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, but throughout the whole of Syria.  Where, indeed, could a butterfly or a bee find nourishment, while not a flower nor a blade of grass shoots up from the stony earth?  And a bird cannot live where there are neither seeds nor insects, but must soar away across the seas to cooler and more fertile climes.  Not only here, but throughout the whole of Syria, I missed the delightful minstrels of the air.  The sparrow alone can find sustenance every where, for he lives in towns and villages, wherever man is seen.  A whole flock of these little twittering birds woke me every morning.

I was as yet much less troubled by insects than I had anticipated.  With the exception of the small flies on the plain of Sharon, and of certain little sable jumpers which seem naturalised throughout the whole world, I could not complain of having been annoyed by any creature.

Our common house-flies I saw every where; but they were not more numerous or more troublesome than in Germany.

Excursion to the river Jordan and to the dead sea.