With Sidon the whole face of the country changes, and here commences that luxuriant and verdant pasturage and foliage, which continue increasing as we progress to the northward and may be said to reach a climax of beauty and profuse richness in the districts of Lebanon, Tripoli, Lattakia, and Antioch. Vast mulberry plantations, orchards of delicious fruits, and vineyards covered with an endless variety of grapes, everywhere delight the eye. At those spots where the soil is untilled, and up the lofty sides of the mountains, grow the cypress, the majestic oak, the stately fir, and the lofty pine; every inch of ground being thickly covered with wild flowers, blackberry bushes, the white rose, and the training honey-suckle, all which, with the fresh odours of the country, recall forcibly to the mind the words of the prophet Hosea, “his smell is as Lebanon.”
“—Through the grass The quick-eyed lizard rustles, and the trills Of summer birds sing welcome as ye pass; Flowers fresh in hue, and many in their dyes, Dance in the soft breeze in a fairy mass; The sweetness of the violet’s deep-blue eyes, Kissed by the breath of heaven, seems colour’d by its skies.”
In the neighbourhood of Sidon, even the rare exotic banana has now been reared with success, its large and handsome leaves and clustering golden fruit being a source of wonder and admiration to the Syrian who is a stranger to that neighbourhood. Here also commences that plentiful supply of clear, crystal water which so materially adds to the beauty of the scenery, makes cleanliness and comfort a cheap luxury to the inhabitants, and as a natural consequence, proportionably benefits the health of the natives. Children grow up surrounded by the choicest gifts of a bountiful Providence, and their young and tender hearts are moulded in a meeker and more gentle frame; their labour is more congenial to their constitution and habits, and the smallest exertion is quickly recompensed by a grateful and fruitful return. The shade of many trees affords them a welcome shelter; the waters of many cool streams are at hand to quench their slightest thirst; and the choice fruits of a hundred orchards, maturing to ripeness, afford them a luxurious repast. Besides these, the cattle and poultry are more plentiful, and of a better sort, and the pasturages are thickly dotted with flocks of fine healthy sheep, and milch cows in abundance. The result of all these blessings is, that the inhabitants are a healthier, wealthier, and a more cheerful race than the people of Southern Palestine; and the vast supply of honey gathered from the wild honey-combs in the neighbouring mountains, and the excessive cheapness and excellence of milk renders this portion of Syria the land “flowing with milk and honey” of the present day.