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of the tribes of Israel to " gardens by the river's side (Num. xxiv. 6); sometimes they contained springs of water, or had artificial rills constructed for the purpose of irrigation, whence the ideas of refreshment and fertility conveyed in the following terms :-" A fountain of gardens, a well of living (i. e. perennial) waters and streams from Lebanon (Cant. iv. 15): and sometimes the end was gained by the construction of tanks to hoard the rain water that fell in the winter :

"I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees" (Eccles. ii. 5, 6).

The following passages exemplify the various modes of watering gardens, and the great pains taken in this matter:- We here (near Nablus) noticed a mode of irrigation of which we had also seen a good deal yesterday. The ground was divided off into beds, six or eight feet long by three or four wide, and these were surrounded by a rim, like pans, to receive and retain the water. This mode is used especially for garden vegetables." -ROBINSON'S Researches, iii. 133.

Writing of the beautiful gardens about Jaffa, Mr. Ewald observes:-" "In each of these gardens there is a well from which the ground is irrigated by rivulets, which are so ingeniously contrived, that a sufficient quantity of water flows round each tree and shrub to keep it in health and vigour. There is no doubt that the Psalmist alludes to such trees in his description of the servants of God (Ps. i.). The words 'rivers of water' are, according to the original, divisions of water. The same mode of irrigating is employed on the whole of the northern coast of Africa; and if a tree were deprived of the supply of water for any length of time, it would wither and decay."-Missionary Labours in Jerusalem, pp. 29, 30.

"Several gardens were laid out with small canals intersecting them, so that streams of water might be

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conducted to the different beds when needful. These are the rivers of water' mentioned by the Psalmist.” Mission to the Jews, p. 92.

"The river that runs through the plantations of Alhennah trees (see Camphire) at Cabs, is cantoned out into a number of channels."-Dr. SHAW.

"The town of Tayf is celebrated over all Arabia for its beautiful gardens. They are watered by wells and rivulets, which descend from the mountains. Numerous fruit-trees are found in them, grapes of a very large size and exquisite flavour, and abundance of roses. The gardens of Koba are equally beautiful. They spread over a space of four or five miles in circuit, and form a most fertile and agreeable spot. All kinds of fruit trees (with the exception of apple and pear, neither of which, I believe, grow in Arabia) are seen in the gardens, which are all inclosed by walls, and watered by numerous wells. Lemon and orange trees, pomegranates, vines, peach, apricot, fig-trees, and palm-trees, form thick groves; and many sick persons are carried there to enjoy the shade."-OVALLE.

Of the garden of Roda, Lord Lindsay writes:-"It is, indeed, a lovely spot. One walk, with borders of myrtle, particularly charmed me, leading between rows of orange-trees in full bearing to a fountain surrounded by cypress-trees. Rosemary edges the walk like box in England, and roses bloom in profusion, and gorgeous butterflies were flitting about in every direction. Little canals for irrigation are conducted all over the garden, some of them of hewn stone, others merely dug in the earth; and the water is transferred from one into the other by opening or damming it with the foot, as in Moses' time."-LORD LINDSAY's Letters from the Holy Land, &c., i. 56.

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All crops in Persia must be artificially irrigated, as rain seldom falls there during the warm months of the year. The plains (being) nearly level, facilitates process. Water is taken by canals from the small

the

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rivers, that roll down from the mountains, and conveyed along near the foot of the declivities. Smaller canals, leading from the main ones, carry it down to prescribed sections of the plain; and these are again subdivided and conducted to particular fields as it is needed. The openings from the main canals are readily closed, when sufficient water is taken out for a given field, and the stream then passes on to cheer and fertilize the

thirsty soil of the next neighbour. The ease with which the gardener changes these streams, by opening or closing a channel, with his spade, or even with his foot, vividly illustrates the Scripture allusion to divine sovereignty. The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the river (rivulets) of water; He turneth it

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whithersoever He will.' If the fields are not level, they must be divided and worked by a spade or plough into level sections, each inclosed within a ridge a few inches high; and these divisions are successively watered."-PERKINS's Residence in Persia, p. 425.

"When the water is near at hand, the ground is often watered with pails or pots. This was formerly much done in Egypt. The yoke by which they bore the water-pots from their shoulders was used in carrying any sort of burthen; hence the frequent allusions to it in Scripture. One of the instruments employed in raising water is called the shadoof. It consists of two posts or pillars of wood, or of mud and canes or rushes, about five feet in height, and less than three apart with a horizontal piece of wood extending from top to top, to which is suspended a slender lever, formed of a branch of a tree, having at one end a weight chiefly composed of mud, and at the other, suspended from two long palm-sticks, a vessel in the form of a bowl, made of basket-work, or of a hoop and a piece of woollen stuff or leather. With this vessel the water is thrown up to the height of about eight feet, into a trough hollowed out for its reception."-LANE's Modern Egyptians, ii. 24.

The expression to "water by the foot" in Deut. xi. 10, probably refers to a peculiar kind of water-wheel, sufficiently light for a man to turn with his foot. Robinson states that "there is nothing now in Egypt which illustrates the practice," but that "Niebuhr describes one such machine in Cairo, where it was called Sakieh tedur bir-rijl, a watering machine that turns by the foot.' The labourer sits on a level with the axis of the wheel or reel, and turns it by drawing the upper part towards him with his hands, pushing the rounds of the under part at the same time with his feet one after another. In Palestine the wheel or reel is more rude; and a single rope is used, which is wound up around it by the same process."-Researches, i. 582.

PALESTINE ADAPTED TO PASTORAL PURSUITS. SCENES OF PASTORAL LIFE.-LARGE AMOUNTS OF STOCK.-DUTIES OF A SHEPHERD. DANGERS TO WHICH HE IS EXPOSED. GOING BEFORE SHEEP.-CALLING THEM.

PASTORAL pursuits held, as we have already observed, a most important place in Eastern life. Many districts in and about Palestine are adapted solely for them, such for instance as the highlands of the district the other side of Jordan, the plains of southern Judæa, and the various "wildernesses " that intervened between Palestine and Egypt, which at certain periods of the year offer here and there a scanty herbage. The pastoral life is still maintained in these parts, while in other parts of Palestine it has even supplanted agri