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THE JEWISH COLONIES OF PALESTINE.
The first sight of really civilised country was obtained at this period. On
the way, the cultivated areas round Ramleh[5] were visible as far as the
eye could reach. This was indeed a very pleasant change from the barren
and uncultivated tracts--the interminable stretches of rocky and
boulder-strewn ground, intersected by apparently unbounded areas of flat,
dust-covered wastes:--
"Dust in heaps and dust in piles, dust in shifting ridges;
Dust and dust for miles and miles, and what 'aint dust is midges".
So quoth the cynic; and the peculiar part about it is that, wherever are
large stretches of dusty ground, so also _there is the wind!_ and nothing
need be said of the result of a combat between these two forces.
[Illustration]
All thoughts of the country left behind, however, were immediately banished
from the mind at the sight of that which lay before us, and anticipation
ran high in the belief that these were the wonderful orange-groves which,
one had heard, were supposed to be situated in this part of Palestine.
Expectations were realised, and on nearing Deiran, orchard upon orchard
were passed with trees bending under the weight of hundreds of large and
delicious Jaffa oranges! Everyone purchased as many as it was possible to
carry, and those who had no available cash, managed to satisfy their wants
by means of barter--incidentally, be it whispered, many an odd tin of
"bully" found its way into the local inhabitants' larders.
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