Letters from Palestine / Written during a residence there in the years 1836, 7 and 8

by J. D. Paxton

At the distance of half a mile from the shore, the ground is very little higher, I should think, than the surface of the water; and a number of things indicate that this low district was once a marsh, or at least much subjected to water. And now, in the rainy season, much water would collect on it were it not for its loose and sandy character, through which the water easily runs. The abundance of water, found at a very little distance below the surface, may arise from the fact that it is but little below the level of the sea; and the sandy character of the district allows the water to percolate freely, and thus supply what is taken up by man and vegetables.

It may be nine or ten miles from Jaffa to Rumla. The road is good; it is over a plain, and except a little waving of the surface, forming slight elevations and depressions, such as we often find on the sea-coasts, and on the flat districts which border large rivers, one would say it was level. These elevations suggest the idea that the water may have once covered this plain; and in retiring gradually from it, left those graceful elevations and depressions which give a beautiful variety to its surface. But a small part, after passing the gardens, was cultivated. From time to time we passed portions that had been sown with grain—none of it, after leaving the gardens, was enclosed—all lay open. We passed several places where there were a few trees; they formed, however, but little green spots on the face of this wide-spread and noble plain. The greater part was destitute of verdure; the burning heats of summer having burned up the grass; the crops, except an occasional cotton field, being all gathered in. I think I saw no Indian corn, although I had seen it on the Bokar, but of a very diminutive kind. The cotton fields were few and small, and held out the promise of but a light crop.

The plain is highly fertile, and if under proper cultivation would yield largely. The soil is rich, deep, and very free from rock, at least sufficiently so for all purposes of cultivation. We do not, indeed, often meet with a finer district of land; but it is thinly inhabited.

Rumla is a town of considerable size, and has some pretty good houses. It stands on a slight elevation, and commands a fine view of the plain out of which it rises. It is surrounded with gardens, many of which are protected by hedges of the Indian fig. There are some olive groves about the town; other fruit-trees, and the palm, are also to be seen. Around the present town are ruins, walls, cisterns, and other indications that the town was once spread over a much larger space than it now covers. It is supposed to be the ancient Arimathea mentioned in the New Testament, John xix. 38.

The ancient Lydda lies within a short distance of Rumla, not above three or four miles; but I had not time to visit it, as my company were urgent to proceed. It is, I am told, a poor village, and has nothing to give it interest, unless it be the fact that is mentioned of it in Acts, ix. 32, 38.

I ought to have mentioned respecting Rumla, that there is near the town a very remarkable tower, old, and of a singular structure, with some large apartments under ground connected with it. At what time it was built, by whom, and for what purpose, is not now known: probably, however, as a place of defence, and when built, the town extended to, if not beyond it. The history of many things in these regions is lost—irrecoverably lost—until that great day shall come when the whole history of man shall pass in review, and all shall be judged according to their works.

The American squadron left Jaffa only the day before we reached that place. The commodore and a party of officers visited Jerusalem. A large party spent a night at Rumla with the American consular agent, and had made him a present of a large and beautiful flag, with a notice of its presentation written on its border. If what was told me at Jaffa be true, that some of the officers, on their return from Jerusalem, rode from Jerusalem to Jaffa in five or six hours, it was a matter-of-fact proof that the distance is less than the old books of travel have stated. Ten hours was named at Jaffa as the usual time—that would make thirty miles, at the usual mode of counting three miles to the hour: this is probably the real distance.

We spent a Sabbath at Rumla; but as there was no Protestant worship, and I could not have received much if any benefit from attending a service in an unknown tongue, I remained in my room all day, and found, although thus alone, that the Sabbath of the Lord is a most wise and gracious appointment of Heaven for the benefit of man. He needs times which may call his thoughts from worldly things, and consecrate them more especially to God, and the things that relate to the welfare of the soul. I have, therefore, whenever I could, in travelling, rested on the Sabbath day, and found it good so to do. In almost every step I take in this country I find myself on ground referred to in Scripture; and it is with no little interest I walk over places where the events recorded in God's word took place. But even in those scenes I find it good to observe the Sabbath of the Lord. I do not even go out to look at these places on the Sabbath: the other six days may suffice for that. The Lord's day is better spent as a day of rest and devotion.

We left Rumla on Monday morning for Jerusalem. Our course was still a little south of east. The general character and condition of the plain was much as the part of it already described, with the difference that there was much less sand. Indeed there was little, if any, to be seen—the soil was a fine, rich, black mould. The state of cultivation was rather better, but still only a small part was under the care of man. The country began more regularly to rise as we approached the hill country. The rise was however very gradual. Irregular and rounded hills became more numerous, but none of them were steep. A road could pass over them in any direction; they were rather pleasant swells than hills. More stones and pebbles were mixed up with the soil, but not in quantities that would impede cultivation. In truth, this part of the plain, that is from Rumla to the hills, forms one of the richest and most lovely districts that I have seen. We were above three hours in going from Rumla to the hills, which would make the distance from Jaffa about eighteen or twenty miles. The road however does not cross the plain at right angles, but declined considerably to the south.

We passed no village worth naming. We did, indeed, pass a few huts at one or two places, but too few to deserve notice. We passed several places that appeared to have once been occupied, and saw several villages at a distance, but they appeared small. In short, the plain—the noble and celebrated plain of Sharon, appears to be almost deserted; and while it has a fertility and extent, were it occupied and properly cultivated, sufficient to sustain a nation, it is now roamed over by a few flocks—has small patches of it cultivated, and here and there a small, poor village to sustain. With regard to trees, &c. the eastern part of the plain was on a par with the western. It was only on little spots, and at a great distance from each other, that a few olive and other trees were to be seen. They were mostly confined to the immediate vicinity of the villages, or where villages have once stood.