The Wild Animals include the brown Syrian hear, found in the upper regions of Galilee, and in Jabel el-Hish ; the panther in the hills of Judxa and Samaria, and in the thickets of the Jordan ; jackals in immense numbers everywhere ; wolves, hyenas, foxes ; wild swine in the marshes of the Jordan, and in the thickets of Bashan and Gilead ; gazelles and fallow deer on the plain ; the ibex or wild goat in the wilderness of Judaea; the hare and the coney (called by natives weber : the writer saw great numbers at the old castle of Banias on the northern border) ; the squirrel, mole, rat, mouse, and bat. Porcupines and hedgehogs are rare ; Mr. Poole says badgers abound at Hebron (,journal R. G. S., xxvi. 58).
Reptiles exist in great variety. Some parts of the country swarm with them. The most com mon are lizards, which may be seen basking on every rock, and bobbing their hideous heads up and down on every ruin. Serpents of various kinds are numerous ; the scorpion, tarentula, and chameleon are not so numerous. Frogs in vast numbers crowd the marshes and moist districts, and fill the air with their roar on the still summer evenings ; the tree-frog and toad are also found ; and little tortoises crawl over dry plains, and along the banks of pond and stream. The crocodile is said to exist in the Crocodile river, now called Nahr Zerka, in the plain of Sharon. Of this Dr. Thomson writes : You will be surprised to hear that there are now living crocodiles in the marsh, but such is the fact. These millers say they have seen them often ; and the government agent, a respectable Christian, assures me that they recently killed one eighteen spans long, and as thick as his body. I suspect that, long ages ago, some Egyp tians accustomed to worship this ugly creature settled here, and brought their gods with them ! ' (The Land and the Book, p• 497). The creature seen at this place (if indeed the whole story was not a pure fiction on the part of the Arabs) was doubtless the Monitor Niloticus.
Birds of prey are very numerous, including eagles and vultures, in the neighbourhood of Lebanon ; hawks in great variety, and ravens all over the land ; and owls, which hoot and scream during the still night. Storks pay passing visits, and occasion ally the white ibis is met with ; the heron, gull, and lapwing are found. The rocky hill-sides abound with partridges and quails ; the cliffs in the glens with pigeons ; the bushes with turtle-doves ; and the lakes and marshes with ducks, teel, and other water-fowl. We also find the jay in some beauti
ful varieties ; the king-fisher, the wood-pecker, the sparrow, the swallow, the cuckoo, and many others. Domestic fowls are not numerous in Palestine. A few barn-door fowls may be seen in the villages ; but ducks, geese, and turkeys are extremely rare.
Insects are so numerous in some parts of the land as almost to become a plague. They include the common fly and mosquito ; the bee, wasp, and hornet ; great numbers of horse-flies ; many species oflutterflies ; ants, spiders, grasshoppers, beetles, earwigs, and the beautiful glow-worm and firefly. The most formidable of the insects which infest Palestine is the locust. Some few are seen every year, but great flights are fortunately rare. The writer saw one in the summer of 1853 which nearly desolated eastern Syria. In many places they com pletely covered the ground ; and for several days the air was so filled with them that the light of the sun was obscured as if by a mist.
Writers on the zoology of Palestine, or rather on Biblical zoology, are numerous. The following are the most important :—Bochart, Hierasnicon, ed. Rosenmiiller, 1793-96 ; Hasselquist, Travels ; Russell, Nat. Hz:rt. of Aleppo ; Description de l'Egyiste, tom. xx.-xxii. ; Schubert, Reise ; Kitto, Physical Hirt. of Palestine.
IV. several eminent geo logists have passed through Palestine, we have as yet no full scientific delineation—not even a satis factory outline—of its geology. The country ought in many respects to he the most interesting in the world to the geologist. It possesses some unique features. It bears marks of tremendous volcanic convulsions, extending over a vast period. Its wonderful history has been considerably affected by these agencies. It is not intended in this place to attempt to supply this great want. The writer feels himself incompetent to the task, were it even admissible in such a work as the present. All he aims at is an outline of the leading geological fea tures of Palestine, so far as they are known, such as may throw light on the peculiarities of its physi cal structure, the varieties of its soil and products, and some remarkable incidents in its history.