The Maccabaean

THE very important city in the southern part of Palestine is about four kilometers from the sea and at the present time (1906) has about forty-thousand inhabitants. These are, for the most part, Mohammedans; of those professing other faiths there are only seven hundred and fifty, of various denominations, and 160 Jews. The Mohammedan population of Gaza is thirty-nine thousand, far outnumbering that of the other cities of Palestine. Jaffa has about thirty thousand, Nablus about twenty-four thousand, Hebron seventeen thousand, and Jerusalem, Haifa and Safed, only about seven thousand. Moreover, the number of non-Mohammedans in each of the above mentioned cities is both relatively and absolutely much greater.

Having thrown some light upon the present population, it may be well to cast a glance at the fluctuations of its population in the past. In the year 1840, Gaza numbered about two thousand people, in 1882 the number reached sixteen thousand, for 1897 we find the estimate to be thirty-six thousand, and now Gaza contains forty thousand people, and is steadily growing. In this development, as we have indicated, no European emigrants or foreigners are included.

The growth of Gaza depends, primari:;y, ‘upon the natural riches of the lowlands— about two million dunam of arable land, and only secondarily upon its primitive in- dutries. For the exportation of surplus agricultural products of its lowlands, Gaza is remarkab!ly well-favored, inasmuch as the land lies very low, so that, although devoid of well-constructed wagonroads, it is passable for wagons everywhere. North of these lowlands begin the roadless southern declivities of the Judean hills. The export products of the whole district, therefore, even far from east and north of Beersheba, can have harbor, except Gaza, the last of the once populous eities of Philistea, which,

through its fertility and other favorable circumstances, has retained a certain significance, even in our day.

With all this, the docking conditions are wretched. On the coast, four kilometers from Gaza, is a little place, El Mineh— really only an apology for the port. No conveniences of any kind are to be seen, only a few pieces of rock jutting out on the strand mark off this point from other spots on the sandy flat shore. But even here. ships must ride at anchor far out into the sea, and only very small boats can approach the shore. Practically all the shipping of Gaza is crowded into the months of July and August, because then the harvest of the chief articles of export,—barley and wheat —is over, and because the sea at that time is quietest.

The roda from Gaza to El-Mineh, built only in 1902, is rather poor and in parts covered with sand. Between the city, which is fifty-five miles above the sea-level, and the coast, there are sand dunes. Houses are being built along the road, and, at the present time, a wharf is in process of construction. When this is completed and the maritime trade of Gaza is improved, the port and the road will undoubtedly attain value in a very short time. It is said that the government is encouraging the building of houses and the laying out of plantations along the shore.

For tree culture the soil here is unquestionably good—Gaza itself is surrounded by gardens which are flourishing because of subterranean waters thirty to fifty metres deep.

The annual exports of Gaza fill about twenty-five large ships. Besides these, sailboats come and go almost throughout the length of the year, but the combined tonnage of this sail traffic is slight. For the passenger traffic and better wares, a coastwise service carried on by means of motorboats could be made very profitable. At present, the little sail-boats require, under