THE TWIN COLONY
At three o'clock in the afternoon we bade "Shalom" to Rishon Le-Zion and continued our journey in a south-easterly direction to the little twin colony "Vadi el-Hanin" (alley of the lillies) and "Neis Ziyyonah" (Flag of Zion.) The land appeared to be in a fairly cultivated condition. Notwithstanding the hot dry season, verdant fields were seen in every direction. Here and there, large patches, containing reaped barley and wheat piled up in sheaves were visible, waving fields of millet and sesame (from the last an oil is produced) were noticed along the road. Lentils, called in Arabic "Adas" appeared to be a favorite product, and is evidently considered by the native peasants a nourishing food, as large areas of this article were frequently noticed, and pasture land containing flocks of cattle in care of shepherds armed with guns and often mounted on horses and donkeys, was not an infrequent occurrence.
But no farm-houses were in view, and indeed one is surprised at the absence of scattered farm-life in Palestine. The native fellahins, like the Jewish colonists, segregate themselves into villages or "bebd."
The cause of this antagonism to rural life may be due to the fact that the country is not secure enough to encourage the life of isolated farming. The modern Nomads, the Beduins, have for hundreds of years been hostile to the native Arab population and kept them in constant fear of robberies and night attacks.
It frequently required the utmost efforts of the government to protect the latter against the extortion of the former.
These children of the desert are said to be of pure Arab blood and are the descendants of the semi-savage Nomads who have inhabited Arabia from time immemorial. They are divided into two branches, those that migrate in the winter towards central Arabia, "Aenezeh," and those that remain permanently in Syria; the first are the most powerful tribe of the Beduins.
Every tribe is presided over by a Sheikh. War occupies much of the time of these tribes, the occasion being some quarrel about pasture or wells. Complication often arises through the law of retaliation which is in practice among them. They possess immense herds of sheep and camels but have no inclination to farming. Their food consists chiefly of bread and milk. They have made very little progress in the past thousands of years. Their mode of life is the same, their customs are identical with those of their ancestors of thousands of years ago, and their dwellings consist today as in the days of Solomon, of portable tents, the material being of close texture and waterproof, made of black goat hair, woven by the Beduin women. The Beduins are tall and well built, having a bronze complexion, jet black hair, a slight beard and black, piercing and restless eyes. They are dressed in white or blue cotton shirts open in front down to the waist, which is used as a pocket, and a leather girdle around the waist adorned with amulets and shells. Neither sex wear trousers. On the head they wear a gay cotton kerchief bound around the head with a thick cord of camel's hair, "Kephiyah." Part of the head-cloth hangs loosely over the back of the head and neck as a protection from the sun. They seldom wear shoes.
Such are the people that roam the mountains and valleys of ancient Judea. The tourist, however, finds the intruders harmless, and their Nomadic life of peculiar interest.
Our little party, inspired with the general conditions of this district, sang Jewish airs all along the way. Even Ibrahim the Arab coachman, appeared to have been pleased, for in the highest pitch of his tremulous voice, he participated in the chorus when he came to the stanza "Od le Ovdo tikvosein." He was so much absorbed in the Jewish national songs that he would almost have passed the Twin Colony if it had not been for the puffing of a little gasoline engine on the wayside near Neis Ziyyonah, that brought his horses to