The principal meat used is mutton, which is certainly the best I have ever eaten. The beef is poor, and is not much prized by the natives; and pork is an abomination to most of the people in this land. I have seen a few swine, but am told they are kept by foreigners. The chickens are mostly small, and not much encumbered with fat. Geese and turkeys are exceedingly rare. Great quantities of sparrows are found in the towns, and they sometimes visit the houses, and build about them to such a degree as to become an annoyance. The singing of birds is not often heard in Palestine; there are a few species of birds with a gaudy plumage, but their notes are not melodious. The sweet, plaintive note of the nightingale is sometimes heard, but oftener the harsh cawing of the crow. But few wild animals are now found in the country, excepting the jackals, immense numbers of which are found in this vicinity. They are gregarious, and a most noisy animal. They are like a small dog, with short, upright ears, and a short tail; all that I have seen were of a light-brown colour. We often hear them in the gardens and near our houses. The natives have a taste for flowers; the females cultivate a variety in pots, and are fond of ornamenting their turbans with them. They are generally decked with a profusion of them on their bridal days. They also place them about and upon the dead bodies of their friends, as mementos of affection. It is a common saying, that, in making their visits, they never go empty-handed. At such times, it is not uncommon for them to take from their pockets, an appendage with which each person seems to be furnished, either an orange, a sweet lemon, a few nuts, a piece of sugar-cane, or something of the kind, and present the person visited. At other times, they will bring you a beautiful nosegay of rosebuds, carnation pinks, geraniums, jessamines, &c., which they arrange and tie together very tastefully. A rich profusion of wild flowers are found in the spring. It is amusing to one not accustomed to the sight, to observe how partial the people are to a sitting posture. You may see the blacksmith sitting and hammering his iron; the carpenter sitting and hewing his wood, or planing his plank; the merchant sitting and selling his goods; and the women sitting and washing their clothes,--not sitting on chairs, or on benches, but _á-la-turque_, with their feet folded under them.