The shepherds are about the same all over Palestine, kindly eyed men with fair faces bronzed by the sun. They stay out all day on the hills with the sheep, driving them into the villages at night. Each shepherd has his staff and his scrip, a little bag of dried skin. He uses a sling as David did to send a pebble just in front of any straying sheep so as to turn it back. The strings of the slings are of goat hair, and the pad for the stone is of the same material, often made with a slit in the middle so that when a pebble is put in the sling fits close like a bag. Such slings are now used in fights between the boys of the villages, who practise to see who can throw stones the farthest. The wool of the Palestine sheep is especially fine. It brings a higher price than that of Damascus, and something like a million dollars’ worth of it is exported a year. The shearing is done by hand, and much of the wool is sold unwashed. Some is washed after shearing, the work being done by women. Nearly every flock of sheep has its goats. They are usually black so they can be picked out from the sheep at a great distance. Some of the goats produce excellent milk, the best as much as three quarts a day. There is a great deal in the Bible about the sheepfolds. These are common in Palestine. In the villages they are often corrals and sometimes they are caves on the hills. The village folds are closed at night, and the shepherds keep the keys. Those of the mountains are usually open and the sheep go in and out as they will. In some parts of the country the shepherds pasture their flocks separately by day, but at evening several of them often bring their sheep together in a large open field or a spot sheltered from the winds. Then each of the four or five men will take turns at keeping watch while the others sleep, curled up in their sheepskins. The shepherds to whom the “glad tidings” came on the first Christmas Eve were thus guarding their flocks by night. In the morning each shepherd calls out to his sheep, and they, knowing his voice, come to him until he has his whole flock around him again. They will pay no heed to the same call if it is uttered by a stranger or another shepherd. Often to make sure his sheep are all there and also to see that they are all right the shepherd causes them to pass under his rod between him and a rock. He can thus count them, and if one is limping or sickly he can pull it out of line with the crook of his staff and give it special care. The Palestine shepherd does not use his staff to drive his charges, for he always goes before with the sheep following him. The club or crook he carries is for protection and defence of his flock. If they are frightened the sight of the crook on his shoulder calms their panic. One is reminded of the words of the Psalmist: “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”