One of the most important duties of the shepherd is to water the flock. He does this at streams or wells. At the wells the women draw the water for the sheep as they did in Bible times. They use bags of goatskin untanned. The skin is taken almost whole from the goats, and the legs and other openings are tied up so that it will hold water. One hole is left at the throat into which the water is poured. The water for the household is carried in such bags, a network of ropes being wrapped around a skin so that it can be rested upon the back, the bag being supported by a rope around the forehead. The water-bag of the ordinary size, when filled, weighs at least fifty pounds. The women go along with their heads bent far over, carrying water to their village homes. They do this day after day all their lives long. This is one of the most common sights of the Holy Land. Indeed these Palestine peasants are strong men and women. The men bear astonishing weights, and nobody thinks anything of walking twenty miles and more in a day. One naturally asks as to their diet. This is largely rice, vegetables, nuts, and the whole-meal unleavened bread of the country baked in flat cakes as in Bible days. Meat is a rare luxury. The Arabic name for bread is _aish_, which means life, and to the peasants of the Holy Land it is the staff of life. They have even a sort of reverence for it. No one will trample a fallen crumb into the dust, and even the smallest bit dropped or thrown away by a careless child will be picked up and lodged in a crack of a stone or wall so the birds may get it. Tomatoes, squash, cabbage, cauliflower, onions, and eggplant are common vegetables. There is a saying of the eggplant that there are so many different ways of preparing it that if during the eggplant season a woman says to her husband, “I know not what to provide for dinner,” he has sufficient cause for divorcing her. Grapes not quite ripe are much relished when eaten with salt. Cucumbers take much the place of apples with us. Coffee is considered a necessity. It is bought in the raw berry and a housekeeper is judged by her skill in roasting and preparing it. Even if a family cannot afford it for every day it must be on hand for guests. Men often carry some coffee berries in their pockets for use at friendly gatherings, and wherever men meet for business or ceremony coffee is expected.