Quoting Mark Twain on Palestine 1867

Just crossed by this posted in 2002:

Twain's visit to Lebanon, Syria, and the Holy Land in 1867 was published in "The Innocents
Abroad",
where he described Palestine as follows:

"..... A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds... a silent mournful expanse.... a desolation.... we never saw a human being on the whole route.... hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country."
(The Innocents Abroad, p. 361-362)

[link to www.palestineremembered.com]