Palestine]
okes. Large quantities of grapes are also converted into a kind of honey. In the vilayet of Damascus over 33,000,000 okes, in that of Aleppo over 14,000,000 okes were so used in 1914.
Of the wild produce, much the most valuable is the liquorice root, which grows abundantly in the Aleppo vilayet, particularly in the upper Euphrates region and about Antioch. The greater part of the root collected goes to the United States; in 1908 the amount was over 20,000 tons, to the value of £158,510, these being the highest figures in recent years. In the northeastern districts there is also a considerable production of gall-nuts, valonia, yellow berries (buckthorn), gumtragacanth, and scammony, though much of what passes through Aleppo and Alexandretta in these kinds comes from beyond Syrian borders. Colocynth grows in the sandy region of Gaza and Bir es-Seba, and about 1,500 tons are exported annually, chiefly to Germany. The papyrus of Lake Hule (Merom) is made into mats by the Arabs of the district. Gum-arabic is obtained from the acacias to the east of the Dead Sea.
Animals and Animal Products.—The quadrupeds kept are horses, donkeys, mules, camels, buffaloes, kine, sheep, goats, and pigs. The horses in ordinary use are of very fair quality, but pedigree animals are not often seen now, even among the Beduin. Donkeys and camels are the usual beasts of burden, and are found everywhere; they are sometimes used by the fellahin in place of oxen for ploughing. Donkeys are of two kinds, the common sort and the large white Arabian variety, which commands a higher price. Camels are usually bought from the Beduin of the desert, and not homebred. The best cows are those of Damascus and the Lebanon, the Damascus (Egyptian) variety being the richer in milk; there is also a useful cross between the two. Those found elsewhere are as a rule small and ill-. favoured, and give little milk except in the spring. Buffaloes are confined to swampy districts. Sheep, which are mostly fat-tailed, are especially important; besides those bred in the country many come in from
