FIGHTING IN THE HOLY LAND.

Bruce Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 43, 4 June 1917, Page 3

FIGHTING IN THE HOLY LAND.

TRENCH WARFARE. Judging from the telegrams the operations of our troops around Gaza have now settled down to trench warfare, and the length of time taken to overcome the rcsistanco of the enemy will depend very largely on which side is best furnished with the necesssary supplies. A book well worth re-reading now that New Zealand troops are encamped on the site of ancient Philistia is Dean Stanley's "Sinai and Palestine." He gives an interesting description of that portion of the Maritime Plain over which our troops are marching, and which is called in the Old Testament Shephelah (The Low Country). 'Hie boundaries of the Philistines' country, though indefinite, may be measured by their five great cities—Gath, Ekron, Ashdod, Gaza and Ascalon. Gath has disappeared, but Ekron, Ashdod, Gaza and Ascalon retain their names. When Stanley visited the district ho found the cities just mentioned most remarkable for the extreme beauty and profusion of the gardens which surrounded them—the scarlet blossoms of the pomegranates, the enormous oranges which gilded the green foliage of their famous groves. : Stanley does not omit to remind us that these cities, thus situated on the grand route of the invaders of Palestine from north to south, have always j played a part in resisting the attack*) of besieging armies. "The longest siege recorded in history was that conducted for 27 years by Psammetichus against Ashdod. Gaza, protected both by its eminence and by the sandy tract reaching up to tho base of the hill on which it stands, provoked the siege which has left so deep a stain on 'the character of Alexander. In Ascalon was entrenched the hero of the last gleam of history which has thrown its light over the plains of Philistia. Within the. walls and towers still standing Richard held his court; and the white-faced hill which, seen from their heights, forms so conspicuous an object in the eastern part of the plain, is the 'BlancheGarde' of the Crusading chroniclers which witnessed his chief adventure."