The Land of Israel: A Journal of Travels in Palestine, Undertaken with Special Reference to its Physical Character

Ornithologist and clergyman H. B. Tristram (1822-1906), who became both a Fellow of the Royal Society and Canon residentiary of Durham, began his literary career with an account of his ventures into the desert of Algeria, where he had travelled seeking a salubrious winter climate. This subsequent book, published in 1865, narrates his journey through Palestine in 1863-4. An engaging account, written for a popular audience, it combines detailed observations of antiquities, geography, and the native wildlife with scriptural quotations; its stated aim is to demonstrate that the Bible accurately describes the region. Tristram was one of the earliest public supporters of Darwin’s theories, noting their relevance to his own studies in his 1859 paper ‘On the Ornithology of North Africa’. This book, and his later work of 1873 The Land of Moab (also reissued in this series), illuminate the complex contemporary relationship between religion and the natural sciences.