There is only matter-of-fact geographical and mythological information in William of Tours’ History of the Crusades; for instance, in his description of the Bosphorus he does not waste a word over its beauty.  But, as ‘fruitful’ and ‘pleasant’ are ever-recurring adjectives with him, one cannot say that he absolutely ignored it.

He said of Durazzo:  ’They weather the bad seasons of the year in fruitful districts rich in woods and fields, and all acceptable conditions’; of Tyre, ’The town has a most excellent position on a plain, almost entirely surrounded by mountains.  The soil is productive, the wood of value in many ways.’  Of Antioch, ’Its position is very convenient and pleasant, it lies in valleys which have excellent and fertile soil, and are most pleasantly watered by springs and streams.  The mountains which enclose the town on both sides are really very high; but send down very clear water, and their sides and slopes are covered by buildings up to the very summits.’  There is nothing about beautiful views, unless one takes this, which really only records a meteorological curiosity:  ’From the top of one mountain one can see the ball of the sun at the fourth watch of the night, and if one turns round at the time when the first rays light up the darkness, one has night on one side and day on the other.’

Tyre is described again as ’conspicuous for the fertility of its soil and the charm of its position.’  Its great waterworks are especially admired, since by their means ’not only the gardens and most fruitful orchards flourish, but the cane from which sugar is made, which is so useful to man for health and other purposes, and is sent by merchants to the most distant parts of the world.’  Other reporters were charmed by the fertility and wealth of the East.  ’On those who came from the poorer and colder western countries, the rich resources of the sunny land in comparison with the poverty of home made an impression of overflowing plenty, and at times almost of inexhaustibleness.  The descriptions of certain districts, extolled for their special richness, sound almost enthusiastic.[1]

Burkhard von Monte Sion was enthusiastic about Lebanon’s wealth of meadows and gardens, and the plain round Tripolis, and considered the Plain of Esdraelon the most desirable place in the world; but, on exact and unprejudiced examination, there is nothing in his words beyond homely admiration and matter-of-fact discussion of its great practical utility.

He says of La Boneia, ’That plain has many homesteads, and beautiful groves of olive and fig and other trees of various kinds, and much timber.  Moreover, it abounds in no common measure in rivers and pasture land’; closes a geographical account of Lebanon thus, ’There are in Libanus and Antilibanus themselves fertile and well-tilled valleys, rich in pasture land, vineyards, gardens, plantations—­in a word, in all the good things of the world’; and says of the Plain of Galilee, ’I never saw a lovelier country, if our sins and wrong-doing did not prevent Christians from living there.’