May 28, I860.] ADMIRALTY SURVEYS— SYRIA. 151 



7. Points connected with language, traces of ancient names, 



correct pronunciation of particular names, and, as far as 

 possible, correct and uniform ortliography. 



8. Careful drawings of buildings and copies of inscriptions. 



9. Traces of volcanic or other remarkable geological pheno- 



mena. 

 10. An examination and comparison of the tombs throughout 

 Syria and Palestine. 



A few examples may be cited in explanation of the above. 



1. As to Geography : — 



From Beirut chronometers and barometers might, without much 

 difficulty, be carried to the Cedars, to the summit of Lebanon, to 

 Ba'albek, and to Damascus, returning by Mount Hermon to the 

 coast at Sidon and Beirut, where the error and rate of the chrono- 

 meters could be again ascertained. 



Another journey might be made from Akkah to Mount Carmel, 

 Tiberias, Genesareth, Mount Tabor, Nazareth, returning by the 

 plains of Esdraelon or Jezreel and Megiddo to Caesarea on the coast. 



Also from Yaffa to Shechem, Mount Gerizim, Samaria, Bethel, 

 Jericho, Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, and so to Gaza 

 on the coast. 



Seetzen, Burckhardt, Eobinson, Lynch, Scott, Symonds, Porter, 

 Van de Velde, Poole, Cyril Graham, Stanley, etc., have done much 

 for the geography of the Holy Land ; but no one knows better than 

 these later travellers how much yet remains to be done before any 

 approach to accuracy can be attained. Damascus floats east and 

 west some 14 miles in longitude ; Gaza, although close to the coast, 

 is half that amount, probably, in error in latitude.^ 



The heights of cities and mountains are equally uncertain: 

 Damascus and Jerusalem vary between 2200 and 2600 feet above 

 the level of the Mediterranean ; Ba'albek between 3550 and 4160 

 feet ; Bethel from 1880 to 2400 feet ; Shechem from 1460 to 1860 

 feet; the Mount of Olives from 2100 to 2700 feet; and lastly, 

 Mount Hermon from 7000 to 10,000 feet. Here is ample work for 

 more than one travelling geographer. 



2. Topographical plans of places of interest, as Shechem, Naza- 

 reth, Jericho, Bethlehem, Hebron, &c. 



. 3. Identification of site, as Bethabara, the place of our Lord's 



* Some notices of the travels of the energetic Professor Wallin of Finland, in 

 the East, are given in former volumes of our Transactions. — Ed, 



