INTRODTTCTION. 33 



Jordanic plateau, and from 8000 to 4000 above the Mediterranean. 

 From the latitude of the southern end of the Dead Sea this range is 

 continuous with that of western Arabia. Its highest peak, Mt. Hor, is 

 4800 feet above the Mediterranean, and 6100 above the Dead Sea. 



Between these two great mountain systems is a cleft, beginning in 

 the valley of the northern affluent of the Orontes, a few hundred feet 

 above the sea level, and extending up the Orontes valley to Ccelesyria, 

 where it attains an altitude of over 4000 feet, and then, following the 

 Leontes and the Jordan, sinks at the Dead Sea to a level nearly 1300 

 feet below the Mediterranean. From the Dead Sea it rises in the 'Ara- 

 bah to a height of 600 to 700 feet above the Red Sea, and then sinks 

 again to the sea level, and is continued southward on the floor of the 

 Gulf of 'Aqabah, These grand features of the physical geography of 

 the country are shown in detail on the map which accompanies this 

 sketch. 



Skirting the eastern mountain system are the great plains, which 

 extend eastward to the Euphrates and Persia. A large part of these 

 plains is arable, and many of thedi are exceedingly fertile. But all of 

 them are coterminous with the Syrian Desert. South of the latitude of 

 the Dead Sea mountains and plains alike are desert. 



The flora of Amanus, while closely approximated to that of the 

 Taurus, contains a considerable number of plants peculiar to itself. 

 The Nusairy chain has little to distinguish its flora from that of the 

 lower zones of Lebanon. Lebanon, however, from its isolated position, 

 and the considerable height of its alpine summits, has a large and 

 exceedingly interesting flora, containing an unusually large proportion 

 of peculiar species. A noteworthy feature of its alpine region is the 

 almost complete absence of Arctic species. The warm period which 

 succeeded the cold has almost obliterated the glacial plants. Their 

 place has been taken by a highly specialized local flora. The flora of 

 western Palestine is closely allied to that of the foot hills of Lebanon, 

 but as we enter the Tih it becomes more and more similar to that of 

 Sinai and the Egyptian deserts, which is Arabian and north African. 

 The flora of Kurd Dagh does not differ very greatly from that of Ama- 

 nus. But that of the desert chains between Aleppo and Hems is rich 

 in peculiar species. There can be no doubt that further exploration 

 will result in many new discoveries in this little worked part of our 

 field. Antilebanon, while having much in common with Lebanon, has 

 a much poorer flora, and fewer distioctive plants. The chains of 

 Gilead and Moab differ markedly from those of western Palestine, and 

 every journey illustrates the botanical riches awaiting the explorer into 

 those little known regions. The flora of the Dead Sea chasm has a 

 number of immigrants from the tropical regions of India, Arabia, and 

 Ethiopia. That of the tablelands and plains contains a large number 

 of plants not found elsewhere in our district, but, for the most part, 

 widely disseminated over the same plains outside of our limits. 



' The very large number of species found in a country so limited is 

 to be accounted for by its microcosmic cliaracter. Within an area of 

 50,000 square miles is found a strip of sea coast, sharing the climatic 

 conditions of the Mediterranean littoral. The western range of hills 

 and mountains, receiving the air from the sea, saturated with moisture, 

 precipitates it in a rainfall of about 36 inches on the coast, and perhaps 



