0\ Tllli i^UnVKY OV KASTERN PALESTINE. 



277 



autlior " 

 )ao iuul 

 lie pi'O- 

 I'im'ipul 

 il(>s and 



tlioritf, 

 )ab ; aiul 

 ti lavgtly 



near I'ls 

 thov was; 



ons age. 



vovionsly 



(louvuk'il 



;i-ata Nvevc 



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 ir Lilt) at 



oy ctmtaiu 

 (is of inavl 

 it stnita iu 

 lope ilown- 

 irated willi 



iitcvs ol" tlu^ 

 ei- the land 

 utcr waters 



ivso i^Tavcl 

 10 AVaily, el 



coiivietinii 

 fry dill'ei'L'iU 

 veil by l^i'' 

 tlio \\M^y 

 sab, Ibimi. 

 at a pwiou i 

 cd ainong^i 



>o cf»-l)SOOUS 

 ^J I 1 



1 bed;5, awl 



m" of tlu 



llnaitic lakcf 

 Itbc I'ved Se;i 

 Ijnscqnciitly. 



Itioii. 'I'lf 

 abuutlii"*'}' 



cfear in llic occarvouoo of raised beaches or sea beds with shells, corals, 

 and ciiiidids of species still living in the adjoining waters. The raised 

 beaciies of th(? Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts have been observed by 

 l!ic oilicers of the Ordnance Survey, and by Fraas, Lartct, Schweinfurtli, 

 Pdst, and others. Tliey were ob.served by tlie author at the southern 

 extremity of tlie Wady el Arabah, and shells and corals were found round 

 tlie camp of l)ceeinl)er o at an elevation of about loO feet above the Gulf 

 <if .Vkabah. 



' Tliese ancient sea beds arc represented in the Egyptiai: area by the 

 (ill! i'oa.>^t-line of 2'2() feet, discovered by Fraas along tlie flanks of th's 

 .Mokiiltaui Hills above Cairo, and recently d(^s^'ribed by Scliweinfurth.' 

 The period in vvhieli tlie sea ro.se to this level may be stated in general 

 terms as the I'linceno, but it continued downwards till more recent times; 

 and tiie author beHevcs that at tlie time of the l'i.\odus the Gulf of Suez 

 reached as fai' as the Great Bitter ijake,- a view in which lie is supported 

 hy l'rinci|ial Sir \V. Dawson. It is scarcely necessary to ob.servo thatr 

 tln'ou^h the longer portion ol' this period of submergence Africa was dis- 

 connected fi'om Asia. 



' S. The Pliocene ])eriod is not re|n'esented bv any strata throughout the 

 district traversed liy the expedition. The author considers that in this 

 part of the world the Pliocene ])eriod wiis one of elevation, disturbance, 

 and denudation of strata, not of accumulation. To this epoch he refers 

 the emergence of the whole of the Palestine, and of the greater jiait of the 

 Siuaitic area from the sea, in wliich the cretaceo-nummuliiic limestone 

 formations were deposited. 'J"o this epoch also he considers the faulting 

 and llexuring of the strata is chielly referable ; and notal)ly the forma.tion 

 of the great Jordanic line of fault, with its branches aiul accompanying 

 flexures in the strata — which are very remai'kable along the \vestern sides 

 of the Glior. These ])henomena were accompanied and followed by 

 extensive denudation, and the production of many of the principal physical 

 features of the region referred to. 



•'.'. The evidences of a Pluvial period throughout this I'egion arc to be 

 found ((() in the remains of ancient lake beds, (h) in the existence of 

 terraces in the river valleys, (c) in the great size and depth of many 

 valleys and gorges, now waterless except after severe thunderstorms, and 

 (') in the vastly greater size of the Salt Sea (or Dead Sea), which must 

 have had a length of nearly 2()0 English miles from n(U'th to south at the 

 time when its surface was at a higher level than that of the ]Mediterranean 

 at the present day. Th(> author considers that this Pluvial period 

 cxteiided from the Pliocenj through the post-Pliocene (or Glacial) down 

 to ri'cent times. As it is known, from the observations of Sir J. J). 

 Uookei', Canon Tristram, and others, that ])erenuial snow and glaciers 

 existed iu the Lebanon durin<r the Glacial epocli, the author iid'ers that 

 the adjoining districts to the south of the Li-hanon must have had a 

 flimale approaching that of the British Isles at tlu; present day; and 

 that, ill a region of which ninny parts are over 2,UtMJ feet in elevation, 

 there must have been abundant rainfall. Even Vtlien the snows and 

 I'laeiers of the Lebanon had disappeared, the elYects of the colder climate 

 which- was passing away must have reniain(>d for some time, and the 

 vegetation must have been more liixuriiint down to within the epoch of 



' I I'lirr I r //ft)/. Schii'kfenglifdcrinni 'I. Malattdin hci (''tb\> : /'r'tt itch . d, Dvtit.gcol. 



(itSi'll. "iSSIt. 



■ (,h'iirf(r/i/ Stiilciiuiif, April 1S8I. 



