12 ANNUAL 
objects of the Expedition to determine the nature and mode 
of formation of this long line of depression, which, at the 
borders of the Dead Sea, descends to a depth of 1,292 feet, 
below the surface of the Mediterranean, as determined by the 
officers of the Ordnance Survey of Palestine.* 
The route taken by the Expedition may be briefly described 
as follows. On leaving Hgypt, we entered the “ Desert of 
Etham,” and took a southerly course from ‘ Moses’ Wells ” 
(Ayun Musa) by the Wady Gharandel (probably Elim of the 
Kxodus), after which we turned towards the eastward by the 
valleys Suwig, Nasb, Kamileh, and others, and finally camped _ 
by the Wady es Sheikh, near the base of Mount Sinai 
(Jebel Misa). Having ascended the Mount (from the summit 
of which, 7,373 feet above the sea-level, Colonel Kitchener 
made a series of triangulations), we recommenced our journey 
by the Wadies Zelegah and Hl Ain to Akabah (the Elim or 
Hlath of the Bible). Here we parted with our escort, the 
Arabs of the Towara tribe, and entered into a contract with 
the head sheikh of the Alowins for an escort and camels to con- 
duct us along the Arabah valley to the southern shore of the 
Dead Sead (Bahr Lit), On our way we had an opportunity 
of visiting the ancient city of Petra, and of ascending Mount 
Hor (Jebel Haroun), the altitude and geological structure of 
which we determined. After an encampment of eleven days 
at Hs Safieh, on the southern shore of the Dead Sea, and 
having made excursions into the Moabite mountains, we tra- 
versed southern Palestine, by Beersheba, to the coast at Gaza, 
where we had to undergo quarantine for five days. Then con- 
tinuing our journey to Jaffa by the coast road, we proceeded to 
Jerusalem, from which we made expeditions to. the Jordan 
Valley, Bethlehem and Solomon’s pools, and the gorge of 
the ‘Kedron at Mar Saba. Finally we took ship at Jaffa, and 
returned home by Beyrit, Cyprus, Smyrna, Constantinople, 
and the Danube route. he actual survey occupied a period 
of about nine weeks, of which six were done on camels, the 
remainder on horseback. 
Physical Featuwres-—-The region now described naturally 
separates itself into five districts, each contrasting with those 
adjoining in its features and geological structure. 
1. The first is the maritime district, stretching from the 
* Russegger made the level 1,341 feet, a very close approximation. The 
fact that the level of the Dead Sea is so far below that of the Mediterranean 
was first ascertained by H. von Schubert and Prof. Roth, in 1836. 
+ Deut. ii. 8. Ezion Geber probably stood near the head of the Gulf 
opposite Elath. 
