PHYSICAL CONDITIONS Oi' THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN. 119 



the Jordan-Arabah basin and those of the Mediterranean, 

 and the fauna Avould have had a means of spreading itself 

 throughout the whole system of Avaterways. 



There is of course a little uncertainty as to the exact time 

 when the waters of the Jordanic basin reached their highest 

 level. In the memoir above referred to I have assumed that 

 this took place during the Pluvial Period, which may be re- 

 garded as including the Glacial Epoch, but the filling up of the 

 Jordan valley with water may have commenced at an earlier 

 .stage, namely, the Pliocene, concurrent Avith the general 

 elevation of the Mediterranean area, when the rainfall must 

 necessarily have been augmented and the decreased tempera- 

 ture Avuuld have resulted in diminished evaporation. It 

 may be desirable that I should give some description of the 

 Plain of Esdraelon, through Avhich it seems probable that 

 the physical connection of the outer and inner waters was 

 carried out. 



Jhe Plain of Esdraelon. — When we examine an orographi- 

 cal map of Palestine, we observe that the central table-land 

 extending from the Sinaitic Peninsula by Hebron, Bethlehem, 

 Jerusalem and Nablus (Sichem) breaks down along the 

 northern base of Carmel, Avhich rises above tlie southern 

 .shore of the Bay of Acre (Haifa) on the Mediterranean coast. 

 From this bay stretches the rich plain of Esdraelon, com- 

 posed of deep alluvial material,* and it gradually aiscends 

 inland toAvards the margin of the Jordan depression till it 

 reaches a level of about 150 or l(oO feet above the Mediter- 

 ranean .f It is drained by the Kislion, Avhicli floAvs AvestAvard 

 into the Mediterranean ; but at least tAvo streams rising 

 along the summit-level, namely, the Nahr el Bin-eh and the 

 Nahr el Jalud, floAv in the opposite direction into the Jordan. 

 The sources of these respective streams are not far from each 

 other, and AA'ere the Jordan basin filled Tip to the brim, as Ave 

 have reason to belicA^e Avas the case in late Tertiary times, it 

 might Avell have become a tributary of the Mediterranean 

 through a primeA^al Kishon. Through such a channel we 

 may infer the Nilonic fishes, crocodiles and other forms inay 

 have found tlieir Avay into the Jordan basin, connected as 

 the tAvo river systems Avere by the great freshwater lake 

 which occupied the Levantine basin of the Mediterranean. 



* The railroad to Damascus uo\v in course of construction passes over 

 this plain. 



t As I am informed by Mr. G. Armstrong of the Palestine Survey. 



