of Edinburgh, Session 1879-80. 381 
that the effects of mirage rendered these observations untrustworthy 
at a distance of more than about six miles from the station. The 
sacred tombs, solitary trees, village towers, and other conspicuous 
landmarks were fixed by the intersection of the various angular 
directions thus observed, and these served as secondary points in 
the work which next followed. 
The trigonometrical observations were calculated in camp and laid 
down on rough sheets. Tracings were then prepared for each of the 
surveyors, and the district surrounding the camp subdivided. Each 
surveyor, accompanied by a local guide, then proceeded to fill in the 
detail of the sheets with the aid of the prismatic compass and the 
names of the various features were carefully collected from the guides, 
and verified as far as possible by reference to independent witnesses. 
The detail which was shown may he seen on the lithographed 
sheets. It includes towns and villages, ruined sites and isolated 
buildings, springs, wells, cisterns and aqueducts, enclosures and 
roads, all the principal isolated trees, and the cultivation or natural 
growth of the country, rock-cut tombs, vineyard towers, wine 
presses, and other traces of ancient cultivation, as well as the dry 
torrent beds and perennial streams which form the natural, 
boundaries of the ancient divisions of Palestine. 
The collection of the names was one of the most delicate and im- 
portant parts of the work. It is well known that the nomenclature 
of Palestine, so far at least as the sites of towns and villages are con- 
cerned, has remained almost unchanged from a very remote period. 
The reasons for this preservation of the Hebrew nomen clatnre 
will be mentioned later ; but it may be noted that one of the original 
objects for which the survey was undertaken, was that of collecting 
ancient names hitherto unknown, for the purpose of assisting in the 
identification of biblical sites, especially in those districts of the 
country previously almost unexplored. 
In order to secure the correct orthography of the nomenclature a 
native scribe was attached to the party, and in order to secure the 
correct application of the names it was made a rule only to inquire 
on the very spot. The site being thus ascertained, the correct pro- 
nunciation was obtained on the evening of the same day from the 
local guide on the return of the surveyor, and was written down by 
the scribe. 10,000 names were thus collected in 6000 square 
