INTRODUCTION. 
viii 
lowest is best develo])e(l towards tlie western end of the lake, running parallel with and 
at a short distance from the northern shore ; this is composed of Ravine beds, Rirkct- 
el-Qurun series, and the lower part of the Qasr-el-Sagha beds. The Ravine beds are, 
for the most part, obscured by the overlying lacustrine deposits. The next main 
escarpment is seen rising very steeply in the middle distance ; it is composed of the 
higher beds of tlic Qasr-el-Sagha series. To the north of this, and separated from it 
by a succession of broad terraces some kilometres wide, is the magnificent range of 
cliffs, the Jebel-el-Qatrani, composed of the upper beds of the Fiuvio-marine (Upper 
N. 
S. 
VJidan el Far as. 
Summ 'itof Qasr e! Sagha Dime 
J clQatrani. , 35 :;g 
jfU I ' 
7 
Surface of ancient 
Lake Mafis, 27 aim. 
aboL>e firesent sea level. 
Birketel Qurun 
-^4 
Horizontal Scale ^ ^ ^ ^ tkilometres. HeighJLs in nxetres abo\ie sea level. 
Section (from north to south) showing the succession of beds on tlie north of Birket-el-QuTun. (Reduced 
from part of the section on pi. xxii. of H. J. L. Beadnell’s Report on the Topography and Geology of 
the Fayum Province : Survey Dept., Cairo, 1905.) 
a. Lacustrine clays; 2. Lower Oligoceue ; 3. Interbedded basalt sheet; 4. Tapper Eocene (Fiuvio-marine); 
5. Qasr-el-Sagha series ; 6. Birket-el-Qurun series ; 7. Ravine Beds. 
Eocene) series, and capped by a thick bed of basalt, which Mr. Beadnell regards as 
occiuTing at the junction of the Eocene and Oligocene beds. This upper range of 
cliffs practically marks the northern edge of the depression, and beyond it comes the 
high undulating plateau of brown pebble-strewn desert, composed mainly of fluviatile 
beds of Oligocene age, in which so far no vertebrate remains have been found. 
Throughout the whole series the beds dip very gently (2° or 3°) towards the north, and 
have been subjected to very little faulting or other disturbance. 
The following Table shows the succession of strata composing the country to the 
north of the lake, together with a list of the vertebrate remains at present known 
from the various horizons : — 
