south end of the Dead Sea.1 But from this point we were about to enter a new region, and follow along a portion of the great valley, (no very extensive one indeed,) into which until a few weeks before, the foot of no Frank traveller had ever penetrated. The former attractive hypothesis, which had been adopted after Burckhardt's discovery of this valley, viz. that the Jordan anciently flowed through its whole length quite to the Dead Sea, we knew to be no longer tenable. The sagacious doubts of Letronne upon this point, founded chiefly on the direction of the side valleys from the adjacent mountains, as laid down upon Laborde's map, had been speedily followed by the discovery of the depressed level of the Dead Sea; a fact in itself necessarily fatal to the hypothesis in question. All this was known to me before I left Europe.

2

3

We had further learned from Lord Prudhoe in Jerusalem, who had just before travelled from Suez direct to Wady Mûsa and thence to Hebron, that in crossing the 'Arabah, his guides of the Jehâlîn had repeatedly assured him, that its waters in the rainy season all flowed towards the north. Such too was the subsequent testimony of M. Bertou; and our own Arabs, both Jehâlin and Haweitât, had already confirmed the report. The main fact therefore of a descent of the valley towards the Dead Sea, was already established; but of the character of this descent we as yet knew nothing. There were besides various questions respecting the topography of the region, as connected with the approach of the Israelites to Palestine, which we were desirous to investigate; to say nothing of the wonders of Wady Mûsa, which ever since the first report of them by Burckhardt, had taken a strong hold of my imagination. It was therefore with a feeling of excited interest, that we now set our faces towards the south and bent our way along the Ghôr.

From this spot at the southwest corner of the sea, our Arabs pointed out a Wady called el-Jeib in the distant range of cliffs, along which they said our road would pass. We however could make out only a slight line of verdure; marking as we supposed a small Wady, by which we were to ascend to the higher level of the great valley further south. This point now bore about S. 15° W. somewhat east of the middle of the Ghôr;

Seetzen, and also Irby and Mangles and their party.

"This hypothesis seems first to have been suggested by Col. Leake, in his Preface to Burckhardt's Travels in Syria etc. Lond. 1822. 4. Letronne erroneously ascribes it to Ritter; for although the latter speaks of the valley, he says nothing of the Jordan; Erdkunde Th. II. pp. 217, 218. Berl. 1818. Letronne in Journal

des Savans, Oct. 1835. p. 596 sq. Nouv. Annales des Voyages, 1839, Tom III. p. 264.

See Letronne's paper in the Journal des Savans Oct. 1835, pp. 596-602. Nouv. Ann. des Voyages, ibid. p. 257 sq.The observations of Moore and Beke, and of Schubert, by which the depression of the Dead Sea was first detected, were made in March and April 1837.

but as the intervening tract of marshy land was impassable for the camels, we were compelled to keep along the western side of the Ghôr, and thus make a large circuit.

Leaving the corner of the sea, at 8 o'clock, we proceeded along the base of Usdum on a course at first southwest. The ground all along was moist and slippery, sticking to our shoes as we walked; and the naked tract on our left was full of salt drains, sluggish and dead. The mountain continued all the way to exhibit the same formation; but the salt is here less exposed than along the sea. Lumps of nitre were scattered along the base; of which we picked up several, one as large as the fist. We reached the southern end of the ridge at 9.25. Here and still further south, we saw drift wood lying in lines as thrown up by the sea; showing that the level of the lake must sometimes be not less than ten or fifteen feet higher than at present. In a few minutes we passed a purling rill of beautifully limpid. water, coming down from near the base of the mountain; it proved to be salt as the saltest brine, though without any bitter taste. Another similar rill occurred shortly after.

Where the ridge of Usdum thus terminates, the low cliffs and conical hills of marl, which we had seen behind it from the mouth of Wady ez-Zuweirah, come out again and skirt the western side of the Ghôr; the regular limestone mountains lying still an hour or two further back. This trending off of Úsdum of course again increases the breadth of the Ghôr, which is contracted at the extremity of the sea; although exclusive of the marl cliffs, it is here not so wide as at 'Ain Jidy. We now kept along at the side of these hills, on a general course nearly S. S. W. Ten minutes from the end of Usdum, a scattered vegetation again commences on this side of the Ghôr; of which there had been no trace along the whole extent of the mountain. The tract towards the middle still continued naked. Small Wadys now came in from among the low hills. At 9.40 a path was pointed out, leading up the western mountains at some distance south of Zuweirah; it is called Nükb el-Em'az, from the Wady of the same name further on. Two other roads

still further south were said to come down into the Ghôr, called el-Buweib and es-Suleisil; but they are merely Arab paths, not used by caravans. By them the Arabs Dhullâm and Sa'idiyeh descend from the west, to winter in the Ghôr and el-'Arabah.

A brackish fountain was on our right at 9.55, called 'Ain elBeida, with a few stunted palm trees and many canes. The stream which flowed from it was too salt for the camels to drink. At 10 o'clock the bed of a torrent, Wady el-Em'az, crossed our path, coming down from the western mountains; and beyond

1 Comp. Anderson's Report, p. 182.

it, water was springing up in several places, all included under the name el-Beida. Round about these wet spots are cane brakes. Indeed the tract watered by all these fountains, is covered with shrubs and bushes; but it exhibits nowhere arable soil, and was now in many places white with salt. The shrubs were chiefly the Retem, Tamarisk, Ghürküd, and the like. The Ghurkud was growing in abundance, as around other brackish fountains; its red berries were now just ripe, sweetish and yet slightly acidulous to the taste, very juicy and pleasant, and quite refreshing to the heated traveller."

Opposite to this part, the naked portion of the Ghôr seemed to end; and was succeeded by a broad tract of shrubs along the foot of the southern line of cliffs. Two or three large drains, apparently coming from Wadys, extended further up; one of which was on our left and nearly parallel to our course.

We were now approaching the southwest corner of the Ghôr, where the chalky hills on our right sweep round to meet the line of cliffs on the south, which separate the Ghôr and 'Arabah. These latter, as here seen, appear indeed merely as an extension of the former towards the southeast. As we advanced, the drain upon our left proved to be the continuation of a broad valley entering the Ghôr at its southwest corner, named Wady el-Fikreh. It comes from the southwest near a pass of the mountains called es-Sufâh; and its wide bed, strewed with stones and furrowed. with channels, shows that it occasionally brings down large masses of water. In this Wady, some hours above and not far north of the pass es-Sufâh, there was said to be a fountain of the same name, with palm trees. Crossing the bed of the Wady, we came at 11 o'clock to the precipitous cliff on its eastern side, which here forms the commencement of the line of cliffs running obliquely across the great valley.

We now turned in a general direction S. S. E. along the foot of the cliffs. They are of chalky earth, or indurated marl, of the same general character as the sides of the valley ez-Zuweirah, and the conical hills back of Usdum and along the western side of the Ghôr. They vary in height, in different parts, from fifty to one hundred and fifty feet. The face of the cliffs, though very steep, is not perpendicular; and they are much furrowed by the rains; so that the upper part presents a jagged appearance. All along their base are fountains of brackish water, oozing out. and forming a tract of marshy land, overgrown with canes intermingled with shrubs and trees. Tamarisks and the

1 See a description of the Ghurkŭd, Vol. I. p. 66. We saw this Wady higher up on our return, June 2d.

From this point the eastern angle of the ridge Usdum, at the southwestern corner of the sea, bore N. 38° E.

Nubk were frequent; and occasionally there was a stunted palm. With the exception of a few naked strips along brackish drains, the whole breadth of the Ghôr was here occupied with this species of verdure. Around these and all the other fountains we passed in the Ghôr, were many tracks of wild swine; they were said to abound in the region, though we saw none.

Our path lay along the very base of the cliffs, between them and the jungle, above the fountains, in order to avoid the marshy ground. One of the fountains, to which we came at 113 o'clock, sends forth a fine gushing stream of limpid water, very nearly pure, or at least only slightly brackish. A broad tract of jungle lies below. It is called 'Ain el-'Arûs, "the Bride's Fountain," and gives its name to all the others. Here we halted for nearly two hours, for rest, and in order to fill the water-skins for the day and night. We sought the shade of the bushes; but found the heat very oppressive; the thermometer standing at 92° F. Indeed we were now exposed to the full influence of the scorching climate of the Ghôr.'

Here we could see the Wady Ghŭrundel already mentioned, which comes down from the eastern mountains, and enters the Ghôr just at its southeast corner. It takes its name, according to our Arabs, from a ruined place called Ghüründel near its head. This was doubtless the ancient Arindela, an episcopal city of the Third Palestine, mentioned along with Areopolis and Charak Moab. The names of its bishops appear in the signatures of councils; and it is found still marked as a bishop's see in the latest Notitia before the time of the crusades.2 Both the site and the valley escaped the notice of Burckhardt, as he passed through the mountains. Irby and Mangles visited the site, but do not mention the valley. The ruins are situated on the slope of a hill near a spring of water, and are of considerable extent.3

While we rested at 'Ain el-'Arûs, our Haweitât took the opportunity of preparing a warm breakfast. They had brought along some flour, or rather meal, of wheat and barley filled with chaff; of which they now kneaded a round flat cake of some

The following bearings are from the fountain 'Ain el-'Arûs: Southeast angle of Usdum N. 20° E. Peak of the mountains of Moab near Khanzireh, N. 75° E. Wady et-Tafilch, month, S. 60° E. Wady Ghurundel, mouth, S. 35° E.

Reland Palæst. p. 581. Compare ibid. pp. 215, 217, 223, 226, 533. Le Quien Oriens Christ. III. p. 727.

' Irby and Mangles p. 876 [115], "Towards the centre of the ruins are the remains of two parallel rows of columns, of which three are standing in one row and

two in the other; their diameter is two feet; none have capitals. There are also near to this spot, fragments of columns of three feet diameter; the capitals appear to be bad Doric."-Burckhardt found only the southern Wady Ghŭrundel, beyond Wady Musa; but was the first to suggest the identity of this name with Arindela ; Travels p. 441. The northern Ghŭrundel was inserted on the map accompanying his work, from the information of Irby and Mangles.

thickness. This they threw into the ashes and coals of a fire they had kindled; and after due time, brought out a loaf of bread, as black on the outside as the coals themselves, and not much whiter within. After breaking it up small in a dish while still warm, they mixed with it some of the butter they had stolen, and thus made their meal. Such is the manner of life among these sons of the desert; though the butter was a luxury by no means common. On their journeys, coarse black unleavened bread is the Bedawy's usual fare.'

At 1.35, we were again upon the way, keeping still along the base of the cliffs on a general course S. S. E. but with many curves. At 2.10 there was a sort of angle in the line of cliffs; where they trend in general more towards the southeast, but yet with a hollow sweep towards the south. Their tops continued serrated and jagged, from the beds of little torrents coming down from the 'Arabah above. We crossed at 2.20 a Wady of this kind, of some size, called el-Kuseib.

At length at 2.50, we reached the opening of the long expected Wady el-Jeib, through which we were to ascend. To our surprise, it turned out to be, not the mere bed of a torrent descending from the higher plain of the 'Arabah, but a deep broad Wady issuing from the south upon the Ghôr, and coming down as far as the eye could reach between high precipitous cliffs, like those along which we had passed. It is indeed the vast drain of all the 'Arabah; which has thus worn for itself in the course of ages a huge channel, through the upper plain and the offset of cliffs, to the level of the Ghôr below.

We found here the peculiarity, that the eastern bank of this great Wady el-Jeib terminates nearly an hour further south; from which point the offset, or line of cliffs, then runs north of east to the eastern mountains at the mouth of Wady Ghurundel, leaving before us a wide open tract belonging to the Ghôr. The water-courses from the Wady come down across this tract, and pass on through a space without shrubs and trees to the marshy flats nearer the sea.

We now turned up along the western bank on a course S. S. W. and at 3 o'clock, were opposite the angle of the eastern

1 Burckhardt travelled from beyond Wady Musa across the western desert, with Haweitât apparently from the same tribe as ours. "The frugality of these Bedawîn," he says, "is without example; my companions, who walked at least five hours every day, supported themselves for four and twenty hours with a piece of dry black bread, of about a pound and a half weight, without any other kind of nourishment." Travels p. 439.

From the point where we now stood, viz. the western angle of the cliffs at the entrance of Wady el-Jeib, we took the following bearings: 'Ain el-'Arûs about N. 30° W. Southwest end of Usdum N. 15° W. Southeastern angle of Usdum at the corner of the sea, N. 15° E. Peak in the mountains of Moab N. 65° E. Wady etTuf'îleh, mouth, N. 85° E. Mouth of Wady Ghŭrundel and southeast corner of the Ghôr S. 40° E.