Page:An Introduction to the Survey of Western Palestine.djvu/149

133 THE PLAIN OF SHARON. 133

giving the plain a width of eight miles at Csesarea. About six miles further south the width is ten miles, and towards Jaffa it extends to eleven and twelve miles.

The foot of the highland on the east is well defined all along the plain, for although the slope of the plain gradually approaches towards 200 feet above the sea, the hills rise sharply from it to 300 and 400 feet. Within four or five miles, altitudes exceeding 1,000 feet occur throughout the range, and further back the heights frequently rise above 3,000 feet. The foot of the highland is also generally marked either by the high road, or by another parallel to it.

The plain is by no means uniformly level, for blocks and ranges of low hills occur over a large extent of it. Some are well wooded, and there is quite a forest of oaks in the northern part near Kerkur. The low range along the coast which has been traced to Csesarea, continues to Jaffa ; and the line of hills in the narrow part of the plain north of Caesarea, may also be traced southward to the same extent, in a much less elevated and less prominent shape.

Between Nahr Iskanderuneh and Nahr el 'Auja, there is a considerable cluster of hills about 20 miles in length, and from five to eight miles wide. Only their outer slopes con- tribute to the aforesaid rivers, which are here permanent. The interior constitutes a distinct basin drained by Nahr el Falik, which, previous to this survey, was supposed to extend far back into the mountains. The highest summit of these hills seems to be at Deir Asfin (alt. 302 feet), near which a saddle connects them with the eastern highland, and forms a portion of the waterparting between the basins of El 'Auja and Iskanderuneh. These Falik Hills are separated from the eastern highland by the Valley of Kulunsaweh on the north of the saddle, and by the Wady Kalkilieh on the south, and through both a high road passes from Jaffa to the north.

Another isolated mass occurs on the south of Nahr el 'Auja, and rises close to the gardens on the east of Jaffa. Its summit is named Dhahr Selmeh (alt. 275 feet), and it extends eastward for seven or eight miles, with traces of an ancient forest in that direction.

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