Page:An Introduction to the Survey of Western Palestine.djvu/160

144 144 THE PLAINS OF THE JORDAN.

that is, through the Merj Ayun; and volcanic operations are presumed to be the cause of the formation of the ground which has diverted the river to the west.* It is therefore desirable to compare the height of the plain with that of the River Litany or Kasimiyeh, and with that of the Jordan in the Huleh Plain. The height of the Litany at Jisr Kardeli, the bridge below the Merj Ayun, is, according to Dr. de Forest, 700 feet. The waterparting between the River Litany and Merj 'Ayun is not observed, but farther south at Neby 'Aueidah, the Palestine Exploration Survey gives 2,814 feet. The range which divides Merj 'Ayun from the Hasbany River at Abl is 1,704 feet. North of Merj Ayun, where a single ridge divides the Litany from the Hasbany, between Kaukaba and the Burghuz bridge, the altitude is 2,300 feet. The altitude of the Huleh Plain is 140 feet, at the junction of all the streams which the Jordan carries into the Huleh Lake. A few more altitudes between the elbow of the Kasmiyeh and the Huleh are much wanted. For altitudes anterior to the Palestine Exploration Survey, see Van de Velde's "Memoir," 1858, and " Notes," 1865.

The Huleh Plain, Marsh, and Lake.

The total length of this low region is about 16 miles, and the width six miles. It is naturally divided into four distinct parts, namely (1) The Huleh Plain; (2) The marshes; (3) The Plain or Ard el Kheita ; (4) The Bahr, Baheiret, or Lake of Huleh.

The Huleh Plain extends from north to south between four and five miles, or about one-fourth of the total length. It is bounded on the west by the mountain range which divides the Jordan from the Kasimiyeh, including Jebel Hunin, with an altitude of 2,951 feet, at the north-west angle of the plain. On the east it has the south-western roots of Jebel esh Sheikh or Mount Hermon, with an altitude at the Castle of Banias or Kulat Subeibeh of 2,485 feet. The northern boundary consists of high ground between the eastern and western mountains, rising to heights of about 1,000 feet, and


 * " Palestine Exploration Survey Memoirs," Sheet ii.