Page:An Introduction to the Survey of Western Palestine.djvu/230

214 214 THE MOUNTAINS OF LOWER GALILEE.

Kaukab el Hawa on this side and on the side of the Ghor. Further to the west the descent from the range takes place through the two parallel terraces or troughs, the uppermost being Wady Dabu, and the next lower being Wady Yebla and Wady el Hokttyeh, below which succeeds the third parallel still lower, in Wady Kharrar and 'Esh-sheh. The lowest of this parallel series is Nahr Jalud. Beyond the Wady el Hoktiyeh, that line of valley is prolonged westward, over a saddle, to branches of Wady es Sidr, leading up to Kh.

As a conclusion to this introduction to the new Survey of Lower Galilee, a general view of its river basins, Lowlands, and Uplands, may be taken. Two great basins divide its Mediterranean watershed, the Nahr N'amein and the Mukutt'a. Six tributary basins drain the Jordan slope, namely, Wady Eubudiyeh, Wady el Hamam, Wady Abu el 'Amis, Wady Eejjas, Wady el Bireh, and Wady el 'Esh-sheh, besides Wady 'Amud and the Nahr Jalud on the northern and southern borders. The lowlands of the Mediterranean slope are all embraced in the great plains of Acre and Esdraelon with the offsets of the latter including Buttauf and Toran. On the side of the Jordan, is the Ghuweir or Plain of Genessaret, the narrow strand of Tiberias, and the Ghor of the Jordan. The uplands are formed of four symmetrical ranges, of which the summits in particular are curvilinear and parallel. These are the Northern or Shaghur, the Toran, the Nazareth, and the Jebel Duhy Eanges. The confronted slopes between these ranges, sometimes combine to form upland plains, like the Plain of Rameh, the Plain of Arrabeh, the Plain of 'Ahma, the Plateau of Sh'arah, and the Plateau of the 'Esh-sheh. Beautiful woodlands deck the scenery of the south-western slopes. Broad and open downs, bare and monotonous, even when rocky, meet the wearied eye on the south-east. In the north-east, Dr. Thomson describes the scenery between the Plain of Rameh and the head of Wady er Rubudiyeh as " exquisitely beautiful."