Page:An Introduction to the Survey of Western Palestine.djvu/49

33 NAHR EL MEFJIR AND MERJ EL GHtillftK. 33

basin joins the basin of the Jordan, and continues with it up to Ras el 'Akra (alt. 2,230 feet), a further distance of six miles. At Eas el 'Akra, it is diverted from the basin of the Jordan by the remarkable inland basin of Merj el Ghuruk, forming a parallelogram with an area of about 30 square miles, without any outlet. The Merj is enclosed on three sides by the Mefjir basin, which again comes in contact with the waterparting of the Jordan for about two miles, north of Yasid. The area now known to be covered by the Mefjir basin has ^been hitherto wrongly divided between the basins of Nahr Falik, now reduced to very narrow limits, Nahr Abu Zabura, and Nahr Akhdar.

The main channel of Nahr el Mefjir descends from the Jordan waterparting between Tannin and Ras el 'Akra. It is there called Wady es Selhab, and by that name it passes Kubatieh, and the Plains of Dothan and 'Arrabeh. It passes from the western end of the Plain of 'Arrabeh in a southerly direction, till it receives a stream from the village of 'Arrabeh, when it turns westward with a winding course, and takes the name of Wady el Ghamik. Here it receives several small branches from the range east of Saida, and is diverted to the north, and soon again to the west, taking the name of Wady Abu Nar, and skirting a group of hamlets bearing the generic name of Nuzlet ; as Nuzlet esh Sherkiyeh, Nuzlet el Wasta, Nuzlet et Tinat, and the Nuzlet el Masfy is not far off. The Wady Abu Nar enters the Plain of Sharon, between Jett and Baka, and joins the Wady el Maleh, near el Mejdel. After the junction the Maleh proceeds north-westward, and becomes a permanent stream in Wady el Khudeirah and Nahr el Mefjir.

The Wady el Maleh is also the recipient of Wady er Roz, which skirts the southern waterparting. This Wady rises at Yasid (alt. 2,340 feet) between the waterpartings of the Jordan, Merj el Ghuruk and Nahr Iskanderuneh, and bears the name of Wady Abu Kaslan. It passes the northern foot of the Sheikh Beiazid Mountains on which the villages of Jeba, Fendakumieh, Silet edh Dhater, and 'Attara are situated at altitudes between 1,200 and 1,573 feet. Near 'Attara