Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/175

Rh which was spread a deep covering of loam of a very fertile nature; while from time to time horizontal beds of white chalky limestone cropped out along the sides of the valleys. The district is extensively cultivated by the Terabhi Arabs, and by little parties of fellahin, who annually squat down for the season between sowing and reaping, living with their families in tents pitched in sheltered spots. Here the camel is largely used for ploughing, one camel being equal to two oxen, and the tall gaunt form of "the ship of the desert" might often be seen against the sky-line moving slowly along in front of the plough and the plougher. This was a kind of work at which some of us had not hitherto seen the camel employed. The extent of ground here cultivated, as well as all the way to Gaza, is immense, and the crops of wheat, barley, and maize must vastly exceed the requirements of the population. In fact, large quantities of agricultural produce raised in this jiart of Palestine are annually exported from Jaffa and other towns; and as we approach the western seaboard the cultivation improves, till about Gaza, El Medjel, and Jaffa, it attains a degree of excellence scarcely surpassed by that of Italy, France, or England.

We camped by the side of a running stream at the foot of Tel Abu Hareireh, on which is placed the tomb of the distinguished personage of that name. Our dragoman, Ibraham, who is a great authority on all matters connected with "the Prophet," informed me that Abu Hareireh was one of the "companions" of Mohammed, and a great scribe and commentator on the Koran. How he came to die, and be interred in this out-of-the-way spot, is a point on which my informant was unable to throw light. The spot, however, was of other interest to us, for here we came into contact with a new geological formation, hitherto, as I believe, unrecognised, but which occupies an extensive area stretching through the land of Philistia northwards to the base of Mount Carmel. This formation consists of rather hard yellow calcareous sandstone, traversed by joint planes similar to those of the limestone. I was unable anywhere to observe a junction between the two formations, but judging by the general position of the strata throughout this part of Palestine, there can be little doubt that the sandstone is newer than the limestone of the central plateau, which dips towards the west and passes below the sandstone in the direction of the Mediterranean sea-board. (See Geological Map.)

In the position and relations of these two sets of strata, we have, as it