Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/270

222 the night they had used up the last drop, and in the morning said they could not go on without a fresh supply, as there was no chance of water before Ismailia, and they did not know how long it would take to get in. They said they could find rain-water in Jebel Felleh. I, however, insisted on going on, and with some difficulty got the camels under way. Two of my Arabs had been lagging behind for some time, so one of the Arabs and myself went back and drove up the camels; the two Arabs were sulky and deserted; however, we got the camels all right. Pushing on through a blinding storm of sand over hill and valley, with only the compass to guide us, at 4 I saw Lake Tumah, and skirting the shore reached the ferry over the canal at dusk. I had some little difficulty in getting the party across the canal, and was not sorry when 1 reached comfortable quarters in Ismailia.

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The Wâdy 'Arabah extends from the head of the Gulf of 'Akabah to the south end of the Dead Sea, and is 112 miles long.

The width of the valley at the foot of the hills, from 'Akabah to near the lowest point of the watershed, averages about six miles.

A series of low ridges, called Er Risheh, of about 150 feet above the plain, run obliquely across the valley at this point, forming a length of ten miles. Opposite Mount Hor the valley widens out to thirteen miles, and gradually narrows in to six miles at the south end of the Dead Sea—the same width as that at 'Akabah. The sectional line is drawn from the Gulf at 'Akabah, through Wâdy 'Arabah, representing the lowest depression, to the southern end of the Dead Sea, and continued to the northern end, where the river Jordan enters, showing the depression of the Dead Sea, and that part of Wâdy 'Arabah below the sea level of the Gulf of 'Akabah.

The lowest point of the watershed (660 feet above Gulf of 'Akabah) is computed to be forty-five miles from 'Akabah, and twenty-nine miles farther north the sea level point is reached.

The sketch of the outline of the hills on the eastern side of the valley is given relative to the calculated heights as noted.

Those on the western side (not shown on section) range about 1,900 feet above sea level.

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