Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/64

38 flanks of Jebel Wûtah to those of J. Hammân Faroûn. I do not here propose to enter further into the details connected with these ancient lake-basins than to say that the lakes probably occupied these hollows amongst the limestone hills at a time when the land was depressed several hundred feet below its present position, and when the waters of the sea rose to a level somewhat corresponding to the outlets of the inland waters. Owing to this the waters were banked up; and we can conceive that, upon the gradual rise of the land, the outlets would deepen their channels, and ultimately the lakes would be drained. The large quantity of gypsum and selenite in these lacustrine deposits indicates, probably, that the waters of the lakes were unfit for the support of molluscous forms of life, of which I could find no traces in the deposits themselves.

Similar terraces have been noticed by Sir Charles Wilson in other parts of the peninsula; and Dr. G. E. Post calls my attention to his determination of lacustrine deposits in the W. Feirân and extending into the W. Solâf for a distance of a whole day's journey.

Having crossed the plain at the head of W. Useit we encamped for our noonday meal at W. Saal, near the base of Serabit el Jemel. A brook ran through the valley, and some small palms and tamarisks greeted our eyes. After the hot ride and march we were thankful to lie down in the shade of our tent and partake of a good luncheon—

The palm-tree in the desert is always a sign of moisture, and when met with is an object of interest and beauty. I asked our dragoman, Ibraham, whether Arabs ever cut down palm-trees. He replied "No, but they are sometimes blown down by storms, or swept away by floods."

"Do they ever plant them?" I asked.

"Yes; they put seed into moist places, let the plants grow two or three years, then take them up and transplant them. This is necessary, for they will not bear fruit unless they are transplanted. After the fifth year they bear fruit."