Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/82

56 to its junction with the Wâdy Biyar, when it bends to the east for several miles, and expands sometimes to upwards of a mile in breadth. The scenery along its course is striking. It is bounded by cliffs of coloured sandstone rising from 1,000 feet to 1,200 feet above the bed of the valley. The sides are often covered by enormous landslips, and by masses of rock brought down by the torrents; while small terraces of more ancient date, formed of alluvial material, are found in sheltered spots. The Cretaceous limestone, with numerous fossils, is continuous amongst the cliffs on either side; and as the dip of the formation corresponds very nearly with the fall of the valley, the same strata continue for long distances to form the boundary walls.

The floor of the W. Zelegah is decorated with dwarf shrubs and plants; and little groups of tamarisk are occasionally to be found, the tender fronds of which were eagerly devoured by our camels. Sometimes the ground is perfectly flat from side to side; and where sandy is covered by the circular or ear-shaped hills of the large black ant, and under many of the bushes the jerboa has its burrow-holes. These burrowings in the ground are dangerous both for horses and camels; and the camel of my son having placed his foot on one of these concealed holes it gave way, and the rider was sent flying over the camel’s head in my sight. I was much relieved when he got up, and pronounced himself unhurt.

The Wâdy el Biyar descends from the escarpment of the Tîh, and uniting with the Zelegah Valley they both change their name, and at a bend towards the north are known as the Wâdy el Ain, so called from the fine perennial spring which bursts forth near its head. The terraces of alluvial materials which rise about 50 feet above the present bed, both in the valleys of Zelegah and Biyar, indicate the existence at a former period of rivers and floods far more extensive in their operation than those of the present day. On Friday evening we camped at the entrance to the W. el Ain, having made 21 miles during the day. Our camp, near the entrnce to the Wâdy Mugrah, was about 3,000 feet above the waters of the Gulf of Akabah.

At about ten o’clock on Saturday morning, on turning a bend of the wide valley towards the east, we came in sight of the Jebel el Berg, a fine mountain, solitary and of quadrangular form, rising in our front to a height of about 2,000 feet above the plain. It is formed of horizontal courses of sandstone, and is accompanied by several minor heights of similar formation in outline, somewhat like the Egyptian Pyramids. The