abruptly from the flat country, which it commands to a vast distance on
both sides. The limestone of which it is composed is white, soft, and
fossiliferous; it detaches itself in enormous flakes from the
mountain-sides, which are sometimes broken into a succession of
gigantic steps, while occasionally they present the columnar appearance
of basalt. The flanks of the Sinjar are seamed with innumerable ravines,
and from these small brooks issue, which are soon dispersed by
irrigation, or absorbed in the thirsty plains. The sides of the mountain
are capable of being cultivated by means of terraces, and produce fair
crops of corn and excellent fruit; the top is often wooded with fruit
trees or forest-trees. Geographically, the Sinjar may be regarded as
the continuation of that range of hills which shuts in the Tigris on the
west, from Tekrit nearly to Mosul, and then leaving the river strikes
across the plain in a direction almost from east to west as far as the
town of Sinjar. Here the mountains change their course and bend to the
south-west, till having passed the little lake described above, they
somewhat suddenly subside, sinking from a high ridge into low undulating
hills, which pass to the south of the lake, and then disappear in the
plain altogether. According to some, the Sinjar here terminates; but
perhaps it is best to regard it as rising again in the Abd-el-aziz
hills, which, intervening between the Khabour and the Euphrates, run in
the same south-west direction from Arban to Zelabi. If this be accepted
as the true course of the Sinjar, we must view it as throwing out two
important spurs. One of these is near its eastern extremity, and runs to
the south-east, dividing the plain of Zerga from the great central
level. Like the main chain, it is of limestone; and, though low, has
several remarkable peaks which serve as landmarks from a vast distance.
The Arabs call it Kebritiyeh, or "the Sulphur range," from a sulphurous
spring which rises at its foot. The other spur is thrown out near the
western extremity, and runs towards the north-west, parallel to the