two other places on the plateau of Jaulan. It runs through a fertile
country, and has generally a deep course far below the surface of the
plain; ere falling into the Jordan it makes its way through a wild
ravine, between rugged cliffs of basalt, which are in places upwards of
a hundred feet in height.

The Zurka, or Jabbok, is a stream of the same character with the
Hieromax, but of inferior dimensions and importance. It drains a
considerable portion of the land of Gilead, but has no very remote
sources, and in summer only carries water through a few miles of its
lower course. In winter, on the contrary, it is a roaring stream with a
strong current, and sometimes cannot be forded. The ravine through which
it flows is narrow, deep, and in some places wild. Throughout nearly
its whole course it is fringed by thickets of cane and oleander, while
above, its banks are clothed with forests of oak.

The Jordan receives the Hieromax about four or five miles below the
point where it issues from the Sea of Tiberias, and the Jabbok about
half-way between that lake and the Dead Sea. Augmented by these streams,
and others of less importance from the mountains on either side, it
becomes a river of considerable size, being opposite Beth-shan (Beisan)
140 feet wide, and three feet deep, and averaging, in its lower course,
a width of ninety with a depth of eight or nine feet. Its entire course,
from the fountain near Hasbeiya to the Dead Sea, including the passage
of the two lakes through which it flows, is, if we exclude meanders,
about 130, if we include them, 360 miles. It is calculated to pour into
the Dead Sea 6,090,000 tons of water daily.

Besides these rivers the Babylonian territory comprised a number of
important lakes. Of these some of the more eastern have been described