CHAPTER XIV.
MARCH FROM ES SAFIEH AND JEBEL USDUM.
The morning of Thursday, 27th December, saw our deliverance from the enforced captivity of The Ghôr. We were up before daybreak, for we knew that we had a long day's march before us, and much to see on the road. The baggage was distributed amongst the mules, and we selected our riding horses; and so well was everything done that by 8 a.m. we were in the saddle, and headed by Sheikh Seyd, as guide to the passage across the slimy plain, we were wending our way amongst the thickets of Es Safieh. We were a merry party; light of heart as boys leaving school for the holidays. Our cavalcade consisted of 30 horses and mules, the four camels which had come from Cairo, and were now to return through part of the way with us, and four mounted soldiers who had arrived by forced marches from Hebron during the night. We took farewell of Sheikh Seyd at the edge of the marsh, and bent our steps towards the foot of Jebel Usdum—that mysterious tabulated hill we had so often contemplated from the eastern side of The Ghôr.
Having halted for a litte, we commenced to examine the cliffs of Jebel Usdum, and to penetrate some of the caves which open into their sides. These caves give egress to the torrents which issue forth after rain, and along their walls the rock salt is constantly melting. Hart and Laurence scrambled up to the summit of the cliff, and for the first time the upper surface of this remarkable saliferous plateau was examined by a European.[1] The difficulties of both reaching and traversing its upper surface are considerable, owing to the holes and fissures by which the strata are penetrated. Mr. Hart informs me that the upper surface is composed of shales and marls with gypsum and selenite, much broken, and not consolidated. They do not at all resemble the limestone strata of the Cretaceo-nummulitic formation, of which the adjoining table-land is
- ↑ Tristram describes the face as "quite impracticable," "Land of Israel," p. 326; and Lartet speaks of it in similar language, "Voyage d'Exploration," vol. iii.
