The Jordan Valley and Petra . re our trail led into it,we could distinctly see the small soldiers house onthe opposite side about four miles away. Lookingdownward we gazed into a yawning abyss, over half amile in depth. There are comparatively few placeswhere a trail could be safely constructed down itssides. We found the mail route the most directroad, and it turned out a fairly good road, but evenat that, the roughest trail in Switzerland would beeasy and smooth compared with it. The northern wall is not as rugged and steep asthe southern. In the former the limestone strataare almost perfect
The Jordan Valley and Petra . re our trail led into it,we could distinctly see the small soldiers house onthe opposite side about four miles away. Lookingdownward we gazed into a yawning abyss, over half amile in depth. There are comparatively few placeswhere a trail could be safely constructed down itssides. We found the mail route the most directroad, and it turned out a fairly good road, but evenat that, the roughest trail in Switzerland would beeasy and smooth compared with it. The northern wall is not as rugged and steep asthe southern. In the former the limestone strataare almost perfectly horizontal, and form a fineseries of benches, and consequently a very difificultslope. But as it is more exposed to the prevail-ing winds and storms, it has been more affected bythem. The southern side has not been exposed inthis way, and moreover is protected by a layer oflava some one hundred and fifty to two hundred feetthick. This is the first lava we have seen in situsince leaving Gadara. Another feature of the cliffs. 35 Oz 5 oo Madcba to Kcrak 307 of limestone surprised us. Many of the strata wecrossed, both descending^ into the valley and climb-ing out of it, were composed of solid flint. Thelayers were of all dimensions, some only an inch ortwo, while others were several feet thick. The Children of Israel crossed the valleys ofArnon, but we crossed the valley, at a pointjust west of where it divides, and hence made amuch deeper plunge. From where we stood wecould look across to the southern edge of the plateauand see our road leading southward, but to gainthat southern ed^e and to cover that air line, weclimbed down a road seven and a half miles inlength, descending about three thousand feet, andthen up a steeper slope for six miles, until ourbarometers again registered twenty-eight hundredfeet. In other words it means a drop of threethousand feet and an ascent of three thousand feet,a journey of five hours over a difficult road of thir-teen miles, to cross the cany
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