n 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
in a former volume: as the Bahr-i-Nedjif in Lower Chaldsea, and the Lake
of Khatouniyeh in the tract between the Sinjar and the Khabour. It was
chiefly, however, towards the west that sheets of water abounded: the
principal of these were the Sabakhah, the Bahr-el-Melak, and the Lake
of Antioch in Upper Syria; the Bahr-el-Kades, or Lake of Hems, in the
central region; and the Damascus lakes, the Lake of Merom, the Sea of
Galilee or Tiberias, and the Dead Sea, in the regions lying furthest to
the south. Of these the greater number were salt, and of little value,
except as furnishing the salt of commerce; but four--the Lake of
Antioch, the Bahr-el-Kades, the Lake Merom, and the Sea of Galilee-were
fresh-water basins lying upon the courses of streams which ran through
them; and these not only diversified the scenery by their clear bright
aspect, but were of considerable value to the inhabitants, as furnishing
them with many excellent sorts of fish.

Of the salt lakes the most eastern was the Sabakhah. This is a basin of
long and narrow form, lying on and just below the 36th parallel. It
is situated on the southern route from Balis to Aleppo, and is nearly
equally distant between the two places. Its length is from twelve to
thirteen miles; and its width, where it is broadest, is about five
miles. It receives from the north the waters of the Nahr-el-Dhahab, or
"Golden River" (which has by some been identified with the Daradax of
Xenophon), and from the west two or three insignificant streams, which
empty themselves into its western extremity. The lake produces a large
quantity of salt, especially after wet seasons, which is collected and
sold by the inhabitants of the surrounding country.

The Bahr-el-Molak, the lake which absorbs the Koweik, or river of
Aleppo, is less than twenty miles distant from Lake Sabakhah, which it
very much resembles in its general character. Its ordinary length is
about nine miles, and its width three or four; but in winter it is
greatly swollen by the rains, and at that time it spreads out so widely
that its circumference