It has been more or less rained upon, searched by
earthquakes here and there, partially overflowed by lava
streams, slowly raised (relatively to the sea-level) a few
hundred feet. But there is not a shadow of ground for supposing
that, throughout all this time, terrestrial animals have ceased
to inhabit a large part of its surface; or that, in many parts,
they have been, in any respect, incommoded by the changes which
have taken place.
The evidence of the general stability of the physical conditions
of Western Asia, which is furnished by Palestine and by the
Euphrates Valley, is only fortified if we extend our view
northwards to the Black Sea and the Caspian. The Caspian is a
sort of magnified replica of the Dead Sea. The bottom of the
deepest part of this vast inland mere is about 3000 feet below
the level of the Mediterranean, while its surface is lower by 85
feet. At present, it is separated, on the west, by wide spaces
of dry land from the Black Sea, which has the same height as the
Mediterranean; and, on the east, from the Aral, 138 feet above
that level. The waters of the Black Sea, now in communication
with the Mediterranean by the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, are
salt, but become brackish northwards, where the rivers of the
steppes pour in a great volume of fresh water.
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