'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎439] (524/905)

CHAP. XVIII.J CLIMATE NEAR THE COAST.
439
being once peopled by the invaders, the recesses of the moun
tains westward of this line might long continue undisturbed.
No road traversed this part of the territory ; and whilst Epi-
phania, or Hamath the Great, and other places more eastward,
communicated with Assyria, Tedmor, Damascus, &c., the
deep valleys on the slopes of Mount Casius and the Amanus
were, in all probability, excluded from any such intercourse.
Therefore, it is not by any means improbable that these
Syrians may be the descendants of the most ancient inhabi
tants, whose manners have continued almost unchanged,
notwithstanding the revolutions produced by the wars of the
Arabians, Turks, and Christians; as well as by the influx of
the Kurdish,Turkoman, and other tribes.
The most genial of the three kinds of climate which are Temperature ^
experienced in the pashalik of Aleppo is that comprised within a
the alluvial plain of 'Umk and the adjoining coast from Is-
kenderun to the lower Orontes, including the valleys running
into the latter, among which are those of the greater and lesser
Kara Chai. This beautiful tract, in which the vine, the pome
granate, the bay, the oleander, and the myrtle are so luxuriant—
may be considered as having a mean elevation above the sea of
about 280 feet, and an average temperature of 65 or 66 degrees.
Although somewhat stony in certain places, the soil in gene- SoUand pro-
ral is a rich loam; and as the spring rains which succeed a
short but rather severe winter are immediately followed by a
considerable degree of heat, the country is singularly pro
ductive in fine silk, cotton, corn, fruits, and tobacco. Thun
der-storms, accompanied by heavy showers, occur now and then
during the summer months, and this part of the country is
likewise occasionally visited by earthquakes. The autumnal
rains commence in the beginning of November, 1 and continue
at intervals of three or four days, with frost occasionally, till
about the middle of January, when the snow falls 2 ; except,
however, on the Beilan mountains, the snow does not long
1 Heavy showers fell at Murad Pdsha between the 1st and 5th Nov., 1835.
—Journal of Mr. Fitzjames, R.N.
8 There was snow at Murad PdsM on the 5th of January, 1836, but rain
fell at intervals till after the 19th, when snow was general.