"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎٩] (٧٣٨/٢٣)

14
BOUNDARIES AND PHYSICAL SURVEY
The Maritime Range.
The Amanus or Giaur Dagh 1 is separated from the Anti-
Taurus range by the Jihan gorge. The most northern stretch,
in part, runs in a narrow strip along the verge of the central
depression and, to westward, it becomes broken mountain
country with lofty and partly isolated peaks. The chain
continues southward in several parallel lines, its average
alt. being some 3,000 ft., with bold and rugged peaks rising
to nearly 6,000 ft. S. of Beilan it sweeps SW. to the high
headland of Ras el-KhanzIr, then SE. to the Orontes gorge
which is its southern limit.
J. Ansariyeh extends from the Orontes gorge southward
to the N. el-Kebir. Unlike the remainder of this section,
the ridge of the most northern part, with J. el-Aqra‘,
alt. 5,800 ft., as its highest peak, lies near to the coast and
swings round the verge of the gorge, sending several long
watercourses eastward to the central depression. South of
this it resumes its normal formation, the ridge lying close to
the depression as far south as the region of Hama. Here the
mountain base spreads eastward, the slopes towards Homs
falling gradually and merging into the plain. The western
slopes throughout are more or less uniform, intersected by
deep wadis with a meagre amount of perennial water except
in the southern part where water is plentiful. The lower
western slopes are fronted by a line of lower hills the bases
of which sweep inland between Ladiqiyeh and Marqab and
again recede south of the latter place leaving broad stretches
of intervening plain. Compared with Lebanon the range is
lower, less rugged, and is more adaptable to cultivation. The
main ridge runs more or less continuous and there are several
high peaks, most of which lie slightly west of the watershed.
The Lebanon is the highest, most rugged and imposing part
of the whole maritime range. Its northern limit is the N. el-
Kebir (Tripoli) and its southern extremity is marked by the N.
1 This part of the range does not actually come within the scope of this
Handbook. It is described in detail in the Handbook of Asia Minor, Vol. iv.
Part 2,