"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎٥‎٦] (٧٣٨/١١٧)

106
MINERALS, FLORA, AND FAUNA
lotus trees which have furnished much charcoal and, though
reduced, the supply is even yet not exhausted. The great
tableland known as the Syrian Desert or Hamad furnishes
pasturage for innumerable flocks and herds and supports a
large nomad population.
Of forests in the strictest sense of the term, there are few
of any importance in Syria, and, though a certain amount
of planting has been done, those which exist are steadily
diminishing in extent. In 1915, it was estimated that about
770,000 acres were covered by woodland. The chief wooded
areas are in the hills of northern and central Syria—on Jebel
Ansariyeh and the Lebanon—the greatest proportion being
found in the kazas of Beilan, Alexandretta, Antioch, and
Jisr; most of the trees are Aleppo pines. In the vilayet of
Damascus stunted oak-trees are prevalent (e.g. in the ‘Ajlun
district). In western Palestine, even small groves of trees, such
as those on Carmel and Mount Tabor, are rare. Extensive
plantations of eucalyptus trees, planted at Khudheireh by
the Jewish colonists about the year 1900, were cut down for
fuel and railway purposes during the war.
Fauna
The wild fauna of Syria and Palestine, in Bible times, was
probably more varied and included more of the larger wild
animals than are now to be found. It is probable that the
hippopotamus, the wild ass, and the lion were found in parts
of Syria in historic times. It is asserted that the crocodile
still exists in the marshy courses of the Nahr ez-Zerqa and the
Nahr Muqatta‘; but from early times the wild animals of
the more formidable kind were extirpated or driven back
into the deserts or remoter mountain districts. Of the larger
mammals, the grey Syrian bear still exists in small numbers
on the high peaks of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and even
in Upper Galilee and Mount Hermon ; the hunting leopard,
or cheetah, is occasionally met with throughout the wilder
forest and mountain regions ; the striped hyaena is not
uncommon in Galilee and is now and then met with in the