"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎١‎٨‎٤] (٧٣٨/٣٧٣)

362 LEBANON, ANTI-LEBANON, DAMASCUS PLAIN
has been much faster than at Tripoli. Between Has Beirut
and Ras ed-Damur the shore is sandy and nearly straight, and
a rich well-cultivated plain with olive-trees spreads out to the
foot-hills which rise abruptly. Blown sand has encroached
very seriously on the southern side of the ras and, in the
seventeenth century, the famous pines of Beirut were planted
against this encroachment.
From Ras ed-Damur to Ras Jedra the beach is sandy
and beyond it becomes rocky and'barren to Ras Rumeileh;
thence it is again sandy for 7 miles S. of Saida. Ras
Sarafend is a double-headed bluff with a small islet; a narrow
plain skirts the coast on both sides of this headland, the hills
rising from 400 to 500 ft. high. Between Saida and the
Nahr Qasimlyeh is the plain of Abu el-Aswad nowhere more
than 2 miles wide, except at Saida where the mountains
recede. The surface of this plain is undulating, and the
soil is black and fertile.
Relief .—^Maintaining the characteristic formation of the
Syrian coastal range, the main Lebanon ridge lies close over
the eastern base. There the slopes in general are therefore
short, falling precipitously to the great central depression.
North of Zahleh, however, the base spreads eastward and the
slopes become longer and less steep, finally merging into
the low hill-country opposite Homs. The chief and, in fact,
the only important aspect is, accordingly, the salubrious and
well-watered maritime slopes and spurs which constitute the
bulk of the mountain area. In general the northern part of
the chain is less fertile than the southern part, a peculiarity
which occurs also in the central depression and in a much more
marked degree in the parallel system of Anti-Lebanon.
The main ridge is practically continuous. The most north
ern section is named J. ‘Akkar, the highest peak of which
is 6,980 ft. ; its northern slopes fall to the great divide
between the Lebanon and Ansariyeh ranges, see p. 331.
From the eastern flank of this ridge the great W. Khalid
bends northward, carrying the upper waters of N. el-Keblr
over steep declivities to the basin of El-Buqekah, see