"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎١‎٨‎٩] (٧٣٨/٣٨٣)

372 LEBANON. ANTI-LEBANON. DAMASCUS PLAIN
horses are sent here for spring grazing. The crest of the
watershed, alt. 3,600 ft., lies, at this point, between the
channels of the Litani and the Orontes; the upper springs of
both rivers lie westward of Ba'albek, separated by a narrow
strip of rolling country. East of Ba‘albek are the copious
springs of Ras el-‘Ain and, high up in a valley of the lower
Anti-Lebanon, is ‘Ain Lujuj. North of the watershed the
plain is a partially cultivated stretch of slightly undulating
land. Opposite Lebweh a fine vale extends diagonally across
the whole plain from mountain to mountain ; farther N. the
surface commences to break into hard, sterile, parallel ridges
and swells strewn with basalt blocks intermingled with
limestone and flint.
In the midst of this barren tract lies the well-watered oasis
of Hermil. In the neighbourhood of Ribleh, alt. 1,740 ft.,
there is a sudden change to a tract of fine deep soil, well
cultivated and abundantly watered, which continues for two
or three miles. Plains of great fertility and beauty stretch
on every side, affording plentiful pasture for large flocks
whose Bedouin owners encamp along the low river banks.
Here access is easy from every direction and this, together
with abundant water and salubrious air, make the locality
most suitable for military encampments. Indeed the ancient
city of Ribleh, now entirely destroyed, was, in antiquity,
used as the head-quarters of large armies. Beyond this fertile
tract the stony and barren plain again commences, finally
merging into the fertile Homs plateau.
Metawileh villages are sparsely scattered about the plain
and western mountain slopes all the way between Ba‘albek
and Ribleh and there are numerous mounds similar to those
found throughout the plateau as far N. as Aleppo. Wild
ducks, herons, and storks are seen everywhere.
El-Biqd', the name often given to the whole plain,
strictly applies only to that part extending southward from
Zahleh to the parallel of Rasheya ; south of this the J. edh-
Dhahr ridge divides the depression into two parallel valleys.
In order to distinguish this plain from others so named, it is