"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎٢‎٠‎٥] (٧٣٨/٤١٥)

404 RIVER SYSTEMS OF NORTHERN SYRIA
the current is very rapid and the river, here about 5 ft. deep
(September), flows over a smooth limestone bed with low
muddy banks. About miles from the coast it widens out
into a small valley basin, across the lower part of which is
a ford which is dangerous except during the dry season ;
below this the only crossing is by the bridge l mile from the
sea. The lower and middle reaches and sometimes the whole
of this western stretch are named Nahr Qasimlyeh.
Passage through the gorge is for the most part impracticable,
the river often filling up the entire bed; paths down to the water
are steep and difficult. Except at a few places, the Litani
can only be crossed at the bridges: Jisr el-Qar‘un, El-Kuweh
(natural bridge near Yahmur), Jisr Burghuz, Jisr Khardeli, Jisr
Qa‘qa‘Iyeh, and the narrow bridge near its mouth. The chasm
in which the river flows often becomes invisible at a short
distance from its brink, particularly in parts between Belat and
Burghuz where, on account of the corresponding lateral undu
lation on either side, the country appears to be unbroken.
The river enters the sea 5J miles north of Tyre after a total
course of about 100 miles. The minimum volume of water
at its mouth is 50,000,000 galls, per 24 hrs. During summer
there is a bank of sand across its mouth.
All the waters at the mouth were the property of the State,
and in 1891 a concession was granted to a native syndicate
to dam the stream about 8 miles from the sea to irrigate
the coastal plain from Tyre to Sidon. Plans and estimates
were made but, although the scheme was practicable and
promised to be remunerative, it fell through and the water
power of the river remains practically unutilized.
Streams of the Western Slopes of Lebanon
Nahr ez-Zahardni .—Its most remote sources are around
Kefr Huneh, a village on the southern road from Jezzin to
Hasbeya. Neba‘ et-Tasi is said to be the chief source, and
from it the ancient water-supply to Sidon was taken by an
aqueduct, considerable remains of which still exist. Thence
the bed breaks down through the north-western base of