"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [و‎‎٢‎١‎٢] (٧٣٨/٤٢٨)

THE LEBANON AND ANTI-LEBANON
417
of which are utilized for turning a mill and for irrigation.
Thence it runs through a narrow neck into a deep gorge
and then bursts through a fissure in a cliff into a wide plain
surrounded by steep slopes. This basin is covered with
luxuriant fruit gardens and, after winding through it, the
stream enters another wild gorge in which it is carried across
the undulating plain of Es-Sahra, the little valleys of which
are filled with orchards of figs. Continuing in a general south
easterly direction, the channel cuts through several ridges
and is then joined on the 1. by N. Menin, below the village of
Ma c raba, perched on a rocky acclivity overlooking the valley.
N. Menin rises at the edge of a vast amphitheatre of moun
tains for min g a basin from which ravines divided by lofty
ridges of naked rock radiate in all directions. In the centre of
the basin is the village of Menin, around the southern side
of which the stream sweeps through a fringe of poplars and
other trees. Thence the channel lies in a defile which opens
out into a valley of great depth, the bed being covered with
luxuriant foliage and the rocky sides rising up naked, smooth,
and white. Passing the village of Et-Tell, the torrent plunges
down a rocky bed fringed with walnut and poplar-trees to its
junction with N. Helbun.
The trunk, now a fairly large stream named N. Ma‘raba,
flows through open country with swelling hills intersected
by wooded valleys. It then breaks through by a chasm at
the north-eastern end of J. Qasyun and runs in a tortuous
and rapidly falling bed between grey limestone rocks piled up
in huge masses. After watering the village and luxuriant
gardens of Berzeh, the stream emerges upon the Damascus
plain where it is entirely utilized for irrigation. The course
of the river from Helbun to Berzeh is roughly parallel with
the Barada.
Irrigation Systems of the Damascus Plain
Besides the Barada and the Ma £ raba, there are several
small perennial streams falling to the plain, many springs in
the plain itself, and extensive systems of canalization.
SYRIA d d