"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎٢‎٨‎٨] (٧٣٨/٥٨١)

570
HAURAN AND JAULAN
localities occupied by Circassians, but the labour required is
too great for extensive agriculture.
The southern section including the lower part of Ez-Za-
wiyeh el-Gharblyeh and all Ez-Zawiyeh esh-Sharqiyeh is free
of stones; extinct craters become less plentiful and in general
the country is smoother and much more cultivated ; the soil
is rich and brown similar to that throughout the Hauran, and
is capable of producing similar crops.
The extensive oak forests which at one time covered a great
part of the Jaulan plateau have now disappeared and only
small woods and isolated groups of trees remain.
Nahr Yarmulc .—Although this name is often given to the
whole wadi, it belongs more strictly to the northern tributary,
W. el-Ehreir (or ‘Iraq), the name Sherfet el-Menadhireh more
correctly describing the stream for the 25 miles or so between
the mouth of W. el-Ehreir and the Jordan (crowfly, 19 m.).
The three chief branches of the wide Yarmuk drainage-basin
come in close together, W. el-Ehreir from NNE., W. Zeizun
from E., and W. Shellaleh from S ; the confluence is com
manded by the hill Tell el-Jamid, with remains of massive
basalt walling on its oblong top, rising some 200 ft. immediately
west of Maqarim station on the 1. bank of the SheiTeh: the
area at the top is about 415 yds. by a maximum of 250 yds,
at the NE. end. The Yarmuk system extends E. to W.
between 60 and 70 miles as the crow flies, its upper branches
having a like range from N. to S. With such a catchment-
basin, the Sherfeh is especially liable to sudden floods, caused
by rains at a distance. Thus in May 1913, after unusual storms
in the western Hamad south of Hauran, the track crossing
the bridge at Maqarim at a height of 10 ft. above the stream,
which at this point is normally some 70 yds. wide at this
season, was submerged in a few hours, and all the lower ground
flooded. At its head the Sherl‘eh is 180 ft. above Mediterra
nean level, while at its confluence with Jordan it is 835 ft.
below, so that the total fall in about 25 miles is a round
thousand feet. . The water flows at great speed down the
narrow valley, sometimes hardly leaving space for a track