"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [و‎‎٢‎٩‎٩] (٧٣٨/٦٠٢)

PHYSICAL FEATURES
591
Zerqa can hardly be classed as a river, though it may be so
described after heavy rains, when it runs rapidly and in great
volume : at such times it cannot be forded in its middle or
lower course. At most seasons it is a brook flowing over
a stony bed, and having, when seen from a distance, the grey
blue colour to which it owes its name. The valley is fertile
throughout, and is followed by a good track almost all the
way. Except in its narrowest parts there are fields and small
cultivated plains along its course, with numerous orchards
and gardens irrigated from ancient channels ; these are most
numerous above the fords to Jerash, and extend E. towards
Qakat ez-Zerqa, Much wheat is grown here, ground by mills
beside the stream ; the largest are found near the crossing of
the eastern road from ‘Amman, between the main Jerash
fords and Meshra‘ en-Nasraniyeh, and near Tulul ed-Dahab;
along this great wadi the traveller is hardly ever out of sight
of flocks and herds, or of tillage. From ‘Amman, down to
the westward bend near ‘Ain el-Jirm, the hills on both sides
are low and bare. The valley continues open and wide
down to a point below the Jerash fords, but the sides,
especially on the r. bank, now rise more steeply ; in the
lower part of this section trees are found upon the slopes.
Below the Jerash fords the valley contracts, and remains
narrow, for the next dozen miles to Tulul ed-Dahab, four
miles from the outlet into the Gh5r ; the width is now
sometimes as little as 100 yds., and the rock-formation being
chiefly sandstone, there are frequent landslips. But even
in these twelve miles, there are cultivated bottom-lands
at intervals, and a frequented track runs along the stream.
Between the outlet into the Ghor and the mouth, the banks
are lined with trees, shrubs and vegetation, and at the con
fluence with Jordan the stream runs out through dense thickets.
At this point N. ez-Zerqa is some 30 ft. across, less than a
quarter of the breadth of Jordan, though it has the more
rapid stream. In winter all the ground about the confluence
is flooded, forming a lake known as Wata‘at el-Khatalm.
At ‘Amman and Qal‘at ez-Zerqa the wadi is now crossed by