l'he northern portion of the Hilly Region is an undulating country on large scale. The limestone soil absorbs all moisture, and there are so watercourses. The country however is rather fertile, and yields ;ood crops of wheat and other grain, and cotton of excellent quality. Xs the hills thero are plantations of fig-trees and olive-trees.
4. The Eastern Plains occupy about two-thirds of the surface of gorthern Syria, and extend from the Hilly Region to the banks of she Euphrates. They are divided into two parts by a ridge of low Sills the western part of which is called Jebel-el-Sie and the eastern Jebel-el-Has. This ridge is near 35° 50'N. lat., and appears to extend From the hills north-west of Hanish to the vicinity of the Euphrates. The southern part of the plain contains in the west large tracts of ;ood soil, which cauuot be cultivated for want of water ; towards the east it gradually passes into a desert, which is divided from the Euphrates by a wooded tract several miles wide, and called El-Zawl, or Gharabat.
The northern part of the plain is of a different description. It is traversed by three rivers, two of which rise on the southern declivity of Alma Dagh, and run southward. The river Sajur drains the north-eastern portion of the plain. It rises north of the town of AIntab, brings down a great volume of water from the mountains, and falls into the Euphrates about 20 miles below Bir, after a course of about SO miles. The Kotcaik, or Koik, also called the River of Aleppo, rises in one of the great offsets of the Alma Dagh, and runs with numerous windings through the plain southward, until, in approaching the Jebel-el-Has, it is lost in swampy ground, called El.Matkh. The third river, called Zehcb, or Duhab, rises in a ridge of hills which run west and east, and terminate on the banks of the Euphrates south of the mouth of the Sajur. These hills compel the last-mentioned river to join the Euphrates. The Zeheb runs southward, and after a course of about 40 mike falls into a salt lake called EI-Sabkh, which is sur rounded by low rocky hills. The lake is about 6 miles long and 2 miles wide. After the rains it inundates the narrow strip of land which in summer its banks and the rocks; and when the water has been evaporated by the heat of the summer this narrow strip is covered with pure salt, in some places two inches thick. This
salt is collected in the mouth of August, and extensively used over a great part of Syria. The surface of the plain is far from being level Short ridges of low hills occur at several places, especially near Aleppo, the plain of that town being indorsed by such ridges on three aides. When the plain extends in a level, or in alight undulations, as is mostly the case, isolated hills, calledtells ' which some consider to be artificial, are frequent. In their neighbourhood there are wells and villages. East and south of Aleppo the soil of the plain is very stony. West and south-west of Aleppo the soil is better, especially in the neigbbourhOod of the hilly range, where it yields abundant crops of wheat and other grain. To the north-west and north of Aleppu the soil is indeed stony, but the earth is deeper, and cultivation is rather extensive. The beat part of the plain appears to be that which is contiguous to the road leading from Aleppo to Ahitab. Theau plains are about 1000 feet above the sea-level, except near the Euphrates. Between Aleppo and ATutab the au: face of the Kowaik, at Toybeck, is 1263 feet above the Mediterranean ; and that of tiro Sajur, farther east, 1363 feet. The Euphrates, below Bir, is only 623 feet above that sea.
In the plains the winter lasts from the 12th of December to the 20th of January. There is generally some slight front; snow sold= rests more than one day on the ground. In February the vegetation is vigorous, and the trees are in blossom ; but the spring soon passes, and at the end of May nearly all the smaller plants are dried up. From that time rarely a cloud passes over the clear sky, and the heat is very great. West winds are cool, east winds suffocating. The first rains occur about the middle of September, and are followed by settled and pleasant weather, which lasts from twenty to thirty days ; but towards the end of November the later and more heavy rains act in, and continue to the beginning of the winter.