7. To the north of the plain of Ebn Otner extends the billy region of Galilee, which is the most fertile part of southern Syria. The surface presents great varieties. The hills rise with gentle acclivities and subside into plains esteem! miles in extent, or are separated b; wide valleys. The highest hills lie west and north-west of Nazara, which attain an elevation of from 1700 to 1800 feet above the sea. The town of Nazara is in a flat valley on the declivity of a hill. 876 feet above the sea-leerel. The whole region seems to be fit for cultiva tion, and a considerable portion of it is cultivated, though there are extensive tracts, especially in the smaller valleys, which are covered with forest-trees. Corn and cotton are extensively grown, and form considerable articles of internal commerce. The olive- and fig-trees cover ooneiderable tracts. Date-trees do not succeed, The country west of the southern valley, between Safed and Sur, is thus described by Dr. Robinson : After having crossed three valleys, a wide plain is entered by a considerable ascent. Volcanic rocks are dispersed over it, and they increase in number towards the north-west, until they cover the whole surface of the ground. In the midst of this plain is a depression, which seems to have been the crater of a volcano ; the lowest part of it is occupied by a lake. The whole tract is entirely barren. From this high ground a descent leads into another basin-like plain of smaller extent, which is cultivated and aurronnded by busby bills, and separated by a valley from a high undulating table-land, the soil of which is fertile and cultivated, and which is inclosed by swelling hills covered with shrubs and trees. So far the country is drained by water running to the Bahr-el-Houleh. A higher ground, interspersed with hills, but otherwise presenting an almost level tract on the top, forms the watershed between the Bahr-el-Houleh and the Mediterranean. This tract is covered with dwarf oaks. The remainder of the country presents a succession of wooded hills and valleys, of which the uultiveted portion is small, the whole being employed as pasture for cattle, which are so numerous, that butter is here used instead of oil, which is the case in no other part of Pales tine. The hills are much more thickly wooded than iu any other part of southern Syria west of the Great Valley, and fire-wood is a consi derable article of export from Sur, to which it is brought from this country. In approaching Sur, an extensive undulating and well cultivated region is passed, which is 1200 to 1500 feet above the sea level. The slope from this high ground to the Mediterranean presents numerous ridges and valleys opening towards the sea, in which there are woods of prickly oak, maple, arbutus, and eumaels, and extensive plantations of tobacco.
8. Along the Mediterranean extends the Plain of Akka, which begins on the south at the base of Mount Carmel, and extends northward to Ras-el-Abiad, a distance of more than 20 miles. Between Mount Carmel and the town of Akka (Acre) it may be four or five miles wide, but farther north it rarely exceeds two miles in width. The southern and wider portion has a sandy soil in the vicinity of the sea, but farther east it is tolerably fertile and moderately cultivated. In the northern district there are some stony tracts, though in general it is stated that the country possesses a considerable degree of fertility, but nearly the whole is uncultivated.
9. We pass to the east of the Southern valley. The most southern part of Syria is occupied by the extensive table-land of Petrasa, which contains the mountain regions of Shera and Belka, which inclose the Wady Arabah, the Dead Sea, and the Ober on the cast, and also an extensive plain lying east of these regions, and continuing in that direction to the desert of Arabia. The Syrian Hadji road runs along
the eastern declivity of the mountain regions of Belka and Shore, having on the east a continuous chain of hills called El-Zoble : thus the road traverses a long valley, in which, wherever there is water, wheat and dhurra are cultivated, and extensive plantations of vines are found. The El-Zoble range terminates on the south at the source of the river Modjeb, and farther south the Hadji road lies within the plain; but dhurra and barley are grown only at a few places, though in govern' other places, especially at Maim, there are large plantations of pomegranates, apricots, and peaches ; with the exception of these isolated spots along the read, the plain is only used as pasturo-ground by the Beduins.
The mountain region of Shera extends from Jebel Heama to tho river Modjeb, from 29° 40' to 31° 30' N. lat., between the Hadji road on the east and the Wady-ol-Arabah on the west, and occupies about 20 miles in width. When seen from the Wady-el-Arabah it has the appearance of a high range, at least 1000 feet higher than the moun tains which inclose the Wady on the west, or about 3000 feat above the level of the valley : but when seen from the east, or the great plain, the mountains appear only as bills a few hundred feet elevated above the level of the plain, which shows that the great plain of Parma is also at a considerable height above the sea. The mountain region of Shera comprehends three districts, of which the southern properly is called Shera, that in the centre Jebel, and the northern Kerek. The southern part of this region consists of high ridges running generally from south-east to north-west, end separating deep and iu some instances wide, depressions from one another. The largest of these depreisiene is that called El-Gliscycr, which is upwards of 12 miles across at its eastern extremity, but it is narrower towards the west. The surface is rocky and uneven, and it is intersected by numerous glens and by throe or four valleys, watered by rivulets, which unite and flow into the Arabah. This basin is noted for its excelleut pasture. Villages are rather numerous in these depreasiona, and are mostly inhabited by Beduin tribes, who have applied them selves to agriculture. They cultivate wheat, barley, and dhurra, and their orchards contain apples, apricots, figs, pomegranates, olive- and peach-trees, and numerous vines. Dried figs and grapes constitute the principal articles of export, together with soda. The rivers which traverse this region generally contain water even daring the summer, bat it is only in winter that the water reaches the valley of the Arabah. The climate of this mountain region is extremely agreeable. The air is pure; and though the heat is very great in summer, and increased by the reflection of the sun'a rays from the rocky sides of the moun tains, yet the temperature never becomes suffocating, owing to the refreshing breeze which generally prevails. The winter is very cold, deep snow falls, and the frost sometimes continues to the middle of March. This part of Syria would be much better cultivated and more populous if the inhabitanta were not exposed to frequent incursions of the Bednios of the eastern plain.