History of Phoenicia | Page 6

especially in the north-east, were perfectly
studded with them, and as now seen in the reflected beams of the
setting sun they seemed like white villas and hamlets among the dark
hills, presenting an appearance of thriftiness and beauty which certainly
would not stand a closer examination."[8] Towards its northern end
Sharon is narrowed by the low hills which gather round the western
flanks of Carmel, and gradually encroach upon the plain until it
terminates against the shoulder of the mountain itself, leaving only a
narrow beach at the foot of the promontory by which it is possible to
communicate with the next plain towards the north.[9]
Compared with Sharon the plain of Acre is unimportant and of small
extent. It reaches about eight miles along the shore, from the foot of
Carmel to the headland on which the town of Acre stands, and has a
width between the shore and the hills of about six miles. Like Sharon it

is noted for its fertility. Watered by the two permanent streams of the
Kishon and the Belus, it possesses a rich soil, which is said to be at
present "perhaps the best cultivated and producing the most luxuriant
crops, both of corn and weeds, of any in Palestine."[10] The Kishon
waters it on the south, where it approaches Carmel, and is a broad
stream,[11] though easily fordable towards its mouth. The Belus
(Namâané) flows through it towards the north, washing Acre itself, and
is a stream of even greater volume than the Kishon, though it has but a
short course.
The third of the Phœnician plains, as we proceed from south to north, is
that of Tyre. This is a long but comparatively narrow strip, reaching
from the Ras-el-Abiad towards the south to Sarepta on the north, a
distance of about twenty miles, but in no part more than five miles
across, and generally less than two miles. It is watered about midway
by the copious stream of the Kasimiyeh or Litany, which, rising east of
Lebanon in the Buka'a or Cœlesyrian valley, forces its way through the
mountain chain by a series of tremendous gorges, and debouches upon
the Tyrian lowland about three miles to the south-east of the present
city, near the modern Khan-el-Kasimiyeh, whence it flows peaceably to
the sea with many windings through a broad low tract of meadow-land.
Other rills and rivulets descending from the west flank of the great
mountain increase the productiveness of the plain, while copious
fountains of water gush forth with surprising force in places, more
especially at Ras-el-Ain, three miles from Tyre, to the south.[12] The
plain is, even at the present day, to a large extent covered with orchards,
gardens, and cultivated fields, in which are grown rich crops of tobacco,
cotton, and cereals.
The plain of Sidon, which follows that of Tyre, and is sometimes
regarded as a part of it,[13] extends from a little north of Sarepta to the
Ras-el-Jajunieh, a distance of about ten miles, and resembles that of
Tyre in its principal features. It is long and narrow, never more than
about two miles in width, but well-watered and very fertile. The
principal streams are the Bostrenus (Nahr-el-Auly) in the north, just
inside the promontory of Jajunieh, the Nahr-Sanîk, south of Sidon, a
torrent dry in the summer-time,[14] and the Nahr-ez-Zaherany, two and

a half miles north of Sarepta, a river of moderate capacity. Fine
fountains also burst from the earth in the plain itself, as the
Ain-el-Kanterah and the Ain-el-Burâk,[15] between Sarepta and the
Zaherany river. Irrigation is easy and is largely used, with the result
that the fruits and vegetables of Saïda and its environs have the name of
being among the finest of the country.[16]
The plain of Berytus (Beyrout) is the most contracted of all the
Phœnician plains that are at all noticeable. It lies south, south- east, and
east of the city, intervening between the high dunes or sand-hills which
form the western portion of the Beyrout peninsula, and the skirts of
Lebanon, which here approach very near to the sea. The plain begins at
Wady Shuweifat on the south, about four miles from the town of
Beyrout, and extends northwards to the sea on the western side of the
Nahr Beyrout. The northern part of the plain is known as
Ard-el-Burâjineh. The plain is deficient in water,[17] yet is cultivated
in olives and mulberries, and contains the largest olive grove in all
Syria. A little beyond its western edge is the famous pine forest[18]
from which (according to some) Berytus derived its name.[19]
The plain of Marathus is, next to Sharon, the most extensive in
Phœnicia. It stretches from Jebili (Gabala) on the north to Arka towards
the south, a distance of about sixty miles, and has a width varying from