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southern limits of the coast line, the average summer day temperature 
is about 84° F., and the average winter day temperature about 65° 
F. At an elevation of 2,500 feet the average sinks about 10° F. 
Snow never falls at Beirut, and never rests long lower than 3,000 
feet. Ata level of 5,000 feet on the Damascus road the way is 
often blocked for days by drifts, in which men and animals 
occasionally perish. Snow is found in isolated banks on the high 
peaks of Lebanon and Hermon throughout the year. 
From April to November there is seldom any rain. The “early 
rains ” of November are followed by fair weather, during which the 
farmer ploughs and sows. The “latter rains” begin to prevail in 
December, and last with violence from December 15 to March 1. 
Slighter rains fall in March, and then comes the not very high but 
sustained temperature of the long summer. During the brief rainy 
season from 32 to 40 inches or more of rain are poured upon the 
western water shed. But the cloud banks which roll massively up 
the sides of Lebanon often dissolve at its summit into fleecy mist, so 
that Coele-Syria and its continuation north and south enjoy far less 
rain than the coast range. The Ghor of the Dead Sea dissipates 
all vapors, and remains a perpetual desert, except where springs 
having their origin in distant water-sheds nourish a few oases in the 
ravines of its rocky walls. Anti-Lebanon extracts still more of the 
moisture of the clouds, so that the rain-fall of Damascus, and the 
desert are not more than half that of the coast. Should the storms, 
which during the winter deluge Western Lebanon, be let loose upon 
the mud walls of Damascus, they would dissolve into their original 
loam. 
The prevailing wind of the summer is West by South. When in 
winter, a few more points of southing are maintained for many 
hours, the warm Sahara wind, which has lapped up the moisture of 
the sea, and become surcharged with vapor, striking the cool strata 
of Lebanon, pours out its treasures of rain in torrents. It is only 
when the force of the impact carries the clouds over Lebanon that 
Ccele-Syria and Anti-Lebanon share the supply. In the spring, the hot 
wind (sirocco) from the eastern table-land, which stretches unbroken 
by mountains to Persia and the desert of Cobi, aids the unfolding of 
the leaves, while it parches the surface of the rainless fields. In 
early autumn the cold, dry wind from Taurus sweeps down the 
coast, and often blights plants which the siroccos of the spring time, 
and the fierce sun of summer have spared. 
The soil of Syria likewise varies. The sea coast plain is a dark 
brown loam. That of Coele-Syria resembles the soil redeemed from 
lacustrine basins, with its treasury of organic fertilizers. 
The soil of the mountain, where unterraced, is thin and poor, 
being composed of loam mingled with the debris of limestone dis- 
integration, through which dykes of sandstone crop out, the red 
soil of which contrasts with the grey limestone rocks of the general 
face of the chain. 
On the sea coast are dunes of blown sand, and about Hems and 
in the Transjordanian region the soil is largely mingled with 
volcanic debris. 
