INTRODUCTION. 



The region covered by this Work is unequalled by any of tlie same size 

 on the globe, not only for the thrilling and important events of human 

 history of which it has been the theatre, but for its unique geological 

 structure, its great diversity of surface and climate, and its remarkable 

 fauna and flora. It is the meeting point of three continents*, and, as 

 such, a link of connection between them all. It is marked geographi- 

 cally by two mountain systems parallel to oue-another and to the coast, 

 and extending from the Taurus to the latitude of Ras Muhammad. 



The northernmost chain of the v^^estern system, Gaiour Dagh (Ama- 

 nus), extends from the valley of the Ak Su, near Marash, southward to 

 the valley of the lower Orontes. Its loftiest peak is about 8000 feet 

 high. From the mouth of the Orontes to the Nahr-el-Kebir extends 

 the Nusairy chain. A spur of this chain. Mount Cassius, rises abruptly 

 from the sea just south of the mouth of the river, and attains a height 

 of 6400 feet. The rest of the chain lies a little more inland, occasionally 

 approaching the sea. Its highest summits hardly reach 4000 feet. 

 From the Nahr-el-Kebir to the Qasimiyeh (the lower Leontes) stretchc 

 the noble chain of Lebanon, the highest peak of which is not less thai 

 10,320 feet above the sea. From the Qasimiyeh to the Debbet-er-Ram- 

 leh is a series of chains of hills and mountains of which Jebel Jermuk 

 in GaJ^lee is 3934 feet high. Summits nearly as high overlook Hebron, 

 and the plateau of the Tih. Debbet-er-Ramleh, a broad plain of shifting 

 sands, separates the Tih from the rugged, bald, igneous chain of Sinai. 

 The bold headland of Ras Muhammad, at the junction of the Gulfs of 

 'Aqabah and Suez, ends the long mountain system nearly 700 miles 

 from its starting point. 



The parallel system commences at the north by a chain of low hills, 

 extending from Kapu Tcham, near Marash, southward to Sof Dagh and 

 Kurd Dagh, and Jebel Bil'as and el- Jebel-el-Abiad in the Syrian Desert, 

 and sinks into the broad plain between Hems and Antilebanon, " the 

 entering in of Hamath.'' Antilebanon rises south of this plain, and 

 trends parallel to Lebanon, varying in height from 4000 to 8700 fee*;, 

 and ends in the grand mass of Herm^on, which dominates northern and. 

 eastern Palestine and the Damascus plateau from a height of 9400 feet. 

 A break of about 40 miles occurs between Hermon and the mountains 

 of Gilead. This interval is occupied by the plain of el-Jaulan. This 

 great lava plateau has been formed by the eruptions of the numerous 

 volcanic cones which diversify its surface. It is bounded eastward by 

 an isolated volcanic chain, the Jebel-el-Duruz (Alsadamus), the "hill 

 of Bashan." This chain trends north and south, parallel to the main 

 systems, and appears as if set back from them'to a distance of about forty 

 miles. The outpour of lava from its craters has contributed its share 

 to the formation of the fertile wheat fields of Bashan. Its highest cone, 

 el-Qul€b, is 5400 feet above the sea. The main range, broken as above 

 shown by the plain of el-Jaulan, is continued in the mountains of 

 Gilead and Moab, which rise from 500 to 1000 feet above the trans- 



* Asia Minor must be regarded, from the stand point of its Natural History, as belonging 

 to Europe rather than Asia. 



