plain, or disposed in terraces on the hillsides. Towards the north,
the alluvial deposits of, the Orontes have gradually formed a black
and fertile soil, upon which grow luxuriant crops of cereals and other
produce. Cole-Syria, after having generously nourished the Oriental
empires which had preyed upon her, became one of the granaries of the
Roman world, under the capable rule of the Cæsars.

Syria is surrounded on all sides by countries of varying aspect and
soil. That to the north, flanked by the Amanos, is a gloomy mountainous
region, with its greatest elevation on the seaboard: it slopes gradually
towards the interior, spreading out into chalky table-lands, dotted over
with bare and rounded hills, and seamed with tortuous valleys which
open out to the Euphrates, the Orontes, or the desert. Vast, slightly
undulating plains succeed the table-lands: the soil is dry and stony,
the streams are few in number and contain but little water. The Sajur
flows into the Euphrates, the Afrîn and the Karasu when united yield
their tribute to the Orontes, while the others for the most part pour
their waters into enclosed basins. The Khalus of the Greeks sluggishly
pursues its course southward, and after reluctantly leaving the gardens
of Aleppo, finally loses itself on the borders of the desert in a small
salt lake full of islets: about halfway between the Khalus and the
Euphrates a second salt lake receives the Nahr ed-Dahab, the "golden
river." The climate is mild, and the temperature tolerably uniform. The
sea-breeze which rises every afternoon tempers the summer heat: the
cold in winter is never piercing, except when the south wind blows which
comes from the mountains, and the snow rarely lies on the ground for
more than twenty-four hours. It seldom rains during the autumn and
winter months, but frequent showers fall in the early days of spring.
Vegetation then awakes again, and the soil lends itself to cultivation
in the hollows of the valleys and on the table-lands wherever