main streams are—Nahr Beyrout (the Magoras), with its two branches, rising on the face of Kuneiseh, and between Kuneiseh and Sannin
are the Zaharédni, the |
respectively, Nahr el-Kelb (Lycus flumen) drain- ing Sannin ; Nahr Ibrahim (the Adonis) with its main sources at Afka and ‘Akfirah ; Nahr ej-Jauz ; Nahr Kadisha, draining the Cedar amphitheatre, and entering the sea at Tripoli; Nahr el-Barid; and, finally, the boundary river, Nahr el-Kebir, which sweeps around the northern end of the mountain. The eastern face of Lebanon presents a very different aspect from the western, as it slopes directly down to the plain of the Buka’, sometimes with no foot-hills, and unbroken by any important valleys, except at the south end of Kuneiseh and at Zahleh, where the Nahr Berdafini comes out of a wild gorge. There are several large fountains at the base of the main ridge, and the Lake Yammifineh, with its intermittent fountains, lies in a depression between the main ridge and the partly wooded foot-hills, north-west of Baalbek. A few words as to geology. The Lebanon is com- posed of three conformable series of strata, all of which are sometimes exposed on the sides of the deepest valleys. The lowest is regarded by some authorities as lower cretaceous, by others as upper jurassic. It consists of several thousand feet of nard, thick-layered limestone, containing few fossils, among which are sponges, corals, brachio- pods, and, most characteristic, Cidaris glandaria, rom which the formation has been named the Glandaria limestone. While forming the bottom of the deepest valleys, by foldings it is in places elevated to the height of from 4000 to 5000 ft. It weathers into grand castellated rocks, whose bluish-grey sides are beautifully fluted by the frosts and rains. The second series of strata has been named from a characteristic fossil, Trigonia syriaca, the Trigonia zone. It consists of sandstone, soft limestone, and clay, with here and there small quantities of poor bituminous coal and bituminous limestone, with pei and efflorescent salts. The sandstone is rom fifty to several hundred feet thick, and by its red colour serves readily to distinguish the other series of rocks. Most of the Lebanon pines grow on this sandstone. The limestone and peas of the Trigonia zone may attain a thickness of from 500 to 1000 ft., and are very rich in fossils. The third series has been named the Hippurite lime- stone, as some of its strata are almost entirely composed of fragments of hippurites, which in places are found well preserved. There are also many nerineas. The hippurite limestone occurs on the sides of Lebanon, where, with the other formations, it is extensively faulted and folded, and it forms the summits of all the highest moun- tains, where it is in most cases nearly level. Its greatest thickness must be nearly 5000 ft. At low levels near the sea are found chalks, with and without flint, which are the uppermost of the cretaceous rocks, and which appear to have been deposited after the mass of the mountains was wah above the sea, since they are in no case found in the centre of the range. In several localities the chalk has yielded numerous finely- preserved fishes. Upon the chalk is found soft miocene limestone, and a porous sandstone of a quarternary date which is largely calcareous. From the above description it will be seen that the Lebanon presents some magnificent scenery. It is no wonder that the salient features of this border-land to their country seized upon the im- agination of the Hebrew poets. The deep and sudden gorges, the sweeping amphitheatres, the variety of colouring in the soil, the towering snow-covered peaks, the gushing fountains,—all unite in producing pictures of almost bewildering variety. Villages are scattered everywhere ; some nestle at the mountain base, others cling to the steep sides, while still others are perched on ridges
a
LEBANON
over 4000 ft. above the sea. Many of the bald promontories of rock are crowned by belfried monasteries. The extent of cultivation is extra- ordinary, and the system of terracing is carried to a height of almost 6000 ft. Wheat, the vine, the olive, the mulberry, and the walnut all abound. The water from the various fountains is carefully stored up and led off in irrigation. A consider- able quantity of silk is manufactured. The Lebanon was once well wooded, but the charcoal burners and the browsing goat are now powerful destructive agents. The valley of the Nahr Ibra- him, however, is still thickly wooded with oak and ine, While the stream is shaded with plane trees. Besides the historic grove of the cedars above Besherreh, there are still small groves on the ridge south of Kuneiseh, and a more extensive forest at el-Hadeth, south of the Nahr Kadisha. Jackals abound, but hyznas, wolves, and panthers are fast disappearing.
Ot ancient buildings there are very few traces, the principal ones being the ruin at Deir el-Kula'a, above the Beyrout river; Kula'at el-Fukra, near Sannin; and the temple of Venus at Afka, the source of the Adonis. This was destroyed by Constantine owing to the licentious rites practised there. The site is striking: behind the temple there rises, for 1200 ft., an almost perpendicular cliff, richly coloured, at the base of which is a large cave, from which in the spring-time a volume of water gushes forth, immediately joining the perennial stream, which plunges down in a series of three cascades. The water is said to be at times impregnated with mineral salts, giving a red colour, typifying to the ancients the blood of Adonis. At the mouth of Nahr el-Kelb are in- scriptions in Assyrian, Egyptian, and Greek. At the bottom of the wild Kadisha gorge there are many early anchorite caves; in front of some of them convents have been erected—notably Kan- est the traditional seat of the Maronite patri- areh,