Northern Syria is divided into two regions by the River Eleutherus, which rises in a hollow plain on the watershed--a saddle dividing the Lebanon on the south from the Anseiriyeh Mountains (the old Mons Bargylus), which runs northwards to the valley of Antioch. East of these chains is the plateau of the Buka’a, watered towards the south by the Litâni River, but for the greater part of its length on the north by the Orontes, which finally turns sharply to the west, entering the valley of Antioch, and falling into the Mediterranean at Seleucia, the old port of Antioch, south of the Bay of Alexandretta. Farther east, the Anti-Lebanon runs out to the great bastion of Hermon, dividing the plains of Damascus from the Buka’a; and on the north this chain sinks into isolated white peaks, where the Buka’a broadens out, east of Homs, into the desert of Palmyra.
The east and west slopes of the Lebanon present a considerable contrast, due in part to the geological formation, and in part to climatic causes. On the west, the deep gorges in the ruddy sandstone are fringed with umbrella pines and tangled copses, and the green of the vineyards extends high up the slopes towards the iron-grey limestone of the upper ridges. On the east, the barren limestone and the gleaming chalk below are only sparsely covered with stunted trees, though olive groves occur round the villages. This contrast is, however, not peculiar to the Lebanon--it is notable in all parts of Palestine. The western slopes of Gilead are clothed with oak woods, while the eastern slopes of the Palestine hills are barren deserts. The hills of Galilee, Samaria, and Judea west of the watershed are for the most part well covered with copses, and in the Anti-Lebanon also the same contrast is (though to a less degree) observable.
The reason of this contrast is very evident. The cool and humid western breezes blow from the Mediterranean, and all the vapour so carried inland is caught by the western slopes. Those which face the east are, on the other hand, exposed to the hot blast which blows from the Syrian deserts, while they are at the same time shut out from the sea-breeze. In the Anti-Lebanon the western slopes also are partly excluded from the same life-giving breeze by the superior height of the Lebanon range, while the more fertile sandstone is covered in the Anti-Lebanon by white chalk, grey limestone, and nummulitic beds, which, as a rule, have very little surface soil. The vine is, however, much grown on this range, and its broken ridges present a finer sky-line than is to be found, as a rule, in Lebanon itself. The broad valley which divides these ranges contains some of the best corn-land in Syria, and the Orontes is one of the brightest rivers that water this part of Asia.