May 9th.--We Arrived Early In The Morning At Damascus.

[P.285]

POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF THE COUNTRY TO THE

SOUTHWARD OF DAMASCUS

WITH

REMARKS ON THE INHABITANTS OF THE HAOURAN.

Before I submit to the reader, a few general remarks upon the inhabitants of the Haouran, I shall briefly recapitulate the political divisions of the country which extends to the southward of Damascus, as far as Wady Zerka.

1. El Ghoutta [Arabic]. Under this name is comprehended the immediate neighhourhood of Damascus, limited on the north by Djebel Szalehie, on the west by the Djebel el Sheikh, on the south by Djebel Kessoue, and on the east by the plain El Merdj. It is under the immediate government of the Mutsellim of Damascus. All the gardens of Damascus are reckoned in the Ghoutta, which contains upwards of eighty villages, and is one of the most fertile districts in Syria.

2. Belad Haouran [Arabic]. To the south of Djebel Kessoue and Djebel Khiara begins the country of Haouran. It is bordered on the east by the rocky district El Ledja, and by the Djebel Haouran, both of which are sometimes comprised within the Haouran; and in this case the Djebel el Drouz, or mountain of the Druses, whose chief resides at Soueida, may be considered another subdivision of the Haouran. To the S.E. where Boszra and El Remtha are the farthest inhahited villages, the Haouran borders upon the desert. Its western limits are the chain of villages on the Hadj road, from Ghebarib as far south as Remtha.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 362 of 870
Words from 98018 to 98275 of 236498