bable that many of these masses have been left standing above
the surface, on what was at one time the bed of a great lake
or inland sea, in consequence of the softer materials about
them having, after the absorption of the waters, been gradually
removed.
The plain is watered by the river Koweik, which has two
sources in the elevated ground southward of A'in-tab; and
the larger, owing to the abundance of its fish, has the name
of the Baluk Su (fish river). It is formed by many rivulets
descending from the hills between Kills and the village of
Kara Weyaw: after the junction of the streams, the trunk
takes an eastern course, and on entering the plain of Aleppo
a little beyond Sayyadok-ko'i,1 it receives the northern branch,
which comes from the vicinity of Ain-tab; and soon afterwards
through a canal constructed by Mr. Vincent Germain
of Aleppo, it is augmented by a portion of the waters of
Sajur : its elevation, on entering the plain, being about 1263
feet above the level of the sea.
There is but little doubt that this river is the Chalus of
Xenophon,2 since its distance from Beilan is about 68 miles,
which, in a mountainous country, would require three long
marches, agreeably to the statement made in the work referred
to. Another coincidence may be observed in the quantity of
fish with which the river abounds: more particularly the
Aleppo eel3 (Simmak Ingliz), the shad4 (Babuge), and the
common loach5 (Kebudi) ; one of which may have been the
representative of the Syrian divinity.6 This fish is still preserved
with much veneration in the pond of Jami’ Ibrahim
at O’rfah.7
The small but abundant trunk of the Koweik winds southward
along the shallow bed which it has scooped in the
plain of Aleppo, for a direct distance of about 40 miles to
1 Edrisi’s description nearly coincides with this account; he Bays the
Koweik rises near the village of Sindb, six miles from Dabec.—Jaubert’s
Translation, Recueil de Voyages, &c., tome VI., p. 136.
8 Anabasis, lib. I. 8 Ophidium masbacambelus.
4 One of the Siluri. 5 Barbus vulgaris.
8 Ibid., lib. f 7 Plate XXXIV., vol. II., is a view of this mosque.
the western side of the city; from whence, after making a
tortuous course in the previous direction, of 20 miles farther,
it passes the castle and town of Kinnisrin.1 At some
little distance beyond this place it sweeps eastward along the
foot of Jebel-el-Sis, till at one hour from the village of
Sphiri it enters the marshes and lake of El Melak : this last
receives a second river coming through that village, besides
several other fresh streams. The lake contains a great many
small islands, and its surface is literally covered with
flamingoes, geese, ducks, and other aquatic birds. In wintertime
its circumference probably exceeds 50 miles, and at this
season its waters are somewhat bitter; but afterwards they
gradually dissolve a portion of the concentrated particles of
salt with which the bed is impregnated. During the dry
season, however, the extent of the water is reduced to less
than 30 miles in circumference, while the powerful evaporation
of the summer heat causes it gradually to crystallize, and
fine salt is formed in such quantities as to supply a consider-
ble part of Syria.
Although but a small place, Sphiri is remarkable for its
prosperity, and the pleasing contrast it affords when compared
with other Arab villages. The houses are well built of sun-
dried bricks, and contain several clean apartments looking
into an interior court. The inhabitants have become settled
cultivators, and enjoy the advantages of an improved system of
husbandry, with better farming implements than they formerly
had: these, and the practice of irrigation have been introduced
by the sheikh, who is thus enabled to obtain a succession
of crops; he has also made a good road, and planted
trees on each side in order to afford an agreeable shade.2
A plain, bearing marks of having formerly been cultivated,
extends south-westward from the village of Sphiri to the El
Amri range, and in this last are extensive and well-constructed
troglodyte habitations ; there is also an ancient
1 After Aleppo, it passes Kinnisrin, thence to the Merj-el-Ahmar, and is
lost in a marsh.—Jaubert’s Edrisi, Recueil, &c., tome VI., pp. 135, 136.
8 Visit of Dr. Heifer in 1836.