THE WESTERN RANGE. 191
el Kurein, the remains of the Crusaders' castle of Mont Fort, which commanded the pass. The altitude of the river before it crosses the mountain, compared with its altitude west of the range, would probably indicate a considerable fall, and throw light on the height of the plateau at its lowest point.
Three miles about north-north-east of Tell Belat, the prolongation of the Western Eange is defined by Khurbet Belat (alt. 2,467 feet). The eastwardly direction corre- sponds with the change in the course of the coast line on the north of Ras en Nakurah. From the northern bank of Wady el Kurn to Khurbet Belat, the range crosses the secondary basin of Wady Kerkera. It is a spur from Kh. Belat, which terminates at the sea in the headland of Eas en Nakurah or the ladder of Tyre ; and by the eastern end of that spur the Western Range reaches the summit of the mountain.
The Khurbet Belat is remarkable for the ruins on its summit, and also for one of the grandest panoramic views in the country. It rises on the southern edge of the Ezziyeh Basin, and besides throwing off a spur to Ras en Nakura, it sends off another spur to Ras el Abiad or White Cape. The western range passes from it across the Ezziyeh Basin, to Ras el Bedendy (alt. 2,215 feet), which has the village of Yater close on the west, with an altitude already fallen to 1,589 feet.* About a mile to the north, the range is found at Ras Umm Kabr (alt. 2,341 feet) ; from whence it passes east to Haris (alt. 2,343 feet), then north-east to Kh. el Yadhun (alt. 2,612 feet), Jebel Jumleh (alt. 2,625 feet), and Kh. Selem (alt. 2,219 feet). At the last point the Western Range terminates, and the northern limit of the plateau forms its continuation.
It will be observed that where the range passes from Kh. Belat across the Ezziyeh basin to Ras el Bedendy, the basin contracts from the expansions of the upper part, both on the north and on the south ; and the principal watercourse also bends from a meridional direction suddenly to the westward by a very tortuous channel. Below the mountain, the gorge
- Robinson's " Bib. Res." Ill, 61.
