SYRIA AND THK PHOENICIAN COAST. 5 sand divided every now and then by high and rocky capes. In the centuries that elapsed before man learnt to modify the con- figuration of the ground, and to make roads even along cliff-faces, it was difficult in the last degree, it was at times even impossible, to follow the trend of the coast, at least by land. In the autumn Fir.. I. The Xahr-el-Fedar. rains, moreover, and when the snows melt in the spring, the mountain torrents are unfordable near their mouths, while no boats can live in them. But as civilization advanced men learnt to cut paths, or rather ladders, in the faces of the rocky spurs that had so long barred their way. These paths still exist. On my way from Sour to Saint Jean d'Acre, by the Ras-el-Abiad and the Ras
