'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎536] (627/905)

536
MINERALS AND ANIMALS. [CHAP. XXI.
Soil on the only by the phenomenon of mirage. Such are the greater
Arabia. 0 portions of the tracts southward of Gaza and Hebron, and that
part of the Pashalik which borders upon Arabia Deserta, where
scarcity of water has produced a wilderness, which at best is
only capable of nourishing a limited number of sheep, goats,
and camels: its condition is the worst in summer, at which
season little or no rain falls throughout the eastern parts of
Syria.
Minerals of Mineral productions, as far as they are at present known,
appear to be but few. Iron is abundant in the Kesruan, and
coal is worked near Beirut; silver, quicksilver, bitumen, and
iron have been found in the Anti-Lebanon, 1 and near Hasi-
biyah ; and, as in the time of Tacitus, 2 bitumen is collected at
the Dead Sea; rock salt is also found in the same neighbour
hood. As yet, however, there is not any appearance of either
copper, tin, lead, or gold, in the country; although from these
metals being mentioned in the Hebrew writings, 3 it is probable
that they will eventually be found,
wild and As in northern Syria, jackals, foxes, hyaenas, and wild boars
are numerous; and there are leopards, 4 porcupines, and some
bears. The other animals, including such as are domestic, are
the same in both divisions of the country, excepting perhaps
lions and wolves, which probably are no longer found south
ward of the Aleppo district. But the wild goat, the bouquetin
of the Alps, appears in the Haouran and other parts,
tame animals. Camels and horses are numerous, chiefly of the Arabian
breeds; but of the former, the heavier and more enduring
animals produced by a mixture with the race of Turcomania,
are wanting; the asses and mules, especially the former, are,
however, greatly superior to those in other parts of Asia.
The heavy-tailed sheep and goats with long hair and pendant
ears are the ordinary animals of these classes. The fine
Macedonian greyhound with a feathered tail 5 is also commonly
1 Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, pp. 33, 34.
2 Hist., chap. V., b. 6. 8 Deut., chap. VIII., v. 9.
4 The Felis Nimur (Pardus) in the mountains near Mar-Elias.'—Giovanni
Finati's Travels, vol. II., p. 159; and Solomon's Song, chap. IV., v. 8.
5 See Plate XXIII.