The district with which we are concerned constitutes the northern section of Galilee between the Nahr-el-Kasmiyeh and the Merj Ayun to the north, and the plains of Haifa and Asochis (Sahel-el-Buttauf) and the Wadi Hammam to the south; to the east and west its boundaries are respectively the Jordan and the Mediterranean. The greater part of the region is occupied by a central limestone massif, the Galilean highlands, which rise in a series of terraces from the Jordan valley to a height of nearly 4000 feet above sea level, and then descend steeply to the Mediterranean coastal plain. Much of this country, especially on the western side of the watershed, is barren and uncultivable, but the high central plateau in the north from Yarun to Tibnin and the lower plateaux of Kades and Safsaf include some of the most productive corn-growing districts west of the Jordan. The beds of the larger valleys also, which even in summer are not entirely waterless, provide fertile garden land and are mostly highly cultivated. The more rocky parts of the region provide scant pasturage for flocks of goats, and in most places the olive is cultivated to a limited extent.
