Before I submit to the reader, a few general remarks upon the
inhabitants of the Haouran, I shall briefly recapitulate the political
divisions of the country which extends to the southward of Damascus, as
far as Wady Zerka.
1. El Ghoutta [Arabic]. Under this name is comprehended the immediate
neighhourhood of Damascus, limited on the north by Djebel Szalehie, on
the west by the Djebel el Sheikh, on the south by Djebel Kessoue, and on
the east by the plain El Merdj. It is under the immediate government of
the Mutsellim of Damascus. All the gardens of Damascus are reckoned in
the Ghoutta, which contains upwards of eighty villages, and is one of
the most fertile districts in Syria.
2. Belad Haouran [Arabic]. To the south of Djebel Kessoue and Djebel
Khiara begins the country of Haouran. It is bordered on the east by the
rocky district El Ledja, and by the Djebel Haouran, both of which are
sometimes comprised within the Haouran; and in this case the Djebel el
Drouz, or mountain of the Druses, whose chief resides at Soueida, may be
considered another subdivision of the Haouran. To the S.E. where Boszra
and El Remtha are the farthest inhahited villages, the Haouran borders
upon the desert. Its western limits are the chain of villages on the
Hadj road, from Ghebarib as far south as Remtha. The greater part of its
villages will he found enumerated in the two Journals.