The plain of Sidon, which follows that of Tyre, and is sometimes regarded as a part of it,[113] extends from a little north of Sarepta to the Ras-el-Jajunieh, a distance of about ten miles, and resembles that of Tyre in its principal features.  It is long and narrow, never more than about two miles in width, but well-watered and very fertile.  The principal streams are the Bostrenus (Nahr-el-Auly) in the north, just inside the promontory of Jajunieh, the Nahr-Sanik, south of Sidon, a torrent dry in the summer-time,[114] and the Nahr-ez-Zaherany, two and a half miles north of Sarepta, a river of moderate capacity.  Fine fountains also burst from the earth in the plain itself, as the Ain-el-Kanterah and the Ain-el-Burak,[115] between Sarepta and the Zaherany river.  Irrigation is easy and is largely used, with the result that the fruits and vegetables of Saida and its environs have the name of being among the finest of the country.[116]

The plain of Berytus (Beyrout) is the most contracted of all the Phoenician plains that are at all noticeable.  It lies south, south-east, and east of the city, intervening between the high dunes or sand-hills which form the western portion of the Beyrout peninsula, and the skirts of Lebanon, which here approach very near to the sea.  The plain begins at Wady Shuweifat on the south, about four miles from the town of Beyrout, and extends northwards to the sea on the western side of the Nahr Beyrout.  The northern part of the plain is known as Ard-el-Burajineh.  The plain is deficient in water,[117] yet is cultivated in olives and mulberries, and contains the largest olive grove in all Syria.  A little beyond its western edge is the famous pine forest[118] from which (according to some) Berytus derived its name.[119]

The plain of Marathus is, next to Sharon, the most extensive in Phoenicia.  It stretches from Jebili (Gabala) on the north to Arka towards the south, a distance of about sixty miles, and has a width varying from two to ten miles.  The rock crops out from it in places and it is broken between Tortosa and Hammam by a line of low hills running parallel with the shore.[120] The principal streams which water it are the Nahr-el-Melk, or Badas, six miles south of Jebili, the Nahr Amrith, a strong running brook which empties itself into the sea a few miles south of Tortosa (Antaradus), the Nahr Kuble, which joins the Nahr Amrith near its mouth, and the Eleutherus or Nahr-el-Kabir, which reaches the sea a little north of Arka.  Of these the Eleutherus is the most important.  “It is a considerable stream even in summer, and in the rainy season it is a barrier to intercourse, caravans sometimes remaining encamped on its banks for several weeks, unable to cross."[121] The soil of the plain is shallow, the rock lying always near the surface; the streams are allowed to run to waste and form marshes, which breed malaria; a scanty population scarcely attempts more than the rudest and most inefficient cultivation; and the consequence is that the tract at present is almost a desert.  Nature, however, shows its capabilities by covering it in the spring-time from end to end with a “carpet of flowers."[122]