The winters are exceedingly mild, snow being unknown on the plains, and rare on the mountains, except at a considerable elevation.

At this time, however--from December to the end of March--rain falls in tropical abundance; and occasionally there are violent hail-storms, which inflict serious injury on the crops.

The spring-time in Susiana is delightful.

Soft airs fan the cheek, laden with the scent of flowers; a carpet of verdure is spread over the plains; the sky is cloudless, or overspread with a thin gauzy veil; the heat of the sun is not too great; the rivers run with full banks and fill the numerous canals; the crops advance rapidly towards perfection; and on every side a rich luxuriant growth cheers the eye of the traveller.
On the opposite side of the Empire, in Syria and Palestine, a moister, and on the whole a cooler climate prevails.

In Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon there is a severe winter, which lasts from October to April; much snow falls, and the thermometer often marks twenty or thirty degrees of frost.