It is a river that is like no other. It comes from
the depths of the Lebanese mountains like all those
of the coast, then turns southward and empties into
the sea between Batroun and the Hamath block.
It still keeps its early appearance drawn by the hands
of God. A stream of fairyland beauty, it has been
able to safeguard its charm as few other rivers have
on account of the difficulty of reaching its two banks
from the moment one enters the deep gorge from the
seashore at its western end. It renders possible the
cultivation of a number of small private properties,
watering the gardens and plots of farmland belonging
to Batroun and Koubba. Higher up, however, it runs
unchecked with rapids and falls between banks steep
and still untamed.
Over half a mile from its mouth there stands on a
rocky pinnacle an old fortress constructed in the
eighteenth century to safeguard the only road then
existing between Beirut and Tripoli. “El-Moussaylaha”
of Meslaha (the Lucky) has been invaded by pollution
and by the bulldozers of the destroyers of Nature.
Exploiters have scooped out a quarry, eating away
at the mountain and spoiling it utterly. Where are
the orange and banana groves that I used to know and
admire?
The site has become an industrial waste, filled with
metal and plastic boxes and bottles and suchlike rubbish,
though fortunately there is now thought of geological
face-lifting to replant this area with trees and restore
some of its mystery.
The river itself comes from two springs bubbling up
above Tannourine, some five thousand five hundred
feet above sea level and facing Douma at some seven
thousand five hundred feet. Aïn el-Dally is on
the east side of the village and the spring El-Fattah
on the south side, giving rise to two streams that
meet to form the main river passing below Tannourine’s
forest of cedars and winding past several villages
to finally reach the coast south of Koubba, its remaining
trickle pouring out through a humble mouth.
The river runs through Beit Shlela and the fairylike
village of Kfar Hilda, known also as Bsetines el-Ossi,
the Gardens of Ossi, where the waterfalls entrance
the spectator. One has an unforgettable and deeply
moving view that is impossible to describe. Confronted
by the water, the greenery and the plunging falls,
one might imagine oneself in Paradise. On February
24th, 1998, the Environment Minister listed Nahr el-Jawz
as a National and Historic Heritage Site.
The river follows its course for twenty miles descending
from the heights at an altitude of seven thousand
five hundred feet. At the more accessible spots by
the river there are water mills, cafés and
restaurants, with a large influx of visitors. Beside
Kaftoun there is a power station served by pipes with
a fall of over three hundred feet, supplying electricity
to the factories and cement works of Shekka.
At the village of Kaftoun itself one finds a very
old monastery dating from the sixth century, built
half in the rocky cliff and restored by the Service
of Antiquities. It has excellent religious frescoes
and in it a dozen Orthodox nuns produce fine textile
and work on cultivating the gardens and preserving
the property, as well as raising their voices in prayer
to the Lord. Facing Kaftoun on the other river bank
is the village of Buksmaya, a name implying the god
Bacchus and wine or Bacchus and the riverside.
Several routes lead past the river: from Batroun or
Shekka to Tannourine, from Byblos past Ehmej and Bsheeleh,
and past Hadeth Jebbeh from the North. Near Kaftoun
the river is visited by scores of buses full of sightseers
and by holidaymakers coming for a picnic, and leaving
rubbish in the form of cartons, tin cans, boxes and
plastic bottles, so obliging the electricity company
running the power station to close all roads leading
to it.
The river serves the water mills, irrigated fields,
power generators, cafés and restaurants and
in addition some of the water is pumped for domestic
use in Batroun and the region. But visitors will be
charmed above all by the trees along the river banks,
above all by the walnut trees which grow in preference
close to water and which have given the river their
name.
Joseph Matar - Translation from the French:
Kenneth Mortimer
