on the way down to the coast. It is narrower and more elevated than the latter, and having on its sides low hills chiefly covered with oak. Seeking out a retired situation, we alighted, and spreading out our carpets, laid ourselves down to rest.

Sep. 13. At break of day we remounted our horses, and descended into the plain of Acre.

We were fast approaching the city, when a general firing or salute commenced all along the batteries, and was kept up for some time with spirit, though in a very irregular manner-so much so that in the clouds of smoke which it occasioned, we could fancy we saw the town resisting a besieging army. I was not without my apprehensions, lest some balls might, either through Turkish negligence, have been left in the guns, or put in purposely to increase the report. We remained ignorant of the cause of this uproar until we reached the gates, when we were told that the Pacha had just received a firman from the Porte, putting him in possession of Jerusalem, and all the country west of the Jordan, a district which, hitherto, had been attached to the Pachalic of Damascus.

ACRE, Sep. 14.-At the convent here, there are

seldom more than three or four monks* at a time, that number being deemed sufficient for the duties attached to it. Consequently, there is always very good accommodation for travellers. The strangers who take up their residence here are not served in their rooms, but in the refectory at the same hours as the community. They sit at long narrow tables round the room, with their backs to the wall, the same as the friars themselves; and, like them, are served upon pewter plates, the viands being previously cut up into portions in the kitchen. It is not usual to talk during meals. As I have elsewhere observed, no regular charge is made for board or lodging, nor is the stay of strangers limited to any particular period; nevertheless, some travellers have, to my knowledge, made a sad abuse of the hospitality shown them.

• Some months after I quitted Acre, the superior, two monks, and a lay-brother, whom we had known here, died of the plague, in these very premises, without a single case occur ring in the city. It appears that about a twelvemonth before, a stranger, who had died in the convent of this disease, had left some trunks in the room he occupied. The lay-brother, anxious to know their contents, imprudently opened them, when he was attacked with the malady, and communicated it to the other inmates of the convent.

Sep. 15.-MM. de Cadalvene and de Breuvery em. barked this morning for Beirout. By this conveyance I forwarded my heavy baggage, intending myself to proceed by land.

Sep. 16. At three P.M. I set out for Tyre,* Sidon, and Beirout-I had hired for this journey a couple of horses, and the price I was to pay for them both was one dollar per day. The second horse was rode by the owner, Hadji Mouça (Moses), who was to serve me as a guide and interpreter.

A little distance northward of the town wall, and close to the sea, is a modest tomb erected to the memory of Daher Pacha. On the right of the road, on a rising ground, is Abdallah Pacha's country house. I understand it is laid out with taste, but I did not visit it, on account of the owner's known aversion to strangers, arising perhaps from mistrust. The place is called Aboualy, from a Sheikh who was buried there. In one hour, we came to a fountain of excellent water, called Semmars, after the blessed Virgin. Close by are the ruins of a convent, standing upon a low hill, near which is a small vil

Acre is twenty-seven miles south of Tyre, and twentythree N.N.W. of Jerusalem.

C.

lage. In two hours more we passed Zib, on an eminence close to the sea, perhaps the representative of Aczibah (hot spring), situated in the tribe of Asher. Here the plain becomes desolate, being allowed for want of cultivation to run to rank weeds,* though capable of the highest degree of fertility, enjoying, as it does, good streams of water at convenient distances; but the most fertile portions of Syria, owing to the desolating spirit of its rulers, have been abandoned by its inhabitants, particularly the Christians, who have fled to the mountains for security, exhibiting a melancholy proof that, under a bad government, even the bounty of Heaven ceases to be a blessing.

One more hour brought us to the foot of a rugged mountain, supposed to be the beginning of the Anti-Libanus, and "the ladder of Tyrus." Here night overtook us; nevertheless, we pushed on for one hour more, over an exceeding rocky road, till we came to Bourge Nakkora, taking its name from a square-built tower, where a Caphar is established,

•“ Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briars."

+ Macc. xi. 59; Josephus, Wars, book ii. chap. i.

for the protection of travellers. Similar towers are to be met with all along the coast, and are supposed to have been erected to act against pirates. The guards stationed here allowed us the use of their fire to cook our supper; in return, I invited them to partake of a dish of pilaf. Of this they eat most freely; they likewise helped themselves out of my tobacco-bag, and in a way that I feared that little would be left for the rest of the journey. This article, to the Eastern traveller, is more than a luxury, it is an absolute necessary; and, though to be procured all along the road, such as I had brought with me, which was of the best quality, is only to be met with in the large towns.

Sep. 17.-I had no wish to prolong my stay amongst such rude and filthy companions, beyond the time necessary for repose. Accordingly, as soon as the day dawned, we mounted our horses, and, descending the northern side of the mountain, in one hour we reached Scanderoon, a ruined castle near the sea side, taking its name from its reputed founder, Alexander the Great. Close to it is a fine spring of water.

In about half an hour more, we commenced as