I

FRIDAY, May 3, 1816.-The S.W. gale of yesterday still continued, and instead of showers, it brought down steady torrents of rain, so that there was no moving in the morning at least. Our escort from Hhoms now left us, as their commission had ended, though they delayed their departure until to-morrow. had been advised to apply to the Aga for three or four of his men, but this would have required a handsome present both to the master and the servants. I would have gone over to Arwad, and sought a passage up by sea, but there was no possible communication with the island, except in fine weather. except in fine weather. The roads were represented by all to be the most unsafe in Syria, from the depredations of the Nesseary; and stories were told us of a Frank and six people of the country being murdered between this and Lati

kea within the last four months, beside poor Colonel Boutain. At this moment, too, they were even more insolent than usual; since some soldiers had been sent into the mountains by Mustapha Baba, at the request of Lady Hester Stanhope, to search out and punish the murderers of that French traveller. There was no alternative, therefore, but that of seeking out some companions; and fortunately, by enquiry, we found some who were bound that way, and agreed to depart a day sooner than they intended for the sake of our mutual protection. The weather confined us all to the coffeehouse until nearly sunset, when it broke off, and enabled me to breathe a free air after being suffocated by smoke and stunned by noise. My walk was of short duration, though it admitted of my seeing all the few remains of antiquity in the town.

The fort of Orthosia, for this was the ancient name of that place under the government of the Crusaders, remains still nearly entire, and presents an appearance of tolerable strength. The circuit of its outer wall, including also the side towards the sea which is open, is, perhaps, nearly half a mile. The wall is constructed of very large stones and excellent masonry, with square buttresses at equal distances, and a wide and deep ditch before it. Within this outer wall is a second ditch, partly hewn down out of the firm rock, and the inner wall is then formed by the sides of large buildings presented towards it. Rustic masonry is seen only in some parts, the greater portion being smooth, and loop-holes are frequent in the walls; but whether any part of this was Roman work and anterior to the Norman buildings within, seemed difficult to determine. The form of the fort is nearly a square, presenting three of its sides to the land, and the fourth to the sea, at right angles with the direction of the coast, or nearly N. and S. The only entrance into it is at the N.W. angle, within a few yards of the water's edge, and over a ruined paved way. The first gate, which has a pointed arch, with rustic masonry and the trefoil sculptured on its central stone, leads to a Gothic porch, the vaulted roof of which is banded with cross ribs, having

the rose at the point of intersection, quite in the Norman style; and yet every part of this work, within and without, seems coeval in point of date.

On passing through this porch, the inner ditch is crossed, and on the opposite side of it is laid open the interior of a large building called the Divan. This is a long and lofty room, of about 100 feet in extent, having a vaulted roof without pillars, and running nearly E. and W. Its side toward the ditch is partly broken down, but enough remains to show that it formed a portion of the inner works of fortification, as there is here a long covered way with embrasures and loop-holes for archery. The southern side of the building, which still remains perfect, shows a range of large windows, with the broad Saxon arch, and some smaller ones of a pointed form. The masonry is smooth throughout, but all solid and good. Within, the vaulted roof is banded by cross ribs, like the outer porch; and at the points from which they spring to diverge over the ceiling, falling between every two windows, are seen a succession of crowned heads, from which these bands seem to issue, or on which they may be supposed to rest. These heads have some expression given to them by the turn of the neck, and are executed with a free hand. The crowns are all varied, though the trefoil and the fleur-de-lys are, I think, seen in each. The features are much mutilated by the Arabs, the iconoclastic principle of whose religion induces them often to disfigure the most interesting parts of sculpture. Enough remains, however, to show that the heads, as well as the crowns, were varied; and it struck me on the spot that they might possibly be portraits of the sovereign princes and warrior chiefs who were united in the redemption of the Holy Land from the hands of the infidels. The chronicles of these dark times often speak of Orthosia as a strong and important station of the Christian armies, and it was honoured with a bishop's see in the province of Tyre; so that this might have been, as the Arabs term it, a divan, or hall of council, since it neither resembles a church nor a mere place of strength. Attached to it are extensive buildings, now made so

indistinct by the erection of modern dwellings on their ruins, that no plan of them could be traced.

Besides the edifice described, there is a portion of a lofty semicircular wall, with windows in it, now crowded with buildings also, and several inferior vestiges of former days.

The whole of the modern town of Tartoose is within the walls of the ancient fort. Its habitations are of the ordinary kind. It has a new mosque with a minaret near an open square, and a coffee-house, but neither manufactories or public bazārs. The population are estimated at about 500, wholly Moslems, and the Aga who governs the town has merely a personal guard of about twenty men.

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Without the fort are traces of a more extensive ditch and wall that encompassed the ancient city, and fragments of buildings and granite pillars, mark the place of former grandeur. Amid all these scattered remains, the only edifice left standing is a large Christian church, at a short distance to the S.E. of the town. interior is 65 paces in length, 45 in breadth, and its height from 50 to 60 feet. It faces due E. by N., and is divided into three aisles, by two rows of clustered pillars, like those of our cathedrals in England. Some of the capitals of these are a bastard Corinthian, others contain a succession of broad leaves folding over each other, and others again exhibit the folds of drapery united by a brooch in the form of a rose. The roof is banded by cross ribs, with roses at the point of intersection, and the whole has perfectly a Gothic air throughout. The mouldings of the arch of the great front door were broken away, we were told, by a Turkish Aga, who is reported, as usual, to have found immense treasures concealed there. It has an architrave of red granite, perhaps from some still older ruined work here, but excepting this injury, the edifice remains surprisingly perfect, and might be easily repaired. It is now appropriated to no other use than as a shelter for herds of cattle.

The island of Arwad, which bears from hence S. W. by S. distant about three miles, has a larger and more populous town than Tartoose, and is visited by vessels from every part of the

coast. It appears, both in form, size, and relative situation to the continent, to be exactly what Tyre must have been before it was connected to the main land by the isthmus of Alexander. Like that renowned mart of commerce, it must have anciently enjoyed a high consideration, and seems to have been itself a kingdom, as Rab-shekah when he despatches messengers of reproof to Hezekiah, says to him, "Where is the king of Hamath and the king of Arwad, and the king of the city of Tepharvaim, of Hena and Ivah?" (2 Kings, xix. 13.) It furnished mariners and soldiers to Tyre, as may be gathered from the lamentation which Ezekiel is ordered to take up for that city. "The inhabitants of Zidon and Arwad were thy mariners. The men of Arwad with thine army were upon thy walls round about." (xxvii. 11.) As the Aradus of the Greeks and Romans, it helped, in conjunction with Tyre and Sidon, to form the city of Tripolis, by the union of these three colonies; and enjoyed, besides, a command upon the continent as far as Gabala, or the Jebelee of the present day. The advantages of an insulated situation, and the wealth and power which may be attained by maritime commerce, are strikingly illustrated by the history of these celebrated marts, the whole source of their greatness being apparently founded in these.

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The island of Arwad has, at the present moment, a population of from 1500 to 2000, besides strangers, which may ordinarily amount to 500 more. As belonging to the department of the sea, is independent of all the governors on the coast, and acknowledges only the authority of the Cabudan Basha, (or, as it is usually written, Capitan Pasha,) who sends here annually an Aga from Constantinople. It is low, rocky, and covered with buildings, having no cultivated soil, so that it draws its supplies of provisions from the adjacent shore. From its southern edge extends a long broken reef, showing itself above water at intervals, and following nearly the direction of the coast. It has a clear entrance, however, round the northern point, and within this is good shelter from the prevailing winds of the sea between the island and the main. The inhabitants