Beyond Haifa all the steamers skirt the coast of ancient Phoenicia at some distance from land, as the cliffs here endanger navigation, but the numerous small headlands, bays, and islands adapt it admirably for settlement. It once extended, far beyond Beirut, to the river Eleutheros, now Nahr el-Kebîr.
From afar we sight the lighthouse and forts of Akka or Acre, the ancient Akko (later Ptolemais). In 1104 it became the naval station of the Crusaders. Taken by Saladin in 1187 it was recaptured by Richard Cœur-de-Lion in 1191 and for a century was a great bulwark of Christianity. Under the name of St. Jean d’Acre it was the seat of the knights of St. John (p. [475]) after their expulsion from Jerusalem. Far to the N.E. rises Mt. Hermon (p. [489]).
Beyond the white Râs el-Nâkûra, the ancient Scala Tyriorum, and Râs el-Abyad, the Promontorium Album of Pliny, we sight a low headland on which lies the poor little town of Sûr, with a ruined church of the Crusaders, ruins of their fortifications, and a lighthouse. This was the ancient seaport of Tyre, once situated on two islands, but connected with the mainland by an embankment built by Alexander during his famous siege (332 B.C.).
Farther on we pass the mouth of the Nahr el-Lîtânî (p. [483]), here called Nahr el-Kâsimîyeh, and obtain a fine view of the coast-region in front of Lebanon; to the E. rise Jebel er-Rihân and Tômât Nîhâ (6070 ft.; ‘twins of Nîhâ’), snow-capped in winter, and to the N.E. the distant Jebel Sannîn (p. [483]).
Beyond Sarafant (ancient Zarpath or Sarepta) opens the broad bay of Saida, formerly Sidon, the oldest and, next to Tyre, greatest port of the Phœnicians, now girdled by rich vegetation.
Passing the mouth of the Nahr el-Auwâlî (ancient Bostrenus) and the Râs er-Rumeileh, the N. limit of the bay of Saida, we come to the far-projecting Râs ed-Dâmûr and the Nahr ed-Dâmûr, the ancient Tamyras, which in winter is one of the most copious rivers in the Lebanon region. Near Beirut begin the mulberry and olive groves and the vineyards of the fertile coast-plain.
We round the reddish hills of Râs Beirût (p. [483]), with the pigeons’ grottoes and lighthouse, and enter Beirut harbour (p. [481]).
73. From Jaffa to Jerusalem.
54½ M. Railway. Two trains daily in 3 hrs. 40 min. (1st cl. 70½ pias.; 2nd, inferior to good Engl. 3rd, 25 pias.). Railway rates of exchange: 1 mejidieh = 20 pias.; 20 fr. = 94 pias.; £ 1 = 124 pias.; £ 1 Turkish = 108 pias. (comp. p. [536]).
Jaffa, see p. [467]. The train skirts the orchards around Jaffa (with Sarona on the left) and turns to the S.E. through the plain of Sharon (p. [468]), following the depression of the Wâdi Miserâra. On the right is the agricultural colony of the Alliance Israélite. To the E. rise the bluish hills of ancient Judaea.