A little without this wall we saw many granite pillars and remnants of Mosaic floors, and in a heap of rubbish several pieces of polished marble, fragments of statues, and other poor relics of this city's ancient magnificence. On the sea-shore is an old ruined castle, and some remains of a small mole.
March 19.—Leaving Beirout, we came in one-third of an hour to a large plain extending from the sea to the mountains. At the beginning of the plain is a grove of pine-trees of Faccardine's plantation. We guessed it to be more than half a mile across; and so pleasant and inviting was its shade, that it was not without some regret that we passed it by. Continuing in this plain, we saw at a distance, on our left hand, a small village called Suckfoat. It belongs to the Druses, who possess at this day a long tract of mountains, as far as from Castravan to Carmel. Their present prince is Achmet, grandson to Faccardine, an old man, and one who keeps up the custom of his ancestors of turning day into night, an hereditary practice in his family, proceeding from a traditional persuasion amongst them, that princes can never sleep securely but by day, when men's actions and designs are best observed by their guards, and, if need be, most easily prevented; but that in the night it concerns them to be always vigilant, lest the darkness, aided by their sleeping, should give traitors both opportunity and encouragement to assault their persons, and by a dagger or a pistol to make them continue their sleep longer than they intended when they lay down.
Two hours from Faccardine's grove brought us to the fifth caphar, and another little hour to the river Damer or Tamyras, the former being its modern, the latter its ancient name. It is a river apt to swell much upon sudden rains; in which case, precipitating itself from the mountains with great rapidity, it has been fatal to many passengers. Amongst the rest, one Monsieur Spon, nephew to Dr. Spon, coming from Jerusalem about four years ago, in company with some English gentlemen, in passing this stream, was hurried down by it, and perished in the sea, which lies about a furlong lower than the passage.
We had the good fortune to find the river in a better temper, its waters being now assuaged since the late rains. However, the country fellows were ready here, according to their trade, to have assisted us in our passage over; in order to which, they had very officiously stripped themselves naked against our coming; and to the end that they might oblige us to make use of their help, for which they would be well paid, they brought us to a place where the water was deepest, pretending there was no other passage besides that, which cheat we saw them actually impose upon some other travellers, who came not long after us. But we had been advised of a place a little higher in the river, where the stream was broader and shallower, and there we easily passed without their assistance. Just by this place are the ruins of a stone bridge, of which one might guess by the firmness of its remains that it might have been still entire, had not these villains broke it down, in order to their making their advantages of passengers, either conducting them over for good pay, or else, if they have opportunity, drowning them for their spoils.
On the other side of the river, the mountains approach closer to the sea, leaving only a narrow rocky way between. From Damer, in two hours, we came to another river of no inconsiderable figure, but not once mentioned by any geographer that I know of. It is within one hour of Sidon. Its channel is deep, contains a good stream, and has a large stone bridge over it. Speaking of this river to the reverend father Stephano, Maronite patriarch at Canobine, he told me it was called Awle, and had its fountain near Berook, a village in Mount Libanus.
At this river we were met by several of the French merchants from Sidon, they having a factory there the most considerable of all theirs in the Levant. Being arrived at Sidon, we pitched our tents by a cistern without the city, but were ourselves conducted by the French gentlemen to the place of their habitation, which is a large khan close by the sea, where the consul and all the nation are quartered together. Before the front of this khan is an old mole running into the sea with a right angle; it was of no capacity at best, but now is rendered perfectly useless, having been purposely filled up with rubbish and earth by Faccardine, to prevent the Turkish galleys from making their unwelcome visits to this place. The mole being thus destroyed, all ships that take in their burden here are forced to ride at anchor under the shelter of a small ridge of rocks about a mile distant from the shore, on the north side of the city. Sidon is stocked well enough with inhabitants, but is very much shrunk from its ancient extent, and more from its splendour, as appears from a great many beautiful pillars that lie scattered up and down the gardens without the present walls. Whatever antiquities may at any time have been hereabout, they are now all perfectly obscured and buried by the Turkish buildings. Upon the south side of the city, on a hill, stands an old castle, said to have been the work of Louis IX. of France, surnamed the saint; and not far from the castle is an old unfinished palace of Faccardine's, serving, however, the pasha for his seraglio, neither of them worth mentioning, had the city afforded us any thing else more remarkable. Near about Sidon begin the precincts of the Holy Land, and of that part of it in particular which was allotted to Asher; the borders of which tribe extended from Carmel as far as Great Zidon, as appears from Josh. xix. 26, 28. But the people upon the sea-coast were never actually mastered by the Israelites, being left by the just judgment of God to be thorns in their sides, for a reason that may be seen in Judges, ii. 1-3, &c.
The person who is the French consul at Sidon has also the title of consul of Jerusalem, and is obliged by his master, the French king, to make a visit to the holy city every Easter, under pretence of preserving the sanctuary there from the violations, and the friars who have the custody of it from the exactions, of the Turks. But the friars think themselves much safer without this protection. We were desirous to join with Monsieur l'Empereur, the present consul, in this year's pilgrimage, and, accordingly, had sent him a letter from Aleppo on purpose to bespeak that favour, hoping by his protection to pass more securely from the abuses of the Arabs and Turks, who are nowhere so insolent as in Palestine and about Jerusalem. We had his promise to stay for us; but the remoras and disappointments we met with on the road had put us so backward in our journey, that, fearing to be too late at Jerusalem, he set out from Sidon the day before our arrival there, leaving us, however, some hopes, that if we made the best of our way we might come up with him at Acra, where he promised to expect our coming to the latest moment.
March 20.—Being desirous, therefore, not to lose the convenience of his company, we set out early the next morning from Sidon, and, travelling in a very fruitful plain, came in half an hour to a place where we found a large pillar of granite lying across the high way, and sunk a good part under ground. Observing some letters upon it, we took the pains to dig away the earth, by which means we recovered this fragment of an inscription:—
IMPERATORES
CAESARES
L SEPTIMUS SE
VERUS PIUS PER
TINAX AUG: ARA
BICUS ADIABENICUS
PARTHICUS MAXI
MUS TRIBUNICIA
POTES: VI. IMP: XI. COS []
PRO . COS . P . P
ET M . AUREL: ANTONI
NUS AUG: FILIUS . EJUS
........ ET ..... ARIA
.... EN ... DIUM . RV
FVM .............
.... IC PR: PRAET
... PROVINC . SYRIAE
[ET PHAE] NIC RENOVAVERUNT
. [ ] .