As in consequence of a dispute between Jezzâr and the Pasha of Tripoli it was become unsafe to travel there, I joined a party of disbanded soldiers, and proceeded to Tripoli in their company. Our journey being quick, I had few opportunities for observation on the road.
This part of the country is noted for producing the best tobacco in Syria. That plant is cultivated in several districts, particularly in the neighbourhood of Tripoli, Gebeilé, and Ladakia.
On the third day arrived at Tripoli, about ten o’clock in the morning, having slept as usual in the open air.
Tripoli is a city of some extent, situated about a mile and an half from the sea. Vessels moor near the shore, and are sheltered by a ridge of rocks, but the situation is not extremely secure.
The air is rendered unwholesome by much stagnant water. The town is placed on a slight elevation, the length considerably exceeding the breadth. On the highest ground, to the South, is the castle, formerly possessed by the Earls of Tripoli; it is large and strong. Hence is visible a part of Mount Libanus, the summit of which is covered with snow. The gardens in the vicinity are rich in mulberry and other fruit trees. The city is well built, and most of the streets are paved.
It is the seat of a Pasha, who at present is the son of Abdallah, Pasha of Damascus.
Here is found a number of Mohammedan merchants, some of the richest and most respectable in the empire. Silk is the chief article of commerce. Five or six French merchants escaped hither from Acré[58].
Antiquities I observed none. The history of Tripoli during the crusades must be known to every reader. The present population I should be inclined to estimate at about sixteen thousand.
The miri, or fixed public revenue paid by Tripoli to Constantinople, is only about a thousand pounds sterling, twenty purses, a-year. Syria at present contains only four Pashaliks, Damascus, Aleppo, Acré, and Tripoli; the last of which is the smallest in territory and power.
On the 30th of April proceeded towards Ladakia, the antient Laodicea, built by Seleucus Nicanor in honour of his mother. We arrived on the third day at night. The first appearance of this city was most melancholy, as presenting all the ravages of the earthquake, which in the preceding year (1796) had laid a great part of it in ruins, and destroyed numbers of the inhabitants. Ladakia has a convenient but very small port, across the mouth of which is a bar of sand. The place is situated in a plain, extending on the North and South as far as the eye can reach; but bounded by hills towards the East. It has no walls, and only a part is paved; but the streets are clean, the air is salubrious, and refreshed by the fragrance of surrounding gardens. Water is scarce. The snow-capt summits of Libanus now vanish from the eye.