TRIPOLI.
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across the triangular plain ; from which it appears that the western ¬
point was the site of the ancient city ; wherever the ground is
dug in that direction the foundations of houses and walls are found;
indeed it is with stones thus procured that the houses in the Myna
are built.
From the Myna northward to the mouth of the Kadisha runs a
chain of six towers, at about ten minutes walk from each other,
evidently intended for the defence of the harbour; around the
towers, on the shore, and in the sea, lie a great number of columns ¬
of gray granite; there are at least eighty of them, of about
a foot and a quarter in diameter, lying in the sea ; many others have
been built into the walls of the towers as ornaments. To each of
the towers the natives have given a name. The most northern is
called Berdj Ras el Nahr, from its being near the Kadisha; those
to the south are Berdj el Dekye, Berdj el Sebaa (»), or the
lion’s tower;* Berdj el Kanatter (); Berdj el Deyoun
), and Berdj el Mogharabe (ai»).
The harbour of Tripoli is formed by a line of low rocks, stretching ¬
from the point of the Myna about two miles into the sea, towards ¬
the north ; they are called by the natives Feiloun ().
On the north the point of Tartous in some measure breaks the
impetuosity of the sea; but when the northerly winds blow with
violence, vessels are often driven on shore. In a N. N. W. direction -
from the harbour extends a line of small islands, the farthest
of which is about ten miles distant from the main land. They are
named as follow: El Bakar (l), which is nearest to the harbour,
Billan (M), about half a mile in circumference, with remains of
* The natives say, that on the shield carved above the gateway of this tower two
lions were formerly visible.—These were the arms of Count Raymond de Thoulouse. I
saw at Tripoli a leaden seal of the Count, with a tower, meant probably for the Berdj
el Sebaa, on the reverse.
