184S.] DESCRIPTION. 469 



During the crusades it was frequently captured by the 

 champions of the Cross, and as often retaken by the Infidel. 

 In the 17th century it became the capital of the renowned 

 Druse Emir, Fakir-el-Din, and was afterwards attached by 

 the Pasha of Acre to his jurisdiction, though it now consti- 

 tutes, with the adjacent country, a separate pashalic. 



Beirut contains no public buildings of importance, and its 

 houses and bazars are much like those of Smyrna — Turkish 

 towns always presenting a singular uniformity in this respect. 

 It is the seaport for the exportation of the cotton and silks 

 of the Druses, which are manufactured here in considerable 

 quantities. The silk goods of Beirut, and especially the 

 sashes, are highly esteemed. The surrounding country is 

 fertile, and is well watered by the river of Beirut (Nahr- 

 Bei'rut). There are extensive plantations of mulberry trees 

 in the vicinity,* upon the leaves of which the silk-worms are 

 fed, and interspersed among them are gardens and groves, 

 richly garnished with flowers, and well stocked with the 

 orange and the olive, the almond and the tamarind. The 

 heat of the atmosphere is often intense, yet it is considerably 

 modified by the numerous wells in the town and suburbs ; 

 and as the streets are kept much cleaner than is common in 

 Eastern towns, it is usually a great deal more healthy. 



The costume of the inhabitants of Beirut differs but little 

 from that noticed in Smyrna. The learned Druse [akout) 

 does not lay aside his white turban, nor does his wife ever 

 part with her ungainly tantur, but the Turkish dress, in 

 some or all of its features, prevails among every class except 

 the Franks. The tantur is a singular, not to say hideous 

 appendage, peculiar to the Druses women, though occasionally 

 seen among their neighbors, the Maronites ; it is worn only 



* The mulberry plants are here set in rows six or eight feet apart, and tney 

 are always cut off at a corresponding height, none but the fresh twigs being 

 allowed to remain. The owners of the plantations allow the peasants one fourth 

 of the silk for reeling it, gathering the leaves, and taking care of the worms. 

 The cocoons are kept in reed inclosures. called sheds though they have no 

 roofs. 



