468 Beirut. [1848. 



was placed in the hands of Lieutenant Lynch, who immedi- 

 ately returned to his party. 



On the 10th of March, the Supply again got under way, 

 in order to proceed to St. Jean d'Acre, where it was designed 

 finally to disembark. Shortly after leaving the Gulf of 

 Smyrna, the vessel was driven by a fierce levanter to take 

 shelter in the bay of Scio. From thence she attempted to 

 pass through the Icarean Sea, but another gale obliged her to 

 bear away for Scala Nova, the ancient Neapolis, near which 

 are the ruins of Ephesus, and of the famed temple of Diana, 

 fired by the ambitious Erostratus. Sail was once more made on 

 the 18th instant, and after a pleasant run of near seven hun- 

 dred miles, the morning sun of the 25th was discovered fling- 

 ing his rosy beams over the noble range of Jebel-Liban, once 

 adorned with those gigantic cedars that added beauty and 

 strength to the temple of Solomon; but now "the glory of 

 Lebanon has departed," and the clustering firs alone conceal 

 beneath their umbrella-like canopies the deep ravines and 

 beetling precipices beneath, and the caves and sepulchres in 

 which the Jews and Christians sheltered themselves in former 

 days from the fury of the persecutor, while far above them, 

 in the clear sunlight, glistens the eternal snow. 



Early in the morning of the 25th, the Supply anchored off 

 the town of Beirut, in order to enable Lieutenant Lynch to 

 have an interview with the Pasha, and obtain the requisite 

 instructions to the subordinates of the latter to afford him 

 assistance and protection on his route through the coun- 

 try, if necessary, and to dispatch a messenger to the Pasha of 

 Damascus for a similar purpose. — Beirut is a small town, 

 with a population of only twelve or fifteen thousand, consist- 

 ing principally of Turks, Druses, Armenians, and Frank's 

 In the days of antiquity it was known as Berytus (/»',•" ro »), 

 and was celebrated for its law school, established by Alexan- 

 der Severus. In the legends of the Crusaders if is famous 

 as the scene of St. George's victory over the dragon. It 

 was for a long time under the dominion of the Roman Em- 

 perors, but subsequently fell into the hands of the Saracens. 



