TRIPOLI. 



and excelled Tunis in beauty and wealth. It retains now 

 but few traces of its ancient fplcndour. The baths form 

 elullers of cupolas, very large, to the number of nine or ten, 

 crowded together in different parts of the town. The 

 mofques have generally a fmall plantation of Indian figs and 

 dates clofe to them, which give to the town a novel and 

 pleafing afpeft. The houfes are low and mean, the ftreets 

 narrow, dirty, and irregular : there are in it neverthelefs 

 fome monuments ftUl Handing, whicli evince its former mag- 

 nificence ; particularly a triumphal arch, one half of which 

 now lies buried in the fand, and fome remains of Roman 

 pavement. We need not wonder at this extraordinary 

 decay, if we confider the two great inconveniencies which 

 this city labours under : firft, the want of fweet water, 

 here being neither rivers, fprings, nor wells, nor any other 

 means of fupplying it with that ufeful element but cifterns 

 and refervoirs of rain-water ; fecondly, the great fcarcity of 

 corn, and the other products of the ground, occafioned by 

 the dry fandy foil that furrounds it on the land fide for fe- 

 veral miles. It produces, however, palm-trees in great 

 plenty, that yield the moil dehghtful dates, which confti- 

 tute a confiderable part of their food : befides thefe, they 

 have the lothus or lotus, a tree whofe fruit is reckoned ftill 

 finer than the dates, and makes a moft excellent wine. That 

 plant ferves them for meat and drink, for which reafon they 

 have been ftiled by the ancients Lotophagi. But upon the 

 whole, were it not for the continual fupply of provifions 

 brought in by their corfairs, and other trading vefiels, 

 Tripoli could never fubfill by the produfts of its own ter- 

 ritories ; and hence we may infer the caufe of its prefent 

 decay. Adjacent to the walls of the city is a famous 

 burying-ground, in which are found coffins, urns, medals, 

 and other curious rehcs of antiquity. The Francifcan 

 friars have here a very handfome church, convent, and hof- 

 pital, the lail of which is the more neceffary, as the city is fo 

 often and fo feverely vifited by the plague. Other orders of 

 monks were here fettled, who have been fince obliged to 

 abandon it, probably on account of its decay. The coun- 

 try around is adorned with a multiplicity of handfome villas, 

 cultivated chiefly by Chrifi;ian ilaves, and much like thofe 

 about Algiers and Tunis. The people here can-y on a con- 

 fiderable trade in linen cloths, great quantities of which are 

 wrought by the inhabitants ; but their chief dependence is 

 on their own corfairs, and thofe of other nations, which 

 refort to their harbour. Its (hops are little better than 

 booths, though they contain pearls, gold, gems, and pre- 

 cious drugs. Here are two covered bazars, one very 

 large, compofed of four aifles meeting in a crofs, furnifhed 

 on each fide with fliops, which contain every kind of raer- 

 chandi/.e : the other is much fnialler, without (liops, and 

 deftined to the fale of black men and women. ( See the 

 preceding article.) A late traveller fays, tlie date-trees, 

 which fpread themfelves like a foreft beliind tlie tov/n, and 

 the hills beyond them, which bound the profpeft on the 

 fouth, are intereiling objects ; but the town itfelf is built 

 in too low a fituation to compofe a part of the general 

 fcene : for it is fcarcely vifible at the diftance of a mile. 

 Its fcanty hmits, though fcarcely four miles in circum- 

 ference, are too great for its prefent population ; and its 

 ancient caftle, though once the pride and ftill the refidence 

 of the reigning family, is now a mouldering ruin ; 300 miles 

 S.E. of Tunis. N. lat. 32° 54'. E. long. 1 3° 1 8'. 



Tripoli, or Tarabolos, a town of Syria, and capital 

 of a pachalic, and refidence of the pacha, fituated near 

 the mouth of a fmall river, called Kad'tjlja, at the foot 

 of Mount Lebanon, which overlooks and furrounds it with 

 its branches to the E. the S. and even a little to the N.W. 



The Greek name Tripoli, denoting tliree cities, 13 derived 

 from its having been built by three colonies, from Tyre, 

 Sidon, and Arfidus, each of which formed fettlements fo 

 near each other that they were foon united into one. It is 

 feparated from the fea by a fmall triangular plain, half a 

 league in breadth, at the point of which is the village where 

 the veflels land their goods. The Franks call this village 

 La Marine, tlie general name given by them to thefe places 

 in the Levant. There is no harbour, but a fimple road, 

 which extends from the (liore to (hoals, called the Rabbit 

 and Pigeon Iflands. The bottom is rocky, and mariners 

 are not fond of remaining here, as the cables are foon worn 

 out, and the veflels expofed to the N.W. winds, which are 

 frequent and violent on all this coaft. In the time of the 

 cruiades, this road was defended by towers, feven of which 

 are ftill fubfifting from the mouth of the river to the village. 

 They are ftrong built, but now ferve only as a place of refort 

 for birds of prey. All the environs of TripoH are laid out 

 in orchards, where the nopal grows fpontaneoufly, and the 

 white mulberry is cultivated for the filk-worm ; and the 

 pomegranate, the orange, and the lemon-tree, for their fruit, 

 which is of the greateft beauty. The grounds belonging to 

 it extend as far as Mount Lebanon, and abound in vineyards. 

 Each hill produces a different wine ; but the golden wine is 

 moft admired. But thefe places, though dehghtful to the eye, 

 are unhealthy. Every year, from July to September, epidemic 

 fevers, like thofe of Alexandretta and Cyprus, rage here : 

 thefe are owing to the artificial iimndations with which the 

 mulberry-trees are watered, in order tliat they may throw 

 out their fecond leaves. Befides, as the city is open only to 

 the weft, the air does not circulate, and the fpirits are in a 

 conftant ftate of oppreffion, which makes health at beft but 

 a kind of convalefcence. At La Marine the air is more 

 falubrious, its circulation being lefs impeded. The com- 

 merce of Tripoli confifts almoft wholly in indifferent coarfe 

 filks, which are made ufe of for laces, and is in the hands of 

 the French alone. But they are lofing their quality, which 

 is owing to the decay of the mulberry-trees. They have a 

 conful here, and three commercial houfes. They export 

 filks, and fpunges fiflied up in the road ; thefe they ex- 

 change for cloths, cochineal, fugar, and Weil India coffee ; 

 but this faftory, both with refpeft to imports and exports, 

 is inferior to Latakia ; which fee. 



The pachalic of Tripoli comprehends the country which 

 ftretchcs along the Mediterranean from Latakia to the 

 Narh-cl- Kelb, and is bounded on the W. by that torrent, 

 and the chain of mountains which overlook the Orontes. 

 The principal part of this government is hilly, the fea-coaft 

 alone between Tripoli and Latakia being a level country. 

 The numerous rivulets which water it contribute greatly to 

 its fertihty ; but notwithftanding this advantage, this plam is 

 much lefs cultivated than the mountains, without even ex- 

 cepting Lebanon, with its numerous rocks and pine-trees. 

 Its chief produftions are corn, barley, and cotton. In the 

 territory of Latakia, tobacco and olives are principally cul- 

 tivated ; but in Lebanon and the Kefraouan, white mul- 

 berry-trees and vineyards. This pachalic contains fcveral 

 tribes and rehgions. From Lebanon to above Latakia, the 

 mountains are peopled by the Anfarians, a particular fcdl of 

 religious, which firft rofe in the latter end of the ninth cen- 

 tury ; Lebanon and the Kefraouan are inhabited entirely by 

 the Maronites ; and the fea-coaft and cities, by fchifmntic 

 Greeks, and Latins, Turks, and defcendants of tlie Arabs. 

 The pacha of Tripoli enjoys all the privileges of his place. 

 The military and finances are in his hands ; he holds the 

 government in quality of a farm from the Porte, on a leafe 

 Sf one year only, at the annual rent of 750 purfes (39,000/. ) 



