Chap. I. from Aleppo 
In the Midfl; of the Ruins there ftands up one Pile 
higher than the reft, which is the Eaft-end of a great 
Church, probably of the Cathedral of _ and may 
very well be the fame that 'was eredted by its Bifhop 
Paulinus, and honour’d with that famous Confecration 
Sermon of Eufehius^ recorded by himfelf in Eccl. Hijl. 
I lo. 4. And ’tis . very obfervable, that in all the 
ruin’d Churches which we'faw, being perhaps no fewer 
than 100, though their other Parts were totally demo- 
lifh’d, yet the Eaft-end we always found ftanding, and 
tolerably entire. How this came to pals I cannot de- 
termine, but certainly a Thing fo univerfally obferv’d 
by us in our Journey, could not proceed from blind 
Chance. 
But to return ; There being an old Stair-cafe in the 
Ruin above-mention’d, I got to the Top ot it, from 
whence I had a Profped ot the Hand-part of 23'r^, the 
Ifthmus, and the adjacent Shore ; and from that Height 
I could difcern the Ifthmus to be a Soil of a different 
Nature from the other, it lying lower than either, and 
' being cover’d all over with Sand, which the Sea calls 
upon it. The Hand of Pyre, in its natural State, Teems 
to have been of a circular Figure, about forty Acres in 
Compafs, and the Foundations of the Wall that en- 
compafs’d it are ftill to be feen. It makes with the 
Ifthmus two large Bays, one on its North-Tide, and the 
other on its South, which are in Part defended from 
the Ocean by a long Ridge, either of Walls or Rocks, 
refembling a Mole, ftretching out diredlly on both Sides 
from the Head of the Hand. Coming out of thefe 
Ruins, we Taw the Foundation of a very ftrong Wall, 
running crofs the Neck of Land which Terved as a Bar- 
rier to Tecure the City on this Side. And hence we paft 
the Tandy Ifthmus, and came to the Place we thought 
the natural Shore, where we met with a fertile 
Plain, which extends to a vaft Compals before Tyre, 
whence we arrived in three Quarters of an Hour at 
Pofelayn. 
12. March 21ft : Rofclayn is the Place where are the 
Cifterns call’d Solornonh, which according to the com- 
mon Tradition are laid to have been made by that King, 
as part of his Recompence to King Hiram, Tor the Ma- 
terials he Tent toward building the Temple : But though 
they are very ancient, yet they are of a later Date than 
this Tradition makes them, becauTe the Aqu^dud 
which conveys the Water, is carried over that Neck of 
Land by which Alexander' di the City to the Conti- 
nent at his Siege of this Place, and fo cannot be older 
than his Time. Of thefe Cifterns there are three en- 
tire at this Day, one about a Furlong and half diftant 
from the Sea, the other two, a little further up. The 
former is of an Ocfogonal Figure, being twenty two 
Yards in Diameter, and contains a vaft Body of excel- 
lent Water, which is fo well fupplied from its Fountain, 
that though there ifilies from it a Stream like a Brook, 
driving four Mills between this Place and the Sea, yet 
It is always brim-full. On the Eaft-Tide was the ancient 
Outlet of Water by an Aqusedud, having a Channel 
one Yard v/ide, which is now ftopt up by the Turks,^\\o 
have broke an Outlet on the other Side, which makes a 
Stream for grinding Corn._ 
The Aqusedud, now dry, is carried Eaftward 120 
Paces, ' and then approaches the two other Cifterns, of 
which one is twelve, the other twenty Yards Tquare, 
and they had each a Channel, by which they reirdred 
their Waters into the Aqutedud, and To the united 
Streams of all the three Cifterns were carried together 
to Tyre. There ftill remains Tome Fragments of the 
Aqutedud, and in its Sides, and under its Arches, we 
obierv’d Tome Heaps of Matter, produc’d by the Leak- 
age of the Water which petrified as it diftill’d from 
above, and by continual AcceiTion of new Matter were 
grown to a great Bulk. They were compos’d of innu- 
merable Tubes of Stone of different Sizes, cleaving to 
one another like ITicles, each Tube having a Cavity in 
its Center, from which its Parts were projeded in the 
Form of Rays to the Circumference, like the Stones 
call’d Thunder-ftones. The Fountain of thefe Waters 
is as unknown as the Contriver of them, though ’tis 
certain, from their Rifmg To high, they come from 
to Jerusalem. 847 
Tome Part of the Mountains which are about a League 
diftant. 
From this pleafant Place came in^ an Hour and 
half to the white Promontory, over l-vhich you paTs by 
a Way about two Yards brpad cut along its Side, froni 
which the ProTped is dreadful, by Reafon of the Steep- 
nefs of the Mountains, and the Raging of the Sea at 
bottom. This Way, and the Caftle Scandalium-, which 
is not far off, are laid to be built by Alexander \ from 
whence we come firft to Na'chera, and then to the Plain 
of Acra, over a deep Mountain, Tuppos’d to be part 
of Mount Shdron. This Plain extends from Mount 
ran as far as Carmel, and is fiX Honrs long, and^two 
Hours broad, between the Sea and the Mountains, and 
was a delicious Plain, but is now, for Want of Culture^ 
over-run with rank Weeds, which were, when we pafs’d 
it, as high as our Horfes Backs. 
Having travell’d about an Hour in the Plain of Acra, 
we pafs’d by an old Town call’d Zih, which probably is 
the Old Achzih, mention’d Jof. xix. 29. and Judr. i. 31. 
and Teems to be one of the Places out of which the 
Afherites could not expel the Canaanites. Two Hours 
further we came to the Fountain of the bleffed Virgin, 
as it is call’d by the French Merchants at Acra, at which 
Place we arriv’d in an Hour more, 
Acra, anciently call’d Accho, is another of the Places 
from which the Ifraelites could not drive the Natives 5 
but being in After-times enlarg’d by Ptolemy I. it was 
by him called Ptolemais. And fince it was pofleffed 
by the Turks, like other Cities, having loft its Greek 
Name, it is call’d by them Acca, or Acra. This City 
has often chang’d Mafters, and at laft, by a long Siege, 
was taken and ruin’d by the Turks, in fuch a Manner 
as if they had taken Revenge upon it for the Blood it 
coft them. On the North and Eaft it is compaTs’d with 
a Tpacious and fertile Plain, on the Weft it is wafh’d 
by the Mediterranean Sea, and on the South by a 
large Bay, extending from the City as far as Mount 
Carmel. - / 
But nOtwithftanding thefe Advantages, befides a large 
Kane in which are the French Faftors, a MoTque, and 
a few poor Cottages, there is nothing now to be feen 
but vaft Ruins, which fhow its former Strength, for it 
appears to have been compaTs’d about with a double 
Wall defended with Towers, and without the Walls 
are Ditches, Ramparts, and a kind of Baftions. In 
the Fields vve find Teveral large Balls of Stone, thirteen 
or fourteen Inches in Diameter, which were part of the 
Ammunition ufed in battering the City, Guns being 
then unknown. Within the Walls are the Ruins of 
the Cathedral dedicated to St. Andrew, of the Church 
of St. John, the titular Saint of this City, and of 
the Convent of the Knights-HoTpitallers, and near 
to it the Palace of the Grand Mafter of that Or- 
der ; and laftly. Tome Remains of a large Church, 
formerly belonging to a Nunnery, of which they tell 
this Story. 
The Turks having prefs’d this City with a long Siege, 
at laft entred it by Storm, May 19, 1291. In which 
Extremity, the Abbefs fearing that herfelf and her Nuns 
Thould be fubjeded to fuch Beftialities as is ufual in fuch 
Cafes, exhorted them all to cut and mangle their Fa- 
ces, as the only Way to preferve their Virgin Purity ; 
and to encourage them, fhe made herfelf the firft Ex- 
ample of her own Counfel, which the Nuns inftantly 
follow’d, cutting off* their Nofes, and disfiguring their 
Faces with fuch terrible Gafties, as might excite Hor- 
ror rather than luflful Defires. The Cbnfequence of 
this was, that the Soldiers breaking into the Nunnery, 
and feeing inftead of beautiful Ladies fuch fad Spefta- 
cles, put them all to the Sword in Revenge for difap- 
pointing their Luffs. 
There are many other Ruins here of Churches, Pa- 
laces, Monafteries, Forts, iAc.^ for more than half a 
Mile in Length. But that which pleas’d us moft was, 
to find the French Conful PEmpereur here, who having 
ftaid for us two Days, refolv’d to fet forward next 
Morning. But we were doubtful which Way to take, 
becaufe of the Faftions of the Arabs, which are kept 
up by the Turks, to prevent their uniting under one 
Prince 
