j 5 2 TRAVELS TO THE EAST. 
town, confiding of a wall four fathoms high, fur- 
ni (lied with two drong gates ; he began a badion at 
one corner without the wall, and a palace within- 
This work, compleated by a rebel in fix months, 
the Turkifh emperor would not be able to perform 
in any place of Syria, of which he is lord, within 
fome hundred years. Since the knights of Malta 
became maders of Acra, nobody ever thought of 
'fortifying the place, tho’ it is the key of Galilee. 
This Arab made ufe of the remains of their ruin’d 
palace and cadle, and dug up the fubterraneous 
ruins of old Ptolemais for the continuation of his 
work ; and, according to the common report, fome of 
the buried treafures he found were of ufe to him 
in accompl idling his defigu. A broken granite co- 
lumn, of the thicknefs of the Egyptian, was fhewn 
me, which had been dug up out of the ruins. Thus 
was this done fo highly valued by the ancients as 
to have been formerly carried as far as Syria to 
adorn their fplendid buildings. Over one of the 
new city gates, which leads to Nazareth, the Arab 
had ordered two lions to be cut in done, w'hich 
are very bad, being done by a Mahometan, 
who, by his religion, is forbid to differ images ; 
but the Turks of this age are not fo lcrupulous iu 
the lefs material points of their religion, as their 
ancedors. In returning to our lodgings, we went 
into the fubterraneous vaults of the convent of St. 
Clara, poffeffed by the Francifcan monks before 
the Turks took it, and is laid to have been founded 
by a lady, who, to avoid her obdinate lovers, had 
the courage to cut off her nofe, and live in folitude 
with a mangled face, rather than pleafe herfelf atm 
others with Rich an one as nature had given her. 
The 2d of May, 1 travelled from Acra to Naza- 
reth. Without the town, on the right hand, 
piet 
