&cnt> 
223 
We that many of. die no are without foundation. We must how¬ 
ever admit the truth of the terrible examples he made after his- 
return from Mecca, in consequence of the infidelity of his wo¬ 
men. From all the information we could obtain, he considered 
the female tenants of his charera as the children of his fami¬ 
ly, When he retired, he carried with him a number of watch 
papers he had aroused himself by cutting with scissors during 
the day, as toys to distribute among them; neither could there 
be any possible motive of cruelty, even in the worst of tyrants., 
toward such defenceless victims. He was above sixty years 
old at the time of our arrival, but vain of the vigour he still re- 
tained at that advanced age. He frequently boasted of his ex¬ 
traordinary strength ; and used to bare his arm, in order to ex¬ 
hibit his brawny muscles. Sometimes, in conversation with 
strangers, he would suddenly leap upright from his seat, to show 7 
his activity. He has been improperly considered as Pacha of 
Acre. His. real paehalic w r as that of Seide, anciently called 
Sidon ; but, at the time of our arrival, he was also Lord of Da¬ 
mascus, of Berytus, Tyre, and Sidon; and, with the exception 
of a revolt among the Druses, might be considered master of 
all Syria. The seat of government was removed to Acre, on 
account of its port, which has been at all times the key to Pa¬ 
lestine. The port of Acre is bad : but is better than any other 
along the coast. That of Seide is very insecure, and the bar* 
bottr-of Jaffa worse than any of the others. The possession of 
Acre extended his influence even to Jerusalem, f t enables its 
possessor to shut up the country, and keep its inhabitants in sub¬ 
jection. All the rice, which is the staple food of the people, en¬ 
ters by this avenue; the Lord of Acre may, if so it pleases him, 
cause a famine to he felt even over ail Syria. Here then we 
have a clue to the operations of the French, in tins, as well as in 
every other part of the world. They directed every effort to¬ 
ward the possession of Acre, because it placed the food of 
all the inhabitants of this country in their power, and, conse¬ 
quently, its entire dominion. It is a principle of policy, w hich 
even Djezzar Pacha, with his propensity for truisms, would 
have deemed it superfluous to insist upon, that the key of a 
public granary is the mightiest engine of military operation. 
Hence we find Acre to have been the last place from w hich the 
Christians were expelled in the Holy Land; and hence its 
tranquil possession, notwithstanding the insignificant figure it 
makes in the map of this great continent, is of me ve. importance 
than the greatest armies, under the most victorious leader, ever 
