BEIROUT AND LEBANON—p.29.
Beirout, situated in a country rich, beautiful, adorned, and perfumed with orange, lemon, olive, palm, and mulberry trees, is one of the most interesting towns in Syria. The situation is exquisitely beautiful, the waters of the Levant reflecting the castles and minarets, and more faintly the distant range of the memorable Lebanon. The view from the Marina is not exceeded by any panoramic spectacle in the whole range of the Mediterranean coasts.
The females in the foreground of the view, wear on the head the favourite ornament of Lebanon, the silver horn, carved with grotesque figures and characters, and adorned with false jewellery; but it is hollow, to the height of a foot, placed upright on the head, and secured under the chin by a silken cord.
In the foreground is the prickly pear, which grows with such rapidity, that if a single leaf be planted, in four years its produce is sufficient to fill a room.
Here are some remains of the ancient city, granite columns of large dimensions, ruins of baths, and other fragments of a civilized and finished style, but the present town is encompassed by modern defences. The atmosphere is rendered cool and refreshing by the introduction of fountains and reservoirs within the walls, deriving their chief supply from the river that flows from Mount Lebanon.
