Many Parts Of Tripoli Bear Marks Of The Ages Of
The Crusades; Amongst These Are Several High Arcades Of Gothic
Architecture, Under Which The Streets Run.
In general the town is well
built, and is much embellished by the gardens, which are not only
attached to the houses in the town, but cover likewise the whole
triangular plain lying between it and the sea.
Tripoli stands in
[p.164]one of the most favoured spots in all Syria; as the maritime
plain and neighbouring mountains place every variety of climate within a
short distance of the inhabitants. The Wady Kadisha, higher up than
Tripoli, is one of the most picturesque valleys I ever saw. At half an
hour from the town is an aqueduct across the Wady, built upon arches;
the natives call it Kontaret el Brins [Arabic], a corruption, perhaps,
of Prince. It conveys the water used for drinking, into the town, by
means of a canal along the left bank of the Kadisha. A few yards above
the aqueduct is a bridge across the stream.
I estimate the inhabitants of Tripoli at about fifteen thousand; of
these one-third are Greek Christians, over whom a bishop presides. I was
told that the Greeks are authorized, by the Firmahns of the Porte, to
prevent any schismatic Greek from entering the town. This may not be the
fact;--it is however certain, that whenever a schismatic is discovered
here, he is immediately thrown into prison, put in irons, and otherwise
very ill-treated.
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