'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎456] (541/905)

456
PLAIN OF TRIPOLI.
[CHAP. XIX.
The town is enclosed with an ordinary loop-holed wall, and
is surrounded by the fruit groves already noticed, which
extend up the side of the hill to the eastward. On the
latter is the remaining portion of the city, now the fortress,
and once the Acropolis, which occupies the whole of the
summit, and completely commands the town by the fire of
19 guns.
Castle of The work consists of a very high scarp, flanked by square
Tripo11 " towers, and is without a ditch, being as usual constructed,
probably by the Saracens, along the extreme edge of the hill.
A little to the eastward there is another hill rather more
elevated, which is separated from that of the castle by a deep
ravine. A little way up Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Kadisha there is a convent
of Dervishes, and half an hour's journey farther, the valley is
crossed by the aqueduct of Koutaret-el-Brins, from which a
canal conveys drinking water into the town along the left
side of the Kadisha.
Ancient Tripolis was one of the last strong-holds held by
the Crusaders, from whom it was taken by the Mamelukes in
1289 and it is farther remarkable in consequence of being
the first place where the existence of the sugar-cane, then
called zucre, or sweet-honied reed, is noticed. 2
Productions Being rather low, and embosomed in gardens, the heat of
and inhabitants m • 1 • • • , • • •,. . r . , ■ .
of the plain. Tripoli gives rise to intermittent levers at certain seasons, to
which, however, owing to the sea-breezes, the Marina is much
less exposed than the other parts of the town. Where
cultivated, the rich soil of the plain of Tripoli produces the
sugar-cane, cotton, silk, grain, and the finest tobacco; higher,
it is pebbly and less favourable for cultivation, yet the steep
sides of the mountains produce silk, oil, grain, and wine.
The Pashalik contains Arabs, Kurds, Mitaulis, and indeed a
portion of all the different branches of people belonging to
Syria. The western side of the Pashalik represents the
northern part of Phoenicia, to which her daring mariners
added Cyprus.
This island, the Kibris of the Turks, 3 and the richest in
1 Mill's Hist, of the Crusades, vol. II., p. 272. 8 Ibid., vol. I., p. 2^8.
3 D'Anville's Anc. Geo., vol. I., p. 400.