Eight miles from Tyre, towards the east, upon the sea, is the city of Sarphen, in Sarept of the Sidonians. There dwelt Elijah the prophet, and he raised there Jonas, the widow's son, from death to life. And five miles from Sarphen is the city of Sidon, of which Dido was lady, who was wife of Eneas, after the destruction of Troy, and who founded the city of Carthage in Africa, and now it is called Didon Sayete. And in the city of Tyre reigned Agenor, the father of Dido. Sixteen miles from Sidon is Beruthe (Beirut); and from Beruthe to Sardenare is three days. And from Sardenare it is five miles to Damascus. And those who are willing to go a long time on the sea, and come nearer to Jerusalem, may proceed from Cyprus by sea to the port of Jaffa, for that is the nearest port to Jerusalem, the distance being only one day and a half. The town is called Jaffa, because one of the sons of Noah, named Japhet, founded it, and now it is called Joppa. And you shall understand that it is one of the oldest towns of the world, for it was founded before Noah's flood. And there may still be seen in the rock there the place where the iron chains were fastened, wherewith Andromeda, a great giant, was bound and put in prison, before Noah's flood; a rib of whose side, which is forty feet long, is still shown[300]. And those who go to the port of Tyre or Sur, before mentioned, may proceed by land, if they will, to Jerusalem. They go from Sur in a day to the city of Akoun (Acre), which was called formerly Ptolemais, and it was once a very fine city of Christians; but it is now destroyed. It stands upon the sea. From Venice to Akoun, by sea, is two thousand and eighty Lombard miles. From Calabria, or from Sicily to Akoun, by sea, is thirteen hundred Lombard miles. And the Isle of Crete is just midway. Near the city of Akoun, toward the sea, one hundred and twenty furlongs on the right, toward the south, is the hill of Carmel, where Elijah the prophet dwelt, and where the order of friars Carmelites was first founded. This hill is not very great, nor very high. At the foot of this hill was formerly a good city of the Christians called Caiphas, because Caiaphas first founded it; but it is now all waste. And on the left side of the hill of Carmel is a town called Saffre, which is situated on another hill. There St. James and St. John were born, and there is a fair church in honour of them. And from Ptolemais, which is now called Akoun, it is one hundred furlongs to a great hill, called the scale (or ladder) of Tyre. And near the city of Akoun runs a little river called Belon; and there nigh is the foss of Memnon, which is all round; and it is one hundred cubits broad, and all full of gravel, shining bright, of which men make fair and clear glasses[301]. Men come from far, by water with ships, and by land with carts, to fetch of that gravel; and though ever so much be taken away thereof one day, on the morrow it is as full again as ever it was.