In the time of Volney, Sayda contained about five thousand inhabitants; in 1816 from six thousand to seven thousand. Of these there are one thousand Christians, five hundred Jews, the rest are Mahommedans. The climate is mild, agreeable, and healthy. The huge stones of which the mole was built may still be seen, being capable of filling its whole thickness. Some of these are twelve feet long, eleven broad, and five deep. It is supposed to have been built by Lewis IX.; but this, perhaps, was not the case, since it contains, on the top of it, a work of a much more ancient date. On the opposite side of the town is a modern fort, built by Degnizlu; but consisting merely of a large tower, incapable of resisting any serious attack. “Sidon was the mother of Tyre,” says Mr. Robinson; “yet it was speedily eclipsed by that city, in fame, in riches, and in importance. After sharing in its fortunes, during the space of many centuries, it has finally survived its rival, and is again a place of considerable trade.” The buildings of Sayda, according to Mr. Buckingham, are not at all superior to the common order of Mahommedan edifices in the modern towns of Syria. The streets are extremely narrow, the mosques mean, the caravanserais small and incommodious, and the bazaars few, and badly furnished even with the commonest necessaries. According to another traveller, Sayda is ill-built, dirty, and full of ruins. These ruins, however, are of a comparatively modern date. Few of ancient times remain. There is, nevertheless, a large tesselated pavement of variegated marble, representing a horse, and tolerably perfect in some parts for ten feet in length, remaining close to the sea, on the northern extremity of the city, which shows that the sea encroaches on the land. There are also several columns of granite wrought into the walls; and some stand as posts on the bridge leading to the fort; and near the gate of the town is a small square building, which contains the tombs of such of the Emirs of the Druses as died when Sayda was in their possession. Sayda is the principal port of Damascus. The harbour, like all those on this coast, was formed with much art, and at an immense expense, by means of long piers. These works, which subsisted entire under the lower empire, are now fallen into decay. “So great are the mutations, occasioned by time,” says Mr. Buckingham, “that but for the identity of name and position, there would be scarcely any marks left by which to recognise even the site of the present emporium here alluded to. The stranger, who visits it in its present state, will look around in vain for any of those vestiges of its former grandeur which the description of the ancient historians would lead him to expect; and which, indeed, are still to be seen in most of the other celebrated cities of the East,—whether in Greece, Egypt, Syria, or Asia Minor.[238]” NO. XXXI.—SMYRNA.