From Kesrawân we returned to Seidé. On the 9th of April set out for Beirût, the antient _Berytus_. The route was through a deep sand, and after passing two rivers, the _Nahr el aweli_ (before mentioned,) and the _Damer_ or antient Tamyras, we arrived at Beirût, the approach to which is, even now, grander than that of any other town on the Syrian coast, though the fine groves have been neglected since the death of Fakr-el-Dîn, Emîr of the Druses, its munificent improver. A grove of pines, planted by his orders, is now reduced to half its former bounds. No trace is found of the statues, which his residence in Italy had enabled him to collect; nor of the gardens and apartments which he had formed on the European taste. Beirût is a small place, and was not even walled till the Russians bombarded it; and Jezzâr, on getting possession, built the walls to give it a more formidable appearance. There are several towers, but the walls are thin and of no strength; the flatness of the situation is also a disadvantage. There is, however, a commodious wharf. The suburbs are almost as large as the city itself, consisting of gardens, with a house for the owner in each; and these interspersed among the numerous fruit-trees, (especially olives and figs,) which this fertile soil supports, give the whole a picturesque and beautiful appearance. Most of these gardens belonged to Christians, till the Pasha, by his exorbitant demands, obliged them to sell their possessions. Here it may be observed, that Christians may hold land in this place, which is not permitted at Acré. The streets of the city, like the others in this part of the world, are narrow and irregular. The high tower, which Maundrel mentions as standing North-east of the city, was first destroyed by Jezzâr, as he thought an enemy might use it in offence; but he afterwards rebuilt it, with smaller stones and in a less substantial manner, as a place-d’armes for his own soldiers. European vessels, in the summer, anchor near a small point of land which runs into the sea before the city, and is called Beirût Point; but in the winter, they cast anchor to the North, in a kind of gulf, which is sheltered from the North and East wind by the mountain, and is said to be very secure. The staple commodity of the country is raw silk, which is carried to Kahira, Damascus, and Aleppo, and part of it to Europe. They also fabricate a kind of jars and jugs in earthen ware, which, from the peculiar nature of the clay in the adjacent country, are highly esteemed, and carried to all parts of the coast.