We are enabled to present to our readers two or three engravings illustrative of a country and people, which have latterly, by the mooting of the Syrian question attracted no small share of the attention of the rest of the globe. We commence with a view of Beyrout, the scene of so much active enterprize, both in the way of attack and defence, during the late Syrian warfare. Beyrout was a Phonician city of great antiquity, but now contains few traces of its former splendour. A bath, pieces of granite columns, several of which were still standing when Pococke visited the place, and a few other fragments, are all that now remain. But a great number of granite columns may be seen along the shore beneath the water, and part of the present mole is composed of them. From the debris without the present walls, it appears that the ancient town occupied a larger space than the modern, which is but a small place. The walls are strengthened by several towers, and there are five gates to the city. It receives a copious supply of water from a small river called Nahr Beirut, which rises in Mount Libanus, and flows into the sea a short distance from the town; the water is conveyed by the canal before-mentioned, and received into reservoirs and fountains. The streets are narrow and dirty, like those of all Turkish towns: the houses are mostly built of stone. The town is commanded by some low hills to the S.E. Its population is estimated at 6000 souls, of whom the Turks form one-third. There is a large and well-built mosque in the city, formerly a Christian church, dedicated to St. John, and there was a Capuchin convent. The suburbs of the town are as large as the city itself.
