378

REMAINS OF INSULAR TYRE.

bazaar, have been lately established; and I may remark, en passant, that either the population must have greatly declined in numbers latterly, or a gross imposition was practised upon a well-known traveller, who made it amount, in 1816, to from five to eight thousand. My information with regard to the number of its inhabitants, &c. was derived from the governor, our consul, and the bishop.

Some sarcophagi are to be found in the gardens outside the town, remarkable for having a pillow hewn for the head to rest on in each.

Proceeding southward across the isthmus, you arrive at the remains of a considerable pier, extending all along the water's edge; the stones of which it is composed are of great size, and scattered about it are numbers of pillars, of granite and variegated marble, many of them piled up into landing-places for boats.

The shore here demands particular attention, as it contains the remains of the ancient houses, the foundations of some of which are in many places still to be seen. In the perpendicular face of the beach we found the floors of these ancient houses, marked by whole strata of tesselated pavement, which show that the level of the peninsular city was from eight to ten feet below the present surface the intervening portion being composed of broken crockery-ware, pieces of marble, and rubbish. This pavement was of three different kinds: the first was composed of small bits of marble of from one-half to three-fourths of an inch square; the second, of small bricks or tiles, all placed together with great accuracy; and the last, of small portions of broken brick thrown into a bed of mortar, in which they were wrought together, and afterwards smoothed down and polished.

While examining the remains along the shores of this harbour, I found a number of round holes cut in the solid sandstone rock, varying in size from that of an ordinary metal pot to that of a large boiler. Many of these holes were seven feet six inches in diameter, by eight feet deep; others were larger, and some were very small. They were perfectly smooth on the inside, and many of them were shaped exactly like a modern iron pot, broad and flat at the bottom, and narrowing towards the top. Some were found detached, and others in a cluster; where the latter occurred, two or three of the holes were connected by a narrow channel cut

DISCOVERY OF THE DYE POTS.

379

through the stone about a foot deep. Many of these reservoirs were filled with a breccia of shells, such as are represented in the accompanying woodcut. In other places, where the pots were

empty, this breccia lay in heaps in the neighbourhood, as well as along the shore of this part of the peninsula. It instantly struck me on seeing these apertures, that they were the vats or mortars in which was manufactured the Tyrian dye. I am confirmed in this opinion by the fact, that the species of shell discovered in this breccia, corresponds exactly with that described by the old

authors as that from which the colour was extracted, and from which a purple dye can be obtained even at the present day; and it is acknowledged as such by modern naturalists.

Although I broke up large quantities of these masses, in no instance could I find a single unbroken specimen, which I certainly would have found had they been rolled in from the sea, or were in a fossilized state. I picked up one of the recent shells upon the shore, which corresponds in every respect with those found in the conglomerate. The stones in the vicinity of this place were covered with large Serpule.

The binding material of this mass of shells, is lime and a trace of strontian; and the only thing found in connection with them are a few pebbles. This substance is of great weight, and adamantine hardness, and is of the same character as the petrified strand which I have already mentioned as existing at Rhodes and in Karamania. Now it seems to me more than probable, that the shells were collected into these holes, or, as they might be more properly called, mortars, in which they were pounded, for the purpose of extracting from them the juice which the animal contained; and in this opinion I am borne out by Pliny the

naturalist, who says, that "when the Tyrians light up any great purples, they take the fish out of the shells to get the blood, but the lesser they press and grind in certain mills, and so gather that rich humour which issueth from them."

These vats may have been also used for steeping the cloth; for dying pots, cut either in the rock or formed of baked clay sunk in the earth, are still found in many parts of the east, and may be seen in use in some of the by-streets of Alexandria and Grand Cairo, bearing some resemblance to our tan-pits. Such places as these are still used for indigo-dying throughout Africa.

The shells of which this mass is composed (a portion of which is now in my possession) are all of one species, and are undoubtedly the murex trunculus, which conchologists admit was one of the species from which

tures of the first of commercial cities, will, I am sure, require but little apology for devoting a few pages of the appendix to an inquiry into the nature and properties of the Tyrian dye.*

On the seaboard line of the peninsula, and running north and south of it, parallel with the shore, is a reef of what now appears to be rocks, just rising above the water, and forming, of course, the western boundary of both harbours. A question arises if this breakwater be natural or artificial.

During the whole of our stay at Tyre, the wind blew strongly from the outh-west, and the sea breaking violently on these rocks, particularly the southern, precluded the possibility of a close

D

1

* See Appendix M.

CONSOLIDATION OF THE ROCKS.

381

examination.*

We, however, got a boat near enough the northern side of the reef to allow us to land. The soundings close to the rocks outside were ten fathoms, and continued decreasing gradually to the shore. It is difficult to say whether this reef is natural or not. There are evident marks of art upon it; and although a reef may have originally existed here, I have no doubt but that much has been added to it by the labour of man, as in many places it has, decidedly, the appearance of Cyclopean workmanship. Whether those parts of the rocks which appear squared, are the natural ones cut into this form, or blocks carried out and placed there, is also difficult to determine. There is, however, a peculiar consolidating power in the water all along this coast, that has filled up the interstices, and makes the whole appear as one solid stone, in the same manner as the beach at Rhodes and along the coast of Asia Minor has been converted for miles into a petrified conglomerate. The cothon at Jaffa, which we know is artificial, bears now a very similar appearance. Mr. Lyell attributes the consolidation of the beach in Asia Minor, to the streams which run into the sea holding carbonate of lime in abundance, and precipitating travertine, or binding sand, gravel, &c., into a conglomerate, as at Rhodes. But here there is no stream of fresh water, so that it must have been produced either by the action of the sea water, or the atmosphere. The shell conglomerate found in the dying pots presents a similar formation. Where this reef joins the peninsula at the north-west corner, are the remains of an ancient Pharos; and beyond it is a gap or passage, which was probably the western entrance to the northern harbour, and which corresponds with the point where Alexander, when besieging the city, made one of his principal attacks.

the one

We are told that there were anciently two harbours; open, the other shut. The southern was called the Egyptian port; and the Shereef Edrisi says that one had an arch over it,

* On reading over Quintius Curtius, while revising this second edition, I was greatly struck with the following passage-"The strait which separated Tyre from the continent, was four stadia broad; it was much exposed to the south-west wind, which drove crowding waves from the main sea against the work; nor does any thing more obstruct the work by which the Macedonians prepare to connect the island and the continent than this wind!"

382

ALTERATION IN THE WATER LEVEL.

and was fortified by a chain drawn across its entrance. Where the reef joins the south-western corner, are the remains of enormous Cyclopean work, evidently created to form a breakwater: and connecting it with the land are the ruins of what appear to have been buildings of a great size, but which are now sunk some feet under the water, leaving only two or three large arches visible above the surface.

There is one more subject connected with this very remarkable place, that naturally arises out of the inquiry as to its present and former state; and that is—whether the small peninsula marked on the map can be that on which the whole of the ancient city stood; and whether the present relative positions of land and water are now the same as those existing at the time of Alexander's conquest. In some travels published many years ago, it was hinted that it was probable that much of the peninsula of Tyre had been submerged; and this is further verified, both by the observations of Count de Bertou, and the examination which I made of the place. I cannot, however, agree with this traveller in supposing that a large tract of land, and much of the ruins of the city, are beneath the surface. Our opinions correspond as to the northern reef being the remains of the ancient harbour on that side; but the Count states, that he was informed by some spongedivers, that a sub-marine bank extends from the point which I have marked as "submerged ruins" on the map, in a S. S. W. direction, towards Cape Blanco, a distance of two miles. This, he says, "we partly examined, and found it covered by water to a depth of one to three fathoms, and measuring in breadth from twelve to fourteen yards." This bank he supposes to have been the breakwater to the southern port; but whether it is natural or artificial he was unable to determine.*

*Count de Bertou seems to have taken up this subject with great energy, and has petitioned the president of the Geographical Society at Paris to prevail on the government to send out a diving-bell, to explore these submarine ruins. Although I am not so sanguine as the Swiss traveller, yet the most interesting results may be anticipated.

While these pages are passing through the press, Lieutenant Skyring, R. E., writes to me :-"I am inclined to agree with Count de Bertou that much of the ruins are beneath the surface. I am aware, partly from my own soundings, and partly from my belief in the old boatman with whom