CHAP. made a final survey of the town of Acre,

I.

particularly of its market, which is well supplied
with most of the Eastern commodities. Cotton
is the principal export.
Its tobacco is very
highly esteemed; and coarse muslins, remarkable
for the durability of their dye, are sold at a low
The inhabitants make use of wooden

rate.

tubes for their tobacco-pipes, garnished with a swathing of silk or linen, for the purpose of absorbing water. This, being kept moist, cools the smoke, as it rises, by the constant evaporation. This method of smoking tobacco is less deleterious than the Arab custom of using the hooka, which generally consists of nothing more than a hollow gourd containing water, and two pieces of cane; but the whole of the smoke, instead of being drawn into the mouth, is thereby inhaled upon the lungs; a practice which sometimes causes asthma, where it has been long continued'. Mariti, in the account of his journey

(1) Shaw mentions this custom (See Travels, p. 234. Lond. 1757. Note 9). He says the Arabs call it Shrob el Douhhan, that is to say, “drinking of smoke." It is a universal practice, not only in the Levant, but over all the Mediterranean. Like other intoxicating habits, when once acquired, it is not readily abandoned. The effect produced resembles that of a dram; causing, at the moment, distention of the nerves and vessels of the head, particularly of the eyes. The Greek who travelled with us, after thus conveying all the smoke he could collect from a well-kindled pipe into his lungs, could retain it there

for

I.

from Acre to Mount Carmel, mentions the CHAP. exportation to Venice of the sand of the River Belus, for the glass-houses of that city. "It is," says he, "to this river, Belus, that we are indebted for those magnificent plates of glass which Venice manufactured, to embellish the apartments of Europe." The Arabs call this river Kardané. In Acre we observed several individuals engaged in manufacturing the kind of leather known in England under the vulgar appellation of Red Morocco; and as the whole process was publickly exhibited, it may be regretted that we did not pay more attention to the articles made use of in preparing the dye, which produced the most lively and brilliant scarlet we had ever beheld. The skins were constantly exposed, during the operation, to the hottest beams of the sun, in the most sultry season of the year.

Before we conclude our remarks upon Acre, it will be proper to state, that the pointed arches

for a few seconds, and sometimes drink a glass of water, before he rendered back the smoke, in curling volumes, through his lips and nostrils. The Mohammedans are so delighted by the effect of inhaling smoke, that, when they have emptied their lungs of it, they exclaim, "ALHANDILLAH," God be praised!

(2) Mariti's Travels through Cyprus, Syria, and Palæstine, vol. II. P. 124. Lond. 1791.

I.

Existence of the Pointed Arch in

the Holy Land;

CHAP of a lofty building represented in the Vignette of this Chapter, belong to the edifice noticed by Le. Bruyn'. The pointed The pointed arches, so accurately delineated by that very able artist, have been a stumbling-block in the way of some modern theories, respecting the origin of Gothic architecture. But these are by no means the only examples of the pointed style in the Holy Land, which refer to an earlier period than the erection of such arches in England. The author has already enumerated other instances, as old as the age of Justinian', if not of Constantine. There are similar remains, of equal the East. antiquity, in Cyprus and in Egypt. It may indeed be matter of surprise that such works should have been ascribed to the labours of English workmen, in the time of the Crusades, when foreigners, or the pupils of foreigners, were employed in England, for every undertaking of the kind, so late as the reign of Henry the

and else

where in

(1) See the engraving in Le Bruyn's Travels.

(2) And will continue to be so. Acre was taken by the Saracens, A. D. 1291; the Christians have never been permitted to gain a footing there since that event; therefore the pointed arches noticed by Le Bruyn belong to an edifice which has been a ruin during the last six hundred and twenty years.

(3) The author of "Munimenta Antiqua" notices pointed arches in an aqueduct of JUSTINIAN. See Vol. IV. p. 75. Note 1. Lond. 1805. The pointed arch is also seen in aqueducts built by TRAJAN.

Eighth; nor can any hypothesis be formed more liable to dispute than that which deduces the origin of any style of architecture from the North of Europe; "whence nothing ever came but the sword and desolation"." Six Oriental cities may be named, where this kind of architecture was formerly in use: these are, Nicotia in CYPRUS; Ptolemais, Dio Cæsarea, and Jerusalem, in the HOLY LAND; Rosetta, and Cairo, in EGYPT. In all these cities, there are remains of the pointed style, which relate to a much earlier period than its introduction in England. A further acquaintance with Oriental architecture will, assuredly, bring to light many other instances than those which have now been adduced. In the north of our island, indeed, a greater degree of antiquity may be claimed for the pointed arch, then even the advocates for its English origin have ever assigned to it. Masons were first brought into England by a monk, the preceptor of the venerable Bede, about the middle of the seventh century, together with the arts of painting and of glazing'. About this

СНАР.

I.

(4) De Châteaubriand's Travels, vol. II. p. 124. Lond. 1811.

(5)

Benet the Monke, and maister of the reverend Beda, brought first the crafte of Painting, Glasing, and Masons, into this land." Slow's Summary of the Chronicles of England, pp. 27, 28. Lond. 1598.

CHAP. time the monastery of Ely was founded, and

I.

the abbeys of Abingdon, Chertsey, and Barking,
were builded'. The monastery of Gloucester
was also established". But before this time,
Iona, upon the western coast of Scotland, was
a seat of letters: the writings of Adamnanus,
its abbot, have been often cited in these Travels.
There can be no doubt, therefore, but that an·
abbey church existed in that island prior to the
foundation of the monastery at Ely. Adamnanus
was born, in the beginning of the seventh
century', at Rathboth, now called Raphoe, in the
County of Donegal, in Ireland; which country he
left when he became abbot of Iona*. As at that
time the model of every Christian sanctuary was
derived from the Holy Land, and generally
from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre', where
the pointed style may yet be discerned in the

(1) Stow's Summary of the Chronicles of England, pp. 27, 28. Lond. 1598.

(2) Ibid.

(3) A. D. 626.

(4) Butler's Lives of the Saints, vol. IX. p. 303. Edin. 1799.

(5) Witness the interesting though almost unnoticed model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, called the Round Church," in Cambridge, built by the Knights of Jerusalem, and shewing precisely the form of the building as it existed in the seventh century. See the Plan given by Adamnanus, apud Mabillon. Acta Sanctor. Ordin. Benedixti, Sæc. 3. Par. 2. p. 505. L. Par. 1672.