File:The universal geography - the earth and its inhabitants (1876) (14578853789).jpg

Identifier: cu31924095158964 (find matches)
Title: The universal geography : the earth and its inhabitants
Year: 1876 (1870s)
Authors: Reclus, Elisée, 1830-1905 Ravenstein, Ernest George, 1834-1913 Keane, A. H. (Augustus Henry), 1833-1912
Subjects: Geography
Publisher: London : J.S. Virtue & Co., Ltd.
Contributing Library: Cornell University Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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EE. 395 Like Smyrna, Beirut lias already assumed a European aspect. It has aconsiderable colony of foreigners from tlie west, whose speech and dress have beenadopted by thousands of Levantines, Greeks, and even Syrians, settled here. Abouthalf of the population consists of Christians of various sects—Maronites and Latins,United Armenians, Orthodox and Catholic Greeks, Protestants of every denomina-tion. In the streets elegant equipages are iatermingled with convoys of camels ;on the French route, which winds in easy gradients up the escarpments of thehiUs, carts and diligences are seen in strange contrast with the pack-mules andasses plodding along the dusty side-paths. Being the outport of Damascus, Beirutreceives all the produce of the villages strewn in hundreds over the terraces ofLibanon—the golden wine, the fruits, the wools, raw silks, and cocoons, of thethrifty rural population. The import trade has also greatly increased of late years, Pig. 179.—Beirut.Scale 1 : 90,000.
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L . of Gre^nv\ ^\i 5^ 5554 OtolGreet. 16 to 32reet. 32 to 80Feet. 2,200 Yards. 80 Feet andupwards. and the exchanges now amount to considerably over £2,000,000 annually. Theshipping, which exceeds 350,000 tons, is about equally divided amongst themercantile navies of Great Britain, France, and Austria. Owing to the increasedsize of the vessels now frequenting Beirut, a new harbour has become indispen-sable. According to the plan proposed by M. de Perthuis, a large portion of thepresent shore with its rocky creeks and reefs would be cleared and dredged andprotected by breakwaters, by which accommodation would be afforded to a shippingof about 200,000 tons annually. European influence is apparent as much in the schools as in the trade of Beirut.Famous during the Roman epoch for its university of jurisprudence, it is no less sonow for its educational establishments founded by the various religious communitiesand supported by subsidies from abroad. Two of these institutions, provided 396

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