Besides the places mentioned there are several minor stations, of which two, Akka (Acre) and Gaza, receive a few calls from steamers in the harvest season. From Akka the coast trends for three miles south-east from the peninsula on which the town stands. Large vessels anchor about a mile out in 9-10 fathoms, smaller vessels in 5-6 fathoms, sandy bottom. Gaza is separated from the coast by two miles of drifting sand. Vessels anchor about a mile out to receive cargoes, but owing to the. exposed position and a persistent heavy swell from the west loading is often a tedious process. Suedia, Banias, Tartus, Jebel, Yunie, Nebi Yunus, Es-Sur (Tyre), and Kaisarie (Caesarea) are small places with a certain amount of coastal traffic, conducted for the most part by sailing vessels. Late in 1913 official sanction was obtained for opening Yunie and Nebi Yunus, on the Lebanon coast, to steamers.
(ii) Volume and Distribution of Trade.
Tables showing the tonnage of steamships engaging in foreign trade at various Syrian ports from 1910 to 1913 are printed in the Appendix (Table I). In estimating the total volume of foreign shipping engaged in the Syrian trade, it must, of course, be remembered that many vessels call at several Syrian ports on the same voyage, and are consequently included in the returns of each of these ports.
Beirut, which since the loss of Salonika has been the third port of the Turkish Empire, has a rich hinterland in the Lebanon, the Buka'a, and Damascus, with which it is connected by railway, and is the principal distributing centre of foreign manufactured goods, especially the large textile imports from England. It is also the chief coaling station on this coast, and plays a leading part in the silk export to France. This prominent and well-established position may be impaired when the harbour works designed for Alexandretta and Haifa, both of which have now obtained railway communications with the interior, have been provided. A certain amount of the traffic with the Aleppo district
