Two small registers, consisting of just a few pages, buried among the extensive documentation from Beirut. Almost unique. Proconsular documentation is rarely preserved. The register of ship arrivals and departures from the port fits perfectly with that of the Vice-Consulate, later the Sardinian Consulate, in Beirut.
Proconsolato del Regno di Sardegna in Tripoli di Siria
Article 108 of the Royal Decree of December 26, 1815, required the maintenance of a register. Consular staff had to record the daily arrival and departure of ships.. The data that the consular staff had to record constitute the entries in the register:
date of arrival and departure
reason for arrival or departure
the name, type and tonnage of the ship
the name, nationality, and rank of the captain as well as the number of his license
type of cargo, on arrival and destination, and on departure
origin
destination
dates and numbers of ship's papers (passes, crew lists; nationality licenses; seaman's passports)
observations This survey of records includes the following:
Arrival and departure dates
Reasons for arrival and departure
Name of the ship and captain
Data relating to the cargo
Origin and destination of the voyage Additional information about captains (place of birth, affiliation, and license number) has been included in the linked ‘authority’ record.
The records concern arrivals and subsequent departures from the port of Beirut; from 1826 to 1829, passages from the ports of Tripoli in Syria, Acre, İskenderun, Tyre and Aleppo are also reported.
With regard to ship cargoes, here is an explanation of some recurring terms, some of which are now obsolete:
Alizari or alizzari: root of the madder plant (Rubia tinctorum), from which the red dye used to dye fabrics was derived
Cambrì: fine cotton cloth
Campeggio, wood (Haematoxylum campechianum): wood used in dyeing to make black, gray, violet, blue, and crimson, and for the preparation of compounds
Cochineal (Cocciniglia ovvero Dactylopius coccus): insect from which the red/carmine pigment used as a dye was derived
Coloquintida or colocinto (Citrullus colocinthis): herbaceous, medicinal plant
Galbanum (Ferula gommosa): resinous perennial plant. The gummy resin of the plant was called galbanum. Galbanum was used for its medicinal properties
Galls: malformations/growths on leaves, trunks, and plant roots. Galls are rich in tannin, which was used to produce inks and dyes
Gambello (hair): mohair yarn
Granone (Zea mays): corn
Orpimento (arsenic sulfide): used in the East for tanning hides
Sarsaparilla (Smilax aspera): medicinal plant. Use of the root
Scamonea or scamogna (Convolvulus scammonia): herbaceous plant. The roots were used as a purgative
