the left bank of the Orontes, at the encouragement of agriculture, the arts, November 21.-To-day we went as far as Gesir Adid, four hours' distance, near a bridge over the Orontes. Our road was across a barren plain, bounded to the north by mountains, at the foot of which is the lake of Aggi Dengis. Rain prevented our leaving this place till noon of the 22nd, when we reached Bourkee, the site of a Roman town of considerable size, and where the ancient sepulchral caves cut in the side of the mountains, serve the present natives for habitations. We took up our abode in a deserted and ruinous water-mill. November 23.-We travelled over some rocky hills into the plain of Alaks, supposed to be that in which Aurelian conquered Zenobia. We passed many sites of ancient towns, castles, tanks, temples, &c., all of the lower empire, and very uninteresting. On one occasion we counted the vestiges of eleven towns, in a rich plain, with a fine loamy soil; all of them now desolate and uninhabited. So much for the Turkish government, and its November 25.-About 3, P. M. we arrived at Aleppo, passing through an open country, with a thin surface of soil, well tilled in most parts, but monotonous and destitute of trees, as, indeed, is the case all the way from Antioch. We had been recommended by our friend and adviser Sheikh Ibrahim to take the route to the northward of Aggi Dengis, as it would conduct us to the mountains and ruins of St. Simon, which latter, however, are of the date of the lower empire, and, as we have since learnt, totally uninteresting. We have reason to rejoice in having taken the route we did, as the Curds who inhabit the mountains were in rebellion against the pasha, who had sent a military force to quell them shortly before our arrival. We have since heard that the chiefs escaped; but an example was made by the death of about twenty of the prisoners. Some of those executed are supposed to have been innocent; and the pasha is said to have been much affected on hearing this, and recalled his troops, saying, that as the chiefs had escaped, and the natives had submitted, he did not wish any further severity to be shown. On arriving at the house of Mr. Barker, the consul-general, we found Mr. Bankes there. He was on his way to revisit Egypt and Nubia; and intended to penetrate from the second cataract into Abyssinia. We mutually gave each other all the information we possessed; Mr. Bankes on Asia Minor and Greece; and we on Egypt and Nubia. December 22.-We have been detained at Aleppo nearly a month, waiting for the arrival of the caravan which brings kali from Sukne to this place, a journey of five days. Palmyra is seven days' journey from Aleppo. The kindness we have experienced in Mr. Barker's hospitable mansion merits our sincere gratitude. I fear we shall be a little spoiled when we turn out for Palmyra; for here, independent of the society of Mr. Barker and his amiable family, we have had every comfort and luxury we could imagine. Our amusements have been most agreeably varied; sometimes we went out shooting in the gardens near Aleppo, which abound in woodcocks, &c. We coursed the gazelle and hare alternately, the greyhounds in this country being very swift and strong. One day we were indulged with a hawking scene. The cheapness and abundance of game are astonishing; woodcocks, partridges, wild-geese, ducks, teal, the bustard, wild turkey, joli notes, &c. We thought the flesh of the gazelle well-flavoured, although Bruce abuses it. The white species is supposed to be the best. We have frequently had the porcupine at table; it forms a delicious dish, somewhat resembling in appearance and taste both the pig and the hare. The porcupines inhabit holes in the rocks, and they are so quick of hearing that it is very difficult to shoot them, as they never quit their holes till dark, and even then with the greatest circumspection. The people wait patiently in the cold for hours, near the holes, till the animal makes its appearance. They commit much mischief in the gardens near the city. We had thought of visiting Bagdad, for the purpose of seeing the ruins of Babylon; but as Mr. Massick, the Dutch consul here, had recently received a letter from a friend, stating that there is nothing whatever to be seen there, we gave up the idea. Mr. Barker has resided nineteen years as consul-general in this place, and we find his advice and assistance of the greatest use. As we came into this country with only one hundred and fifty pounds, which Mr. Salt supplied us on our bills, we had made up our minds to return to Cairo, to replenish our funds for Asia Minor, Greece, &c. ; but Mr. Barker, divining that some such motive was the cause of our intended return to Egypt, most kindly anticipated our wishes on this point, and insisted on supplying us with whatever money or letters of credit we wanted. This will prevent the necessity of our going to Egypt again, and will assist us much. We are anxious to complete our travels in the Mahommedan countries, and again to enjoy the comforts of Switzerland and Italy. There is a great sameness in all Turkish towns; and the absence of inns, theatres, museums, picture-galle ries, libraries, promenades, evening parties, and the ever-handy and comfortable café, is a privation which an European must always feel. A firman from the Grand Signior is on its way to us from Constantinople, Mr Barker having written for it on our arrival here. It will be useful in Asia Minor. December 24.-The caravan from Sukne arrived this day, and we shall soon be off. We are to send the outlines of our tour to Lord Belmore for his guidance; but this we defer till we get to Palmyra. His lordship very kindly offered us a passage in his brig to any parts which might lie in his way, should we be able to embark with him from Syria; but there is no chance of this. December 29.-We were to have set off this evening for Palmyra, by way of Sukne; when, accidentally meeting a merchant from Bagdad, a friend of Mr. Barker, he strongly dissuaded us from the measure, and urged us to go by the way of Hamah or Homs, as the Annasee Arabs are in the neigh bourhood of Palmyra. We had understood that the cold had driven them all to the southward, towards the banks of the Euphrates; but as it appears there yet remain two tribes of them, Homs will be the best place to start from. We accordingly prepared to depart in two or three days for Hamah, which place, as well as Homs, is distant only four days' journey from Palmyra, which we had sanguine expectations of being able to reach from either one or the other of these towns. However, we had two other strings to our bow; either to push on to Cariateen, which is only one day from Tadmor, and thence to steal to that city before the Arabs were aware of our intention; or to take Turkish post-horses and an escort from Damascus, and go in spite of the Arabs. This last plan, however,would have been a very expensive one. Our constrained residence of six weeks at Aleppo made us fully acquainted with the city and its environs. It is pleasantly situated in a hollow surrounded by sloping hills, which are, however, uninteresting, having no trees, and the land not being inclosed. The houses are built of stone; the streets narrow and ill-paved, except the bazars, which are all roofed over with arches of the same construction as the houses, and are lighted from above. Thus you can walk all over the town on the terraces of the houses; the arches connecting the streets one with the other. We visited houses half a mile distant in this manner. The Franks and Christians have their sepa rate quarters here, as in all Turkish CHAPTER V. Departure for Hamah-Letters of Introduction-Caravan from Mecca-Hamah-KhansGeorgian Slaves-Negotiations with the Arabs-Interview with them-Homs-Departure for Palmyra-Arab Camp-Interview with the Arab Chiefs-Arab Feast-Fine View of Palmyra-Disappointment on reaching the Ruins-Description of them-Return to the Arab Camp-Reach Homs-Expenses of our Journey-Traits of the Arabs-Their character for Dishonesty not deserved-Damascus-Sketch of intended Route. January 3.—WE started for Hamah; Maundrell's Travels in Syria, and a our kind and estimable host, and his good map of Asia Minor and Greece; brother, accompanied us on horseback and, not contented with doing us all for two hours outside the town. Such these good offices, furnished us, as I had been Mr. Barker's solicitude in have before stated, with all the money our behalf, that he furnished us with we wanted. letters to Selim, the governor's secretary at Hamah, and to Scander, the secretary to the motsellim of Homs; he likewise gave us a letter of recommendation to Hadgi Hassan, an elderly Turk at Homs, who has great dealings with the Arabs. All these people were requested to render us every assistance in their power to enable us to reach Palmyra. He gave us, besides, other letters to the Saraffs of the pasha of Damascus, urging them to assist us, in getting horses, should we be obliged to travel post. Also, letters to Acre, Cyprus, and Smyrna; to Sir Robert and Lady Liston, and to several other persons at Constantinople. He lent us At sun-set we stopped at the khan Touman, a spacious lodging, but filled to excess with the caravans for Damascus and Latachia. On the following morning we proceeded at daylight in their company; our road lay over naked plains partly cultivated. About three in the afternoon we stopped at Sermein. There are several villages in this quarter, and a few clumps of olives; otherwise the country is destitute of wood. Mount Cassius, whose summit was already covered with snow, was in sight on our right. January 5.-We proceeded at sunrise, intending to go with the Latachia caravan as far as Shogher, and thence follow up the banks of the Orontes to Hamah; but being late, and seeing a caravan on our left, we branched out in that direction, joined them, and finding that they were in the straight road to Hamah, and bound to that place and Damascus, we continued with them. About ten, we passed the ruins of a square Turkish fortress, inclosing a village, Many of these places, on the skirts of the desert, are walled in, probably to afford them protection against the Arabs. Shortly afterwards, we met a very extensive caravan, being part of the hadj or pilgrimage to Mecca, on their return from Damascus-they had the green flag, the prophet's banner, flying. There were but few camels, the animals being mostly horses and mules, and having all bells attached to them, which made a merry ringing noise. There were several tackterwans, the only species of vehicle in the East. We had seen one of them in the great Morocco hadj, which arrived at Cairo in September last; it resembled a sedan chair, supported before and behind by horses, instead of men: but of those which we saw to-day, one was a species of tent-bed, placed cross-way on the back of a mule; and another resembled two children's cradles, fitted like panniers on the back of a camel. These tackterwans are inclosed with curtains, and are generally used by women or sick people. Nearly the whole of this, and the next day, we continued to pass divisions of the hadj: all the animals were laden with some private venture of the pilgrims, who always join commerce with religion in these expeditions. They have among themselves an old adage "Beware of thy neighbour if he has made a hadj; but if he has made two, quickly prepare to leave thy house." The keenness with which all the peasants, near the khans, bargain for everything they sell, seems to agree with this. We saw to-day some few Roman ruins, and sarcophagi, formed of the stone of the country, apparently of the date of the lower empire. At 2 P. M. we stopped * In that day there shall be upon the bells of the Horses, "Holiness unto the Lord." Zech. xiv. v. 20. for the night at Marah, and slept in a very good khan. The next morning, Lebanon, now a mass of snow, lay before us; and Mount Cassius was shut in by the northern extremity of the Ansarian mountains. We passed several sites of ancient towns, tanks, sarcophagi, &c., everything much dilapidated, and little interesting, except as proving that the neighbourhood was more thickly peopled in former times than it is at present. The country was a succession of open plains, without a single tree, and inhabited by numerous gazelles, partridges, hares, bustards, &c. We passed the night at Khan Shekune, situated near an artificial hill, several of which we had seen during the day. They resembled those on Salisbury Plain, and other parts of England. We found the khan good, but very full of people, in consequence of the return of the hadj. January 7.- Our road was still through open plains, partially cultivated, and running parallel with the range of the Ansarian mountains. Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon were before us. About 3 P.M. we arrived at Hamah. The road for the last hour was pretty, descending into a vale, through which the Orontes takes a winding course. One of its banks is cultivated, wooded, and here and there laid out in gardens; the other consists in most parts of perpendicular chalky cliffs. Here are immense wheels turned by the stream to raise the water for the irrigation of the soil. Hamah is the Epiphania of the Greeks and Romans, though is, no doubt, the site of the ancient Hamath, mentioned in various parts of scripture ; together with Damascus, Lebanon, and other contiguous places, it took its name from the sons of Canaan, fourth son of Ham, the son of Noah, which proves its very high antiquity. Hamah is delightfully situated in a hollow, between and on the sides of two hills, near the west bank of the Orontes; but in itself it presents nothing worthy of notice at this day. We took up our quarters in a khan. These buildings in the towns differ consider. ably from those on the road side. Like them, they surround an open square, but are differently constructed, being intended for travellers and merchants to lodge in during the time they remain in the towns to dispose of their merchandise, or settle any private affairs they may have to transact; whereas the khans on the roadside are only intended to afford a night's lodging and security to the traveller and his beasts. In these latter the squares are formed in open piazzas, in which men and animals are lodged indiscriminately, there being no division into apartments, cells, or any detached chamber whatever; and for their use no payment is required. The khans in the towns, instead of having open piazzas, are furnished all round with two stories of small apartments, each chamber, or rather cell, being about 12ft. square, with a door (the key of which is given you), and an ironparred window with wooden shutters, but no glass. I suspect they were originally intended as a gratuitous lodging for travellers, the same as those on the high-roads and in the villages; but as they have only one small entrance, and are thereby the most secure places in the towns, the lower rooms are generally filled with merchandise of the different resident proprietors. In front of these are arched piazzas for the horses, mules, &c.; and also a balcony, or terrace, with wooden railing, fronting the upper row of cells, which are totally unfurnished. You must provide for yourself a mat to lie on, cooking utensils, fuel, &c. There is a porter who generally rents the khan, and in the daytime attends the gate, which is locked at night; he makes his profit by the fees from travellers, and also by a rent for the merchandise. We paid two piastres (1s. 5d.) for admittance, or as it is termed, for the key of our room; four paras (one penny English) a day for the lodging, and one para a day for each horse. Our provisions we always got from the market, and we cooked them in our own room. Our principal meat was mutton. The Turks do not eat much beef, and therefore it is never good. While at Hamah we received by a messenger, express from Aleppo, a letter from Mr. Barker, inclosing the firman from the grand Signior, for which Mr. Barker had written to Sir Robert Liston. This firman empowers us to go with four servants through Syria, Cyprus, the islands of the Archipelago, Smyrna, Adana, Karaman, Karahissar, Kiutaya, to Broussa, and thence to Constantinople. We are to be treated in the most friendly manner; to be afforded every assistance, security, and protection, according to the imperial capitulations; and to be furnished with all necessary escorts whenever occasion may require. While we were at this place, there arrived one evening four shabby-looking, ill-dressed Turks, attired somewhat like soldiers, and an elderly fellow better clad, though no better looking than the others. These people brought with them eleven Georgian girls, the remnant of between forty and fifty, as we were informed, whom they had stolen or kidnapped from their parents on the confines of Georgia. They were brought to be sold as slaves or mistresses to such wealthy Turks as could afford to pay high sums for them. The poor girls were lodged in the cells contiguous to ours. They were mostly between fifteen and twenty years of age; two were younger, being about twelve. All were exceedingly pretty, with black sparkling eyes, rosy cheeks, long black hair, and very fair complexions, contradicting the account which Volney gives of the Georgian and Circassian women, where he says, "that their fame for beauty arises more from the fancy of travellers, heightened by the difficulty they have always found to get a sight of them, than from any real charms they possess." The prices which were demanded and obtained for these girls is the best proof of the estimation in which they are held by the Turks. We were present at the purchase of one girl by a rich Turk; fourteen purses, each purse being 500 piastres, or about 187., were demanded. He offered ten; but they would not abate one para. The poor girl, who was about fifteen, |