at least fifty cargoes sent annually to different parts, of which twenty-five find a ready sale at Damietta. There There is, besides, a small export trade of cotton and oil to the southern ports upon the coast, with some few bales of silk. The imports are much more various; rice, and even corn, from Egypt; wine, soap, and cheese, from Cyprus; coffee, sugar, and all kinds of British manufactures from Malta, with assorted cargoes from the south of France and the Adriatic; all of which are distributed through the country, by way of the great marts of Aleppo, Hamah, Hhoms, and Damascus.

It is well known that this town was founded by Seleucus Nicator, who governed Syria after the death of Alexander, and that he called it, in honour of his mother, Aaodíxera. This name is still so well preserved, that if an Arab were to hear the original one from the mouth of a Greek, he could not pronounce it any otherwise than he now does, as Ladikeia; and if a Greek were to hear the Arab pronunciation of it, he would probably write it in the characters of its original orthography.

It is said to have been adorned with great magnificence, both by its founders and his successors; and there are sufficient proofs remaining of its having possessed some fine monuments of art. The principal of these is a square building in the S. E. quarter of the town, about fifty feet long on each side, and of an equal or perhaps greater height. It is now so surrounded by modern dwellings, that one cannot see all its parts; but from that which is accessible it appears to have been either a triumphal gate, or a small votive temple to Mars. Each of its faces presents a fine arch, occupying the whole breadth of the building, excepting only the angular pilastres and side architraves; above is a pediment with a sculptured soffit, a rich frieze, and perhaps a cornice, but now broken away. In the frieze are seen a succession of war emblems, such as the shield, the spear, the helmet, and the body armour of the Roman soldier; which devices, from their resemblance to those on the Doric tomb at Soeda in the Haurān, would have induced me

to think this also a sepulchral monument, had it not been open on all sides by arches in the way described. These are now built up by paltry walls of modern masonry, and the whole is occupied by a Moslem family who reside there, so that we could not examine the interior without their permission. The order of this interesting edifice is Corinthian, the style chaste, the execution good, and the whole in a state of high preservation, considering that it is surrounded by other buildings, and used as a common dwelling.

Not far from this are four Corinthian columns, with their architraves, still remaining erect, and apparently the portion of a portico to some ancient temple; these also are in a pure taste, and remain still very perfect.

In different parts of the town, particularly in a street north of these, and in the Sookh-el-Serdj, or Saddle Bazār, there are seen ranges of granite columns still erect, and incorporated with the modern buildings. They were probably remaining portions of colonnades to some public edifices which still remained standing after the general destruction of the buildings to which they belonged; and advantage might thus have been taken to build the walls of the modern dwellings in a line with them, so as to include them in the walls themselves, and thus contribute considerably to the strength of the fabric.

On the hill which overlooks the town on the S. E. stood anciently the castle, of which nothing remains but heaps of rubbish, now partly covered by a wood of olives. Large and deep cisterns, and wells, are also seen on the hill to the south of the town; and from one of them, containing an excellent spring, water is brought to the town, and sold at eight paras, or about two-pence sterling, per large goat-skin.

The Necropolis of the ancient city was near the sea, on the north and north-west of the buildings, which do not ever appear to have extended close to the water in that direction. There are here, still remaining, many ancient sepulchres hewn out of the rock. They are descended to by flights of steps, like those south of

Tartoose, when a square, and sometimes an arched door, leads to dark chambers in which the sarcophagi were deposited in cells, in the usual way. The rocks here seem also to have formed the quarries for the buildings of the living, as appearances of that kind are seen all around.

The environs of Ladikea having many olive grounds, gardens, little country retreats, and places of pleasure; the inhabitants are all fond of rural recreation; and those who cannot afford time for à longer excursion, seat themselves along the sides of the public roads, both in the morning and in the evening, to enjoy the freshness of the air, and, as they themselves say, to lengthen out their days by delight.

Tuesday, May 7. — The day was devoted to an excursion into the country, at a small village of Nessearies, called Bisneada, where some Frank families were then remaining.

It is situated at the distance of about an hour from Ladikea to the N. E., and being on a hill, enjoys a pure air and delightful prospect. It commands a view of all the wide and extensive line of plain along the coast from north to south, terminated in that quarter by the snowy range of Lebanon; behind it are the mountains of the Nessearies, among which, a peaked one, called Jebel Okrah, or the bare mountain, is conspicuous; and before it is the town of Ladikea on the coast, and the blue line of the western sea. There is, in this village, an ancient fountain, over which is a semi-dome of excellent masonry, the concave part of the semicircle below having a sculptured moulding, and a line of niches for statues, the whole of Greek or Roman construction. Its waters are pure and excellent. An English Consul, named Broad, had, about a century ago, chosen a platform in the middle of this village for the site of his country house, and had built there, according to report, a little palace, with every Eastern luxury, of fountains, courts, and gardens in miniature. In one of those frequent revolutions which happen in this country, it was chosen by a rebel

pasha as a military station, and the whole fabric was totally demolished. The foundations are now shown as a proof of the instability of every thing among this people. We were kindly received here by the French consul, M. Guys, grandson to the celebrated Guys, who published the " Voyage Itineraire dans la Gréce," and nephew to the present M. Guys, Consul General of France at Aleppo. We found him an intelligent and amiable young man. There was here also the wife of the former French consul of Ladikea, with her children, among whom was a daughter who had been married to the consul of Bagdad, who was recently dead. This young girl of eighteen had come with an infant child across the Desert from Baghdad to Aleppo, and was sixty days by the caravan on the road. We had an Armenian singer, who accompanied himself on the tamboura, or hand-drum; and a Jewish musician, who played on an instrument called, in Arabic, canone, in French, psalterion, and by us, the dulcimer; and among the audience were Mohammedans, Christians, and Nessearies. We passed our day most agreeably, and returned to town in the cool of the evening.

WEDNESDAY, May 8.-There being a small caravan going to Antaky, or Antioch, I was advised to profit by it, as it was but little out of the direct road to Aleppo; and we accordingly prepared early for our departure.

It was about nine o'clock before we left Ladikea, when we set out in a party of eight persons, with about 18 mules, some laden and others light. We directed our course about N.N.E. having the lofty peak of Jebel Okrah, or the bare mountain, right before us, and in an hour passed between the villages of Bisneada and Dumserkah, the former on a hill on our right, the latter in the plain on our left, both distant about half a mile. We met several parties of Nesseary peasants, going with fire-wood to Ladikea;