Chapter II: Part I (1)

_Haleb_, or, as we call it, _Aleppo_, the present metropolis of _Syria_[1], though greatly inferior to the cities of _Constantinople_ and _Cairo_ in extent, number of inhabitants, riches, and perhaps several other circumstances, yet, in respect to buildings, yields to none in the _Turkish_ empire.

This city and suburbs stand on eight small hills or eminences, none of them considerable, except that in the middle of the place, on which the castle is erected. This mount is of a conic form, and seems, in a great measure, to be artificial, and raised with the earth thrown up out of a broad deep ditch that surrounds it. The suburbs, called _Sheih il Arab_, to the N. N. E. are next in height to this, and those to the W. S. W. are much lower than the parts adjacent, and than any other parts of the city.

An old wall not a little decayed, and a broad ditch now in most places turned into gardens, surround the city, the circumference of which is about three miles and an half; but, including the suburbs, which are chiefly to the North East, the whole may be about seven miles[2].

The houses, are composed of apartments, on each of the sides, of a square court all of stone, and consist of a ground floor which is generally arched, and an upper story which is flat on the top, and either terraced with hard plaister, or paved with stone. Their ceilings are of wood neatly painted, and sometimes gilded, as are also the window-shutters, the pannels of some of their rooms, and the cupboard doors, of which they have a great number: these, taken together, have a very agreeable effect. Over the doors and windows within the houses of the _Turks_, are inscribed passages out of the Koran, or verses either of their own composition, or taken from some of their most celebrated poets. The _Christians_ generally borrow theirs from scripture.

In all their houses the court yard is neatly paved, and, for the most part, has a bason with a jet d’eau in the middle, on one or both sides of which, a small spot is left unpaved for a sort of garden, which often does not exceed a yard or two square; the verdure, however, which is here produced, together with the addition of a few flowers in pots, and the fountains playing, would be a very agreeable sight to the passenger, if there were openings to the street through which these might be discovered, but they are entirely shut up with double doors so contrived, as that, when open, one cannot look into the court yard; and there are no windows to the street, except a very few in their upper rooms; so that nothing is to be seen but dead walls, which make their streets appear very disagreeable to _Europeans_.

Most of the better sort of houses have an arched alcove within this court open to the north, and opposite to the fountain; the pavement of this alcove is raised about a foot and an half above that of the yard, to serve for a divan[3]. Between this and the fountain the pavement is generally laid out in mosaic work, with various coloured marble; as is also the floor of a large hall with a cupola roof, which commonly has a fountain in the middle, and is almost the only tolerably cool room in their houses during the summer.

The people of fashion have in the outer court but one or two rooms below stairs for themselves, the rest are for servants and stabling; the pavement of this is but rough, as their horses stand there all the summer, except a few hours in the middle of the day. Above stairs is a colonade, if not round the whole court, at least fronting the west, off from which are their rooms and _kiosks_[4]; these latter are a sort of wooden divans, that project a little way from the other part of the building, and hang over the street; they are raised about one foot and an half higher, than the floor of the room, to which they are quite open, and, by having windows in front and on each side, there is a great draught of air, which makes them cool in the summer, the advantage chiefly intended by them. Beyond this court is another, containing the womens apartments, built much in the same manner that I have described the other houses; some few of them have a tolerable garden, in which, as well as in the outer yard, there is generally a tall cypress tree.

The mosques in _Aleppo_ are numerous, and some few of them magnificent; before each is a square area, in the middle of which, is a fountain for the appointed ablutions before prayers, and behind some of the larger mosques there is a little garden.

Besides these open spaces there are many large _khanes_ or (as most travellers call them) _caravan seraijs_, consisting of a capacious square, on all sides of which are built on the ground floor a number of rooms, used occasionally for stables, warehouses, or chambers. Above stairs a colonade occupies the four sides, to which opens a number of small rooms, wherein the merchants, as well strangers as natives, transact most of their business.

The streets are generally narrow, but, however, are well paved, and kept remarkably clean.

The market places, called here _bazars_, are properly, long, covered, narrow streets, on each side of which are a number of small shops just sufficient to hold the tradesman (and perhaps one or two more) with all the commodities he deals in about him, the buyer being obliged to stand without. Each separate branch of business has a particular _bazar_ allotted them, and these, as well as the streets, are all locked up an hour and an half after sunset, and many of them earlier, which is a great security from house-breakers. It deserves to be remembered, how odd soever it may appear, that though their doors are mostly cased with iron, yet their locks are made of wood.

In the suburbs, to the eastward, are their slaughter-houses, in a very airy place, with a large open field before them. The tanners have a _khane_, where they work, in the south west part of the town near the river.

To the southward, just without the walls in the suburbs, they burn lime; and a little way further is a small village, where they make ropes and catgut, which last manufacture is, at some seasons, extremely offensive.

In _Mesherka_, which is part of the suburbs on the opposite side of the river to the westward, is a glass-house, where they make a coarse kind of white glass, but they work only a few months in the winter, the greatest part of this manufacture being brought from a village called _Armenass_, about thirty-five miles to the westward, from whence also they bring the sand used in their glass-house at _Aleppo_.

The city is supplied with very good water from some springs near the banks of the river at _Heylan_, about five miles to the north north east, which is conveyed from thence by an aquæduct, and distributed to the different parts of the town by earthen pipes. There is a tradition, that this aquæduct was the work of the empress _Helena_, and that from her the springs took their present name: this water is sufficient for the necessary purposes of drinking, cookery, _&c._ Besides this, almost every house has a well, but the water of these, being brackish, is only employed for washing their court yards, and filling the reservoirs for their fountains.

The fuel, used in their houses, is wood and charcoal; for heating their bagnios, they burn the dung of animals, leaves of plants, parings of fruit, and such like, which they employ people to gather and dry for that purpose.

The markets are well supplied with provisions, of which we shall have occasion to give a more particular account.

For at least four or five miles round _Aleppo_, the ground is very stony and uneven, having a number of small eminences, most of which are as high as any part of the city. From the west south west to the north west by west, this sort of country continues for at least twenty miles, with a number of small fertile plains interspersed. To the northward and southward, after about six or seven miles, the country is level and not stony. To the eastward a vast plain commences, which, though it is called the _desart_, yet for a great many miles beyond _Aleppo_, affords a fine fertile soil.

In clear weather, the top of mount _Cassius_, bearing west by south, and part of the mountains, called _Amanus_, are to be seen from several places in the city; but, as the nearest of these, _viz._ that part of _Amanus_, which stretches to the eastward and approaches to _Killis_, is at least thirty miles distant from _Aleppo_, they can be supposed to have but very little influence upon the air of the place, any more than a small conical rocky hill, called _Sheih Barakat_, at about twenty miles to the west by north, and a narrow chain of low rocky hills, usually named the _Black Mountains_, to the south south east, at about ten miles distance.

The river _Coic_[5] (if a stream scarce six or eight yards wide deserves that name) passes along the western part of the city within a few yards of the walls, and barely serves to water a narrow slip of gardens upon its banks, reaching from about five miles north to about three miles south of the town. Besides these gardens, there are a few more near a village called _Bab Allah_, about two miles to the north-east, which are supplied by the aquæduct.

The rising-grounds above the gardens, to which the water cannot be conveyed, are in some places laid out in vineyards interspersed with olive, fig, and pistachio trees, as are also many spots to the eastward, where there are no gardens.

Inconsiderable as this stream and these gardens may appear, yet they contain almost the only water and trees that are to be met with for twenty or thirty miles round, for the villages are all destitute of trees, and most of them only supplied with water by what rain they can save in cisterns.

The latitude of _Aleppo_, as fixed by a _French_ mathematician who was there in the year 1753, is thirty-six degrees twelve minutes N. latitude, which, though some minutes different from the observations of others, yet is probably the most exact, as he was not only a man of eminence in his profession, but was also furnished with the best instruments, an advantage which perhaps the other observators had not. The longitude is said to be 37 D. 40 M. east from _London_. Its distance from the sea, in a direct line is about sixty miles, and its height from thence is considerable, but not yet accurately ascertained.

Having thus finished what was thought necessary concerning the situation of _Aleppo_, with respect to the parts adjacent, let us now take a general view of the face of the country throughout _Syria_.

The coast in general is bordered by very high mountains, except near _Seleucia_, and there from mount _Pieria_ to mount _Cassius_, which is ten or fifteen miles, is quite level, leaving a passage for the river _Orontes_ to empty itself into the _Mediterranean_. Those mountains are covered with trees, shrubs, and a number of plants; so that, different from the plains, they retain their verdure all the summer. As they abound with springs these collect into little rivulets, and in a few places on that side next the sea rivers, which plentifully irrigate the plains that are between them and the sea. Behind them, on the land side, are generally extensive plains which receive great benefit from the streams that descend from the mountains, nigh to which they are well cloathed with myrtle, oleander, and other shrubs. The opposite boundaries of those plains are for the most part low, barren, rocky hills, and behind them other large plains, which though they have no water but the rain which falls in the winter, yet are exceeding fertile; and this is not improbably occasioned by the quantity of soil which must necessarily be washed down into them from the surrounding little rocky hills, by the violent rains of the winter. This intermixture of rocky eminencies and plains reaches within land about sixty or seventy miles, after which the country is generally level, from what I have been told, all the way to _Bassorah_, and is properly _Arabia Deserta_.

In all _Syria_ there is but one river, (the _Orontes_) that having its rise on the land side of the high mountains, finds its way to the sea; the rest, which indeed are but few and inconsiderable, being soon absorbed by the thirsty plains through which they run, more especially as they receive but very few supplies in their passage: and even the _Orontes_, though it be swelled by a number of little brooks from the high mountains behind which it runs, and derives a farther supply from the lake of _Antioch_, yet seems as considerable a great many miles above _Antioch_, as where it empties itself into the _Mediterranean_.

The seasons in this country, generally speaking, are exceeding regular, particularly at _Aleppo_, where the air is usually very healthy, and so pure and free from damps that all the inhabitants, of what rank soever, sup and sleep in their court-yards, or upon the house tops, exposed to the open air, from the end of _May_ to the middle of _September_, without suffering any inconveniency from it. However, as I shall hereafter have occasion to be more particular on this subject, I will at present only mention in general the changes of the seasons as they appear to our senses.

The natives reckon the severity, of the winter to last but forty days, which they call _Maarbanie_, beginning from the twelfth of _December_, and ending the twentieth of _January_; and in fact this computation comes near the truth. The air, during this time, is excessively piercing, particularly to strangers, even though they are but just come from a cold climate. In the thirteen years that I resided there, it happened not above three times that the ice was of sufficient strength to bear a man, and that too with caution, and only in a situation where the sun-beams never reached it. The snow, excepting three years, never lay above a day, and even in the depth of winter, when the sun shines out and there is no wind, it is warm, nay sometimes almost hot, in the open air. Narcissus’s are in flower during the whole of this weather, and hyacinths and violets at the latest appear before it is quite over.

As _February_ advances, the fields which were partly green before, now by the springing up of the later grain become entirely covered with an agreeable verdure, and though the trees continue in their leafless wintery state till the end of this month, or the beginning of _March_, yet the almond, when latest, being in blossom before the middle of _February_, and quickly succeeded by the apricot, peach, _&c._ gives the gardens an agreeable appearance. The spring now becomes extremely pleasant, and has no defect but its short duration, for as _March_ brings it on with rapidity, so _April_ advances with like haste towards summer, and the gay livery that the fields wore in those two months, and indeed most of the winter, fades before the middle of _May_; and before the end of this month the whole country puts on so parched and barren an aspect, that one would scarce think it was capable of producing any thing but the very few robust plants which still have vigour enough to resist the extreme heats. From this time not so much as one refreshing shower falls, and scarce a friendly cloud appears to shelter us from the excessive heat of the sun till about the middle of _September_, when generally a little rain falling, either in _Aleppo_, or the neighbourhood, refreshes the air greatly.

From these first rains till the second, an interval of at least between twenty and thirty days, the weather is temperate, serene, and extremely delightful, and if the rains have been at all plentiful, though but of a few hours duration, the country soon assumes a new face; after the second rains the weather becomes variable, and winter approaches by degrees, not with so swift a pace as the summer, for the greater part of the trees retain their leaves till the middle of _November_; the most delicate never make fires till about the end of this month, and some few pass the whole winter without them.

It is seldom that _Aleppo_ is troubled with very hard gales of wind; the coldest winds in the winter are those that blow from between the north west and the east, and the nearer they approach to the last-mentioned point, the colder they are during winter and part of the spring. But from the beginning of _May_ to the end of _September_, the winds blowing from the very same points bring with them a degree and kind of heat which one would imagine came out of an oven, and which, when it blows hard, will affect metals within the houses, such as locks of room doors, nearly as much as if they had been exposed to the rays of the sun; yet it is remarkable that water kept in jars is much cooler at this time than when a cool westerly wind blows. In this season the only remedy is to shut all the doors and windows, for though these winds do not kill as the _sumyel_, (which are much of the same nature) do on the desart, yet they are extremely troublesome, causing a languor and difficulty in respiration to most people. Many summers pass without any of these winds, and, during my stay, in no summer have there been more than four or five days of them; for though the easterly and northerly winds reign most in the winter, yet providence has wisely ordered it that the westerly winds are the most frequent in the summer, without which, considering the intense heat of the sun’s rays, and the reflection from a bare rocky tract of ground, and from the white stone walls of the houses, the country would scarcely be habitable.

Where the town is situated it is, as most of the other rising grounds, rocky, and the soil just round it a white light earth, very stoney, and not fertile; but in most other parts of the country, the soil is a redish, or sometimes blackish light mold, and produces the fruits of the earth in great abundance.

A considerable part of the country lies uncultivated, from the tyranny of their government, the insecurity of property, and the consequent indolence of the inhabitants; but very little is allowed to lie fallow with a view to culture, nor do they use much manure.

They begin to plough about the latter end of _September_, and sow their earliest wheat about the middle of _October_. The frosts are never severe enough to prevent their ploughing all the winter, so that they continue to sow all sorts of grain to the end of _January_, and barley sometimes after the middle of _February_. No harrow is used, but the ground is ploughed a second time after it is sown, in order to cover the grain; in some places where the soil is a little sandy they plough but once, and that is after sowing. The plough is so light, that a man of a moderate strength may easily carry it with one hand: a little cow, or at most two, and sometimes only an ass, is sufficient to draw it in ploughing, and one man both drives and holds it with so much ease that he generally smokes his pipe at the same time.

Besides _Turkey_ wheat, barley, and cotton[6], they sow in the fields, cicers[7], lentils[8], beans[9], chickling[10], small vetch[11], sesamum, ricinus, hemp, a green kidney bean[12], called by the natives mash, and much eat; musk melon[13] water melon[14], a small sort of cucumber called ajour, fennel-flower[15], fœnugreek[16], bastard-saffron[17], _Turkey_ millet.

About _Aleppo_ they sow no oats, their horses being all fed with barley; but near _Antioch_, and on the coast of _Syria_, I have seen some few fields of them.

Near the city tobacco[18] is planted in the gardens only, but in the villages about ten or fifteen miles off a large quantity is planted in the fields, and all the hills from _Shogre_ to _Latachia_ produce such plenty of this vegetable that it makes no inconsiderable branch of trade, particularly with _Egypt_.

The harvest commences with the barley about the beginning of _May_, and that, as well as the wheat, is generally all reaped by the twentieth of the same month. The more wet the spring the later the harvest and the more plentiful the crop. As soon as it is cut down, or rather pluck’d up, (for this is their more usual way) it is carried to some neighbouring spot of hard even ground, and there dislodged from its hulk by a machine like a sledge, which runs upon two or three rollers, drawn by horses, cows, or asses. In these rollers are fixed low iron wheels, notched like the teeth of a law, and pretty sharp, at once cutting the straw and separating the grain.

Their granaries are even at this day subterraneous grottos, the entry to which is by a small hole or opening like a well, often in the high way, and as they are commonly left open when empty, they make it not a little dangerous riding near the villages in the night.

The cotton is not gathered till _October_, and such spots as are sown with it yield a pleasant verdure when every thing else seems to be burnt up. In the neighbourhood of _Aleppo_ there is no great quantity.

The olives produced about the city are, as I apprehend, very little more than sufficient for pickling for the use of the inhabitants. But at _Edlib_, about thirty miles to the south west, and the other villages near it, they have large plantations affording yearly abundance of oil, with which, and the ashes brought by the _Arabs_ from the desart, a very considerable quantity of soap is annually made, some at _Aleppo_, but the greatest part at _Edlib_.

When proper care is taken, the oil is very good, but as the people of the country are not nice in their taste, they are less disposed to be attentive about it.

The ricinus furnishes an oil which serves the common people for burning in their lamps, and from the sesamum an oil likewise is extracted called seerage, consumed chiefly by the _Jews_.

The vineyards round the city produce several sorts of tolerably good grapes, sufficient for the supply of the markets. I need scarce mention that the _Turks_ make no wine, but the _Christians_ and _Jews_ are allowed to make sufficient for their own use, upon payment of a certain tax; and the grapes for this purpose, as well as raisins, are all brought from some distance. Their white wines are palatable, but thin and poor, and seldom keep sound above a year. The red wine is deep-coloured, strong, and heady, without any flavour, and much sooner produces sleep or stupidity than mirth and elevation of spirits.

From the raisins, usually mixed with a few aniseeds, they draw an ardent spirit, which they stile arrack, and of this the _Christians_ and _Jews_ drink pretty liberally.

The inspissated juice of the grape[19], called here dibbs, is brought to the city in skins, and sold in the publick markets; it has much the appearance of coarse honey, is of a sweet taste, and in great use among the people of all sorts.

Though use seems the chief thing consulted in the laying out of their gardens (except in a few where they have small summer-houses) and they have not either fine walks, or any sort of ornament, yet, after what has been said of the country, it will be easily imagined how agreeable their verdure and shade must be in the hot weather, and consequently how much they must be resorted to at that season. But this is not the only refreshment they afford the inhabitants, for the markets are from them plentifully supplied with several sorts of fruits, pot-herbs, roots, and sallading; though, as they are obliged to use a great deal of water (which they raise with the _Persian_ wheel) it must be owned that their fruits in general have very little flavour, nor do they often stay till they are ripe before they gather them. The following are all the variety here produced.

Cherries three sorts; the common red cherry[20], the white heart cherry[21], and _Visnia_ cherry[22]; apricots two sorts, one of which has a sweet kernel, and is an exceeding good fruit, they ingraft it upon the almond, and reckon its delicacy proceeds from that particular circumstance[23]. Peaches but indifferent[24]; several sorts of plumbs[25]; cornelian cherry[26]; two or three sorts of apples, but very bad[27]; some indifferent good pears[28]; quinces[29]; pomegranates of three sorts, sweet, sour, and another between both[30]; almonds[31]; black mulberries[32]; white mulberries in great abundance; with the leaves of this tree the silk-worms are fed[33]; walnuts[34]; figs[35] of four kinds; hazel-nuts[36], the kernels of which they parch and eat between meals. Pistachio nuts[37], of a very good quality, and of which a considerable quantity is yearly sent to _Europe_; jujubs[38]; olive[39]; sumach, used much as a relisher in many of their dishes[40]; one tree only of St. _John_’s bread[41], is to be found in the gardens, though it is very common on the coast, and the fruit sold in the bazars at _Aleppo_.

These trees are all standards planted promiscuously, and very little obliged to culture. In some places they are thrown together in thickets, in others they form inclosures for the beds of garden-stuff, in which inclosures are also found the plane tree[42], white poplar[43], common white willow[44]; another willow that bears a sweet-scented flower, called by the natives baan, from whence they distill a simple cordial water much used[45]. Horn-beam[46], a very few oaks[47], ash[48], lilac[49], bead tree[50], a very few of the nettle trees[51], oleaster[52], tamarisk[53], turpentine tree[54], a very few medlars[55], elder[56], roses of various kinds[57], thorn[58], balaustine tree[59], forming on the whole a wild and irregular but agreeable prospect. The cypress trees[60] are generally planted nigh the house; the black-berry[61] also grows wild all over the gardens. They have neither goosberries nor currants now, though in _Rawolf_’s time there seems to have been a few.

The pot-herbs, _&c._ produced by the gardens will be best ranged according to the seasons in which they are most plentiful, in order to give a clear idea of the food of the inhabitants in the different seasons, for which reason also I shall here take the liberty to mention several that have been already enumerated.

From the beginning of _November_ to the end of _March_, cabbage[62], spinnage[63], endive[64], radishes of two sorts[65], turnips[66], beet[67], carrot[68], are in great plenty; collyflowers[69] make their appearance towards the end of _January_, are in great abundance in _February_ and part of _March_, by the end of which month they become scarce. _April_ and _May_ produce lettuces of different kinds[70], beans[71], truffles[72], artichoaks[73], which are very small, and chiefly eat by the natives when very young, so as when stew’d they eat the whole; and pease[74].

The two last-mentioned remain in season all the month of _June_. Purslane[75], and cucumbers[76] come in season also in _May_, and are in plenty till the end of _July_; in _September_ and _October_ the latter are again brought to market in great abundance, and towards the end of this last mentioned month the young ones are gathered for pickling.

The months of _June_, _July_, and _August_ produce musk melons[77] in great abundance; and a small cucumber called ajoor, which is often extremely bitter. To these, in the month of _July_, are added water melons[78], which we have in great perfection; Jews mallows[79]; kidney beans[80]; adders cucumbers[81]; _Syrian_ mallow[82]; lupines[83]; as also several kinds of gourds[84]; three species of mad apples[85], called by the natives badinjan; which remain all _September_, and the latter as far as the middle of _November_, making the principal part of the food of the inhabitants during the months of _July_, _August_, _September_, and _October_; and they are so fond of them, that they preserve them various ways, so as to afford occasionally a dish through the whole year. Squash[86] comes in towards the end of _September_, and continues all the year. The orange-shaped pumpion[87] we have more common in the summer-months. They have none of the colocassia at _Aleppo_, but great quantities at _Tripoli_; where the shopkeepers use the leaves (as _Rawolf_ mentions of _Aleppo_) instead of paper, for putting up their wares.

The few following are to be met with at all seasons; parsley[88], cress[89], mint[90], onions[91], and garlick[92]; which though they come last in the list, yet they are far from being the least in use or esteem among the natives.

In the gardens they also cultivate carraway[93], coriander[94], dill[95], cypress canes[96], and common reed[97], both much used by the manufacturers of silk and cotton stuffs, by way of reels, _&c._

Besides what have been already mentioned, which are produced by culture, the fields afford the bugloss[98], mallow[99], and asparagus[100], which they use as pot-herbs; the capper[101], which they pickle; the dandelion[102], and water cresses[103], used in sallading; and the summer savory[104], which, dried and powdered, and mixed with salt, they call _zater_, and often eat as a relisher with bread, serving many of the natives by way of breakfast in the winter-season; also the _Spanish_ nut[105]; and a species of hartwort[106], called by them _secacul_; both which they eat crude.

In their little gardens they cultivate, besides the roses already mentioned, the _Dutch_ hundred-leaf rose[107]; monthly rose[108], which, by proper management, flowers about ten months in the year; a few plants of the passion flower[109]; and several kinds of jasmin[110]: oleander[111], and myrtle[112], grow plentifully in all the water’d parts of _Syria_, but here only by culture. Henna[113] is kept in pots, and preserved with great care from the inclemency of the winter, being much esteemed on account of its sweet-scented flowers; _Spanish_ broom[114], vervain mallow[115], night-shade[116], winter cherry[117]; and abundance of flowers, several of which have been brought there by the _Europeans_, and of which they are very fond, the women in particular, who decorate their head-dress with them: of these the chief are the ranunculus and anemony, carnation, hyacinth, narcissus, violet, tuberose[118], _African_ marigold[119], lupines, sow-bread, _Indian_ bellflower[120], marvel of _Peru_[121], columbine, stock-gelliflower. They also raise in these little gardens _Guinea_ pepper[122], which they use as a pickle; and love apples[123], which are but little ate by any of the natives, except the Jews; rosemary[124], basil[125], flower gentle[126], female balsamine[127], musk scabious, rue[128], wormwood[129]. The common _Seville_ orange[130], the sweet _Seville_ orange[131], _China_ orange[132], common lemon[133], sweet lemon[134], and citron[135], are also with care preserved here by the natives, for they will not bear a severe winter in _Aleppo_; though they are in great abundance at _Byas_, _Latachia_, _Tripoly_, and other places on the coast of _Syria_; from whence the city is plentifully supplied with these fruits.

Neither my time, nor knowledge in botany, even though assisted by my brother, who had a great deal more of both, were equal to the task of making a compleat list of all the plants growing round _Aleppo_; but though several may have been omitted, great care has been taken that none should be inserted in the following account but what have been determined with as much accuracy as possible.[136] It may not be improper to observe, that the plants in general are of a much humbler growth here than in most other parts.

Several plants have been already mentioned as flowering early in the year, as hyacinth[137], daffodil[138], tulip[139], and violet[140]; but the _Spanish_ nut is what may be called the harbinger of the spring, and esteemed so by the natives, who are fond of its roots, which are sold at this season in the publick streets in great quantities; and from this time the botanizing season commences. Towards the middle of _February_ the banks of the river are covered with a small cranesbill[141]; and about the same place is found the daizy[142], mentioned by _Rawolf_. To these are quickly joined a profusion of plants, but chiefly in the gardens and low grounds, meadow saffron[143]; flower-de-luce several species[144], bulbous flower-de-luce[145], snow drop[146], ox eye[147], marigold[148], archangel[149], fumitory[150], shepherds purse[151], dandelion[152], hypecoon[153], grape hyacinth[154], saffron[155], great variety of crowfoot[156], particularly one species (_ranuncul. vern. rotundifol. minor_), that generally covers all the marshy parts of the gardens.

_Onobrychis orientalis Galegæ folijs erectior floribus lineis purpureis utrinque reticulato T. Cor. 26._

_Thlaspi Orientale saxatile flore rubente folijs Polygalæ petalis florum æqualibus T. Cor. 15._

_G. D. Ehret delin:_ _J. S. Miller Sc:_]

As the spring advances, the following come on with surprising rapidity. Madder[157], cleavers[158], periwinkle[159], plantain[160], androsace[161], burnet[162], speedwell of many species[163], wake robin[164] several species, dragons[165], several kinds of toad flax[166], clary[167], sow bread[168], which near _Aleppo_ is chiefly cultivated in their little gardens, but very common on the mountains; various sorts of clarey[169], three species of charlock[170], _Mithridate_ mustard[171], bastard _Mithridate_ mustard[172], stock-gellyflower[173], dames violet[174] four species, wild radish[175], two species of chickweed[176], four kinds of mouse-ear[177], house-leek[178], caltrops[179], two species of anemony[180], parsley[181], petty madder[182], hartwort[183], shepherds needle[184], clove-gellyflower[185], various species of garlick[186], bindweed two kinds[187], spurges several species[188], horehound[189], field _Basil_[190], treacle-mustard[191], woad[192], hemlock[193], water parsnip[194], navel-wort[195], brank ursine[196], gold of pleasure[197], flix-weed[198], horned wild cumin[199], sweet fern[200], bastard parsley[201], shrub hartwort[202], scorching carrot[203].

_An Allium Sylvestre sive moly minus albo amplo Flore T. Cor. 26._

_G. D. Ehret delin:_ _I. Mynde sc:_]

_Onobrychis Orientalis incano flore luteo fructu magno radiato T. Cor. 26._

_G. D. Ehret delin:_ _J. S. Miller Sc:_]

_An Lotus Græca maritima folio glaucio & velut argenteo T. Cor. 27._

_G. D. Ehret delin:_ _J. S. Miller sc:_]

And towards the middle of _April_ the country is in its full bloom, the verdure of the fields being beautifully variegated by poppies[204], bellflower[205], gromel[206], comfrey[207], mullein[208], sage[209], rocket[210], hedge-mustard[211], mustard[212], horned poppy[213], great variety of campions[214], pimpernel[215], figwort[216], berry bearing chickweed[217], flax[218], corn-flag[219], lilly daffodil[220], larkspur[221], bugloss[222], ladies bed-straw[223], birthwort[224], ironwort[225], skull-cap[226], trifoil[227], melilot[228], calves snout[229], _Moldavian_ balm[230], medick[231], rest harrow[232], goats rue[233], bastard rocket[234], kidney vetch[235], corn sallet[236], two species of satyrion[237], knapweed[238], hatchet vetch[239], columbine[240], scabious[241]. Nor are the stoney, uncultivated rising grounds without their plants; as thyme[242], vipers buglos[243], ground pine[244], cress[245], common whitlow grass[246], madwort[247], eryngo[248], St. _Foin_ several species[249], birds foot[250], horse-shoe vetch[251], birds foot trefoil[252], moon trefoil[253], vetch several kinds[254], milk vetch[255], betony[256], knapweed[257].

Among the rank herbage in the gardens are found at this season, borage[258], _German_ madwort[259], hounds tongue[260], broom rape[261], mint[262], rush[263], balm[264], thyme[265], vervain[266], dittander[267], hollyhock[268], cinquefoil[269], lilly[270], burdock[271], but in small quantity; mug-wort[272]. But among the plants that adorn the fields at this season, no one is more conspicuous or common than the lion-leaf[273]: nor should we here omit a beautiful species of henbane[274], with a strong musk smell; which seems to be the _hyosciamus rubello flore_, _C. B. P. 169._ though the peculiarity of its smell I do not find has been mentioned.

_Tragacantha Orientalis vesicaria erectior caule ab imo ad Summum florido_

_G. D. Ehret delin:_ _I. Mynde sc:_]

As the heats come on, the few following plants being of a hardier nature, are the only ones that are capable of resisting them. Wild or _Syrian_ rue[275], bean capers[276], capers[277], which grow in plenty on the tops of old houses; kings spear[278] several species; a variety of stars of _Bethlem_[279], liquorice[280], night-shade[281], fennel[282], blessed thistle[283], wild cucumber[284]. Nothing now remains of the spring-plants in the open fields.

Of the plants that belong to the summer, except the following, al hagy[285], a very low kind of acacia[286], goats thorn[287], kali[288], several species of thistles[289], and the gundelia[290], the greatest part are to be found under the shade, or nigh the little channels where the water runs in the gardens. _Molucca_ balm[291], base horehound[292], bastard horehound[293], dwarf oleander[294], ricinoides[295], thorn apple[296], turnsole[297], leadwort[298], pimpernel[299], teasel[300]. After the first rains in the autumn, the fields every where throw out the autumnal lilly daffodil; and the few plants which had stood the summer now glow with fresh vigour.

Besides what plants have been already enumerated, the country produces the camomile-like ox-eye[301], sneezwort[302], yarrow[303], cats foot[304], fleabane[305], several sorts of grass[306], ragweed[307], stinking orach[308], wild orach[309], vipers grass[310], ox-eye[311], _May_ weed[312], corn marigold[313], goats beard[314], _Achilles_’s yarrow[315], _American_ night-shade[316], chickling[317], chickling vetch[318], _French_ honeysuckle[319], fever-few[320], chamomile[321], hemp[322], sharp-pointed dock[323], bloodwort[324], pellitory of the wall[325], true maiden-hair[326], nettle[327], starry hawkweed succory[328], groundsell[329]. The weeping willow[330] should likewise have been mentioned before, which is very common in the gardens.

And the river affords plenty of the yellow water-lilly[331], from whence the natives distil a cordial-water much used by them.

_An Ilex aculeata cocci glandifore glande maxima nunc cylindrica nunc subrotunda cupula echinata T. Cor._

_An Astragalus quidam montanus vel Onobrychis Aliis_

_G. D. Ehret delin:_ _J. Mynde sc:_]

I never travelled through _Syria_, either with a botanical view, or at the proper season; so that I cannot pretend to give any tolerable account of the plants growing at any distance from _Aleppo_. The few, however, that came to my knowledge, I shall just mention. On the mountains grow several sorts of oaks, pines, myrtle, juniper, bay, St. _John_’s bread, kermes, azarole, the fruit of which is brought to market in the autumn; and the andrachne in such plenty, that it affords nigh one half of the wood used for fuel in _Aleppo_. The shining red of its bark, together with the beauty of its flowers and fruit, will, I doubt not, make it esteemed as a valuable acquisition to the _British_ gardens, if it agree with our climate, which the thriving condition of several plants raised here seems to promise. The bindweed[332], from whence the _Aleppo_ scammony of the shops is procured, does not grow near the city, but chiefly on the mountains. This drug is the inspissated milky juice that flows from the root by incision; and each produces but a very small quantity. As the plant grows wild, it is the property of any one that will take the trouble to look for it, which is the employment of some peasants at the proper season; and having collected what they can of the milky liquor, they carry it to the nearest village of any note, where there are always some traders (chiefly _Jews_) ready to purchase it of them; and these people generally mix it with wheat flour, sand, ashes, _&c._ so that at present very little is brought quite pure to market at _Aleppo_. It does not appear that any thing it is adulterated with increases its violence in operating; on the contrary, the purer the scammony, the smaller I have always found the dose: so that the notion of its being mixed with the juice of the spurge seems without foundation. However, the proportion of the heterogeneous substances mixed with it being various, renders the dose of the medicine as found in the shops very uncertain, and so occasions its being seldomer prescribed than so safe and efficacious a purgative otherwise deserves. For further particulars relating to this plant, see _Medical Observations and Inquiries_, Vol. I.—At the bottom of the page is a catalogue of such other plants as have come within my observation on the mountains, and in other parts of _Syria_[333].

_Phlomis Orientalis hormini folio flore minore calyce Glabro._

_G. D. Ehret delin:_ _J. S. Miller sc:_]

_Phlomis Orientalis Angusto & longiore folio flore luteo._

_G. D. Ehret delin:_ _J. S. Miller sc:_]

There are no metals found any where near _Aleppo_, or, so far as I know of, in all _Syria_; though some of the rocky hills from their appearance seem to contain an iron ore. Nigh to _Antioch_ a few garnets are picked up, but of an inferior quality.

The soil has been already mentioned. They have scarce any clay; and, what they do meet with, has so little tenacity, that it is with difficulty they can form a very ordinary sort of bricks; which, as well as the water-jars they make of it, frequently fall to pieces of themselves. The potters clay, of which the holes of their pipes are made, is brought from _Damascus_ and _Sidon_.

About six hours from _Aleppo_ is found a sort of fullers earth, called by the natives _bayloon_, which is often used in the bagnio instead of soap, and particularly by the women for cleansing their hair; for which purpose it is kept in balls, made up with rose-leaves, to give it an agreeable smell. I may add, that a good deal of it is ate by longing women, and such as have a depraved appetite from a chlorosis.

For common buildings they make use of a white gritty stone, every where plenty about the town; and is very proper for the purpose, as it is easily cut, and grows hard afterwards. For the gateways, pillars, and pavements of their best buildings, they employ a yellow marble, which is capable of a tolerable polish, and is likewise the produce of this country. This is often intermixed with a red, white, and coarse black marble in their buildings, by way of ornament. None of the three last mentioned are found in the neighbourhood of _Aleppo_; being brought, the first from _Damascus_; the second, either from _Italy_, or extracted from old buildings, chiefly about _Antioch_; and the last, both from _Damascus_ and _Killis_. When they are in want of the red, they can dye the yellow marble of _Aleppo_, so as to have much the same appearance, by rubbing it over with oil, and then putting it into a moderately-hot oven for some hours. The slight partition-walls are built of a coarse sort of chalk, of which there is abundance to the northward of the city.

Lime-stone is met with in plenty near the city, affording them good cement for their buildings; which they carry on with great ease and dexterity, and generally without any scaffolding. A few hours distance is found the gypsum in small quantities, of which their plaister of _Paris_ is made. This is chiefly used in cementing the earthen pipes employed in carrying water, and for a few other purposes about their best buildings.

About eighteen miles south-east from _Aleppo_, is a large plain, which we generally call the _Valley of Salt_, bounded with low, rocky hills, so as to form a kind of natural bason, which keep in the rains descending from them, together with the water derived from a few springs in the neighbourhood, and cause the whole to be entirely covered with water in the winter. The extent and evenness of the surface, however, prevents this water from collecting to any great depth; so that it is soon evaporated by the summer’s heat, and leaves a cake of salt in some places not less than half an inch thick, but it is more or less in proportion to the quantity of rain that falls in the winter; and with this crust the whole inclosed plain is covered. The soil of this plain is a stiff clay, and strongly impregnated with salt; but I could not discover that the springs above mentioned had any taste communicated by this mineral.

In the month of _August_ a number of people are employed in gathering this salt; which is of a good quality, and in quantity proves sufficient to supply all this part of the country.

What few black cattle they have near the city, are chiefly used for the plough, or drawing water for the gardens. The greatest part of those employed for this purpose are very large, with remarkably long legs, and a gaunt belly, such as we often see on antique _intaglios_. The other cattle of this species are small, and all in general have very short horns.

The _Turks_ or _Jews_ scarce ever eat beef, and it is but of late that the _Christians_ have begun to be fond of it; so that what is killed is chiefly for the _Europeans_, who have it tolerably good at all seasons, but best in summer, as the natives to this day religiously observe the ancient custom of allowing the oxen employed in separating the corn from the straw to eat what they please.

In some parts of _Syria_ there are abundance of buffaloes, but near _Aleppo_ very few, and these chiefly kept for milk. Mutton is plentiful, fat, and good the whole year, except a few weeks in the spring, and makes by far the greater part of the animal food of all ranks of people. Lamb is also to be had in every season, but in greatest plenty in _February_, _March_, and _April_.

They have two sorts of sheep in the neighbourhood of _Aleppo_: the one called _Beduin_ sheep, which differ in no respect from the larger kinds of sheep in _Britain_, except that their tails are somewhat longer and thicker: the others are those often mentioned by travellers on account of their extraordinary tails; and this species is by much the most numerous. This tail is very broad and large, terminating in a small appendix that turns back upon it. It is of a substance between fat and marrow; and is not eaten separately, but mixed with the lean meat in many of their dishes, and also often used instead of butter. A common sheep of this sort, without the head, feet, skin, and entrails, weighs about twelve or fourteen _Aleppo_ rotoloes[334], of which the tail is usually three rotoloes or upwards; but such as are of the largest breed, and have been fattened, will sometimes weigh above thirty rotoloes, and the tails of these ten; a thing to some scarce credible. These very large sheep being about _Aleppo_ kept up in yards, are in no danger of injuring their tails; but in some other places, where they feed in the fields, the shepherds are obliged to fix a piece of thin board to the under part of the tail, to prevent its being torn by bushes, thistles, _&c._ as it is not covered underneath with thick wool like the upper part; and some have small wheels, to facilitate the dragging of this board after them; whence, with a little exaggeration, the story of having carts to carry their tails.

This thin skin on the under part of the tail is much used by the natives for pains and swellings of all sorts, being applied warm to the part affected, and allowed to remain on till it stinks abominably; and as they are very often applied to the head and abdomen in fevers, this last circumstance makes them prove generally detrimental: and indeed I have seldom, if ever, seen much benefit received by their application, except in some old rheumatic pains.

_J. Mynde sc._]

They have also two kinds of goats; one that differs little from the common sort in _Britain_; the other as remarkable for the length of its ears, as the sheep above mentioned for the largeness of their tails. The size of the animal is somewhat larger than ours; but their ears are often a foot long, and broad in proportion. They are chiefly kept for their milk, of which they yield no inconsiderable quantity; and it is sweet, and well-tasted. Great numbers of them are brought to the city about the beginning of _April_, and are drove through the streets every morning, and their milk sold as they pass, till _September_. The other part of the year they are generally supplied with cows milk, such as it is; for as they are commonly kept at the gardens, and fed with their refuse, the milk generally tastes so strong of garlick or cabbage leaves, as to be very disagreeable. Besides the milk of the goats, their kids add some part to the diet of the inhabitants, a few being killed in the spring and autumn.

Butter and cheese, both of which are bad, are made indiscriminately of the milk from cows, buffaloes, sheep, or goats: and the city is supplied with these things, as well as with cattle of all kinds, by the _Arabs_, _Rushwans_, or _Turkmen_; all of whom place their wealth, or at least derive their subsistence from those animals, and travel about the country with their flocks, much in the same way as the patriarchs did of old.

Leban[335] is brought in great plenty to the city during the winter and spring, and is a favourite dish with the inhabitants.

The country round _Aleppo_ abounds with antelopes; which are of two sorts: that which is called the mountain antelope is the most beautiful; its back and neck are of a dark brown colour: the antelope of the plain is not either so swift or well-made, and is of a much lighter colour. Both sorts afford no small diversion to the sportsmen; but are so extremely fleet, that the greyhounds, though very good, can seldom take them without the assistance of a falcon, unless in soft deep ground. In the sporting season they are lean, but have a good flavour. In the summer, when fat, they may vie even with our venison in _England_. But this is to be understood of such as are caught abroad, for those that have been fattened in the houses are not so delicious. From this account it will easily be conceived, that such dainties only make their appearance at the tables of the _Europeans_, and a few of the more considerable _Turks_.

Hares are in great plenty, and also afford good sport; but the natives are not fond of them, except the _Arabs_, whose method of dressing them is particular, and said to be very good. They dig a hole in the earth, which they fill with such light brushwood as they can pick up, and set it on fire: when thoroughly lighted, the hare, the flue, the entrails, and all together just as it was taken, is thrown into it; and, after the flame has ceased, they cover the hole up with the loose earth that had been dug out of it, and which at first had been laid round the verge of the fire, so as to grow hot: thus it is left till they judge it to be sufficiently roasted, when throwing a quantity of salt over it, they eat it without any further dressing.

A few tame rabbits are kept in the city, chiefly for the tables of the _Europeans_; and now and then a wild hog is brought from abroad, which, though seldom fat, yet is esteemed by us, as it is a rarity.

The country also affords a few porcupines, which are sometimes, though seldom, ate by the _Europeans_; and land-turtle and frogs in great abundance, which furnish a dish for the _Franks_ of the _Romish_ religion, and for many of the native Christians, in their lents.

These are the animals which are commonly dressed for food by the inhabitants of _Aleppo_; for the camel, though reckoned a delicious morsel by the _Arabs_, makes no part of their diet. This creature, however, is of the utmost consequence to them in transporting from place to place every thing for which they have occasion; there being no such thing as a wheel-carriage in all this part of the country, except a very clumsy machine, now and then used for bringing large pillars, or other stones of great weight, from the quarry.

There are four sorts of camels known here, _viz._ the _Turkman_ camel, the _Arab_ camel, the dromedary, and the camel with two bunches on its back.

The _Turkman_ camel is much stronger, larger, more woolly or hairy, and of a darker colour, than any of the others. Their common load is 160 rotoloes, or 800 pounds; but sometimes it carries much more. This animal cannot bear heat, and therefore they never work it in the months of _June_, _July_, and _August_.

The _Arab_ camel is much smaller than the former, of a lighter colour, and not so hairy. This seldom carries above 100 rotoloes, but can bear the heat and thirst much better than the _Turkman_; nor is there any need that the _Arab_ camel be fed with barleyflour and chopp’d straw; for the dry thistles, and other plants which grow on the desart, are almost all it requires, and it feeds as it goes along with its burthen. I remember an instance, where, in a caravan from _Bussorah_, the camels which were of this sort travelled without water for fifteen days; but the quantity they drank as soon as they could come at any, proved fatal to many of them.

The dromedary, by all I could ever discover, is nothing but a high breed of the _Arab_ camel. The only distinction observed is, that it is of a lighter and handsomer make; and, instead of the solemn walk to which the others are accustomed, it paces, and is generally esteemed to go as far in one day as the others do in three.