220 SUSPECTED ROBBERS. beart upon the possibility of a plunge in the Euphrates. Our best hope of escape was that we might be too insignificant a booty for these wholesale traders to lay hands upon; but we were quickly relieved from our unpleasant sensations by finding them to be guards in the Pacha's service, who since the late robbery had been appointed to patrol the plain for the security of passing caravans. Their complexions and accoutrements were various, and their order not such as bespoke any rigid discipline in their corps; and I doubt if the banditti whom they were directed to watch had an aspect more congenial with the independent practices of the desert than this promiscuous herd of dragoons. SITUATION OF ALEPPO. 221 CHAPTER XXXI. Situation of Aleppo.-Pistachio Grove.-Gardens.-Housetops.-Signior Picciotti.-Character of the Tartar Ali.Contract for Journey to Stamboul.-Difficulties exaggerated.-Influence of the Moon.-Aleppo Button.-Ulcerations.-Conversazione near the River Xoik.-Levantine Girl. Take a Turkish Tutor-His caution.-Depreciation of Turkish Money.-Convent of Cats.- Mohammed's Favourite.-Green Turban Men.-Dinner-party. July 2. BEFORE ten a. M. Aleppo* was in sight, and at no great distance. The town stands low, with nothing in the surrounding country that can add either beauty or importance to its position. The ground immediately about it is rocky and uneven, affording little produce, and none that is remarkable, except a grove of pistachio nuts, which, I believe, are the only trees of that description found in Syria: the vines of Chaly * The name 63 Halep" seems to have grown out of the ancient appellation "Chalybon." 222 ENVIRONS OF ALEPPO. bonitis have been rooted up by Mohammedan prejudice. Besides the usual domes and minarets which impart a queenly dignity to all Oriental towns, Aleppo is protected by a strong fortress, frowning upon the brow of an immense artificial mound raised within the walls. It is circular in form, and girt by a wide foss, and might present considerable difficulties to a force ill supplied with artillery; but when once breached, it would be immediately entered, as the mound is not so perpendicular as to prevent infantry from climbing rapidly to the crown. The gardens in the environs of the town are shaded by gigantic fruit-trees of every sort, overgrowing each other, and watered by streams carried along natural or artificial channels, which diffuse their invigorating influence throughout these agreeable retreats: they are nevertheless far inferior to the gardens and waters of Damascus. The destructive effects of the earthquake which occurred in 1828 are most conspicuous in the outskirts of the city, where its extreme violence is shown by the * The wine of this district was formerly so choice that the Persian monarchs drank no other. STREETS AND HOUSE-TOPS. 223 demolition of a large Xan, of which scarcely one stone is left upon another. The streets of Aleppo are wider, and the exterior walls of the houses better built, than those of any other Oriental town in the vicinity of the Mediterranean shores. The bazaars are well supplied, closed in at the top with mats and other similar materials, and differ in no respect from those of Damascus; but the tops of the houses have this notable peculiarity, that they are laid down flat with soil, which is well rolled, and an uninterrupted communication can be kept up with almost every part of the town, without descending into the street. The partition walls marking the boundary of each house have small openings or gateways through them; and there are paths leading in every direction. The inhabitants frequently assemble and hold soirées here during the heat of summer; and when the plague exists in the town, the lower doors of the houses are barred to prevent all ingress from the street, and the intercourse is confined exclusively to these high roads. As I was wandering about upon the house-tops one day with an English resident, 224 SIGNIOR PICCIOTTI. and peeping down upon the hareems, monkeries, and other menageries of interest, we met with a mule that had been turned out to take his pastime among the thistles and grass, of which there was only a moderate crop. Having reached the house of my travelling companion, I began to urge the immediate execution of the business for which I had accompanied him to Aleppo, in order that I might return without delay to Beirout, and, if possible, arrive there before the vessel bound for Smyrna should sail. We had accomplished in five days the journey, which, at the ordinary rate of caravan-travelling, occupies twelve; so that as there were nine remaining, this seemed no very difficult task. In the course of the day, however, we visited Signior Picciotti, by creed a Jew, and Consul to the Austrian Government. From him I learnt that the Tartars, whose journeys had been interrupted by the war in Asia Minor, would again undertake to cross that country, and that one had already passed. Ali Aga, of whose prowess and intrepidity as a Tartar much was recounted, being sent for, asked one thousand five hundred piastres for |