at a long distance off in the plain, in a ruined house in which he had taken refuge, or into which I strongly suspect he had been popped to await the event of his owner's search for him.

My man paid for his carelessness by a considerable fright. The muleteer had warned him of some caves in the neighbourhood, the resort of thieves, who had committed such and such robberies, and counselled him not to go near them He took my pistols with him, and on approaching the ruin fired off one, to show, I suppose, that he was not unarmed; and on his return he had to use the other against a dog, which made an onslaught on his leg, which was only saved by his wide breeches, which baffled the assailant.

The next day was a tiresome one, over hot plains and low hills, past the remains of places which showed how much more frequented the road once was. We were joined by a Jew and Jewess with some young children, who were glad to avail themselves of the escort of a Frank, for the poor Jews of Syria are great cowards, or rather they have good reason to be afraid, for it is no uncommon thing to hear of the robbery or murder of a Jew, especially in

times of commotion. Passing Dana, and leaving the wild mountain on which Simon Stylites erected his pillars on the right, in the evening we arrived at a cistern of water, where we determined to pass the

night, as water was This water, as that

very scarce on the road. of all the wells on the latter part of the road to Aleppo, was full of little red worms, to get rid of which I strained it through my handkerchief; as it was a clean one, and the Jews seemed not to be up to this rather obvious expedient, I offered it to the woman, being more disposed to do so from the thought that she was one of a persecuted race. But I was rebuked for showing sympathy where it was not required, for she coldly replied, "We have lots of handkerchiefs," and preferred using a rag of her own to accepting the proffered loan.

Next morning we started at four, and after six hours' riding over hills and plains, if possible still more monotonous, with not a tree, and crops only here and there, we arrived in sight of Aleppo. I had been wiling away the monotony of the road by reading the 'Thousand and One Nights;' but as I drew near to the city, the rays of the sun reflected from the sandy soil so dazzled my eyes that I could positively see the

print no longer. In after journeys, as the summer advanced, I found that it was impossible, under the heat of the sun, to do any thing but sit still and bear the melting heat, for the bright sunlight on the page rendered reading painful and very hurtful to the eyes; but as it was difficult to reconcile oneself to losing a whole day's work, while progressing slowly over a dreary plain, I used, generally, to recur to the solace of a book during the cooler hours of early morn, and when the rays of the sun began to slant.

CHAPTER II.

ALEPPO -INLAND ROAD TO HAMAH - THIE VISH WATCHMEN BULLYING KURD-STORIES OF THE IRREGULAR HORSE-ENCAMP IN THE FIELDS-SECOND POMPEII-GUARDIAN OF WELL -CASTLE OF EL-MEDEEK-PLAGUE OF MOSQUITOES-CASTLE OF SEJJAR-HAMAH-MYSTERIOUS ANSYREEH SHEIKH-MOSQUITOES AGAIN - VALLEY OF THE ORONTES-RETURN ΤΟ ANTIOCH.

I WILL not detain the reader at Aleppo. As there were no Ansyreeh in the town, or near, there was nothing to keep me there after I had, through the kindness of Mr. Barker, seen the bazaars and walls and other objects of interest. Descriptions of the town, no doubt, abound; I will content myself with saying that I have seldom seen a place where I should like less to reside. It reminds one of Cairo as being a large city situated on the edge of a desert; but on many sides of Cairo, there is abundance of verdure, while Aleppo has only its gardens, beautiful, indeed, as abounding in trees which displayed the most exquisite foliage when I was

there, and appearing still more beautiful as contrasted with the surrounding wastes, but concealed in great measure from view in the winding valleys in which they are situated. Once Aleppo was surrounded by forests of trees, but these are reduced, as far as the open country is concerned, to groves of the pistachio and the olive. The bazaars are the best built in Syria, but one must be fond of town life indeed to be content with them, without an occasional walk in the suburbs, especially when the city is but of moderate size. But at Aleppo, if there were greater attractions than there are to lead one to indulge in country excursions, they would lose much of their sweetness, from the insecurity nearly always attending them, for the Arabs of the desert sometimes rob and murder to the very walls. The climate, as a gentleman described it to me who spent a winter there, was continually wet; and while the summer is very hot, the winter is proportionably cold. When we add to this the famous boil, known generally as the Aleppo button, which attacks nearly all those who remain a short time there, and lasts for a year, it will appear that there are other places in the world more inviting than Aleppo to those who