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NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
             Washington
Founded 1836
U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
             Public Health Serrice
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DR.  WITTMAN'S
TRAVELS
tnmnmt t^*~~t*i*m*4Miau*mmmmmqmimmmmmqm
 
 
TRAVE
IN
Curftep,   &sta=jftlmor,  ^?rta,
                      AND
            ACROSS  THE DESERT
                      INTO
               EGYPT,
      DURING THE YEARS 1799, 1800, AND 1801,
                 IN COMPANY WITH %
             THE TURKISH ARMY,
                      AND
        THE BRITISH  MILITARY MISSION:
                  ALSO THROUGH
GERMANYy HOLLANDy  &c. ON THE  RETURN TO ENGLAND:
               TO WHICH ARE ANNEXED,
                OBSERVATIONS
ON THE PLAGUE, AND ON THE DISEASES PREVALENT IN TURKEY,
           AND A METEREOLOGICAL JOURNAL.
        BY WILLIAM WITTMAX, M. D.
              OF THE ROYAL ARTILLERY,
Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in London, and Surgeon to the British
      Military Mission acting with the Army of the Grand Vizier.
PRINTED  AND SOLD BY  JAMES HUMPHREYS,
                 1804.
J> 
A

&&■ 
            TO  HIS EXCELLENCY
               THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

         THE  EARL OF ELGIN,
  His Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary at the  Ottoman Parity
                     Sfc.  Kc. Ke.

    MY LORD,
                  THE attention,  so honourable to
 your  Lordship's  feelings, with which I,  as well as
 others of our countrymen, was favoured by your Lord-
 ship, while in the dominions  of the  Grand Seignor,
 has excited in me sentiments of gratitude,  for  the
 public expression of which I hope to be forgiven.

    It is under this impression that  I  have presumed
 to prefix your Lordship's name to a work, which is*
 the result of my observations and inquiries while in
 those  countries.   If it should serve to record the hos-
pitable and liberal conduct of your Lordship,  in your 
                         IV



public capacity,  and the  respect and esteem which



that conduct could not fail to excite in its  Author;



and if, at the same time, it should in any degree, con-



tribute to  your Lordship's  amusement,  it will  be a



subject of permanent satisfaction to





                   MY LORD,





              Tour Lordship's obliged Servant t






                            THE  AUTHOR.




Woolwkhy April, 1803. 
p. v-vi missing 
 
PREFACE.
   IN the present multiplicity of books, to obtrude a new
    work upon the Public argues an opinion in the Author,
 that it either contains some new information, or if the mat-
 ter is old, that it is in a dress which is both original and
 advantageous.   To the latter the writer  of  these  pages
 makes no pretensions; with respecb to the former, the fault
 is his own if the work should be found to contain no  infor-
 mation but what is already  familiar to his countrymen.

     Attached in a professional capacity to the  British Mi-
 litary Mission which accompanied  the army of the Grand
 Vizier in its route through Turkey, Syria,  and  Egypt, du-
 ring the late memorable campaign, he was certainly in a
 situation peculiarly  advantageous for  observing  the  man-
 ners,  customs, and habits of the Turkish nation, not only
 in peace, but in war.  His  profession afforded him many
 opportunities for improving these advantages,  by an  inti-
 mate communication not only with  the Grand Vizier  him-
 self, but with the  principal  personages  of the Ottoman
 empire.

    In the course of his travels, he saw many things which
to him at least, were uncommon; and he was in the habit
(partly to relieve his mind from the irksomeness of his
situation, and partly in the  hope of gratifying his particu- 
Vlll                  PREFACE.
lar friends) to note down whatever appeared worthy  of re-
mark.  On communicating these notes to those for  whom
they were originally intended, it was their wish to see them
in  print,  as containing  matter  which, according  to their
partial opinion, was calculated  to interest a still wider  cir-
cle.  Such a task,  when he commenced his journal,  he did
not expect he should have to encounter; and this statement,
in  every respect consonant  to truth,  he  trusts will  shield
him from the severity of criticism, which is most properly
directed against such publications as are, from  the first, in-
tended to challenge the approbation of the Public.

     He cannot flatter himself with  the  hope  that these
pages will  be found equally agreeable to  all readers.  To
some they  will appear in parts defective,  as they undoubt-
edly are;  to  others,  the Author may seem  occasionally
prolix,  in  recording the particulars  of conversations held
with different individuals, either on  the civil or on the mir
litary state of the countries in which  he resided.   Yet those
books are perhaps  the  most instructive,  and not the least
entertaining, which record things as they  really happened.
"Truth,"  says an admired author,  "needs  no ornament;
" and in my  opinion what she borrows from the pencil is
cf deformity."

     His professional duties led  the Author to pay a  parti-
cular and a minute attention to the climate and to the ma-
ladies of which it is  productive.  That  dreadful disease,
which has been emphatically denominated  the Plague, was
necessarily  a prominent object in this fatal catalogue; and,
unfortunately  for the  army  which  he accompanied, few
Europeans  have had equal opportunities  of witnessing its
ravages.    The information which he was able  to obtain
from the Practitioners of the  country he endeavoured care-
fully to  compare with the facts which fell under  his own ob-
servation:  and  he has laboured  to divest  himself of  every
prejudice in investigating the causes  and nature of a mala-
dy  which has depopulated whole  countries,  and destroyed
myriads of persons  in  a short period of time;  which bids
defiance to every system, and baffles the skill of  the ablest
professors of  the medical art. 
PREFACE.
IX
     In the orthography of names, whether of persons or of
 places, and of those local terms which relate to the parti-
 cular usages of the countries he visited, the Author has not
 adhered to any  written authority.  In these cases there is a
general disagreement among the learned: no rule has been
established; nor is it practicable to a  foreigner  to refer to
etymology in languages in which he cannot be profoundly
versed.   He  has therefore pursued  that  method which,  if
not the most correct, was that which  he could  with  most
safety and convenience adopt, to be governed by  the ear,
and  to note down these names  as they were delivered by
those to whom their oral use and general application had
rendered them familiar.
(O 
 
CONTENTS;
                                CHAPTER J.
 Military Misiion appointed to proceed to Turkey.  Object of the Mission.   Names
   of the officers who acompanied it.   Departuie of General Koehlsr overland, and
   of the Author by sea.  Their respective arrivals at Constantinople.  The cere-
   monies of conseoraing the  Grand  Vizier's Standard 5 of the Captain Pacha's
   departure ; and of the Vizier's taking the field.                           Pag

                                  CHAP.  II.
 Visit to Pera.   Captain Franklin returns to England.   Description of Constantino-
   ple ;  mosqnes and  minarets ;  external  appearance of  the  city;  the seraglio.
   Suburbs of Galeta, Pera, and Tophana ; Scutari;  the  Bosphorus j population;
   amusements.   Turkish ships.  Interior  of the Turkish houses ;  ceremonies;
   dogs; police.

                                 CHAP. lit.

 Removal  to  Buyukdere:  Description  of  that village.  Favourite amusements of
   the  Grand Seignor.  Barracks appointed for  the  Mission at Levant  Chiflick.
   Description of that place.   Dysentery prevalent among  the soldiers of the Mis-
   sion.   Introduction  to  the principal  officers of the  Sublime  Porte.  Excessive
   heat.  Description  of the Turkish  horses,  and the  mode  of treating  them.
   Miscellaneous remarks on the natural history, &c. of the country.  Frogs and
   Grashoppers.   Evening  walks at  Buyukdere,  and  amusements of  the Greeks.
   Dress and  manners of the Turkish  women;  of the Greeks.  Abundance and
   cheapness of provisions at Buyukdere  ; oxen and buffaloes.  Harvest in Turkey.
   Oppressions exercised  by the  Muhommedans on the Christians.  Grand Seignor
   visits  Chiflick, and distributes small maney to  the English solJiers.   Turks
   taught to practise with  red-h >t shot.  Description of Kaithana,  the placs ap-
   pointed  for artillery experimenis.  On board the Charon  find  two  Englishmen
   redeemed from slavery.  Liberal conduce  of a French officer.   Greek rejoicings
   on St. John's day.'  Entertainment at the Ruffian ambassador's.  Visit to Con-
   stantinople.  Account  of the bazars.  Further remarks on the city ;  th? seraglio ;
   the mint; mosque of SantvSophia.   Greek amusements.  Visit on board the
   Sultan Selim.  Sick and wounded soldiers arrive fr>m Acre.   Conferences w.th
  the Turkish Secretary of War on  this subject  Order to attend the  Grand
   Seignor.

                                 CHAP. IV.
Visit  to Levant Chiflick, in compliance with the  orders of the Grand Seignor.
  Practice with red-hot  shot.   Presents  distributed  to th: officers and men.  Or-
  ders to attend  the Grand Seignor again ;  interview with him-J-consulted  by the
  Aga.   Grand procession on  the op  ning of  the festival-of  the  Biram  Cour-
  b.im.  Turkish entertainment.  Remarks on  the  pr.-.ductinns of the season in
  Turkey,  on the diseas:s of the country,  and the  state of  m?dical science then.
  Pr-os^'nn  and festival of the derviscs.   Remarks  on the climate and weather.
  Viiiage and aqueducts of Belgrade.  Character of  the Turkish villages.  Visit to
  i.he Asiatic shore.  Orderfor remo«alof the trcops.  Fire near Constantinople:.  De-
  scription of Santa-Sophia.  Greek marriaje. Remarks on the Turkish fj.trejic:.
  Embarkation  of the troop:. 
12
CONTENTS.
                                 CHAP.   V.

Departure from  Constantinople.  Voyage  to  Chennecally.   Sestos and Abydoi.
  Tower of Leander.   Arrival at Chennecally.   Join the Captain Pacha's fleet.
  Visit of the officers on board the Sultan Selim. Character of the Captain Pacha.
  Present state of the Turkish marine.   Dishonesty  of a Turkish marine. Visit
  to the  ancient Sigaem.   Recovery of  some curious remains of antiquity.  De-
  scription of the plain of Trcy^ and the tombs of Achilles,  Patroclus, and Ajax.
  Mount Ida.  Description of Chennecally.  Castles of the Dardanelles.   Abydos.
  Decapitation of a Turkish Admiral.  Dardania.   Orders received to  return to
  Constantinople.  Arrival there.

                                 CHAP.  VI.

 Reception  at Constantinople.   Castle of the Seven Towers.   Palace of Bellsarius.
   Apprehension  of the plague.  Execution of  several Turks for robberies.  The
   Hans, or  residence  of the Turkish merchants.   Sudden  changes of weather at
   Constantinople ;  fall of snow.  Panorama of Constantinople.   Fatal effects from
   burning chaicoal;  seven ladies of the Grand Vizier suffocated. Use of the bath
   in Turkey.   Travelling in  Turkey.  Singular  religious  ceremony.  Different
   sects of dervises.  Intercepted dispatches from the French army.   The Rama-
   zan.  Splendid illuminations.  Greek marriage.  Ceremonies  on board a Rus,-
   sian ship of war.  Feast of Biram.  The chief of the white eunuchs.  Shock djf
   an earthquake.  Violent changes  in the temperature.   Singular punishment in-
   flicted on a Turk for assaulting an Englishman.  Formidable hordes of  banditti
   in the vicinity of the metropolis.   Singular mode of communicating the plague to
   a French officer.  Launch of a Turkish seventy-four.   Leander's tower.  Town
   of Scutari.   Celebration of  Easter among the  Greeks.  Daring robbery in  the
   open street.  Severe execution of  Janissaries and seamen.  Capitan Pacha sails
   from Constantinople.  Beautiful appearance of the Asiatic shore.   Feast of the
   Biram Courbam.  Prayers on board the Turkish admiral's ship.  Description
   of the mosques at Constantinople.  Execution of the Pacha of Nieomedia.  Fete
   given by Lord Elgin on his Majesty's birth-day.   Preparations for the departure
   of the  Mission to  join the  Grand  Vizier's army.   Anecdote of the Grand
   Vizier.

                                 CHAP.   VIL  '

 The Mission set sail  from Constantinople ; anchor  at Prince's' Islands.  Visit to
   Adam Oglou.  Greek islands.   Description of Patmos;  Stancho.  Immense
   Oriental plain.  Cyprus j description of that island.  Plague of locusts.  Arrival
   at Jaffa ;  description of that place and its vicinity.

                                 CHAP.   VIII.

 Junction with the Grand Vizier.   Alarming information concerning the breaking
   out  of the plague.   Encampment near  Jaffa;  dangers and inconveniencies of
   this situation.  Intelligence  received of the assassination of General Kleber.
   Turkish artillery.   Amusement  of djerid.   Encampment of the Mission. Tur-
   kish-officers  of  state.   Character of the Grand  Vizier;  of the  Reis  Effendi.
   Description of Jaffa; storming of that place by the French;  inhuman conduct
   ascribed by  the Turks to Buonaparte.  Warm  bath  in  the camp.   Eruptive
   complaint.   Anecdote evincing the extreme ignorance of the Turks in matters of
    science.  Insurrection  at Nablous.  Undisciplined  and disorderly state of the
   Turkish soldiery.   Scene  of the  massacre  committed on  their captives by the
   French.  Military exercise of the Turks.   Plague breaks  out among  the Ma-
   melukes.  Russian agent at Jaffa dies of the plague.   Review of  the  Turkish
    army.  Plague  continues to rage  among the Mamelukrs.  Description of an
    Arab  village, and its inhabitants.   First stone laid  of the  new fortification at
    Jaffa.  Dissection of a cameleon.   M-imeluke chiefs  die of the plague.  Inso-
    lence of the Arnauts, and weakness of the Turkish government.   Egyptian jug-
   glers.  Camp infested by large packs of jackals.  Desertion of Arnauts.  Account
   of the Dehlis. 
CONTENTS.
                                 CHAP.  IX.

 Progress through the Holy Land.  Ruins of a Tower erected in honour of forty
   martyrs.   Atabian dwellings.  Ramla.  Date  trees.   Ophthalmia.  Residence
   of the Jewish monarchs.  St. Jerom.  Arrival  at Jerusalem ;  situation of that
   city; Solomon's temple j residence of Pontius  Pilate.  Extraordinary threat of
   Buonaparte.   Mount  of Olives;  David's tower; holy sepulchre;  scene  of our
   Saviour's sufferings ; tomb of Baldwin.  Humanity and good sense of a  Turk-
   ish  santon.   Visit  from   the Mufti.   Armenian  convent;   head of  St.
   James;  Mount  Sion; Bethlem;  temple of St. Catharine; pools of Solomon;
   gardens  of Solomon ;  birth-place of our  Saviour; receptacle of the murdered
   Innocents; tomb  of  St. Jerom;  convent of  St.  Catharine.  Inhabitants of
   Bethlem.  Sepulchres  of the  kings; sepulchre of the Virgin  Mary;  valley
   of Jehosaphat;  impression of our  Saviour's foot  on  the' Mount  -■{ Olives;
   tombs of Absal >m and Zachariah;  wells  of Mehemiah; burial-i-lace of King
   David;  convent of St. Helena;  birth  place of John  the  B i.ptist.  Jose-h of
   Arimathea.  Topographical account of the  most interesting  objects in the Holy
   Land.

                                  CHAP.  X.

 Irregularities in the  Turkish camp.  Governor of Damascus  beheaded.  Memo-
   rial delivered to the Grand Vizier *-n the state of the camp.   Desertion of Tur-
   kish chiefs and  soldieis.  Tents plunderel  by Arabs.  Plague among the Ma-
   melukes and Albanians.  Mutiny of the Janissaries ; "ceremonies on paying them
   their arrears.  Alarms excited by reports from El-Arish.  Decapitation of Turk-
   ish  soldiers for gaming.  Ravages  by  the plague.  Insurrection in Palestine
   on account of the  heavy impositions of the government.  Disastrous state of the
   British Mission.   Death of  a military  artificer.  A  British gunner dies of the
   plague.  Death of Mrs. Koehler,  and of the General.  Precautions employed to
   stop the  progress of the plague. Turkish entertainments in  camp.  Removal of
   the camp.  Instances  of insuboroination in the camp.  Effective  force  of the
   Turkish army.  Observations on the plague.  Vizier's physician dies  of the
   plague.  Ramazan.  Lydda.   The  Grand  Vizier  indisposed,  and attended by
   the  Author.   Celebration of the  Biram in camp.   Remarks  on  the  country
   about Jaffa.   Climate of Syria; face of the  country  and soil;  productions of
   Syria ;  sheep and  goats ; other cattle ;  habitations of the Syrians ;  camels  and
   other beasts of burthen ; character and  manners of the Syrians.  Abject state of
   the farmers, or husbandmen.  Bedouins, or wandering  Arabs.  Agriculture of
   Syria; diseases of Syria.

                                 CHAP.  XI.

 The army of the Grand  Vizier; principal officers; different casts of people;  arti-
   ficers  and  attendants.  Precarious  state of greatness  in the Turkish  govern-
   ment.  Standards; dervises.   Gross superstition   of  the  Turks.  Tradition
   relative to  the downfall of the Turkish empire.  Origin and present state of the
   Janissaries.  The  Arnauts ;  light cavalry ; volunteers.   Religious sectaries  who
   follow t'je army.   Plunderers ;  Mamelukes; Arabian camel-driver?.  Thievish
   disposition  of the- Arabs.  Tartars.   Guards of honour.  General character of
   the  Turks.  Personal courage; superstition ;  temperance; addiction to coffee
   and  tobacco ; gimes;  pay and allowance of the soldiery. Miserable state of the
   medical art among the Turks.  Horsemanship.

                                 CHAP.  XII.

Narrative resumed.   Breaking up of the camp at Jaffa.  March of the army. New
   encampment.  Account of General Mustapha,  alias Campbell.  Singular  fact
   rel-itive to the plague communicated by  General Mustapha.  Several "deaths by
   the plague.  Rock where Samson was  surprised  by the Philistines. Ekron;
  Ashdod ; Askalon  ; Ramah of Gilead.  Preparations for march; order  of the
  march.   New encampment near Esdal, or Ashtaol.   Arab villages ; Ashdod, or
   Azotus.  Progress of the army.  Country round Ascalon  described.  Dearth of 
14
CONTENTS.
    torn  in the camp.  March towards Gaza;  encampment  near Gaza; vij't tu
    that place.  Porch of which damson carried away the gates ;  place of his death.
    Description of the city and suburbs of Gaza ; port of Gaza ; delightful gardens.
    Antelopes, quails, tackalls  Strong detachments sent  from the Vizier's army
    for the purpose of active operations.   Successful progress cf the British army in
    Egypt.   Scarcity of specie in the Ottoman army.  March of  the army ; diffi-
    culties of the  march.   Encampment  at Kahnyounes.  Further  march of the
    Ottoman army.  Enhance into  Africa.  "Encampment in the  desert; march
    over the  desert; arrival at Ei-Arish.   Regu!ations of the Grand  Vizier.  Arri-
    val of fresh troops.  Detachment sent off towards  Salahieh.   Serious disagree-
    ment in  the  Turkish camp.   Storm  in  the  desert.   Deficiency of provender.
    Kampsin wind.   Casual supply  intercepted by Be"douin Arabs.  Arrival in camp
    of  a  French  deserter.  Loss of cmels.   Embarkation  of civil artificers  for
    Tineh.   March from  El-Arish.  Crossing the desert.  Encampment at Barahcat.
    March across the desert to Theah;  encampment there.  March to Bir-Denedar.
    Overflowing of the Nile.  Encampment  at Kan*ara.  March  into  Salahieh.
    Curious  huts  ;nhahited  by Arabs.   Flight of the French from Salahieh;  for-
    tress of Salahieh.  Debility occasioned by the Kampsin wind.   Inhabitants of
    Egypt.   March to Korin ; village of  Korin.   Precious st nes.   Egyptian  par-
    tridges.   Flocks of doves    Belbeis.   Mcde of getting  in  corn  in Egypt.   Op-
   pressive heat.   App-arance of the  enemy.  Taher Picha  detached  in  pursuit.
   Action between the French and Taher Pacha, in which the former were defeated.
   Ill state of discipline in the Turkish  army.  Sackars.  March from Belbeis to
   Meshto-ile.  Encampment on the Nile; water of the Nile.  The Delta.   Ar-
   rival of General Hutchinson in the Vizier's camp.   Diseases in  the Turkish
   •ami.  March to Dagono. Great pyramids of Gaza.  Diseases  in  the British
   army.  March to Shellacan.  New encampment on the banks of the Nile.   Ar-
   mis ice agned on with the French.  Fort Shoulkouski  and the pyramids of Giza
   surrendered.  Convention  agreed upon.  Helippolis.   Clouds of  dust.  British
   troops take  possession of Cairo.  Description of Cairo j citadel; grand aque-
   duct; baths j  the Mekias, or Nilometer.                                    l8x

                                 CHAP. XIIT.

Excursion to the pyramids  of Giza.  The three  gfeat  pyramids.   Entrance into'
   the great  pyramid. Dimensions of the great pyramid ; of the  passage  within-
   side ;  passages  into the pyramid ; gallery.  The great Spbynx.   Vestiges of an-
   tique buildings.  Ascent to the summit of the  exterior.  Distant view of the
   pyramids of Saccar.u  Present from the Sultan to the Vizier; ceremony on this
   occasion.   Festival on the birth-day of the mother of Mahomed.  Marriage pro-
   cession at Cairo.  Details  relative to  the plague.   Indisposition of  the Grand
   Vizier. Death of Mr.  Whiteman.  Unhealthiness of the climate of Egvpt.  Ex-
   cessive heat.  The date tree and  its fruit.  Opening of  the canal.  Inundation
   of the Nile.  Intenesting conversation with an Abysinian priest.   Confirmation
   of Bruce's auth?nticity.  V^ysge  in company with  Mr. Clarke  and others  to
   view the pyramids of Saccara,  and the plain of Mummies.  Chief Atman.  Arab
   marriage.   Pyramids of  Saccara.  Phin of the Mummies.  Supposed  site  of
   Memphis.   Descent into the Catacombs ; horrid appearance.  Pit, or catacomb
   of birds.   Egyptian idols.                                                    231

                                CHAP.  XIV.

Excursion to Old  Cairo.   Grotto where the holy family took refuge  from Herod's
  persecution.  Chapel of St. George.  Expected visit from  the Prophet Mahomed.
  Armisti' e  concluded  with  the French at A'exandria.  Excursion to  Boulac.
  Account 1 f the  Colcassium.  The saffron shrub; Ca«sira;  Egyptian thorn;
  gum arable;  herbaceous plants.   Surrender of Alexandria to the British. Mag-
  nificent burial places.  Marriage processions.   Inundation of  the Nile.  Excur-
  sion  to Mcunt  Mokatam.  Slave market.  Leo.osy.   Vryage on the N;le  to
  Alexandria.   Menouf.   Two villages swept away by t:ie overflowing of the Nile.
  Western branch of the Nile.  Manner of preparing  the  incfigo.  Plantations  of
  rice and sugar-canes.  Rosetta,   Plague among the British troops under Ccneral 
CONTENTS.                           l^
    Baird.  Lake of Aboukir.  Arrival at  Alexandria.  Pompeyis pillar.  Cleopa-
    tra's needle.  Part of the colossus of Memnon.  Return to Cairo.              246

                                  CHAP.  XV.

 Description of Grand Cairo;  the citadel;  conjectures relative to its antiquity;  for-
    tifications raised by the French ; the mint;  remarkable debasement of the coin ;
    streets of Cairo;  construction  of the houses; interior and  furniture of the
    houses ; palaces of the Beys ;  mosques ; dimension? of the city ;  bazars, or shops.
    Imorovisatori.  Population of Cairo,  Joseph's   well.   Palace of the Caliph
    Salah-Ed-Din.   Inhabitants of Cairo.   Coptic language ; dress; manufactures;
    sword-blades ; horses.  Comm rce of Egypt.  Amusements of Cairo.   Dancing
    girls j jugglers ; tumblers and posture-masters.   Old  Cairo.  Boulac;  grand
    aqueduct;  beasts of burthen; the buffaloe, oxen, goats, fowls, &c.   Fruits of
    Egypt; vegetables; corn.                                                  264

                                 CHAP.  XVI.

 Arrest of the  Mameluke Beys. Procession  accompanying the s,acred  carpet for
    covering  the house of God at Mecca.   Several Beys  killed at Alexandria by the
    persons sent to arrest them.   Anecdotes relative to the plague.   Con'est between
    the Albanians and Mograbian Arabs.   Experiment with  the fre  zing mixture.
    Suhsiding of the Nile.  Excursion to Heliopolis  and the lake of pilgrims.   Ex-
    cursion to Upper  Egypt; to Hallouan.   Present to the Author of a  Mummy.
    Tourrah ; the castle.   Rout at the Imperial Consul's   Procession from Boulac.
    Caravan  to  Mecca.   Plague at  Alexandria.  Vizier prepares to quit Egypt.
    Mamelukes  privately depart from Giza.   Mission ordered to Alexandria; Audi-
   ence of leave.  Gold medals presented to the officers.                          27)

                                CHAP.  XVII.

 Plague breaks out  in the buildings occupied by the British Miffion.  Departure of
   the Janissaries.   Departure of the Vizier.  Excursion of  th» Nile.   Site of the
   ancient city of Memphis.   Remains of the Mekias.   Departure from Cairo.
   Observations on the rise and fall of the Nile.                                   284

                               CHAP.  XVIII.

 Voyage on the Nile from Cairo to  Rosetta.   Canal  of Menouf.  Cruel instance
   of devastation by the Turks.  Dangers  attending  the passage  down  the Nile.
   Dahroot.   Cemetery.  Death of the Sheick.  Wretched slate of the inhab'tants.
   Arrival at Rose.ta.  Plague among the English troops at R-;setta.  Some account
   of the fort and harbour.  Fort Julien.  Hunting of the  ostrich.  Buildings at
   Rosetta.  Population;  bazars;   wharf.   Animals  indigenous  t« this part  of
   Egypt.  Fish; manufactures; gardens;  morasses; diseases.   Plague  rages at
   Rosetta.  The Missi jn embark for Alexandria ; land on t.ic peninsula leading to
   Alexandria, where they perform quarantine.   Sepoy tri-^d  by a court-martial for
   suffering Arabs to escape from quarantine.   Cases of plague in the lazaretto.
   Miffion released  from quarantine.   Festivities in commemoration of  victories.
   Temple of Diana.  Catacombs and baths of Cleopatra.                         289

                                CHAP.  XIX.

Departure for Constantinople.   Stormy weather.  Obliged  to take refuge in  the
  island of Castel Rosso.  Ancient Cistene.  S^me .,cc  untof Cas:;l Rosso. Island
  of Rhodes; desctip'ionof the town and island; an-.ient nabitation of the knights;
  colossus of Rhodes;  ancient Rhodes; state  and  cultivation of the island; the
  arsenal;  villages;  d.-ess;  vegetable  productions.   D°pirture  from  Rhodes.
  Stancho; town and island of Stancho; pipulatb.i;  aqueduct;  fountain; game.
  Coast of Andolia.  Island of Samos.  Scala-Nova.   Arrival at Scio.
30<3
                                 CHAP.  XX.
Appearance  and dress of the Greek women of the island of Scio.   Light-houses:
  Gresk convent at Nehahmon.ee j curious decorations; soil and cultivation of the 
>6
CONTENTS.
  island;  school of Homer; gum mastic ; Del Campo; population ; town of Scio;
  streets; markets; wines; port  of S.io.   Passage  to  Smyrna.  Population  of
  the town of Scio ; churches;  general hospital*; hospital for lepers;  some ac-
  count of this disease;  general diseases ;  medicinal spring.  Departure from Scio.
  Mitylene.  Lesbos.  . Town   of  Castro;  markets ;  taverns ; oil ; population ;
  fruit.  Island  rf  Tehedos;  town  and  forts;  commodities.  Isle of  Rabbits.
  Banks of the Seaman er.   Plain of Troyf  Tomb  of Patroclus.  Combcally.
  Shennacally.   Arrival at Constantinople.                                     311

                                CHAP.   XXI.

Embarkation at  Buyukdere.  Arrival at  Varna.  Yenipazzar;  Rasgat.   Appre-
  hensions from banditti.  Rouzchook;  Georgival.  General terror on account
  of  the  approach  of Paswan  Oglou.  Embarkation for  Galatz in Moldavia.
  Torkotoi.  Mills  elevated on boats.  Villages on fire.   Distressing scene of de-
  vastation.  Voyage  on the Danube.  Description of  the vessels.  Banks of the
  Danube. Fugitives from banditti.  Rossovat; Girsow;  Galatz; Borlat;  Yassi.
  Entrance into  Poland.   Chernowich.  Journey through part of  Poland.   Salt-
  pits at Wiliska. Cracow; Shottau ; Silesia;  Neislischene.  Arrival at Vienna.
  Vaccine  innoculation introduced  there.   Cathedral of St. Stephen; Widden
  theatre: Imperial library; menage;  theatre de la  cour;  cabinet of medals;
  general  hospital;  cabinet of natural history.   New and  singular opinion  on
  the brain.  Hospital for lunatics.  Anecdote relative to the Emperor Joseph II.
  Imperial palace at  Schombrun.   Menagerie; observatory ;  model of our Savi-
  our's sepulchre j  arsenal; collection of pictures.  Departure from Vienna.      328

                               CHAP.   XXII.
Journey through  Germany.  Lintz.   Glandular swellings.  Dress of the women  in
  Bavaria. Housts.  Ratisbon ; Francohia.'  Dress of the  female peasants. Wurtz-
  burg ; the palace, citadel, and bridge.  Esselbach ; Eschaffenberg ;  Dettingen ;
  Hanau;  Frankfort; Koenigstein.  Seltzer water.   Limbourg ;  Dowz ; Dussel-
  dorf.  Seat of the Prince Palatine.  Dress  of the peasants.  Duybourg ; Wesel;
  Arnheim.  Roads in Holland.  Face of the country and cultivation.   Utrecht;
  Rotterdam; Helvoetsluys.  Arrival in  England.                              341
                               3ppenDir,

Containing a Mrical Journal, Historical Journal of Plague, and a Meteorological
                                  Journal.                                   35.3 
              TRAVELS

                        IN

ASIATIC  TURKEY,  SYRIA,  EGYPT,
              GERMANY,   &c.
                       CHAPTER I.

 Military mission appointed to proceed to Turkey. Object of the mission. Names
   of the officers nuho accompanied it.  Departure of General Koehkr over land,
   and of the Author by sea.  Their respective arrivals at Constantinople. The
   ceremonies of consecrating the Grand Vizier's standard, of the Capitan Pa-
   cha's departure; and of the Vizier's taking the field.

      TOWARDS the close of the  year  1798, a  plan was formed
      by his Majesty's ministers to send to the  dominions of the
 Grand Seignor a British military  mission, which was to proceed
 to the seat of war,  and to co-operate with the Turks against the
 common  enemy, the French,  who had  by that  time  gained  a
 strong  footing in Egypt.  For this purpose General  Koehler,
 who  had been at Constantinople on a former occasion, was select-
 ed, together  with several officers belonging to the corps of royal
 engineers and royal  artillery.  These,  with a certain  number  of
 non-commissioned officers  and privates belonging to the corps of
 artillery,  and a few artificers, composed the  above mission,  con-
 sisting altogether of sevenry-six persons.
   The officers  who  were appointed on this occasion to  act under
 General Koehler, were, Lieutenant Colonel Holloway, of the royal
 engineers; Majors Hope  and Feed, of  the royal artillery ; Major
 Fletcher  and Captaiu LaCy, of the royal engineers ; and Captain
Leake,  of the royal  artillery ; Captain  Franklin, who was in the
6ervice of the Honourable East India Company, went in the
                  (3) 
l8            TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY",
 capacity  of secretary  to General Koehler;  Mr. Chandler  as
 commissary;  Mr. Whittman, assistant commissary; Messrs. Read
 and  Pinky  draughtsmen ;  and Dr.  Wittman,  surgeon to the
 mission.
   In order that no time should be  lost in carrying into effect the
 important objec t which this mission had in view,  Brigadier Gene-
 ral Koehler, Lieutenant Colonel Hollo-way, commanding the en-
 gineers ;  Major Hope,  commanding  the  artillery;  Majors Fead
 and FUteher, .Captain Franklin,  and Mr.  Pink,  set ou.t from
 England in the month of December, to proceed over land to Con-
 stantinople.   It may readily be conceived that, at so inclement a
 season of the year, they had great  difficulties to encounter  in the
 prosecution of such a journey."  Bttt previously to entering upon
 this subject, it will be proper to narrate the progress of that part
 of the detachment which was to proceed by sea.
   It was  the beginning of April before the New Adventure trans-
 port, having on board the remainder of the officers, the non-com-
 missioned officers,  and the privates,  together  with the artillery and
 ordnance stores' necessary for  the expedition, sailed from England,
 under convoy of his Majesty's ship the Charon,  of forty-four guns,
 and made a safe passage tcr Gibraltar, in  the course of which no
 remarkable incident took place, except the usual occurrence at this
 season of the year  of bad  weather in the bay  of Biscay,  when the
 transport being'too heavily laden, sprang aleak, and a quantity of
 stores'and some pontoons were obliged to be thrown  overboard.
 A military artificer was unfortunately washed off the vessel by a
 surf, and was immediately drowned.
   Early in the morning of the  3d  of  May we  weighed anchor,
 and sailed from Gibraltar.  At ten  o'clock bore away with a fair
 breeze  from  the westward, which  continuing  to  blow  from the
 same quarter, we reached  Palermo  on  the  11 th of May, after a
 very agreeable passage of eight days.   Our stay at Palermo afford-
 ed us  leisure to admire the beautiful view of  the city, its suburbs,
 and the adjacent country, which is extremely  pleasant  and well
 cultivated,  and  the level surface of which forms  a striking contrast
 with the high and  rugged mountains behind.  Our curiosity was
 indeed wrought to  a very high pitch, and,  stimulated by this, and
 the aversion to the sea, so natural to those accustomed to live on
shore, we felt a very ardent desire to land,  but were disappointed.
We sailed in the evening,  and were  thus prevented from viewing
the ma^ny curious and interesting  objects which Palermo contains. 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           J§
   On the following day we were becalmed on the coast of Sicily,
 from whiph we were at so small a<distance,  that we hid a distinct
 view of Mount Etna, and Strombok; than which nothing could be
 more, awfully grand.   The Lipari,islands added to the effect,of
 this fine scene.
   We passed on the 13th through the straits of Messina, and. were
 swept along by the rapid current without experiencing any unplea-
 sant  sensation.  On  the contrary,  as  the day was very fine  and
 clear, we had a full view of the city of Messina,  and the cheering
 prospect of a beautiful and richly diversified coast,-sometimes cloud-
 ed by the recollection of the dreadful earthquake which a few years
.since spread desolation through this delightful country.
   On the  \4th, we were becalmed on the coast of Calabria.  On
 the  1.5 th, we made some progress,  notwithstanding the .wind  was
 contrary.  Owin^- to this circumstance, we did not discry the island
 of Zanie until the  18th, when it was distant about seven or eight
 leagues.  It was in sight on the  following day, the little wind that
 there was still continuing unfavourable.
   Early in the morning of the 22d,  we made Cerigo, which bore
 from us E. N. E. distant about seven miles.   On the 23d,  we des-
 cried Milo, whence, after several ineffectual attempts to procure a
 pilot,  we were driven by a strong north-east gale upon the Morea.
 From that time until the  25th,  we were engaged in working to
 windward, to regain our station, which we at length effected,  but
 were driven back.
   On the morning of the 27th, we were so fortunate  as  to pass
 between the islands of Thermea and Serfo, two of the Cyclades :
 the wind blowing extremely hard from  the N. E. our mainsail was
 split.  In the afternoon we  were close in with Mycotic,  another
 of the Cyclades.
   On the  28th, we passed the island of Nicaria.   It blew a fresh
gale, and we  shipped a large quantity of water.   Our stock of
fresh provisions was by this time exhausted.
   On the 29th, we passed near the island of Scio;  and on the 31st,
descried Mytelcne.
   On the  evening  of the 2d of June  we were close in with  the
island  of Tcnedos; and, being  becalmed  on the following day,
were driven by the force of  the current,  which  set in from  the
mouth of the Dardanelles, too far to the westward to be  enabled
to make the straits.
   On the 4th, in the afternoon, we  entered the Dardanelles; but,
the \*»nd dying away, were under  the  necessity of coming to an 
20
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY*
 anchor soon after, at the distance of five miles within the entrance.
 We were there detained by contrary winds until the 11th, when
 a favourable gale springing  up,  we made  sail  at  about eleven
 o'clock in the morning, and passed the town of Gallipoli at five
 in the afternoon.
   Early in the morning of the 14th, we were in sight of Constan-
 tinople.  We were shortly afterwards overtaken by a storm of thun-
 der, lightning,  and rain.  At  three in the afternoon we came to
 anchor in the harbour, the  Charon and transport having  fired a
 royal salute on passing the Seraglio, which the reader need not be
 informed is the palace of the Grand Seignor.   This term has been
 vulgarly applied  to  all places where the  Oriental people confine
 their women, but, in fact, these are called Harams, and the word
 seraglio is a strictly  local appellation.  The city, harbour,  and
 environs,  presented a magnificent spectacle, new  in every respect
 to our eyes, both  as to the architecture of the principal edifices
 and the construction of the city itself,  but which was on the whole
 extremely fine and picturesque.
  The whole of the mission was now assembled at Constantinople.
 The officers who  had  proceeded thither overland, had anxiously
 waited our arrival;  and on our side we felt  an equal  impatience
 to join them.  Our mutual greetings were followed bv  mutual en-
 quiries; and we collected from them the following particulars rela-
 tive to their journey, and to the events which had occurred during
 their residence in the capital of the Turkish  dominions.
  Their journey, in the outset,  had been  attended by uncommon
 severities; such, however, as  might  have been expected from a
 season more rigorous  than any  which had been experienced for
 many years.   In passing over to the  continent, they had,  at  the
 entrance of the Elbe,  been shipwrecked among the shoals of ice;
 and, to relieve themselves from this  perilous situation, had been
 under the  necessity of passing  over  the ice, to the extent of two
 miles,  to gain the shore.   By this effort, however,  they were pro-
 videntially saved.   They now prosecuted their journey to Constan-
 tinople, where they arrived in  the month of March 1799, having
 set out, as has been mentioned  before, towards the close of the pre-
 ceding year.
  On the 17th  of the  following  month, April, it  was officially
 notified to them, that the Grand Vizier had appointed  the follow-
 ing day for  their first presentation.   He had  made choice of this
day, as being that.which  was fixed on for the ceremony of  the 
                SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.            21

 consecration of his Standard, previously to his  taking the field, and
 to his promotion to the rank of a pacha of three tails—a ceremony
 which could not fail to be highly gratifying to strangers.  To this
 mark of attention our officers were not insensible.
    At eleven o'clock in the morning they  were conducted to the
 sublime Porte,  under an escort of a body of janissaries,  and attended
 by an interpreter.   They were led to an apartment, whence they
 had a view of the hall of the divan, and of an extensive court-yard,
 in which a very numerous body of Turks was assembled at pray-
 ers.  A little before noon the  standard,  supported by several of the
 great officers of state,  was brought with great ceremony from the
 hall,  and carried to  the bottom  of a flight of steps,  the different
 religious sects, the Mufti, Imans,  Dervises,  &c. being in front
 of the procession.  A solemn prayer, in which the spectators joined,
 having been repeated, and  the Mufti perceiving that  the sun was
 at its meridian height,  the standard was raised and planted.  This
 part of the ceremony having been accomplished, twelve sheep were
 imm«lated, and the  foot of the standard washed with their blood.
 In this state it was to remain forty days, at  the expiration of which
 time his Royal  Highness was to take the field.   The great officers,
 namely,  the Mufti,  thejiead  of the Ulema, the Kiabey,  the Reis
 Effendi,  the Tefterdar, the Janissary  Aga,  &c. who had attended
 on this occasion, now took leave,  the Mufti being accompanied to
 his carriage, a  small close vehicle covered  with scarlet cloth,  by
 the Vizier  himself.  On the  close of the  ceremony the British
 officers  were introduced to the Reis Effendi,  or secretary of state
 for foreign affairs, by whom they were conducted and presented to
 his royal highness the  Grand  Vizier.  They found him  seated in
 the corner of a room,  richly  furnished in  the Turkish  style,  and
 surrounded by a numerous body of attendants and mutes, all of them
 superbly and elegantly dressed.  Our officers being  seated, they
 were served, according to  the custom of the country, with pipes,
. sweetmeats, coffee,  sherbet, rose-water and other perfumes.  No
 mark of distinction due to  their rank  was neglected on this occa-
 sion ; and after they had been apprised that  an early day would be
 appointed for a second interview, they withdrew.
    This interview was  not delayed.   It took place  five days after
 the preceding one, on the 22d of April, at the kiosque at Kaithana,
 where his highness  the Vizier had assembled a party of Turkish
 artillery, and a corps of infantry,  for a review, and  for artillery
 practice.  The latter succeeded much better than  our officers  had 
22             TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 been led to expect.  The Turkish artillery-men beat down the tar-
 get several times, and their mortar practice was by no .means  con-
 temptible.  Less praise was due to  the manoeuvres of the infantry,
 and to the sham-fight, which ensued.
   The 26th of April was the day appointed  for the ceremony of
 the Capitan Pacha  taking leave of the  Sultan, preyiously to the
 sailing  of his $eet,  which was to act in concert with the Ottoman
 land forces  The following  was  the etiquette  observed on this
 occasion, at which the British officers were present. • The Sultan,
 surrounded by his guards, officers of state, and attendants^ all richly
 dressed,  was seated in  a  magnificent kiosque,  at a small distance
 from the seraglio point.  The Capitan Pacha haying been intro-
 duced, and having had a short conference with the Grand Seignor,
 the purport of which was, a§ we conjectured, to receive his high
 commands and pleasure, was invested with a rich caftan, or robe
 of honour.   Six  of the captains of his fleet were next conducted to
 within a few paces of the Sultan, and having made their obeisance,
 were invested with  the caftan.  The Capitan Pacha  now retired,
 being supported  on each side by  an  attendant,  as  is  customary
 with all  Turks of rank on these public occasions, and  led by the
 proper officers.    He was in this manner conducted to a very ele-
 gant twenty-four oared barge of a great length, richly gilt and or-
 namented.   Another barge of the same description carried his flag ;
 and this was followed by four barges, with twenty rowers in each.
 Such were the ceremonials observed on the return of the Capitan
 Pacha  to  his ship,  the Sultan Selim,  the guns at the  seraglio
 point, and the men of war,  saluting him on his way.
   On the 20th of May, General Koehler and the officers proceeded
 to Scutari in Asia Minor, opposite to Constantinople, to be pre-
 sent at the  ceremonv of the Vizier taking the field.  His Highness
 having taken leave of the Grand Seignor,  passed over to Scutari,
 the  guns  at the  seraglio point saluting  him  on  his  way.  At
 Scutari,  the streets through  which he passed  were lined with
 troops, both cavalry and  infantry.   He was attended by the Kai-
 macan,  Capitan Pacha, and all the gFeat officers of state, preceded
 by a band of Turkish music, and by a group  of gladiators, who
 skirmished  as the  procession passed along.   The troops,  by whom
his Highness was accompanied,  consisting both of cavalrv and in-
fantry, were clad  and armed in various ways.   Some of them were
 enveloped in curious  network coats  of mail of steel ; others wore
yellow dresses,  decorated with  ribbons of different colours hanging 
SYRIA,  EGYPTj  GERMANY, &C.
n
 from the shoulders, and brass helmets on their heads. Others again
 were clad in party-coloured  dresses.  While a part of them were
 armed  with  spears, or lances, from  twelve to fourteen feet  in
 length,  others  carried short, twisted,  rifle-barrel  guns,  the rest
 muskets, carbines,  &c.  The  whole of them wore swords and
 pistols in sashes fastened round their waist.  The Vizier,, the Capi-
 tan Pacha, the Kaimacan, and other officers, were mounted on
 beautiful horses richly caparisoned.   The one which his Highness
 rode made the most magnificent appearance,  the embroidered trap-
 pings being studded with gems,  pearls,  &c.  The hilt of the hand-
 jar, or dirk, which his Highness carried at his side was cdvered
 with a profusion  of diamonds.
   It is impossible to contemplate these  pompous ceremonies, and
 not to contrast them with the  secrecy and silence with which the
 first movements of European armies are undertaken.   It must be
 a trifling nation, which can delay an expedition of importance, even
 for a single day, lest some little rite or ceremony should be omitted.
 Arid it is truly impolitic thus to advertise an enemy, for even months
 beforehand, of the advance of an army.  When these  circumstan-
 ces, and the facts  which will be hereafter related, are considered,
 the reader will not be  surprised  at  the  little success; which com-
 monly attends the  Turkish military operations.             3
   A number of dervises were distributed among the Turkish troops,
 who are  constantly attended when they go  to war  by persons of
 this character, to  exhort them  to valour, and to kindle  up their
 enthusiasm by their shduts and singing.
  The Vizier's  camp was formed about a mile  without the town
 of Scutari.   On this occasion a vast multitude of persons of both
 sexes, whom  curiosity  had  drawn  thither,  attended, but not the
 smallest accident or disturbance ensued.
  On the 1st  of June his Highness proceeded on  his march for
Syria.   Major Fletcher, of  the royal engineers, was ordered to
accompany him on this service; but was unfortunately taken ill a
few  days after he set out, and  under the necessity of returning to
 Constantinople.
  About the same time, Major Fead, of the royal artillery, was
ordered to .9/. John d''Acre,  to which place he proceeded in a Tur-
la'sh ship  of war.   This excellent officer shortly afterwards fell a
victim to a malignant fever. 
24            TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
                         CHAPTER  11.

Visit to Pera.  Captain Franklin returns to England.   Description of Constan-
  tinople.  Mosques and minarets.  External appearance of the city.  The se-
  raglio.  Suburbs of Galeta, Pera, and Tophana.  Scutari.  The Botpborus.
  Population.  Amusements.  Turkish ships.  Interior of the Turkish houses.
  Ceremonies.  Dogs.  Police.

     ON the evening  of the  14th of June, the day  on which  we
      landed from the transport, I walked to Pera.  1 should have
observed, that the General and officers  who had proceeded to Con-
stantinople over land, had taken up their residence at Buyukdere,
a village situated on  the sea-side, within fourteen miles of the capi-
tal.   This village was also destined to be my  head quarters until
the military operations should commence.
  On the 15th, we had a visit from Captain Franklin, who dined
with us; he had resigned, and was on the eve of his departure for
England.   I made another excursion to Pera.
  On the 1.7th,  Lieutenant-colonel Holloway, Major Hope, and
Mr. Pink, one of the draughtsmen, set off to inspect die forts in
the Dardanelles,  and the adjacent coasts.
  I now  had sufficient leisure to examine Constantinople, its sub-
urbs,  and its dependencies,  of which the following is a brief ac-
count.
  Constantinople, comprehending its suburbs, some of  which are
so large that several  authors have been led to consider them as  dis-
tinct cities, is of very considerable extent.  It is in the form of an
unequal triangle, having one  of its sides  towards the sea of Mar-
mora, another  in front  of the harbour, and  the third towards the
land.   Being built on seven hills, on the sides of which the houses
are placed, it has at a little distance the appearance of a vast amphi-
theatre,  stretching itself over a  very  extensive  territory.   The
mosques, or places of public worship,  of which the principal one
was the celebrated Christian church of St. Sophia, which name it
still retains,  are numerous,  and several of them very large.  They
are not provided with bells; but each  of them  has one or several
minarets, on which  the muczins, or criers, are stationed to call the
people to prayers.   These minarets bear a strong  resemblance in
their form to a  tall candle,  having an extinguisher at its  top. 
                SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.            25

    Nothing can be grander or more beautifully picturesque than the
 external appearance of Constantinople and of its vicinity.   Within
 it has less to recommend it, the houses being but indifferently built,
 and the streets very narrow.
    The seraglio, or palace of the  Grand Sultan,  occupies the space
 on which the ancient city of Byzantium formerly stood, at the ex-
 tremity of the  angle formed by the sea of Marmora and  the Bos-
 phorus.  It is by far the most beautiful part of Constantinople, the
 projecting land  on which it  stands being covered by groves of cy-
 press trees, which give a sublime effect to the magnificent buildings
 of which the palace is composed.
    On the opposite side of*the harbour,  the towns,  or,  more pro-
 perly speaking, suburbs of  Galata, Pera, and Tophana,  are situ-
 ated;  and,  on the Asiatic side, opposite the point of  the  seraglio,
 stands  the town or suburb of Scutari.   From the great sloping of
 the hills on which  they are placed,  these suburbs have a very fine
 and romantic appearance,  the houses seeming as if built tier upon
 tier.   Being, however,  principally constructed  of  wood, which is
 soon fretted and decayed by the intense heat of the sun in such a cli-
 mate, the grandeur of the scene is diminished on a near approach.
 Between them cypress trees rear their lofty heads,  and add greatly
 to the sublimity  of the general effect.   The cemeteries are also
 thickly planted  with these  trees; and the scene is thus rendered
 beautifully picturesque.  In short, the  external  view  of Constan-
 tinople, and of its environs,  is at once sublime and pleasing ;  and
 with this view  the traveller ought to content himself, since,  on a
 nearer  inspection,  he  will find little to gratify his curiosity, or to
 excite his admiration.
   The Bosphorus, a beautiful canal,  or narrow sea,  from a mile to
 a  mile  and  a half in  breadth, and about twenty miles  in length,
 forms the communication between the Euxine, or Black  Sea, °and
 the sea of Marmora,  the ancient Propontis.   In the formation of
 its banks, which are lofty, and lined with an exquisite  variety of
 beautiful  trees and shrubs, nature has been lavish in the extreme.
 Several villages are interspersed; and at the sea-side the Grand Seig-
 nor, the  Vizier, Captain Pacha, &c. have elegant kiosques, or
 pleasure-houses, for  their summer  residence.   Throughout'the
 whole extent of the canal the highest state of  cultivation prevails,
 its shores being covered with  vineyards, gardens, and orchards^
containing a great diversity of the finest fruits.   Were the Turks
possessed of a taste at all proportionate  to  the  advantages which
                  (4) 
26             TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
this situation affords, and at the fame time placed under a govern-
ment similar to our own, the banks of the hosphorus would become
one of the most beautiful spots in the world.  They at present lose
all the beauties of the perspective from the eminences, their villa-
ges being built close to the canal side, with stages or landing places
projecting over the water.   There the inhabitants assemble, and
remain for several hours  together,  smoking their pipes, and  enjoy-
ing the cool refreshing breeze.
   LTpon  the  Bosphoi us a great number of boats are  constantly in
motion :  they are neat and prettily decorated.   The boatmen being
very expert, thev are rowed with great swiftness and address.
   To return  to Constantinople.  Its population, which  has been
almost always over-rated, certainly  does not exceed four  hundred
thousand souls, and a great part of this population is absorbed by
the suburbs;  no Frank,  or  Christian,  being allowed  to  reside in
the city,  properly  so called. The Franks inhabit Galata and  Pera,
in the latter of which suburbs are the houses of all the foreign mi-
ni ttrs, who frequently  give balls,  concerts,  and other entertain-
ments  to  the  Frank inhabitants.   These entertainments are fully
attended, more particulaily  by  the  Greeks, who are  very fond  of
dancing.  During the carnival there are masquerades, in  which many
of the characters are well supported.
   The harb( ur of Constantinople is safe and commodious for ship-
ping.   The  Turks pay great attention to the external decoration of
their ships cf war.  Yellow is the predominating colour with which
the sides of their ships are painted.   Their merchant vessels, which
almost exclusively navigate the Black Sea, are named caicks.  Great
numbers  of these  vessels  are lost t: trough the  ignorance and  stupi-
dity of the Turki-h pilots, who scarcely ever venture  out  of sight
of the land , and  who, when they do, are almost sure  to encounter
seme accident.  The crews,  both of the men of war and merchant-
men, ave for the greater part composed of Greek sailors.
   The economy and arrangement of the  interior of  the Turkish
houses are deserving of notice.   The apartments are, in  general,
gaudily ornamented, the  ceilings being of different colours.  In
each of them a part is set'aside  for a raised platform, which  is ele-
vated about a foot from the floor, and is in width from five  to six
feet.  On this platform mattresses covered  with  cloth,  or linen, are
laid, and cusbi< us placed from one extremity to the  other, so as to
give the whole  the appearance of one continued  platform.   On the
floor a handsome mat is spread.  The windows are  latticed, but 
SYRfA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.            1"}
not glazed.   Neither tables nor chairs  constitute any part of the
furniture,  and indeed they would be superfluous, the Turks con-
stantly siting with their legs under them  like taylors.  When a
Frank is introduced to a Turk of distinction, the latter does not
rise tojeceive him; but his visiter advances towards him, and bows,
with his right hand placed on his breast, this  being the customary
mode of salutation for Christians in their intercourse with the Mi-
homedans. The Turk now waves his hand to his guest to sit dnvn
on the sopha, and the conversation is carried  on  through the me-
dium of a dragoman, or interpreter.   The uncovering of the head
would appear as absurd to a Turk, as it  would  seem  ridiculous
elsewhere, if any one, in saluting another, was to take off his wig.
The Turks,  who are great smokers,  are seldom  without a pipe in
the mouth.
   In the streets of Constantinople there is an  incredible number of
dogs, which appear to be  all of the same race, nearly  resembling
our shepherds' dogs.   They are a great nuisance.  The howlings
of these hungry and half-starved animals during the night are truly
hideous.   As they have no masters to  acknowledge them, and  to
administer to their wants, they have to seek their precarious subsist-
ence  abroad, which they rake up from among the filth thrown out
from  the  houses.  So defective, indeed, is the  police in point  of
cleanliness,  that these dogs, and the vultures, are the only  scaven-
gers in Constantinople.  In the  cemeteties, great numbers of doves,
which the Turks do not attempt to molest, inhabit the  cypress
groves; and, indeed, swarm wherever  these trees are planted. 
28
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
                          CHAPTER  III.

 Removal to Buyukdere.  Description of that village.  Favourite amusements
   of the Grand Seignor. Barracks appointed for the mission at Levant Chiflick.
   Description of that place.  Dysentery prevalent among the soldiers of the mis-
   sion.   Introduction to the principal officers of the Sublime Porte.  Excessive
   heat.  Description of the Turkish horses, and the mode of treating  them.
   Miscellaneous remarks on the natural history, &c.  of the country.  Frogs and
   grasshoppers.  Evening ivalks at Buyukdere, and amusements of the Greeks.
   Dress and manners of the Turkish vjomen; of the Greeks.  Abundance and
   cheapness of provisions at Buyukdere.  Oxen and Buffaloes.   Harvest in
   Turkey.  Oppressions exercised by the Mahommedans on the Christians.
   Grand Seignor visits Chiflick,  and distributes small money to the English sol-
   diers.  Turks taught to practise with red hot shot.   Description oj Kaithana,
   the place appointed for artillery experiments.  On board the Charon  find tiuo
   Englishmen redeemed from slavery.  Liberal conduct of a French officer.
   Greek rejoicings on St. John's day.   Entertainment at the Russian ambassa-
   dor's.  Visit to Constantinople.  Account of the Bazars.  Further remarks
   on the  city.   The seraglio.   The mint.   Mosque  of Santa-Sophia. Greek
   amusements.   Visit onboard  the Sultan  Selim.  Sick and vjounded soldiers
   arrive from Acre.  Conferences voith the Turkish  secretary  of vjar on this
   subject.   Order to attend the  Grand Seignor.

     ON the  18th of June I removed my baggage,  medicines,  &c.
       to Buyukdere, where  I took up my residence in a  house pro-
vided for us close to the sea shore.
   The village of Buyukdere is very pleasingly  situated  on  the
European side of the  Bosphorus, not far from  the entrance of the
Black Sea,  and is distant from  Constantinople about twelve miles.
As its  name implies, it stands on a large level surface, buyuk in the
Turkish signifying great, and deie" a valley.    It commands a most
delightful and romantic view.    In its front is a beautiful strand, and
behind it several heights or promontories, the scenery  of which is
picturesque in the extreme.   On account of the agreeableness of its
situation.   Buyukdere has been chosen as the residence of several
members of the diplomatic corps, whose palaces are situated on the
eastern side of  the plain.   To the  west of the  village  there is an
extensive meadow, in the centre of which is a groupe of very large 
               SYRIA,  EGYPT,  OERMANY,  &C.            20,

 plane trees.   To this spot the Grand Seignor frequently retires in
 the summer season,  and is entertained by companies of rope-dan-
 cers,  mountebanks,  &c.  These pastimes, in the course of which
 the most indecent buffoonery is occasionally introduced, are highly
 agreeable to him.   The castle of Buyukdere stands on  a lofty
 mountain,  its position being not unlike that of  Dover castle.  It
 was built in the fifteenth century by  the order of Sultan Mahomed,
 by whom the city of Constantinople was taken by storm, the em-
 peror Constantine falling in  the attack by the hands of two Turks.
   In company  with  General Koehler and the other officers,  on the
 19th, I dined with the Russian ambassador at his palace at Buyuk-
 dere, where we were sumptuously entertained.  In the morning
 the general and myself went to Levant Chiflick to inspect the bar-
 racks, which were destined  to receive our detachment.  This place
 is distant about seven  miles from Buyukdere, and nearly midway
 between it and Pera.   A Capitan Pacha having formerly  resided
 there,  has bestowed on  it its name,  levant signifying a sailor, and
 chiflick a farm.  Several of the country residences belonging to the
 Turkish grandees are also denominated chiflick, or the farm.  Our
 ride was very agreeable.   The country in the  vicinity of Levant
 Chiflick is open and  hilly, consisting principally of wast© lands co-
 vered by fern and heath.  There are, however, several spots laid
 out in  gardens and vineyards.  The soil, which is in some parts
 argillaceous,  in others sandy with a  mixture of slate, is in general
 poor; but in the valleys, which are best cultivated, tolerable crops
 of  hay are produced.  The quantity grown being however insuffi-
 cient for the support  of the cattle in winter, they then fall off, and
 become poor and lean.   During the  summer season they are kept in
 good condition  by the feed on the waste lands.
   On the 20th, twenty  men belonging to the mission,  and  several
 women, were sent to the above barracks.
   On the 21st,  I went on board the New Adventure transport, ly-
 ing in the harbour of Constantinople.  In the afternoon I returned
 to Buyukdere by water.   In the course of this day we had much
 thunder, lightning,  and rain.
   On the 22d, I rode to Levant Chi/lick. The Turkish horses are
in general small, from eleven  to  twelve and  thirteen hands high,
but they arc sure footed.    The Turkish saddle  is somewhat  incon-
venient  to Europeans;  and as  spurs are not) employed,  the rider is
obliged  to have recourse to his stirrups when he wishes the  animal
on which he  is  mounted to quicken  his pace.    It was with much 
30             TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

anxiety that I found the numbers on the sick list to have increased,
the prevailing complaint being dysentery.
  On  the 23d, the remainder of the detachment,  with several  of
the officers, were sent to  the barracks at Levant Chiflick,  which I
visited for the  purpose of  arranging my quarters, &c. for my occa-
sional  attendance.  In these barracks we found a Turkish corps
training to a more regular system of military tactics than they had
hitherto been accustomed to.  The  other officers and myself were
still to remain with the General at Buyukdere.
  This day the military officers  and  the other gentlemen belonging
to the mission, who had not already gone through that ceremony,
that is, those among us  who had reached  Constantinople by sea,
were introduced to the Kiamakan, Captain Pacha, &c.  We were
received with the customary Turk ish compliments, and were treated
with coffee, sherbet, pipes and  tobacco,  and perfumes.
   I dined this afternoon  with Mr. Abbot, an English merchant,
and treasurer to the Levant company, who had been settled in Tur-
key  forty-five years.   He gave me some very useful information re-
lative to the plague,  and  informed me that there were at that time
two cases of this disease  at Pera.
   On the 24th and 25th, I paid my customary visits to the barrackl
at Levant Chiflick.  During the night of the 24th, Mrs. Wilkin-
son, wife to a corporal of the royal artillery, fell a victim to a dy-
senteric complaint.  On  that day we had  very heavy showers of
rain, with much thunder and lightning.   The heat was excessive,
the thermometer at six in the evening being  at eighty-four in  the
shade, and the barometer at thirty.   In the mean time the number
of sick, labouring chiefly under dysenteric  complaints, was much
increased.
   On the 26th,  on my return from the barracks,  I dined with the
General.
   On the 27 th,  I rode to the barracks on a small grey horse of the
country breed, which I had procured for the  purpose.    The mode
of shoeing horses in  Turkey differs essentially from ours.  The
whole of  the foot is  covered by a thin plate of irr;n, the centre ex-
cepted, in which there is a small  perforation about the size of  an
English halfpenny.   I did not observe that lameness was prevalent
among these horses, who require much management.   After one of
them has been ridden,  it  is the custom to walk him in the open air
for an hour or two, previously to his being put inro the stable. The
Turkish horses are fed, while in the stable,  upon barley and chaff 
               SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.            31

 (or barley alone), and that sparingly,  once or at most twice daily ;
 once a day they have  water;  they litter  them in their own dung,
 which is first dried in  the sun.  The Turks are excellent grooms ;
 the skins of the horses are kept very clean and shining, as they fre-
 quently wash them all overwith soap and water.   In stables, and
 when not ridden,  the  horses are  always fettered  or tethered with
 cords, in order to  prevent their lying down, and to keep them quiet,
 as the principal or best horses are stallions.  The saddle is scarcely
 ever totally removed from  the horse's  back,  except  to clean him,
 even when in stable, and they are otherwise kept very warm, with
 thick clothes, and h ods,  &c.
   I shall now make a short digression from my journal to describe
 several particulars relative to the country in which 1  resided.  The
 frogs in Turkey are very large; and it is impossible to describe  the
 noise they make,  which  must be heard to form a competent  idea of
 it.  The grasshoppers are  also of a large size, and extremely noisy.
 In my rides to Chiflick my  ears were perpetually  dinned  by  the
 croaking of the former,  and the  discordant notes of the latter  of
 these creatures.
   Our evening walks  on  the strand in  front of Buyukdere were
 very pleasant  and  c eerful.   This spot has a strong resemblance  to
 the beach at Weymouth.  The Cheeks, and indeed most  of  the
 inhabitants, assemble in  the evening to walk, or to amuse them-
 selves in boats, which are rowed up and down in front of the village.
 Music and singing constitute^ part of these  aquatic amusements,
 and, without  being of the most exquisite kind,  serve to diversify
 and enliven the scene.
   Buyukdere may with some propriety be compared to the tower
 of Babel:  individuals belonging to almost every nation residing
 there, a strange  mixture  of  languages  must consequently ensue!
 The dresses of the  inhabitants are as varied as are the languages.
 The Turkish women  are fair; they cover the face, the eyes and a
 part of the  nose excepted,  with a piece of white muslin: another
 piece of muslin envelops  the head.   This part of their dress is
 styled mahramah. In stature they are rather low,  and corpulent,
 the latter condition being much admired  among  themselves: they
 are usually clad in a long green garment, which  hangs very low
 behind, with a square cape, resembling on the whole a riding dress,
 and it is called/<?ra/.*"e.  They wear yellow  boots with slippers
 over them, but the latter they take off on entering a house.   Thev
Stain their finger-nails of a red colour, or, more properly  speaking 
J2             TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
of a very deep orange, with  the  dried leaves, diluted with water,
of the henna, or Egyptian privet  (lexesonia inermis,  Lin.), a  large
shrub,  which is much cultivated both in Turkey and in Egypt for
this purpose.
  The Turkish females always walk abroad by themselves; in fine
weather they resort to some favourite spot without the towns, oc-
cupy the banks,  or seat themselves on the tomb-stones in their ce-
meteries,  where they sit quietly for hours together. They appear to
lead a most indolent life; their  recreations and exercises being ex-
tremely limited.
  The Greek women  have the face, which is beautiful  and of an
oval form, uncovered.   Their eyes are black, as are also their eye-
brows,  to which, as well as  to their eyelids, they pay a particular
attention, rubbing them over, to bestow on them a deeper hue, with
a leaden ore reduced  to an impalpable powder,  blended with an
unctuous matter to give it consistence.   Their complexion is gene-
rally pale.  They wear their hair, which is of a great length, and
of a deep shining black,  in tresses, and sometimes turned back in a
fanciful way on the head. In other instances it hangs loosely'down
the back,  extending to the hips.  They are commonly dressed in a
pelice of silk, satin, or some other material: they are costly in their
attire,  in the choice of which they are not attached to any particu-
lar colour.  On the head they wear a small cap.   The dress of the
men nearly resembles that of the  Turks; but they are not allowed
to wear the kowouk,  or turban of white muslin, for which  they
arc obliged to substitute the calpac, or blue turban, and none of the
Greeks can wear  yellow  boots or  slippers, except  those who are in
the service of  the foreign ministers, &c.
  The Greek women marry  at about  the age of  fifteen:  they are
short lived.   At twenty-five they wrinkle and decay, bearing the
appearance altogether  of old women.   They have  fine  children,
who,  however, partake  of the palid complexion of the  mothers.
It is unquestionably to  the too frequent use  of the warm bath, to
which  the Greek women are so much habituated, that their  very
relaxed and debilitated state is to be ascribed;  and  this abuse, added
to their natural indolence and  their inaction,  as  certainly tends to
shorten their lives.
  During courtship, the Greek lover  serenades his mistress either
in front of her house,  or from the water.   On these occasions he
recites in a pathetic song, the warmth and sincerity of his passion,
(Sec.  These nocturnal serenades, which are devoted lo love, are sq 
               SYRIA, EGYPT, CERMANY,  &C.            23

 frequent at Buyukdere, as to break in on the repose of its inhabi-
 tants; and a person of lively  fancv  might be led to suppose that
 the deity  of Love had made it his favourite residence,  from  the
 beauty and amenity of this enchanting spot.
    I have already observed that Buyukdere is the summer residence
 of several  of  the ambassadors: it  is also that  of many persons of
 property and distinction, who reside at Peru  during the winter sea-
 son.  Nearly opposite to this village,  on the bank of the Bospho-
 rus, is a fountain overhung with beautiful clumps of trees, much
 frequented on moonlight  evenings by the Greeks, Armenians, and
 others.  This, however, happens at a particular season only of the
 year,  when the clear transparency  of  the moon's light,  illumina-
 ting the foliage which surrounds them,  as well as the distant objects,
 invites the company  to spend  late hours in the enjovment of so
 charming  a scene.
   At Buyukdere, mutton,  beef and bread are plentiful, and sold at
 a very reasonable price;  as are also poultry of every description.
 Eggs are in great plenty; but the cheese and butter are very indif-
 ferent.  The wines,  both red and white, made at Buyukdere, are
 very cheap, the oke (which weighs two pounds ten ounces, or some-
 what more than an English bottle) being sold at from eight to ten
 paras, that is,  from four pence to five  pence English money.  The
 vegetables, which are pretty nearly of the same kinds as in Eng-
 land,  namely,  broad  beans, French be8ris,  peas, cabbages, cucum-
 bers, gourds, water melons, &c. are  in great abundance.   The
 fruits, which are  no less so,  consist of peaches,  apricots, pears,
 apples (which, however, are all very insipid), figs, cherries, pome-
 granates,  red  currants, wood strawberries,  and grapes.   Besides
 these, there  is  a profusion of walnuts,  filberts,  and  hazle nuts.
 As there is no procuring malt liquor here, the principal  beverage is
 wine and water.  The  milk is  good and  tolerably cheap.   The
 oxen are small, and are for the greater part of a light grey colour;
 they, are employed, in common  with the  buffalo, an animal  very
 unseemly to the view, in ploughing,  for draught, &c.  Here, as
 well as at Constantinople, Pera, and indeed in all this part of Tur-
 key,  the dogs are very numerous.   They do not appear to belong
 to any particular masters, are very ferocious,  and occasionally very
 troublesome.
   A very agreeable dish called yourt, of which the natives are very
 fond, is made here, and brought in with the dessert.   It is prepared
by allowing a certain portion of milk to become sour, and throwing
                  (5) 
34           TRAVELS  IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,

into new milk as much of this acidulated fluid gs will curdle it in a
slight degree.  It is then eaten with sugar, is very palatable, and,
mixed with strawberries becomes a good substitute  for cream. 'Ihe
milk sold here is generally a  mixture,  being drawn from  goats,
sheep, cows,  and  buffaloes.
  To resume  my narrative.   On  the  28th and 29th of June, I
visited the barracks at Levant  Chiflick.  The heat  was less oppres-
sive, the thermometer being at  seventy-five.   The harvest was now
begun, and I saw,  during my  rides,  the Turks busied in mowing
their corn.   They  had a tolerable crop of bearded wheat  (in all
Turkey the wheat is bearded), which was  of a good quality.  In-
stead of threshing  it,  it is their practice to harness  horses and oxen
to a small car, the bottom of which is studded with  portions  of
flint to cut and bruise the straw, the grain being disengaged by the
trampling of the  feet of the animals,  who move in  a circular direc-
tion, as if in a mill.
  The 30th, on my  return from the barracks, I dined and spent a
very agreeable afternoon with Mr. Thornton,  an English merchant
at Buyukdere.  His  details relative to the oppression of the ryahs,
under which common denomination are  comprehended  Greeks,
Armenians, and indeed every  description of Franks or Christians
subject to the  lurks, were melancholy  in the extreme."  They are
liable to an annual capitation, or poll tax, varying according to their
degrees and circumstances,  from a guinea and a half to seven shil-
lings and sixpence English money, on the payment of which a cer-
tificate is granted them; and this  tribute,  exacted  from them by
right of conquest,  and considered as the redemption of their heads,
forfeited in perpetuity by their  subjugated ancestors, leads to  many
villainous practices on the part of the Turks.  It frequently occurs,
for instance,  that a Turk, on  meeting a ryah,  without  scruple or
ceremony,  and without any regard to the engagements the latter
may have, takes him aside to ascertain whether he is provided with
a certificate, and, if  this happens to be the case, to enquire into its
authenticity,  which he is certain to dispute, or to throw some diffi-
culty or other in the way.   Thus, whether the unfortunate  ryah
has or has not his certificate about him, he is obliged to make a pe-
cuniary sacrifice, to rid himself of his oppressor's importunities.  In
other instances a ryah, who is in possession of a house, has his rioht
to it disputed by  a  Turk, by whom false witnesses are  suborned;
and as the oath of  the ryah is not valid in a court of justice,  when
opposed to that of a Turk, he is obliged,  if the cause is  brought 
               SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           35

 to trial,  to bribe his judge.  He is thus, if he should come off vic-
 toriously, condemned to heavy expenses. To these, and many other
 similar vexations and oppressions, the wretched Franks, or Chris-
 tians, arc incessantly exposed.
   When their population is considered, it may at first view appear
 extraordinary that they do not endeavour to throw off so odious and
 oppressive a yoke,  more especially as the Greeks,  by far the most
 numerous among them, in reality possess,  as  individuals, conside-
 rable energy  and courage.  The sevtrity, however, of the examples
 which have been made in their unsuccessful struggles to regain their
 independence, appears in a great measure to have damped their ar-
 dour, and broken their spirit.   It must be recollected,  that during
 the  late  war between the Russians and Turks,  the  Greeks made
 several efforts which, through want of a proper concert  with the
 former of these powers, were  ineffectual.   On a future occasion
 they may perhaps succeed better.  When  they rate tneir numbers
 as equal  to those  of the Turks, they certainly exaggerate.   They
 are,  however, very numerous,  in the European provinces particu-
 larly, and possess  many of the eminent qualities which have  im-
 mortalized their ancestors.  Among the ryahs in general g-.eat in-
 dustry prevails.
   On the morning of the 1st of July, I  had a high gratification.
 Shortly after my arrival at Levant Ch flick, the Grand Seignor and
 all his principal officers came thither to spend the day.   They were
 mounted, and their fine  horses being very elegantly  caparisoned,
 nothing could exceed the grandeur of the spectacle.  Their arrival
 was  announced by the firing of guns; and the whole of the troops
 were under arms;  their music, consisting of drums, a kind of haut-
 boys, timbrels, and horns,  was by  no means disagreeable.   Our
 men, who  were called on, fired several rounds, and were compli-
 mented by presents of small gold coins of the  size of a para, and in
 value a piastre and a half.   Each of  them  received about two gui-
 neas.  Between  four and  five  in the afternoon,  the grand Seignor
 and his retinue left Chiflick, which is said to be the only place in
 the environs of Constantinople to which he goes on horseback.
   On the 2d, I paid my customary visit to the above place, where
 I had the satisfaction to find the sick in a fair way of recovery.
   On the 3d, by the order  of General Koehler and at the particular
request of the Capitan Pacha, a furnace was  erected at Kaithana,
for the heating of shot.  A successful practice was carried on with
the red hot shot, to the great satisfaction of the Capitan Pacha, who 
26              TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

expressed a wish to see the whole of the mission on the following
day-                                                               -
   Kailhana is a valley very pleasantly situated at the extremity ot
the harbour, and distant from Buyukdere about ten  miles.   It  has
been made choice of  by the Turks for their artillery experiments,
to which its even surface is well adapted.   The vestiges of a build-
ing said to have been  formerly <a palace of the Grand Seignor are to
be seen here; and near to them is a beautiful kiosque* for the Sul-
tan's use.   A fine meandring stream runs  through  the valley.  In
the evening I returned to Buyukdere.
   On the 4th,  we repaired,  agreeably to our appointment,  to  the
residence of the  Capitan  Pacha, with whom we made some stay,
and  were entertained with coffee,  and  other refreshments.  Previ-
ously to our taking leave, he made each of us  a small present, a
gown piece, for instance, or some  such trifle.   The General was
presented with a handsome snuff-box,  set round with brilliants,  as
was also  Mrs. Koehler.
   After this visit of ceremony, we went on  board the Charon, Cap-
tain M*Keller, where we wete not a little gratified by the sight of
two of our countrymen, who had  been kept in slavery during two
months in the vicinity of Constantinople, with  a perfect ignorance
of the cause  of  their detention.   They  had been liberated by  the
humane intercession of Captain MlKeller with  the Capitan Pacha.
A French officer had kindly written to Captain MlKeller in their
behalf, and had transmitted to him a letter from these unfortunate
men.
   On the 5th, General Koehler left Constantinople for the purpose
of joining Lieutenant-colonel Ifolloway and Major Hope, in the
Dardanelles.   This  being St. John's day,  the Greeks kept it with
much parade.   Opposite Buyukdere the river  was  crouded  with

  * A kiosque is  a pavilion, or pleasure-house,  of one story, for summer residence.
Its form is sometimes square, and at others round;  and it is usually built of wood,
painted and  decorated both withinside and without, in the Turkish style.  It has several
openings, with shutters or latticed work, answering the purpose of windows.
  The kiosqae is generally raised some feet from the ground, and is furnished withinside,
after the Turkish fashion, with sofas,  or raised platforms, covered with cloth, and pro-
vided with cushions.  The floor is  covered with handsome mats fabricated in Egypt, a
considerable manufactory of which is carried on at Menouf in Loiver Egypt.
  In the construction of these kiosques, the Turks usually make choice of an elevated
ground.  It is  also their practice to place them near a river, or stream of water, situa-
tions of which they are passionately fond.  They there  indulge themselves in smoking
for several hours together.
  Small kiosques are frequently erected on the poops of Turk'th merchant vessels, par-
ticularly of those vhich navigate the Black Sea.  Beneath the shade of these, the crews
smoke their pipes. 
               SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.            37

 boats filled with musicians, who played and sung during the whole
 of the day.   In  the evening, bonfires were kindled, and pistols dis-
 charged in the air;  it was on the whole a scene of great riot and
 confusion.
   On this occasion the Greek women were all of  them very hand-
 somely  attired,  the  meanest among  them,  even the fishermens'
 wives, being clad in elegant dresses of silk or velvet, with pelices
 lined with ermine of considerable  value.  This finery,  of which
 they are extremely fond, is generally reserved for the holidays.
   Having been indisposed for several days, I did not repeat my visits
 to Levant Chiflick until the 8th.   On the 10th,  however, I was
 so well recovered as to accept the invitation which we  received from
 Monsieur Tomara, the Russian ambassador, to be present at the
 celebration of the birth day of  the Emperor of Russia.
   In  the evening we repaired to his palace, where we found a  verv
 large party assembled, all the foreign ministers, in their gala dresses,
 and decorated with their respective orders, being present, with their
 ladies and suites.   The company,  which consisted of  individuals of
 almost every nation, in the different costumes by which each is ap-
 propriately distinguished, did not break up until between one and
 two in the morning.   The dances were continued until a  late hour,
 the Greek women being passionately fond of  that exercise.  In the
 course of  the evening  refreshments, consisting of sweetmeats, ice
 creams, cakes, &c. were served; and at midnight there was a cold
 collation, with wines and other  liquors.  The entertainment passed
 off very agreeably.
   On the llth,  I  rode to Levant Chiflick;  and on  the  12th, to
 Constantinople.  I embraced this opportunity of paying a visit to
 the bazars, that is, the places set aside for the sale of different ar-
 ticles of merchandize, each trade, or in other cases the dealers be-
 longing to the different nations subject to the  Turkish domination,
 being arranged under a covered  archway,  somewhat similar to our
 Exeter exchange.  Beneath these archways, or cloisters, which are
 of stone or wood, each tradesman, or dealer,  has his shop in front,
 and behind it a warehouse for his goods.   This arrangement is ex-
 tremely convenient both for  the seller and the purchaser;  at the
 same time that the bazars, admitting a free circulation of the air, are
 very cool in summer, and consequently well adapted to the climate.
The commodities sold in them are by  no  means contemptible.
There is here a more regular market police (if  the phrase may be
admitted) than  might be expected in this country.  There are ofS- 
 3S            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

 cers who take care to examine  the weights and measures of  those
 who sell goods; and these officers  daily go their  rounds through
 the different bazars: woe be unto him who sells with light weights!
 he is made an immediate  example: he either suffers  < n the spot
 the  bastinado (which  the reader  need  scarcely be informed is a
 heavy  cudgel applied  violently to  the soles of the feet),  or is con-
 demned to the payment of a fine.   The weights are of course de-
 stroyed.
   If any fraud is to be apprehended,  it is more especially among those
 whom the Turks rank as unbelievers, and particularly among the
 Jews, who maintain here the character with which they are  too ge-
 nerally charged ; they  are prone to extortion, and in truth to deal
 with them requires much circumspection.   From  what 1 was able
 to observe in the bazars,  I am inclined to think that the Turks are
 fair dealers.  In speaking of the manner in which fraudulent trades-
 people are treated, it may not be improper to mention, that a pecu-
 liar punishment is inflicted in this  country upon bakers who trans-
 gress the law,  either by selling bread of light weight or of bad qua-
 lity; they have  their ears nailed  to  their own door post for public
 view.  In arbitrary governments the police ought to be good, for
 the punishments are always sanguinary and cruel.
   In the course of my perambulation,  I went into a  shop, where I
 took a draught of sherbet cooled with 1^.  This liquor is made in
 various ways, with or without the  acid:  it is very cooling and re-
 freshing,  and is  sold at the very moderate price of a para* the cup.
   I was now confirmed in the observation I had  made on my first
 arrival, that the streets of Constantinople  arc, without exception,
 narrow, ill paved, and dirty.  Almost all,the  houses are built with
 windows projecting to  the streets, which nearly  touch  those of
 their opposite neighbours ;  this  custom greatly  obstructs the free
 circulation of air through the streets.   The roofs of the houses are
 miserably ill covered ;  they  are formed of a reddish  tile, loosely
put on without any fastening; occasionally loose stones are laid on
here and there,  but a cat running over the top  of a house will fre-.%
quently untile it;  consequently  they  are wretchedly  constructed
for rainy or tempestuous weather.   The external appearance of the
houses is at the same time heavy and dismal, all the ornaments be-
ing reserved for  the interior.  1 entered the outer court of the se-
raglio,  beyond which strangers are  not allowed to pass, and had a

  * A para is nearly equal to a halfpenny ; forty paras make one piastre, and one pusT
trc is worth one shilling and sixpence of our money. 
SVRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.
39
 sight of the mint,  where the workmen were busily employed.   It
 is situated within the enclosure.   The silver coin has been debased
 to a very extraordinary degree, the silver it contains having  been
 progressively reduced to about thirty parts  in  an hundred.   This
 adulteration is said to have been introduced  in aid of the public re-
 venue; and as the coin still  retains its ancient nominal value, the
 consequence has been,  that the counterfeit money of the forgers is
 become of  greater value than that issued from  the public  treasury,
 notwithstanding the  dealers  in this illicit traffic turn their specula-
 tion to a very good account.
   From the mint I walked to the  vicinity of the mosque of Santa
 Sophia, which is certainly a  very massive building, but which, con-
 sidered in an architectural point of view, is, in  my opinion,  verv
 inferior to our St. Paul's.   With the exception  of  the dome,  and
 of the four minarets  which are detachect, there is nothing very sin-
 gular or striking in the pile.
   I proceeded thence to the atmeydan, the place or field of  horses,
 or, as  it  was  anciently called, the hippodrome, a very extensive
 open space or circus, set aside for athletic exercises  and public
 spectacles.   Here the Turks exhibit a kind of military sport, called
 the djartd.  The combatants are mounted, and armed witli a stick or
 wand of a considerable length, which is darted with great force by
 the assailant,  and as skilfully avoided by his antagonist.  This ex-
 ercise is very much in vogue among the Turks of condition.   In
 the middle of this space stands an  antique column or obelisk,  of a
 single block of granite, the sides of which  are  filled with various
 Egyptian figures and hieroglyphics.  One of our party undertook
 to measure it,  which he accomplished by a calculation drawn from
 a  comparison between the shadow of a stick and that of the  co-
 lumn,  the height of  which was found to be  about sixty feet.   The
 base is about seven feet in height,  and is  curiously  sculptured  in
 bas-relief with a great variety of human heads.  At the extremity
 of  the square there are the  remains of a pillar, formed by the twist-
 ing of  three brazen serpents.   Formerly their heads made the capi-
 tal  of the pillar.   Mahomet  the second, when he took Constanti-
 nople,  beat off the jaw of one of these heads.
   Passing through a street, we came to another large and elevated
antique column, called the Burnt Pillar, which, amidst the confla-
grations, that have so frequently occurred, and have unfortunately
so much ravaged the  city of  Constantinople, has stood its ground.
It has,  however, a very dir.py hue, and a considerable number of 
 40             TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

 fissures, occasioned by the different fires which have taken place in
 its vicinity, insomuch that it is now encircled by iron hoops to keep
 it together.
   After our excursion, we dined  on board  the  New  Adventure
 transport;  and in the afternoon went on board the  Charon to take
 leave, she being on the eve of sailing from Constantinople' for Gi-
 braltar.  I did not reach  Buyukdere until midnight. The weather
 had  been extremely sultry during the day, the thermometer being
 at eighty-eight in the shade.
   On the  13th, I rode to Levant Chiflick. On my return, I heard
 the  Charon salute the Grand Seignor in passing the seraglio point.
   On the evening of the  14th 1 went to a kiosque in Buyukdere,
 where the Greeks were assembled  to sing, dance, and partake of
 other amusements.   I joined the promenade afterwards in  the mea-
 dow, in which there was a very numerous assemblage of Greek,
 Turks, and  others.  It  being  Sunday, the inhabitants of all the
 neighbouring villages  were collected; and the groups which were
 foimed, by the variety of their costumes,  and the characteristic
 traits peculiar to each nation, had a very pleasing, and to me a very
 novel effect.   While the Greeks displayed  all  the gaity and non-
'chalance which belong to their character,  the Turks, with much
 gravity, had  recourse to their constant companion the pipe, andiri
 the intervals  of smoking took coffee.
   On the 15 th I rode to Levant Chiflick,  where I visited the Ago.
 and  several other Turks who were indisposed.  On the preceding
 day  we had made an appointment with Mr. Spurring, the  English
 ship-builder at Constantinople, to visit the Sultan Selim,  the ship
 which bore the flag of the Capitan Pacha.   We were the more an-
 xious to do this, as the Turkish fleet was to sail in the course of a
 few  days  for the Dardanelles.   We went on board accordingly,
 and  found her to be a remarkably fine vessel:  we were told, how-
 ever, that her timbers were not proportioned to her size, and that
 she would work very ill in tempestuous weather, and in  a rough
 sea.   The Sultan Selim mounts one hundred and twenty forty-two
 pounders, besides other guns of a smaller caliber.  The  Capitan
 Pacha's cabin was fitted up in a very  elegant style.  At the  sides
 were suspended a considerable number of rich and beautiful sabres,
 pistols, and muskets,  which,  being set  with a profusion of dia-
 monds, and curiously inlaid with  gold,  made a very glittering
 and  showy appearance.  The furniture and other other decorations
 of the cabin were in a corresponding style of mjgniiicenc-.   Seve-. 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.            41
 ral English prints, representing our celebrated naval victories, were
 hung up.
   We were entertained by the captain of the ship, a great favour-
 ite of the Capitan  Pacha, with sweetmeats, liqueurs, coffee, &cc.
 He accompanied us in our visit to the different parts of the vessel,
 which was very clean,  and kept in good order.   She had on  board
 fourteen hundred men, among whom that strict discipline by which
 the English men  of  war are  distinguished did  not appear to be
 kept up.  The place set apart for the sick was very ill calculated for
 that purpose:  and, but little attention seemed to  be paid to this part
 of die Turkish economy, than which nothing can  be more momen-
 tous on shipboard.   To  the  disregard with which  the sick were
 treated, may be added, as a proof of the barbarism  of this people,
 the little encouragement bestowed on those who had the charge of
 them.  The surgeon of the Sultan Selim assured  me, that his  an-
 nual salary amounted to twelve guineas only of our money, inso-
 much that  his chief dependence,  and  that  a very precarious one,
 was on presents.   With so  inadequate a remuneration for his ser-
 vices, whatever might  have been his talents, little was to be  ex-
 pected from his zeal.   After this visit to the Sultan Selim,  I dined
 on board the New Adventure transport, and returned to Buyukdere
 in the evening.
   On the 16th and  17th nothing particular occurred.  I rode, as
 usual, to  Levant  Chiflick.   On my  reaching  that place, on  the
 morning of the 18th,  I was introduced to the Kai ma kan,  and
 Hadgi Ibrahim Effendi,  who had come thither  for the  purpose
 of a general inspection and exercise of the Turkish troops.  Our
 men fired  several rounds,  and received  a  present  of an hundred
 sheep and three hundred piastres.   The parade being broken up,  I
 returned to Buyukdere.
   The 19th and 20th were  without any  interesting occurrence.
 On the 21st, in the afternoon, a party being made, we crossed  the
 river from Buyukdere to Asia, and walked to the summit of  the
 Giant's Hill,  a very high mountain,  from which we had a  de-
lightful view of the different windings of the Bosphorus,  and also
 of the Black Sea.
  On my arrival at Chiflick on the 22d, I was informed that a con-
siderable number of sick and wounded Turkish soldiers, from Acre,
in Syria, were  hourly expected there.  I agreed  to see them on  the
following dav.
                 (6) 
42             TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

  On the 23d,  after having visited the above mentioned sick  and
wounded Turkish soldiers,  I returned,  in the evening, to Buyuk-
dere.
  On the 24th  I went to Constantinople, where I had an interview
with his Excellency Hadgi jbrahim Efendi, the Turkish  secre-
tary at war, on the subject of the Turkish sick and wounded in
Levant Chi/lick, and returned to Buyukdere in the evening.
  On the 2.5th  I reached Chiflick early in the morning, and had a
long con veisation with Hadgi Ibrahim Effendi, andtheAga, or
Commandant, on the business above referred to. It was agreed  that
I should  make all the necessary  regulations for the sick and wound-
ed Turks, that I  should direct  the fitting up  of the hospital bed-
steads, &c. and that 1 should be aided in my  daily attendance by a
Turkish surgeon.   On  the following  day I  met by appointment,
at Levant Chiflick, the Grand Seignor's surgeon,  the  surgeon in
chief to the army,  and two  other  army surgeons, the latter of
whom were appointed to assist  me.  I was informed by them  that
the Grand Seignor  had given to each of the soldiers returned from
Syria  tvventv-four  piastres, and a schillink of silver to wear in his
turban.
  I pass  over my immediate operations at Levant Chiflick, as  not
being of general interest,  with  the brief observation, that many of
the 'Turkish soldiers being badly  wounded, I  was  very fully  and
seriously employed, and proceed  to  the 30th, when I  was  called
up  at midnight, and a note delivered to me from Major Fletcher,
to inform me that the Grand Seignor, who was to be at Kaithanah
the following morning,  to see  the experiments which were to be
made with red  hot  shot,  the artillery practice,  &c. was desirous
that all the persons  belonging .to the British military mission should
be  present on the occasion. 
SYRIA*,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.            43
                        CHAPTER  IV.

Visit to Levant Chiflick,  in compliance vuith the orders cf the Grand Seignor.
  Practice ivith red-hot shot.  Presents distributed to the officers and men. Or-
  ders to attend the Grand Seignor again.   Interview ivith him.  Consulted by
  the Aga.   Grand procession en the opening of the festival of the Beyram Cour-
  bam.  Turkish entertainment.  Remarks on the productions of the season in
  Turkey, on the diseases of the country, and the state of medical science there.
  Procession and festival of the dervises.  Remarks on the climate and iveather.
  Village  and aqueducts of Belgrade.   Character of the Turkish villages.
  Visit to the Asiatic shore.   Order for removal of the troops.  Fire near Con-
  stantinople. Description of Santi Sophia.   Greek marriage.  Remarks on
  the Turkish fortresses.  Embarkation of the troops.

  IN compliance with the intimation we  had  received, we break-
    fasted at half past three in the morning,  and proceeded without
delay to Levant Chiflick, where we joined our detachment. About
eight o'clock  we arrived at Kaithanah, and  the Grand  Seignor,
his principal officers and suite, made their appearance shortly  after.
   During the artillery practice, the experiments with red-hot shot,
&c. the Grand Seignor was seated  in the beautiful kiosque, or plea-
sure-house, which I have already noticed.   He paid a particular at-
tention to every thing which  passed; and when the whole was con-
cluded, made each of us a  trifling present.  These presents were
delivered  to us by one of his  suite, who tendered  them  to us re-
spectively as we passed, one by one, according to our rank, in front
of the Grand Seignor.   Each of us having received the present de-
stined for him,  bowed,  and was desired  to retire.  This ceremony
having been concluded, the non-commissioned officers were brought
up to  receive presents for themselves and the privates.
   On the 31st,  on my arrival at Chiflick,  early  in the morning,  I
met the Grand Seignor's surgeon,  with whom I visited the wound-
ed Turks.  Several  of them were already in a state of  recovery.
In our own infirmary I found four cases of intermittent fever. The
men who laboured under this complaint, had been sent to Kaithanah
some weeks before  to assist  in the erection of  the furnace for the
heating of shot ; and having been detained there for several days,
wcie exposed to marsh miasma,  which is well'known to be a most
powerful agent in the production of intermittents. 
44            TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,

   On the 1st of August,  General Koehler,  Lieutenant-colonel
Holloway, and Major Hope, returned to Buyukdere from the Dar-
danelles.
   On my reaching Chiflick to visit the  sick  and wounded,  I re-
ceived a message requesting me to wait, as the Grand Seignor was
on his way thither, and might wish to make some enquiries of me
relative to the state of the wounded Turks, and the arrangements
made for  them.   He arrived about  noon,  attended by his principal
ministers, his officers of state, and a very numerous retinue, all
richly dressed, and superbly mounted.  His arrival was  announced
by discharges of artillery, and other public demonstrations of joy.
It being a grand field day, the Turkish soldiers went through their
manoeuvres and exercises, after which each of them  was marched
to the front of the Aga's house, where  the Grand Seignor was
seated, and received a present  of five piastres.   I was now pointed
out to the Sultan, and having paid my respects to him, received
from him  a trifling present,  accompanied by a  message  to  request
of me to have the goodness to take all possible care of the wounded,
for which service I should not fail to be properly remunerated.  The
Aga being indisposed, consulted me as to the nature of his ailments.
I found him feverish,  prescribed for him, and promised to see him,
provided it should be necessary, at  his  residence at Bishictash, on
the banks  of  the Bosphorus, near Pera.
   On  the 2d, 1  went to Chiflick,  where  I visited the  sick  and
wounded  Turks, and afterwards rode to Bishictash to see the Aga,
who was still indisposed.
  On the  3d  and 4th,  I repeated my visits to the above places, and
found the  Aga, as well as the greater part  of the wounded Turks,
in a fair way  of recovery.
  On the  5th, on my arrival at Chiflick, I saw his excellency, with
whom I  had a conversation relative to the wounded Turks. They
were all of them doing very well, and in particular two,  from the
thigh of one of whom I had a few days before extracted a ball, and
from the hip  of the other a splinter of  gun metal.   It may strike
my readers with surprise that the wounded men having been brought
from so considerable a distance as  Acre, these operations should
still have been left to be performed.
  On the  13th, on my reaching Chiflick, I found there the surgeon
to the Grand Seignor,  by whom  I  was informed, that early in the
morning of the following day the Grand Seignor would go in pro-
cession from the seraglio to the mosque of Sultan Achmetr to cele- 
               SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.            45

 brate the opening of the Beyram  Courbam,  or month  of sacri-
 fice, the second paschal feast.   He invited me to Constantinople to
 be present at this ceremony.
   The festival of the Beyram, which succeeds the Turkish rama-
 zan, or lent,  is the season  of pleasures and festivities of every de-
 scription.  He must be poor indeed, who has not new clothes pro-
 vided for the occasion; and among the better  sort  of people rich
 dresses are given  and received as presents.   The streets and .public
 places are filled with groups,  whose amusements and pastimes are
 varied according to the nation to which they belong.  It may  strictly
 be denominated a paschal feast, since, at its opening, sheep are sa-
 crificed by the Grand Seignor, and by all the distinguished and
 opulent  Turks.  The animals  thus immolated, have their horns
 gilt, and their wool nicely combed.   It is  so contrived  as that
 these offerings should be made  at the precise hour when similar sa-
 crifices take place at Mecca.
   At three o'clock  in  the morning of the  14th,  I set  out from
 Chiflick, where I  had spent the preceding night, and was, on my
 arrival at Pera, joined by Captains Lacy and Leake.   We reached
 Constantinople at five o'clock, and proceeded to the house of a sur-
 geon, from whose shop we were to be  gratified by a sight of the
 procession, as it passed.  In this  house we breakfasted,  and were
 entertained in the following manner.  Pipes and coffee were first
 served, and were followed  by a very agreeable and palatable prepa-
 ration of milk, called caimac,  which was  accompanied by hot su-
 gared cakes,  and melons.   Our repast was concluded by a second
 service of coffee;  and  during  our stay, sherbet and pipes were
 brought to us at intervals.
   About eight o'clock the procession commenced; but the Grand
 Seignor did not make his  appearance  until half-past nine.   The
 dresses of all those  who composed the procession were splendid and
 costly.  The fine horses on which they  were  mounted, and more
 especially those of the eunuchs  and principal officers  of state, were
 most gorgeously caparisoned, the housings of many  of them being
 of gold embroidery,  studded with precious stones, by which a very
 brilliant effect was produced.  In the turban of the Grand Seignor
was  a beautiful aigrette of very great value, the diamonds  of which
it was composed being  of  uncommon magnitude.   Several of his
horses, on which his shield and  various trophies were carried, were
 led in the procession; and being very richly caparisoned, and orna-
mented with a profusion of diamonds,  rubies,  and  other previous 
46             TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

stones, gave a brilliancy and magnificence to  the scene, which far
exceeded any idea I could previously have  formed of it.
  During the procession, a Turkish officer was constantly employ-
ed in throwing on the heads of the populace handfuls of new paras.
The contest which ensued, to pick them up, afforded to the Turk-
ish spectators no little amusement.
  The Grand Seignor,  who was very superbly mounted, was  fol.
lowed by his sword-bearer, carrying his sabre, the hilt of which  was
profusely studded with diamonds.  Next came several officers of his
seraglio richly dressed, bearing on cushions his turbans,  ornamented
with diamonds and other gems.  The  streets were lined on each
side with janissaries, whose dress-caps appeared to me both  ridicu-
lous and unbecoming.   As the Sultan passed along,  he from time
to time bowed with great affability to  the people, all of whom pros-
trated themselves on his approach.
  The kislah aga, or chief of the eunuchs, officiated at the mosque,
and wore on his return a valuable pelice and a rich caftan, with
which the Grand Seignor had presented him. Several other caftans,
of  qualities  suited to the rank of those for whom they were desti-
ned, were distributed by the Sultan on this occasion.
   The procession was conducted with great decorum, and through-
out the whole of it the best order observed.  It would be impossible
for me to attempt to describe all the striking appearances it exhi-
bited, or to enter into  a  detail of the great variety and extreme
singularity of the magnificent costumes which were  displayed. '  To
be brief—it  afforded to  us srrangers a Spectacle truly novel and  in-
teresting,  and fully repaid us  for the  trouble we had taken to be
comprehended among  the  number of the spectators.  By  eleven
o'clock the  streets were cleared.
  Selim  III,  the present  Sultan,  is  extremely popular with  his
subjects, and by no means destitute of the  talents and abilities which
a sovereign  ought to possess.   He is  descended from  the house of
Osman, by  whom the fifth dynasty of the caliphs  was established
in the thirteenth century. Having received a more liberal education
than has usually been bestowed in  Turkey on those to whose  lot
the succession has fallen,  Sultan Selim possesses a  well cultivated
mind, and has made himself acquainted with the policy of the more
refined states of Europe.   It is, therefore, not surprising, that he
has introduced so many salutary innovations into his  empire; and,
from a conviction of their manifest superiority, has  become so stre-
nuous a partizan of the  tactics and military discipline of England 
                SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           47

  and France.   In my subsequent details relative  to the Grand Vi-
  sier and the Capftan  Pacha, I shall have occasion  to  notice, in a
  particular manner, the improvements he has introduced in his army
  and marine.  He is of a courteous and  affable character; and his
  physiognomy is fine and full of expression.   His  figure is well pro-
  portioned,  and his aspect commanding.
    My companions and myself were invited,  after the procession to
  dine with  the  Grand Seignor's surgeon, at whose house we were
  very well entertained in the  Turkish  style; and notwithstanding
  we were, in eating, compelled to adopt the mode practised by the
  Turks, that is, that we were  unprovided with either knife, fork,
  or plate, we contrived to make a good dinner.    The  following is
  a concise description of these repasts.  A cloth having  been laid on
  the floor, a small table with the legs turned uppermost is placed on
  it, and on this again is laid a large circular waiter of tinned copper,
 round  which the company  seat themselves.   Before  each of the
 guests, bread in the form of a  flat pancake, and two  spoons are
 placed.   The dishes are served up singly, one after the other ; and
 if  filled with soup or liquid food, the spoons are. resorted to.   If,
 on the other hand,' they contain solids,  the guests help  themselves
 with the thumb and finger.   However repugnant this custom must
 have been to the feelings and  ideas of Englishmen, a keen appetite,
 and the savouriness of the/iishes, in some measure reconciled us to
 it; and custom, which sways us  so powerfully, enabled us, in the
 sequel, entirely to get the better of our stjueamishness.   The meats
 are in general cut small for  the  convenience of those  who  are to
 partake of them; but on the present occasion whole ducks were
 served.  These the donor of the feast pulled in  pieces with his fin-
 gers, and distributed the portions  to  his guests.  Pipes and coffee
 were brought in after dinner,  and we at length  took our leave.
   On the 15th, in the morning, I accompanied  General Koehler
 to Pera,  and from thence to Constantinople, where we had an in-
 terview of nearly two hours  with his Excellency  Hadgi Ibrahim
 Effendi,  with  whom the general  had some  particular  business to
 transact.   In the course of  this visit,  a silver salver,  containing
 conserve of roses, and other sweetmeats, was handed round, in ad-
 dition to the usual  refreshments  of pipes and coffee.   When we
 were about to take leave, each of us was presented with two finely
 wrought muslin handkerchiefs.  I ought not to omit here the con-
 cluding part of the ceremony.  After we had taken a  draught of
sherbet,  which was presented to  us, our hands were sprinkled with 
 4.8            TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,

 rose water, and a silver vessel brought in,  containing  odonferom
 gums in an inflamed state.  The ascending  vapours  of  these gums
 are by the Turks  received on their beards; but as we were destitute
 of that ornament, we contented  ourselves with smelhng  to them,
 and receiving them in our hands, which we rubbed together to re.
 tain the odour.  We then bowed and retired.
   Much rain fell this day, accompanied with loud claps  of thunder,
 and very vivid flashes of lightning. The storm continued through-
 out the evening.
   On my arrival at  Chiflick, on the morning of the IGth, I found
 that several of the wounded Turks who had been under my care,
 being now perfectly  cured, were to set off the next morning for
 Alexandria,  with a detachment of two hundred and fifty Turkish
 soldiers.
   On the 17th, the Turkish surgeons who  had lent  me their assis-
 tance there, having embarked the preceding evening with the de-
 tachment,  I had no other than  my own exertions to depend upon.
 In returning to Buyukdere, I observed that the country exhibited
 a  new  and  very pleasing aspect  since the  fall  of the  late heavy
 showers, which had  come very seasonably to enable the country
 people to plough and to till their lands.   Grapes were now in  sea-
 son, as were  also  melons : the latter were of two kinds, the musk
 melon, and the  water melon, and were both cheap and in plenty.
   The grapes, which were extremely large, and fine, were sold at
 three and four paras the oke.
   Among  the prevailing diseases in Turkey,  the rickets  are very
 common in  children, and blindness in  adults.
   The lame and deformed objects who constantly obtrude  them-
 selves on the view, are in such numbers as to excite astonishment.
   Pulmonary  complaints, as far as I had  occasion to observe,  are
 by no means prevalent in this  country ; the catarrhal  and asthmatic
 affections prevail most among elderly people.
   The Turks are certainly not  subject  to the multitude of diseases
 which infest some  other nations.   Sores and wounds are managed
 and healed with more facility; much may be ascribed to their tem-
 perance. Fontanelles, or issues,  are in common use;  and some-
 what lessen  the evils resulting from the indolent, and inactive  life
which the Turks in general  lead.  Cutaneous affections,  herpetic
 and  tettery  eruptions are common,  particularly upon  the  head:
dyspepsia, and other stomach complaints, prevail very  generally.
 Their greasy food,  inactive life, their excesses in the  use of smok 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.
49
 ing tobacco, and opium, may give rise  to  these disorders.   Her-
 nias are common.   Besides plague,  they are  occasionally  subject
 to malignant and bilious  remittent  and intermittent fevers in au-
 tumn.
   In Constantinople, Pera,  and the suburbs, there are, it is said,
 nearly five thousand persons who profess the different branches of
 the  medical art.  They are natives of almost every nation, but con-
 sist  more particularly of Turks, Greeks, Armenians, and Italians,
 and are for the greater part utterly ignorant of the principles either
 of medicine or of surgery.  There are, however, some exceptions
 to this observation, and among them a Mr. Ruine,  an Italian,
 whom I accidently met with a few days before the period of  which
 I  am now treating.   He occasionally  attends the Grand Seignor,
 when indisposed, as well as the harem, and many of the principal
 officers of state.   For these services he has  no salary,  but  is paid
 for his visits.  His practice is extremely lucrative.  The person who
 at present holds  the appointment of physician to the Sultan, is a
 Turk,  who, notwithstanding he is entirely unacquainted with me-
 dicine,  receives an annual stipend of nearly  five  thousand  pounds
 sterling.  Almost every individual in Turkey  has a nostrum for
 some disease or other.
   On the 18th, in the afternoon, in company with some of our of-
 ficers, we crossed over to  the Asiatic side  of the river to see the
 procession of  the dervises,  it being the birth-day of the founder of
 that sect.   We were unfortunately too late to be present at this ce-
 remony, which,  as  we afterwards heard,  was very numerously at-
 tended.   We had, however, a very agreeable walk in the delightful
 valley in which the  assembly  was held.   The janissary by whom
 we were accompanied for our protection, in  his  eagerness to get
 our boat ready, was pushed into  the water, and otherwise maltreat-
 ed, by a boatman belonging to the Sultana Valida, or Queen Mo-
 ther, who had come privately to witness the above ceremony.  This
 insult being in a manner considered as offered to ourselves, a repre-
 sentation of the particulars of the affray was made by  General
Koehler,  to whom an apology was afterwards sent.  •
   On the 21st, the  heat of the weather was very opgPessive, the
thermometer being, at eight o'clock in the morning, at 115 in the
sun.
   On my arrival at  Chiflick on  the 22d, I found one  of the men
belonging to the British  mission dangerously ill with a  fever.
                • (7) 
 5C*            TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC  TURKEY,

   On the 26th, it  being the fete of the assumption of the blessed
 Virgin, which the Greeks celebrate with much pomp,  in "the even-
 ing great numbers  of  them were assembled in the meadow, and in
 their holiday dresses.
   On the 27th, another of our men was seized dangerously ill with
 a fever.
   The reader will perhaps find the frequent mention of the changes
 of the weather somewhat tedious, but nothing serves so well to give
 an  idea of the climate and  situation.   In the course of this  after-
 noon there was much thunder and  lightning, and throughout the
 whole of the day very heavy and sudden showers of rain fell.
   On the 28th much rain had fallen during the night; and on the
 29th the rains continued to fall with unabated violence.
   I dined at Buyukdere, in company  with all  the officers belong-
 ing to the mission,  and with Count Ludolf, the Neapolitan envoy,
 who  gave us a very polite reception, and entertained us with  great
 hospitality.   The evening was very cool and  pleasant, and it was
 to be presumed that as the rains had now fallen in great abundance,
 they  would be succeeded by fine weather.   During the months of
 September and October the weather is in general very pleasant and
 agreeable in Turkey;  and this season  the natives  call  the little or
 second summer.
   On my arrival at Chiflick, on the morning of the 30th,  1 found
 that a military artificer, Greenhalch,  had expired in the course  of
 the preceding afternoon.
   On the 1st of September the officers of the  mission dined  with
 General Koehler, and met there Count Ludolf, the Neapolitan tn-
 voy;  and in the evening  went to  the palace of the Russian minis-
 ter, Monsieur Tomara, where there was a  ball.  It being Sunday,
 some repugnance was felt at being present at these entertainments;
 it was, however, prudent to conform to the established usages.
  On the 4th I visited Chiflick,  and found that Kannaird, a  mili-
 tary artificer,  had departed this life in the course of the preceding
 afternoon.
  On my reaching Chiflick on the 5th. I was called to the  child
 of a private belonging to the royal artillery, whose skull had  been
 fractured by a fall from a window.  It  survived this accident a few
 hours only.
  A party having been formed on the 7th, we made an excursion
 to the village of Belgrade,  distant from  Constantinople twelve or
fourteen miles, and  to the aqueducts in its vicinity.  Among these 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.
5*
 we saw that which was erected in the feign of Justinian,  and un-
 der his immediate direction.   We visited the interior of this aque-
 duct, a large magnificent structure,  in a very fine style of architec-
 ture,  and passed through the different galleries or  passages.  Our
 promenade ended there; and we returned to the woods near the
 village of Belgrade, where,  our provisions having been spread on
 the green sod, which served us for a table,  we dined beneath the
 cool and refreshing shade of a cluster of lofty trees.
   The country  in the vicinity of Belgrade abounds in groves and
 fine woodland scenery.  To us, who had remained so long in die
 environs of Constantinople, it presented a scene of equal novelty
 and  interest.  It was our  first  visit to  this  enchanting spot;  and
 brought  to our recollection all the encomiums which Lady Mary
 Wort ley Montague has bestowed on it in her Letters.   If it is not
 precisely the paradise she has described,  it is unquestionably one of
 the most beautiful spots in that part of the world.  We passed
 through  two small villages,  which were  of the same  description
 with those I  had hitherto seen in Turkey ; that is, the houses and
 the inhabitants were alike in a wretched  state.   To render the face
 of the country more agreeable and picturesque, a few scattered ham-
 lets were wanting:  the aqueducts, however, by intersecting the vil-
 lages, gave to the scenery a considerable degree of interest.
   On  the 8th, the officers  of the mission  dined with the  Russian
 ambassador,  where we were as usual sumptuously entertained.
   On  the  12th  I made an  engagement with'the officers belonging
 to a Russian man of war lying in the harbour,  to accompany them
 to the Asiatic shore on the following morning.
   On  the 13 th, at ten in  the morning, we crossed over  to Asia.
 The day was delightful; and we made  a  very agreeable excursion
 into the country. , On our  return, carpets were spread in the shade,
 and  a  cold collation  served.   The  Russian sailors entertained us
 with several songs, which  the surgeon accompanied on a kind of
 harp.
   Nothing deserving of notice occurred until the 20th, when the
 Magnet,  an  English merchantman, which had been long expect-
 ed, anchored off the  Seraglio Point.   This day General  Koehler
 shifted his residence from Buyukdere to Galata.  On my reaching
 Chiflick, on  the 22d,  I found Smith, an artificer,  labouring under
an attack of malignant fever.
  The succeeding days were marked by no particular occurrence
until the 28 th, when on my visit to Chiflick barracks, I found that 
  52            TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,

  Smith,  the artificer, the symptoms of  whose fever had daily assu-
  med a stronger degree of malignity, had died in the course  of the
  preceding evening.  His body was already  in a high state of  putn%
  faction; and the same fever having broken out among the inhabitants
  of Chiflick,  1 wrote to General Koehler, to advise that our people
  should  be immediately removed.  From the General  I learned in
  return,  that the detachment was to be embarked on board the trans-
  port then lying off Tophana, and to proceed in her to the Dardtw
  net Its, as soon as the steps preparatory to the expedition should have
  been taken.
    On my return from Chiflick, on the 29th, I rode towards an an-
  cient tower, which Europeans have  denominated the  tower of
  Ovid, and which  is conjectured  to  have  been originally a signal
  tower,  from which the inhabitants  were warned of the approach
  of the vessels of  the Cossacks, whose piracies on the coasts of the
  Euxine sea,  near which this tower stands, were formerly so much
  dreaded.
    On the 1st of October,  in the evening, a large fire broke out in
  a village near Constantinople,  situated above the arsenal.   It was
  a truly grand and awful spectacle; but  the whole  of  the  damage
  was confined to the destruction of some houses.
    In the morning after this event,  I went to Constantinople, where
  I visited the mosque of Santa  Sophia, and the mad-house, situated
 at the extremity of  the Hippodrome, or Atmeydan.
   Santa Sophia, as has  been already mentioned, was formerly a
 Christian church, and  built by the Emperor Justin.  It was con-
 verted by the Turks into a mosque, still however retaining  its ori-
 ginal name.   This building, which always attracts the attention of
 travellers,  is a hundred and fourteen paces in length,  and eighty in
 bread h :  the dome,  which covers the centre of  the building, is in
 the form  of a half globe, rather depressed,  and is altogether sin-
 gular in its style of architecture.
   Within side the mosque there  is a porch  that  ranges  round its
 sides, which supports another gallery thirty paces broad, both vault-
 ed  over,  and supported  by  a  great number of beautiful  pillars,
 many of which are  of verd  antique.   These  columns uphold the
building.  You  arrive at the upper gallery by means of an easy,
winding,  but  paved  ascent  (or stair case),  up which horses  can
easily ascend.   At one end of this gallery there is an enclosed place,  '
with a gilt grating or lattice work, for the Sultan's use,  when he  .-
visits this mosque. 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C            53
  On the outside there are four tall minarets, or steeples, and foun-
tains where the Turks perform their ablutions always previous to
prayer.   Manv small lamps, Ostrich eggs, &c. are suspended as or-
naments  in the centre  of the mosque, the  part which the pious
principally occupy when at prayer.  The floor is covered with mats.
To enter this, as well  as all other  mosques, it is  necessary to be
provided with clean slippers  to pull  on over the  boots or shoes of
Christians, as the Turks will not allow them to enter without ob-
serving this ceremony.
  To procure admittance,  however, within the mosques,  a Frank
must be furnished  with a firman, or written authority from the
Turkish government;  but the Mussulman after all makes him pay
handsomely for the gratification of his curiosity.
   After having amused myself by  walking  through  the different
bazars,  I returned to Buyukdere in  the evening.
  On the 3d, in the morning, I called on Mr. Spencer Smith, the
British  minister, who  had just received the melancholy tidings of
the death of Major Fead, of the royal artillery.    On the 13th of
the last  month, being on board Le Tigre, commanded by Sir Syd-
ney Smith, he fell a'victim  to an attack of  malignant fever, in the
prime of life.  He was an active and zealous officer.
  On the 4th,  in taking mv customary ride to Chiflick, I observed
that the vintage was begun.  The inhabitants were all busied in
their vineyards, in gathering the grapes, which, having been picked
from the stalks, were  thrown into  barrels,  and  these laid across
the backs of  horses to be conveyed home.
  Our  final orders having been received on the 5th, to proceed to
Galata  on the following Monday, the 9th, we were busily employ-.
ed during the whole  of the day in the necessary  preparations for
our removal.
  On the 6th, in the evening,  I was present at another festivity,
that of  the marriage of the daughter of a  Mr.  Hidcy,  a Greek
merchant.  The young girls of that nation,  who were assembled to
celebrate the  nuptials,  were decked in their gaudiest apparel, and
the evening was spent in dancing and other  amusements.
  On the morning of the 7th, the officers belonging to the British
mission  left Buyukdere.
  On the 8th,  in the morning, I proceeded up the Bosphorus in a
boat as far as its junction with the Euxine  sea, and  landed at the
most distant village on the European  side,  where  the inhabitants
were busily engaged in salting a kind of mackerel  of a very large 
 54             TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

 size.   Near to this village,  upon the shore, there is a very capaci-
 ous lanthorn erected,  by the light of which by night vessels are di-
 rected into the Bosphorus from the  Black sea; so  named, I  ima-
 gine, from the black  clouds and stormy weather  which frequently
 come over this sea.  There is  a rock  standing in the water,  and
 contiguous to this village, upon which  formerly  (it is said) a pillar
 of marble stood, vulgarly called the pillar of Pompey.
  For some time  past  the  weather had  been  cold and rainy, the
 thermometer having been so low as 55.
  On the 10th, a modei of the upper castle at Sultania, or Chenne-
 cally, on the  Asiatic side of the Dardanelles, > made under the 6u
 rection of Lieu'ccnant-colonel  Holloway, with the improvements
 suggested by him, was presented to  his Excellency Hadgi Ibrahim
 Effendi, secretary at  war,  for  the Grand  Seignor.  1 should have
 observed, that those Mahometans  who perform the pilgrimage to
 Mecca, are ever after called hadgi's, or  pilgrims,  and much respect
 is paid them by the Turks.
  It may not  be improper in this place  to say a few words relative
 to the Turkish fortifications in general.   For the  greater part, they
 consist of old turreted castles, situated on eminences, and surround-
 ed by  high walls.   Little or no attention is paid  to the keeping of
 them in repair; and, as it is very much to be doubted whether they
 would be of any efficacy in  case of a foreign attack and invasion,
 they ought, rigorously speaking, to  be considered merely as so ma-
ny citadels,  to awe the inhabitants,  and to serve,  in cases of intes-
 tine commotion, as a  shelter for the weaker party.
  The Pachas of the  different  provinces, at whose charge these
 works ought to be supported and kept in repair, being quite uncer-
 tain how long they may be  maintained  in  the enjoyment  of their
respective governments, make it their sole study to enrich themselves
 as promptly as they can.  Indeed,  the  avarice and indolence  by
 which the Turks in general are so strongly characterized, and which
 effectually exclude all improvement, prevent them from bestowing
 either pains or expense on their  fortifications.   To these considera-
 tions may be added the fatalism they profess.   They declare them-
 selves sensible  of the approaching decay of their empire; but have
at the same time received an assurance from the Koran, that it is to
 rise again in greater splendor than ever. The supine and torpid state^
 in which they are thus immersed, can only be equalled by theipati-
ence and resignation which, under all misfortunes,  they derive from 
              SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.            55

the same source.   In each adverse trial they express themselves by
saying—" it is the will of Heaven."
  On the  subject of fortifications, they have  an ancient proverb
which says,  that " it belongs to  infidels to build, and  to Mussul-
" men to take them."  This, like all other proverbial sayings, had
onGe a ground for its support, but by no means applies to the pre-
sent condition of the  Turkish empire, and to  its relative situation
with the neighbouring Christiaji powers.
  On the  12th, in  the morning, our artificers embarked on board
the transport •, and  on that  day  a Russian fleet bound to Naples,
with troops on board, destined to form the body guard of his Nea-
politan- majesty, anchored in the harbour. On board this fleet were
two Englishmen,  one a  surgeon, the other a lieutenant, who had
been some years in the service of Russia.
  On the 13th, on my return from Chiflick and Galata, and after
having paid a visit to the  imperial palace, I went on board the trans-
port to see the convalescents.  Orders were given for the detachment
of artillery to quit Chiflick on the following day, and to march to
Buyukdere.  In the evening the officers of  the mission were pre-
sent at a ball and supper given at the Russian paladin compliment:
to the general of  that nation, who commanded the troops destined
for Naples:
   On the  15th  the detachment arrived at Buyukdere from Chif-
lick,  and on the 16th I rode to Belgrade, and returned to Buyuk-
dere : for several days past much rain had fallen.  I brought home
with me some of the air of Belgrade to examine.   The situation
of that place is delightfully rural, but  subject to intermittent com-
plaints,  occasioned  by the marsh miasma, exhaled from a valley in
its vicinity.   The house of the British minister stands on a higher
ground  than the other  buildings, and is consequently the  most
agreeable, as well as the most salubrious residence in the village.
  On the 17th, orders were  received at Buyukdere to embark the
whole of the detachment on the following Sunday for the Darda-
nelles.
  On the  J 9th, in the evening, we had a storm of  thunder and
lightning,  attended by occasional showers.
  On the 21st,  in  the. morning, I  left Buyukdere with  ths de-
tachment, which was, without loss of time, embarked  on board
the transport.
  The  wind being' foul, so as to detain the transport in the har-
bour, I had sufficient leisure, during the two succeeding  days, to,
visit all my friends and connections,  and to take leave. 
5*
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
                          CHAPTER V.

 Departure from Constantinople.  Voyage to Chennecally. Sestos and Abydos.
   Tower of Leander.   Arrival at Chennecally.  Join the  Capitan Pacha''
  fleet.  Visit of the officers on board the Sultan Selim.  Character oj the Capi-
   tan Pacha.  Present state of the Turkish marine.  Dishonesty of a Turkish |
   marine.   Visit to the ancient Si: aean.  Recovery of some curious remains if
   antiquity.  Description of the plain of'Troy, and the tombs of Achilles, Pa.
   troclns,  and Ajax.  Mount  Ida.  Description  of Chennecally.  CastUstf
   the Dardanelles.  Abydos.  Decapitation of a Turkish admiral. Dardanij.
   Orders received to return to Constantinople.  Arrival there.

     ON the 23d, the wind having become fair,  we  sailed from the
       harbour of Constantinople.    In  passing the seraglio point,
 we fired a royal  salute, and  came  to anchor in the  evening off
 Selyvrie,  a little beyond Buyukcheckmegi,  the pilot being appre-
 hensive that we-should otherwise reach the narrows before day-light,
 and that the safety of the vessel would thus be endangered.  Early
 the next morning we weighed anchor, and steered towards our des-
 tination.   During the  three  following days we were becalmed be-
 tween the islands of Marmora and Gallipoli.   In this interval a
 gunner belonging to the detachment fell a victim to a dysenteric
complaint.
   On  the 28th we anchored in the Dardanelles,  opposite Mito,ia
 the bay of Nagara.   We were  close in with  the  Asiatic shore,
 within half a mile of the ancient city of Abydos, and about two
 miles distant from the  castles of Chennecally,  to which we were
 bound.  The station we had taken up was truly classical, being ve-
 ry near the spot where Leander, if the poets may be credited, swam
 across the Hellespont to Sestos, to procure an interview with  his
 beloved Hero.   On the ancient medals of his native city Abydos,
 he is seen in the act of swimming,  and endeavouring to reach the
 tower,  on which, in  commemoration of this event, Hero after-
 wards placed a torch.  The vestiges of what is said  to  have been
 the tower, which in later times was employed  as a light-house,  are
 to be seen standing on a rock at the sea side.
   About  two- hours after  we had dropped our anchor,  the  ship
drove,  and we  were in  danger of being carried over to the opposite 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.           57
shore.   To prevent this we were under the necessity of cutting our
cable, and of making sail.  We anchored  soon after  withinside
the Capitan Pacha's fleet, and about two miles below the town of
Chennecally.
  On our coming to anchor,  we  saluted .the Capitan Pacha with
seventeen ^uns,  Our salute having been returned, he came along-
side the transport in a very beautiful barge, manned by a conside-
rable number  of rowers, and invited General Koehler  on board
his ship.   The invitation was  accepted;  and in the interview
which took place it  was settled, that on the following day all  the
officers belonging to the mission should be presented to the Capitan
Pacha.
   In  the  morning: of tl*e 29th, the General and officers went on
board the flag-ship, the Sultan Selim,  of one hundred  and thirty
guns.   They were there presented to the Capitan Pacha, by whom
they were received  with the utmost attention and politeness;  they
were  then entertained with pipes, coffee, and a variety of refresh-
ments,  and were treated, in addition to the  usual ceremony, with
tea a VAnglaise, out of an elegant and superb tea equipage.   The
Capitan Pacha  did  them  the  honour to accompany  them  to
every part of his ship, which they inspected  minutely, and ordered
his crew to go through the exercise of the middle deck guns. This
was done by the word of command,  and the manoeuvres executed
with the greatest precision  and regularity.  On his being compli-
mented on the excellent order and good discipline observed on board
his ship, he  handsomely declared, that all the merit was due to
Captain Samuel Hood, of the Saturn, who commanded  the station
off Alexandria, previously to the arrival  of Sir Sydney Smith.
On many subsequent occasions he has expressed his obligations to
that very meritorious  and intelligent officer, for the essential  im-
provements  which, through him,  he has been enabled to introduce
into his fleet.
   Kuchuk Hussein,  the present Capitan Pacha, or High Admiral,
was originally a Georgian slave,  and  being a great favourite of the
Sultan, with whom he spent his childish years,  was elevated to his
present office and dignity without  having served  in any subordinate
station  in the  Turkish marine,  in the amelioration of which, how-
ever,  he has displayed great zeal and ability.
   It may be recollected, that at the end of the contest between the
Russians and Turks, the marine of the latter was in a very wretched
condition.   Kuchhk Hussein has  since exerted himself, and not
                  (  8 ) 
 5^             TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

 wholly without effect, to place it  on a more respectable footing,
 Eeing divested of the prejudices by which the Turks in general are
 so powerfully actuated, he has, in concert with the Grand Seignor,
 introduced every innovation which could lead to improvement, and
 profited by every information he could collect relative to the more
 advanced state of naval science in the great maritime states of Eu-
 rope.
   It is somewhat singular that, notwithstanding the Grand Seignor
 possesses  more ports and havens than  any other European power,
 and is master of the Black Sea, the coasts of which supply him with
 materials for the construction of his ships of war, and although his
 capital is established on one of the  finest harbours in the universe,
 still his navy  has for a series of  years made but a very insignificant
 figure in the history of maritime nations.  There was a time,  in-
 deed, when it vied  with the navies of Spain, of Venice, and of se-
 veral other powers, then deemed of considerable importance by sea;
 but it has not kept pace with the progressive improvements other
 countries have made.  Under the present Capitan Pacha  it is now
 assuming a much more promising aspect.  In addition to the more
 advantageous system of naval  tactics he is gradually introducing,
 several experienced  ship-builders from England, France, and Swe-
 den, have been invited to the Turkish dock-yards, where they have
 recently built  several fine ships of the  line, together with frigates
 and smaller vessels.  Thus,  was there  not a probability that other
 causes may operate to the decline of the empire, there would be a
 prospect that the Ottoman navy might be raised  to that respectability
 to which  it seems naturally entitled;  for it should  be recollected
 that the Grand Seignor is the sovereign of  those nations, by whom
 the first rudiments of maritime knowledge were  taught, namely,
 the Phenicians, the Rhodians, the Greeks inhabiting  the coasts
 of the Archipelago, the Cretans, &c. nations from their local si-
 tuation destined, it should seem,  to  the science and practice of na-
 vigation.
 Levanti is the term which the Turks apply to the seamen of their
 own nation, as well as to all the foreigners employed in their ma-
 rine.   It would appear that  it is a corruption  of  the Italian lan-
 guage, being applied by the  Italians themselves to the inhabitants
 of the coasts  of Greece, and of the Archipelago,  whence  the
greater part of these seamen are procured.  They are in general a
very unprincipled and turbulent set of men, as was more particularly 
                SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.            59

 manifested in Constantin pie,  and in the suburbs of Pera and Ga-
 lata, a few days before the sailing of the Capitan Pacha's fleet.
    To return to my narrative.   On the 31st the officers and detach-
 ments landed for the purpose of putting into execution the different
 plans which had been laid before the Grand Seignor, and approved
 by him ;  and  he had given the necessary authority to have them
 carried into the fullest effect.
    On the 2d of November, the Phaton  frigate, Captain  Morris,
 arrived in  the Dardanelles, having on  boarJ his Excellency  the
 Earl of Elgin, his Britannic Majesty's ambassador to the  Sublime
 Porte,  with his lady and suite. The General and all the officers of
 the mission immediately went on board to pay their respects to his
 Lordship,  and compliment him on his arrival. The Phaton saluted
 the Capitan Pacha with nineteen  guns, which were returned by an
 equal number.   His Excellency,  together with Lady Elgin, Cap-
 tain Morris, and the principal  persons of the suite, paid a visit to
 the Capitan Pacha on board the Sultan Selim.  They were saluted
 on their way by both the ships; and accepted of the Capitan Pacha's
 invitation to partake of  a  Turkish supper.
    On the morning of the  3d, the Phaton frigate,  with the above-
 mentioned persons on board,  sailed for Constantinople.
    On the 5th, a serjeant belonging to the military artificers, in pre-
 paring money for the payment of  the detachment,  in the presence
 of a well  dressed galangis, or Turkish marine, quitted the  room
 for a moment, and  left  the money lying on the table.   On his re-
 turn, the galangis had disappeared with  an hundred and  twenty
 piastres.*   This circumstance having been made known,  and the
 person of the delinquent  described  to the Capitan Pacha, the galan-
 gis, from  a conviction that the inquiry which the Pacha had insti-
 tuted would inevitably  lead to his discovery, came on the second
 evening after to the General's  house, and confessed the robbery.
 The General, with great humanity, yielded  to his solicitation,  to
 endeavour, by  a timely interference, to save his life, and applied to
 the Pacha  in his favour.  Several days elapsed before this affair was
 brought to the conclusion which the General wished.  During that
 interval, from his anxiety  to prevent the  unfortunate culprit from
 being strangled, he had expressed some doubts relative to the iden-
 tity of his  person.  In reply to this, the  Pacha very handsomely,
»nd without hesitation, declared his full conviction  that the galan-
• A piastre U eijual to about one shilling and sixpence English, 
60             TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 gis in question had taken the money, as he was certain that an Engm
 lishman would not tell an untruth.
    On the 7th, at eight in  the morning, I accompanied the General
 and officers to  Koum Kali, which we reached between  ten and
 eleven o'clock.  We there paid our respects to the Bey, Adam
 Oglu, governor of the four fortresses, and of the district of the
 Dai aunclles.   He gave us a very civil reception,  and supplied us
 with  horses to proceed to  the village of Giawr-keuy, or Jamzari
 Cape, built on the site  of  the ancient Sigaan,  and standing on an
 eminence which commands the plain of Troy.  The purport of our
/ joun.ey thither was  to  procure a very curious bas-relief, and the
 celehiaiM Sigcvan inscription, for Lord Elgin, who had seen them,
 aiij was de. irous to  transmit them  to England.  To accomplish
   lis,  a firman was procured from the Capitan Pacha, who also fur-
 r.l-hed a chaous to be the bearer of it.  We were not long in  com-
 ing at these valuable antiquities, which we found at the entrance of
 a small Greek chapel.   The Greeks, by whom  the village was ex-
 clusively  inhabited,  were extremely  averse  to  their being taken
 away.  Their reluctance,  we were  told,  arose from a superstitious :.
 opinion they entei tainec:, that by  touching .these stones agues were
 cured.  We were,  however, more  fortunate on this occasion than
 the Count de  Choiseul Gouffier was  some  years before, in his at-
 tempt to  remove the marble containing  the  Sigtean  inscription.
 He failed, notwithstanding the firmans of Hassan Pacha, who had
 aided  him with  all his influence over the Greeks:  but our chaous,
 with  the Capitan Pacha's firman, effected his purpose.  The block
 of marble on which the Sigaan inscription, so frequently mention-
 ed by antiquarians,  is cut,  constituted originally the  pillar of an
 hermetic column.   The words of the inscription  itself are alter-
 nately written backwards and forwards, a peculiarity which  denotes i
 it to  be of the high.-v. antiquity.  On the  bas-relief we found five -
 figures very finely sculptured,  but the heads of which, with one
 exception  only, were unfortunately broken off.    As this curious
 remnant of antiquity has,  as well as the Sigwan inscription,  been
 since conveyed to England, any further details^ relative to it would
 be superfluous.
    We next visited the tumuli,  or barrows,  which  tradition has
 described as the tombs  of Achilles and  Patrcclus.   At some dis-
  tance from them we saw another barrow,  which isstvled the  tomj?
  of Ajax. 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.            6\
   The plain of Troy, over which we rode, is of very considerable
 extent, being about twelve miles in  length, and from five to  six
 in breadth.   It is fertile, and in  a good state  of cultivation.  A
 great part of the land is laid out in pasturage, on which numerous
 herds  of cattle browze.  The rivers Scamander and  Simceis run
 meandering through the plain; and near to their confluence stands
 the village  of Bourna  Bashi, on the  site, as is supposed, of  the
 ancient Ilium.  At an  inconsiderable distance from this village are
 to be seen the vestiges  of an ancient temple dedicated to Apollo,
 Several other small villages are interspersed. The Scamander being
 at present but scantily supplied with water, a part of its bed affords
 herbage for cattle.
   From Giawr-keuy we had a fine  and distinct view of Mount
 Ida, and also of the tomb from whence Polites, the son of Priam,
 reconnoitred the forces of the Greeks.   We were under the  ne-
 cessity of deferring till a more convenient opportunity our projected
 excursion to Alexandria Troas, or, as it is  now styled by  the
 Turks, Esca Stamboul.  We slept in  a house which the Bey had
 prepared for us.*
   On the 8th we  paid  an earlv visit to Adam Oglou,  who accom-
 panied us on our return to  Chennecally,  in compliance  with an
 imperious message he had received from the Capitan Pacha to repair
 thither.   On this occasion he was extremely dejected,  and appeared
 to labour under strong  apprehensions that his visit  to  the Capitan
 Pacha would be attended by very serious consequences.  Indeed he
 did not scruple to confess as  much to General Koehler, whom he
 solicited  to interfere in his behalf.   In this the General  was suc-
 cessful, but not before the Bey had been exceedingly alarmed at the
 appearances which  manifested themselves against him.   He had pre-
 viously declared to several of our gentlemen, that he had constantly
 at his command ten thousand fighting men, and that in (he space of
 three days he could assemble an army of forty thousand.  With so
 considerable'a force in  his  hands, such is the system pursued in
 Turkey, and such  the consequences to be  apprehended from a me-
 nacing message received from  a minister  or other person high in
 authority,  that Adam  Oglou found himself placed in a very preca-
 rious and hazardous situation.
  * For a more minute description of this highly celebrated spot, I refer the reader to
 the Remarks and Observations on the  Plain of Trey, published in i8co,  by Captain
 Franklin, in the service of the  East India Company; wherein the author expresses him-
 self thoroughly satisfied with the correctness of the poet Homer in his beautiful descrip-
tion of Troy. 
62
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
   In the afternoon  I made an excursion  of several miles into the
interior of the country.   Chennecally  is situated  on  the  Asiatic
side of  the Dardanelles,  in a flat territory, which extends for seve-
ral miles, and is terminated by a lofty chain of mountains reaching
from Mount Ida.    On the east and south-west sides  the  town is
surrounded by marshy grounds, which,  being contiguous to it, must
unquestionably subject the inhabitants to intcrmittents.  On the
eastern side there is a very fine grove  of sycamore trees.   About
eighteen months before the date of  this part  of the narrative, the
plague extended itself to Chennecally, and carried off daily from
thirty to forty of the inhabitants.   It is said that the  Dardanelles
are never infested by that disease, unless when  it rages with great
and uncommon violence at Constantinople.   A still more singular
fact has also been  stated, namely, that in  the  town  of Mito, on
the European side, and opposite to Abydos, the inhabitants are not
susceptible of the plague; and that  the infected persons, who have
occasionally been brought thither by stealth, have all recovered.
   The water in  Chennecally being brackish, and of a taste disagree-
able to the palate,  the inhabitants are under the  necessity of obtain-
ing their supplies from the neighbouring fountains. The surrounding
plain is in a tolerable state of culture, and abounds in vineyards, in
addition to which there is some produce of cotton, hemp, and diffe-
rent kinds of grain. Camels and buffaloes are employed for agricul-
tural and other purposes.   The town is filthy in the  extreme, the
streets very narrow,  and the houses,  which indeed resemble almost
all  those that are to be met with in the Turkish  towns and villages,
wretchedly bad.
  Game is in great plenty at Chennecally, as are also turkeys,  geese,
ducks, and fowls.   The mutton is of a good quality; and there is
a constant supply of excellent vegetables, as well as of fruits of every
kind, when in season.  We had not as yet  been able to ascertain
whether there was any public market for fish.   The wine made at
Chennecally is pleasant and cheap.
   At this place there is a manufactory of earthen ware, and ano-
ther for the preparation of the skins which are converted into the
red, yellow, and black Turkey leather, held in such universal esti-
mation.   Near this place  the Capitan Pacha brings his fleet to an*
chor once a year,  to collect, for  the   Turkish government, the
annual tribute from the adjacent districts.  He was expected to sail
for Constantinople in the course of a few days, 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.
63
   The Dardanelles are  principally  defended by  four castles, on
 which are mounted a considerable number of guns many of them
 of an uncommonly large calibre, having, in some instances, a dia-
 meter of  not less than thirty inches.   In one  of these guns a Turk-
 was seen  by our party, seated, and in the act of eating  his meal.
 One of the castles is situated at Chennecally, and  another on  the
 opposite side of the straits at Kelletbahar.   The other two are at
 the entrance of the Dardanelles,  one at Settelbahar, on the Eu-
 ropean side,  and the other at Koum Kali, on the Asiatic side.
   At the  time when Lieutenant-colonel Holloway and Major Hope
 were engaged in the survey of the castles and coast, a practice was
 made by the Turks from the great guns at Chennecally for the pur-
 pose of convincing the English officers  that their large marble and
 granite balls,  discharged a ricochet,* would reach quite  across the
 Dardanelles.  They  indeed furnished a melancholy proof of thisj
 a family of three individuals, sitting in a field on the opposite side,
 having been killed by one of the shots.
  On the  9th, in the morning, the  officers and men belonging to the
 British military mission assembled on the esplanade, to receive the
 Capitan Pacha,  who came thither in  state to inspect the nature and
 situation of the proposed additional works, which had been traced
 out  for  that  purpose.   He  was  saluted by  the men  of war and
 castles, his Kia Bey,  with a numerous  retinue, attending on  the
 beach.
   The inspection having been gone through, and the necessary ex-
 planations made to him, the Pacha paid many compliments to  the
 General and officers, and expressed his full and entire approbation of
 all  that was proposed to  be  done.    The  works were accordingly
 commenced without loss of time.
   On the llth,  much rain, accompanied with  thunder and light-
 ning having fallen the preceding evening, and the storm having con-
 tinued during the whole of the night, we experienced a very great
 and sudden change of weather.  The  wind had shifted to the north-
 east;  and as we were without fires, we found the cold,  which had
 come upon us thus  unexpectedly,  very unpleasant.   In  riding out
 this day,  I examined the spot  on which the ancient Abydos is said

  * In firing a ricochet, the piece is no more than half charged, insomuch that it car-
ries the ball  to a certain distance only.  In its full, the latter skips, rolU, and makes
rebounds (ricochets), as is the case with pebbles  thrown in a horizontal direction on the
 surface of the water, in skimming which they produce what by boys are called ducks and
drakes. This practice is employed to sweep and clear a covered way, a rampart, fco.
 and its inventioa is ascribed to the celebrated Vauban. 
64            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY*

to have been situated, and found upon it scattered fragments of
bricks, stones,  Sec.  which furnish an evident proof that it was the
site of some ancient  town.   Near to this  spot a late Capitan Pacha
erected a kiosque ornamented b? a fine fountain, and also a mosque.
The kiosque being situated at the head of  a bay, which, during the
winter mo.iths, serves for the anchorage  of the Turkish  ships of
war,  is a favourite residence of the present Capitan Pacha.
   On the morning of the 12th I rode to a Turkish village, distant
from Chennecally about three miles. It was of the same description
with the villages I have already noticed.   The late heavy  falls of
rain had set the country people to work :  while some of them were
busied in pruning their vines, others were employed in the fields in
ploughing and in sowing their barley.
   On the  15 th the Capitan Pacha,  who  had moved his fleet to the
bay of Nagara, near Abydos, promoted  one of his captains to the
rank of  rear-admiral.   We were given to understand that this pro-
motion took place in consequence of a Turkish admiral having been
decapitated for neglect of duty, in suffering Bonaparte to make his
escape by sea from Egypt.   The newly created admiral was saluted
on the occasion by the ships of the Turkish squadron.
   On the 18 th I received a visit from Dr. Rhazi, physician to the
Capitan Pacha, with whom I had made an acquaintance the prece-
ding evening at the house of the  Russian  consul. On the following
day,  after having accompanied him to the General's house, we vi-
sited together  two of the Turkish captains who were indisposed,
A confirmation of the  news  of Bonaparte's escape from Egypt
reached  Chennecally this day.
   On the 24th I walked to the site of the ancient Abydos, which I
had more leisure to inspect than on my first visit. In addition to the
abundance of fragments of bricks, and heaps of stones and rubbish,
which were scattered over the entire surface of the ground, I no-
ticed a small portion of a  wall of a tower of considerable thickness,
the only vestige of a ruin still standing.
   For several preceding days  the weather  had been cold, rainy, and
tempestuous, the thermometer ranging from 42 to 45 degrees.   1!
cleared up on  the  25th,  when I had a pleasant mornino-'s ride to
the spot where  the ancient Dardania stood.  On the ground I found
fragments of bricks profusely scattered.   These, together with the
stones and rubbish with which they were blended,  were irrefraga-
ble proofs of the remote existence of buildings on the s'jot, near w
which I observed the vestiges of an ancient fort. 
SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.
6$
    On the 2Cth I made an  excursion to the mountains, whence I
 had  the  satisfaction of surveying one of the most beautiful pros-
 pects imagination can paint.  In my rear was Mount Ida ; and in
 front the Dardanelles, together with  Imbros, Samothrace, and
 the Saronic Gulf.   Tenedos,  Lemnos, and the /Egean Sea, were
 to the left; and to the right Gallipoli, Marmora,  and other dis-
 tant objects.  The sun shining very bright, the tops of Mount Ida,
 and of the Samothracian hills, glittered with accumulated masses of
 snow.
   The Capitan Pacha  having this day given an order that several
 unserviceable  guns should be  broken in pieces,  the  Topgis Bashi,
 or commandant of Turkish artillery, took the following  method
 to carrv it into execution.   A large pile of wood having been laid
 on the guns,  was set fire to in the evening, and kept burning until
1 early the next morning, when an  account was brought that a Turk-
 ish gunner had been killed, and the Capitan Pacha's chief gunner
 wounded, by  the bursting of  one of the guns in  the fire.   In ac-
 counting for this  accident, various opinions  were entertained.   It
 was ascribed by some  to  the circumstance  of a  quantity of cold
 water having  been thrown on  the heated metal by the Turks em-
 ployed in the operation;  but  it  appeared to us  more probable,
 that, having neglected  to  withdraw the charge, an explosion took
 place on  the gun being heated.  Several  of the fragments were
 thrown to a considerable distance.   The  poor  Topgis Bashi was
so much alarmed  by  the disastrous event which had occurred, that
he immediately betook  himself to flight, as  did  also his brother,
from  an apprehension of the consequences  of the  Capitan Pacha's
displeasure.
   On the 30th the Phaton frigate arrived from Constantinople with
letters which occasioned the removal of the mission to that place, as
a step preparatory to  its being employed on some important service.
Orders were in consequence issued by the General that the officers
and detachment should  hold themselves in readiness to  embark the
following morning on board  the transport.  The wind being north-
erly,  however, there  was a prospect of our  being detained at  Chen-
necally for some days.
   On the 1st of December I embarked on board the transport with
my baggage; and on  the following day the officers and detachment
embarked.   The  General  was to proceed to Constantinople in a
Turkish boat.   In the morning I went over  to Mito, on the Eu-
                  (9) 
66             TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
ropean side,  and purchased a cask of wine at  six paras  the oke,
somewhat less than three pence English per bottle.   In the after-
noon we sailed  for Constantinople,  with a fair  and steady breeze,
and passed  Gallipoti late in the evening.   On the  3d  we entered
the Sea of  Marmora with  a fresh gale; and on the  4th  at  noon,
the transport anchored in Constantinople harbour.   On our landing
we found that the General was not yet arrived, which happened two
or three days afterwards.  The officers paid a visit  to Lord Elgin,
by whom we were invited to dine on the following day.
CHAPTER VI.
Reception at Constantinople.   Castle of the seven towers.  Palace of Belisa-
  rius.  Apprehension of the plague.  Execution of several Turks for robberits.
  The bans,  or residence of the Turkish merchants.  Sudden changes of wea-
  ther at Constantinople.   Fall of snovj.  Panorama of Constantinople.  Fa.
  tal effects from burning charcoal.   Seven ladies of the Grand Vizier suffoca-
  ted.  Use of the bath in Turkey.  Travelling in Turkey.  Singular religkus
  ceremony.  Different sects of dervises.  Intercepted dispatchesfrom /^French
  army.   The Ramazan.  Splendid illuminations.  Greek marriage.  Ceremo-
  nies on board a Russian ship  of war.  Feast of Biram.  The chief of tbt
  ivhite eunuchs.  Shock of an earthquake.   Violent changes in the temperature.
  Singular punishment inflicted on a Turk for assaulting an Englishman. For-
  midable  hordes of banditti in the vicinity of the metropolis.  Singular mode of
  communicating the plague to  a French officer.  Launch of a Turkish seventy-
  four.  Leander's totuer.  Tovon of Scutari.  Celebration of Easter  among
  the Greeks.  Daring robbery in the open street.  Severe execution of janissa-
  ries and seamen.  Capitan Pacha sails from Constantinople.  Beautiful ap-
  pearance of the  Asiat c  shore.   Feast  of the  Biram Courban.   Prayers on
  board the Turkish Admiral's ship.   Description of the mosques at  Constanti-
  nople.   Execution of the Pacha of Nicomedia.  Fete given by Lord Elgin
  on his Majesty's birth-day.   Preparations for the departure  oj the  mission
  to join the Grand Viziers army. Anecdote of the Grand Vizier.

     ON the 7th  of December I went over .to Scutari, where I was
       present at the burial of two persons who  were  said to have
fallen victims to the plague.   To denote  the cause of their death,
the bodies were  covered by a red cloth. 
                  SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.            6j

      On the 12th a grand diplomatic dinner, at which sixty-two per-
   sons were present,  was given by Lord Elgin.  'All the officers be-
   longing to the mission partook of this splendid fete. In the morn-
   ing I  inoculated Master Sydney Smith,  who  had been under pre-
   paration for some days.
     On the morning of the 14th I made a tour through the city of
   Constantinople, in company with Mr. Thornton, the English mer-
   chant, who,  upon a  variety of occasions, had  manifested much
   friendly attention to his countrymen.   The weather was  remarka-
   My fine,  but  at  the  same time colJ, it having frozen Jurin?; the
   night.  We took be/at at Galata,  and landed  within  a small dis-
   tance of the ancient castle denominated  by Europeans the Seven
   Towers, and  by the Turks Yeddikuli.   Four only  of  the towers,
   erected in the ancient wall, are left standing, the others having been
   thrown down by the great earthquake of 1768.*  From this place
  We prosecuted our walk without the walls of  the  city, and visited
  a Greek church,  and also  a Turkish cemetery, whence we had a
  fine view of the castle of the seven towers, and of the sea.  In the
  course of  our perambulation we saw the ruins of the palace of Be-
  lisarius, below which we at length took boat, and arrived at Galata
  in  the afternoon.f
    On the  15th 1 dined with the Danish charge  d'affaires,  Baron
  Hubsch, and in the evening paid a visit to the internuncio, who had
  a public night.  Much rain having fallen for several  days successive-
  ly, and the temperatu. e of the air being precisely such as to favour
  the production of the plague, I felt much uneasiness lest that terrible
  scourge should become prevalent in Constantinople before our de-
  parture.  My apprehensions were increased on the  17th, by an in-
  cident which happened to myself.   I had sent my boots to be re-
 paired to a shoemaker, at whose house I afterwards found the plague
 had'broken out.   In consequence of this event my boots were de-
 tained ;  and I learned on inquiry that the infected person had been
 conveyed to the pest-house.
   Several  Turks who had recently committed  robberies were ap-
 prehended on  the  18th,  and executed in a summary way.   They

  *^ Within these towers state and other prisoners are confined.   The resident French
minister, charge d'affaires, At Constantinople, with several other persons of the same na-
tion, were sent hither when the war broke out-between France and Turkey, and these peo-
ple were liberated from their confinement when the late peace was signed.
  f I am inclined to believe that the circumference of the city of Constantinople does not
exceed fourteen or sixteen miles, independently of the suburbs, which  apoear  nearly as
 »r»e as the city itself.
I 
68             TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,"
 were hung to door-posts, on which the bodies were to remain Sus-
 pended during three days as a public example.
    On the 19th I rode-through Constantinople to the Adrianople
 gate.  1 dined afterwards at  the  Crerman palace,  and went thence
 to the English palace,  where Lord Elgin had a public night.
    On the 21st, in an excursion through Constantinople, 1 inspected
 the bans, or, as their name impliesj public buildings, set aside for
 the Turkish merchants, who have small apartments for their resi-
 dence, and for the lodging and sale of their goods.   At the bottom
 is a large open square, and above a colonnade or gallery, which in-
r vests the whole of the building. This gallery Conducts to the apart-
 ments of the  merchants, which are  neat and commodious.   In
 Constantinople the hans differ essentially from those which are met
 with in travelling  through the different parts of Turkey,  the latter
 being in every respect inferior.   Those of the capital are in general
 spacious structures,  which  the  munificence  of  the sultans  and
 Turkish grandees  have supplied, for the advantage  of  commerce,
 and for public benefit.   Being constructed of stone, they are proof
 against fire; and in several of them there are three stages of apart-
 ments,  in which  the merchants who resort to  the capiral from
 every part of the Turkish empire, are,  as well as the commodities.
 they  have brought thither by  the  caravans, conveniently accom-
 modated.
    On the 25th, being Chris/mas day, all the officers belonging to
 the mission dmed with the General. The following day was warm,
 •and  remarkably fine, similar to  the weather in  England  in the
 months of May and June ;  but on  the 27th, the  chilling rains
 again set in.    These sudden transitions are very frequent in 'Tur-
 key, and certain!v have a strong  tendency to the  production  of
 disease. • 1 he rains continued to  fall at intervals for several succeed-
 ing  days, and  the air became cold and raw, the  thermometer ha-
 ying fallen from 54 to 40 degrees,  at which it stood on the 31st.
 It was most probably owing to this very unsettled  state  of the  at-
 mosphere that, on the day of the new year,  I was seized with ri-
 go:s, accompanied bv symptoms of fever, which  confined me for
 some time to my  bed.   In  the interim,  as the cold  became more
 intense,  the weather became more settled: during three days there
 was a constant fall of snow, and the thermometer stood at 16.
    On the 4th of January,  IS00, the Young James, an  English
 mcrchan'man, arrived in the harbour of Constantinople : she had
 on board Mr. Barker, junior, the draughtsman, the object of whose 
                SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C             6a

 voyage was to make drawings of the most interesting and striking
 views of Constantinople for his panorama.   I must add,  injustice
 to Mr. Barker, that he has been  extremely successful  in his  two
 views of that place, than which nothing can be more correct.
   Nothing material occurred  until the  8th,  when,  finding myself
 tolerably recovered from my late  indisposition,  1 dined with Lord
 Elgin,  and  returned  to  Galata  in the evening, in the midst of a
 heavy fall of rain.   Owing to  the unusual severity of the weather,
 and the want of fire-places;  the practice of burning charcoal in the
 apartments to heat them had become very frequent both among the
 inhabitants and strangers, and was  indeed in a manner indispensable.
 For this purpose  the charcoal was put  into earthern  pans,  called
 monguls,  from whence it exhaled its  mephitic vapouis, and  must
 have been productive of much mischief in close and confined apart-
 ments, if we could  judge from the effects it produced on us, who
 took every precaution to renew  the air.  The most sensible of these
 effects were headach, vertigo, nausea,  and a violent throbbing pain
 in the temples.  We found that fatal  consequences  had aireadv
 resulted from  this practice in the course of the present: eason,  several
 persons,  in whose  rooms  charcoal had been  burned  during the
 night,  having been found  dead the next morning.   Among these
 we were told of seven  ladies belonging  to the Grand Vizier, who
 had been found dead in their apartments a few mornings before, and
 whose death was to  be ascribed to no other cause.   Added to its
 usual noxious qualities,  the charcoal made in Turkey is extremely
 bad,  and by no means sufficiently  charred.       ,
   The natural small-pox had lately been very prevalent in Constan-
 tinople, and was extremely fatal in its  effects.  The great mortality
 it  occasioned  was in some measure to be ascribed to the  mode of
 treatment, and the methods employed.  The heat of  the apartments
 in which the sick were confined,  and  in which  charcoal and  other
 inflammatory substances  were burned, was equal to that of a hot-
 house;  and being extremely oppressive to persons in health,  could
 not fail to have a sinister tendency in cases of eruptive fever,  which
 required indeed a treatment altogether different from that which was
 pursued.*

 * The Earl of Elfin having happily introduced into practice the inoculation of Coiu-pox
 at Constantinople, the mortality from vari jIous disease will in future, I trust, be consi-
derably lessened.
 _ His Lordship began with the inoculation of his own child : the'disease, on its produc-
 tion,  was so extremely mild, that several Christian families speedily followed his Lord-
 ship's laudable example.  This success induced the  Turks to lessen their prejudices ■
and several instances occurred, before I quitted Turkey, in which they had submitted to
rr;e vaccine inoculation upon their children with the usual happy consequences. 
 70            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

    It was reported, on the 10th, that several persons had died of the
 plague in the quarter in which we resided.   The weather was still
 cold,  rainy, and unpleasant.
    On  the  1:5th, in the  evening,  a  party was  made  to the bath.
 From the following account  of the  processes  and  operations to
 which we were subjected, it  will be  seen that the employments of
 the baths in Turkey differs very essentially from our ideas of bath-
 ing.   It is a luxury which contributes at once to the health and en-
 joyment of the natives of the  east,  who may, perhaps,  the women
 especially, be accused in  some instances of employing it to excess,'{
 so as to induce a general debility of the system.
   We undressed in  an outer apartment, or vestibule, of a square
 form,  and very spacious  and  lofty, in  the centre of  which was a
 fountain,  round which wooden platforms were raised, and on these
 mattresses and pillows laid for the convenience of the persons com-
 ing out of  the  bath.   In this outer apartment the thermometer
 stood at 50; and my pulse beat sixty strokes in a minute.   I had at
 the time a slight headach. Instantly on my entering the inner apart-
 ment,  my body was covered by a suffusion of moisture.  In the cen-
 tre was a large marble'slab, raised about a foot from the ground, on
 which a coloured napkin was spread,  and another rolled up in the
 form of a pillow.   My companions and myself being now equip-
 ped, each of us with a napkin round  his middle, were laid down,
 and our joints kneaded and pressed by  the attendants, one of whom
 directed his  attention to each of the party.   During  this operation
 we perspired very copiously, at the  same time that the heat was by
 no means disagreeable.  We  remained  in  this apartment  twenty
 minutes, the thermometer standing at  117, and my  pulse  having
 risen to 120.  My headach was entirely  subdued.  We had now a
 Second process  to undergo, and  were  for that purpose conducted
 into another apartment, likewise heated by concealed stoves, the  ■
 stone pavement of which was so hot as to be very unpleasant to the
 feet, which  were,  however, in some measure  defended  by  a  kind
 of wooden pattens  with which we were  provided.  We were there'
 rubbed over with a glove,  or strigil, made of cloth  manufactured
 from camels' hair,  the friction  from  which was far from  disagreea-'  \
ble.   In the course of this operation,  large portions of the  cuticle
fell off.  We were now carefully  washed with  warm water, and
the ablutions and frictions continued  alternately for the space of se-
veral minutes.  The third and  last process  consisted in  our being
well lathered with soap from head to foot by the means  of a linen 
               SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY, &C.            71

 mop.  The suds having been washed off, we were nicely  enfolded
 with clean linen, and conducted to the outer apartment, where we
 had undressed ourselves.   Previously to  our quitting  the heated
 room,  I  examined the thermometer, which  stood  at   104.   The
 heat of the water employed in  the ablutions was 114  degrees, and
 my pulse rose to 128, being at  the same time full and firm.   We
 now lay down on the raised platforms I have before described, and
 on which clean linen was spread for us.   We were next presented
 with coffee and  pipes  of tobacco; and, finally,  our  bodies  were
 kneaded and pressed, with a view to the absorption of the perspira-
 ble  matter, which continued to  flow from us very copiously  for a
 considerable time after  we had quitted the bath.   It was no longer
 sensible at the expiration  of two hours, when we began to dress:
 I experienced, however,  at that time so great a  degree of thirst,
 that I was obliged to have recourse to a  draught  of water.   My
 pulse,  which was still firm and  full, subsided to 80; and my head-
 ach returned,  with a throbbing pain of the temples.  In returning
 home,  we took the precaution to be well covered.  We paid two
 piastres and a half  each at the bath.
   In Constantinople the number of public baths is very considera-
 ble.  Several of them, for the accommodation of the indigent, have
 been successively founded by the munificence of the Sultans.  The
 private baths are equally numerous, there being scarcely a house of
 auy respectability unprovided  with one  of them,  in  which every
 convenience is to be found.   This will  not appear extraordinary
 when it is considered that the practice of bathing, independently of
 its being a luxury so well  adapted  to the climate of Turkey, is,
 among  the Mahometan institutions, the one to which, from motives
 of cleanliness, the most strict observance  is paid.
   On the  15 th  I went on board the Young James, the English
 merchantman lately arrived, to visit a seaman who was dangerously
 ill.  On the 17th I went from Galata to  Constantinople,  where I
 saw  the Grand Seignor and retinue go in procession to the mosque.
 Preparations were making by the General and several of the officers
 to proceed to Syria by land;  and in the interim the transport  was
 ordered to  be got ready  for the conveyance of the remainder of the
 officers  and the<detachment, by sea.   It was evident that the over-
 land party  would have to encounter a very harassing journey,  and
 many difficulties.    Instead of  the  inns  which elsewhere furnish
solace and  refreshment to the wearied traveller, bans or  kanns  are
to  be found in  every  town, and  in the greater part of the villages. 
7^            TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
for the accommodation  of'both  nan and hcrse;  as, however,
no  dependence can be placed on  finding refreshments in  them,
the traveller is under  the necessity of providing himself with what-
ever may  be requisite to his support.   These kanns  are spacious
buildings,  having on each side a raised floor,  on which the travel-
lers spread their mats, or carpets, to repose themselves, while the
centre is occupied by the horses.  They are constantly open to re-
ceive those who are in need of an asylum for rest.-  In travelling,
the Turks are in general furnished according to their rank and con-
sequence,  and to the service they have to perform.  They are usu-
ally accompanied by  a Mikmendar, a  Chiaous, a Cavashc, or a
Tartar,  whose duty it is  to procure provisions,  and  provide every
thing requisite to the accomplishment of the journey.   Such, how-
ever j is the  rapacity of these attendants,  that,  often  not content
with having every necessary supplied by the needy and suffering in-
habitants,  they demand, what in  Turkish is  called kere el dars,
which  implies something for the use of the teeth.
   The 18th being her Majesty's birth-day,  I  was present at a ball
and supper given on the occasion by Lord  Elgin.  The company
was very numerous,  and the tables splendid and well served.
   On the morning of rhe 19th,  General Koehler, Major Fletcher,
Captain Leake, Mr. Pink the draughtsman, and Mr. Carlisle, from
the British ambassador's palace, all of them equipped as Tartars,
left Constantinople to proceed to Syria bv land.
   On the 20th I was present  at a religious ceremony of the  dervi-
ses, or Turkish priests.  The house in which they assembled wa»
of an octagon form, with two galleries, the upper of which, sup-
ported by pillars,  was occupied by musicians,  who played very soft
and solemn music.  In the lower gallery were stationed the Turks
and others  who attended to witness this  very  singular  service.
Round the apartment were hung in frames several Arabic senten-
ces,  one of which,  in particular, was suspended  exactly over the
head of the superior of the dervises.  He was seated;  and each of
the dervises, on entering,  bowed  to him, and then took his place
in the lower gallery.  Between twenty and thirty of  these  monks
being assembled,  the  superior repeated  a  prayer, during the con-
tinuance of which they kneeled, and bowed their  heads to the floor,
which they occasionally appeared to kiss. After they had chaunted
for some time, with the accompaniment of the  music in the gal-
lery, the superior rose,  and with a slow and  solemn  pace walked
three times  round  the apartment,  bowing when he  passed, the 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.
73
  Arakk\ inscription,  beneath which he had been seated.   The other
  dervi^'s now rose, and having  repeated  this ceremony after him,
  the niperior again seated himself.
    The strangest part of the service was yet to come.  The fanati-
  cal dervises next threw off their mantles,  and suddenly letting drop
  a kind  of cloth, or  woollen  petticoat, began successively to spin
  round,  each of them taking a  station, on which he continued to
 whirl, as if on an axis, during the spac.G of twenty minutes,  with-
 out coming in contact with those who were nearest to him.   In
 this exercise, in the course of which they turned round  with great
 celerity, to augment the giddiness which was to  produce a holy in-
 toxication,  they had at first their arms crossed,  with their hands
 placed on their shoulders.   As the velocity of their motion increa-
 sed, they  held them  up; and finally extended them in a  horizontal
 position,  but still without encountering those  who  were within
 their reach.  This  ceremony, which was  thrice performed, was
 constantly accompanied by the soft  music from  the gallery ; and
 throughout the  whole of it great  order  and solemnity  prevailed.
 The costume worn by these dervises is of a light quaker colour.
   There is another  sect of dervises  very different in their habits
 from those whose religious ceremonies  I  have just described, and
 who are styled Mewliachs.  These are the Tacta Tepens, or board-
 beaters,  the regulations of whose order are  still more  dismal and
 austere.   1 had  not an opportunity to be present at their devout ex-
 ercises, which, as 1 was told, require an exertion of the lungs equal
 to that  of the limbs  in the circular motions  of  the preceding sect.
 As,  in performing these motions, the Mewliachs acquire a greater
 energy in proportion  as the giddy intoxication increases,  and whirl
 round with more precipitancy, so the board-beaters, following each
 other with great solemnity round  their  chapel, repeat  aloud  the
 word Allah ! to the beat of a drum,  until its strokes are at length
 quickened  to such a degree, as to produce, in many instances,  by
 the streporous exertions with  which they are followed,  a spitting
 of blood.   The dervises in general are  regarded as prophets by  the
 deluded multi.ude.
  The  intercepted  dispatches from  the French  army of Egypt,
 which  have  been the subject  of so  many conversations, and have
been since given in an English  dress, were, on the 22d, brought
to Constantinople, having been forwarded to Lord Elgin by Lord
Viscount Nelson.
                 (  io)
                                             i 
 74            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

    On the 25th, Captain Lacy left Constantinopler with  important
 dispatches for the Grand Vizier.  Corporal Wilkinson,  belonging
 to the mission, hiy  at this time dangerously ill of a putrid fever.
    On the 28th, the liamazan, a Turkish fast similar to our Lent,
 commence.!,   it was to continue during a month,  in the course of
 which a most rigid abstinence was to be observed from sun-rise to
 sun-set.   In the evening I went to Tophana, to witness the illumi-
 nations, festivities, and popular amusements, which were to succeed
 to the penance of the day.   The sun was no sooner set than all the
 mosques of Constantinople,  and of the suburbs, were lighted up,
 both internally and externally, with coloured lamps.  The minarets,
 or towers, were also decorated in the same manner ;  and the effect
 of these,  and  of the o.her illuminations,  was very lively and  pic-
 turesque.  Taken altogether, it was one of the most splendid sights
 that could be witnessed.  I had taken my station very conveniently
 to enjoy all the brilliancy of the spectacle.   In the mean time no-
 thing was neglected whit h could tend to amuse and gratify the peo-
 ple :  the shops of the pastry-cooks and confectioners, together with
 the <~<\r7ee-houses, and other places  of public entertainment, were
 nicei\  decorated and lighted up, while exhibitions of low humour
 and buffoonery presented themselves at almost every step to attract
 the notice  of the populace.   The streets were.every where crouded
 with groups, whose festivities were to be prolonged until the morn-
 ing's dawn, when the fasting was to  recommence.    I did not  of
 course wait until the termination of the scene, but returned home
 after a most agreeable evening's entertainment.
   On the  31st I made an excursion to the towers situated on the
 banks of the Bosphorus.   On the 4th of February I had an inter-
 view  with  his Excellency Hadgi Ibrahim Effendi,  from whom I
 had received an invitation to  that effect.  On the 7th I went to the
 tower of Galata, where  Mr. Jlarkerv/as busied in sketching one
 of the views  of Constantinople for the panorama.   I was much
 pleased at  the .correctness and precision which he displayed in its
 execution.
   On  the evening of the 9th,  a Greek marriage was solemnized at
 the palace of the Russian ambassador.   It had attracted a very nu-
 merous and brilliant  company,  which  I found assembled.   The
 ceremony was performed  by  the Greek patriarch.  The bride and
 bridegroom were very elegantly dressed, as indeed was the case with
 the company in general, a great  profusion of diamonds being,dis-
played by the females.  The bride was decorated by long  flowing 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.            75
 streamers of gold tinsel, which, extending from the top of the head,
 trained on the ground.  She distributed to her young female friends
 portions of these streamers, a custom  which seems to correspond
 with ours, of giving white ribbons as wedding favourst  The cere-
 mony being concluded, the evening was sp-nt'in dancing waltzes
 and  Greek and  English country dances, after  which a splendid
 supper was given.
   On the following  evening a ball, at which I was present, was
 given by the bride's father,  M. Pisani, the principal interpreter to
 the British embassy ; and  on the 12th I was invited  to a ball and
 supper  given at  the German palace, to celebrate the birth-day of
 the Emperor of Germany.
   The weather had been for some time cold and raw, with occa-
 sional falls of snow;  but on the 14th it became more temperate, in
 consequence of the heavy showers which  had  fallen during the
 preceding night.   On the  15th, intelligence reached  Constantinople
 that a convention had been agreed to, by which the French troops
 were to evacuate  Egypt.   Bv  the same courier we  learned that
 General Koehler had reached Koniah,  in Asia Minor, after  having
 experienced many difficulties on his route thither.
   The 16th being the birth-day of Mrs. Spencer Smith, the lady
 of the British  secretary of legation,  there was a masked ball in the
 evening at the  German palace. Several of Che characters were sup-
 ported with much humour.    On the following evening a ball and
 supper were given by Lord Elgin in  compliment to the newly mar-
 ried Greek couple,   it was truly  the 6eason of festivities at Con-
 stantinople, both among the Christians and Mahometans.   With
 respect to the latter, indeed, not a night passes during the continu-
 ance of the Ramazan, without its being marked by some particular
 festival.
   On the 18th I  went on  board a Russian ship of war lying in the
 harbour, in the vicinity of Tophana, having received an invitation
 to a public breakfast given by  the captain, on  the occasion of the
 promotion  of one of his officers,  The reception  I  met writh was
 extremely  polite and attentive; and in the course of the, entertain-
 ment  some singular ceremonies occurred, which it will not be amiss
to detail.   Previously  to the breakfiist,  tongues and  liqueurs were
presented to us—a custom  which we were given to understand is
constantly observed by the Russians.   During the breakfast, which
was of the most sumptuous  kind,  several toasts,  given by the cap-
tain,  were  drank, and cheered three times,   The captain now en- 
76*            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

tertained us with a Russian dance, while a part of the crew, cieaaly
dressed for the occasion, sung to an  accompaniment of human
music.   After a short interval, die captain fell on  the  deck,  appa-
rently from accident,  when   the  singers took him in their  aruis,
and tossed him  in  the air, repeating  certain phrases.   Each of the
guests afterwards underwent  the  same ceremony.   The  next sin-
gular occurrence  was,  that,  on  the health of the Russian minister
at Constantinople being given by the captain, he  demanded  aloud
what others would do for him.    Instantly a Russian officer, and
nearly twenty of the crew,  jumped  from  the. cabin window into
the sea, with their clothes on.  The stern ladders were the only re-
source they had to get on board again; and on their  entering the
cabin with their wet clothes,  they danced round the captain,  occa-
sionally prostrating themselves at his feet.  On our  going  on shore,
the greater part of the barge's crew  threw themselves into the wa-
ter,  and swam  by her side until  we reached  the  beach.    A few
piastres distributed among them were,  as  I apprehend, considered
by them a sufficient recompense for the ducking to  which they had
subjected themselves.
   This being the season of the carnival, there were frequent mask-
ed balls at the palaces of the different ministers.   I was present on
the evening of the 19th, at one given by the Prussia?! emoy, which
was very fully attended.   On this and other similar occasions many
of t!;e characters were well  supported; and much mirth  ai.dfes-
tivity prevailed  among the guests.  The relaxations of the carnival
were rendered the  more striking  by the  tameness and  insipidity
which, at other times, characterized  the entertainments and amuse-
ments of the place in whic h we resided.
   On the 20th  a  fire broke out at Constantinople;  but it was very
speedily subdued.   About this time reports of the prevalence of the
plague were again abroad.   They were confirmed by the  repeated
opportunities I had  of seeing the  corpses of  persons whose  death
was ascribed to that cau?e, carried f^r interment, with the customary
sign or token of  a red cloth thrown over the bier,  and enveloping
the dead bodv.  At the burial  of one of these pestiferous subjects, a
few  days before,  1 was not  a little surprised at seeing one of the
men employed in  removing the corp ;e from the bier to  the ground,
previously to its being deposited in the grave, take,  with ali the in-
difference imaginable, between W.s teeth, one of the ends of the
red cloth in which it  was enclosed.   He did  this  to  raise up the
corpse the more readily, it being none of the lightest.   It was, ac- 
SYRIA, 5EGYPT, GERMANY,  &-C.
77
 cording to the Turkish custom, interred without a coffin,  and  na-
 ked, as isalmost invariably die us>age. Neither the corpse in question,
 nor those I had seen buried on former occasions, discovered any par-
 ticular marks differing from those which  manifest  themselves in
 cases of the fatal  termination  of malignant fever.   There was of
 course no appearance  of pestilential tumours.   Three houses ax Pe-
 ra,  in  which the plague  had  broken out a few weeks before,  still
 remained shut up.
   Precisely at two in  the  afternoon of the 23d, the Biram was an-
 nounced by the firing of guns.  This festival, which succeeded the
 fast of the Ramazan, was to last for three days, during which the
 Turks were  to feast, and to  indulge themselves in  every possible
 license, as a compensation for the severe penance to which thev had
 been obliged  to submit during the  preceding month.   On the fol-
 lowing morning, at four  o'clock, 1 went with a party to  Constan-
 tinople to  see the procession of  the Biram.   We found the streets
 through which it was to pass already lighted up, and all the neces-
 sary preparations made. Shortly after day-break the ceremony com-
 menced; and between six and seven  o'clock the Grand Seignor,
 richly dressed,  and attended by a  numerous  and splendid retinue,
 passed by the spot where  we had taken our stand.  Many new and
 elegant satin dresses were displayed on this occasion;  but as the ce-
 remonial differed but  little from the procession of the Biram cour-
 bam I  have already described, 1 shall dismiss  the subject by obser-
 ving, that the Capitan Pacha attended  with his chiaouses;* and that
 the  procession went,  as in the former case, to the mosque of Sul-
 tan  Achmet.
   In all similar  processions the Grand Seignor is preceded by the
 Capi Aga, or Capi  Agassi, a Turkish officer of high rank and dig-
 nity, and the chief of  the  white eunuchs.  He is governor or grand
 master of  the gates of the seraglio, attends constantly on the Sul-
 tan's person, and  introduces ambassadors to their audiences.  It is
 through the medium only of this officer that any person is permit-
 ted to enter the apartments of the Grand Seignor; and he constantly

  * The cbiaouses are a description of subordinate officers,  or messengers, acting under
 the Chiaous Bashi,  and  whose employment resembles in  some instances  that of our
 yeomen  of the guards, with this striking exception,  however, that they  hold  them-
 selves in constant readiness  to be dispatched to every part of the empire on public busi-
 ness, and are intrusted  with the firmans, dispatches, &c.   They likewise, precede the
Sultan, and great officers of state, either on  foot or on horseback,  v/ith silver sticks,
from  the top of which small balls of the  same metal aie appended, as a badge of their
office. 
 78             TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

 accompanies the latter when he visits the apartments  of the Sulta-
 nas,  taking  his station  withoutside  the door.  The Capi Aga, is
 without a beard and without mustaches, the  reason of which will
 be readily understood, when it is remembered that he is the chief of
 the eunuchs.   The  capigis, acting under him as porters, or door-
 keepers, are employed in the execution of a Pacha, or other person
 of rank,  who is to be poisoned, strangled, beheaded, cr otherwise
 taken off, according to the nature of his offence,  or the degree of
 consequence he may have possessed.
   During the latter part  of the month of February,  and the com-
 mencement of March, the changes of weather were sudden and
 extraordinary.  At intervals the snow fell in abundance, with a cold
 and raw air; while  at other times there was a considerable degree
 of heat in the atmosphere,  accompanied by heavy showers of rain.
 These unusual and frequent alterations  of  the weather were pro-
 ductive of catarrhs,  coughs,  and sore throats, which became very
 general in the Turkish  capital and suburbs.  The 7th of March
 being a very fine and warm day,  I took a morning's walk in the
 environs of Bishictash, and saw,  for the first time  during the sea-
 son,  several very young lambs.  Their  flesh  is  not allowed to be
 eaten in Turkey until the month of April.   Among the Mahome-
 tans there is an entire prohibition of pork, which is, notwithstand-
 ing, allowed to be brought to  market,  at  the commencement  of
 the spring season,  for the  use  of the foreign  ministers, and other
 christian residents.   This indulgence afforded us  an opportunity
 of purchasing a joint of  pork,  which, very unfortunately, we
 sent  to a Turkish  baker to  be  cooked.   The discovery which
 ensued had nearly  subjected us to some very unpleasant circum-
 stances ;  and the poor baker was made to pay a fine of twenty pi-
 astres.
   On the 10th, a slight shock of an earthquake was  felt at Galata,
   On the 12th the weather again became unpleasantly cold, with
 falls of snow: during the night the thermometer  was  below the
 freezing point.  This intemperature of the air,  which could scarce-
 ly have been expected in such a climate, now  that  the spring was
 fast advancing,  continued, with  almost unabated severity,  tiff to-
 wards the  close of the month; not,  however, without some of
 these  transitions which I have had such repeated occasions to notice,
and which were necessarily productive of many ailments.   It ap-
 peared that in Asia the weather  was much milder, and  indeed alto-
 gether different from that  which  we experienced at Constantinople; 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C            79
  for on the 23d,  I purchased several bunches of violets and narcis-
  sus flowers, brought from that quarter.  They  were at  that time
  sent in great abundance from the interior of the Asiatic territory to
  the capital; but  were no  where to  be seen on the banks of the Bos-
  phorus.
    A few days prior  to the  last  date  of my narrative, an incident'
  occurred which terminated in a singular way.   One of the men be-
  longing to the British  mission was, without any provocation on his
  side, assaulted by  a  Turk,  who attempted to stab him with his
  yatikan.   On a  report of  this outrage being  made to the Capitan
  Pacha, to whose retinue  the Turk belonged,  he came to a resolu-
  tion to have him decapitated, as an expiation of his offence.  By
  the mediation and entreaties of  Lord  Elgin,  a  mitigation of the
  punishment ensued:  the  Turk,  after having received fifty strokes
  of the bastinado on  the  soles  of his feet, was sentenced to twen-
  ty years imprisonment in the college of Pera,  to learn the Arabic
  language.
    Intelligence was received on the 26th,  that a formidable band of
 robbers,  in number  four or five thousand, had proceeded to the
 town of Burgas, which,  although  at a verv inconsiderable distance
 from the capital, they had ravaged with impunity.   Similar bands
 had, during our  residence in Turkey, infested the neighbourhood
 of Adriancple, and furnished a striking proof of the enfeebled state
 of the Turkish government, which permitted the high roads with-
 in a few leagues  of the seat of  the empire, to be beset  to such a
 degree  by these  hordes of  banditti,  that travellers  were at every
 step in imminent danger both of their lives and property.   It was
 however  reported,  that the Levant Chiflick  regiment was under
 orders to set out without delay for their dispersion.
   On the 28th,  further  accounts  relative  to  the  devastations  of
 these banditti  were brought to  Constantinople.   It was reported
 that they had  burned  several  villages, and murdered such of the in-
 habitants as had not had time to betake themselves to flight, toge-
 ther with the  young children.  The inhabitants of  the places  situ-
 ated within their  reach, were every where betaking  themselves  to
 flight; and a letter  from Ridosto  stated, that that place was croud-
 ed with people, who  had  come thither for  shelter,  or to procure
 boats to facilitate  their escape from  these ferocious bands.  The in-
habitants of Riduslo were employed in digging a ditch round the
town, and in contriving other means of defence,  being in the daily
expectation of a visit from them,  and of being  exposed to the alter- 
80             .TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,.
 native of paying the heavy contributions they exacted wherever they
 came, or, in case of their incapacity, of having  the  town burned,
 and themselves put to  the sword.  In consequence of the rapid pro.
 gress of these plunderers,  the Turkish government had at length
 come to a resolution to dispatch,  in their pursuit, from eight to ten
 thousand infantry and cavalry.  The precautionary  measure had al-
 so been taken,  both in Constantinople and in Pera, of apprehend.
 ing all those who were suspected  of having maintained a criminal
 intercourse with them; and such  as were found guilty were instant-
 ly hung  to a door-post, or tree, the bodies remaining suspended for
 public view during  three days.  One of these bodies was,seen hang-
 ing by several officers belonging to the mission, at an extremity of
 the subuib of Pera, in the vicinity of the plague hospital.
   On the evening of the 30th,  Major Bromley arrived at  Con-
 stantinople, with dispatches to Lord Elgin from Sir Sydney Smith.
 He was also the bearer of letters  from General Koehler, and from
 the officers by whom he was accompanied, dated at Cyprus, wherf I
 he had left them about a month before.  The General had forward-
 ed a letter to the Vizier, and was in daily expectation of an answer.
 The information received from  Mr. Carlisle purported, that he had
 embarked on board Le Tigre to proceed to the station  off Alexan-
 dria, at which place, I was informed by Major Bromley, the plague
 raged with great violence.   He related the particulars of the death
 of a brother of the French general officer, Julien,  who received
 the infection by taking a pinch of snuff from a box,  out of which a
 person who had  the plague on him at the time had also taken snuff.
  On the 2d of April 1 accompanied  Lord Elgin and his suite to
the arsenal,  to be present at the launch  of a ship of  seventy-four
guns.  We set out on horseback, at seven in the morning,  and
 were shewn into a kiosque,  which had been prepared for his Lord-
ship's reception.  The launch was announced by the firing of guns,
by music, and other public demonstrations ofjjoy ; and several sheep
were sacrificed on  the  occasion.  A  little after eight  o'clock the
launch took place, and  being conducted in a very masterly manner,
afforded us much pleasure.  The Grand Seignor, surrounded by all
th,e great officers of state, and 'Turkish grandees, was  seated in the
balcony of the Capitan  Pacha's ship.   The great variety of colours
which were displayed  gave an additional  brilliancy to the scene.
The Turkish mode of  launching  differs essentially from ours:  in
entering the water,  the ship carries with it a considerable quantity
of timber, which had served it for a cradle while buildinp- 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C*            81
    The launch being over,  we proceeded to a stone bason,N recently
 constructed by Captain Rowdey,  a Swedish engineer, the only one
 in the ports of the Turkish empire,  into which a ship of seventy-
 four guns was to be  received,  it being the first  time of its  being
 used.  The Grand Seignor went thither in  his  barge, which  had
 twenty four rowers,  and was about eighty feet  in length, with  a
 canopy richly and elegantly fitted up.  On his passing, a  salute was
 fired from the off side of the men of war.  Being landed, he took
 his station at  the window of a kiosque, fitted up expressly for the
 occasion, in the vicinity of the bason.  The ship was with great ad-
 dress conveyed into the bason;  and,  on the whole being concluded,
 both the  ship-builders, and those  by  whom the bason had been con-
 structed,  were complimented with pelices of different values,  and
 other presents.   Several caftans were also distributed.
    In the vast concourse of persons assembled to witness the launch,
 and the operation which followed, there were many Turkish wo-
 men, who  were, however,  separated from the  men.   Notwith-
 standing every part of  the harbour was covered with boats filled
 with spectators, we did not hear  of  any accident having occurred;
 neither did we witness the smallest confusion.  Much of the praise
 was due to the Capitan Pacha, who  was extremely active through-
 out the whole of the  business,  and who every where enforced obe-
 dience, and maintained good or.lcr.  The ship which  was launched
 had been  ready several weeks before; but it had been deemed expe-
 dient to delay the launch until a  favourable report should be made
 by the  astrologers and dealers in magic,  who at length  predicted,
 that the 2d of April  would be  a  favourable  day'for that  purpose.*
 She was constructed by Monsieur Le Brim,  a French builder.
   On the 5th, in a morning's walk  in the environs of Bishictash,
 I went  into a  house where the  kymack was prepared daily,  to see
 the process  employed in making it,  which is as follows:   Large
 shallow vessels of copper having been filled with new milk from
 the cow, are placed over a gentle wood fire,  and the milk kept sim-
 mering  for the space of twenty-four hours, when the fire is remo-
 ved, and the milk allowed  to cool.   On rhe following day the sur-
 face,  which has assumed a  consistent form, is taken off, cut into
 small portions, and rolled up fur use,   This is rhe kymack, which
 is so generally employed,  and so  highly esteemed in Turkey.   It

  *  It is scarcely  credible that such Folly srnuld exist in any part of Europe at the close
01 the eighteenth century.  Can such a people be formiJable?
                 ( " ) 
#2            TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
is an excellent substitute for butter;  and is eaten by some with ho-
ney or sugar, by others with salt.  The process I have just descri-
bed has some affiuitv to that employed in making the clotted cream,
which is to be met with in the western counties of England.
  On the morning.of the 6th, General Koehler and Major Fletcher
returned to  Constantinople from Cyprus.  The  weather,  which
had been cold and ungenial for a considerable time past, and  which
was still so on the i)th, suddenly became fine  and warm,  insomuch
that on the following day the transition was so great as to resemble
a rapid passage from winter to summer.  Such a change was  indeed
much wanted, great numbers of persons,  both in the capital and
suburbs, labouring under complaints which evidently resulted from
the late uncommon rigour and inclemency of the season.
  On the 13th I went  in a boat with the Rev. Mr. Hunt,,chaplain
to  the British embassy, to  Leander*s tower, situated on the Bos-
phorus, between Scutjri and Constantinople.  We sought the well,
or spring of fresh water,  which history reports to have  existed
there,  but could not discover the smallest  traces  of  it.  We were
led, therefore, to consider this tradition as apocryphal, and to infer,
that if fresh water was at any time found there,  it  was  owing to
the rains.  The persons who resided in the tower were obliged to
procure from a distant  spot their supply of water, which I  tasted.
They conducted us to the part which is occasionally lighted up, to
direct, by night, the vessels sailing into the harbour.  It was from
this tower that Mr. Barker made one of his  views for the panora-
ma;  and it afforded us a delightful  prospect  of the city, suburbs,
and surrounding country.   The seraglio more particularly was seen
with a  charming effect from  this commanding  eminence.  After
having satisfied our conductors, we went in the boat to Scutari, an
ill  built town, with narrow, winding streets, or rather lanes, which,
as  it presented nothing  that could gratify the  traveller's notice, we
soon quitted, and returned to Galata.
  I was told, that at Brusa, in Asia Minor, a town situated at the
distance of  a day's journey from Constantinople,  there are hot
baths  and mineral springs, which are found extremely useful  in the
complaints prevailing in Turkey, more especially in  the rheuma-
tism ,  and that many persons, having great confidence in these wa-
ters,  went thither, during the month of May, from the capital, to
spend two or three weeks.
  On the 15th accounts were brought  to  Constantinople that the
Levant Chiflick regiment, which had been sent against the  bands, 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C           8j
 of robbers who infested Ronielia, had succeeded in dispersing them,
 but that the commandant of the  regiment,  a German,  had been
 wounded.
   On the 21st the weather  was oppressively warm.   I  walked to
 the cemetery withoutside of Pera, and was  there witness to a very
 pleasing and novel scene.   It being the  Easter of the Greeks, a-
 musements of every description were exhibited; and the  colours
 and varieties of the costumes displayed  by the immense crouds, of
 persons collected together, rerideicd the spectacle highly interesting.
 There were wrestling matches, stalls filled  with swectmears  and
 sherbet, and groups of persons seated on  the grass, playing at dif-
 ferent games of chance,  while others were engiged in dancing in
 rings, to the music of an instrument not unlike our bagpipe. This
 scene reminded  me of a country wake in England,  to which  it
 would  have borne a still stronger  resemblance,  if a considerable
 number of frying pans had not given it somc.\hat the  odour of our
 Bartholomew fair.   They were employed, not for frying sausages,
 but liver, lights, <kc.
   On every such day of festivity,  the  Greeks,  of course,  display
 their best dresses, which, in many instances, are both tasteful  and
 costly.  The  sobriety of their demeanour cannot be equally com-
 mended; since it too frequently happens that,  by launching out in-
 to every excess, they require the interference of the Turkish guards,
 stationed purposely to repress the tumult and disorder in which the
 giddy scene may chance to  terminate.
   During their lent they subsist on oil and fish,  observing  a most
 rigid abstinence.   I  have been told that  this diet is,  both  among
 them and the Armenians, productive of herpetic complaints, scro-
 phulous affections,  ophthalmies, and several  other diseases.
   On the 23 th I walked out with a party,  with the  intention of
 crossing over to Constantinople,  to  make an excursion  round the
 walls.  On our reaching Tophana,  we  witnessed a most daring
 robbery  (committed in the open street, at eleven in the  morning,
 and in the presence of many persons  who  were passing at the time*
 by two galangis (se:u k-ii) belonging to  the  Capitan  Pacha'j fietf.
 They attacked an Armenian,  from whom they  took  two sequins,'
 and were proceeding to rifle  him still  further on our coming up.  We
 were armed ; and on our manifesting our displeasure at the conduct
 of these villains,  they suffered the  Armenian to depart,  but not
until  they  had forced him  to kiss one of them, as a  token of ac-
knowledgment for their forbearance.   In passing through the same 
84             TJLAVEL3 IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
street,  for the distance of a quarter of a mile,  the people were as-
sembled, and on the look out,  but dared not take any steps to ap-
prehend  the lobbers.   This is one of many features which might
be recorded of the shameful negligence and inattention of the Turk-
ish government.  The galangis in question afterwards robbed two
women at Galata; on our reaching which place we were informed
by Messrs.  Chandler and Whiteman,  belonging to the mission, in
the qualities of commissary and assistant commissary, that they also
had been robbed there, near the tower.  The crews of the men of
war belonging to the fleet, which was preparing to sail, had for se-
veral  oays  kept the  inhabitants  of Constantinople, Galata, and
Pera,  in a constant state of alarm,  plundering  and assassinating
with impunity all whom they encountered, and who were incapable
of defence.   Their excesses are always most to be dreaded when
the fleet is on the eve of its departure, at which time the inhabitants
constantly take the precaution to shut their shops, to guard as much
as possible against their lawless excesses. On the above occasion we
relinquished the plan of our excursion to Constantinople, which we
now considered as  too hazardous.
   It was announced on the 26th, that Seid Ali, a Turkish rear-
admiral, who had been sentenced to  be decapitated, had, through
the humane interference of Lord Elgin,  the  British ambassador,
had this capital punishment remitted,  on condition of his being ba-
nished to the island of Cyprus.   A considerable number of janissa-
ries and galangis, amounting, it was  said,  to an hundred and twen-
ty or an hundred and thirty,  were executed about this time, in con-
sequence of the atrocities lately committed by them in  the capital
and suburbs.  A timely prevention of the crimes of which they had
rendered themselves culpable, would have been better than this tardy
punishment.
   On the 28th a  present was received from the Capitart Pacha, for
the widow of the late brave and meritorious officer, Captain Mil-
 lar,, of his Majesty's ship the Theseus, who lost his life on board
 that ship on the coast of Syria, by the bursting of several shells.
 This present was given in acknowledgment of the services which
that much  lamented orhcer  had rendered  to the Turkish govern-
 ment.
   On the 29th the squadron of the Capitan Pacha, consisting of se-
ven ships of the line, four ships of fifty guns, and seven frigates and
smaller  vessels, sailed from  the  harbour of Constantinople for
Egypt. On its way it was to touch at Gallipoli, and several  other 
SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANYj &C,            85
 towns  in the Turkish provinces, to levy contributions, and take in
 a supply of biscuit for the voyage.
   The weather was at this time become  warm, settled,  and agree-
 able.   In the course of  the morning, a party being made, we took
 boat, and crossed over to Asia.  We landed  near  the ruins of an
 ancient imperial palace,  over which we walked.   On our penetra-
 ting into the country,  we  found  the  state of vegetation several
 weeks more advanced than on the European side.  The fields were
 overspread  with flowers and odoriferous  shrubs  in bloom; the
 wheat was already formed  in  the ear;  and the grass in  the mea-
 dows nearly fit for mowing.   In short,  the general appearance  of
 the country, and the smiling and verdant scenes by  which we were
 surrounded, formed altogether a striking contrast  to  what we had
 recently contemplated on the other  side of the water.   We walked
 over the plain  of the ancient Chalcedon,  on  the sire of which
 stands a Turkish village, called Cady Kui.  There, beneath the
 shade of the branches  of a fine oriental plane tree,  we took our
 coffee on the grass, absorbed in the contemplation of the objects
 by which we were encompassed.   In addition  to the  fine prospects
 which the interior of the country afforded,  we had a distinct view
 of the  gulf  of Nicomedia,  and  of the Dcemonesi, or  Princes'
 Islands.  If we could judge from the numerous groups of men and
 women scattered over this delightful country, it must have been well
 peopled. Among them I saw, for the first time, a Turkish woman
 at her prayers, in the open field.  Such  an incident, which is very
 common among the men, very  rarely  occurs  among the females.
 Towards the afternoon the weather became oppressively hot; and
 this hastened our return at three o'clock, when we  took boat  to
 cross to the European side.
   On  the  30th letters  were received  from   Captain Lacy, and
 from Mr. Morier, secretary to Lord  Elgin, who had spent some
 time with the Turkish army,  with the  details of the defeat of the
 army of the Grand  Vizier,  by the French troops commanded by
 General Kleber.
   On the 1st of May, garlands of flowers were hung over the doors
 of several houses, in the suburb in which I resided,  in commemora-
 tion of the day.  I was told that in several parts of Turkey, more
particularly at the Princes' Islands, this festival was celebrated by
rhe Greeks and others by great public rejoicings.
  On the following day,  in walking through the streets in the vi-
cinity of Tophana, I  saw a great number of sheep collected in pens 
86             TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 for sale, as is the custom in England.   This was preparatory to the
 feast  of the Biram  courbam, when every Turk of any rank or
 condition was to sacrifice  a sheep,  and,  having eaten a portion of
 it,x  to distribute the remainder to the poor.
   On the  4th  the festival of the Biram courbam,  which has
 been  already described,  commenced.   As soon as the new moon
 was discovered, by. men stationed  expressly for that  purpose, it
 was announced to the people by discharges of artillery,  musketry,
 &c. On this day it was lawful  for the  Turks to begin to eat lamb;
 and accordingly I saw several flocks of young lambs driven into the
 capital.
   On the 5th, advices were brought fiom Palermo of the capture
 of the Guillaume Tell, a French line of battle ship,  by the squa-
 dron commanded by Lord Nelsoyi.
   I pass  over the occurrences of  the succeeding days, as being of
 but trifling import,  and proceed to  the 17th, when several of the
 officers of the mission, in the number of whom I  was compre-
 hended, accompanied  Lord Elgin, the British ambassador, with
 his band of music, on board a  ship of the line  commanded by Ali
 Bey a Turkish admiral.   During the entertainment, which was
 conducted in the usual Turkish style, his Lordship's band continu-
 ed to play until sun-set, when the admiral ordered the whole of his
 crew to  prayers,  and  invited us to be present at the ceremony.  It
 was conducted with great solemnity and decorum;  and the various
gestures, attitudes and prostrations observed by the Mahometans at
 their devotion, were performed  with the utmost regularity and pre-
cision by every individual belonging to the crew,  so as to have a
very striking effect.
   Aiirman, or written order from the Suhan, having been procur-
ed for that purpose, a party was made on the 18th to visit the in-
 terior of the mosques at  Constantinople.   The ornaments are ex-
 tremely simple, consisting principally  of  large  marble tablets,  on
 some of which are incribed  Arabic sentences, and passages from the
Koran, while on  others  the  names of  the Deity, of Mahomet,
and of his principal disciples and  successors, are written. The domes
are in general, and more particularly that of the mosque of Sand
Sophia, wrought  in mosaic, which the  barbarism of the Turks
has, however, in a great measure, defaced :  beneath them are sus-
pended great numbers  of coloured lamps,  interspersed with gilt or-
naments.   Several leading passages of the Koran, before which
the Turks make genuflexions,  and pray  with  great fervency, ar§ 
               SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.            87

 hung up near the  pulpit,  behind which is the  sanctuary.  Ad-
 joining to the great corridor there is a chapel;  and a gallery, ap-
 propriated to the women, surrounds the whole  of the  interior  of
 the building.  The nave is supported by columns  of porphyry,
 granite, &c.
   The Pacha of  Nicomedia, Hussein Pacha, on his return to Con-
 stantinople from Ridosto, whither he had been sent some time be-
 fore for the purpose of dispersing the bands of robbers collected  in
 Romelia, was decapitated on the 22d.   On this occasion a remar-
 kable instance of Turkish  duplicity occurred.   His reception by
 the Kia ma kan,  on his reaching the capital,  was highly flattering ;
 and he was invited by him to proceed to the seraglio,  and there re-
 ceive the rewards  due to  his good and meritorious conduct.  On
 his entering, however, the gate  of  the seraglio, after the Kia ma
 kan had saluted  him, and wished  him  a good morning, he was
 seized by the  guards, and instantly decapitated.   It was reported;
 that he had been guilty of several gross acts of misconduct; and it
 was urged,  among other accusations,  that he had not  opposed  so
 effectual a resistance to the banditti as he might have done; and that
 he had  levied heavy contributions on the inhabitants of Ridosfo, and
 of the  other towns of Romelia.
   On the 26th General Koehler,  and all the officers  belonging  to
 the mission, went  in procession  through the streets  of  Constan-
 tinople to the Porte.  Several horses richly caparisoned, under the
 charge  of one of the Grand Seignor's equerries, and led by as ma-
 ny sais, or  'Turkish grooms, were, together with a party of janis-
 saries, and other troops, in  waiting at the landing place to conduct
 them to the Porte,  on their  reaching which, they were presented
 to the Reis  Effendi.  Kia ma kan, and Kiabey,  each in his particu-
 lar apartment.  After  the usual compliments had been  paid them,
 the General and Lieutenant-colonel Holloway were invested with
 pelices,  and the other  officers with beniches, or robes Of honour.
 Embroidered handkerchiefs, and other presents, were also distribu-
 ted.   Having taken leave,  they returned  in procession, observing
 the same order as in setting out.  This visit of ceremony had been
 appointed by the Porte, previously to the departure of the mission
 tor Syria, to join the army  of the Grand Vizier,  for which pur-
 pose the detachment was under orders to embark on board the trans-
port.
  On the 4th of June a superb fete, in honour of his   Majesty's
birth-day, was  given'by  Lord Elgin.   On this occasion  all the 
88           TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,

members of the diplomatic body,  with their families, were invited,
and a very select and fashionable party formed.   In the front of his
Lordship's palace at Belgrade,  a booth  was fitted up, and the roy-
al standard displayed.   The  awning and avenues leading to the pa-
lace were fancifully decorated with branches of oak, and festoons of
flowers; and in the centre of the table, within the tent or booth,
a bank of flowers was disposed, the top of the tent itself being or-
namented  with festoons of rose  branches. Precisely at three o'clock
the dinner, which consisted  of every delicacy the season could sup-
ply,  and the place afford,  and to which more than an hundred per-
sons sat down, was served.  Before the desert was  placed  on the
table, the  King's health was given; and on this signal his Lordship's
band  played  God save the King,  the  company joining in the cho-
rus.   This was followed  by three cheers,  all the guests standing
up;  and next succeeded a  salute of  twenty-one maroons.  After
dinner the company withdrew  to the palace, where  several select
pieces of music were played by the band; and in the evening the
country dances commenced beneath the tent.  At eleven o'clock a
cold collation was served; and the entertainment was concluded by
country dances, which were continued within the palace  until two
in the morning, when the company broke  up, highly gratified by
the amusements of the day,  which were rendered still more plea-
sing  by the fineness and serenity of the weather.  The effect of the
dances beneath the tent was  singularly picturesque.
   Our departure for Syria having been seriously decided on by the
Turkish government, the  men belonging to the mission were about
this time embarked on  board the  transport.   The wind,  however,
continuing contrary for some time, the officers did not embark un-
til the 13th.   On our quitting Belgrade for that purpose, we were
accompanied to the transport by Lord and Lady  Elgin,  who took
their leave of us in a most cordial and  friendly manner.   All our
arrangements having been made, we waited for a favourable breeze
only to succeed the calm which prevailed, and to convey  us safely
out of the harbour.
   Before  I take my leave, for the present, of the capital of Turkey
I must intrude upon the reader's patience to introduce an anecdote
tending to shew that the Turkish empire has produced men  not de-
ficient in judgment and acute penetration, who,  with minds better
cultivated, would be the boast and ornament of any nation  whate-
ver.   A case of usury was brought before the Grand Vizier.  A
Turk had lent to another a sum of money  equal to a  thousand 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.
89
pounds sterling, at an interest which was immoderate even in this
country,  where the legal interest,  in some  instances,  amounts to
twenty per cent.  The borrower kept this money in use during ten
years,  when he refunded it to the lender,  but refused to pay the in-
terest,  on the ground of its illegality.  The Grand Vizier acknow-
ledged  the justice of his plea; but  with great ready wit, and a nice
discernment of the case, ordered him to  lend to the Turk, whose
debtor  he had been,  without interest,  an equal sum for the  same
•space of time.
                       CHAPTER  VII.

 The mission set sail from Constantinople.  Anchor at Princes' Islands. Visit to
  Adam Oglou.  Greek islands.  Description  of Patmos.  Stancho.  Im-
  mense oriental plane-tree.  Cyprus ; description of that island.  Plague of
  locusts.   Arrival at Jaffa j description of that place and its vicinity.

     NOTWITHSTANDING the wind which had sprung up was
       unfavourable, such was the anxiety expressed by  the Porte
 for the departure of the mission, that we were in a manner obliged
 to get  under way on the 15th.   We were provided with firmans to
 the different Pachas and Agas- of the islands  at which  we might
 have occasion to touch, with instructions to  afford us every possible
 assistance,  and to furnish  such supplies as  might tend to facilitate
 the object of our voyage.
  At half past ten in  the morning we weighed  anchor,  and sailed
 from the harbour of Constantinople;  but the wind falling off, could
 not proceed further than Princes'1 Islands.  At  three in the after-
 noon we anchored between Antigone and  Kirka, which  form a
 part of the group, and are  situated at a small distance (eight or ten
 miles)  from the Seven Towers.   In the vicinity of the safe and
 commodious harbour in which we lay,  at  the  back  part  of the
 island of Antigone, we perceived a small village, inhabited entirely
 by Greeks.  This was an inducement to us to go on  shore in the
 evening,  when we found the heat extremely oppressive.
  On the 16th,  the wind  having  shifted  to the  northward, W3
weighed anchor, and sailed  with a fresh breeze,  which continuing
 to favour us, we described Gullipoli,  at nine in the morning of the
                 ( 12 ) 
 QO             TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

 17th, and by eleven o'clock were past  that town.   We saw the
 wreck of a Turkish man of war, which had been cast away some
 time before, lying in the bay.   At half past one we anchored op.
 posite to Mito, and  close  in  with  Abydos, in the  Dardanelles.
 We were to remain there two days, to take on board our stock, and
 other necessaries for the voyage.  An English merchantman,  the
 Southwold, on her way to  England, anchored near us in the after-
 noon ; at which time the son  of the consul of Chennecally came
 on board, and informed us, that an imperial ship from Alexandria,
 having the plague on boanl, was at anchor on the  other side of
 Chennecally.   The captain and several of the crew having already
 fallen victims to  that disease, every communication between the
 vessel and the shore had been cut  off.
   On the 18th  we paid a visit to Adam  Oglou, who was then at
 Chennecally, by whom we were invited  to dine on the following
 day.   In the evening a Tartar arrived with dispatches from Lord
 Elgin to the General.
   On the 19th, agreeably  to our invitation, we set out on our visit
 to Adam Oglou, the  General and a part of the officers proceeding
 thither by water, and  the others on horses richly caparisoned, which
 the Bey had  sent for our accommodation.  We met with a very po-
 lite reception; and shortly  after our arrival, pipes and coffee were,
 as usual, presented to us.   The dinner, which was similar to those
 I have already described, and in  the course of which wine was
 handed to us, was served about noon.  It consisted of fifteen dishes,
 which presented a great variety of Turkish cookery, and the last
 of which was, according to custom, a mess of  pilaw.  Before we
 sat down to  dinner, and after the repast was concluded, soap and
 water were  brought to us,  to wash our hands:  this is a point of
 cleanliness which the  Turks never neglect.
   Pipes and coffee having been again brought in, a party of Turk-
 ish wrestlers, about fourteen or sixteen in number,  naked, and be-
 smeared with oil, according to the usage of the country, exhibited
 in front of the  Bey's  house.  Before they commenced, a herald
 proclaimed the combat,  describing the opponents,  and expatiating
 on their skill  in wrestling.   This amusement, to which the Turks
 are very much attached, requires in the  performance a great share
 of strength and  address.   As soon as one of the combatants had
 thrown his adversary on his back, he received from Adam Oglou
a present of ten piastres.   We staid with  the Bey till near four 
SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.            pi
 o'clock, when we took our leave, and proceeded to the beach near
 Abydos, whence we went on board the transport.
   During our stay, Mrs. Koehler was in the Harem.  We learned
 from her that Adam  Oglou's wife was very richly dressed, and car-
 ried about her a profusion of diamonds.  Mrs. Koehler was attend-
 ed by the wives  and  female relatives of the consul.
   During the night it blew a strong gale from the southward, with
 thunder, lightning,, and heav y showers of rain.  At eight o'clock
 in the morning of the 20th, we got under way, and sailed from the
 Dardanelles, saluting  the forts as we passed, and receiving from
 them in return a like number  of guns. A fresh breeze springing up
 from the north-west, we passed the lowest fort, Koum Kali, be-
 tween nine and ten o'clock,  and by half past eleven were opposite
 the castle situated; in the island of Tenedos.  At half past six in the
 evening we passed the island of Mitylene, amidst a smart squall of
 wind and rain: at  that time the islands of Scio and  Nicaria were
 in sight.  The effect of the setting  sun was extremely  fine, the
 rays, which  were of a beautiful rose colour, resembling those we
 had on a former  occasion noticed off Sicily,
   During the night we passed the island of  Ipsera:  and by seven
 in the morning of the 21st were off the islands of Scio and Xica-
 ■ria, having Samos in our view.   By noon we had passed Xicai-ia,
 a wretched island, which affords  nothing but wood for charcoal,
 to its half civilized  inhabitants, who reside in caves.   At two in
 the afternoon we passed Samos and the Fournis Islands:  the for-
 mer is in one part extremely  lofty,  insomuch that it is considered
 by  some to have  an elevation almost equal to that of Gibraltar,
 At the above hour the island  of Patmos  was in sight,  distant
 from ten to  twelve leagues.  Being  still  favoured by  a strong
 breeze from  the north-east,  we  were  off  the harbour  of that
 island between five and six o'clock in the evening; but, being obli-
 ged to make several tacks  in going in,  did not  come to an anchor
 till an hour after.
  Patmos has an excellent harbour; and the town boing situated
on the loftiest part of the island, makes a pretty appearance in en-
tering.   The houses  being constructed of a white free-stone, have
a peculiarly neat aspect, very  different from  what we had  hitherto
seen in this quarter of  the globe.   It has been calculated that the
town has  an  elevation  of nearly five hundred feet above  the level
of the sea.  In its centre is a large convent dedicated  to St. John
the evangelist who was banished  to this island.  It was here that 
 92             TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

 he wrote the Revelations; and after  we had landed, we saw  in
 walking to  the summit of the hill, the grotto in which he is said
 to have composed them.   We next visited  the convent, which
 has a resident bishop,  with a considerable number of monks, and
 in which is a college for the education of the  young men of the
 Greek persuasion.   Over the gateway  of the entrance are three
 large bells; and the chapel within has a neat mosaic pavement. In
 ascending  the island  the road  winds  considerably, and presents
 otherwise great difficulties, insomuch  that it cost us no little labour
 to reach the summit.  In those parts of the island which the inha- >
 bitants were able  to  cultivate,  we  saw  several small fields, or
 patches of corn, banked up with stones to prevent the sail from
 being washed away by the rains: it appeared, however, that it was
 capable of producing but an inconsiderable quantity of grain.
   The town, which contains about  two  hundred  houses, all of
 them provided with balconies, is, as  well as the  rest of the island,
 inhabited exclusively by  Greeks.   The  women  are to the men in
 the proportion of five to  one.  They are pretty;  and wear on their
 heads a high  turban of  a peculiar form, made  of white crape, a
 narrow slip  of which falls  down behind,   and  nearly reaches the
 ground.  The inhabitants procure sheep and cattle from the neigh-
 bouring islands, their own being so barren  as to make but a scanty
 return to the labour and industry they bestow upon it.  It was very
 late before we returned to the transport, extremely  wearied with
 our evening's excursion,  and highly pleased, at the same  time, at
 the  opportunity which had been afforded us to land on so celebra-
 ted a spot.
   Early in the morning of the 22d we weighed anchor, and sail-
 ed with a steady and favourable wind at north-west,  which,  at a
 quarter before three  in the afternoon,  conveyed us to, our  anchor-
 age off Stancho,  a  very  beautiful and fertile island, abounding in
 corn, fruits, and vegetables.   Among  the fruits which were in sea-
 son, we saw, on our landing, grapes, figs,  lemons and oranges in,
 abundance.   We also met with capers, which grew  wild, and re-
 quired no culture.  Over  the plains numerous flocks and herds were
 dispersed.
   After the usual ceremony ofsaluting the fort, we waited on the
governor, who with great civility sent  a person to  accompany us to
 the gardens, in which we had a very agreeable  walk, and were
 conducted thence to the house of the late Capitan  Pacha, the great
Hassan Pacha.   In passing  through the  town,  we saw several 
,  SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.
95
fragments of antique statues and columns. ,  The  inhabitants  con-
sist partly of Turks, and partly of Greeks.
  We were highly gratified by the view of a.beautiful oriental plane
tree of surprising dimensions, situated near the entrance of the fort,
and overshadowing a large tract of ground.    From the outside of
its branches to the opposite side, it measured an hundred and twenty-
nine feet; and its trunk was thirty-four feet  in circumference.  Its
enormous branches were suppbrted by large and beautiful columns
of marble and granite,  about  twenty in  number, which had  been
brought purposely thither;  and beneath its  shade was the tomb of
a Turkish saint, together  with a fountain, and  Turkish coffee-
houses.
  On the 23d, at four in the morning,  we sailed  from Stancho,
with a fresh breeze from the  north-west, for Rhodes, which we
descried at half past six.  At nine we were becalmed;  but the wind
again springing up at noon, we  came to an anchor off that island
at six in  the evening.  Its appearance from the water was very plea-
sing;  but we did not land.
  We sailed on the following morning at seven o'clock, with the
wind at west; and at two in the afternoon saw several brigs ahead
of us, steering in the direction of Rhodes.   On one  of them ap-
proaching us,  we hoisted our colours, and were answered by the
imperial  flag.
  On the 2.5th we had light  winds from the  south-east, the wea-
ther being at the same time  extremely  warm.   We expected to
make Cyprus in the course  of the  day, but were disappointed.
When the evening came on,  we had nearly lost sight of the  land,
which we afterwards contrived to approach,  and passed Casscl de
Roso during the night.
   On the morning of the 26th the land was out of sight,  and we
were nearly becalmed; but a  gentle north-west breeze springing
up at noon,  we were shortly after enabled to descry the land, which
was, however, at a great distance  from us.   In  rhe course of the
afternoon we saw several strange sail, one of which, an English
snow, bound to Rhodes,  hoisted her  colours.   At five o'clock we
perceived the low land of Cyprus.
  At eight in the morning of the 27th,'we were close in with Cape
Biancho, steering with a light breeze for Limesol, in Cyprus: at
noon  we came  to  anchor in seven  fathom water off that place,
which had a pleasing appearance from the ship.  We were informed
that the inhabitants of Limesol were free from the plague; but that 
94            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

at Nicosia^ situated in another part of the island, it was then ma-
king great ravages, insomuch that fifty individuals perished  daily.
It was agreed that we should make  a short stay here,  to take in
ballast,  and recruit our stock of provisions.
   On the 28th we went on shore early, and paid a morning's visit
to the consul of Limesol,  Signor Demetrio Nicolo Frankuli, with
whom we dined,  and afterwards walked in the town.   The houses
are white, and flat-roofed,  being built of clay and straw, intermix-
ed with stones.   Withinside, the  ceilings of the  apartments  are
arched and lofty,  to render them as cool as possible.   The inhabi-
tants consist chiefly of Turks and Greeks.   The appearance of the'
part of  the island in  which Limesol is situated, was, at the time we
Were  there, somewhat dreary:  this, we were told, had been occa-
sioned by the dreadful havoc made by the locusts some weeks be-
fore,  at which time, we were assured by the consul,  these devour-
ing insects were strewed on the ground,  in some places, nearly a
foot thick.  They had eaten the foliage of the orange and lemon
trees, and had destroyed all the herbage in  the vicinity of Limesol,
In certain years  they  visit the island at a stated period, to renew
their destructive ravages.
   The  shrub which bears the caper grows wild at Cyprus, and has
a very pretty blossom.  Among  other  vegetable productions, we
saw medzanes, okers, cucumbers, gourds, and  melons, the  three
latter  extremely  large.   Provisions,  vegetables,  fruits, and  wine,
which are in general sold at a very moderate price in this island, were
become dear  on  account of  the havoc  which the locusts had
made.  Cyprus  wine of a  good quality  cost us from four to live
piastres the measure, which contains eight okes, or  nearly eleven
English quarts.
   After having paid a visit to the Aga, who made us  a present of
several sheep, we purchased the different articles of which we had
need, and among others a good store of green almonds and apricot*,
the former  of which, as well as mulberries, grow wild in abunr
dance.   During our stay at Limesol, we were incommoded by the
excessive heat, which was augmented by the reflection of the sun
from the white buildings.  In returning to the transport in theeve-i
ning, we met with  the capfain of a vessel who had left Jaffa, the
place of our destination, three days before, and who had seen there,
at  the  time of his departure,  Sir Sydney Smith, and the Capitan
Pacha.   Wre  also  fell  in  with a considerable number of Turks,
who had deserted from the army of the Grand Vizier at Jaffa, and,
were on their way to Constantinople. 
               SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.            95

   We weighed anchor, and bore away on the following morning
 at half past eleven,  with a south-west wind; and on the 30th, at
 noon found,  by our  dead reckoning, that we had run a hundred and
 three miles since our departure from Limesol, in the space of some-
 what more than twenty-four  hours.   We were then in the latitude
 of  32 degrees, 50 minutes, and without sight of land.  During the
 night the wind was scanty;  and this occasioned us to experience a
 very unpleasant motion from  the rolling of the transport.
   On the  1st of July an observation was taken at noon and we
 found ourselves in the latitude of 31 degrees,  28 minutes. The sea-
 men at  the mast-head  fancied they could perceiye  the land on our
 starboard bow, in consequence  of which we shaped our course to
 the south-east.  In a little time  the  land was seen distinctly; but
 our pilot was utterly at a loss to conjecture where we were. It was
 suspected,  however, that we were below Gaza; a»d that the land
 descried was  Ascalon.   We in consequence hauled up to the north-
 east at six in the evening.
   On the morning of the 2d, our pilot was still in the same state of
 incertitude as to our absolute situation; but on a supposition that we
 were too far  to  the southward, our course was somewhat altered.
 At seven o'clock we saw a strange sail;  and at ten descried several
 others at anchor off Jaffa, which was now distinctly in our view.
 At a quarter  past one,  we anchored off that place, in fifteen fathom
 water;  and found  lying  there twenty vessels of different burthens,
 chiefly Russian, but none of them  English.   We saw the Grand
 Vizier's encampment distributed in the outskirts of the town, which
 stands on a circular eminence close  to the sea shore.  The houses
 are white,  and are all of them provided with domes  and square
 towers.  The colours of the  different nations were flying over the
 houses  of  the consuls.   The soil in the vicinity of Jaffa is sandy,
 and presents  a dreary and forlorn aspect.   I shall have occasion very
 shortly  to  enter into some particular and interesting details relative
 both to the town and to the surrounding country.   We landed in
the evening,  and  proceeded  to the  house of the  British consul,
where we found Mr. Morier, secretary to Lord Elgin, with whom
we  took up our immediate abode.   We were.now debarked on the
Syrian coast, to be the spectators of great military events, in which
we  were ourselves  to be engaged; and that in a country on which
history, both sacred and  profane, has conferred the  highest  ce-
lebrity. 
9$              TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
                         CHAPTER  VIII.

JunSion ivith the Grand Vizier.  Alarming information concerning the breaking
  out oj the plague.  Encampment near Jaffa.  Dangers and inconveniencies of
  this situation.   Intelligence received of the  assassination of General Klebcr,
  Turkish Artillery.  Amusements  of Djerfd.   Encampment of the mission.
  Turkish officers of state.   Characler of the Grand Vizier ; of the Reis Effendi.
  Description of Jaffa.  Storming of that place by the French.  Inhuman conduQ
  ascribed by the Turks to Bonaparte.  Warm bath in the camp.  Eruptive
  complaint.   Anecdote evincing the extreme ignorance of the Turks in matters of
  science.  InsurreclionatHMous. Undisciplined and disorderly  state of tht
  Turkish soldiery.  Scene of the massacre committed  on their captives by the
  French.  Military exercise of the  Turks.  Plague breaks out among the Ma-
  melukes.   Russian agent at Jaffa dies of the plague.   Revievj of the Turkish
  army.  Plague continues to rage among the Mamelukes.  Description of an
  Arab village, and its inhabitants. First stone laid of the nevj fortification at
  Jaffa.  Dissection of a camelion.   Mameluke Chiefs  die of the plague.  In-
  solence of the Arnauts, and weakness of the Turkish government.  Egyptian
  jugglers.   Camp infested by large packs of jackals.   Desertion of Arnauts.
  Account of  the Dehlis.

     EARLY on the following morning July 3d, the Grand Vizier
     having sent horses from his camp for our accommodation,  we
paid a visit to his Highness, and another to the  Reis Effendi. From
each of them we met with a very polite and friendly reception ; and
the General having been invested with a  pelice,  orders were imme-
diately given to pitch  tents for our  officers and men.   A Turkish
mikmendar, or  provider, appointed  by  his  Highness  the Grand
Vizier, waited on General Koehler to receive his orders and instruc-
tions relative  to  the encampment of the  mission, and  the provisi-
ons which  would be requisite for them.   A choarbagisy. or colonel
of janissaries, and  some of his people,  were also  attached to  the
mission
   We found the Turkish troops encamped in the most confused and
irregular manner, without any  order in the positions they  occupied,
each individual having  pitched  his tent on the spot which  was most
agreeable to his inclination.   The only regulation that seemed to
border somewhat on system was,  that each  Pacha,  or military go- 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY, &C.           .97
  vernor, was surrounded by his own men.   The encampment was
  on a white  sandy soil; and I observed  a considerable number of
  tents converted into cook's shops, while others were set aside for
  the  sale  of various commodities, particularly coffee and tobacco,
  of which, among the Turks,  there is a great  and  constant con-
  sumption.  This traffic in  the camps is for the greater part carried
  on by janissaries.  The troops were spread over a very considerable
 extent of  ground.
   On a soil similar to that which I have described, the heat, in the
  month of July, could not be otherwise than very oppressive in such
 a climate as that of Suria: we accordingly found, on our landing
 from the transport, a very sensible alteration in that respect.   From
  the same  cause we felt also a painful sensation in the eyes,  which
  will not be deemed extraordinary,  when it is  considered  that, du-
 ring the summer solstice, the natives themselves are in general sub-
 ject to violent ophthalmies.
   On the morning which  followed our debarkation, our feelings
 were strongly excited by rhe information we received that an  indi-
 vidual,  dwelling under the same roof with ourselves, laboured un-
 der the plague, by which he had  been attacked about ten days.  At
 so remote a distance from  our relatives,  from every object of our
 tenderest solicitude, our sensations,  when this intelligence was im-
 parted to us, can be better felt than described.   No sooner were
 we embarked in a service which  obliged us to maintain a strict and
 constant intercourse with the Turks, who,  from a variety of  con-
 comitant causes,  which I shall hereafter  have occasion to explain,
 are incessantly exposed to  the ravages of this devastating scourge;
 no sooner were we landed in the  midst of the Turkish encamp-
 ment, than we began to breathe the pestilential miasmata which
 hovered in the atmosphere  of  our abode.  Those only whom their
 duty has severed  from their dearest connections, and who, in dis-
 tant regions, have had to encounter perils more imminent than those
 which result from the murderous  weapon of the adversary, can du-
 ly estimate the sad reckoning of our feelings and sensations.
   Signor Boseri, physician  to the Grand Vizier, afforded me some
 consolation at our meeting, by  the assurance  he gave me that the
 camp was  at that time in a tolerably healthy state, the  prevailing.
 diseases  being bilious fevers, which did not terminate fatally.   He
 observed, that the plague had recently manifested itself in a few in-
stances only, and those  of the  mildest nature, which had yielded
to the remedies  administered.
                 (  13  ) 
9S             TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,

  The situation which had been chosen for the camp manifested an
incredible degree of ignorance and imprudence on the part of those
who had been entrusted with the marking out of the ground: being
placed to  leeward  of the  town, the sea breeze, which constantly
prevailed during the day time,  distributed  to  every part  of it the
putrid noxious effluvia which  the  streets of Jaffa produced.  The
tents were absolutely pitched  among the abodes of the dead;  and
the bodies of those  who had  been interred were in general so su-
perficially covered over  by the earth, that the putrid exhalations
which were  thus generated were  intolerable to the passenger,  and
must have been  as  baneful as disgusting  to those who were con-
stantly exposed to them.  To complete the horrors of this scene of
filth and depravity, the carcases  of dead animals,  such as camels,
horses,  and  asses, were scattered in great abundance among the
tents, to corrupt and moulder  away, without  giving  the smallest
concern, or  apparently  offering any  kind of molestation to the
Turkish soldiery.  It will not be  surprising, in the sequel, to find
them very sickly, unless we could suppose that their mode of living,
and the  air which they have been accustomed to inspire, should have
rendered their temperament unsusceptible to the operation of such
baneful  causes.
  On the subject of  the plague, Sonini is  of opinion,  that it is not
endemic in Egypt and Syria; but  that, whenever it  has raged in
the capital of Turkey, it has been brought thither from other parts
of the Turkish empire,  properly so called, that is, from the neigh-
bouring provinces.   Without entering, on  this occasion, into a dis-
pute which would require a long series of  observations to decide,  I
shall confine myself  to the mention of a fact which strongly mili-
tates against this opinion,  namely, that since the communication
with Egypt  has been intercepted, Constantinople has been almost
entirely  free from the plague.
  Mr.  Wright,  of his  Majesty's ship Le Tigre,  arrived at Jaffa
late in the evening from Cairo, to  which place he had  gone with
dispatches, and had passed twelve days on his route.   He brought
intelligence  of the assassination  of General  Kleber;  of Menou,
who  had turned Mahomedan, and taken the name of Abdallak,
having succeeded to the command of the French forces;  and of the
situation of  Mourad Bey, who had rejoined his camp.   He repre-
sented the new  French commander in chief, Menou,  as making
every preparation  to oppose a vigorous resistance; and described
the French troops, who were  extremely  exasperated at the death 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.            99
of General Kleber, as being in excellent health and spirits.  They
were clothed  in red; they did  not lie  in tents;  and were become
very hardy, and well  inured to  the climate.  The French had
established a corps  of troops, mounted on dromedaries, of which
they formed a breast-work, when exposed  to the enemy's fire.  In
this case the French soldiers dismounted from them, tied one of the
fore  legs, and  placed themselves under shelter, in the rear of the
animals.   From eight hundred  to a thousand of the French troops
were thus mounted, and did great execution when opposed  to the
Turks.
  Mr. Morier sailed on the evening of the 7th, in the New Ad-
venture transport, for Cyprus,  on his way  to Constantinople. The
return of the transport, which was to take in  wood and water at
Larneca, was to be expected in  the course of eight or ten days.
  On the morning of the  8th, an English gun-boat, commanded
by a  lieutenant, arrived from Rhodes, and anchored  off Jaffa.
Wc were informed by  her commander, that the velocity of  the
current of the Nile (which began to rise about the middle of  the
last month) into the ocean, was at last  equal to four miles an hour,
  On the 9th, at five in the morning, we accompanied the General
to the ground occupied by the  Turkish artillery: we found the
Vizier there, attended by his principal officers, and  a band of musi-
cians.  A good practice was made with the field-pieces and how-
itzers ; and the target was beaten down by a topgis, or Turkish
gunner, who received from the Grand Vizier a present of several
sequins.  On the return of his Highness to his tent, he partook of
the  amusement of a djerid party, which I  have already explained
to consist of  several  combatants, mounted, and armed with long
sticks, or wands.   These they dart at  each other with great dex-
terity, checking their horses while  on full speed, each skilfully
avoiding the stroke  his adversary aims at  him.  In this  military
sport, or  exercise,  the  Grand Vizier  displayed great address and
good  horsemanship; while several  Mamelukes and Turks  were
galloping round the field,  and  amusing themselves in the  same
manner.                                                    '
  On this day we were encamped with the  Turkish army, all the
necessary preparations having been made to that effect.   Our tents
were very agreeably pitched in the  midst  of gardens  filled  with
orange,  lemon, pomegranate,  fig,  and mulberry trees: on the
whole, indeed,  our situation was very  eligible, and contiguous to
a well of excellent water,   We  were,  however, but indifferently 
100          TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

supplied with vegetables, which consisted merely of a few gourds,
okres, and cucumbers;  but we had plenty of  excellent mutton and
poultry.  Our provisions were furnisned by the Grand Vizier, and,
in addition  to the mikmendar, or provider,  1  have already noticed,
a bayractar, or standard-bearer, together with  a party of janissaries.,
commanded by a colonel, were attached to the  mission, and encamp-
ed with it.
   After having amused himself, as I have described, the Grand Vi-
zier inspected our men,  who were drawn up in readiness to receive
him,  and who went through the manual exercise to his entire satis-
faction.   From the  information 1  could  collect, it appeared, that
the Turkish forces in the encampment consisted of about fifteen
thousand fighting men.   It was expected that the Mamelukes, se-
veral  hundreds of whom were already attached to the  Turkish ar-
my,  would furnish a very considerable augmentation.
   The principal officers  of  rhe Porte at the encampment were the
Grand Vizier, the Kiabey, or Vizier's lieutenant,  who  transacts
the affairs  of the home department,  the Tefterdar, or   treasurer,
and the Reis Effendi, or secretary of state for foreign affairs.  A
concise account of the  Vizier, and of  the Reis Effendi,  the  most
distinguished of these personages, will probably not be unaccepta-
ble to the reader.
   Youzouf Zia Pacha  was, at the time of  our arrival  in Syria,
about sixty years of age.-  He was originally a Georgian" slave, and
became the Toutoun Bachi,  or master of the pipes, of the  Pacha
of Erzoum.   This office, he held with great  fidelity.
   On the death of his master, Youzouf Zia Pacha succeeded to his
government,  and  conducted himself with  so  much prudence and
moderation, as to gain the entire confidence  and affection  of his
subjects.   Having in this station acquired  great riches,  he after-
wards obtained the rank of  pacha of two tails, and, at the com-
mencement of the war  between Turkey and France, was elevated
to the dignity of Grand Vizier.  In the month  of April,  1799,
he was ordered by the Grand Seignor to take on him the command
of the army, which was about to act against the French in Egypt',
and was at  that time raised to the rank of a pacha of three tails.
   In  consequence of an accident at a djerid  party, Youzouf Zia
Pacha has  lost an eye.   He is affable and courteous; and has, on
a variety of occasions,  evinced his humanity,  never inflicting a pu-
nishment unless on the most  urgent occasions. 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.
101
  Mahmoud Reif Effendi, the Reis Effendi, was at the time above
mentioned, between forty and fifty years of age.  During a residence
of four vears in England,  as secretary to the Turkish ambassador,
he  acquired a great fund  of general information:  he  speaks the
French language  very fluently,  and is justly considered as a man
possessing much ability and information.
  An opportunity will occur, .more consistently with the order of
my  narrative, of  presenting the reader with a particular account of
the  Turkish army in camp; I shall,  therefore,  proceed to a con-
cise description of Jaffa, in the vicinity of which it was stationed.
Jaffa is situated on  an eminence:  nearly in the centre of the town
is an old ruinous  building,  called  the  citadel, on the top of which
is  a round  casemated  tower, provided with one or two wretched
pieces of  ordnance.  This work which by no means appears calcu-
lated to repel the  attack of an enemy from without, seems rather
intended to overawe the place itself,  in the event of  intestine com-
motion.
  The city is surrounded by a stone wall,  provided,  at certain dis-
tances, with towers alternately square and round. Notwithstanding
this wall  cannot  boast of  any great strength,  it sufficed to force
Bonaparte's army to break ground, and to erect batteries against it
to the southward.  After a breach had been effected, the French
troops stormed, and carried the place.  It was probably owing to
the  ubstin,i»- defence  made by the Turks, that the French com-
mander in chief was induced to give orders for the horrid massacre
which succeeded. Four thousand of the wretched inhabitants, who
had surrendered,  and who had in vain,  implored the mercy of their
conquerors, were,  together with a part of the  late  Turkish garri-
son of El-Arish (amounting it has been said,  to five  or six hun-
dred) dragged out in cold blood, four days after the French had
obtained possession  of Jaffa, to the sand hills,  about a league dis-
tant,  in the way  to Gaza, and there  most inhumanly put to death.
I have seen the  skeletons of these unfortunate victims, which lie
scattered over the hills, a  modern Golgotha, which  remains a last-
ing disgrace to a  nation calling itself civilized.    It would give plea-
sure to the author of this work, as well as to every liberal mind,
to hear these facts contradicted on substantial evidence.   Indeed I
an sorry to add,  that the charge of cruelty against the French Ge-
neral does not rest  here.   It having  been reported that previously
to the retreat of the French army from Syria,  their commander in
chief had ordered all the French sick at Jaffa to be poisoned,  I was 
 102           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

 led to make the enquiry^ to which every one who should have visit-
 ed the spot would naturally have been directed, respecting an act of
 such singular, and, it  should seem, wanton inhumanity.   It con-
 cerns me to have to state, not only that such a  circumstance  was
 positively asserted to have happened;  but that, while in Egypt, an
 individual was pointed out to us,  as having been the executioner of
 these diabolical commands.
  After the French had retreated from Syria, the  Turks filled up
 the breach  which had  been made, and repaired the wall and other
 damages.
  Owing to its rocky and shelving  coast, Jaffa is pretty secure from
 an attack by sea,  which would be rendered extremely hazardous by
 the violence of the surf, and the heavy swell from the westward.
 The anchorage off the port is very bad, owing to the extreme un-
 evenness of the ground, which abounds in rocks and shoals for a
 considerable extent of coast.
  There are at Jaffa two convents, or monasteries, one belonging
 to the Greek,  the  other to the Latin church.   In these religious
 establishments  the  pilgrims  reside, on their way  to  Jerusalem,
 which is distant about  twelve leagues, or hours journey;  but are
 obliged to  pay for the hospitality with which they are welcomed,'
 As  well as Jerusalem, Jaffa makes  a  part of Palestine or the
 Holy Land,  and is the Joppa of  the sacred writings.  The inhabi-
 tants, before the place fell into the hands  of  the French, consisted
 almost exclusively of Arabs: they are now a mixture of Arabs and
 Turks;  but  the former are still the most  numerous.  On the suc-
 cessful progress of the French in Syria, the principal and more
 wealthy of the inhabitants fled to Jerusalem,  with  their effects and
 merchandize, in consequence of which trade was altogether at a
 stand during our stay there. In times however, of greater tranquil-
 lity, its  commerce cannot be otherwise than flourishing, since, inde-
 pendently of the advantages of a sea-port, it maintains an intercourse
 by land with Damascus, Jerusalem, and several other places of no
 little importance in  its  vicinity.   Its present population may be esti-
 mated at from one thousand to  fifteen  hundred souls.  The streets
 are very narrow,  uneven, and dirty, and are rather  entitled to the  '
 appellation of alleys,  than of streets.  The houses are constructed
 of a white, friable, calcareous stone, and terraced;  but on the score
of filth,  as well as of want of space,  many of them are little bet-
ter than pig-sties. It is not unusual, indeed, to see  the inmates and
the cattle herd together in these dwellings. 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C            IOJ
   On the French entering Jaffa, in the  possession of which they
remained during forty days, it underwent a complete pillage,  inso-
much that the women and female children  lost the few ornaments
they carried  about  them,  and  with  which  they decorated  the
head, neck and ears.  These ornaments  were  of  various descrip-
tions of coins, such as paras, sequins, piastres, &c.  The gardens
of Jaffa have been  long celebrated;  but  since the visit the French
paid to that place, and the subsequent cantonement of the Turkish
army in its vicinity, they have ceased,  in a great measure, to pos-
sess the beauties which rendered them thus worthy of notice.
  While I am engaged in this description of the place,  I am indu-
ced to anticipate the order of the narrative by an observation,  that
Jaffa,  being the principal depot for the  Grand Vizier's army,  and
the only port on the coast of Syria adapted to the important mili-
tary service  in which he  was engaged, his  Highness was, from
these considerations, anxious to give it every possible security.  For
this purpose  plans were delivered to him by General Koehler,  and
directions given to Lieutenant-colonel Holloway,  to carry them in-
to execution.  They were accordingly in a great  measure comple-
ted, when General Moore came to our encampment from the British
army,  under the command of  Sir Ralph Abcrcrombie,  with  the
glad tidings of its arrival at Marmarice Bay.
   On  the 11th,  in  the morning, I set out at sun-rise,  in company
with Signor  Bosari, physician to the Grand Vizier, to ride through
the Turkish encampment: after visiting every part of which,  we
alighted  at the  tent  of Mohamcd  Cashef  a Mameluke  chief.
We were there entertained with fruits,  cheese, pipes, coffee,  and
other refreshments.   In the evening we went to a bath within the
camp,  being  the one  which was frequented by the Grand Vizier.
On our entering,  the thermometer was at 86 in the shade.  We re-
mained in the apartment of the warm bath half an hour,  and went
through the usual discipline of scrubbing and  washing.   T/ie heat
was very agreeable,  the thermometer not rising  higher  th/an 104 :
my pulse beat 80 strokes in a minute, and the perspiration was by
no means so profuse as on the former occasion, in the batli of Con-
stantinople.   On our return to the outer apartment, Which con-
sisted of  a tent fitted up with bedding and other conveniencies, we
reposed ourselves for half an hour, during which time w£ were  fur-
nished with  pipes and  coffee.    We departed, highly nefreshed by
our bath, for whicli we paid each two piastres and a ha^f. It would
appear  by this recital, that the  Turks, even when in cimp, do not 
  104            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,

  neglect to provide themselves with the luxuries which their domes.
  tic habits have in a manner rendered indispensable.   In a situation
  like the above, the fitting up of a warm  bath,  with all the requi-
  sites and conveniencies which the Turks  require,  must have been
  an undertaking of no easy accomplishment.
    About this time several of our people were affected with an in-
  flatnmatory cutaneous eruption, which spread itself over the sur-
  face of the body and limbs,  and produced a very unpleasant sensa-
  tion of smarting and itching.  It proved to be the prickly heat, by
  which strangers are usually attacked on their coming  into a warm
  climate ; and may perhaps be ascribed to the check given to the per-
  spiration, which is very profuse during the intense  heat of the day,
  by the cool air of the  mornings and evenings.  Volney makes men-
  tion of an eruption peculiar to  Egypt,  in the months  of June and
  July,  which  seems to correspond with the above-mentioned com-
  plaint, and which he ascribes to a separation of vicious humours.
    On the 13th I paid a visit to  Osman Bey,  one of the Mamduh
  chiefs, who was indisposed;  and also at his  request, to one of the
  cachefs.   I  took the precaution to be accompanied by an nterpre-
  ter.   Osman Bey,  who was advanced in  years,  his age bordering
  on sixty-five,  appeared not to be ill informed, and was very inqui-
  sitive relative to the manufactures and commerce of Great Britain.
  We had much conversation together on a variety  of topics.
    During the day time the wind blew from  the  south-west, from
 sun rise to sun set, when the land breeze came  on, and prevailed
 during the night throughout the whole extent of coast.   This lo-
 cal wind extends two or three leagues only at sea, on  this account
 that rhe air,  rarefied by the heat of the day, and afterwards conden-
 sed by the cold of the night,  rushes alternately from the land to the
 sea, and from the sea to the land.
   Thi s evening Captain Lacy arrived at the encampment from Con-
 stantinople,  having executed the orders entrusted to him  by Lord
 Elgin, in carrying dispatches to the Vizier,  &c.
   For a*,  considerable  time  there was an utter stagnation of events
 in the 7 urkish camp;  but on the 26th it was very currently repor-
 ted that rJhe French had reached Catich in great force.   In conse*
 quence oir these rumours, the  erection of several new works having
 been suggested to the Grand  Vizier, they were immediately corn*
 menced,  tinder the direction of  Lieutenant-colonel Hollorjoay.  In
 the concise; description 1 have given of Jaffa, I  have  already ob»
served that,, as it was deemed the most convenient sea-port on the 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.
105
 coast  of Syria for the operations of the Ottoman forces,  the in-
 tention was to convert it into a general depot.
   I introduce the following anecdote to evince, among other facts,
 the very unenlightened condition of the Turks, without excepting
 even their principal men, in whatever regards the sciences.  General
 Koehler was requested by the Grand Vizier to have a map of the
 world sketched out for him.   This request  having been complied
 with, a conversation  ensued,  in  which the  General, having the
 plan before him, told  his Highness, among other  particulars, that
 the earth was round.  This  information caused no small degree of
 surprise to  the Turkish minister;  and  it appeared, by his reply,
 that he was disposed to doubt  the  truth of the  assertion.   *' If,"
 he observed,  «< the earth is round,  how can the people, and other
 " detached objects on the half beneath, be prevented from falling
 " off?"—When he was told that the earth revolved round the sun,
 he displayed  an equal degree of scepticism, observing, that if that
 was the case, the ships bound from Jaffa to Constantinople, instead
 of proceeding to that  capital, would be carried to London,  or else-
 where.  So much for  the astronomical and geographical knowledge
 of a Turkish statesman!
   On the evening of  the 27th, as Mr. Read,  the draughtsman, and
 myself, were returning from a short pedestrian excursion, we were
 accosted by two Turkish soldiers;  one of whom, a black, behaved
 in a most disrespectful manner, and even threatened our lives.  He
 went so far, indeed, as  to put; his hand to his sword; but, on our
 assuming a bold and spirited  air, he seemed surprised at our confi-
 dence, muttered something,  and allowed us to pass.
   On the following morning the troops  commanded by Mahomed
 Pacha returneJ to the encampment.  They had been sent to Na-
 blous to suppress an  insurrection, said to be excited by the Pacha of
 that place,  who was suspected of meditating a plan to join the army
 of Dgezar Pacha.  This was  one of the accounts: but it was said,
 on the other hand,  that  the movement of Mahomed Pacha had for
 its object the laying of  the Pacha of Nablous under contribution,
 and extorting from  him a sum of money.  Be this as it may, the
 affair  was amicably  settled.
  The janissary Aga had this day a conversation with General Koeh-
ler, in which he warned the British officers not to walk singly in
 the camp, as in such a case he could not  be answerable-for the con-
duct of his people.    He therefore recommended to us to  be con-
stantly accompanied by a janissary, as a guard.  This circumstance
                (  14) 
 106            TRAVELS  IN..ASIATIC TURKEY,

 is  mentioned, to evince  the  peculiar and  very delicate situation  in
 which we were placed among the Turkish troops.
   On the 31st the Kallem  Bashi, the officer who has the charge  of
 the Vizier's  writing  implements, &c. was found  murdered in the
 camp.
   On the 2d of August the New Adveiiture transport arrived from
 Cyprus, which place she had left fourteen days before, having been
 swept by the currents towards Alexandretta.
   In the evening I rode through the gardens of Jaffa, where I saw
 a great abundance  of prickly pear-trees,  which are  employed as
 fences, and are admirably well adapted to that purpose.  The natives
 are very fond of the fruit.   The grap'es were ripened, and  were,
 as well as the figs, of an excellent quality.   With respect to the
 water-melons, they were so large, that at dinner, some days before,
 one was brought to us which weighed twenty-five  pounds.
   A party of Turkish soldiers, consisting of about three hundred,
 left the camp on the morning of  the 3d, for El-Arish; and, in the
 evening,  Mahomed Pacha, with two thousand men, set off for the
 same destination.
   A considerable reinforcement of troops from the eastward reached
 the camp on the 5th; and  in  the evening we were informed, that
 several laden camels, with their attendants,  had come in from Grand
 Cairo.
   On the morning of the 6th,  Captain Lacy, of  the  royal engi-
 neers, set off for El-Arish, mounted on a hedjin,or dromedary, as
 were  also  the persons who accompanied  him.  On the following
 day, Mr. Whiteman embarked on board the New Adventure trans-
 port, bound to Cyprus.   He was the bearer of despatches for Lords
 Elgin and Grcnville,  which were to be forwarded  to their respec-
 tive destinations by the British consul at Larnica.   The transport •■;
 did not,  however, sail until the 9th, at two in the  morning, when
 she took the advantage  of  the land breeze, which  generally  pre-
 vails at that early part of the day.
  At the same  time six hundred  Albanians left the camp for El'
 Arish.   I made an excursion,  in the evening, to the sand hills (si-
 tuated near the  sea-side, and about three miles distant from the
 encampment), the scene of the  horrid massacre  of the captured
 Turks and Christians, by the order of the French commander in
chief, Bonaparte, some days after he had taken possession of Jaffa., ■■{..
1 have already touched on this act, so inglorious to its perpetrator,
in the account I have given of that place; and  I shall add here, that 
                SYRIA, EGYPT, GE-RMANV,  &C.           I07

 the distance of time which elapsed  after these  poor wretches had
 surrendered, and which furnished a  fit opportunity for cool reflec-
 tion, and the distance of  the spot to  which they were led, at least
 a league from the place of their captivity, manifest a spirit of dia-
 bolical revenge,  of atrocious  tyranny, which, for the honour  of
 human nature, it is to be trusted, will never recur on any future oc-
 casion, among civilized and enlightened nations, to blacken the parre
 of history,  and to sully the military character.  The surface of the
 ground had been some time before thickly covered with the skele-
 tons of the victims;  but  at the  time  of my visit they were much
 reduced in number,  the  Grand  Vizier having ordered a large hole
 to be dug, into which as many as could be  well collected were
 thrown.  Skulls, bones, remnants of clothing, &c. Sec. were still,
 notwithstanding,  scattered over  every part of the hillocks.
   Inconsequence of an invitation from the Grand Vizier to General
 Koehler and officers, to be spectators  of the skill and dexterity  of
 the Turkish soldiers in the use  of their sabres,  we assembled,  on
 the 11th, in front of his  Highness's tent.
   A caouk, or turban, being placed on a stool,  the Turks cut at it
 with their sabres.   Those who made the deepest cuts were immedi-
 ately rewarded with several sequins, which they  received from the
 hands of the Vizier.
   As the turban was composed of a mixture of wool  and cotton,
 covered over with thick cloth, it required no little adroitness and
 dexterity to penetrate into its substance by a blow of the  sabre.
 Such,  however,  was the  effect  of practice,  that  the  impressions
 made by the Turkish soldiers were very deep.
   Letters were received on the 13 th from Captain Lacy,  who was
 arrived at El-Arish, and  had experienced a flattering reception.  In
 the evening I took a ride along the sea side, and saw several jackals,
 which abound in this part of the world.
   On the 14th the Turks began to dig in  the environs of Jaffa, to
prepare the ground for the erection of several works for the better
defence of the place, under the direction of Colonel Holloway.
It was at this time reported, that the plague raged with great vio-
lence among the Mamelukes, in  consequence of which  strict orders
were given by the General to avoid all communication with them.
Monsieur Franchini, a Russian agent, lay dangerously ill of the
plague at Jaffa.
   In the course  of the night we were much alarmed by the cir-
cumstance of a stranger having found his way into our tent.  On 
108            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 calling to the sentinel, we found, after  a little  search, that our
 unseasonable visiter was a poor  insane Turk, who had been pur-
 sued by one of his countrymen from the camp, and had sough: re-
 fuge in the tent.
    Monsieur Franchini  died  on the 15th at night.   He had been
 sent by the Russian minister at Constantinople as an agent to keep
 up a communication with the Turkish  ministers in camp,  and  to
 give an account of the  military operations.  He had  caught the
 pestilential infection from two domestics  belonging to the Vizier's
 new dragoman,  who  were  recently arrived from Constantinople,
 and both  of whom had fallen victims to.the disease.   Monsieur
 Franchini languished six days after the attack.
    On the morning of the 17th  two  hundred janissaries arrived in
 the camp from  Constantinople,   in making an excursion towards
 Gaza in the afternoon, I met with the body of an unfortunate man,
 who had just been assassinated.   He had  received two strokes of a
 sabre, one  of which had nearly severed  the head from the body.
 His turban had been carried off;  but  the stick which lay behind,
 and the style of his dress,  pointed him out as a wandering Arab.
    On the 18th in the morning, General Koehler  and the officers
 went  to a plain in the vicinity of the encampment,  to be present
 at a review of the Turkish troops by his Highness the Grand Vi-
 zier.  Adjoining to his  own tent, which,  being fitted up in the
 oriental,  or Persian style, far exceeded,  in richness and  magnifi-
 cence, any thing we had seen before, a tent was  prepared for our
 reception.  The infantry and artillery were drawn up in three bo-
 dies, that is,  a main  body and two wings, nearly  in  a  line, with
 the guns in front.  While the whole advanced slowly, a firing was
 kept up exclusively by the artillery; and the movement having been
 continued  for the space  of six or seven hundred yards,  the troops
 faced to the right about,  when, the guns   being again brought to
 their front, they returned to their former ground, firing in the same
 manner as when they advanced.   This absurd manoeuvre was the
 only one  they displayed.  During the whole of the time the infan-
 try remained with their arms shouldered,  the Arnauts or Albani-
 ans shouting.  In returning,  the Grand Vizier was mounted on  a
fine Arabian horse,  richly caparisoned.   His Highness  was  ele-
gantly dressed, as were also  his principal  officers and attendants.
We were invited to join in the cavalcade, on its way back to the  *
encampment. 
SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANY, &C.
IO9
    About this time,  in  a conversation with our officers,  the Grand
  Vizier, in speaking of the convention of El-Arish, compared what
  had been done on that occasion to a physician,  who, having given
  to his patient a dose of medicine by which he was relieved, admi-
  nistered to  him an  after dose, which rendered him worse than he
  was at first.
    We were informed that  the plague continued to rage with great
  violence among the Mamelukes, insomuch that on the preceding
  day, the 17th, one of their cachefs, or chiefs, had lost eighteen of
  his men.   There  were at that time about sixteen hundred Mame-
  luke troops in the camp.
    A gun-boat belonging to Sir Sydney Smith's squadron arrived on
  the afternoon of the 20th  from Alexandria, with despatches from
  Sir Sydney and from the Capitan Pacha to the Vizier and General.
 Through this channel  we were informed, that the Mercury,  an
 English  frigate of twenty-eight  guns,   commanded by  Captain
 Rogers, was to be daily expected at Jaffa.
   Mr.  Reynolds,  commanding the  gun-boat, and Mr.  Spilsbury,
 the surgeon, dined  with us  at the camp on the 22d.   The latter
 described the twelve cases of plague which he  had seen on board
 le Tigre, in the course of the last year, while that ship was off
 Acre.  Major Fead,  he told me, had before his death, all the symp-
 toms of yellow fever.  In  general,  the subjects who were attacked
 were of a robust temperament; and, among the predisposing causes,
 were to be reckoned the abuse of spirituous liquors, and more espe-
 cially,  the dread and apprehension  of the plague.  Mr. Spilsbury
 laid much stress on the latter of these causes giving it as his decided
 opinion, that the death of Colonel  Philipoe, who constantly la-
 boured  under the most alarming apprehensions of an attack of that
 disease; was entirely  owing to the anxiety with which his mind was
 tortured by these distressing fears.
  Two men were beheaded at Jaffa on the 23d, for selling spirits
 and wine to the troops.
  Within the last two days several  of our men, who had impru-
 dently left off their flannel dresses,  were  attacked by symptoms  of
fever arising from obstructed perspiration.   The evenings had latterly
been cool and damp,  with considerable falls of dew.  The plague
continued to make great .ravages among the Mamelukes, who had,
according to report,  lost four  hundred  men,  nearly the fourth of
their whole number. 
no
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC  TURKEY,
   The gun-boat, commanded by Mr. Reynolds,  left Jaffa on the
24th.  She was  to proceed to Acre, and thence  to  Cyprus,  and,
lastly,  was to join le Tigre,  at that time cruising off Cape Baffa,
Another of our gun-boats, the Mary Ann, had, we were informed,
been lost on the  rocks near La mica.
   On the 25th, Mahmoud Raif, the newly appointed Reis Effendi,
arrived at the camp from  Constantinople, which place he had left
eighteen days before.
   I made one of a party  in an afternoon's ride  to two Arab villa-
ges,  the houses of which were  built with mud, stones, and chop.
ped straw.   The women were covered by a thin loose dress of blua
cottbn, and wore over the face a black veil,  which, on the whole,
rendered  their appearance, to us at least,  very  disgusting.  They
are employed in  the most  common drudgeries; and carry on their
heads,  in  white  earthen  vessels,  honey, milk, and fresh  water.
They are the only women who are allowed to come into the Turk*
ish camp.
   On our return towards the  camp we saw several gazelles, or an,
telopes, which we pursued, without being, however, able to over-
take them.  To effect this would  have required the aid of dogs.
We  were notwithstanding told,  that instances had occurred, in
which  the Arabs, mounted  on their  fleet horses, had kept pace
with these animals, and had succeeded in catching them, by darting
a stick between their legs, and thus  impeding their flight.
   About fifteen hundred cavalry arrived on the 26th from  Konieh.
Their complexion was very dark, and  their dress  singular.  They
were well mounted;  aud  in general  tall and personable men.
   On the 27th,  Mr. Vinchenzo, our dragoman, or interpreter, was
taken suddenly ill with symptoms of fever.  As he had had occasi-
onal intercourse with the Mamelukes, among whom a great morta-
lity still prevailed;  and as  his complaint bore a very unfavourable
aspect, the General, with great prudence, ordered him to be sent
to the town on the following  day.
   On the morning of the 28th, the officers of the mission accom-
panied the General on a visit to the new Reis Effendi.  I have alrea-
dy given a sketch of his character, in speaking of the  principal offi-
cers in the Turkish camp. He is certainly far superior to the Turks
in general, both in manners and intelligence; and this  may be ascri-
bed to his having seen and mixed  with society in various parts of
Europe.  His appearance indicated a lively  and cheerful disposition.
In speaking  of the plague which was entirely  confined to the M*- 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.
Ill
 tnclukes,  he observed,  that the season for it was just passed, since
 on the 16th of August old style  (the preceding day), it was gene-
 rally considered that,  in the districts  where it had made its appear-
 ance, its ravages would cease.  He seemed to entertain a great par-
 tiality for  the Englishnat'ion; and shewed us an English sabre and
 a pair of pistols which he had purchased in  London.  The latter
 made by Bennct near the Royal Exchange.
  On the 30th, his Highness the Grand Vizier went in state to lay
 the first stone of the intended new bastion.   He was met  on the
 ground by the mission; and in the vicinity of the work, tents were
 pitched for the  reception of his  Highness and the officers.   After
 having  taken coffee and  other  refreshments, he proceeded  with
 great pomp  to the foundations, which had been dug out.  A prayer
 having been repeated with much solemnity by one  of the Turkish
 priests,  accompanied by the Vizier himself, as well as by all the of-
 ficers of state and  other Mussulmen present, the stone  was laid,
 and a small mallet  covered with velvet, handed to  his Highness.
 With this mallet he struck the stone three times,  repeating solemn-
 ly a short prayer. In this'ceremony he was followed by each of the
 officers of state and  attendants, at the same time that several sheep
 were sacrificed. The stone having been sprinkled with the blood of
 these animals, was  covered over  with a plate of copper on  which an
 inscription had  been engraven.  This  ceremony being concluded,
 the whole of the company returned to the tents, where the Gene-
 ral, and Lieutenant-colonel llolloway, commanding  the royal engi-
 neers, were invested by the Grand Vizier with pelices; and Major
 Fletcher with a beniche, or robe of  honour.   On  this occasion a
 vast concourse of people were assembled.
  On the morning  of this day the  transport arrived from  Larnica,
 whither she had been dispatched on service.  Several of the women
 on board laboured under an erysipelatous inflammation of  the eyes,
 which had attacked them suddenly, while at Larnica, without any
 previous indisposition.   The children also had a similar affection of
 the eyes;  but it had not manifested itself on any of the seamen.
  A corps of Albanians, consisting of about one thousand, left the
 camp on the evening of the 31st for  El-Arish.  The departure of
troops from  the Turkish  encampment was as  well  as their arrival,
 customarily announced by the discharge of  muskets loaded  with
 balls, which flying  at  random in every direction,  endangered the
lives of all those who were within their reach.   This practice of
firing with bullets,  which is followed in every Turkish camp, was 
112
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
indeed become so frequent, that we were under constant apprehen-
sions of being shot. Our tents were repeatedly pierced by the balls;
and one of our men, an armourer, was, while at work in our camp,
wounded in the shoulder by a musket ball.   The Turkish soldiers,
who furnish their own ammunition at all times, except on the day
of battle,  when it is provided for them, conceive they have a right
to amuse themselves in this manner, at their private expense.
   On the 1st of September I received a letter from Captain Lacy, of
the royal engineers, dated at the camp of El-Arish, the 29th of Au-
gust, in which he informed me, that during the preceding ten days,
he had, as well as his servant, suffered severely from a dysenteric com-
plaint. I stated to the General,  by letter, my opinion of the necessity
of having him removed to Jaffa; and  in consequence of this repre-
sentation,  Major Fletcher embarked on board  the transport on the
3d, to proceed to El-Arish, and relieve  the  above officer in hid
duty.
   I had caught several camelions, one of which was found dead in
its cage.   Being desirous to know the cause of its death,  I dissected
it, and, on opening the intestine, found withinside a portion of a
small twig, about an inch in length ; and a  little farther downwards
a delicate  white  round worm  nearly four  inches in length, which
was  alive.   I was much pleased with the singular conformation of
this  little animal, from the mouth of which I drew a white tender
substance,  between five and six inches in length, and of  the thick-
ness  of a goose quill.  Having an increased width  at  its extremity,
it had somewhat the appearance of an inverted cone,  and was filled
with an extremely viscid and tenacious whitish  fluid.  This  descrip-
tion of tongue, or weapon, as it may be more properly termed, na-
ture  has supplied  to the animal to enable it to seize on its prey. I
had repeatedly observed my camelions dart it forth suddenly, to the
distance of five or six inches,  and in this manner catch flies  with an
equal promptitude and certainty.  The viscid and tenacious quality
of the fluid sufficiently explains its use.  By applying  the point of a
probe dipped in it to the bodies of flies, I detained them for some
time.  The pulpy substance of which  the dart  or tongue,  is com-
posed,  is projected forwards  by a triangular cartilaginous ring, to
which  it is  attached,  and which is seated at  the posterior part of the
mouth.  This cartilage is composed of rings,  like the  trachea in
animals.
  The capacious lungs are composed of a number of small  and de-
licate cells,  tinged of a fine crimson colour.   On cutting into the 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.
"3
 heart, the blood issued, but of a darker colour than that contained
 in the delicate pulmonary cells   The liver, which was of a darkish
 hue,  was somewhat large in proportion to the size of the animal;
 and the  gall  bladder was filled with bile of a dark green colour.
 Only one common strait gut was perceptible.  Several small round
 substances, nearly of the size of a vetch,  and of a deep yellow co-
 lour,  lay connected together in the lower part of the  abdomen; as
 did also two lobes, similar to the lungs of an animal.   These were
 likewise  of a deep yellow, or oraage-colour,  and  were nearly of
 the size of a small Windsor bean.   It is evident, from this account
 of  the conformation of the animal,  that those who cherished the
 old error of its existing upon air, must have been very inaccurate ob-
 servers.
   The camelions were very numerous in the camp, and frequently
 entered the tents in search of their prey.
   We were informed on the 5th,  by our  dragoman, that the Ma-
 melukes encamped at Jaffa had lost about eight hundred  men,
 either by the  plague or by desertion; and that the greater  part of
 those commanded by Ibrahim Bey had  fallen victims to disease.
 On the following day we were thrown into a considerable degree
 of  alarm by a report made by another of the dragomen, or inter-
 preters, who told us, that he had discovered the seis (groom) lead-
 ing a pestiferous  subject into our  camp.    This  information pro-
 ved to be well founded;  and the subject  in question  was instantly
 removed.
   A  detachment  of  Arnauts,  about a thousand in number, joined
 the camp  on the 7th,  having been conveyed to Jaffa  by sea.  Re-
 ports  were in circulation that the French had landed new reinforce-
 ments of troops in Egypt.
   The transport,  having on board Captain Lacy,  who was some-
 what recovered from his indisposition, returned to Jaffa on the 8th,
 She brought intelligence that it was the determination of the Ca-
 pitan  Pacha,  and of Sir Sydney Smith, to renew the blockade of
 Alexandria.
  On the 10th, a letter, dated at El-Arish, was received from Ma-
jor  Fletcher, who had had an attack of fever, and  was dangerously
 ill.   The  transport was in consequence ordered to proceed to El-
 Arish, to bring him back.  About this time Osman  Bey, a Ma-
 meluke chief, died of the plague at Jaffa;  as did also Yuzef Pacha,
 one of the cachefs.
                 (■5) 
H4
TRAVELS IN-ASIATIC TURKEY,
  Despatches from Lord Elgin  were received by the General or!
the 13th;  and on the following morning  the  English  frigate the
Mercury anchored off Jaffa.   She had  left  England about four
months, had  touched at Tripoli, and several  other ports  of the
Mediterranean, and was last from Acre, which place she had quitted
the evening before.  Advices were brought to  camp that Djezar
Pacha was employed in fortifying the works of Acre.
  On the  evening  of the 18th  the  Mercury  frigate sailed from
Jaffa,  having on board despatches of great importance.  The news
of the surrender of the  island  of Malta  to  the British troops, •
transmitted by the Capitan Pacha, were communicated to the Ge- '
neral by the Grand Vizier and Reis Effendi.
  On the  20th in the morning,  a detachment of troops, consisting
of about a thousand horsemen,  arrived in the camp from  Aleppo,
chaunting hymns on their route.  They  were better mounted and
equipped than  any of those  who had recently joined the Vizier's
army.
  A heavy firing was heard in the camp  on  the morning of tht
25th.  We found, on enquiry,  that it was occasioned by the dis-
pleasure of the Arnauts, who  had become greatly exasperated at
an attempt which  was made to muster them.    The Grand Vizier
entertained a  suspicion that their chiefs drew a greater number of
rations for their troops than those to which  they were entitled.  It
indeed appeared that  this practice was become so frequent among
them as to require an  absolute check;  but such was the menacing
aspect which*the Arnauts had assumed, that his Highness deemed
it prudent  to relinquish this measure on the present occasion. I
shall take  an  opportunity  hereafter to give a particular account of
these people,  who were able to render themselves thus formidable,
notwithstanding they constituted but an inconsiderable part of the
Turkish army.
 About this time we were highly amused  by several Egyptian]^-
glers,  who came into  camp, and who, to our no  small  surprise,  '•
performed  a  variety  of tricks with great neatness  and dexterity.
These people travel through every part of the country, and contri-
bute essentially to the  entertainment of the inhabitants.
  A great number  of jackals  came almost every evening  into the
camp,  in search of their prey, and kept up a continued yell, equal
to that of  a large pack of hounds in full cry,  though much  less mu-
sical.   What  with  the  yelping  of these animals, the howling of
the dogs, and the braying of the asses  and mules, a  hideous noise 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.
"5
  was produced, which we should have deemed incredible, if it had
  not constantly assailed our astonished ears.
    A Turkish camp, in which' the carcasses of  horses, camels,
  asses,  and mules, lay scattered  in great abundance, must have  fur-
  nished a high treat  to the voracious jackals, who could not fail to
  find there whatever was requisite to appease their hunger.   They
  infest every part of  Syria, where they are very numerous. During
  the day they confine themselves to their holes and lurking places;
  but sally out at  night, in large bodies, in search  of  their food.
  They then rendezvous in the neighbourhood of the towns and vil-
  lages,, molesting the inhabitants by the most disagreeable  of all
  howlings.   They  feed  with complacency on the most filthy and
  odious substances; and their  cruelty,  in the warfare they carry on
  against other animals, is equal to their rapacity.
    On the 1st of October several discharges of musketry were heard
 close to our camp,  and furnished a new evidence of the undisci-
 plined state of the Turkish troops,  who had been disputing among
 themselves,  and  had proceeded  to extremities.  This event, which
 happened so near.to  us, excited in  us a considerable  degree  of ap-
 prehension,  as well  as of surprise.
    Nearly five hundred  Arnauts having deserted from the  camp
 on the  4th, the Vizier despatched in their pursuit  two thousand
 Dehlis, who returned, however, without having accomplished their
 object.
    In a Turkish army, the Dehlis, whose name implies desperadoes,
 or madmen, form  a part  of  the light cavalry.  They boast,  not
 without reason, of their courage and temerity ; and  are said to feel
 no hesitation in undertaking the most daring enterprises.   They are
 armed and equipped  nearly in  the same manner as the other Turk-
 ish military, with the  exception, that they wear a very high  cap
 of a  cylindrical form,  made of pasteboard,  and  covered  either
 with sheepskin died of a black colour, or with black cloth.  This
 cap is secured to  the head by a coloured muslin  or cotton  hand-
 kerchief.
   About this time Lieutenant-colonel Holloway and Major Hope
 were respectively requested by the mikmendar attached to the mis-
 sion, to give orders to their men not to smoke in passing the tent of
 the Grand Vizier, lest they should be insulted by the  Turkish mili-
 tary, contrary to whose custom this practice was. A caution found-
ed  on so prudential a motive, was, it may naturally be supposed,
not neglected. 
Xl6           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
   On the  7tfe Mahomed Pacha reached the camp from Ramfo,
with troops, by  whom the  usual discharges  of musketry were
made on entering the ground; and on the 14th Hassan Bey Dja-
davi quitted the camp for El-Arish, with a corps  of five hundred
Mamelukes.
   Here my narrative is about to take a new turn.   A visit to JerU'
 satcm, and other parts of the Holy Land, had been for some tim
projected; and the state of inaction in which we found ourselves at
this juncture prompted us to gratify our ardent curiosity, by the ac-
complishment  of such a journey, the particulars  of which 1 shall
now proceed to detail.
                         CHAPTER IX.

Progress through the Holy Land.  Ruins of a tower erecled in honour of forty
  martyrs.  Arabian dwellings.   Ramla.  Date-trees.  Ophthalmia. Resi-
  dence of the ]ew\sh monarchs. St. Jerom. Arrival at Jerusalem.   Situation
  of that city.  Solomon's  temple.   Residence of Pontius Pilate. ^Extraordi-
  nary threat ofBonaparte.  Mount of Olives.  David's tonuer.  Holy sepul-
  chre.  Scene of our Saviour ssufferings.   Tomb o/*BalJwin.   Humanity and
  good sense of a Turkish santon.  Visit from the Mufti.  Armenian convent.
  Head of St. James.  Mount Sion.  Bethlehem.  Temple of St. Catharine.
  Fools oj Solomon.  Gardens of Solomon.  Birth place of our  Saviour.  Re-
  ceptacle  of lhef  murdered  Innocents.   Tomb of St. Jerom.  Convent of St.
  Catharine.  Inhabitants of Bethlehem.  Sepulchres of the kings.  Sepulchre of
  the Virgin Mary.  Valley  of Jehosaphat.  Impression of our Saviour's foul
  on the Mount of Olives.   Tombs of Absalom and Zechariah.   Wells of Ne-
  liemiah.  Burial-place of king  David.  Convent oj St. Helena.  Birth-place
  of John  the Baptist.  Joseph of Arimaihea.  Topographical  account of the
  tnvsi interesting objects in theHoly Land.

     ON the morning of  the 15th of October,  before break of day,
      we  left the camp on our way to Jerusalem.   Our party con-
sisted of the General  and  Mrs. Koehler,  Major  Hope,  Captain
Leake,  Messrs.  Chandler, JVhiteman, Pin a,  and myself.   We
were accompanied by the choarbagi,  a pcrty of janissaries, a small
detachment of Turkish horsemen, and other guards and attendants. 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           I Jj
 After a very agreeable  ride of three hours, we arrived at Ramla,
 within a quarter of a mile of which we met with a large ruin, ha-
 ving a square steeple, and a gallery above,  in ascending to which
 we counted an hundred and twelve steps*  It is said that it was for-
 merly much loftier than it is at present,  and was erected in honour
 of the forty martyrs who suffered death in Armenia.  In our route
 from this place,  we passed through several Arab villages, while
 others were scattered to the right and left.   In  these villages the
 caves or dwellings were constructed  of stones and mud, ill  com-
 pacted together, and of a round form, resembling that of a bee-
 hive, with a small hole for the entrance, which  served at the same
 time to admit the air,  and to afford a passage to the smoke.   The
 roofs of these dwellings, in which,  wretched as they were, the
 Arab cultivators were condemned to pass their lives, were formed
 of bushes, straw, and other similar materials,  covered with mud.
   We took up our abode for the remainder of the day,  and for the
 night, in the Latin convent at Ramla.   The country in the vicini-
 ty of ,this convent,  a plain of several miles in extent,  is extremely
 fertile, and if it was well cultivated, would afford, independently of
 a  rich pasturage for cattle,  an abundance of grain;  I might in-
 deed say of all  that is necessarv for the support  of man.  Within
 the  town  the houses  are built  of stone,  and are provided  with
 domes and terraces.  Notwithstanding,  at the  time of our visit,
 many of them were, from  the  state of the country,  unoccupied,
 they exhibited in general a much more respectable, appearance than
 those of Jaffa.  Prior to the war, there was in this place an exten-
 sive soap manufactory; but the building in which it had been  car-
 ried on,  having been since deserted,  had fallen in ruins.  We were
 informed on our arrival that Mahomed Pacha had reached Ramla
 the preceding evening.
   The  choice  of the  Arabs, in erecting their buildings, and in
 forming  themselves  into a  congregated society, appears  to  have
 been constantly directed to an elevated situation, in contradistinction
 to the ancient practice  in Europe, where it has been remarked,  that
 the vallies and low grounds have been generally selected for the site
 of the towns and villages.  This remark particularly applies to the
 more northern parrs of Europe,  where in addition to the conveni-
 ence of procuring a  better supply of water, a shelter from the in-
 clement  winds  was to be desired.   In the burning clime of Asia,
 on the other hand,  every breeze was to  be  courted ; and this  may
perhaps  explain the motive  by which  the Arabs were originally 
n8
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 influenced in the position of their towns.  That of Ramla is situ-
 ated on a rising ground, commanding a very extensive view of  the
 level,  open country,  by which it is surrounded on all all sides.
   As we had brought with us our own bedding, and other conve-
 niencies,  we were  soon settled  in the convent,  which afforded us
 nothing but.the bare walls; and having procured provisions, the cook
 whom  we had taken the precaution to bring with us, began his ope-
 rations, and soon supplied us with a good dinner. After having taken
 this refreshment, we  went into the town,  and saw the female inha-
 bitants  busied in making a kind  of cotton cloth for their garments.
 We next proceeded to the bazar,  or market, which was but indif-
 ferently supplied with a few fruits  and vegetables, such as dates,
 figs, lemons,  cucumbers,  &c.   We observed  several date-trees,
 with fruit on them, distributed among the buildings;  and their ap-
 pearance,  thus blended as they were with the houses, was extreme-
 ly picturesque.   Without the town we noticed a small pottery for
 the fabrication of vases to hold water. Ramla was anciently a city,
 but is now an open town onlv, under the government of the Pacha
 of Jerusalem and Gaza, Mahomed Pacha.
   In this place the minarets of the mosques differ very essentially
 from all those we had before noticed.  It contains  three  convents
 for the  reception of the pilgrims on their way to the holy  city.
   It was  painful to me to  observe that the disease of the eyes, so
 common in these countries, prevailed verv generally, and that with
 great violence, among  the poorer classes  at Ramla.   Both young
 and  old were  alike afflicted by blindness.  This was not surpri-
 sing since it was easy to trace in  their squalid and meagre counte-
 nances the manifest causes of disease, namely, the want of a good,
 nourishing diet, and the necessary clothing to encourage and keep
 up the excretions of the skin.   The dress of the females' consisted
 of a blue cotton chemise only, resembling the frock of an  English
 peasant, and reaching nearly to the ancles, with a  broad belt, or
 girdle, fastened about the waist.   The men were dressed in a simi-
 lar manner, but with  a white instead  of a blue chemise, and were
for the greater part without shoes;
  In the evening we paid a  visit to Mahomed Pacha, a great fa-
 vourite  of  the Vizier, and very useful to him in the country, as  a
collector of the tributes.   His reception was of the most  friendly
kind; and he offered us  every assistance on our route, promising to
send  forward  a messenger to give notice, at the places  through
which we were to pass, of  our  approach, together with such or- 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.
119
ders as might facilitate our views.  After having taken the refresh-
ments which were presented to  us,  we  returned to the convent,
where the General gave us notice to be in readiness to  set forward
on the  following morning at day-break.
  We accordingly left Ramla at five in  the morning of the 16th,
and after a ride of three hours over the plain, came to'an Arab
village, named Caissa,  where St. James was decapitated.  In this
village we saw the method employed by the Arabs to preserve their
corn from pillage and fire.  It consists in digging deep  pits, similar
to wells,  in  which the corn is stored up, as in a granary.  Having
breakfasted,  we again set forward  on our  journey  about nine
o'clock, passing through  a plain, near to which was a village, cal-
led  Latrun,  said  to have been once the residence of the kings  of
the Jews.  To the left of the village the ruins of a building were
pointed out to us, which  we were told was anciently a palace. We
shortly after entered on a rocky  and almost impenetrable road, over
a mountainous territory, which continued, with little variation, un-
until our arrival at Jerusalem, a distance of twenty-five miles. The
safety and comparative facility with which the horses made good
their way through this difficult road, filled with rocks and precipices,
were truly surprising; not the smallest accident occurred.  At one
o'clock we  came to an Arab village, named St. Jerom,  distant
from Jerusalem three hours journey.  We there made a halt of an
hour and  a  half, and saw a lofty building, supported by beautiful
pillars, formerly a Christian church, said to have been built by the
Empress Helena,  but now converted  into a receptacle for cattle.
We traced on the walls  the vestiges of several fine  paintings  of
scriptural  subjects; and afterwards entered  an arched cavity un-
derneath,  in which, according to every probability, the dead had
been deposited  We left  the village at half past two, and were met
soon after tyr a party of priests belonging to the Greek convent at
Jerusalem who were on  their way to Ramla, in obedience to a
mandate of Mahomed Pacha, but on what occasion we were not
informed.
  On our approaching Jerusalem, we were met by the Musselman
or Turkish  governor, and by the superior of  the  Latin convent,
in which we were to take up our abode.  They had come out with
their attendants, to compliment us on our arrival, and conduct us to
the city,  which we reached at about half past five o'clock.  For
a considerable  distance the road was occupied by great numbers of
the inhabitants, who had come out to meet us; and the streets 
120            TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

were thronged in our passage through.   So great was the curiosity
which the arrival of Christian visitors had excited !
   To the very gates of Jerusalem the  land exhibited the  same
rocky and barren appearance it had assumed  on  our entering the
mountainous territory.   The city itself stands on an elevated rocky
ground capable of yielding but little produce: in the vicinity, how-
ever, we saw several  spots, which the inhabitants had with great
industry fertilized,  by clearing away the stones, with  which they
had banked up the soil to  prevent it  from  being washed away,
and by resorting to every other expedient which  could  suggest it-
self.  '                                       '
   The sod which  is a reddish clay, wherever it is of any depth, is
essentially of a good quality; consequently their  laborious efforts
had  been rewarded,  in these partial  and  chosen  spots,  by an
abundant produce  of  fruits,  corn, and  vegetables.  The  grapes
which were presented to us at our repasts,  were uncommonly fine
and large: at* the season of the vintage the vineyards must have had
a pleasing aspect in this land of rocks and mountains.
   Shortly after our arrival,  the Governor paid a formal  visit to the
General and officers, in the course of which he tendered  to us every
possible  assistance during our stay at Jerusalem.  In company with
three of my fellow  travellers, I took up my abode in the  Latin con-
vent; while the General, Mrs. Koehler, and the two  gentlemen,
established their residence at a house in the vicinity.
   On the following morning,  after breakfast, we returned the Go-
vernor's visit, and were entertained with coffee, sweetmeats, and
other refreshments. From one of the windows of his house we had
a very pleasing view of a Turkish mosque, built on the foundations
of Solomon's  temple.   Christians are prohibited from entering this
mosque,  in consequence of a superstitious opinion entertained by
the Turks,  that if any one of them should set his foot on the con-
secrated ground on which it stands, the Turkish empire would in-
stantly be at an end.
   On the spot where the Governor resided, it is reported that Poiv-
tius Pilate dwelt;  and  it was there,  according to traditional ac-
counts,  that Peter denied Christ.*
                                    i
  * To prevent a repetition of the words, " it is said; according to'traditional ac-
counts, &c." I shall in  futare give the reports relative to the passages of Scripture to
which such and such spots in the Holy Land refer, as they were made to us, leaving to my
readers the conclusions as to the greater or less probability of the accordance of the tradi-
tions said, to have been handed down,  with the events they are intended to ijlustrate. 
               SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY, &C.           121

    Soon after our return  to  the General's apartment, the patriarch
 of the Greek church, and two Armenian bishops, attended by se-
 veral priests, paid us a visit, and promised  us every attention and
 kindness during  our stay in Jerusalem.    The patriarch informed
 us, that the six priests we had met on our route,  and who were on
 their way to Ramla, had been constrained  to undertake  that jour-
 ney by Mahomed Pacha.  As he could not explain to himself why
 they had been thus forced away, he appeared extremely anxious
 about them,  and begged the General to interest himself in their be-
 half.  In the inquiries he addressed to us, he was desirous to know
 which of the three cities, Jerusalem, Babylon, or Rome, was the
 most ancient.
   We were told  by the priests of an extraordinary threat made by
 Bonaparte, namely, that should he ever obtain possession of Jeru-
 salem, he would plant the tree of liberty on the spot on  which the
 Cross of Jesus stood;  and would bury the first French  grenadier
 who should fall in the attack,  in the tomb of our Saviour.
   From the terrace of the convent in which  we were lodged we had
 a fine view  of the Mount of  Olives, of Mount Sion, and indeed
 of every  part  of the city, the extent of which has been so much
 diminished in modern times, that  the circumference is reckoned not
 to  exceed four  English miles.  The walls and habitations are in ex-
 cellent repair; and the former are provided with several  small square
 towers.  Near the entrance  gate is a castle denominated David's
 tower, the stones in the inferior part of which are very  massive, and
 apparently of great antiquity.
   About two o'clock we went to the church called the Church of
 the Sepulchre,  as being built over the holy  sepulchre,  in company
 with the superior of our convent,  with whom,  I should observe,
 we had made an arrangement to visit Bethlehem on the  following
 morning.   Escorted by several of the reverend fathers, we passed
 through a solemn and grand entrance, into a  lofty and  capacious
 building (somewhat less than an hundred paces long, and not more
 than sixty wide),  supported by several very  large marble  pillars of
 the Corinthian  order, and the dome of which was built of the ce-
dar of Lebanon.   Preparations having been made for our visit to
this sanctuary, it was lighted up with more than usual splendour,'
and had a very striking and awful effect.   In  the centre of the
building is the holy sepulchre,  which is now cased over with mar-
 ble for its better.preservation.  But  for this precaution,  indeed, it
                 (  16  ) 
 I21#           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

 Would  ere  this have been broken into fragments, which  the pil-
 grims would have earned oft  as so many precious relics.  The se-
 pulchre  we are told, was at first a cave hewn  in the  rock  under
 ground; but the rock having been since cut away in every direction,
 it appears now in the form of  a grotto above ground.   In bestow-
 ing on it a close inspection, we  met with the stone on which they
 told us the angel was seated when Mary sought the body of Jesus.
 This stone had been  removed from the entrance.  The small build-
 ing, or chapel,  in which the sepulchre is enclosed, Was lighted by
 several large and handsome lamps,  a certain number  of which are
 always kept burning.  We were next conducted to all the interest-
 ing places  which  respected our  Saviour previously to his death':
 such as the spot where he was confined before  his trial  and con-
 demnation; that where he was scourged, and the crown of thorns
 placed oft his  head;  that where he was nailed  to  the cross, &c.
 We saw the fissuie in the  rock which was rent by the earthquake
 at the time he gave up the ghost, together with the place where the
 soldiers cast lots for his garments, and the spot where his body was
 embalmed.
  The whole of this very extensive building,  in  which the Greeks,
 Latins, Armenians, and Copts,  have  each  respectively a chapel,
 stands on Mount Calvary.  We visited each of these chapels.  Near
 to that which  was built by St. Helena,  the mother of Constantine
 the Great, in  commemoration of the finding of the Cross on which
 our Saviour was crucified,  we saw the cavern which  was formerly
 the grand reservoir of water that contained the Cross.   In the mid-
 dle of the Greek chapel stands a marble basin fixed on the ground,
 which the Greek priests told us was not only placed in the centre of
 the pile of buildings, but in the centre of the universe.   This beau-
 tiful chapel is  built of yellow and white marble; and several of the
 columns  are of verd antique.  We next proceeded to the chapel
 where Mary visited Jesus,  the pavement of which is  of  beautiful
 marble, inlaid  and  ornamented with much taste.   In the course of
 our inquiries,  we saw the  tomb of Baldwin, governor of Jerusa-
 lem, who was killed during the crusades.
  The beauty  and grandeur of these buildings do great credit to the
 age in which they were  executed.   Over the gate which led  us to
 the elegant structure, erected by the order of St. Helena, in which
the holy sepulchre, and the memorable spots I have noticed above,
are  enclosed, we saw the vestiges of several  pieces of fine sculp- 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           T 2J
 ture,  together with  a considerable number of  marble and  gra-
 nite columns, of the  Corinthian order, and other architectural de-
 corations.
   The Greek and Armenian priests entertained us with coffee  and
 sherbet in  their respective chapels.   They told  us that after  the
 French had landed in Egypt,  the Turks had,%qn a plea of suspi-
 cion that the monks in general  were not entire strangers to the plans
 and intentions  of the enemy,  searched their monasteries for arms,
 papers, and other concealed effects, and had obliged them to seek
 refuge in the building over  the holy sepulchre.  They had  there
 threatened  to bring cannon  against  them, and put them to death,
 in case they should refuse to open  the door  of the building,  and
 surrender themselves.   In this  alarming crisis  they were providen-
 tially saved by a Turkish santon, or fanatic, who took his station
 on an  elevated part  of the  city, and there harangued the Mussul-
 vnen in behalf of the ministers of the Christian Gospel, reminding
 them that, having  searched their  monasteries, they  had  neither
 found arms nor any other obje  t which could lead to suspicion,  and
 recommending to them to desist, and permit the unfortunate priests
 to return to their convents.   The effect  of this exhortation was,
 that the multitude  laid aside  their sanguinary pursuit, and  the
 monks  were permitted  to return quietly to  their homes.   They
 were not ungrateful for their deliverance, but collected a considera-
 ble sum of money for the santon, which he with great delicacy re-
 fused.
   On our return we dined at the convent with the holy fathers, and
 proceeded  afterwards to the General's lodging, where the  visit of
 the Mufti, who came thither to pay his respects,  was shortly after
 announced.  This personage, who  seemed to carry terror and  dis-
 may in  his  countenance, told us,  that it  was impossible Jerusalem
 should ever be taken, as there were seventy thousand prophets,  on
 the other side of  the Dead Sea, ready to come forward for its pro-
 tection and defence.    He also  declared to us,  that it was recorded
 in the sacred writings, that the English and Turks had been friends
 for more than a thousand y?ars.  He was not only supreme of  the
 church, but held  the offiee of cadi,  or judge.
  On his departure we returned the visits  -f the Greek and Arme-
 nian clergy.  The Armenian church, a fine and elegant structure,
 was ornamented by several good scriptural  paintings.   The fathers
 pointed  out to us  the spot where the head of St. James was depo-
sited,  after  he had been decapitated  at Caissa, 
124
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
    We rose at five in  the morning of the 18th, and  went to the
  chapel, where mass was performing.   We breakfasted shortly after,
  and at seven o'clock left Jerusalem on our way to Bethlehem, ac-
  companied by the superior and several of the monks  belonging to
  the Latin  convent, in which we had taken up our residence.  On
  our quitting the city, we passed Mount Sion, on which the walls of
  the city are partly built,  and which is separated by a  valley from
  the hill where Judas Iscariol sold Jesus for  thirty pieces of mo-
  ney.   The road winds over a part of this hill.    After an  hour's
  journey, we reached a convent built by St. Helena, from whence
  we had a view of Bethlehem, the road leading to which is extreme-
  ly rocky,  and of a very dreary appearance.  On approaching, the
  Dead Sea was in our view.   Bethlehem stands on  a lofty moun-
  tain, the soil of which abounds in chalk and marl.  The inhabi-
  tants came out to welcome us on rhe road; and this was done by
  the women, by  a most  hideous  shrieking noise, accompanied by
  gestures and distortions, which it would  be difficult  to describe.
  On our passage through the streets, the houses were thronged with
  people.
    As we approached the convent, in which we were received with
  great hospitality,  we passed beneath the ruins of an ancient  gate-
  way, and afterwards entered a lofty building, erected by St. Helena,
  anciently  styled the temple, but now  the convent,  of St. Catha-
 rine, It is ornamented with at least fifty lofty and beautiful columns
 of marble,  of the Corinthian order;  and has on its walls there-
 mains of several fine paintings in fresco  of scriptural subjects, re-
 presenting the apostles, patriarchs, &c.  The beauty and symmetry
 of the temple have been in  some measure destroyed by a portion
 of it, which they have convened into  a chapel, having been di-
 vided off by the Geeks, who received permission from the Turks
 to do so, on their consenting to pay an annual contribution.
   After having partaken of an excellent breakfast, provided by the
 superior of the convent, we went to see the three surprising basins
 built by Solomon, near  to which he is said to have spent much of
 his time.
   The pools, or basins of Solomon, are three in number, and situ-
 ated in a sloping  hollow of the mountain,  one above another; so
 that the waters of the uppermost descend into the second, and those
 of the second to  the third.   Their figure is quadrangular.   The
 breadth is nearly the same  in all, amounting to between eighty and
ninety paces.  \n their length they  differ; the first being about one 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.           125
 hundred and  sixty paces long, the second two hundred, and  the
 third two hundred and twenty.  The depth of each inconsiderable.
 They are lined with stone,  plaistered,  and in a tolerable state of re-
 pair.  They contained, however,, but little water  when I visited
 them.
   The monks, by whom we were accompanied, considered these
 pools, or basins,  as one of the greatest antiquities in the country.
   They are distant two hours journey from Bethlehem;  and the road
 which leads to them,  consisting entirely of rocks* is almost  im-
 practicable.  These basons supplied the  inhabitants of Bethlehem
 and Jerusalem, with  water, by means of acqueducts,  which  ap-
 peared however at the  time of our visit, to be somewhat out of re-
 pair.  In the  vicinity of the pools we noticed a Turkish fort; and,
 not far from it, the source  or spring, by which  the basins are sup-
 plied with water, as well  as by the rains which occasionally fall
 upon the neighbouring mountains,  during the winter season.
   In returning we passed through a valley, in which was a garden,
 entiried the garden of  Solomon.  Its irrigation having been favour-
 ed by the water which at times issues from the rocks above into the
 valley, the vegetables it contained had a very promising appearance.
 We saw in the valley the ruin also of a building,- which, we were
 told, had been inhabited by Solomon's concubines.
   On approaching  Bethlehem, the General made  a sketch of the
 town ; and we found,  on our arrival,  a  sumptuous dinner prepared
 for us at the convent,   After this repast,  we visited the birth-place
 of our Saviour, a deep cavern hewn out of the solid  rock,  and
 lighted up by a considerable number of lamps, in which the manger
 was as well as every other  interesting particular, pointed out to us.
 The manger was, for the same reason as the sepulchre, cased over
 with marble, to prevent the pilgrims from mutilating it, and carry-
 ing off with them fragments of such precious relics.  We were af-
 terwards conducted to  a variety of memorable spots,  and,  among
 them, to the deep and immensely large cistern into which the bodies
 of the infants, murdered by the command of Herod, were thrown.
 Near to this cistern the tomb of St. Jerome was situated.
   The convent of <5Y. Catharine,  in  which at  one time twenty
monks resided, but the number of whom was now reduced to eight,
and the Greek and Armenian  convents, being all of them  within
the same walls and enclosure, so as to constitute one large and  en-
 tire building only, all the ever memorable places within Bethlehem 
126          TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 which the sacred writings have recorded, are in this way built over
 and preserved.
   The inhabitants of Bethlehem consist, for  the  greater part, of
 Greeks,  Armenians, and Arabs converted to Christianity.  Among
 its population but few Turks are to  be found.  The dress of the
 men, like that  of the neighbouring peasants,  is extremely simple,
 and consists of  a long white chemise, or frock, with a girdle fast-
 ened round the waist.  Very few of the poorer sort, whether malej
 or females,  wear shoes.  * The women are  dressed  in a blue che-
 mise, with a cotton belt  or girdle, and cover the head with a long
 white veil, which flows  looselv down the back. Their complexion
 is very dark, approaching almost to black.  They are very labori-
 ous, and submit to every description of drudgery.   They are be-
 trothed as soon as they come into the world; and marry at the ear-
 ly age of twelve vears.
   Bethlehem standing on  an eminence, and  on a  chalky soil, is
 justly considered by the  inhabitants as  possessing a very salubrious
 air; in proof of which, I observed but few among them who had a
 sickly appearance.  There were indeed some cases  of ophthalmia,
 but very rare.  The sides of the mountain  on which  this town is
 situated were, as well as the summit, interspersed with fine  vine-
 yards,  banked in with stones, which  must have cost a prodigious
 labour to the cultivators. The grapes  they yielded were remarkably
 large, and finely flavoured.  In addition to these we saw figs, pome-
 granates, and an abundance  of olives, on which fruits the inhabit
 tants, in a great measure, subsist.   In the vallies some corn is pro-
 duced; and the bread made from it is  of an excellent quality.  The
 dews, which fallffi great abundance, are highly favourable to the
 vegetation in general.
   As we had to return in the afternoon, the visits of the Greekand
 Amnenian patriarchs, it was somewhat late before we quitted Beth-
 tehem, insomuch that we did not reach our convent at Jerusalem
 until seven in the evening.   I brought away with  me  from the
 former of these places, several ehaplets,  or strings of beads,  made
from a fruit brought from Mecca, dyed of a red colour,  and  cros-
 ses, and other trinkets made from a pearl oyster, which the inhabi-
 tants procure from the Red Sea, and which  they manufacture into
 these curious articles with great address.
   On the 19th at eleven in  the morning, we left the convent at
Jenrusalem, on  our way to the Mount of Olives* situated at about
a mile's distance from the walls of the  city.  Our attention was then, 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C           UJ
directed to the sepulchres of the kings,  which the monks consider
as the third wonder in that part of the  world.   To  inspect them,-
we entered at the east side,  through an opening cut out of the solid   r
rock, which brought us into a spacious  court of about forty paces
square, cut down  into the rock, with which it is encompassed in-
stead of walls.  On the south side of this court there is a portico, nine
paces long,  and  about four broad, in like manner hewn out of the
natural rock.  It has a kind of  architrave running along its front,
and although time has certainly deprived it of some of its bqamies,
yet  it still  exhibits the remains of excellent sculpture of flowers,
fruits, &c.   On the  left band  within  this portico,  we  entered a
small aperture upon our knees and hands;  the  passage was become
difficult on  account of the accumulation of rubbish collected at its
mouth.
   We reached at the-commencement a  large square  chamber, cut
with great neatness and exactness out of the solid rock.   From this
chamber we entered a second, which led to several more, five or six
in all, one within the other, nearly of  the same description as the
first, except that in the interior  chambers there were niches,  or se-
pulchres for the  reception of  the dead.   Each of  these caverns, or
chambers had  niches for four, six, or eight bodies.  The mutilated
portions of the sarcophagi,  ornamented with  fine  sculpture, lay
scattered upon the ground as well  as   the fragments of the stone
doors by which  these chambers  had been anciently closed.
   The lid of one of the sarcophagi,  seven feet in length, having on
it grapes, leaves, acorns and various other devices, very beautifully
sculptured,  was in an entire state.
   A door of one of the chambers was  still hanjv.   It consisted
of a mass of solid stone,  resembling the rock  itself, of about six
inches in thickness, but i.i size less than an ordinary dOor. It turned
upon two hinges, contrived in the manner of axles.  These hinges
were of  the same entire piece of stone with the door,  and were re-
ceived into two holes of the immoveable rock, one at the top, the
other at the bottom.                                        v
   In some of these chambers the dead bodies were laid upon bench-
es of stone; others had sepulchres cut  in the  form of ovens,  life*
the different chambers which I entered, 1  imagine  from fortv to
fifty bodies might have been deposited.  Whether the kings of Israel
or of Judah, or any other kings were  the constructors of them,
they  have  certaintjibeen contrived with  infinite ingenuity,  and
completed with iiqmchie labour. 
128           TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
    Having withdrawn  from these interesting mausolei,  or cavern^
  we proceeded to the sepulchres of the  Virgin Mary,  of her mo-
  ther, and of Joseph, all of them situated in the valley of Jehosha*
 phat, and over which  was erected a large stone building,  re-con-
 structed  by the Armenians, about  forty  years before.   It was in
 the  vicinity of this spot that St. Stephen was st»ned.   To reach
 the sepulchres,  which were in the inferior part of a cavern, dug
 from the solid rock, we had to descend a flight of forty-eight steps.
 The Virgin's sepulchre was lighted by lamps, which were constant-
 ly kept burning at the joint expense  of the Greeks, Armenians,
 and Copts.  I brought away with me several small pieces of the
 rock, cut in squares, which the inhabitants take care to provide for
 the gratification  of the curious traveller.   Contiguous to the build.-
 ing erected over the sepulchres, we entered a cave, in  which our
 Saviour is said to have sweated blood.   The monks by whom we
 were accompanied,  pointed out to us several  large  and apparently
 ancient olive-trees, which, they assured us, were in existence in the
 time of our Saviour, and which stood in the front of the building.
 We did not presume to question their erudition on this point of na-
 tural history; but could not help admiring the  attention they be-
 stowed on them, in encompassing their ropts by stones,  and filling
 up the cavities of their decayed trunks with the same materials, for
 their better preservation.
   On our quitting this spot we went to the Mount of Olives, a very  j
 steep hill, on the east side of Jerusalem,, the valley of Jehoshaphat 1
 lying between the mount and the city.  On our reaching its summit, 1
 we were conducted to a small circular  building, in which the reve-
 rend fathers poirflld out to us the impression of oup Saviour's foot
 in a stone, when he ascended into heaven.  The Christian inhabi-
 tants when they visit  the Mount of Olives,  do not content them-
 selves with saluting  this cavity in the stone, but also rub on it the
 fragments of marble, taken from  the  rock beneath,  at die sepuU
 chre  of the  blessed  Virgin.   The small  building erected over the
 place of ascension is contiguous to a Turkish mosque, and is in the
 possession of the  Turks, who derive a  profit from showing its con-
 tents ; and who also subject the Christians to an annual contribution
 for a permission to officiate within it, according to their  ritual, on
 Ascension-day.   At  the distance of about an hundred yards from
 the mosque is the spot where the angel  appeared to Jesus, warning
him to ascend, as his place was not on earth, hjut j^ove; and where
the apostles were assembled at the moment of his ascension. From 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.           129
 the mosque itself we had a fine and commanding view of Jerusalem,
 Mount Sion,  and  the Dead Sea.
   In descending the mountain, and  in passing afterwards through
 the valley of Jchoshaphat, we were  gratified by the view of several
 memorable spots.   Wc saw, among others^ the tombs of Absalom
 and Zechariah; and visited the place where the apostles  conceal-
 ed themselves when Jesus was led by.  We were next conducted to
 the well of St. Barb, at the foot of* Mount Sion, where the vest-
 ments of Jesus were washed; and at an inconsiderable distance from
it, inspected the wells of Nehemiah.
  On the leaving  the valley of Jehoshaphat, we passed to the right •
 of the place whe're the body of the prophet Isaiah was severed into
 two parts.  In .ascending Mount Sion,  we saw, on the acclivity of
 an opposite mountain,, a building erected on the spot where Jut!as
 Iscariot betrayed' Jesus for thirty pieces  of silver.   On reaching
 the summit of the mount, a church and convent, hel >nging to the
 Armenians, were pointed out to us, situated at  a'small distance
 from  the entrance gate leading  to  the back  part of the city.  It
 was there, the monks informed us,  that the cock crew when Pe-
 ter denied Christ.  Without the city  walls, and on Mount Sion,
 there is a Turkish mosque standing on the  ground where  King
 David was  buried, and where  our Saviour  instituted  the Lord's
 supper.
  We returned to Jerusalem, and having partaken of a  good din-
ner at the convent,  paid an evening's visit to the Muftj, who re-
ceived us with much hospitality arid politeness, and who-expressed
his wish that we would spend another day in the holy city,.in order
 that he might entertain us in a suitable manner. • We had,  howe-
 ver, made our arrangements to  set  out on the following morning,
 on  our return to Jaffa.
  I laving accordingly  made an early breakfast at the convent, we
 left Jerusalem at eight in  the morning of the 20th.  Our plan was,
 to halt at  St. Jerome in the evening; to proceed to Ramla on the
following day; and to reach Jaffa on the third.  On our way to
 the village of  St.  John, distant  three hours journey from Jerusa-
lem, a fine building, styled the.convent of St.  Helena, was point-
ed out to us, as  having been built by that  empress on the  spot
whence the timber was ta.ken for our Saviour's Cross.  In the vil-
lage itself, the birth-place  of St. John the Baptist,  there is also a
convent.    We arrived there at eleven o'clock, and having entered
                 <»7) 
I JO           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

the church, were directed to the  spot  where St. John was bony,
and which is constantly lighted up by lamps.   The  church is very
neatly decorated, and is ornamented by several good pictures.
  The inhabitants of St. John are a mixture of Turks and Arabs,
the former of whom are by far the most numerous.  They were, at
the time'of our visit, as well as two other neighbouring villages, in
a hostile state to Mahomed Pacha,  who,  not content with having
levied the customary annual avanias, or tributes,  had endeavoured
to exact heavy contributn ..o, which they had neither the will nor
the capacity to pay.  They had accordingly assembled, and had
sworn,  laying  their swords across, which  with them adds great
solemnity  to the protestation, that they would prefer death to a sub>-
mission to any demand which should exceed the customary amount
of their contributions.   In the vicinity of this village there are se-
veral fine  vineyards,  and other spots in excellent cultivation.
  After having taken  the  necessary refreshments,  we quitted St.
John at two in  the afternoon, on our way to St.  Jerome; on our
approaching which place we were met by the Arab sheiek, and a
considerable number of his people,  who had come out to welcome
us, and pay their respects. On our arrival, at half past four o'clock,
we were conducted to a house which had  been prepared for our re-
ception ; and,  having  brought with us  cold provisions,  we soon
found ourselves at  our ease.                                     ,
   Shortly after we had reached the village, the inhabitants, who.
were equally refractory with those  of St. John+ were thrown into
great confusion and alarm by the rumour that the  troops of Maho- ^
?ned Pacha were  approaching.   Instantly both men  and women
lied to an  adjoining post,  situated on a lofty mountain, very diffi-
cult of access, and equally hazardous to an enemy who should me-
ditate an attaek.  They there waited further intelligence respecting
the advances of the redoubted Pacha.
   On our rising at four in the morning of the 21st, there was a ;
very considerable fall of dew,  which, in this country, where the
rains occur so seldom, is in a manner indispensable  to the vegetation.
We  were  told at Jerusalem that rain had  not  fallen there during
nine months.
  The vineyards about St. Jerome, cultivated  in terraces, or, in
other words, banked in with stones to prevent the  escape of the
soil and moisture, had a very promising appearance.   We left that
place about seven o'clock, to proceed to Ramla,  and took a route
over the mountains, infinitely more agreeable  and commodious to the 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           1 jl
 traveller than that by which we had passed on our  way to Jerusa-
 lem.   We arrived about eleven o'clock at the village  of Caissa,
 where we had breakfasted when we first proceeded on our journey,
 the day after our departure from Jaffa ; and, having halted to take
 refreshments, pursued our way to Ramla, which we  reached at
two in the afternoon, fixing our residence, as before, at the Latin
convent.
  Ramla,  the  ancient Arimathea of the sacred writings, is  well
known as the residence of Joseph, the rich man and disciple,  who
went  to Pontius Pilate to beg the body of Jesus, which having
 obtained,  he, in concert with Nicodemus, took it down, and wrap-
ped it in linen clothes, with spices, after the manner of the Jews,
 depositing it in a sepulchre,  hewn out of the rock, which had been
prepared for himself.   The  view  of the town,  from  the side at
 which we entered on this latter occasion, was extremely pictures-
 que and beautiful.   It is situated on the confine  of a rich and ex-
 tensive plain,  the luxuriant  soil of which is capable  of producing
 whatever  is essential to the subsistence of man.   We saw  several
 plantations of the dourra,  or  Indian corn,  together  with vine-
 yards,  gardens containing fruits and  vegetables, and fields of cot-
 ton.   The numerous olive-trees without the town,  and the dare-
 trees interspersed between the buildings, furnished a most agreea-
ble picture.
   The pavement of the  streets of Ramla is intermixed with por,-
 tions of marble ; and the houses being partly built of that material,
 which is here of a  yellowish cast, and partly of  stone, with the
 addition of domes and terraces, have a very neat and agreeable ap-
pearance when viewed from an eleva ed situation.
   We were told by the reverend fathers belonging to our convent,
 that the mountain which is contiguous to the  Dead Sea, exudes a
 bituminous matter,  with  which the sea itself is occasionally over-
spread.   They produced a specimen  of this  substance, which had
the appearance of common pitch.   I do not wish to accuse them
 of dealing in the marvellous,  but they surprised  us not a  little,
when,  in  speaking of the noxious quality of the air in  the vicinity
of the Dead Sea, they asserted, that notwithstanding the fruits and
vegetables which grew there were very fine in appearance,  they
 were destitute of all flavour; and that the oranges in particular, in-
stead of containing a pleasant and refreshing juice, were filled with
 a cineritious matter.   The superior assured us, that he had sent se-
veral of these oranges to Europe as  a curiosity. 
13^          TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
  Several fine refreshing showers having fallen during the night, we
had a very cool and agreeable  ride from Ramla, which we left at
eight in the morning of the 22d,  and reached  the  camp  at Jaffa
about eleven o'clock.
  On our return from Jerusalem,  we fell in with the Greek priests,
whom I have already mentioned as having been on their way to
R-.:r.iia, to obey a requisition of  Mahomed  Pacha,  with whom,
we were now told, they had purchased their peace, by consenting
to pay a  fine of five hundred purses, each containing the same num-
ber of piastres.  This  reconciliation having been effected, they
were joyfully returning to the Holy City.
   Our excursion thither \Vas attended by a singular circumstance,
namely,  th?.t our parry, comprehending the escort  and attendant^
was made up  of eight different nations,  English, Spaniards, Ita-
lians,  Greeks, Armenians,  Turks,  Copts, and Arabs.
   1 cannot conclude this  chapter better than by giving the follow-
ing translation of  a written account of Jerusalem,  Bethlehem, and
the other interesting places in the Holy Land, presented to us by
the reverend fathers of the Latin convent at Jerusalem.  It may
be considered, not merely as  a guide to  the  devout pilgrim, for
whose information,  and for that of the curious  traveller, it appears
to have been  drawn.up; but as an interesting topographical sketch
of the countries which embrace the most remarkable objects record-
ed in the sacred writings.
                  A TRUE  DESCRIPTION OF

       THE HOLY PLACES IN JERUSALEM,

AND OF  THOSE WHICH ARE LIKEWISE USUALLY VISITED BY
      THE DEVOUT PILGRIMS IN JUDEA, CAL1LEE,  &C.


                     IN JERUSALEM.                   •
     ON entering the church of the Holy Sepulchre, likewise called
      St. Helen's church, from having been built by the Empress
Helen, the stone of unction presents itself, where our Saviour was
embalmed and anointed by Joseph and Nicodemus;  to the right of 
              SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           133

which is the ascent to Mount Calvary, by twelve steps, where is
seen the hole in which the Cross was placed, and near it a cleft in
the mountain,  occasioned by the earthquake after our  Saviour's
death, likewise the place of crucifixion.  This last belongs to the
Catholics.   The schismatic Greeks robbed  us of the hole of the
Cross by means of money.
  From Mount Calvary you  descend to the holy sepulchre of our
Lord, where forty-four lamps are burning, fourteen  of which are
ours, the rest belong  to the Greeks,  Armenians, and Copts,  but
these have no  dominion whatever over the sepulchre itself.   Its
length is nine spans, its breadth four, and its height about three and
a half.  Before the entrance to it is the Angel's Chapel, a little lar-
ger than the sepulchre.   In the middle of it is a stone, little more
than a span high, and about nine spans in circumference.   On this
6tone sat the angel, who after the resurrection of our Lord, appear-
ed to the  holy women, saying to them—" Do ye seek Jesus who
" has been crucified?  He is not here but is risen." On leaving this
chapel, at the  distance of a few paces, is seen the place where the
Lord, after being risen, was seen by Mary Magdalen,  in the dress
of a gardener; and, a few paces further, the spot where that peni-
tent stood.  You then enter  our church,- where  our Saviour made
his first appearance to his holy mother, after the resurrection.   Oil
the right of the  great altar (in which our Lord  is preserved under
the sacramental form) is a hollow place, fastened up  with an iron
grating, within which is  part of the column to which he was bound
and scourged.    On the left is part of  the holy cross shut up  in the
same manner.   At the foot of the altar is seen the place where one
of the three crosses was miraculously discovered by St. Helen, per-
haps the cross of the Saviour.  Leaving our church,  you visit the
prison where our Saviour was bound before he suffered the death of
the cross:  this place belongs to the Greeks.  A  few steps from it is
the chapel of St. Longinus,  the soldier who, after having pierced
the sacred side of our Saviour, wept on account of  his sins in this
place,  which likewise belongs to the Greeks.  A few steps further
is the place where the soldiers went to divide the garments of the
Redeemer, and which belongs to the Armenians. A few steps from
this is  the pillar of  reproaches, belonging to the Greeks.  From
thence you descend twenty-nine steps, and you see the chapel  of St.
Helen, and the%place where  she stood when they dug for the liolv
cross.  Then  descending thirteen other steps, you see the  place
where the cross  was found.  This place belongs to us, bur thecha- 
134           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

pel of St. Helen was, as well as  the  other places, stolen from u$
by the Armenians.   St. Helen  lived eighty years : she was buried
in one of the churches of Rome.
  Under the holy Mount Calvary is the Chapel of Adam, where,
as authors say,  the head  of Adam was buried by Shem the son of
Noah, after the deluge.   This belongs to the Greeks.   At a little
distance from it, is  the place where the holy women stood whilst
our Saviour was crucified, and likewise  the  place where they sat
down.  Behind "the  holy  sepulchre is  the monument of Joseph  of
Arimathea, who earnestly requested  of Pilate the  holy body  of
Jesus : this belongs to the Armenians.
  Near the door of  the church you ascend eleven steps, and come
to the chapel of St.  Mary of Calvary,  where  the  blessed Virgin
stood with St. John  the  Evangelist, when the Jews crucified our
Saviour,  and  where we perform mass every day.   In  the road lead-
ing to the garden of Gethsemane, called the Mournful Way, are
seen the place  where the Lord fell under the weight of the cross,
which he carried on his  shoulders; the palace of Pilate, within
which is the  tribunal where the  Saviour was scourged, and given
into the hands of the Jews to be crucified; and also the place where
they bound him to the column, and crowned him with a crown of
thorns,  saying  to him "Hail!  King of the Jews."   Without is
likewise the place where he was  scourged; together with the arch j
where Pilate shewed him to the people, saying " Behold the man."
In the court-yard of the palace is the place where the  soldiers spoil-
ed him of the purple, and dressed him again  in his own garments,
giving him the  cross  to carry.
  At a short  distance from the arch before-mentioned, is the place j
where the Virgin Mary met her son.  Pursuing the  road to Geth- «
semane,  you meet  with  a mosque near  the  gate of St. StephenM
where the Virgin Mary  was horn.   Without the gate  is the place j
where St. Stephen was stoned by the Jews, and near to it, the cif-^
tern into which they say his body was thrown.  The church of the
Virgin Mary is next seen.  Having  descended forty-eight steps, 1
you view the  altar or sepulchre,  whence she was taken up intohea-'
ven by the angels.   About ninety years ago  this  was taken away
from us by the  Greeks.   Within  the  church  are the tombs of St.
Ann, St. Joseph, and St. James.  At a  short distance from the
church is the  grotto, in which  our Saviour sweated  blood.  Near
the grotto is the garden in which he was taken.   In this garden-ate
eight olive-trees, which according to  tradition, were there in t"Uc 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           IJ5
time of our Saviour:  they bear fruit, and are wonderfully preser-
ved. • At the bottom of a small mount is the place where our Sa-
viour parted  from the  eight apostles to pray, and near it the place
where he left the other three, viz. Peter, James, and John his
brother.  A few steps farther is the place where the Virgin Mary
prayed for St. Stephen, whilst the Jews stoned him.
  Leaving the garden  you go to the torrent of Cedron, near which
our Saviour  fell when  he was bound by the Jews.  Moving onward,
you see the tomb of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, curiously exca-
vated in a  rock, and  also the tomb of Absalom  son of David,
Which he himself caused to be excavated, in order that he  might
be buried there, and which is made in the form of a tower. Ascend-
ing a little,  you see the place where St. James the Less hid him-
self after cur Saviour was taken ; likewise the tomb of Zechariah the
prophet and martyr, slain by the Jews.  All these places are on the
left of the torrent of Cedron.  Not far off is the town, or village,
commonly called Sil'de; and about a mile from it,  a fountain, called
Mary's fountain, because it is known from tradition,  that the holy
Virgin washed in it  the clothes of her child.  Near this is a wall  of
the ancient church of  the pool of Sil'de,  in which our Saviour put
the blind man, in order that he might wash himself, and recover his
sight.   Not far from  this  is  a tree  where  rjie prophet Isaiah was
severed in two parts:  likewise the we'll of  Nehemiah, in which by
God's permission, the holy fire remained hidden for seventy years,
that is,  during the time when the Israelites were carried into Per-
sia,  in the reign of  Nebuchadnezzar king of the Persians.  At ihe
expiration  of the seventy years, the priest Nehemiah caused  a
search  to be made for  the   holy  fire, and  found  in place of  it,
water,  which  however, by  divine power,  was reconverted into
fire.
   On the holy Mount of Olives, where our Saviour  ascended into
heaven, are seen the impressions of his feet. The church built there
by St. Helen is now a mosque. A mile from this is the place called
Men of Galilee, because after the  ascension, the angels appeared
here to the disciples, oppressed with grief,  saying unto  them,
"Men of Galilee,  why  stand ye looking up to heaven?" The
following places are likewise  seen on the Mount of Olives, viz. the
place where the Saviour casting his eyes  towards Jerusalem, wept
fork;  where the apostles  composed the creed;  where the Saviour
prayed,  and taught  the disciples the paler noster;  the tombs of the
prophets; the place  where Christ foretold the destructionof Jerusa- 
13^            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 lem, which is marked by a broken column, and an olive-tree;  the
 cottage of St.  Pelasgia,  the penitent, who came to Antioch in  the
 dress of a man, and  taking the name of Pelasgius, led there a
 monastic lite.
   A bout half  a mile from Jerusalem, near the tombs of the kings
 of the Jews,  towards Sil'de, is seen the execrable place where  the
 sacrilegious Judas, after having sold Jesus, hanged himself.  Two
 miles from the Mount of Olives,  stands Bethana, where are  the
 vestiges of the house of Mat*y Magdalene and Martha, and  the
 tomb where Lazarus their brother was buried and raised to  life
 again.  Not far from this place is Bethfage, upon a hill, where,
 by the desire of our Saviour, the apostles brought him an ass,  upon
 which he gloriously entered Jerusalem, on Palm-day, by the gol-
 den gate, where there is now a wall.
   On Mount  Sion, is seen the cenaculum,  or supper-room, where
 the Holy Ghost descended upon the apostles;  where the Saviour
 appeared to them after the resurrection,  and washed their feet; and
 where he also appeared to St.  Thomas.  The place where St. Mat-
 thias was elected an apostle, in the room of Judas, and the tomb of
 David who lived seventy years and six months, are also to be seen
 there. At a short distance from Mount Sion is the house where the
 Virgin Mary  lived nearly twenty-four years after her son's ascen-
 sion, and where,  according to tradition, she died. Near this is the
 chapel of St. John  the Evangelist.  Entering at the gate called Stcr-
 guillina,  you come to a little grotto, where Peter wept, after ha-
 ving denied Christ.   Farther on is the  house of Anna, the  high-
 priest, where  Jesus was led bound,  and where the ungrateful Mai-
 co, servant of the high-priest,  who had been healed but a little be-
 fore,  gave the Saviour a  blow: this place belongs to the Armeni-
 ans.  Near it  is seen an  olive-tree, to which  Christ was bound,
 and the palace of Caiphas, the high-priest.   There St. Helen built
 a  church, and the Armenians the convent which they now oc-
 cupy.  In a corner of the church, on the right of the great altar,
 is  the prison  where  Christ remained  a whole night.  Near the
 door  of the church,  on  the right, under  a portico,  is the  place
 where the  maid  said to Peter,  " and  this  man was likewise
 with  him," and the  place where Peter thrice denied Christ,  on
which there is a tree,  as  a mark of it.   There is likewise a  place
called the cock crow, because the cock crowed on that spot, and re-
minded Peter  of the denial. 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.           137
   Not far from Jerusalem is a place called  the grotto  of Jere-
miah, where that prophet  wrote the Lamentations of the  Holy
week; and,  a little farther,  the tombs  of the kings, twenty-two
in number.

                        BETHLEHEM.
   Here are seen the following places, viz. where Christ was born,
the manger  in which he was laid, and  the place where  he was
adored by the Magi.  The grotto of St. Joseph, where he remain-
ed when the Virgin was delivered; the place where the Innocents
were slain by order of Herod;  the sepulchre of St. Gerolamo,  St.
Paula, and  St. Eustochia her daughter; the birth-place of our Sa-
viour, which  has been forty  or fifty  years  in the power  of  the
Greeks,  who took it away from us by means of a  firman  of  the
Grand Seignor, procured by money; and the church of St. Catha-
rine,  built by St. Helen.  Without Bethlehem, at a little distance,
is the grotto of the milk of the Virgin-Mary, and a few steps far-
ther, the house of St. Joseph. About two miles farther is the church
of the angels; in which place the birth of our Saviour was  announ-
ced to the shepherds by the angels, singing " Glory to God in  the
highest."  About six miles from Bethlehem,  is the place where
was situated the city of Tecua, built by Rehoboam, son  of Solo-
mon ; in this city  lived  the holy prophet Amos.   Towards  the
Dead Sea, six miles from Bethlehem,  is the place where were the
vines of Engaddi,  so much praised in the psalms; and a few steps
from thence, is the place where David hid himself from the perse-
cution of Saul.  Four miles distant is the monastery  of St. Sabba,
in possession of the Greeks. This was  built by the Emperor Jus-
tinian, and  in  it died St.  Sabba,  whose body was conveyed to
Venice.   In this convent are the several rooms of St. John of Da-
mascus, of St. Eutimius, and St. Civillus.   Returning  from the
convent of St. Sabba, you go to the hortus conclusus, to  the three
pools  of Solomon,  &cc.

                ST. JOHN IN THE MOUNTAIN.
  The place where John the Baptist was born, and  the house of
St. Elizabeth, where the Virgin Mary  went to visit her, and com-
posed the psalm  " Magnificat,"  (my soul doth magnify the Lord,
&c.) are here to be seen.  In the way you meet with a convent be-
longing  to the Greeks, called the Holy Cross,  built by St. Helen,
                (  18  ) 
I38           TRAVELS  IN  ASIATIC  TURKEY,
in the place where the  wood was cut to  make the Cross of our
Saviour.
   About four miles from St.  John, is the desert of John the Bap-
tist—here is a cave where he and his mother  St.  Elizabeth, hid
themselves by order of God, to avoid the cruelty of Herod,  who
sought to kill him, eight months after his  birth.  In the same place
is  seen the stone upon  which St. John slept a little at night; and
at a little distance is the sepulchre  of St. Elizabeth, his mother,
who died there four years after his birth, and was buried by the
hands of angels.

                          NAZARETH.
   Here is to be seen the place where St.  Gabriel appeared to the
holy Virgin, salucing her, saying Ave Maria, and announcing the
Incarnation.
   To go into the holy grotto fifteen steps are to be descended. In
this grotto are seen two pillars, scarcely two steps from each other,
one called Mary's pillar, the other the Angel's, made by St. Helen,
according to tradition.  That which is called the pillar of the  Vir-
gin Mary, stands without support,  being  raised from the ground
about five spans.  It is piously believed that  there the Virgin Mary
stood when  she was  saluted by the  angel  Gabriel.  The other,
which stands firmly supported, is in the place where the angel stood
when he said to the Virgin,  Ave Maria.   In this grotto there are
two altars, one called the altar of the Incarnation; the other, which
is contiguous to it,  and the  five  altars in the great church, were
built by St. Helen.  In the town, at a little distance from the con-
vent, is seen the house of St. Joseph, almost destroyed, in which
he, with his reputed son, carried on the trade of carpenter.  This
house is now occupied by the Turks.   A few steps farther is  seen
the Jew's synagogue,  in  which the Saviour preached to the Pha-
risees, saying,  " Verily I say unto vou, no prophet is received in
" his own country,"  &c.  At a  short distance is  the fountain of
the Virgin Mary  and her son, so  called, because they both went
to that fountain to get water.  In its vicinity is a church of rhe
Greeks; and about a mile farther is seen,  on mi eminence, the Ta- ■
ble of  Christ, that is a stone, upon which he and his disciples eat.
Towards the south is a mount, called the Mount of the Virgin's
Feai%,  because the Virgin Alary here understood, that the men of
Nazareth having driven her son from the  synagogue in which he
had preached, intended to conduct  him to  another mountain, to 
              SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANS,  &C.           139

precipitate him from it:  here was formerly a monastery of monks.
About an hour's distance from Nazareth is the mountain alluded
to,  from which  tfhey  intended to throw Christ, ahd which  is on
that account called the Precipice of Christ.  From thence,  by a
very bad road,  over hills, as you go to Jaffa, lies the country of
Zebedee, and his sons, James the Great,  and John the Evange-
list.  The church is destroyed;  it is about three miles from Naza-
reth.  Nazareth is about ninety miles from Jerusalem by  land,
and about twenty-four from Acre.
  From Nazareth you go to the sea of Tiberias; and first presents
itself the city of Cana in Galilee, about four miles from Nazareth.
In this place it was that Jesus converted the water into wine; and
it is said to have been the country  of the  apostles Bartholomew,
Simon the Canaanite, and St. Matthew.   From this place you go"
to the sepulchre of the prophet Jonas, on a mountain two or  three
miles  from  the  road,  and about six miles from Nazareth.  About
twelve miles further, passing through a large plain, you  go to the
place called the Table of Christ, where, with seven loaves and two
fishes, he satisfied four thousand persons.  At a little distance  is the
Mount  of  Blessings,  where the Saviour declared the eight bles-
sings—" Blessed are the poor in spirit," Sec.   On the top of the
mount, ruins are yet to be seen.   About six miles farther  is another
mount,  from which is seen the city of Tiberias,  surrounded by a
wall.   In  this  place, Jesus Christ, after being risen from the
dead,  constituted Peter chief of the apostles, head and master of
the world.   The Turks have destroyed this place.  Tiberias is
distant from Nazareth about twenty-four miles.   A little way far-
ther,  near the Sea of  Galilee,  is the famous city  of Capernaum,
where our  Saviour preached for the first time the doctrine of the
most august Eucharist; where he cured  the paralytic; where  St.
Matthew, standing at the li receipt of custom,"  was called by him,
and followed him ; and where he cured the  Centurion.
  All the places here described are true and genuine, and the devout
pilgrim  will be able by this description to form an idea of them so
as not to forget them—Praise to  God.
  Jerusalem,
23d October, 1500, 
HP
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
                            CHAPTER X.

  Irregularities in the Turkish camp.  Governor of Damascus beheaded.  Me-
   morial delivered to the Grand Vizier on the state of the camp.   Desertion of
   Turkish chiefs and soldiers.  Tents plundered by Arabs.   Plague among tht
   Mamelukes and Albanians.  Mutiny oj the janissaries.  Ceremonies on pay-
   ing them their arrears.  Alarms excited by reportsfrom El-Arish.  Decapi-
   tation of Turkish soldiers for gaming.   Ravages by the plague.   Insurrection
   in Palestine on account of the heavy impositions of the government.  Disas-
   trous state of the BnUsh mission.  Death of a  military artificer.  ^British
   gunner  dies oj the plague.   Death of Mrs. Koehler, and of  the General.
   Precautions employed to stop the progress of the plague.  Turkish entertain-
   ments in camp.  Removal of the camp.  Instances of insubordination in tie
   camp.   Effeclive force of the Turkish  army.   Observations on the plague'
   Viziers physician dies of the plague.  Ramazan.  Lydda.  The Grand ft.
   zier indisposed,  and attended by the author.   Celebration  of the Biram in
   camp.   Remarks on the country about Jaffa.  Climate of Syria.   Face of the
   country, and soil.  Productions  of Syria.  Sheep and goats.  Other cattle.
   Habitations of the Syrians.   Camels, and other  beasts of burthen.  Charac-
   ter and manners of the Syrians.  Abject state of the farmers,  or husband*
   men.  Bedouins, or vjandering  Arabs.  Agriculture of Syria.   Diseases oj
   Syria.

      ON  our  return to camp we found  that  the transport had  ar-
       rived on  the morning  of the preceding day, the 21st, from
 El-Arish.
   The transport sailed on  the  26th to Caiffa, the port of Acre, to
 seek  shelter from  the  inclement weather and high  winds, whicli
 rendered the road  of Jaffa a place of little security for anchorage,?  \
 The women belonging to  the  mission had been previously debarked ,f
 from her, and were sent to inhabit a house in the town.
   On the morning of  the  27th,  a smart and brisk fire of  musketry,
 with ball cartridges,  was   kept up for  a  considerable time by the ''
 Turkish scldiery,  who,  as we afterwards found,  had been amusing
 themselves in this  way on  their return from a field-day.
   We learned on  the  _^ih,  that  the  WTaiwodc, or  Governor of u
Damascus, had.  been beheaded,  and  a Turk of distinction sent to 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.
141
 collect his riches.  The deceased had been Kia to Mahomed Pacha,
 by whom he had been appointed to  the above situation.
   During the night an affray happened among the Arnauts,  who
 proceeded to such extremities, that  five of them were  killed,  and
 three wounded.
   I-delivered in, on the 30th, a written representation to the Vi-
 zier and Reis Effendi, on the subject of the filthy and noxious state
 of the camp, arising from the abundance of the putrid carcusses of
 horses, mules,  &c. which were  every  where  dispersed.   In my
 letter,  I recapitulated, in the  most forcible and energetic terms  I
 was capable of using, all the dangers which might result from these
 nuisances, unless the means which  I  pointed-out should be adopt-
 ed without delay,  or, provided they could not be readily effected,
 the ground  of  rhe encampment shifted previously to  the expected •
 falls of rain.   The Vizier,  in expressing his thanks for this com-
 munication,  promised  that  an  immediate  and proper  attention
 should be paid  to  the  remedying  of the  evii of which I com-
 plained.
   Towards  the close of the month  two of  the Turkish chiefs, to-
 gether with  several hundreds of the privates, surreptitiously left the
 camp, to proceed to Acre, and join the forces of Djezzar Pacha,
 who, according to reports  which were abroad,  gave better pay to
 his troops than the Vizier.
   About this time several of our tents were plundered by the Arabs,
 whose activity  and address eluded all our pursuits.  These depre-
 dations having been committed for several nights successively,  our
 suspicions at length fell on an Arab cook, whom we had  taken
 into  our service, and who proved  to be  one of the  parties  con-
 cerned.
   On the 3d of  November,  at six in the morning, the  detachments
 which composed the British military mission, were marched out to
 be reviewed  by his  Highness the Vizier, for whom a superb tent had
 been pitched, together with several  others  for the company and at-
 tendants.  Our detachments having gone through a variety of evo-
 lutions, and fired several discharges, the Vizier was pleased 10 com-
 pliment them,  and to express his fullest approbation of their excel-
 lent order and discipline.  Previously  to their being marched to camp,
 a present was made by his Highness to the non-commissioned offi-
 cers and privates. He had been careful to draw  up on  this occasion
a large proportion of his troops to witness the review; and made it
a particular request that  our officers  should join the Turkish cayal- 
  ,4-            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

  cade in procession, on the return to the camp, in the course of
  which his attendants amused us by forming several djerid parties,
  the music playing, and the Mameluke cavalry going through a,
  charge.
    At  this time the plague again made its appearance among the
  Mamelukes and Albanians, several of whom,  we were informed,
  daily fell victims to this disease.
    Hassen  Djadarvi, one of the Mameluke Beys, left El-Arish
 on the 6th with a considerable body  of troops,  for  the purpose of
 reconnoitring the detached parties of the enemv, and endeavouring'  J
 to cut  off them  or  their convoys.  He returned a few days aftef<  I
 without having  accomplished the object  on which  he had been
 sent.
    On the 10th I received from the reverend fathers belonging to the
 Latin  convent at  Jerusalem,  a present of fruits and of curious
 plants collected near the Dead Sea,  accompanied by two bottles of
 the water taken  from that sea,  the  taste of which was peculiarly
 saline and pungent.  Upon their arrival in England, 1  shall endea-
 vour to give an analysis of the water.
   The jannissaries assembled on  the 13th, in a tumultuous manner,
 and proceeded  to their Aga, or commander, who,  on being appri-
 zed of  their intentions  and menaces,  had secreted himself.  Being
 thus disappointed in meeting with the object of their resentment,
 ihey repaired to the Vizier, to stare their grievance, which consist.
 cd in a considerable arrear of  their pay remaining unpaid.   A Tar-
 tar having arrived,  however, the preceding day in a vessel from
 Constantinople, with a supply of traasure for the Vizier, he was
 enabled to make them a promise of payment, with  which they '
 were so well satisfied, that they  returned quietly to their tents.
   In consequence of an invitation from the Grand Vizier, the mis-  ,
 sion proceeded on the morning of the 18th, at nine 'o'clock, to  ■
 witness the ceremony of the payment  which was to be made to the
 jannissaries.  To the right of the tent of the Grand Vizier-a tent
 was pitched for our officers; and  to the left a new and superb tent,
 provided with a handsome sopha for his  Highness,  and a stool for  I
 the Tefterdar, or high  treasurer,  was pitched for  the ceremony.
 The money which lay in bags in  the front of the tent,  was divided
 into nine lots.  The guards and attendants,  together with the Tar-
 furs and jannissaries,  formed  three sides of a square,  the fourth
side of  which  was  formed by the tents.  The jannissaries wb.cfM 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C            l\X
 were to  be  paid were without arms; and the Tefterdar read aloud
 the order of payment.
   Of the nine lots eight were for as many companies of jannissa-
 ries,  and the ninth for the Choarbagis,  or commanders.  The bags
 contained in one of these lots having been laid promiscuously with-
 in the square,  a signal was made for the company which was to be
 paid.   This was  no sooner done  than all the individuals  belonging
 to'it rushed forward and  scrambled for the bags, contending with
 each other who should carry them off,  to which circumstance they
 attach no small share of honour,  at the same time  that it is  not
 accompanied by auy pecuniary advantage, the bags being instantly
 taken to the tent of the Choarbagis commanding the company,  and
 a proper distribution of the money there made.   Each of the com-
 panies having received its lot or portion  of the bags, the Choarbagis,
 who  were permitted to  wear their arms, had theirs  delivered to
 them.  The number distributed was an hundred and eighty-six,
 each  of  the purses or bags containing five hundred piastres.
   The state officers who attended on this occasion were dressed in
 scarlet benices, or robes of honour; and the Tefterdar was, on the
 conclusion of  the ceremony,  invested  with a caftan,  as were like-
 wise  all  those v*ho were immediately concerned  under him in ma-
 king  the payments.  Except the contests which ensued, in this very
 extraordinary mode of paying the troops,  to obtain the  possession
 of the bags, not a tumultuous voice was heard;  but the whole  was
 conducted with great gravity and tranquillity.
   In  consequence of advices  received from El-Arish on the 17th,
 purporting that the French had on hearing of the movement made
 by the Bey, Hassan Djadarvi, sent a body of fifteen hundred men
 to oppose him, and had also  dirown a fresh body of troops into
 Salahieh, there, was a considerable degree of agitation in the Tur-
 kish camp, it was reported also that a brig, supposed to be French,
 had been hovering for  some  days off El-Arish.  It was  obvious
 that, the Turks having received no direct intelligence of these events
 from  those who were in their confidence, an entire belief ought not
 to have been attached to the rumours thus circulated,  yet the alarm
 they excited had the good effect of keeping our allies  more on the
 alert than usual, and of inducing them to send out advanced parties.
 Accordingly, on the 20th,  new reports having reached  the Vizier
 from  El-Arish, that the  enemy's forces were in motion, and that
a part of them had  already reached Catich,  Captain Leake of  the 
 J44           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

 royal artillery was detached,  with a party mounted on hedgins, or
 dromedaries, to reconnoitre the enemy.
   We learned at this time that Mahomed Pacha was busily enga-
 ged in levying heavy contributions on the villages,  and in the vici-
 nity of Jerusalem.   From  the  state of several  of these  villages,
 however, when we  passed through them on our late excursion to
 Jerusalem,  this appeared to be a task  not very easy in  its accom-
 plishment.
   The  doubts which had been expressed by the Pacha  some days
 before,  respecting the advance of the enemy, in great force, on EL
 Arish,  were confirmed on the i34th,  when  it was ascertained, that
 the small  body of French which  had advanced to Catieh, consisted
 merely of a reconnoitring party,  which  had retired, after having
 plundered the  Arab inhabitants of that  place of a  few of their
 camels.
   The difficulty of obtaining a precise knowdedge of facts and oc-
 currences at the station we occupied, arose  from  the interposition
 of a desert between the enemy and the Ottoman army, which obli-
 ged  the Turkish commanders to listen  to the reports made by the
 Arabs,  until they could obtain intelligence on which a more full re-
 liance could be placed.                           '
   There  had been latterly frequent desertions, both from the great
 encampment at Jaffa, and from that of  El-Arish.   It ought, not-
 withstanding to  be observed,  that these desertions were  not to the
 common enemy, but into the interior of the country. It frequently
 happened  that the troops went off in large bodies.
   Among other causes  of insubordination,  gaming had found its
 way into the Turkish camp, and was  more particularly prevalent •
 among the Arnauts, who would  not desist from this vicious prac-
 tice, notwithstanding it  was in direct  violation of  public  orders.
 We  saw the bodies  of several of these  people, who had as we un-
 derstood, been decapitated for the above  offence,  lying in the streets
 of the encampment,  with the head placed  under the arm, the mode
 customarily practised^after the decapitation of Musselmen.  When
 a  Frank  is beheaded, he is denied the privilege  of having the
 head placed  under the arm; instead of  which it is placed betweefi
 the legs, with the face towards the body.                        ■
   On the 25th,  in  taking a  solitary ride, at a little distance from
the camp two shots  were fired, which  came in my direction,  but
which fortunately missed me.  The General and myself rode oat in 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           I45
 the evening to the spot  whence they were directed,  and made the
 necessary inquiries,  which, however proved ineffectual.
   The Pacha of Aleppo, whose dignity was announced by his being
 decorated with three tails, arrived at  the encampment on the 26th,
 with a body  of cavalry  and  infantry, amounting it  was supposed,
 to about a thousand men.
   The advices which had been received from El-Arish, respecting
 the formidable movements of the French forces were conjectured to
 have been merely a stratagem of the troops encamped at that place
 to obtain  from the Vizier the liquidation of  the arrears of their
 pay,  which had long been due.   Supposing this conjecture to have
 been well  founded,  the stratagem had its full effect,  as  the  Vizier
 shortly after forwarded thither two hundred purses.
   Several  vessels,  which in consequence of  the late violent gales,
 had been obliged to slip their cables in the road-stead  of Jaffa,  and
 had sought refuge at  Caiffa, the port next to Acre, returned on the
 27th,  laden with barley, the daily consumption of which,  at the
 Turkish camp, was said  to amount to six hundred kiloes, each con-
 taining twenty-two okes; or, to speak  with  more precision  to
 the English reader, fifteen tons of that object  of prime necessity
 were, according to this computation, consumed daily by the cattle.
   The gales  still  continued  with unabated severity, and  on  the
 28th the wind blew with  unusual violence from the north and north-
 east.    It might have been expected that the Turkish camp, how-
 ever  replete with the germes  of pestilence,  would  have  been  in
 some degree ventilated by  these searching winds;  it  is however,
 but too true, that  the mortality occasioned by  the plague, was  at
 this time in an increasing ratio, and that many of the troops daily
 fell victims to its attacks.
   The officers belonging to the mission, dined by invitation, in the
 Turkish style, on the 30th,  with his Excellency the Reis Effendi.
 In the rear of the ground on which the mission was encamped, an
 affray took place in the  evening among the  Turkish soldiers,  in
 which several of the combatants were wounded.
   Advices were at this time brought to camp that Mahomed Pacha
 who, as has been before noticed, had been employed in the interior
 in exacting heavy and  arbitrary contributions, had met  with a  for-
 midable resistance from the inhabitants of Nablous, and of  the ad-
jacent villages, by  whom he  had been defeated with considerable
 Io>s, after various skirmishes, which had continued for four days
 Micccsbivelv.   Having also received a check from the  inhabitants of
                 (  19) 
146            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
the villages bordering on Jerusalem, he had at length been obliged
to retreat towards Hebron.
   The English sloop of war the Camelion, Captain Maitland, ar-
rived at Jaffa in the night  of the 2d of December; and,  on the
following  morning, Colonel  Murray, deputy quarter-master-ge.
neral to the forces under the command of Sir Ralph Abercrombie,
came to the camp,  with the very satisfactory intelligence of the ap-
proach of a considerable British force.  From  this information we
were encouraged to hope that the painful situation of the mission
Would be speedily  alleviated by the adoption of more active mea-
sures, which would bring the affairs in this part of  the world to a
speedy conclusion.
   Captait Maitland, of the Camelion, having been advised that a
suspicious brig had been observed for several days past hovering off
El-Arish, sailed on the evening of  the 3d, in hopes of falling in
with her.
  The plague continued to make great ravages in the Turkish camp,
and  was not, as before, confined to the Mamelukes and Albanians,
but had become general among every description of the troops.  It
was  impossible to form a precise idea of the mortality it occasioned;
but from what we  witnessed, we had reason to conjecture that an
hundred individuals perished daily from this complaint.  The Turk.
ish ranks  were also greatly  thinned  by the desertions, which were
effected in large bodies to prevent the passage from being disputed
by a small guard purposely stationed  about three miles from the
camp, on the road leading to Acre and Damascus.
   General Koehler, Colonel Murray, and all the  officers  of the
mission,  were invited to be present at a Turkish field-day,  on the
4th.    The troops, consisting of about six thousand,  went through
nearly the same manoeuvres with those which have been already de-
scribed.
   The Camelion, having on  board Major Fletcher and Captain
Leake, arrived on  the afternoon of the 7th, from El-Arish,  with-
out having fallen in with the suspicious brig, in quest of  which she
had sailed from Jaffa.
   I am compelled here to interrupt the order  of my narrative of
general occurrences, to  speak  particularly  of  the situation of the
mission at the  period on which 1 am entering.   On the 5th of the
present month,  December, Geary, a military artificer, was attack-
ed by symptoms of  malignant  fever, to which he fell a victim on
the 10th  in the afternoon.  His death was soon followed by other 
              SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           147
                                               »
similar disasters ; for,  on the  night  following the day of his de-
cease, Mace, a civil artificer, was seized  with symptoms which
very speedily announced the disease to be a true case of the plague.
Under this attack he sunk at nine in the morning of the 12th, after
an illness of little more than twenty-four hours.  This fatal case
was succeeded by that of gunner Cowden, one of the  artillery-men,
who was attacked on  the evening of  the 13th, with symptoms si-
milar to the above, and languished until the afternoon of the 18th,
the sixth day of the attack, when he expired.  In both  of these
cases several pestilential  tumours were manifest.   It vfill  be seen,
in the Medical Appendix annexed to  this work, that, under these
alarming and calamitous circumstances, none of the precautions
which prudence could suggest were neglected, to prevent the fur-
ther spreading of the contagion.
  The fatal illness of Mrs. Koehler,  wife of the General,  was of
a more lingering kind  than those related above.   On  the seventh
day of the month she  was attacked by symptoms  of  malignant  fe-
ver,  which  did not yield to any of the curative means employed,
but manifested in their progress an increased virulence.   On the
13th she was conveyed from the encampment to the town of Jaffa,
where a lodging had been provided for her; and died there on the
14th, in the afternoon.  Her affectionate and inconsolable husband,
the General, did not long survive her loss.   He was seized nearly
in the  same  manner on the morning  of the 26th;  and, having
quitted the encampment, sent his  secretary immediately after to Co-
lonel Holloway, the next in command, to  say that he  was gone to
Jaffa indisposed.  The malignance  of the fever by which he had
been attacked, added to  the melancholy into which he had  been
plunged  by  his recent  loss,  very speedily terminated his earthly
career.   He died on the evening  of  the 29th, the fourth day of
the attack; and was buried on the following afternoon with milita-
ry honours.
  Here let me pause for a moment, to reflect on the  sad position of
those who were left to lament his loss, and to deplore  the calamitous
events of a similar kind  which had followed each other in so quick
a succession.   The plague at this juncture raged with the utmost
violence in the Turkish camp, and  had,  as has already been seen
(as well as a fever which appeared scarcely less malignant)  com-
menced  its ravages in our small party, in which a general indispo-
sition prevailed.  We had lost our Chief,  who had fallen a victim
\o disease ;  and each of us trembled for himself, and for.the friends, 
I4§           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

and associates by whom he was environed.  It would be difficult to
conceive a situation  of more  imminent  peril*  than that in which
we were placed, and it is impossible to  describe the painful sensa-
tions by which each individual was agitated.   It was sufficient that
a new case of  illness, from whatever cause  it might have arisen,
was announced, to fill us with the most agonizing pangs, the most
heart-rending apprehensions!—In  the  mean  time, a  vigilant and
unremitted attention was paid to whatever could stay the progress
of infection ; fumigations were,  among a variety  of  means, em.
ployed in each of  the tents, and the sick, as well as the attendants," \
separated  from the rest of the people.  In each of the cases which
had terminated  fatally,   the clothes,  bedding,  and, in general, j
whatever had been employed  for the service of the deceased, were
immediately burned.
   My narrative recommences on the 8th  of  December, when the
officers belonging  to the  mission, with Colonel Murray,  the de-
puty  quarter-master-general,  whose arrival in the camp 1 have al-
ready announced,  had the singular honour of dining with the Grand
Vizier.   His Highness was in uncommonly  good  spirits,  in con-
sequence of his having that morning received a firman from the Sulr
tan, accompanied, among other  presents, by  that of a beautiful
handjar, or dagger, the hilt of which was set with diamonds of great
brilliancy. On this particular occasion a royal salute was fired; and
his Highness's magnificent tent spread, to.receive the firman, or let-
ter, and to display the presents.
   Our dinner was entirely in  the Turkish style, and of course con-
sisted of the best dishes the country could supply, prepared with the
most consummate address. The polite and friendly attentions of the
Vizier, who paid many  compliments to his  English guests, gave
them  a still higher relish ; and we departed with the most satisfac-
tory impressions of his kind  and undisguised  hospitality.  On our
return home, his Highness sent each of us a present of a shawl and
a piece of silk.  The General received also a gift  of a snuff-box,
ornamented with diamonds.
   The same party, with the exception of the General,  who absenr-
ed himself on account of Mrs, Koehler's  indisposition,  dined on the
11th with the Kia Bey.   On proceeding up the camp,  to repair  to

  * This peril was augmented by t!ic n:> .'s.ity of attending, at so awful a crisis, on the
Vizier.   Thirty-six of  his  family and relimie  had already fallen victims to this fatal
disease, which was  fast gaining ground in his Highness's quartos. 
              SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.          I49

his tent,  wc were invited by the Vizier to see the Turkish practice
of cutting a large roll of felt, nearly ten inches in  diameter, mois-
tened,  and suspended by a cord.   On this roll of felt several good
cuts were made,  but one only by which it was completely severed
into two  parts.   This  extraordinary atchievement,  to effect which
must have required great  address combined with a long practice,
was rewarded by a suitable present.
   We  found the Kia Bey to be a very  agreeable and pleasant man,
of about  forty-five years of age.  Before and after our dinner, which
was served up with much taste and neatness, pipes, coffee, and other
refreshments, were handed to us;  and no attention spared to demon-
strate the kind and friendly disposition of our host.
   Colonel Murray embarked on the  13th on board the  Camelion
sloop of  war for Macri.  He was accompanied by Major Fletcher,
of the royal engineers, charged with despatches to Sir Ralph Aber-
crombie.
   On the 15th the Vizier shifted the site of his encampment to a
spot on the other side  of Jaffa,  distant about an  hour's journey,
or  three miles, from  the ancient ground.   His  Highness, and
principal  officers, accompanied  by the different corps  of  troops
under their  respective commanders, moved  with  great ceremony
to occupy  the  new ground of encampment.   We  followed his
example  on the 16th, and pitched our tents on an eminence, co-
vered with a white and clear sand,  and commanding a fine view of
the sea.
   The Turkish sick, who were very numerous, and among whom
so great a mortality prevailed, that, on the morning of  the 15th,
no less than fifty dead  bodies passed in front of our encampment,
were left behind.  Many thousands of men, alas!  had already pe-
rished, and many otheis were still doomed to destruction, through
the superstitious prejuJices and  culpable neglect  of their  rulers,
who had  spurned at every admonition to take the necessiry precau-
tions for  their safety.   The ground which  the Turkish soldiery
had quitted, exhibited a melancholy scene,  the  horrors  of which
were  heightened by the great  numbers  of carcasses of camels,
horses, asses, and  dogs (among whom also an  epidemical  dis-
ease had  recently broken  out), with which  the earth Avas  abun-
dantly strewed.   It was now left to vomit forth the abundance of
putrid animal matter with which it  had been so long surcharged.
   On our fixing ourselves on the new ground of encampment, so
much firing was kept  up by the  Turkish  military, rhe balls from 
15°            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

whose pieces frequently  fell within  the camp of the mission, that
General Koehler found it necessary to make an official  representa-
tion of this abuse  to the Vizier and  Reis  Effendi.  The result of
this measure was, that  a guard of janissaries was placed on the
left of the camp ;  but no sooner was the mission relieved from one
inconvenience,  than it was followed by another of a more alarming
nature, the commander of the guard  falling a victim to the plague
a few days after.
   On the 17th, three bodies were seen  lying in the streets of the
new camp, with the head placed under one of the arms.  This
Turkish custom, in the punishment of criminals, has been already
explained.
   The English hospital tent, which had been left on the  old ground
of encampment, with the plague patient, Cowden,  on whose case
I touched in a late digression, was attempted to be robbed by a par-
ty of Arabs.   The guard in attendance fired  on  these miscreants,
who could not  be  deterred from  their predatory pursuits  by  the risk
even of encountering so dreadful a disease.
   At this  time  an incident occurred which  displays the extreme
heedlessness of  the Turks. Major Hope commanding the artillery,
went to the Topgis Bashi, or chief of artillery, to give  him some
instructions relative to the Turkish ordnance.  One of  the topgis,
or artillery-men,  brought a live shell into the tent in  which this
business was  transacting,  to show the priming and  quick  match,
which he placed close to  the pipes of those  who were smoking,
and with  a thorough insensibility of his own danger,  and of the
risk to which he exposed all the  ammunition  in the park of artille-
ry, drew out his knife to  open the match.   So little attention do
these people pay to consequences, that he would, in the same way,
have brought in a cartridge of powder, if  the major had  not pre-
vented him.
 On the evening of the 19th the sick were removed to the new en-
campment, where  they were placed under the  same strict and severe
quarantine as before.
  An English  gun-boat arrived at  Jaffa, on the  27th from Gi-
braltar.  She brought advices, that the fleet  stationed off Malta had
captured  three  vessels richly laden out of Alexandria, at  which
place nearly sixty sail, having on board property destined for France,
were making preparations for their departure.   The gun-boats sail-
ed in the evening for the  coast of Egpyt. 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.           151
  The death of General Koehler, our highly lamented and equally
respected chief,  occurred,  as I have  already stated,  on the 29th of
the present month.  On the 30th after all the honours due to the
rank and importance of the  deceased had  been paid to his revered
obsequies, Lieutenant Colonel Holloway,  on whom the command
of the mission devolved,  sent messages to the  Grand Vizier, the
Kia Bey, the Reis Effendi and the Tefterdar Effendi, to announce
to them, respectively and individually, the melancholy event.  He
at the same time requested an audience of the Grand Vizier, which
took place on the  following day, the 31st, when he announced his
situation officially.  He  was accompanied,  on this  occasion, by
Major Hope, who was acknowledged by the Vizier  as second in
command;  and, after many compliments  had been paid to each of
these officers,  the former was invested with a sable pelice, and the
latter with a pelice of ermine.
  On the 1st of January 1801, I paid a visit to the Reis Effendi,
with whom  I had a long conversation relative to the precautions to
be taken to prevent the  further progYess of  infection.  He imparted
to me the pleasing intelligence, that the camp was more healthy than
it had been, the plague having in a great measure ceased.
  Colonel Holloway urged the Vizier on the 2d, to make such pre-
parations as  the expediency  of the circumstances seemed to require,
and, among others, to establish magazines of  provisions and am-
munition at El-Arish.
  In the afternoon, while the servants  of Colonel  Holloway and
Major Hope were exercising the horses of their masters, they were
attacked by  a party of  plundering Arabs,  by whose fire the Colo-
nel's horse was killed, and his servant wounded with balls and slug1*
in nine  different  places.  By the exertions  of  his companion the
wounded man was brought off; and the  balls and slugs afterwards
extracted by me.   On  this outrage being  communicated to the Vi-
zier,  he gave orders that  the most strict enquiry*should be made af-
ter  the culprits.
  On the 3d a dispute took place  at Jaffa, between a janissary
and a Dehli, in which  one of the parties was killed.  On this event
being made known the  two corps resorted to arms,  and drew up in
opposition to each other with so menacing an aspect,  that it requi-
red the utmost exertion on the part of the Vizier to prevent the most
serious consequences from ensuing.
  The effective force of the Turkish army consisted at this time of
about sixteen thousand  men, who were distributed as follows: ten 
152
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
 thousand in the Vizier's encampment;  two thousand at Gaza; and
 four thousand at El-Arish.
   In a conversation with the Reis Effendi on the 6th, he informed
 me that, notwithstanding cases of plague still occurred in the Otto-
 man camp, the disease was become much milder, and consequently
 less fatal in its effects, insomuch that several of those who had been
 recently attacked, had recovered.  The same circumstance has been
 known  to  occur at Constantinople when the disease was upon the
 decline.
   The  Camelion sloop of war arrived  at Jaffa on the morning of
 the 9th, with General Moore, Captain Anderson his aid-du-camp,
 and Mr.  Morier  secretary  to  Lord Elgin, all  of them from the
 British army.  They had an  immediate audience with the Grand
 Vizier and Reis Effendi, to whom  they were the  bearers of import-
 ant despatches.   We learned from them,  with  much satisfaction,
 that the whole of the British forces had reached Marmarice Bay
 in good health and spirits.
   The bodies of several persons, who had died of  the plague, eigliit
 of them from the  Vizier's own particular camp,  were on the 10th
 carried for  interment in our view.   To  demonstrate, however, that
 the disease was mitigated in  its effects,  the Reis Effendi stated, that
 of five of the slaves of the Grand  Vizier who had been latterly at-
 tacked by this disease, three had recovered.
   On the 12th I rode across the plains of Jaffa and Lydda, in com-
 pany with  Captain Maitland, of the Camelion,  and several of his
 officers.   We approached the  town of Lydda,  or  Loudda, and
 saw the Arab inhabitants busily employed in sowing  their barley.
 The soil of these fine and extensive plains is a rich black mouldj
 whichj  with proper care and industry, might be rendered extremely
 fertile.
   Dr. Bosari, physician to the Grand Vizier, died of the plague
 on the morning of  the 13th, being the third day of the attack.
   General Moore his aid-du-camp, and Mr. Morier,  left Jaffa on
 the 14th, to rejoin the British army.   During his  stay at the en-
 campment,  the General had,  as well as Colonel Holloway,  daily
 conferences with the Vizier and Ottoman ministers.   Our expecta-
 tions were, that we were to remain with the Turkish army, which
 it was thought would very soon break ground, either to co-operate
with the British forces,  or to attack the common enemy at such
points as should be found advisable  in the sequel. 
               SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANY, &C.           I$J

    The Cynthia sloop of war, Captain Dick,  arrived at Jaffa on
 the morning of the 15th, with despatches from Alexandria, which
 were immediately sent on shore.  She sailed in the evening with de*
 spatches, to join the fleet commanded by Admiral  Lord Keith,
 lying in the bay of Marmarice, and  was to touch at Cyprus on
 her way.
   The Turkish Ramazan, a solemn fast already described, com-
 menced on the evening of the 16th.  No sooner was the new moon,
 by which it was introduced,  descried, than a general discharge of
 cannon,  musketry, and pistols,  was heard in .every  part  of the
 camp, to announce the event.
   L'Entreprenant, an English cutter, arrived at Jaffa on the 21st,
 with despatches from Admiral Lord Keith. Among  the papers con-
 taining intelligence which were received by this channel from Cairo,
 iras a printed proclamation of General  Menou.
   Further intelligence from Cairo was  received on the 23d,  by a
 Greek merchant, who had left that place eighteen days before; and
 also by a confidential Arab, sent by Mahomed Elphi Bey.  The
 latter had passed through Cairo and  Salahieh, both of which pla-
 ces the enemy were employed in fortifying, more especially the lat*
 ter, for the defence of which they had recently  sent several pieces
 of heavy ordnance. He estimated their  force at about twelve thou-
 sand French, and from two to three thousand native troops, distri-
 buted in these places and their vicinity.   This Arab was the bearer
 of a note from Mahomed Elphi Bey to  the officer commanding
 the British mission.
   I rode out, in the  morning of the same day, towards Lydda,
 the ancient city of Loudda, where Peter, the disciple of our Lord,
 healed the aged Mneas, who laboured under a paralytic complaint;
 and whence he proceeded to Joppa,  the Jaffa of modern times, to
 effect a miraculous cure by restoring  to life Tabitha, or, as she was
 otherwise  called,  Dorcas, a pious and  good woman.   Lydda is
 denominated by the Greeks Diospolis, or the city of Jupiter,  pro-
 bably because  a temple had been dedicated in its vicinity to that
 deity.   Since the crusades it has received from the Christians the
 name of St. George, on account of its having been the scene of the
 martyrdom and burial of that saint.   In this city tradition reports
 that the Emperor Justinian erected a church.
  On the 25th the confidential Arab,  to whom I referred  above,
left the camp with  the reply of Colonel Holloway  to the note of
                ( lO ) 
154
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
Mahomed Elphi Bey.  Fresh disturbances broke  out among  the
janissaries on the following day.
  The Vizier proceeded with great ceremony on the 27th, to visit
the new  bastion, which was now completed.  To give a greater
eclat to this event, he, wiih his own hands,  laid hold of  the ropes
to get in the guns, and then seated himself on the rampart, to see
them placed  in the embrazures.  As soon as  the first gun had been
laid on its platform,  a solemn prayer was  repeated by the Turkish
priests.   Pelices were aferwards presented  to Colonel Holloway
and Major Hope, together with several caftans to the Turkish offi-
cers who were in attendance.
   There was so violent a storm on the 29th, that several of our
tents were blown down.   It blew most  tremendously during the
night,  and was accompanied by thunder, lightning, and hail.
    The  three sick who  were lodged in the lazaretto-tent being
perfectly recovered,  were released from their confinement on the
31st.  Previously to their joining the camp,  their  clothes  and bed-
ding were, together with the tent, committed to the flames;  in ad-
dition  to which precaution, they were  made to wash themselves
in the sea.
   On the 1st of February there was a riot among the janissaries,
for which  several causes  were  assigned,  and, among others, the
want of  forage for their horses.  In the midst of  their discontent,
they were,  they said, willing to agree to two things, namely, that
the English should have  barley for their  horses,  because they
were good friends ; and that the horses which drew the guns should
also be furnished with provender, as such a  supply was necessary
to the public service:  but  they  could not consent that any part of
what was in store should be issued for the use of the great officers
of  state, as they could afford to make the  requisite purchases.
  The Vizier being indisposed, 1 was desired to visit him, and found
him laid up with symptoms  of a severe cold.   He requested of me
to see  him from time to time;  and,  on my repeating my  visit on,
the following day, I  observed  that he laboured under a great de-
pression  of  spirits,  which  he  acknowledged to have arisen from
the operation on his mind of the frequent  difficulties he had had to
encounter.   Among these,  the gales of wind which had recently
prevailed had forced the vessels  laden with barley,  and other sup-
plies of stores and provisions for the Turkish army,  to quit their
anchorage;  and had  also prevented the arrival of other vessels, as
had been expected.   In this way a scarcity  had been occasioned, by 
              SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C            1^5

 which the Vizier had been frustrated in his intention of making  a
 movement, however strongly he was urged to  do so by the existing
 circumstances.
   Captain Lacy was despatched  to El-Arish  on the 2d,  to collect
 military information.
   The weather was at this  time become settled and pleasant, at-
 tended by the land breeze, which,  setting in towards evening, fur-
 nished an indubitable token  of  its continuance.  The country in
 the vicinity of the encampment began to wear a smiling appearance,
 and, in consequence of the  late  heavy rains,  was  covered with a
 fine verdure, which overspread even what had  been hitherto merely
 arid and sandy hills.
   Intelligence was received from Cairo,  on the 5th, which stated,
 among other particulars, that the plague had broken out among the
 French troops, sixty of whom perished daily  from  its attacks.   It
 gave me great satisfaction, at the same time, to learn from the Reis
 Effendi,  that  this  formidable  adversary  had  neailv disappeared
 among the Turkish soldiery.
   The New Adventure transport had arrived from Caiffa, and, to-
 gether with a considerable number of vessels laden with barley, and
 other stores for the army, lay at anchor off  Jaffa.  A  reinforce-
 ment of  troops had also reached  that place by sea ;  and  a corps of
 about a hundred and fifty Arnauts arrived in  the  camp, after an
 overland  march, on the 6th.  These arrivals induced the Vizier to
 make some preparations for marching.   The Kai Bey having been
 ordered to Constantinople, the Tefterdar was,  on  the same day,
 appointed Kai Bey in his stead.
   The Vizier transmitted information to  Colonel Holloway on the
 7th, that in the space of ten days he  should  march forward with
 his army.
   On the 8th  a body of Arnauts, in marching into the camp, made
 the usual discharges of musketry, the  consequence  of which was,
 that,  to our great annoyance and manifest  peril, several of their
 shots passed close over the encampment of the mission.   This irre-
 gularity,  accompanied by much shouting and tumult, was continu-
 ed throughout the whole of  the evening.
   Letters  were received on  the 11th  and  13th from Captain La-,
 cy, at El-Arish.   They stated, that the enemy  were  busied  at
 Cairo in constructing towers, or detached redoubts, provided with
heavy artillery; and were also erecting other  works, on which a
great  number  of  persons were employed.   At  the date of his let- 
 156           TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC  TURKEY,

 ters  the plague still prevailed with great violence in the camp. at
 El-Arish.
   The festival of the Biram,  which  commenced on the 13th, 00
 the completion  of the Turkish Ramazan, or Lent, and the cele-
 bration of which was to last during three days, was announced by
 the Vizier by tfie discharge of several rounds of artillery, accom-
 panied by frequent discharges  of musketry throughout the whole
 extent of  the camp.   In the evening  brilliant illuminations  were
 displayed.
   On the above festive occasion,  the whole of the following day,
 the 14th,  was spent by the great officers of state, and other Turks,
 in making visits of ceremony,  and in  demonstrating, in every pos-
 sible way, the  joy they felt at being no longer subjected to the pe-
 nalties of the Ramazan, or fast.
   In a benice,  or entertainment, which the Vizier commanded for
 the 15th, he was accompanied by all his principal officers of state,
 and by at least  one thousand persons,  who joined in  the cavalcade.
 The trocps, whose numbers appealed to have been  latterly much
 augmented, were drawn up in  a line;  and a tent pitched, in which
 the Vizier, the  principal Turkish officers, Colonel Holloway, and
 Major Hope,  were seated.   A djerid party having been assembled,
 upwards of fifty combatants on each side supported the different at-
 tacks  with great spirit, agility, and address.   Unfortunately, one
 of them received so serious a hurt, that he  was obliged  to  be car-
 ried off the field.   In this military exercise, into a concise explana*
 tion of which I have already entered, it sometimes  happens that
 one of the opponents, in riding full speed  after the other, lances
 his stick,  or wand, with  such force and adroitness, that the latter,
 however dexterous he may be, is unable either to lay hold  of it,
 or to parry off the blow.   In such a case he  is  inevitably struck (
 with so much violence, as to be obliged to  have  recourse to cup-
 ping, to relieve himself from the effects of the severe bruises he has
 received.   In this way it was that the Vizier some years before un-
 fortunately lost an eye,  which was beaten out  by one of his own
 attendants. To this unlucky circumstance I adverted, when I gave,
 in the preceding pages, a  description of this  distinguished person-
age ;  but I did not relate an anecdote which resulted from the acci-
dent,  and which, as it clearly indicates a humane and feeling dis-
position, such as, it is to be regretted, few Turks possess,  is a trait
in the Vizier's character which  ought  to be recorded.   He sent,
on the  following day,  for the individual by whom he had been 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C           157
 wounded, and, on his being brought before him,  made him a va-
 luable present, requesting, at the same time,  that he would never
 again appear in his presence, .lest it should remind him of his mis-
 fortune.
   In returning to the ground of the encampment,  the  procession
 moving in the same order as  in setting out, a corps of Turkish ca-
 valry,  Dehlis, galloped forward, and took possesssion of a height.
 A sham attack being made on them,  a heavy firing of musketry and
 pistols,  discharged in the air, was  kept up,  the balls with which
 they were charged flying,  as usual,  in every direction.
   Among the new levies which were daily pouring in to the Turk-
 ish camp, were several individuals who had suffered an amputation
 qf the nose. This being the punishment inflicted by Djezzar Pacha
 at Acre, plainly indicated whence they came.
   A Pacha, with a corps of about four hundred men,  arrived in the
 camp on the 16th.   The mission about this time suffered great in-
 convenience from the difficulty of procuring a necessary supply  of
 provisions.
   On the 20th,  Captain Leake was  ordered to hold himself in rea-
 diness to proceed with despatches to the commander in chief; and
 on the following day the janissaries,  with another party of troops,
 inarched from the camp, on  their way to Yebna—a sufficient indi-
 cation that the active military operations were on the eve of com-
 mencing.
   Several other detachments quitted  the encampment on  the 23d ;
 and we were ordered to hold ourselves  in  readiness for the 25th  in
 the morning, beyond which  time the march of the Vizier, with the
 remainder of his army,  was  not  to be delayed.
   In quitting Jaffa, some description of the country in which we
 had resided  for such a length of time may reasonably be expected
 from me, in addition to the information I have already been enabled
 to  give, in detailing the particulars  of my occasional excursions
 from the camp.   I  shall  therefore close the present chapter with
 a brief sketch of the most interesting particulars I  was able to col-
 lect, during my  stay in this part  of Syria;  and shall afterwards re-
 sume my narrative  of general occurrences, which will thus have
 suffered only a momentary interruption.
   A general idea of  the climate  of Syria may be formed from the
 following particulars:—During  our  stay there, the  thermometer,
 in the months of July,  August, and September, marked the high-
est, in the afternoon, from  ninety-three to ninety-five degrees  of 
i58
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 Fahrenheit.   It is unnecessary to remark, that during this interval
 the heat was extremely oppressive to such of our party as had not
 been inured to the more sultry climes.   The sky was, at the above
 season,  beautifully clear,  without a cloud to obscure the wide ex-
 panse ;  and the atmosphere  pure and benign.   The greatest varia-
 tion of  temperature occurred  in the months  of October and No-
 vember, when the rains came  on  suddenly with some degree of vi-
 olence.  This may properly be considered as the rainy season, since,
 generally speaking, during the other parts, of the year a drought
 prevails.  The very copious dews which fall in the dry months,
 when there is a  total  absence of rain, promote and  forward the
 vegetation.
    During the summer months the prevailing  winds are  from the
 north and north-west..  In entering on  October, they are more va-
 riable, blowing strongly from  the south, south-east, and east.  Ii
 is at this time that the sudden and heavy showers commence, and
 that the sky, which was before  so uniformly clear, is overspread
 with dark and  heavy clouds.   At length, the  month of Novem-
 ber drawing towards  its close,  the rains cease to fall, and the wea-
 ther becomes pleasant and  salubrious.   The result of my observa-
 tions at  this season was,  that before sun-rise the thermometer ran-
 ged from 42 to 52 and 53, and that, consequently, the  morning!
 were refreshing and cool.   At noon the variations of the thermo-
 meter were from  66  to  76, with a degree  of heat which was by
 no means oppressive.
    On the  coast of Syria the sea breeze prevails during  the day
 time,  and,  falling in the  evening, gives place to the gentle land
 breeze,  which continues to blow  until  about nine the next morn-
 ing.
   \\\ the month of December,  1S00, the January following, and
 a part of February, the weather was  very tempestuous, with hea-
 vy rains, vivid lightnings,  and  thunders, the explosion of which
 was awful and tremendous.   During this period the thermometer
 was low; and, on one  occasion, the storm was accompanied by
 hail.   The winds were usually from the south  or south-west.  A
 haziness  from  the southward was the sure precursor of each of the
gales;  and to this indication of foul weather was superadded a re-
markably large circle, or disk,  round  the moon.  This boisterous
and comparatively cold weather was highly favourable to the health
of the  individuals belonging to the mission.  It yielded, about the
 I Oth of February, to a more warm and settled temperature of the 
               SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.           I59

  air, which, bestowing on the arid hills some slight degree of ver-
  dure,  rendered the aspect of the country more cheerful.
     Syria may in general be considered  as a mountainous country;
  but the part bordering  on  Jaffa has several very extensive plains,
  which are intersected, at certain distances, with moderate heights.
  In approaching  Jerusalem, after having proceeded to  rhe other
  side of Ramla,  the mountains are very  lofty,  and,  having but a
  slender superficies  of earth to cover their rockv prominences,  arc
  exclusively adapted to the cultivation of olive-trees, which take root
  in their very clefts, and hide the naked  appearance  they  would
  otherwise exhibit.
     In general the  country  is but thinly  covered  with trees, and
  has few woods, or thickets.    In the parts where there is no tex-
 ture of soil, but merely a white loose sand,  not  a tree  nor shrub is
 to be seen.
    To the north side of Jaffa,  a  small-river, which empties itself
 into the sea, presents itself at the  distance of  two or  three miles.
 It  is the only one which I met with in Syria;  it is probable, how-
 ever, that others may have been formed, subsequently to the ex-
 cursions I made into the interior, by the abundant falls of rain  I have
 had occasion to notice.
    From the information I  was able to collect,  as well as from my
 own personal observation,  I could  not learn that either mines  or
 eruptions of volcanic matter are to be met with in Syria.
   The  soil in many parts, in those more especially bordering on the
 deserts, consists almost exclusively of a fine white sand, the reflec-
 tion from which  is extremely painful to the sight.   This barren
 territory extends, to the  northward, beyond Jaffa,   h  contains,
 however, in common with the other parts  of  Syria,  several fer-
 tile spots, covered with a rich black mould,  which very copiously
 repay the labour bestowed  on them.   On the  rocky  grounds  an
 inconsiderable portion  of calcareous earth  is found  blended with
 marl.
  Wherever the  land is  susceptible of cultivation,  and has not
 been neglected, it affords abundant crops of wheat, barley, Indian
corn (dourra),  tobacco, cotton, and other productions.  Fruits and
 vegetables are in equal abundance.   Among the former are pome-
 granates, figs, oranges, lemons,  citrons  of an uncommonly large
size, melons, grapes, and olives.  The melons are large, and have
a delicious fknour; as have also the  grapes, of which we partook
so late as the month of December, when wc fcund  thev still re- 
i6o
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
tained their exquisite flavour.  I have already adverted to the un.
common size  of the water-melons,  many of which  weigh  from
twenty to  thirty pounds.   They are a great and valuable resource
to the inhabitants, who are so passionately fond of them, that, du-
ring the tummer months, they form  a great  part  of  their subsis.
tence.  Notwithstanding they are as  cooling and refreshing, ai
grateful to the taste, I was surprised  to see the natives eat them in
such immoderate quantities,  without experiencing any unpleasant
consequences*
   Among the  vegetable  productions for the  table may be ranged
the coulcas,  the okre or  bannier, the coussa,  a species of gourd,
the tomata, and  a  kind  of  bean which has some resemblance to
our French bean.   The coulcas is a root brought from Bairoui,
Acre,  Sidon,  and Damietta, which, when cooked, is in taste not
unlike the potato, from which it differs in appearance by its darker
hue and less regular shape.  In its raw  state it is extremely acrid,
and produces on the mouth and  fauces, when tasted,  a  sensation
of pricking and  smarting, such as is caused,  under the same cir-
cumstances, by the Arum root.  It is considered by the inhabitants
as a wholesome and agreeable vegetable,  and, being  scraped and
boiled, enters into the composition of many of their dishes.   The
okre  is a fine mucilaginous vegetable, which gives an excellent fla-
vour to the soups.
   To the above list  may be added other vegetables, the quality of
which is excellent, such  as cabbages,  cauliflowers, spinage, lettuce,
endive, turnips, cucumbers,  radishes, and onions; the  latter ex-
tremely mild.   Both fruits  and  vegetables, as well  as all other
marketable commodities,  are sold by weight.
   The grounds  in  Syria are  in  general open.  Where enclo.
sures have been  attempted,  they are  fenced  in with  the prickly
pear tree.
   Numerous flocks  of goats and  sheep are distributed over the
plains,  as well as in  the mountainous territory.  The  tails of the
latter are uncommonly large, resembling those of the  sheep of the
Cape of Good Hope. Many of them  have an extraordinary length
of ear; but this observation  applies  still more particularly to the
goats,  an  ear of one of which I had  the curiosity to measure,  and
found it to be nine inches  in length. The cows and oxen are small,
and of a  reddish hue: large herds  of them are  driven out in the
mornings,  to browze in the plains, and in those parts of the moun- 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           l6l
 tainous territory, where a scanty superficies of soil, spread over the
 rocks, affords a feeble  hope of pasturage.
    The animal food of  the Syrians consists principally of mutton
 and goat's flesh,  and they consume but a very small proportion of
 beef, and no veal.   They are, indeed,  very sparing in their use of
 flesh, chiefly confining themselves in their diet to the vegetable pro-
 ductions they have in  such great  abundance, and of such excel-
 lent qualities.
   The horses are 6mall, but fleet,  and very sure footed.  In  their
 choice of them,  the  Turkish inhabitants attach  themselves rather
 to  the figure and showy appearance of the beast, than to his fleet-
 ncss and other useful qualities.  During our stay in the country, a
 good horse  brought from four to five  hundred piastres, that is, from
 thirty to nearly forty pounds English.
   The mules are very numerous, and of a large breed.   This re-
 mark also applies to the asses; and the latter  are much more swift
 of pace  than those of England.
   As a beast of burden, the camel has a remarkable pre-eminence
 in point  of  utility.   The inhabitants being destitute of carriages for
 the conveyance  of their  merchandise from place  to place,  such
 vehicles being incompatible with the state of the roads and country,
 have necessarily recourse to this animal, to perform the labours to
 which the mule, from  his comparatively diminutive stature, cannot
 be subjected.  This is not the only advantage which has resulted to
 the Syrians, from  the pains they have bestowed in the propagation
 of their race of camels, whose patient endurance of fatigues is  only
 to  be equalled by the parsimonious support which their nature re-
 quires.  In crossing  the deserts, or in performing other  tedious
 and laborious journies  where water cannot be procured, they pass
 several days in succession without allaying their thirst; and make
 a hard and scanty meal  on the shrubs and bushes they may chance
 to encounter on their way, without subjecting their masters to the
 necessity of loading them,  in addition to their other burdens, witji
 provender for their  support,  A smaller and more slender species of
.the camel, called hedgin, is mounted by the natives and others, and
 is capable of making a greater progress,  on a long journey,  than
 a horse.  It requires  some habit to be  reconciled to its motion,
 which is, however, not so fatiguing  as  might  be supposed from
 the appearance of the animal, lor its pace being by long and regu*
                 ( *1 ) 
l6l            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
lar steps, the rider feels a sensation similar to that of lieing'rockH
in a cradle.*
   The Syrians are in general of an ordinary stature, and of a spare
thin make, but very active and alert.   Their speed,  both in run-
ning and walking, is very great; and  being inured as well to pri-
vations as to fatigues',  they are capable of enduring an  extreme toil,
with a very scanty support, for a considerable length of time.   In
this particular they  have  a great  resemblance to the Indians of
America.  Their countenances are meagre  and wan; and  their
complexion so dark as, in a variety of  instances, to approach nearly
to black.  Their hair is of a shining  black,  and it is worn by the
women  very  long,  extending  even to  the waist.  They  dress and
decorate it in a very fanciful manner, suspending from it, and round
the head, different coins,  such as paras, sequins, and piastres, large
bunches of which are also suspended from the ears.  On the wrists
.they wear bracelets of coloured glass.   They stain their nails of an
orange  colour  with the henna, and blacken their eyelids with a
powder, of which I have already spoken in the details I have given
relative to Turkey.
   The  inhabitants  of Syria  are  very abstemious  in their  diet,
which is simple in the extreme.  It consists chiefly of salted olives,
cheese of a poor  and indigestible  quality, a coarse  bread- badly
baked, and  formed into flat cakes, and  rancid butter, or perhaps
oil.   They rarely indulge themselves  in the use  of animal food;
but on these occasions prepare a wholesome,  and to  many a pala-
table dish called pilaw, by stewing the flesh with rice.  Notwith-
standing  their common  beverage is water, a spirituous compound,
called  rackey, made  from the fermented husks  and  stalks of
grapes, distilled with aniseeds,  is imported into Syria from Turkey
and Asia.
   During our stay at Jaffa we  were well supplied with fish, such
as mullets, breams,  &c.   Our butter we were obliged to procure
from Jerusalem : it was made without salt, and cost  nearly eigh-
teen pence English per pound.   In every part of the country there
is an abundance of fowls; but we  did  not meet with  either tame
ducks, geese, or turkies, with the exception of those brought from
Cyprus,  where they are bred in great numbers.

  * I do not recollect to have seen, either irf Syria or in Egypt, more than one ftotv-
berance on  the back of  the carnels, whether hedgins or dromedaries, which appear to be
only a more slender and smaller species of the camel. 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           163
   There are two classes of Arabs very different from each other in
their habits, morals,  and style of living.   The Fellah, that is the
farmer,  or husbandman, inhabits the villages,  or the detached and
isolated dwellings in  the plains,  under the subjection of a Bey,  or,
perhaps,  of a Mameluke, or cachef, who, having been originally
a slave to one of the Beys,  has gained the confidence  of  his  mas-
ter, and  received not only his freedom, but  the government  of a
certain number of villages, on the revenues of which he preys with-
out control.  In the  exercise of his oppressive.acts he is aided by a
subordinate officer, denominated a gindee.  .
  Each  of the  newly  appointed cachefs  has  no sooner  enriched
himself by the contributions levied on the produce of the  wretched
Fellahs subjected to his domination, than he purchases such of the
estates as devolve to the Bey from  the original  proprietors, either
by death or forfeiture.   Cases  of  the latter description frequently
occur from the cupidity of the Bey, who, being aware of the very
precarious tenure by which he holds his government,  seizes, on the
slightest  pretext, upon  all the property within  his reach,  and has
been frequently known, in the  course  of a short and despotic ad-
ministration,  to bring the same  estate repeatedly to sale.   Thus are
the Fellahs, while they plant and sow, in an uncertain state,  whe-
ther the  whole  of the  expected produce of their industry is to be
snatched from them by their oppressor, on the  ground of confisca-
tion, or  whether they are still to be allowed the small portion of it
which the Avanias spare, and to be maintained in their quiet pos-
session of the territorial property transmitted to them by their an-
cestors.
  To this class of Arabs theartizans, domestics, and in general all
those who constitute  the lower  ranks of society, in the towns and
villages,  belong.
  With relation both to morals and industry, the Fellahs  have un-
questionably an advantage over the Bedouins, or wandering tribes of
Arabs.  Being stationary, and acquiring by their labour and indus-
try the little which is requisite to satisfy their wants, they have not
been stimulated to the predatory pursuits by which  the latter have
rendered  themselves  formidable and obnoxious to society.   In the
mi 1st of the abject state in which they live,  they have on some
occasions evinced that they are not destitute of  courage and energy.
In several of the districts,  more especially in  those  of  Foua and
Demcnhour,  when  the French troops,  commanded by Generals
Dcsaix and Btliard, penetrated into i'ppcr Egypt and some1 parts 
164           TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC TURKEY,  '

of Syria, the Fellahs manifested a spirit  of resistance which the
invaders had little reason  to expect.   In  the relation which the
French artist, Denon, who  accompanied the above detachments^
has published,  the vigorous  resistance  made by  these  people is
recorded, but not with  all the circumstances by which the trans-
actions were accompanied.   It is certain,  that a  detachment  of
eighty French was put  to death in the  night-time  by the inhabi-
 tants of Foua, led by a fanatic shieck;  and that, on several other
 occasions, they  harassed  and annoyed the republican troops, by
 whom they were at  length,  with great difficulty,  brought under
subjection.
    The wandering Arabs, or Bedouins, who form the other class,   |
 are divided  into  tribes, more or less numerous, to each  of which
 distinct limits are assigned.   These tribes  do not  always live  in
 amity together;  and whenever, in consequence  of an invasion of
 limits,  or  some other cause of dispute among themselves, war is
 declared, alliances are formed, in which the policy of the numbers
 to be ranged on each side is consulted.  The weaker tribes, in these
 cases,  do not of course  neglect  to associate themselves with  the
 more powerful.   The  worst part of their warfare consists, how-
 ever, in the attacks  ihey make on travellers, whether in small and
 isolated parties,  or in the  large bodies formed for protection and de-   j
 fence  into caravans.  The  Bedouins then betray all the ferocious
 cruelty of their character, which they also manifest when  they make
 incursions  into the villages of the Arab cultivators.  In executing
 their predatory  projects,  they have even dared to penetrate to the
 walls of Cairo.   The  property with which they travel consists of
 horses,  camels, and sheep; and to seek  pasturage for these animals*  ,
 they are constantly shifting  their ground in the deserts where  they
 have taken up their residence.   A class of them,  however, more
 settled than the others,  but  still Bedouins, inhabit tents on the bor-
 ders of  the deserts, and there cultivate  such spots as are favourable
 to vegetation.
    The swiftness  of  the mares on which they are  mounted was a
 great obstacls to the progress of the French, on their penetrating
 into Upper Egypt.   Whenever they felt themselves in sufficient
 force to encounter their  enemy, the  Bedouins attacked  with an
 entire confidence that,  in case  of a defeat, they should  be able to
effect their escape.  It was on this account that the French had re-
course to the formation  of a corps mounted on dromedaries, which
1 have already had occasion  to notice,  By the aid  of  these  ani- 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.
■6j
mals, they surprised several of the Bedouin  tribes in their retreat;
but not without incurring great  risks in penetrating into the de-
serts, where they were repeatedly exposed to  perish from thirst,
the fugitive Arabs leading them in a direction contrary to that of
the watering-places, with  the  position of which they alone were
acquainted.
  The arms of the Bedouins consist of a musket, provided with a
match-lock,  slung around  t.e arm, a  sabre, and a long spear,
which they carry in the hand.   The  latter of these weapons they
employ with  great  effect, when in  pursuit of  an enemy.  Not-
withstanding they are themselves armed  with muskets,  they have
a great dread of fire-arms, and  abandon the field to their adver-
sary, as Soon as  a few  of  their party  are brought down hy the
balls.  They cannot,  therefore,  be deemed  formidable, when op-
posed to troops subjected to any degree of discipline; and are only
so when they encounter an unprepared enemy,  or one greatly infe-
rior in force.
  The Arabs in general, whether Bedouins or  husbandmen,  are
expert thieves, and are distinguished also by their consummate hy-
pocrisy and treachery.   Many of the Fellahs have been converted
to  Christianity, and  have engaged  themselves as domestics, in
which capacity  they require a very strict goverment to ensure any
thing like obedience.   They are,  however, excellent grooms,  be-
stowing a particular attention on the horses committed  to  their
charge.   They allow them, in the course of the  day, two feeds
only  of barley and chopped straw; and  in supplying  them with
these meals in the morning and evening,  give  them a very scanty
allowance of water.   They have ceroiinly good reasons in favour
of this sparing regimen, as is  attested by the healthiness and good
condition of the Arab horses.
   The villages  in Syria appear  to be well peopled; but it is im-
possible to form  any correct idea of the general population of  the
country,  in consequence of the migrations of its inhabitants from
place to place, and  of the great  proportion of  them who reside
in tents.
   Such of the Fellahs as  have cultivated their lands with any suc-
cess, are  as  careful to conceal their little store  of riches, as they
were industrious in its acquisition. The  plea of  poverty to which
they resort,  is not, however, in  every  case,  equally   successful.
The avaricious Pacha,  either personally,  or  by  the means of his
instruments,  keeps a watchful  eye  on each of the cultivators, and 
166
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY*
  endeavours to estimate his means.   If there  is no plausible colour
  or pretext for the entire confiscation of the property of an indivi-
  dual on whom the suspicion of riches has fallen, he  is called on to
  contribute a sum,  perhaps very disproportionate to  his means, on
  the default of producing which, not only his property, but his own
  life, and those of his relatives,  are brought into danger.  Industry
  is thus discouraged; and to the tyranny exercised over the wretched
  cultivators may be attributed the neglected state of many large
  tracts of land, which,  under a better form of government, would
  be abundantly productive.
    The Wooden plough employed here for agricultural purposes, is
  drawn by a pair  of small oxen.   The barley and  wheat are sown
  in January,  and reaped in May.   In different parts  of Syria  the
  inhabitants pursue  different modes in the treatment of their vines,
  which in some places they prune nearly to the surface of the earth,
  depending on the spring shoots for the autumnal produce; while in
  others they allow them to attain their full growth, supporting their
  branches with props.  The grapes, when ripe, are in general held
  in too great an esteem,  as a part of  the nourishment  of the inha-  i
  bitants,  to be converted into wine;  but this is  not invariably  the
  case. At Jerusalem and Bethlehem  we drank some excellent wine,  i
  the produce of the neighbouring vineyards, which were cultivated
  with much labour and industry.
    I shall add a few words of general observation on the diseases of
  Syria,  with  which I shall close the present  digression, and then
 proceed to the more immediate objects of this narrative.
    The  Syrians are s'ubject to few endemic diseases, of  which the
 psorophthalmy, an inveterate complaint of the eyes, is the pincipal
 and most common.   It prevails so generally, that in  the town of
 Jaffa nearly  two thirds of the inhabitants had, from its effects,
 lost-the  sigh:  either of one, or  of both the eyes;  insomuch that
 the numbers  of blind people led about were truly astonishing.   It
 appears to me that the remote causes  of this obstinate disease, the
 effects  of which  are so calamitous,  may be traced to a bad diet;
 an exposure to a hot air from the white and burning sands,  the fine
 particles of which float almost perpetually in the atmosphere; and,
 lastly, the confined huts or dwellings  in which the inhabitants re-
 side.  In support of the probability of the second of these causes,
 it has been remarked,  that'during the season  when the figs and
grapes ripen,  that is, in  the months  of May, June, and July,
when the most intense heat prevails,  this disease is  most common. 
SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.
167
and is accompanied by  an unusual malignance.   With respect to
the latter cause which has been assumed, it  should be remarked,
that the habitations of the poorer classes of Syrians, to whom  the
psorophthalmy  more particularly attaches itself, are formed of a
few stones badly cemented together by the means of mud or dung,
and which, having but a small elevation from the soil, rather  re-
semble cells, br caverns,  for the abode  of anchorites, than dwel-
lings in which the conveniences of social life are consulted.   Being
utterly destitute of chimnies, or  other openings  to  carry  off  the
smoke, the vapours of the dried camel's dung, which is burned for
fuel, disperse  themselves  in  the foul  atmosphere  by which  the
wretched inmates are enveloped, and, among other baneful effects,
cannot fail to  irritate the  organ of vision.   It is most probably
owing to the same cause of the impure «air which they inspire in
these miserable hovels,  that the countenances  of  the Syrian pea-
sants are haggard, squalid, and  without that animated glow which
denotes an equable circulation  of the  blood,  and a free  passage
through the excretory channels of the skin.
  The other diseases most prevalent in Syria are dysentery, cuta-
neous eruptions, small-pox, putrid, intermittent, aud remittent fe-
vers, and, lastly, the plague, which it would appear,  however, is
generally  brought from  other  countries.  The small-pox is fre-
quently very fatal among the inhabitants, who, to  guard against
its ravages, have sometimes recourse to inoculation.  In these cases
it is their practice to  puncture the arm with a sharp instrument, si-
milar to a needle, and to rub on the punctured part  the variolous
matter taken from a chosen pustule.  This mode of inoculation is
confined to the Christian Arabs, who are pretty  successful in  the
result,  although they have no recourse to internal remedies.  The
malignant fevers generally prevail in the winter season, and during
the months of November and December 1S00, swept off a great
part of the population of Acre.
  The treatment of  diseases employed by the Syrians is,as capri-
cious and  immethodical as confined within narrow limits.   They
place a great confidence  in the use of the lancet;  but  to this they
have recourse in the spring season only of the year.
  As an argument of the salutary temperature of the air of Syria,
the very rare occurrence of pulmonary diseases should be adduced,
as well as  the  numerous instances  of longevity arriono-the inha-
bitants, who frequently attain the age of an hundred, and,  in some
instances, of an hundred and ten years,  and upwards.  Were ;hey 
*6c5            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

in a more civilized state, and united in a social  compact under a
good  government,  they would become very  numerous and pow-
erful, the Syrian women, who marry very young, being remarkably
prolific.
                        CHAPTER  XI.

The army pj the Grand Vizier.  Principal officers.  Different casts of ftopli.
  Artificers and attendants.  Precarious state of greatness in the Turkish gi-
  'vernment.  Standards.  Dervises.  Gross superstition of the Turks.  Tra-
  dition relative to the dotunfal of the Turkish empire.   Origin and present
  state of the janissaries.  The Arnauts.  Light cavalry.  Volunteers. Rdi-
  gious sectaries who follow the army.  Plunderers.  Mamelukes.   Arabian
  camel-drivers. Thievish disposition of the Arabs.  Tartars.  Guards t/  ■
  honour.  General character of the Turks ; Personal courage; Superstitiu] jj
  ^Temperance;  Addiction to coffee and tobacco 5 Games; Pay and allovstuti
  of the foldiery ; Miserable state of the medical art among the Turks ; Horn-
  manfhip.

     THE principal  Turkish officers who served in the Ottoman  %
      camp,  under the command of his  Highness the Grand Vi-
eier,  were as  follow :
  The Seraskier, Mahomed Pacha,  a Pacha of three tails.
  The Charcagis,  Taher Pacha, a Pacha of two tails.
  The Yenecheri Agassi, or Janissary Aga, having the rank of a
       Pacha of two tails, and the chief command of the janissaries.
  The Jcbigis Bashi, or commissary of stores, a Pacha of  one tail,
  The Topgis Bashi, or commandant of artillery,
  The Arabahgis Bashi,  or superintendant of  gun-carriages.
  The Coombarahgis Bashi, or commandant of bombardiers.
  The Lakemgis Bashi, or commandant of miners.
  The Sevmen Bashi, Or second in command of janissaries.
  The Cul Caiyahs'i,  whose appointment is similar to that of our
       officers superintending press gangs.
  The Cadi Asker,  or military judge  (occasionally attached to the
       Ottoman army).
  The Etchi Bashi, or Cook Bashi.
  The Samsoongis  Bashi, or principal dog-keeper, 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           169
 . /The Zahergis Bashi,  or secondary dog-keeper.
  Besides these there were many others whom it would  be super-
fluous to mention, and among them several whose presence in the
camp was not of the least utility.   Of this description are the two
personages who stand the last on the list, and whose titles  would
not have been enumerated, had it not been for the singularity of their
appointments.  Originally,  a certain number of dogs were,  in a
Turkish atmy, attached to the troops; but this practice having been
long discontinued, nothing now remains except the rank  and emo-
luments of the  office. That  of the Tournahgis Bashi,  or bird-keep-
er, who had the charge of the birds formerly carried with the army
is now become obsolete.
   The appointments held by the generality of these officers suffici-
ently explain the relative importance of their stations.  There are,
however, one  or  two of them who are entitled to a particular no-
tice.
  The Cadi Asker is, in his judicial capacity, invested with an of-
fice of great dignity and responsibility in the Turkish army.  -He
is the supreme judge and arbitrator in all disputes and legal questions
which,may arise,  whether of a civil or military nature. It is, not-
withstanding,  to be  presumed, that under so despotic an admini-
stration as that of the Turks, more especially where the military is
concerned,  his awards must be  subject to a great degree of con-
trol.
  The  Etchi Bashi, or cook of the corps of janissaries,  whatever
his title may appear to import, has a distinguished consideration in
the Turkish armyj and, to heighten his  importance,  carries about
him  certain marks  and characteristic  distinctions, which  render
his appearance highly ludicrous.  He is cloathed  in a large habit of
dark coloured  leather,  covered over with devices of plated  metal,
which render it extremely weighty,  insomuch, that on davs of cere-
mony,   when  he.  is  decorated with all  the insignia  of his office,
what with   the pressure of this habit, or tunic, and that  of  the
other parts of  his  dress, which, being also  covered with plates of
metal,  are equally cumbrous anJ oppressive,  he requires  the aid of
two persons  to assist him in walking.  It is from this officer, who is
both feared  and respected by his corps,  that the janissaries receive
ihe punishment of the coup de baton.
  In a  Turkish army, complexions of every hue, black, copper-
colour,  olive,  tawny, yell >w, and white, are to be found, as well
as the different casts  of features,  and varieties of shape and propor-
                 ( 22  ) 
170
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 tion, which result  from so motly a compound  of so many diffe-
 rent nations indiscriminately brought  together.  The complexions
 depend of course on  the varieties of  the climates whence the dif-
 ferent corps have been recruited.   The Africans are black, with
 the exception bf those who come from the more  northern parts of
 Africa, and who, notwithstanding they have on the head the curl-
 ed Woolly hair of negroes, are of a tawney complexion,   It has bf
 some  been asserted,  that they are sprung from colonies imported
 into the countries they inhabit, from  different parts of Europe and
 Asia.  The Egyptians, as well as the inhabitants of Asia,  Syria,
 Diarbeker, &c. are also dark or tawney.  Among the whites may
 be comprehended,  not only the Europeans, but the inhabitants of
 Natolia, Armenia,  Georgia, and Tartary.  The Georgians are
 justly celebrated for the finest complexion and most regular feature*
 any where to be found.   Many of the Bedouin  Arabs differ so
 much from their countrymen in their complexion, as to be nearly
 black.
   So considerable, in a Turkish-army, are the numbers of trades-
 people, attendants, domestics  and followers of every denomination,
 tha^ when it is computed to amount to twenty thousand men, near-
 ly the half of that number must be subtracted, to form an estimate
 of its real and efficient force, when brought into the field.  Each
 of the chiefs and pachas  is constantly surrounded by a very nume-
 rous suite of attendants,  who keep their eyes steadily fixed on him
 tojcatch his nod, and hasten to the execution of his imperious man-
 dates.   By the numbers  of his followers, who  thus swarm about
 him, his dignity  and  respectability are estimated.   Amidst all this
 grandeur,  his situation, than which nothing can be more precari-
 ous, ought not to excite the envy or jealousy of those who act in
 rhe subordinate unks. Should he have signalized himself on a great
 and trying occasion, it too frequently happens, that his distinguished
 merit points him  out to his superiors as the object of an odious per-
 secution.   His views and expectations  are  thus  baffled, and the
 earliest occasion  sought to accomplish  his ruin, and to gratify a
 hateful spirit of revenge. "To affect this, he is perhaps ordered to ex-
 ecute an insurmountable difficulty, in the accomplishment of which
having  necessarily failed,  he is deprived of  his employment, de-
graded from his rank, robbed of his  wealth, and in the midst of his
sufferings may esteem himself happy that his life has been spared by
his sa"vage persecutors.  The  maxim which the Turks have em- 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.          IJ t
 braced, that success gives a divine sanction to all actions, supplies
 them with an-elscuse for the commission of the blackest crimes.
   In an -Ottoman army, the multitude ,of useless people  to whom
 I have just allied, cannot  fail to be attended by great inconveni-
 encies, as well .ashy the occasional distress .resulting from an insuf-
 ficiency of means.  While  so marked an attention is bestowed  on
 an ostentatious parade,  which might be permitted elsewhere to the
 luxurious inhabitant of the east,  every essential arrangement in the
 establishment of depots,  magazines, &c.  is neglected,  insomuch,
 that the horrors of an approaching famine have frequently manifest-
ed them*dves in Xk&Turkish ranks, as we can  testify from ocular
 observation.
   Each of the  Pachas or chiefs has his respective standard, which
 is very large;  and the  dervises,  or  religious professors, by whom
 the Turkish army is accompanied, have also their sacred banners,
-the colour of  which is  usually green.   In  addition to this, each of
•the Small  companes,  consisting  of from twenty-five to  thirty pri-
 vates,  belonging to the corps of infantry, carries a small flag or
banderole.  Among the Arnauts these little flags are still more nu-
 merous.  The necessary  inference to be drawn from the employ-
 ment of sych a multiplicity  of standards, banners,  and flags, .is,
.that diQse who have the charge of  them must not only  diminish in
 a considerable  degree, in  the field  of battle, the effective force
 which would otherwise have been brought into action,  but  must
even shackle and impede  the military operations.  How mistaken
therefore  is the calculation that, independently of the ideas of gran-
deur and magnificence which the Turks attach to these  trivial ob-
jects, they have the effect of inspiring the enemy with terror and
dismay ?
  A Turkish camp is lighted up;at  night  by a kind of  large  lan-
terns, formed  of irou hoops, and fastened upon long poles.  Seve-
ral of these lights, in which rags impregnated with grease, oil,  or
a resinous substance, are burned,  are placed in the front of the tent
of each of the Pachas.  In the disposition, of the centinels, as well
as in the distribution of the tents, and, in general, in every essen-
tial arrangement in  which security ought to be studied,  the Turks
are so extremely negligent and inattentive, as to be constantly ex-
posed to a surprise, more particularly in the night-time.   In such
a case the  panic and alarm produced cannot fail to rhrow  rivery part
of the camp into the utmost confusion, since it is impossible to ral-
ly, unite and form 3 whole,  where neither order nor method has 
172
TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
  been studied in the distribution of the parts.  There is nothing, in.
  deed,  to obstruct the progress of an enemy who should attempt- to
  penetrate by night,  with cautious and warv step's* into the camp,
  and who by cutting the cords of the tents  would be certain to pro-
  duce a fatal embarrassment among the troops within.  Whether the
  slaughter which would  ensue should  be more or less terrible, the
  ultimate effect of the abandonment of the camp would be the same;
  and the equipage and artillery would become a sure prey to the as-
  sailants.   The dreadful massacre which occurred  on the 17th of
  September, 1169, arose from the unprepared state of fourteen thou- ■
  sarid Turks encamped,  and the very feeble resistance they were in
  consequence enabled to make.  Instead of defending themselves,
  the greater part of them crept under the tents,  where they were put
  to death by the bayonet, without imploring the mercy of their van-
  quishers.   During the late contest in Egypt an equally calamitous
  scene  was  witnessed at Aboukir, where many thousands of the
  Turks who had been routed in their encampment, in  attempting a
  precipitate escape,  drowned themselves in the sea.
   The Turks who are involved in superstition, carry about them, '
  in the camp and in the field, as well as in every other situation, cer-
  tain talismans, consisting chiefly of verses of  the Koran,  to which
  they attach  very extraordinary virtues,  regarding them  as  a safe-
  guard and a protection against every danger by .which they may be
  assailed.
   They bestow an implicit faith on an ancient prophecy, a part of
 which, according  to their traditions, was found engraven  on  the
 tomb of one of their santons, and which is  pretty nearly to  this ef-   \
 feet:  " That the Turkish empire will be annihilated by the Bussi-
 " ans;  that the first battle which will be fought between the two
 " contending powers will he lost by the Ottomans, on  the banks of
 "the Niester;  that another  battle will  afterwards  be decided
 " against them in the neighbourhood of Constantinople; and that
 " their emperors  will be  compelled  to  reside  at Damascus.'*-
 Should they therefore be  overcome, in a future contest with this
 power, it will not perhaps be owing so much to the imperfect state
 of their tactics,  to their bad conduct  in the  field, or to the valour
 of their enemy, as to the chimerical and superstitious ideas they are
 weak enough to entertain.
  The origin of such an extraordinary military body as that of the
 janissaries has justly excited curiosity, yet it will be found  nearly
similar to  that of other establishments.   Amurgt I.  for the better 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C           173
preservation of his empire,  found it necessary to establish a formi-
dable and well disciplined militia,  a part of which was destined for
the defence of his own  person.  He  accordingly collected every
fifth youth who had attained the age of fifteen years, belonging to
the Christian inhabitants of Bulgaria, Macedonia, and the Greek
protinees,  which were  thus rendered tributary in a considerable
portion  of their rising population.  These, children were carefully
instructed in the Mahomedan religion, and  inured  for a certain
number of years to laborious exercises, bv the husbandmen to whose
care they were entrusted.   They were  afterwards trained to the use
of arms;  and,  to the end that they might  be accustomed to the
spilling of blood, and their character stamped with a savage fero-
city, they  were made to; exercise their weapons on the bodies  of
prisoners  taken in  battle,  or on those of  condemned criminals.
They were styled hadjemoglar, or the  children of strangers.  This
personal tribute to which the Christians were subjected having
been at length commuted into a fine, the janissaries were recruited
by volunteers,  the greater part  of whom have  been latterly taken
from the lowest classes of the people,  insomuch that they are now
in a very degraded state, when compared  with  what they were at
their original  establishment.   From the words yeni-asker, which,
in the  Turkish language,  imply new  levies, the word janissary is
derived.
  However the janissaries, inconsequence of deviations from their
original institution, may have relaxed from the discipline which in
ancient times rendered them so  formidable, they may still be con-
sidered as the most select and regular of the Turkish troops.  They
are at the same time better  and more uniformly dressed  and equip-
ped.   They carry a  short rifle-barrel musket, slung  across  the
shoulder, without a bayonet.  The fire of these muskets, the greater
part of which are manufactured at Damascus, cannot be very brisk,
as they require a considerable time to load.   The other arms of the
janissaries consist of a large knife, or dagger, and a pair of pistols
fastened within the sash which surrounds the^waist.  In some instan-
ces they carry sabres. On particular occasions they wear  a laro-e and
singular cap of white felt, with a long  flap behind, hanging care-
lessly  down the back, and  in  the front a brass tube, in which the
spoon is intended to be carried for the  pilaw.   Their trowsers be-
ing much narrower than those worn by the Turks  in general,  are
less embarrassing in walking.  During  the summer their  legs  arc
naked, as are also their arms as high as  the shoulders.   On the feet 
'74
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
  they wear Ted slippers, and are occasionally enveloped by a loose
  cloak.  When in their tents they sit and lie on a small Turkey car-
  pet, or, when this cannot be procured, on a sheep skin.  On a
  march they carry their  water either in a tin canteen, or in a leathern
  bottle.
    The total amount of these corps has  been variously, tstimatej.
  JBy some it has been carried to more than.an hundred (thousand$f.
  fectivemen;  while others have  supposed it  not to exceed forty
 .thousand.  Each oddah, or regiment, has a flag or symbol by tvhiuji
  it ,is distinguished from the others.  These symbols are/in some in-
  stances characteristic, as in ;the case  of the tjiirty-finst  oddah,  or
  regiment,  where the anchor on the flag denotes .that this regiment
  is devoted  to the servjee of the marine.  In other, cases the symbols
  are fanciful, representing birds, fishes, animals* isahres,  &c.  Tha
  arms also of the provinces from whence  the regiments were origi-
  nally .recruited, and the names of  which  they bear, are represented
 "occasionally on these colours.  The strength of each uddah dfr
 j>ends in a  greac measure on its celebrity.
   The preservation of their colours in battle is not with the jmi^
 varies so much an affair of momentary concern, as that of the largo
 copper kettles, two in  number, which are constantly placed in tbj
 iront of the tents of each regiment, and which axe accompanied by
 a skimmer,  a  ladle, and a kind of halbert.   They have two sets of
 •these cooking utensils,  to  guard  against any  accident which may
 occur; and they are held so sacred as to be a certain protection to
 those who seek refuge  beneath them.   When botb  sets are loir,
 the regiment is disbanded.  On a march these kettles jare carried.il
 front of each respective regiment.
   In Constantinople the janissaries form the -night guards* and in
 parading the streers  are  equipped  with heavy sticks,  or bludgeons,
 When, in time of war,  thev are stationed either  in  towns or in
 camps, many of them associate themselves with ;the  trades-people
 and settlers,  to whom,  if  Christians more especially, they area
 protection, and whose custom they are certain to.augtnexit by their
 influence, while they share their profits.
   In  addition  to  the  ration  which is  regularly allowed  them,
they  receive a moderate pay, which does not exceed a crown per
month.   The  mode of the monthly distribution I  have already
described.
  The Yenicheri-Agassi, or generalissimo of these troop*, is a per-
son of high rank and consideration, invested wiih all the  digni&i 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &Cr
*7
 of a Pachi of two or three tails, and having an occasional seat in
 the divan.   Among the other officers are the Choarbagis, or  colo-
 nel and the Biyractar, or standard-bearer.   The tide of Seraskier
 Corresponds with that of our commander in chief of the army, and
 is bestowed on a Pacha commanding  an awny, with other Pachas'
 who act under hirm   With the exception of the Aga and Colonel,
 the Turkish military officers in general are destitute of the respec-
 tability which is attached to European  officers- enjoying the  same
 rank.   Their promotion being obtained by purchase and favour, ra-
 ther than by merit, the influence of an individual high in power is
 alone necessary to raise the most obscure individual in the service to>
 the highest command.
   I shall add  a few observations on such  of the Turkish military
 corps as deserve a particular notice, and then proceed to the narra*
 tive of the operations of the Vizier's army.
  The troops which are raised in the Morea, in Macedonia, Bosnia,
 Sec. are styled Arnauts, and have already been very frequently cited
 by me on account of their very turbulent and indocile qualities. The
 corps  of infantry into  which  they are formed are commanded by
 officers  from  their  respective  provinces,  which, whenever the
 Turks are engaged in a war, are dramed of a great proportion of their
 male population, on account  of the warlike disposition  of the in-
 habitants, who are trained exclusively to the use of arms, to engage
 themselves as  mercenaries wherever their services may be demand-
 ed.  Being inured from their infancy to laborious exercises, they
 are hardy and vigorous;  and  the pursuits in which they are enga-
 ged give them an air of savage fierceness well suited to their cha-
 racer.   Among  their other immoral qualities,  they  are expert
 thieves.  When they are engaged, a sum of money is  given to a
 Pacha, or some other chief, to entertain a certain number of them-
 for a given time.  He bestows on each of them a small monthly
 pay, in addition to which they are supplied,  when in the field, by
 tire Turkish government, with biscuit and rice.  A Bin-bashi, ha-
 ving under him several officers of inferior rank, commands a corpr
 •f these troops, a thousand strong.   Notwithstanding they are Irs
 general formed into corps  of infantry, several  thousands of them
 were mounted during the last campaign in Egypt. Their drcs has
 some resemblance to the tunic.   That of the superior officers is of
 rich velvet,  nicely  embroidered with  gold.  They wear a  breast-
plate of silver, or white metal; and in some  cases  cover the legs
wjth a  kind of armour,  putting on sandals, to imitate in their dress, 
17^          TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY^,
as nearly as they  can,  the  Spartans, from whom they suppose
themselves descended, and whose fierce and martial air they appear
to have retained.  The head is shaved, except  on the middle, or
crown, whence a tuft of hair descends, and flows loosely  down the
back.   Over the head is a red skull-cap, which descends low down
on the forehead.   In general their appearance  indicates  that they
are very negligent and slovenly in their persons.  On a long march,
and after a considerable  absence from their homes, they  are often
exposed to the greatest misery and  distress, of which indeed we
were ourselves,  on several occasions,  witnesses.  Amidst the vices
in which  they indulge,  that of gambling is carried to so great an
excess, that when they have  lost at cards the little money  they have  '
in their possession, they frequently stake their fire-arms,  and every
other description of property.  They are great marauders, plunder-
ing whatever they can lay their hands on; and so unruly and in-
temperate in their passions, which they cannot govern,  that they
frequently commit assassinations among one another.  They speak
a language  peculiar to themselves, said to have been handed down
to them by the ancient Illyrians.
   Their arms consist of  a pair of pistols worn in a sash, with a long
handjar knife, or dagger, and a musket with a long barrel.   Their
pistols and muskets are  usually mounted in silver, and much orna-
mented.  They are without knapsacks, for which,  in truth,  they
have not  the smallest occasion. The mode in which they  are train-  |
ed from their youth renders them excellent marksmen.             <
   In the  Turkish cavalry, as well  as in the service of the infantry,
the soldier provides himself with the arms the most agreeable to his
fancy.  Frequently,  however, the horsemen carry pikes and jave-  j
lins of different lengths, of which the  shorter ones are girted on
and  secured to the saddle.   Some of these weapons are six feet or
more in length,  with an iron point, or ferrule,  nearly a foot long,
to the bottom of which is attached  a  tassel made of feathers, or
hair.   Having,  in training up to discipline,  made the djerid exer-
cise a principal pursuit and chief amusement, they lance  the jave-
lin with great force and dexterity.  They likewise carry battle-axes,
and maces,  or clubs,  with sabres,  and, in some  cases, carabines,
or rifle-barrel muskets.  It seldom happens that bayonets are em-
ployed by the Turkish  soldiery; but among the cavalry, two, or
even a greater number of pistols, ornamented with a silver mount-
ing,  are placed within the sash, or  girdle. 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           Iff
  There are two indispensable articles with  which  a  Turkish
horseman never fails to provide himself, namely a leathern  bottle,
or perhaps several, filled with water, and reaching from the saddle
to Lcneath the belly of the horse;  and his pipe, which is fastened
in front to the pommel of  the saddle.
  The number of the cavalry is much greater than that of  the in-
fantry.  The horses on whicli they are mounted are of a greater or
less value and estimation, according to the countries from whence
ihey have been procure J.  in the  management of them  their ri-
ders are very adroit;  and mount with much grace and agility.   As
is the case with all the Turkish and Arab horseman, their stirrups
are very short.
  When on a march, the cavalry  are not more regular and  or-
derly than the ottier Turkish troops.   It is saidthat in battle they
do not engage en masse so much as the janissaries, but  aie more
dispersed.   It  is  however certain, that on  these occasions each
troop or squadron, whatever may  be its strength,  keeps  together
without mixing with the other  troops.   In rushing  forward, at a
given  signal, to encounter rhe  enemy, each of rhe  horsemen  ex-
claims with vehemence, allahl allahl  invoking the  aid  of  the
Deity to the enterprize.
  Among the troops of light  cavalry the natives  of Georgia  and
Circassia, known under the  common appellation of  Leghis,  are
the most conspicuous.   They  are  well  proportioned,  of a robust
make, and  have the fine features  and complexions for which  the
above provinces are distinguished.   The state of warfare  which is
constantly kept up between them and the Russian troops  stationed
on their frontiers, together with the hostilities they carry on among
themselves in a predatory  way, and which are favoured by  the
mountainous territory they inhabit,  have rendered  them well  cal-
culated for a military life.   Except that the head is not shaved,  and
that they  wear a sheep-skin cap instead of a turban, their appear-
ance is not  unlike that of the Tartars.
  Under the description of volunteers may  be  comprehended  the
religious sectaries whose excess  of enthusiasm urges  them to  dis-
pose of the little property they possess, and to repair, from every
part of the  Turkish empire, to the standard of their prophet Ma-
homed.  But of  all the sects the  most numerous  is  the se,ct qf
plunderers,  who also resort to his standard, in the hope  of acqui-
ring a greater booty than they could reasonably expect elsewhere. 
17^            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
   Ey the word Mameluke is implied a native of a distant region.
 Accordingly, the Mamelukes, who made so conspicuous a figure in
 history some centuries ago, who recently distinguished themselves
 in the French invasion of Egypt, and whom I have had repeated
 occasions to notice in speaking of  the army  of the Grand Vizier,
 are either Georgian or Circassian slaves brought into Egypt; with
 the exception, however,  of a  few among them, whose dark and
 swarthy countenance announces, as well as the cast of their fea-
 tures, that they are  of Nubian  origin.   It is necessary that eve™
 individual  Ilameluke should have been  a slave, to arrive at the
 highest dignities, such as Bey, &c.   The climate  of Egypt, or
 some other  cause, however, is extremely unfavourable to the de-
 scendants of the Mamelukes.  They are generally short lived.  Jt
 is said that these.can never be permitted to enjoy the elevated situ-
 ations among the Mamelukes.   The children of Europeans  also,
 who are settled in the country, are unhealthy, and are reared with
 the greatest difficulty.
   There was a time when the more  successful  and more enterprising
 of the Mamelukes rose to the highest dignities in  Egypt, from
 the  office of Bey to that of Sheick-el-belled, or Supreme Governor;
 but the ascendency they had acquired in that country has  been lat-
 terly much diminished.   The numbers of those by whom the army
 of the Grand Vizier  was augmented were  comparatively few,  but
 they were  entitled to more confidence than the generality  of the
 troops.
   The Arabian camel-drivers,  who are  not furnished, like  the
 Turkish soldiers,  with tents for their lodging and accommodation,
 while on the march,  are reduced to the necessity of forming, at the
 expiration  of each day's march,  a ring or circle, by the means of
 the saddles and other furniture of their camels, near to whom they
 are constantly stationed for their safety and protection. Within this
 circle  they  make a fire  with the dung of the animals, dried roots,
 withered shrubs,  &c.  and with all possible hilarity hover over this
 fire in the evenings,  to partake of such amusements as their leisure
 may suggest.   On these occasions they sing, dance, and relate sto-
 ries, some  of which  are of an hour's duration.   While a part of
 them are engaged in dancing, the others beat time to them by clap-
ping their hands.
  When,  on the marches  we had occasion to make in Syria and
Egypt, their camels weie laden with our baggage, we never enter-
tained  the  smallest apprehension  respecting the probity  of these 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.
179
  Arabs.   No  sooner, however, were  the  animals eased of their
  burthens, than their drivers considered  that they had executed their
  trust,  and that whatever diey could lay their  hands on was fair
- game.  This propensity to theft, which  is common to the Arabs
  of every description,  demanded on  our side the utmost vigilance,
  as well during our marches as in the encampment, where the noc-
  turnal robberies which so frequently occurred, were traced to the
  same source of Arabian rapacity.
    In the course of my narrative repeated mention has been made  of
  the Tartars,  who are entrusted with public despatches.   A cerum
  number  of 1 these  Tartars, under a Khan,  or chief of their ov/n
  nation, were constantly stationed with the army of the  Grand Vi-
  zier, to  receive his Highness's commands,  and to proceed on the
  different missions  which  the public business might require.  They
  are despatched i/i this  way, not only from the armies,  but from the
  capital, to every part of the Ottoman  dominions, and are  as quiet
  and well behaved,  as they are remarkable for their fidelity.  Instead
  of  a turban, they wear a yellow calpack,  round  the inferior part
  of  whicli is a broad band  of black cloth.   They are a  strong and
  hardy race, capable of enduring the greatest fatigues, and perform
  their journies with remarkable celerity, seldom  or never sleeping
  on the route.  They are provided with a firman,  or order, which
  enables them,  in the  towns through which they pass, to make re-
  quisitions for horses, and whatever besides may  be necessary  for
  their further progress; and with these demands the governors, ma-
  gistrates,  and others,  are bound strictly to  comply.
    The Vizier was, as well as several  of his principal officers,  at-
  tended by a description of guards of  honour, styled bostangis,  a
  word  which in its literal sense, implies gardeners.  At Constanti-
  nople they are very numerous, and form the body guard of the Sul-
  tan, whose barge is entrusted to their management whenever there
  is a public procession by water.   Their chief,  rhe Bostangi Bashi,
  holds an appointment  of great trust, being invested not only with
  the civil jurisdiction of the seraglio, but also with that  of  the vil-
  lages on each side  of the Bosphorus.
   1 shall close these details by a few general remarks on the Turks
  more particularly as far as regards their military character.
    1 hat the Turks possess a considerable share of personal  courage
  is beyond a doubt: it is  therefore to be lamented, that  this quality
  should be rendered useless, or  even pernicious, by the  superstition
  into which they are plunged, as well  as by all the radical vices of 
iSo
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEYj
their government.   They are hardy, temperate,  patient under af-
flictions, and upright in their dealings.  Having  been accustomed
from an early age to an abstemious mode of living, and inured to
hardships, those of the inferior classes are well calculated for a mi-
litary life.  Their customary diet  consists of a  small portion of
bread or biscuit, with a scanty allowance of cheese, onions, olives,
and oil, whenever either or any of  these articles can be procured.
It occurs but seldom that  they can gratify themselves by an indul-
gence in animal food; and in such cases they are very fond of a pi-
law, consisting of a strong gravy made from mutton,' fowls, &*c.
in which a proportion of  boiled rice is stewed. This luxury, how-
ever, but seldom  falls to  the lot  of the military  by whom the
Turkish ranks are filled,  and who have  recourse to other and less
costly gratifications, the principal of which are coffee and tobacco,
The former thev drink in as strong an infusion as possible;  and to
the use of the latter they  are so much  addicted, that the pipe is the
inseparable companion  of many  of the women even among the
lower ranks of the Turks.   Wine  being prohibited  by the Koran,
the usual beverage of every class of Mussulmen is water; but when-
ever they can prevail on themselves to overcome their religioas scra-
ples so far as to  indulge in rhe use  of  wine or spirits, they swal-
low them so  copiously,  and with such eagerness, that,  in  the in-
toxication which follows, they become  noisy and riotous  in the
extreme.
  The game of  chess,  which is not prohibited like gambling with
cards or dice,  is one of their amusements in the  camp, as  well as
in the towns.   They are likewise very fond  of singing, which is
gfcnerallv performed  in a  haish and discordant tone, without any
modulation of the voice.
   In addition to this scanty allowance of bread,  or biscuit and rice
(and of barley for his horse, if belonging to the cavalry)-, the Turk-
ish soldier is allowed from five to ten aspers,  that is, from a penny
to two-pence, English, per  day.   With this wretched stipend he
is obliged to supply himself with tobacco,  coffee, onions,  olives,
&c.   When sick, he  has little to expect from medical skill or at-
tendance, and can place  as small a  dependance on the administra-
tion of the  necessary remedies,  which are veryrarely supplied to
combat his disease. 1 was acquainted with four surgeons belonging
to the army of the Grand Vizier, three of whom were  Italians,
whose practice was chiefly confined to the pachas and commanders
of the different corps. They fell victims to their professional duties. 
              SYRIA,  EGYPTj  GERMANY, &C.           l8l

The fourth was a Turk, whose skill in medical science correspond-
ed with that of the greater part of his countrymen who had embra-
ced the same pursuit.
   As  well in camp as  in every other situation, the Turks attend
regularly to their prayers five times in the course of the day, at sun-
rise,  at nine in the morning, at noon, at four in the afternoon,  or
two hours before  sun-set, and at the setting of the sun.  Before
each prayer  they invariably wash their feet, hands, and face, and
having spread their little carpet in the tent, make.their prostrations,
and go through their devout exercises.  After their second prayer,
at nine in the morning, they breakfast; and delay  their dinner until
the last, or sun-set prayer has been repeated.   These are  the  only
meals of the lower classes of the Turks.
  The Seis, or Arab .groom,  is generally preferred by the Turks,
on account of his skill  and address in the management of horses.
The Turks themselves  are, however,  little inferior to  the Arabs
in this  qualification, and  pay a particular  attention to the animals
entrusted to their care,  the bodies of which are constantly covered
either with a thick cloth to defend them from the weather  and from
the bites of insects, or with the saddle.  Whether in the stable, or
without door at picket, the horses of the Turkish cavalry are kept
closely girthed, and fettered or tethered, and equipped at all points
for service.
  It is by no  means uncustomary to see  a Turk on horseback ride
full speed up  to another who is also mounted, and having  dischar-
ged his pistol in the air, suddenly stop his horse.   He does this as
a very  high compliment, and to evince not only his own skill in
horsemanship, but the confidence he reposes in his horse, over whom
he has a perfect command.   This mode  of paving a compliment is
certainly calculated  to  excite a considerable degree of alarm and
apprehension in a strapger who witnesses it for the first  time, and
it may be attended with some danger to one who is not very perfect
in horsemanship.
  Notwithstanding the precepts  of their exclusive religion  have
rendered this nation haughty and  imperious, many of the Turks
of a distinguished  rank display  in their social intercourse,  great
urbaeity and courtesy of  manners. 
182
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
                           CHAPTER XII.

Narrative resumed.  Breaking up of the camp at Jaffa.   March of the army,
  Nevjencampment.   Account of General Mustapha, alias Campbell.  Sin-
  gular fa£l relative to the plague communicated by General Mustapha.  Seve-
  ral deaths by  the plague.   Rock ivhere Samson <was surprised by the Philis-
  tines.  Ekron.  AshdoJ.  Askalon.  Ramah o/Gilead.  Preparations for
  march.   Order  of the march.   New encampment near Esdal, or  Eshtaol,
  Arab villages.   Ashdod, or Azotus.   Progress  of the army.  Country
  round Ascalon  described.  Dearth of com in  the  camp.  March towards
  Gaza.  Encampment near Gaza.   Visit to that place.   Porch of which Sain-
  ton  carried avoay the gates.   Place of his death.   Description of the city
  and suburbs of Gaza.   Port of  Gaz3.   Delightful  gardens.   Antelopes,
  Squalls.   Jackalls.  Strong detachments sent from the Viziers army for the
  purpose  of aSive operations.   Successful progress of the British army in
  Egypt.   Scarcity of specie in the Ottoman army.   March of the army. Dif-
  ficulties of the march.   Encampment  at Kahnyounes.   Further march of tit
  Ottoman army.   Entrance into Africa.  Encampment in the desert.   Marti
  over the desert.  Arrival at El-Arish.  Regulations of the Grand Vizier,
  Arrival of fresh troops.  Detachment sent off tonuards Salahieh.  Serious dis-
  agreement in the Turkish camp.   Storm in the desert.   Deficiency of proven-
  der.  Kampsin nuind.   Casual supply intercepted by Bedouin Arabs.  Arri-
  val in camp  of  a French  deserter.  Loss of camels.  Embarkation of civil
  artificersfor Tineh.  March from El-Arish.  Crossing the desert.  Encamp-
  ment at Barrahcar. March across the desert to Theah.   Encampment there.
  March to Bir-Penedar.  Overflowings of  the Nile.  Encampment at Kan-
  tara. March into Salahieh.  Curious huts inhabitedby Arabs.  Flightoft\e
  French from  Salahieh.  Fortress  of Salaheih.   Debility occasioned  by toe
  Kampsin tvind.  Inhabitants of Egypt.  March to Korin.  Village oj"Koiin.
  Precious stones.  Egyptian partridges.  Flocks of doves.  Belbeis.  Modejf
  getting in corn in Egypt. Oppressive heat.  Appearance  of the enemy.
  Taher Pacha detached in pursuit.   Action betvueen the  French and T*-
  her  Pacha,  in ivhicb  the former  were defeated.  Ill  state of discipline u
  the Turkish army.  Sackar;..  March from Belbeis to Meshtoule. Encamp-
  ment on the  Nile.  Water of the  Nile.  The Delta.  Arrival of Genera*
  Hutchinson in the Vizier's camp.   Diseases in the  Turkish camp.  Marti
  to Dagona.   Great pyramids of 'Giza.  Diseases in the British  army. Marti
  to Shellacan.   Nevj encampment on the banks of the Nile.  Armistice agreed 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C
I83
    on nuitb the French. Fort Shoulkouski and the pyramids of G\$a surrendered.
    Convention agreed upon.  Heliopolis. Clouds of dust.  British  troops take
    possession  of Cairo.  Description of Cairo.  Citadel.  Grand aquedufl.
    Baths. The Mekias, or Kilometer-

         WHEN I interrupted my narrative to enter on  the preceding
          digressions, I stated, that  the steps preparatory to the march
  of the Turkish army had been taken on the 121th of February.
  At eight in the morning  of  the 25th this event  was announced  by
  the sound of the trumpet,  the signal to strike  tents; and at half
  past eleven three guns having been fired in the front of the Vizier's
  tent as a signal of departure, the whole  of the  Ottoman troops
  who composed his Highness's army, with the  exception  of those
  who had been sent off' on the preceding days, were put in motion.
  Their effective force might,  on a  near calculation, amount to about
  twelve thousand men,  consisting  of Topgis,  or cannoniers, janis-
  saries,  Arnauts, Mamelukes, Dehlis, Asiatics, Tartars,  Mogra-
  bians,  Avarecs,  and  Bedouin Arabs.   His  Britannic  Majesty's
  military mission marched with the Grand Vizier, Reis Effendi, and
  other state officers.   This movement, which was to be considered
  as the commencement  of the  active operations of our  Ottoman
  friends  and  allies, presented a scene truly novel  and interesting.
  Previously to the departure  of the troops, the  Grand Vizier sent
  forward a Pacha with one  of his 'tails, which  was planted on the
  spot destined for his Highness's own particular  encampment,  and
  that  of the state officers.   Within  the compass  of this spot the
  ground of encampment for  the British military mission was inva-
  riably to be included.
    We reached the new ground  of encampment at a little before
  three in the afternoon.   It was situated near the village of Yebna,
  and about twelve miles distant from Jaffa, in  a fine open plain sur-
  rounded by hills, and covered with herbage which  was highly ac-
  ceptable to the half famished cattle.   A rivulet formed by the late
  rains supplied us with excellent water.
     The Vizier's tent was known exteriorly by two gilt balls placed
  on the extremities of the tent poles;  and near to it was displayed a
  large white flag, having  on  it an  inscription in  Arabic characters.
  The troops pitched their tents promiscuously,  round those of  their
  respective Pachas or chiefs,  whose posts in the encampment had
•  been marked out by the Pacha sent forwards with the Vizier's tail.
  The duties of this  officer are very similar to those of our quarter- 
i »4
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
master-general.   On the march,  the bands belonging to the Vizier,
Kia Bey,  and several of the principal Pachas, occasionally struck
up a martial air of music.   The Topgis, with their artillery, were
distributed, and attached to the most distinguished of the Pachas;
and no circumstance was  omitted which could give an air of gran.
deur to this military spectacle.
   In the  evening Captain Skipsey, of his Majesty's sloop of war
the Termagant, which we had  descried in the morning  off Jaffa,
prior to  our leaving the old ground of  encampment,  reached our
new station,  with despatches  from  Admiral Lord Keith, and Sir
Ralph Abercrombie,   to the Grand Vizer and Reis Effendi.  He
quitted us  on the following day  with a part of the despatches with
which he was charged in reply,  to repair to Jaffa,  and wait there
till the ensuing  morning for those which were not yet in reading
to be forwarded.   Previously  to  his  departure  from  the encamp-'
ment,  Captain Skipsey was by order of his Highness the Vizier,
invested with a pelice.
   A detachment  of Albanians,  about six hundred strong, arrived
in the camp on  the 26th; and on the ensuing day General Mus-
tapha, alias Campbell, reached us with despatches  from Sir Syd-
ney Smith.   The General, who is by  birth a Scotchman, had re-
sided upwards of fifty years in Turkey, where he had  embraced
the Mahomedan religion, and had, by gradual promotions, attain-
ed the rank  of  Cumbaragi  Bashi,  or General of bombardiers, in
the Turkish army.  An implicit confidence having been reposed
in his  talents  and fidelity, he  was, in his early career,  entrusted
with the superintendence and construction of the military works in
the Turkish  empire, several of  which-,  executed under his direc-
tion, are still in existence.  At the time of this visit to the Turk-
ish camp he was between seventy and eighty years of age, and ap-
peared to be well informed, and  to have received a polished educa-
tion.   He had been repeatedly attacked hy the plague, relative to
which disease he communicated to me a singular fact that had
come within his knowledge.   A  female  Circassian slave  of great
beauty was attacked by the plague, and sunk under the complaint;
while her master, who had still continued an intercourse  with her
during her illness, escaped the infection.  Erom this and  other si-
milar cases  which have been recited tome, it  would  appear, that
"a certain susceptibility is necessary to the reception of the disease,
or, in other words,  that its contagious action is .resisted'by a cer-
tain state and condition of the  body.   Could this particular state 
SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.           185
 of the temperament be so well ascertained as to be produced by the
 means of art,  the contagion might be effectually resisted,  and its
 deleterious effects completely prevented.   I may perhaps be thought
 too sanguine when I indulge in a hope, that this discovery, so es-
 sential to the happiness of mankind,  or  some other of paramount
 efficacy, will one day be brought to light.
  A letter, dated at  El-Arish,  was received on the 28th from
 Captain Lacey,  by which it appeared that the plague still continu-
 ed to rage  in  the  encampment at that place.   We still continued
 healthy in  our camp.  Captain Lacey's  servant suffered under an
 attack of malignant fever.
  On the same day the six hundred Albanians who had joined the
 Vizier's camp on the 26th,  quitted it abruptly, and directed their
 route towards  Acre.   This  defection was supposed to  have been
 occasioned by the want of  money and provisions at our encamp-
 ment.
  On the 1st of March an Arab was sent off to the Red Sea with
 despatches from  Colonel Holloway.   Intelligence was received of
 the death of Hassan  Bey Dfadavi, a Mameluke,  from whose zeal
 and enterprising spirit the Grand Vizier and Ottoman ministers had
 formed the highest  expectations.  He  was destined  to command
 the advanced body of the Turkish army,  and was  succeeded in this
 appointment  by Taher Pacha, an Albanian.   Hassan Bey sunk
 under an attack of the plague.
  During the  night there was a violent gale, accompanied by thun-
 der, lightning, and heavy showers, which obliged the New Adven-
 ture transport  once more to quit  the  road of Jaffa, and seek re-
 fuge at Caiffa.  This tempestuous weather  continued for several
 succeeding days  without interruption.
  On the 3d one of  the Vizier's favourite attendants was attacked
 by plague,  and died before midnight.  The cause of contagion was
 traced to a pelice which  had belonged to  an individual recently cut
 off by this disease, having been given him to wear.
  On the morning of the 4th, an account was brought to us of
 the death of artificer Conway, Captain  Laccy's servant, at El-
 Arish.  A letter was likewise received from Jaffa, with the par-
 ticulars of the death of Mrs.  Comfort, one of the  women who ac-
companied the mission, and who expired  on the preceding evening,
after a short illness of thirty-six hours.   As several of  the symp-
toms of her attack  gave  rise to suspicions of  plague,  I instantly
transmitted  to Jaffa the necessary directions for the security of the
                ( 24 ) 
iS6
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 party  of women and children  at  that place, recommending th*
 use of  the oily frictions, and the  other means I have  already de*
 scribed.
   Intelligence was  brought to us on the 5th, that the plague had
 made such ravages at Cairo as to have obliged the enemy to aban-
 don the town,  and  pitch their  tents withoutside  the walls.  We
 learned  also, that thfs terrible scourge continued to rage with great
 violence at El-Arish, where a Pacha, together with several of the
 Mamelukes, and Ragio, dragoman to Captain Lacey, had been
 recently attacked.  In consequence of the suppuration of the pes-
 tilential tumors,  some hope of the  latter was entertained.
   I made a little excursion on the  morning of the 7th to Yebna,
 situated on a hill, .about two or  three miles to  the south-east  of the
 encampment.   It is conjectured that the rock  Etam,  where Sam-
 son was surprised by the Philistines, was at no  remote distance from
 this town.
   On the 8th I rode to  the  summit of a  lofty hill, situated  to the
 north-east of the camp, whence there was a very  extensive and
 pleasing view of Ramla, distant in that direction about five  miles;
 and to  the south-east a  fine view  of  the plains covered with rich
 pasturage.  On sloping hills of an easy ascent, by which the plains
 were bordered,  Yebna, Ekron,  Ashdod, and Ascalon, all of them
 places of celebrity in the records of the sacred wrirings, were in
 sight.   Having now reached the land of  the  Philistines,  every
 s-urrounding spot was the-scene of interesting recollections. Ramla,
 the ancient Ramah,  was the abode  of Samuel; and  the giant Go-
 liath,  slain by David, was  of Gath, situated to the east of Ash'
 dod.  In the valley of Ekron the children of  Israel and the men
 of Judah took up arms,  and pursued the Philistines to the gates  '
 ef the city.  When  David  was persecuted by Saul, he fled to
 Gath,  where, as well as  with Samuel at Ramah, he found shelter
 and  hospitality.
  Intelligence was received at this  time from  El-Arish, that Is-
 mael Pacha,  the commander in  chief of the  encampment  there,
 having been attacked by a sudden fit of vomiting, had been carried
 off either by plague or poison.  He  was at an  advanced period of
 life, having attained  his sixtieth vear, was brave, and not destitute
 of information.   He laboured under a suspicion of being disaffected
to the lurkish government,  on which account he had spent a con-
siderable time under the most alarming terrors  and  apprehensions;
 w^somuch that he had been known to shift his position in his tent 
SVRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C,           1S7
 several times in the course of a single night, from a dread of assas-
 sination.   In general the plague had considerably abated of its vio-
 lence at El-Arish.
   Colonel Holloway had recently had several conferences with the
 Grand Vizier,  with a view to recommend to  his Highness, and
 indeed to urge hira with all due earnestness, to advance with his
 army towards Grand Cairo.   The effect of these solicitations was,
 that on the 9th in the morning the janissaries, together with seve-
 ral small detachments, marched forward.   On the same day several
 Tartars arrived with treasure and other supplies from Constanti-
 nople, having passed through Acre on their route.   From this cir-
 cumstance it appeared that our further progress woulj not be long
 delayed.
   A. corps of Dehlis, amounting to about four hundred and fifty,
 arrived  at the encampment on the 10th from Acre.   They formed
 a part of the five  thousand troops promised  by Djezzar Pacha,.
 who now manifested his intention to co-operate strenuously with
 the combined British and Turkish forces against the common ene-
 my.  There being a scarcity of bailey in the camp,  the rations for
 our horses were diminished.  The artillery was this day sent for-
 ward, and three days provisions issued to the army,  with a notice
 to be in readiness  to  march on the  following morning.  To an-
 nounce  the march  of the Vizier's  army,  several  Chaouses rode
 through every part of the encampment, proclaiming at intervals that
 at such  an hour the Sadre Azhim, or Grand Vizier,  would move
 his camp to such a spot.
   Owing to the unsettled state of the weather,  and the bad roads,
 which prevented the guns from being carried forward,  the artillery
 were, on the llth, ordered to  halt, and the march  of  the army
 postponed until the ensuing day.  In the mean time the Vizier sent
 advanced detachments to repair the roads.
   On the 12th, at sun-rise, the trumpet was sounded as  a notice
 to march, and the camels, with the tents, baggage, and camp equi-
 page, sent forward.   The order of the march, on our quitting the
 ground  of encampment at eleven o'clock, was as  follows: The
 troops being stationed in front,  were followed by his Highness's
 tartavan, or Turkish palankin, with nine led horses, the Vizier,
 being surrounded  by his  guards, music, and  attendants.  Next
 came the tartavan  of the Kai Bey, and seven led horses,  with his
 Excellency, guards,  music, and attendants.  The tartavan of the,
£eis Effendi folly wed, together with five Jed horses, his Excel- 
i88
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 lency,  guards, and attendants.  The British military mission suc-
 ceeded; and the rear was brought up by the tartavan of the  Tef--
 terdar, and five led horses,  with his  Excellency,  guards, and at-
 tendants.  The military treasures are invariably carried with the
 Tefterdar.
   The heavy rains which fell  on our  marching  off  the ground
 incommoded us not a little, and  occasioned many disasters to the
 baggage and tents.  After having proceeded  about twelve miles,
 in  the performance of which the rains continued with little inter-
 ruption, we reached, at five in the afternoon, a fine level country,
 which had been rendered swampy by the long continuance of wet
 weather; and  encamped near a river, having over it a remarkably
 wide bridge.   To the  south of us, on a hill  distant about three
 miles,  was situated a village which the Arabs call  Esdad, proba-
 bly what was called Eshtaol in  the  scriptural writings.   During
 the whole  of this day's march we skirted the sandy hillocks  near
 the sea shore.
   We were informed that the Vizier would halt at our new ground
 of encampment until the 14th, to give time to the camels and othe*
 animals, worn out  with fatigue,  to recover themselves.  In the
 event  this proved  to be  absolutely necessary, as a part of the tents
 and baggage had  been  either dropped or left on the road, and did
 not reach the ground until that day.  In  the mean time both of-
 ficers and men* suffered considerably from the want of their tents.
 The difficulties by which  the march was attended will be  conceived
 when  1 state, that in the performance of it  no  less than  two hun-
 dred and ten camels  perished.
   On  the 13th we had sufficient leisure to look about us, and per*
 ceived that several small Arab villages were situated on the neigh-
 bouring eminences.  They were inhabited  by the class of Eellahs,
 or  Arab husbandmen,   whom I have  already described,  and who
 were for the greater part  Mahomedans.   They brought to  the
 camp fresh butter  of an excellent  quality,  and  a kind  of cheese
 which resembled our cream cheese in England, together with eggs,
 rnilk,  vegetables,  and yourt,  which  they  call Labban.   The lk->
 douin Arabs tendered us also  for sale kymack of a good quality.
  An Arab sheick arrived on the above day from Salahieh, with'
 a quantity of fine  dates, and  other presents for the Vizier.
  The camels having been laden on the  14th  at day-break, and
 every other preparation made for  our departure, we quitted  the
ground at  eight o'clock.  The morning was uncommonly plea- 
               SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           189

 sant; and after an hour spent very agreeably on the march, we pas-
 sed through  Esdad, a wretched  village, composed of a few mud
 huts.   In pursuing our route through a delightful  country, we
 came to Ashdod,  called by  the  Greeks  Azotus, and  under that
 name mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, a town of great  an-
 tiquity, provided with two small entrance gates. In passing through
 this place we saw several fragments of columns, capitals, cornices,
 &c. of marble.  Towards the centre is a handsome  mosque, with
 a beautiful minaret.   By the  Arab inhabitants  Ashdod is entitled
 Mezdel.  Two miles to the south,  on a hill, is a ruin, having in
 its  centre a lofty column still standing entire.  The delightful ver-
 dure of the surrounding plains, together with a great abundance of
 fine old olive-trees,  rendered the scene charmingly picturesque.  In
 the villages,  tobacco,  fruits, and vegetables, are cultivated abun-
 dantly  by the inhabitants;  and the fertile and extensive  plains yield
 an  ample produce of corn.  At this time the wheat was just coming
 into ear, the harvest taking place so early as  towards the latter end
 of  April, or beginning of May.
  In prosecuting our march,  it was the  custom to  halt twice in
 the course of each day, when a small but convenient tent  was pitch-
 ed  for his Highness  the Vizier.  On the first of these halts he took
 his dinner, coffee, and other refreshments. I neglected  to observe,
 that on the first day's march  we partook of fruits and coffee with
 his Highness.  He occasionally rode  on  horseback,  and at  other
 times in his  tartavan;  as was also the case  with the principal of-
 ficers of state, who, as well as their chief,  avoided  subjecting
 themselves to  any considerable  degree of toil.  The  customary
 rate of  the march was about three miles an hour; and agreeably to
 this progress  the distance of any place which lay before us was cal-
 culated by the  Turks, who reckon not by leagues, but by hours.
 After a pleasant march of sixteen miles, we reached, at five o'clock,
 the ground destined  for our evening's  halt, and  encamped near a
 river which supplied us with excellent  water, and which was pro-
 vided with a bridge  of stone.   In this river tradition reports that
 Uirce,  the divinity worshipped at Ascalon, was, in  bathing her-
 self, metamorphosed i«to a  fish.   Ascalon was distant from us
.about three miles,  in the direction of the sea-shore.   The British
 military mission occupied an eminence;  and in  the valley beneath
 ihe Turks fixed their encampment.  The river, after  taking several
 windings, appeared to empty  itself into a valley to the  westward,
 towards Ascalon.  From the position we  had taken  up we  had a 
 *9°            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY;

 commanding view of the surrounding country, which was decora,
 ted with the finest scenery.  As well as that through which we
 had recently passed,  it appeared to us like an earthly paradise, when
 contrasted with  the barren and sandy hills in the vicinity of Jaffa,
 to the cheerless  aspect of which we  had been accustomed for near-
 ly  nine  months.  The  camp surrounded the ruins  of an old vil-
 lage,  called Mouta-moud, near to which were several groups of
 fig-trees, whose appearance announced them to  be nearly as old
 as  the runious buildings with which  they were  connected.   The
 fertile plains which extended themselves around us in every direc-
 tion,  afforded excellent pasture for  cattle, and had received a new
 verdure  from the late falls of rain, by which the growth  of the
 corn  had been also much forwarded.  There was  so great a scarci-
 ty of this essential object of consumption  in  the camp,  that the
 Vizier was  under the necessity of altering his plan,  and of march-
 ing forward to Gaza the next morning.   The unfortunate horses,
 who  had suffered so much  from the fatigues of  the preceding
 marches, were  left  without  barley,  and  were  almost in as de-
 plorable a condition as the camels, to whom the wet weather had
 been  extreme ly  unfavourable.  The latter being accustomed to the
 parching heats of the deserts,  in which there is an almost perpetu-
 al drought,  subsist there under circumstances which  would subject
 other animals to perish through hunger and thirst.   The climate of
 the deserts,  for which  they appear  to  have been  formed,  may
 therefore be considered as natural to them ;  but they cannot endure
 moisture, however hardy in  other respects, and  powerful  in sup-
 porting the burdens  with which they are charged.  That their free
 and docile nature is much abused,  was manifested on the route to
 Esdad,  the second day's  march,  when the roads were rendered al-
 most  impracticable by the torrents of rain  which poured down, and
 when, as I  have already stated, a  very  considerable  number of
 these  laborious and useful animals perished.
  During the greater part of the night the Turks were occupied
 in preparing for  their departure; and on the  15th at  day-break the
 camels were laden.   Before we quitted the ground, I availed  my*
 self of the little leisure which  was afforded raje to make a short ex-
 cursion into the  adjacent  country.   1 rode to the summit of a lofty
 hill, whence I saw to the north-east, at the distance  of a mile and
a half from  the  camp, a   populous village, the mosque of  which
was provided with a minaret of considerable  elevation.   The  buil-
dings  of  ^lscalon  were  not  perceptible;   but the olive-trees hy 
              SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY, &C.           Ipt

 which it was surrounded  clearly announced its position near to the
 sea-side.  We were told by several of the inhabitants who came
 to the camp, that this place contained a great variety of fragments
 of columns, cornices, and other architectural ornaments of beauti-
 ful marble,  which Djezzar Pacini had attempted to remove some
 years before, but had been prevented-by  the inhabitants,  who are
 exclusively  of the race of  Arabs, and  who/ manifested, by their
 obstinacy on this occasion, the stubbornness of their nation,  rather
 than the value they attached to these fine  vestiges of antiquity.
   The troops  quitted the ground at half past eight o'clock, and af-
 ter a short but agreeable march, halted within three miles of  Gaza,
 the place where we were next to  encamp, and  which was nine
 miles distant from the ground we  had  abandoned.   The  Turks
 took their customary refreshment; and we were  glad to  follow
 their example  during the short interval  which the halt  afforded.
 Our position was on the edge of a very fine and  extensive plain,
 adjacent to  which were  several groves of olive-trees.  We were
 there met by Captain Lacey, who had quitted El-Arish  on
 the preceding  day,  and was accompanied by his  interpreter Ra-
 gio,  now in a state of recovery from his attack of the plague at
 Gaza.
   In pursuing our route towards Gaza, the view became still more-
 interesting and agreeable, the groves of olive-trees extending from
 the place where we had halted to the town, in the  front of  which
 a fine avenue of these  trees was planted.   Gaza  is situated on an
 eminence, and is rendered picturesque by the number of fine mina-
 rets which rise majestically above the buildings, and by  the beauti-
 ful date-trees which are interspersed,   At half past twelve o'clock
 we reached the ground destined for  our  encampment,  the Turks
 pitching their tents in a plain to the eastward of the town,  at the
 distance of about a mile from which we took our station on a com-
 manding height.   In approaching Gaza the road was  crouded by
 male and female Arabs, the latter of whom welcomed his Highness*
 the Vizier and  the other Turkish chiefs, by a most unharmonious
and screeching noise.  The troops  which  had  been sent  forward
 some time before,  were drawn up, and lined the road from the town
 to his Highness's tent.
  It appeared to be the intention of the Vizier to make some stay
on the present ground of encampment; and as there was no barley
in store to issue to the camels, horses, mules, and asses,  these ani- 
192
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
 mals,  the number of whom was now estimated at no less than fifty
 thousand,  were turned out  to graze.
   The hill on which the mission was encamped intersected several
 extensive  plains, the  soil  of which,  being of a superior quality,
 would have richly repaid the inhabitants for the labour  of cultiva-
 tion, had they bestowed on it an appropriate attention.   They ap-
 peared, however, to have been deterred from doing this by the re-
 cent visit paid them by the French troops, as well as by the ex-
 pected arrival of the Turkish army,  whose presence they had almost
 equal reason to dread.  There was accordingly in these plains but
 little appearance of cultivation, at the  same time that every advan-
 tage was taken of the pasturage they afforded.   Over their surface
 numerous  flocks of sheep and herds of oxen were scattered.  The
 latter, like those we met with in every part of Syria,  were small,
 their size not exceeding that of an Alderney cow.
   So great was the scarcity of barley in the camp, that, being under
 the necessity of purchasing  a supply for my horse,  I paid, in the
 currency of the country, a sum nearly equal to seven shillings Evg*
 iish for a measure containing about a gallon.
   On the  16th I went to Gaza to see Ragio, Captain Lacey1 s in-
 terpreter, and visited the quarter inhabited by the Christians, who
 have, as well as every other religious sect, a particular district as-
 signed to them in each of the places where they reside.  On enter*
 ing the town to the eastward, 1 passed through a small gateway,
 near to which it is recorded  that Samson acquired so much celebrity
 by carrying  off  the  gates  of the  city,  and where, having after-
 wards fallen into the hands of his enemies the Philistines, he threw
 down a building, and  buried beneath  its ruins  himself  and three
 thousand of his  adversaries.
   The suburbs of Gaza are composed  of wretched mud huts; but
 withinside  the town, the buildings make a much better appearance
 than those  we had in general met with in Syria.   The  streets are
 of a moderate breadth.  1 went to the  bazar to purchase a few ne-
 cessary articles,  but found  it very indifferently supplied.  Many
 fragments of statues,  columns, Sec. of marble, were seen jn the
 walls and buildings in different parts of the town.
   In a valley lying to the east of the hill on which  Gaza is situa-
 ted 1 afterwards  visited the ruins  of a  large mosque, the walls of
 which were  of  a remarkable  thickness.   Over the entrance I ob-
served several pieces of Turkish sculpture on free-stone, in a good
state of preservation.   Within the  building several plain marble 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           IQJ
 columns  lay dispersed  on the ground.   According to a tradition
 maintained by the inhabitants of Gaza, they had  been conveyed
 thither by a  Sangiac in the course of the last  century   To the
 eastward  of  the town 1 perceived also the ruins of several works
 which had been  blown up by the French at  the  time they took
 possession of Gaza.  During their stay there I was informed that
 the plague swept off five hundred of their men.  Their inroad into
 Syria  was indeed marked by disasters  of almost every description,
 not less than  twelve thousand of their best troops having, accord-
 ing to authentic accounts, perished either by the sword, by disease,
 by hunger, or by fatigue.
  When  at Gaza  I paid a visit to the governor, by whom  I was
 very politely  entertained.  He was indisposed, as was likewise his
 son, who laboured under ophthalmia, a disease which I observed
 to be very prevalent among the inhabitants,  many of whom  were
 led through the streets totally blind.
  The suburbs  and environs of Gaza  are rendered infinitely agree-
 able by a  number of large gardens,  cultivated with the  nicest care,
 which lie in a direction north and south of the town ; while others
 of the same  description run to  a considerable distance westward.
 The numerous  plantations of olive and date-trees which are  inter-
 spersed, contribute greatly to the picturesque effect of the scene ex-
 hibited by the  surrounding  plains.  These, on our arrival,  were
 overspread with flowers, the variegated colours of which displayed
 every tint and every hue.  Among these were the chrysanthemum,
 scarlet ranunculus,  lupin,  pheasant eye,  tulip,  chinaaster, dwarf
 iris,  lentil, daisy,  &c. all of them growing wild and  abundantly,
 with the exception  of the lupin,  which was cultivated in patches
 regularly ploughed  and sowed, with  a view  to collect the seeds,
 which the inhabitants employ at  their meals, more especially  to
 thicken their  ragouts.   The few corn  fields which lay at a distance
displayed the  promise of a rich golden  harvest;  and the view of the
sea, distant about a league, tended to diversify still  more the ani-
mated features of this luxuriant scene.
  If a deficiency could be urged, not of the bounties which nature
had bestowed, but arising from the improvidence  of the cultivators,
it wa*s that of the grasses, which ought to have been sown from
time to time to  render the pasturage good and nourishing for the
 cattle.   In the  state,  however,  in which we found the plots sur-
 rounding the  encampment, our half famished beasts found  some
solace and refreshment.
                 (25) 
194
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
   From the eminence on which we had taken up our military sta-
 tion, we descried in the evening a sail standing off and on the coast.
 The wind being contrary, she was still in sight, in nearly the same
 situation, on  the  morning  of the 17th.   We entertained a hope
 that she was laden with bailey, the want of which was much felt
 in the camp.
  On the  lath several vessels hove in sight, steering from the north-
 ward; and a messenger, mounted on a hedgin,  arrived in the  camp,
 with the pleasing intelligence that the French had retired from Bel-
 beis, after having blown up and destroyed the works.
   In consequence of a report  circulated  in the  evening that an
 English frigate had been-seen off El-Arish, it was resolved to de-
 spatch an English officer to  that place, to  receive any information
 with which she might be charged for the Grand Vizier.   There
 was now some prospect of a supply of corn, the  vessels mentioned,
 above having  reached  the port of Gaza from Jaffa,  from which
 place an ample provision of  bread had also reached the camp by
 land.  It was expected that these  supplies  would enable the army
 to move forward  without loss of time.
  In making a morning's excursion to the sea-shore, being attracted
 thither by the number of  vessels which had hove in sight, and for
 the arrival of  which we so  anxiously panted,  I visited the portor   \
 landing-place  of  Gaza, an open beach highly dangerous to  boats,
 attempting to  land, more especially with  cargoes, the great  surf,
 which constantly beats on the shore exposing them at every instant
 to the risk of swamping.  Several small vessels,  laden with  corn
 and provisions for the Turkish army, were lying off at anchor, and   i
 sending on shore these supplies in their boats.
  My excursion led me through the delightful gardens of Gaza,
 which are very extensive.  They are filled with a great variety of
 choice fruit-trees,  such as the fig,  the mulberry, the pomegranate,
 the apricot, the peach, and  the almond, together with a few le-
 mon and orange-trees.   There are also large spots set aside for the
 cultivation of  tobacco; and it being the season for the removal of
 the plants, the inhabitants were busied in placing them in regular
 rows.  The enclosures for the cultivation of this plant were fenced
in with the prickly pear-tree.   The Pharaoh fig-tree, a species of
sycamore, the fruit  of which the inhabitants eat when ripe, was
also cultivated.               - -.
  Within two miles of Gaza 1  passed through a village, in which
the cottages weie a superior kind of mud huts, constructed of mud 
SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANY, &C.           195
    bricks baked in the sun, with a roof composed of the trunks  of
    large trees, covered with a thick layer of mud, which serves for a
    garden.   The common mallow, a vegetable which the inhabitants
    cttwheu boiled, and of which they are very fond, grew abundantly
    on these earth-clad roofs, the verdant surface of which would have
    prevented me from recognizing the village until  I came close to it,
    had it not been for the minaret of the mosque, a certain indication
    of the existence of buildings  on  the spot.   On my return in the af-
    ternoon I was  told that a herd of antelopes were grazing on a hill
    adjacent to the encampment.  Having  engaged  a party,  we  rode
    out with our guns; but the extraordinary fleetness of these animals
    Soon eluded our pursuit.  We saw large  flocks of quails, which
    are very abundant in this part of Syria, as are also the jackals, by
^   whose lamentable howlings  we  were nightly infested in the camp.
    Probably these were the animals which Samson made use of to de-
    stroy the harvests of the Philistines.
      The  necessary arrangements were  made on the 19th for the fu-
    ture progress and active operations  of the Ottoman army,  with a
    view to which Mahomed Pacha was appointed Seraskier, or com-
    mander of the troops under  the Vizier; and Taher Pacha nomi-
    nated to the command  of an advanced body of mounted Arnauts.
    Captain Lacey, with a small detachment of the royal artillery and
    royal military artificers, was ordered to accompany Mahomed Pa-
    cha; and Captain Leake, of the royal artillery, also at the head of
    a small  detachment, was to accompany  Taher Pacha.   These of-
    ficers, both British and Turkish, were furnished with instructions,
    copies  of which were  respectively exchanged between the Grand
    Vizier and Colonel Hollowcnj.  Previously  to his departure with
    Taher  Pacha, Captain  Leake was invested with a pelice by order
    of the Vizier.
      A corps  of about four hundred and fijiy cavalry,  sent by Djez-
    zar  Pacha,  arrived in  the encampment'at this time.  The Grand
    Vizier detached two thousand of his troops towards El-Arish, for
    which destination Taher Pacha was to set out  in the course of a
    day  or two.
     A discharge  of cannon was made on the morning of  the 20th,
    on the occasion of the appointment of Mahomed Pacha to the post
    and dignity of Seraskier.  This eyent was also proclaimed to every
    part of the Turkish army.   The Vi/u-r shifted his tent to the cen-
    tre of the encampments, 
l$6           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,

   Further accounts were  on the 21st  brought to the camp,  to
corroborate the reports respecting the  landing  and successful pro-
gress of the British troops in Egypt.   On the following day Ta-
ker Pacha, accompanied  by Captain Leake, of the  royal artil-
lery,  and his detachment,  set off for El-Arish with the advanced
cavalry.
   In  a visit which I paid on the 23d to the Reis Effendi,  who
laboured under an ophthalmic complaint, his  Excellency imparted
to me the pleasing  intelligence that the "Turkish troops were in
general  very healthy,  and that the plague had  entirely ceased its
ravages.
   On the 24th the weather was uncommonly stormy and tempes-
tuous, insomuch that the torrents of rain which fell washed away
the soil  from around the tent-pegs, leaving many of the  tents them-
selves to fall to the ground.
   An Arab, who had left Salahieh three days before, brought ad-
vice on  the 25th, that there were four hundred French only  at that
place. When the account of the landing of the British was brought
to General  Regnier,  he was at Belbeis,  aad instantly collected his
troops, amounting to about four thousand, and proceeded to  Cairo.. \ <
From the statement of this individual it  appeared that the: General
was attacked on his route by the Arabs.
   Such  were at this time the embarrassments of the Turkish army,
from a scarcity of specie for the payment  of  the  troops, that the
principal Ottoman officers  were driven to the necessity  of subscri-
bing from three to five thousand piastres each, to furnish a momen-
tary relief.
   A corps of cavalry,  consisting of from five to six hundred, ar-
rived in  the camp on the above day.   The New Adventure trans-
port was ordered to Alexandria with despatches.   In the evening
a heavy  firing was heard fiom the westward.
   Orders were issued on the 26th for the army to advance ; but on
the return of the persons who had been sent forward to  inspect the
state  of the roads, it appeared, that the  waters  from the late falls
of rain were so much out as to oblige the Vizier to counteract the
orders he had given.   The janissaries,  however, with the Topgis,
and  their trains of artillery, were sent forward, to proceed to
Kahnyounes, distant from the encampment about twelve  miles.  Wc
had, on  the preceding evening, been supplied with fresh  camels, as
a step preparatory to our march. They were of the Arabian  breed,
smaller,  and more slender than those commonly employed in Syria, 
               SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           197

 but hardier, and capable of enduring great fatigues.  Sixty of these
 animals were attached to the British mission, and, in consequence
 of a dispute which had arisen between one of our people and an
 Albanian,  it was settled that the Arab drivers should  take charge
 of the baggage.
   In the evening despatches from Sir  Ralph Abercrombie and Ad-
 miral Lord  Keith were brought to the Vizier.
   On the  28th, at ten in the morning, the army began its march,
 the baggage having been sent off at a very early hour.   Previously
 to our quitting the ground,  further despatches were received from
 Sir Ralph Abercrombie and Admiral  Lord Keith,  the  contents of
 which the Vizier read and communicated at our  first halt.   We
 were then six miles distant from Gaza, and  had  been obliged to
 cross a river, formed by the late very abundant falls of rain, the
 waters of which were so high, and the current so strong and im-
 petuous, that the passage was effected by the army  with great diffi-
 culty, several of the camels,  with  the baggage, tents, &c. having
 had a very narrow escape from destruction.   The despatches con-
 tained the glorious news of the success of the British  troops in
 Egypt since their landing, detailing  the capture  of Aboukir, as
 well as of the three actions which had terminated so favourably to
 tne British arms, and in which the French had lost four thousand
 men, comprehending that of  three of their Generals.   On  our
 reaching, at five in the afternoon,  our new gtound of encampment
 at Kahnyounes, the Vizier fired a royal salute of twenty-one guns,
 to celebrate the above events;  and in the evening, at sun-set, we
 heard distinctly a discharge of eleven guns,  which appeared also to
 have  been fired as a salute by the advanced troops.
   Our day's march had been  extremely pleasant; and we now oc-
 cupied a dry and elevated ground,  supplying us with excellent wa-
 ter.   Kahnyounes is a small village,  situated  in a plain on the bor-
 der of the desert.  From the rising ground on which the mission
 was encamped to the eastward,  it  exhibited a  very pleasing appear-
 ance,  containing not only a handsome mosque, but a ruinous castle,
 which added greatly  to  the  picturesque  effect. The  Turks had
taken up their position close to the village, the inhabitants of which
are exclusively Arabs.  The  fine plains through  which we had
passed this day,  on our route  thither, afforded excellent pasturage
for cattle, and contained a greater proportion of grasses and clover
than I had seen in any other part of the country. 
198
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
   At daybreak of the 29th the signal was made to march; and by
eight o'clock the whole of the army was in motion, with the most
favourable , weather  for  its progress, and a fine refreshing breeze
from the westward,  to add to the gaiety which the glad tidings we
had received had diffused over every countenance.   Immediately on
our quitting the village we entered on the desert, in  which  I ob-
served a shrub, resembling our  furze bush, shooting up at intervals
from beneath the sand.   After  a march of about two hours, we
reached the boundary which separates Asia from Africa. '
   Ar this place, and in the vicinity of a  well, which promised us a
suppty of good water, we  made a halt, and afterwards rode between
two  columns of Egyptian granite,  erected there, we were told, to
mark distinctly the  limits which define  each  of these quarters  of
the globe.   Several portions of the same material lay scattered on
the ground,  apparently connected in past ages with buildings erect-
ed on the spot.
   Our late march was not so dreary and unpleasant as we had rea.
son to apprehend; but we were told that the desert, in proportion
as we should penetrate still further,  would assume  a more disnlal
and solitary aspect.   At one o'clock we arrived at a place called by
the Arabs,  Zaca, or Sheick Sahwych,  distant  about  sixteen miles
from Kahnyounes,  where, for the first  time, we pitched our tents
in a desert.   We could not complain of the quality  of the water
we met with, notwithstanding it was blended with  a  considerable
portion of sand.  We saw the holes, which were  still open, said
to be dug  by rhe French  for their corn magazines.   The desert ex-
hibited an appearance sufficiently barren; but we  contrived to pick
up a  few shrubs for  the  purpose of cooking.  Barlev was still so
scarce in the  camp,  that it sold at two piastres  and  an half, nearly
four  shillings English the feed.  -
  We left Zaca at seven in the  morning of the 30th, in the midst
of a  thick fog, which was extremely disagreeable, and  the  more
so as our tents and baggage had been sent forward very early, inso-
much that we could neither shift ourselves, nor procure any shelter
on our halts.  Our  small  party, hitherto unprovided  with horses,
suffered greatly from the intense heat, as well as  from the fatigues
necessarily attendant on a march over the heavy sands.   The Vi-
zier was not an unconcerned spectator  of the sufferings to which
the troops were thus exposed, and promised to furnish them, on the
subsequent marches,  either with^horses  or camels.  After a march
of nearly sixteen miles, wcarrived at El-Arish at one o'clock, In 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C*          I99
 approaching the encampment before that place,  the  Grand  Vizier
 was met  by Taher Pacha, at the head  of a large party of the
 troops, who had been marched out for that purpose.   We pitched
 our tents on a barren sand, at the distance of about half a mile from
 the sea-shore,  to the north  of the fortress.  Several vessels were
 lying at anchor, and their crews  employed in landing the cargoes
 of provisions,  barley, &cc.   At El-Arish the  barley was sold at
 forty paras the measure.   The Turkish ships of war, lately arrived
 from Aboukir,  were also lying off the port.
  The troops encamped at El-Arish were healthy,  having had no
 appearance of plague among them for the last fortnight.   Shortly
 after our arrival, 1 visited Taher Pacha, with whom I  took coffee,
 and who sent  to our camp  readv dressed provisions, which were
 highly acceptable.    We were supplied with excellent water, fur-
 nished by the late heavy rains which had fallen on the mountains..
 The prospect of the country around us, the surface  of which was
 almost entirely  sand, with here and there a few small shrubs grow-,
 ing in  tufts, was wretched and dreary.  The village of El-Arish,
 near to the ruins of which a fort was still standing, had been  de-
 stroyed by  the French,  who had,  when they  captured the place,
 cut down nearly the whole of the date-trees by which  it was orna-
 mented.   It was situated at  the distance of two miles and an half
 from the sea.   Our camp was supplied with oranges, lemons, rai-
 sins, dried  figs, and other fruits, brought  by the merchant-vessels
 from Cyprus, and  the  price  of which was extravagantly  high.
 With the exception of onions, no vegetables  were to be obtained.
 ,  The Vizier took measures, on the 31st,  for the speedy departure
 of the army from the ground it then occupied.   According to the
 arrangements which had been made at Gaza the troops were in fu-
 ture to march in three divjsions.
 . In consequence of demands recently made by the Arnauts, who
 had had a  meeting  to debate on their grievances, respecting  the
 future  supply to be made to  them  of water, biscuit, and barley,
 the Grand  Vizier adopted the following regulations for the troops:
 In the first place,  that  no other tents or baggage, except such as
 should  be found indispensably necessary, should be carried on the
 inarch.  Secondly, that all  such  tents and baggage as should be
useless  at the moment, should follow  the army.   And, lastly, that
the camels  should be employed fjjlKhe express purpose  of  carrying
the water, barley, aud biscuit,  together with such tents,  and such
aj)roportioa of baggage  as  might be  allowed  to accompany the 
200          TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
 army.—I dreaded,  I must confess,  the consequences of these re-
 gulations to our  people, who  would thus be left without tents to
 shelter them from the effects of a hot  and parching sun, and who
 were not,  like the Turkish troops, inured to the  climate and ac-
 customed to the privations to which the latter had been habituated
 from an early age.  Under these  circumstances, which gave rise
 to bitter and distressing reflections,  I lamented  the  nature of the
 service in which they were engaged, and the melancholy situation in
 which I saw them plunged.
   Two thousand five hundred troops arrived in camp on the even-
 ing of the above day.   They consisted  principally  of the Arabs,
 Avarees, who inhabit the eastern desert, the western parts of which
 are occupied by the Mograbians.
   It was finally settled on the I st of April,  that a certain portion
 of the baggage and tents  should be carried with  the  army; and
 that the remainder should be  left  in  the charge of a trusty and
 responsible person,  to  follow  its movements  with  all  convenient
 despatch.
   Taher Pacha, accompanied by  Captain  Leake,  marched on
 the 2d towards Salahieh,  with three thousand men,  and three pie-
 ces of artillery.   Summons to  the garrisons of Tineh and Salahieh
 were delivered to Captain Leake by Colonel Holloway,  under the
 authority of the Grand Vizier.   Mahomed Pacha arrived in the
 encampment from Gaza, with three thousand  men,  and four pie-
 ces of artillery.
   Much firing among the  Turkish troops was  heard in the camp
 on the 3d.  It was occasioned  by a violent dispute between  two
 companies of janissaries, the 37th and 65th, who, in the division
 of a quantity of barley which they had  found  and appropriated to
 themselves,  had  come  to  hostilities.  In  this conflict several of
 them  were killed,  and  many others wounded.   It happened that
 an Arnaut, who was passing by during the affray, received a slight
 wound.  This man made an immediate representation to his corps,
 that it was the intention of the janissaries to fall on and butcher the
 Arnauts without distinction. The effect of this mis-statement was,
 that the latter had recourse to their  arms,  and were  proceeding to
 the most alarming  measures,  which were, however, fortunately
prevented by the strenuous  interference  of the principal Turkish
officers in the camp.
   During the whole of the morning it blew a violent gale, which
raised in  the air tremendous clouds of sand, extremely harrassing to 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C
201
the eves.  At one o'clock there was a hail storm, accompanied by
thunder and lightning.   In the afternoon the violence of the wind
was not abated;  but it was attended by heavy showers, which im-
peded the elevation of the sands: The impulsion they received was,
however,  so great,  that  large hillocks were suddenly formed in
different parts. The vessels were driven by the gale from El-Arish,
so as to subject us to much eventual distress.
   In the evening I rode to  the  fort, a square building provided
with four towers, one at each of the angles.  The French had be-
gun two bastions, which they had not  time to finish;  and to these
Major Fletcher, of the royal engineers,  made some  additions.
Originally, the fort stood in the centre of the village,  which was
now a heap of ruins.
   The high winds,  and the drifting of the sands, continued to an-
noy us greatly on the 4th.  On  the following  day  there was not
merely a scarcity, but an absolute want, of barley in the camp, in-
somuch that the horses and otheranimals, deprived of pasturage since
our arrival at El-Arish,  were left without food.  As  the blowing
weather rendered the return of the  vessels driven out  to sea imprac-
ticable, the Grand Vizier sent to Gaza, about  fifty miles distant,
for a small supply of barley.
   Mahomed Pacha, with eight thousand men,  and  five pieces of
artillery, marched  on  the same day.   He  was accompanied  by
Captain Lacey,  of  the royal  engineers, who was invested, previ-
ously to his departure,  with a pelice.
   It was officially announced by the Reis Effendi, in the evening,
that the Vizier would march forward on the 9th.  His excellency
sent twelve horses for the dismounted men belonging to the  missi-
on.   1 was sorry to learn from him that four cases of plague had
occurred on the  preceding day in the camp.
   An individual died of plague on the 6th, within  fifty yards of
our tents.  The indifference of the Turks to this disease was truly
surprising.   Ibrahim Bey was positively encatpped on the burial
ground of El-Arish, where the bodies of several thousands of. per-
sons,  who had  fallen  victims to  that disease during the course
of the last six weeks, were interred.   His own tent  covered a part
of the graves !
  This being the fourth  day our  unfortunate   horses had  passed
without fooJ, we made a strong representation in their behalf, iu
consequence of which a  small proportion of damaged biscuit-dust
and decayed rice was issued to them,   To  such an  extremity hid.
                (  36) 
202           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY-,
these animals been reduced by hunger, thauthcy  had eaten their
halters, together with  the dung, and  whatever  lay  within their
reach.   Several of them, as  well as many of the camels, had pe-
rished.  Our own situation,  reduced as we were to bad biscuit  and
water, was almost as deplorable.
  Riley, the person who had been  sent with despatches, returned
on the morning of  the 7th.  He  had  exchanged his  despatches
with an English  officer commanding a schooner ; but the  vessel
on board which he had embarked on his return, having  been ship-
wrecked,  those he was entrusted to bring back vyere unfortunately
lost.   He reported, that the Capitan Pacha had reached Aboukir
with ten thousand men ; but that Damictla was still in the posses-
sion of the French.
   We were exposed on the  9th  to a true kampsin.  The heat  and
closeness of  the air  were so extremely oppressive, as  to induce<m
extraordinary langour and  faintness.   The atmosphere was hazy
throughout; and the wind  blew on the body as if it had passed
through the medium of a heated  oven.   During the continuance of
this morbid state of the weather,  it was from the south-east, south,
and south-west.
   In the evening several vessels appeared off" the coast, but they
could not come to anchor, on account of a smart and unfavourable
breeze from the south-west.  In the mean time the Vizier received
a small supply  of barley from Gaza.   The party by which  it was
escorted,  had,  on its return, been attacked by a band  c/ Bedouin
Arabs, who had  taken several of the mules, and killed one of  the
people.
   Five of the above vessels anchored on the 10th, and landed eight
hundred Arnauts from Constantinople, together with a supply of
corn,  which was highly acceptable.
   Intelligence  reached us on the 12th,  that Salahieh had been  ta-
ken possession  of by  Taher Pacha, and by the  troops who  had
quitted the encampment a few days before.   It  appeared that on
the approach of the Turkish forces, the French,  about five hun-
dred strong,  had  made a precipitate retreat towards Cairo.   Pre-
vious to their departure, they had destroyed the works in the inte-
rior of the place,  and set fire to  the buildings.
   A French deserter,  who came into camp, and surrendered him-
self to the Vizier, reported, that he had left Damielta four days
before, having travelled alone, and on foot, from Tineh, and re-
mained during three  days  without water.  He  represented  the 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.
203
French at Damietta as being in such  critical  circumstances, that
they woirfd rejoice at the approach of the Turkish army, to furnish
them with a pretext for relinquishing the place.
  A salute was fired in the camp on the occasion of the  capture of
Salahieh,  an account of which was transmitted over  land to the
commander in chief of the British forces.
  During  the night we lost the greater part of the camels, together
with their drivers,  who had fled to the mountains.   This unfortu-
nate event was likely  to subject the army  to great risks, and  very
serious difficulties,  since our speedy departure  from El-Arish was
thus rendered impracticable.  Detachments of  cavalry were on the
13th, sent off in their pursuit.  Thus, with the above loss, the oc-
casional deprivation of provisions, the plague,  and the frequent in-
testine quarrels among the Turkish soldiery, we were surrounded,
in our forlorn situation in the desert, by a train of threatening evils,
among which may be enumerated, pestilence, and famine, and bat-
tle, and murder, and sudden death.
  Several  vessels anchored in the road.  It was reported  that a part
of those  which  had  been  driven off  by the late  gales, had  been
wrecked on the adjacent coast.
  A considerable number of vessels laden with corn came to anchor
on  the 11th.  To  enable us to pass the desert with greater ease, it
was determined to  send the spare tents and heavy baggage by water
to Tineh.   For this purpose eleven  tents, and such of the baggage
as vyas not indispensably necessary to the mission,  were embarked
on board a Turkish vessel bound to that place, together with  gun-
ner Foster,  and the whole of the civil artificers, whose services
would not be necessary in the interim.  Five  tents only were re-
tained for the party.   The Vizier and  principal Turkish officers at-
tended on the beach, to superintend the embarkation of the artillery
and stores destined for Tineh, as well as to prevent any confusion
which might result from the landing of the barley.   After such an
interval of distress  as had been experienced in the camp,  it was na-
tural to presume that  the troops would manifest great impatience
on  the landing of  the supplies.
  The camels which  had been carried off by their drivers were still
missing.   Two hundred,  however,  of these animals were brought
in on the 15th by a sheick, who,  after having  received a handsome
present, set off with his camels and people in the night; at which
time a hedgin, the property of one of the dragomen belonging to
rhe mission, was stolen. 
204
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
    An English  schooner, commanded, by Lieutenant Milne, ar-
  rived  on the 17tb, having  on board  Major Missett,  with de-
  spatches. We learned through this channel that Major M'Kerras,
  of the engineers, had been killed, and Major Fletcher made pri-
  soner, in a reconnoitring  party  on the water,  previously to the
  landing of the British army.   A French fleet  with seven thousand
  troops was expected at Alexandria from Toulon.   EAfricaine,
  one of the frigates belonging to this fleet, had  been captured by the
  English frigate the Phoebe, Captain Barlow.   The English, under
  the command of Colonel Spencer, and the Turks, with the Capi-
  tan Pacha, were before Rosetta, which was expected to  fall very
  speedily.
    An  overland despatch  to the two British commanders in  chief
  was sent off by an Arab; and an order transmitted by the Vizier
  to Mahomed Pacha, to send a body of Turkish cavalry to act
  with the British army.
    At six in the morning of the 19th the trumpet was sounded to
 prepare for the march.   In consequence of the scarcity of camels,
 the Vizier was to move forward with a  part only of the Turkish
 army.   For the same reason the party belonging to the mission to
 march  with   the  Vizier's detachment,  was  confined  to  Colonel
 Holloway, Major  Hope, Mr.  Whiteman, secretary,  Mr. Pink,
 draughtsman, myself,  a serjeant, and five men.   The others were
 to  follow with the remainder of the Turkish army, as soon as beasts
 of  burden could be procured.   Strict orders were given to keep a
 watchful  eye over the camel-drivers, in crossing the desert,  as there
 was a possibility  of their deserting  with  their camels—a disaster
 which would expose the whole of the army to the risk  of perish-
 ing on  its passage.
   The Vizier quitted the ground  of encampment at noon;  and
 at  three  in the afternoon  we  followed.  Prior to our departure,
 Major Missett embarked for Aboukir, with answers from the Vi-
 zier and Colonel Holloway to the despatches with which he was
 charged.
  After a very agreeable march of two hours along the sea-shore,
 we  arrived at the wells of Mcssoudieh, the place where the travel-
ler takes his supply of water,  before he proceeds to cross  the re-
maining part of the desert.  Neither habitation nor inhabitant was
to be seen ; nor wa?  there so much  as  the appearance  of  brush-
wood to diversify the surface of the  arid sands.   It was with diffi-
culty that  a few dried vegetables could be raked together to  heat a 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           205
little coffee.  By digging wells in the sands to the depth of two or
three feet, water was, however, readily procured: and notwith-
standing we were so near to the  sea-shore,  it was good and sweet.
As the route from this station to  Catieh occupies three days, in the
course of  which no drinkable water can be procured, it was neces-
sary to  make an appropriate provision  of  this necessary  article;
and for this purpose we were furnished with the skins of goats pro-
perly prepared.   The camels and other, animals were  laden  with
biscuit,  barley,  and  water, the  three essentials for the crossing of
the desert.
  The Reis Effendi,  who came  up  after us with the remainder of
the Turkish army,  informed us  that when the troops commanded
by  Taher Pacha arrived  at Salahieh, they pursued the enemy,
several of whom they killed in their flight.  Among the pursuers,
there were several Moors,  who  were well mounted, and very ex-
pert in the use of their fire-arms, which they discharge with great
effect when on full speed.    Their chief was unfortunately killed
in the attack.
  At midnight-our baggage was sent off under an escort; and at
six in the morning of the  20th, we proceeded  on our route.   At
the expiration of two hours and a half we halted for three quarters
of an hour; and at  half past one reached our new ground of en-
campment, Barrahcat,  where we  immediately pitched our tents.
This spot had been  evidently the  bed  of a salt lake in past ages,
large quantities  of marine shells  lying scattered on its surface, to-
gether with much saline matter.   We  took the precaution to dig
wells ; but the water was so salt and brackish as to be unfit for the
cattle.   On subjecting it to an analysis, I found it to contain a large
proportion  of common salt.   The progress we had made on this
day's march was about fifteen miles;  and in pursuing our route we
were gratified by the  view of the surprising visual deception, which
the  French term mirage, and which has been described with great
ingenuity by Mange,, of the French National Institute.  It is pe-
culiar to the desert,  and presents  the distant appearance of water
with such an air of truth and reality, that the shadows of the ca-
mels who were in advance,  seemed to be reflected on the apparent
watery surface.  To give a more extraordinary effect to the illusion,
the bodies of these animals appeared to be narrowed and elongated
upwards, so as to give them the appearance  of trunks of trees, the
branches of which had been lopped off.   The most elevated of the
distant sand hills represented light clouds; while the smaller ones 
206           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
appeared like ships under a press of sail in the midst  of beautiful
lakes.   This phenomenon was  more particularly  apparent on the
levels, which were in some parts covered with a saline substance,
finely crystallized,  and very shining and  brilliant.   A portion of
this saline matter I collected for future experiments.
  We left our ground on the 21st, at between three and four in the
morning; and, as it was not yet day-light, were preceded by guides
carrying torches.   We lost  our way,  notwithstanding, and were
detained for nearly two hours.  During this day's march we made
two  halts;   and at length, at  half past four in the afternoon,
reached our ground of encampment at  Bir-el-habt,  after a verv
laborious and fatiguing march of thirty miles.   Great numbers  of
skeletons of camels,  horses, and other animals were scattered  on
the route.   The earlier part of our march was tolerably agreeable,
with the exception of our having lost our way; but during the last
nine miles we had to pass over very heavy sands, and an uneven
ground.   The heat of the weather was at the same time very op-
pressive.  We  were, however, enabled  to procure  a supply  of
brackish water for the cattle. In the evening the Topgis and J)eh-'
lis moved from the ground with riaeir guns.
  I could distinguish the notes of the nightingale on  our march:
they were very short,  and much inferior to those of the same bird
in England.  Several plants and a few flowers  were  scattered  at
intervals.
  At this time intelligence  reached the encampment,  that the ad-
vanced Ottoman army was at Korin and Belbeis.
  We marched at  six in the morning of ihe 22d, and  at noon
reached  Theah, distant from Catieh about a mile and  a half. The
route thither was very  heavy and  irregular, insomuch that to per-
form a distance of fifteen  miles we were under the necessity of ma-
king two halts.   In the vicinity  of our encampment there were se-
veral ,Bne date-trees.   The wells in general contained good water;
but in one of them it was Hack and offensive,  like that  which is
procured at Harrowgate. The Turks asserted that the French had
thrown  into it a quantity of  gunpowder.
  On our route great numbers  of carcasses were scattered.  Wc
were met by a messenger from Mahomed Pacha,  who transmitted
the information that  Tineh had been taken possession  of by a de-
tachment of  Turkish cavalry.  In abandoning the above place, the
French  had  left behind two guns,'«nd a quantity of barley, and
ether stores.  The two Pachas were still at Belbeis and Korin, at 
              SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           2Q7

the hitter of which  places,  according  to the  contents  of a letter
from Captain Lacey, a great mortality,  supposed to be  occasioned
by the plague, prevailed among the Turks.  If was more probably,
however, owing to constant fatigufcs, and the want of a good nou-
rishing diet.
  The early part of the morning had been clouded over-, which ren-
dered the heat less  oppressive; but at ten o'clock,  when we were
within two hours march of our destination, the heat suddenly be-
came so extremely intense,  that,  to  use a vulgar,  but  expressive
phrase, we were literally broiled by the suft as we trod the scorch-
ing sands.  The appearance of the desert'was here, however, much
improved : We met  with several  plants and flowers on our way,
together with a few date-trees  ; and in approaching Theah,  found
a greater proportion of green shrubs than we had encountered in any
other part of the desert.  In several of the hollows there was a suf-
ficient degree of moisture to promote vegetation;  and in these spots
there is no doubt but that good water might be procured with little
trouble.   The numbers and varieties of the birds which were flying
about them, were a strong evidence  of  the truth of  this observa-
tion.
   It appeared that a village had once stood on the site  of our en-
campment, fragments of red bricks,  Sec. being scattered over the
surface of the sands.   In the Arabic language also, Theah implies
a village ; but we could not discover the vestiges of any buildings.
The wells were situated beneath a groupe of fine date-trees.  It was
the intention of the Vizier to  halt at  this place  for  two days,  to
give time for the artillery and stragglers to come  up,  as  well as to
allow some repose to his army,  which had had to perform a haras-
sing march of nearly seventy miles,  in the space  of four days, over
what was certainly to be considered as the worst part of the desert,
in consequence of the difficulty of procuring water after quitting the
wells of Messoudieh.
   A party of camels proceeded to Tineh in the  evening, to bring
back a further supply of barley and biscuit.   They  returned in the
afternoon of the following day; and in the evening Colonel Hollo-
way sent, with the authority of  the Grand Vizier, a summons to
the fort of Lesbie at Damietta.  It was conveyed by  Mr.  Pink,
accompanied by  a Turkish secretary,  provided by the Rii> Ef-
fendi.  The purport of the  answer  brought  back was, that the
French  commandant would  not accept the  terms held ou;  to
him. 
208
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
    I employed  myself on the 24th in examining the waters I had
 collected at the different places at which we had stopped in our pas-
 sage through the desert, and collected the residuous  matter for fu-
 ture experiments.   That which I had obtained from  Tineh was of
 an excellent quality, and having been found in the basin of the cas-
 tle evacuated by the French, I conjectured it to have been brought
 from the Nile.
   In the evening two hundred  and  fifty camels  laden with barley
 arrived from Mahomed Pacha.  By  this opportunity letters were
 received from Captains  Lacey and Leake.   Taher Pacha had ad-
 vanced two miles beyond Belbeis.
   On the 25th we rose at half past two in the morning, and at
 three o'clock the baggage moved off the ground.  We were, how-
 ever, detained until near eight o'clock  by some arrangements it was
 necessary to  make for sending off a party of camels to Tineh; and
 the interval  which elapsed hung very heavily on our  hands.  At
 ten o'clock we halted for nearly an hour, and reached our ground
 of encampment at  Bir-dencdar at two o'clock, after having per-
 formed a march of eighteen  miles.  There were several date-trees  j
 on the spot;  and the red bricks  which  lay scattered on the grounds
 indicated that it had been formerly covered  by  dwellings.  The
 water which we found at this place was salt, bitter,  and of the
 worst quality.   The weather was extremely hot during our march,
 which,  being over a rough and uneven ground, covered with deep
 and heavy sands, was performed with infinite fatigue.  There was,
 however, a greater abundance of shrubs than we had met with on
 our preceding marches.   Half an hour after we  had  quitted our
 late encampment,  we passed over a very rough piece of ground,
 which,   being covered with large quantities  of saline matter, ap-
 peared to have  been a salt  work.  Several pits in which the salt
 water had been left  to evaporate, had been apparently dug out for
 that purpose,  and still contained a quantity of pure and  white salt.
 Many of the date-trees in the vicinity of Catieth lay on the ground,
having been cut down by the French for various purposes on their
 retreat from Syria.
   In the course of the day's  march the Vizier sent forward a party
of Dehlis to prepare a causeway over a river,  which  had formerly
 been provided with a capacious  stone bridge.   To  impede the pro-
gress  of the  Ottoman  army,  the enemy  had thrown down this
bridge;  but  the impediment was soon removed by the Dehlis,
 ivho effected their  purpose  in  the course of a few  hours.   The 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           209
river had apparently been formed by the Nile in its periodical in-
undation.
  Some authentic intelligence having been received relative to the
enemv's movements,  it was judged pecessary to be very particular
in the arrangements for the artillery, for which purpose Major Hope
gave several necessary directions.
  Sheick Hassan arrived in the afternoon with despatches from
Admiral Blanket, who had obtained possession of Suez.  These
despatches were instantly forwarded to the  British commanders in
thief.  About the same time we  received the intelligence of  the
death of Mourad Bey, to whose  command Elphi Bey  had  suc-
ceeded.
  We rose at two in the morning of the 26th,  and set out at five.
After a march of two hours and a half, we met with large pieces
of water, which had  been  in several places formed into  lakes and
rivulets by  the overflowing of the Nile.  It was brackish, and far
from being of a good quality.  In this part of the desert there was
a great quantity of  green brush-wood.   The ground was more
level, with a  less proportion of sand, and the travelling by no
means disagreeable.   At eight o'clock we halted for half an hour;
and  at ten  o'clock passed the river over which the causeway had
been thrown.   At eleven o'clock  we reached the ground destined
for our encampment at Kantara, and found there plenty of good
water, together with shrubs and grasses for the  cattle.   As  an
abundance  of pigeons and ducks were flying, I took my gun  and
shot several of  the former, which were highly acceptable to our
me6s, we being reduced to the spare diet of bread, coffee,  and a
little rice.
  In consequence of the advices which were received of the capture
of Rosetta  by the combined British and Turkish forces, the Vizier
fired a feu de joye and royal salute.
   We rose at half past two on the 27th, and at five o'clock were
on foot.   We halted  twice, about an hour each time, during our
march,  and arrived at Salahieh at noon.   The latter part of the
route was  very sandy and laborious.  On our  approaching Sala-
hieh the quantity of shrubs gradually diminished, and at length to-
tally disappeared, insomuch that we could  not  procure  sticks for
fuel to boil our coffee.  The aspect of the country which imme-
diately surrounded us  was dreary, consisting entirely of an exten-
sive desert  plain,,, or le^el; but  to the westward and  northward of
Salahiejt lay immense  woods of date-trees, which  extended for
                ' (  27  ) 
210
TRAVEL? IN ASiATIC TURKEY,
 several miles.   We were encamped to the south  of the fort, at
 the distance of  nearly a mile.
   On the approach  of the  Grand  Vizier to Salahieh, his High-
 ness halted  under a grove of date-trees,  to arrange the manner in
 which he should make his public entry,  as well as  the form of his
 encampment.  The Turkish artny afterwards marched in the fol-
 lowing order :—First, a line of cavalry, small  parties  of horse-
 men riding  up and  down  in front of the line, and  firing  while on
 full speed.   Next another line, of Arnauts, with the led horses of
 his Highness, and the priests, or imaums, singing  hymns.  Next
 followed Colonel HollffWay,  Major Hope,  &c.  the  Turkish offi-
 cers of state in succession, and his  Highnfess the Vizier, with his
 bands of music, and attendants.   And lastly, a  body of cavalry,
 Dehlis,  closed the  rear.
   Thus had we surmounted a troublesome, fatiguing, and hazar-
 dous march across the desert (a distanbe of about one hundred and
 fifty miles from  Kahnyounes to Salahieh), but not without the loss
 of many animals, and several men.  The lamentable  scenes which
 occasionally presented themselves were truly distressing to a feeling
 mind.   During the tedious and harassing marches to which we had
 been subjected,  it was found that in particular places which pre-
 sented the greatest difficulties, the horses were not capable to drag
 the artillery.  In these cases the camels were resorted  to with great
 effect and advantage, in consequence of their very docile nature and
 steady draught.
   As soon as we had reached Salahieh, the Arabs brought into
 the encampment for  sale a variety of articles of food,  which were
 purchased with great eagerness by the half famished military. They
 also brought in straw and unthrashed barley for  the cattle.  The
 harvest had been very abundant; but such had been the  losses which
 the population had sustained by war and  diseases,  that the corn,
 although  ripe,  had not yet been got in.  The inundation of the
 preceding year had been remarkably high, and had produced very
 abundant crops.
   The Vizier fired a royal salute on  his arrival.  At four in the af-
 ternoon there was a smart breeze from the south, accompanied by
a gentle fall  of rain.  The horizon was at the same time obscured;
and the air so close and Sultry as to  be productive of much oppres-
 sion and languor.
   I walked in the evening to a small village inhabited by  Arabs,
who reside  in huts constructed of mud and canes,  and the tops ot 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           211
 which are covered with reeds, branches of date-trees,  and other
 similar materials.   Nothing could be more wretched than the pic-
 ture wbich these huts, and those who dwelt in them, afforded. Their
 proprietors  were  not, however, without their resources.  They
 raised poultry j  and having herds of cow6, goats,  and sheep, were
 thus enabled to supply the troops with milk, yourt, eggs, cheese,
 and butter.  They were consequently very serviceable neighbours.
 The above  articles were cheap on  our arrival;  but, as is always
 customary in camps,  there was little doubt but their price would
 coon be advanced.
  The ground being in part covered by grasses produced by the late
 inundation, presented a verdant surface, which had an agreeable
 effect on the sight, accustomed as it had been to the vivid reflection
 from the burning sands in crossing the desert.
  The civil artificers who had been sent round by water, arrived on
 the 28 th from Tineh, having left behind the principal part  of the
baggage, in consequence of their  precipitate departure  from the
 vessel on board ©f  which they  had been embarked.  We were un-
der some apprehension for the safety of our baggage.
  We partook this day of the  flesh of a young buffalo, which we
 found good and palatable.   The inundation of the part of the de-
 sert surrounding Salahieh is explained in the following manner by
 the Turks.  On the overflowing, they say, of the Nile, the earth
 becomes fully  impregnated with water, which, being forced up  to
 the surface,  exudes from beneath, and overflows the grounds.   In
passing through the strata of earth,  it meets with portions of saline
 matter, which  it dissolves, and  thus acquires its briney taste. Being
 afterwards evaporated by the heat of the sun, it deposits,  on the
 surface of the earth,  its salt, and forms the salt  lakes which are met
with at different intervals.
  It grieved me to notice that  the disease of the eyes,  so common
in Syria, prevailed also in this part of Egypt.   Persons of every
age were alike subject to its attacks; and, independently of the nu-
merous cases of blindness I observed, the inhabitants in general dis*
played, in their meagre and wan countenances, a predisposition to
this and other diseases.
  On the appearance of the Turkish army, the five hundred French
who were in the fortress of Salahieh,  fled: not with so much pre-
cipitation, however,  but  that  they found time  to destroy a conT
siderable part of the interior of the work and  detached  buildings.
It possesses  considerable strength,  and is provided with  a, \\e% 
212           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
 ditch,  well  palisadoed.   Sixteen  guns appeared  to have been
 mounted; and a part of  these were found spiked among the ruins,
 together with  several shells,  &c.  which had  been  thrown into
 the well.   Within the fort is a mosque, the lofty minaret of which
 had served for a look-out.    There had also been excellent bar-
 racks,  now in ruins, within the fortress:  it appeared to  me that
 they were capable  of receiving a thousand men.   Considering
 that it was built in a plain, this fortress is of  a very extraordinary
 construction.
   Further  arrangements  and new dispositions were made for the
 Turkish artillery, and such other precautions taken as our approach
 towards the enemy rendered necessary.
   Major Hope quitted the encampment on the 30th, on his way to
 Cairo,  with propositions  from  his Highness the Vizier and Colonel
 Holloway  to  the French  commandant of that place.  The Major
 was accompanied by the §ecretary to the Sublime Porte.
   Lieutenant  Milne,  of the Goza schooner,  arrived at noon, with '
 overland despatches from  Tineh.   He set out  on his return on the
 following day, at which time a  despatch from Admiral Blanket was
 received and forwarded to  the British commander in  chief.   Other
 despatches were also forwarded to the admiral  by  Sheick Gredded,
 who was directed  to transact  the business in that quarter for the
 British forces.
   On  the 2d  of May I  found in  my tent the dried skeleton of a
 large reptile,  apparently a species of the lizard,  which, notwith-
 standing it had lost its tail, measured eighteen inches from  the head
 to the stump of that part.   It had four legs, with five toes on the
 fore feet, and  four on the hind feet,  sharply pointed.  The surfac«
 of the body was scaly.
   The period  was now arrived  for the fall of the rains in Ethiopia;
 and it was certain  that  their effects would  be soon manifested in
 Egypt* ,by  tne rising of the  Nile, and  the general  inundation of
 the country.  A loose, dry, and sandy soil  is in this way render-
 ed so fertile and  productive, that it  is said the inhabitants  are oc-
 casionally obliged to  mix  sand with the new soil,  produced by
 the overflowing of the waters,  to temper its  too rich and luxuriant
 quality.
  The heat was very  oppressive on the 3d, when the kampsin pre-
vailed,  and induced great debility and faintness. 1 took a morning's
ride into the country, and passed through several  extensive woods
of date-trees, among which I saw a variety of villages composed of 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.           2IJ
the same wretched mud huts with those I have already described.
Beneath the shade of  the date-trees the inhabitants raise barley on
extensive levels, on which they also grow tobacco.   The corn was
ripe, but not yet cut down.  Several of the levels were still mar-
shy, owing to the  late inundation,  which had destroyed some of
the plantations of barley  and  tobacco.  The  cows and bullocks
were fine, and of a large breed,  with  short horns.   I noticed se-
veral buffaloes, which were of a grey  colour, and very unsightly
in their  appearance.   The  inhabitants were  in tattered garments,
which scarcely covered their nakedness, miserably  pale and wan,
and as  wretched  as the dwellings which served them for a shelter.
The women had  the face covered with a piece of dirty linen.  They
are inured to the laborious employments of the field, and carry on
the head heavy burdens, such as  loads  of provender for the cattle,
&c  The melons are said to grow here to a very large size, and
to be finely flavoured.   In one of  the villages I saw  this fruit in
blossom.  Instead  of being  thrashed,  the  corn is  trodden, as in
Turkey.
   Our party which had accompanied the Tefterdar, arrived on the
5th from El-Arish ; and at the same  time Major Hope,  and the
secretary to the Sublime Porte, arrived  from Cairo,  with the reply
of the French General Beliard.           i
   In the afternoon of the 6th we had a sudden gust of wind from
the westward,  the  horizon being in every part obscured,  with a
wild and tremendous aspect, as if  the  atmosphere  had been filled
with combustion.
   Ibrahim Pacha  quitted the encampment  with three thousand
men, to proceed  against Damietta, in consequence of the terms
offered by the Vizier not having  been  accepted.
   Wc marched at ten in the morning of the 7th, and about two, in
the afternoon arrived at Korin, a distance of sixteen miles.   Du-
ring the greater part of our route, we marched over sands.   As wc
approached the place  of our destination,   the  appearance of  the
country improved,  the soil  being more firm  and gravelly.   The
fine plantations of date-trees  continued to  enliven our  march until
we reached our destination.   We met with several hollows filled
with the water which the inundation had left;  and in the parts
where the ground was moistened we observed  that the inhabitants
cultivated the lupine  with great attention.  The plants were ex-
tremely luxuriant, and grew  to the height of  more than six feet:
On one  pf the stalks i counted upwards  of  an hundred ami fifty 
214
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
  pods.  The barley cultivated in patches  was also very  promising.
  We saw an abundance of wild fowl on our route, in the prosecu.
  tion of which we made but one halt.
    Korm is a long village, in passing through which nothing is to
  be seen except the walls of the mud huts. 1 here is only one build-
  ing  in brick,  a decayed mosque.  The  complexion of the wretch-
  ed,  half naked inhabitants, many of whom are afflicted with blind-
  ness, is  nearly  black.  They brought us water in white earthen
  pitchers.    Within little  enclosures walled  with mud  they have
  various kinds of fruit-trees, such as the date,  the Pharaoh fig,  the
  lemon* lime and orange, the lotus or lote,* and the pomegranate.
  In passing through the village,  we were  nearly blinded by the im-
  mense clouds of sandy particles which enveloped us on all sides.
    The troops encamped at a little distance from the village, to  the
  eastward.   On one side of us lay extensive fields of wheat, barley,
  and  lupine, while  on the other side a barren desert was in  our view,
  The soil  of the cultivated spots was gravelly, but was covered in
  some parts by the rich black mud which the inundation of  the
  Nile had lefc.  I collected parcels of the lupine seeds and  wheat, to
  try the effect of their cultivation in England.
    In our route  we met with a considerable number of mud built
 villages,  surrounded by high  walls made of earth or mud, so as to
 forma square, at each of the  angles of which there is either a
 round or a square tower.   Either there is  a small hole for the en-
 trance into each of the villages, or a ladder is employed to gain ac-
 cess  to it.   Such is the uniform construction of the buildings, and
 it is most probable for the following reasons :  It was necessary,  in
 the first place,  that the inhabitants should  secure themselves, their
 flecks and cattle,  from the general inundation of the Nile;  and,
 secondly,  they had to  dread the attacks of the Bedouin Arabs,
 who  were constantly hostile to  the  Fellahs, or tribes of cultiva-
 tors.
   The inhabitants of Korin had  recently suffered from the plague,
 which was still making great javages in several adjacent villages.
 .  On the morning of the Sth  the  Grand Vizier and Reis Effendi,
accompanied by Colonel Holloway  and  Major Hope, marched to
Belbeis, with a small part only of their retinue.  This sudden mea-
sure was occasioned by  discontents which  had  broken  out ar the
above place among the  troops of  Mahomed  Pacha, but which

  * This tree bears a pod resembling a bean ; the fruit, wjicn rire, fus a sweetish odour,
and is very grateful  to the cattle. 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           21$
were soon quieted by the presence of the Vizier.   The army was
still to remain encamped for a few days at Korin,
  From the time of our arrival in Egypt,  the sky had been gene-
rally obscure during the day, with great haziness of the atmosphere,
which constantly disappeared  in the evening.   It is said that this
hazy state of atmosphere above the level 6f the horizon, is peculiar
to the country.
  In the soil in the vicinity of Korin I  found several beautiful
stones, cornelians,  agates, &c. a small collection of which I made.
In the afternoon, out of a covey of partridges, I shot a female, the
plumage of which  was very delicate.   The head and neck, which
were of a dark fawn colour, were small, like those of a dove. The
wings were long,  with alternate white and black feathers ; and the
body of a fawn colour, with  white and black rings on the breast.
The bird was smaller than an English partridge.
  I visited, on the 9th, several of the neighbouring villages, which
both with respect  to the inhabitants and the dwellings,  might vie
in.wretchedness with those I have lately described.   Notwithstand-
ing  there were abundant crops of wheat and barley, and fine herds
of goats, sheep,  and other animals grazing in the plains, still no-
thing could be more deplorable than the appearance of the miserable
cultivators.  In the gardens 1 saw melons, pomegranates, and to-
bacco plants.   They are irrigated by the means of a well, to which
earthen vessels are attached;  and the water is conveyed to every
part of die ground by furrows cut out in raised causeways.
  Flocks of doves, which as they are not molested by the inhabi-
tants, are very tame, frequent the cultivated grounds.
  On the 10th despatches from the British commander in chief
were received, and others sent off in return.  A Turk, who had
remained prisoner with the French since the retreat  of the Vizier
the preceding year, and who had at length effected his escape from
Rahmanieh, came into camp, and brought some  account of the
successes of the British troops in the vicinity of  that post.   He
stated that strong patrols had been detached towards Cairo.
  About this time a present was forwarded  by the Vizier to the
British  fleet and 'roops at Suez.    It consisted  of a hundred buU
locks, and a thousand fowls.
  On the 1 ith,  at  half past five in the morning, we marched from
korin,  and reached Belbeis about ten o'clock, having performed a
distance of sixteen or seventeen miles, over a pleasant gravelly road.
The inhabitants were busily  employed in getting in their com, 
2.l6           TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
which lay in great abundance on the ground.   Instead  of cutting
it, they pluck it up by the roots, and collect it in heaps, each within
his own particular enclosure, where the grain is trodden out.  Wc
met with  several plantations of the  henna.   The dried leaves of
this shrub form the celebrated yellow, or orange-Colour dye,  so
much in use in  Turkey,  &c. The branches of it are cut low down
to render it stubby.  The inhabitants also cultivate  clover,  lentils,
and the mustard plant.  The country  is open, being a complete flat,
or level; and the road one continued  causeway, on  which the na-
tives and their cattle rendezvous at the time of  the  inundation,  to-
sh el ter themselves from the floodings  of  the plains.
   We passed through several  villages, the  inhabitants of which,
were the same objects in point of wretchedness with those we had
observed on other parts  of our rouie.   They were nearly  naked,
and the victims  of disease and  blindness.   The children beneath
the age of six years were completely  naked.   It was distressing to
see so much misery in so fine and fertile a country.
   The troops we  found at Belbeis were in an intrenched encamp.
ment.  A redoubt had been constructed by Captain Lacey.       .
   The weather was oppressively hot on the  12th.   In a marabout
adjoining  to our camp,  the walls of which were  very thick,  so
as perfectly to prevent the rays  of the sun from penetrating within,
the thermometer at noon stood at 97 ; and on the pole of my tent,
at 104.
   In the evening a despatch was received by the Vizier from the
Capitan  Pacha, with the information that  Rahmanieh  had been
taken possession  of by the combined British and Turkish forces.
On this occasion a royal salute was fired in the camp.
   A strong patrol,  or reconnoitring party, of twelve hundred men,
quitted the encampment  on the 13th,  to scour  the  country in the
direction of Cairo, and collect intelligence.*
  An English naval officer arrived at the same time with despatches
from Lord Keith.
   We were exposed, on the 14th,  to the very painful and distres-
sing effects of the kampsin. To such a,degree was the  atmosphere
heated, that the air which blew on us seemed to have  issued from
an  oven  or a  furnace.  We  were  nearly  suffocated during this

  * In sending forward this  party, the Grand Vizier promised handsome rewards to
thase who should biing in their  prisoners unhurt. If, on the other hand, they should
have be:n put to death, or even in anv degree m^treated, nj recompense would be»l
l.wed. 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &6.            2lJ
 interval bv the clouds of dust.  In the morning the wind was west-
 t:ily, but shifted during the gale,  which  was extremely violent, to
 the north.   1  had never before experienced Such an oppression in
 breathing, nor did  1 ever know the thermometer to rise so high.
 At ten in the  morning, within a box perforated to give a free ad-*>
 mission to the air, and placed within  my tent, it rose to 108;
 and  within the  above-mentioned  marabout, inaccessible  to  the
 sun's rays,  to  103.  At one o'clock it was so high as 112 within
 the tent.
   Colonel Montresor arrived in the evening with despatches from
 General  Hutchinson.   The British army  was  in possession of
 Bahmanieh, in abandoning which place  the enemy had left a part
 of their  sick  behind,  and had fled precipitately  towards  Cairo.
 Their gun-boats and small vessels had fallen into the hands of the
 British and Turkish  forces.  Our loss  was stated to have been
 very  trifling;  but that of  the Turks was more considerable.  Co-
 lonel Thompson, of the royal  artillery,  lost a  leg  in the action;
.and this brave  and  very meritorious officer died a few weeks after-
 wards at Rosetta.
   In the evening I walked into Belbeis, which is  situated  on an
 eminence:  the greater part of  the buildings, formed  of a reddish
 brick, were in ruins.  To the south-west of the town stands a for-
 tress  built by the French,  but which they in a great measure de-
 stroyed previously to their abandoning the place.  It was not extra-
 ordinary that they should  spike the guns,  and leave the fortress in
 a very ruinous state;  but  they very  mischievously destroyed also
 the principal of the mosques, of which there were formerly three
 at Belbeis.  On the west and north-west sides of  the town the fine
 fields of corn were highly  gratifying to the view;  but to the south
 and south-east  the  land was a barren desert.  Among the fruits
 the inhabitants cultivate the lime, the juice  of which was highly
 refreshing to  us during the intense heats which  prevailed at  this
 time.
   Early on  the morning of the 15th intelligence was received in
 camp that the enemy's  forces were approaching  to attack  the army -
 of his Highness the Vizier. This intelligence being afterwards con-
 firmed, his Highness,  who in the  course  of the  early part of the
 day had frequent consultations with Colonel Holloway and Major
 Hope, ordered  Taher Pacha to set out at the close of the evening
 with three thousand cavalry,  and three pieces of artillery, to pro-
 reed in quest of the enemy, and to attack them during the obscurity
                 (18) 
ii3
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
 of the  night, should a favourable opportunity  present itself.   At
 every event he was to employ all possible means to impede them on
 their march.  About three  leagues  from Belbeis,  Taher Pacha
 fell in  with the enemy, who,  on perceiving him, halted, as did
 also the Pacha on his part.   In this position the adverse armies con-
 tinued during the whole of  the night;  when at length, at eight in
 the morning of the 16th,  Taher Pacha,  having been reinforced
 by about fifteen hundred additional  cavalry, attacked  the enemy.
 He was shortly after  supported by  Mahomed Pacha, with about
 five thousand men, and five pieces of artillery, and during the action
 large bodies of  armed Arabs joined the Ottoman forces; the Vi-
 zier in person following, and animating by his exertions the Turk-
 ish troops,  on whom his presence had  a very sensible effect.   The
 action was continued for seven hours with  but little intermission;
 at the expiration of which time the enemv, after having been driven
 from the different positions they had taken  up, retreated,  but not
 without being followed up  and harassed by the Turks, by whom
 they were pursued to El-Hanka, a  distance of seven miles  from
 the spot where the action commenced.  The loss on either side was
 not deemed considerable; but that of the French  could not be ex-
 actly ascertained, as they carried their  wounded off' the field.   It
 was probably greater than that  of the Turks, who had thirty men
 killed, and eighty  wounded.   On this occasion Colonel Holloway
 and Major  Hope acted with the Vizier, Captain Lacey with Ma-
 homed Pacha, and Captain Leake with Taher Pacha.
   While in the field, his Highness the Vizier received, in the after-
 noon of the 16th,  from Damietta,  official information of the cap-
 ture of  Fort Lesbie, and its dependencies, by Ibrahim Pacha, to
 whom the above fort had been surrendered on the  14th.
   The Vizier had  upwards  of forty  heads brought to him on the
 field of battle.   He ordered the troops to halt towards the even-
 ing, leaving a small corps of observation to follow the enemy du-
 ring the  night.  It was by no means his wish that  his troops should
advance  too  near to Cairo, after the fatigues of  the  action, lest
 the enemy should  be reinforced by  fresh troops  from that  city.
They returned,  therefore, to camp,  quietly  and  in good order,
without betraying the  tumultuous spirit they had manifested on
 other occasions.
  The number of the enemy, according to the statements made by
the French themselves,  amounted to  four thousand six hundred in-
fantry, and nine  hundred cavalry, with  twenty-four pieces of orrl- 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           21$
nance.   The greater part of these troops had retreated from Rah-
manieh, and had been reinforced by detachments from the garrison
of Cairo.
  Notwithstanding this great and recent success, which occurred at
a time when the event of a defeat might have been attended by the
most distressing and calamitous consequences, the Turks still con-
tinued to display that total disregard to discipline and good order,
without which,a happy and successful issue cannot be expected from
any military operations.   This neglect had been frequently urged
to them, and  pointed out in the strongest terms of reprobation. It
cannot,  indeed, be expected,  while  they continue to entertain the
prejudices  by  which  they are now governed,  and while they pay
so little attention to discipline in the field and in  the camp, but that
they will be constantly inferior to their enemies,  although there are
very many among them who are by no means deticient in personal
bravery.
  In the field, however, the Ottoman army has, among other be-
neficial  regulations, that of the establishment of sackars, a corps
selected from the janissaries, to attend and supply the troops with
water.  On this service they  were also constantly employed on  a
march.   They are mounted  on horses provided  with bells, to the
end that their approach may be known to the troops ; and each
horse carries two leathern sacks containing about forty  gallons of
water.  In a hot climate like that  of Egypt,  the utility of such
an  establishment is obvious;  and  it was  owing to the want  of  a
similar regulation, that the French troops,  according to  the report
of General Regnier, suffered so severely  from  thirst on the 10th
pf  May.
   Major Wilson, of HompescK's regiment, arrived in the camp on
the 15th with  despatches from the British army.   He set off in
the evening, mounted on a hedgin, with despatches from the Grand
Vizier.
  On the 16 th Colonel Holloway received information from Cap-
tain Chollet,  purporting that he was arrived at El-Catania, in the
Delta,  with a small  body of British cavalry.
   Several of our people were at this time attacked with violent
inflammations of the eyes, occasioned by  the effects  of  the kamp-
sin, together with the dust,  and  the intense heat of the atmos-
phere.
   On the 17th violent  gusts of wind, which prevailed throughout
the whole of the day,  raised the dust to a prcxligious height in the 
220
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 air.  In the evening we had a violent storm of wind from the easN
 ward, accompanied by rain.  A French deserter, by birth a Ger-
 man, was on this day brought into the camp, so excessively debi-
 litated from disease and fatigue;  that he died in the  course of a few
 hours.
   We quitted our ground of encampment at Belbeis at seven in the
 morning of the 18th, and after an agreeable march of twelve miles
 arrived at Meshtoule, a. village distant from Et-Hunka about three
 or four miles.  We there pitched our tents.  The country through
 which we had passed was a fine level, with a black soil  on which
 abundant crops were produced.   The wheat, which in  Egypt is
 of the bearded kind,  was perfectly ripe, and, as well as the barley,
 lay in great profusion on the ground.   Flax, lucerne, and the mus-
 tard plant, were also  cultivated.
   The villages,  which were thickly scattered to the right and left,
 were very populous;  and  the  inhabitants  appeared  to  be much
 more robust and healthy than those we had hitherto met,  and were
 at the same time much better clothed.
   There was only one inconvenience in our route, arising from the
 broad and very deep fissures in  the earth,  which in many places
 impeded our progress,  and were  even  dangerous to the  horses and
 cattle.  We passed close to the site of the action of the 1.6th ; and
 encamped within about twenty or twenty-five miles of Cairo.
   Colonel Monlresor left the  camp on the morning of the 19th at
 break of day, with despatches  for the  British commander in chief.
 We marched at seven o'clock, and arrived at the village of Ben-el-
 Hazer, situated on the eastern  bank  of the Damietta branch of
 thq Nile, our encampment extending to the river side.  The water
 of the river, to which I walked after dinner, 1 found of an excel-
 lent quality.  In the village, as well as in all those through which
 we had passed during our late marches, the  inhabitants breed vast
 flocks of fine pigeons.  For this purpose their houses are built of
 mud bricks in  a conical shape,  the lower part being occupied by
 the inmates, and the upper by  the pigeons.
  The country about  Ben-el-IIazer  is open,  without shrubs or
brush-wood.   The only trees  we met  with were the date, the
Pharogh  fig,  a small cedar, and  the larch-tree.   The breed of
 buffaloes was very  fine, as  was also  that of the cows  :  the latter
were delicately proportioned, and of a pale red colour.
  The Vizier's movement  to the above place  fr«m  Meshtoule
was with a view r,o meet  General Hutchjnson, the British com- 
             SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY, &C.           221

nunder in chief, as well as the Capitan Pacha, to the end that the
ulterior arrangements might be made.
   Intelligence was received on the 20th that a body of six hundred
of the enemy, with  five hundred and fifty camels,  had been cap-
tured by the British army on the route leading from Alexandria to
Rahmanieh.
  A* Ben-el-IIazer there were several vessels on the river of a pe-
culiar construction,  of which I shall have occasion to speak more
particularly hereafter.  The Delta, from the distant view I had of
it, appeared to be  a vast plain yielding  an abundance of corn  and
other productions, and interspersed with numerous villages built on
eminences surrounded by  date trees.   On the banks of the Nile
the Arab inhabitants cultivate water melons,  gourds, tobacco, in-
digo, which in the Arabic is called nileh, and some few fruits, and
other vegetables.
  The Vizier was at this time indisposed with fever, and required
my constant attendance ;  as did  also Mahomed Pacha.
  Major  Wilson  arrived  in  the camp with despatches on  the
21st;  and set out on the following morning early, with despatches
for the British commander in chief.  In the course of the morning
of the latter day,  Colonel  Stewart, of the S9th regiment, Captain
Diggens,  of  the  I lth light dragoons,  and three other British of-
ficers, with a  party of light cavalry,  came  into the camp to pay
their compliments to his  Highness the  Vizier.  They  had quitted
their division, which was stationed in the Delta,  at the distance of
a few miles, and consisted  of an advanced body of British troops,
commanded by Colonel Stewart, who was to co-operate with the
army of the Grand Vizier.  General Hutchinson, and the Capitan
Pacha, were daily expected in the camp.
   Lieutenant Janverin of the royal navy,  was at this time sent off
with despatches for Suez.
  On the morning of the 23d,  an officer belonging to the British
cavalry stationed in the Delta came into the camp with letters.  His
arrival  was followed by that of  Major Wilson.    We experienced
on this day another kampsin,  the heated wind blowing with great
violence from the  south and south-east.
   Owing to the extreme scarcity of wood,  we were at this time
under the necessity of resorting for fuel to dried cow dung, which
we purchased of the Arab  women, who form it  with chopped
ktraw into cakes, and dry it on  the sides of their dwellings. 
222
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
   On th£ 24th General Hutchinson, attended by Colonel Anslru-
 ther,  quarter-master-general, with  several other British officers,
 and his suke, arrived at the encampment, having accompanied thi-
 ther the Capitan  Pacha in his barge.   On his  arrival the British
 commanuer in chief had an immediate audience with his Highne$i
 the  vizier, who  also gave audiences to the other British  officers,
 Tents for the accommodation of the party were pitched close tp the
 Vizier's own particular tent.
 ,  I rode on the 25th on the banks of the Nile towards Cairo, and
 savy several plantations  of indigo, of the dye obtained from which
 the  inhabitants make a great consumption for thejr cotton dresses.
   Colonel Anstruther, and a part of the suite of the British com*
 mander  in chief,  quitted  the camp on the 26th;  and on the 28th
 General Hutchinson, with the remainder of his  suite, also quitted
 us.  Both the General and officers were, previously  td their depar.
 ture, invested with pelices, and  received during their stay the most
 conspicuous attentions.
   A detachment  of Turkish  military arrived in the camp on the
 29th,  being part  of a reinforcement of  one thousand men expect*
 ed from  Belbeis,  &c. and a body of five hundred Turkish caval-
 ry quitted,  to join the  British  troops in. the Djlla under Coloi
 Stewart.
   Ophthalmv and diarrhoea prevailed at this time among the Turk-
 ish troops.   The latter of these  diseases appeared to originate from
 their eating too freely of unripe fruits,  such as  peaches and apri-
 cots, and also of  cucumbers.  To this  abuse was superadded that
 of greasy food, which the  debility brought on by the warm climate
 had rendered them in a great measure incapable of digesting.
  Lieutenant Janverin,  of the royal navy, arrived on  the 30th from
 Suez;  and a party of camels left  the camp to bring up a detachment
 of the 86th regiment, three hundred strong, under  the command
 of Colonel Lloyd.   This detachment was to act with the army of
 the Vizier.  The camels were laden with four thousand okcs of rico
 for Admiral Blanket's squadron.
  We were reinforced on the above day by a corps of about three
 hundred Mamelukes from the Said,  under one of the Osman Utys,
 We  learned at the same time that Osman Bey  Tambourgis, the
principal of these Beys,  had, together with  eight other Beys, set
out to join the British*zrmv.  Their, united force amounted  to fif-
 teen  hundred cavalry, ail collected in the Said, and having formerly
acted under Mourad Bey, who was deceased.
aft 4
ral-J 
              SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.           22J

  Lieutenant Janverin quitted the camp on the 31st, and embarked
at Bcn-el-IIazer for Damietta, with despatches for Admiral Lord
Keith.
  On the morning of the 1st of June we quitted our encampment
at Ben-el-Hazer, and after a march of three hours arrived at Da-
goua,  situated on the eastern bank of the Nile.   We encamped be-
tween the above village and the village of  Tahley, close to the ri-
ver sfde.  We were accompanied by a part only of  our baggage,
the remainder being brought up the river in germs, a kind of vessels
whicli navigate the Nile.
  A gun-boat, which had been taken from the enemy by the Turks,
arrived at Dagoua  on  the 2d;  and on  the 4th Colonel  Stewart,
Colonel Lord Blaney  of the 89th  regiment,  and Captain Adye
of the royal artillery, came to the camp to pay their respects'to the
Vizier,  by  whom they  were invested with pelices.
  Colonel Stewart, with the troops under his command, crossed
the Nile on the 5th;  on which day Captain Curry of the royal
navy,  commanding the gun-boats, came to camp, and had an au-
dience of the Vizier, who invested him with a pelice.
  We marched on the morning of the 6th, and about one o'clock,
after having passed several  villages, arrived at Shoubrah Shadbi.
This  part of Egypt appeared to be well cultivated,  and abounded
in gardens,  in which we saw a variety of fruit trees,  such as the
peach, apricot,  pomegranate, fig,  lemon,  and orange trees. , The
cedars, acacias,  and Pharaoh fig trees were planted in clusters, and
gave a pleasing variety to the face of the country, at the same time
that they afforded an agreeable shade.   An abundance of corn was
every where produced;  and, in addition to the. indigo,  the cartha-
mus was cultivated  in the fields.  Large herds of oxen, cows, and
buffaloes, were grazing in every direction.
  In our march of  this day we obtained a  sight, for the first time,
of the two  great pyramids  of Giza.   The troops encamped  close
to the river; and in the afternoon  the Turkish gun-boats,  com-
manded by  Captain Curry, arrived  at  Shoubrah  Shadbi.  Major
Wilson also arrived  with despatches.
  The troops commanded by Colonel Stewart arrived at Shoubrah
Shadbi on the morning of the 7th,  and took up their station within
a mile of our encampment, whence  Major  Wilson and Captain La-
cey set out  on a reconnoitring party.        ,
  1 rode in the morning along the bank of  the river,  to the vicinity
of Shellacan, or Charlacan, at the junction of the two  branches 
 224           TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY^

 of the Nile, and had thence a view of Cairo, as well as of the py.
 ramids of Giza.
   On the banks of the Nile the Arabs cultivate the doiirra, or /«.
 dian  corn, which, at the date of this part of the narrative, grew
 very  luxuriantly.   There were also large plantations of  water-me-
 lons,  tobacco,  indigo, &c.   Shellacan is distant from Shoubrah
 Shadbi about four miles  and a half, and from Cairo about eleven.
   An Arab arrived at this time from Suez with the intelligence that
 the 86th  regiment was on its way  from that place, and would join
 the Ottoman forces in the course of two days.
   On the morning of the 8th his Highness the Vizier went in
 great  state  to  visit  the British  troops commanded by Colonel |
 Stewart.  About four hundred  sick  from General Hutchinson's
 army were  landed from the river at Shoubrah Shadbi.  The dis- ,
 eases  chiefly prevailing  among them were dysentery,  ophthalmy,  i
 and fever.                                                     i
   We marched at six in  the morning  of the 9th,  and  arrived at
 Shellacan at ten o'clock. We encamped on the banks of the Nile,
 a mile to the south of the village,  the  British troops commanded
 by Colonel Stewart taking their station a little in  the  rear of the
 Vizier's encampment.  On the opposite side  of the river the Bri-
 tish army, and  the troops commanded  by the Capitan Pacha,  were
 encamped.   Accounts were this day received  from Colonel Lloyd,
 who  had reached El Hanka  from Suez.  In crossing the desert,
 the troops under his command had suffered very severely.
   I rode in  the afternoon to Harrachneah, a village distant rhree  ■
 miles  from Shellacan, and eight from Cairo.  Near  this village
 Taher Pacha had fixed his encampment.
   On the 10th, in the morning, the detachment of the 86th regi-
 ment, commanded by Colonel Lloyd,  arrived in camp, and joined
 the British troops  under Colonel  Stewart.   Gunner Foster, be-
 longing to the mission, died suddenly from an attack of fever.
   Captain Stevenson, of the  royal navy, who at that time com-
 manded the flotilla of gun-boats stationed on the Nile, rame into
 camp  to pay his respects to the Vizier.
   I rode, on the morning of the 11 th, along the banks of the Nile,
to within about five or six miles of Cairo, and passed through the
villages of Harrachneah, Abblewed, Heliub, and Beisous.  My
companions and myself halted near a marabout,  beneath  the shade
of some fine Pharaoh fig-trees, or sycamores, and had from thence
a delightful view of Cairo, Boulac, and their environs.  We could 
SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.           225
also distinguish the three principal pyramids of Saccara.    To the
eastward of the marabout, distant about  half a mile, we  saw a
handsome stone bridge,  paved with fine marble, and provided with
six arches.
   The carthamus, the flower of which is employed as a yellow dye,
was cultivated in  great abundance.   From  the bruised seeds of this
plant the inhabitants also express an oil to burn in their lamps,
   In the afternoon of this day Generals Craddock and Doyle, and
several other  British officers, came to the camp to pay their re-
spects to the Grand Vizier.
   Preparations were made,  on the 13th, to throw a bridge of boats
across the Nile at Beisous, under the direction of Brigadier-gene-
ral Lawson,  of the royal artillery;  and on the 14th, at four in the
morning, the British troops  made a movement.
   On the morning of the 15th we quitted our ground of encamp-
ment at Shellacan, and marched to Beisous, whence we had a fine
view of Cairo, situated at  the distance of about  four or  five miles
from the station we had taken.  During the day-time,  when the
soil becomes heated by the rays of the sun, forming a haze of the
atmosphere,  to judge with accuracy of distances in Egypt is ex-
tremely difficult.
   To protect the bridge of boats over the  Nile,  which was nearly
completed, the British army  marched towards Cairo on  the morn-
ing of the 16th,  at which time Colonel Stewart proceeded with his
detachment along the eastern bank of the river, to the canal in front
of Shubra.  Taher Pacha,  Mahomed Pacha,  and several of the
Mamelukes, advanced  on  the left  of the above detachment, and
proceeded to the  vicinity of the stone bridge at Kantara.
   On the  17th discontents  broke out among the janissaries, on ac-
count of the British troops under Colonel Stewart, and the corps
of  Turks commanded by  Taher Pacha,  being  advanced  in their
front.   A deserter belonging to the French cavalry came into the
camp.   He was followed by two others on  the 18th,  who were
nearly naked, the little covering they had on them consisting  of
tattered  garments which had belonged  to Arabs.  They had de-
serted fifteen days before, and had been in the action of El-Hanka
on the  16th of the preceding month.  According to their report,
the number of French troops amounted, on that occasion, to nearly
six thousand men.   They  had  suffered a great  loss;  but to what
precise extent these deserters could not ascertain.   They  confirmed
the general accounts of  the wish of the French (who were heartily
                 ( 29  ) 
226           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
tired of the warfare in Egypt)  to surrender to the British forces;
and expressed the extreme reluctance they would feel at being obli-
ged to surrender separately to the Turks.
   I rode on the morning of the 20th to Heliub, situated at thedis-
tance of two miles and a half to the north of the camp.  The in-
habitants were busied in preparing the indigo plant for use.   To
this end the plants were cut into small portions, and  thrown into
warm water, in which having lain simmering for a short time, they
were,  together with the liquor, thrown into earthen jars.  In this
state the liquor very soon acquires a blue colour.
   On  the morning of the 21st the British army under the com-
mand of General Hutchinson, together with the troops commanded
by the Capitan Pacha, and the  Mamelukes, marched, and took up
a  position before Giza; at the  same time that  the British troops
under Colonel Stewart marched with the Vizier's army,  and  en-
camped between Shubra and Cairo.  The latter took up a position,
with their right extending to  the river, and their left towards  the
desert, a  small  canal being  in the front.  Taher Pacha, with a
corps of dismounted Arnauts,  posted himself at  Jzaoui;  and se-
veral pickets were advanced.  By these movements Cairo and Giza
were in a great degree invested.   At this time the Ottoman army,
under  the command of his Highness the Vizier, amounted to about
twelve thousand cavalry, seven thousand infantry, and about one
thousand artillery, with a large battering train, and forty pieces of
light artillery.
   The enemy having on the  2.3d sent out a flag of truce to the
commanders in chief, requiring  the presence of a British officer of
rank,  General Hope was appointed to that service, and an armis-
tice agreed on for forty-eight hours.
   Early  in  the  morning  of the 24th,  a flag  of truce was sent
into  Cairo by the British commander in chief and the Grand Vi-
zier.   Major Birch  and  the Jebedgi  Bashi were the bearers of
this flag.
   General  Beliard,  on the 25th, sent into camp three Turks who
had been found under the walls of Cairo, observing, that it was
owing  to the high respect he entertained for the Grand Vizier that
he had delivered them up, instead of treating them as spies.  They
were ordered by the  Vizier to be put to death immediately.
  The effects of cliir.ate and fatigue began now to manifest them-
selves among the British troops, many of whom were attacked by
fever,  dysentery, diarrhoea, and ophthalmy. 
              SVRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.          I/11']

  During the armistice  the Grand Vizier went daily  to  a village
situated in the front of the encampment, to prevent irregularities
among his troops, who had manifested a desire to advance too far,
and had discovered some dissatisfaction while the treaty was pend-
ing.
  On the 28 th, in the evening, about two hundred British troops,
and one hundred janissaries,  entered and took possession of  fort
Shoulkouski, so named after one of the aids-du-camp of Bonaparte,
killed in  Egypt.  It was delivered up agreeably to the convention
which had been agreed on; and at the same time  the gate of the
pyramids of Giza was surrendered to the troops ordered for  that
service by the commander in chief of the British  forces.
  Hostages  were exchanged on each side for the due performance of
the convention.
  On the afternoon of the 29th I rode to Helicpolis,  or the city of
the sun,  situated at a distance of about three miles to the north-
east of the camp.  It is at present called Matta-reah, and  is the
On of the scriptural writings.  It is celebrated for a fountain of ex-
cellent water ; and here stands a fine granite column, nearly  seven-
ty feet in height,  with  numerous hieroglyphics upon it.   Several
other columns,  one of  which was afterwards carried to Rome, and
another to Constantinople, anciently stood on the site of Heliopolis.
A temple dedicated to the sun is said also  formerly to have stood
here.
  On the 2d of July three boats,  with two  hundred French sick,
sailed down  the river to be embarked for  France.  An hundred and
fifty boats were sent to Boulac and to Roudah, to be in readiness  to
receive the  baggage of the French  troops who had capitulated.
The Nile was at this time rising daily.   In the sequel I shall enter
into a particular detail of its rise and subsequent fall during my stay
in Egypt.
  Generals Moore and  Hope came to the camp on  the  3d to pay
their respects to the Vizier.   It  being  the first visit of the latter
of these general  officers since the convention had been signed,  he
was invested with a pelice by command of his Highness the Vizier.
  Several boats idled with sick French went down the Nile to Ro-
setta on the  5th.
  A violent vomiting,  unaccompanied by any other complaint, af-
fected at this time a considerable number  of persons in camp.   I was
led  to account for it by the relaxation and debility brought on  by
the  extreme he;it of the weather,  which, had had the effect of weak-
\ 
223          TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
ening the organs of digestion.  As,  however,  it came on in most
cases very suddenly, I examined both the copper utensils employed
in cooking, and the water of  the Nile, which at the time of the
rising of that river is very thick and muddy, but could impute this
complaint to neither of these causes.
  I was informed that there were several cases of malignant fever
among the troops, who were also attacked very generally by dysen-
tery, diarrhoea, and ophthalmy.   In the latter of these complaints
the eyes became red and painful,  and the lids so swollen almost im-
mediately after the attack, that  in the course of a few hours the eyes
were entirely closed.  In addition to these diseases, the prickly heat
and inflammatory  eruptions of the skin were very prevalent, and
appeared to have been brought on by great irritation on the surface
of the body, which,  in consequence of the excessive heat of the
weather, was covered by a  copious transudation from the pores. It
is not difficult  to conjecture that this diseased  state of the skin
m !mu have been occasioned by a check given,  for however  short a
period, to the passage of the pespirable matter.
  The corpse of General Kleber was, on  the 6th, raised  by the
French from the  tomb  in  which it had been deposited at fort
Ibrahim-Bey,  under a general discharge of artillery from the forts,
citadel, *&c.  This step was preparatory to  its being conveyed to
France.
  The Vizier paid a visit to the Capitan Pacha, and also to Gene-
ral Hutchinson.
  About this time our existence  was rendered very uncomfortable
by the immense clouds of dust which were thrown up daily, about
one cr two o'clock in the afternoon,  by the fresh breezes which ge-
nerally blew from the north west.   To the great heat of the at-
mosphere, as well as to  the irritation produced by the dust on the
organ of vision, the prevalence of ophthalmy in Egypt at this sea-
son may certainly be ascribed,
  The French  Generals Morand and Dongelot,  who had negoti-
ated the convention on the part of General  Beliard,  were on rhe
8th invested with peliccs by command  of his Highness the Vizier.
  On  the 9th General Hutchinson and the Capitan Pacha had each
of them a conference with the Vizier;  and in the evening Colonel
Stewart, with  the S9th regiment, and  a detachment of  the 86th,
marched and took possession of the citad-1 of Cairo.
  The Vizier-on the 10th marched with his whole army, and en*
camped near to the works of Cairo, and close in with Boulac.  He 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.
229,
afterwards entered the town,  attended by his suite,  and having vi-
sited the principal streets, bazars, and public places, returned to
camp.
  Early in the morning of the 11th the mission marched into Cairo,
and was immediately put in possession of  the house,  the property
of Kassan Bey, one of the Mamelukes, which had been recently
occupied  by  the French Institute.  The forts Institute and Ibra-
him  Bey, on  this side of the Nile,  together with the island of
Rouda  and Giza on the opposite bank, were still in the possession
of the  French.
  In passing through the streets I observed  that the principal of the
bazars  were shut,  there being but few commodities  for sale.   The
utmost tranquillity prevailed;  and many of the  inhabitants,  who
had the same wretched appearance with those of the other towns
and villages  of Egypt, saluted us on our way.
  1 rode after  dinner to  the  citadel, situated on an eminence be-
neath mount Mokatam, by which it is commanded.   The build-
ings withinside were for  the  greater part in ruins, little attention
having latterly been paid except to those which were calculated for
defence,  and which, on a close inspection, appeared to be but ill
adapted to such a purpose.  The commanding position of the cita-
del,  which  occupies a great extent of ground,  is,  notwithstand-
ing, such as to enable those within to annoy the enemv on his ap-
proach.   From the quarters  of  Colonel  Stewart 1 had  a   very
complete and extensive view  of  Old Cairo, Grand  Cairo, Bou-
lac,  Giza, the island of Rouda, the Pyramids, the Nile, Sec.  The
grand aqueduct rising from the Nile, and  ascending to the castle
with upwards  of two hundred arches, was  distinctly in sight.
   On  the 14th, the 30th and 86th regiments took possession of the
forts on  the  side of the Nile on which we were encamped.   A
party of Mamelukes and Arnauts crossed the  river, to accom-
pany the French troops, who were  to leave Rouda on the fol-
lowing morning.   Those who had capitulated amounted to about
twelve thousand; and were  to be accompanied  to  France by the
Coptic General Yacoub, and a considerable number of male and
female Arabs.
   I  rode on  the morning of  the 15th to the reservoir of the aque-
duct on the  bank  of the Nile, in the vicinity of which labourers
were employed in banking-up the earth,  to prevent the influx  of
the Xile during its ascent, until a particular period when the mound 
230           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

which has been  thus  thrown up  is broken down with great cere.
mony, and the waters allowed to pass through Grand Cairo by the
canal which is by Savary denominated the Prince of the Faithful,
   In passing through  the  gateway which leads to Old Cairo be-
neath the aqueduct, I met with several columns of red spotted gra-
nite,  some of which  were  in  a tolerably perfect state, and were
more than forty feet in length, with a diameter of five feet.
   I visited in the evening a bath  situated  near the house in which
we were lodged.  It differed in this respect from the baths of Con-
stantinople, that it was necessary to descend into a square cistern of
warm water, supported to a certain height by the constant  intro-
duction  of that fluid.  The  bath  was  very  neat, and paved with
marbles  of different colours,  which were so disposed as to resemble
a tesselated pavement.  Indeed, the floors of the greater part of the
principal houses at Cairo are paved in this manner, so as to produce
a cool and pleasing effect.
    Cairo and its dependencies were on the above day evacuated by
the French, agreeably to the convention.   They were accompa-
nied on their march by the British troops and a part of  the Turk-
ish army.  British garrisons'were at the same time thrown in Giza
and Fort Ibrahim Bey.   The baggage  belonging to the French
was sent down the river in an immense number of germs.
    On the morning of the 16th I rode to the Mekias or Nilomeler;
it derives its  name from  the use to  which it has been dedicated,
Mekias  signifying a measure.  It is situated on the southern extrc
miry of the island  of Rouda, which, when compared with  the
country  we had recently passed through, had the appearance of
a nicely  cultivated garden.   Within this building  there is a lofty
stone column,  provided  with  a  capiral  of the Corinthian order.
It rises from a square deep basin,  its inferior extremity having a
communication with the Nile, the waters of which, in ascending,
have a free inlet.   Upon the column are maiked  the different de-
grees  of the elevation of the waters;  and these  degrees are noted
down in proportion as the  river rises  or falls.  In the former of
.these cases, when it has  ascended to the height c.f fourteen cubits,
the mound which had been thrown up at  the  mouth  of the ca-
nal, denominated the canal of the Prince of the Faithful, is bro-
ken down, to the end that the refreshing and fertilizing waters may
spread themselves through the city,.and over  the whole of the ad-
jacent level country to the northward of Grand Cairo, &c. 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.           2JI
  On the above day his Highness the Grand Vizier made his pub-
lic entry into Cairo, under a general  discharge  of artillery, and
amidst the acclamations of the inhabitants, who were assembled in
immense numbers on this  great and  solemn occasion.   The whole
of the ceremony was conducted without the smallest confusion.
CHAPTER  XIII.
 Excursion to the pyramids of Giza.  The three great pyramids.  Entrance intt
  the great pyramid.  Dimensions  of the  great pyramid.   Of the chambers
  ivithinside.  .Passages into the pyramid.   Gallery.  The great sphynx.  Ves-
  tiges of antique buildings.  Ascent to the summit of the exterior.   Distant
  view of the pyramids of Saccara.   Present from the Sultan to the Vizier.
  Ceremony on this occasion.  Festival on the birth-day of the mother of Maho-
  med.   Marriage procession at Cairo.  Details relative to the plague.  Indis-
  position of the Grand Vizier.  Death of Mr. Whiteman.   Unhealthiness of
  the climate of'Egypt.   Excessive heat.   The date-tree and its fruit.  Open-
  ing of the canal.  Inundation of the Nile. Interesting conversation ivith an
  Abyssinian priest.  Confirmation of Brace's  authenticity.   Voyage in com-
  pany ivith Mr. Clarke and others  to vieiv the pyramids of Saccara, and the
  Plain  of Mummies.  Sheick Atman.   Arab marriage.  Pyramids of Sac-
  cara.   Plain of tlie Mummies.  Suppofed site of Memphis.  Defcent into
  the catacombs.   Horrid  appearance.  Pit or  catacomb of birds.   Egyptian
  idols.

      ABOUT this period I made an excursion, with a party, to the
       pyramids of  Giza, of which  the three principal are in a to-
 lerable state  of  preservation.  Several of  a smaller tdzc are situated
 very near  to  each other, in a direction from east  to west, behind
 the former.  One of  the latter, however,  built of a soft calcareous
 stone,  was,  when 1 saw them,  rapidly falling to decay.
  Of the three great  pyramids  one is of  an extraordinary  bulk •
 the second is but little  inferior to it in size; and the third compara-
 tively small,  but the proportions of it would be considered as very
great,  if it was placed in an, isolated state from the  others   This
 smaller of the three principal pyramids appears to have been finish- 
232
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
ed  with infinite pains and  labour,  the earth which surrounds it
being covered on  all  sides with immense blocks of beautiful red
granite and porphyry,  with which it is highly probable it was ori.
ginally coated.   On several  of the blocks there are deep furrows,
from which it would seem that they had been anciently  connected
together by metallic hoops or fastenings, which having  been cor-
roded by time, by  the  occasional moisture of the atmosphere, and
by other causes,  the blocks had been set at liberty, and had succes.
sively fallen to the ground.
  The whole of these  stupendous monuments of antiquity, which,
if they cannot boast of any particular elegance of structure, are not-  ]
withstanding very  extraordinary efforts of human enterprise and la-
bour, are built of  a calcarious substance, some parts of  which are
hard, and others of a softer texture.   On the larger of the pyramids
I engraved my name near to the entrance without any  difficulty;
and in so doing followed the example of thousands of persons who
had thus commemorated their visit to this celebrated spot.  In en-
tering within  I ascended  but a  small  distance,  contenting myself
with barely penetrating into the narrow passage.  My companion!
were, however, in  general, more adventurous, and supplied me with
a variety of interesting facts and observations.                   j
  The pyramids of Giza are situated about ten miles to  the south-
west of  Cairo, on an elevated  and rocky ground,  the surface of
which is covered with  white sands,  forming the ridge of the Lybi-
an mountains by which the inundation of the Nile is bounded to the
westward.  Their planes are directed towards the four quarters of
the globe.  The external dimensions of the great pyramid have been
the subject of much dispute : Neither of its sides being  level with
the others, it was  difficult to find the true horizontal base ; but the
length of the supposed  base has been variously estimated at from six
to eight hundred English feet.   According  to  the  measurement
lately taken by the French, however,  the height of the great py-
ramid is six hundred feet, and its base seven hundred.   Above the
great chamber withinside, in which the sarcophagus or coffer is de-
posited,  there is a smaller  chamber about eighteen feet in length
and in width.   The first passage by which the visiter descends in-
to the pyramid is more than an hundred feet in length.  That which
leads to the great chamber is nearly  of the same extent; and the
main gallery is in  length an  hundred and fifty feet.   I  have been
favoured by a British officer of engineers with the following  mea- 
SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.          2^3
surement, taken with die.utmost precision, both of the great cham-
ber and of the sarcophagus.  It is as follows :
                                               Feet. Inches.
        Length of the chamber       -           34   4
        Breadth of the same        -       -    17    -I
        Length of the sarcophagus  -              6   6
        Width of its interior        -       ■      2   2|
        Depth of the same        -               2   8
        Height withoutside       -              3   5\
        Thickness of the stone      -                 6

   The great pyramid does  not  appear, any more than the others,
to have been  finished according to the original design.  The lower
parts or foundations, interiorly,  seem, to have  been  formed of the
incrustations  of the rocky surface, which, in passing through the
narrow passages,  is,perceptible in several places.
   At the time of our visit the heat was extremely oppressive.   I
collected seyeral fragments of the calcareous stone employed in the
construction  of the  pyramids, together with several detached pie-
ces of  granite.   At the distance of abo\t two hundred yards to the
east of the great pyramid is the Sphynx, a sculptured head of an
enormous size hewn out of the solid rock,  thoughxit seems by the
veins in the stones to be composed of several stones laid upon one
anqther, and  supported by seyeral large blocks of stone which form
the lower .part of the bust, and  which have been somewhat decay-
ed by time.   The features of  this stupendous figure  (about twenty
five feet in height, and fifteen from the ear to the chin)  are  tole-
rably preserved, with the exception of the  nose, which has been
wantonly mutilated.  It was formerly conjectured that the head of
.the Sphynx was connected with a body of proportionate dimensi-
ons ; but the  French, by digging away the sand  rou^d its  founda-
tions,  have demonstrated the erroneousness  of this opinion.  The
features of this enormous bust are feminine, and in some degree re-
semble the Ethiopian or Nubian race.
   In the vicinity  of  the pyramids we met with the vestiges of se-
veral anrique buildings, the stones employed in the construction of
whicli  were of an enormous size.  In one of these ruins we found
a capacious and deep well, which was entirely dry.   It  was with
some difficulty that we  traced the site of the buildings,  in conse-
quence of the drifting of the sands, and the  fragments  of the py-
ramids, which lay in great heaps en the surface of the ground.
                 (30)  " 
2J4           TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 The stones which  had been  precipitated from the great pyramid
 had  formed, together with  the drifted sands, a  large hillock,
 which it  was necessary to  ascend to reach the entrance into  the
 interior.
   Several of our party ascended to the summit from the eastern  an-
 gle,  but not without subjecting themselves to great labour, each of
 the steps  (which amount in all to about two hundred), from one
 stone to another, measuring from two feet and a half to three feet,
 so as to render the descent afterwards equally painful and hazardous.
 In entering the chamber withinside,  it was necessary to be provi-
 ded with candles or torches to light the passages.
   At the distance of  about  two  miles to  the north  of the pyra-
 mids, we could  distinguish -the remains  of two  stone bridges,
 which  we had  not time  to inspect  on our return.   From these
 pyramids  we had a  view of  seven others, at and in the neighbour-
 hood of Saccara, distant about twelve or fourteen miles from those
 of Giza.
   My narrative  was  broken off" at the public entry of the Grand
 Vizier into Cairo, from which  time  nothing particular occurred
 until the 21st  (July), when his  Highness receive^  from the  Sul-
 tan a present of a beautiful handjar, or dagger,  studded with dia-
 monds, of great brilliancy,  and estimated at an hundred and fifty
 thousand piastres, upwards of  ten thousand pounds English. The
 present was accompanied by the Grand  Seignor's hat-scheriff, or
 letter, with the imperial seal and signature of the Sultan, on which
 occasion (as on all similar ones) the following ceremony was ob-
 served :—The 'divan  being  formed of the following  personages,
 namely, the  Grand Vizier,  Ministers of state,  principal  Pachas,
 and janissary  Aga,  the Reis  Effendi brought in the Sultan's letter.
 The chiaouses,  who were drawn up  in a  line, now  exclaimed
 aloud—"May  the  Almighty preserve the Grand Seignor and the
 " Grand Visier."   At these words all who were present rose up,
 and the Vizier advanced to the  middle of the divan, where he re-
 ceived the hat-scheriff from the Reis Effendi, with the customary
 salutation  of  kissing it, and putting it to his head.   He then re-
 turned it  to the Reis Effendi,  who read aloud the  contents,  the
 chiaouses repeating, during this  part  of the ceremony, their for-
 mer ejaculations.
   It has been seen that on this occasion  the chiaouses,  or messen-
 gers,  bore a very conspicuous part in the ceremony.   In an early
part  of  this work 1 entered into a particular detail of their func- 
SYRIA,- EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.           2J£
tions and offices;  and shall here attempt a concise description  of
their Chief, the Chiaous Bashi, who holds in the Turkish empire
an appointment of such great dignity, and of so considerable emo-
lument, that after the entry of the Ottoman army into Cairo,  the
Sultan, as a peculiar mark of his favour and approbation, appointed
to this  office the Reis Effendi.   Among his more immediate duties,
he accompanies the foreign ambassadors and ministers who are in-
troduced to the presence of the Sultan; expedites the hat-scheriff,
or royal letter; and introduces to the divan, or council of state,
at Constantinople, all those who  have  any  business to  transact
with the ministers.. He likewise  hears  and redresses  grievances,
and takes  cognizance of all petty offences, thus assuming the office
of judge.
  Russell,  one of the civil artificers belonging to the mission, in re-
pairing the.bridge, of boats thrown across the Nile, and construct-
ed by the  French to preserve a communication with Giza, fell into
the river on the  23d, and was unfortunately drowned.  The ex-
treme rapidity of the current  prevented all possibility of the body
being found,                      ,
  I made  an excursion with a  party to Giza, on the above day,  and
examined  the  works and fortifications, which appeared  to be very
imperfect, and possessing  biit little strength.   The  late Mourad
Bey had  established at his house in that place a foundery for can-
non, which the French,  during  their stay there, had considerably
improved.
  In  the  evening the  Arabs paraded the streets of Cairo, with
lights, chaunting Arab' sentences,  and carrying on their heads
figures dressed for  the  occasion.   I found on enquiry, that it was
a fete  in commemoration of the birth  of the mother of Mahomed.
The Arab sheicks are customarily dressed in a loose woollen robe,
or cloak of a deep blue or purple  colour, with a large blue  and
white  plaid handkerchief,  thrown  negligently  across one of the
shoulders,  and hanging loosely down behind.   They  are in  general
armed  with a  sabre, and a long spear, and are  mounted on mares
which appear  to be very fleet.
  On the  26th the British commander in chief, General Hutchiiu
son, left Cairo on his way to  Rosetta.*

  • As the author is not in passession of the date when this commander was first ho,.
noured with his present title, he hopes the reader will excuse any inaccuracy there may
be in distinguishing him, as well  as other illustrious persons, by the titles by which,
they are at present best lfnown, 
23^           TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC  TURKEY,
  I was present,  on this day, at a grand procession or cavalcade of
the women of Cairo, who were mounted on asses, on which they
rode astride, being seated on saddles,  or rather on pads; of an un-
common height and breadth, covered with small  Turkey carpets.
This procession was occasioned by the approaching nuptials of two
of the females belonging to the party,  each  of whom was a fine
girl of about fourteen years of age,  and was distinguished from
the rest of the company by a rich shawl.   I  was told that, previ-
ously-to the celebration  of the marriage rite,  it  was the  constant
custom .of the females of Cairo to parade the town in this manner.
   In paying a visit, on the 29th, to an Arab merchant of Cairo,
I met with a Mameluke, who entered  into some particular detaihi
relative to the last attack  of plague  in that  place, which he de,
scribed as having been more severe than any that had been experi-
enced  for many  years before.   He could not ascertain  the  loss
which the population had sustained; but told me, that in a particu-
lar district,  in which there were two  hundred  and seventy Greeks,
seventy of them  had  fallen victims to this disease.  It  frequently
happened that the attack was, in the  space  of twelve or twenty*
four hours,  succeeded by the  death of  the infected person.  This,-  ,
Mameluke had himself been afflicted with the disease, which  had
terminated the existence of fifteen of his family.   In several of the
towns and villages  of  the Said, the mortality  was so great,  that
the cattle, horses,  and other animals, were left  to  wander in the
streets and in the fields in search of their subsistence,  without  ha-
ving any one to take charge of them.   He said the disease was ob-
served to travel from town to  town;  having for instance, on the"
latter occasion, made its firs' appearance at Damascus, and visited
progressively the intermediate  towns and villages, scarcely one" of
which escaped its destiuctive ravages, until  it came to Cairo.   In
other cases it set out from  the latter place, and made its progressiw
advances into Syria.                                        ■'■'(
   The Vizier had  been  for some  time seriously indisposed,  and
claimed much of my attention.   I found him pretty well recovered
on the evening of the 30th, when I spent nearly two hours with
him, and visited his garden, his superb  stud of horses, &c. I took
sherbet and coffee with his Highness, in a room paved with mar-
ble, having a  fountain  in  the  middle,  and being  otherwise  very.
handsomely ornamented.
  On the evening of the 31st Mr. Whiteman, assistant commissary,
died from the effects of excessive fatigue, and from an exposure to 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &«.           $37
the intense heat of the sun's rays, during a journey to Saccara,
which he had undertaken on the preceding day.   At this juncture
the climate of Egypt appeared to act on tlfe temperament of the
human body, by inducing so great an irritability as to render it ex-
tremely susceptible to morbid action.   The sudden genfctftjtm  of
disease, and  the celerity with which it ran through  its  stqceiswe
stages, may  be thus explained.
  On the  afternoon of the 1st of August the corpse of Mr. White- '
man was interred in the Christian burial ground in the vicinity  of
the aqueduct.
  The great heats which prevailed at this time were productive  of
prickly heat, painful pustular eruptions of the skin, boils, and other
similar complaints.   The bites of  the knats,  mosquitoes, and other
insects, became inflamed, and produced very troublesome suppu-
rations.
   On tfie 6th his Highness the Vizier, who was  now perfectly
recovered  from his late illness, invested me with an  ermine pelice,
as a mark of attention for the services 1 had rendered him.   Co-
lonel Beresford arrived at Giza with a detachment  of the Indian
army.  A despatch was at the same time sent off from  Cairo  to
Suez, from which place a messenger  arrived in the course of the
afternoon.
   The heat was now become so insupportable, that it was necessary
to  keep  as  much as possible within doors, especially as we were
without the accommodation of shady walks, which We enjoyed in
 Turkey and in Syria.   The only trees of any considerable growth
about Cairo are the sycamore and the date, the wood of the former
of which, being celebrated for the extreme closeness of its texture,
as  well as for its great hardness and incorruptible  quality,  was an-
ciently employed for the coffins of the mummies.   From the latter
the inhabitants of Cairo derive  many advantages, by converting
almost every part of it to some useful purpose, in  the fabrication of
 ropes, fences, brooms, fans, mats for the  table,  hats, &c.   The
 stems of  the leaves are wrought into bedsteads, well adapted to  the
 climate, and sold at a very moderate price.
   General Baird and his staff arrived at Cairo on the 7th, and  ha-
 ving paid a visit to his Highness the Vizier, were invested with  pe-
Jices, and welcomed by every flattering mark of  attention.
    At this time the peasants were  busied in collecting the dates.
 This fruit,  when first  gathered,  is hard, and of  a reddish colour;
 but when kept for a little time, ripens, and becomes soft, so as to 
23*
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 be fit for use.  The Arabs eat it, however, in its crude and unripe
 state, at which  time it must,  according  to  my opinion, be very
 difficult to digest.
   The Indian army encamped on the 8th on the island of Roudah,
   At five in the morning of the 9th, being the time for the open-
 ing of the canal, I  rode to its mouth,  situated near the aqueduct,
 and found there a vast crowd of people assembled to witness the ce-
 remony.  Mahomed Pacha, and several other distinguished Turks
 were on the ground (several tents having been pitched for the.occa-
 sion), with their bands of music playing; and the germs, which
 were very numerous, had  their colours and streamers flying.  In
 the  mean time the populace were amused by discharges of artillery,
 by the exhibition of fire-works, and of skyrockets thrown into the
 air.   The mound or dam having been intersected, the water rushed
 into the canal, and  the boats, profiting  by the  occasion, rowed
 through Cairo, where  the day was spent in amusements and festi-
 vities of every description.   While the water was flowing into the
 canal, Mahomed Pacha threw into it,  from time to time, piece* of
 money,  which the Arabs, who dived with great address in search
 of them, were very eager  to possess.
   I should observe here, that  I had  been by no means indifferent
 to the progressive augmentation of the waters of the Nile, the re-
 sult of my observations on which, and  on the subsequent fall, will
 be given in the proper place.
   On the 10th we had a kampsin  wind, which blew  up immense
 clouds of dust, forming lofty pillars in the air, and the particles of
 which, conjoined with  the intense heat of the atmosphere, oppres.
 sed us beyond measure.   On the following day the garden in front
 of the house in which we resided was completely inundated;
   I dined on the 16th ztGiza,  in company with several British of-
 ficers, among whom  were Colonel Stewart and Lord Blaneyr I
 was  told by  the  latter, that three privates of the  89th regiment
 quartered at Rosetta,  had been  cured  of the.plague; but 1 could
 not collect any particulars relative to the mode of treatment which
 had been pursued.
   On the 18th Colonel  Lloyd,  with the 86th regiment, and a de-
 tachment of'sepoys, amounting in  the whole to between six  and
 seven hundred men,  marched from Giza to reinforce the garrison
 of fort Lesbie, and its dependencies.
   Colonel Stewart, commanding the 89th regiment,  was on  this
day invested with a pelice by his Highness the Vizier, of whom h^ • 
SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.           1^3
 took leave previously to his joining the British army stationed near
 Alexandria.
   The temperature of the weather was at this time become very
 agreeaWc, and had a salutary effect on the  health  of  the troops,
 among whom the cases of ophthalmy had nearly disappeared. The
 English sick at fort Ibrahim were still however,  harassed by fresh
 attacks of dysentery, and malignant fever.
   On the 25th I had a particular conversation with an Abyssinian
 priest,  recently arrived from his own country, who was about to
 leave Cairo for Jerusalem, from religious motives, and whose de-
 tails relative to his native territory were extremely interesting.  He
 assured  me that the indigenous inhabitants still persevered in their
 custom  of eating  raw  flesh, a  luxury   in which, however, the
 priests were not allowed to participate, but were in conformity to
 their religious tenets,  obliged to cook the meats  necessary to their
 subsisteuce.   He calculated that his return to Abyssinia would oc-
 cupy a space of three months.  In the course of our conversation
 it   appeared that  he  was  familiarly acquainted  with  many  of
 the plants and  animals,  of which the celebrated Bruce has in his
 Travels given engravings and written descriptions.  Mr. Bruce's
 book being at hand, the engravings, &c.  were shewn  to him, and
 he  gave  to the animals  and other  productions the names which
 Bruce had annexed to them.  1 was thus enabled to satisfy myself
 of the accuracy of a part of what has been so strongly questioned
 in the accounts which the above traveller has  published.
  General Baird, and several of his officers, took leave of the Vi-
 zier on the UtJth, previously to their departure for Rosetta with the
 Indian army.   Tliey were invested with pelices, and  received the
 most distinguished marks of attention.
   On the succeeding day a  part of  the above army, together with
 the brigade commanded by Colonel Stewart,  embarked  on  board
 of germs,  and sailed for the above destination.  They were followed
 on the 28th  by the General and the remainder of the forces under
 his command.  The troops stationed at Giza, were, in consequence
 of this movement, commanded by Colonel  Ramsay.
  On the  evening of the 27th I set out, in company with Messrs.
 Clarke and Cripps, two gentlemen of Sussex, who were on their
 travels, and a  German gentleman  of the name of Hammer, to
 visit the pyramids of Saccara, and  the plain of mummies, in Up-
per Egypt.  We proceeded  to the bridge near  our dwelling, on the
 canal of  the Prince  of the Faithful, and entered a germ which 
  24°           TRAVELS JM ASIATIC TURKEY,  %>

  had been prepared for us.  After our seamen had rowed on the ca*
  nal for the space of half an hour, we entered the Nile, where the
  masts and sails were hoisted, and a fine smart breeze having sprung
  up from the northward, we prosecuted our voyage very successfully.
  The large sail having been spread, Cairo was  very soon at a con-
  siderable distance behind us;  and after a very agreeable voyage oi
  three hours,  we came to a village called Sheick Atman, situated
  on the western  bank  of the Nile, and distant  from Cairo from'
  twelve to fourteen miles.  We landed there,  and found a party of
  the natives  assembled in the  midst  of a beautiful  grove of date-
  trees,, to celebrate the marriage of two young persons belonging
  to the village.    An Arab climbed with great agility  to  the lofty
  summit of one of these trees,  to procure us a supply  of the ripe
  fruit.  The  moon, in its full splendour, gave a  lustre to the beau-
  tifully romantic scene we had come so opportunely to witness;  and
  we noticed that the company had pitched two  tents, from which
  the coffee and other refreshments were served.  Several of the dan-
  cing girls, whose attendance is constantly  required on  these occa-
  sions, exhihited their feats and agility to the sound  of  the double
  reed, and  of a  kind of  drum open at one  of the extremities,  and
  shaped like a bell.
    The dance being concluded, and the night setting in,  the com^
  pany retired to  rest,  many of the men, not within the dwellings,
  but without doors, according to the usual practice of the Arabs xn
  the summer season.  In this  way they  lie scattered over the plains,
  like  flocks of sheep, with the clothes they have taken off spread
'  beneath them,  and  covered  from head to foot by  the large hani* '
  kerchief which they wear in the day-time across the shoulders.
    Our attendants kindled a fire for us, and procured us tea and other
  refreshments, after having partaken of which we retired to rest in
  the germ.   We were, however,  so much attracted by the beauty
  and novelty of the scene, that it was near one in the morning be-
  fore  we could  prevail on ourselves to seek  repose.   We rose at
  the early dawn to prosecute our voyage; and  soon after saw the
  sun rise majestically, and gild the lofty summit  of Mount Moka-
  tam.   Having breakfasted,  the sails were  spread, and  we quitted
  Sheick Atman.  In  consequence of the late  inundation the river
  had taken several windings, by which our distance was considera-
  bly prolonged.   The morning, however,  being  cloudy, so  as to
  shelter us from the intense  rays  of the sun, and  a cool and  re-
  freshing breeze  having  set in from  the  northward,  our voyage 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           241
 amidst the numerous little islands which the river had formed was
 highlv agreeable.   On the banks the inhabitants were engaged in
 watering  the more elevated  grounds which could not receive the
 benefit  of the inundation.    For this purpose  they employed lea-
 thern buckets,  one of which was fastened to the extremity of a
 long pole, having at its other extfemity a heavy stone to counter-
 poise the weight of the bucket,  and forming in this way a kind of
-leVer.   The water was thus drawn up from the Nile,  and thrown
 into troughs, from which furrows were carried to convey it to every
'part of the  high grounds.   On these grounds the dourra or In-
 dian corn and indigo  plant  had a very healthy and promising ap-
 pearance.
   Between  the two banks of the Nile there was a singular contrast.
 The eastern shore exhibited  little more than a desert, the cultiva-
 tion being confined to a very narrow slip of land, near the villages;
 and a  chain of lofty  and sterile mountains  which  terminated at
 Mount Mokatam near Cairo; while the western bank displayed a
 considerable number  of  extensive  groves of date-trees,   inter-
 spersed with grounds in a highly cultivated state.   The rich and
 beautiful appearance of the  date-trees was at this time heightened
 by the fine golden colour of the ripening fruit.  This was not, how-
 ever, the state in  which it was preferred by the Arabs in general;
 that they eat it in its unripe and crude state, when it is very un-
 wholesome and indigestible,  is a fact I have already noticed; and,
 in reality, their choice with  respect to fruits and vegetables  of eve-
 ry description,  which  they seem to prefer before they have attained
 a due maturity, is highly depraved.  Several of the date-trees were
 of the dwarf kind, and were denominated by the Arabs Belah Ma-
 hat, in contradistinction to  those of  a larger growth,  but  yet of
 the dwarf kind, which are called Belah Seeway.
   We entered  a small canal, and  proceeded to  the villages  of
 Menshee and  Dashou, distant  from Grand  Cairo about twenty-
 four miles,  and situated at the foot of the mountain on the summit
 of which we observed those  of the pyramids in the neighbourhood
 of Saccara  that have the most elevated position One  only of them
 was entire; and  they differed very essentially in their figure from
 those of  Giza.   We followed in a northern direction the elbow of
 the canal, and  were carried into a large lake formed by the inunda-
 tion, and extending to the village of Saccara, near to which stand
 the two principal pyramids, and,  in their vicinity,  the plain of
                 (■31 ) 
24-2
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
mummies, on a sandy hill or eminence, whose  bottom is of hard
rock, a circumstance that was observable when  we  entered the
pits.'
   Across  this lake, which ran east and west, was a large mound,
or causeway, which led from a village opposite to Saccara to the
foot of the pyramids, and at the commencement of which, next to
the village, was a stone bridge having several arches.   Near to it
was. an elevated ground, which, as it corresponded  exactly with the
account some authors have given of the position of Memphis,  we
fancied to be the site of that ancient and celebrated city. Ourcon-
jectures relative to the lake were that it had been applied by the in-
habitants  of Memphis to  the purpose of transporting their dead to
the plain or sepulchre of mummies.     -
   Previously to our arrival the Sheick of Bousir,  a  neighbouring
village, had been requested to procure  us horses and guides to ena-
ble us the more readily to reach the pyramids, and the other spots
we were desirous to visit.   They were no sooner arrived than wc
mounted and rode to the pyramids and plain of the mummies,  ha-
ving taken the precaution  to be provided with rope-ladders, candles,
and whatever besides was necessary for the investigation of the ca-
tacombs,  into which we  were about to descend.   In entering the
pit we were obliged to take off a part  of our garments;  and, ha-
ving reached the interior,  were struck  with awe by the solemn  and
novel scene which presented itself to our view.   Within the sub-
terraneous vaults  or  chambers the bones of  mutilated mummies,
which had been so often rifled and disturbed that not one of them
could be  found in an entire state,  lay scattered in  confused heaps,
together with  the  bandages and coatings by which thev had been
enveloped, the latter resembling a black bituminous substance.  As
nothing in the vaults had  preserved its  original position, it  was in
vain for us to prosecute our researches  to come at any thing  like a
perfect mummy; and we contented ourselves accordingly with col-
lecting some of the mutilated portions, and some of the bituminous
matter, ascending afterwards to the mouth or pit of the catacombs.
The air of the cells into which  we had penetrated was foul, noi-
some, and extremely unpleasant to our sensations,  since,  indepen-
dently of  the exclusion  of the external air, and  of the generation
of damp vapours, there was an additional source of noxious effluvia
from the gradual and progressive decay of the substances they con-
tained.  They appeared  to have been cut out of the solid rock, and
ie have been  coated on the superior part by a thick layer  of sand. 
              SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           243

 The entrance which led to them was a square opening of about four
 feet- and in penetrating into them we had to descend from fourteen
 to sixteen feet, by means of a ladder made of cords, which being
 too slender and feeble for such a purpose, our task was not accom-
 plished without considerable difficulty, and some degree of  danger.
 The pits had been prepared for our visit by the Arabs, who had for
 that purpose cleared away the stones and rubbish by which the en-
 trance is usually choked.
   From the above pits or catacombs we proceeded to those of the
 birds, distant from the former, in  a north-western direction, nearly
a mile.   The opening was not unlike  that through which we had
 already  penetrated ; but the entrance into it was, as well as the sub-
 sequent task we had to perform, rendered extremely difficult by the
 loose sand  and  fragments  of stone which constantly fell on us
 while within the  mouth of  the pit, and by which v/e were at in-
 tervals nearly suffocated.  Having descended to the foot of the lad-
der, we entered an aperture not larger than the size of the body,
and in  proceeding through this opening were obliged to lie flat on
 the breast, groping our way until we reached the passage which led
 to the pit, a  distance of forty or fifty feet. In this passage we found
 several  of the  vases  or  urns, of  baked earth,  and  of a conical
shape,  which had contained the mummies of the sacred birds.  It
 was small and narrow, and extended for the space  of upwards of
 twenty yards,  when at length we  entered a somewhat larger pas-
sage,  which allowed us to change the position of the body, and to
 walk erect, and at our ease.
   After a few minutes of further toil and perseverance,  we  reached
 the chamber or passage in which the mummies were deposited, in
 earthen jars nearly two feet in height,  narrow and rounded, parta-
 king of the shape of a loaf of sugar:  they were arranged tier over
 tier, and completely filled up the  sides of the passage.   Wc se-
 lected several of those which were the most perfect, and brought
 them away wirh us.  No  precaution having been taken to guard
 against the rude attacks of those who had visited this sacred depoT
 sitory,  the fragments of vases in which the mummies had been an-
 ciently deposited,  were  scattered  over the passage in  such profu-
 sion, as to have formed heaps of rubbish over which wc were obr
 liged to crawl on our hands and knees for a considerable distance.
 We opened several  of those which were still  in an entire state, to
 come at their contents.  Wc found that the bill,  the bones, and
 .--veral of the feathers evejn,  of the birds, had been preserved afte* 
244          TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

so very considerable a lapse, cf  time, the same bandages with the
bituminous matter and composition of spices having been applied
to their preservation with those that had been employed for the hu-
man body.   We were thus  enabled to ascertain that the Ibis of the
ancients is precisely the bird of which  Bruce has given a minute de-
scription, and which is to this day called by the Axabs abou hannes.
These birds are in Lower Egypt, I imagine, become very scarce,
as I do not recollect to have seen one alive during my stay in that
country: a white bird,  called ox keeper,  by Savary, has been oc-
casionally taken for the Ibis; from which  it differs much in the
shape of the bill, and in its plumage.
   As it  was held sacred by  the ancient Egyptians, the uncommon
pains they bestowed in preserving its  body from corruption cannot
b_> deemed extraordinary, more  especially as, by its remarkable in-
stinct,  it is said  to  have preserved Egypt from  a great calamity,
which it would otherwise have encountered.  It may be unnecessary
 for me to point out in this place to the well-informed reader that I
allude to the period when,  according to ancient records,  the south
winds conveyed to that country from the Lybian deserts, numerous
swarms  of what have been Renominated flying serpents, but which
were most probably locusts,"to devour the fruits of the earth,  and
to eat up the harvests.  As  the season of  their invasion drew near,
the sacred birds,  guided by  the  instinct which warned them of their
approach, proceeded,  it is  said, in large  flights*  and, laying wait
for their devastating enemies, destroyed them,  and thus  prevented
the ravages with which  Egypt was  threatened.   It was  perhaps
owing to this fortunate preservation  from the  horrors of  famine,
that the laws of the Egyptians relative to the Ibis were so severe,
an irrevocable sentence of death being pronounced  on any person
who should kill one of these birds, even accidentally.
   We returned from the interior of the pit by the  opening at which
we had entered, and were happy once again to respire the fresh and
wholesome air, of  the benefit of which we had  been so long de-
prived.   During  our stay within, the effect  of the foul air and noi-
some damps was such, that we felt 3n oppression of the chest,  and
breathed with some difficulty.   The subterraneous passages were at
the same time so  heated, that a copious perspiration was diffused
over the surface of  the skin.  7 he task   we had imposed on our-
selves was not carried into execution without great labour  and fa-
tigue ;  but it afforded us in return an infinite gratification.  Having
made an arrangement with  the Arabs for the conveyance  of our 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.
245
vases, and the inestimable relics they contained,  we took a survey
of the surrounding country from the plain of mummies, which is
situated on an elevated and rocky hill,  and overspread with a con-
siderable number of pits.  On its surface, which is covered with a
light sand, the fragments of bones, of wooden coffins,  and bits of
the linen which had served as an envelope to the mummies, with
other substances drawn from the pits, lay profusely scattered.   We
had from this position, a very extensive view of  the Nile in its dif-
ferent windings and ramifications,  as well as of the large tracts of
country it had inundated.
  In returning to our germ a great variety of curious  Egyptian
idols, which it was anciently the custom to deposit* with the mum-
mies, were tendered to  us for sale.   We purchased a part of them;
and the Bedouin Arabs, who had  acted in  the capacity of guards,
and had also been our guides in descending into the pits, made us  a
present of a gazelle,  or antelope.
  The sheick whom I have already mentioned had prepared a din-
ner for us,  of which we partook  on  our entering the germ,  and
hoisted sail, at four in  the afternoon,  on our return to Cairo, after
a very agreeable,  but at the same time fatiguing, excursion.
   The arrangement which we concerted was to  land in the evening
at Sheick Atman, and, having passed  the night  there, to set out
early on  the following morning for Cairo.   In  pursuing our route,
the wind freshened, and at length blew a  strong gale from the
northward,  by which a high surf  was thrown up.   7'his induced
our boatmen to take in the  sail, and betake themselves to their oars,
in doing which they manifested  great prudence, the germ being  a
description of vessel very easy  to  overset,  in consequence of the
great spread of canvass with which it is provided.   At nine in the
evening  we reached the spot where we  had agreed to land; and on
proceeding to the village,  found the same gaiety among its inhabi-
tants, and the same amusements as we had witnessed the preceding
evening.
   A fire having been kindled, we  refreshed ourselves with a cup  of
tea, and afterwards reposed until midnight,  when the  sail was
hoisted,  the violence of the wind  being considerably abated.  After
 a sail of a few hours,  we reached the canal of the Prince of the
 Faithful; and by four in  the morning  found ourselves in our lod-
gings at Cairo, 
246
TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
                         CHAPTER XIV.

  Excursion to Old' Cairo.  Grotto vuhere the holy family took refuge from Herod's
   persecution.  Chapel of St. George.  Expected visit from the prophet Ma-
   homed.  Armistice concluded ivith the French a? Alexandria.  Excursion to
   Boukc.  Account of the Colcassium.  The saffron shrub.  Cassira. Egyp-
   tian thorn.   Gum Arabic.  Herbaceous plants.   Surrender of Alexandria
   to Afc British.  Magnificent burial places.   Marriage processions.  Inunda-
   tion of the Nile.  Excursion to Mount Mokatam.  Slave market.  Leprosy.
   Voyage on the Nile to Alexandria.  Menouf.  Tivo villages swept cvway by
   the overflowing of the Nile.  Western branch  of the Nile.  Manner of pre-
   paring the indigo.  Plantations of rice and sugar-canes:  Rosetta.  Plague
   among the British troops uuder General BairrJ.  Lake of Aboukir.  Arrival
   at Alexandria.  Pompey's pillar.   Cleopatra's needle.   Part of the Colossus
   of Memnon.  Return  to Cairo.

      ON the morning of the 30th  of August a salute was fired from
       the citadel of  Cairo, in consequence  of favourable intelli-
 gence received from the Capitan  Pacha, and of some successes ob-
 tained by the British army in the vicinity of Alexandria.
    I rode on the 31st to the different  forts  and  towers erected by the
 French to the north and north-east of  Cairo,  and was much con-
 cerned to see the depredations committed by the Turks,  since their
 arrival,  on the works and fortifications, which were constructed of
 wood.  These spoliations had been occasioned by the want of fuel,
 which in Egypt is  chiefly  confined to the dung of animals, as I
 have already noticed.
   On the 1st of September I made an excursion to Old Cairo, and
 visited the grotto in which it is said the holy family sought refuge
 when persecuted by Herod.  Joseph, having been  forewarned  by
 the angel of  the  Lord of the  meditated destruction of the infants
 by that tyrant, fled with the family into Egypt.  Over the grotto
 is a Coptic church, the priests belonging to which derive some ad-
 vantage from the grotto itself,  which they show to strangers who
 visit the spot.  They also display their Coptic books, and whatever
 curiosities their church contains.
   At an inconsiderable  distance  from the grotto is an Armenian
chapel* called the chapel of St. Georgcr in consequence of a part 
               SYRIA,  EGYPTj  GERMANY, &€.          1/f}

 of the body of that saint having been,  according to tradition,  de-
 posited there.   In addition to this chapel, a church, called St. Mi-
 curias, stands in the vicinity.
   This was a day of great festivity among the Arabs, who enter-
 tained a persuasion that their prophet Mahomed would pay them
 his customary  annual visit, after having  absented himself during
 three years, in consequence  of the French being in  possession of
 Cairo.
   Letters from the camp before Alexandria, received on the  2d,
 confirmed the rumours  which had been circulated on  the preceding
 day,  that, after three battles highly advantageous to the British
 troops, and the capture of four redoubts, and a flotilla  of gun-boats,
 General Menou had demanded and obtained a  truce of three days.
   The brother of Lord Hutchinson arrived at Cairo on the 3d with
 despatches to  the Vizier, containing  the  account of  the armistice
 concluded with the French at Alexandria. On the receipt of these
 joyful tidings the Vizier instantly set out  on a djerid party, in  the
 course of which he caused a janissary, who had cut and  otherwise
 maltreated an Arab, to  be strangled.  We were informed that about
 this time near  thirty of the Turkish soldiery had suffered death for
 different offences.  When a janissary is condemned to die, what-
 ever may be the nature  of the crime he has committed, the punish-
 ment is invariably that  of strangling.
   Osman Effendi,  the new Kia  Bey,  and Scheriff  Effendi,  the
 newly-appointed Tefterdar, arrived at Cairo on  the 4th from Con-
 stantinople.
   I made an excursion in the morning to BoulaC, which I found in
 a very ruinous  state.  It had formerly contained several handsome
 stone buildings, and was a place of considerable  commerce.  The
 landing-place for  merchandize was very  commodious;  and the ba-
 zars were at the time of my visit well supplied.
  1 dined afterwards with Monsieur Pine, a  merchant of Cairo,
 with whom I had some conversation relative to the productions of
 the country.   He informed me that the  colcassium, arum colocas-
 sia, /,.  rhe coulcas of the Arabs, was cultivated  with  great care at
 Damietta.  Its leaves  are very large:  The roots are  conically
 shaped,  and are of  two kinds,  the one  red and  the  other white,
 the former of which are  preferred.  They are somewhat larger than
 those of the lotus, and are not so insipid in  taste as the  potato. 7'he
inhabitants arc very fond of these roots,  which |hey introduce into
almost all  their dishes;  but are under the necessity of subjecting 
24$
TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
     them to repeated washings,  to cleanse them from the acrid muciia.
     ginous matter with which they  abound.   It was a portion of one
     of these roots which I tasted while at Jaffa, in its crude state, and
     which produced a very acute and distressing sensation of the mouth
     and fauces.   They are  cultivated in  the same manner with the
     potato.
       The carthamus sativus, or tinctorius, bastard saffron shrub, is of
     great utility in Egypt, every part of it being applied to  some pur-
     pose or other.   The yellow flower, called  by the Arabs ossfur, is,
     as 1 have  already remarked, employed as a dye ; the seeds, named
     cortoin, serve for the extraction of oil;  and the dried branches for
     fuel, as well as for the manufacture of charcoal.
       Among the few trees in the vicinity of Cairo the date and mul.
     berry are*most conspicuous.  A species of  the cassia fistula grows
     to a considerable hefghr,  and affords a  very agreeable shade.  Its
     flowers are yellow and large, of a pleasing smell, and the middle
     is adorned with thrums which resemble tufts of silk.   Its fruit ii
     contained in a pod which  resembles a bean, and  is, as well as the
     leaves,  of an astringent quality, corrugating the skin when exter-
     nally applied.   By the Arabs this tree is called lebbacki,  7'he aca-
     cia, mimosa nilotica,  Lin. or Egyptian thorn,  which they name
     seysahban, is a beautiful  tree of  a very delicate appearance, the
     leaves of which resemble those of the  sensitive plant.   It bean a
     fine round flower of a yellow colour, and of a very fragrant smell.
     Its fruit,  which  resembles a large vetch,  is contained  in a pod.
     From this thorn the gum Arabic is collected. The Arabic name of
     the sycamore,  or Pharaoh fig tree, is gemaiz ;  and that  of the lo-
f    tus,  or lote-tree, carnoup.
       Among the vegetables is a bean which has a great resemblance to
     the French bean,  but is  of  an  inferior quality.   The beet, com-
     mon mallow, lettuce,  onions,  turnip and other radishes,  are culti-
     vated in the gardens : The root of the  turnip radish is not, howe-,
     ver, round,  but more elongated like a carrot.   The seeds of the
     lupin,  which grows very luxuriantly, are held in great estimation
     by the inhabitants, v/ho also employ the lentils in their soups and
     ragouts.
       Colonel Cole arrived on the 6th at Cairo with despatches to the
     Vizier, containing the official intelligence from the British vxmyo'
     the capitulation and surrender of Alexandria.
       In the afternoon of the same day we  lost one of our military
     artificers, Taylor,  who sunk under an attack of fever and dysen-
     tery. 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.
249
  Colonel Cole,  and several other officers from the British army,
together  with Colonel Holloway and Major Hope, dined on the
7th with  the Vizier.
  Generals Coole and Ludlow, with their aids-du-camp, and suites,
and several other British officers, arrived at Cairo on the 9th from
the army  before Alexandria, and paid their respects to his Highness,
who on the following day reviewed in their presence the regiment
of Sepoys,  "the review being concluded, a grand djerid party was
ordered by the Vizier for the amusement of the  British Generals
and officers.   I hey afterwards dined with the Vizier a  VAnglaise,
Colonel  Holloway and Major Hope being of the  party.  The Ge-
•lerals were invested with pelices by order of his Highness ;  and in
the evening there was a display of fireworks.
   On the evening of the 12th the above Generals,   with their
aids-du-camp and suites, took their departure in  a germ for Alex-
a/ulria.
   On the morning of the 13th I rode to Attar Ennabi, called by
the Arabs Mesr Attar, and  to Diracteer,  two villages situated to
the south of  Old Cairo, on the eastern bank of the Nile.  On re-
turning  1 passed over the ground on which a part of Old Cairo an-
ciently stood, and which was of a very considerable extent.   Be-
tween this spot and Mount Mokatam are the ruins of a town cal-
led by the Arabs Guijshee.   In proceeding thence to  Cairo I pas-
sed through the  very extensive burial-ground occupied by the Ma-
melukes, formerly the most  magnificent cemetery to be found in
Egypt.   Each of the vaults for the interment of the dead was co-
vered by a dome supported by four lofty columns of stone or mar-
ble.   Each family appears to have had its separate inclosure, which
is surrounded by stonewalls.
   After  the fall  of Alexandria a considerable number of British
officers  came to Cairo, to proceed on a tour to the pyramids,  and
to  visit  the  other curiosities with  which Egypt abounds.   In
this number may be reckoned Generals Coote, Lord Cavan, Finch,
Ludlow, and Stewart, together'with Colonel Lord William Ben-
 tinck, and several other officers of note.
    The Vizier issued  on the  loth an order for public  rejoicings at
 Cairo, to celebrate the fall of Alexandria.   These  demonstrati-
 ons were continued for three  successive days,  during  which there
 were illuminations in the evenings.
   On the above  day there  were several  marriage processions at
 Cairo.  I have  already noticed, without entering  on a particular
                  (30 
250.
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEV,
description, that previously to the performance of the  religioui
rites, it is customary for each of the parties to parade separately the
principal and more public  streets.   For this purpose  the bride has
her face completely veiled, and wears a rich shawl suspended from
her head, and  flowing loosely down to her feet, with a cap in the
form of a crown, decorated with sequins, beads, and other fanci-
ful ornaments. In addition to this bridal attire she is in every other
respect very richly dressed, and is thus led through the streets by
two of her nearest female relatives, having a female at her side to
fan her as she passes along.*   She  is preceded  by several women,
who walk  two and two;  and the  procession is accompanied  by
bands of  music.
  On some of these occasions the bride is sprinkled with rose-water,
and has silver vessels, in which fragrant gums are burned, carried
before her by her attendants.  It also not unfrequently happens, rhat
a boy who  is to be circumcised is mounted on horseback in front of
the procession,  and is preceded by a person carrying a gilt case, not
unlike in shape the box of one of our raree-show.men, containing
the razors to be employed in the operation. The boy is richly dres-
sed,  and  being mounted on a horse finely  caparisoned, parades the
town with  several attendants in his suite,  holding  to his mouth a
white handkerchief,  and having his hands and fingers stained with
 the leaves of  the henna.
   Major Fletcher  of the engineers arrived  at  Cairo on the 18tb
from Alexandria, where he had been detained as a prisoner since
the  unfortunate accident 1 have already noticed.
   On the 19th the Vizier requested Colonel Holloway  to furnish
him with a report containing his opinion  of  the works  of Cairo,
and of the best mode of  defence.
   I set out early in  the morning with a party to proceed by water
to the pyramids of Giza, from  which place we were joined by ano-
ther party,  consisting of Colonel Ramsay  and several other British
officers.  Our excursion was pleasing beyond description, the in-
undation  of the  Nile having converted  the villages  by  which we
were surrounded into  so  many islands, the  appearance of which
was  highly picturesque.   The  inhabitants,  both men, women,
'and children,  swam from  village to village, carrying their clothes
en the head;  and  many of them came to the pyramids in quest of

  * Over the bride is carried a canopy formed of rich shawls, &c.  supported by foO*
iw«'e atur.u.wy.s;  the janissaries are frequently employed upon these occasions. 
SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           2$I
backshish, or money.  The donations which they receive on these
occasions become  the subject  of much  strife and contention,  in
arranging  the proportion which should fall  to the  lot  of each  of
the claimants,  and mark  the suspicious disposition of the Arabs,
as well as the avarice which is  so prominent a feature in their •cha-
racter.
   We were conveyed by water nearly to the foot of the mountains
on which  the pyramids  are situated, having a walk of about ten
minutes onlv to ascend to the latter.  After having gratified our-
selves by an examination of the exterior and interior details, inro a
particular  description of  which 1 have already entered, of these stu-
pendous monuments of art, we returned in our germ to Cairo. The
Nile continuing to  rise, the whole  of the country between Giza
and the  pyramids  was  completely inundated, together with the
greater part of the island of Rouda,
   A party having been made for the 22d, we set out from Cairo at
an early hour in the morning,  and  proceeded to the foot of  Mount
Mokatam, called by the Arabs GibbelGuij'slice, where we alighted,
and ascended the mountain  by winding paths which had been traced
for the convenience of the Traveller.  The morning was very fa-
vourable to our purpose, the  sky   being covered  by  thin clouds
which shielded us from  the piercing rays of the sun,  without ob-
scuring one of the  most charming  views imaginable from the sum-
mit of the mountain, as well of Grand Cairo and of the surround-
ing country, as of  the very extensive desert leading  to Suez.   In
every part of the level country we perceived that the inundation  of
the Nile had formed capacious seas and lakes.
   The surface of Mount Mokatam is composed  of a variety  of
substances, of which the principal is a yellow calcareous stone suf-
ficiently  firm in its texture to  be converted to a variety of useful
purposes in the construction of buildings, &c.   In some parts we
met with  a mixture of slate-stone and  sand; and in  others with a
soft and white calcareous stone, from which  the reflected rays  of
the sun, when it burst from between the clouds, was very harassing
to the sight.
   On the flat surfaces of the  mountain  we discovered the evident
effects of the rains,  in  the formation  of clefts or  fissures.   In
the course of our researches we met with but one entire catacomb,
ehizzlcd out of the rock,  but  which had been spoiled of its con-
tent*. 
252           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
   Major Fletcher  of the  engineers, who  was one  of our party,
having inspected  the different  commanding  heights, and made
several sketches,  we descended  the  mountain,  and  returned to
Cairo.
   I rode afterwards to visit the building in which the black slaves
of both sexes are kept for sale.  The entrance was by a large gate-
way, which brought  me into a square, surrounded bv small cells
or chambers in which the slaves of either sex were respectively lod-
ged.   There are two stories of these cells fitted for their reception;
but I saw within the square  three negresses only, one of whom  ■
had a  very young infant, of a white colour.
   These unfortunate wretches are exposed to sale like cattle, or hor-
ses, brought to an European market;  but  this cruel  traffic had for
several years  been  interrupted,  and  indeed nearly annihilated, by
the obstacles which had prevented the regular arrival of the cara-
vans,  one of  which was,  however, expected in  the course of a
week, or a fortnight,  with a considerable number of  slaves.
   Being at no great distance from the place where  the white slaves,
natives of Georgia, Circassia, and the other countries subjected to
the Turkish domination, are  kept, I rode to the building  destined
for that purpose, and  found.it to have a less wretched appearance^
and to be freer from filth,  than the one I had just quitted.    It did
not contain any slaves at the time of my visit.
   1 rode, on  the 23d, to Birket-il-fyl, a large square, situated in
the centre of  Cairo, which had been converted into a vast lake by  '
the inundation of  the Nile.   In passing through one of the streets,
I met  with a melancholy and distressed  object, afflicted to an extra-
ordinary degree wirh leprosy.   I was afterwards told by an inhabi-
tant of Cairo, to whom I mentioned this circumstance, that in the  j
island  cf Scio there  is a village  set apart for lepers,  to  which all the
inhabitants of the different islands afflicted by that disease ate sent,
and which is of course exclusively inhabited by thpse unfortunate
individuals.
   I procured,  at one of  the bazars of Cairo, a sample of the stone
which is employed  by the Arabs to cure the mange inhorse.i. To
effect  this,  they pound  the  stone, and convert it into a paste,
Which they  spread over every  part of the animal, suffering  it to re-
main on for the space of three  days, when it is washed  off'.  This.
stone is collected on Mount Mokatam,  is of a yellow colour, of a
texture somewhat soft, and is  aamed in Arabic Tuff'. 
I
              SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           2$$

   On the 30th Colonel Capper and Major Bell, in the service of
 the Honourable East India Company, left Cairo on their way to
 India.
   During the present month of September there were fewer dis-
 eases and less mortality, both among the inhabitants of Cairo and
 the  Turkish  troops, than had  occurred  during the preceding
 months.
   Colonel Holloway, Major Hope, and myself, having projected
 an excursion to Alexandria, a boat was for that purpose brought
 up to the canal,  and stationed near to our residence, on the 2d of
 October.  Every  necessary preparation having been made, we em-
 barked on the following afternoon, with a fresh northerly gale,  in
 a  row boat, provided with twelve oars, and in the course of an hour
 arrived at Boulac, where our boatmen took on board whatever was
 necessary for the voyage.  At half past five o'clock we left Bou-:
 lac ; and at nine in the evening arrived at Shellacan, or Charlacan,
 where we reposed for the night in our boat, it  being made fast to
 the shore.   At three in the morning of the 4th  we prosecuted our
 voyage  by the canal of Menouf,  opposite to which place we arri-
 ved at eight o'clock,  and  having  landed, proceeded to  the town,
 where we paid a visit to   the, Aga, or governor.   We were very
 hospitably entertained by him with coffee and other refreshments,
 in addition to which he made us a present of fowls, and other stock
 for our  voyage.
   While the French were in possession of Menouf, they erected
 two round towers, one at each extremity of the town, the whole
 of the country surrounding which  was so completely overflowed by
 the inundation of  the Xile, that two  villages had  been entirely
 swept away.  This devastation having occurred immediately before
 our arrival,  we saw the wretched  inhabitants, men, women,  and
 children, wading  through the water, with their clothes  on their
 heads, and swimming across the spots which  the canals had deep-
 ened, to seek shelter at Menouf,  and wherever  they could find an
 asylum.  In this way several hundreds of them  were employed in
 c.riving before  them  their buffaloes,  cattle, and other  live stock.
 Here I should observe, that the buffalo is an animal very expert in
 crossing rivers, and in wading through places where there are large
 accumulations of water,  on which account, as well as on many
 others, it is admirably adapted to the Egyptian  territory,  exposed
as  it is to an annual inundation.  This creature may, indeed, be in
a great measure considered as amphibious,  and is extremely fond 
254
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
of wallowing in the water,  over  the surface  of which  the head
only is to be perceived.
  Menouf, like all the towns of inferior note in Egypt, is princi-
pally composed of mud huts, which make a very wretched ap-
pearance.  It contains a manufactory of mats, executed with great
taste and neatness, and well adapted to the climate of Egypt.
  At half past nine  in the morning we quitted that place, and at
the expiration of nearly two hours  entered the western, or Rosetta
branch of  the Nile.   In consequence,  however,  of  the  immense
quantities of  water  which had overflowed the surrounding  coun-
try,  and by which the greater part of the villages were in a manner
isolated, and  standing in  the midst  of immense  lakes, it was ex-
tremely difficult to ascertain the boundaries of the river. Such only
of the villages as were situated on an elevated ground were capa-
ble of resisting the devastating effects of the waters.
  At five in the afternoon we arrived at the village  of  Benofah,
and, having  landed, found the inhabitants busied in preparing the
indigo, of which a great consumption is made throughout Egypt.
I have already touched on the processes employed, in detailing the
particulars of my visit to Heliub; but on this latter occasion I wai
enabled to  examine  the cakes procured from the sediment of the
beaten and  macerated plant.   If greater pains were to be bestowed
by the natives  of Egypt in the manufacture of this dye,  the qua-
lity of the plant from which it is obtained is so good, that it  would
become a very valuable and extensive article of commerce.
  Having passed the sight in our boat, we prosecuted our route at
five in the  morning of the 5th, and arrived at noon at Foua, situ-
ated  on the eastern banks of the Nile, in the Delta, which had
formerly been a place of very considerable commerce.   The build-
ings  it contains are far superior to  those which are generally met
with in Egypt, and of a much more cheerful  appearance, being
constructed of a reddish  brick, pointed  with mortar.   At this
place',  which had still an air of .carrying on an inconsiderable share
of traffic, we halted for about  an hour, and were charmed by the
pleasing aspect of the surrounding  country,  which was in a high
state of cultivation, and supplied with a greater  variety of trees
than we had  hitherto observed.   Within  the town the inhabi-
tants were   busied  in preparing  the flax, and extracting the oil
from the seeds.  We observed several plantations of rice and sugaT^
earjes.
** 
              SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.           I55

  At half past four in the afternoon we arrived at Rosetta, and im-
mediately waited on the British commandant,  Colonel Barlow, of
the 61st regiment.   We  also paid our respects to the Turkish go-
vernor, who very obligingly seut us a supper. We passed the night
sa usual in our  boat,  and were dreadfully tormented by the mos-
quitoes and sand dies.
  On the morning of  the 6th we visited the encampment of Ge-
neral Baird, distant from RoSetta about four miles, and were much
concerned to hear that the plague had  recently broken out among
the troops,  fifteen of whom, partly British and partly Sepoys, had
sunk under its attacks.   Not one of the Sepoys who  had received
the infection escaped; and as  a certain  number of them  were em-
ployed in an  attendance on the sick, several of them were in this
way cut off by a communication of the disease.  Ail the necessary
precautions had been adopted,  and among others the strict perform-
ance of quarantine.   Among the other prevalent  diseases in  the
camp, dysentery and ophthalmia were very  obstinate and difficult
of cure.
  Having been supplied by  General  Baird with a tent and three
Sepoys as attendants,  and procured, by  the mediation of  the Tur-
kish governor at Rosetta, a few camels and miserable horses,  we
quitted the  camp on  the  morning of the 7th,  ar half  past eight
o'clock, on our way to Alexandria.  In crossing the desert,  we
met with the remains of eleven pillars, constructed of brick, which
had formerly been erected to direct the passenger on his way. The
road we took, after having quitted the encampment, led obliquely
towards the sea shore, and was very agreeable, independently of the
advantage of the sea breeze, by which- we were refreshed.  The
prospect before us was, however, occasionally rendered painful and
distressing by  great numbers of human bodies in a mangled state,
together with  detached bones,  &c.  scattered on the beach to attest
the frequency of the shipwrecks which had  occurred, and which
had united their ravages to the disasters occasionally attendant on a.
passage across  the desert.   To these  causes, productive of so dis-
gusting a scene, may he added, the dreadful slaughter of the Turks
hy the French which happened some time before in the neighbour-
hood of Aboukir,  when  the  former were  headed by Sir Sidney
Smith, who galla.tly endeavoured to rally them, but in  vain.    In
endeavouring to escape from the French, several thousands threw
themselves into the sea and  were drowned.

                            -          • 
 25^            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

   At two in the afternoon we arrived at the caravansery, and were
 there under the necessity of crossing a ferry, the rapidity of the cur-
 rents occasioned  by the rising of the Nile having swept away the
 bridge of boats thrown across the river by order of the British Com-
 mander in Chief, to facilitate the communication between Alexan-*
 dria and Rosetta.  It was at this place that the French troops un-
 der the command of General Belliard embarked,  after the capitu-
 lation of Cairo,  from which  place  thev had  been marched.  We
 were detained until half past  four o'clock,  when at length a germ
 was in readiness to receive passengers, camels, horses, and, in ge-
 neral,  whatever was to be conveyed across the river, the current of
 which was rendered  extremely rapid at the time of our  embarkation,
 by the flowing of the waters of lake Edco into the sea.    Having
 made good our passage, and  the camels being again laden with the
 baggage, we bent  our way towards the block-house, which we
 reached at the close of the evening.   To effect a passage across the
 mouth of lake Maadic, now'called  lake Aboukir, and with a view
 to the more speedy conveyance of passengers, stores, and baggage,
 several boats had been fastened together so as  to form a  kind  of
 floating stage : One of these boats  having however, been unfortu-
 nately sunk,  this mode of conveyance was impeded  for  the mo»
 tnent, insomuch  that it became necessary,  on the arrival of travel-''
 lers, to tow their horses and camels across the entrance of the lake.
 As this was to us an unsurmountable obstacle, now that the night
 was setting in, we pitched our tent, partook of the  few  refresh*
 inents we had left, and reposed ourselves for the  night, with an as-
 surance  that'we  should be furnished with a boat in  the morning
 to convey us and our servants to the camp.   It was agreed that our
 camels and horses should, together  with the principal part of our
vbaggage, wait our return at the block-house.  The camp before
 Alexandria was  distant from us about nine miles by water, lake
 Maadic, or  Aboukir, occupying the whole of this extent, and
 communicating,  by the new cut, with  lake Mareotis.  The lat-
 ter had become so formidable, that, in spreading itself over a very
^considerable  tract of country, it had  already destroyed sixteen vil-
 lages,  and had extended,  in a southern direction, upwards of thir-
 ty miles.  The low swampy  grounds in  the vicinity of Alexandria
 were at this time completely  inundated ; and it is generally consi-
 dered that whenever this circumstance occurs, it  is highly in favour
 of the salubrity of  the place.  It was accompanied,  however, by
 this inconvenicncijMkt the  canal bf Alexandria having been en- 
               SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.           257

 tirely destroyed by the effect of the great accumulation of the wa-
 ters, the inhabitants  were thus deprived of their supply  of fresh
 water,  until they  could dam up the cuts, which were now of an
 immense breadth.   It was in agitation to put  them into  a proper
 state of repair ; and in the mean time a bridge of boats was thrown
 across them, to enable the shipping to procure a supply  of fresh
 water from the canal situated above.
   We rose on the 8th, at seven in the morning, and having break-
 fested,  embarked on board a germ.  After a pleasing sail up lake
 Aboukir, we reached the British encampment at noon, and landed
 near the depot of artillery, whence we  proceeded to pay our re-
 spects to the commander in  chief, with whom we dined.  Our tent,
 with which we were  supplied by the Capitan Pacha, was pitched
 near to that of the General, at an inconsiderable distance from the
 .sea  shore,  and precisely on the  spot where the battle of  the 13th
 of March was fought.
   We were employed on the  9th rfi viewing the different military
 positions.   Nearly three  thousand  of the French troops who had
vcapitulated still remained to be embarked.
   After having,  on the morning of the  10th,  visited the depot of
 artillery, we rode to the western camp of Alexandria, and were
 gratified by a sight of Pompey's pillar, as it is  commonly denomi-
 nated,  anciently situated in the centre  of Old Alexandria,  but at
 least a mile distant from the new  city of that name.  Some late
 discoveries  have ascertained that  this  celebrated monument was
 erected in honour of the  Emperor Domitian.  It is a very beauti-
 ful  granite column,  of the  Corinthian order;  the shaft  alone  is
 ninety feet  in height,  independently of its base, which is in  height
' five feet.  The latter was  formerly in a very  shattered state, but
 had been repaired some years before our visit by a Turkish  gover-
 nor of Alexandria.   It was  surmounted by a French  cap   of li-
 berty,  which the  British afterwards removed.  This  column, or
 pillar, consists of three distinct pieces of red  granite.   The obe-
 lisk, or needle of  Cleopatra, standing at no  great distance from
 it, is formed of one  entire  piece  of the same material,  notwith-
 standing it rises more than sixty feet from the surface,  with a con-
 siderable portion of its base sunk  into the earth.   Near to it ano-
 ther obelisk of the same form, and of a similar  material,  lies on
 the ground.  The hieroglyphic characters inscribed on each, ha-
 ving been  cut into the stone to  a great depth, are very perfect,
 with the exception of th.ose on the eastJ^iide of the upright obe-
                 •( 33 ) 
*5»
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC  TURKS'/,
lisk,  where the hot winds have  caused the surface of the granite
to scale  off in portions.   In the other parts it still retains a very
beautiful polish.
   On the llth we rode to Alexandria, and in passing through the
marine  gate, saw the back of the  hand of a colossus of granite,
which,  from the knuckles to the articulation of the wrist,  mea-
sured upwards of a yard. It had  been brought bv the French from
Upper Egypt, and was conjectured to have been a portion of  the
colossus erected in that country in honour of Mcmnon.  It still re-
tained a beautiful polish. Near to the spot on which it lay, several
tine relics of antiquity, such as  sarcophagi inscribed with hiero-
glyphics,  &c. were scattered on the ground.
   On the 12th, at break of day, the brigade of British troops
commanded by General Stewart was brought into the field, and was
reviewed  by the Capitan Pacha,  who  came to  the  ground with
great pomp and ceremony, and attended by a very splendid and nu-
merous  suite.               >
   On the 14th the different works, and among others the Pharos,
retained by the French since the capitulation, were delivered up to
the British, this being the day on which the whole of the enemy's
troops still remaining  in Egypt  were to  embark,  and proceed on
their  voyage for France.
   The Charon arrived at Alexandria from  Malta, with the intel-
ligence, that the Success iWgaie and Bulldog sloop of war had been
recaptured by the British cruisers.
   On the morning of the 15th I rode to the old ruins, where the
temerity of  the  French commander in chief,  in the attack he or-
dered on the  ever memorable 21st of March,  was attended by so
dreadful a slaughter of his troops.  To attest  the  great  numbers
who had fallen within the ruins by the bayonets of  the 42d, 28th,
and 5 2d regiments, the spot was surrounded by immense mounds,
beneath which the bodies of the slain had been interred.  •
   On the lGth the Capitan Pacha, accompanied by  Lord Cavan,
and surrounded by a numerous suite, entered  and took possession
of Alexandria.
   In  entering the above city, I  passed through  the  two fortified
positions which had been occupied by the  British and French, each
of them extending from the sea to the lakes Maadie and Mareotis.
These lines, or positions, had been formed on sandy heights,  op-
posite to each  other,  and were separated  by a plain of about two
miles  and a half-in c^mk.  I forbear  to enter into any particular 
              SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C           2$$

 description, either  of these military  positions,  or of the works
 and fortifications in general about Alexandria, being impressed with
 a full persuasion, that this task will be undertaken and executed with
 ability by some  of the military who partook of the dangers, and
 shared the laurels of the Egyptian campaign.
   Having taken our leave of the British commander in chief, and
 of  the numerous friends we had found at Alexandria,  we quitted
 the encampment at nbonK and  entered  a  Turkish barge,  which
 bad beeu  for that purpose brought up to the wharf near the depot
 of  artillery.  We sailed across lake Aboukir, and  arrived at two
 in the afternoon at the block house where wre had been detained for
 the night on our route to Alexandria.   We were  there informed,
 diat on the preceding evening,  a Dehli, who had  been in want of
 the stage of  boats which had been repaired since our last visit, and
 which happened at the moment to be stationedon the opposite side,
 had repeatedly discharged his musket loaded with ball cartridges.
 The consequence of  this imprudence  was, that  a ball had entered
 the shoulder of one of our horses, and occasioned the death of the
 animal.   The Dehli  had been secured;  and on a complaint  being
 made by the commissary to the Kia Bey,  to whom  the nature  of
 the.accident was explained,  the  latter promised that the horse be-
 longing  to  the Dehli should be sent  oo replace that which*had
 been  killed, and a proper  punishment  inflicted on the  culprit.
 Whether the latter part of this promise  was complied  with we
 could not ascertain; but it is certain that the horse  was  never sent.
 This  fact, however, accords with Turkish promises in  general.
   At eight in the morning of the 17th we proceeded'with our ca-
 mels,  horses, and baggage,  to the caravansery, and found no diffi-
culty in crossing the passage in  the  germ stationed  there for the
 purpose.
   On our way to Rosetta,  we took the road which led by the sea
 side,  and in approaching Edco,  came to a marabout, beneath the
 shade of which we halted, and took refreshments.  We had un-
 derstood that a well of good water was  usually to be found at this
 spot; but the water we  were enabled to procure was  brackish, and
 in other respects of  a  bad quality.
   We reached Rosetta at  four in the afternoon, and having paid
 our respects to  Colonel Barlow, the British commandant, were
 supplied with a supper by the Turkish governor.
   We spent the whole of the 18th  at Rosetta, and on  the follow-
 ing morning roso -it early dawn to prcpar^for our return to dfiro, 
200          TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
Having taken our breakfast with General  Baird, we proceeded to
join the boats at the village  of Hammet.   In  the course of the
preceding evening the weather had been stormy, with much thun-
der and rain ; but the morning was fine, the wind fallen, and the
sky overspread  with light clouds,  to shield  its  from the scorching
rays of the sun.  At half past eight o'clock we entered our boat,
which, as it was unprovided with a sail,  was attached to a germ,
to be in this way towed up to Cairo,  the boatmen declaring, that
in consequence of the strength of the current which set in against
us, it  would require at least a month  to  accomplish their object
with oars.
   We had laid in a stock of provisions for three Or four days, and
had to felicitate ourselves on this  provident supply,  since, on our
arrival at Foua, at five in the afternoon, the boatmen declared that
they could proceed  no further until the next morning,  on  account
of the scantiness of the wind,  which would not enable them to
stem the current. It was in vain for us to expostulate; and we sub-
mitted to the  necessity, however  painful it  was, of passing the
night at Foua in our boat.
   We were up betimes on the morning of the 20th, but were deu
tained  by the  calms  until  half past eight o'clock,  when a light-
breeze springing up, we obliged the boatmen to proceed, in spite
of the reluctance they still manifested.  The wind freshening, and
becoming more favourable in the course of the day,  we prosecuted
our voyage until the following morning, when we reached Boulac
at one o'clock.  We  remained  there until six, at which  time we
passed through the bridge of boats at fort Ibrahim, and at eight
o'clock reached Cassan  Bey.   Whatever satisfaction we might
feel on finding ourselves once more at Cairoy  to  which place we
were now become attached by a residence of a considerable dura-
tion, we had every reason to be well satisfied with the pleasurable
excursion wc had made.
    I shall follow up this little tour by  some details relative  to Cairo,
its inhabitants, and  the country  by  which it is surrounded; and
shall then  proceed  to  the recital  of the events which occurred in
Egypt, subsequently to the last date of my narrative.
% 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.            2$l
                       CHAPTER  XV.

 Description of Grand Cairo.  The citadel.  Conjectures relative to its antiquity.
  Fortifications raised by the Frencto.   The mint.  Remarkable debasement of
  the coin.   Streets of Cairo.  ConstruSion  of the houses.  Interior and furni-
  ture of the houses.  Palaces of the Beys.  Mosques.   Dimensions of the city.
  Baczars,  or shops.  Inrprovisatari.  Population of Cairo.  Joseph's well.
  Palace of the Caliph Salah-cd-din.  Inhabitants of Cairo.  Coptic language.
  Dress.   Manufactures.  Svuord  blades.  Horses.   Commerce of'Egypt.  A-
  musements of Cairo.  Dancing girls.   Jugglers.  Tumblers and posture-mas-
  ters.  Old Cairo.   Boulac.  Grand  aqueduct.  Beasts of burthen.  The
  buffalo.  Oxen, goats, foivls, &c.   Fruits of Egypt. Vegetables.  Corn.

      GRAND  CAIRO, the capital of Egypt, is by the Arabs cal-
      led Mesr, or Messcr, and  has  also been denominated, in the
 language  of the country, Kahira.   It is situated  beneath Mount
Mokatam, to the  foot  of which  it  reaches, on the eastern bank
of the Nile,  from  which it is nearly a mile  distant, and is sur-
 rounded by a wall,  the circumference of which may be computed
at about three leagues.
  The castle,  or citadel,  stands on the most elevated part of  the
 town, under  Mount Mokatam,  which, in the Arabic tongue, is
 called Gibbel Girgis.   It is conjectured by some to have been built
 by Salah-Ed-din,  a  Sultan of Egypt,  seventeen centuries  ago;
 while others carry  back its antiquity to a still more  remote period,
to the  flourishing  period of  ancient Greece, and conjecture it to
have constituted a part of the Egyptian Babylon.  It comprehends
a very large space of ground, and contains many ruinous buildings,
a part of  which formerly boasted a considerable share of  splendor,
 having  been inhabited by the Sultans  of Egypt.   Prior  to the in-
vasion of Egypt by the  French, the Pacha of Cairo  resided in a
palace,  now in a very ruinous condition, within the citadel; and
independently  of the  quarter  occupied by him, his guards, suite,
corps of janissaries, and Assafs,  had distinct portions of the build-
 ings assigned to them.
  However formidable  this citadel may be to the inhabitants of
 Cairo,  its position  would be by no means advantageous in the case
 of a regular siege, since it is  so completely."commanded bv Mount 
 2^2            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

 Mokatam, that an experienced  enemy from without  would have
 every advantage over the besieged inhabitants.
   The walls of the citadel, which have  been suffered in a great
 measure to fall into decay,  are in general lofty, and appear to have
 been well built.  In many parts they were repaired,  fortified,  and
 new modelled by the French, whose principal aim seems to have
 been a perfect command  of the town, which, in its present state,
 it possesses in a sufficient degree to overawe the inhabitants in all
 cases of  popular tumult and commotion.
   For the further defence of Cairo,  to which they deservedly at-
 tached a very particular importance,  the French constructed seve-
 ral small forts  and  block-houses on  the different  commanding
 mounds  of rubbish by which that city is every  where  surrounded.
 They also formed lines which extended from Grand Cairo to the
 Nile, inclosing Boulac on the north side; and, to the southward,
 converted the aqueduct into a  wall of defence, reaching from  the
 river side to the walls of Cairo.
   On the islands of Roudah and Lazaretta  several  small  works
 were thrown up; and on the approach of the British army several
 vessels were sunk in such a manner, as  to form a boom extending
 across the Nile from the island of Lazaretta  to the village of Em-
 baba.  In addition to these defences, the house of Ibrahim Bey,
 situated on the eastern bank of the Nile, was converted into a small
 fort; and the village  of Giza surrounded by a wall,  with several
 fletches thrown out in earth works, and palisadoed.
   Within the citadel of Cairo there is  a mint in which gold and
 silver monies, having on them the stamp of  the city,  are coined.
 In Egypt,  as well  as in Turkey,  the  latter' of t.iese coins are so
 much debased, that the proportion of silver contained in them does
 not exceed twenty-five percent.
   The streets of Cairo are extremely narrow, and winding in their
 direction : being at the same time unpaved, the stranger who passes
 through  them labours under many difficulties, and,  in consequence
 of their great intricacy, is frequently obliged to have recourse to a
 guide.   Their very contracted breadth  has,  however,  this conve-
 nience, that it affords to the inhabitants  an almost continual  shade,
 which, in a climat© like that of  Egypt, where the sun's rays shed
 so intense and scorching,a heat, cannot be otherwise than  highly
acceptable.   They  are  rendered still more cool and  agreeable by
being frequently, in the course of the day, sprinkled with water;
uiid ia this way ths dust, whicn, when dry,  is converted into SQ 
               SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           263

 fine and impalpable a powder,  as  to  be raised into  the  air by the
 smallest puff of wind, is laid and arrested in  its progress.   One of
 the greatest annoyances to which persons on  foot can be subjected,
 is thus in a great measure removed.
   The houses of Cairo  are lofty, and provided with flat roofs, or
 terraces, the walls of the lower story being constructed of a whi-
 tish stone, brought from the neighbouring mountain.  The upper
 stories are built of  wood,  with the windows projecting  into the
 street, and latticed.   The projection is frequently carried to such
 an excess,  that the opposite windows of the houses on each side of
 the street nearly touch each other.
   Within, the apartments of the principal houses are large and com-
 modious,  and have a capacious opening facing  the north, which
 serves as a ventilator, and allows a constant current of  air to pass
 through the dwelling.   In the houses inhabited by the Beys, and by
 rhe more opulent of the merchants,  there  are handsome fountains
 which are constantly playing.   This is considered as one of the
 greatest luxuries that can be enjoved within doors.  The floors are
 of stone,  and are usually decorated  with  mosaic  work, executed
 with much taste  and neatness.   The furniture  is much the same
 as that employed in Turkey, and consists principally of sofas and
•carpets.
  • The great and the wealthy usually repose on a sofa, in the calm
 enjoyment of all the pomp and luxury of the east, smoking until
 sun-set, and taking between meals, their coffee, sherbet,  &c. while
 the numerous  class of  the indigent inhabitants toil unceasingly,
 without a shelter from the scorching rays of  the sun, and still ap-
 pear cheerful and contented with a  scanty meal.  This  description
 of people, indeed, five  extremely hard, have scarcely a sufficiency
 of cloathing to hide their nakedness, and sleep and  herd with their
 animals in filth and wretchedness.
   The palaces of the Beys are very  capacious,  and are surrounded
 by high walls, with a wide entrance, but  without windows, ex-
 teriorly at least, on the ground  floor.  Many  of them were in a ru-
 inous state at the time of our arrival at Cairo, having been partly
 demolished by the French,  together wjsh nearly the whole of one
 of the sides of a large square called Ezbekier.
   The  mosques  occupy at Cairo large Spaces of ground, and arc
 very numerous.  Their minarets have a fine appearance  from a dis-
 tance ;-  but the  mosques  themselves are much inferior  to  those of
 Constantinople.             , 
 264           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY>
                                                          «
   The length of  the city, from north  to south, is about a league
 and a half,  and  its breadth nearly a league.  It is provided with se-
 veral gates, or entrances, the principal  one of which, leading in a
 northern direction towards Syria, is called Babel Nasser.  On. en-
 tering the city by  this gate,  the traveller  finds himself  in a long
 and narrow street, which, as it is one of those more particularly
 appropriated to commerce, is very populous, and constantly throng-
 ed  with passengers.   It contains many bazars, or shops,  fitted up
 for the different trades and professions,  and which are not ill sup-
 plied with  the commodities  and manufactures of the country, as
 well as with  those imported  from Europe.  In this street, and in
 several others which are respectably inhabited, a kind of wooden
 chandeliers  are suspended in the centre, at a convenient height, to
 be employed in  the illuminations which take place on the celebra-
 tion of the different festivals.
   Each of the coffee-houses  of Cairo is frequented  by a reciter of
 extemporaneous verses, or perhaps by several.  By contributing to
 the amusement of the company,  these improvisator^  collect  small
 sums to relieve their necessities, which, as their sole dependence is
 placed on the skill they have  acquired  in  the recital  of  their  im-
 promptu's,  are of the most urgent kind.  Accordingly, they are to
 be met with, not only in the coffee-houses,  but on the best fre-
 quented roads, in  the most impoverished and abject condition, fre-
 quently with a cap of  rushes on the head, as  a distinctive mark of
 their vocation.  They there lay the passengers under contribution,
 by the recital of verses in their praise, which, notwithstanding those
 whom they accost are utterly unknown to them, are certain to be
 filled with  the most fulsome adulation.
  It was impossible for me to form an accurate idea  of the popula-
 tion of Cairo,  which I was, however,  led  to think very consi-
 derable.  This opinion was probably in  some measure influenced by
 the narrowness of the streets,  which  occasions them to be almost
 constantly crowded with passengers.   It  is proper to state, howe-
 ver,  that there are  in that city very large areas, or spaces of ground,
unoccupied, independently of  the  very extensive openings which
 surround the mosques, the houses of the Beys,  and the public build-
ings.   Any inference I  could draw  on this head from the morta-
lity which tool^place drfring  my stay there, would be very uncer-
tain.
  I could not learn that there are any wells of fresh water at Cairo,
with the exception of^one in the citadel, which boasts a consider*- 
               SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           265

 ble degree of antiquity, and is very curious in its construction,  its
 origin is carried back to the reign of Caliph Salad-Ed-din, whose
 name properly signifies  Joseph;  and it is reasonable  to suppose
 that it has received from this circumstance the denomination of Jo-
 seph's well, rather than that it was named, as some have supposed,
 after  the patriarch  Joseph,  the  reputed  father  of  our  Saviour.
 Within the citadel there is a very extensive building,  which, as it
 is conjectured to have been  formerly the residence of the Caliph
 Joseph,-or Salah-Ed-din, is called Joseph's palace, and contains se-
 veral vestiges of its ancient splendor.   One apartment in particular
 is ornamented with beautiful  mosaic work, but this room is at pre-
 sent converted into a cloth manufactory; it leads into another apart-
 ment,  the  ceiling of which  was formerly embellished with  paint-
 ings in fresco.   What  renders the remote antiquity of this palace,
 which  has been without  doubt the residence of the  Caliphs of
 Egypt, unquestionable, is, that the names of the ancient monarchs
 of Egypt are engraven on its walls, in characters which leave no
 uncertainty as to the time of their being wrought.
  To return to Joseph's well. It is in depth no less than  two hun-
 dred and eighty English  feet, and in circumference forty, with a
 winding gallery, by which  the  men and cattle employed to pro-
 cure the water ascend and descend at pleasure.  Both the well and -
 the gallery leading  to it are hewn out of the solid rock, an under-
.taking:  which could not have been accomplished without a  consi-
 derable share of labour and difficulty, notwithstanding the substance
 of the  rock consists in that part of a calcareous stone, which is not
 of the  hardest texture.  The water, which is brackish, is drawn
 up by the means of large  wheels, to which earthen vases are fas-
 tened,  and which are worked by oxen and buffaloes.    The vases
 empty themselves into a trough, where the water is collected for the
 various purposes for which it is destined.
  The  inhabitants  of Cairo are also supplied with  water from
 the  Nile; and  in this way employment is found for a considera-
 ble  number of men, who bring  it into the city in leathern skins
made water tight, and thrown across  the backs of camels and asses.
The women  and children  of the poorer classes,  who cannot af-
 ford to purchase the water thus procured, although  it is sold at a
very cheap rate, repair to the river to-*eek thcif supply,  which
they carry on the head  in large  earthen pitchers,  with great ease
and  dexterity, and,  in some instances,  with a considerable portion
of grace.
                 (  34) 
266           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

  The inhabitants of Grand Cairo, like those of the other cities and
towns of Egypt, are a mixture of Arabs, Copts, or ancient Egyp-
tians, Greeks,  Armenians,  Turks, and Mamelukes.   The Arabs
are considered as by far the most  numerous class, which is indeed
the c^se in every  part of Egypt.   The number of the Christian
residents is very inconsiderable.   Arabic, which is the language of
the country,  isvalmost exclusively spoken at Cairo,  the Copts,  the
aborigines of Egypt, having,  through disuse, almost entirely lost
their own language. It  is true that their priests, in the performance
of  the mass  and other rqligious ceremonies, employ Coptic books;
but I was assured by several of the inhabitants of Cairo, on whose
testimony I  could  rely, that  they are not in general acquainted
with the language.
   The Arab inhabitants of  Cairo are a very active race, well pro-
portioned, and of a  slender make.   In all the laborious occupations
the females of the inferior class take an active part, and have a dark,
sallow  complexion, with  features calculated  to excite  disgust,
They marry  when  very young, and have  a  numerous offspring;
but their wretched condition of life exposes their children to a great
mortality.   The appearance of the latter, and indeed of the newly
born infants, is  truly distressing.   The countenance is sallow, flao«
cid, and of a cadaverous hue; and the eyes affected by  ophthalmia,
to whieh disease they are subject from their earliest infancy. They
are also much exposed to mesenteric enlargements.  The children,
even of the  superior classes of Europeans,  such as merchants, set-
tled at Cairo, have  a pallid and  sickly appearance,  and are reared
with great difficulty.  In general,  the young are swept off  in great
numbers by  the small-pox.  The frequency,  indeed, of  disease,
and the  great mortality which commonly prevails among the lower
classes of  the inhabitants,  are unquestionably to be ascribed to the
very filthy state in which they live, and to the  want  of a proper
nourishment, whicli latter cause affects more particularly the tender
condition  of  the infants.
   The parade which  attends the  marriage ceremonies at  Cairo I
have already  attempted to describe.   The  Mahomedans take one
or several wives,  according to their condition, and the circumstan-
ces in which they are placed.
   The dress  of the  men belonging  to the lower class  of Arabs
consists of a  blue'cotton chemise,  with a broad leathern belt fasten-
ed  round the loins,  and a white or coloured  shawl  twisted round
the head in  the form of a turban.   They wear neither shoes nor 
              SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.           267

stockings.  Their Sheicks have a  large blue  checkered or plaid
handkerchief,  which hangs loosely down from one  of the  shoul-
ders;  and wear slippers on the feet.
  The dress of the women of the same class is-equally simple, con-
sisting also of a long blue chemise, without either slippers or stock-
ings.   A piece of black silk answers the purpose of a veil so effec-i
ttrally, that scarcely any part of the face, the  eyes  excepted, can
be seen.   The eye-lids are blackened with a pigment made  of the
tesselated  ore of lead,  which in the country is called alquifoux;
and the chin  is stained of a blue colour.  The* fingers are dyed of
a red  or deep orange colour with  the leaves of the henna; and on
the wrists bracelets of coloured glass are worn, with large rings on
the fingers.  The ears are ornamented with rings, from which pie-
ces of money are occasionally suspended.
  The women of a superior rank in life dress nearly in the  Turk-
ish style.   At times they wear a  large black mantle, which in a
great measure covers the whole of the body, and reaches down to
the heels.
   Among the different articles manufactured in that city, the white
and coloured cottons, the shawls,  and the  silk  and  woollen hand-
kerchiefs should be noticed, together with  a variety  of articles  of
gadlery and embroidery, the latter of which arc executed with great
taste  and elegance.
  The saddles, holsters^ and pouches for  ammunition, as well as
those  to  contain the Koran, which the Mahomedans carry con-*
stantly  about them,  are principally  employed  by the Mamelukes
and Turks of distinction, and are extremely handsome.  The great-
er  part of the saddles and holsters arc covered  with rich  velvet,
embroidered  in gold with much neatness and even elegance.
   The manufacture of silken  cords, which are attached to  the sa-
bre instead of a belt, as well as to the pair of pistols slung across
the shoulders, and the demand for which is very great, gives em-
ployment  to a very  considerable number  of  persons  at  Cairo,
These cords are likewise employed by the Arab  groom, or Seis, as
 braces to fasten  the large loo«e sleeves  of his shirt, and prevent
them falling beneath the elbows, the lower part  of  the arm being
 constantly naked.
  The  genuine sabre blades sold at Cairo, and which are held in
 the highest estimation,  are very costly.   As they are however ex-
tremely brittle,  the management of them requires particular atten-
tion.    They  are brought  from Damascus and, Persia, from r!:c 
268            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

former of which places  the best musket barrels arc also procured.
In the choice of their sabres, the Turks resident in Egypt  arc,
as well as the Mamelukes, very fanciful and  capricious, but  pu-
haps not  so  much  so as in  the selection  of  their horses, for the
purchase  and sale of  which Grand Cairo is a great mart.  If, for
instance,  a horse should have a small curl, or several curls of  hair
beneath the mane,  or in a particular part of the face, the value of
the animal is greatly enhanced in the eye of the  purchaser, who  is
extremely circumspect in his search  after these favourite and parti-
cular marks.
   Among the articles exported to Europe from Egypt,  and which
are also common to Turkey, may be  comprehended rice,- coffee,
different dyes, such as the henna and carthamus, a variety of drugs
and medicinal  gums, raw and other silks,  oil, soap,  leather,  &c.
together with dates, almonds, and other dried fruits.
   Of the amusements of Grand Cairo, such as they present them-
selves without doors to all the classes of its inhabitants,  the princi-
pal consists in the exhibition  of the almes, or dancing girls,  who
attract crowds of the  populace in the squares,  str-eets, and places of
public resort.  These dissolute and abandoned females have the  face
uncovered, which,  in the countries of  the east, is accounted in the
women a  certain indication of the most notorious profligacy. Their
attire, which is  well calculated  to display the  form of the person
and limbs, is thrown on with a most  indecent negligence.  The
movements of these young females,  in dancing, are rapid, and dis-
play a greater share of pliancy  and suppleness of the limbs, than
of grace.   Towards its close the dance  becomes more  animated,
and is accompanied by  gestures, motions, and contortions of the
body still  more indecent than at the commencement. The perform-
ance  is usually confined  to two of these females;  but on parti-
cular occasions  the number is more  considerable.  On  the thumb
and fore finger  of each  hand they wear the small cups called cas-
tanets,  much in use in Spain in dancing the fandango, with which
they  beat time to the sound, of  the musical instruments,  consisting
cither of  a hautboy or of a kind of  flute, accompanied  by a tam-
bourine.  A concert,  which is  by no means  either melodious or
agreeable, follows the dance.
   This is  a great source  of gratification to the people of Cairo, as
well as  to the lower classes of the population of all the  towns and
villages of Egypt, where it seldom happens that these dancing girls
are not to  be met with in the streets and places of public resort. The 
              SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.          2$)

more respectable of the inhabitants introduce them into their hou-
ses,  and even into their harems, where  they  give lessons of gracd
to the females, without a dread of the latter being contaminated by
the notorious profligacy of their morals.
'  The jugglers are also highly attractive;,  and perform their tricks
and deceptions with  as  much  dexterity as the greater part of the
conjurors who attend the country wakes in  England.   Many of
these people  carry about with  them large serpents  of the hooded
kind, on which they exercise their address, and apparently possess
a power of rendering them torpid'or animated at pleasure.  In ad-
dition to  these,  there are companies of tumblers and posture mas-
ters,  who, in displaying their feats of activity and address, are con-
stantly attended  by a low buffoon,  the  jack-pudding of the exhi-
bition,  whose office it is to keep the populace in a good humour
during the continuance  of the performances.
  Old  Cairo, or Mesr-Attar, is situated to the south of Grand
Cairo, from  which it is distant about a mile and a  half.  At the
time  of our  residence in the country the buildings were in a very
ruinous state; but  the  wharf,  or landing-place,  presented a very
busy scene,  it being the port  at which  the corn and other pro-
duce  from Upper  Egypt,  for the supply of the capital, is  land-
ed.    From the convenience  of its situation, at  the side of the
Nile,  it is deservedly become one of the principal corn markets in
the country.
  Boulac, situated on the eastern bank of the Nile, is distant from
Grand Cairo, in a north-west direction,  about a mile and a  half,
or two miles, and is  the principal port for vessels trading  from
Lower Egypt.  Accordingly, a great abundance of corn is heaped
on the ground for sale;  and in the magazines or warehouses a va-
riety of articles of commerce  are deposited.  It  was formerly a
place of  great extent,  and very populous; but in consequence of
the devastations committed by the French, the  greater  part of
the  buildings are reduced to  a  heap   of  ruins.   Many of  them
appear to have been  large, built  of stone, and  well constructed.
The suburbs, or rather villages contiguous to the .walls  of Cairo,
on the north side, are likewise in a very ruinous state;  the build-
ings  having for the greater part been  mutilated and destroyed by
the French, to enable them to provide for the better defence of the
town.
  To  the  south  of Grand • Cairo, and  immediately adjacent to
Old  Cairo, the very entensive  aqueduct is situated which was for- 
 170           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

 mcrly employed to convey the waters of the Nile to the palace oP
 the Pacha in the citadel.   It has no less  than three hundred arches;
 but  is at present out of repair.  The French converted it, however,
 to a very useful purpose, by filling up the interstices  between  the
 arches, and thus rendering it a wall of defence.
   To conclude with a  brief notice of the natural productions of
 this  part of Egypt.   The horses, which are of the true Arabian
 breed, are  distinguished by the excellent qualities they possess, as
 well as by the fine symmetry  of their proportions.  It is on these
 horses that the Mamelukes and other bodies of cavalry are mount-
 ed.   The camels and asses are employed as beasts of burden, there
 not being any carriages in the country,  with the exception  of the
 tartavans, or palanquins, used by  the Turkish grandees and prin-
 cipal merchants.   The latter of these animals, and the mules,  are
 not neglected and despised, as is unfortunately  the case in many
 other countries;  but have a very careful attendance,  and are occa-
sionally close sheared.   They are larger,  better shaped, and much
stronger, as  well as more fleet of foot, than the  same animals in
the northern parts of Europe.
  The Mamelukes and Turks being the only persons in Cairo who
are permitted to ride on horseback, the other inhabitants are obliged
to have recourse to the mules and asses.    The women ride astride
like  the men, on a broad and elevated pad, covered with a Turkey
or other carpet.   Their dark and gloomy dress resembles that of a/
mask in a Hack domino.
  The flesh>of the buffalo supplies the table with beef, which, at
the time-the pasturage springs up, after the retreat of the waters dis-
tributed by the inundation,  is  fat and good.   The small and deli-
cate  cows and oxen  are on a variety  of accounts too useful to  be
slaughtered for food: they labour constantly at the wheels by  which
the water is conveyed to  the fields and gardens.
  The goats in Egypt  are remarkably fine,  the females  giving
twice in the course of the day  more than a quart of milk, to pre-
serve an ample supply of whkh large herds are entertained.   Their
ears are of an extraordinary length.
  The mutton which is procured at a particular season is good, and
sold  at a cheap rate,  as are also  the geese, fowls, pigeons,  eggs,
&c.  which are in great abundance in every part of Egypt.
  The fruits which are attainable in the different seasons, however
plentiful, are not generally remarkable  for a richness of flavour;
and this observation applies more particularly  to the peaches and 
               SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.            T] I

 apricots.   There is an abundant produce of lemons, limes, oranges,
 figs,  bananas,  dates, almonds, and pomegranates,  Of these the le-
 mons and oranges are of a very  superior quality, as are also the
 grapes and-water melons,  the refreshing property of which renders
 them highly estimable in so burning a climate.
   Among the  vegetables may be  comprehended onions,  which are
 remarkably mild;  cucumbers -, gourds; beets; baniers or okres;
 radishes;  coulcas,  a species of  yams, which, when boiled,  bear
 some resemblance to the potato; spinage ; artichokes ; and the
 bizlejan,  a vegetable of a purple colour and globular shape, which
 appears to be a species of the egg plant.
   In  all the cultivated parts of Egypt there are abundant crops of
 bearded wheat, barley,  rice, dourra,  or Indian corn, lupins, len-
 tils, beans, flax, indigo,  and the carthamus plant.  The corn is
 trampled  out as in Syria,  and is ground in hand-mills.   The bread
 made from it is  good and cheap.  The ovens  are heated with the
 stems of the Indian corn, the carthamus plant,  and reeds.

                           11 '        '     j. i


                      CHAPTER XVI.

 Arrest of the Mameluke Beys.  Profession accompanying the sacred carpet for
  covering the house of God at Mecca.  Several  Beys killed at Alexandria by
  the persons sent to arrest them.  Anecdotes relative to the plague.  Contest be-
  tween the Albanians and Mograbian Arabs.  Experiment ivith the freezing
  mixture.   Subsiding of the Nile.   Excursion to Heliopolis and the Lake of
  Pilgrims.  Excursion to Upper Egypt j to Hallouan.  Present to the author
  of a mummy.  Tounah.  The castle. Rout at the imperial consuls.   Pro-
  cession from Boulac.  Caravan to Mecca.  Plague at Alexandria.  Vizier
  prepares  to quit Egypt.  Mamelukes privately depart from  Giza.  Mission
  ordered to Alexandria,  Audience of leave.  Gold  medals prefented  to the
  officers.

     ON our return to Cairo, on the 21st of October,  after our ex-
      cursion to Alexandria, we  were not a little surprised to  find
that eleven of  the Mameluke Beys had been arrested during our
absence, and  were in confinement  at the palace of the Grand Vizier.
This, we  were told,  had been done by order of the Sultan; and it
was added, that the other Beys' at Alexandria were  to have been 
 27^           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,

 arrested at the same time by the Capitan Pacha.   Seals were put
 on the effects of those residing at Cairo,  and guards placed at their
 houses.  Within the palace of the Vizier large bodies of Arnauts
 were on duty; and guards patroled the streets in the different quar-
 ters of the town.  This sudden and very important event  was ef-
 fected without tumult in the capital of Egypt,  of which country
 the Mamelukes had been  in possesion nearly three hundred years,
 it having fallen under the domination of  the Turks in the year fif-
 teen hundred.
   In consequence  of  these proceedings, as we presumed, Selim
 Bey, one of the Mameluke Beys, on the 21th, surrendered him-
 self for protection to Colonel Ramsay, commandant of Giza.
   The procession which accompanied the camel destined to carry
 the cloth, or carpet, with which the  Caaba,  or house of God, at
 Mecca, was to be covered,  took place on the morning of the 29th,
 and afforded  to the inhabitants of Cairo a very  grand and  solemn
 spectacle.   It was preceded by the chiaous of the Vizier, who was
 immediately followed by the cadi,  or judge,  acqompanied by great
 numbers of dervises,'with their  sacred banners.   Next  followed
 several of the Grand Vizier's principal officers, with bands of mu-
 sic, and colours flying.  Taher Pacha, and a considerable number
 of armed  men, attended the  procession.   Green cloths, elegantly
 embroidered  in  gold with  Turkish  characters, were carried  on
 biers.   The camel on whose back the sacred cloth was borne, had
 plumes of feathers on the  head, and over the body an embroidered
 green cloth.  In passing through the streets, the inhabitants dis-
 played a great eagerness to touch a  portion of  the cloth.  Other
 camels, each of them covered with a  plain green cloth,  followed,
 with the boxes in which  the treasure was to be contained.  The
 priests,  as they proceeded, chaunted  hymns from  the Koran; and
 the procession was closed  by a body of armed men on horseback.
   Before the arrival of the French in  Egypt, the sacred cloth, or
 carpet, accompanied the caravan which set out annually for Mecca;
 but this arrangement, which was now renewed, had been disconti-
 nued during the last three  years.
  On the first of Noveruber a despatch was received from Alexan-
 dria with the melancholy  intelligence of the  death of several of die
 Mameluke Beys and Cachefs, who were killed in a scuffle by a par-
 ty of the Capitan Pacha's  troops, sent purposely to secure them.
 Several others were wourided in the contest.  This disastrous cir-
cumstance having been communicated to the British commander 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.          Tf^
in chief, Lord Hutchinson, he instantly adopted the necessary mea-
sures for the protection  of the survivors, manifesting at the same
time, the indignance  of his feelings at this gross and violent out-
rage on humanity.  In the mean  time the  bodies of the deceased
were interred with military honours.
   Colonel Holloway and Major Hope were on  the above day in-
vested with pelices by his Highness, the  Vizier, and received the
medals which the Sultan had transmitted in testimony of his appro-
bation of their services.
   In paying a visit to an inhabitant of Cairo, I met with a Ger-
man who had spent nine years in Egypt, and who gave me the fol •
lowing  remarkable anecdote relative to the plague of the preceding
year :—A vessel, consigned to the Imperial consul  at Cairo, ar-
rived at Boulac from Upper Egypt', laden with senna.  The con-
sul,  having collected from the crew the information that two of the
seamen had died on  the passage  after an  illness of twenty-four
hours,  and having every reason to suppose, from the details into
which  they entered, that the disease could  be no other than the
plague,  communicated the circumstance to a person high in autho-
rity  in the French army at Cairo, requesting that the vessel might
be put under quarantine, since it would be imprudent to suffer her
to depart without such a precaution.  This wise admonition,  from
a man who had  been many  years an  inhabitant of Egypt, and
whose long experience and observation had enabled him to foresee
the dreadful consequences that might result from a contrary proce-
dure, was most unaccountably disregarded, and  treated with con-
tempt.    The vessel sailed on her return to Upper Egypt, with-
out any precautionary measure having been adopted ; z : i the whole
of the crew,  more than twenty in number, uith the   .eption of
one  man, fell victims to the plague oh the passage.  The survivor,
dreading the restraints which  might be imposed  on him, procured
a dromedary, and  fled to  his own village, where  a  melancholy
scene instantly ensued;  himself,  the whole of his family, and the
greater part of the population of that and the surrounding villages
were apparently swept off by the contagion he  had thus the mis-
fortune  to introduce.
  The case of an old  barber-surgeon at  Cairo was also extremely
singular.  At the  very advanced  age  of ninety-six years he fell a
victim to the plague of  the above  season.  He had attained a high
celebrity among  the  pestiferous patients,  whom he had bled and
attended from an early period of  life.   It  was therefore extraordi-
                 ( 3$  ) 
^74
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
nary that he should have received  the  infection for the first time
at so advanced an age,  when it  was reasonable to apprehend that,
from the torpor and inactivity which  must have been generally in-
duced in the temperament, he would have been least susceptible to
disease.
  It was reported at Boulac, on the evening of the 5th, that a se-
rious quarrel  had taken plac^ between  the Albanians and  janissa-
ries.  It proved, however, on enquiry, to have been a dispute be-
tween  the former and the Mograbian Arabs, by whom they were
accused of having  stolen several of their boys.  The interference
of the janissaries was necessary to  quell the  riot,  the animosity of
the parties having been such, that several on each side were killed,
and others wounded in the contest.
   I  rode on the 8th to Bassatee, a village distant about five miles,
in a southern direction, from Cairo.   In the vicinity of this  vil-
lage the grounds were still moistened with the rains which had re-
cently fallen, notwithstanding we  had had  at Cairo,  which  was
within so short  a distance, an almost constant drought.  A party
of sick, seventy in number, belonging to the Tndian army,  who
had been left at  Suez, arrived at Cairo  about  this time.  They as-
sured me that in the course of their march through the desert, they
had encountered several violent storms, accompanied by very heavy
showers of rain, and that it was  with  great  difficulty  they could
prevent their tents from being blown down.   This appeared to mc
the more extraordinary, as the  weather at Cairo, during the whole
of the month of October, and  even to. the present  date of Novem-
 ber, had been free from storms, and uncommonly mild and tem-
perate, with a  moderate  refreshing breeze  in the mornings  and
evenings.
   Colonel Lloyd,  of th". 8Gth regiment,  arrived at Giza on the
above day, with a detachment  of three hundred men, from the en-
 campment before Rosetta.
   On  the morning of the  12th,  the  thermometer being at 59,  i
 took equal parts of powdered  nitre  and sal ammoniac, and threw
 them  into a vessel containing water,  into  which 1 introduced a
 phial  filled  with  that  liquid,  and,  finally,  the thermometer.   In
 the course of a few mmutes the  mercury  fell to  '62,  the freezing
 point,  at which it  remained, however, a few seconds only; when
 it  rose to Ii3,  where it remained for some  time.   Fearing that  I
 should not succeed in thq production of ice, in the present experi-
 ment,  1  withdrew the phial   which contained the water, with  a 
             SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           275

view to ascertain the degree of cold it had received by  a  commu-
nication with the freezing mixture.   The result was a painful and
smarting sensation of the fingers, when  applied to the phial; and
this was of some continuance, with  a very disagreeable sensation
of cold.
   On the evening of the  13th, General Stewart arrived at Giza
from Alexandria, with a view to the arrangement of the difficul-
ties which had arisen between the Turks and Mamelukes.  He had
been sent on this service by Lord Cavan, the commander in chief
ad interim,  General Hutchinson having quitted Alexandria on ac-
count of ill  health.
   On the 16th the Mameluke Beys, attended by the greater part
of their  suites, quitted Cairo, and  went over to Giza, with their
baggage and equipages.
   About two in the morning of the 20th there was a most tremen-
dous storm of wind and rain at Cairo, accompanied by heavy bursts
of thunder,  and very vivid lightning.
   I made an excursion, on the 22d,  along the banks  of the JV//t>
to the other side of  the village of Attar Ennabi.  The waters of
the Nile had fallen rapidly, and in so considerable a degree, that the
country was in a great measure open.  This sudden cbange had sup-
plied the inhabitants  with ample employment; and they were accord-
ingly busied in sowing the  lands, which  had now received all the
benefits of  the inundation, with every description of corn.
   I rode on the 29th to Shubra and Damenhoor, near Beisous,
where we had  been encamped previously to our arrival at  Cairo.
The present month of November having been cool and moist, with
fogs, and heavy dews in the mornings, intermittents were become
very prevalent among the British troops at Giza.
•  On the 2d of December a courier arrived at Grand  Cairo from
Constantinople, which place he had left twenty-five  days  before.
He was the bearer of the welcome tidings that the preliminaries  of
peace between Great Britain and Frame had been signed.  The
arrival of Lord Elgin in Egypt was  daily to be expected, his Lord-
ship having written  by the courier to request of Colonel Holloway
to meet him at Alexandria.
                                       V
   On the 5th  Colonel  Holloway and Major Hope embarked on
board a germ at Cairo for Alexandria.
   In the months of November and December the southerly winds
which usually prevail in Egypt, having passed over an extensive
tract of country which the inundation has moistened, render the at- 
2'/fJ           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

mospherc cold and raw.  During the summer months, on the other
hand, and more especially in July and August,  the winds from
the south and south-east, in their passage through Egypt,  are ac-
companied by an intense  and parching heat which is almost  pro-
ductive   of suffocation.  There have,  indeed, been  many  instan-
ces of animals having been suddenly destroyed by these ardent blasts
of wind.
  A Tartar arrived at Grand Cairo on the 7tb with despatches,
the contents of wdiich were kept secret.
  A party having been made on the 12th we rode to Mataree, He-
liopolis,  and the Lake of Pilgrims, called by the Arabs Birket-
el-Hadgi.  This lake is  very extensive, having a circumference of
several  leagues, and  is surrounded by  large woods  of date-trees.
Beneath the shade of these trees we halted,  and partook of the re-
freshments we had brought with us: the scene which surrounded us
was infinitely agreeable and picturesque,  the verdant  banks  of the
lake being covered with numerous  flocks  of sheep, and  herds of
goats and buffaloes.  We crossed the desert on our return, and pas-
sed near several parties of wandering Arabs, whose habitations con-
sisted of small black tents raised about four feet  from the ground.
On the  plains of Hellai  we saw the tents pitched for the caravan
which was to proceed to Mecca.
  On the 16th I went by water to the vicinity of the village of
Hallouan, situated in Upper Egypt,  at the distance of about five
leagues  from Cairo.   To the north of Hallouan lies the village of
Masser, near which the  first barrier of Upper Egypt is placed. It
consists of a stone wall, with several towers, which extend from
[he eastern bank of the Nile to the mountains.
  I went on the following day to one of the baths at Caito.  1 have
already  taken occasion to observe that they are far inferior, both in
neatness and convenience, to  those of  Constantinople,  notwith-
standing they have been praised with so enthusiastic a warmth of
description by M. Savary,  who has, in many other parts  of  his
work, given evident proofs of what can be effected by a writer pos-
sessing a lively and fervid imagination.
  I noticed at this time  that there were more deaths among the
inhabitants  of Cairo "^han   had  occurred  during the  preceding
months.
  On the 24th a  party was- made to go by water  to Hallouan.
The wind being favourable,  our boat stemmed the current, and we
had a very agreeable sail to the village, whicli stands on  the spot
A 
              SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY, &C.           I^J

 where the Mekias was originally placed,  before it was removed to
 the island of Roudah.   In the  vicinity  of Hallouan, which is'as
 poor and wretched as the generality of the villages  of Egypt, we
 could find nothing to attract our particular notice.
   The Reis Effendi was pleased about this time to make me a pre-
 sent of a mummy brought from the catacombs of Saccara; the sub-
 ject appeared, on a nice inspection, to have been aged from sixteen
 to eighteen years.   It was inclosed within a coffin very tolerably
 perfect, made of the wood of the Pharaoh fig or sycamore usually
 employed on those occasions.  The lid of the Coffin was ornament-
 ed with a variety of paintings  of hieroglyphics, and  other Egyp-
 tian devices.
   On the morning of  the 26th I made an excursion to the village
 of Tourrah, distant from Cairo about eight miles, in  the moun-
 tainous territory bordering on the desert. A part of the wall, which
 commences  at the  bank of the Nile, to form the barrier between
 Upper and Lower Egypt, passes near this village.  I ascended the
 barren and rugged mountain on which the  Mamelukes had erected
 a castle,  and had from its-summit a very fine and -extensive view of
 the western  side of the Nile,  comprehending Cairo,  and a consi-
 derable number  of villages.   The corn, newly  sown,  springing
 from the ground, diffused over its surface a pale green tint, which,
 combined with the darker foliage of the trees and shrubs, imparted
 a rich diversity to the scene.   It was more lively and animated than
 any 1 had hitherto seen in Egypt.
  The castle,  which had apparently been occupied by the French,
 had nothing left for its defence: even the roofs and  floors  of the
 different buildings contained  within  its enclosure had been taken
 away,  to be converted  into fire wood.   I was inclined  to ascribe
 this devastation, not to  the French, but  to the Turks, who are
 very expert at mutilating and destroying, for the sake of wood for
 combustion, whatever they can seize with  impunity.   This castle
 is about a mile distant from  the Nile, and was well calculated,  at
 the time  of  its erection, for the protection of the  barrier,  which
 has likewise two small  works for its defence.
  On the side of the Nile on which the village of Tourrah is si-
 tuated, the land is by no means in so higb>a state of cultivation as
on the western bank,  of which we had lo fine and distinct a view
from the summit of the mountain.  The land on the eastern bank
 consisting for the greater part either of rocky eminences, or of de-
sert wastes,  the  culture is chiefly Confined to the grounds border- 
278          TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,

ing the river, or to the more favoured spots selected for the site of
the villages.
   It being the season of the Christmas holiday^, I was present on
the 27th at a rout given at Cairo by Madame Rosetti,  wife  to  the
Imperial Consul,  at which  nearly forty ladies of her acquaintance
were assembled.  They were all unveiled, and smoked with great
composure from the long pipes which are in fashion in the country.
Several of them had very pretty features, although the eyes were
large and prominent. The eye-brows were blackened with the pig-
ment which I have already noticed.
   Towards the close of the preceding month,  and during the pre-
sent month of December, we experienced in Egypt a temperature
which bore some resemblance to winter.   The.fall of the leaf was,
however, chiefly confined to the vines and mulberry-trees,  the other
trees, as well as the shrubs, preserving their foliage nearly  through-
out the year.  The mortality among the inhabitants of Cairo was
very great,  notwithstanding  it did not appear  that any  cases of
plague had occurred.   The  weather  had been invariably  foggy,
with great and sudden changes of the winds.   The sun, in the day
time, darted forth its powerful rays; while the  evenings and nights
were cold and moist.   From  such a temperature, and from  such a
state of the atmosphere, it was reasonable to expect that diseases
would be generated; and accordingly dysenteric affections became
very prevalent.
   At nine  in the  morning of the 3d of January 1802, in conse-
quence of preparations for the departure of the  caravan for Mecca,
a procession from Boulac entered Cairo at the gate of Kassim Bey.
\t was led by two hundred infantry, Mograbians, preceded by their
standards and bands of music,  and followed  by  their Pacha, his
suite, and led horses.   Next followed a file of sixty camels ele-
gantly equipped, with  painted saddles covered by red  housings
handsomely embroidered with silver, beads, shells, &c. To the head
of each of these animals bunches of coloured feathers were attached:
several  of them bore  the standard of Mahomed;  and on others
men were mounted to beat the kettle-drums as the procession  ad-
vanced.   At the breasts 'of the  camels were fastened  large bells,
which made a perpetual jingle as they moved along :  the body and
legs were spotted  and stained  with the henna.   Three men, fan-
tastically dressed,  amused the spectators by their absurb tricks and
extravagant gestures;  whil$a Santon, or  Egyptian saint,  prece-
ded  the  camels on horseback,  naked, and with a collar of beads 
              SYRIA,  EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.           279

round his neck, to which several bells were also appended.  As he
rode he threw his body into a tremulous, convulsive motion. This
party was accompanied by a man enclosed in a small box, resem-
bling a part of the apparatus  of our puppet-shows, covered with
red cloth, feathers, and other fantastical ornaments.
   The procession was closed by a file of sixty camels, carrying the
prepared skins which were to contain the water.   On the back  of
one of these camels was placed a cluster of  the lofty branches  of
orange, lemon, sycamore, and other trees.  Frequent discharges of
musketry were made,  and every other demonstration of joy mani-
fested  by  the inhabitants,  as the  procession moved through the
streets  of Cairo.
   The charge of the caravan had been  given by the Vizier to one
of his suite, Osman Bey, late master of the ceremonies.   He now
assumed the title of Emir Hadgi,  or Prince  of  the Caravan; and
held an  appointment of  considerable value and  importance.   On
the pilgrimage to Mecca, which occupies aspaceof forty days, the
property of all those who die falls  to the inheritance of the Emir
Hadgi.
   The Ramazan commenced  on the 5th at sun set,  and  was an-
nounced at Cairo by repeated discharges of artillery, musketry, and
pistols.
   On the morning of the 6th, a party having been made, we cros-
sed the Nile, with our horses, to Giza, and rode to a village called
Menawarr, at a small distance from Saccara.  The country through
■which we passed had assumed a cheerful aspect from the corn which
was every where springing from the earth.
   The Vizier having  requested to  see  the officers of the mission
during the continuance of the Ramazan, we paid him a visit on
the evening of the 9th, and  were entertained with coffee, sherbet,
and other refreshments.  The reception we received from his High-
ness was highly civil and gracious.
   During the Ramazan, and the festival of the Biram,  by which
it is followed, the streets of Cairo  are illuminated in the evenings,
but not with so  grand an effect as at Constantinople.  The mosques
 and minarets were, however,  on this occasion,  handsomely light-
 ed up with variegated lamps, displaying^ a variety of very plea-
 sing figures.
   Very distressing  accounts  from  Alexandria were received  at
 Cairo on the 17th, relative to the  plague, which was said to rage
 with so much violence among the  Sepoys, that  they had been  or- 
 28p           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

 dered to Aboukir, to diminish the chance of  the  infection spread-
 ing among  the other troops.  Dr. White, at that time employed
 with the  Indian army, who had  maintained with great obstinacy
 an opinion that the plague is not infectious, had at length been fa-
 tally convinced of the danger resulting from the erroneous doctrine
 he had supported.    Having been  attacked  by  very suspicious
 symptoms, he had written to General Baird to be rejieved, expres-
 sing the strongest apprehensions of  the perils which surrounded
 him.   It will be seen in the historical account of plague, that this
 unfortunate man  fell a victim to the absurd theory he had endea-
 voured to establish, and to the experiments he tried with a view to
 its support.
   On the morning of the 19th,  Lord Cavan,  accompanied by Mr.
 Stratton, secretary of legation, arrived at Giza.  His Lordship was
 received  by the British  troops  encamped there with a salute of
 nineteen guns.  The Pacha of Cairo, late Kia to  the  Capitan Pa-
 cha,  arrived at the same time, and encamped with his  troops near
 Boulac.
   On the  20th, in the afternoon,  Colonel Holloway,  and Majors
 Hope  and Cookson,  of the royal artillery,  arrived at Kassim Bey
 from Alexandria.   In the evening Lord Cavan and  Mr. Stratton
 had audiences of the Vizier.
   On the  20th the Pacha of Cairo made his public entry into that
 city.
   The Mamelukes removed their encampment on the 24th, to the
 south of Giza; and on the following day the Vizier's tail was sent
 forward to be fixed to the north of Cairo, where his encampment
 was immediately to be formed, with a view to the  arrangements
 which  were to  be made  preparatorily to his Highness quitting
 Egypt,  on his return to Constantinople, by the route of Syria.
   On the same day, the 25th, the Mamelukes, whose numbers
 were conjectured to amount to  about three thousand,  privately
 quitted Giza, and  set out for Upper Egypt.   It was greatly to be
 apprehended that a civil war would be the result of this defection,
 as the negotiations which had been commenced with a  view to the
 reconciliation of the Turks and Mamelukes were thus  thwarted in
 their intention.  So sudden and extraordinary a movement, indeed,
gave reason to conjecture that they had entirely failed.
   In the evening  the  Turks were busily engaged at Boulac in
 loading  germs with  guns,  ammunition,  and every  description
 •f stores,  for the service of the detachments which  were ordered to
 proceed instantly to Upper Egypt, in pursuit of the Mamelukes* 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.
28l
   On the  26th Colonel Holloway  gave notice,  that the mission
 should hold itself  in readiness  to embark for Alexandria on the
shortest notice.
   It  was  reported,  on the 28th, that two men had died  of the
 plague in the British encampment at Giza.
   Lord Cavan and suite, and Mr, Stratton, secretary of legation,
 were on the 29th invested with pelices by his Highness the  Vizier,
 ef whom they took leave.
   On the 30th General Stewart left Giza to  proceed to Alexan-
 dria,  and thence to England.   Lord Cavan  and suite,  with Ma-
 jor Cookson, quitted the above place on the morning of the 31st,
 under a salute from the garrison.
   Colonel Holloway,  and the officers of the mission, having had,
 on the 3d of February, agreeably to appointment, an audience of
 his Highness the Vizier, to take leave, previously to their depar-
 ture from Egypt,  gold medals  were presented to  such of the offi-
 cers as had not already received them,  in testimony of the appro-
 bation of the Sultan for the services they had rendered.   On this
 occasion coffee and other refreshments were served according to the
 oriental custom.
   The labours  of the British military mission acting with the
 Turkish army, drew at length towards a conclusion, after a series.
 of painful,  harassing, and critical events, many of which cannot,
 from obvious motives,  meet the public eye.   The patience, for-
 bearance,  and circumspection  of the individuals  engaged  in  this
 long and perilous service,  were manifested on a variety  of trying
 occasions,  which required all the energy inherent in the British
 military character.
   I cannot, injustice and gratitude to  his Highness,  omit menti-
 oning, though it savours a little of egotism, that the Vizier,  on this
 occasion, did me the honour to  express his acknowledgments and
 thanks in a letter of recommendation which he sent me,  to  be de-
 livered to the English ambassador, Lord Elgin, at Constantinople,
 for the medical assistance which he, as well as  many of his people,
 had received during our connection with his army.
(36  ) 
282            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
                    ^CHAPTER XVII.

Plague breaks out in the buildings occupied by the British mission.  Departure
  of the janissaries.   Departure of the Vizier.  Excursion up the  Nile.
  Site of the ancient  city of Memphis.   Remains of the Mekias.  Departure
  from Cairo.  Observations on the rise and fall of the Nile.

      THE Biram commenced on the 3d of February at sun-set,
       and was announced by a salute from  the citadel, together
with discharges of musketry in the different quarters of the town.
   On this day we had an  unfortunate accident.   The Choarbagi,   1
an officer of janissaries, whose case I have described in  the Medi-   *
cal Journal, died  of the plague within the buildings occupied by
the British  mission.  The account of his death, and the circum-
stances by which it was accompanied, were transmitted to the Bri-   j
tish commander in chief, previously to the departure of the mission   |
for Alexandria.                                                 J
   On the morning  of the 4th, at sun-rise, the guns of the cita-  fl
del,  and of  the different forts in  the vicinity of Cairo,  were dis-  M
charged, to celebrate the Biram, during the continuance of which,   |
three discharges of artillery  and musketry are made daily, in the   "j
morning, at noon, and at sun-set.   In the course of the  three days
which are thus dedicated to festivities of every description, as a   '
relaxation from the severe  penalties of the Ramazan, the  Arabs   *i
and Turks engaged in servile capacities go from house to house to   I
solicit bockshim,  ormoncv. of their employers.
   Colonel Holloway and  Major Hope left Cairo for  Alexandria
on the 6th.   On account of the fecent death  of the officer of ja-
nissaries,  who fell a victim to plague,  the detachments were to re-
main at Cairo until further orders.   I learned with  much satisfac-
tion  that the janissaries who were in the chamber of the deceased
were all well.
   The janissary Aga,  with the janissaries under  his command,
quitted Cairo  at  this  time'for Constantinople.  The Vizier was   a
ro take the field  on the 9th:  and  was to quit his encampment
near Cairo  in  the  space  of  f.fieen or twenty days.    The  Turks
still continued to send supplies of troops, stores, and ammunition 
              SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.           283

 into Upper Egypt, to be enabled to counteract the designs of the
 Mamelukes.
   On the 9th I rode to the Vizier's encampment.  A part only of
 the troops were on the ground.   It was announced to be the inten-
 tion of his Highness to march in the course of three or four days
 with about five thousand  of his troops, leaving the others, fifteen
•thousand in number, in Egypt,  under the charge of the Pacha of
 Cairo.
   On the 11 th a kampsin wind from the south-west threw up im-
 mense clouds of dust, which kept the atmosphere in a hazy  state
 throughout the day, and produced an oppressive heat,  with great
irritation of the eyes. The Turkish troops were employed in form-
 ing a camp on Golden Island.
   Early in the morning of the 13th  the Vizier marched from his
 encampment, situated without Cairo, near the villages of Izaoui
 and El-Mini, to Mattareah, where  it was the intention  of his
 Highness to halt for the remainder of the day; and to proceed af-
terwards on his route to  Constantinople, by Belbeis,  El-Hanka,
 Korin,  Gaza, Hebron, Jerusalem,  &c.  penetrating through Sy-
 ria by Aleppo and Damascus.
   The  sky was  so much  overclouded on the 14th, that the sun
 was completely obscured, a circumstance  which  is very unusual
 in Egypt, but from which this favourable consequence resulted,
 that the temperature of the  air  was cool, refreshing, and  highly
 agreeable.
   A party having been made for the 15th, we set out early in the
 morning from fort Ibrahim, in a covered  boat,  and sailed up the
 Nile, with a fresh breeze from the north-east to Bederasheen, a vil-
 lage distant from  Cairo about fourteen miles,  situated opposite to
 Hallouan.   We  landed,  and walked to the village, and thence to
 Metterhsnna, about two miles from  the spot  at which we landed.
 Metterhenna is a wretched village, which has nothing remarkable
 in itself,  but  which is well  deserving of :\ visit on account  of the
tradition which fixes it on the site of  the ancient city of Memphis,
 celebrated in history for the arts and sciences whicli flourished there
 with so much splendour, and for the wealth and munificence of  its
 inhabitants.   This renowned city was,  it is said, founded  by
 Uchoreus, who named it after his daughter.   The latter was the
 wife of Nilus,  from whom  the  Nile has taken its name, and to
 whom she bore a  son  called jEgyptus.  From this offspring the
country derived the name of Fgi/pt. 
284           TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

   Metterfienna stands nearly east of the village of Saccara,  from
which it is distant two or three miles, and from  the pyramids six
or seven.  In its  vicinity, and more particularly on  the north and
north-east sides, several fragments of granite, on which hierogly-
phics were inscribed,  were lying on the ground.  These mutilated
fragments appeared to be portions of columns of large dimensions,
and  of different kinds  of architectural ornaments.   On the eastern
side of the village extensive and high mounds of rubbish ran paral-
lel,  north and south.   It is deserving of remark that in every part
of Egypt these considerable mounds of rubbish point out the site
of an ancient town or  city.   On the outer side of those situated to
the eastward of Metterhenna wc found the vestiges of a wall of
great thickness, and evidently a work  of high antiquity.  It was
constructed in such a way as to bear a strong resemblance to the de-
cayed walls I had already seen at Constantinople, and in the vici-
nity of Alexandria, the latter  of which  has been conjectured to
have belonged to  the building that contained the library of Ptole-
my.   The method which was employed  by the ancients was to
place parallel layers of bricks in the wall,  which, in this instance, -
was  built of  a calcareous stone,  not unlike in its appearance to the  A
same kind of stone found on Mount Mokatam, whence it was pro- * J
bably brought.  The bricks were in so friable a state as to resemble  I
masses of cinders.                                               f
   In short,  from the different objects which we met  with at Met-  1
terhenna wc were strongly inclined to give due credit to the vera-   ]
city  of the historians who have  fixed the site of Memphis on this
spot.  The fragment  of the wall, the remote antiquity of which
could not be questioned for a moment,  by  any one who had visited
other antique monuments of the same description, and the date of
which has been well ascertained, was almost  a decisive proof.  To
this I may add the portions of granite columns inscribed with hiero-
glyphic characters, the immense mounds of rubbish  thrown up in
several directions, and, more especially,  the relative sisuation  of
the spot  with the pyramids  of Saccara.  Being extremely desirous
of ascertaining the site of  this  ancient city, I made at different
times, by the means of my interpreter, the minutest enquiries among
the Arabs of all the villages through  which I passed;  but  could
never  collect the smallest information relative  to the place which
Monsieur Savary calls Menf, and which he, very fancifully, fixes
on the site of Memphis. 
              SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.          1%C

  The great numbers of lofty date-trees which surround Metter-
henna, and which had been so planted as to form a variety of plea-
sing groves, together with the fine plantations of corn,  flax, and
other produce, on which the industrious inhabitants had bestowed
great and particular attention, were infinitely agreeable in their ef-
fect to our party,  who had been so long accustomed to a painful re-
sidence at Grand  Cairo, amidst the dust and 6corching  heats.    I
purchased for a few paras a morsel of an Egyptian idol; and car-
ried away with me a specimen of the calcareous stone employed in
the construction of the wall, together with a small fragment of one
of the granite columns.  In returning  to our boat at half past three in
the afternoon,  the Sheick of the village of Bederasheen invited  us
to take coffee and other refreshments.  We did not reach Kassem
Bey  until nine in  the evening, our return having been  somewhat
retarded by  the wind, which blew from the north-east quarter,  to-
wards which we had to direct our course.
  On the bank at the  mouth of the  caual which leads from the
Nile to Hallouan we observed a stony surface,  the vestige  of a
building anciently erected on the spot.   We conjectured that  it
might be the remains of the Mekias, which was originally placed
at Hallouan, and afterwards removed to the island of Roudah.
  On the  morning of the 18th instructions  were received from
Colonel Holloway at Alexandria to quit Cairo, in consequence of
which we were all occupied in preparing for our departure.  In the
course of the day  our men were embarked on board of germs; and
it was expected that we should be  enabled to quit the  capital  of
Egypt on  the ensuing morning.   I  profited by  the little  leisure
which was afforded me, and went to Giza to view the collections
of antiquities brought from  Upper Egypt by Mr. Hamilton and
several other amateurs.
  I shall now give the result of my observations on the rise and fall
of the Nile, from the time of my arrival at Cairo to the present
date,  with a hope that the interest they will excite will be equal to
the pains I bestowed on them.
  On the 16th of July  1801, I first  visited the Mekias or Nilome-
ter, situated at the southern extremity of the island of Roudah near
Old Cairo. The Arab who attended this place informed me that the
Nile  had begun to rise about  the 28th or 29th of June; since which
ime it had risen two piques  and a half. The rapid manner in whicli
he liver rose induced him to believe that  th-re would be an abur
!mt Wile this war. 
286            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
                                                               ■
   I copied the following inscription  placed  over the door of the
Mekias:
   L'an 9 de la Republique Francaise, et 1215 de l'Egire, 30 mois
apres V ALgypte conquise par Bonaparte, Menou, general en chef, '
a repare le Mekias.
   Le Nil repondoit, dans les  basses eaux*  a 3  coudees  10 doigts
de la colonne le lOme. jour apr£s le solstice de l'an 8.
   11 a commenc6 a croitre au Caire  le 16me. jour apres  le meme
solstice.    11 s'etoit eleve de 2 coudees 3 doigts au dessus  eu fut de
la colonne le 107me. jour aprds ce solstice.
   II a commence' a decroitre le 115me. jour apres ce solstice.
   Toutes les terres ont ete inondees.   Cette criie extraordinaire de
 14 coudees 17  doigts fait esperer une  annee tres-abondante.  Le fut
de la colonne est de 16 coudees.
   La coudee est de 54 centimetres.
   Elle est divisee en vingt quatre doigts.

                         TRANSLATION.
   In the ninth year of  the French Republic, and of the Hegirtjjj
1215,  at the  expiration  of  thirty months after  the conquest of
Egypt by  Bonaparte,  the Mekias was repaired by Menou,  com- •?
mander in  chief.
   When the waters were at  the lowest,  on the 10th day  after the
solstice of the year 8, (commencement of July 1800),  the Nile
stood on the.column at the height of  three cubits, ten digits.
   It began to rise at Cairo on the 16th day after the above solstice.
On the  107th  day after the solstice it had risen two cubits,  three
digits above the shaft of  the column.   On the 115th day  after the
solstice it began to decrease.
   All  the lands were inundated.  This extraordinary rise of four-
teen cubits, seventeen digits, gives every reason to conjecture that
the year will be very abundant.   The shaft   of the column is in
height sixteen cubits.
   N. B.  A French cubit  (coudee) is nearly 22 inches and one-sixth
of an inch English.
   A  digit (doigt),  the  twenty-fourth  part   of a cubit,  is about
eleven-twelfths of an inch English,  that is,   13 digits make about
one foot English.
   It is said that the Delta in the  space of 3284 years has risen 14
cubits.   Savary observes that the  standard of abundance, in the rise
of the Nile, is 18 cubits. 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY, &C.           2$7
Br  July 23.  Since the 16th instant,  the Nile has risen 12 inches.
    August 3.  For some days past the Nilehzs risen from 12 to 13
  inches daily.
    August 5.  The iW/e water is become extremely thick, and has
  acquired an ochry colour.   It is unfit for use  until the earth is de-
  posited; for which purpose the  water is put  into porous earthen
  jars, called by the Arabs birdack, made in  Egypt.   The constant
  evaporation through the sides of these vessels renders  the water ex-
  tremely cool and pleasant.
    August 9.  The canal called  the Prince of the Faithful, which
  runs through Grand Cairo, was opened on this day with the usual
  ceremony.   See the description  of this ceremony page 238.
  ' August 18.   The Nile risen  to the mark 16 cubks 10 digits, so
  as to cover half the capital of the column.
    September 1.   The Nile risen to the mark  17  cubits, which co-
  vers nearly the whole of the capital.   The Nile rose 9 feet during
  the month of August.
'f  September 18.  Nile risen to the mark  17 cubits  13 digits.
    September 19.  Nearly  the  whole of the  island  of Roudah is
  inundated.
m  September 21.  Nile risen to the mark 17 cubits  16 digits.
 J- September 23.  Ditto    -     -     17 cubits  18 digits.
    September'25.  Ditto    -     -     17 cubits  21 digits.
  '  September 27.  Ditto    -     -     17 cubits  23 digits.
    September 29.  Ditto    -     -      18 cubits   1 digit.
     October 2.      Ditto    -     -      18 cubits   4 digits.
    Which was the utmost height of the Nile during the year 1801.
    The Nile began to fall about the 8 th or  9 th of October at Cairo,
  but earlier at Rosetta.
    It is observed by the inhabitants, that if the wind continues north-
  erly at the time when the Nile  is at the highest it is a very favour-
  able circumstance, as by this means the Nile is kept high for seve-
  ral days, sometimes  for ten or fifteen, with but a small diminution
  of its waters, and the land receives all the benefit of the moisture.
   But on the contrary, should the wind be westerly, and blow strong,
  it is extremely  unfavourable; as, in this case, the Nile is seen to
  fall rapidly, and the land  prevented from receiving the necessary
  moisture from the waters of the inundation.
     An  inhabitant of Cairo, long resident in  Egypt, assured me,
  that the Nile of the preceding year was the highest known for
  thirty years past.  However, this year, 1801, it rose one digit higher. 
288          TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
1801.	iVr7< fallen in the whole since 8th October.					Column in the Mekias.	
	r Cubits.|Digits.| c		r, Feet.	1 Inches.		Cubits.	Digits
							
Oct. 24. Nov. 9. *3-	O I 2	5 0 8 . 4 •	r, . . 2 • 3	44 5^	f Whiah mailcs upon 1 < the column in the > (. Mekias. J	»7 16 16	23 20 0
15-22. 30. Dec. 8.	2 3 4 5	10 '5 • 19 . 6 .	• 4 • 4 . 8 • 9	6 6 io| 7s	....««	'5 H 12	4 •3 9 22
14.	*	14 .	. 10	2^		12	10
22.	6	2	. 11	'4		12	2
27.	6	6 .	. 11	5*		11	22
1802.							
>*. J.	6	18 .	. 12	H		11	6
10.	7	0	. 12	10		11	4
»7-	7	7 •	• 13	4tt		10	21
24.	7	14 .	. l3	io«		10	H
3i-Feb. 7.	7 8'	20 0	. 14 ■ I4	n		10 10	8 4
14.	8 j 4 •		. 15 | . .|		Since the 8th Orf. 1801.	10	0
  From the forgoing statement and table it will be perceived, that
the Nile rose, during the year 1801,  about twenty-seven feet one
inch; and that it fell fifteen feet from the 8th October 1801,   to
the 14th February  1802, when I was about to leave Cairo on my
way to Alexandria, and from thence  to England.  The mud de-
posited by the Nile  on the surface of the country during the inun-
dation, is of a blackish,  or deep lead  colour; but, when dry, be-
comes of a lighter, or yellowish brown colour.  It being composed
of a large proportion of argillaceous earth, the surface of the coun-
try  forms itself into  deep cracks,  or fissures, as it dries: I collected
some of this mud for the purpose of future examination, and shall,
on its arrival,  submit it  to a careful analysis.   A depth of from
eitrht to ten inches of this mud, the effect of the last inundation,
was seen in several level places;  but  this  earthy  matter contracts
so much in drying,  that the depth of  new surface, when perfectly
dry, does not probably  amount  to more than  four  or  six inches.
The French have analysed this mud,  and have given the results of
their observations upon it.   The  following analysis was  made by
Monsieur Regnault. 
             SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.            289

In 100 parts the mud of the Nile was found to contain
                 11 of water,
                  9 of carbon,
                  6 of oxyd of iron,
                  4 of silexj
                  4 of carbonate of magnesia,
                 18 of carbonate of lime,
                 48 of alumine.
          Total  100 parts.
  The  water of the Nile when deprived of its earthy matter,  by
standing at rest  in jars, is very pure, and agreeable to drink, and
will keep good a long while. I kept a quantity of it several months
in ao open vessel, and it was equally good as at first.
                       CHAPTER  XVIII.

foyage on the Nile/raw Cairo to Rosetta.  Canal of Menouf.  Cruel instance
  of devastation by the Turks.  Dangers attending the passage doivn the Nile.
  Dahroot.  Cemetery.  Death of the Sheick.  Wretched state of the inhabi-
  tants.  Arrival at  Rosetta.  Plague among the English troops at Rosetta.
  Some account of the port and harbour.   Fort Julien.  Hunting of the ostrich.
  Buildings at  Rosetta.   Population. Bazars.  Wharf.  Animals indigenous
  to this part of Egyft.  Fifb.   Manufactures.   Gardens.  Morasses.  Dis-
  eafes.  Plague rages at Rosetta.  The mission embark far Alexandria. Land
  on the peninsula leading to Alexandria, vjhsre they perform quarantine.   Se-
  poy tried by a court  martial for fuffering Arabs to escape form quarantine %
  Cases of plague in the lazaretto.  Miffion released from  quarantine.  Festi-
  vities in commemoration of victories.   Temple of Diana.   Catacombs and
  baths of Clnpatra.

        WE quitted Grand Cairo on the 19th of February, at eleven
         in  the morning, and  having embarked in  our germs for
 Rosetta, got  under way without loss of  time.   Before   we  had
 reached  Boulac,  one  of our germs  unfortunately  ran aground, so
 as  to delay us for some time.  At two in the afternoon we passed
 Boulac, with a fine breeze from the south-west;  and at midnight
 were at  the entrance  of the canal of Menouf,  where we  brought
                   (37  ) 
290
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
to in consideration of the narrowness of the canal, and the diffiw
culty of its navigation in the night time.
   At half past four in the morning of the 20th, we got underway,
and, as the current was  rapid,  made a considerable progress, not.
withstanding the  wind was scanty.   The canal  is serpentine, and
takes a great variety  of directions, with a breadth  that in no part
exceeds ninety yards, and in several is considerably less.  On its
banks  there are numerous villages, the position of which is render-
ed highly agreeable and picturesque, by fine groups of cedar, date,
and sycamore trees.  The face of the country was, as We passed in
our germ, everywhere enriched by luxuriant crops of growing corn.
When we were abreast  of the  village  of Halt,  distant about a
league to the south of Menouf, the huts of which it was compo-
sed were on fire.  We were told that the village had been visited
by a party of Turks, who,  not content with  having pillaged  the
wretched inhabitants, had set fire to their dwellings,  and  who, when
invested  with a small share of power, carry ruin  and  devastation
wherever they go. We passed Menouf nt nine o'clock, with a fine
breeze from the south-west; and at eleven arrived at Naddir, a vil-  i
lage situated on  the eastern bank, at the junction of the canal with
the Rosetta branch of the Nile.   We were there obliged to bring
to, and wait the arrival of the hindmost germ, which, having been
frequently  aground,  had been considerably delayed.   Indeed,  the
Arabs by  whom she was navigated,  seemed to be quite ignorant
of the management of the  vessel; and this may  be in  some mea-
sure accounted for, by the circumstance of their having been press-
ed into this service by the Turks at Cairo.   We were deeply em-
bayed  off Naddir; and  it  blowing a strong gate  from the west-
south-west, were  prevented  from  getting out until seven in  the
evening, when the wind  fell, and shifted to the north-west.  The
evening was clouded  Over, with  frequent squalls, accompanied  by
lightning; and  the  smaller of our germs, being  badly  manned,
frequently got aground,  insomuch  that we were obliged to come
to an anchor off the  village of Caffagos, distant from Naddir from
eight to ten miles.  The hindmost germ  had  been so frequently
aground,  that it became leaky, and did not reach us until eleven at
night,  although the  small cangar,  or boat,  had been despatched to
her assistance.
   At  five in the morning  of the 21st we got under  way, with a
brisk gale from  the south-west.   In consequence, however, of the
difficulties  the smaller  of the germs  had to  encounter in getting 
               SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           291

 out, we were obliged to bring to opposite the village of Amarouse,
 on the eastern shore, and distant from Caffagos five or six miles
 only.   In sailing down the Nile, the serpentine forms  the  river
 assumes in so many directions, and the  considerable  number of
 sand banks which are interspersed,  render its navigation difficult
 and perilous, more particularly  when there is a strong breeze.
 Our dangers were enhanced by the unskilfulness of the  boatmen,
 who seemed ignorant of their profession,  and who had to manage
 vessels ill calculated for the undertaking.   On the hindmost germ
 coming up, we proceeded  at  seven  in the  evening, with a  very
 moderate breeze from the west-north-west, which  occasionally
 died away in the course of the night, so that we sailed and drifted
 alternately.
  ' On  the morning of  the 22d, at half past seven, we passed Foua,
 with a smart breeze from the south-west, and at nine in the evening
 arrived off Dahroot, a village situated on the west bank of the river,
 where we anchored, to wait for the germs which had not yet come
 up.  Dahroot is distant about six miles from Foua;  and faces ano-
 ther village on the eastern bank, called Sindiy-Whoun.   It is more
 respectable than the generality of the villages of Egypt, the houses
 being constructed of burned bricks, and of a moderate height.  Ma-
 ny of them were uninhabited  at the time of our arrival; and the
 village, according to every appearance, but thinly peopled.  It ap-
 pears to have been formerly a place of some importance, being pro-
 vided with a large cemetery, the tombs contained in which are of
 a circular form,  and constructed of bricks.
   We went on shore, and were concerned to find that the  sheick of
 the village had been unfortunately drowned a few  hours before.
 The women were all assembled in front of the house of the decea-
 sed,  bewailing his  loss, and uttering the most dismal shouts and
 cries,  according  to the  eastern custom,  on the decease of any one
 of the  inhabitants, and at the time of the  performance of the fu-
 neral obsequies.
   The  bazars at Dahroot  were very ill supplied, what they con-
 tained being chiefly confined to  dates and sugar-canes.  The dwel-
 lings of the inhabitants, who were nearly naked,  were filthy in the
 extreme; and to  this source of disease, which may unquestionably
 be considered as one of the remote causes of plague,  may be super-
added   the spare  and unwholesome diet on which the Arabs sub-
sist, together with the customary employment of the women and
children, whom  necessity  obliges to collect the dung  of arumals 
29?           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY^
for fuel.   Perceiving that we were English, the natives brought t*
the germs fowls, geese, wild ducks, pigeons, eggs, and bread of
a good quality, all  of which articles were purchased  at moderate
prices.
   The hindmost germ came up at five in the afternoon, and vr«
instantly bore away with a fine breeze from the north-west.  The
wind becoming still  more  favourable  towards the evening, we
steered a steady course, and reached Rosetta in safety ahout eleven
at night.
   On the morning  of  the 23d 1 went on shore, and waited on Co*
lonel Barlow, commandant at  Rosetta, who informed roe that a
aerjeant had recently died there of  the plague, having survived the;
attack only 24 hours.   Several fatal cases of this disease having re-
cently occurred among the Arabs,  Greeks,  and  other inhabitants,
the Colonel was preparing to fix his residence without the  towfy
the  more  effectually to secure himself from infection.   I was in-
formed that so sudden had been the attacks of the plague  among
the troops at Rosetta some little time before, and their fatal termii
nation so speedy, that several of the pestiferous subjects had died
on their  way from the barracks to  the hospital, and several othcus
had fallen down in  the ranks.   A regiment of Sepoys, three bun*,
dred strong, had sustained a loss of an hundred and twenty indivi-
duals, comprehending the women  and children,  to whom the dis-
ease had been equally fatal as to the men.
   We were compelled, contrary to our inclination, to make some
stay at Rosetta, in order to procure germs adapted to our voyage to
Alexandria, those  Employed on the Nile being of a peculiar con-
struction, which renders them unfit for a passage by sea.
   The bogaz, or bar,  of Rosetta,  at which the Nile forms a junc-
tion with the sea,  can be crossed  with safety in  moderate  weather
only, and by  vessels of a particular construction.   On this account
the trade of Rosetta is much limited.  This bar is formed by san4
banks thrown up by the contest maintained between the rapid cur-
rent of the Nile and the waters of the sea; and as these banks, or
shoals, are constantly changing their position, the navigation over
them is rendered extremely  hazardous at particular seasons of the
year, more especially  to those who are unaccustomed to  the pas-
sage.  When  the wind  blows fresh from the northward, with a
high  sea, by which it is usually accompanied, the bar is render©)
impassable by  the  great number   of  shoals which are suddenly
thrown up.   Many fatal instances of the temerity ef the British 
              SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY, &C.           293

 seamen had qccurred iri the course Of the preceding summer, when
 it is said that upwards of two hundred  individuals perished in at-
 tempting this dangerous passage.  It certainly ought not to be under-
 taken unless by those who are in the constant practice  of naviga-
 ting between Rosetta and Alexandria.  The Arabs wait invaria-
 bly for calm waather, or for  a moderate breeze from  the south,  in
 either of which cases the surf is kept down,  and the passage effec-
 ted with safety.
   On the morning of the 24th I walked to fort Julien, distant from
 Rosetta about five miles, and  from the bogaz about a league.   It is
 a square fort, having in its centre a blockhouse, and may be con-
 sidered as a work of regular construction.
   The walk  from Rosetta to fort Julien  is extremely agreeable,
 through woods of dates,  and gardens filled with the choicest fruit
 trees, among the great variety of which may be comprehended the
 banana,  the orange,  the lemon, and the citron.
   On my return to Rosetta I  saw a young ostrich  which measured
 about three feet and a half from the back, and, when in an erect
 posture,  from seven to eight feet from  the head downwards.  The
 size of these animals,  when full grown, is enormous.  In many in-
 stances they measure, in an upright position, from eleven to thir-
 teen feet.  Their extraordinary speed affords the Arab who goes
 out in pursuit of  them one of his best opportunities to display his
 activity  and address.   It, indeed, seldom happens  that they can be
 overtaken without the aid of  greyhounds; and for this reason the
 hunters who arc not provided  with this description of dogs, seek a
 concealment,  whence they assail the animal when within the reach
 of the gun. Their object is to  procure the beautiful feathers, which
 find a ready sale,  and to extract the fat, which is employed for cu-
 linary purposes.   It is unnecessary  to speak of the extraordinary
 6ize of the eggs,  which is proportioned to  that of the animal; but
 I must remark,  that in Egypt they form  a part of the ornaments of
 the Turkish  mosques, and even of the  Christian churches,  from
 die roofs of which they are suspended.
  We learned on  the 25th that Colonel Holloway and Major Hope
 had, with Mr. Stratton, secretary of legation, quitted Alexandria
 on the 15th, on their route to  Constantinople.  On account of the
 prevalence of that dreadful scourge, the plague, we were under the
 necessity of observing much circumspection in our intercourse with
Rosetta,  between  which place and Alexandria all commerce was
prohibited by  land, by the British commander in chief,  and a qua- 
294
TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 rantine of twenty-one days strictly enforced, in the case of arrivali
 by sea for the latter destination.
   The town of Rosetta is delightfully situated on the western bank
 of what was anciently denominated the Bolbitic branch of the Nile,
 but which at present bears its own name, at the distance of about
 seven or eight miles from the sea.  It lies to the north-west of Cairo,
 from which it is distant about an hundred and thirty miles, and
 from Alexandria by sea forty.   Its principal commerce consists in
 the  carriage of merchandize in general, and of European commo-
 dities in particular, consigned from Alexandria, to be conveyed to
 Grand Cairo, and thence to be distributed throughout Egypt.   It
 thus becomes the entrepot of the trade of that country;  and in this
 point of view is of considerable importance.
   The houses of Rosetta are constructed of red burned bricks, and
 are lofty, many of them having four, and even five stories.  They
 are pointed with white  mortar, which gives them, when viewed
 from a distance, an air of neatness,  at  the same time that it ren-
 ders their aspect cheerful.  The streets are very narrow.   On the
 whole, notwithstanding it contains but few striking public edifices,
 Rosetta must be considered as a handsome place by those who hav«
 been accustomed  to the  sight  of mud huts, and the sandy  deserts.
 The mosques and their minarets are, as well as the houses,  built
 with bricks,  plaistered over and white-washed.  In this style  of
 external decorations, the natives possess, as well as the Turks, a
 peculiar excellence.
   The population of Rosetta may be estimated at from eight to ten
 thousand souls; but on a view of the great number of houses which
 were uninhabited at the time of our stay there, it appeared to be ca-
 pable of containing at least treble the number.    Its internal tran-
 quillity was less disturbed by the French  invasion of Egypt than
 that  of any other place;  a circumstance which  may probably have
 arisen  from the milder disposition  of its inhabitants,  whose com-
 mercial intercourse with other nations  has given  them a softer
polish.
   The lively scene I had occasion to witness  at Rosetta, on my
passage through  that place in the preceding month  of October,
 when the British troops  commanded  by General Baird were en-
camped in its  vicinity, had completely  disappeared.  The bazars
were  at  that  period well supplied with European commodities;
while at the present they contained no other articles except such as
are to be found  in  all the bazars of Egypt and Turkey.  The 
              SfRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.          295

wharf on which the goods are landed is in length nearly a mile, and
is provided with capacious warehouses.  This  place appears most
advantageously to  the traveller who has made the journey thither
from Alexandria across the desert, whirh brings him to the very
walls of the gardens.   It follows from this proximity of the desert,
that the cultivation is chiefly confined to the land which extends in
the direction of the river.  The Persian wheels  employed for the
irrigation of the gardens and grounds, are worked by  cows and
buffaloes.
  Immense quantities of wild ducks, teal,  and  widgeons,  hover
over the Nile, and are caught by the inhabitants  with nets: they
are large and  finely flavoured, and are sold uncommonly cheap.
On the side of the Delta there are numerous flocks of fine snipes.
Rabbits are exposed for  sale at  Rosetta, but are very scarce, as is
the case throughout Egypt.  The  mutton is good, as is also, after
the inundation, the flesh of  the  buffalo, which is the  only beef
slaughtered for the table. The flocks of sheep browze on the skirts
of the desert, in the forests of date trees.  The great dependance
of the inhabitants for their  supplies is on the luxuriant and fertile
Delta, which pours forth its abundant produce to administer to the
wants of man, and the riches of which will be inexhaustible so
long as the prolific waters of the Nile continue to diffuse themselves
over its  surface.   That  river finds employment for a considerable
number of fishermen ;  but the fish it contains are small, and not
held  in much estimation by Europeans.
  The manufactures  of Rosetta are  principally confined  to the
weaving of cottons, shawls, and other articles of clothing,  as well
for the consumption of its inhabitants,  as for exportation ;  and to
the making of baskets and  mats.  The latter are formed of fine
rushes, are very neat,  and are in great request throughout Egypt.
The baskets,  named by the Arabs couffa,  are  employed for the
package of rice.   In each of these manufactures the native inhabi-
tants are very expert.
  the town of Rosetta contains a mixture of Arabs, Turks, Greeks,
Jews, Copts, and Armenians; but the  number of Christians, or
Franks, is very inconsiderable.   Was  it entirely in the hands of the
latter, whose spirit of enterprise would perhaps induce them to at-
tempt the removal of the dangerous bar at the entrance of the river,
it would, in all probability, become rich and flourishing,  by the
very extensive commerce it  might be thus enabled  to maintain.
The  predominating influence lies, however,  with the Turk*, who 
296
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
are incapable of engaging in any useful undertaking which demands
exertion or activity.
   The gardens to the north of Rosetta are very extensive, and must
be pleasing to the admirers of pure and unembellished nature.  Nei-
ther order nor  method  has been consulted in the disposal of tnfl
parts, nor are there any of those regular walks which are observed
in the gardens of Europe.  The lofty  date-trees, planted in thick
clusters, afford a pleasing variety of foliage,  and a new tint of co-
lour, amidst the banana, orange, lemon,  pomegranate, and ekron
trees, which are every where scattered in wild disorder.  The ve-
getable productions for the table are disposed with as little regulari-
ty, and are intermixed  with clusters  of the  henna,  or Egyptian
privet,  which is  cultivated in great abundance on account of the
orange dye its dried leaves afford, to add to the fantastic ornaments
of the Egyptian women.  The avenues leading to  these gardens,
and those by which they are surrounded, are very agreeable.
   In a northern direction from  Rosetta there are several morasses
and swampy grounds, which, together with  the rivulets or ditches
of stagnant water left by the inundation of the Nile,  there is evefy
reason to presume must be productive, in the summer  months, oi
miasma of the most dangerous kind,  Notwithstanding my visit to
Rosetta was so early as the month of February, the stagnant and
putrid waters were become extremely offensive in passing in  a par-
ticular direction near the town ;  and as the northerly winds are the
most prevalent, the miasma  must,  supposing it to be generated by
these causes, be readily conveyed to that place,  so as to  expose its
inhabitants to all the  effects of malignant and contagious diseases.
Ir is probably on  this account,  among others,  that the plague is
supposed to be more  frequent at Rosetta than in any other part of
Egypt.  Elephantiasis  is also a very common complaint, more par-
 ticularly among the women.
   On the 28th, a signal having been made for that purpose, by the
 Reis,  or master of a vessel stationed expressly at the  entrance of
 the Nile, and whose duty it is to give notice that the bogaz is open,
 the germs laden with corn, and other productions, quitted Rosetta
 at an early hour in the  morning for Alexandria.  We were still,
 however,  detained by the want of  germs.
    In  the mean time  we learned that the brother of  the Swedish
 consul at Alexandria had died there a few days before of plague;
 and suspicions being entertained that the disease had been brought 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.
£97
 from Rosetta,  the strictest orders for the enforcement of the qua-
 rantine regulations had been issued at the former place.
   From the preceding date to the 3d of March the weather was so
 tempestuous as to prevent the possibility of the arrival of vessels at
 Rosetta, or of their departure thence.  We were consequently still
 waiting  in the anxious  expectation of the germs which were to
 convey us to Alexandria; and in the  mean time our people were
 disembarked on account  of the  stormy weather, and lodged in a
 house in the town.
   I rode below the castle on the 4th, and observed that the bar was
 still covered by a strong surf, notwithstanding the wind had fallen,
 and the weather become  very pleasant.    I was concerned to hear
 that a new case of the plague had just been discovered at Rosetta.
 The person who laboured under the attack was a Greek : he had,
 among other symptoms,  three pestilential tumors, and died in the
 evening of the above  day.
   As it was confidently  reported on the 6th, that several cases  of
 plague occurred daily, and that the disease was fast gaining ground
 at Rosetta, it  was a singular satisfaction to us to be enabled to pro-
 cure two germs to convey us thence to Alexandria; and in the
 evening our baggage  was put on board.
   At two in the morning of the 7th, we embarked; and our germs
 having dropped down  to the bar, waited for the day-light, which
 would enable them to pass it with safety. The wind blowing  from
 a favourable point, the north-east, and the sea being tranquil, our
 passage over the bogaz,  at sun-rise, was very agreeable, and free
 from  every apprehension of danger.  The bogaz, or bar, is in the
 shape of a crescent; and is so formed by the projection of the land
 on each side of the river   towards the sea.   On the eastern  shore
 three beacons are erected  to direct to the entrance of the  river the
 course of the vessels bound to Rosetta.   Two distinct passages, si-
 tuated on the opposite sides of the land,  are discernible, the one for
 the entrance of vessels into this particular branch of the Nile, the
 other for their departure.
   At one in the afternoon we  landed at the peninsula leading to
 Alexandria,- where we  were to perform quarantine, agreeably to
 the regulations  established for  vessels arriving  from Rosetta, and
from the other  places  where  the plague was suspected to prevail.
 J he greater part of our people remained in the germs, where they
passed the night in expectation of the tents necessary for  their de-
barkation.
                .( 3* ) 
29$           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
  We received our tents  on the  morning of the 8th, when we
encamped,  with our people, without the walls of the lazaretto,
but subject, notwithstanding, to the quarantine laws.   All the in-
dividuals belonging to the mission were, as well as the crews of
the germs,  free from symptoms of infection.   We were soon af-
ter visited by our friends from Alexandria, and supplied with what-
ever could render our state of confinement in any degree comfort-
able.  Within the lazaretto were several British officers from Alex-
andria, and several Turks recently arrived  from Constantinople,
who had been ordered to perform  quarantine in consequence of
their having resided  near  individuals who had sunk under attacks
of plague.
  On the above day the first anniversary  of  the landing in Egypt
was celebrated by the British army.
  On the 12th  one of the centinels, a Sepoy, was tried by a court-
martial, and sentenced to be shot,  for having suffered two Arab
prisoners to make their escape from quarantine.   The court was
composed of native Indian officers, belonging to the Sepoy corps,
with a British officer, who had  acted as judge-advocate.  The
Arabs who deserted had been engaged in an attendance on some
persons suffering under plague, and consequently exposed to a great
and manifest risk all those  whom  they might encounter in  their
flight.   In  the city of Alexandria, as well as  on board the ship-
ping in the  harbour, several new cases of plague had occurred, and
had been admitted on the lazaretto ground.
  Two fatal cases of plague occurred within the lazaretto on the
14th: one of the subjects was a seaman, the other a private belong-
ing to the 61st  regiment.
  Two detachments, one belonging to the 80th regiment, the other
to Dillon's regiment,  quitted the quarantine on  the 15th.
  On the 17th several vessels bound to Smyrna and Constantinople,
sailed from  the  harbour of Alexandria ;  and on the 19th an Eng-
lish vessel hove in sight from the westward. On the latter day two
plague patients, belonging to the regiments of Dillon and  De
Rolle, were received in the lazaretto.
  The detachments composing the British military mission having
been found on examination to be in perfect health, we were released
from our quarantine on the morning of the 20th.  . 1  took up my
quarters with Major Cookson, of  the royal artillery, with whom I
was to remain until my departure for Constantinople, 
              SYRIA, EGYPT, CERMANY, &C.          299

  The 21st being the anniversary of the day on which British va-
lour overcame  the efforts of the French, in the ever memorable
battle before Alexandria, by  which the fate of Egypt was deci-
ded, it was celebrated with every demonstration of joy by the Bri-
tish army.   At noon the guns of the forts, and those of the ships
in the harbour, were discharged; and this was repeated at sun-set,
with the addition of a fine display of sky-rockets, &c.
  On this occasion  the Indian army gave a sumptuous dinner to
the  British commander  in chief,  and to all the officers, still  in
Egypt, who were present at the above glorious action, in a mosque
fitted up  for the purpose.    The persons who were thus assembled
amounted to an hundred and eighty,  and were distributed at eight
tables.
  I paid a visit to the Capitana Bey,  on the 22d, to request a pas-
sage  to Bhodes,  which he was so obliging as to- promise us in a
corvette about to sail for that destination.
  On the 23d  I  visited the temple of Diana, the catacombs, and
the  badis of Cleopatra, situated to  the westward of Alexandria,
at the distance of about two miles.   The temple, which is subter-
raneous,  is cut out  of the  solid rock,  and in entering it we were
under the necessity  of having recourse to candles.  The entrance
had formerly been very small and narrow, and the access to the tem-
ple  proportionally difficult; but in consequence  of  the numerous
visits it had latterly  received, the opening had been enlarged with
considerable labour.   Within the temple there is a fine dome hewn
in the rock; it  has four gates, one of which served for the entrance,
while the  others formed niches  for the tombs, or  sarcophagi.
These gates had been adorned with sculpture, a part of which still
remained.  The substance of the rock is a calcareous etone,   The
passages and catacombs, which  continue beyond the temple, afford
a presumption  that there may be more of these  temples  within.
These passages were now, however,  in many parts  nearly choked
up with  earth, and with  the bones of animals:  but  few human
bones were discoverable.   In the  vicinity of  the temple wc  de-
scended  into a lofty and  capacious  cavern, conjectured  to have
been anciently  the place in which the bodies were embalmed.  Be-
sides the passage on  the land side,  there appears  to have been ori-
ginally an access to  the temple  by  water, a small creek  running
near to its entrance in front. Such an undertaking as the construe-,
tion of a temple hewn in a rock, and provided with a loftv douu, 
30CT            TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,

could not have been accomplished by the ancients without infinite
pains and labour.   The  sculptures over the door, among which
are a crescent, and a rose in the centre, are very neatly executed.
                       CHAPTER XIX.

Departure for Constantinople.  Stormy weather.  Obliged to take refuge in the
  island of Castei Rosso.  Ancient Cistene.  Some account of Castel Rosso.
  Island of Rhodes.  Defcription of the town and ifland.   Ancient habitation
  of the knights.  Colossus of Rhodes.  Ancient Rhodes. State and cultiva-
  tion of the island.  The arfenal.  Villages.  Dress.  Vegetable productions.
  Departure from Rhodes.  Stancho.  Town andijlandof Stancho.  Popula-
  tion.  Aqueduct.   Fountain.  Game.  Coast of Andolia.  Island of Samos.
  Scala-Nova.  Arrival at Scio.

     ON the 24th of March we embarked on board a corvette man-
      ned  by  Greeks,  which did not, however, get under way
until the morning of the 26th, when she was  warped out of the
harbour of Alexandria by three large Turkish boats.   The fort
at the point of the peninsula having fired a shot to bring us to, the
anchor was dropped to wait for our clearance.
   On the  morning of the 27th we sailed out of the harbour with
the  wind at east.   The weather continuing  moderate,  and the
breeze favourable, we made rhe island of Candia on the 29th, dis-
tant from us about fifty miles to the westward,  In this situation we
bore away  for Rhodes.
   On the 30th at noon we had a strong gale from the east, which
increased so  much towards die evening, that we were obliged to
take in  nearly the whole of our sails.  The gale continued during
the night,  and our little vessel laboured so much, that we felt some
apprehension for our safety.
   On the morning of the  31st, before break of day, our captain
having discovered a light ahead,  bore away from the land, to wait
for the  day-light, which would enable him to ascertain  the course
he was to steer.   He was ignorant of our real situation, but sup-
posed the land to be the island of Candia,  whicli we had descried
before the gale.   At day-break we drew in towards the coast in the
hope of finding a port;  and at length discovered, through a thick 
             SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C-           JQV

haze, the bold and lofty mountains of Candia, covered with snow,
together  with a town and small fort.   At sun set the wind shifted
to the  westward,  and we bore away  to  the  north-east.   In the
night it became contrary, accompanied by a rough sea.
  Finding it impossible,  on the morning  of  the  1 st of April, to
clear the  island, we tacked and stood the same course as  on the
preceding day, towards the western coast.   At noon the wind ha-
ving shifted  to the westward, we bore up for the  land.  In the af-
ternoon we had a heavy gale from the north-east, which carried us
considerably to the westward.
  On  the 2d, in  the morning, we bore away with a north-west
wind to the  eastward, with a view to clear the eastern  point of the
island,  abreast of which  we found ourselves at one o'clock P. M.
At this time the gale increased in violence, with heavy showers of
rain.
  On the 3d we were driven to the eastward by a strong gale from
the north-west, rhe force of which was augmented to such a de-
gree in the evening,  that the waves beat over our vessel with an
impetuous fury, threatening  every  moment to plunge us in the
dreadful abyss,   In this  perilous situation, drifting under our bare
poles,  we continued until the following  morning  at day-break,
when  the storm abated  gradually, and  we  once more made sail.
We shortly after descried land to the  eastward of us, and having
steered in that direction,  with a favourable breeze, came to anchor
at two in the afternoon  in the bay of the island  of Castel Rosso,
on the coast of Asia Minor, to our great satisfaction  and content,
after the repeated and violent gales  we had had to encounter since
our departure from Alexandria,  and the imminent peril to which
we had been exposed by that of  the preceding day.
  Almost immediately  after our arrival,  I  landed  at the town of
Castel Rosso, the ancient Cistene, situated at the extremity of the
bay, on  a solid rock, and built in the form  of a crescent.   The
island  consists entirely of rocks, from which the  materials,  have
been drawn  for the construction of the houses.   The entrance into
the bay is fine and romantic.   In the centre and more  elevated part
of the town there is a castle,  on which several guns are mounted.
The island having formerly  belonged to the Venetians, they had
built this castle, and taken some  pains to fortify the  rock:  the for-
mer has, since that time, been rebuilt by the Turks.  The inhabi-
tants   are for the greater part Greeks, with a few Turks.    There
are scarcely  any productions on the  island, on the rocky surface of 
 302          TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,

 which a few goats and small cows browze,  and pick up a scanty
 subsistence.   There is, however,  an  excellent  harbour  for  ship-
 ping, with a good anchorage ground,  and a constant supply of
 fresh water, collected from the rains in  tanks, or reservoirs, placed
 at the foot or at the sides of the mountains.  The island of  Castel
 Rosso is distant from Rhodes about eighty miles, in an eastern di-
 rection.
   On the morning of the 5th the wind shifted to the eastward, and
 afforded us a favourable opportunity to proceed to Rhodes, our des-,
 tined port; but our sails had been so much split and damaged by the
 violence of the gales,  that it required the whole of  the day to re-
 pair them.  I landed, and went into the town, the streets of which
 are the most extraordinary that can be imagined, consisting  of nar-
 row passages cut out in the rock,  which obliged us to ascend step
 by step  from one stone to another, in  examining the different parts
 of the town.  The inhabitants had a healthy appearance, with very
 agreeable features.   Several  caicks, and  a vessel from Smyrna,\<  |
 were at anchor in  the bay.                                     •  'i
  We got under way on the 6th,  at eight in the morning,  with a.  ,^
 gentle breeze  from the east, which died away shortly  after, and.
left us becalmed nearly  for the whole of  the day between the island
 and the land  of Asia Minor.   In the evening a westerly  breeze
 prung up, and we bore away.   On  the following morning  the
 wind blew from the north-east: we descried Rhodes  soon after
 day-light, distant from thirty to forty miles.   We  had fine wea-
 ther during the day, but from the scantiness  of the wind made a
 slow progress.
  On the Sth  the wind had changed to the north, so as  to oblige
us to make frequent tacks.  At half past one o'clock P. M. we an-
chored in the harbour of Rhodes,  and immediately went on shore
to make our compliments  to the governor.    He paid us much at-
tention,  and procured' us a house for our residence during our stay
in the island.   The habitation which he assigned to us was very
pleasantly situated  in the  Greek  town,    We returned, however,
on board in the evening,  to land a part of our baggage.
  On the morning of the 9 th I  visited the different quarters of the
town, which  is of considerable extent.  The houses are built of
a white  free-stone, procured in abundance on the island, and arc
very neat. The streets,  which are  kept in the  nicest order, are very
prettily paved with marble pebbles brought from the beach, and dis-
posed with great taste,   The inhabitants are a mixture of Turks, 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.
303
 Jews and Greeks, the latter of whom are the most numerous.  A
 distinct quarter being assigned to each, it may be said that there are
 in Rhodes three towns, which  are accordingly thus denominated
 after the different nations.   The island  of Rhodes is estimated  to
 contain about  fifteen  thousand inhabitants, the Greeks being  in
 every part more numerous  than the Turks and Jews.
   One  of the streets  of the town of Rhodes,  called La Rue des
 Chevaliers, contains the houses which were formerly inhabited by
 the knights, and which are still in a tolerable state of repair,  not-
 withstanding several of them were erected at so early a date as to-
 wards the close of the thirteenth century.   Much pains had been
 bestowed on the masonry and other external embellishments, among*
 which I recognized, on the fronts of several  of the houses, the
 arms with the crosses of Jerusalem and Rhodes, still in a very per-
 fect condition.  The  knights had  erected a regular fortification,
 which, as well as the other works surrounding the town, is strong,
 extensive, and well built.   With a little labour and expense, in-
 deed, these fortresses might be put in an excellent condition.
   I visited the bazars,  which were well supplied wiih various com-
 modities.  The inhabitants in general have a healthy look, and very
 agreeable  features.  The Greek and  Jewish women and children
 are pretty, but wear a  very unbecoming dress,  with  a  large  bun-
 dle of handkerchiefs and wrappers on the head, which have a dis-
 agreeable effect.
   The town  of Rhodes has two harbours;  one for large vessels,
 the other for small craft.   The former is square,  and tolerably ca-
 pacious, but open and exposed to the north-east and easterly winds.
 Tradition  reports,  that the celebrated colossus stood  across the
 mouth of the great harbour, and that  between the legs of this stu-
 pendous figure ships  used to sail.  The  inhabitants still direct the
 attention of the traveller to  the points en which its feet  are said to
 have rested.
   The little harbour, situated on the  north-west side of the other,
 and of the town, is more particularly calculated for caicks and other
 small  craft, as the entrance to it is by a very narrow channel.  The
 arsenal is situated at the upper end of this harbour.
  Several vessels came into  the harbour on the.lOth,  supposed to
 be from Alexandria.  The  governor having supplied us with mules
 and muleteers, we rode to the north side of  the island,  and  pro-
ccerJed to  the spot which was the site of ancient Rhodes, distant
from the modern town  about four or five miles.   It stood on a verv 
3^4
TRAVELS  IN  ASIATIC  TURKEY,
 lofty mountain, which we had some labour and difficulty to ascend,
 and which required more than half  an hour's exertion,  through
 winding paths which led over rocks and bushy thickets.   1 he sides
 of the mountain are covered with lofty  firs, oaks, and ash-trees,
 together with thick brush wood of  myrtle and mastic trees.  On
 the summit we found the ruins of walls,  and of a fort, and other
 works,  with the vestige of  a  building, which appeared  to have
 been a monastery.   In each of the angles of the domes, or vaulted
 roofs, of the apartments,  the crosses of Jerusalem and Rhodes were
 still discernible.
    From the  mountain we had a fine view of the surrounding coun-
 try, which is pleasingly diversified, consisting partly of high rocky
 grounds,  the rugged surface of which contrasts with the beautiful
 and extensive vallies beneath.  The elevated and rocky territory is
 in some parts covered by a soft calcarious stone, while in  others it
 is of a sandy texture, with aggregations of round marble pebbles,
 similar to those found on the sea-shore.  These pebbles are not on-
' ly employed for the pavement of  the streets, but also of the court-
 yards and floors of the houses, where they are disposed with great
 taste,  and have a very pleasing effect.
    The  vallies'are cultivated with great care,  and yield abundant
  crops of wheat and barley,  with a small proportion of oats.  The
  vineyards are enclosed by stone walls; and round these enclosures
 .there are large plantations of  fig and olive-trees.  In the villages
  which are interspersed, the houses  are built of white stone; they
  are small, but very neat.  To render the  scene still more  pictures-
  que, large oaks, firs, and ash-trees, are planted on the sides of the
  mountains,  and in the spots the least susceptible of cultivation.
  Every pari of the island is supplied with excellent water,  collected
  from the springs which the rains have formed in their descent from
  the mountainous parts.  The high lands are covered with  a variety
  of fragrant  herbs,  which yield a delightful perfume; and coanin
  enclosures for the culture of the  different fruits, which, as udl as
  the vegetables, are of kinds similar to those I have already noticed
  in speaking of Egypt and Syria.
     In passing through one  of  the Greek  villages,  we entered the
  church,  which, among  other very pretty decorations,  contained
  several subjects and figures sculptured in wood  with much neatness

  ^Th^isknd abounds with hares, woodcocks, partridges,  snipes
  and wild ducks.   The breed of horses is small and insignificant, .He 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY, &C.           $0$
 mules' and asses being employed as beasts of burden.   The cows
 are small;  but the breeds  of sheep, goats,  and pigs, are the same
 as in  Turkey.
   The bread is of an excellent quality ;  and the wine, the produce
 of the vineyards, tolerably good, and very cheap.   From the dried
 rigs the inhabitants distil the spirit called rackay, with the addition
 of anise seeds, and the peels of lemons and oranges, to give it  a
 rich  flavour.  This  liquor,  with the aid of a sirup made simply
 froiii  sugar, is denominated  by the Italians rosolio.
  Rhodes  may on the whole be considered as a very salubrious,
 fruitful, and agreeable island, the seasons being never in the ex-
 tremes, and the weather almost invariably moderate.  We had been
 so long accustomed  to the mud huts, and to the barren and sandy
 deserts of Egypt, where, with the exception of the charming plains
 of the Delta, there  was so little to gratify the view, that our pre-
 sent residence appeared to us almost a paradise.
  It  was now  six years since  the island had  been visited by the
 plague, which, at that time,  however, had made a dreadful  havoc*
 The inhabitants are occasionally exposed, during the hotter months,
 to the attacks of intermittent fevers, which appear to me to have
 their  source in the miasma thrown off by a small spot  of marshy
 ground, and a piece  of stagnant  water,  on the north side, and al-
 most  contiguous to the town.   The climate, however, is  in ge-
 neral  very healthy; and there are among them many instances of
 longevity.
  In the arsenal of Rhodes vessels are constructed of fir, which is
 either the growth of the island, or brought from Caramania.  Ha-
 ving had the assistance of several British and Swedish ship-builders
 of eminence, the workmen, who are exclusively Greeks, are be-
 come tolerably expert in  their employment.   The  inhabitants of
 Rhodes pay  but little  attention to fishing; and the fish we procured
 there  was but of an indifferent quality.      ■"
  Several caicks sailed out of the harbour of Rhodes on the 12th,
 supposed to  be bound for Marmarice.  Th  Turkish  inhabitants
 were preparing to celebrate  the Biram  Courbam, which was to
 commence on the following day.
  I mapc an exclusion to several of the villages adjacent to the town
 of Rhodes,  one of which,  inhabited by Turks, called Ezgourah,
 is very delightfully situated in the midst of oak, ash,  plane, and
 olive-trees,  so thickly planted, that it appears to be in the centre of
a wood.  In its  vicinity are two  other villages, one  of which,
                 (39) 
3g6           travels  in Asiatic turkey,

named Coucekinofi, is inhabited  exclusively by Greeks; and  the
other, Caudeley, by Jews.   The former have a still more consi-
derable village, called Trcandah, situated nearer to the town, on
the western shore.  In the  environs of these villages much corn is
produced;  and they are besides rendered very agreeable, as well by
the vineyards which are interspersed, as by the fine orange groves
belonging  to many of the  inhabitants of the town, who retire to
the villages during the  warmer months, and also at  those times
when the plague happens to be prevalent.
  1'he Biram Courbam, which commenced on the 13th, was an-
nounced at Rhodes by discharges  from the guns of the fort.   We
paid a visit to the governor, whose usage it is on this particular day
to receive the compliments  of all  the inhabitants  of a certain rank
and description, who  of course display all their finery, as is also
the custom with the inferior classes during this festival.
  The inhabitants in general appear to live in great ease. The dress
of the lower class of Greeks, as well in the town as in the villa-
ges, consists  of a cotton garment,  which has a very neat appear-   J
ance.   This dress is not, however, to be seen in the villages unless
on Sundays and on days of  festivity; on the working days a brown
jacket is worn, with untanned boots.   The Greek women of this
class also wear a  cotton dress; but  those of the town distinguish
themselves from the female villages by the addition  of a red vest
and petticoat.   The head-dress, consisting of coloured handker-
chiefs as before described, is extremely unbecoming.   On the vest
three  large roses of plated metal are worn, placed one above the
other.   The Greeks of the superior classes, whether males or fe-
males, are habited nearly in the same way as those in the Christian
suburbs of the Turkish capital.
  I rode on the 14th to the village of  Trcandah, and observed the
inhabitants busied in preparing the  land for the cotton, which is
cultivated verv successfully  on the island.   Among the vegetable
productions I noticed beans of an excellent quality, together with
artichokes, cabbages,  and cauliflowers,  all good in their kinds. In
general the cultivated grounds are very rich.
  On the 17th, we  made an engagement with the  Reis, or captain,
of a caick, to convey us to Constantinople, which he would not
consent to  do  for a less sum  than eight hundred and fifty piastres
(more than sixty  pounds English).   We bound him  down, how-
ever,  to touch at  the different islands of the Archipelago,  wlwh
we  were desirous  to visit. 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.           JCT/
    At eleven in the morning  of the  19th we embarked with  our
  baggage on board the caick, and immediately sailed for Stanco, but
  with so inconsiderable a breeze, that the crew were obliged to have
  recourse to the large oars,  or sweeps, with which these vessels are
  constantly provided,  and which are extremely useful in navigating
  among the islands.   We made so,little way,  in spite of every  ex-
  ertion, that it was night before we passed Cape Crio.  At day-break
  we were distant from Stanco about fifteen miles.
    During the  morning  of the 20th, the weather still continuing
  calm, our  people  were again obliged  to  have  recourse to their
  6wecps; but at noon the wind freshened, and enabled us to reach
  Stanco, in the harbour  of which  we anchored  at  half past two
* o'clock.   We landed, and after having paid our respects to the go-
  vernor,  took up our  abode in  the house of one  of  the Greek in-
 habitants.   In the evening the wind blew so strong from the east-
 north-east, that our Reis  was under some  apprehension  for  the
 6afetv of his vessel, and carried out four anchors for her security,
 the gale threatening to drive her on the shore, which was to leeward.
 The  wind  was favourable to the prosecution  of our  voyage ; and
 the Reis manifested so much impatience to leave Stanco,  that  we
 promised to embark very speedily.
   The town of Stanco is defended by a castle, and by an old forti-
 fication.  The streets are narrow;  but the houses, which are built
 of stone, and plaistered, with flat roofs, of terraces, are  neat in
 their appearance.   The bazars are well supplied with fruits and ve-
 getables. The island produces an abundance of lemons, from which
 the inhabitants were at this time busied  in squeezing the juice,   to
 put it into barrels destined for the  markets of  Constantinople and
 Russia.   For this traffic  a vessel was waiting in the harbour. The
 wine made in this island  is  of an inferior quality.   Stanco is the
 Cos of the ancients; and on this account  we  purchased the seeds
 of the  lettuce  which  bears that  name, so  deservedly  esteemed
 throughout Europe.
   The population  of the  island  of Stanco is estimated at about
 four  thousand souls, of  whom one half  are Turks,  and the other
 halt may be considered as consisting of an equal number of Greeks
 and Jews.   To each  of  these nations a distinct quarter is assigned
 in the town.   The governor having procured us mules,  we rode
 into the interior of the island,  attended by a guide, and accompa-
 nied  by three of the inhabitants, among whom was  the Greek  a; 
308           travels in Asiatic turkey,

whose house we risided.   The town and environs of Stanco are
supplied with  water by an  aqueduct,  which has its source on the
summit of an adjacent mountain, to which we rode.   It is called
Vohrceney, and is distant from the town about five miles.   In as.
cending the mountain, we had to follow our guide by several rug-
ged and winding paths, which at length conducted us to the source.
Over the spring a building is erected; and a narrow passage, nearly
an hundred  feet in length,  constructed in masonry,  leads to the
rock.  We passed through  this  passage with  the help  of lights,
and came  to a circular elevated  chamber,  having a vaulted roof,
beneath which  we  perceived the hole in the rock whence the wa-
ter issues incessantly in a copious stream.  It enters the aqueduct
by a narrow channel,  and is thus conducted, round the interposing
mountains, to Stanco, leaving on its way a portion  of its supplies,
collected in open reservoirs,  for the use of men and cattle.
  On our return we took a different route, and passed through se-
veral villages lying to the west of Stanco,  the environs of which
were principally occupied  by fields  of bearded wheat and  barley,
whicli were in ear, and had a very promising appearance.   We
mc:  also with several  vineyards, and gardens of lemon-trees, which
bore an immensity of fruit.   The fig,  almond, pomegranate, and
mulbeiry-trees were cultivated in stone enclosures,  which gave to
the face of the country a neat and compact appearance.   From the
summits of the mountains over  which we rode, We had a  distinct
view of  the  suburbs of Stanco, situated  in a fine and extensive
plain, lying in a direction  east and west of the town; as  well as
of the low country towards the seashore.   On the sides of the
mountains a  few firs, cypress,  and  olive-trees arc  scattered; but
the counriy in general, whatever may be its fertility,  is not so abun-
dant in trees and other vegetable productions as Rhodes.  The par-
tridges natural to the jshmd are very large, being nearly of the size
of a pullet, with red  legs, and the other characteristic distinctions
of those of the coast of Barbary.   We saw several  braces  of them
in our excursion, and a considerable number of quails.  In general
the island of  Stanco appears to abound with game.   With respect
to its rising population, the  children of the peasants are numerous,
well nourished, robusr, and  of  agreeable features, indicating, in
their genend  appearance,  the comparatively easy circumstances of
those to whom they belong.  The island was, at the time of oui
visit, in a  very healthy state; not having been visited by the plague
i-;tiring the last five \vz:i. 
              SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           3O9

   Farly in the morning of the 23d the Reis of our caick paid us a
visit to announce to us  the favourable state of the weather for the
prosecution of our voyage.   We embarked in consequence, with
our baggage,  at eleven o'clock A. M. and  sailed out of the har-
bour of Stanco.  The wind blowing a pretty  strong gale from the
north-west, we were, notwithstanding the flattering prospect which
the Reis had held out to us, obliged to beat up against it with great
perseverance  until  four in the afternoon,  when we anchored in a
bay on the coast of Anadolia,  distant  from  the town of Stanco
from fifteen to eighteen miles to the north-east.  We landed at the
village of Chatalcar, situated in the bay,  the land in the environs
of which was laid out in corn fields, interspersed with fig, almond,
and other  trees.  The oxen employed  in the fields for ploughing
are of a very  handsome breed,  but not large.
   On the morning of the 24th,  the  wind having changed to the
north-east,  we sailed at six o'clock;  and were in sight, two hours
after, of the island  of Patmos, being close in with Calamo, Lero,
and several  other small islands.   At half past four in the afternoon
we anchored  in a small bay on  the coast  of  Anadolia,  near to a
village called  by the Turks  Ballat,  inhabited by  Greeks.  The
wind having become more favourable at eleven o'clock A. M. had
enabled us to stretch over from Calamo to  the coast of Anado-
lia,  which being  constantly infested  bv  pirates,  of whom  our
Reis entertained great apprehensions,  the arms on board the caick,
consisting  of muskets, pistols,  and sabres, were put in readiness,
and the  one half of the  crew stationed to keep watch during  the
night.  The bay in which we were anchored is distant from fifteen
to twenty miles from the  entrance of  the little bogaz of  Samos,
leading into the passage of Scalarwva.  At nine  P. M.  the wind
shifted to the  south-east;  and the fears of  our Reis relative  to the
pirates being  augmented,   he was induced to make an attempt to
get out of the bay,  for which purpose the crew had recourse to the
sweeps.
   On the morning  of the 25th it blew a fresh gale from the north,
with heavy  clouds, and a thick haze of the atmosphere.  At eight
o'clock we were opposite  to a town which  we conjectured to  be
Cora, in the  island of Samos.   We entered the  bogaz  at  half
past nine; but in consequence of the wind  failing us, our crew had
again recourse to the sweeps.   At two o'clock P. M. we anchor-
ed in a bay on the north-east side of the island of Samos, having in
its front a small island, or rather a rock, called the rock of Pra- 
 310          TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,

 sonisi.   We found in the bay a caick bound from Rhodes to Scio.
 We were told that there was a town  within two leagues of  us;
 but were prevented from landing by the rains whicli fell during the
 greater part of the day.  On the sides of the mountains, and in the
 adjacent vallies, we observed several fine vineyards.
   We were prevented from sailing on the 26th by  a gale from  the
 north-east, which was so violent, that, notwithstanding this was a
 favourable point for our  destination, our Reis was unwilling to  put
 to sea.   As if rained  at the time, we landed between the showers,
 and made an excursion to the neighbouring mountains.   We passed
 through several vallies, the soil of which was rich and of a reddish
 colour, and  the cultivation not neglected.  The mountains  arc
 composed of rocks of  blue and white marble, blended with a stone
 called the satin stone: In  the  parts susceptible of cultivation they
 are planted with olive-trees, firs, the mastic, the arbutus, and other
 trees and shrubs.   We did not meet with any dwellings ;  but pas-
 sed two or three small caves, which appeared to be destined to  re-
 ceive the grapes when ripe :  For the purpose of containing the juice, ^
 after it has been expressed from the  fruit, we saw in each of  these 1
 caves a, small cistern.   From the springs which  issued from the
 rocks we procured excellent water.
   At five in the morning of the 21th we got under way, but were i
 soon after becalmed.  At seven o'clock we had a gentle breeze from
 the westward;  and bore away  as soon  as we had weathered the
 north-east point of  the  island, Scalanova  being distant  from  us
 about fifteen or twenty miles to the east.  We were becalmed for
 several hours;  and at half past  two o'clock P. M. were under the
 necessity of entering a fine bay on the north side of  the island,
 where we came to anchor.  We landed, and walked to the vine-
 yards,  which were in a very flourishing state.   Among the shrubs
 which grew at the sides of the mountains, we noticed the juniper,
 the berries on which were uncommonly large.   Three of our crew
 were sent to'a neighbouring town,  called by the Turks Vati, dis-
 tant from  the bay about a league and a half,  to procure bread, and
 the other articles of  which  we stood in need.  We had ourselves
 made an arrangement to land on the following morning; but our
 Reis disappointed us by getting under way before day light.  His
 sudden departure was occasioned by the dread he still entertained
 of the  pirates, who are said constantly  to lurk in  the  vicinity of
 this island.  The northern side, which  we were now coasting,  is
principally laid out in vineyards : The land is lofty and irregular. 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.
3"
  By the help of  occasional light  winds from the north-west,  we
crossed the gulph  of Scalanova at ten o'clock A. M.  The calms
whicli prevailed at intervals rendered the  sea so smooth, that its
surface had the appearance of being covered with oil.   In crossing
the gulf,  our men were obliged to labour very hard at the sweeps.
A little after sun-set we anchored on the coast of Anadolia.
  We sailed at  midnight; and at seven in the morning of the 29th
passed by Cickey  Bourun, having the island of Scio ahead of  us,
distant about twenty-five miles.  The wind  was so scanty,  with
occasional calms,  that, in spite of every exertion made by the crew
of our vessel, we  did not reach Scio until half past one of the morn-
ing of the 30th.   At seven  o'clock we landed at the town of Scio,
which is called  by the Turks Circas.
                       CHAPTER  XX.

Appearance and dress of the Greek women of the island of Scio.  Light houses.
  Greek, convent at Nehahmonee.  Curious decorations.  Soil and cultivation
  of the island.  School of Homer.   Gum mastic.  Del Campo.  Population.
  Town of Scio.  Streets.   Markets.  Wines.   Port of Scio..  Passage to
  Smyrna.  Population of the town  of Scio.  Churches.  General hospitals.
  hospital for lepers.  Some account  of this disease.  General diseases.   Me-
  dicinal spring.  Departure from Scio.  Mitylene.  Lesbos.  Town of Cas-
  tro.   Markets.  Taverns.  Oil.  Population.  Fruit.  Island of Tenedos.
  Town and forts.   Commodities.  Isle of Rabbits.   Banks of the Scamander.
  Plain of Troy.  Tomb of Patroclus. Corabcally.  Shennacally.   Arrival
  at Constantinople.

     AS soon as we were landed at Scio we paid our respects  to the
       Turkish  commandant, and to the British consul,  Signor
Giovanni Giuduchi,  who was so obliging as to procure us an ex-
cellent  house belonging to the Franciscan convent, which had been
selected for the residence of  Lord Elgin, his Lordship being short-
ly expected at this island for the  recovery  of his health.   Having
landed  our baggage,  we  took possession  of our new  habitation,
and afterwards walked in the town.   We were not a little struck
with the novelty of the dress of the Greek women, who hr.J put on 
312
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
their gayest attire, it being the festival of the blessed Virgin.   On
this account the greater part of  the bazars were shut.
   The dress to which  I have alluded is so extremely singular, that
1 am persuaded the reader will  not be displeased at  iny attempting
to describe it at some length.  The  head-dress is somewhat agree-
able, and consists of a skull-cap, embroidered in  gold, having a
coloured wrought handkerchief passed round it, which  leaves  die
embroidery in  the centre of  the cap uncovered.   In some instances
the head is simply covered by a white handkerchief;  and the hair
is occasionally cut short,  while by others of these females it is left
flowing in ringlets down the back.   They wear a kind of short
spencer of green silk or satin, the inside of the sleeves being stuf-
fed with cotton,  to give  to  the arms an appearance  of plumpness.
The gold embroidered cuffs, which reach nearly to the elbows, are
turned back.  Over this  spencer thev have  a wide outer  vest,  pas-
sed round the body, and  reaching  to  the  knees only, which is
plaited in such a way  as  to make the  wearer appear  of an enor-
mous size, and as if clad in a wide but short hoop.  This outer
garment is either of green, or of pink satin, or silk;  but  the for-
mer of these colours is the most prevalent.   A  short apron of silk
or of satin,  which is sometimes embroidered, and sometimes made
of flowered cottons of  different colours,  reaches  from the bosom
to the knees.  The white cotton petticoat is worn so short,  that
the red embroidered garters are seen intentionally hanging  beneath
it: the stockings are white, as are also the slippers, or shoes, which
are worn down at the heel,  but fancifully decorated with coloured
silk ribbons, and otherwise  very elegantly  ornamented.   Some of
these females display the upper part of the bosom, which is cover-
ed by others with a handkerchief.  They are in general  very fair,
have agreeable features, and a fine and striking  physiognomy.   In
this island, indeed, jhe complexion both of the Greek and Turk-
ish women is good ;\ but the former, not content with that which
nature has liberally bestowed on them, endeavour to  embellish it
by having recourse to art.   I allude here to  the Gi'eek  women who
inhabit the town of Scio:  they go always unveiled, and when they
put en their gay garments, arc  highly rouged,   or painted.
   When a Turk espouses one of these females,  the children whom
she bears  to him  are  educated in the  Mahomedan  faith, while
the mother is permitted to continue in the practice of her own re-
ligion. 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.
3U
    Two light-houses are erected at Scio to direct the course of the
  yessels sailing, into the harbour, in which several caicks  and other
  vessels  were, lying at anchor at the time  of our arrival.   As soon
  as we had dined, the consul conducted us to a spot near the sea-
  shore,  where a considerable number of Greeks of each  sex  were
  assembled to celebrate the festival to which 1 have already alluded,
  and to display their 'fine dresses, which is every where one of the
  predominant passions  of that nation.    It  was truly a gay and
  lively scene, which  might have vied with that of our Kensington
  Gardens, or of the  Park of St. James, in the season favourable to
  promenades.   Several hundreds of females, in the dress I have de-
  scribed, were assembled; and throughout the company  there was
f* a general air of neatness, combined with great decorum of conduct.
  Several circular dances were  formed according to the usage of the
  Greeks.
     On the 1st of May, having procured mules, we made a mor-
  ning's excursion into the interior of the island, to visit the Greek
  convent at Nehahmonee,  distant from  the town of Scio  about five
V  miles.   The road over which  we had to pass was rocky, and in
  every respect so bad, that our mules employed a space of two hours
  and a half to reach  the convent.  On our arrival  we entered the
  chapel, which is beautifully ornamented with mosaic work, formed
  "of fine specimens of the different  marbles collected in  the island.
  These marbles are disposed with great taste,  more especially in the
  dome of the  chapel, where they are blended with  pieces  of co-
  loured glass,  and of gilt stone, retained by a kind  of cement, so
  as to represent a variety of scriptural subjects and figures.  Each of
  the bits of glass, or  portions  of stone, does not exceed in  its square,
  the fourth part of an inch; and the whole must have been wrought
  with immense labour.                         .*-- -
    Within the walls of the convent, which was founded by Con-
  stanline the Great,  there is a fine cistern, or reservoir, of excellent
  water, collected partly by the rains,  and partly from a spring situa-
  ted at its inferior part.  Its dimensions are fifty feet by thirty ; and
  the roof,  which forms a kind of terrace to intercept the  rains in
  their descent,  h supported by two rows of columns.
    On our quitting the convent, we ascended  the mountains in its
  vicini:y, which are  extremely  lofiv, and have  their rocky surfaces
  covered with firs.  The vallies, which are  laid  out in  cornfields
  and vineyards, have a poor and steril  soil, which is only rendered
  in any degree productive by rrsat  labour and perseverance    !• io-
                   ( 43 ) 
3H
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
 olive, pomegranate,  almond, and mulberry-trees,  are interspersed,
 the latter beinj destined for the nourishment  of the breed of silk
 worms, which are a great source of revenue to the  inhabitants, a
 considerable manufactory of silks being carried on at Scio, as well
 for home consumption as for  exportation.  A great part of the
 island is still in an uncultivated state, owing to the rocks which arc
 every where interposed, and the general bad condition of the soil.
 To supply, therefore, the wants of a very considerable population,
 amounting from forty to fifty thousand souls,  whose consumption
 far exceeds the produce which the land is,  by every industrious ex-
 ertion, made to afford, the inhabitants are under the necessity of
 importing both corn and cattle from Anadolia,  and from the other
 adjacent countries.
   Having returned to the convent to take leave,  we partook of the
 refreshments which were offered to us by the holy fathers, and de-
 parted for Scio.   The convent of  Nekahmonee bestows lodging
 and entertainment during three days on all who, on their travels,
 solicit that indulgence, without any inquiry being made relative to
 the religion they profess.  We were told that three  hundred per- 4
 sons reside within this sanctuary, which is so extensive that it ap-
^pears like a small  village.   Of  this  number forty are priests  who
 perform mass,  and administer to the other duties  of their sacred
 calling; while the caloyers, or  lay brothers, who are the most nu-
 merous, cultivate  the lands assigned  to  them by the convent, and
 arc furnished with a lodging, together with a daily  allowance of
 provisions and wine.  On  the demise  of these lay brothers the
 lands revert to the convent,  which beside,  takes possession of all
 the property they  leave behind.  They are allowed to marry; but
 in this case cannot become  priests,  should they even be  without
 issue,  although the priests  themselves are not strictly bound to the
 observance'of celibacy.  When  the latter marry, they wear a white
 fillet round the rim of the black cap  which forms a part of their
 costume.
   In our return homewards we  passed near the valley in which is
 situated the hospital appropriated for the leprous subjects of all
 the islands of the Archipelago.  As we purposed, however, to visit
 it at a  more convenient opportunity,  it will be described in another
 place.   It was  six in the evening before we reached our habitation
 at Scio.                         *
   We visited on the 2d the houses of several of the principal Greek
 inhabitants of  Scio.  They  are capacious, lofty,  well built,  and 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C
315
  handsomely finished withinside, after the Chinese fashion.  The ma-
  terials employed for their construction consist of marble, and  of
  two different kinds of stone, one of which is collected on the island,
  and the other brought from -Esea Stamboul, near the site  of Troy.
 ' The latter is sold at an extravagant  price; and as labour is  rated
  very high at Scio,  these edifices must have been built at a very con-
  siderable expense.
    We proceeded afterwards to the spot where the celebrated poet
  Homer is said to  have kept his school.   Whatever disagreements
  there may be among historians relative  to  the birth-place of this
  extraordinary man, it seems to  be generally allowed that he had
  chosen Scio as  his residence at the time he followed  the avocation
  of a school-master.  Our road, to the north  of the  town, was
  along the sea-shore; and after a walk of nearly  two hours and a
  half, our guide conducted us to a rock, at a little distance from the
  sea,  which, as we were told it contained the classic object of our
  visit, we ascended with a satisfaction bordering on enthusiasm.  In
I  the centre pf the rock a kind of table is hewn  out, behind which
1  it is conjectured the orator was posted; and around it we  perceived
  the remains of the seats, likewise hewn out of the rock, where the
  scholars are supposed to have been seated,  Having procured seve-
  ral small fragments of the mutilated table, and  of other  parts  of
  the rock,  as memorials of our visit,  we retired to  a groupe of fine
  trees in the vicinity, to  repose from our fatigues,  and shelter our-
  selves from the scorching heat, beneath their shade,  Near to this
  cluster of trees there is a fountain of  cool and delicious water.   It
  is one of the favourite retreats of the Turks and  other inhabitants
  of the island during the warmer months.   Several neat  villages are
  interspersed on the sides  of the  mountains, surrounded by well
  cultivated enclosures  of corn,  vines, lentils, and other  vegetable
  productions.
     We walked in the evening to the public promenade of Scio,  fil-
  led with  the better sort of inhabitants of both sexes, all in their gay
  and holiday attire.  Several of the ladies wore on  the head bunches
  of flowers, as if dressed for an assembly.   It may not be improper;
  to notice here,  that instead of the outer vest of silk,  or satin,  de-
  scribed above,  the females of an inferior class wear a west of green
  cloth of  the same hideous and disagreeable fashipn.
     On the  morning of  the 3d we rode to Calligmahscah, one of
  the twenty-four villages in the  island  of Scio,  where  the lentisk-
  {ree is cultivated,  from, which the gum mastic is collected,  to he 
3l6           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
 sent to Constantinople  for  the  use  of the seraglio.   It being the
 property of the Grand Seignor,  persons are sent  to  the  island to
 collect it;  twenty-one thousand and twenty-ri\e okes, or measures
 of this gum  being forwarded annually  to  the above destination.
 The remainder is disposed of surreptitiously when a favourable op-
 portunity presents itself;  but this traffic is  attended by a considera-
 ble risk.   The English  consul related an instance of having him-
 self purchased a quantity of the gum, which  he afterwards dispo-
 sed of at Constantinople; but a discovery having been made, he
 was subjected  to the very heavy fine  of eight thousand  piastres,
 and otherwise maltreated.  The gum mastic is chewed by  the fe-
 males in Turkey to sweeten the breath.
   With respect to the tree itself, the botanical name  of which is
 the dendron scinos, it grows to  the height of from four to six, and
 even eight feet.   When viewed at a distance,  it is not unlike our
 common hollv; but its leaves are of a paler green, resembling, in
 some degree, those of  the  broad-leafed myrtle,  but  more obtuse.
~The gum is collected, for the first  time in the season, about  the
 month of July, when  it  is  of the best quality; and the operation,
 which is repeated two or  three times in the course of the year,  con-
 sists in making incisions in the trunk  of the tree,  from which the
 juice gradually'exudes,  and hardens into the consistence of a gum.
 The lentisk-tree is not  tapped until it has attained  a growth of five
 years: those we saw, we were informed by the inhabitants of the
 village,  were considerably older.  The population of this village,
 the houses of which are, as well as  the old castle in its centre, in
 a very ruinous condition, may be estimated at about three hundred
 individuals,  all Greeks, and of a healthy and cheerful appearance.
 The women and  children  employ themselves  in  spinning cotton,
 which is sent to jhe town of Scio to be employed in a manufactory
 of white cotton strings,  very durable, and  in other respects of
 an excellent quality.
   Our excursion led  us through a very agreeable and  fertile part of
 the island, called  Del Campo, which is  so well  peopled  that we
 met with a continuation of  dwellings from  the town of Scio to the
 above village of Calligmahseali, au extent of nearly seven miles.
 Within  this line  of territory there are a  considerable number of
 large, handsome,  and substantial stone edifices, with terraces at the
 top,  the  summer residences of the wealthy Greeks  and  1 urki.
 Each  of these houses  is provided with a garden  enclosed  by  high
 stonewalls, which  produces  the choicest fruits ^ the growth of 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.
3*7
 the island, and is embellished  by rows of fine cypress-trees.   In
 passing through the avenues leading to these gardens, the traveller
 is delighted by the grateful odours which are constantly exhaled and
 perfume the surrounding atmosphere.
   In the course of our ride we saw an abundance  of the terebin-
 tha trees, from which the turpentine is collected by a process simi-
 lar to that employed  in procuring the gum mastic.  Except that
 the bark of the trunk is more rough and irregular,  this  tree has so
 great a resemblance to the ash, that I was induced, on reflection,
 to think  myself deceived when  I  supposed the latter tree to grow
 on the islands we had precedent!y  visited.  We passed several spots
 of ground abounding in fullers' earth and potters' clay; and were
 led, by  every thing   we had observed,  to consider  a great portion
 of the island  of  Scio as abounding in useful and valuable produc-
 tions.   It is certainly over peopled in proportion to its extent, and
 to the  resources  of  its  soil;  but  this circumstance operating as a
 powerful stimulus to industry, the lands  susceptible of improve-
 ment are cultivated  with the utmost labour and perseverance.   It
 is probable that the freedom the inhabitants enjoy induces them  to
 prefer Scio to  the other  islands,  Its population has been over-rated
 by those  who have computed it at upwards  of seventy thousand
 souls: from the  most accurate information I could  collect,  it does
 not exceed fifty thousand, of whom the great majority are Greeks,
 with  two thousand   Turks, one  thousand Catholics,  and a few
 Jews.
   The town of Scio  is  of a moderate extent,  and contains  several
 fine stone edifices, built by the  Genoese at the time they were in
 possession of  the island.  They also constructed a  fortress, which
 is at present in a  ruinous condition.  The houses of the principal
 inhabitants are as elegant in  their structure and external  decorations
 as they are  handsomely furnished  within.  The island supplies a
 variety  of  variegated  marbles  of different colours,  which are
 wrought into  columns, pavements of floors,  door  jambs,  lintels,
 Sec.  The Genoese houses are tiled, with a sloping roof; but those
 of a  more  modern construction are surmounted by flat terraces.
 The streets in general are narrow, paved, have a  raised footway,
 and are kept tolerably clean, considering that Scio is within the li-
imits of the Turkish dominions.  The bazars are well supplied; but
ithe articles they contain are sold at rather  an exorbitant  price. Scio
<c;irnes on an extensive trade with  Leghorn and several  other ports
(of the Mediterranean.   Its manufactures consist of silk and satin 
$l8           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 stuffs,  plain and striped cottons and dimities, and various articles of
 embroidery,  The cotton stockings and night-caps  manufactured
 there are held in very general estimation.
   Large quantities of olive oil,  of tne  purest and most delicious
 quality, are annually exported to  Venice,  v. iiich is also the mart
 for the turpentine collected in the island,  The export of wine, of
 the growth of Scio,  to Constantinople and other parts of Turkey,
 is but inconsiderable, the Greek inhabitants, who are passionately
 fond  of it,  consuming by far the greater proportion of  the produce
 of the  vintage.   We procured a quantity of good red  wine of the
 preceding vintage at  ten  and  twelve paras the oke; but the  old
 wine is still dearer.
   Adjacent to the town of Scio there are a considerable number of
 extensive enclosed gardens, filled with  every description  of the
 fruits the island produces, and with aromatic plants and shrubs, the
 fragrant odours exhaled from which impregnate the air to the dis-
 tance of several miles at sea, when the wind blows off" the land.
 We were very sensible of this when approaching the island.
   The  port of Scio is very unsafe  when the wind blows from the
 east and east-south-east:  it is likewise open to the north winds-,
 which are, however,  less  dangerous than the Levanters, or easterly
 winds.   It is, however, a convenient harbour  for caicks and light
 vessels of every description. The passage to Smyrna, by the route
 of Chisme, opposite  to Scio, is very short,  being within the com-
 pass of  a day's journey by land.   Passengers cross over from Scio
 to Chisme in caicks,  which are constantly employed for that pur-
 pose,  as well as for the conveyance of merchandize.   The  jour-.
 ney from Chisme is made by land on mules, and it requires about
 twelve hours to reach Smyrna, by  a very rocky and  mountainous
 road.   The whole of the expense to a person who undertakes this
 route  from Scio to Smyrna does not exceed five piastres, or seven
 shillings and sixpence English.   We felt great regret at being pre-
 vented by circumstances from visiting the latter city.
  The population of the town of Scio is estimated at about twenty-
 five thousand souls, that is, nearly,  if nor entirely, the half of the
 complete population  of the island.   Of this  population about
 twenty-two thousand  individuals are Greeks, with  two thousand
 Turks,  and about a thousand Catholics and Jews.  1 he  other parts
of the island are exclusively inhabited by Greeks.
  Having expressed a desire to view the churches in Scio belonging
to the latter nation, the English consul conducted us to  three of 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &G.           319
 these edifices held  in  the highest estimation, and also to the only
 church in that place belonging to the Catholics.  One of  the for-
 mer was a very beautiful structure, adorned withinside with gilt or-
 naments, elegant carvings in wood, and fine columns of the varie-
 gated marble of Scio.   It is much to be regretted that the work-
 men of the country have not sufficient address to give this  elegant
 marble the high polish cf which it is susceptible.  If it could  be
 conveniently transported to England, it would certainly be held in
 great estimation.  In the front of the churches there  are  several
 sculptures of Genoese workmanship.   We visited one of the hos-
 pitals belonging to the Greek fathers for the reception of  infirm,
 tick, and insane persons.   Of the latter description we saw three
 men and two women.
   We paid a visit to the superior of the Catholics, by name Ti-
 moni, whom we found to be a very agreeable, well informed, and
 studious  man.   The family of Tiunoni has long borne a very dis-
 tinguished  reputation among the Catholics of Constantinople.  Wc
 walked afterwards to the hospital for the reception of lepers,  situa-
ted in a valley on the north-west side of the town, from which it
 is distant about a mile and a half, or two miles.  This building is
 a very airy, extensive, and comfortable residence for these unfor-
 tunate people,  nearly two hundred of whom of both sexes resided
 in it at the time of our visit.  They were all adults, children not
 bring liable to this disease, which does not manifest itself until about
 the age of fifteen.   Different apartments are assigned to the males
 and females.   Those we saw appeared to be  in general from thirty
 to forty years of age; but others were still older.  Several of them
 had lost  one or hoth  the  eyes ; others the fingers and toes ; and
 others again the nose.  The limbs of the greater part of these un-
fortunate wretches were in a contracted state, with swelling of the
hands and legs.  The eruptions were more  numerous in the face
 than in any other part.  The disease, indeed, is confined to the legs,
arms, and face,  the  body  being  externally free from its attacks.
±raong these leprous subjects it was productive internally of cough,
hoarseness, pain in the stomach,  and difficulty of digestion, in ad-
dition to which the females complained of a continual vertigo and
pain of the  head.
  With respect to  the more prevalent diseases of  this island, the
small-pox was,  at the  time of our arrival, very general among
rhe children,  of whom  it swept off great numbers.   I was inform-
ed that scrophulous swellings arc comiiion among the inhabitants, 
3^0
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
hut are removed without much difficulty.   They are also subject
to phthisis and hemoptisis, the former being frequently fatal: the air
of  the island is indeed considered as too stimulating to the lungs.
The instances of longevity at Scio are very few ;  and  I could not
learn that any of the  inhabitants  pass their  eightieth year.   As a
proof, however, that the island is not generally deemed unhealthy,
it has been selected as  the residence of several valetudinarians from
different parts of Europe.  Among these a very rich Englishman,
named Bradbridge, of an eccentric character, retired  to Scio on
account of the deranged state of his health,  which was considera-
bly improved by a  long residence on  this  island.   He  died  there
about fifteen years before our arrival.
   From beneath the rock,  which  I have already described as being
the site of the school of Homer, a spring of water issues, which is
celebrated for its purity and medicinal properties.  It is resorted to
by all the valetudinarians of Scio,  who ascribe to  this water a diu-
retic quality.  It is indeed  so much extolled, and held  in such ge-
neral estimation, that  large quantities of it are occasionally sent to
Constantinople,  for the use of the  Grand Seignor and of the serag.  f
lio.   Every part of the island is  supplied  with  delicious  water,
which is  conveyed bv  aqueducts from place to place for the use of
the  inhabitants of the different villages.
   I should have observed, that the cultivated lands are in general
enclosed by stone walls from two to three feet in height, which are
extremely useful  in particular situations,  more  especially on the
sides of the more elevated mountains, which are  cultivated almost
to their summits.   During the falls of rain the waters are prevented
by these walls from carrying down the soil,  as well as the produce
•f the inclosures,  into the vallies beneath.
   We sailed from Scio on the 5th, at half past ten in the morning.
At the time of  our departure,  the Greeks were preparing to cele-
brate the festiv ' >f St. George.   About five o'clock on the follow-
ing morning wc were  in the gulf of  Smyrna,  midway between
Carabaroun and the island of Mitylene, the territory surrounding
Smyrna being distinctly in sight.   At half past twelve o'clock wc
arrived at Mitylene, and anchored in the harbour  of  Cdstro, or
Mitylene, the ancient Lesbos, the birth-place of  so many learned
persons,  whose celebrity  has  been handed down to  our times.
Pittacus, the poet Alcceus, Sappho, Epicus,  Theophrastus,  and
Biophancs, are  among the many great and extraordinary characters 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.           3'2I
 this island produced ;  and it was there  that Aristotle spent two
 years of a life devoted to study and retirement.
   Castro has two ports, or harbours, one to the north-east of the
 town, the other open  to the east and south-east winds,  with two
 light-houses to  direct  the entrance  of vessels  in the  night-time.
 To the right a citadel or castle, built by the Venetians, is situated
 on a height which commands both the town and the vessels lying
 in the  harbours.   We  anchored in the latter of them,  and imme-
 diately went on shore.   In coming directly from Scio to Mitylene,
 the traveller views the  latter island  to a great  disadvantage,  as it
 wants  the delightful luxuriance and  richness of scenery by which
 the former  is so eminently distinguished.    The north-west side,
•"however, of the island, which we coasted in coming into port, is
 covered  with flourishing olive-trees, and with  corn-fields in the
 neighbourhood of the different villages.
   The town of Castro, through which we walked, is not so large
 as that of Scio.   The streets are narrow, but paved; and the hou-
 ses resemble those of Constantinople,  with tiled roofs,  and with
 fronts either of wood or covered with white plaster.   The bazars
 were at this time well supplied.  In this place there are a great num-
 ber of taverns, the wine sold  in which, of the growth  of the
 island, is  tolerably good, and sold at the rate of from ten to twelve
 paras the oke,  or measure.  We saw several works in which the
 oil is extracted in considerable  quantities from the olives: there are
 also at Castro several manufactories of soap.
  The costume  of the females differs but little from  that of the
 women of Scio, with the exception of the head-dress,  which has
 a truly singular appearance.  Behind  the crown  of the*head a kind
 of fan, in breadth about five or six inches,  rises to  the height of
seven or eight,  and has an elevation of about twpjnches above the
forehead in  front.  This ornament,  if it caij merit that name, is
usually made of cotton ; and a handkerchief is thro/n over it when
the wearer  goes abroad.   A head-dress of such a description is
certainly neither neat nor becoming.   That which covers the body
is worn  of somewhat a greater length than at Scio.  The dress of
the men is precisely the same.
  Castro contains about two thousand houses, and nearly ten thou-
sand inhabitants,  in the proportion  of five  Greeks to one Turk.
They have neither a neat,  nor a very handsome appearance.  The
town, which is built in the form of a crescent, is situated at the
sides of hills, the gentle declivities cf which give it a very pleasing
                 (41) 
3**
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
 appearance.   Many fragments of plain and fluted columns, with
 other  remnants of architectural  ornaments, arc to be seen in the
 pavements, walls,  and houses; and many others lie scattered in dif-
 ferent parts  of the town,  to  attest the ancient existence of the
 handsome edifices  which stood on its site.   It seems to be univer-
 sally agreed  that the town  of Castro, or Mitylene,  was built on
 the ruins of  the celebrated city of Lesbos.
   With the  exception of grapes and figs,  there are but few fiuits
 cultivated in the environs of Castro.  In the gardens, in which the
 cypress and  terebintha  trees are planted for ornament, we saw an
 inconsiderable quantity  of  oranges.  The  town is supplied with
 water  of a good quality  by  the means of aqueducts.
   We were  desirous of proceeding  on our voyage on  the 7th; but
 the preceding night having been stormy,  with much lightning and
 rain, and the wind still blowing very fresh from the northward, our
 Reis did not think it prudent to quit the port.
   This  tempestuous weather continued without intermission until
 the 10th, and afforded us sufficient  leisure  to  amuse ourselves in
 the town of  Castro, and in its environs.  On the morning of that
 day, the weather being fine, and  the breeze moderate, we sailed;
 but were overtaken in the evening by a strong gale from the north,
 which raised so high a  sea that our  little vessel had some diffi-
 culty in struggling  with  the waves.   In the passage  between the
 island  of Mitylene and Cape Baba, on the side of the main land,
 there is a sunken  rock at nearly mid distance,  of which  our Reis
 was  under some apprehension.  About eleven o'clock  at night we
 supposed we  had cleared this rock, and left it on the larboard quar-
 ter,  keeping close  in with  the  main land.   In the course of the
 night we cleared Cape Baba,  on the coast of Anadolia, the island
 of Tencdos being in sight,  distant about thirty miles,  at the dawn
 of day.
  The wind be  fc  to the north-east on the morning of the I lth,
 we were preven^a from steering for Tenedos, as we had intended,
 and were obliged  to bear away in the direction of the main land.
 We at  length came to anchor nearly opposite to the island, at a lit-
 tle distance from Esca Stamboul, where we perceived the ruins of
 an extensive palace,  fronting the sea, with a capacious  arch, or
 gate-way, for its  entrance.   We landed, and noticed  among the
trees a considerable number of dwarf oaks,  interspersed amidst ex-
 cellent pasturage grounds for cattle. 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           32J
   At half past four in the morning of the 12th,  we sailed, and ar-
 rived two hours after at the island of Tenedos.   We disembarked,
 and having walked through the town, proceeded  to the neighbour-
 ing  lofty hills.  With the exception of these hills,  the land of the
 island has in general a flat surface.    The vallies are cultivated in
 vines,  with a few patches of corn;  but there are neither trees nor
 shrubs, with the exception of a few  solitary fig and mulberry trees.
 The island, however, open as it is,  has a pleasing appearance, the
 effect of which is  heightened by the  gentle slopes from the hills.  A
 few  houses are dispersed in the interior.  Those of the town, which
 is of a very inconsiderable extent, are mean, constructed of wood,
 and  tiled over.  The inhabitants arc composed of about a thousand
'Turks, and four hundred Greeks.  The principal trade consists in
 fhe  export of  wines.
   There are two forts at Tenedos, of which the one situated on the
 north-west side is the  principal, and is a work of some considera-
 ble importance and strength,  apparently of Venetian construction.
 That on the  eastern side is a small fort of little strength, which,
 is, however, calculated by its  position to annoy the  vessels enter-
 ing  the port,  in the case of a meditated attack.
   We paid a visit  to the English consul, by birth a Greek,  who
 could  speak  neither the English, French, nor Italian language.
 Among the little information we were enabled  to collect from him,
 we learned that the Mutine brig had arrived at the island on the
 8th of March, and had remained there two days.  She returned
 afterwards, at  the time when Lord Elgin, the  British ambassador
 at Constantinople,  made an excursion to Athens, and followed his
 Lordship to that destination.
   On  the  island  of  Tenedos there  are  fine  flocks of sheep,
 which find an excellent pasturage on the hills^.  The mutton is
 cheap ;  as is also the wine of the country,  which is of a very su-
 perior quality.
  The wind having shifted round to  the north-.,v.st,  we  sailed at
 noon, and at three  o'clock P. M. passed the \s\e of rabbits.  At
 seven in the evening we anchored close under Sige, or Sigaum,  a
 city  of Troas; but were  prevented by the calms which  came on
 from entering the strait of the Dardanelles.
  We sailed early on the morning of the 13th ;  but were soon af-
 ter becalmed.  At seven o'clock a breeze sprung up from the north-
 west by which wo were enabled to  reach  Cettlebahar, the  castle
 fituated on the European shore of the Dardanelles,  on the south 
3H
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
side of which wc anchored at ten o'clock.    Th$  wind becoming
in a little time more favourable, our Reis was induced to attempt
the passage of the straits;  but,  after several fruitless efforts on his
part, we were carried by the very rapid current towards the Asia-
tic shore,  and were  obliged to come to  anchor below thej castle,
between it and Sigwum.   Several other vessels had recourse to the
same expedient,  the wind  being in a contrary  direction to the navi-
gation of the Dardanelles. We landed at Coombcaliy to purchase
the articles of which  we stood in  need; and having amused our-
selves by a promenade on the banks of, the celebrated, Scamander,
visited once again the plain  of Troy, and having  mounted to  the
tomb of Palroclus,  returned to the vessel.
  Coombcaliy is a miserable town inhabited by Turks, which owes.
the little importance  it possesses to its commanding situation at  the
entrance of the straits, where there are two forts, one on each side,
of sufficient strength to annoy any  vessels which should  attempt
to force a passage.
   Wc sailed at six in the  morning of the 14th, with  the wind at
east;  but our crew were soon after obliged to tow the vessel, with
a view  to get her over  to the European side.  At eight o'clock,
the wind having shifted to the north-west, wc bore awav for Irn-
bros, from which island we were distant, an hour  after, about six
miles.   We now tacked and stood away for Cettlebahar.  At half
past one o'clock P. M.  we anchored in a fine bay, about two mile*, i
to the north  of the castles  of Cettlebahar.    On the summit of
the north point  of this  bay there is a fort mounting twentv-four
guns, beneath which we dropped anchor-, waiting  for the first fa-
vourable breeze  which might spring up to convey us to Shenna-
cally.   In the course of the last twenty hours we had been repeat-
edly driven over from the  European to  the  Asiatic,  and thence
again to the European side.   At half past two  o'clock, however,
the wind having  , come more favourable, we sailed, and were at
length enabled to come to  anchor under Cape  Baba, on the Asiatic
shore, distant from Shennacally about six or seven miles, at  half
past seven in the evening.
   On the 15th,  at half  past nine o'clock, we weighed anchor, and
arrived at Shennacally  at half past eleven.   Having dropped an-
chor, we went on shore to pay a visit to the consul, and  returned
on board at one  o'clock P. M.  when wc   ed  with a fair breeze
from the south-west.   At half past six in the evening we passed
Lampsacus, a small town on the Asiatic side, situated in a very 
              SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.           32$

 fine and fertile country.   At eight o'clock we passed Gallipoli, on
 the European side of the Dardanelles,  the territory adjoining to
 which is also very fertile, abundant harvests of corn being collected
 on the gently sloping hills which rise from the sea shore.
   We were becahned on the 16th in the morning in the Straits of
 St, George, the Marmora islands bearing north-east, distant about
 thirty miles.  At eight o'elock we had a slight breeze from the
 south and south-east,  whicli  enabled us to make some way.   We
 saw  a considerable number  of  vessels a few miles a head of us.
 The greater part of the day was cold and showery.   At midnight
 we passed the south-west extremity of  the island  of Marmora ;
 and at  three the  following morning cleared  the  island,  and stood
 for Constantinople, with light  winds and occasional  calms.  At
 seven in the evening  we  were abreast of,  Cachouk Chekmege, at
 which  time several of the headmost vessels appeared to be entering
 the harbour of Constantinople.
   On the morning of the 18th we were overtaken by calms, which
 obliged our crew to tow and row the vessel.  At eight o'clock we
 passed the seven towers;  and were soon after taken from the caick,
 and conveyed in a boat to Tophana,  which place we reached at ten
 o'clock.   We were informed on our arrival, that Colonel Hollo-
 way and Major Hope had quitted Constantinople on their  way to
 England, six days before.   We lost no time in engaging a row-
 boat  to convey us to Varno on the Black Sea.
   On the 20th I called on Mr.  Stratton, the British secretary of
 legation, who desired the principal dragoman, or interpreter, Mon-
 sieur Pesani, to procure me a firman, and to make the necessary
 arrangements for my journey to Vienna, by  the route of Varna.
 The  firman, or  passport, which I  obtained in consequence,  was
 similar to  those customarily furnished  by the government of the
 Sublime Porte to all persons,  not Turkish suhjects/passing from
 one part of the Ottoman dominions to another;   .wj.-se firmans are
 not only a protection to the traveller, but contain.an injunction to
 all the pachas, or governors, of the Turkish  provinces and towns,
 to forward him on his  route,  and supply him with every requisite
 his necessities may demand.
   On the 21st I went from Tophana to Buyukdere, to wait there
until  circumstances should be favourable to my departure.  I  had
occasion, however, to lament, upon my arrival at Constantinople,
that the British ambassador, Lord Elgin,  was then at Athens, on
account of the ill state of his health. 
3*6
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
                        CHAPTER  XXI.

 Embarkation at Buyukdere.  Arrival at Vami.  Yenipazzar.  Rasgat.  Ap-
   prehensions from banditti.  Rouzchook.   Georgival.   General terror on ac-
   count of the approach of Paswan Oglou.  Embarkation for Galatz in Mol-
   davia.  Torkotoi.   Mills elevated on boats.  Villages on fire.  Silistria.
   Distreffing scene of devastation.  Voyage on the Danube.  Description of tbi
   vessels.  Banks of the Danube.  Fugitives from banditti. Rossovat.  Gir-
   sow.  Galatz.  Borlat.  Yassi.  Entrance into  Poland,   Chernowich.
   Journey through part of "Polini.  Salt pits at Wiliska.   Cracow.  Shottau.
   Silesia.  Neislischene.  Arrival at Vienna.  Vaccine inoculation introduced
   there.  Cathedral of St. Stephen.  Widden theatre.  Imperial library.  Me-
   nage.  Theatre De La  Cour.  Cabinet of m/dals.  General hospital.  Ca-
   binet of natural history. New and singular opinion on the brain.   Hospital
  for lunatics.  Anecdote  relative to the emperor Jofeph  //.  Imperial palate
   at Schombrun.  Menagerie.   Observatory.   Model of our  Saviour's se.
  pulcbre.  Arsenal.   Collection of pictures.  Departure from Vienna.

     BEING provided with  a firman, and several   letters of recom-
      mendation, I embarked at  Buyukdere on the evening of the
2)d of May on board a boat, for the purpose of crossing the Black
Sea.   We quitted the harbour at midnight,  and on the  following
morning  at six o'clock passed the second castle on the European
side of the Bosphorus.  At the expiration of  three hours  we  an-
chored in a bay to the north of the third castle on the same side of
the Bosphorus, where we remained until nine in the evening, when
we sailed with the wind at north-east.  On the  morning of  the
25th we appeared to have run about fhirtv-six miles: but the wind
failing, our people were obliged to  have  recourse to their oars'. ,
About ten o'clock A. M. the breeze freshened ; and at four in  the
afternoon  we passed  Midge,  with  very pleasant  and  agreeable
weather.
   On  the 26th, at  ten in  the  morning,  we were abreast of  Cape
Baba, which, according to the computation of  our crew, is dis-
tant from  Varna, in Bulgaria, about an  hundred and  twenty
miles.   At four in the afternoon we passed the gulf of Poros Le-
man, and  on the following morning,  at one o'clock, anchored  at
the entrance of the gulf of  Varna,  the contrary  wind opposing 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.
3*7
  sur further  progress.   We  sailed at sun-rise,  and  about seven
 o'clock in the morning anchored near Varna,  a town of Turkey
 in Europe, in the province of Bulgaria.
    I went on shore at that place, and waited on the governor,  Os-
 man/iga, for whom I  had brought letters, and to whom I pre*
 seated my firman, in order that he might issue the necessary com-
 mands to  expedite me on my route to Rouzchook and  BoucharSst.
 I took up my residence in the mean time at the house of the Greek
 bishop.   In the evening I was informed that a party of Turks  and
 Qreeks were to set out on the following morning for thesame des-
 tination ;  and of this favourable opportunity f availed myself with-
 out hesitation.
   At seven in the morning of the 28th we left Varna,  in a kind of
 covered  waggons slightly constructed, called arabars, of which I
 was obliged  to  engage three, for myself, servant, and luggage.
 These vehicles are very small and narrow,  somewhat resembling
 our ammunition waggons,  and are drawn by one horse.   They
 are so contrived as to enable  the traveller to Jay himself down at
 his full  length;  and the hire of one of these conveyances, from
 Varna to  Rouzchook, or Rutzig, on the eastern bank of the Da-
 nube, a journey which occupies four or five days, is eighteen pias-
 tres.  During the early  part of the  day our  road led through.a
 woody  and hilly country,  interspersed with a few wretched and
 Solitary  huts,  the inmates of  which were, however, hale and  ro-
 bust.   Towards  the concluding  part of the journey we passed
 through several fine, extensive, and well cultivated vallies, abound-
 ing in different kind* of corn, and more particularly in rye.   The
 woods consist of dwarf oaks,  hazels,  black and white thorns, and
 a very considerable number of pear-trees ;  but there are  few trees
 of a growth calculated for timber.   In proportion to the cultivated
 lands there are but few villages.   On the slopiijg'downs there  are
 nch pasturages, in which we saw great numbers  of oxen,  cows,
 buffaloes,  horses, sheep,  and  goats.   The breeds  of horses and
 oxen are small:  The latter,  and the  buffaloes, are  employed to
 draw the arabars of the peasants.   The inhabitants  of some  of  the
 villages pay a particular attention to grazing ; while in others they
grow corn, and cultivate vineyards.   There are no enclosures, ex-
cept those  for vineyards in the vicinity of the different villages.  At
half past five in the evening we crossed a river, and halted  on the
opposite bank for the night.   On account of  the numerous hordes
of robbers  which infested this country, we avoided as much as pos- 
128           TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
 sible the approach to any village, the disposition of the inhabitants
 of which had not been well ascertained.
   We  set out at four in  the  morning of  the  29th, and  passed
 through a very fine and rich country, abounding  in pasture grounds,
 on which numerous flocks and herds were  grazing.   We saw an
 abundance of poultry, several waggons laden with which we met
 on'the road.   Our journey was infinitely agreeable over fertile and
 richly cultivated plains, resembling those  of the  most* productive
 parts of England.   At half past eight o'clock  we halted for two
 hours.  We fell in with  several caravans,  or large  companies of
 travellers, on our route,  this being, from  motives of  security, the
 custom  of  travelling in  this  country.   The  inhabitants,  when
 abroad, are constantly armed.   The progress we made was at the
 rate  of about three miles and a half in the hour; and at half past one
 o'clock we arrived at Yenipazzar, inhabited principally by Turks,
 with an inconsiderable number of (Weeks.    The houses are con-
 structed of laths and plaster, with tiled roofs ; but the poorer class
 of inhabitants dwell in caves, over which athatched roof is thrown<
 The town is surrounded  bv a  mud wall, and a  dry ditch, with a
 gate at each extremity.   We made a short stay there ; and having
 afterwards proceeded to the distance of six miles, passed through a
 village called Oukboudan,  composed of wretched thatched  huts.
 At six in the evening we  halted at  another poor village,  called
 Tekerkew, where we passed the night.
   On the 30th we  set out at four in  the morning, and at the end
 of two hours came to the village of Shemlah, where we made a
halt.  At  half past ten we reached another village, delightfully si-
 tuated at the side of a fine wood of oak-trees.    The surrounding
 scenery  was beautiful and romantic.   At half past six in the even-
 ing we reached the vicinity of Rasgat, a large town, which con-
tains several mosques, and there reposed ourselves for  the night.
   Wc set out at the accustomed early hour, on  the 31st, and in a
little time  readied the above place,  where we spent two hours in a
 han, or  kann, destined, as I have already explained, for the accom-
 modation  of travellers and their beasts,  as well as for the reception
 of the merchandize they carry with  them.  The town of Rasgat
has two gates, and is surrounded by palisadoes and mud walls.  The
 inhabitants are a mixture  of Greeks and T'urks.    Having proceed-
ed on our route, we halted for two hours in the middle of the day,
 and at seven in the evening took up, as usual, our quarters for the
 night in our •arabars.  As soon as we had halted, a part of the ta* 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.          J29
 ravan was formed into a guard, to  keep watch for the night; a
 necessary precaution to prevent an attack, to which the traveller is
 continually exposed.
   On the 1st of June we set out at four in the morning,  and at six
 entered the town of Rouzchook, where 1 immediately took up my
 residence in one of the hans.  I had there the good fortune to meet
 with a Greek merchant named Keriyahcoh Polizio,  who paid me
 the most friendly attentions, and gave me the best counsel for the
 further prosecution of my journey.   He had himself been obliged
 to fly from Bucharest, together with all the principal inhabitants,
 the consuls, and others, inconsequence of the dreadful menaces of
 the banditti by Whom the country was at that time desolated, and
 the approach of Paswan OgloiCs  troops.  The  Prince still re-
 mained  there with a  few  of his followers ; but the consuls had
 deemed it more prudent to proceed  to Cronstadt. I went with the
 above gentleman to pay  a  visit to the dragoman of the Prince of
 Bucharest, then at Rouzchook, but who  was on the point of his
 departure for Constantinople, and who-gave me  a letter to the Ca-
 picahchiah at Geoigival,  to aid me on my route  to Bucharest.
 Georgival is situated on the western  side  of the Danube; and it
 is there that travellers from  Rouzchook stop to procure arabars, and
 whatever besides is necessary for  their journey by Bucharest to
 Vienna.   I  was, however,  thrown into  a great dilemma in the
 evening  by the news  which arrived from  BucJiarest, that the
 prince and his people had betaken themselves to flight  on account
 of the approach and  menaces of Paswan  Oglou.   This unlucky-
 circumstance  forced me to  alter my plan,  and   to make new ar-
 rangements.
  Rouzc/iook is pleasingly situated  on the  eastern  banks of the
 Danube,  and is a place of considerable extent, inhabited by Turks
 and Greeks.   Being  the only  town possessing an open and free
 trade in that quarter at the  time  of my arrival,  all  the merchan-
dize had been brought thither, and  the  bazars  well supplied with
 commodities of every description.  In the course  of the morning
 of the 2d a vessel arrived with merchandize and several passengers,
 Gervtnans, from Vienna, bound  to Galatz in Moldavia. It was
 expected that she would  prosecute her voyage  on  the following
day; and as the distressing  advices  from Bucharest were confirm-
ed,  it was recommended  to me to take a passage  in this vessel to
(rafatz, the  Greek merchant engaging to supply me with le'ters
                (  42 ) 
330
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY/
of recommendation, &c.  to  the  Russian and Imperial consuls at
Yassi. , r.
  I  embarked on board the above  vessel on the 4th at live in the
morning.  The captain spoke a little Italian, though he  was by
birth a Greek.  My fellow travellers consisted of an Italian,  bro-
ther to the Imperial  consul at Galatz,  who  spoke the German
language with much fluency, two Germans,  and a Greek.  Soon
after we embarked the sky became overcharged with heavy clouds,
which indicated the approach of a  storm, and induced our captain
to wait for more settled and favourable weather.   It cleared  up at
three in the afternoon,  when  the  anchor  was  weighed, and wc
got  under  way with a  smart  breeze from  the north,  our  crew
tiring a salute of musketry, between each  discharge of which the
Italian sounded his trumpet.   The  wind freshened soon  after
to such a degree,  that we were obliged to anchor  a  little below
the town.
  We were detained on the 5th by the stormy weather until  two
in the afternoon,  when we  took our departure, and in  less than
half  an hour passed the town of Geoigival.  The current setting
in our favour, we made a pretty rapid progress by  the aid  of ou;
twelve oars, and at half past seven in the evening  came to anchor
for the night.  On the following morning we set out before break
of day ;  and at three in  the afternoon passed Torkotai,  a small
town very  romantically situated on the banks of the Danube.  The
hills adjacent to this town are laid  out in fine vineyards, intersper-
sed with  bushy trees: on  the  north-east side there are hanging
woods which are continued for several miles, and have a very  plea-
sing and  picturesque effect.  Opposite to the town there are seven
water mills, each of them dependant  on two boats moored across
die river, in one of which the mill is placed, while the other sup-
ports the wheel stationed in the centre, between the two.   On the
present occasion I  had  seen mills  of this kind  for the first time;
but I was told that they are  employed on  every part  of the Da-
nube. When we had proceeded three or  four miles from the town,
our vessel  ran aground on one of  the small islands which are  scat-
tered in great numbers on  the sides of the river;  and bv this  acci-
dent we were detained for upwards of an hour.   Immediately op-
posite to  our position,  on the eastern side  of the river, we per-
ceived a neighbouring village in flames,  and concluded it to  have
been set on fire by one of the bands of robbers by whom the coun-
try  was infested.   At half past seven  in the evening we anchored 
SYRIA,  ECYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.           J3I
 on the western bank of the Danube, and nearly opposite to Si-
 listria.  The weather was  at  this time  stormy and "unpleasant.
 One of the'officers  of our vessel immediately went on shore with
 the  papers and passport furnished  to  him by  Paswan Oglou at
 Belgrade ; but was desired to return again on the following morn-
 ing.
   We weighed anchor on the 7th a little before noon, on the above
 officer coming on board with the necessary permission,  and were
 not long in passing the town and castle.   The latter, and  the de-
 fensive works which have been  thrown up, are of little importance.
 The town, built on the eastern bank of the Danube, is of inconsi-
 derable extent, and is situated in the midst  of a fine and fertile, but
 hilly country.  The mills employed by  the inhabitants are of the
 same contrivance as at Torkotai.  There are no less than fourteen
 mosques in Silistria; but the houses are as  wretched as those of the
 greater part  of the towns in Turkey.   The adjacent hills are co-
 vered with fine vineyards, and with an abundance of lofty trees, to
 decorate the scenery.
   The day proved very sultry, with  little or no wind; but a storm,
 accompanied by thunder and lightning,  coming on towards  the
 evening, we anchored at sun-set on the  western side of the river.
 We  had noticed at three o'clock in  the  afternoon another village
 on fire ; and as soon as we came to  anchor, a distressing scene pre-
 sented  itself to our view.  A considerable number of men, women,
 and children,  rhe wretched  victims  of the conflagration  we  had
 witnessed, were  assembled at the  water-side,  and had conveyed
 thither the little property  they  could collect  together,  consisting
 principally of arabars,  oxen, and sheep.
   After having passed a very stormy night, we weighed anchor on
 the 8th before day-light;  but the force of  the wind augmented so
 considerably,  that we were soon  after obliged to anchor on the east
 side of the Danube.  At Silistria we had received  on board three
 Turks, as guards;  our number,  therefore,  was now augmented to
twenty-five  individuals, consisting of (Weeks,  Germans, Itali-
ans,  English, Turks,  and Wallachians.  The  latter,  twelve in
number, composed the crew ;  and, as the vessel  was unprovided
 with sails, had a very  laborious  employment in  rowing and steer-
 ing htr when  under  way.   The construction  of these  vessels,
 which  navigate  the  Danube with passengers  and merchandize, is
somewhat singular.   They are  in length  about an hundred  and
twenty feet, and in breadth eighteen, with a roof of planks, about 
33*
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY.
fifty feet in length,  in the centre, which resembles the ridge of a
house, and beneath which the  most valuable merchandize and the
passengers are placed.  Under this roof  the traveller fancies him-
self  rather in a house,  or booth, than in a vessel: over it there is
a kind of terrace, about seven feet square, which may be consider-
ed as a species of kiosque, and which, as it commands a fine view
of the scenery on each side of  the river, artcias a pleasing retire-
ment in  the evening.  These  vessels, which are so  deeply laden
that  they sink as low in the water as oiir  heavy barges, come from
Vienna with  goods  of every description for Galatz and Yassi in
Moldavia.  They are provided, in  the fore  part, with  twelve
oars  of a moderate size;  two very large ones,  which  appeared to
me to be from forty to fifty feet in length,  at  the bows ; and two
others of the  same  description at  the stern,  to' answer the purr
pose  of a helm,  in regulating the direction  of the vessel.   Being
destitute  of masts and rigging to steady them, they are constantly
anchored near the shore when it blows fresh, as well as in the night
time.
  On the west side of the Danube the country consists of fine le-    \
vels; while, on the eastern side, its banks are skirted by a chain of    j
fertile hills, covered with fine woodland scenery.   This river has,
towards its banks, a very considerable number  of small islands, on
which trees have  been planted with a very agreeable  effect.   Its,
greatest breadth does not exceed a mile and a half.
  The weather was  so  stormy on the 8ih  that we were detained
until half past seven in the evening,  when  the anchor was weigh-
ed.   We shortly  after saw a party of fugitives whom the banditti
had attacked, assembled on the  eastern  bank of the river; and at
half past eight o'clock*were abreast of Rossovat, a small town si-
tuated on the same bank.   We anchored  at midnight,  and reposed
ourselves until  three  in  the morning, when we again prosecuted
our passage down the Danube,  with the most agreeable weather
imaginable, but  with melancholy reflections  resulting from the
wretched condition of the inhabitants, whom we saw dispersed on
each  side on its banks.   At half past seven o'clock in the morning
we passed Sooda, a small village situated on a hill,* on the eastern
side  of the river; and at half past eight  were abreast  of another
village on the same bank,  called Chcke+gc.   At ten o'clock  we
were off Kersewai,  or  Giisow, a small town on the  same side of
the river,  to which we sent on shore for a supply of provisions and
wines.  Near  this place, on a rocky hill, there is a small and  in- 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           J3J
 significant castle situated at the river side, which had been attack-
 ed about eleven years before by the Russians, the remains of whose
 Works, by which the fortress was completely commanded, we saw,
 as they had been thrown up on the adjacent hills.   It is said that
 in the attack  made  by th? Russians  at  Girsow, the  Turks lost
 eighty thousand men.  At seven in the evening we passed a village,
 on the western bank, called by the Turks Bourockfen, and came
 to anchor an hour after.  In our passage of this day we found the
 river had several abrupt and sudden turnings, and was in some pla
 ces very narrow.
  On the yth,  at four  in  the  morning, we weighed anchor, and
 soon  after ran aground.  The navigation of the river in this part
 is indeed rendered extremely  intricate and  difficult, by the small
 islands thrown up, the passage between which  draw the current;
 insomuch that  the  conducting of our vessel, so peculiarly  con-
 structed,  required much caution and circumspection, to shun the
 points of land at the different  turnings.    At half past five o'clock
 in the morning we passed a small  village on  the western bank,  and
 at seven were abreast of Ibrael, a town pleasantly situated on the
 same side of  the river, opposite to which lay several vessels  from
 the Black Sea.    We were delayed two hours by the person who
 was  sent, to the above  place with  the  pass, which  prevented  us
 from reaching Galatz  before  twelve o'clock.   Notwithstanding
 I was at so great a distance from my native home, the reflection
 that I was now in a land inhabited by Christians, inspired me with
 a tranquillity  to which  I had  been long a stranger.  As soon as
 we had anchored  I  landed  with  my baggage, and  called on the
 Imperial consul, Signor Mangoli, with whom I dined, and was
 not a little surprised in rhe afternoon at the appearance of an Eng-
 lish courier, Mr. Duff,  who was  on his route from Constantino-
ple to Vienna.  It gave me great  satisfaction to be enabled to ac-
 company him on the following morning.  Galatz is situated in the
 territory of Moldavia,  and is principally  inhabited by the natives
 of the  country.   The land adjacent to it is level, as it also is on
 the opposite bank.  Indeed, during the last two days of our navi-
 gation, the country on each side of the river presented but few un-
 even surfaces.
  Having procured three arabars and twelve horses for om journey,
wedeft Galatz at five in the morning of the  10th; and at half past
seven arrived at the village of Peke, the first stage, having perform- 
334           TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
 ed a distance of nearly tvtenty miles;   The  horses of the country
 are small,  but fleet,  and on these journeys are kept constantly on
 the gallop.   We left the above village,  the cottages of  which are
 very neat, at eight o'clock, and a hula  after ten reached Korme,
 the second stage.  The country through which we passed abounds
 in fine sloping hills, having a rich soil, though but little attended
 to with respect to cultivation.   Where due pains are bestowed on
 them,  however,  they yield an ample produce of different kinds of
 grain.   We left this village at half past  ten,  and passed  through a •
 fine country, abounding in dwarf oaks, which brought us to Reg?,
 where we arrived at  half past twelve.  We reached the next st^ge,
 Borlat, a  very respectable town,  at three o'clock, and proceeded
 thence to Colineh, where we arrived at six in  the evening, and took
 refreshments at the post-house:  We  next proceeded to Ifastow,
 whicli we reached at nine o'clock ; ami, finally arrived at Ounche-
 stey at midnight, glad to repose ourselves after so long and fatigu-
ing a journey.
   On the  11th, at four  in the morning, we left Ounchcstcy,  and
 arrived at Scenty an hour after.  We were detained there for some \
 time, in consequence of  one of the horses having strayed from the
 post-house; and this prevented us from reaching Yassi, the capital
 of Moldavia, a province of Turkey in Europe, until betwoen eight
 and nine o'clock.  We alighted at the house of the Imperial con-
 sul with whom we dined.    On approaching the above  place the
 country is beautifully romantic.
   We left Yassi at three in the afternoon, and at half past four ar-
 rived at Largah, where having made a short stay, we again set out,
 and arrived at Chepot at  seven in the evening.   The road leading
 from Yassi to this place is very agreeable, over fine hills, which
 have not,  however,  the advantage of being well  cultivated, the in-
 habitants appearing to attend to little more than their own imme-
 diate supplies.   The  country is open, and entirely divested of trees
 and shrubs. Our next stage led us,  by an  excellent road, to Streist,
 where we arrived at nine  at night;  and  proceeded thence to Borda-
 sheen, which we reached at midnight, and reposed ourselves for a
 few hours.
   On  the morning  of  the 12th, at four o'clock, we set out for
 Dorhowe, a stage which occupied us  more than two  hours, the
 road having been rendered very heavy  by the rains which had fal-
 len on the preceding  day.  In  several of  the towns and villages «t
 Moldavia the inhabitants consist principally of Jews,  who are very 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.
33S
 numerous in every part of the country.   The Jewish females wear
 a peculiar head-dress, with a large pearl  ornament hanging  at the
 side of each cheek. From Dorhowewc proceeded, after a short stay,
 to Herts; and thence to the station, near Chernuwich,  where the
 director of the counter march resides.   It is there that the quaran-
 tine is performed,  and the passports and baggage inspected,  previ-
 ously  to the entry of  travellers into Germany.   On our reach-
 ing Chernowich at one in the afternoon,  we waited on the gover-
 nor, who was absent for the moment, and having proceeded  to our
 inn, purchased a calash, a well known travelling carriage.   Cher-
 nowjeh is a little town of West Gallicia,  a part of the territory of
 Poland, pleasantly situated at the side  of the river Prut.   The in-
' habitants arc principally Germans, with a few Poles.  We quitted
 this place at eight  in the evening, as soon as our baggage had been?
 fixed in the carriage; and at midnight arrived ztSnatten, where we
 allowed  ourselves  but a short repose.
 *  On the 13th, at the early hour of one  in the morning, we quit-
 ted the above place, and  at half past four arrived  at Veno Gratz,
 or Guasditch, a pleasing and well-built town, situated in the midst
 of a fertile country.   In performing this stage we had an excellent
 road.  Our next stages, each  of which occupied from two hours to
 two hours and a  half, were to Kotsmier, Slowmax, Stariitzslaf,
 and Alith,  at the latter of which places we arrived  at  six  in the
 evening, without having met with any remarkable occurrence  on our
 route.   The country through  which we passed  had an appearance
 of great fertility, and abounded in beautiful woodlands.   At Alich
 we saw the ruins of a castle,  situated  on  an eminence, which had
 anciently belonged to the kings of Poland.  At seven in the even-
 ing we quitted that  place for  Borstcm, whence we  proceeded to
 Knenitch, where we arrived at midnight.
                                   to
   We reached Strelitz at a very early  hour on the morning  of the
 14th, having made no  other stop on the road than that  which the
 necessiry of changing horses required,  and arrived at Bobberdah at
 five o'clock,  after a harassing journey over a rough and unpleasant
 road.  Our subsequent stages  were  Davctoff, Limberg, Bartadoff,
 and Crutuk,  at the latter of which places we dined.   The latter
 part of the road, in performing the above stages, is highly agreea-
 ble, beiug raised,  and  kept in excellent repair.   For  the distance
 of several miles it runs  in a direct line,  with  beautiful trees planted
 on each side.  This part of  Poland is flat,  but very fertile,  and
 contains many fine and extensive woods of beeches and oaks.  At 
33&            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

half past five in the afternoon we arrived at Wishucy, whence we
proceeded to Moschisca, Letching,  Perrigal, and Radimno, the
latter of which places we did not reach until one in the morning of
the 15th.
   We proceeded thence to Yarislow, Prizwork,  Lanzwork,  Res-
houf Seneshou, and Denbitier,  at which latter place wc dined at
two in the afternoon.   Our route led us afterwards to Pi/snoh, and
thence to Tarnow,  a pleasant little town,  containing several hand-
some edifices, and situated in a fine rural country.  In this part the
road still runs in a direct line, and is kept in excellent order.  The
other stages of this day's journey were Oktnitz and Presco, which
latter stage was not concluded  until one  in the morning  of the
16th.                                              •
   The stages we had to run on that morning were Posnia,  Gidow,
and  Wiliska,  the latter situated in the  vicinity of Cracow, or  Cra-
covia.  Wre stopped at this place, and  went to one of the directors
of the salt works established there   Permission having been ob-
tained from Baron Verney,  the governor of the establishment, we
descended the salt pits, in  which we spent three hours. During this
interval we visited a considerable part of the works, which are, how-
ever, carried beneath the  ground to  so considerable an extent,  that I
the pits are in depth a hundred and twenty-three  fathoms ; and the
descent into the different passages and subterraneous apartments ef-
fected by  the means of ropes attached to wheels worked  by horses.
These works  find employment for nearly  seven  hundred  people,
who are constantly engaged in  digging and blowing up the rocks
of fine salt.   In addition  to a  governor and lieutenant-governor,
there are four directors, and  an engineer, for their superintendence.
They are the property of the Emperor of Germany.  On the tops
and at the sides of the passages very beautiful crystallizations of salt
are formed,  by the dripping of the water through the salt rock.  I
brought away several specimens of  these crystallizations; and was
present at the removal of one of the columns of salt,  which are af-
terwards cut into lengths,  and into a figure resembling an egg, for
sale.  To be brief;  the salt works of  Wiliska, in Poland, which
run  beneath nearly half the town,  may  certainly be deemed the
finest in Europe; and the salt extracted from them is of the purest
quality.  After having dined with Mr.  Wolf, the director, wc took
coffee with Baron  Verney, the governor,  and left Wiliska at five
in the afternoon for Cracow,  the capital of Poland, where we ar-
rived an hour after.   Cracow is a large town, walled in and  fortifi- 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  &C.          337
  ed with a river, Jl'eissel  or  Weisser, running near to  its gates.
  It is well known that the  kings of Poland  were usually crowned
  here.  Our  next  stages were to Moselainii, Istebnick,  and W'a-
  dokwich; and our arrival at the latter place brought  us to  mid-
  night.
    On the morning of the  17th, at half past three o'clock,  we ar-
  rived at Candyr a town situated partly in  Poland, and partly in Si-
  lesia.   We proceeded from thence to Pelitz, and were now on the
  frontiers  of Austria.   It is a handsome town, containing several
  good buildings,  and is situated on a hill in a very agreeable coun-
  try.  Having quitted this  place, we proceeded to Shottau,  which
 has a few decent houses, resembling, however, all those to be met
  with in this part of  Germany, that is,  white-washed  and  low
  built.   Instead of tiles, they are covered by squares of wood, which
 in a little time acquire a dark colour, and give the roofs the appear-
 ance of being slated.   In their shape these houses  resemble  some-
 what those of China.  It  being the feast of Pentecost, or  Whit-
 suntide, the  inhabitants were, on our arrival, busied in preparing
 for the  procession which was to take place; and the various uten-
 sils employed at  the  mass, together  with the  decorations of  the
 chapels,  were fixed on  the walls in the form of altars, surmounted
 by branches  of the cypress  and other trees.   The inhabitants of
 Silesia  are. a distinct  people,  having a language  peculiar to  them-
 selves.  The country has a cheerful aspect, but is not so  fertile as
 Poland.  The women  wear red or black stockings, which,  being
 plaited,  make their legs appear uncommonly large.  In  front of a
 short petticoat, which does not reach below the knees,  they wear
 a short  blue apron; and on the  head a piece of white cotton, or
 linen, bound  round as a handkerchief.   About nine in  the morning
 we quitted Slwttau, and proceeded to Tishen, where  we saw,  on
 our arrival, the procession  of the host, attended  by  an immense
 concourse of people,  in their best attire. The military were drawn
 out to fire, a salute, and the streets strewed with grass for  the pas-
 sage of  die host,  which was carried by the  principal magistrates.
 At two  in the afternoon we arrived at  Freduk, which is, as well
 as the preceding place, an agreeable little town, containing several
 good buildings.  This part  of the country is highly agreeable ; and
 the positions of several of the towns and villages are rendered char-
 mingly  picturesque by fine and extensive woods and plantations of
.pines,, firs, aqffojher  trees.   We were detained at Freduk until
 half past four o'clock  by an accident which b'efel one of the wheel
                 (43) 
33%           TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

of  our carriage.   HavhVg replaced this wheel by a more solid otic,
w.e proceeded to  Neislischene,  a large and well built town, pro-
vided  with'a fortress, which we reached at seven in  the evening.
In  the centre of this  town, as  well as of several others through
which we passed,  there is a large square, surrounded by commodi-
ous and well-built houses, beneath  which arc piazzas,  with shops
for the sale  Of different  merchandizes.   Under the  piazzas the
inhabitants have  a sheltered promenade in  wet  weather.   We
quitted the above place, and reached Weiskerk a. little before mid-
night.
  At two in the morning  of the  18th we passed through a re-
spectable town called Lylnictz, and between the hours  of three
and four reached  our first stage,  Rosartgess,  having passed over a
very hilly and heavy road, in the midst of a violent storm, accqjn-
panied by thunder and lightning.   From this place we proceeded to
Ollmitz, a large,  well built, and fortified town,  which has,'how-
ever, but an  inconsiderable  trade.   Our subsequent stages, on this
day's journey,  were Prosnitz, Wischau, Pdsorzitz7 Brinn, a~ large
and populous fortified town, provided with a citadel, and  contain-
ing several handsome buildings;  Clay, Maariheif,  Nholscopurg,
and Porsdorf.
   We  were now approaching Vienna, having six stages only to
perform. On the 19th we passed successively through Wilfersdorf,
Girnesdorf,  Wulnersdorf,  Crizersdorf, and  TarmerHorf, ma-
king at each of these places the necessary halt to change horses,
and at eleven in the morning were safely arrived  in the capital  of
the Imperial dominions.
   Having procured a lackey to accompany me, and point oht what
was most deserving of notice at Vienna, I paid a visit to Mr. Stew-
art, secretary of legation, and left a letter of recommendation from
Mr. Stratton to  the  British minister, Mr. Paget.   I  dined with
several English gentlemen,  at the Augarten,  the saloon of which
is  very handsome,  and the gardens  prettily laid out and embellish-
ed.  We went afterwards  to  the prater,  or promenade,  without
the town,  where a great number of people  of all ranks and clas-
ses were assembled.   We spent the evening at the Imperial
theatre.
    Doctor Carro, a physician of celebrity at Vienna, to whom I
had an introduction, was at this time engaged in the practice of the
 vaccine inoculation, and informed me, on my paying him a morn-
 ing's visit, on  the 21st, that he had had five hundred cases, all of 
SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY,  fifC.
339
  w&ich had Ipeen attended, with  the mo,st complete success.   In the
"  afternoon I visited the cathedral church of 5/. Stephen, a very neat
  and compact tyiilding..   A party was made in the evening for the
  Wvfden theatre,  situated without the town, where  the French
  opera of  Alceste was well performed.  The price of admission to
  this, theatre,  which is a very handsome edifice, is one florin only, a
  much more reasonable rate of entrance than at oyr theatres.
    On the 2*2d I went to the church of St. Michael,  a,nd thence to
  the imperial library, a very fine building, containing a commodious
  suite of apartments,  supplied, it is said, with upwards of two hun-
  dred thousand volumes, comprehending  the most rare books in
  every language. Adjacent to the great hall there is a reading-room,
  which is  opened daily at certain hours to tb,e public: an individual
  can have the use of any book within this room.  I proceeded thence
  to the raeqage,  where everv one is at liberty to enter and ride at
  certain hours.  In the evening I visited the imperial theatre,, or, as
  it is styled, Theatre  de la  Qour, where an Italian opera was per-
  formed, and followed by a  ballet.   JJke all the German theatres,
  this edifice has a very gloomy appearance, on account of the want
  of lights  withinside.
    Colonel Holloway  and Major Hope, having  arrived at Vienna
  in the  course of  the preceding night, I dined in  their company on
  the 23rJ with Mr. Paget, the British minister, at Dibling, a small
  village  near Vienna,  very pleasingly situated at the side of the Da-
  nube.   The party was entirely English.  In the evening we went
  to  the theatre to see an Italian opera.
    On the 24th I visited the library and beautiful and choice cabi-
  net of medals.  I was shewn several very ancient manuscripts, and
  rolls of papyrus.  Arnopg the books of antique  date were an edi-
  tion of the Psalms in  Gothic characters, printed at Mentz in 1457,
  and Pliny's Natural History, printed at Venice on vellum in 1468,
  I accompanied Dr. Cairo in the afternoon to the general  hospital,
  a very extensive building, kept in the best order.   In the evening
  ( went to the  Widden theatre  to see the performance of Richard
  Cteur de Lion.
    On the  morning of  the 25th I visited the cabinet of natural his-
  tory,  which contains  a very fine and extensive collection  of mine-
  ralogy.  Dr. Gall,  a  physician at Vienna, in a  party this day, at
  which I was present,  gave a singular opinion on the brain and its
  functions,  in which he broached a new but dangerous doctrine.  In
  expatiating on the functions of this organ, he argued the possibility 
34°            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
of discovering the various inclinations and capacities by the struc-
ture of the skull, and by its elevations and depressions.   In doing
this, he dwelt on the important truths and conclu^i^/ris which would
result from the establishment  of such a doctrine, to the manifot
advantage of medicine, morals, education, legislation, &c. toge-
ther with the promotion of a more perfect knowledge of mankind
in general.   In laying down the principles which he was desirous
to apply to future observations,  he  advanced, firsr,  that capacities
and inclinations are innate in man and brutes: secondly,  that these
capacities and inclinations are seated in the brain: and lastly,  that
both the capacities and inclinations  being essentially different from
and independent of  each  other, they must consequently originate
in different parts of the brain, between which there is a like inde-
pendence.
  On the 26th I visited the hospital of the insane, called la Tour
des Four, at Rossau.   In  this lofty and capacious building between
two and three hundred persons of both sexes are confined, in apart-
ments kept in the nicest order.   An anecdote is recorded of the
Emperor Joseph the second, that having caused an apartment to be
fitted up for himself at the top of this tower, or building, to enjoy
the advantage of a fine and extensive prospect, one of the inmates
attacked him in a sarcastic epigram, inscribed  on  the wall.  It is  well
known that this  Emperor indulged  in many extraoidinary fancies
and wild speculations; and accordingly  the attack was couched in
the following words, in the forrn of an epitaph ;—" Hicjacet Jo-
" sephus Secundus, hie primus, ubique secundus."
  On the 2Tth I visited  the imperial palace at  Scombrun, a  very
superb building, standing in a delightful situation, and embellished
by beautiful walks, garden*, fountains, statues, grottoes, and plea-
sure-grounds, all open to  the public.   I  was conducted to the  me-
nagerie,  and   thence  to the observatory, which affords a fine and
extensive view of Vienna and its environs.   On my way to Scom-
brun 1 entered a church  at the village  of Herrals, where I  was
shewn the model of the  sepulchre of our Saviour at Jerusalem,
with other curiosities of a similar kind.   Having seen the original
sepulchre,  it  was not difficult  for mc to ascertain that the  model
was destitu'c of  all resemblance.
  Having dined at Schombrun,  I made an excursion to Dombach,
a very agreeable  and rural seaf, which had been ihe residence of the
late Field-marshal Lacy.   It was open  to the public, as is indeed 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.
341
 ie case with all the imperial buildings.   This indulgence-renders
 n abode at Vienna very agreeable.
  On the 28th I visited the arsenal,  in the  armoury of which the
 mall arms, in  very  considerable numbers, are prettily and fanci-
 ully arranged.    I went afterwards to view the very extensive col-
 ection  of  fine pictures, upwards  of thirteen hundred, many of
 hem the productions of the most celebrated masters, at Bclvidere;
 mt was prevented, by want of time, from inspecting them with a
 lue atteniion.  Having made an arrangement with Colonel  Hol-
 vway and Major Hope to  quit Vienna on the following morning,
 '. took up my residence at their inn, to be prepared for an early de-
 larture.
  The short stay which 1 made at  Vienna prevents me from at-
 empting a more circumstantial account of this city and the  envi-
 ons, which are well worthy the notice of travellers.  The inhabi-
 ants are extremely hospitable ; and the necessary articles of life are
it moderate prices.
                      CHAPTER XXII.

Jfrnrney through Germany.  Lintz.  Glandular swellings.  Dress of the wo-
 men in Bavaria.  Houfes.  Ratisbon.'  Franconia.  Dress oj the female pea-
 sants.  Wurtzbnrg.   The palace.  Citadel and bridge.  Esse:bach.  Es-
 chaffenberg.   Dettingen.   Hanau.   Frankfort.   KoCnigstein.   Seltzer
 Water.  Limbourg.   Dowz.  Dusscldorf.   Seat of" the prince Palatine.
 Dress of the peasants.  Duysbourg.  Wesel.  Arnheim.  Roads in Hol-
 land.  Face of the country and  cultivation.   Utrecht.  Rotterdam;  Hel-
 Toetslnys.  Arrival in England.

    ON the  29th  of June we quitted Vienna at half past five in the
     morning, and at eight o'clock arrived at Burkersdof, whence,
without loss of time, we  proceeded to the second stage,  Sichart-
tkirchfi, which  we reached at half past ten o'clock.   Our route
was over a very delightful  country, abounding in woods, sloping
hills, and well  cultivated vallies planted  with corn.   Our next sta- '
ges conducted us  to Perschling,  St. Pollen, and Molk, at the lat-
er of which places there is a fine benedictine  convent, most  opu-
lently endowed.   We arrived there about  sixin the evening, and 
342           TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
halted, for the night.   During this day's journey  we made a pro-
gress of about fifty-six miles.
  We left Molk at five in the morning of the 30th, and at half past
seven arrived at Kemmeback, hy good roads, which led over a very
fine and fertilercountry.   We proceeded thence, by direct- stagei,
to Amstaiten, Stringberg, Ens,  and finally to Lintz, a  small
hut handsome and well-built town, which we reached at six in the
evening, and halted for the night.   I noticed that in this part of the
country glandular tumours in the throat were very common among
the women.
   On the 1st of July we performed four stages,  in the course of
which  nothing particular  occurred.   Wc quitted Lintz  in  the
morning, at the usual  early hour,  and having successively stopped
at the posts of Efferding, Beyerbach,  and  Sigarding, arrivpd at
Scharding at three  in  the afternoon, halting there for the night.
We were now about to quit the Austrian territory, and to enter on
that of  Bavaria.
   We  set out from  Scharding  on the 2d, at half past five in the
morning, and arrived at Vilshoven, in the  Bavarian territory, at
eleven o'clock. In this part of the country the dress of the females,
which consists of a sable- garment, and a very large round black hat,
appeared to us very singular.   We arrived at Plathing  at an eariy
hour in the afternoon,  when we desisted, for that  day,  from the
further  prosecution of our journey.
  Nothing can exceed  in richness and luxuriance the  Austrian
territory through which we passed after our quitting Vienna: not
an acre  of uncultivated land was tp be seen.    In Bavaria the soil
is  not so good,  nor  are  the dwellings  of the inhabitants equally
respectable.   They -are  constructed of wood, with small  cabin
windows.   The Bavarians are a healthy, robust, and well look-
ing people.
  At five in the morning of the  'id we left Plathing, and in pur-
suing our route to Ratisbon, where we arrived at  half past twelye
o'clock, passed through the stages of Straubing, apd Pfaver. Ra-
tisbon,  the capital of Bavaria, is  a  fortified town situated on the
bank of the Danube.   The surrounding country is level,  and pro-
duces much corn, together with an  inconsiderable quantity of hops.
The roads in general, on the Bavarian territory, are excellent. On
our reaching Ratisbon we waited on Mr. Oafcley, the British mi-
nister, who was absent at the moment, but wlio called on us ip the
evening at our inn.
'4V  BB^' 
             SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY, &C.           343

 . On our departure from Ratisbon, early in the morning of  the
4th we crossed and quitted the Danube.  It was near eight o'clock
before we reached  Schambac,  by  a heavy and uneven road; and
were detained there until half past ten by the crazy condition of our
carriages,  wh.ch required  some time to repair.   The roads were
still rough and bad, which .prevented us from reaching  the next
stage,  Tisswan, until noon..  The. face of the country,  however,
began to improve.   Our subsequent stages were Tenning and Pos-
hour,  the latter of which we reached-in the afternoon.
  Our stage  from Posbour to Feuchl,  on the morning of the 5th,
was over a heavy  and sandy road which passed through extensive
woods of firs and .pines.   We  had now entered Franconia, where
the dress of the female peasants differs  essentially from that of the
bavarian women of the same class. The petticoat is worn of a great-
er length ; and instead of the large and clumsy black felt hat, they
wear a light one  of straw,which, combined  with  the other parts
of their dress,  gives them a neat  and agreeable appearance.   The
houses of the peasants are built  of stone, with high  well tiled
roofs, and with their gable ends towards the street. At half past six
o'clock we left Feucht for Nuremberg, a large and well-built for-
tified town.   In  performing  the  next  stage  we passed  through
Firlz, distant five miles from the latter place, a  small but neat town,
•very pleasingly situated in  a flat and fertile corn  country.  From
Fomback, our next stage,  we proceeded to Eviskirken, and thence
to Langerfeld and Possenheim, the  latter bringing us to our even-
ing's halt.
   The firststage from Possenheim to Kit zing, we performed  on
 the morning bf the 6th.  The country is rich,  and abounds in corn
 fields and  vineyards.   The road to  Wurtzburg  passes  through a
 fine open country, the gently  sloping  hills being laid out in vine-
 yards and fields of com.   Wurtzburg is a fortified town, very plea-
 singly situated in a rich valley.   It is the seat of an  university; and
 in addition to  its  very  handsome  cathedral, contains several fine
 churches.    The  palace of the Prince of  Wurtzburg is a very
 superb building. .  In  this  place,  which  contains about ten thou-
 sand inhabitants, there  are many  handsome edifices belonging to
 the more opulent  individuals.   The  citadel is on  the opposite side
 of the river, which  we  crossed  by a  fine bridge, and arrived at
 Rosbrun by excellent roads and through a.charming country/which
 has agreatresemblance to Poland.  ' From Rosbrun we-proceeded
 fc> Esielbaeh,  over good roads which led through a hilly countFv. 
 344           TRAVELS  IN ASIATIC TURKEY,

 We arrived there at half  past three  in the afternoon, and as wc
 could not obtain  horses to take us forward, were  obliged to re-
 main there for the night.
   We quitted Esselback on the  7th,  at five in  the morning, and
 proceeded to Rohrburn and Esschaffenburg, a  tiresome  journey
 over rough and bad roads, in  a hilly territory,  planted with woods
 of beech,  through which our road led.  Being obliged to  wait for
 horses at the latter of these places, we dined at the Three Crowns
 Inn, where we paid  a most extravagant charge.  We arrived at
 Dettingen  at two in the afternoon; and at  half past four reached
 Hanau, an agreeable,  neat,  and well-built  town, which contains
 a cathedral church, and  several handsome public edifices.  It be-
 longs to the principality of Hesse, and is regularly fortified.  The
 soil in the vicinity of this place is sandy, and produces fine crops of
 corn, potatoes,  and other vegetables.  The roads leading to and  '
 from the town are delightful,  having on each side rows of trees re-
 gularly planted. These avenues are very long, and afford a charm-  *
 ing  prospect, as well as an agreeable shade.
   On quitting Hanau to proceed to Frankfort, we passed near the i\
 palace of the Prince of Hesse, very agreeably situated to the left  of
 the town.   The road to the latter place is  kept in excellent order,
 and passes through a level country, well cultivated, and the soil  of
 which is very rich.  On our arrival, at seven in the evening, we
 took up our abode at the White Hart,  a  good  and  commodious
 inn.  Frankfort is seated upon the river Main,  and is  a fortified
 town, containing  about forty thousand inhabitants.  The streets
 are well paved and clean,  and the buildings handsome.   The gar-
 rison consists of ^bour. three  hundred Hessians.   Frankfort has
 long been distinguished by its very extensive commerce, as well as
 by the fairs which are resorted to by merchants and dealers of every
 nation in Europe.  The  inhabitants of this place and of  Hanau
 have a great resemblance,  in their dress and generaL appearance, to
 the English.
  We were busied on the 8 th, in making our arrangements, and in
 putting our  carriages into a state of repair, to set. out  for  Cologn
 on the following morning.   We  had hesitated whether we should
 proceed thither by land or water: The former mode was, however,
 considered as the most eligible.
  On the 9ih, at five in the morning,  wc  quitted Frankfort, and
arrived at Koenigstein at eight o'clock.  The first part of the road
is sandy ; but on approaching  the above place it becomes hard and
■0i 
              SYRIA,  EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           345

rorkv.  Adjacent to the town we saw, on an elevated and rocky
ground, the remains of a fortress,  which about  five years before
had been besieged and taken by the French, who had  blown up
the castle and works, and destroyed the greater part  of the houses
of the place, which belongs to the principality of Mentz.  At noon
we arrived at Wurges,  a poor village in the province of Westpha-
lia, after a journey over rough and heavy roads, intersecting a hilly
and woodv country, abounding in  oaks, pines,  firs, and  beeches.
Having quitted Wurges, we passed, at the end of  an hour and a
half, the celebrated spring which supplies the Seltzer water, so
denominated from the adjacency of this spring to the place which
bears that name.  We stopped at a neighbouring village, and drank
a bottle of the water, mixed with rhenish wine.  It did not appear
to me to be so agreeable to the palate  as the artificial water made
in imitation of it by a philosophical process.   It is sold in long
stone  bottles, containing  from three pints  to two quarts, one of
which cost six krutzcrs ; but the water, without the bottles,  bears
half that price only.   We were informed that this spring is at pre-
sent the property of the Prince  of Orange, who,  we were also
told, had paid it a visit on the day preceding our arrival.    At that
time it was let to a private individual for a year.   I should have
mentioned that a  building is erected over  it, and that  it is  con-
stantly guarded by a centinel.    The peasants and  laborious clas-
ses in  the neighbourhood drink  the  water,  as  a cooling  and re-
freshing beverage,  in  lieu of beer or  wine.  In other cases it is
blended with the latter of these liquors  as a common drink.  The
women of Seltzer carry it on their heads in bottles for sale.   The
soil in the neighbourhood of the spring is a reddish earth, mixed
with slate.
  At three in the afternoon we arrived at Limbourg, where we
halted for the night.  Notwithstanding this is one of the principal
towns of Westphalia, the houses  are  very indifferent,  and the
streets very narrow.   It is situated in a flat country, and adjacent
to it there is an extensive manufactory of potters' ware,  in which
the bottles containing the Seltzer water  are made.
  We quitted Limbourg on the 10th, at half past five in the morn-
ing; and at eight o'clock arrived  at Gubroth.  In performing this
stage we passed through a fine corn country,  embellished by wood-
lands and lawns. Our next stage brought us to Fre ling en by a very
rough and  bad road leading  through  a hilly and rocky country
abounding in woods.   At this place the habitations are wretched
                 ( 44 ) 
34»            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,'

cabins, huilt  of laths and mud, and quartered.   The buildings in
general, in this part of the country, arc much inferior to those we
had met with in Austria, and even in Franconia and  Bavaria.
There is at the same time a greater proportion of uncultivated lands.
The  woods consist,  for the greater  part, of oaks and  beeches.
Rye is the description  of grain more  particularly cultivated; and
of this bread is made  for common use.  It is very  black, and has
an unpleasant  taste to those who are not accustomed to its use, but
is  held in great esteem by the inhabitants, who give it to their hor-
ses on the road, when they stop to  bait and water.   At half past
one o'clock wc arrived at Walmerode by an old neglected chaussee,
so uneven and rocky as to render our travelling very harassing and
painful.   We passed through a woody country abounding in corn.
Our last stage this day was to  Weycrsbach, where we arrived at
half past  four in the afternoon, after having passed over a  bad road
similar to that  of the preceding stage.   Our carriages had suffered
so much  by the deplorable condition of the roads we had latterly
met with,  that at this place it became necessary to repair them.
   We left Wcyersbach on the  11th at a very early  hour,  and ar-
rived successively at Ecfierot and Seighbourg, the latter of  which
places wc reached at ten o'clock.   The roads were still rough and
uneven, but in some degree improved.  The intermediate country
is hilly, and abounds in woods and commons,  with  large  tracts of
land  cultivated in corn.   In  the  vicinity  of Seigbourg,  the land
flattens:  close to the town there is, however, a rugged hill, having
on its summit an  extensive monastery.  The town,  which is of
inconsiderable extent, is surrounded by a wall,  and is very indiffe-
rently built.   We quitted it at halfffast ten in the morning, and at
three in the afternoon arrived at  Douz,  by a tolerably good road,
which led over a level country, having- a loose and sandy soil.
   It having been recommended to us to take the route to Rotter-
dam, by Dusseldorf, in preference to that of Calais by  Cologn,
we left Douz  on the 12th at six in the morning.  The latter is a
small town, containing a few neat buildings, situated on the right
bank of the Rhine,  immediately opposite to Cologn, whicli  ap-
peared,  from the distant view we had  of it, to be a very fine and
extensive  place.   At nine o'clock we arrived at Langenfield, situ-
ated in an agreeable and open level  country, which supplies ample
harvests of fine clover, oats, and buck wheat.    We set out from
this place,  after a short stay,  and arrived at Dusseldorf at noon.
0;i our route thither we stopped at the seat of the Prince Palatine, 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.
347
called Bendrad, a very beautiful spot. The country through which
wc passed  has an open surface, and is well  cultivated, principally
in corn lands.   The  town  of Dusseldorf,  situated on  the right
bank of the  Rhine, contains a few  good buildings,  and was for-
merly a fortified place.  The greater part  of the houses are con-
structed  of red bricks, and tiled over.   During our stay at this
place wc met with General Harold,  by birth an Irishman, who
had been forty years  in the service of Austria.  He informed us
that during the late war,  when the French besieged  and took the
place, they destroyed both the palace and the works.  We saw the
remains of the latter, in the ruinous condition  in which they were
left.   Wc proceeded from Dusseldorf to Duysbourg.  The dress
of the peasants, who wear a blue frock,  has a great resemblance
to that of the English peasants.  The breed of cows,  spotted black
and  white, is  large and beautiful.
   At this  place the luggage is  examined to prevent the passage of
anv thing contraband; but we extricated ourselves from the incon-
venience that would have attended a search, by a present of a few
florins.  The town contains a few good buildings, and is surround-r
cd by a level,  enclosed country.
   We left Duysbourg at five in the  morning of the  13th, and at
the distance  of about  two  miles crossed the  river Ruhr, whicli
empties itself into the Rhine.   The roads were extremely  heavy
and sandy, insomuch that we did not reach Wezeluntil ten o'clock.
Notwithstanding this part of the country  is enclosed, we met with
much uncultivated land  in the course of this  stage.    IVezel is  a
small but  neat frontier town.  The streets are well paved, and have
on each side a row of fine trees.   We were detained  there three
hours by a want of horses; and  after having  passed over  a very
heavy and sandy road, arrived at Reis at half past four in the af-
ternoon.  In this part the country is enclosed, and is highly producr
tive in corn.   The gardens belonging to the inhabitants are prettily
laid our, and are kept in the nicest order.   The houses are small,
but neatly fitted, and are constructed of red bricks, and  tiled, with
the gable  ends towards the street.
   We were detained on the 14th, by the want  of horses, until nine
o'clock, when we  proceeded on our journey.   At the middle of the
stage the postillions halted to bait the horses, wdiich was, according
 to the custom of  the country, done by giving them slices of  rve-
 brcad,  of which they are remarkably fond,  and afterwards a drink
 ?t water.   At half past eleven we passed near the small town  of 
348
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
 Emerick, and an hour after were  immediately opposite to Cleves
 on the other bank of the river.   The road is good;  and the coun-
 try through which it passes enclosed.   The soil,  which  is of a
 loose,  sandy texture, supplies  abundant crops of barley and oats,
 At one o'clock we reached Eltam,  a small but neat town, at which
 we stopped to take refreshments.   We passed afterwards through
 a small town called Seven ;  and at half past five in the afternoon
 crossed a bridge of boats thrown over the  Issel.   We were now
 within the limits of the  Dutch territory ; and in the; space of half
 an hour arrived at Amheim, where we took up our quarters for the
 night.   In  the course of this day's journey the roads were in ge-
 neral good, but in some  places rather heavy. The country through
 which we passed is  level, enclosed, and  produces abundance of
 corn.    The  entrance  to Amheim  is  very agreeable;  and the
 works  kept in good repair.   The town is remarkably neat, and
 the  streets  paved, rounded, and kept very  clean.   The houses,
 which are of brick and tiled, have a neat and compact appearance.
   The town of Amheim is pleasantly situated on the right bank
 of the Rhine, near to whicli there are several fine sloping hills,  to
 the right of the town, covered with  beautiful woods and groves.
 With  the exception of these hills the surrounding country is/flat,
 and divided  into small enclosures.  The breed  of large and fine
 horses, commonly called the Flanders breed, is employed here, as
 it is in many parts of Germany, for  the team and the  plough.  The
 dairies  produce  excellent  butter and cheese.  The milk-women
 carry the milk on their shoulders in large brass vessels, which arc
 kept remarkably clean and bright.
   On  the 15th  in  the morning we quitted Amheim at half past
 five o'clock, and were much  gratified on  our wav by the extreme
 neatness of  the cultivated grounds,  which  furnished a strong evi-
 dence  of the ability and industry of the  agriculturists.   The neat
 and  compact appearance  of the Dutch houses and gardens, toge-
 ther with the plain decent dress of the inhabitants,  surpassed, wiill
 respect to cleanliness and propriety,  all that we had before seen on
 our route.   The roads  in Holland, leading along  the dams, or
 causeways, are excellent.  Nothing can  be urged against them,
unless it be their narrowness,  which requires some c auiion and cir-
 cumspection, as well as an extreme  sobriety, on the part of the dri-
vers.   This is a  fine country for corn and grasses; and here the
willows grow in abundance, with an extraordinary luxuriance.  At
the same time that woods are no where to be met with, there is not 
SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY, &C.           349
any deficiency of timber; and accordingly we  met on  our route
with  a considerable nuinbar of ashes, poplars, elms, and aspens,
together with a few oaks.  To this list may be added an abundance
of apple and walnut trees.
  Fruits of every description known in Europe,  are, as well as the
different vegetable productions, in equal plenty;  and it may be said
with truth, that few countries are better supplied with  the more es-
sential articles of life than Holland. In  the gardens,  and grounds
adjoining to the dwellings, tobacco is cultivated with great success.
  We halted at half past seven o'clock, to enable the horses to bait:
they were  fed with bread in the same way as before noticed.  Ha-
ving prosecuted our journey, we arrived  at a small  house, directly
opposite to Rhenen, an  inconsiderable town  on the right bank  of
the Rhine, surrounded, however, with  fine vineyards.   At this
place we had to cross  the river in a flat boat,  or  ferry, kept ex-
pressly there, to convey passengers, and their  carriages and lug-
gage,  to the other side.  Having quitted, by this conveyance,  the
left bank, and again set forward on our route, we soon after pas-
sed near the little but neat town of Arneron, embellished by ave-
nues of fine elms and oaks, and surrounded by groves and agreea-
ble walks.  No country could be more pleasing than  that through
which  we were now passing;  and in spite  of the emotions  we
felt on a recollection of the charming romantic scenery,  and pic-
turesque views of Austria, still we could not help  regarding Hol-
land as the land of real comfort and  delight to the traveller.   At
half past one we arrived at Vag  Dousted, a small town, which
we merely skirted in passing, and took some  refreshment in  the
suburb,  while the  horses  were  baiting.   At half past five in  the
afternoon we arrived  at  Utrecht, where we  reposed  after our
fatigues.   The spring of one of our  carnages.being broken, it
was necessary to put it in a good condition for the following day.
  Utrecht is a large and handsome town, containing many  good
buildings,  the studied and  uniform neatness of  which must attract
the admiration of eveiy passenger.  In the centre  of each of  the
streets a canal runs, on which vessels and boats are constantly  na-
vigating, for  traffic and pleasure.  On each side  of these canals
a row of  fine trees, nicely trimmed, is  planted; and  over  them
bridges arc  thrown at convenient distances, to conduct  the  pas-
sengers from the one side of the. street to the other. This arrange-
ment has a very agreeable  effect, to which the cleanliness of  the
streets,  carefully paved on  each side, contributes not a little.   We 
35°            TRAVELS IN ASIATIC  TURKEY,
were lodged  at  the hotel called  the new  castle on the Gausen-
markt.  The landlord of this hotel speaks English;  and did not,
as we  had  some reason to apprehend, make us pay for the  trou-
hle he had taken to acquire this  knowledge of a foreign tongue.
His charges were moderate;  and he  treated us with great civility.
   On the 16th, at half  past five  in  the  morning,  we quitted
Utretcht, the works of which attracted our notice on passing with-
out  the gates.   They were in the nicest order;  as were also the
roads,  which led through avenues of fine chesnuts and elms, af-
fording cool  and  shady walks in the warm season.   Boats filled
with passengers and merchandizes are drawn by horses stationed on
the banks of rhe canals,  and are thus conveyed  to and from the
town.   In this way the inhabitants are enabled to travel at a cheap
and easy rate, and to reach the other canals, by which the  Bata-
vian territory is every where intersected.    Our road passed along
the bank of one of these canals,  at the side  of which we noticed
several  neat  and pretty villas,  belonging  to  the inhabitants of
Utrecht, with gardens laid out in the nicest  taste and order.    The
smallest and poorest cottage which we met with on our route, dis-
played an air of cheerfulness  and neatness  which announced the
comparatively easy  and  comfortable  condition of the humble in-
mates to whom it furnished an asylum.   In this part of Holland
the lands for the greater part are laid  out  in pasturage.   There
is, however,  a partial produce of wheat,  barley,  and  oats,  toge-
ther with  peas,  vetches, clover, and hay.   The harvests of hay
and barley  were at this time just commenced; but the ripening of
the wheat and oats  still appeared to require two or three weeks.
  We halted on. our way  to bait the horses; and between eight
and  nine o'clock passed through a small town  called Ahwahter,
the works and buildings of which were in the same admirable order
with those we had hitherto seen in our route through a considera-
ble part of Holland,  livery thing, in short, announced the pros-
perity  of the inhabitants ;  and in every dwelling cheerfulness and
tranquillity appeared to reside.    Hitherto the roads, on this day's
journey, were excellent, and planted with  fine avenues of  trees.
At nine o'clock we arrived at  Astracht, a small  village, where we
baited our horses.   Every part of  the country being intersected by
dykes, or canals, it  was curious to observe, that almost every house
situated without the towns or villages,  being surrounded and en-
closed  by water,  was provided with a bridge placed before the en-
trance.   Near the great towns draw-bridges are employed forth*' 
             SYRIA, EGYPT,  GERMANY,  &C.           35l

purpose.  At ten o'clock we passed through Tetchoh,  a small and
neat town, standing in a delightful situation.   The fronts of the
houses, which are well  built,  and in  nice  order, are shaded wi:h
trees; and in the middle of the streets diere are canals, with bridges
thrown over them, similar to those I have already described.  On
leaving this place we entered on an excellent road,  paved with
Dutch clinkers, and having at each side a row of beautiful elms.
This road, we  were told by our postillions, would conduct us  to
Rotterdam, a distance of ten miles,  without any  variation in its
embellishments, and in. the same perfect state of repair.  At half
past ten o'clock we passed through a small  town, consisting of one
principal  stieet only; but which, for the neatness and cleanliness
both of the  dwellings  and  inhabitants,  exceeded all  that we had
6een before.   At eleven o'clock we halted  to bait our horses, and
take refreshments;  and again set forward at noon.  In approach-
ing Rotterdam, the pasture-grounds  are excellent,  and are  filled
with cattle of  the Flemish  breed, such as 1 have already noticed.
We entered the suburbs, and were surprised at the neatness, and
even elegance of  the buildings, each of which has a  draw-bridge
in its front.  The gardens are laid  out.with great taste, and pret-
tily embellished.  We reached Rotterdam at one o'clock, and took
up our abode for  the remainder of the day, and for the night,  at
the hotel called the Boor's Head, a good  house,  where English
is spoken.  Rotterdam is a  charming town, which contains about
sixty  thousand  inhabitants,  who, in common with  those of  all
the Dutch towns, are sensible of the error inro  which they fell,
when they solicited  and favoured an alliance with the French.
They will have long to  regret their dearly  bought experience.
  'W ith the exception of a short route to the  sea side, I had now
completed my  tour through Holland, with which  1 could not  be
otherwise than highly gratified.   It is beyond  a controversy, that
the Dutch towns and dwellings are superior, in the essential qua-
lities of neatness and cleanliness, to those  of any other country; and
of the justness of this remark,  which has been so often made, we
had the fullest  evidence  at  every place through which we passed.
I he dress of the inhabitants of a superior class, and of the trades-peo-
ple, resembles,  by its unadorned simplicity, that of the English
quakers.  To conclude:—Since my departure from  Great Britain,
I had not seen any country in which I could have resided so cheer-
fully, and with so much pleasure, as in Holland.   I am sensible,
that m hazarding this opinion I  am  not  in  strict accordance with 
35*
TRAVELS IN  ASIATIC TURKEY,
  the definition which a great authority,  Sir  William  Temple, has
  given of that country.*
    On the 17th, at seven in the morning, we embarked in a Dutch
  passage-boat for Helvoetsluys ; but as it blew a fresh gale from the
  westward,  with showery and uncertain weather, we were not able
  to reach our destination,  within six miles of which we were land-
  ed at ten o'clock.   Having procured carriages, we arrived at Hel-
  voetsluys at noon.  The country through which we passed is flat,
  intersected with dykes.   It is  cultivated in corn, flax,  clover, he.
   On our arrival,  we found the Diana,  an  English packet, Cap-
 tain Stewart, ready to sail,  but waiting for a favourable wind.
 Under these circumstances we took up our residence at the English
 hotel, where we were detained for the two  following days.
   Helvoetsluys is  a poor, but  fortified town. An extensive basin,
 or dock, was, at the time of our arrival, under repair } and in the
 harbour were lying two fine ships of war recently built.
   On the 20th,  the weather being more  moderate than it  had been
 for some time past, we were  called early in  the morning, and ha-
 ving embarked, sailed at seven o'clock.  The wind,  which  was
 northwest,  not being favourable, we were  under the  necessity of
 making short tacks ;  but by the help of the tide, were clear of the
 flats at ten o'clock.   These  flats, or  sand-banks, are very  nume-
 rous,  and attended with much hazard.
   On the morning of the  21st, the wind having become  more fa-
 vourable, from the east-south-east, land was descried on the lar-
 board quarter, at nine o'clock, by the seaman at the mast-head; and
 at half past ten we were gladdened by the view of what our captain
 announced to us to be Orfordness.   At three in the afternoon we
 anchored at Harwich, where we immediately landed.   I shall not
 undertake to describe the sensations I felt when I set off to rejoin
 my family,  after so long an absence;  nor shall I attempt,  what is
 beyond the  gift of expression, to mark  all  the gratitude  1  felt to
 the Supreme  Being, who had safely conducted me through  the
 many perils I had had to encounter, and to which I had been more
 particularly exposed by my professional situation with the British
 Military  Mission.

  * This definition, which is  singular, and replete with aphorisms, is as follows:
 " Holland is a country where the earth is  better than the air, and profit more in request
 " than honour.  Where there is more sense than wit; more good  nature than good
«' humour; and more wealth than pleasure.  Where  a man would chuse rather to tra-
 *' vel than  to live; shall find more things to observe than to desire ;  and more person-.
 " to esteem than to love." 
^ppentrt^
MEDICAL   JOURNAL.

          SYRIA and  EGYPT,

     From July 1800, to March 1802.
    THE military mission joined the army of the Grand Vizier on
     the beginning  of July  1800, in good health: towards the
end of July and August the men became  sickly ; cholera, diar*
i hoea, and dysentery were the prevailing dise ses :  And at the lat-
ter end of August, when great dews fell during the night, more
particularly  on the 26th, a bilious remittent fever  accompanied
with malignant symptoms, made its appearance.  In the month of
September  it proved fatal to two military artincers.   The symp-
toms which ushered in this disease were  cold rigors, head-ach,
prostration  of strength,  pain of stomach  and  abdomen,  nausea
and bitter taste  of the mouth, with copious vomitings of yellow
and green bile (some had bilious diarrhoea); a foul yellow tongue,
great thirst, a quick pulse, hot skin, and quickened  respiration.
  The mode of treatment adopted, was speedilv to evacuate the
contents of  the prima? viae, by the tartarised antimony, in solution,
in  small repeated doses; with aperients of crem  tartar, infusion
sennx, and  Epsom salts, followed by a dose of laudanum and anti-
reonial wine,  to allay irritation, and  excite perspiration, which
was encouraged by pediluvium.
  The emetic and purge seldom faded to afford some  apparent relief
to the patients.
  Calomel,  laudanum,  and antimony, were then continued in such
doses as the symptoms indicated, until the remission of fever took
\>hce, which, for the most part, was about  the third or fourth day,
                (45) 
354                 MEDICAL JOURNAL,
when the Peruvian bark was administered in varied forms.   Wr
were without wine.  Where the disease took an unfavourable turn,
it was accompanied with delirium, red eves, and petechial spots on
the skin,  &c.   Blisters  and svnapisms were had recourse to upon
such occasions.
  In some of the cases, dysenteric symptoms were conjoined to the
disease.  The regimen was weak chicken broth, rice gruel, with
lemonade,  rice  water, and bread tea.
  It sometimes happened that the patients, in  place  of being at-
tacked suddenly, drooped day after day : in such rases their recovery
was generally more slow than that of the former.
  The weather, during the day, was at this time hot; Fahrenheit's-
thermometer, in shade,  ranging at noon from 90 to 93.
  The evenings and mornings were cool;  thermometer 68 to 10,
accompanied with  copious dews and fogs.
  In the month of October,  some cases  of typhus simplex occur-
red, and dysentery continued  to prevail.
  Occasional heavy showers of rain fell about the 23d.
  The extremely  filthy and unwholesome condition of the Otto-
man camp,  excited in me great appiehensions that putrid and  ma-
lignant diseases  would certainly  be  generated, unless some neces-
sary steps were  taken to remedy the  impending evil.
  With the approbation of General Koehler, I wrote to the Grand
Vizier,  and stated  to him with concern, the great numbers of dead
putrid carcasses of animals,  camels,  horses,  &c. ckc. dispersed over
the whole of the camp, which were suffered to remain uncovered,
quietly to corrupt and decay;  exhaling the most intolerable putrid
effluvia  imaginable,  insomuch, that serious diseases might be ex-
pected to appear, unless this intolerable nuisance should be speedily
removed.   These  admonitions were thankfully received,  yet pro-
duced but little  reform.   The ground of  the encampment was not
changed,  as was advised.  A  feeble  effort was continued for  three
days only,  to lessen the accumulation of putrid matter, and then
every such exertion ended.   We were at  length under the neces-
sity of hiring Arabs daily,  to bury  the dead carcasses of camels,
horses, asses, Sec. which were found near  our quarters, to enable
ns to exist.  My fears were at length realized,  for  a great morta-
lity from plague, malignant fever, and dysentery,  appeared among
the Turks in  November and December.   It was  difficult to as-
certain their exact  loss (they themselves  were ignorant of it), but
it was supposed to  amount to from sixty to one hundred daily. 
SYRIA  AND EGVPT.
35$
   In November the weather was showery and stormy,  accompani-
 ed with thunder and lightning.  Before sun-rise on the morning of
 the 20th November, the thermometer was 42; and many mornings
 it had ranged from 42 to 55 before sun-rise.  This, to our feelings,
 was very cold ; the variations of temperature at this  time were
 great.   On the 20th there was a difference of 34 degrees, from the
 morning to two o'clock P. M. (from 42 to T6).   This change im-
 proved the hcahh  of our own people, yet  great mortality from
 plague continued among the Turks.
   I tried by all the arguments in my power to get the Turks to
 separate the sick from the healthy;  a circumstance to which they
 never attended;  so that  plague, entering a tent,  frequently swept
 off  all its inhabitants.
   This great mortality still continuing,  and the Turks being still
 admonished to open their camp, at length complied.   The troops
 Were now more dispersed, in place of being so thickly huddled to-
 gether, as is the usual custom of this nation.
   In the beginning of December a  putrid fever carried off a mili-
 tary artificer belonging to the mission.  He died the sixth day from
 the attack.  And on  the I lth of  December a civil artificer was
 seized  with plague,  and died after thirty-six hours illness.
   A gunner of artillery caught the infection  from  rhe artificer, and
 died the fifth day from attack.   Vide their  cases  in the historical
 account of the plague.  The very great mortality of the Ottoman
 troops, and the  appearance among us of  so formidable and fatal a
 disease as the plague,  naturally excited  great alarm, and induced
 us to make every possible exertion to prevent the  further extension
 of this disease.
  The precautions adopted were, to burn all the bedding, clothes,
 Zee.  belonging to, or used by the deceased.   The tents were fumi-
 gated ;  and the two attendants upon the sick, with one typhus pa-
tient then within the  hospital tent,  were immediately  put into a
 state of quarantine.
 For this purpose a trench was dug round u large space of ground,
 within  which the tent was inclosed ; centinels were placed,  not to
suffer the least contact or possible communication whatever with
the above three people : their provisions, deposited in vessels, were
laid ready for them,  &c. &c.
  Having heard that the  external friction of warm oil had been
advised and employed  with success by the late Consul at Alexan- 
35^                MEDICAL  JOURNAL,
 dria, Mr. Baldwin,  in  the  cure and  prevention  of plague, this
 was instantly adopted.
   After having washed and cleansed themselves, our three indivi-
 duals in the tent rubbed one another with warm  oil all  over; and
 this  being done, they drank a basin of warm coffee, and laid down
 between blankets.   A chafing-dish of charcoal was kept in the tent
 while they were rubbing : in ordering this wc endeavoured to com-
 ply with the usual directions as much as was practicable  in our si-
 tuations in camp.  A  copious and comfortable perspiration was the
 result of this friction, which was  continued  without interruption
 every night until  they  were discharged from their  confinement,
 which was at the expiration of forty-two days, when they began
 by destroying  their tent, and all their clothes, bedding, &c. &c.
 Having bathed  in the sea, they now put on fresh clothes, and
joined the party  of the  mission in extremely good health ; each
 of them being become quite lusty and fat.   The typhus patient, of
 whose life I had despaired previously to the use of the  oil, was
 quite recovered, and much improved in his  usual appearance.   It
 is necessary to remark, that he continued to take his former medi-
 cines, bark, anodyne draughts,  &c. during the application of the
 oily  frictions.
  Although I have to lament the failure of the oil,  in the cure of
 plague, in the  case of gunner  Cowden, the  artillery-man, yet  I
am induced to think it was useful  in preventing infection to the
 three men confined in the lazaretto tent.
   The moment  that gunner Cowden became indisposed his mind
 was  extremely harassed,  and  I  do  not hesitate to believe that this
 circumstance  was extremely unfavourable  to his  recovery.  An
Arab was hired  to attend upon any cases of plague that might
happen in  future to occur,
  Dec.  7th.  Mrs. K. the wife of Brigadier General  Koehler,
who accompanied  him from England,  was seized with malignant
fever, and died  the seventh day from attack.
  Dec.  16th.   The Turks were at length roused from iheir le-
 thargy and apathy.  The Vizier moved his camp to the south "<
Jaffa,  near the  sea shore, upon an eligible and dry  ground, about
a mile and a half from the town.   Here we could enjoy  the bene-
fit of the fresh,  untainted air.
  The wretched and deplorable  scene which presented itself upon
vie  late ground  of encampment, exceeded all description.   I he 
SYRIA ANQ EGYPT.
357
liutrid eteoch which assailed us, when we approached the spot, was
intolerable.                       ,..,.„           •  j   • i
  Dee. 18.  Very heavy showers of rain fell, accompanied witli
stormy weather, loud thunder, and vivid  lightning.   Cold winds
from the S/S. W.  Fahrenheit's thermometer at noon, at 62 de-
grees-
  The sudden changes in the weather produced rheumatisms, but
no other indisposition among the mission.
  Plague and  mortality among the Turks  had abated since the
boisterous weather came on.
  Dec. 26,  Brigadier  General  Koehler, who had been involved
in ihe greatest distress of mind since the death  of his wife,  was
seized with putrid fever, and died the 29th instant.
  Dec. 28.  The thermometer  before sun-rise was as low as 35.
The weather variable this month, particularly from  the 17th, when
we had cold blowing winds; much rain fell suddenly,  with heavy
claps of thunder,  and vivid lightning.
  1801,  Jan,  I.   Except the seizure and death of General Koeh-
ler,  since our arrival  upon the new  ground  of encampment, the
mission was nearly free from disease.   The remarkable change of
the weather, which had for some time been cold,  (the thermome-
ter before sun-rise being at 35),  and boisterous, accompanied  with
much thunder, lightning,  and very heavy rains, had  considerably
diminished disease and  mortality among  the Ottoman troops,  as
well as ourselves.
  Jan. 8.   The weather, during the last week,  continued rainy,
cold, and boisterous.
  The Reis Effendi assured me to-day, that,  although there  were
cases of plague within the  Ottoman camp,  yet the disease  was be-
come infinitely more  mild,  and consequently less fatal.  That se-
veral persons who had been lately attacked,  had recovered.   He
instanced the cases of five slaves  belonging to the Vizier,  three of
whom survived the attack.   He remarked, that the same  circum-
stance happened at Constantinople when the disease was upon the
decline.    From this fact the 'Turks predicted the speedy cessation
of the plague.
  Jan. 12. Dr. Bosari, the Vizier's own physician, died of plague
this day, after the  third day's illness.  Some days previously to his
indisposition, he assured me, that he had made every possible en-
quiry to ascertain the  loss of the  Turks since the camp was formed 
358
MEDICAL JOURNAL,
 at Jaffa in the month of May 1800, which loss in diseases amount,
 ed at least to eight thousand men.
   Jan.  27.   A tremendous gale of wind, with rain, and hail, ac-
 companied with  loud  thunder, and vivid lightning, came on this
 evening.  The  gale,  still accompanied  by rain,  continued until
 the 31st before it moderated.
   Jan.  31.  The  Haznadar, or  treasurer  of the  Grand Vizier,
 died this day of plague.
   Only  one  case of intermittent  (quotidian) and a case  of dysen-
 tery on our sick list this month.
   The intermittent yielded easily  to the bark.
   The  three men in the lazaretto tent were released from confine-
 ment.
   Feb. 7.  Fine weather since the 4th instant.   Wind  N. E. or
 E.  The horizon clear.
   The stormy weather  commenced usually with a  mist, or  hazi«
 ness of atmosphere, coming from the southward the day preceding
 the storm; and a large disk or circle round the moon.   The mis-
 sion was in tolerable good health, except  that the cold, rainy sea-
 son was  very generally productive of painful glandular tumefac-
 tions.  This  happening at the pestilential  season, and being one of
 the symptoms of plague, gave rise to some alarm among those at-
 tacked ;  but,  being unaccompanied with febrile symptoms,  their
 fears soon subsided.  Some of these tumors suppurated among the
 children: a general relief was afforded by warm fomentations, flan-
 nel, &c.
   The Vizier was taken ill with fever, the apparent effects of  cold,
 his complaints  yielded  in a few days to antimonial remedies,  pedi-
luvium,  &c.
   Feb.  14.   The weather has been fine the last wepk.   No fresh
case of plague for several days past among the Turks.  But reports
from El-Arish state,  that it prevails fatally in that camp:  they
have lost several thousand men within a few weeks.
   A Venetian Doctor  died this  day of malignant  fever, the 8th
day from attack.  The apothecary reported,  that there were three
or four cases of the same fever in  Jaffa camp.
   The weather to-day hazy, and sultry, though the thermometer
in shade, at two o'clock P. M. 66.
   On the 16th there was a gale of wind, which raised  clouds of
sand into the atmosphere, and  which was  extremely  annoying 
SYRIA AND EGYPT.
353
This storm was  preceded by hazy and sultry weather;  the hazi-
ness came from the southward.
  During the first fortnight of this month the weather was mode-
rate and pleasant,  and the  mission healthy.   In  the course of the
last fortnight the weather was very variable, stormy, >and rainy,
with fine warm days occasionally.
  Feb  28.   The weather became very variable, stormy, and rainy,
for two or'three days together, succeeded by warm days, and cold
nights and mornings.
  The Ottoman army marched from Jaffa on the 25th February,
on its way to Egypt.  Consequently the principal part, or,  indeed,
the whole of the sick, were doomed to remain at Jaffa, or mak;
their best way homeward.
  The only means whicli the Turks have to carry  their  sick or
wounded is upon camels, in a kind of covered cradle,  one of which
is placed at each side of the animal.   Each camel carries four per-
sons, two in each cradle, sitting a la  Tun; as there is not length
sufficient to lie down: The motion appears extremely uneasy and
wearisome.  There are few of these conveniencies, when compared
to the numbers which compose the Turkish army.  They are prin-
cipally carried for the officers and their suite.  The Turks have
neither hospitals, nor hospital tents, set apart for the use of the sick.
To introduce such establishments, or attempt a medical reform in
their armies, appears utterly impossible:  The common soldier who
may unfortunately fall sick on themarch, has no means pointed out
to him to get forward ;  and if  he stays behind, he  is exposed to
perish through want.  Consequently  a Turkish army  in motion
must be the least  encumbered  with sick.
  A military artificer stationed at the camp of El-Arish, with Cap-
tain Lacey of the royal engineers, died the 27th February, with
malignant fever, after four days illness.
  The month of March commenced with stormv weather, rains,
thunder and lightning.
  March 3.  A  woman belonging to the mission died at Jaffa, af-
ter an illness of thirty-six hours, under suspicious symptoms.   The
whole of the women and children belonging to the military mission,
who were left in  a house in that place  for  the present,  and who
amounted to thirty in number, adopted the oily frictions, and every
necessary precaution to prevent the disease from spreading; happi-
ly no serious consequences followed. 
3,60               MEDICAL JOURNAL,
   March 3.  A slave  belonging to the  Vizier died of  the plague
 on the above day.   He caught the infection from a pelice, the pro-
 perty of a person lately  dead of plague.
   The interpreter with Captain Lacey at  El-Arish, was attacked
 with plague, which disease continued to rage there fatally.
   March 11.  Accounts from El-Arish stated,  that Ismacl Pa-
 cha,  the chief in command at that camp, died a few days before.
 He  had been seized with vomiting,  and expired  the following
 morning, either  from the effect of plague or of poison:  It was said
 that the plague at El-Arish had abated in its violence.
   Since the 1st of March the weather was occasionally stormy and
 rainy.
   March 12.  Very heavy  rains fell this day, accompanied with
 gales of wind from  the S. W.   This day  the Ottoman army moved
 forward from Yebna, which is situated twelve miles S. from Jaffa.
   The cold wet  weather was fatal to 200 camels in  the course of
 two days march.  These animals, though hardy,  cannot bear wet
 and cold.
   The troops were  healthy.
   March 14.  Wind N. W.  The wind from this  quarter con*
 stantly favoured  us with fine weather.
   March 15.   Arrived at Gaza, and saw the interpreter, who had
 lately been suspected of pestilential  infection.  I  found him with
 an extensive sore upon his left side, the effects of a large carbuncle.
 He had also a glandular  enlargement in the axilla ; and an inflam-
 mation of the left eye.  I recommended the bark, and opium;  and
 wax and oil dressings,  with vegetable and milk diet.   This man
 was treated on the onset of disease,  with  rackay, a strong spirit.
   March 19.  Since the 7th instant, the plague raged with fresh
 violence at El-Arish.   It was stated that the Turks had lost by
 this disease the one-half of their army, which consisted some weeks
 before of six thousand men.
   March 31.  The plague suddenly disappeared at  the camp of
El-Arish.   The troops with the Vizier remained healthy.
   Nearly the whole of  this month the weather was tempestuous,
accompanied with very heavy rains, prodigiously loud thunder, and
vivid lightning.
   During this period the health of the whole of the troops was im-
proved, and plague  disappeared.
  April.  In the march of  the troops through the  desert, which
took them up four weeks, including the halts, inflammations of the 
SYRIA AND EGYPT.
361
eyes became troublesome.   The constant exposure of the eye to
trie inrense heat, and vivid rays of the sun, reflected from a white
flittering sand,  together with  the insinuation of its finest particles
into this delicate organ, produced occasional distress and irritation.
The mode of treatment,  &c.  of this complaint  will appear under
the head of Remarks upon Ophthalmy.
  Notwithstanding the above march was extremely fatiguing and
distressing, yet the troops were in better general health than before.
The 23d the weather was oppressively hot; the mornings and even-
ings were cool; great  dews fell during  the night.   It blew very
fresh on the 27th from E. S. E. and at sea a strong gale was expe-
rienced.
  Salahieh,  in Egypt, April 30.   The advanced Turkish army,
sent forward by the Vizier to take  possession  of  Corein and Bel-
beis, was  very  sickly, and suffered a great mortality,  which was
ascribed to the plague.   I am, however, apprehensive,  that the
want of the  common  necessaries of life, and the great fatigue of
the troops in crossing the desert, may account for a great portion
of this mortality.
  May.  Ophthalmy continued to harass the Ottomans as well as
some few  of the soldiers  of the mission.  Dysenteries and diar-
rhoeas prevailed.
  May 14.   While at Belbeis, we had a strong kampsin,  which
was followed by much ocular inflammation.   The heat of the air,
112 in shade.   The  wind, which was W. S. W. in the morning,
changed to north about noon, and continued  to blow from that
quarter during the evening.  At six o'clock in the evening the
thermometer fell to 90; and on the day following, about noon, the
heat was fallen to 97.
  May 23.   At Ben  El Hassar a kampsin  arose: thermometer
was 112 at two o'clock P. M.  in shade.
  The wind in the forenoon was at east; at two o'clock P. M. it
was due south; and, in the evening, the thermometer being at 98,
the wind shifted to the  south-west,  blowing very strong.
  Kresh cases of ophthalmy usually followed these hot and distres-
sing winds.
  June.  The diseases of  this  month were ophthalmy, dysentery,
and diarrhoea.  An  artillery-man died  from fever (synochus)  the
fifth day from the attack.
•  The heat of the weather progressively increased as we approach-
ed Cairo from Syria.
              " ( 46 ) 
3^2                MEDICAL JOURNAL,
   July.  About the 6th we had thick fogs and heavy dews.
   On  the  13th tempestuous  gusts of wind,  accompanied with
 heavy clouds of dust.   Heat from 100  to  106 degrees.
   July  26.  The weather cloudy and foggy.
   During the whole of this month,  ophthalmy was very general:
 dysentery and diarrhoea also continued.   Some cases of typhus oc-
 curred towards the end of the month, but  none  fatal.  The conva-
 lescents, however, recovered very slowly.   The disease yielded to
 emetics, calomel, diaphoretics,  and, lastly, bark  completed the
 cure.
   The Ottoman army entered Cairo the 16 th of July.
   The heat was  oppressive, the thermometer being at 95 degrees
 at two o'clock P. M.  in shade.
   August.  The weather  was  cloudy during this month,  conse-
 quently  not so oppressively warm as last month.  Before sun-rise
 the thermometer was at 74, in the night from 80 to 81, and during
 the day, from 85 to 98, or 100.
   The  cloudiness  of  the  mornings diminished about noon.   The
 greatest heat of the day was now  found  to be between three and
 four o'clock P.  M. which  induced me to  change the hour of taking
 the temperature.
   The evenings were  cool—the wind freshened generally  at night,
 which blew for the most part N. W.
   The  diminution of heat in the weather  was,  together with the
 cool refreshing winds  from the northward, salutary.   Ocular in-
 flammations were less frequent as well as less  violent.   During
 the calms which occasionally prevailed, the heat was always op-
 pressive.
   Among the English sick at Fort Ibrahim, occupied by a detach-
 ment of the Indian army, ophthalmy,  dysentery,  and malignant
 fevers, were the prevailing diseases.
   Aug.  26.  The atmosphere  was extremely dense, with heavy
 black clouds, which in Europe would  portend  the immediate fall
 of rain.
   Obstinate dysenteric affections  were relieved by blisters  on the
abdomen.
   Among the mission  three cases of low fever occurred this month.
  Aug.  31.  All  the cases of ophthalmy in  the mission were
cured,  none of the patients having apparently sustained any  per-
manent injury of the eyes.  The ung.  hvdrargyr. nit. with tr. opii,
continued to afford great relief in ophthalmy. 
SYRIA AND EGYPT.
3h
    Sept.  18.  Before sun-rise  the thermometer was at 71; the air
  cook, and refreshing: northerly winds prevail, and  the whole of
  the country as far as the pyramids of Giza is inundated.
    Sept. 21.  Nights  cool; fresh breezes from the  northward.
  Some fresh  cases of  ophthalmy have occurred within these few-
  days,  which appear  to have been produced,by the sharp northerly
  winds ; this affection yielded easily to blisters behind the ears, sa-
  turnine collyriums, and purges.
   This day an enormous hydrocele presented itself in an inhabitant
  of Cairo, sixteen inches by twelve in diameter.  These cases, as
  well as hernia, are common in Egypt.
   The elephantiasis among the women is a frequent disease.
   Sept. 23.  Many dreadful  cases of leprosy are seen in  Cairo,
  which occasionally make dreadful havoc in the face:  in the loss of
  nose,  lips,  eyes, &c.   In the island of Scio,  in  the Archipelago,
 there  is an hospital for the reception of the leprous of the different
 islands.   I took the opportunity to visit this spot when on my re-
 turn to Constantinople.  Upwards  of  two hundred of these poor
 unfortunate sufferers were there collected.   Vide narrative when
 at Scio.
   Sept. 30.   During  this month the inhabitants and troops were
 healthy.
   The weather pleasant, and moderately warm.
   The prevailing winds N. W.
  The latter end  of the month heavy dews fell during the night.
 They commenced about the 19th.
   October.   Some cases  of intermittents among the  troops at Gi-
za.  At Alexandria   the prevailing diseases were diarrhoea, dy-
senteries,  and old cases of ophthalmy.
   For the most part October was a temperate, and agreeable month.
The mornings and evenings were cool,  with refreshing winds from
the northward.   When the wind came round  to  the eastward of
north,  the days  were  warm,  sultry, and oppressive;  though the
mercury did not raise higher than 80 in shade.
  November.  Catarrhs and intermittents were the prevailing dis-
eases of this month, which was cold,  rainy, and stormy.
  On the morning of the 20th  there was a tremendous storm, ac-
companied  with  rain,  thunder,  and  lightning.   Wind N. W.
This tempestuous weather continued several days, with only some
iittle intermission.
  The dews have been heavy this month, 
364                 MEDICAL  JOURNAL,
   By means of freezing mixtures I reduced the mercury in Fahr-
enheit's thermometer  to  32;  but  it  was only of two or .three
seconds duration, when it rose to 38.   The  temperature of the
air 59.
  The sensation produced by the handling of the cold mixture wa»
extremely painful and disagreeable.    The  pain  continued several
hours afterwards.
   Some recent cases of plague are said to have occurred among the
6epoys at Rosetta.
   Die ember.  Intermittents and catarrhal affections continue.
   Heavy dews, with thick foggy weather.
   Dysentery prevailed  among  the Turks; with some fatal  cases,
about the 11 th of December.
   At Giza the dysentery proved fatal to  some of the English.
Wind variable, N. N. W. W. &c.
   About  the 19th, 20th, and  21st,  the  wind  trifling, almost a
calm,  and the days foggy, with close sultry  weather.  A greater
mortality  was  seen among the  inhabitants; but from what disease
it was impossible to ascertain.
   The greatest heat this month did not exceed 73  in shade.   The
southerly winds, however,  which occasionally blow in November
and December, are cold, comparatively  to those which occur  in
June, July, and August.   On account  of  the  mountains  of
Abyssinia being said  to  be then covered  with snow, and Upper
Egypt being moistened by the inundation, the wind blowing from
this quarter does not become heated, in its passage, as happens du-
ring the latter months, when the wind from the south, or south-
east, blows so extremely hot and dry as occasionally  to. cause sul-
focation.   This occurred at Belbeis  during  the  preceding year,
when camels and other animals are said to have perished  from its
effects.
   It was lamentable to sec, among the numerous distressed  people
in Cairo, very many  dumb persons.    One of these followed the
profession of a juggler, and performed  other amusing tricks,  by
which he obtained his livelihood.
   Dec.  31.   More deaths appeared this month among the inhabi-
tants than in November.    The weather during the whole  of the
month was  extremely variable; foggy;  great dews; winds  and
temperature astonishingly variable.
   When the sun shone,  on an exposure to its rays, it was scorch-
ing.  The nights were cold and moist. 
SYRIA AND EGYPT.
J«5
   This was a season  appai^ntly very favourable to the production
 of disease.  Dysentery prevailed.
   During the months of November and December; the appearance
 of winter was manifest in the vegetable tribe.  The fall of leaf was
 confined chiefly to the mulberry trees and vines.  The other trees
 nearly  preserved  their  foliage by the occasional dropping  and re-
 newal of their leaves.
   This month a secondary case of lues venerea was cured by  the
 nitrous acid.   Vide Case.
   And a case of hepatitis in a soldier of the mission cured by mer-
 cury.                *
   1802.  Jan. 15.  The prevailing  diseases  were intermittents,
 and  their relapses.   Some recent cases of slight ophthalmy, and
 dysenteric*.  Extremely heavy, offensive and  foggy,  and cloudy
 weather, during the  last fortnight.
   In the evening of the 24th, stormy, tempestuous weather; heavy
 black  clouds; wind  S. W. accompanied with showers  of rain,
 which  fell more abundantly on the 25th and  26th.   Temperature
 cold and disagreeable, from 46 to 58 in shade.
   February.  Cold, tempestuous, and  rainy  weather ushered in
 this  month.
   Feb. 3. The Choarbagi, or  Colonel of janissaries, who was
 attached to the mission, and who occupied  a chamber within  our
 buildings in Cairo, died after three days illness; from his symptoms
 I conceived his death  to be from plague.   He was first seized with
 cold shiverings,  followed  by  fever,  head-ach, thirst, and bitter
 taste of the mouth. He had a small  painful tumor in the left groin,
 nearly  the size of a pigeon's egg ;  and another in the right axilla.
 He died suddenly in the night.
   Previously to interment 1 examined the body, and found that the
 buboes were nearly  subsided:  there was a slight* discoloration on
 the right arm.  There were neither petechia; nor vibices upon the
 body.   However, from all the circumstances under which this man
 died, I was led to consider it rather as  a case of plague than other-
 wise; which induced us to take every possible precaution to pre-
 vent any propagation  of infection,  should it have existed.
   Feb. 1.  The janissaries, who had  lived  with the deceased, re-
 main well.   The  bedding  and peiices belonging to the  deceased
 were immediately  taken possession of by his son, and  made use of
without the least concern.    While such  apathy continues among
the Turks, plague can  never be annihilated from their country. 
366
MEDICAL JOURNAL,
  These people embarked, after a few days, with the rest of the ja-
  nissaries, on board a vessel going to Constantinople, carrying with
  them the clothes, &c. of a man who died under very suspicious
  symptoms of plague.
    Feb. 11.  This day was oppressively warm and sultry.
    Wind S.  and  S. W. we experienced  a kampsin wind, which
  raised clouds of dust into the atmosphere, and produced a continual
  haziness.                         .                    9
    The eyes, which suffered from this heat and irritation, were re-
  lieved by repeated ablutions of cold water.,
    Feb.  13.   The whole of the mission being entirely  free from
  infectious symptoms, were ordered to proceed to Alexandria.  The
  Pacha  of Grand Cairo has stated that, " from the most  vigilant
  " enquiry in the town and suburbs of Cairo, he has not heard of
  " another case of plague at present."   However,  little  or no de-
 pendance can in reality  be placed upon  the reports of the Turks,
 In Upper Egypt we have heard, that the disease is already re-ap-.
 pearing.
   Feb. 14.   Foggy and very cloudy weather; the sun completely
 obscured this day; a circumstance which does not often  happen in
 Egypt, except during the fall of rain.  Several days past  have been
 close and sultry.
   Feb. 23.   Tremendous gales of wind,  W. N. W. which were
 accompanied on the 25th with heavy showers of rain,  indeed, the
 weather was  tempestuous from the 20th to the end of the month.
 The highest  temperature 73; lowest 44.
   Upon our  arrival at Rosetta, on the 23d February,  we found
 the plague had already appeared there, and had been fatal to a  Ser-
jeant of the Indian troops, and several of the inhabitants.
   The mission remained well; but, upon their arrival at Alexan-
dria on the  7th  of March,  were put under quarantine for fifteen
days,  as were all vessels and persons coming from Rosetta,  several
cases of plague having been said to have been received at Alexan-
dria from the latter place.
   March.  The month of March was stormy and  rainy, and on
the 20th heavy rains and hail fell, accompanied with thunder and
lightning.  Winds variable,  N. E.  N.  W. N. W. N.
  The highest temperature 79;  lowest 5.7.
  Great dews fell about the  16th.
  Having been  so unlucky as to break my thermometer on  the
34th instant,  I was obliged to close my  observatipns with it; and 
                  SYRIA AND EGYPT.                 367

on the 27th took my departure from Alexandria, on my way to
Constantinople and England.
            CASES OF  MALIGNANT FEVER.

                           CASE I.
   A military artificer, Thomas Greenhalsh, aged about fifty years
 was taken, on the 23d August 1799, with cold chills, followed by
 fever,  severe head-ach, nausea, and vomiting of  bile ; the tongue
 was foul,  great thirst,  pulse quick and rather firm ;  with anxiety,
 depression of spirits, and much prostration of strength.   He was
 seized  while  on  board  the New Adventure transport, in the har-
 bour of Constantinople,  whither he had been sent to execute some
 work.   He had a distance of  seven miles to walk to rejoin the
 barracks at Levant Chiflick,  where I first saw him in the after-
 noon,  and  collected from  him  the foregoing history and symp-
 toms.
   An antimonial emetic was given, followed  by a dose of lauda-
 num, and the use of  pediluvium ; and,  the next morning,  ten
 grains of calomel and a solution of Epsom salts were administered.
 These remedies, in emptying the  prima; via, relieved the symp-
 toms; yet, on the third day, the head-ach increased:  The skin was
 very hot, though moist;  tongue dry and  of  a brownish  colour;
 eyes turgid; several petechial  spots appeared  on the breast.  The
 calomel was repeated ;  a blister applied to the back ; a clyster in-
jected;  pediluvium repeated, and four grains of antimonial powder
 given every three hours; with an anodyne at bed-time.
   On the fourth day, the petechia; were augmented; he had passed
a restless night; was occasionally incoherent; febrile symptoms con-
 tinued.
   The head was shaved ;  cloths moistened with vinegar were re-
peatedly applied to the whole of the surface of the head.  Calomel
and pediluvium repeated.
   Fifth day.   The delirium constant: Passed  a very restless night;
the eyes and surface of the body tinged of  a yellow colour, which
in  some parts had a  dirty or cadaverous appearance.
  The  pupils of  the eyes rather dilated;  tongue dry ; teeth and
mouth covered with black sordes; cold clammy sweats occasionally
burst forth; pulse extremely variable, in strength and in frequency
A buster was applied,  which covered the whole of  thread-  the 
3^8                MEDICAL  JOURNAL,
calomel and clyster repeated ; the bark in decoction, with vitriolic
acid,  was given liberally,  and a dose o# laudanum at bed-time.
  The sixth day.   All the unfavourable symptoms were alarmingly
increased, and threatened a speedy dissolution.  The skin and eyes
were  of a dirty yellow  colour;  the petechiae numerous, and the
extremities cold:   nevertheless, the pulse was  good; and by  no
means indicated the apparent danger of the patient.
  Blisters were applied to  the extremities, and bark and wine freely
administered. He expired the evening of the sixth day.  The body
became extremely offensive soon after death.   He had no glandular
or other tumors.
  The weather had been occasionally moist  and warm during the
month of August, the thermometer ranging from  68 to  88  in
shade.
  Several cases of the same kind of fever prevailed  among the
Turkish  troops at Levant Chiflick, and also among the inhabi-
tants.

                          CASE II.
  A military artificer, Kannaird, aged thirty,  was suddenly seized,
on the 27th August 1799, with cold  rigors,  followed by a hot
skin,  pain in the head and stomach, nausea and vomiting of bile,
a quick pulse, &c.  An antimonial emetic was given immediately;
and a dose of  laudanum and antimonial wine after  its operation,
with pediluvium.
  In the morning of the 28 th, calomel, and a saline purge.  These
opening remedies  relieved the symptoms, and  a  dose of laudanum
and antimonial wine was repeated at bed-time.
  Aug. 29, 1799.  Head-ach continued, with occasional nausea;
skin  moderately warm ; pulse small and frequent; complained qf
lassitude and general debility : sago, wine, and lemonade wpre or-
dered; the bark,  with the nitrous acid, liberally given; and lauda-
num administered at bed-time.
  Aug.  30.   Passed a restless night;  symptoms  continued with
little alteration from the 29th.  The medicines and regimen conti-
nued as before.  A blister was applied to the nape of the neck; the
head shaved,  and vinegar frequently applied.
  Aug. 31.  Head-ach continued;  pulse small, quick, and feeble;
five grains of calomel and camphor given at bed-time; a clyster in-
jected; a blister  applied,  whicli covered the whole of the h>»d ;
and the bark, wine, &c. continued as before. 
                   SYRIA  AND  EGYPT.                 369

  S:'pt.  1.   Little or no alteration.  Medicines continued.
  Sept.  2.   Passed a  very restless  night; had delirium;  tongue
and mouth blackish ;  he laid  in a comatose  stupid  state,  except
when spoken to, when he replied rationally to questions put to him,
and then fell into the  same comatose state again .  Pulse soft, and
moderately frequent; skin  of a yellow colour, with  petechia; up-
on the body; urine was of a dark brown colour,  resembling a
Strong infusion  of coffee ;  stools were dark and offensive.
  Sep!,  3.  Had passed a restless night; notwithstanding which he
appeareJ this morning  more sensible and cheerful:  comatose affec-
tion lessened -, the urine  was not so high coloured.  Pulse  soft;
skin  moderately warm; tongue brown, but moist; no evacuation
yesterday  by stool; six grains of  calomel were given,  and an in-
jection  was thrown  up.  The bark,  wine, camphor,  laudanum,
Sec.  were continued.
  Sept. 4.  All the alarming symptoms increased.   Blisters were
applied to the extremities.   He expired in the evening.  He had
no glandular or other  tumors.   This man had materially suffered
in his general health since his arrival in Turkey, with repeated at-
tacks of dysentery.

                         CASE  III.
  A military artificer, Smith,  aged 30, was suddenly seized,  the
22d September 1799,  in the same manner as Greenhalsh and Kan-
naird. These men were all lodged in the barracks at Levant Chif-
lick.  The  cure was  undertaken  by an  emetic, calomel, and an
aperient, with a dose of laudanum, and antimonial wine after their
operations.
  On the 23d,  he had passed a bad night.  The head-ach continu-
ed; countenance  flushed;  the arms and  legs cold;  pulse small,
quick, and extremely  variable; calomel repeated; wine was libe-
rally used;  and repeated doses  of laudanum were given: his drink
was well acidulated lemonade.
  Sept.  24.  Passed a restless night; great coldness pervaded  the
whole body; scarcely any re-action  of  system;  and  this conti-
nued only for a few minutes, in sudden flushes of  heat in the face,
and then suddenly subsided: there was great prostration of strength,
with  occasional vomiting of  a brown  fluid resembling  coffee-
grounds ; complained  of bitter taste in the mouth ;  had several of-
1-misivc st'iols;  all the symptoms  denoted great  danger,  and  the
                 (47  ) 
37°               MEDICAL  JOURNAL,
want  of vital energy.  The  wine and  laudanum  were repeated,
fomentations were applied to  the  legs, and  calomel continued at
bed-time.
  Sept. 25.  He appeared somewhat relieved; the skin moderately
warm; pulse more firm and steady: he retained chicken broth up-
on the stomach: the wine and  laudanum repeated, with a dose of
vitriolic aether, joined with laudanum,  at bed-time.
  Sept. 26.  Passed a restless night, with delirium ; tongue foul;
had stools; urine nearly of a  healthy colour; when spoken to, he
roused himself, spoke, and then fell into a drowsy, comatose state,
with muttering delirium; the eyes were turgid; pulse quick, more
full and firm than the 25th (112 strokes in a minute); skin warm:
it was only to-day that a general reaction of system appeared stea-
dy ;  the head was shaved; cloths moistened with vinegar were fre-
quently applied; and a blister laid to the nape of the neck.
   A drachm and a half of nitrous acid, diluted freely with water,
was ordered to be given within twenty-four hours.  The  jcther
anodyne draught repeated.
   Sept.  27.  Delirium continued; a general coldness pervaded the
whole body ; skin moist; passed  loose stools and urine involunta-
rily ;  pulse quick and small (120),  and very variable; tongue moist,
and less foul; had occasional  nausea ; several large dark spots, and
petechias  upon  the breast; fomentations were applied  to the legs
and arms; wine, bark, and nitrous acid continued; a blister, co-
vering the whole of  the  head, was applied.   He expired  in the
evening.   He had neither glandular nor other tumors.  The body
became extremely offensive a few hours after death.  These fatal
cases occurring, and observing  that the same fever prevailed with
the Turks, we took every possible precaution, by fumigation, &c.
to prevent the continuance of disease,  and recommended a change
of situation.

                          CASE IV.
   A  military artificer,  Geary, about  twenty-five years  of age,
 while encamped at Jaffa, in Syria, was  suddenly seized,  on the
 5th  December  1800,  with  cold rigors, vertigo, head-ach, fol-
 lowed by,a hot skin,  pain at  stomach,  with  nausea, and ill taste of
 the mouth.  He had general pains all  over his body, and was lan-
 guid, with a quick, though  rather firm pulse  (100).  An emetic
 removed much bile from the stomach, and several loose stools were 
SYRIA  AND EGYPT.
37*
 procured by a calomel and saline purge: an anodyne draught, with
 antimonial wine,  was given at bed time.
   Dec.  6.  Though somewhat  relieved,  the head-ach,  fever and
 thirst continued.   The laudanum and antimonial were occasionally
 repeated, and the drink consisted of acidulated rice water, and toast
 and water.
   Dec. 7.  Skin  was hot, though a moderate  perspiration  conti-
 nued to breakout; tongue  white, thirst great; pulse quick and
 rather firm (100); lemonade  continued,  and five drops of lauda-
 num, with twenty drops of antimonial  wine,  were  given  every
 three hours.
   Dec.  8.  He passed a restless  night, accompanied with delirium;
 the eyes were red, skin  less hot; pulse quick (108),  less firm than
 on the 7th; the tongue had a brownish ringe upon it; he had two
 stools during  the night; a blister was applied  to the nape  of the
 neck ; bark,  with vitriolic acid,  were given liberally,  and repeated
 doses of laudanum;  he  was ordered to eat freely of oranges,  and
 drink lemonade;  the head was shaved, and cloths moistened with
 vinegar repeatedly applied.  Towards evening  the  pulse  became
 more full,  accompanied  with  a restlessness,  and a low muttering
 delirium ; a blister was applied to the whole  of  the surface  of the
 head; petechial spots appeared upon the breast in the evening ; the
 pulse became more weak and quick (120)  ; the strength diminish-
 ed, with an anxiety and quickness in breathing. He began to throw
 up the bark, &c.
  Dec.  9.  Had passed a restless night, with low delirium ;  pulse
 quick and feeble  (120);  arms cold; he was constantly picking at
 the bed-clothes; tongue and mouth  brown  and dry ; he  did not
 appear sensible of the pain of the blisters; passed urine involunta-
 rily ; a blister was applied to the thighs,  and the medicines conti-
 nued.  About noon stimulating sinapisms of garlic were applied to
 the feet.   In the evening he passed several black stools involunta-
rily; restlessness continued;  arms  cold;  pulse  quick and  feeble
 (130); medicines continued ; the laudanum draught, with antimo-
 nial wine, repeated at bed-time.
  Dec.  10.  He passed  a very restless night;  stupor continued,
 with  stertoreous breathing;  skin cold; pulse  quick and  feeble
 (130).  He expired in the afternoon. 
372
MEDICAL JOURNAL^
                    CASES OF PLAGUE.

                           CASE I.
  A civil artificer, Mace, thirty years  of age, was taken, during
the night of the 10th December 1800, with severe rigors, vertigo,
head-ach, and severe pains in the loins, thighs, &cc. accompanied
with nausea,  and vomiting of green bile.  At eight o'clock in the
morning of the 1 lth December I first saw him ; his skin was very
hot, though  moist,  with a burning kind of feel to the  touch ;  a
quick and rather firm pulse (120).  He complained of much head-
ach ; the eyes were red ;  tongue tinged, rather of a yellow colour ;
great thirst; the pains of  the back and thighs acute.  He had had
three stools during the night: an antimonial  emetic  was immedi-
ately given, and after its  operation ten grains of calomel,  and a so-
lution of Epsom salts.   The common drinks were to be lemonade
and  rice-water; to eat  freely of oranges.   The emetic removed
much bile, which gave the patient some sensible relief.   The ca-
lomel and salts not having procured any evacuation  by  stool, the
former was repeated, and  a dose of laudanum with antimonial wine
at bed-time,  after the evacuations had been procured.   He com-
plained of pain in the groin ; and there was a  small enlargement.
in the left inguinal glands.   The pain  from  this tumor  became so
extremely acute, that I was called to him about four o'clock in the
morning of the 12th.   It had then swollen  to the size of a pige-
on's egg.  The bubo was fomented with warm water, and an ano-
dyne draught  given.   At eight o'clock in the morning of the 12th,
when I visited the patient, the attendant reported, that the  fomen-
tion had relieved the pain of the tumor,  since which he had  thrown
up his drinks,  and was now  fallen into a sleep.
  He expired  suddenly about nine o'clock, .A.M.  12th Decem-
ber.  .
  The bedclothes being removed, many large livid  (nearly black)
spots, of the  s;;:c of a silver threepence, covered the breast,  and
other parts of  the body.
  In each axilla; there was  a bubo of  the  size nearly of a hen's
c-^rr.  The bubo in the groin was  of a dark livid colour.   Some
Arabs  were  cmpl-.yed  quickly  ro  inter the  corpse.   The very
strongly marked symptoms of plague  in this case gave rise to the
utmost  vigilance and  precaution  to  prevent  rhe   infeciion from
spreading.  With this intention all the clothes, bedding, See. &c. 
                    SYRIA AND  EGYPT.                  373

 L..ulbv the sick were immediately burned.   Two attendants within
 the hospital-tent,  as well as a patient suffering under typhus, were
 put into a state of quarantine,  and certain  regulations already no-
 ticed in my narrative,  were instantly adopted to prevent the infec-
 tion from spreading.  The oily frictions were had recourse to upon
 the three men within the hospital-tent.
   Upon enquiry,  the deceased had  been  accustomed to frequent
 the Turkish  coffee-tents, to smoke  and drink coffee.   This was
 prohibited in future.

                          CASE II.
   Gunner  Cowden, aged 30,  an artillery-man,  had a slight indis-
 position on the evening of  the 13th  December 1800.   He had
 some head-ach, and a little heat of skin.
   In the morning of the 14th December, he complained of nausea;
 the tongue was whi'c, having a yellowish  streak upon it; thirst
 prevailed, and the head-ach and febrile symptoms were increased.
 He had a trembling upon him, and appeared a good deal agitated;
 some stiffness  and uneasiness in the left groin.   He  related,  that
 contrary to order, he had not only entered the tent of Mace, on the
 morning of the 12th December, but had supported him while he
 V)ok his medicine.
   The patient was put into a clean tent by himself, within the qua-
 rantine enclosure.   An emetic  was given, the operation of  which
 having somewhat  relieved  him, he was ordered an  anodyne, with
 antimonial wine, in a draught at bed-time.  Lemonade was ordered
 for common drink ; and a calomel bolus in the morning.
   Dec.  15.  The  febrile symptoms continued; countenance flush-
 ed ; eyes red; tongue foul and dry;  there was a painful tumor in
 the left groin, the size of  a pigeon's egg,  has  had stools.   The
 oily frictions were made use of this morning, and the anodyne and
 antimonial draught repeated at bed-time.
   Dec.  16.  J he patient perspired copiously after the oily  friction :
 tumour neither enlarged nor more painful;  the heat of skin dimi-
 nished; countenance  rather pale; eyes clear; one stool; tongue
 white: he was rather slow in answering questions: the friction was
 repeated this morning.   Soon after he had a vomiting  of bile,  and
 had loose stools: small draughts of warm  water were given,  fol-
 lowed by a dose of  laudanum.
 />ec. 17.  Passed a restless night; occasionally  delirious;  vo-
miting had ceased ;  looseness continued; tongue  white, with great 
374
MEDICAL  JOURNAL,
 thirst,  the bubo in the groin had a blackish colour;  when he was
 sensible, he complained of general pains; the perspiration from the
 frictions continued. Several purple spots upon different parts of the
 body : the anodyne without the antimonial  wine repeated.
   Dec.  18.  Passed  a restless night; delirium  continued;  loose-
 ness abated ; only two stools  the  last twenty-four hours;  tongue
 white, with great  thirst;  the petechia; more numerous: the bubo
 rather diminished,  but retaining the blackish colour; skin hot and
 dry ;  repeated the friction in the morning.   However, about one
 o'clock P. M. he was very restless and delirious, and attempted to
 get out of the tent: after these efforts he became more calm, and
 at four o'clock P. M. expired.
   The body was interred by Arabs immediately, and the tent, and
 every article within it,  destroyed by fire.


 A case of Lues Venerea, with secondary symptoms, cured by Ni-
                     trous Acid, at Cairo.
   A civil artificer,  Alley, had several extensive  venereal ulcerati-
 ons in the throat, upon  the tonsils, and posterior part of the palate,
 accompanied with venereal blotches upon  the face, legs,  &cc.   He
 had likewise chancres.  He had taken no medicine whatever.
   1801.   Oct. 21.   I ordered him the nitrous acid,  diluted in the
 usual manner, and gradually increased the daily dose of one drachm
 to two and three drachms.  In the use of this remedy he persevered
 without any interruption, gradually getting  better, until  the  29th
 November,  when  he complained  of pain,  and  uneasiness of the
 stomach from  the medicine, which induced me to lay  it aside  for a
 few days, and  to substitute to it the oxygenated muriate of potash,
in doses of fifteen grains four times daily.
   Perceiving on the 6th December a small recent ulcer on the left
tonsil, I resumed the  use of  the  acid in  doses  of  two and three
drachms  daily, in  the usual  diluted  manner; and continued this
 treatment until the 16th December, when the throat,  chancres,
and eruptions upon  the  skin, had perfectly  disappeared.   During
the cure a solution of cerussa acetata, with lint, was applied to the
chancres.
   Not one grain  of mercury in any  shape was  employed  in the
above case.
  The general  health and strength of the patient were much im-
proved during  the use of the acid. 
SYRIA  AND  EGYPT.
375
An Abstract of Officers,  non-commissioned Officers, Privates,
       kc. who composed the Military Mission in 1799.

 Officers,  royal artillery,  royal engineers,  &c. &c.    .    .13
 Non-commissioned officers and privates,  royal artillery .  .   30
 Non-commissioned officers and privates of the royal military
      artificers..............24
 Civil artificers..............9
Total
76
N. B. With these 18 women and 16 children left England.
An abstract of deaths of Officers and Men,  from January 1799,
                    to October 1802.
Diseases which proved fatal.
Fever,  malignant, bilious, remittent  .
Dysentery.........
Plague   ..........
Drowned..........
Pectoral complaints......
Diseased liver     .......
Convulsive affection,  apparently brought
  on by extreme fatigue and great expo-
  sure to the sun.......

                            Total  .
 The number
of deaths from
 each disease.
12
 4
 2
 3
 2
 1
2S'
Twoof these were
  Officers.
An Officer.
  N.B.  Three women and six children died from fever, dysenterv, con-
vulsions, &c. One ofthe women died under suspicious symptoms of plague. 
376              HISTORICAL JOURNAL,
   HISTORICAL JOURNAL  OF PLAGUE*



     AS  I have neither the intention nor ability to enter fully into
      the general history  of plague,  with all its varieties and par-
ticulars, I must refer the reader,  who may wish for such general
information,  to those authors who have professedly written upon
the subject; and confine myself to the relation of the incidents and
facts collected in  the  country,  with  the  several cases of  plague
which I  have seen, and also heard described.  I trust and hope,
that as these remarks are  noticed  and detailed faithfully,  and no
particular hypothesis espoused by me at the time they were written,
I shall have  less apprehension of incurring the suspicion, either of
having written with a view  to support a particular theory, or of
claiming any merit from the mode of treatment suggested.
  In the most violent attacks of plague the vital principle appears
to be suddenly, in a great measure, extinguished ; or otherwise so
much enfeebled,  as to render the system capable of resisting the
first shock of the disease only for a very short time.
  Examples of this kind occurred.   Several of the sepoys of the
Indian army in Egypt, and others,  appeared  to sink under  the
first impression of the contagion, their  attack being sudden, in-
stantaneous, and violent.   I was informed that several dropt down
when in the ranks,  and died within a  few hours afterwards.
  A civil artificer died after thirty-six hours illness.
  A choarbadgi, or colonel of janissaries, died at the expiration of
two days, within our buildings at Cairo.  The death of these two
individuals was instantaneous, and without a struggle.
  The plague may be defined  to be  a disease sui generis, which
can affect persons more than once in their lives ;  and, from  a vari-
ety of circumstances,  is evidently contagious.
  The most evident and leading symptoms which attend this dread-
ful  malady, are head-ach ;  more or less fever;  thirst; generally an
intense or burning internal heat about the pr.ecordia ; nausea, and
occasional vomiting;  the vessels of the eyes are turgid, accompa-
nied with diarrhoea (which is often  a troublesome  and dangerous
symptom) ;  haemorrhages;  delirium; petechia?,  and  large  livid 
OF  PLAGUE.                      377
 spots cover the body in different parts; buboes in the groin, axil-
 lae, &c;  carbuncles; an early and great prostration  of strength,
 SiC. &cc.
   Sometimes the  disease is ushered iu suddenly and  violently ;  at
 others  the symptoms commence more slowly,  and with more mo-
 deration.  This variety and manner in the mode of attack may pro-
 bably depend upon some particular disposition or constitution of ths
 subject, or nature of the prevailing epidemic.
   Upon the decline of the plague season, several patients are seen  to
 recover:  The symptoms of the disease at this period are more mo-
 derate, and favourable to recovery.   We had examples of this kind
 while with the Ottoman army at Jaffa, &c. in Syria.  The same
 fact is  observed at Constantinople.   Although  it has been noticed
 that the plague does not  frequently  attack  the  same person more
 than once in the same pestiferous season,  yet there are instances
 where  this has happened, and where the relapses which have oc-
 curred  have proved fatal.
   The great Mameluke chief,  Mourad Bey, fell a victim  to a se-
 cond attack in 1801.
   The constitutions have been thought more secure from a second
 attack, or  even  relapse of disease,  when  the suppurations have
 been more complete.  A good  suppuration  afforded the natives a
 good prognosis, they thinking it gave a  more  favourable  issue  to
 the disease.
   When the buboes subside, in place  of  coming  forward, appre-
 hensions are always  entertained  for the safety of  the patient; for
 which  reason warm  plaisters and cataplasms are applied.  However,
 the perfect or imperfect suppuration of buboes appears rather as an
 index of the state  of the vital energy in the system, than necessary
 or useful as an outlet for morbific matter.  The pain of the buboes
 is sometimes most excruciating, and the surfaces are at times disco-
 loured even to a   livid or deep  black  colour ; at  other times the
 pain is  trifling, accompanied with little or no discolouration of the
 skin.
  It is singular,  that at this present day there should exist opposite:
 opinions respecting the contagious principle of plague.   There are
prolcssional men who have come forward, published, and disavow-
al the contagion of plague.  There are others who have so far en-
couraged and adopted this dangerous doctrine, as  to have put it to
the test cf  experiment  by the  inoculation  of themselves.  Di
11 hite,  tormeilv  a navy surgeon, when in Egypt in  1801, had
                 (4» ) 
37«
HISTORICAL  JOURNAL
the temerity to inoculate himself in  the arms  with  recent matter
taken from the bubo of a pestiferous patient.* and likewise rubbed
the same matter upon different  parts of his body.   Not content
with endangering  his own life,  he wrapt his Arab  servant in the
bedding of an individual lately dead  of  plague.   The disease was
fully produced upon himself, and buboes formed.  He died,  1 be-
lieve  the  fourth day from attack.  The Arab fled.   I had endea-
voured to discourage him from pursuing  this dangerous opinion,
that the plague was not contagious,  the contrary appearing so ma-
nifest to me upon a variety of occasions.
   To corroborate this latter  opinion, I  have  to  relate some few
facts.  A pelice, the property of a Turk who died  from plague,
was given to another, who,  without fear or  thought, put  it on
his hack,  caught the infection, and quickly died.  In this way this-
pelice might have passed into the hands  of twenty more, with the
same apathy and fatal effects.
   A gunner of  artillery belonging  to the military mission entered
the tent of a pestiferous patient, contrary  to orders; supported
the  shoulders  of the patient, while he  took  drink; immediately
caught the infection,  and died at the  end of  five days,  with bu-
boes and symptoms of plague.   Vide  case  of gtmner  Cowden,
page 373.
   1 received information from the Imperial  Consul and  others at
 Cairo, that in 1801, a vessel arrived at Boulac from Upper Egypt,
laden with senna.   The crew related to the  consul,  that they had
lost two men after twenty-four hours illness, which  report, from
all the accounts he could collect, induced him to believe the disease
to have been plague.   He made known the  circumstance, and the
necessity there was for  the vessel to be put under quarantine, pre-
 viously to her departure for Upper  Egypt.    His  laudable advice
was neglected,  although  he  had been  a resident in  Egypt  forty-
 years.  On the arrival  of the vessel at the place of  destination in
 Upper  Egypt,  only one of the crew was alive to relate the dismal
 story;  the rest had fallen victims to the plague on their passage.
   This unfortunate man transported with him  the seeds of the dis-
 ease to  his home, where he soon died,  and many others likewise.
   We met,  e\cn  among the Turks,  with  some individuals wlio
 believed in, and were aware of, the contagious property of plague.

   * Sir J.'cicrt Wd-cn sr.ys, this was dor.e to try the effects of inoculation, as in small-
pox, and to ascertain whether it would pioducc  a milder disease. 
OF  PLAGUE.                    379
Mahmoud Reif Effendi, the  Reis Effendi,  or secretary of state
for foreign affairs,  was extremely watchful and attentive to keep
the disease and infection from  himself and  suite, by assiduously
adopting fumigations of sulphur,  &c. before and after every visit
which he made in camp, and by not suffering a visit from any one
suspected,  without  ventilation,  fumigation  of  his  tent, sophas,
&c. &c.   Even the religious bar among the Mahomedans respect-
ing wine he readily overcame,  when  told that  with  bark it was a
good preservative.
  An old  barber doctor in  Cairo died in the year 1801, from
plague, at the advanced age  of ninety-six years.  This  man had
long been celebrated among pestiferous patients, attended, and bled
them occasionally,  and at the age of ninety-six years caught, for
the first time, the infection,  under which he sunk.
   A person in Cairo, interpreter to a French officer, who had fallen
a  victim to plague in  1801, caught the infection from his master,
and communicated  the disease to his mother,  niece, and another
person within the same house,  all of whom died, while two small
children in the same family escaped infection.
   The interpreter related to  me the  manner of attack, &c. See.
1'he first symptom of  indisposition which he was sensible of, was
a small pimple, situated upon the lower part of the abdomen, which
rapidly inflamed, enlarged, and  became painful, surrounded with
a livid circle.  At this time  he was seized with shiverings, follow-
ed by an intense burning heat, internal as well as external,  accom-
panied with head-ach, and pains of the knees and joints.   He had
a nausea and  vomiting, and a bubo appeared in  each groin. In two
or three days  a looseness came on.
   To the buboes a pitch plaster was applied to promote suppurati-
on,  which, when  effected,  they were  opened.   The  carbuncle,
which formed  from the pimple upon the abdomen, was  left  to
burst of itself.
   The patient took no medicines ; he was aware of the nature of
his complaint, and kept his mind tranquil;  as  he was thoroughly
convinced that this was absolutely necessary for his own safety.
He made  use of a light diet.
   It is,  indeed, pretty  generally remarked, that tranquillity of mind
is of the utmost importance  in plague.
   It is observed by the French,  that  the plague which comes from
Upper Egypt, is the  most active and fatal; it  is true, that the year
 1801 afforded a dreadful example of  its malignity and destructive 
3oO                HISTORICAL JOURNAL
influence.  The disease was so general, and so fatal where it raged,
that  whole  vihages, towns,  and districts,  had  their inhabitants
swept off by this cruel scourge, while the cattle were str.rying about
for food and owners  *
-   The disease is said to travel  progressively from  Damascus in
Syria, from town to town, until it arrives in Egypt.  Sometimes
it  commences at  Cairo,  and travels  through  Syria; and then the
intermediate  towns  and places, one  after  the  other,  suffer this
scourge of human affliction.
   These who believe that plague is not contagious  support  their
opinions  by bringing forward a number  of incidents  to prove,
"  that persons who have been exposed to pestiferous patients, and
"  who have had communication with supposed infected  merchan-
"  dizc, clothes &cc.  6cc. have escaped without receiving  the infec-
"  tion."  The same  thing happens nearly with small-pox. Indeed,
repeated inoculations arc occasionally absolutely necessary to pro-
duce thi variolous infection.  This fact would seem to imply,  that
a  certain susceptibility is required to receive the  infection.
   Although an individual may have happily  escaped infection at
one time,  vet it  docs not follow that the same good fortune may
attenu him at another; this same want of susceptibility,  or what-
ever may be  the power  of resisting its baneful effects,  may not
always continue  to pervade the habit:  an.I,  therefore, the neglcrt
of laudable, useful, and  necessary precautions, may tend ultimately
to overthrow the most hardy and intrepid; more particularly as the
genera! curative  means are so extremely deficient,  or inefficacious
in piague.
   With all these facts before my eyes, I have been astonished at the
indifference of the Musselmen employed in the  burial of the  dead,
to see them handle and touch the bodies of  pestiferous subjecrs, as
ilh.-uch they had dh\I of common diseases.  Every corpse of a Mus-
sulman is regularly washed and shaved before interment; and these
interments are complcat nuisances, the body being scarcely covered
by the earth.   The putrid exhalations, therefore, from  their ceme-
teries, or burial-grounds, are prodigiously offensive in hot weather.
 The persons  employed in  the interments,  are, however, said to
catch the disease occasionally and die.
   *  This remark cf the French does not correspond exactly with the in/brmat'nn which
I collected 'v.: E?yj>t,  at Cairo : fr_im the most respectable inh.ibirar.ts I was informel,
that the plajue ii nit o:-.!y  less frtquent in Upfer Egypt than in L'.x.cr Egypt, but tL it
the most violent cd£.-s of iiUcc.bn wire ihoug'.it in fcenual to be imported tiom 'yria arH
L-.iver EgyjS. 
OP  PLAGUE.
3*i
   Query.  Probably the same active infection is not to be received
from the dead subject as from the living ?  It being said,  " that the
" most favourable and sure period for the propagation of plague, is
" during the state of fever.
   \ person long resident in Egypt assured me,  " that the disease,
«' for the most part, appeared among the inhabitants in the follow-
" ing order.
   " Blacks and negroes,
   " Mamelukes and whites;  and lastly,
   " The natives of the country."
   In these pestiferous countries, the precautions which the  Chris-
tians take, render them less subject to  plague than  the  Mahome-
tans.   Yet we are told, that out  of 270 Greeks,  inhabitants  of
Cairo, seventy died of plague in 1801.  The Bedouin Arabs of the
desert, are said to be much less subject to plague, than the Fellahs,
or Arab inhabitants of towns and villages.
   It is generally remarked,  that a deviation from a light diet under
this disease, and after its recent disappearance, is frequently produc-
tive of mischief, in as much as it favours a relapse, or protracts re-
covery.
   The danger is proportioned to the diminution  of vital energy,
and extent of fever.   Deaths happen from the first to the seventh,
and even eleventh days of the disease;  the most frequent from
the fourth ro the  eleventh day: yet fatal terminations occur often
at the expiration of twelve or twenty-four hours.   Among  the
youths and middle aged there is said to be the greatest number of
deaths.
   In Egypt,  the plague prevails when the Nile is low,  about the
months of March, April,  May,  and June; at the  latter end of
June,  the disease is for the most part observed  to be upon the de-
cline.   At this period the weather  is extremely hot, and the heat
generally continues during the months of July  and August.   In
June 1801, Fahrenheit's thermometer fluctuated in the shade at
Cairo,  from 100 to 108 degrees;  while in July  and August the
highest was 106 degrees: the heat was oppressive, being reflected
from the neighbouring mountains of Mokkatam.
   At Constantinople, the cold weather in winter is observed  to put
a stop to plague.   We have therefore seen,  that the  extremes  of
heat and cold  are unfavourable to the propagation of plague.
   Since the trade with Egypt has been interrupted during the war,
Constantinople has suffered but little from plague for the three last 
3^2                HISTORICAL  JOURNAL
years.   From  the best information  received,  and observations re-
cently made, it would appear that the plague is a native of Africa,
and of Asia.   It is remarked by the inhabitants, that  the disease
is more prevalent at Rosetta,  than in any other  town  or part of
Egypt.   The streets  of Rosetta are extremely narrow and very
dirty.   The manner in which  the inhabitants  live croudedly toge-
ther, would appear sufficient, in a stagnant state of the atmosphere,
in most  of  their  towns,  &c. to generate  pestilential or malignant
diseases.   The  very few comforts  and conveniencies which  fall to
the lot of the poorer class of the natives in Egypt,  by far the most
numerous, would lead one naturally to expect great mortality when
the plague prevails among them.   Dreadful  examples are seen an-
nually to happen.
  When I was  at Rosetta, in February  1802,  I perceived swampy,
boggy  grounds  near  to the  town,  the ditches,  and small  canals
contiguous to which,  and the gardens,  had offensive stagnant wa-
ters within them.*  At  this time  the  plague  had   broken  out at
Rosetta, and  furnished   several  fatal examples  to  the English,
Greeks, and Arabs.    The fears and apprehensions  were so great
at Alexandria,  respectmg the communication  with Rosetta,  that
the Commander in Chief, Lord Cavan,  obliged all vessels and per-
sons coining from the latter  place, to perform quarantine previously
to their entvy into Alexandria.
   The disease  had appeared  at Alexandria  before  I  left it in
March,  and several had died in the lazaretto.  This  contagion was
supposed to have been imported from Rosetta.   The plague is ge-
nerally observed to commence in commercial places ; and  this cir-
cumstance probably gave rise to the idea, that  contagion was im-
ported in articles of merchandize, &c. from  distant parts.f

  * This  observation, connected with the preceding  one, that the plague  prevaili
when the Nile is low, appears to render it probable that this  disease 3s merely a malig-
nant remittent fever.  This wili appear still more probable, when it is considered, that
buboes and glandular abscesses are common in  Syria, in cases where the plague is not
supposed to be concerned.
  Sir Robert  V/'ihon appears to have formed the above opinion.  See his Work.  Also
see Journal of Syria, Feb. 7,  1S01.
  + Dr. Mead has thus written in his Discourse up.n  Plague,  page 263.  " From all
" that has been said it appears very plainly, that the plague is a real poison, which, be-
" ing bred in the southern parts of  the world, is carried by commerce into other cci<n-
" tries, particularly into 'Turkey, where it maintains itself  by a kind of circulation from
" p:rsons to  goods,  which is chiefly owin;j to the^negligcnce  of  the people t'lerc, who
" are stupidly careless in this affair: that  when the constitution of the air happtns to
" favour infection, it rages there with great violence: that at that time more especially
" dUeasei persons give it to one another, and from them contagious matter is lodged in
*'• 2'>jds of z iay.c  a.ii soft texture, which, being packed  up, and carried into ot^iei 
                        OF  PLAGUE.                       3$3

  At the termination of the plague season,  when one may natural-
ly suppose that there is the greatest accumulation of infected mate-
rials, clothing, bedding, tents,  &c. it  is singular (unless heat be
admitted as an useful agent in destroying contagion),  that the dis-
ease should, as it were, disappear of itself, and that rather sud-
denly.*
  A fever with malignant symptoms  prevailed in the neighbour-
hood of Constantinople in  the autumn of 1799.   Several fatal cases
of this  fever,  which  have been already detailed, occurred in  the
military mission in barracks at Levant Chiflick.
  The  deaths happened from  the fifth to the seventh day.  The
fever was accompanied with occasional  sallowness, or yellow  co-
lour of  the skin,  dark livid spots, petechia?, and a train  of  unfa-
vourable symptoms.  However, the characteristics of plague were
not present;  there were neither glandular swellings,  buboes,  nor
carbuncles, &c.
  When  the  Nile is low,  and when the soil  of Egypt is in the
highest state of dryness, which  happens about the months of April,
May, and June,  eddies of wind  carry into the  air great  quantities
of fine dust.   About this  time  the hot kampsin winds blow from
the south and south-east occasionally, raising  immense  clouds of
this  fine subtle dust into the atmosphere, to the great  distress of all
animals.  The inconvenience which occasionally ensues from these
hot  scorching winds is very great toman, as well as to  animals.  Ca-
mels, fowls, &c.  are said  to have perished at Belbeis and elsewhere
in the month of June 1801.  This wind is  called kampsin, which in
Arab implies fifty, to denote that these winds will occasionally blow
during  the space of fifty  days.   From them the skin becomes dry
and  parched,  producing great langour, and prostration of strength,
which  take off all ability  and inclination  to move.  The whole cf
the atmosphere is at this time obscured with the dust, which is so
very subtle, that  it pervades the  nicest fastening.  The air feels as
though issuing from the mouth of an oven, and the sands as  though

" countries, let out when opened the imprisoned seeds of contagion, and produce the
" disease, whenever the air is disposed to give them force; otherwise they may be dis-
** sipate.i, without any considerable ill effects : And lastly, that the air does not usual-
" ly diffuse and spread these to any great distance, if intercourse and commerce with the
" place infected be strictly prevented."
  * An additional corroboration of the opinion, that a marsh vapor may betiie canseof
plague, and that  plague is only a modification of remittent  fever.  The difference of
opinion as to its  contagious nature not  being demonstrated,  furnishes another circum-
stance in favour of the idea.  Srr- what follows in this Journal, and see also Medi A
Journal of Syria,  Feb. j, i8ci. 
3^4
HISTORICAL  JOURNAL,
 on  fire ;  all metallic substances become unpleasantly  warm to the
 touch.  At this period the plague is said  to  be more general and
 fatal.
   In the  month of June the Ottoman army occupied the right bank
 of the Nile, on its approach towards Cairo.   At that time the Nile
 was low, and the water foul.   Many people  were seized with sud-
 den retching and vomiting,  without pain, or any other indisposi-
 tion :  This complaint soon subsided.
   At first I  sought  for  the cause in  the neglected  copper kitchen
 utensils belonging to the Turkish  cooks.   Some  attributed this
 complaint to the  waters of the Nile.   The same thing, however,
 occurred  to those who drank of the waters procured from the wells
 of Mattaree.  I rather  attributed this affection to  weakness and
 great irritability of stomach, brought on by fatigue, heat, &c. Dys-
 peptic complaints are extremely common among  the Ottomans,
 Their extremely greasy diet is no doubt one  of the  causes of this
 disorder.
   About the above  time we  had many cutaneous  affections.   A
 painful pustulary eruption, which was  very troublesome, broke out
 upon the body in various parts.  Repeated  gentle saline purges and
 antimonials were useful in removing this complaint.   The occasi-
 onal use  of the warm bath at  Cairo assisted in the removal 6f the
 diseased state of the skin.
   The French notice a similar cutaneous complaint which happen-
 ed to them, and which they attributed to the waters of the Kile;
 and hence called it bouton du Nil.
   When the Nile begins to  rise, the  water is nearly  clear; soon
 afterwards it assumes a greenish, and then an  ochrey colour.  The
 earthy matter with which the water is at  this time abundantly load-
 ed, is usually  suffered to subside before  the water is drank.  For
 this purpose great use is made in Egypt of a porous earthen vessel,
 which is made in  the country, called  birdack,  and  in which the
 water is kept to allow the earth to fall to the bottom.  These ves-
 sels are placed in  front of the windows, and  being  extremely po-
 rous,  the  water issues through them,  and hence, by  the external
 evaporation from  their sides,  the contained water is rendered ex-
 tremely cool and agreeable, particularly in a climate like that of
Egypt.  This  is  indeed  a great luxury  to the inhabitants, whose
common beverage is water.
  The various colours which the water of the Nile assumes at dif-
ferent times mav probably be owing to the different kinds of earth 
OF  PLAGUE,                       385
  washed into the river by the heavy rains which fall in Abyssinia,
  and other remote parts.  In the kingdom of Sanaar the soil is said
  to be of a reddish colour ; if so, this may probably give the water
  of  the Kile its ochrey appearance.   One can scarcely imagine that
  a sufficiency of putrid vegetable matter  could fall into the Nile to
  n\e it the greenish colour, which some persons have been inclined
  ro attribute to such a^cause.
   St. John's day has been long celebrated for  putting an end  to
  plague.  Certainly about ihis period we did observe in Egypt and
  Syria, that the disease was upon  the decline.*  However, by the
  credulous, great virtues are attributed to the copious dews which are
  observed to fall about this time.   Yet throughout the summer the
 dews are usually  heavy,  but  more abundant at  one period than at
 another.   These dews have been said  to possess very  strong acid
 properties,  insomuch that metallic substances exposed to them  in
 the night are corroded in a short time.   The truth of this remark
 I cannot confirm.  The surface of the ground in many places,
 particularly about the mounds of rubbish at Cairo, is  thickly  co-
 vered with nitre; and upon  the  island of Rondah I have seen the
 earth so extremely white as to resemble at a distance a light fall of
 snow.*
   The prevailing winds, in  June  and July, were N. W.   How
 far may these winds be serviceable in suppressing the plague?
   It is generally believed that contact is necessary to communicate
 plague ; and that  a person may hold conversation with one infected
 with impunity,  provided  he  does not touch him, or the garments
 of the pestiferous.f
   By the extreme narrowness of the streets of Cairo (a remark of
 general application to the towns of Turkey), in  which you cannot
 walk, however public or frequented they may be, without jostling,
 or touching others in passing,  the propagation  of disease in  the
 plague season is wonderfully facilitated.  When it appears in Cairo,
 the Franks or Christians find from experience that their only secu-
 rity consists in  shutting themselves  up  within their own districts,
 and within their own dwellings, until  the disease is  passed over.

  * The saline earth the inhabitants collect at the clase of the year (November, De-
 cember, ttc.) at Cairo, and with it make the nitre which is employed in the composition
 of gunpowder, &c.
  f A Smyrna merchant, who has long lived in the country, assured m:,  that he al-
ways took care to get to the windward side of tha patient, aj a necessary  precaution,
"lien in conversation with 4 pestiferous subject. 
386                HISTORICAL  JOURNAL

During this confinement, they receive their  provisions, and other
articles,  through a hole made in the door, or  wall, for the purpose:
these victuals, Sec.  are immersed in water previously to their being
touched  or used by  them.
   The merchants  of Cairo  positively affirm, that  the oil sellers
and water-carriers (the latter are extremely numerous in Cairo), as
well as the tanners, are not subject to plague.
   At the time when the plague raged at Jaffa, in 1800, there was
a great mortality among the  cattle.   Even the dogs suffered from
a violent inflammation and swelling about the genitals,  &c.
   Notwithstanding all  the experience of the French  and others,
still  the  precise nature and origin  of plague appears to be invol-
ved  in doubt and obscurity.   Some have  attributed it  to the stag-
nant  waters of the Nile, and to certain vicissitudes of the atmo-
sphere.
   It  is  observed  by  Dr.  Desgencttes,  chief  physician  to  the
French  army in  Egypt, that  the plague attacks more  particu-
larly  those, exposed  to sudden changes of atmosphere,  such as ba-
kers, blacksmiths, cooks,  5cc.   And likewise,  that men given to
excess in the  use of spirituous liquors, and women, are rarely cured
of plague.
   I was informed by a respectable and well-informed inhabitant, and
a man of observation, in Cairo, that after a plentiful inundation
the plague was observed to prevail.*  And further, that when suiall-
pox was epidemical in  Cairo,  where it is generally very fatal, the
inhabitants usually expect plague to follow.
   In a correspondence  with  the Karl of Elgin at Constantinople,  I
lamented I was not in possession,of the vaccine matter to introduce
into Cairo this disease,  which has been diffused happily over a great
part of the world, to the great security and safety of its inhabitants,
and whicli will in time, it is  to be hoped,  completely annihilate
small-pox from among  us.
   Plague is  sure to make its appearance annually in some part of
Egypt or the other ;  either  confining its baneful effects to the spot

   * Seeing that  the country may then he compared to an extensive morass, or marsh,
may it not be supposed, that from the decay and corruption of much animal or vegeta-
ble matter, a noxious gas may be generated and exhaled by an ardent heat of the sun,
sufficient to produce contagion such as plague ?
   For my  own pan I am diffident in  lorming an hypothesis or theory upon plague, see-
ing that the French physicians  are so silent upon the subject.  Thty appear to have
gained little or no better intelligence on the nature and cure of plague than was former-
ly known,  notwithstinding their practice when in Egypt was very extensive. 
OF  PLAGUE.
3«7
where  it first broke  out,  or  becoming  otherwise  diffused,  and
spreading  like wild-fire through villages,  towns,  and districts,
sweeping off the inhabitants in its progress.  It has been known to
rage fatally at Boulack, and disappear without entering Grand Cai-
ro,  although a distance of  only two miles.  Such is  the extraor-
dinary nature of this disease, that it seems to defy all reasoning.
  One would naturally imagine that the mode  in which the poorer
classes  of people who inhabit Cairo and  other towns and villages
in Egypt, &c. are crowded together, would inevitably be produc-
tive of some disease,  particularly in so warm a climate,  one inha-
bitant of London appearing on an average  to occupy as much space
as twenty in Grand Cairo.
  The neglect of cleanliness in the inhabitants, who live in filthy
and confined holes, upon a poor diet, with a want of proper and
necessary clothing, must co-operate in the generation of malignant
diseases.   Again, I have remarked, that when  the Nile is low, the
canal  which runs through and  about  Grand  Cairo, is no longer
supplied with fresh waters, its contents becoming stagnant, and the
receptacle for much filth and corruption, such as the carcasses of
dead dogs, cats,  Sec. and the refuse of much animal and vegetable
matter.   Indeed,  the putrid exhalations issuing from this and other
canals in and about Cairo, I was witness to  in 1801, and cannot
help thinking that those who  are situated near them must feel its
baneful effects.   However, I content  myself   to  relate the fact,
without hazarding a further opinion.
  It has been disputed whether plague is native of Turkey, of
Egypt, or of Africa.   To decide may be difficult.  It however
may be worthy of remark, that since the interruption of trade be-
tween Egypt and Constantinople during  the  war, the latter place
has been nearly free from plague.
  The climate and air of Turkey appear to be good.  At Constan-
tinople the inhabitants are not subject to the hot scorching kampsin
winds, so distressing  in Egypt.
  It is a well known fact,  that the jdague disappears suddenly, and
as suddenly re-appears,  without affording any apparent cause for
these changes.   This happened while we  were in Syria, &c. with
the Ottoman army.
  From all  that  one has seen and  heard, it   would appear  either
that the virus  of plague does not always possess the same activity
and force,  or that certain pcrs jus  are occasionally insusceptible  of
its acrion: and also,  that  from  the sudden appearance as well a:


                                       4 
j3o                HISTORICAL  JOURNAL
 termination of the disease,  the necessity of some powerful agmt is
 implied to put the contagion into  action, and give it its full  force,
 as well as to destrov its effects when present,  leaving, however, ~1
 sufficiency of rhe contagious principle latent within the country, to
 propagate the disease,  whenever such circumstances shall favour its
 action, and call it forth, without having recourse to the annual ge-
 neration of fresh matter,  or virus, as necessary to account for the
 re appearance of disease at each plague season.
   May it be imagined  that  this agent resides in the atmosphere ?
 But whether this peculiar constitution of the air consists in a super-
 abundance,  or in a diminution of the ordinary proportion of oxygenc
 in the atmosphere, or  in the combination of some peculiar gas, or
 gasses, diffused in it;  or whether the whole may be brought about
 by  variations of temperature only, connected with  moisture or dry-
 ness of the air, I must confess my inability to determine.   Time
 alone may unfold this  mystery.    Indeed, a series of eudiometrical
 and other observations, continued for  several years,  at the diffe-
 rent places in the country, might  possibly throw some light upon
 the subject.

                            CURE.
  I  am much disappointed to find that so little light has been thrown
 on  piague by the results of the French practitioners in Egypt.
  I should have been happy if, after several years residence in a pes-
 tiferous country, where 1 constantly searched for useful information,
my labours had been rewarded in the discovery of an improved, or
m ;re successful treatment of plague. No such happiness has attend-
ed me; and as my own experience is, I  think, too limited to pre-
sume  to lav down a plan of cure,  1 must in preference content my-
self in the relation of the experiments and practice of others,  which
came  to my knowledge while in the country.
  For my own part, a prompt and early use of remedies appears to
me  of the utmost  importance: indeed, the interval between the
seizure and death is frequently so very short, that the trial for reme-
dies is very limited.  1 treated the several cases which fell  under
my care,  as far as it was practicable,  in the manner adopted in fe-
vers of the malignant kind, with this difference,  that in the second
case I conjoined the trial of oily frictions.   Although 1 cannot ven-
ture to speak generally of the treatment of this disease,  yet I would
hazard an opinion, that where proper establishments are formed for
the  reception of pestiferous patients, with proper attendants,  acau- 
OF  PLAGUE.
3*9
tious and fair trial of mercury and the oxygenated remedies would
merit attention.
 - The practice of a Venetian doctor, who lately died in Cairo, and
who was much celebrated for his professional skill and prognosis in
plague,  was, first to bleed, but never after the expiration of thirty-
six hours from attack.  He administered  large doses of camphor,
and gave the patient a lump of it to hold constancy in the hand.
He  attended much to diet;  gave rice water, chicken broth, boiled
cucumbers,  lettuces, &c. and, as a cordial, occasional small quan-
tities of a diluted spirit;  but always  forbad wine.  He entertained
the opinion that  a certain disposition or susceptibility in the patient
was necessary to the reception of  the disease.
  A free perspiration has been generally found useful; copious per-
spirations arc the sensible effects of the oily frictions, and are excited
without distress or inconvenience  to the suffering sick.
  Our inttipieter, who was  seized at El-Arish with plague before
the  Vizier's army arrived there, was seen and treated by a Turkish
doctor, who hat]  great confidence in a strong spirit which is distilled
with aniseeds,  and is in the country called rackey.   He administer-
ed this  spirit repeatedly and liberally in the day-time to his patient,
whose  symptoms of plague  were accompanied by a large carbun-
cle formed  in  the  side,  and  a bubo in the  axilla.   As soon  as I
saw him, I recommended the bark liberally  to him, and cataplasms
to be applied  to the sore in the  side,  which  was very-extensive
from the repeated sloughings  that had occurred since the open-
ing  of the carbuncle.  One of the  eyes was  severely inflamed,
and it was long before he recovered his perfect intellects, as well as
his sight.
  The partial  and  unsteady  manner  in which  plague patients ap-
peared to be rreated among the Turk;  I  confess afforded but little
chance of  success in the removal of the disease.
  Bleeding,  as a remedy  in plague, has been the subject of much
dispute among celebrated physicians.   While at Jaffa, it was the
practice of the  Venetian doctors  to  make  use of blood-letting.
Many  patients died suddenly after  the  operation; the death ap-
peared hastened by the evacuation  of  blood.
  The  indiscriminate employ of bleeding  may be of serious conse-
quences in  weakening those natural  powers of the system which
might be usefully exerted to  the subduction of disease.
  1 used the oily  frictions in  the manner recommended and adopted
!y Mr.  Baldwn, kite Engli-h consul at Alexandria.  The detail 
39<>
HISTORICAL  JOURNAL
of these cases, and the methods taken to remove the contagion from
among us,  will be found in the Medical Journal in Syria.
  A typhus patient evidently  derived great benefit from the use of
the oily frictions. The result  of my observations and practice with
the oil induces me to hope it will  be found useful as a preventive.
I repeatedly recommended the frictions with oil to the Turks,  but
all to no purpose.   While their prejudices continue, it will be in
vain to  attempt  reform,  or  to annihilate the disease from among
them.   At Smyrna they continue to use the oil in plague,  and  it
is said that  this mode of  treatment is  more efficacious than  any
other.   The merchants,  however, from whom I collected this ac-
count, observe,  that the proportional success with the oil is not
every year the same.   Sometimes the half and more of the infected
are saved, at other times  not more than a fifth or sixth. 
ON  OPHTHALMIA.
39l
ON  OPHTHALMIA.
     ALTHOUGH much has been done both by the rude and en-
     lightened  nations in the improvement of medicine in its  va-
rious branches, still the field is ample,  the  art having by no means
attained perfection.  The communication, therefore,  of informa-
tion acquired in  practice, ^lowever trivial  the facts may appear at
first view, may,  at a future  period,  be found useful to others.  En-
couraged in this opinion,  1  have been induced to arrange what has
occurred to me upon ophthalmia; and shall be extremely happy if
any good shall result from my observations and practice.   For ex-
cept the plague,  I think there is not a disease in Syria and in Egypt
which produces more dreadful sufferings and distressful consequen-
ces than  ophthalmia.  The disease is there endemial,  and rages
with  violence annually, about the time when the Nile is low,  and
the country in a state of extreme dryness.
  In the  months of May, June, July,  and part of August, in
the year 1801, ophthalmia raged among the English and Ottoman
armies  in Egypt.  At that time the weather was extremely hot and
oppressive, occasionally accompanied by the kampsin, and by hot
scorching  winds from the  north-east and  north-west, carrying
clouds  of dust into the atmosphere.  The disease  was then com-
mon, and extremely distressing; for the troops being encamped, no
better shelter could be procured  for the sick than a  tent (those  em-
ployed  by the  Ottomans are  made of thin cotton),  through which
the vivid and piercing rays of the sun easily pervaded, to the great
annoyance and pain of the suffering patients.
  The  ophthalmy of Egypt did'not appear to differ from what we
had seen in Syria, i. e. at Jaffa, Ramla,  Gaza, &c.   At Jerusa-
lem,  at Bethlehem, and in their environs, the disease and its effects
were manifested, though  with less violence.
  It  was painful to view its effects at  Jaffa, where it appeared to
me that the one half  of the  inhabitants had lost either one or both
the eyes. Their houses are built of a white friable calcareous stone,
the streets are very narrow,  and they  live in a very confined  man-
»er,  tending to generate disease. 
 392                 ON OPHTHALMIA.

   The diseases of the eyes which  prevail in Syria and in Egypt,
 among the natives, appear often connected with scrophulous affec-
 tions, and frequently to result from the small-pox.   The children
 are  in  general badly nourished,  have enlarged mesenteric elands,
 and a pallid and unhealthy countenance.   Diseased eyes among the
 infants  are common: they bear their sufferings with wonderful tran-
 quillity, although the eyes are loaded with matter, flies, and other
 small insects,  which are prodigiously numerous in those countries.
 Neither sex  nor age appears to be exempted from this malady ■ I
 think, however,  that the  poorer classes of inhabitants are more af-
 fected than the wealthy.  Psorophthalmy is common  among  the
 Syrians and Egyptians,  who suffer repeared attacks  of inflamma-
 tion of the eyes, which  ultimately  reduce  many  of them to  the
 most pitiable state imaginable; from cataracts, opacities of the cor-
 nea, and, in many individuals, from complete suppurations of  the
 whole eye,  &c. &c.   Vast multitudes of these people are reduced
 to absolute blindness; and several hundreds of them are  lodged and,
 nourished in a mosque in Cairo.
  The Bedouin Arabs are less subject to ophthalmy than the inha-
bitants of towns and villages.
  Ophthalmy is not confined  to the human race, horses,  camels,
dogs, asses, &cc. being subject to inflammations of the eyes, and
the effects of  this distressing disease, in Egypt and Syria.
  In September and October  the disease had nearly disappeared at
 Cairo and its neighbourhood.  At that time the whole of the coun-
try was nearly inundated,  and the weather become moderate and
more pleasantly cool.
  Upon an inspection of the sick of the royal artillery  attached to
the British army, when it was before Cairo, many cases of severe
ophthalmia occurred.   Several of the sufferers are since  returned to
England, and labour under an impaired vision, the consequence of
a diseased state of the humours of the eye, as well as of opacities
of the cornea, together with morbid accumulation of the aqueous
humour, as hydrophthalmy, &c. &c.
  I  shall now relate  the symptoms  of ophthalmia, and the mode
in which they  appeared in  Syria and Egypt.
  The disease frequently came on very suddenly, ushered in with
a sensation, as though dust or some other irritating extraneous mat-
ter had fallen into the eye.   Heat and pain soon  followed.  Some-
times the complaint was confined to one eye, at others it  attack-
ed both  at  once.   Inflammation  and swelling of  the eye-lids 
ON OPHTHALMIA.                  Z93
 quickly  ensued, accompanied  with  an increased flow  of tears.
 In a few hours the |umefaction had completely closed the lids, and
 in the morning, after sleep, a  purulent or thick matter glued them
 together.
   The apparent causes of  the disease are,  the application of heat
 and light;  irritation from particles of sand or dust ; and the occa-
 sional  exposure to night air.
   While in Egypt, 1 was frequently induced to believe that the
 mounds  of rubbish  which  numerously surround  Cairo,  Alexan-
 dria, &cc. furnished a peculiar  cause for the frequency and severity
 of this disease in that neighbourhood; seeing  that these mounds
 aie formed of various kinds of rubbish, ruins, &c. among which
 it. much  old mortar (i. e. lime and sand, or mud) which might ope-
 uce in a mechanical manner upon the fender and delicate mem-
 branes of the eye, and hence prove a source of disease.  This rub-
 bish is, by its exposure to a scorching sun, reduced into a  fine sub-
 tile powder, which is easily acted cpon by the least puff  of wind,
 and driven  into the atmosphere, to the annoyance and inconveni-
 ence of every one.  Those  who have  been near these  places during
 a kampsin,  have  painfully experienced the truth  of  this observa-
 tion ;  since on these days, when the wind blows briskly,  there is a
 general haziness of atmosphere, from the fine particles of  dust sus-
 pended in the air.   Cairo and  Alexandria are particularly exposed
 to the  baneful  effects of these accumulations, which overhang and
 surround the above places.  Some difficulty attends their removal
 at Cairo  ; seeing that the  inhabitants  cannot spread  the  rubbish
 over the  land, as it would in time heighten the surface of the coun-
 try so much, as to deprive them 'of the full  benefit of the inunda-
 tion of the X/le.   At Alexandria this would be more practicable.
 Stone-masons,  and persons  employed  in the making  of lime,  are
 particularly subject to ophthalmy and pulmonary complaints, from
 the irritation excited by the  particles of lime and of stone upon the
 tenuer and delicate membranes of rhe eye and lungs.
  1 he nitrous particles  in  the air have been by several numbered
 among the causes of ophthalmia  in Egypt.  Although the earth
 in  many places is highly  charged  or  impregnated with  nitrate of
 p'H-.-.sh,  yet I see no reason to  attribute the  prevalence of the dis-
ease to this cause.
  o'.me circumstances have  recently occurred among the troops on
their return to England from Egypt, which have given rise to an
opinion,  that  the disease is infectious. Notwithstanding  I must 
39-r                 ON OPHTHALMIA*
 confess that nothing came wit!.in my particular observation to con-
 firm such an opinion, still I shall relate a circumstance wHich oc-
 curred while we were at Jaffa,  in Syria.
   The iVcTi; Adventure transport,  on board  of which  were the
 women and children of the detachments of the mission, was sent,
 in the month of August 1SOO, with despatches to Cyprus, desti-
 ned for Constantinople.   While they remained at Cyprus, which
 was  for  a few days only,  the women  and children went on
 shore.  They were suddenly and severely attacked with an inflam-
 mation of the eyes, with which none of the sailors on board were
 affected.   The  medical man to whom they  applied  for relief at
 Larnica,  in the above island, mentioned that the disease was then
 prevalent, and that he considered it to be infectious.   Upon  their
 return to  Jaffa,  I went on board, and found several of  them then
 suffering  from   the disorder  with much pain, inflammation, and
 swelling of the  eye-lids, and with small ulcerations upon the tarsi.
 The disease yielded  to the saturnine lotion,  blisters, stimulating
 ointment, and laudanum.
   For my own part  1 never  met with any other incident to sup-
 port the opinion of the contagious  nature of ophthalmia either in
 Egypt or in Syria.  It appears to me, that from the strong glare
 of light,  and heat, to which the eyes are exposed during the sum-
 mer months, a local pre-disposing debility in the vessels  of these
 organs is induced to a sufficient degree to excite ophthalmia upon
 the application  or insertion  of an  irritating  substance within the
 eye, such as particles of sand, lime, &c.  unless these  are speedily
 removed.
  I am induced  to think that  I preserved my own eyes  and those
 of others  from this malady, by an attentive and frequent ablution
 of them with cold water,  particulaily  after the daily exposure to
 the solar rays and dust,  during our march through the desert.
  The exposure to night cold, during the fall of the great dews, 1
 am inclined to believe operates as an exciting cause to the  disease.
 The ponderous turbans and shawls usually worn on the heads of the
 Mussehnen afford  no protection to the eyes, but leave  them ex-
 posed to-the full action  of. dust, light,  and heat, which  subject
 them more particularly to  ocular inflammations.  Indeed,  the dis-
ease is at all times very common among them.
  The Vizier himself suffered occasional  attacks of  ophthalmy,
which  were removed by a  collyrium made with the acetite  of lead,
water and  vinegar, and the use of a  shade of green silk, &c, 
                    ON  OPHTHALMIA.                   395

  The general intentions of cure in  the treatment of ophthalmia
were the resolution of the inflammation ; the removal of the con-
sequences which frequently occurred from inflammation;  and the
induction of such a state of the eye as to prevent the return ot oph-
thalmia where there was a disposition to its attacks.
  The remedies which I adopted were a weak solution of the acetite
of lead, water and vinegar, combined with gentle aperients.   The
eyes were kept shaded as much as possible from the stimulous of
heat and light.
  If the first, or primary symptoms,  such as pain, redness, and swel-
ling,  were not soon relieved, blisters to the  temples were  applied,
which frequently lessened the tumefaction. The vessels of the  eye-
lids  were found  loaded with blood, the  inflammation assuming a
deep crimson colour.  Relief having been procured, the application
of stimulants was then of infinite service.
  The ung. hydrargyr. nit.  lowered in the proportion of one part
to three of ung. cerse, inserted into  the eyes with a hair pencil, and
the tinct. opii dropt in after  the use of the ointment,  night  and
morning,  were of the greatest benefit, and in a variety  of cases
soon effected a cure.   This  was not, however, always the case ;
for where the disease was more severe,  and resisted the first treat-
ment, the tunica adnata became more or less inflamed, and the piim
more intense.  In such cases the gorged vessels of the adnata and
those of  the lids were divided,  and this was repeated as  often as
circumstances seemed to require,  without any inconvenience at-
tending the operation.  The patients were repeatedly  purged,  and
blisters applied to the temples, behind the ears, to the nape of the
neck, &c.  Leeches could  not be procured in the country; and
indeed such was  our want  of them at Cairo, that the Vizier was
obliged to send to Jerusalem for a  small supply.  If head-ach, or
deeply seated pain within the eye,  harassed  the patient,  and  was
connected with an increase of general vascular action, as with py-
rexia, in such like cases general evacuations, as bleeding and  copi-
ous purging, were adopted,  and usefully employed.   The shaving
of the fore part of the head,  and cold water and vinegar frequently
applied to diminish the force of circulation in the vessels,  particur
larlv in the neighbourhood  of the  diseased  part, were also  found
serviceable.
  In many recent cases, small and  painful ulcerations  formed  upon
the edges of the lids.   In such cases the stimulating  ointment of
nitrated mercury,  and tinct. opii,  were extremely  beneficial, and 
3$6                 ON OPHTHALMIA.
 speedily effected a cure.  But in neglected, and in obstinate cases,
 opacities of the cornea frequently ensued,  which reduced the patU
 ent to a temporary,  partial, or  absolute blindness.   Some melan-
 choly cases happened, in which the eye completely suppurated, and
 wasted away.   In recent opacities,  the ointment  and laudanum
 were very  useful,  Although I found 4jbesc remedies the most effi-
 cacious in  removing the disease, yet I could not employ them very
 generally among the Ottomans, who do not comprehend the utility
 of remedies which give pain.   It is true that there  were excepti-
 ons  to this remark among such of the Turks as entertained fewer
 prejudices, and who, possessing a greater degree of confidence, sub-
 mitted to the stimulants, and profited by them.
  The collyrium,  composed of  the acetite  of lead,  water and vi-
 negar, alone cured great numbers cf the Ottomans : indeed, this
 wash became so celebrated among  them,  that I was obliged to
 furnish the interpreter of the Vizier with a  quantity  of the acetite
 of lead,  with directions to make the collyrium for the use of his
 Highness and others, on their return to Constantinople from Cairo.
  In  the early part of my practice I hesitated to apply the stimulants
 until  the primary symptoms were sensibly  alleviated ; after three,
 four,  or six  days, when  observing a peculiar fulness and relaxed
 state  of the internal membrane of  the eye-lids,  from the distended
 state of the vessels, and which was in many  cases accompanied with
 small ulcerations of the tarsi, this condition  of the parts constituting
 the secondary  stage  of the disease, indicated and prompted me to
 apply stimulants earlier, and with much benefit.
  A gaping,  or an inversion of the eye-lids, occasionally occurred
 in some violent, tedious, and  obstinate cases of ophthalmy, pro-
 ducing deformity,  and a temporary deprivation of sight,  from  the
 great relaxation and elongation of the internal surface  of the pal-
 pebra.   The most remarkable case of it which I saw, happened
 to a soldier at Gaza, belonging to the Indian army.   The inter-
 nal membrane of the upper lid formed a flap of at least two-thirds
 of an inch  in depth,  hanging down,  and completely closing  the
 eye.   Various astringent collyriums were used to diminish and re-
strain its growth.
  Irritability and weakness of the eye were relieved by astringent
collyriums of vitriolated zinc, alum, &c.    Frequent ablutions vrith
cold  water, and vinegar and water,  and protecting the eye from
 strong light, were found of advantage. 
ON" OPHTHALMIA.                  397
  The shunning of the night air, the wearing of broad-brimmed
hats, or shades, in order to protect  the eyes from the solar rnys,
and frequent ablutions with  cold water,  constitute an essential part
of the means of prevention of this disease.
  The Egyptians, Sec. draw blood from the temples by scarifying
the parts.   They have likewise remedies which they occasionally
employ in this disease.
  They take, for example,  equal quantities of powdered galls, and
crude antimony, and mix these ingredients with  vinegar, into the
consistence of a paste* with which they anoint the eyes.
  Antimony  is one  of the common pigments  of the women to
blacken their eyedids and eye-brows.
  Another celebrated remedy with them is a collyrium,  composed
of equal parts of chizmeh* powdered, sugar candy,  and alum mix-
ed with vinegar.
  The French practitioners make mention of a species of ophthal-
my depending upon a bilious state of the stomach; likewise another
species accompanied with a  spasmodic affection of the globe of the
eye.  I do not recollect to  have met with either of these descrip-
tions of ophthalmia in the country.
  *  A small black shining seed, which comes from Darfour, of which I collected a
small portion. 
 
METEOROLOGICAL  JOURNAL.
     THE following Tables contain a correct statement
of the Thermometer (Fahrenheit's),  the prevailing Winds,
Barometer, &c. as observed  by me, three times daily,  in
Turkey, Asia,  Syria, through the Desert,  and in Egypt,
from June 1799 to March 1802.
     In order  to give an idea of the Force of the Wind,
and the Quantity of Rain fallen, during each  day, I have
had recourse to numbers; as  will be seen marked in a Co-
lumn of the Tables, at the  period they  were first noted
down.
     At the expiration of a few months, I was obliged to
lay aside the use of the Barometer,  Eudiometer, and Plu-
viometer,  which I had  been accustomed occasionally  to
employ, it being impossible  to make use of these instru-
ments when travelling. 
ADVERTISEMENT.
       THE Author has to regret,  that several inaccuracies,
 which are,  however,  of so trifling an import as not  to de-
 range the general conclusions his intelligent reader will draw,
 have found their way  into the Meteorological Tables.   They
 have been the result of obstacles which it was impossible for
 him to surmount in the very peculiar service in which he
 was engaged, as well as of the frequent indispositions to which
 he was subjetled by the hazardous nature of that service.  It
 is owing to these impediments that several interruptions have
 occurred in these Tables.   In offering this  plea,  the force of
 which, he is confident,  will be candidly acknowledged by the
general reader, he  takes an opportunity to address himself
 more particularly to the professional gentlemen into  whose
 hands his work  may fall, on  the  subjeR  of the Appendix.
 In giving his medical notes in the state  in which they were
penned, at the time when the diseases  and incidents occurred
 to which they refer, without change of the order and method
 he pursued,  and without the introduction of the speculative
 reasonings he might  have employed, he has been persuaded,
 that their contents would be capable  of a clearer analysis,
 and a more  ready dedutlion.  If he has been misguided by
 his judgment, he appeals to the purity of  his intention,  and
 solicits, on this, as on every occasion, the candour and indul-
 gence of his readers. 
STATE OF THERMOMETER, WINDS, BAROMETER,  &c.
In the Month of June 1799, at Buyukdere, in Turkey.
£ 1 1 hermometer,						Thermometer,						Thermometer,									
,fj Morning						Noon.						Evening.									
		•1 I"			Force 1 .			.			Force			.			Force		B 0		
	3	« «= =			of the 1 =			~%	c	C	of the		3	n		c	of the			Rain	Remarks.
0	X	■s> \<r>		£	Wind, (a				J5	£	Wind.		X		3 V.	£	Wind.				
*S	0	?9j8q		N NE			,2	8l	79	N NE			7	74	87	NE			3°«		
26	8	72i9A		Calm			12	79	87 Calm				7	7i	8l	ENE			30.20		
27	8	7882		E NE			12	82	941E NE				7	7i	»S	E NE			30.10		
ii	8	73	qc	E NE			2	81	94 N NE				8	70	89	E NE			30.10		
29	8	74	92	N NE		12		«i	97I NE				»	72	80 E NE						
  N. B. The latter fortnight of this month (June) we had frequent heavy mowers of rain,
accompanied with much thunder and lightning; great variations of temperature, sometimes
very oppressively hot, then suddenly changing to cool.  Winds prevailed mostly from NNE.
and ENE.  Thermometer ranged from 72 to 82 in shade.   Barometer 30 to 30.20.
During the Month of July 1799, at Buyukdere, in Turkey.
>>	Thermometer,					Thermometer,						Thermometer,									
a >—1	Morning.					Noon.						Evening.									
		. 1			Force						Force						Force		E 0		
>>	3	"S R		-0 a	of the		3 0 X	-O	c	c	of the		3	~a	r	c	of the			Rain	Remarks.
C	X	J3 3 00 | </5		£	Wind.			■C	3 CO	£	Wind.		X	j: CO	T. CO	£	Wind.		CQ		
1	9	-77	8c	E NE			3	83	90	E NE			7	7»	82	E NE			30. 10		
2	9	77	82	E NE			j	8l	89	E NE			1	7'	70	ENE			3c. 10		
1	8	7T	78	Calm			1	83	88	E NE			8	70	70	Calm			30.10		
4	8	68	89	E NE			2	8c	82	E NE			8	7i	76	E NE			30. I	Rain	
S	9	;"	83	Calm			2	79	81	Calm			8	7"	7^	Calm			30.10		
6	8	72	ice	Calm			J	88	9<i	NE			8	72	73	NE			30.		
7	7	7S	97	Calm			2	«7	98	*			8	74J77		E			30.		
8	Q	81	92	E NE			2	88	08JE NE				7	7l!78		E NE			30.		
9	9	33	94	E NE			2	87	94 E NE				7	77178		E NE			30.		
10	8	79	94	E			2	«7	97	E			7	79J79		E NE			30. II		
11	c	82	9S	E NE			2	86	9<	E			7	76|78 7Sj7«		E NE			30.		
12	8	82	9i	E NE			2	88	97	E			8			NE			30.10		
IS	Q	«3	93	E NE			2	89	93E NE				8	79i7S		E NE			3c.		
"4	8	82	80	E NE			?	88	97'E NE				8	7372		Calm			3c.		
"!	9	Si	88	Calm			2	86	88| NE				8	7778		NE			30.		
16	8	78	94	E			2	87	94. E				7	779i		E			3c. 10		
1-	8	79	104	Calm			2	88	99	E			7	7880		E			30.10	Rain	
lS	8	^2	90	Calm			2	«7	94	E			7	7879		E			30.10		
»9	9	81	94	V			3	«9	98 E				7	7S|76		E			30. IC		
to	8	80JIO5		SSE			2	9S	ioS'S SE				7	79 8i		Calm			29. 25		
21	9	80' 104		N NE			2	87	94;N NE				7	70	72	Calm			29»3C		
22	9	79! 9'		NE			2	84	90	NE			7	72	74	NE			ng. 9c		
*3	8-5,102			Calm			2	«4	90	NE			7	70,74		NE			30.		
24 p;8o! oc				NE			2	it	93	NE			7|77		79	Calm			30. ^		
-V S.-2 IOI				Calm		2		90	ICO	NE			7 77		79	Calm			30.10	1	
26 Sj:o,io?.				E NE		J 2		88	109	E			7 79		8c	E			20.8,-		
I-| S|8n| ro				NE		2|86			9S	NE			7 79		»S	NE			29.95		
2?j 8;-'-l q-;				E		2|S6			97	E			776		74	E			30. 6		
SOI Sm I0C				E		2 84			103	E			7 77		79	E			30. 6		
3^ 8|?j 98 E						j 2JS8			97	E			7 7*		79 Calm				29.33		
31! 8JS7-I 96|N NE									95 NNE				776|		791NNE				29. 7|		
  N'. D. The first week of this month was oppressively warm.   Although we  had some
^•wdy days, with moderate showers of r?.in on the 4th, the Thermometer ranged from 6$
'0 88 in shade;  and in the sun, from 73  to 98.   Winds moderate, ENE.  Barometer
30 to 30.11.  The 17th showers of rain.                                     ' 
   N. B.   To give an idea of the force of the prevailing winds, 1 have Intro-

duced the figures I, 2, 3, 4: for instance, 1. denotes little wind ; 2.  J gen-
tle breeze j  3. strong  breezes j  and 4. a gale.
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STATE OF THERMOMETER, WINDS,  BAROMETER,  &c.
         During the Month of October 1799, at Buyukdere, in Turkey.___________
Oft.		Ther. Mor. | Therm. Noon. | Therm. Even. |																			
		.			Forcel .					.	Force		. 1 .				Force 1 g				
>s	3	V -0	c	■0 c	of the 1g				> c	c	of the		3 -f		c	C	of the 1 g			Rain	Remarks.
D	O I		3 CO	i	Wind.Jx			-C CO	3 CO	£	Wind.		BC co		3 co	£	Wind.J pj				
1	7	Z	119	SSW j 1			2	75	106	SW		1	5	74	76	SW		1-29. 90			
2	*74		118	ssw 1 2			2	76	100	S SW		2	5	75	80	S SW		1,30.10		Rain	
3	8	72i	124	S SW 3			2	81	no	S SW		3	5	80	85	S SW		1J30.			
4	8	68	6?	N			2	69	c9	N		1 5		65	67	N		i;30. 20		Rain	
5	8	71	106	NNE			2	70	92	NNE		1	5	69	79	N ,		ij3°- S		do.	
6	8	701	08	s			2	65	69	S SW			5	62	65	S SW		1 29. 89		do.	
7	8	6c	65	SW			2	59	60	N		1	5	55	59	ENE		1-30. 1		do.	
8	8	62	102	WNW			2	60	60	WNW		1	5	56	59	S		i;3°- 5		do.	
9	8	59	62	WSW			2	60	60	WSW		1	5	59	59	WSW		1S30.		do.	
10	8	59	61	Calm			2	65	69	N		1	5	&4	6;	N		i!30. 30		do.	
n	8	ft	"5	WSW			2	69 68	103	N		1	5	68	7°	N		1 = 30. 30			
12	8		73	N			2		109	N		1	5	60	08	N		2S30. 35			
?3	8	68	101	E NE			2	64	I 67	NE		3	5	60	60	NE		3(30.24		do.	
>4	8	54	59	Calm			2	66	68	NE		1	5	57	59	NE		1J30. 13		do.	
»s	8	57	60	WSW			2	59	67	WSW		1	5	58	*5	N		ij.30. 7		do.	
16	8	54	54	WSW			2	57	59	NE		1		st	57	NW		1,30.		do.	
»7	8	60	84	WSW			2	65	97	WSW		j	5	54	68	N		i|30. 5			
18	8	67	87	NE			?	64	90	E NE		1	5	62	7°	E NE		1130.21			
'9 ?. c 21	8	72	94	S		2	2	74	84	S_SW		3	5	7'	84	S SW		1	30. 7		
22 23 24																					
2 5							2	63	74	Calm											
26							2	73	92	S											
27							2	70	98	Calm											
aS							2	67	7>	NE											
During the Month of November 1799, 'n r'le Dardanelles, at Chennecally in Asia.
    6
    62
101 S|66
70 80
6689
64!85
63179
    70
    80
    73
    56
    47
    57
    69
    53
    54
    54
    53
    65
    45
 4848
 4545
 4545
 43 43
*'42|49
8 43J6©

8,856
 ,4444
8 35 S5
11] 856
», 845
131 849
Hi 85J
is' 8|5o
16' 8U-4
1h 8|54
\V 8I53
i9j 8!52
    45
Jzl 8
23! 8
24J 8
-5
E NE	1	2	70	70	E NE	1
E NE	1	2	68	80	E NE	1
E NE	1	2	68	86	E NE	1
Calm		2	66	86	E NE	
N	1	2	65	70	N	1
NE	1	2	66	92	NE	2
S SW	3	2	7'	74	S SW	3
E	1	2	5«	77	E	2
E S£	1	2	S«	60	Calm	1
E SE	1	2	55	78	NNE	1
E SE	1	2	59	80	E SE	1
NNE	2	2	56	80	NNE	2
do.	2	2	54	l4	E NE	2
ESE	1	2	53	53	E SE	1
E SE	i	2	57	84	NNE	1
E NE	1	2	S8	88	N	1
N NE		2	56	56	NNE	1
do.	2	2	45	45	do.	2
do.	2	2	49	55	d).	1
do.	2	2	46	46	do.	2
do.	2	2	+fc	bo	i 0.	
do.	1	2	47	73	do.	1
do.	j	2	48	48	do.	i
SW	1	2	55	75	SW	1
N	1	2	S2	73	N	1
N|	2	2	5°	~T£	N	2
N |	\	2	52	9'	N	1
68
    70
    67
 65J65
 6465
 7i 71
 5^57
5j5° 52
5 5°.53
5 5°55
E NE
E NE
E NE
ENE
  N
 NE
S SW
  E
E SE
NNE
ES E'
5j54i55|NNE
5I54J54IE NE
5
5
5
 52|v2lE SE
 5858INNE
 54-54-1  N
5I54 54'N NE
5'45!4 5
548148
514646
5J4S45
5 4o'46
5 48,48
5!54|6o
slioUo
54848
5'52!52
 do.
 do.
 do.
 do.
 do.
 do.
3 ~.v
 N
 N
 N
I 1
30.20
30.  1
  ■99
29. 98
29.90
3°-
30.
30.  8
30.18
3°-i.5
30. 30
30. 36
30. 36
30,
30. JO
30. 10
30. IO
30.
30.3C
3O.30
3C.38
3O.32
3O.44

3°-45
30.
Rain
 do.
do.
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy. 
STATE OF THERMOMETER, WINDS, BAROMETER, &c
          Duiing the Month of December 1799, it Galata, in Turkey.
Dec | Ther. Mor. \ Therm. Noon. |  Therm.  Even. |
X
 8
 9
10
11
12

'4
1 j
16
17
18
19
20
41
22
23
24
25
26
2T
28
29
3°
3i
Force I .
of the Is
Wind, ja;
     I
8;42
«55
857
866
8|6o
8,61
»59
8 52
8:50
8,51
858
846
8I42
8'4t
8556
845
  44
  46
  53
  56
  59
  55
  54
  53
  54
  56
  55
  54
  54
40
    N
   SW
   SW
   SW
   SW
   SW
   SW
   NE
   NE
   NE
   NE
   NE
   NE
  S SW
  S SW
  S SW
  S SW
i.613 sw
  s sw
  s SW
  WSW
  •  NE
  NNE
   NE
   SE
  S SW
  S SW
  E NE
uN'NW
  WNW
    N
40!
force
of the
Wind.
551
  S SW
68JS SW
62 SW
65 sw
   SW
   sw
   NE
   NE
   NE
   NE
   NE
   NE
   NE
   ssw
   ssw
   ssw
   ssw
   s sw
   s sw
   sw
   wsw
   NE
   NNE
   NE
   NE
   s sw
   N NE
   ENE
   N NW
   WNW
    N
Force
of the
Wind.
s sw
s sw

 sw
 sw
 sw
s sw
 NE
 NE
 NE
 NE
 NE
 NE
ssw
s sw
s sw
s sw
s sw
s sw
E SE
WSW
 NE
NNE
 NE
 NE
S-'SW
NNE
E NE
NNW
WNW
  N
30.10
29.93
30.16
30
29.74
29.52
29.77
29.94
30. 3
30. 20
30.20
29.95
29.9I
29.95
29.58
29.66
29.80
30. 8]
Rain
fnov»
 do.
Remarks.
Cloudy
  do.
  do.
  do.
During the Month of Jan
~N
uary 1800, at Galata, in Turkey.
          N
          N
 
W E r1 6 c Z p j: o s	.2 G	
	a ■a	Rain do. Rain do. do. do. do. Rain do. snow do. do.
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	"unS	_«r4„„n- — H M » M tl H » "
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	•apeqo •in ,,	
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J*	a . . l. . . . . c >-■ . . . »-• *- .5 h !3 • ■ ■2 o o .-oooo "3 -=ooo "5° 73 « com°o e2 "0' ^ ,£ -13 -° ° -° e> w "° ^ ^ W° k.c4 to . tt. ^ ^
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STATE OF THERMOMETER,  WINDS, BAROIVTETER, &c.
	During the M		jnth of April 1 Sec				, at Galata,			n Turkey.		
Apr. T	ie-. Mor. | Therm. Noon. | The .11. Even. |											
• «	. Force		1 .1 Force			^ 1		^. For-e		£		
" 3 13	c c of the	3 "°	c'|"c|ofthe		?	i	c	S | ol the		0	Rain	Remark;,
D £ io	Z £ Wind. £ 3		SjJlwind.		X		3 CO	5|Wind.				
I F40	P. NE 1	2J4/		ENE j;	S	4'		E NE	.	29.9O		Cl'ju.ly
2 8 42	E NE 1	2ks	»	do.	5	42		E NE	1	3C		Fair
3 «14'	Calm	2I50		N ,	. f	44		N	2	30.14		do.
4 8;4'	do.	J|45		E NE	i f,	43		ENE	1	30. I4		Cloudy
5 8k>	d.».	Is'		do.	1 5	4'		do. ,	1	20.94		do.
6 842	E NE 3	*45		do.	1 5	44		do.	1	20.9O		do.
7 844	do. 1	2 5c		do.	1 5	44		do.	mi.1*			do.
8 841	do. 1	246		do.	3 5	t3.		do.	2	3C. 20		Fair
9 844	do. 1	252		do.	1 5	4*		■:o.	2	30. 20		do,
10 845	Cairn	258	d.		1 5	52		do.	1	3c. 10		rio.
n *v	do.	2 6c		Calm	5	57		Calm		3°-		do.
12 8',58	do.	268		WSW	2 5	57		WSW	2*29.90			do.
13 8,54	do.	2 65		E NE	1 5	49		E NE	1J30.10			do.
14. 8|5^	E NE 2	2 55		do.	1 547			do.	1130.26			do.
ic 84^	[ do. 1	255		do.	2 5	5C		do.	1(30.46			do.
16 8'4-	' do. 1	2 68		do.	1 5	47		do.	1 30. 5			do.
17! 8i55	. Cdm	266		WNW	1 5	52		do.	'j;0- 5			. do.
iSi ?'4-	do.	260		E NE	» 5	49		do.	Ij3C. 20			do.
19! 8,4-	r E NE 1	2 67		do.	1 5	52		do.	IJ30. 15			do.
•u ?.■■!<:	Calm	2 65		do.	1 552			do.	I 3c. ic			do.
?i! Slv	j do.	2 65		do.	« 5 58			do.	I	30.		do.
22 S 5	1 do.	2 63		do.	1 5I52			do.	1	30.10		do.
23 85'	i do.	2 54		do.	1 5	52		do.	1	30.11		do.
24 8 5<	3 E NE 1	258		do.	1 5	58		do.	2	30.12		do.
25 8 4<	) 1 do. 1	258		do.	2 5	52		do.	1	30. 12		do.
26 8 5c	j Calm	2 63		do.	1 5	52		do.	2	3C. 4		do.
27 84	j do.	272		do.	1 5	60		do.	I	29.94		do.
28 SJ5	5 do.	2(73		do.	2 5	62		do.	1	29.94		do.
29 8^	: ENE 1			do. >	2 5	63		do.	1	29.94		do.
30 8,5	3 do. 2	i v		do.	1 5	51		do.	I	29.94		do.
During	part cf the Mi	nth 0	U	ine 1800,	tak	en	on	board t	ie	Vesv A	dvent	ure Traivfpoit.
 72
 1"
8j7?
872
8|75
8168
*\*9
871
877
8j75!
88»!
8!7q
8:73
 79
7«
 SE
 NE
E NE
 do.
 NE
 N\V
 NE
 NW
 NW
 W
 sp
 NW
Calm
Calm
  S
 SE
284
2*82
278
2J78
279
2 Co
276
Calm
 NE
E NE
E NE
 NE
 NW
 NE
 NW
 NW
  W
SWW
 SW
Calm
  do.
 SW
  IS
6?
67
6|7
6I70
6
Calm
 NE
E NE
E NE
 NE
 NW
 NE
 NW
 NW
  W
Calm
 SW
Cnlm
Calm
 SW
 SW 
STATE OF THERMOMETER, WINDS, RAIN, &c.
        During the Month ot July 1800, at Jaffa, in Syrij.
July | Ther. Mor. |  Therm. N on. j Thrm, Even. |
	1 ."		'< ^ 1 F on e i ^ ^ 1 ^j							rocej ^ ... 1 1 .						Force •			
£.	k 1 v 3 l"S		tjlelof the = '"2 ' c £							of the I 3			■0 1 • le n e .=			of the Rain			Remsrks.
D			5^!win-:.;=|^"5^							Wind.ix			c/-. c: >			Wind.j			
T	8|8o			SW		2;86|			SW		1 6|?«				sw				
2; 8|8o				do.	•	287			do.			6.8o			do.				
3	882			do.		28S			do.			6?2			do.				
4	880			do.		2^84			do.			6182			do.				
i	8'»c			do.		2'8A			do.			682			do.				
	8,8o			do.		2.84			do.			6182			do.				
7	882			do.		2'9C 204			do.			6IS6			do.				
8	886			do.					dj.			6	86		do.				
9	886			do.		2	02		do.			6	86,		do.				
10	8^6			dn.		2	92		do.			6	86		do.				
11	?;8o			do.		2	92		do.			6	84		do.				
12	885			do.		294			do.			6	8?		do.				
n	885			do.		293			do.			e	85		do.				•
14	81? 5			do.		2	94		do.			6	84		do.				1
>5	8.8-1			do.		2	94		do.			6	84		do.				
16	8j85			do.		2CJ4			do.			6	«5		do.				
>7	*84			SE		2	94		SE			6	85		do.				
18	8185			SW		2	93		SW			6	84		do.				
'9	8-6			SW		2	92		do.			6	82		do.				
20	8 86			s		2	94		S			6	86		S				
21	8	84	JNWN			2	94		NWN			6	86		NWN				
22	f-	*>	, NW			2	92		NW			6	82		NW				
23	8	«4		NNW		2	91		NwN			6	82		NNW				
24	8	«5		SE		2	9'		SE			6	84		SE				
2?	8	84		SW		2	91		SW			6	84		SW				
26	8	84		SW		2	91		SW			6	84		SW				
27	S	84		s		2	9i		s			6	84		NW				
28	8	84		s		2	91		NW			6	85		Calm				
29	8	84		Calm		2	92		NW			6	»5		Calm				
3=	8	84		NW		2	92		NW			6	85		NW				
3'	8185			S		2	9i		NW		6		8S	NW					
During the Month of August 1800, at Jaffa, in Syria.
I	8	8s		S		2	83		NW		6	8S		NW
2	8	8s		S		2	92		do.		6	85		S
	8	8s		s		2	02		do.		6	84		sws
4	8	84		s		2	93		SW		6	84		Calm
s! 8		84		s		2	Q2		do.		6	80		do.
6! 8		84		NW		2	92		NW		6	8s		do.
7	8	8s		s		2	02		do.		6	8s		NW
8	8	«S		Calm		2	92		do.		6	85		do.
9	8	2S		do.		2	92		do.		6	8S		do.
10	8	8S		do.		2	02		do.		6	85		do.
11	8	F*	,	do.		2	po		do.		6	82		do.
12	8	86		do.		2	93		do.		6 86			Calm
13	8	86		do.		2	92		do.		6;8e			NW
H	8	88		NW		2	q2		do.		6|86			do.
15	8	88		NW		2	90		do.		684			do.
16	88S			NW		2	91		do.		685			do.
>;	885			Calm		2	90		do.		685			do.
18	8|8S			S		2	qo		do.		684			do.
»9	818'3			Calm		2	90		do.		684			do.
20	884			do.		2	90		do.		6l84			do.
21	8	81		S		2	90		do.		682			do.
22	8	84		s		2	93		do.		685			Calm
*3	8	82		Calm		2	90		WSW		682			WSW
24	8	«4		WSW		2	92		WSW		6,84			WSW
2;	8	«4		sw		2	90		NW		684			NW
£6	8	5'		sw		2	93		NW		685 685 685 685 68S			NW
27	8	5s		NW		2	93		NW					Calm
28	«	u5		SW		2	90		SW					NW
29	8	5*		Calm		2	92		NW					NW
30	8	86		S		2	92		SW					SW
■•	9	Hi,		Cur		.			c«r		1	oe.		SW
Before sun-rise 68.

During night 63. 
S.H
i. „ c
*'o£
*pu7*\
 N. B. Great dews fell during the nights In this month. The fog and clou-
diness of atmosphere disappeared after 10 or n o'clock in the morning.
SE
e c

^ °
g e
•uns
W o ^
•pui.W
•ung;
ap«qs
•-""'H
5: -S c
™***£l£2«IIgg*«****^Ji*******
zzz^^zzzzzzz
vO no so sO so so so sOsovOsOsOsOsONOsOvOsOsOX>v6'vO Co"no";6"\o io'<B «£> so"
^lll^mi*-*******^*^^
zz"zzzz
At 6 o'Clock A. M. Th;rm. stood at 62 th; rth Init.
—  —   __   _   _   62 the 8th Inst.
—  —   —   —   —   65 the 9th Inst.
* 8  .
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	rt r« m + n« <~nr> r^so +***UNH 0 O ►« O O OO ^-O ^*H O CT>- «■» OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO [n^COOCOOOOM^WW
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STATE. OF THERMOMETER, WINDS, RAIN, &c.
     Dari,)^ the Monsh of November 1800, at Jaffa, in Syria.
N„v. J Thcr. Mor.						1	l'herm. Nooii. | Therm. Even. |												
		.			Force I .					.	Fo-ce j ^ 1 .j				j . i Farce				
	3	V •t)	c	-a	of the |			^	e	-0 c	cf t'.ie 1 = j'S				c 1 £ j of the (Rain				Remarks.
Q	c X	-/i	i	z	Wi.-id.-a;			CO	3 co	1	Wind.|ij£				% jfc 1 Wind.				
1	1	62		C.ln		■ 2		^4		NW			6:74			NW			Clo-dy
2	8	62		do.			2	<3		do.			6J72			do.			Shwers and thun-
3	8	62		do.			2	Si		do.			6^70			do.		Rain	der during nigh:.
4	8	62		do.			2	81		d-J.			6 71			do.			
5 6	8	59		do.			2	31		do.			6	7i		do.			
	8	<o		E SE			2	8i		do.			6	70		do.			
7	8;6o			SE			2	80		do.			6	70		do.			Cloudy during night
I	S'66			NW			2	78		do.			6 63			do.		Rain	
9	8|66			W			2	77		do.			6 68			do.			Cloudy
10	ti			SE			2	78		do.			6	66		do.			
11				SW			2	77		W			6	68		do.			
12	8 SS			Calm			2	77		NW			6	71		do.			Cloudy
»3	8	58		do.			2	77		do.			6	69		do.			
»4	8	54		do.			t	78		do.			6	7°		do.			
15	8	61		do.			2	78		do.			6	70		do.			
16	8	62		SE			278			WSW			6	70		do.			
17	*	58		SE			2	76		SW			6	70		SW		Rain	with thunder
18	8	Oo		SE			2	75		SE			6	68		NW		do.	do.
'9	8	58		Calm			2	74		W			6	65		W			Fine
20	8	S^		W			2	76		W			6	5*		W			
21	8	60		SE			2	75		s			6	601		S			blows strong
22	864			SE			2	76		sw			6	70		s			blows gales, and in
*3	862			SW			2I06			s			€	60		s		Rain	the night heavy
24	860			SE			2 67			NE			8	60		SE		do.	i.iins
25 26	8 8	60 56		SE NW			268 268			SE NE			6 6	60 60		NE SE			Cloudy
*7	8	60		E			2 70			E			665			NE			
28	8	62		E			2 78			E			6!6§			NE			blows hard
29	8	62		N			a 761			E			668:			E			"
30	2	58		E			vi			SW			665			NW			Cloudy and rain
				Duri	ng	the	M	on	th of December 1				800, at Jaffa			in Syria.	
1	8	5°		SE |		2	70		SE		t	65		SE			
2	8	S5		Calm		2	73		N		6	«5		NE			
3	8	49		Calm		2	70		W		6	65		NW			
4	8	60		SE		2J69			NW		6	63		do.			
5	8	53		Calm		270			do.		6	66		do.			
6	8	6,		Calm		273			do.		6	65		W			
7	8	53		E		2 70			N NW		6	68		Calm			Cloudy
8	8	55		Calm		2 72			NW		6	6^		do.			
9	8	59		do.		2 72			Calm		6	68		do.			Cloudy
10	8	IS		do.		273			NW		6	65		NW			
11	863			do.		273			do.		6	63		do.			
12	8	54		do.		2.73			do.		6	65		do.			
>3	8	53		do.		271			do.		6	6s!		E SE			
H	8	£5		do.		2.'75			W		668'			W			
15	8	65		do.		2 72			NW		6|65l			NW			
16	8	65		do.		272			SW		6I65			SE			
>7	8	5C8		ESE		2J6S			do.		6	60		SW			hazy, thunder
18	8	58		do.		2J62			S		6	60		SW		Rain	Stormy, thunder
'9	8	59		W		2|62			w		6	60		W			and lightning
CO	8	54		ESE		2\6s			NW		6	61		NW			Stormy
21	8	55		SW		2|65			SW		6	61		SW			
21	»	56		S SE		-I'M			do.		6	62		W		Rain	Heavy rains, and
23	862			NW		263			NW		6	61		NW		do.	gales of wind
24	8	58		W		260			do.		6	57		WW		do<	do. do.
2i	8	54		E		2	62		Calm		6	5+		Calm			
26	840			NW		2	60		NW		6	5S		NE			
~~\ 8;i4				SW		2	60		di.		6	5'		NW			
2XI 8		49		Calm		-	66		do.		6	56		E			
29! 8		49		SE		2 68			S		6	60		SW			
30' 8		5°		S		2 65			s		6	6c		S		Rain	Thunder, &;.
". V	8	60		NsV			On		NY/		6	61		NE			Fine
 
STATE OF THERMOMETER, WINDS,  RAIN,  kt
During the Month of J inuary 1801, at Jaffa, in Syria.
8	56	
8	55	
8	55	
8	51	
8	48	
v;	5 5	
8	<5	
8	55	
8	5r	
8	56	
8	55	
8	53	
8	55	
8	55 36 1"	
X	56	
8	^7 60	
8	64	
8	62	
8	54	
8	59	
8.55		
8,60;		
8601		
8	58.	
Jan. j T			ner	. Mor. | Therm. Noon. | Therm. Even. |														
0	-•s X Ico —'1—		c 3	.,- | Force >. . - 1 of the j 3 , } vVind.|pr			T3 </3	1 .1 Force £! c I of the j^JWind.			3 0 X	.1 u -a 175	c 3 en	-0" e	Force of the Wind.		Rain	Remarks.
I	8,49		S. v_		i . ,		6S		w		t	6c		Calm				
2	.V6			E		2	68		NW		6	6c		NE				
3	84(1			S£		2	68		SW		6	62		Calm			Rain	Cloudy
4	8J53			S		2	58		do.		6	58		SW			do.	Stormy and rain
5	o'56			SW		2	58		do.		6	55		E			do.	do.
6	852 853			sw		2	56		S		6	5<		SW			do.	Showery
7				S		2	57		S		6	^t		E			do.	moderate
8	»150			S		2	60		NW		£	r		NE				Fine
9	8+7			E		2	62		W		Ojws.			Calm				
10	b,49			SE		2	62		NW		6 6c			NW				do.
ii	852			Calm		2	62		E		6 6c			Calm				
12	!'5°			E		2	65		NW		6 6c			NV				do.
*3	850			E		2	64		do.		6 6c			do.				do.
K	8 ^2			SE		2	63		SW		6	59		do.			Rain	CI ,„iy
*5	8'54			SE		2	(■2		do.		6	59		W				Stormy
16	855			. S		2	62		NW		6	6c		W				Cloudy
17	S54			SE		2	64		do.		6	62		Calm				
18	8|55			SW		2	60		S		6|55			W			Ral 11	Thunder and light,
'9	fss			do.		2	57		SW		61; 5			SW			do.	Stormy
20	855			do.		2	61		do.		6.55			W				do.
21	8K2			E		2	61		NW		6	5°		NW			Rain	
22	852			SW		2	58		SW		6	57		SW			do.	do.
23	8e+			E		2	«3		NW		6	60		NW				Clou.ly
24	8|ss			E		2p4			do.		6	63		do.				Fine
25	8	55		E		2|63			do.		6	62		do.				
26	8	54		E		2 65			Oo.		6	5i		do.				
27	8	57		s		267			do.		6	65		W			R.ain	Stormy during night
28	8	6c		W		261			SW		6	5°		SW			do.	Stormy, thunder
2y	8	56		W		2 6l			NW		6	55		NW			do.	lightning and hail
3°	8	5'		SW		2|5&			SW		6	55		SW			do.	S'1i,'vV..\
Si	8,54			do. '		a,'6i		: dol			6	59		do.			do.	Sioniiv ee lightning.
Dut
 SW
  s
Calm
Calm
 NW

 SW
  do.
  SE
  SE
  E
Calm
  E
  E
  S
 NE
 NE
  S
  s
Cnlm
  SE
 SW
 do
  S
  SE
 do.
  S
 NW
the Month of February 1801, at Jaffa, in Syria.
        SW
  61
  61
  6c
  61
  6,
  Si
  53
  63
  64
  70
  68
  65
  5
  66
Z165
2J62
2,7-"
2170
2 67
2,68
271
264
2*62
2 65
2 6 !
2[?4
2 ro
2:68
 do.
 NW
 do.
 do.
 do.
 SW
 do.
  W
Calm
  W
 do.
 NW
Calm
 SW
  N
 NE
 NW
 do.
 do.
 NE
 SW
 do.
 NW
 do.
 do.
 do.
 SW
6	59		SW			
650			do.			
6|S7			N		Rain	Cloudy, with rain
6!<c			N			during night
6|cn			N			Fine
659			N			Cloudy
6 61			N			do. with rain
6 50			SW			Cloudy
661			N			Fine
6	6S		N			Cloudy
6	62		N			Fine
6	60		N			do.
6	62		N			do.
^	62		NE			Hazv
6	62		NE •			Cloudy
6	61		NE			Gale, cloeJy
6	64		NE			Fine
6	64		N			do.
6	64		NW			do.
6	66		Calm			Sultry in morning
6 6c,			NE			Cloudy
6,62			w			Gale, With rain du-
6J60			WNW	3	Rain	ring night.
6J62			N	2		Cloudy
6 55			N			Fine
6'62			NE	I		do.
662			NE	I		
6162			w	I		Cloudv in the morn-
					,	ing
 
STATE OF THERMOMETER, WINDS,  RAIN, &c.
    During the Month of March 1801, in Syria, and in the Desert.
   8/65
   8 ,'66
     60
     55
     55
     57
     62
     60
   i
10' 8*65
"I 86^
12 870
j^ 8J70
'-J 867
Iy S|6tt
16; 865
    69
i?I8
18
     68
     67
     69
     68
52 866
23 «74
24*874
*<! ?'-o
:6' ?'-2
271 8 76
18; 8:78
19,' 8 68j
3.0; 8J69
M	ir.	| 1 it		r. Mor.	1 Therm. Noon.						| Therm. Even. |								
^	3	■a		_. 1 Force j . c I of the j g			T3	c	c	Force of the		5	•ts to	c	•c c	Force of the		Rain Remarks.	
« \ 0				^jWind.Jx			yi	3 t/1	£	Win	d.	=		3 CO	£	Wind.		I	
"		58 56 55 12	^~	SE	2	2	68		sw		2	6	*2		SW		2(Rain Temper! ne.\rVebna		
2	8			SW	2	2	62		d;-.		2	'6	5«		do.		2) do.		
3 4	8			do.	4	2	58 57		\V		4	6	56		do.		2] do.		Heavy do. with hail
	S			S	3	2			sw		4	6	5*		W		1] do.		do. and do.
5 6	852			s	3	2	CO		do.		4	6	56		W		1		Fine (hail, rain a.rr.
				SW		2164			do.'		3	6	60		Calm				do. (cloudy A. M.)
7	8!s5			do.	2	2I08			do.		3	6	62		Calm				Clear
8	856			s	1	268			do.		2	6	63		SW		1-		do.
9	*57			sw	3	263			do.		4	6 -6			W		3JRain		
IC	8J56			SE		267			W		2	6 r			60.		2L.		Cloudy
11	s 56			do.	1	265			SW		1	6's-			SW		i-Rain		
12				sw	3	202			do.		3	s ,0 5			do.		2- do. 1 he:1., rein near Ezdod		
»3	8; 56			s	2	A*			do.		2	f'59			do.		1! do. Cloudy (rain A.V.)		
'4	8 <;o			SE	1	2 .i4			NW		1	C&-.			NW		1! do. | do. (rain at ncn)		
In	8	52		do.	2	2,0C			do.		2	6j.,2			NE		31 do. !R..i:i P.M. :tG.ii		
16	8	59		NE	•	205|			NE		3	61-			SJO.		31		Ciear
'7	8	54		S"E		2l^5i			NW		2	6	<9		do.		1]		do.
18	8	53		NE	1	2 05			do.		1	6	61		N		1]		d?.
•9	8^57			S	1	2 7°			do.		7	6	65		NE		1		dr. [tOgA-Vi.)
20	8160			SW	2	2 72			do.		j| 6		64		NW		1]		Great fog F. ".:.
21	8|64			s	1	z'-^z			W		2I 6		OA		do.		2)		Cloudy (fog A.M.)
22	861			Calm		->\-j-.			do.		2f 6 }»,				do.		i>		d>.
23	8	to		SE	1	2^1			do.		21 6 ^4i				do.		2f		do.
24	8	62		sw	2	2il)2J			SW		2	6.;c			iE ■ 2 Rain				Tiiunderand lightn.
25	S	59		E	2	2104			NW		2	60,			NW		ij do.		and hail thro' day
26	8	60		E	1	216'3!			W		3				N		2	d .	Cloudy
27	S	60		Calm		2!39|			SW		3	6,S'5			SW			do.	de.
28	8	65		sw	2	275i			W		2	6; j>			NW		1		Clear at Kanyouns
29	8	60		E	1	2,7nJ			SW		2	67 =			do.		1		do. (in the Desert)
30	8	62		SE	1	2 76			NW			6 6^			JO. - 1				doi (fog at El-aribii)
?'	8	65		SE	1	2IS0I			do.		-2	eke			do. ! z]				do. (cloudy A. M.)
During the Month of Aorii 1801, in the Desert and in Eg;
  SW
   W
  SW
  do.
  do.
  W
  NW
 E NE
  SW
  W
  NW
  iL>.
  NE
   N
   E
   N
   N
WSW
 sw
  W
 sw
  do
  e"
  E
  E
  E
E SE
 NE
  W
 NW
280
278
2 60
2 60
2169
271
 2 7-
 2J90
 2 75

 'V
  74
  7*
  7«
  79
  80
  78
  82
  79
  8S
  92
  98
  9c
  92
  95
2*96
2I0C

2 SS
  w
 NW
 SW
  CO.
  w
  do.
  N
 NE
 SW
 NW
  do.
  N
  N
  N
  N
  N
  N
 NW
  W
  N
  W
  W
 NE
 NE
 NW
 NE
ESE
  N
  W
 NW
2	0 70
2	6 6S
4	661
A	6.C.7
3	660
2	6!62
I	6,64
I	660
2	682
2	6'68
2	6 70
6,69,
6'7o!
6';o]
6l /U
6]6g
670
6,69
6,70
669
6 68
6 70
6179
670
671
678
680
671
6,82
6J70
N	-
NW	2
W	2
SW	4
W	2
NW	2
N	1
N	1
Cairn NW	
	2
N	2
NW	2
NE	2
NWN	2
N	| 1
N	1
NW	2
	2
W	1
N	1
W	
NW	>
NE	
NE	;
NE	1
E	3
NE	1
N	3
NW	
do.	2
, (a Kamp-
 fsin wind)
CLudyP.M. at El-Arish
 iain, Thunder, Sec.
Cloudy (rain&hailAM)
  do.
  do.
  do. (clear A.M.)
Clear
OpprefT, wca.
Clear
Clear
Cloudy (clear A. M.)
Clear
  do.
  dc.
  do.
  do.
  do.
Cloudy
Clear  (at Messoudieh)
  do.
  do. (at. Birbilhabbs,)
  a j. (at Catieh)
  do.
  dr\
  do.
  do.
Cloudy  (at Salahieh in
Clear        (Egypt,)
  do.
  do. 
May
STATE OF THERMOMETER, WINDS, RAIN, &c.
             During the Month of May 1801, in Egypt.
 The. Mor. |  Thej:. Noon. | Therm. Even.  |
u n	a	i
-C,	z	z
 69
 7,5
 70
 80
 75
 70
 70
 75
 76
 80
 75
 80
 76
 92
 80
 80
 79
 7i
 86
8|75j
8!78
876
882
8180
 80
 76
 75
 79
 77
 77
 78
8	8°,
8	76
8	80
8	84
8	84
8	84
8	84
8	84
8	80
8	80
8	83
8	82
8	83
8	80
8	82
882	
882	
8'77	
»77	
876	
884	
884	
880	
L 8'78	
8	85
8,84
883
887
8'85
Force
of the
Wind.
  W
  E
 NE
  W
  do.
  do. •
  do.
Calm
  E
  E
  E
  E
  E
WSW
 NW
  N
 SW
 NW
  E
  E
  E
E SE
  E
 SW
  do.
WNW
 NW
  W
 NW
  N
 NE
X  </>
Force
of the
Wind.
 NW
  E
 NE
  W
 NW
WSW
  do.
  W
  do.
  E
ESE
  E
  E
  N
 NW
  do.
 SW
 NW
  do.
  E
  E
SSE
  S
 SW
 NW
WNW
 NW
  W
  N
 NE
 NE
682
6'9o
682
698
689
684
684
685
68,
685
685
691
 .»  Force
c j of the
> I Wind.
NE N
 NE
 NE
 NW
  N
  W
  do.
  do.
  do.
 E SE
 E SE
  E
  E
  N
 NW
  do.
  E
 NW
  N
  E
  E
E SE
 SW
  W
NW
  do.
  do.
  do.
  N
 NE
  N
Remark],
 Clear
  do.
 Cl»udy and hazy
 Clear
 Cloudy and hazy
 Clear
 Cloudy
  do.
  do.  tdear A.M.)
 Clear
 do.
 Hazy
 do.  and cloudy
 do.  a Kampsin
 Clear (at Belbeis
 do.
 Hazy (P. M. little rain)
 Clear
 Hazy and cloudy
 do.
 do.
 do.
 do.  (at Ben El-Hazar a
Clouly      (Kampsin)
Clear
Cloudy
Clear
 do.
 do.
 do.
 do.
During the Month of June 1801, in Egypt.
Calm	2	I04
NE	l 2|	95
NE	I 21	100
Calm	2	103
NW	I 2	103
do.	2 -2	108
do.	2 2	100
do.	I 2	96
do.	2 2	93
Calm	2	93
NE	I 2	96
Calm	2	95
NE	I 2	97
NE	I 2	91
NE	I 2	102
E	2 2	IOC
NW	2 2	100
NE	2 2	95
NE	3 2	94
NE	2 2	97
NE	2 2	105
NW	I 2	ICO
W	I 2	100
do. |	I 2	102
NW	2 2	100
do. j	2 2 100	
N t	2 2 102	
NE	2 2 IO7	
NW	I 2 IO;	
do.	2 2	. 103
NE
NE
NE
NE
NW
 do.
 do.
 do.
 do.
 do.
 N
NE ,
NE
NE
NW
 do.
NE
NE
NE
NE
NE
NW
  W
NW
  do.
  do.
  N
 NE
 NW
  do.
6I92
687
6!Q2
6 86
6
6
6
2 6
NE 1	1	-lazy (at Dagoua)
NE	2	Clear
NW 1	2	Hazy
do.	2	do.
do.	2	do,
do.	2	do. (at Shoubrah
do.	1	do. (Shaabi.)
do.	2	do.
do.	3	do. (at Shellacan)
do.	3	do.
do.	3	do.
NE	3	do. :
NE	2	do.
NE	1	do.
N	3	do. (at Beisouk)
•w	4	do.
ME	4	do.
NE	2	do.
NE	3	do.
NE	2	do.
NE	2	do.
NW	2	do.
W	2	do.
NW	2	do.
NE	2	do.
NW	2	do.
NE	2	do.
N	2	do.
NW	2	do.
do.	3	do.
 
STATE OF THEKMOAUs.'1-Ji.K, WINDS, RAIN, &o
         During the Month of July 1801, in Egypt.
J"	< 1 Tr	ci. Mor. J Therm. Noon. | 1 herm. Even. |									
" 1 .		~~ . 1 Force | ^				.1 Foice		j* 1 V		-61 * orcc	
	• V - "3	• "ol of the! |		~a	jj	clofthe		z< "°		c £ 1 of the Remarks.	
Q	e 1 <•	I *| Wind. It 0 •* l I'a		co	= £|Wind.			S 1 :/}		= 5 [ Wind.	
i1 887		j NW	lu	98		W	3	e	94	NW 1	3 Hazy and cloudy
? 882		do.	2 2	10]		NW	2	6	92	do.	3 do.
3i 882		do.	I 2	104		do.	2	6	92	do.	3 do.
1 8i?2		NE	I 2	106		do.	3	6	IOI	do.	3 do.
m' 8 '84 6! 8 84		WNW	I 2	106		do.	2	6	98	do.	2 do.
		NW	I 2	104		do.	3	6	92	do.	3 Gre«t fog and heaVJr
,| 8I82		do.	I 2	104		do.	3	6	92	do.	3 dews
!'! 8'84		do.	I 2	«0n		NE	3	b	IOI	NE	3 do;
.»! 8'85		do.	I 2	106		NW	3	6	92	NW	3 do.
Is..' 8184		do.	I 2	IO5		do.	3	6	94	do.	3 do.
ii	8,84	do.	I 2	105		do.	3	6	94	do.	3 do. (Grand Cairo)
12	8 8*	do.	I 2	98		do.	2	6	94	do.	2 do.
'3 14	8|8;	do.	t 2	96		do.	2	6	92	do.	4 Tempest, winds, dust-
	8 86	do.	2 2	95		do.	2	6	90	do.	3 Clear
'5 16	8183	do.	I z	96		do.	2	6	94	do.	2 C"o.
	8|85	do.	I 2	95		do.	2	6	90	do.	2 do.
17	8)85	Calm	2	95		do.	2	6	93	NE	3 Oppressive
18	887	NW	I 2	99		NE	2	6	95	NE	2 Clear
19	8'87	do.	I 2	98		NW	2	6	92	NW	2 do.
20	888	do.	2 2	103		do.	2	6	100	NNE	2 do.
21	887	do.	I 2	IOI		do.	2	6	94	NNW	3 do.
22	887	N	: 2	96		do.	2	6	90	NW	I do.
23	8 86	NW	I 2	96		do.	2	6	89	do.	1 do.
»4	885	do.	I 2	96		do.	2	6	90	do.	t do.
l5	887	do.	I 2	96		da.	2	6	90	do. :	do.
26	885	do.	I 2	95		do.	2	6	90	do.	; Cloudy and foggy
27	885	do.	I 2	95		do.	2	6	90	do.	; Cloudy
28	883	do.	I 2	99		do.	2	6	90	do.	1 CL-ar
29	88S	do.	2 2	98		do.	2	6	89	do.	; do.
30	885	do.	I 2	98		do.	2	6	9c	do.	; do.
V	8*6	do.	I 2	98		do.	2	6	95	do.	t do.
	Dur		ing the Month of August 1801, in Grand Cairo.								
1	S|S7	NW	i| 3	98I		NW	M	695		NW :	Clear
2	888	do.		IQO		do.		696		do. j	do.
3	8 90	do.		IO3		do.	2	6t9S		do.	Cloudy
4	880	W	1	9SJ		do.	2	695		do.	Clear
s	8 S3	NW	2 3	95		do.	3	6,88		do. 1	do.
6	883	do.	' 3	96		do.	2	69c		do. 2	do.
7	8S2	do.	1 3	97		do.	1	690		do. -	do.
S	882	do.	1 3	95		do.	2	6!85		do. '.	do;
9	882	NE	2 3	96		NE	2	6I92		N 1	do.
to	882	E	1 3	104		SW	2	6:92		NW 3	do.
11	882	NW	1 3	95		NW	2	6|9o		do. 3	do.
12	882	do.	' 3| 94			do.	2	6,90		do. 3	do.
'3	882	do.	1 3} 94			NE	3	688		N 2	do.
'4	880	N	1 3 94			N '	2	68c		N 2	do.
15	880	N	1 3	9'		N	2	6	85	N 3	do.
16	881	JnIE	1 3	92		NW	I	6	85	N 3	do.
17	880	N NE	1 3	92		N	2	6	85	N 2	do.
18	881	N	1 3	93		NNW	3	6	85	NNW 2	do.
»9	8 7Q	N	• 3	92		do.	3	6	85	do, 2	du.
10	8 7Q	NNW	1 3	91		do.	3	6	85	do. 2	do.
21	8 80	do.	1 3	92		do.	3.	6	85	do. 3	Cloudy
22	879	do.	' 3	9*		N	1	6	85	N 2	Clear
23	878	do.	' 3	90		NNW	1	6	85	NNW 2	Cloudf
24	879	do.	' 3	89		do.	2	6	84	do. 3	do.
25	8(79	N	» 3	90		do.	1	6	85	do. 3	do.
26	oi8°	N	1 3	S9		NW	3	6	84	NW 3	do.
27	8 79	NW	1 3	85		do.	2	682		do. 2	do.
28	879	do.	1 3	8.5		do.	2	6	80	do. 2	do.
19	S8b	do.	' 3	88		do.	2	6	82	do. 2	do.
3°	878	do.	1 3	90		do.	I	6	8<	do. 1	do,
'•	S.'ro	do.	1: x	QO		do.	2	6	8?	do. 2	d9i
 
STATE OF THEkMUMi£T£K, WINDS, RAIN,  &c.
      During the Month cf September 1801, in Grand Cairo.
                Nooi..
                   Force
During the Month of Oftober i8ot, in Grand Cairo.															
i	'8	71	ICalm		3	79		NW	2	■ 6	75		NW	3	Cloudy
2	8	71	N 1		3	79		tt	2	6	75		N	3	Clear
?	8	72	N 4		3	79		N	4	6	77		N	4	do.
4	8	74	N 3		3	79		N	3	6	78		N	3	do.
1	8	75		N 3	3	79		N	2	6	78		N	2	do.
6	8	76		N 1	3	51		N	2	6	78		N	1	do.
7	8	77		N 2	3			N	2	6	77		N	1	do.
8	8	75		N 2	3	79		N	2	6	78		N	2	do.
°	8	75		N . 4	3	80		N	4	6	79		N	3	do.
30	8	76		N 2	3	80		N	2	6	79		N	1	do;
ji	8	76		N 2	3	79		N	2	6	77		N	2	do.
32	8	77		W 2	3	78		N	2	6	78		N	2	do;
13	8	77		N 3	3	79		N	2	6	79		N	2	do,
14	8	76		N 2	3	79		N	2	6	77		N	2	do,
15	8	75		N 2	3	79		N	2	6	7»		N	2	do.
t6	8	7S		N* 2	3 79			N	2	678			N	2	do;
J7	8	7*		N 2	3	79		N	2	6	78		N	2	do.
18	8	7S		N 1	31	79		N	2	6	7«		N	2	do.
19	8	75i		N 2	3	78		N	2	6	78		N	2	do.
ao	8	76		N 2	P	79		N	2	6	-8		N	2	do.
2T	8	75		N 2	1	80		N	2	6	79		N	2	do.
22	8	73		N 3	h	83		NE	4	6	80		NE	4	Hazy
?3	8	74		NE 4	• 3	80		NET	4	6	7«		do.	4	Clear
24	8	74		do. 4	• 379			NE E	4	6	77		do.	4	do.
&5	8|7<;			do. 4	'■ 3	80		NEE	4	6	78		do.	4	do.
*6	8 75			do. 3	h	80		NE	3	6	78		do.	2	do.
27	8 75			do. a	h	79		do.	2	6	77		do.	2	Hazy
s8	876			N 1	?	8q		do.	2	6	79		N	1	Clear
29	8 75			NW 1	■*	80		NW	2	6	77		NW	2	do.
3°	8I71			Calm	h	82		Calm		6	78		N	I	do.
r-	i	168		do.	h	82		S	3	6	7»		S	I I	do.
 
   N. B.  To give an idea of the quantity of Rain fallen, I Have-marked the figures
r, 2,  3, 4, againft Rain, to denote the relative quantity fallen; i, ftands for very little;
2, a uSoWer; 3, repeated mowers; and 4,  continued heavy rains.  On the morning of
fhe 20th, we had a tremendous ftorm of  rain, thunder and  lightning, which began
at two o'clock, and continued near two hours.  Morning dews have been heavy.   In
ter mi t tents and Catarrhs among the troops at Giza, &c.
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STATE OF THERMwivi£.ir.K, wiinub, KAIN, &c.
         During the Month of January 1802, in Grand Cairo.
J.m.		Thev. Mor.			| Ther. Noon. | Therm.									Even. J			
		. 1		. j Force		,		1 .		Force		,			. j Force		1
>.	3	■0 ' .		s J of the		3	-O	. *3 CIS		of the		fc, 3	■8	a	0! of the		S Remarks.
Q	X	JC. 3 CO Ico		£ | Win	d.	X	CO	3 V. ....	£	Wind.		s	64	Vi	£jWind.		
1	8	6l		Calm		2	73		NvV		3	6			NW		Cloudy
2	8	56		NW	3	2	70		do.		3	6	62		do.	2	do.
3	8	54		Calm		2	67		do.		3	6	63		doi	3	Clear (f>r. fog A.M.)
4	8	48		do.		2	67		do.		3	6	59		N	1	Hazy (do. A. M.)
5	8	44		do.		2	66		N		3	6	58		N	1	Clear (do. A. Mi)
6	8	+5		do.		2	64		N		2	6	58		N	1	do. (do. A.M.)
7	8	47		do.		2	66		NW		2	6	60		NW	I	do.
8	8	5°		do.		2	66		NW		1	6	60		do.	i	Foggy
9	8	55		do.		2	69		S		1	6	6j		Calm	■	Clear (very foggy a. a.
io	8	5o		S	2	2	71		s		3	6	62		S		do.
11	8	52.		S	1	zt	72		N		1	6	64		Calm		Foggy
12	8	5°		Calm		2	69		W		1	6	61		NW	2	Clear
*3	8	48		dOi		2	68		NE		3	6	62		NE	2	do.
H	8	48		NE	2	2	69		NE		3	6	64		NE	1	Hazy (foggy A. M.)
*5	8	47		Calm		2	7°		NW		2	6	63		NE	1	Foggy the whole day
16	8	47		do.		2	71		NW		2	6	63		NW	1	Great fog
J7	8	57		SW	2	2	73		S		3	661			SW	2	Hazy
18	8	57		s	1	2	78		s		3	6,73			S	1	Great fog
J9	861			s	3	2	82		S		2	668			N	2	Clear
20	8	61		N	2	2	71		N		3	663			N	2	do,
21	8	53		Calm		2	66		N		1	662			Calm		do. (foggy A. M.)
22	8	51		S	1	2	68		s		4	662			NW	1	Hazy
23	8	52		Calm		2	68		S		1	661			S	1	Clear
24	8	47		SW	2	2	68		sw		a	661			sw	1	do. during night; a
25	8	49		do.	4	2	58		sw		4	654			w	1	r (strong gale S.W*
26	8	46		do.	2	2	53		NW		4	6 50			NW	1	; Rainy
27	8	46		do.	3	2	55		do.		3	«5«			NE	1	Cloudy
28	8	43		do.	2	2	55		W		4	6-50			w	3	do.
29	8	43		S	3	2	55		sw		1	6 50			w	1	do.
3P	8	43		Calm		2	5«		NW		2	6 51			NW"	1	Clear
31	8	43		do.		2	58		NW		2	6 55			do.	1	Cloudy
During the Month of February 1801, in Cairo, on the
                          ~ 4
 59
 5'
 53
 53
 46
 4S
 58
 44
 47
 46
8;54
856
8;55

s;6
8!56

oi57
859
  W
  w
 sw
  s
 sw
  s
 sw
  s
Calm
  N
  S
  S
Calm
  do.
  W
Calm
  S
  S
  S
 SW
  do.
  do.
  do.
WNW
  do.
NWN
  S
  SE
3 2
2I63
2 57
2,8
2)58
  55
  58
  58
  68
  68
  68
  73
  72
  69
  64
  62
  65
  58
  60
  66
  66
  66
  67
  6*
  66
  66
 262
 2 59
 2 62
 NW
  do.
 SW
WNW
WNW
 SW
  E
 SW
 NE
  do.
 SW
  do.
 NW
  N
 NE
  do.
  S
  S
 SW
 sw
WNW
 NW
WNW
  do,
  do.
NWN
  NE
  NE
6|59
6|55
6|54
656
 54
 5»
 56
 62
 62
 63
 56
 63
 62
 60
 56
 61
 58
 55
 61
 60
 60
 NW
  do.
 SW
WNW
WNW
WNW
 NW
 SW
 NE
 NW
 SW
 NW
  do.
  do.
 NE
Calm
  do.
  do.
 NW
WNW,
WNW
 NW
WNW
WNW
WNW
NWN
 NE
 NE
(3 Rain)
Nile, and at Rosetta
  1 Cloudy
    do.
    do.
    do.
    do.
    do.
    do.
    do.       \
    Clear
    Rainy
    Cloudy
    Foggy and cloudy
    Hazy and cloudy
    Cloudy and foggy
    do. (great fog A.M.)
    Foggy and rain
    Clear (rain 3 A.M.)
    Cloudy
    Clear (on the Nile)
    Cloudy  (lightning)
    do.
    do,
    Rain (Rosetta)
    Cloudy
    do.  (Rain 2)
    do.
    do,
    dt. 
STATE OF THERMOMETER, WINDS, RAIN, &c.
    During the Month of March 1802, at Rosetta and Alexandria.
Mar. | 1 her. Mor. |  Therm.  Noon.  |   Therm. Even.  |
				. 1 Force						Force		^			•! Force			
0	a 0 X	-a -C	^1 el of the ^1^1 Wind. -			a 0	72	s>	-0 a >	of the Wind.		5 c	■a ■c CO	cJ £ I of the J5 £jwind.			c2	Remarks.
1	8	52		E	4i2		&2		NE		4	6	59		NE	4		Cloudy
2	8	60		NE N	4 2		61		S!E N		4	6	59		N	4	2	Rain
3	8	61		N	4	2	64		N		4	6	60		N	4	1	Cloudy
4 5	8	62		NWN	2	2	66		NWN		2	6	62		NWN	2		Clear
	8	66		NE	1	2	&7		NE		2	6	64		NE	2		Cloudy
6	8	63 64		SE	1	2	08		NW		2	6	62		NW	2		do.
7	8			NE	2	2	68		NE		2	6	64		NE	1		do.
8	8	62		do.	1	2	70		do.		2	6	64		do.	2		do.
9	8	6a		SE	1	2	72		do.		2	6	65		do.	3		Clear
10	865			do.	3	2	75		N		2	6	65		NE N	2		do.
11	8' 65			NE N	2	2	75		NW		3	6	65		NWN	1	I	Rain
12	8 6c			N	3	2	74		NWN		2	6	64 63		do.	2		Clear
n	8	62		NE	2	2	69		N		2	6			NE N	3		Cloudy
»4	8	62		E	2	2	70		NE		2	6	63		NE	3		do.
15	8	6s		E	4	2	70		NE N		3	6	63		E	4		Clear
16	8	64		Calm		2	7S		do.		2	6	66		NE N	1		do. great dews
'7	8	63		SWS	3	2>79			SW S		4	6	69		NW	4		Cloudy
18	8	61		NW	4	2J63			WNW		4	6	60		WNW	3	3	Rain, stormy
•9	8	S7		WNW	4	2	6]		do.		4	6	60		NW	4	3	do.
20	8!57			NE N	4	2	65		NE N		4	6	60		NE	2	3	Cloudy, stormy thunJ
21	8;6o			NE	2	2	6c		NE		2	6	60		do.	2	1	[lightn. and rain
22	8,64			do.	2	2	66		do.		2	6	64		do.	2		Cloudy
23	86c,			do.	1	2	6?		N '		1	6	«5		N	1		do.
24	8	65		SE	1 !	2	68		NW		2	6	65		SE	2		Clear
   N.B.  Having broke my Thtrmometer, I was under the necessity of concluding my
Thermomelrical Journal.
(  O 
INDEX.
 ABOUKIR, lake of,  256
 Absalom,  tomb of,  129
 Abyssinia,  information relative to,
   and Bruce's Travels,  239
 Acacia, or thorn, whence the gum
   Arabic is collected,  248
 Admiral,  a Turkish,  decapitated
   for neglect of duty,  64
 Almes, or dancing girls,  268
 Ambassador, English,  at Constan-
   tinople,  fe.e  given  by on  the
   King's  birth-day, 87
 Ambassador, Russian, celebration
   of  the  Emperor's birth-day by
   the,  37
 Amusements,  favourite,  of Grand
   Seignor,  29
 ——------of the Turks of con-
   dition,   39
 Arab marriage, celebration of, 240
 Arabian  cumel-drivers,  character
   and  manners of,  178
 Arabs, method employed by them
   to preserve  thtir corn from pil-
   lage and fire,   119
 ■     plunder the tents of the Eng-
   lish at Jaffa, 141
Army, Turkish  the,  attended by
   a number of dervises,  23
---------encumbered  with useless
   followers,  170
.----,-----cavalry belonging to 177
---------principal officeis of, 168
---------review of the, by the
   Grand Vizier,  138
1         undisciplined state, 105
Arnauts, character, dress, arms,
   &c. of  the,  175
—  ,.    , desertion of, from the Vi-
   zier's army,  115
Ascalon,  186
Ashdod,  and the adjacent country
                       186,  188
 Astrologers consulted relative to the
   proper time of launching a  ship
   of war,  81
 Atmeydan,  or  hippodrome,  for
   athletic exercises at  Constanti-
   nople, 39

 Bakers,  punishment of fraudulent,
   in Turkey,  38
 Baldwin tomb of, at Jerusalem  122
 Banditti, formidable  hordes of,  ia
   the  neighbourhood of Constan-
   tinople,  jg
————,  measures taken to punish
   them,  80
Barge, the Grand Seignor's,  81
 Bailey,  large consumption of, in
   the Turkish camp,  145
 Barra! cat, Turkish army encamps
   at  205
         1 ,  singular phenomenon
   observed at 205
 Bath, description of a Turkish, and
   of the  processes and operations to
   which  the bather is subjected  70
----description of, at Cairo  230
-----in the Grand Seignor's camp
   ar Jaffa,  103
■    warm, bad effects of the too
   frequent use of,  32
     , public, at Constantinople 71
Bavaria,  dress of the women   342
Bazars,  account of the,  at  Con-
   stantinople, 37
——, good police of the, 37
Bedouins or wandering Arabs, cha-
   racter  and manners of the, 164
       ,  arms of the, 165
Belbeis,  description  of,  217
       ,  defeat of French near 217
Upgrade, village and aquedufls of,
                             5«
Ben-el-hazar,  situation of, 220 
INDEX.
419
Ben-el-hazar,  productions of  the
  country in the vicinity of,  221
Bethlem, descript on of,  124, 126
______f  church of  St.  Catharine
  at,  124
——,  pools of Solomon near 124
Beys,  arrest of  the Mameluke, by
  the  Grand Vizier, 271
---->, massacre of,  272
Biram, celebration of the, in the
  camp of the Grand Vizier  156
Biram Courbam, grand  procession
  on the  opening of, 45
Birds, catacombs of, in Egypt 243
Bonaparte, inhuman conduct of, at
  Jaffa,  ioi,  106
--------, extraordinary threat by,
  relative to Jerusalem,  121
Bosphorus, description of the, and
  its  banks,  25
—-------, beautiful fountain on the
  banks  of,  t,1
Bostangis,  bodyguards of tie Sul-
  taa, 179
B ulac, distant  view of,  224
------ruinous state cf,  247
Breaklat,  a Turkish, 45
ButFalo the, well adaptea to Egypt,
                            253
Burials, corpses of those who die of
  plague  covered with red cloth 76
——— bod'es of the Turks interred
  without coffins, and naked  jy
Buyuk 'ere, a village near Constan-
  tinople, description of, 28 31
--------, castle of,  28
         , amus ments of the inha-
  bitants of,  32 40
         -, plenty of provisions, veT
   getables, &c.  at  33

Cadi Asker, or military judge, 168
Cadi-K ii,  village on  the  site  of
   Chalcedon,  beautiful prospect
   fnm, 85
Caiinac, an agreeable preparation
   of milk,  45
       , method of preparing, 81
Caicks, Turkish  merchant ships,
                             26
Cairo,  Grand, and the environs,
        view of,  224
Cairo, cavalcade of women at 236
----invested by the combined ar-
  my of Turks and English,  226
----surrendered by capituiat. 227
—— evacuated by the French 230
      the Grand Vizier  makes his
  public entry into, 231
----. opening of the can A at, 238
———, marriage precessions at 249
----, slave markets at  252
     i, description of the streets,
  houses,  &c. of 262  263  •
----, palaces of the B ys at,  263
----, Joseph's well, 265
----, inhabitants of, their manners
  language, and dress,  265  266
     , manufactures and Ceuwnerce
  of, 267  268
——. jugglers at,  269
----, aqueduct at, 269
    -, 1 recession accompanying the
   holy carpet 272
Cairo, Oid,  account of 269
Cameleon, dissection and descrip-
   tion of  a,  112
Camels,  161
------,  Arabian breed of,  196
Camel-dnvi-rs, Arabian, character
   &c. of  178
Camp of the  Grand Vizier's  army
   at Jaffa, 96  98
.----, ravages by plague in  147
Camps, Turkish, manner of light-
   ing the, in the night,  171
—---        , exposed to surprise
                             171
—~---       ■  entertainments 148
Cannon, foundery of,  at Ciito,
                             235
Caper-shrub,  grows wild in  Cy-
   prus,  94
Capi-Aga, or  chief of the white
   euruchs, 77
Capitan Pacha, ceremony of his ta-
   king leave of the Sultan, 22
           , visit of ceremony  36
           , visit  on  board the
   flag-ship, 40
           -, character of the 57
Caravan for Mecca,  departure of
  the, from Cairo, 278
Castel Rosso, island & town of  301 
420
INDEX.
Castro, or Mitylene, town and port
  of, iVc.  321
Cavalry Turkish, arms, discipline,
  mode of fighting, &c.fthr  176
Cemeteries planted  with  cypress-.
  trees, 27
Cemetery,  magnificent, of the Ma-
  melukes, 249
Ceremony observed in reading let-
  ters from the Giand Seignor 234
Ceremonies,  singular,  on board a
  Russian  ship of war  75
Character of the Turks  179
Charcagis, an officer belonging to
  the Turkish army,  168
Chaorbagi?,  a colonel of Janissa-
  ries,  175
Charcoal,  fatal effects from 6g
Chennecally, castles of, 56
----------—, description of 62
        ' •  ■, manufactory  ot lea-
  ther at,  62
Chess played in Tuikishjcamps 180
Chiaouses,  or messengers 77
Chious-Bashi,  an  officer ot great
  dignity in  the Ottoman  empire
                            235
Christ,  birth-place of 125
     , impression of the foot of,  in
  the Mount of Olives  126
Christians, oppression  of,  in Tur-
  key 34               m
Cleopatra's needle, an ancient obe-
  lisk at Alexandria, 257
Coin, adulterations of Turkish  39
Compliment, singular mode of pay-
  ing a 181
Constantinople,  and its suburbs,
  brief description of,  24
s...   „         ■, great  numbers of
  dogs and vultures in streets of 33
              , bazars of 37
                streets of,  narrow
an.I very dirty 38
             external appear-
ance of the houses of 39
         —, perambulation
through 67
apartments
mode  of warming
69
falls of snow at, on
the 12th of March  75, 78
 Constantinople, robbefits Commit-
   ted there in open day  83
 Coulcas,  an esculent root growing
   in Syria,  160
 Courtship of the Greeks, 32
 Cyprtis, productions of,  94

 Dancing-girl*,  268
 Dahroot,  on the Nile, account of,
                            291
 Dardania, site of, 64
 Dardanelles.never infected with the
   plague, 62
          ,  castles of,  63
 Date tree, great usefulness of, 237
 —■— ■    ,  picturesque effect of
   among  house-,  118
 David, supposed burial-place of
   king, 129
 Dehlis, or Turkish light cavalry,
   account of,  115
-------, singular religious ceremo-
   ny of, 72
■------, different sects of, 73
Desert, effects of  a  storm in the,
                            201
Diana, temple of,  299
Diarrhoea, prevalence of, among the
   Turkish and  English  troops,
                        222, 228
——————, causes of the, ib.
Dinner, a Turkish, 47, 90
------, produced among the Greeks
   and Armenians by  their diet  in
   Lent, 83
Djerid, a military sport much  in
   vogue among Turks of condition,
                         39> »56
Drurra, or Indian corn, cultivated
   on the banks of the  Nile, 224
Doves, great numbers  of,  in the cy-
   press grovesof thecemeteries, 27
Doves, large flocks of, near  Korin
   in Egypt, 215
Dromedaries, corps of French troops
   mounted on,  99
 Dysentery, many of the English at-
   tacked with,  30

 Egypt, haziness of the atmosphere
   in,  215 
/
INDEX.
411
Egypt, mode of getting in the corn
  in,  216
—-, wheat, flax, lucerne, and
  mustard cultivated in, 220
,----, unhealthiness of the  climate
  of 237
.----., excessive heat in, 237
—, method of irrigating the
  high grounds,  241
Elgin, E?rl of, arrives at the Dar-
  danelles, 59
-...........,  visits the Capitan Pa-
  cha, ib.
.----     ,  introduces the inocula-
  tion of the cow-pox at Constan-
  tinople, 69
         >•,  fete given by,  on the
  4th of June,
English detachment, junction of,
  with the Grand Vizier's army,
                             96
English detachment,  encampment
  of the,  99
English detachment affected with an
  eruptive complaint,  104
Enthusiastic volunteers in the Tur-
  kish army, 177
Eshtaol,  188
Execution of the Pacha of Nicome-
  dia, 87

Fead, Major, death of, at the for-
  tress of St. Jean d'Acre, 53
Fellahs, or Arab husbandmen, ab-
  ject state of the, in Syria,  163
------/character of the,  163,
                           164
-------, construction of the villages
  of the, in Egypt, 214
      -, wretched state of the, 215
Feredge, part of the dress  of  the
  Turkish women, 31
Fever, malignant, cases of,  352
Fortresses,  Turkish, remark on,

------•—, ancient proverb relative

Foua, a  town in  the Delta, 254.
Franklin, captain,  resigns «?A re-
  turns to Enghr.d, 24
Franks, manner in which they sa-
  lute the Turks, 27
French, cruelty of at Jaffa,  101
——, scene of the horrid massa-
  cre of prisoners by, 106
Freezing-mixture, experiment with
  the, in Egypt, 274

Galangis, or Turkish marine, dis-
  honesty of a, 59
Gaming, Turkish soldiers,  guilty
  of, punished with death, 144
Gaza, description of the country
  near, 191
           '  ■■ of the town and sub-
  urbs, 192
—-, beautiful gardens near, 193
  »9S
   ■  , porch at, of which Samson
  carried away the gates, 192
——, ports of, 195
     , pyramids of,  Z3I
Goats, in Syria, 160
Germany, journey through,  341
Grandees,  precarious state of,  in
  Turkey,  170
Grand  Seignor,  favourite amuse-
  ment of, 29
--------------, visits Chiflick, and
  reviews the English detachment,
                          35'43
             -, officers of the mili-
tary mission introduced to,  21
           -,  ceremony of  his
taking the field, 22
           -, description of the
 dresf, &c. of the troops attend,
 ing him, ib.
            , anecdotes of the
                           156
——-------, character of the,
                           100
------------, tent of the,  183
            -, lays the first stone
of a new bastion at Jaffa,  111
           -, receives a magni-
  ficent present from the Sultan,
                             234
Grand Vizier's army, progress of,
  towards Cairo, 187,  225 
422
INDEX.
Grand Vizier's army, commences
  active operations,  195
       ■, enters Alrica,  198
       ; encamps  at  Zaca in  the
  desert,  ib.
       •. sufferings of the,  in their
 march through the ^desert,  ib.
-----,  encamps  at El-Arish,
                          199
    1, serious  disagreement in
 the, 200
——, takes Salahieh, 202
    <, encamps at  Barrahcat in
the desert,  205
    ', enters Salahieh, 210
    -, defeats the  Freneh  near
  Belbeis, 31,8
———, invests and  takes Cairo,
                             226
Greek marriage,  74
Greek women, dres., manners, Sec.
  of the,  32, 455
        ■ -, many decay early, 32
         , passionately fond  of
  dancing, 37
      -,  very numerous in the Eu-
ropean provinces ot  Turkey, '35
    -,  celebration of the festival
of St. John by  the, and Easter,
                       36, 83
    -, amusements of, 40
 Gum  arabic,  whence collected,
                             248
 Gum mastic,  considerable quanti-
   ties of, collected in the island  of
   Scio,  315

 Hans, or  inns,  for  the  Turkish
   merchants at Constantinople, 68
 Harvests near Constantinople be-
   gin in June, 34
 Hedgin,  a  species  of the  camel,
                             161
 Heliopolis,  227
 Henna, Turkish women stain their
   nails with a colour obtained from
   the, 32
Holland,  roads in, and general face
  of the  country  and cultivation,
                            348
 Holy family, grotto in which they
   are said to have taken refuge in
   Egypt,  246
 Holloway, Colonel,  succeeds Ge-
   neral Koehler in the command of
   the English mission,  ici
        > and the officers under him,
   receive  gold  medals  from the
   Grand Seignor, 281
 Holy  Land, progress  through,
                           116
         '1  topographical account
   of the  most interesting  objects
   in the, 132
 Homer, school of, in the island of
   Scio, 315
 Horses,  Turkish, description of,
   and the mode of treating them,
   30, 181
-------, mode of shoeing, in Tur-
   key,  30
-------, f >od of,  30
      -, 6ynan,  161
 Hood, Captain Samuel, introduces
   many  improvements  into  the
   Turkish fleet,  57
 Hutchinson,  General,  visits  the
   camp of the Grand Vizier,  222
        ■  ,  British army under the
   c mrnand  of, joins  the  Turks,
   and takes Cairo, 226

 Ibis, mummies of, preserved in the
  catacombs near Saccara in Egypt,

                1   .         243
 Improvisatori, at Cairo, 264
 Indigo, plantations of, on the Nile,
                            222
 —-----, mode of preparing, 226,
  256
 Ismael Pacha, death of, 185

 Jackals, abound in Syria,  195
       , great  numbers of, enter
  the camp at Jaffa. 114
Jaffa, in Syria, description of 95,
  101
----, storming of, by Bonaparte's
  army, 98,  102
----, inhuman massacre of the  in-
  habitants in cold blood,  101 
INDEX.
423
Jaffa, gardens of, 106
James, St.  place where his head
  was deposited, 124
Janissaries, mutiny of the,  142
_-------,  ceremonies  on  paying
  tnem their arrears,  143
__—---, origin and present state
  of the.  172
_________,  best troops in Turkey,
                            »73
Jehoshaphat, valley of, several mo-
  numents in the, 129
Jerome,  Ss. ancient  building  at,
                            119
Jerusalem,  church of the sepulchre
  at, 121
---------, scene of  our Saviour's
  sufferings at,  122
---------, Armenian church at,
                            123
---------, sepulchres of the kings
  at, 127
.--------, description of the coun-
  try near, 119
         , site  of the temple  of
  Solomon, and palace of  Pilate,
                            120
         , extent of the city  of,
                            121
Julien,  fort,  ne3r Rosetta,  293
Jugglers, Egyptian,  114

Kahnyounes,  village of, 197
Kaimakan, the  British officers in-
  troduced to the, 30
Kaithana, place chosen for artillery
  experiments, 36
Kampsin wind, effects of the, 202
  213,  216, 219, 238
Kiosque, a Turkish pleasure-house,
  deSs.ription of, 36
Koehler, General, death and fune-
  ral of, 147,  151
------, Mrs. dies of the  plague,
    -   .          .          H7
K;rin, in Egypt, village of, 214
     ,  precious stones  found near,
                            2I5
Kuchuk Hussein, high-admiral of
  t:;e Turkish fleet, 57
Kymak,  method of  preparing:,
                             81
Leake,  Captain, sent to reconnoi-
  tre the French, 144
Leander,  tower of, fine view  of
  Constantinople from, 82
Leghis, light cavalry in the Turk-
  ish army, 177
Lepers, hospital for, in the island
  of Scio, 252, 314,  319
-------, state of the patients, 319
Levant  Chiflick, description of the
  country and soil near, 29
              ■, barrack at, for the
  English detachment,  ib.
Limesol, in Cyprus, description cf,
  and of the adjacent country, 94
Lupine cultivated in Egypt, 213
Lydda, town of, 152

Mahomed,  fete in commemoration
  of the birth of his mother,  235
Mahramah, head-dress of the Turk-
  ish women, 31
Mamelukes, origin, costume, &c.
  of the, 178
Marriage, celebration of a Greek,
                              74
May-day, celebration  of,  by the
   Greeks,  85
Medical art, miserable  state of, in
  Turkey,  180
Medical Journal, or account of the
   diseases that prevailed among the
   Octoman and English troops in
   Syria and Egypt—;he pre-dispo-
   sing  causes, symptoms and  cure,
                             353
Mekias,  or Nilometer, 230
Melons,  large, at  Jaffa, 106
Memnon, fragment cf a colossal
   statue of, 258
Memphis,  supposed site of,  242.
   283
Menouf, canal and town of, 253
Meshtoule, in  Egypt, country in
   the vicinity of, 220
 Mc«*audieb,  wells of,  204
 Metterhenna,  a village on  the site
   of the ancient Memphis,  284
 Mewliachs, or whirling dervises,
                               72
 Military Mssicn,  sent to Turkey,
                               »7 
424                          INDEX.
 Military Mission,  names of officers
   composing the,  17
       1', ceremony  attending their
   introduction to the G.and Vizi-
   er, 21           «
 Millar, Captain, present from the
   Capitan Pacha for the widow of,
                              84
 Mimosa Nilotica, 248
 Minage, account 01 this singular
   visual deception,  206
 Mito,  inhabitants of,  not attacked
   by the plague, 62
 Mokatam, description  of Mount,
                             251
 Mosque of Santa Sophia at Con-
   stantinople,  39,  52, 86
 Mosques of  Constantinople, inte-
   rior of, 86
 Muczins, criers, stationed  in  the
   minarets  of the  mosques to call
   the people to pray, 25
 Mufti of Jerusalem, visit from, 123
 Mummies, plain of the, descrip-
   tion of the catacombs in the, 242
 Mussulmen, heads of decapitated,
   placed under their arm,  144
 Mustapha, General, alias  Camp-
   bell, account of,  184

 Navy,  Turkish,  little  encourage-
   ment to the surgeons  of the,  41
 ---------     , want of strict dis-
   cipline in the,  41
Nightingale,  notes of the, heard in
   the desert of Theah,  206
Nile, subsiding of  the  inundation
   of the,  275
     ,  inundation of,  254
-----,  voyage on the, from  Cairo
   to Alexandria,  253, 289
——,  observations on the  rise and
   fall of the, in 1801,  285
     ,  mud deposited by the ana-
   lysis of the,  289
Nilometer, description of the/ at
   Cairo, 230,  285
----------,  French, inscription on
   the,  230

Obelisk, granite, in the Atmeydan
   at Constantinople,  39
01ives>  Mount of, 128
 Ophthalmia, prevalence of this dis-
    ease, 118,  228
 ------------,  causes thereof, 118
         "  ■  ,  dissertation on  the
    causes,  (■ymptums,  and cure, of
    the  Ophthalmia of  Syria  and
    Egypt,  391
 Ostriches, mode of hunting  them,
                            ,293
 ———, their eggs suspended as
    or> aments from the roofs  of the
    mosques,  293
 Ottoman Empire,  tradition relative
    to the downfal of the, 172
 Ovid, tower of, 52

 Partridges, Egyptian,  275
 Patmos, island and town of,  de-
   scription of  the,  91
 Pear trees,  prickly, employed  as
   fences at Jaffa,  106
 Philistines,  view of  the land  of
   the,   186
 Pilgrims, lake of,  276
 Plague, the, singular mode of com-
   municating,  80
 1   .   , many persons  die of, at
   Jaffa, 1.07,  146
       , symptoms and  predispo-
   sing causes of, 109
-------, remarks on,  152
. 1     ., singular  fact  relative  to
   the,  184
     ,  , communicated  by means
   of a pelice,  185
       , indifference of the Turk*
   to the 201
-    1  , details relative to the, 236
   252,  273, 279,  292,  355
       , frictions with warm oil  for
   prevention and cure of the,  355,
   357
-------, cases of, 355,  372
       , historical  journal of, de-
   tails relative to the causes, symp-
   toms,  cure, &c. of the, 376
Plane-tree, immense, at Stancho,
                              93
Police, wretched state of, at  Con-
   stantinople,  83
Pompey's  Pillar,  at Alexandria,
                            257 
INDEX.                         425
Procession, grand, on the opening
  of the Beyram festival, 45
_________, of General Koehler, and
  the officer of the Mission to the
  Porte,  21
Psorophthalmy, an endemic disease
  in Syria,  166
             », causes of, 166
Punishment, singular, inflicted  up-
  on a Turk for an assault, 79

Rackay,  a spirituous liquor,  162
Ramah of Gilead, 186
Ramazan, or Turkish Lent, 74
—————,  splendid  illumination
  on the first night of, 74
Ramla, ruins of the tower of forty
  martyrs near,  117
——, Latin convent of,  117
——, description of the town  of,
                             186
Reis Effendi, character of the, 101,
   110
Rhodes, city of, arsenal at the, 302
       1,  beautiful villages in  the
   neighbourhood of,  306
       ,  ancient habitations of  the
   Knights, 303
 -------,  dress of the Greek inha-
   bitants, 306
 Rice, plantations of, in Egypt, 254
 Rickets  very  common in Turkey,
                              48
 Rosetta,  description  of, 255,  292
 ..     ■,  gardens of,  296
 Rotterdam, neatness of the  build-
   ings in, 351
 Russian  captain, singular ceremor
   nies during an entertainment gi-
   ven by a, 75
 Ryahs, denomination comprehend-
   ing  Greeks,  Armenians,   and
   Franks,  34
 ----, oppression of, ib.

 Sabre, exercise of the Turkish sol-
   diers with the, 107
 Sackars, a corps, who supply the
   Turkish army with water, 219
 Sailors,  Turkish, a turbulent set of
   men,   58

                    CO
Salahieh, description of the coun-
  try and inhabitants in the vici-
  nity of 210
Salah eh, Arab village near,  210
Santon, humanity and good  sense
  cf a Turkish, 123
Scio, the island of, 311
     ,  dress of the  Greek  women
  of, 312
■ 1   ■, Greek convent at Nehahmo-
  nee,  in, 313
-----,  prevalent diseases in,  319
-----, town of, description of the
                             3i8
-----, promenade on the sea-shore,

Selim III.  Emperor of the Turks,
   is extremely popular, 46
-------'—,  has  introduced  many
   salutary innovations, 47
 Seraglio, or palace of the Sultan,
   site of, 25
Serenades by Greek lovers at Bu-
   yukdere, 32
 Seven Towers, castle of,  6j
 Seymen Bashi, an  officer  of  the
   Ottoman army,  168
 Sheicks, Arab, dress of the, 23;
 Sherbet, cooled with ice, 38
 Ships of war, defcription of the
   Sultan Selim, the Capitan Pa-
   cha's flag-ship, 40
 ---------, launch of a Turkish, 80
 ---------, prayers on board of, 86
 Shoubra Shaabi, productions of the
   country in the vicinity of, 223
 Sick, neglect of the,  in  Turkish
   armies,  359
 —■—, means used by the Turks for
   transporting the, 359
 Sigseum, visit to the ancient, Co^
 ,.   I,,. ., marble containing a curi-
   ous bas-relief,  and celebrated in
    scripture,  obtained there,  and
    sent to England, 60
  Sion,  Mount,  124
  Slavery, two Englishmen redeem-
    ed from, 36
  Solomon, temple of, Turkish mosque
    built on the site of  the, 120,
         ,  garden of,  125
  Sphynx,  the description of, 233 
426                          INDEX.
 Stancho, island of, beauty and fer-
   tility of, 92
 Stanco,  island  of, or the ancient
   Cos,  3.07
 Standard of the Turkish army, 171
 -------, consecration of,  by the
   Mufti, 21
 Syria, climate, face of the country,
   soil, and productions of,  157,
   160,  165
 -----, abject state of the husband-
   men,  163
     -, diseases of,  166
 Syrians, stature, complexion, dress,
   and character of,  162
 Sugar-cane, plantations  of,  in
 -  Egypt*  *54
 Sycamore-tree, qualities of  the
   wood of, 237

 Tacta-Tepens, or board-beaters, a
   sect of Turkish dervises,  73
 Talismans, extraordinary virtues
   ascribed to them by the Turks,
                             17a
 Tartars, employed  as couriers by
   the Turks,  179
 Tartavan,  or  Turkish palanquin,
                             187
 Temple, subterraneous, of Diana,
   at Alexandria, 299
 Tourrah, village and castle of, 277,
 Troy,  description of  the plain of.
                              61
Tuff, a stone employed by the A-
  rabs for  the cure of the mange
 ' in horfes,  252
 Turkish army,  principal officers of
   the, 168.
             , different casts of peo-
   ple which compose the,  169
 Turkish  women, dress, manner,
   &c. of,  31
 Turkey,  remarks on  the  mode of
   travelling in, 72
 Turks, general  character of the,
                             179

 Usury, case of, decided  by  the
   Grand Vizier,  88
 Utrecht,  the  works and roads of,
                             35°
 Villages  near  Constantinople,
   wretched state of, 51
 Vintage near Chiflick begun on the
   4th of September, 5 3
 Virgin Mary, sepulchre of,  128

 White, Dr. inoculates himself with
   pestiferous matter, and  falls  a
   victim to the experiment, 378
Winds, effect of  the, in  Egypt,
                             275
Wrestlers,  General Koehler enter-
   tained with an exhibition of, at
   the Pacha of Chennecally's, 90
Yebna, 186
Yenecheri  Agassi,  generalissimo
   of the janissaries,  174
Yourt, Turkish  dish,  prepared
  from sour milk,  33
Youzouf Zia Pacha, Grand Vizi-
  er,  character of, 100 
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   by its rapid run through two editions, fince its publication, and its merit ii
   ftamped  by the very handfome approbation of the  different Reviews.  We
   felect the following,  as being the moft concife.
     " This Work gives the effence of moft of the recent publications of many
   favourite authors on  agricultural and rural economy, together with the fur-
   veys of the feveral counties of England, Wales, and Scotland,  drawn up at
   the defire of the Board of Agriculture.   Plants are defcribed  in  their va-
   rieties;  quantity of feed neceffary per acre, according to the various modes
   of cultivation; method  of cultivating, weeding,  cropping, and  feeding;
   and laftly,  the feveral ufes to which the produce, whether of feed or haulm,
   can be moft advantageoufly applied.  Trees,  whether of the fruit or foreft
   kinds, are alfo treated of as to their varieties, the nature of the  foil they
   delight in, their quality and  affections as.to their own growth, or to what
   may be  in contact with them; and the  various  ufes their bloflbms,  fruit,
   leaves, or their wood, are capable of.  The management of bees, the dairy,
   and many other ufeful articles, are likewife introduced ; together with a plate
   of fome  ufeful implements for draining, tranfplanting;  &c.  The manner
   by which hay is  faved in wet feafons in the north of England, by a practice
   called tippling.   The whole is arranged with great concifenefs and merit,
   and will  prove a moft defirable companion to fuch as have neither the means
   or leifure to perufe the bulky materials from which this cheap tract is judici-
   oufly felected."

                 AN  EPITOME OF  FORSYTH ON  THE
           Culture  and Management of Fruit Trees:
With notes on American gardening and  fruits:  and defigns  for promoting
   the ripening of fruits and the fecuring them as early comforts : And further,
   of economical principles in building Farmer's Habitations.

              A  TREATISE OF THE  LAW RELATIVE TO
                  Merchant Ships  and Seamen:
In four parts.  By the Rt. Hon. Charles  Abbott, of the Inner Temple:
   Barrifter at Law : and Speaker of the Houfe of Commons.  Enlarged with
   Addenda containing  a Digeft of the Maritime Laws of the United States.

REPORTS OF CASES argued and determined in the High Court of Admi-
   ralty  (Great Britain), c< ;:.mencing with the Judgments of the Right Ho-
   nourable Sir William Scott, 1798.   By Chr. Robinson, L.L.D.  Advo-
   cate.   Three volumes.  The Fourth volume is now in the prefs and will he
   fhortly publifhed.
     {&>  From the Title of this Work as well as of the  preceding one, they
   would appear as only neceffary to the Gentlemen of the Bar—-but the whole
   Trading  World is interefted in  the knowledge  of their  contents.  The
   Multum of Vattel, of Grotius, Puffendorf, Beawe*, &c.  are here at once
   brought  into view, and condenfed in Par<vo.

YOUNG's ESSAYS on the following interefting fubjefts, viz. Government.
   Revolutions.  Britifh Conftitution.   Kingly Government.   Parliamentary
   Reprefentation, &c.   Liberty and  Equality.  Taxation, &c.  &c. 
THE PLEADER'S GUIDE, a didadtic poem, in two beoks; containing the
  conduct of a fuit at law, with the arguments of Counfellor Bother'um,  and
  Counfellor Bore'um, in an aclion betwixt John-a-Gull and John-a-Gudgeon,
  for  affault and battery,  at a late  contefted  eleftion:   By the late  John
  Surrebutter, Efq. fpecial pleader and barrifter at law.
THE ORIENTAL NAVIGATOR,  or new directions for failing to and from
  the  Eaft Indies.  This edition of the Oriental Navigator contains, befides
  what is contained in the London edition, directions for failing from the coaft
  of America for the Eaft Indies; inftruclions for the purchafing of drugs and
  fpices in  Afia and the  Eaft Indies; for  the choice and  purchafe of  dia-
  monds ;—and for the judging of the finenefs and value of gold by the ufe of
  the  Chinefe t'uch needles;  with Tables  of the weights,  meafures, coins,
  money,  &c.  &c. of different fettleinents in  the Eaft Indies, &c.
A Pocket Confpectus of the London  and Edinburgh PHARMACOPCEIAS:
  Wherein the Virtues, Ufes, and Dofes, of the feveral  Articles and Prepa-
  rations contained in thofe Works, are concifely ftated; their Pronunciation,
  as to Quantity, is diilinctly marked, and a Variety of other Particulars
  refpe&ing them  given;  calculated more efpecially for the Ufe of Junior
  Practitioners.  By  Robert Graves, M. D.  Member of the Royal College
  of Phyficians, London ;  of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh ; of the
  Medical Society of London, &c. &c. &c.
    g3> It is preiumed  any further Recommendation of the above Work than
  that it is dedicated to  Sir George Baker, Phyfician in Ordinary to their Bri-
  tannic Majefties, is unneceffary, efpecially as we are informed in the De-
  dication,  that it had received the Honor of his  Approbation.
Practical Obfcrvations on VACCINATION :  Or Inoculation for the Cow-
   Pock.  By JOHN REDMAN COXE, M.D.   Member of the American
   Philofophical Society, and one of the Phyficians  to the Pennfylvania Hol-
   pital.  Embellifhed with a coloured engraving, reprefenting a comparative
   view of the various ftages of the Vaccine and Small-pox.
 A Compendium of the ANATOMY  of  the HUMAN BODY.  Intended
   principally for the ufe of ftudents.   By Andrew Fyfe. In two volumes.
   This edition  is prefixed with a compendious hiftory of Anatomy, and the
   Ruyfchian art and method of making preparations to exhibit the ftrudhirc of
   the human body, illuftrated with a reprefentation of the quickfilver tray and
   its  appendages, which are not in the London edition.
 THE CHEMICAL  POCKET-BOOK, or Memoranda Chemica:  Arranged
   in  a Compendium of Chemiftry, &c. &c.  By James Parki nson, M.D.
   With the lateft difcoveries.  To which is now added, an account of the prin-
   cipal objections  to the Antiphlogiftic Syftem of Chemiftry:  By  JAMES
   WOODHOUSE, M. D.  Profeffor of Chemiftry in the Univerfity of Penn-
   fylvania, &c. embellifhed with two Plates of economical Laboratories.

 An Epitome of CHEMISTRY: By William Henry.  & To him dif-
   pofed to take Pleafure (as Mr. Parkinfon fays)  " in  the delightful walks
   "which are to be found in this department of fcience, where wide  fcenes
   "of intereft  and amuiement are coffftantly opening upon the mind," this
   little manual of Chemiftry muft prove of infinite fervice ;—leading the  ftu-
   dent by an arranged feries of experiments (which may be performed by the
   moft ceconomiol apparatus), and  by particular inftruftionsfi r the peftcrm-
   anceofthem, to the acquifition of the knowledge  he would  fceK, whetr.er
   for the purpofes of utility or amufement. 
 MEDICAL  ADMONITIONS to Families  rcfpefling the Prefervation of
   Health,  and  the Treatment of the Sick:  Alfo a Table of Symptoms, (er-
   ving to point out the degree of danger, and to diftinguifh one difeafe from
   another:  With Obfervations on the improper Indulgence of Children, &c.
   By James  Parkinfon, M. D.

 The Town and  Country FRIEND AND PHYSICIAN:  Or an affedionate
   addrefs on  the prefervation of health, and the removal of difeafe on its firft
   appearance:  Suppofed to be delivered by a  Country Phyfician to the circle
   of his friends and patients on his retiring from bufmefs:  With curfory ob-
   fervations on  the treatment of children, &c.  Calculated for the promotion
   of domeflic happinefs.

 TRAVELS in the interior Diftridts of AFRICA:  Performed under the di-
   rection and patronage of the African affociation,  By Mungo Park, Sur-
   geon : With an Appendix, containing geographical illuftrations of Africa,
   by Major Rennell, and illuftrated with a large map of Mr. Park's route
   in Africa.

 The Hiftory  of (NORTH) AMERICA, books IX. and X. containing the
   hiftory of Virginia to the year 1688 j and of New England to the year 1652
   By William Robertfon, D. D.

 LYRICAL BALLADS, with other Poems:  Two volumes in one.  By  W.
   Wordsworth.  The beauty and purity of thefe poems cannot fail to re-
   commend them. So great has been the celebrity of them in London, that they
   ran through two editions in a very few months. The celebrated Mr. Cold-
   ridge in a note to the laft edition of his poems, fpeaking of Mr, Wordfwortb,
   fays, he is  " one whom I deem unrivall'd among the Writers of the prefent
   day in manly fentiment, novel imagery, and vivid colouring."

 The Hiftory of the ROTCHFORDS; or the Friendly Counfellor.  Deflgned
   for the inftruction and amufement of youth of both fexes.

 LEONARD and GERTRUDE.  A popular ftory, written originally in Ger-
   man,  tranflated into French, and now into Englifh.

 The FARMER'S BOY; and RURAL TALES.  By Robert Bloomfield.

 An Enquiry into the Duties of  the  Female Sex.   By Thomas Gis-
   borne, M. A.

PLEASING INCITEMENTS to Wifdom and Virtue,  conveyed through the
  medium of  anecdote,  tale, and adventurer Calculated to entertain, forti-
  fy, and improve the juvenile mind.

The AONIAN BANQUET ; or a Selection of Poems of acknowledged me-
  rit, by various  and jultly admired Authors.

New Rules for Playing the Game of CHESS ; with Examples from Philidor,
  Cunningham,   &c. &c.   To"which is prefixed a pleafing  account of  its
  origin; fome interefting anecdotes of feveral exalted Perfonages who have
  been admirers  of it,  and the morals  of chefs, written by the ingenious and
  learned Dr. Franklin. 
A New System of the Art of Writing SHORT HAND :  By Thos. Rers.
  When we reflect, that there can scarcely be in life a more ufeful accompliftl-
  ment than the Art of Short Hand Writing, our amazement is excited  that
  fo very few are in poffeftion of it, efpecially as whoever he is that has made
  himself mafter of it commands both esteem and admiration.  To the mul-
  tiplicity and obfeurity of the rules with which the fyftems hitherto publifhed
  have been fwelled, may, perhaps, be attributed the flight cultivation of this
  useful art.  The little fyftem now offered the Public, is diverted of all  that
  fuperfluity and complexity whicli has alone been  sufficient in the other fyf-
  tems to damp the fpirit of  the learner ;  and the attainment of the art is
  here reduced to a firapHcity  intelligible to the moft common capacity,  and
  may be acquired with very little trouble.
    The Englilh Reviewers in speaking of  this Work say, " We do not he-
  sitate to affirm, that this is  the best,  becaafe one of the eafieft  fyftems of
  Short Hand that has at any time come under our observation."

A  Critical Pronouncing DICTIONARY  and  Exposition  of the English
  Language, &c, &c. By John Walker.

FABULjE iESOPI SELECTEE; or Select Fables of JEfop;  with an Englifh
  Tranflation,  more literal than any yet extant: By H. Clarke.
 &>  The foregoing are Books published by the Printer hereof.  The following are
   also new American Publications,  which, ivith many others he has received
   for Sale:—All calculated to instruS and amuse, and to instil and disseminate
   those Principles which cement Society,  and on which general Happiness is
   founded.

 A GUIDE TO THE CHURCH.   By the Revd. Charles Daubeny, L.L.B.
   A Prefbyter of the Church of England.

 The  Book of COMMON PRAYER, and Adminiftration of the Sacraments,
   and other Rites and Ceremonies of  the  Church,  in the United States of
   America.

 A Syftem of Law of MARINE INSURANCES,  &c.  By James  Allan
   Park.

 The  TEMPLE OF  NATURE;  or the Origin of Society:  A Poem, with
   Philosophical Notes:  Alfo

 The BOTANIC GARDEN : A Poem, with Philofophicd Notes: By Eras-
   mus Darwin, M. D. F. R.S.

Elements of GENERAL HISTORY tranftated from the French of the Abbe
  Millot.  In five Vols.

SELECT SERMONS  and FUNERAL ORATIONS,  tranftated from the
  French of Bofluet, Biftiop of Meaux :  To which is preiixed an Effay on the
  Eloquence of the Pulpit in England.

The  LIFE and  POSTHUMOUS  WRITINGS  of  Wm.  Ccwper,  Efo.
  with an Introdu&ory  Letter to  the Right Hon. Earl  Cowper:   By Wm.
  Hay ley, Efq.—A handfome Edition. 
BROAD GRINS; by George Colman the younger; comprifing,  with new
  additional Tales in Verfe,  thofe formerly publifhed under the Title of
  '* My Night Gown and Slippers."

The  true history of the CONQUEST of MEXICO; By Capt. Barnal Diaz
  del Caftillo, one of the conquerors: translated from the original Spanifh
  by Maurice Keatinge,  Efq.  in two tvols.—This is  a new and celebrated
  work.

Continuation of the History of the Province of Maffachufetts Bay, with an
  introductory Sketch of Events from its  Original Settlement:  By  G. R.
  Minot :  In two Vols.

The  RURAL SOCRATES;  or an Account  of a celebrated Philofophical
  Farmer lately living in Switzerland.  $$> *' Seeft thou a Man diligent in
  " his bufinefs, he (hall ftand before Kings."  Prov. xxii.  29.

The  FEDERALIST or  the New Conftitution :  By Publius:  To  which  is
  added Pacificus on  the Proclamation of Neutrality.  Likewife the Federal
  Conftitution with all the Amendments.   In two Volumes.

EVENINGS  AT HOME, or, the  Juvenile Budget opened; consisting of a
  variety of mifcellanies for the instruction and amusement of young perfons,
  6 vols, in 3.

The  PLEASING LIBRARY;  containing a felection of numerous,  enter-
  taining, and inftructive pieces in profe and poetry; by N. Heaton, junr. of
  Maffachufetts.

Strictures on the modern fyftem bf Female  Education ;  with a view of the
  principles and conduct prevalent  among women  of rank and fortune: by
  Hannah More.

Voyage Round  the World.  By M. de la  PEYROUSE.

The moft remarkable  Year in the Life of A. V.  KOTZEBUE;  containing
  an account of his exile into Siberia, and of the other extraordinary events
  which happened to him in Ruftia.

DISCOURSES to the AGED: by Job Orton.

FAMILY BQOK; containing difcourfes doctrinal,  evangelical,  practical,
  and hiftorical; by Eli Forbes,  of Maffachufetts.

Blunt's and Bowditch's PRACTICAL NAVIGATOR.

The  American  Coast  Pilot.

WALSH's  MERCANTILE ARITHMETIC;  adapted  to the  Commerce
  of the United States in its Domeftic and Foreign Relations, Sec.  Sec 
 
 
 
I