38 MEMOIR OF BURCKHARDT. 



experience of Oriental society and manners. He 

 amused himself by attempting a translation, or 

 rather a metamorphosis, of the story of Robinson 

 Crusoe into an Eastern tale, under the title of Deir 

 el Bahr, or the Pearl of the Seas. In common 

 conversation he soon learned to comprehend almost 

 any thing that was said, and was able to make 

 himself understood on most subjects. He likewise 

 formed an acquaintance with some sheikhs, and other 

 literary characters amongst the Turks at Aleppo, 

 who expressed their surprise that " a Frank should 

 know more of their language than their first Ule- 

 mas !" a compliment not particularly flattering, 

 when we take into account the low state of learning 

 among the Aleppine literati, few of whom could 

 compose a line of prose or verse free from gram- 

 matical blunders. 



Although Burckhardt still retained his fictitious 

 name of Ibrahim ibn Abdallah, he found it no longer 

 necessary to appear as a Mussulman, or to conceal 

 his European origin, and wore only such a Turkish 

 dress as is often assumed in Syria by English 

 travellers. He had there the comfort of an unmo- 

 lested intercourse with the Mahommedan population 

 of the town; at the same time that he was not 

 prevented from openly accepting the friendship and 

 protection of Mr. Barker, the British consul, who 

 received him at his house as a travelling merchant 

 from his own country. 



Besides the convenience of study and other ad- 

 vantages derived from a residence at Aleppo, he was 



