1IO TRAVELS IN UPPER 



and, dastardly as cruel, brought him down to the 

 ground by a gun-shot fired through his ba< k. 

 Thejanisary, instead of taking vengeance on ihe 

 assassin, or at least of assisting the man whom it was 

 his duty to protect, tied off as fast as his heels 

 could carry him, and the unfortunate consul died 

 of the wound a few hours after. The French 

 merchants dispatched a fast-sailing boat to Con- 

 stantinople, todemand justice. The Ottoman Porte 

 sent officers with strict and severe orders on the 

 subject ; but these orders, at first evaded, remained 

 finally unexecuted. The villain did not so much 

 as quit the city, but shewed himself openly with 

 impunity. The merchants were under the neces- 

 sity of concealing their resentments for the sake of 

 their own safety ; and, beside the affront offered to 

 the French nation by the unpunished assassination 

 of her delegate, the national commerce had to re- 

 gret the expenditure of considerable sums, fruit- 

 lessly laid out in demanding a just reparation. 



Events of this kind, unhappily, were not suffi- 

 ciently rare to ensure the tranquillity of those who 

 were obliged to live in Egypt, and in some parts of 

 Syria, where the people, beside their vicinity, have 

 a considerable resemblance to those of Egypt. To- 

 ward the end of October, 1 73 1 , the Dutch drog- 

 man or interpreter at Aleppo, was walking for 

 amusement with his consul. The peasants of a 



village 



