X 



PREFACE. 



still prevail in Syria and Egypt, afford occasionally excellent illus- 

 trations of the Holy Scriptures ; and coins, vases, inscriptions, throw 

 light on the state of the arts among the Greeks, on different parts of 

 their history ; and on the palaeography and dialects of their language. 



But no person is qualified to pay equal attention to the various 

 subjects which present themselves to his notice, in a journey through 

 European and Asiatic Turkey ; and any acquaintance with the 

 geography, natural history, statistics, and antiquities of these countries 

 is often obtained with great difficulty, even by those who are best 

 prepared to direct their attention to such pursuits. 



A selection, therefore, from the journals of different travellers, 

 may be the means of bringing together in a single volume a greater 

 variety of information than we can expect to find in the work of any 

 individual. 



Although the publications of our countrymen, as well as of others 

 who have recently visited the Levant, have added many valuable 

 materials to those which we before possessed, relating to different 

 parts of the Turkish empire, yet the field of enquiry is so wide, that 

 much remains still to engage the notice and attention of future 

 travellers. Our knowledge of these countries is necessarily acquired 

 by slow degrees ; various circumstances occasionally interrupt the 

 researches of those who explore them ; some provinces, in consequence 

 of the want of an able and efficient system of government, are exposed 

 to the incursions of robbers and wandering tribes ; through these the 

 traveller is obliged to pass in haste j at other times, sickness, arising 

 from the heat of the climate or from the season of the year, impedes his 

 progress. The want of ready communication with the inhabitants, 

 together with the ignorance and jealousy so frequently displayed by 

 them, are obstacles to his acquiring the information which he seeks. 

 To these, we must add the dangers he incurs in exploring the more 

 uncivilised districts of the empire. 



