CLIMATE, RELIGION, AND CUSTOMS OF ALEPPO. 93 
to eat of them. The country is very mountainous; but the valleys 
are extensive and beautiful, affording many delightful prospects. 
The houses. are raised about eight feet from the ground, upon 
stones which appear as if hewn from the quarry. -The interior part 
of them is without any division, the whole forming one great rooni, 
which rises in a ridge like our barns, the outside being thatched thick 
and close with bamboos and palm leaves. All their implements, 
utensils, w'eapons of war, and canoes, are much of the same kind w'ith 
those in the South Sea islands. In their marriages they allow a plu- 
rality of wives, though in general not more than two. 
Cliriate, Religion, and Customs of Aleppo. 
The air of Aleppo is very dry and piercing, but at the same time 
very salubrious for all who are not troubled with asthmatic com- 
plaints. The city, however, and the environs, are subject to a singular 
endemial disorder, which is called the ring-worm, or pimple, of Aleppo. 
It is, in fact, a pimple which is at first inflammatory, and at length 
becomes an ulcer of the size of a finger nail. The usual duration 
of this ulcer is one year : it usually fixes on the face, and leaves a 
scar, which disfigures almost all the inhabitants, it is alleged that 
every stranger who resides there three months is attacked w'ith it ; 
and experience has taught them that the best mode of treatment is to 
make use of no remedy. No reason is assigned for this malady : 
but M. Volney suspects it proceeds from the quality of the water, 
as it is likewise frequent in the neighbouring villages, in some parts 
of Diarbekar, and even in certain districts near Damascus, when the 
soil and the w'ater have the same appearances. 
Of the Christian inhabitants, the greater number are Greeks, next 
to them the Armenians, then the Syrians, and lastly the Maronites, 
each of whom have a church in the city, called Judida ; in w'hich 
quarter, and the parts adjacent, most of them reside. The common 
la nguage is the vulgar Arabic, but the Turks of condition use the 
Turkish. Most of the Armenians can speak the Armenian, some few 
Syrians understand Syriac, and many of the Jew's Hebrew ; but 
scarcely one of the Greeks understand a word of Greek. The peo- 
ple in general are of a middle stature, and tolerably well propor- 
tioned ; but they seem neithe'r vigorous nor active. Both sexes are 
handsome when young ; but the beard soon disfigures the men, and 
the W'omen, as they come early to maturity, very soon fade ; females 
are generally married from fourteen to eighteen years of age, and 
many under fourteen. The people of rank here are polite and affa- 
ble, making allowances for that superiority which the Mahometan 
religion instructs its votaries to assume over all who hold a different 
faith. 
Their bread is generally of wheat flour made into thin cakes, but 
very ill prejtared, and is generally eaten as soon as it comes out of 
the oven. The principal people have small loaves of a finer flour, 
which are well fermented and baked. Besides this, there are a 
variety of biscuits, most of which are strewed on the top w ith some 
kinds of seeds. The Europeans have very good bread, baked and 
