262 \ ALE 
the river, near thiis town, has given rife ' 4 o a traditional 
ftcry, that a race of giants formerly refidedhere, and that 
thefe where feme of their imperfedt remains. In queen 
Elizabeth’s time the French took poflehion of this town, 
and fortified itp as it was the firft port they could fafely 
land their fupplies at for the queen mother. It affords a 
fafe harbour for iifiling vefiels, and abounds with excel¬ 
lent fifh.' 
ALENCON, a large handfome town of France, in Low¬ 
er Normandy, with the title of a duchy. It is fu-rrounded 
with good walls, and flanked with towers. The caftle was 
formerly a place of great confequence, and has held out 
long lieges. It lias but one pari fit-church, which has a 
bold and noble front. Among the nunneries, that of St. 
Clair is moll remarkable. It is feated on the river Sarte, 
in a vail open plain, which produces ail forts of corn and 
fruit. Near it there are quarries of (tone fit for building, 
wherein are found a fort like Briftol ftones. The linen 
made at Alenpon is very good, and fells at Paris. It is 
twenty miies north of Mans, fixty-three fouth-by-weft of 
Rouen, and eighty-eight fouth-weft of Paris. Lon. o. 10. 
lat. 48. 25. N. 
ALENGTH, adv. [from a for at, and length.'] At full 
length; along; liretched along the ground. 
ALENiO, (Julius), a Jefuit, born at Brefciain the re¬ 
public of Venice. He travelled into the eaftern countries, 
and arrived at Maca in 1610, where he taught mathema¬ 
tics. From thence, he went to the empire of China, 
where he continued to propagate the Chriftian religion for 
thirty-fix years. He was the firft who planted the faith in 
the province of Xa-nfi, find lie built feveral churches in 
the province of Fokien. He died in Auguft 1649, leaving 
behind him the following works, in the Chinefe language : 
■—1. The Life of Jefus Chrift, in eight volumes. 2. The 
Incarnation of Jefus Chrift. 3. Of tire Sacrifice of the 
Mafs. 4. The Sacrament of Penitence. 5. TheOriginal 
of the World.. 6. Proof of the Exiftence of a Deity. 7. 
Dialogues. 8. The Dialogue of St. Bernard betwixt the 
Soul and Body, in Chinele Verfe. 9. A Treatife on the 
Sciences of Europe. 10. Practical Geometry, in four 
books. 11. The Life of P. Matthew Ricci. 12. The Life 
of Dr. Michael Yam, a Chinefe Convert. 13. The Thea¬ 
tre of the World, or Cofnrography. 
ALENTEJO, a province of Portugal, between the ri¬ 
vers of Tajo and Guadiana: the foil is very fertile, and 
the inhabitants laborious and induftrious. The principal 
town is Ebora. 
ALEPPO, or Ha l ab, the capital of the Pachalic, and 
of all Syria, and the ordinary refidence of the pacha, is 
fituated in the vaft plain which extends from the Orontes 
to the Euphrates, and which towards the fouth terminates, 
in the defert. It is built on eight hills or eminences, on 
the higheftof which the caftle is credited, and is fuppofed 
to be the ancient Beraea. This mount is of a conic form, 
and feems in a great meafure to be raifed with the earth 
thrown up out of a deep broad ditch which furrounds it. 
The fuburbs to the north-north-eaft are next in height to 
this, and thole to the weft-fouth-weft are much lower than 
the parts adjacent, and than any other part of the city. 
The houfes are large and commodious, having terraces on 
their tops, and generally lk\V-lights in form of a dome to 
let the light into the rooms, which from their loftmefs, the 
gildingon the window-fhutters, cupboard-doors, &c. have 
at firft entrance a very grand and agreeable effeft. They 
are all fo equal in height, that there are feldoin any fteps 
to afeend or defeend in going from one houfe to another ; 
while feveral large vaulted ftreets increafe the facility of 
communication, by affording a paffage to every part of 
the city free from the embarraffment of the open ftreets. 
They are carefully paved; have gutters and.a foot-pave¬ 
ment on each fide ; and the middle of the ftreet is laid with 
brick, the fmall end upwards, for the convenience of the 
horfes. There is alfo a cleanlinefs obferved here un¬ 
known to the other cities of Turkey, and -which is not at¬ 
tended with the trouble of our fcavengers, there being 
3 
ALE 
afs-drivers who go about the city and take up the rubbifh 
and dull, which each inhabitant is obliged to fweep toge¬ 
ther ; and, though the heat of the climate renders this la¬ 
bour more eafy, the fame heat obliges them to greater 
cleanlinefs in order to preferve the falubrity of the air. 
The mofques in Aleppo are numerous, and fome few of 
them magnificent. Before each of them is an area, with 
a fountain in the middle, defigned for ablutions before 
prayers; and behind fome of the larger there are little - 
gardens. There are many large khans, or caravanferas, 
confiding of a capacious fquare, on all fides of which are a 
nlubber of rooms, built on a ground-floor, ufed occalion- 
ally for chambers, warehoufes, or ftables. Above flairs 
there is a colonade or. gallery on every fide, in which are 
the doors of a number of fmall rooms, wherein the mer¬ 
chants, - as well ftrangers as natives, tranfadt mod of their 
bufinefs. 
The bazars or market-places are long covered narrow 
ftreets, on each fide of which are a great number of fmall 
(hops, juft fufficient to hold the tradefman and' his goods, 
the buyer being obliged to (land without. Each feparate 
branch of bufinefs lias a particular bazar, which is locked 
up, as well as the ftreets, an hour and a half after fun-fet: 
but the locks are of wood, though the doors are cafed with 
iron. The flaughter-houfes are in the fuburbs, open to 
the fields. The tanners have a khan to work in near the 
river. To thefouthward iii the fuburbs they burn lime; 
and a little beyond that there is a village where they make 
ropes and catgut. On the oppofite fide of the river, to 
the weftvvard, there is a glafs-houfe, where they make a 
co.arfe white glafs, in the winter only; for the greateft 
part of this manufacture, is brought from a village thirty- 
five miles weftward. 
The fitnation of Aleppo, befides the advantage of a 
rich and fruitful foil, pofleffes alfo that of a ftream of 
frefh water, which never becomes dry. This rivulet, 
which is about as large as that of the Gobelins at Paris, or 
the New River near London, riles in the mountains of 
Aentab, and terminates fix leagues below Aleppo, in a 
morafs full of wild boars and pelicans. Near Aleppo, its 
banks, inftead of the naked rocks which line them in the 
upper part of its courfe, are covered with a fertile earth, 
and laid out in gardens, or rather orchards, which, in a hot 
country, and efpecially in Turkey, cannot-but be delight¬ 
ful. The city is in itfelf one of the inoft agreeable in Sy¬ 
ria, and is perhaps the cleaned and belt built of any in 
Turkey. On whatever lide it is approached, its numerous 
minarets and domes prefent an agreeable profpedt to the 
eye, fatigued with the continued famenefs of the brown 
and parched plains. In the centre is an artificial moun¬ 
tain furrounded by a dry ditch, on which is a ruinous for- 
trefs. From hence we have a fine profpedt of the whole 
city, and to the north difeover the fnowy tops of the moun¬ 
tains of Bailan; and on the weft, thofe which feparate the 
Orontes from the fea; while to the fouth and eaft, the eye 
can difeern as far as the Euphrates. In the time of Omar, 
this caftle flopped the progrefs of the Arabs for feveral 
months, and was at laft taken by treachery, but at pre¬ 
fent would not be able to refill the feebleft aflault. Its 
flight wall, low, and without a buttrefs, is in ruins; its 
little old towers are in no better condition ; and it has not 
four cannon fit for fervice, not excepting a culverine nine 
feet long, taken from the Perfians at the fiege of Baftbra. 
Three hundred and fifty janifaries, who fhould.form the 
garrifon, are bufy in their (hops, and the aga fcarcely 
finds room in it to lodge his retinue. It is remarkable that 
this aga is named immediately by the Porte, which, ever 
fufpicious, divides as much as pollible the different offices. 
Within the walls of the caftle is a well, which, by means 
or a fu-bterraneous communication, derives its water from 
a fpringa league and a quarter diftant. In the environs of 
the city, we find a number of large fquare ftones, on the 
top of which is a turban of done, which are fo many 
tombs. There are many riling grounds round it, which, 
in cafe of a liege, would greatly facilitate the approaches 
