or either of these anecdotes be true or not, their existence, as traditionary stories, proves at least how appropriately they are considered by the people of the spot to express the super-eminent beauty of their place of abode; and in this all strangers who have a relish for the charms of landscape must cordially concur.

From this point of view the city of Damascus appeared to extend its greatest length from north to south, being broader at the northern, and tapering gradually away towards the southern end. Its extreme length appeared to be about three miles, and its extreme breadth about two. It stands on the western edge of a fine plain, and a level site, having a chain of hills pressing close upon it on the north-west, and the plain extending away beyond the range of vision to the east. The buildings of the city being constructed chiefly of stone below and light yellow bricks above, while the principal public edifices are painted in the gayest colours, the aspect of the whole is light and airy in the extreme. The castle, with its outer court and massive walls, and the great mosque already described, both of which are nearly in the centre of the city, look imposing by their magnitude, as seen from hence; and the light and tapering minarets that rise in every quarter of the town, give a peculiar character of elegance to the whole. The gardens that surround the city on the north; the fine olive grounds and long avenues of trees to the south; the numerous villages pressing the skirts of the town on the east, and the great suburb of Salheyah, with the thronged public way that leads to it on the west; added to the sombre but rich and thickly-planted cypresses, the slender poplars, the corn grounds, and the rivers and streams which so abundantly water the whole, give to this charming spot a character becoming a scene in fairy-land, and render it a fit object for the descriptive powers of an Arabian tale. *

* Pliny says, that the Syrians were excellent gardeners, and took such pains and were so ingenious in the laying out of their grounds, as to give rise to a Greek proverb to that effect.-Nat. Hist. b. xx. c. 51.

Not far from the spot at which we halted to enjoy this enchanting view, was an extensive cemetery, at which we noticed the custom so prevalent among eastern nations of visiting the tombs of their deceased friends. These were formed with great care, and finished with extraordinary neatness: and at the foot of each grave, was enclosed a small earthen vessel, in which was planted a sprig of myrtle, regularly watered every day by the mourning friend who visited it. Throughout the whole of this extensive place of burial, we did not observe a single grave to which this token of respect and sorrow was not attached; and, scattered among the tombs in different quarters of the cemetery, we saw from twenty to thirty parties of females, sitting near the honoured remains of some recently lost and deeply regretted relative or friend, and either watering their myrtle plants, or strewing flowers over the green turf that closed upon their heads.* This interesting office of friends or lovers sorrowing for the dead, is consigned entirely to females; as if from a conviction that their hearts are more susceptible of those tender feelings which the duties of such an office necessarily implies, and their breasts fitter abodes for that

* The custom of decorating graves was once universally prevalent in England, as well as among nations of the highest antiquity. There is an admirable paper on this subject, under the head of "Rural Funerals," in the Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, from which the following passage may be here appropriately introduced: "The natural effect of sorrow over the dead is to refine and elevate the mind; and we have a proof of it in the purity of sentiment and the unaffected elegance of thought which pervaded the whole of these funeral observances. Thus it was an especial precaution, that none but sweet-scented evergreens and flowers should be employed. The intention seems to have been to soften the horrors of the tomb, to beguile the mind from brooding over the disgraces of perishing mortality, and to associate the memory of the deceased with the most delicate and beautiful objects in nature. There is a dismal process going on in the grave, ere dust can return to its kindred dust, which the imagination shrinks from contemplating; and we seek still to think of the form we have loved, 'with those refined associations which it awakened when blooming before us in youth and beauty. Lay her i' the earth,' says Laertes of his virgin sister;

pure and affectionate sorrow which is indulged for the loss of those who are dear to us, than the sterner bosoms of men. It is a great advance from savage life to know and to acknowledge this; and where such an admission of the superior purity and fidelity of the female heart and character exists, their ultimate advancement to that rank which their sex should hold in social life cannot be altogether hopeless. For this, as for most other blessings, increased knowledge is the most effectual security; when this shall take the place of ignorance, the domestic slavery of women, which now disgraces the East, will disappear as certainly as that abominable slavery of men which for so many years disgraced the name of Christians in the West.

We prolonged our stay at Salheyah, and in its neighbourhood, until near sunset, and in our return home saw near the gate of one of the pasha's palaces a large oriental plane-tree, of at least fifteen feet in diameter, and about one hundred feet in height, with rich and exuberant foliage, forming altogether the noblest object of the vegetable world that I had ever beheld. In our way we halted at a coffee house in the horse-bazār, where we saw some of the most beautiful Arab horses, mares, and colts exhibiting to purchasers, smoked a nargeel, and chatted with some of the Bedouins who had brought them in from the Desert for sale. We reached the convent in time for the evening meal, and sat up late, recapitulating the agreeable objects we had seen, and the pleasing impressions we had mutually experienced during our excursion of the day.

DAMASCUS, Sunday, March 25.- Desirous of resuming or continuing the task of visiting the principal parts of the city, and making the best use of my short stay here until I could receive my baggage and papers from Seyda, where they had been left by Mr.Bankes, we quitted the convent, after an early breakfast, and, under the guidance of the person who attended us in our ramble of yesterday, proceeded in search of other objects deemed equally deserving a stranger's attention.

Our first visit was to the office of a celebrated Jew, named Mallim Yusef, the brother of Mallim Haim, the great Jew at Acre; each of these men directing all the financial operations of the re

spective governments under which they lived.* We found the Jew sitting in a small and mean apartment, in the court of the palace, surrounded by a number of writers, all apparently of his own religion. Mr. Bankes had brought letters to him from Lady Hester Stanhope, which procured us a good reception. After a few minutes' conversation, and the serving of coffee, we expressed a wish to be permitted to see the palace of the pasha, the castle, the armoury, and any other public building that might be deemed worthy of a stranger's attention, which, after some hesitation, arising from the peculiar circumstances of the government at the present moment, was at last acceded to.

As no regularly appointed pasha had yet replaced the late governor of Damascus, who had recently died on his route of return from the pilgrimage of Mecca, the administration of affairs was vested in the hands of his kihyah bey, or prime minister. A message was therefore sent in to an inner apartment of the palace, stating the nature of our visit, and the request we had preferred; when the bearer of it soon returned, and invited us in the name of his master, to "the presence." We readily followed him, and found the venerable Turk seated in a small but richly furnished apartment, guarded and attended by at least fi fty handsome officers, all armed with sabres and dirks, and all superbly dressed. We were desired to seat ourselves on the sofa beside these chiefs, before whom stood in groups an equal number of armed attendants, and were treated with great respect and attention.

* It is worthy of remark, that Damascus was considered by some of the older writers as the original city of the Jews; and, indeed, we have it mentioned as the birth-place of Eliezer, the steward of the household of Abram, before he was promised to be the father of the whole race, and of Israel, whose children they were to be called. The author, who describes it as the original city of the Jews, calls it also "the most noble of the cities of Syria," which it still continues to be. He adds, that the Syrian kings boasted their descent in a right line from Queen Semiramis; and says, that the name of Damascus was given to the city by one of its earliest kings, who was himself so called, and in honour of whom the Syrians afterwards worshipped the sepulchre of his wife Arathes (probably Aradus on the coast), as a temple, and esteemed her a goddess in the height of their most religious devotions.