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CHAPTER XV.

 

LIFE IN ALEPPO.

 

Our Entry into Aleppo — We are conducted to a House — Our Unexpected Welcome — The Mystery Explained — Aleppo — Its Name — Its Situation — The Trade of Aleppo — The Christians — The Revolt of 1850 — Present Appearance of the City — Visit to Osman Pasha — The Citadel — View from the Battlements — Society in Aleppo — Etiquette and Costume — Jewish Marriage Festivities — A Christian Marriage Procession — Ride around the Town — Nightingales — The Aleppo Button — A Hospital for Cats — Ferhat Pasha.

 

Aleppo, Tuesday, June 8, 1852.

Our entry into Aleppo was a fitting preliminary to our experiences during the five days we have spent here. After passing a blackamoor, who acted as an advanced guard of the Custom House, at a ragged tent outside of the city, and bribing him with two piastres, we crossed the narrow line of gardens on the western side, and entered the streets. There were many coffee-houses, filled with smokers, nearly all of whom accosted us in Turkish, though Arabic is the prevailing language here. Ignorance made us discourteous, and we slighted every attempt to open a conversation. Out of the narrow streets of the suburbs, we advanced to the bazaars, in order to find a khan where we could obtain lodgings. All the best khans, however, were filled, and we were about to take a very inferior room, when a respectable individual came up to François and said: "The house is ready for the travellers, and I will show you the