NEALE'S SYRIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR. * MR. NEALE was "

attached to the Consular service in Syria," and resided in the country for eight years. A portion of that time was of course devoted to public duty in fixed localities, or to moving about on public business, but some of it was occupied in recreation and pleasure-trips. Between the two, Mr. Neale has exhausted the memorable places or striking scenes of Syria, from Gaza on the confines of Egypt to Alexandretta the port of Aleppo ; whence he just passes on into Asia Minor. His book consists of notices of the different places, and of journies between them ; with sketches of men and manners, incidents, description, and remarks. A portion of the country to which Mr. Neale's notices relate has freshness ; for the common tourist seldom journeys beyond Beyrout, leaving Latakia, Antioch, Aleppo, and other places, un- visited. It is not novelty, however, but time, that gives va- lue to Mr. Neale's work. Scanty traces of his avocation appear in his book, but almost every page exhibits its results. He speaks of the people and their rulers like one who is familiar with their daily life or their habitual doings. He describes places like a man acquainted with their various aspects in all seasons. His know- ledge of persons is a knowledge more intimate than can be gained by passing visits of ceremony or business; and this intimacy not only imparts certainty and truth to his descriptions, but gives rise to many occurrences, which though slight in themselves throw light upon the manners and habits of the people. He also knew the lan- guage, and could thus enter into the sense and spirit of what was going on, instead of being dependent upon a dragoman or inter- preter—a class of whom he gives a most contemptuous account.

• Eight Years in Syria, Palestine, and Asia Minor, from 1842 to 1850. By F. A. Neale, Esq., late Attached to the Consular Service in Syria. In two volumes. Pub- lished by Colburn and Co. The matter, moreover, is exhibited in a lively and unaffected manner. Eight Years in Syria is one of the best accounts of the country and people that has been published of late years. Anti- quities, whether Scriptural or. Classical, only receive a passing

attention. Notwithstanding the devastation to which Syria was exposed in the war between the . Porte, the Pasha of Egypt, and the European powers, and the shocking misgovernment to which it is subjected, foreign trade, if not prosperity, seems to be advancing. Europeans are establishing themselves in the country ; the silk- oultivatbin is improving under their auspices, and the repeal of the English Corn-laws has given a considerable stimulus to Syrian exports of grain, not large considered with reference to British commerce, but important to places which heretofore had little or none. This is a picture of progress at a village near Mount Carmel. "Not four years ago, Caipha was an insignificant fishing-village, with a population of little more than two hundred souls, and resorted to only by small Arab boats, or vessels that sought protection from the inclemency of the weather in its safe and commodious harbour. At the present day its popu- lation may be reckoned at three thousand; and houses and huts cannot be fast enough constructed to afford shelter to the numerous new settlers that arrive almost daily. From the middle of September up to the middle of November 1850, a space of only two months, no less than eight English vessels, whose joint measurement amounted to about two thousand three hundred tons, loaded at Caipha eighteen thousand quarters of wheat for Falmouth and Cork alone ; and besides these, there were several large Greek vessels for Bristol and the North of Ireland. Such a sudden start of trade on a gigantic scale brought numerous speculating Arabs from the surround- ing villages, who found it best suited their convenience to fix their permanent abode within the walls of Caipha itself. Every one, even the most wretched and destitute, found ample employment for themselves and families ; the men and boys worked as labourers in assisting the numerous masons em- ployed upon new buildings ; the more robust became porters and watermen; and the women and girls were actively engaged from sunrise to sundown in sifting wheat and sessame seed at the various warehouses of the merchants. Yet notwithstanding the daily influx of strangers, ready and eager to find employment, the trade grew faster upon the town than its rapidly increasing population, so that merchants and ships were absolutely at a stand-still for want of hands. The natives being well aware of the power they were thus invested with, refused to work except at the most exorbitant rates. Mer- chants were bound down to time by charter-parties, and they had no alter- native left them but to agree to these rates. I have known porters who car- ried sacks of wheat from a warehouse not twenty yards from the lauding- place gain as much as from thirty to forty shillings a day, a sum hardly gained by a month's labour at any other port in the Mediterranean. These creatures, who a few months before had crawled about from door to door begging a morsel of bread to appease tho cravings of hunger, grew insolent in proportion as their independence increased ; and I have seen Arab mer- chants, who were tortured out of their existence by the masters of the Eng- lish vessels consigned to their houses, actually crave as a favour of these porters to carry down their grain for a sum twenty times the amount ordi- narily given.

The ill effects resulting from insufficient labour were aggravated by want of boats and a had landing-place. The latter, however, was the real difficulty, and in-any other place than Turkey it would have been quickly remedied by building a jetty ; but the Turkish government does nothing of itself, there are no foreign authorities of weight to interfere, and "everybody's business is nobody's business." Russia seems the beat provided with public agency, Great Britain about the worst. "From what occurred during my stay at Caipha, I am only astonished that bloodshed and murder have not been of frequent occurrence. According to the custom established at Caipha, any num who succeeds in being the first party to deposit or empty out a sack of grain in a boat, has an indisputable right to make use of that boat for the trip; but on its return from the ship, it is freed from this appropriation, and is again open to seizure. A most diverting sight is to see the numerous merchants, clerks, ship-brokers, and skippers, screaming out offers at the highest pitch of their voices to the un- sumseioue boatmen, who are vet far beyond the reach of all sound. Some are perched on the bank over the Customhouse-gate; others are on the landing- stairs; a few are seated on the ledge of rocks which run parallel with the town ; and one or two, mere. hardy than the rest, are -wading out into the sea, in the hope of being able-to take forcible possession of the prize. Mean- while, some twenty porters, -each carrying for different mirehouses, are jostling and hustling one another on the very slippery steps from which goods are embarked, each determined in his own mind to be the first to throw in the sack, or to perish in the attempt ; and the sudden disappearance of a man, sack andel', who has lost his balance and fallen into the water, is not at all a rare spectacle at Caipha. On such occasions, a fight generally ensues, at first confined to the man who fell into the water and the porter who was the cause of his mishap; and, as a natural consequence, the heavily-laden man is sure to meet a similar fate to that which he had occasioned his neighbour. Then the war becomes general. The two clerks who keep tally, and the two merchants who are shipping, and the two captains on board whose ships the lost grain was to be shipped, all full to at once, and keep at it tooth and nail. Amidst the uproar and confusion that ensue, the anxious- ly expected boat touches the land ; and is instantly pounced upon by some man more wary than his neighbours, who has kept aloof from the others in some hidden nook or corner, and who rushes into the boat at the peril of his life, when, having safely deposited the bag of wheat, he proclaims his victory by shouting out the name of the lucky individual he carries for."

The following picture of landlords and peasants has interest for itself, and is curious for its indication of a germ of constitu- tional power even in Turkey. The provincial Council alluded to is doubtless at the very best a mere oligarchy, and in the more palmy days of the Ottoman Porte would be nothing opposed to an able and resolute Pasha; still there is the theory of a check, like the old Parliaments of France or the existing Provincial Councils of Russia.

"It may be safely stated that the whole of the wealth yielded by the rich and fertile soil of Antioch, and the villages under its jurisdiction, is divided between its Ayaria and Efferulia. The chief among these, Missend Effendi, is said to posses, upwards of one huudred mulberry plantations, which, in silk alone,. yield him a revenue of about fifteen thousand pounds par annum. Halif Aga, ranksnert to Musond Effendi. He is descended from a re- negade Jew, and possesses all the natural cunning of his ancestors, by which he has greatly augmented the influence and power arising from his social in- terest and position. "The Governor of Antioch, however talented he may be, and however de- termined to support his authority and the dignity of his post, is considered a mere cipher, and is little more respected amongst the population of Au- tioch ; for, apart from the certainty of his being sooner or later bribed over to the party of some influential Ay-au, the Megilis, or Council, being coin- posed of the various Eflendis, whose policy it is to act en masse, as it were, pull together, and he can never hope to carry any measure into effect which would be injurious to their private interests. " These Ayans are thirteen in number, all more or less rich and influential ; and the greater part of the population may be said to earn their bread di- reetly or indirectly in their employment or service : for amongst them is divided the whole of the territorial possessions, from Jesser ii Iladed on the one side, to the villages of Suedia, Bitias, and Cassab on the other,—all land in a high state of cultivation, producing wheat, barley, and other grain, or laid out in mulberry plantations for the rearing of the silk-worm. "I believe that if the title-deeds of many of these Effendis were examined, the Sultan's Government would discover that the revenue has been defrauded to a considerable extent, and that if their hourly transactions with the cus- tomhouse-officers and other local authorities were strictly investigated, de- falcations to a considerableamount would be found as to the actual amount of excise which they pay to the revenue. The peasantry on their estates la- bour twelve hours in the day, and at the expiration of twelve months, find themselves, instead of being any the better, indebted to their iniquitous landlord. The vast improvements and ameliorations that have been effected under the present enlightened Sultan's sway have, however, reached even Antioch, though they are not yet carried out to any extent."

For those, however, who are not under the thumb of the land- lords, Antioch has its attractions. Here are the pros and cons.

" Antioch is, beyond dispute, the cheapest place in the world, as well as one of the healthiest; and if it were not for the ragged little boys, who hoot at every stranger and throw stones at his door, annoying you in every pos- sible way, I should prefer it as a place of residence to any spot I have visited in Europe, Asia, Africa, or America. " My house was of perfectly new construction, well planted, and well situated, and proof against water as well as wind. I had four rooms, a sit-

tingroom, a oiningroom, a bedroom, and a dressingroom. I had a walled enclosure of about eighty feet square, where roses and geraniums vied in beauty with jessamines and lilies. There was also a poultry-yard, a pigeon- house, stables for three horses, a storehouse, a kitchen, and a servants' room.

I had in the garden a grape-vine, (muskatel,) a pomegranate-tree, a peach- tree, a plum-tree, an apricot, and a China quince ; and, in addition to all

these, a fountain perpetually jetting up water, and a well, and a bathing- room. For all this accommodation I paid three hundred and fifty piastres--- about three pounds sterling ; and this was a higher rent than would be paid by any native. Of course the house was unfurnished ; but furniture in the

at is seldom on a grand scale : a divan, half a dozen chairs, a bedstead, a mattress, a looking Glass, a table or two, and half a dozen pipes and nar-

ghilics, are all one requires. Servants cost about three pounds a head per annum. Seven and a half pounds of good mutton may be had for a shilling; fowls, and fat ones too, twopence each. Fish is sold by the weight; thirteen rotolos for a beshlik, or about seventy pounds weight for a shilling. Eels, the very best flavoured in the world, three halfpence each. As for vegetables, whether cabbages, lettuces, des asperges, celery, water-cranes, parsley, beans, peas, radishes, turnips, carrots, cauliflowers, and onions, a pennyworth would last a man a week. Fruit is sold at the same rates ; and grapes cost about five shillings the horse-load. Game is also abundant. Dried fruits and nuts

can be obtained in winter. In fact, living as well as one could wish, I found it impossible (house-rent, servants, horses, board, washing, and wine in- cluded) to exceed the expenditure of forty pounds per annum. . " Under these circumstance; it may appear marvellous that Many Euro- peans possessed of limited means have not made Antioch their temporary

home; but every question has two sides, and everything its pros and cons.

The cons in this instance are the barbarous character of the people among whom you live; the perpetual liability of becoming at oneinstant's warn- ing the victim of some fanatical emeute ; the small hopes you have of re- dress for the grossest insults offered ; the continual intrigues entered into by the Ayaus to disturb your peace and comfort; the absence of many of the

luxuries enjoyed in Europe ; the want of society and books; and the total absence of all places of worship, which gradually creates in the mind a mor- bid indifference to religion, and which feeling frequently degenerates inter

absolute infidelity. It is better to choose with David in such a case, and say, I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than dwell in the tents of iniquity.' "

The book abounds with sketches and anecdotes indicative of individual or general character ; of which we take a few.

ACTIVE PRACTICE.

A doctor is thought nothing of here unless he resorts to violent remedies. I was told a curious anecdote of a soi-disant doctor, who acquired a great reel putation in Beilan. He was much given to administering emetics, an4 having a very delicate patient, resorted as usual to this method of core-, leaving in the hands of the patient's brother three strong doses of emetic, which he directed should be administered at intervals of three hours. The brother, finding that the first powder had no immediate effect, gave the un: fortunate invalid the remaining two within five minutes. The result was violent sickness, succeeded by spasms and cramp, which in a few hours ter- minated fatally. Next day, the doctor was astounded to learn, on inquiring, that hie patient was de id; and evinced his concern in his face. " Never mind," said the brother, " it was so fated ; but, Methane! you are a great doctor : the medicine you gave never ceased operating till the moment of my brother's death. It was a fine medicine, and if it couldn't cure him nothing earthly could."

SYRIAN CAMEL-DRIVERS.

The camel-drivers are a hardy robust race, who have seldom throughout their lives any o her canopy over their heads, night or day, snow or rain, than the heavens. Enveloped in their sheepskin cloaks, and squatted round such fire as the weather will permit of their having, they vociferate rather than talk, and sing and smoke, and are as contented as though they were snugly seated in some baronial hall. They sleep an hour or so profoundly, and wake up as refreshed as though their couch had been eider-down instead of the damp earth, and as though they had had the finest blankets instead of frost for their coverlet. On the whole, nothing can exceed the hard life which these poor fellows lead. Buffeted and reviled by Turkish officials or European merchants, they toil on the road, screaming to each other or to their submissive but occasionally truant camels. Now a bale is hanging over a precipice and must be adjusted ; mid the eameliers- hurry to each other with frantic clamour, their gaunt but muscular limbs quivering with excitement. " C'est uh peujile eriard," lays -Lainartine ; and so in good truth they are. It is by no means an uncommon thing for them to lose their yokes for a while after an unusually disastrous accident to a camel, so per- severingly and incessantly had they bawled their injunctions reproaches, and imprecations after the poor beast ere it completed the mischief.

HORSE SURGERY.

In Acre there is a plentiful supply of Turkish veterinary surgeons; and about the most curious sigheI ever witnessed was a horse under treatment by these practitioners. First they threw it on the ground, by tying its four feet or hoofs so closely together that it became as helpless as an infant ; then g tight bandage was placed over the nose and mouth, only leaving sufficient for the animal to breathe. A Turkish pipe, containing tobacco, bang, hashish, cuscus, and other narcotics, was inserted in one of the nostrils, and a spark being placed upon the bowl, the horse involuntarily inhaled the stupifying smoke ; which had the effect, after a very short period, of rendering it unconscious of what was going on. Then the skill of surgery was brought into play, and the fetlock of the poor brute being laid open, a perfect hive of worms, deposited by a fly, common in some parts of the desert between Da- mascus and Bagdaa, was duly extracted. The wound was closed up with pitch sticking-plaster, and the bands being unloosed, buckets of cold water were thrown over the horse ; who quickly revived. The foot was now placed in a sling, and a few days afterwards, so effective had been the operation, the horse was fit to pursue its daily avocations.

THE ANTIQUE DEALER OF ANTIOCII.

it is on these occasions [the violent rains] that those antique coins and stones are collected for which Antioch is so justly celebrated. No sooner has the weather cleared up after a smart shower of rain, and the waters com- mence to abate, than swarms of little children may be observed busily occu- pied in the numerous gutters, armed with sieves and sticks and brooms, sweeping up and clearing away the mud, and earnestly occupied in hunting for antiques. Seldom is the search fruitless. Some of the little seekers find silver coins, others copper; and some few are lucky enough to light on pre- cious stones. These children had been for some time in the practice of carry- ing off their booty to a Turk called Hadji Ali, who made it his business to trade in antiques. From the hard bargains he drove he was more Jew than Turk ; buying up everything from the children at ridiculously low prices, and then gaining enormously by retailing them to English travellers. From na- val officers, in particular, he acquired large sums; and had been so spoiled by their generosity, that he now on all occasions demanded the most exor- bitant prices for things that were of themselves of the smallest value. Hadji All was as illiterate as he was knavish, and the old rogue on one occasion was completely taken in by a very modern antique, for which lie had been induced to pay a large sum. Visiting the tents of some English travellers as was his wont, and unrolling one by one from the many folds of old rags and dirty paper in which they were enveloped, the stones and antiques that he set most value upon, he at length drew one with apparent reluctance from the very bottom of a little tin canister, declaring his unwillingness to part with it for anything less than twenty guineas. The price asked naturally excited the curiosity of every one present ; and on the precious relique being at length produced and inspected, it turned out to be a piece of common glass, with a portrait of Liston as Paul Pry, and the familiar device of "I hope I don't intrude." All was vastly discomfited by the laughter of the group, and offered his cherished antique to his next visiter for five pounds; when he learnt, to his consternation, that it was not worth five farthings. Hadji, however, had in his possession a beautifully cut emerald, which presented the striking device of seven distinct heads on being turned in as many di- rections: but the rogue knew that the emerald was in itself of great value, and would never listen to any reasonable offer for it. The result of his ob- stinacy in refusing to part with this relique was that an old Turk got pos- session of it for nothing. A Mutzellim, who had avowed his determina- tion to make as much money as he could during his brief sojourn at Antioch, (for a Mutzellim's stay in office and power is generally very brief,) got in- telligence of Ili's wealth, and of the method he had adopted to accumulate riches; and the consequence was, that the poor wretch was dragged out of bed one night, and carried before the Governor, charged with having de- frauded the Government by assuming to himself the right of selling an- tiques. His property was confiscated, and he himself bastivadoed; and it was not till he had lingered many months in prison, that he was, by the Iklut- zellitn's recall from Antioch, set at large, to commence the world again as he best could.

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