There is a large burying-place without the city. Here I observed the tomb of an Englishman, dated 1613.
The dress of the people of Aleppo resembles that of Constantinople more than that of Egypt and southern Syria: both men and women, in rainy weather, wear a kind of wooden patten, which has no agreeable effect either on the eye or the ear.
The hire of a camel from Aleppo to Ladakia or Scanderoon, about sixty miles, was a century ago four piasters, thirty years ago eight piasters, and is at this time nineteen. The price of commodities is much changed in the course of not many years. But since the year 1716 it has increased in a tenfold proportion. I saw an authentic document, that the ardeb of rice at that time sold for eleven piasters; it now fetches one hundred and eighteen piasters. They at that time sold 185 rolls of bread, of a particular kind, for a piaster; they now only sell forty of the same kind for that sum. Meat is good and in plenty; it is sold for fifty paras the rotal, 720 drams, or about 4½d. a pound. There are no fish, save a few small eels, found in the Coik. Wine is very dear, none being produced in the neighbourhood. On the other articles of provision nothing remarkable occurs.
At Aleppo I first observed the practice of illuminating the mosques on Thursday night, to usher in the Mohammedan Sabbath; this is unknown at Kahira, and other cities of the South.
About this time, the beginning of June 1797, intelligence arrived, that the Pasha of Bagdad had sent a strong detachment of troops, to be joined by the Arabs friendly to the Porte, in repressing the incursions of Abd-el-aziz ibn Messoûd el Wahhâhbé, a rebel against the government, who by the rapid success of his arms, and his increasing followers, had lately grown formidable. This man, a native of Nedjed, respected among the Arabs for his age and wisdom, had two years before first made public his determination to resist the authority of the Porte. He has since collected a considerable body of men, but it is said they are only furnished with spears and swords. He pretends to a divine mission, and gives no quarter to those who oppose him. To invite Christians and Jews to his party, he only requires an annual capitation tax of three piasters and a half. Of the people under his jurisdiction, every owner of a house is obliged to serve in person or find a substitute; and, to encourage them, he divides the spoil into five parts; taking one himself, he gives two to the substitute and two to the principal, or if the latter serve he has four parts. It was supposed his views pointed to Mecca, which he had threatened to attack. His confession of faith is only—“There is no God but God;” inferring, that a prophet, when dead, deserves no homage, and that of course to mention him in a creed, or in prayers, is absurd. He enjoins the absolute necessity of prayer, under the open canopy of heaven, and destroys all the mosques he can seize. Of the five dogmata of Mohammed, he admits alms, fasting, prayer, and ablution, but rejects pilgrimage. He denies the divine origin of the Korân, but prohibits the use of all liquors but water. Being advanced in age, he had taken care to secure the attachment of his followers to his son, who was generally his substitute in the field[59].
On the 11th of June set out from Aleppo for Antioch, where I arrived on the 14th. Part of the route is mountainous. We passed the Orontes at a ferry. Country cultivated with Hashîsh, a kind of flax.
Entered Antioch, now called Antáki, by Bab-Bolûs, the gate of St. Paul. The walls are extensive, but the houses are chiefly confined to one corner. Numerous towers flank the walls, which are strong and lofty, and run from the river Orontes, the southern boundary of the city, up to the summit of the mountain. There is a substantial bridge over the river, which winds through a fertile vale. A large castle on the mountain, now ruinous, commands an extensive prospect.
Antioch is governed by a Mohassel, who derives his appointment from Constantinople. He received me with great politeness, and desired me to make what researches I pleased.
The barley harvest was begun. The length of the plain of Antioch is about three leagues and a half, the width two leagues. The language is here generally Turkish.
It must be remarked with regard to Aleppo and Antioch, that the latter has by far the most convenient situation. The former has no navigable river, the land is little productive, and it is placed at a great distance from the sea. Antioch possesses every opposite advantage, except that of a navigable river, which however far exceeds the diminutive Coik; the air is superior to that of Aleppo, and it is within five hours of the sea. The mountain produces wine, which is sold cheap, and there is plenty of sea-fish. The mouth of the river forms a haven for small vessels, with very deep water.