A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 8 | Page 3

with our present purpose: It may likewise be mentioned, that Eldred is one of the persons with whom Newberry corresponded.--E.]
Tripolis stands under a part of Mount Lebanon, at the distance of two English miles from the port. On one side of this port, in the form of a half-moon, there are five block-houses, or small forts, in which there are some good pieces of artillery, and they are occupied by about an hundred janisaries. Right before the town there is a hill of shifting sand, which gathers and increases with a west wind, insomuch, that they have an old prophecy among them, that this sand hill will one day swallow up and overwhelm the town, as it every year increases and destroys many gardens, though they employ every possible device to diminish this sand-bank, and to render it firm ground. The city is walled round, though of no great strength, and is about the size of Bristol: Its chief defence is the citadel or castle, which stands on the south side of the town, and within the walls, overlooking the whole town, being armed with some good artillery, and garrisoned by two hundred janisaries. A river passes through the middle of the city, by means of which they water their gardens and plantations of mulberry trees, on which they rear great numbers of silk-worms, which produce great quantities of white silk, being the principal commodity of this place, which is much frequented by many Christian merchants, as Venetians, Florentines, Genoese, Marsilians, Sicilians, and Ragusans, and, of late, by the English, who trade more here than in any other port of the Turkish dominions.
I departed from Tripolis with a caravan, on the 14th May, passing, in three days, over the ridge of Mount Libanus; and at the end of that time came to the city of Hammah, which stands in a goodly plain, abounding in corn and cotton-wool. On these mountains grow great quantities of _gall-trees_, which are somewhat like our oaks, but less, and more crooked; and, on the best trees, a man shall not find above a pound of galls on each. This town of Hammah is fallen into decay, and continues to decay more and more, so that at this day scarcely is the half of the wall standing, which has once been strong and handsome; but, because it cost many lives to win it, the Turks will not have it repaired, and have caused to be inscribed in Arabic, over one of the gates, "Cursed be the father and the son of him who shall lay hands to the repairing of this place."
Refreshing ourselves one day here, we went forwards three days more, with our camels, and came to Aleppo, where we arrived on the 21st of May. This has the greatest trade, for an inland town, of any in all those parts, being resorted to by Jews, Tartars, Persians, Armenians, Egyptians, Indians, and many different kinds of Christians, all of whom enjoy liberty of conscience, and bring here many different kinds of merchandise. In the middle of the city there is a goodly castle, raised on high, having a garrison of four or five hundred janisaries. Within four miles round about there are many goodly gardens and vineyards, with many trees, which bear excellent fruit, near the side of the river, which is very small. The walls of the city are about three miles in circuit, but the suburbs are nearly as large as the city, the whole being very populous.
We departed from Aleppo on the 31st of May, with a caravan of camels, along with Mr John Newberry, and his company, and came to Birrah, [Bir] in three days, being a small town on the Euphrates, where that river first assumes the name, being here collected into one channel, whereas before it comes down in numerous branches, and is therefore called by the people of the country by a name which signifies a thousand heads. We here found abundance of provisions, and furnished ourselves for a long journey down the river; and, according to the custom of those who travel on this river, we provided a small bark for the conveyance of ourselves and our goods. These boats are flat-bottomed, because the river is shallow in many places; and when people travel in the months of July, August, and September, the water being then at the lowest, they have to carry a spare boat or two along with them, to lighten their own boats in case of grounding on the shoals. We were twenty-eight days upon the river in going between Bir and Feluchia, at which last place we disembarked ourselves and our goods.
During our passage down the Euphrates, we tied our boat to a stake every night at sun-set, when we went on land