ALDBOROUGH.

the æra of Philip and Mary the privilege of returning 2 members to the H. of C. It was disfranchised by the Reform Act.

ALDBOROUGH, or ALDEBURGH, a sea-port town of England, co. Suffolk, hund. Plomesgate, 85 m. N.E. It returned 2 m. Lond. Pop. of bor. and pa. 1,341. to the H. of C. from the 15th Eliz. down to the passing of the Reform Act, when it was disfranchised. It has suffered much from encroachments of the sea.

ALDEA DEL REY, a town of Spain, prov. La Mancha (Ciudad Real), on the 1. bank of the Jabalon, an affluent of the Guadiana, 17 m. S. Ciudad Real. Pop. 2,800. The climate is very unhealthy, owing to inundations of the river, which a very slight industry might obviate. Here is a palace of the knights commanders of Calatrava. ALDEA GALEGA, a town of Portugal, prov. Estremadura, æstuary of the Tagus, on the E. side of the bay of Montijo, well known as a ferry station between Lisbon and the great road to Badajoz and Madrid. Pop. 3,480. ALDERNEY, an island belonging to Great Britain, in the English channel, 55 m. S. from the Isle of Portland, and 18 m. W. Cape la Hogue in Normandy. The channel between Alderney and the latter, called the Race of Alderney, is dangerous in stormy weather from the strength and rapidity of the tides. This island is about 3 m. in length by m. in breadth, and had in 1831 a pop. of 1,045. It is a dependency of Guernsey, and is principally celebrated for a small breed of cows, which afford excellent milk and butter. It has no good harbour. ALDSTONE MOOR, a par. and m. town of England, co. Cumberland, Leath ward, on the borders of Northumberland. The town stands on a hill washed by the Tyne. The parish contains 35,050 acres. Pop. 6,858. It is chiefly celebrated for its lead mines, formerly the property of the earls of Derwentwater, and now of Greenwich Hospital. Their present (1838) annual produce is estimated at from 3,800 to 4,000 tons of pure metal.

ALEDO, a town of Spain, in the prov. of Murcia, sit. on a mountain side, 6 m. from the 1. bank of the Sangonera, a branch of the Segura, and about 25 m. W. S. W. Murcia. Pop. 2330.

ALENÇON, a town of France, cap. dep. Orne, in an extensive 'plain of the same name, on the Sarthe, near the southern boundary of the dep. 56 m. S.S.E. Caen, lat, 48° 25' 48" N., long. 0°5′ 22′′ E. Pop. 13,277. The town is agreeably situated and well built; streets generally broad and well paved; the walls by which it was formerly surrounded have nearly disappeared, and it has several Among the public buildings may considerable suburbs. be specified the cathedral church, the town-house embodying two well preserved towers, the only remains of the ancient castle of the Dukes of Alençon, the courts of justice, the corn-market, &c. It has a communal college, several hospitals, a public library, and an observatory. Its manufactory of the lace, known by the name of Point d'Alençon, established by Colbert, still preserves its ancient celebrity, and it has in addition manufactures of muslin, of coarse and fine linen, buckram, serges, stockings, straw hats, &c., with tanneries. There are freestone quarries in the neighbourhood; and at Hartz, a little to the W. of the town, are found the stones, called Alençon diamonds, which when cleaned and polished are said to be little inferior, in respect of lustre, to the genuine gem. Several fairs are held in the town, which is the seat of a considerable commerce. During the religious wars, Alençon, which was generally attached to the Protestant party, suffered severely. (Hugo, art. Orne; Dictionnaire Géographique, &c.)

ALENQUIR, a town of Portugal, prov. Estremadura, 26 miles N.N.E. Lisbon. Pop. 3,000. It is one of the principal points for the defence of Lisbon.

ALENTEJO, a prov. of Portugal, which see. ALEPPO, a city in the N. of Syria, called by the natives, Haleb-es-Shabha (an. Chalybon and Berria), lat. 36° 11′ 25′′ N., long. 37° 10′ 15′′ E.; 76 m. E. S. E. IsIts present kenderoun, and 126 m. N.N.E. Damascus. pop. is probably under 70,000; though from the middle of the 17th to the beginning of the present century it was variously estimated at from 200,000 to 258,000. According to Russell, it had in 1794, 235,000 inhab., of whom. 30,000 were Christians, and 5,000 Jews, the rest being Mohammedans; but, according to Volney, the pop. in 1785 did not exceed 100,000, which we incline to think is the more probable statement. Aleppo occupies an elevation in the middle of an open plain; and is surrounded by walls 30 ft. high and 20 broad; supposed, from the massive style of their architecture, to be Saracenic. The city, within the walls, is about 33 m. in circ. but including its suburbs, it occupies a circuit of more than double that extent. Houses of freestone: they are said to be elegant and durable, and those belonging to the better classes exhibit an elaborate degree of ornament in their lofty ceilings decorated with arabesques; and their large windows of

painted glass. Roofs flat, as in most Eastern towns:
during the summer months, the inhabitants pass their
nights upon them, unprotected by tents or awnings of any
kind. These flat roofs form also a continuous terrace,
upon which it is easy, by climbing over the low partition
walls, to pass from one end of the town to another.
Streets broad, well paved, and clean, remarkable qualities
in the East: the latter may, perhaps, be owing, in part,
to the drainage, occasioned by the slight elevation of
the town and neighbourhood above the surrounding
plain. The seraglio, or palace of the Pacha, which used
to be admired for its magnificence, was destroyed in
1819-20 during the siege of the town by Khourchid
Ahmed Pacha. Mosques numerous, but nearly all have
been injured, and many of them are in ruins, from the
effects of the earthquakes which have so often shaken this
part of Syria; the Djameé, Zacharie, and El-Halawe, are,
however, fine remnants of the ancient Roman style; they
were originally Christian edifices, the latter built, ít
is said, by the Empress Helena. There are ten or twelve
Christian churches, three Christian convents, and several
wakfs, the conventual establishments of the Moham-
medans. An ancient aqueduct conveys a plentiful supply
of good water from two springs. This work is an object
of much care; and it is singular, that being certainly
constructed before the time of Constantine, it should have
remained uninjured amid the frequent convulsions to
which the town has been subject. In the centre of the
city is a castle, partly in ruins, built upon an artificial
mount, of considerable height, and m. in circumference;
this is surrounded by a broad and deep, but dry ditch,
crossed by a bridge of 7 arches. From this spot is com-
manded a very extensive view, bounded N. by the snowy
tops of the Taurus, W. by the elevated rocky bed of the
Aaszy; while to the S. and E. the eye reaches over the
desert, as far as the Euphrates. Here are several large
khans, principally occupied by Frank and other foreign
merchants. These are handsome and convenient buildings,
containing counting-houses and store-rooms ranged round
an interior court, in which are stands for loading and un-
At present, however, Aleppo can be
loading the beasts of burden, and a fountain to supply
them with water.
regarded as little more than the shadow of its former self:
slight earthquakes are frequent in its neighbourhood, but
in 1822 a tremendous shock overturned most of the public
buildings, and reduced the greater part of the city to a
heap of ruins. This calamity has occasioned the erection
of a new suburb, materially altering the appearance, and
injuring the beauty of the town. The houses in this
suburb, intended at first for the temporary shelter of the
population that had escaped from the town, were hastily
constructed of wood, lath, and plaster; but from want,
either of funds to repair their more substantial dwellings,
or of energy to set about the work, or probably from a
fear of returning into the city, these hastily constructed
edifices have become permanent residences, while many,
perhaps the greater number, of the large and convenient
stone buildings in the city are either in ruins or tenantless.
Although upon the borders of the desert, Aleppo is ad-
A small stream,
vantageously and agreeably situated.
called the Koeik (an. Chalus), waters the W. side of the
This brook, which is about the size of the New
River, and never dry, swells, in the rainy season to a for-
midable and rapid current; it rises at the foot of Mount
Taurus, about 70 m. N., and after a course of 80 or 90 m.
loses itself in a large morass full of wild boars and
pelicans. The upper course of the Koeik lies between
naked rocks, but near Aleppo, and S. of that town, it
flows through an extremely fertile valley, in a high state
of cultivation. This river, and the aqueduct before men-
tioned, furnish an abundant and unfailing supply of
water; and besides the public fountains and baths, every
private individual, who chooses to be at the expense
of pipes, may have his house served with water in the
European fashion.

town.

The far famed gardens of Aleppo are situated to the S. E. of the city, upon the banks of a small rivulet, one of the very few affluents of the Koeik. They are rather orchards than gardens, consisting of fruit trees, with vegetables growing between them, but scarcely any flowers. They are pleasant spots, from the luxuriance of their productions, and the nightingales that resort to W. of the town the banks of the river are their shades; but very little taste is exhibited in their arrangements. covered with vines, olives, and fig-trees, and towards the E. are some plantations of pistachio trees, which, though still extensive, are only the remains of much more majestic groves, for which this country was formerly famous.

The air of Aleppo is dry and piercing, but accounted salubrious both to natives and strangers; the former, however, are subject to a peculiar disease, said to attack

This is Volney's statement. Robinson describes the castle as situated at the N.E. corner; the apparent discrepancy probably arises from the one including, and the other excluding the suburbs. The N.E. corner of the walled town would be nearly the centre of the whole mass of buildings.

E 2

them once, at least, in their lives, the habal-es-sine ; "ulcer," or " ringworm of Aleppo." It is, at first, an inflammation of the skin, subsequently becomes an ulcer, continues for a year, and generally leaves a scar for life. It usually fixes in the face, and an Aleppine is known all over the East by the mark left by this disorder, the cause of which is unknown, but suspected to be owing to some quality of the water.

In

Alessandria was founded in the 12th century, and has frequently been taken and retaken. It has always been reckoned one of the bulwarks of Italy on the side of France. The village and battle-field of Marengo lie a little to the E. of the town.

ALEUTAN, or ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, a chain of islands in the N. Pacific ocean, stretching from the peninsula of Kamtschatka, in Asia, to Cape Alaska, in N. America, comprised in the Russian government of Irkutzk. They are very numerous, occupying a circular arc, extending from 165 to 1950 E. long., whose chord is in 55° N. lat., and above 600 m. in length. Ap

range of submarine mountains. In 1795, a volcanic island rose from the sea, in the middle of the line, which, in 1807, was found to be enlarged to about 20 m. in circuit, and lava was then flowing down its sides. There are always amongst them several volcanoes in activity, and some, known to have emitted flames, are now quiescent. Earthquakes are common, and sometimes so

Aleppo appears to have risen to importance on the destruction of Palmyra. Like the latter, it was a convenient emporium for the trade between Europe and the East, so long as it was carried on over land." The productions of Persia and India came to it in caravansparently, this insular chain consists of the summits of a from Bagdad and Bussora to be shipped at Iskenderoun and Latakia for the different ports of Europe. Aleppo communicated also with Arabia and Egypt, by way of Damascus; with Asia Minor, by Tarsus; and with Armenia, by Diarbekir. It rose to great wealth and consequence under the Greek sovereigns of Syria, and into still greater under the early Roman emperors. 638, A. D. it resisted the arms of the Arabs for several months; but being finally taken, it became of as much importance under the Saracens, as it had before been under the Romans or Greeks. In the 10th century, it was reunited to the empire of Constantinople, by the arms of Zimisces; but it soon after fell into the hands of the Seljukian Turks, under whose sway it remained during the time of the Crusades. It suffered considerably during the irruptions of the Mongols, in the 13th century, and again, by the wars of Tamerlane, or Timur Bec, in the 15th. Selim I. annexed it, in 1516, to the Turkish empire, of which it continued a part till 1832, when it opened its gates to Ibrahim Pacha, without a summons. Its political revolutions, with the exception of its two captures by the Tartars, affected its prosperity only temporarily and in a slight degree; but the discovery of a passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope struck a deadly blow at its greatness. Since that event it has continued to decline, and the earthquake of 1822, together with the wars which have distracted Syria, by causing extensive emigrations, have reduced it to comparative insignificance. Its capabilities are however very great, and under judicious treatment it is more than probable it would speedily regain a considerable share of its former prosperity. It is the most convenient centre for the trade between Persia and the interior of Arabia, on the one hand, and Asia Minor and Armenia on the other; it is, beyond all comparison, the cleanest and most agreeable town in Syria; and still, even amid its ruins, better built than almost any other between the Black Sea and the Euphrates; its inhabitants, a great proportion of whom are sheriff's (descendants of the Prophet), are the mildest and most tolerant among the professors of Mohammedanism. These circumstances have made it the resort of strangers, and they are not likely, in peaceable times, to have less influence in future.

Its

Aleppo formerly possessed several manufactures, and -before the earthquake, it was said to contain 12,000 artizans, chiefly weavers of gold and silver lace, silk and cotton goods, shawls, &c. These works are now languishing, but they still exist, and, with the pistachio nuts, form the chief part of its remaining trade. imports are goats' hair, from Asia Minor; gall nuts, from Kurdistan; and Indian goods, such as shawls and muslins. From Europe, it receives cotton stuffs, cloth, sugar, dye stuffs, &c.; W. I. coffee, though a prohibited article, is also introduced, and is cheaper than that of Mocha. About 20 miles N. W. of Aleppo, is the convent (in ruins) of St. Simon Stylites. where some fragments of the pillar on which that famous ascetic passed so many years are still exhibited. The ruins of the convent attest its former magnificence, and a great number of deserted villages, in this direction, evince the former populousness of the neighbourhood. — (Olivier, Voy. dans l'Em. Oth. iv. 169-209.; Russell, Nat. Hist. of Alep. 77. et passim. Volney, if. 124-130.; Robinson, ii. 250-266.; Browne, 384-338.)

ALESEINA, a town of Russia in Europe, gov. Toula cap. district, on the Oka, 34 m. N. W. Toula. Pop. 2,300. It has several breweries; and manufactures hats, soap. &c.

ALESSANDRIA, or ALEXANDRIA, an important town and fortress of the Sardinian states, prov. of the same name, in a marshy country on the Tanaro, near where it is joined by the Bormida, 47 m. E.S.E. Turin, lat. 41° 5 N., long. 8° 36′ E. Pop. 36,000. It has a very strong citadel, and was surrounded by Napoleon with extensive fortifications, which have been demolished since his downfall. It is well built; has a cathedral, numerous churches, palaces, and hospitals; a handsome town-house, with a gymnasium, theatre, public library, and large barracks. It has manufactures of silk, cloth, and linen, and some trade. The latter is promoted by its two fairs, held the one at the end of April, and the other on the 1st of October; they are both well attended, not only by Italians, but also by French and Swiss.

violent as to throw down the huts of the inhabitants. Behring's island, Attoo, and Oonalashka, are the largest, the first being 104 m. in length, but many are only inconsiderable rocks. They are intersected by channels, various alike in width, and in the safety of navigation. All exhibit a barren aspect; high and conical mountains, covered with snow during a great portion of the year, being the most prominent features. Vegetation scanty; there are no trees nor any plants surpassing the dimensions of low shrubs and bushes. But abundance of fine grass is produced in the more sheltered vallies, and different roots, either indigenous or introduced recently. The seas abound in fish, and the feathered tribes are numerous. The hunting the sea otter, whose skin affords a fur of the finest quality, was, formerly, carried on to a great extent: they were wont to be caught in thousands; but their indiscriminate destruction has greatly reduced the number of those now taken. The seal is particularly valuable, affording the inhabitants a constant supply both of food and clothing; the thin membrane of the entrails is also converted into a substitute for glass. Foxes are the principal quadrupeds. The natives are of middle size, of a dark brown complexion, resembling an intermediate race between the Mongol Tartars and N. Americans. Their features, which are strongly marked, have an agreeable and benevolent expression. Hair strong and wiry; beard scanty: eyes black. They are not deficient in capacity, and the different works of both sexes testify their ingenuity. They are indolent, peaceable, and extremely hospitable; but stubborn, and revengeful. Tattooing, which was common among the feinales, is on the decline, but they practise a hideous mode of disfiguring themselves, by cutting an aperture in the under lip, to which various trinkets are suspended. These deformities, however, are less common than when the islands were discovered, the more youthful females having learned that they are no recommendations in the eyes of their Russian visiters. A man takes as many wives as he can maintain; they are obtained by purchase, and may be returned to their relations; or the same woman may have two husbands at once; and it is not uncommon for men to exchange their wives with each other. Their subsistence is principally obtained by fishing and bunting. Their dwellings are spacious excavations in the earth, roofed over with turf, as many as 50 or even 150 individuals sometimes residing in the different divisions. Only a few of the islands are inhabited; but in former times the population is said to have been more considerable. Its decrease is ascribed to the exactions of the Russian American Company, who have factories in the islands. Its present amount has been variously estimated, at from a few hundreds to 6,000. The islands were partially discovered by Behring, in 1741.

ALEXANDRETTA. See ISKENDEROON.

ALEXANDRIA (Arab. Iskendiryych), a celebrated city and sea-port of Egypt, so called from Alexander the Great; by whom it was either founded, or raised from obscurity, 332 years B. c., about 14 m. W. S. W. of the Canopic, or most W. mouth of the Nile, on the ridge of land between the sea and the bed of the old lake Marec tis, lat. 31° 12′ 35′′ N., long. 29° 53′ 33′′ E. Its situation was admirably chosen, and does honour to the discernment of its illustrious founder. Previously to the discovery of the route to India by the Cape of Good Hope, Egypt was the principal centre of the commerce between the E. and W. worlds; and it so happens that Alexandria is the only port on its N. coast that has deep water, and is accessible at all seasons. It has not, it is true, any natural communication with the Nile, but this defect was obviated in antiquity by cutting a canal from the city to the river. After Alexandria came into the possession of the Saracens, this canal was allowed to fall into disrepair; and it was not to be supposed that any attempt would be made to re-open it, while Egypt continued subject to the Turks and Mamelukes. But Mohammed Ali, the present ruler of Egypt, being anxiou to acquire

ALEXANDRIA.

a navy, and to revive the commerce of the country, early perceived the importance of Alexandria, both as a station for his fleet, and a centre of commerce. In furtherance of his views he has greatly improved, beautified, and strengthened the city, and has restored the ancient communication with the Nile by means of the Mahmoudieh canal from Alexandria to Fouah, a distance of 48 m., opened, in 1819. It is to be regretted that its construction is in several respects defective; but it is notwithstanding of great advantage. Alexandria is built partly on a peninsula, consisting of the island of Pharos, so famous in antiquity for the lighthouse or pharos, whence it has derived its name, and partly on the isthmus by which that island is now connected with the mainland. The principal public buildings, as the palace of the Pacha, the arsenal, the hospital, &c., are on the peninsula, and the town principally on the isthmus. The ancient city was situated on the mainland opposite the modern town; and the vast extent of its ruins would sufficiently evince, were there no other evidences, its wealth and greatness. Alexandria has two ports. That on the W. side of the city, called the old port, the Eunostos of the ancients, is the largest and by far the best. The entrance to it is narrow and rather difficult; but when in, ships may anchor off the town in from 22 to 40 feet water, and there is good anchorage in deep water all along the shore. The new harbour, or that on the E. side of the town, is very inferior, being comparatively limited, having a foul and rocky bottom, and being exposed to the N. winds.

The change in the appearance of Alexandria during the last dozen years has been quite extraordinary, "J'allai," says Marshall Marmont," visiter l'arsenal et l'escadre. J'étais extrêmement impatient de voir cette création ettonante, et, pour aussi dire, incompréhensible. En 1828, il n'existait sur la presqu'ile d'Alexandrie qu'une plage aride et deserte. Je la trouvai, en 1834, couverte par un arsenal complet, bâti sur la plus grand echelle; par des cales de vaisseaux, de atteliers de tous les genres, des magasins pour tous les approvisionnements, une corderie de mille quarante pieds de longueur (dimension égale à celle de la corderie de Toulon). J'y trouvai rassemblés des ouvriers nombreux, hablies dans tous les métiers qui se rattachent au service de la marine, et qui tous étaient Egyptiens; tout cela organisé, en mouvement, en plein service. Et de cet arsenal, dont les fondations datent de six ans, il est sorti dix vaisseaux de ligne de ceut canons, dont sept étaient armés, avaient déjà navigué, et trois étaient sur le chantier, prêts à être lancés à l'eau. Je ne parle pas des frégates de divers rangs, des corvettes et des bricks, qui portent la flotte à plus de trente bâtiments armés. Ces prodigieux résultats ont été obtenus avec cette promptitude si grande, dans un pays où il n'y a ni bois, ni fer, ni cuivre, ni ouvriers, ni matelots, ni officiers de marine; aucun des éléments, enfin, qui peuvent servir à la création d'une escadre. Je ne crois pas que l'histoire du monde entière, ait jamais présenté dans aucun temps rien de pareil."

A dry dock is at present (1837) in course of being constructed. Naval and military hospitals have been established, the former under the direction of an English, the latter of a French doctor. A quarantine board 'exists under the direction of the consular body, to which the Pacha has confided this branch of service, and connected with which a large and commodious lazaretto has lately been erected outside the walls. Vessels arriving from any of the infected ports of the Levant, are subjected to quarantine, the same as in Europe; there is also a school for the marine, and a board composed of the admirals and higher officers of the fleet, for examining into the merits of candidates, maintaining the discipline and regulating every matter connected with that branch of service. The French system has been adopted in every department of the service, and to the French the Pacha is chiefly indebted for the advances he has made.

On the peninsula has been erected the Schuna, or range of warehouses for the reception of the surplus produce of Egypt, and hither it all comes, with the exception of that exported from Suez and Cosseir, for the maintenance of the army and fleet in the Red Sea. According to the Pacha's monopolizing system, the whole produce of the country comes into his hands, at prices fixed by himself, without the option of resorting to other markets being allowed to the grower. And not only does this apply to the produce of Egypt, but to that of the adjacent countries, wherever the Pacha's influence extends, embracing the coffee of Mocha, the gums and drugs of Arabia, the tobacco of Syria, elephants' teeth, and feathers from the interior, &c., all of which are purchased for him in the first instance, the prohibition of trading in them applying to every one, and carrying with it the risk of confiscation, if contravened ;-the whole of this produce, native as well as exotic, being collected in Alexandria, is sold by public auction, in the same way exactly as auctions are conducted in Europe, the upset price being fixed according to the latest report of the markets, the merchant having the privilege of examining the article in the Schuna before the sale, and being required to pay in cash

53

The the price at which it is knocked down to him within a limited number of days, when delivery takes place. principal articles thus disposed of, are cotton, which is by far the largest, rice, opium, indigo, gums, coffee, senna, hemp, lintseed, and the comestibili of the country, wheat, barley, beans, lentils, &c., of which however there has latterly been very little sold, there being barely enough produced for the home consumption. Ten years ago, a million of quarters of corn were generally exported, but now every thing yields to cotton, which is found more The cotton, gums, coffee, profitable to the revenue. indigo, lintseed, and some other articles of less importance, go to the markets of Trieste, Leghorn, Marseilles, and Liverpool; the rice and opium to Smyrna, the Greek isles, and Constantinople. England sends in return, iron, lead, coals, ordnance, cables, anchors, machinery, and some manufactured goods, though not much. France, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany, return wines, spirits, oils, manufactures of silk and cotton, articles of dress of every description, furniture, hardware, trinkets, and other things, suited not only to the consumption of Egypt, but of Abyssinia and the countries in the interior. Austria seuds timber and other articles. From Turkey and the isles are received silks, tobacco, oils, and some wood and fruits. There is also a little commerce with Malta and the Barbary states, in grain chiefly.

According to official statements furnished by the French consul, the value of the imports into Alexandria, in 1837, amounted to 71,817,000 fr. (2.872,0001.), and that of the exports to 55,687,000 fr. (2,227,001.) The imports were derived from and the exports shipped for the undermentioned countries, as follows:

Imports.

England and Malta
Austria
Belgium
France
Greece

Sardinia

Sweden

Tuscany

Turkey

Barbary

Syria

Total

The description of articles imported and exported, and the value of each, were as follow:

The effect of the present monopoly system of the Pacha has been to drive out of the field large classes of traders, who before his time were rich, and had considerable influence; such as the coffee and tobacco merchants, to whom Napoleon, in his wants, never applied in vain; and to reduce all the native merchants and retailers to comparative beggary, as well as the Felahs or peasantry, whose condition is now little better than that of serfs, without interest in the produce of their labour. If his successor persevere in the same system, the country must ultimately be ruined, and that at no very distant period. A few Frank merchants (by which name the Europeans generally are designated), have alone thriven and arrived at wealth under the present system, not in the ordinary course of commerce, but by enjoying the confidence of the Pacha, acting as commission agents for him, negotiating his finance transactions, and by fortunate speculations in cotton, that is, by having taken cotton in payment of their advances, which they afterwards sold at a profit.

There is no doubt that the population has trebled or E 3 quadrupled since the opening of the Mahmoudich canal,

besides divided into quarters, over each of which a sheikh presides, who is responsible to the governor for the peace of his district: and moreover, each trade and profession has its sheikh, whose duty it is to collect the taxes, and to see to the good behaviour of the members. Guard-houses are also distributed all over the city, and the military are instructed to take all riotous and disorderly parties into custody, the officer of the guard, if the offender be a native, having authority to inflict summary punishment by the bastinado; but if a Frank, he must send him to his own consul, to be punished according to the laws of his own country. This system works so well, that a more orderly place, or one freer from riot or crime, is rarely to be seen: indeed, when crime is committed, it is usually by Frank upon Frank; and then, from defects in the consular system, it almost always escapes detection. Besides the Bashaga or police court, there is the Meh-kemeh or Kadi's court, where all civil questions between natives are determined; and a commercial court, with Frank judges, but presided over by a Turk, for deciding questions between the Franks and natives, where the latter are defendants: the Franks themselves, besides exemption from all taxes and burdens of every sort, being amenable only when defendants to their own consular courts, and to the laws of their respective countries. These iminunities have been secured to the Franks by convention with the Porte, and are rigidly insisted upon here as well as in every other part of the Turkish empire. The garrison usually consists of about 2,000 men, besides the topjees or gunners, who man the forts.

and is still on the increase. It may amount, in all, to from | to see that order and quiet be maintained. The city is 30,000 to 40,000. A good deal of this increase has taken place at the expense of Rosetta, which has latterly very much declined. The population is of a mixed character, consisting, besides the native Turks and Arabs, of Armenians, Greeks, Smyrniotes, Syrians, Moghrebins, or men from the Barbary states, Maltese, Jews, and Europeans of almost every nation, in such numbers, that it may be questioned, whether the strangers, in a commotion, would not be more than a match for the natives. The English have 10 commercial houses, independently of those engaged in other pursuits, yet they are considered about the weakest in numbers, the French, Italians, and Greeks, being the most numerous. Amateur French and Italian theatres exist, the performances in which rival those of the Académie Royale and San Carlos; balls and routes are given in the most approved style of fashion; a commercial journal has been established in the Italian language, which however does not treat of politics; French modistes, tradesmen in all departments, and shops displaying every article of furniture, and of male and female attire, from the Parisian bonnet of the latest fashion to the very humbiest article of dress all conspire, in conjunction with the style of the buildings, and pretty equal balance of hat and turban, to take away from this place the appearance of an Oriental city; and it is only after leaving it, and pursuing his way to Cairo, that the stranger truly feels that he is in the East. Here also exist Catholic and Greek convents, where divine service is performed on Sundays and holydays to the people of those persuasions: the Armenians, Syrian Christians, and Jews, have also places of worship, Protestants alone being without a temple. There is little intercourse between the natives and Franks, except in the way of business. They occupy distinct quarters of the city, the former secluding their families, and maintaining all the reserve of Oriental life, the siesta, pipe, and coffee filling up three fourths of their time; the latter adhering to the customs of their own country, in dress, furniture, the use of carriages and horses, and indeed in all things but the siesta, the pipe, and inmuring themselves during the heat of the day, wherein they imitate the Orientals. Latterly also, after the example of some of the higher Turks, several of the richer Frank merchants have obtained grants of land from the Pacha, on the banks of the canal, and built houses and made gardens, which serve to beautify and give interest to the neighbourhood; but the great architect in this way is Ibrahim Pacha, the son of Mohammed Aly, whose garden is destined to become very shortly the chief attraction of the place.

The Turkish quarter of the city consists of a number of narrow, irregular, tortuous, filthy and ill-built streets and bazars, with hardly any good houses but these of the Pacha's officers, and without a single public building, mosque, or other object worthy the least attention, the bazars being mean, and but very indifferently provided. The Frank quarter, on the other hand, presents several streets of well built substantial houses, with good shops; in particular the square, which is the residence of the consuls and principal merchants, called the PiazzaGrande, that may well bear comparison, for the size and style of its buildings, with some of the best streets of Paris or London. Ibrahim Pacha is the owner of the greater part of these houses, which he built on speculation, and for which he draws rents, varying from 2007. to 2401. per annum. The whole town is built of stone and brick, dug up from the foundations of the ancient city.

During part of the year Alexandria is supplied with water from the canal; and during the other portion, from the cisterns of the ancient city (the only portion of its public works that has been spared) which, at the period of the inundation, when the canal is full, are thence filled, and to which recourse is only had, when the water of the canal, by being stagnant, becomes unfit for use. As the inundation advances, the old stagnant water is run off into the sea, and the canal, being filled brim full with fresh, is shut up at both ends, and so remains till the following year, serving in the mean time for navigation, for the use of man and beast, and for the irrigation of those small portions of land on its banks, that have been reclaimed from the desert, and brought into cultivation. The climate of Alexandria, is considered very salubrious, the heats of summer, which rarely exceed 85° Fahr., being tempered by the Etesian, or N. W. winds, which prevail for nine months of the year. In winter, a good deal of rain falls, which however is confined to the coast, and is probably the cause, coupled with the wretched habitations and misery of the poorer classes, why the plague so often makes its appearance here. Were the labouring classes better clad, housed, and fed, there is ittle doubt that this scourge would soon be no longer

heard of.

There can be no doubt that Alexandria will profit much by the recent establishment of a steam communication with India, by way of Egypt, as well as by the lines of steamers now connecting it with Marseilles, Trieste, and the whole of the Levant. It is true that a considerable change must take place in the commercial system of the Pacha, before these advantages can have their proper effect; but, independently of this, it is quite clear that, in the novel circumstances under which the world is now placed, Egypt, and consequently Alexandria, must, from its position, become every day of more and more importance.

It was

Sketch of History, &c. The Ptolemies, to whom Egypt fell on the demise of Alexander the Great, made Alexandria the metropolis of their empire; and it became under their liberal and enlightened government one of the greatest and most flourishing cities of antiquity. When it was annexed by Augustus to the empire of Rome, it is said to have occupied a circumferance of 15 miles, and to have had 300,000 free inhabitants, besides slaves, who were probably quite as numerous. regularly and magnificently built; and was traversed by two great streets, each more than 100 fect across, and the larger extending more than 4 m. from E. to W. Under the Ptolemies and the Romans, Alexandria was the entrepôt of the principal trade of antiquity, being the market where the silks, spices, ivory, slaves, and other products of India, Arabia, and Ethiopia, and the corn of Egypt; were exchanged for the gold, silver, and other products of the W. world. The inhabitants were distinguished by their industry: either sex and every age were engaged in laborious occupations, and even the lame and the blind had employments suited to their condition. Among the principal manufactures were those of glass, linen, and papyrus, the paper of antiquity. Under the Roman emperors, Egypt became a principal granary for the supply of Italy; and its possession was reckoned of the utmost importance, and watched over with peculiar care. Various privileges and immunities were conferred upon Alexandria; many of her inhabitants were admitted to the rights of Roman citizens, and her wealth and prosperity continued undiminished.

But Alexandria was still more distinguished by her eminence in literature and philosophy than by her commerce and riches. The foundation of her pre-eminence in this respect was laid by the Ptolemies, who founded the museum and library (elegantiæ regum curæque egregium opus. Livy,) that afterwards became so famous, at the same time that they gave the most munificent encouragement to literature and learned men. This patronage being continued by the emperors, Alexandria was, for several centuries, a distinguished seat of science, literature and philosophy. Generally, however, her literati were more distinguished for learning and research than for original genius. She produced a host of grammarians and critics; and the names of Euclid, Apollonius of Perga, Ptolemy, Eratosthenes, Nicomachus, Herophilus, Zopyrus, &c., are but a few of those most distinguished in the schools of geometry, astronomy, geography and medicine, that flourished in Alexandria. But her philosophy was the most striking feature of Alexandria, in a literary point of view. The influx of doctrines from the E. and W. schools produced a singular conflict of systems; which ended in an attempt

of the philosophers Ammonius, Plotinus, and Porphyry, | m. W. by N. Tudela. There is a military road between to establish an eclectic or universal system by selecting this place and Logroño. Pop. 6,450. and blending doctrines taken from the principal existing ALFELD, a town of Hanover, prov. Hildesheim, at systems, particularly from those of Pythagoras and the conflux of the Leine and Warne. Pop. 2,300. It has Plato. Christianity was not exempted from the influence a normal school and 3 hospitals. of this spirit; and on its introduction, it was strangely alloyed with Platonism; and principles for expounding of its doctrines were laid down that would now be with difficulty admitted.

The cisterns which, as already seen, are still in pretty good preservation, are the principal monuments of the ancient city that have outlived the injuries of time, and the ravages of barbarians. The catacombs are also comparatively entire. The magnificent column, improperly called Pompey's Pillar, seems to have been erected in the reign of Diocletian: its shaft consists of a single block of granite, 68 feet in height. Two obelisks, vulgarly called Cleopatra's needles, of which only one is Situation, Extent, Boundaries. Algiers lies erect, are said to have formed the entrance to the palace between 1° 48′ W. and 9° 16′ E. long. ; its greatof the Cæsars. (For further particulars, see Dict. Géo-est N. lat. is 37° 5. It is bounded N. by the graphique, art. Alexandria;" Voyage du Maréchal Marmont, tom. iii. passim; Matter sur l'Ecole d'Alexandrie, passim; Gibbon, caps. 10. 28. and 51.; and pri