Travels in Turkey, Asia Minor, Syria, and across the desert into Egypt ...

SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY, &C. 305
mules and asses being employed as beasrs of burden. The cows
are small ; but the breeds of sheep, goats, and pigs, are the same
as in Turkey.
The bread is of an excellent quality ; and the wine, the produce
of the
vineyards, tolerably good,
and very cheap. From the dried
figs the inhabitants distil the spirit called rackay, with the addition
of anise seeds, and the peels of lemons and oranges, to give it a
rich flavour. Tin's liquor* with the aid of a sirup made simply
from sugar, is denominated by the Italians rosolio.
Rhodes may on the whole be considered as a very salubrious,
fruitful, and agreeable island, the seasons being never in the ex-
tremes, and the weather almost invariably moderate. We had been
so long accustomed to the mud huts, and to the barren and sandy
deserts of Egypt, where, with the exception of the charming plains
of the Delta, there was so little to gratify the view, that our pre-
sent residence appeared to us almost a paradise.
It was now six years since the isiand had been visited by the
plague, which, at that time, however, had made a dreadful havoc.
The inhabitants are occasionally exposed, during the hotter months,
to the attacks of intermittent fevers, which appear to me to have
their source in the miasma thrown off by a small spot of marshy
ground, and a piece of stagnant water, on the north side, and almost
contiguous to the town. The climate, however, is in general
very healthv ; and there are among them many instances of
longevity.
In the arsenal of Rhodes vessels are constructed of fir, which is
either the growth of the island, or brought from Caramania. Ha-
ving had the assistance of several British and Swedish ship-builders
of eminence, the workmen, who are exclusively Greeks, are become
tolerably expert in their employment. The inhabitants of
Rhodes pay but little attention to fishing; and the fish we procured
there was but of an indifferent quality.
Several caicks sailed out of the harbour of Rhodes on the 12th,
supposed to be bound for Marmarice. The Turkish inhabitants
were preparing
to celebrate the Biram Courbaui, which was to
commence on the following day.
I mape an excursion to several of the
villages adjacent to the town
of Rhodes, one of which, inhabited by
r
Turks, called Ezgourah,
is
very delightfully
situated in the midst of oak, ash, plane, and
olive-trees, so thickly planted, that it appears to be in the centre of
a wood. In its vicinity are two other villages, one of which,
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