APPENDIX. No. I. 
816 
from one foot to about one foot and a half thick, and built of calcareous squared stones, like 
Deir Samaan. The pillars which are still to be seen in some of the ruined buildings are none 
of them more than fifteen feet high. Their capitals, like those of the columns in the Deir 
Samaan, are rude and unfinished ; if any order is discernible it is a corrupted Corinthian. The 
neighbourhood of these towns, at least for five miles round, presents nothing but an uneven 
plain, thickly covered with barren rocks, which rise to the height of two or three feet above 
the surface. A few herbs grow in the fissures of the rocks, which are scarcely sufficient te 
keep from starving half a dozen horses, the property of the present miserable inhabitants. 
There are several wells of good water in the neighbourhood of the ruins. To the S. S. E. 
of the Deir, at an hour and a half's distance, stands a single pillar about thirty-five feet high 
the base and capital of which are like those of the Deir. No inscriptions are visible. At a 
few yards from the column is the entrance to a spacious subterraneous cavern. I passed this 
spot on my way to the Deir, and purposed to examine the contents of the cave on our 
return ; Ireturned however by another route. 
We left our friendly Kurds on the following day at noon. At taking my leave I told the 
chief that I should be happy to make him some acknowledgments for the hospitality shewn to 
me, whenever he should visit Aleppo. He excused himself for not having been able to treat 
us according to his wishes, and begged me to send him from Aleppo a few strings for his gui 
tar; which I gladly promised. These Kurds have been for some time past at war with 
the Janissaries of Aleppo, which prevents them from going there. 
On our road back to Mchammed Ali’s tents, through Bokatur and Immature, we met half 
way a poor gypsy, or as they are called here, Kurpadh; these Kurpadh are spread over the 
whole of Anatolia and Syria. 
The Kurds have spread themselves over some parts of the plain which the Afrin 
waters, as well as some of the neighbouring mountains. They live in tents and in villages, 
are stationary, and are all occupied in agriculture and the rearing of cattle. They form 
four tribes, of which the Shum, who live in the plain, are the most considerable. The 
Kurds seem to be of a more lively disposition than the Turkmans; the Aleppines say that 
their word is less to be depended upon than that of the Turkmans. My hosts at Deir 
Samaan asked me many questions relative to European politics. I found the opinion 
prevalent among them which Buonaparte has taken such pains to impress upon the minds 
of the continental nations, that Great Britain is and ought to be merely a maritime 
power. This belief, however, proves very advantageous to English travellers in these coun 
tries. A Frenchman will every where be taken for a spy, as long as the French invasion of 
Egypt and Syria is in the memory of man, but it seems never to enter into the suspicions of 
these people that the English can have any wish to possess the countries of the Levant. 
I was astonished to find that all the Kurds spoke Arabic fluently, besides the Turkish and 
their own language, which latter is a corrupted mixture of Persian, Armenian, and Turkish. 
On the other hand, I only met three or four Turkmans who knew how to express them-