ombrometers, the quantity of rain wont to fall in the Holy-Land, of which this ancient writer makes fuch heavy complaints!

The vehemence of the wind is, we fee, frequently mentioned in these accounts of the heavinefs of the rains. This circumftance is alfo mentioned by this writer, or fome other, whofe account of the taking Damiata, in the year 1219, is fubjoined to the history of the expedition of Richard I.

There we are told, that in a preceding excurfion into the Holy-Land, when the Patriarch and the Crofs were not prefent, they suffered many difficulties and hardships, partly from robbers, and partly from the difagreeableneffes of the winter feafon, particularly in their travelling on Chriftmas Eve, and in the fucceeding facred night, in which they had to go through an heavy land-tempeft of wind and rain. This, it feems, happened when they were in the borders of Tyre and Sidon, near Sareptà.

Vinifauf, however, admits that the fummers of that country are wont to be dry; for, towards the end of his history, he obferves, that by the advice of the most judicious of thofe whom they confulted, they were obliged to give over the defign of befieging Jerufalem in the fummer of the year 1192, because he tells us The Festival of

I

St. John was at hand, when all things were naturally dry, the heat increasing, especially about Jerufalem, which is feated in the mountainous part of the country; and that the Turks had stopped up all the ciferns on every fide of the city, jo that no water that was drinkable could be come at within two miles 2.

It has been confirmed too by those that have lived in thefe countries, notwithstanding the fevere cold that is fometimes felt there, that unless particular wind's blow, it is perfectly pleasant fitting with the chamberwindows open, in the Christmas holydays, as I have been affured by a very curious, inquifitive, and learned clergyman, who had the account of this circumftance from Dr. Shaw, from a Turky merchant who had lived at Smyrna or Aleppo, and from an English chaplain even at Leghorn.

OBSERVATION VIII.

Dr. Ruffell fays, the most delicate at Aleppo make no fires till the end of November, but he gives no account of the time in which they are wont to leave off the use of them it gave me pleasure then, when I obferved an article in d'Herbelot, which reprefented the clofe of the month of February as putting an end, in common, to the lighting their fires for the purpose of warming themfelves.

This article of the Bibliotheque Orientale is that on the word Schabath, which is in fhort as follows: Schabath is the name of a month of the Calendar of the Syro-Macedonians, which correfponds to our month of February. In this calendar the 2d

day of the month is marked, as the feast called by the Arabs Aid Schemâ, which is Candlemas-day. The 7th day of the month is called there Socouth gioumrat aouel, or the first putting out of the firebrand. The 14th is it's fecond extinction; and the third falls on the 21ft of the fame month, and is reckoned the end of winter.

He adds, that the 26th of the fame month of Schabath is the firft of the feven days that the Arabs call Aiam âgiouz, the days of the Old Man, which folemnity takes in the first days of their month of Adhar, which is our month of March.

I have in another article taken fome notice of the laft-mentioned folemnity, and the manner in which winter is represented on that occafion; what I would obferve here is, that fires for warming themselves were, according to this Syrian calendar, to be laid afide, in common, fome time in this month, and, at latest, by the clofe of it.

This account of d'Herbelot agrees with that of the author of the history of the revolt of Ali Bey, who is a Greek, and who, in converfation, cafually obferved that spring is reckoned to begin February 17, O. S.

It gave me the more pleasure when I found this enlarged account of Schabath in d'Herbelot, as many of the other months of the Syro-Macedonian calendar are barely mentioned by him, without any diftinctive notes of a philofophical or economical na

ture.

OBSERVATION IX.

I have in a preceding volume fhewn, that those that dwell at prefent in the HolyLand, continue the ufe of fires to warm them, far into the year; I would now make it appear, that it is not without reafon that they practise this.

Under the 7th obf. of the 1ft chapter, I produced fome citations from Bp. Pococke's Travels, which fhewed that an Arab had a fire in the tent, in which he was entertained, the night of the 17th of March; and that a fire was made for his ufe by one of the Sheiks of Galilee, fo late as the 8th May. This may appear to us furprizing, but it is confirmed in part by Doubdan; and the reason of it is clearly explained by him, as to the whole of it.

Doubdan, travelling in the evening of the 28th of March, N. S, from Jaffa (or Joppa) to Rama, tells us he paffed near two or three companies of Arabs," who were watching "their flocks, making a great noise, finging and rejoicing about many fires which

s they

they had made in the plain, and a num"ber of dogs, who, perceiving our being "near to them, did not ceafe from growling, barking, and giving us apprehenfion "of being discovered, and falling into the "hands of thefe robbers "."

Perhaps it may be thought that these fires, and all this noife, might be made to intimidate beafts of prey, which they might be apprehenfive were about, and watching an opportunity of making depredations on their flocks; it is poffible it might be fo. The warmth however of thefe fires must have been comfortable to themselves, who were watching in the open air, fince Doubdan complains of his lodging that night at Rama, where the procurator of the HolyLand did not treat them with the greatest tenderness," but contented himself with put"ting us into a miferable room, where "there were only the four walls, giving

us nothing but a mat to lie upon, a "ftone for a pillow, and no coverlid but "the broken cieling, which expofed us to "the weather, which was not the most "favourable at that feafon, as the nights "are always extremely cool." Yet the heat of the preceding day was fo great, that it was affigned as one reafon why they waited fome hours at Joppa, in a poor Greek hovel, before they fet out for Rama 3.

Voy. de la Terre Sainte, p. 42.

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