This peculiarity in society is evidently a relic of the formal times, when Aleppo was a semi-Venetian city, and the opulent seat of Eastern commerce.  Many of the inhabitants are descended from the traders of those times, and they all speak the lingua franca, or Levantine Italian.  The women wear a costume partly Turkish and partly European, combining the graces of both; it is, in my eyes, the most beautiful dress in the world.  They wear a rich scarf of some dark color on the head, which, on festive occasions, is almost concealed by their jewels, and the heavy scarlet pomegranate blossoms which adorn their dark hair.  A Turkish vest and sleeves of embroidered silk, open in front, and a skirt of white or some light color, completes the costume.  The Jewesses wear in addition a short Turkish caftan, and full trousers gathered at the ankles.  At a ball given by Mr. Very, the English Consul, which we attended, all the Christian beauties of Aleppo were present.  There was a fine display of diamonds, many of the ladies wearing several thousand dollars’ worth on their heads.  The peculiar etiquette of the place was again illustrated on this occasion.  The custom is, that the music must be heard for at least one hour before the guests come.  The hour appointed was eight, but when we went there, at nine, nobody had arrived.  As it was generally supposed that the ball was given on our account, several of the families had servants in the neighborhood to watch our arrival; and, accordingly, we had not been there five minutes before the guests crowded through the door in large numbers.  When the first dance (an Arab dance, performed by two ladies at a time) was proposed, the wives of the French and Spanish Consuls were first led, or rather dragged, out.  When a lady is asked to dance, she invariably refuses.  She is asked a second and a third time; and if the gentleman does not solicit most earnestly, and use some gentle force in getting her upon the floor, she never forgives him.

At one of the Jewish houses which we visited, the wedding festivities of one of the daughters were being celebrated.  We were welcomed with great cordiality, and immediately ushered into the room of state, an elegant apartment, overlooking the gardens below the city wall.  Half the room was occupied by a raised platform, with a divan of blue silk cushions.  Here the ladies reclined, in superb dresses of blue, pink, and gold, while the gentlemen were ranged on the floor below.  They all rose at our entrance, and we were conducted to seats among the ladies.  Pipes and perfumed drinks were served, and the bridal cake, made of twenty-six different fruits, was presented on a golden salver.  Our fair neighbors, some of whom literally blazed with jewels, were strikingly beautiful.  Presently the bride appeared at the door, and we all rose and remained standing, as she advanced, supported on each side by the two shebeeniyeh, or bridesmaids.  She was about sixteen, slight