ALEXANDRETTA, by the Turks called Scanderoon, a town in Syria, at the extremity of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the port of Aleppo, from which it is distant 28 or 30 leagues. It is now, properly speaking, nothing but a village, without walls, in which the tombs are more numerous than the houses, and which entirely owes its existence to the road which it commands. This is the only road in all Syria where vessels anchor on a solid bottom, without their cables being liable to chafe; but in other respects it has many inconveniences. It is infested during winter by a peculiar wind, called by the French sailors le Raguier, which, rushing from the snowy summits of the mountains, frequently forces ships to drag their anchors several leagues; and when the snow begins to cover the mountains which surround the gulf, tempestuous winds arise, which prevent vessels from entering for three or four months together. The road also to Aleppo by the plain is infested by Curd robbers, who conceal themselves in the neighbouring rocks, and frequently attack and plunder the strongest caravans. But the worst circumstance is the extreme unwholesomeness of the air, occasioned here by stagnant waters and mephitic exhalations. It may be affirmed that this every year carries off one-third of the crews of the vessels which remain here during the summer; nay, ships frequently lose all their men in two months. The season for this epidemic disorder is principally from May to the end of September: it is an intermitting fever of the most malignant kind, and is accompanied with obstructions of the liver, which terminate in dropsy. To this baneful epidemic, Alexandretta, from [7:2:409]its situation, seems to be irremediably condemned; for the plain on which the town is built is so low and flat, that the rivulets, finding no declivity, can never reach the sea. When they are swelled by the winter rains, the sea, likewise swelled by tempests, hinders their discharging themselves into it; hence their waters, forced to spread themselves, form lakes in the plain. On the approach of the summer the waters become corrupted by the heat, exhale vapours equally corrupt, and which cannot disperse, being confined by the mountains that encircle the gulf. The entrance of the bay, besides, is to the west, which in those countries is the most unhealthful exposure when it lies open to the sea. The labour necessary to remedy this would be immense, and after all insufficient; and, indeed, such an undertaking would be absolutely impossible under a government like that of the Turks. Mr Volney informs us, that the merchants of Aleppo, disgusted with the numerous inconveniences of Alexandretta, wished to abandon that port and carry the trade to Latakia. They proposed to the pacha of Tripoli to repair the harbour at their own expense, provided he would grant them an exemption from all duties for ten years. To induce him to comply with their request, the agent then employed talked much of the advantage which would in time result to the whole country. “But what signifies it to me what may happen in time ?" replied the pacha; “I was yesterday at Marach; to-morrow, perhaps, I shall be at Djedda. Why should I deprive myself of present advantages, which are certain, for future benefits I cannot hope to partake?” The European factors were obliged therefore to remain at Scanderoon.