or HALAB, a town of Syria, the capital of a pashalic, of which the limits are not exactly defined, is situated in the vast plain which extends from the Orontes to the Euphrates, and which towards the south terminates in the desert. It is built on eight hills or eminences, and is intersected by the Koeick, which in winter swells into a large stream, overflowing its bridges, and the neighbouring gardens which cover its banks. This river terminates 18 miles beyond Aleppo, in a morass which is haunted by wild boars and pelicans. The city itself is above 3½ miles in circumference, and is surrounded by an ancient strong stone-wall 40 feet high. Including the suburbs, the city is about 7 or 8 miles in compass. The wall is flanked by frequent towers; but the ditch is partly filled up with rubbish or occupied by kitchen-gardens, and the city being commanded by the adjacent heights, is entirely indefensible. The town has seven gates, all known by different names. On one of the hills on which the city is built, and on its north-east corner, is a castle seated on a mount. This mount is of a conic form 200 feet high, and seems in a great measure to be raised with the earth thrown up out of a deep broad ditch which surrounds it. The castle is entered from the south by a bridge of seven lofty narrow arches thrown over the ditch, on which are two gates fortified by turrets, and two more still higher on the hill. Aleppo ranked among the cities of the Ottoman empire, next after Constantinople, Cairo, and Damascus; but was nearly destroyed by the terrible earthquakes of 1822 and 1830. It is gradually recovering from these disasters.

Formerly its commerce placed it in the first rank among the cities of Asia, and it was the grand emporium of Syria, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Armenia. It is still the emporium of northern Syria, and has extensive commercial relations with Diarbekr, and the upper parts of Anatolia, with Merdin, Mosul, and Baghdad. Since 1832 several British merchants have established houses at Aleppo. The principal manufacture of the city consists of various kinds of cloths, which have been long famous throughout the East, and which are still produced to a considerable amount. Some are woven with gold and silver thread; others with silk and cotton, both flowered and striped; while some consist of striped cotton only. These stuffs employ about 4000 looms. There are besides numerous soap, dyeing, and print works. The chief attractions of Aleppo are its gardens, which extend continuously about 12 miles to the south-east of the city. They are watered by the Koich, and produce abundance of fruit and culinary vegetables; but their most celebrated product is the pistachio-nut, which is regularly cultivated. The city is supplied with water by an ancient aqueduct, which conveys it from a distance of eight miles.

The air of Aleppo is dry and piercing, but at the same time salubrious for all who are not troubled with asthmatic complaints. The city, however, and the environs, are subject to a singular endemic disorder, which is called the ringworm or pimple of Aleppo: it is in fact a pimple which is at first inflammatory, and at length becomes an ulcer of the size of the nail. The usual duration of this ulcer is one year: it commonly fixes on the face, and leaves a scar, which disfigures almost all the inhabitants. No reason is assigned for this malady; but M. Volney suspects it proceeds from the quality of the water, as it is likewise frequent in the neighbouring villages, in some parts of Diarbekr, and even in certain districts near Damascus, where the soil and the water have the same appearances. But the plague is a more destructive malady, a visitation of which is anticipated by the inhabitants every ten years. Its ravages are most deadly, owing to the blind fatalism of the Turks, who cannot be persuaded to take any precautions against the progress of this dreadful disease. In the plague which immediately preceded the year 1797, about 60,000 inhabitants were swept off. Aleppo is of great antiquity, and is supposed to occupy the site of the ancient Berea. It was overwhelmed by the flood of Saracen invasion in 638, when it was taken from the emperor Heraclius. In 1260 it was taken possession of and wasted by the Tartars, and in 1401 by Tamerlane, who defeated the Syrians, when it was given up to pillage. The adjacent country is fertile, and yields grain of all sorts, with which the city is plentifully supplied. All the fruits of Europe, as well as those of the East, are cultivated in gardens. Its galls, the produce of Quercus infectoria, are highly valued. Aleppo is 70 miles east of Scanderoon, on the seacoast, and 234 north of Damascus. Long. 37. 12. E. Lat. 36. 12. N.

Aleppo once contained 150,000 inhabitants. Colonel Chesney computes them now at 100,000; of whom 66,500 are Turks, 19,000 Greeks, 5000 Maronites, 3000 Armenians, 2000 Syrians of a mixed race, and 4500 Jews. The Christians enjoy not only the most perfect toleration, but have some envied privileges. Their exemption from the Conscription excited in 1850 the indignant jealousy of the Mahometans, and occasioned tumults in which some blood was shed, and property to the amount, it is said, of L1,000,000 sterling destroyed. The houses amount to 40,000; but the aspect of the town, once the fairest and cleanest of Turkish cities, has been much damaged by the great earthquakes of 1822 and 1830, and by the erection of an irregular suburb, originally intended only for a temporary shelter.