'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎446] (531/905)

446
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. [CHAP. XVIII.
and success cannot fail to attend the operations since the
openings into Western Arabia, Kurdistan, and Upper Meso
potamia cannot be so easily nor so cheaply reached from other
quarters. At present, the whole of the transit trade depends
upon native dealers who come from the towns above mentioned
with very slender means and very limited credit, to make
purchases at Aleppo.
Want of capital seems at present to be the great bar to an
extension of the trade. There are about 70 Muhammedan,
and 30 native Christian houses in Aleppo; but the united
capital of the former is not supposed to exceed 70,000/., whilst
that of the latter is less than 150,000/.: and, as the Eu
ropeans are chiefly commission merchants, the shopkeepers
within and about Aleppo cannot be accommodated with the
long credits which the nature of their dealings requires.
The European imports are coffee, sugar, spices, inferior
rum from America, rice, cochineal, indigo, dye-woods, amber,
lead, tin, earthenware, calicoes, cotton-twist, muslins, cambric,
English cloths and stuffs, gold and silver lace, French and
German cloth, Genoa silks and velvets, German glass, cutlery,
quicksilver, and coral; which, at a moderate cost, are brought
on camels from Iskenderun and Ladikiy£h. In addition to
these, galls, buffalo skins. Mocha coffee, Cashmir shawls,
pearls, and Indian goods, are brought by the caravans from
Mesopotamia; and, like the former articles, on the limited
scale suited for the present demand.
Coarse cottons and rich stuffs of silk, and silk mixed with
cotton, gold, and common thread, together with iron, copper,
and tin vessels, are manufactured at Aleppo for home use;
and a bare sufficiency of wheat, barley, maize, &c., is cul
tivated to supply the wants of the inhabitants. The exports
are limited to a small quantity of silk, with hare, fox, and
other skins, which are chiefly sent to the French and Italian
ports; also galls, cotton, goats' wool, sheep's wool, hemp,
flax, yellow berries, olive oil, soap, saffron, safflower, sponges,
barilla, bees'-wax, madder, and wine.
The balance of trade, however, is greatly in favour of
Europe, the imports being almost double the value of the ex-