_Feb. 19._--To-day we have heard that the above report of the plague being at Sulemania is false; that it has been there, but has now left it; so we know not what to believe. _Feb. 21._--The expenses attendant on our packages from Bombay to this place, are as great as from England to Bombay. The boxes of books and medicine, and the press, with three boxes of books from the Bible Society, cost twenty-five pounds. Aleppo would certainly be the cheapest way to send them by, and by far the most speedy. It would be a great comfort to us, if this communication should ever be opened, for then we might freely communicate with, and hear from those we love. I sent a packet across the desert the other day, which we have every reason to think was intercepted. In fact, it is now very doubtful if any of the many letters we have sent, have gone safe, and none have reached us for these six months. Intelligence came to-day, that the Sultan has ordered the Pasha of Mosul, and another Pasha who is dependant on this Pasha, to discontinue all communication with him, as the enemy of the Sultan. A few weeks will, most probably, conclude this long-continued struggle, and, we hope, the insecurity and confusion attendant on it; yet, the Lord knows his purposes, and we have only to execute his will. _Feb. 24._--We have just heard, by a letter that came from Aleppo by way of Merdin and Mosul, that the caravan which left this place more than three months ago, entered Aleppo about thirty days ago. They remained in the desert till the Pasha of Aleppo had quitted that place on his expedition against the Pasha of Bagdad, from the fear, that if they entered the town he would seize their camels for the use of his army. Much alarm is entertained here by the inhabitants as to the result of this attack. From past experience they are led to expect great lawlessness, from both friends and foes. May the Lord keep our hearts in perfect peace, stayed on him. We now begin to feel that it is very doubtful when we shall see our dear friends: certainly no caravan will pass the desert till all these disturbances are settled. It may be also possible, that the journal and packet of letters I sent packed in a bale of goods belonging to a merchant here, may yet reach their destination.