Hares are in great plenty, and also afford good sport; but the natives are not fond of them, except the _Arabs_, whose method of dressing them is particular, and said to be very good. They dig a hole in the earth, which they fill with such light brushwood as they can pick up, and set it on fire: when thoroughly lighted, the hare, the flue, the entrails, and all together just as it was taken, is thrown into it; and, after the flame has ceased, they cover the hole up with the loose earth that had been dug out of it, and which at first had been laid round the verge of the fire, so as to grow hot: thus it is left till they judge it to be sufficiently roasted, when throwing a quantity of salt over it, they eat it without any further dressing. A few tame rabbits are kept in the city, chiefly for the tables of the _Europeans_; and now and then a wild hog is brought from abroad, which, though seldom fat, yet is esteemed by us, as it is a rarity. The country also affords a few porcupines, which are sometimes, though seldom, ate by the _Europeans_; and land-turtle and frogs in great abundance, which furnish a dish for the _Franks_ of the _Romish_ religion, and for many of the native Christians, in their lents. These are the animals which are commonly dressed for food by the inhabitants of _Aleppo_; for the camel, though reckoned a delicious morsel by the _Arabs_, makes no part of their diet. This creature, however, is of the utmost consequence to them in transporting from place to place every thing for which they have occasion; there being no such thing as a wheel-carriage in all this part of the country, except a very clumsy machine, now and then used for bringing large pillars, or other stones of great weight, from the quarry. There are four sorts of camels known here, _viz._ the _Turkman_ camel, the _Arab_ camel, the dromedary, and the camel with two bunches on its back. The _Turkman_ camel is much stronger, larger, more woolly or hairy, and of a darker colour, than any of the others. Their common load is 160 rotoloes, or 800 pounds; but sometimes it carries much more. This animal cannot bear heat, and therefore they never work it in the months of _June_, _July_, and _August_. The _Arab_ camel is much smaller than the former, of a lighter colour, and not so hairy. This seldom carries above 100 rotoloes, but can bear the heat and thirst much better than the _Turkman_; nor is there any need that the _Arab_ camel be fed with barleyflour and chopp’d straw; for the dry thistles, and other plants which grow on the desart, are almost all it requires, and it feeds as it goes along with its burthen. I remember an instance, where, in a caravan from _Bussorah_, the camels which were of this sort travelled without water for fifteen days; but the quantity they drank as soon as they could come at any, proved fatal to many of them.