'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.' [‎549] (640/905)

CHAP. XXI.]
VILLAGES AND HOUSES.
549
would possess the real power in the case of a struggle, has
about £50,000 sterling. 1
Owing to the absence of level tracts, and the depth of the Situations of
valleys in these districts, together with the steepness of the the Vlllage8 •
acclivities, whose singular wildness has already been noticed
(see page 387), the villages are formed usually about mid
way on the slopes of successive ridges, along which rows of
houses and mulberry terraces rise one above another, like the
steps of a gigantic amphitheatre. The number of houses in the
villages varies in general from 20 or 30 to about 100, but
some contain nearly 400, besides the serai" of the Emir. The
latter is an extensive pile of building, usually situated on the
most commanding ground, and containing two or even three
generations of the family, with suitable apartments built round
an outer and an inner court, the latter generally occupying a
higher level.
1 Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, pp. 194, 195, 196, 199.
The ordinary houses are comfortable, being substantially
built of stone, and almost always white-washed. They seldom