The Persian historian of Timur (tom. iii. l. v. c. 21, p. 300) describes the castle of Aleppo as founded on a rock one hundred cubits in height; a proof, says the French translator, that he had never visited the place. It is now in the midst of the city, of no strength, with a single gate; the circuit is about 500 or 600 paces, and the ditch half full of stagnant water (Voyages de Tavernier , tom. i. p. 149 Pocock, vol. ii. part i. p. 150). The fortresses of the East are contemptible to a European eye.