The Armenians have passed by, and another couple of individuals attract our attention; their faces are long and sallow, their features marked, eyes sunken, beard profuse, and in the contracted brow there is much that indicates selfish thoughts; the meanness of their scant attire, is only to be surpassed by the filthiness of their general appearance. Did you notice yonder young Mahommedan spit on the ground, or in the faces of these two as they passed him, while he petulantly muttered, that this day would prove to him an unlucky one, from the moment he had encountered these two men? You will ask the reason of this; it is because they are of that once mighty people, Yahoodee, or Israel, whom Mahommedans regard as the cursed of God, the refuse of the earth, who are treated with less consideration than the meagre curs that slink along the streets; for a Jew does not dare to pass by on the right hand of the Moslem. Yet these Hebrews are now so well inured to hardship and insult, that they wisely pursue their way, regardless of all around, their whole soul wrapt up in the one absorbing thought—gain. If words and blows are sometimes inflicted upon them by the lords of the land, they at least have the gratification of knowing that there is not one amongst their brethren, but who avails himself of every opportunity to swindle and defraud every customer with whom they may chance to have transactions; and even the coins which pass through their hands never escape without being diminished in weight. As an instance of their innate propensity for defrauding, I will record an anecdote which occurred at Damascus some years ago. A Jew having been convicted of coining gold _saadeeyeh_ (nine piastres), was punished by the government by having half his beard shaved off, and mounted on an ass, with his face turned towards the tail, and a European hat on his head; in this way he was conducted through the city, preceded by a crier, proclaiming his crime. Through bribery and interest he was set at liberty, and shortly afterwards recommenced his nefarious practices; the second time, however, he resorted to the filing of coin, and being again discovered, the Cadi ordered his hands to be cut off, as the most effectual means of preventing a recurrence of such tricks. Even this did not put a atop to his cheating, for having initiated his son into his arts, they together devised the mode of dissolving a part of the money in strong acid. Being for the third time discovered, both father and son were hanged.