C A 11 



439 



CAR 



, Arrive at the convent of monks on the hill 

 i luaddy 1'Ottron. 

 Reach Cairo. 



The caravans from Sennaar and Dar-Fur arc very 

 irregular in their motions, arising from the revolu- 

 tions which are constantly taking place in their un- 

 settled governments. Sometimes two or three years 

 elapse without any of them arriving at Cairo. The 

 number of independent Arabs who infest the roads 

 between these two places and Cairo is very great, 

 and contribute to the irregularity of these caravans. 



One of the finest descriptive pictures of the man- 

 ners of a caravan that was perhaps ever drawn, with- 

 out the aid of a pencil, is given by Chateaubriand, in 

 his Travels into Greece and Palestine. " It was mid- 

 night, says he, when we arrived at the Kan of Me- 

 nemen. I perceived at a distance a great number of 

 scattered lights ; it was a caravan making a halt. On 

 a nearer approach, I distinguished camels, some ly- 

 ing, others standing ; some with their loads, others 

 relieved from their burdens. Horses and asses with- 

 out bridles, were eating barley out of leather buc- 

 kets ; some of the men were still on horseback, and 

 the women, veiled, had not alighted from their dro- 

 medaries. Turkish merchants were seated cross-leg- 

 ged on carpets, in groupes round the fires, at which 

 the slaves were busily employed in dressing pilau. 

 Other travellers were smoking their pipes at the door 

 of the kan, chewing opium, and listening to stories. 

 Here were people burning coffee in iron pots ; there 

 hucksters went about from fire to fire, offering cakes, 

 fruits, and poultry, for sale. Singers were amusing 

 the crowd ; imans were performing their ablutions, 

 prostrating themselves, rising again, and invoking the 

 prophet ; and the camel-drivers lay snoring on the 



f round. The place was strewed with packages, 

 ags of cotton, and couffs of rice. All these ob- 

 jects now distinct, now confused and enveloped in a 

 half shade, exhibited a genuine scene of the Arabian 

 Nights." See Chateaubriand's Travels in Greece, 

 Palestine, Egypt, and Barbary, vol. i. p. 303, 304; 

 Volney's Voyage en Syrie et en Egi/pte, vol. ii. ; 

 Russel's History of Aleppo ; Pococke's Description 

 of Egypt, vol. i. p. 188 261 ; Maillet Description 

 de PEgypte, Paris, 1740 ; Rennel, Phil. Trans, 

 vol. Ixxxi. p. 129; Jackson's Account of Moroc- 

 co, p. 237 ; and Browne's Travels in Africa, chap. 

 18. See also the articles ARABIA, p. 287 ; ABIA, 

 P. 551 ; BARBARY, p. 273; and CAIRO, p. 218, 219. 



ARAVANSERA, or CARAVANSERAY, the 

 name given in the East to the large inns or public 

 buildings, for accommodating the merchants, pil- 

 grims, and travellers, that accompany the caravans. 



The caravanseras have generally been confounded 

 with the khans ; but the former, particularly about 

 the time of their origin, were erected under the im- 

 pulse of religious duty, in desert places, at a dis- 

 tance from large towns, to afford shelter and accom- 

 modation to travellers and caravans; while the khans 

 which were generally built in towns, were used by 

 foreign merchants, not only as a lodging-house, but 

 as a magazine for their goods. The word caravan* 



era, however, is the general name adopted in Aia Carw- 

 for all thec kinds of buildings. It is used not only *** 



iu Turkey, but also in Persia and the Mogul country, _ ' 



while the word khan is more particularly used to \ 



rill ' > ^^/^^ 



1 urkey. 



But while the charity and hospitality of the East- 

 ern princes have thus provided accommodation to 

 travellers in those deseit regions, where it is mot 

 required, they have limited their generosity to a mere 

 shelter from the inclemency of the weather, and to 

 a supply of water, which is often brought from a 

 great distance. Neither beds, kitchen, nor provi- 

 sions, are attached to these buildings ; and the tra- 

 veller must either carry along with him every thing 

 that he wants, or purchase them after his arrival. 

 The caravanseras, as well as the khans, are generally 

 huge square buildings, being one or two stories high 

 above the ground- floor. The interior facades, which 

 form the spacious court or hall in the middle, resem- 

 ble the cloisters of convents. The maga/incs are 

 in the ground-floors, while the chambers for travel- 

 lers are in the upper stories. A reservoir of water, 

 in -which the camels and other beasts of burden 

 quench their thirst, is placed in the middle of the 

 court. 



In the city of Fas, in Marocco, there are no fewer 

 than two . : hundred caravanseras, called Fondaque. 

 These edifices are three stories high, and contain 

 from 50 to 100 apartments, 'in each of which a sup- 

 ply of water, for ablution and other purposes, is 

 conveyed by means of a water-eock. The traveller 

 must carry bedding along with him, as they are pro- 

 vided only with a mat ; and if he wants any refresh- 

 ments, he must order them from a cook's shop, or 

 buy them from a butcher, and dress them himself. 

 A certain sum per day is paid for the use of the 

 apartment. 



The caravanseras of Constantinople, Ispahan, and 

 Agra, are celebrated for their magnificence and ac- 

 commodation. Those of Sheeraz and Casbin are 

 said to have cost 60,000 crowns each ; and that of 

 Vrana or Tirana, in Dalmatia, which is now in ruins, 

 had a facade 150 feet long. It was built entirely of 

 fine marble, with a compact grain, and susceptible 

 of the finest polish ; and the Abbe Fortis supposed 

 that those blocks of marble had been taken from some 

 Roman building. 



The permission to build a caravansera, has always 

 been considered in Turkey as a mark of distinction. 

 At one time, however, this privilege was bestowed 

 only upon the mothers and sisters of the sultans, and 

 upon the viziers and bashaws who had gained three 

 victories over the Christians. For an account of se- 

 veral of the caravanseras in Persia, see Morier's Jour- 

 ney through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor, p. 81, 

 153, 154, 272; and Jackson's Account if Morocco, 

 p. 131. and 256. () 



CARAUSIUS. See BRITAIN, p. 565. 



CARBON. See CHARCOAL and CHEMISTRY. 



CARBONATES. See CHEMISTRY, p. 78. 



CARBONIC ACID. See CHEMISTRY. 



CARBURET. See CHEMISTRY. 



CARCASS, is the name of a hollow body, con- 

 taiuing combustible matter, and thrown from mor- 



