558 LECTURES AND ESSAYS [1880- 



stairs one reserved for the Hareem, so that the mejlis 

 might be freely accessible at all hours without risk of 

 disturbing the women of the house. In Taif, as in Mecca 

 and Jeddah, there is no system of drainage. The closets, 

 which are placed inconveniently near to the doors of 

 the chief suites of rooms, are connected with cesspools. 

 Much is left to the absorptive power of the sandy soil, 

 and when the cesspool becomes a serious nuisance, 

 the custom is simply to dig a trench in the unpaved 

 street and bury the sewage in it. Fortunately, the water 

 of the town is not exposed to contamination, as the con 

 duit of Shubra flows outside the town, and skins of water 

 are sold from house to house by negro water-carriers, 

 who are slaves. Such rubbish as cannot be discharged 

 into the cesspool is generally accumulated on the house 

 tops ; and there is a periodical clearing out, which was 

 going on briskly at the time of my visit, in preparation 

 for the summer season. The Arabs of the towns are 

 much more cleanly than the Egyptians. Their houses 

 are generally tidily kept, and fleas and bugs, which are 

 such a plague in Cairo and Syria, are seldom met with. 



An Arab town has three distinct aspects, and should 

 be seen from a distance, from the streets and from the 

 housetops. From a distance the lofty tower-like houses, 

 irregularly grouped, and presenting the most varied sky 

 line, always offer a picturesque appearance. There is a 

 lack of colour, the walls and roofs being either dust- 

 coloured or white ; but the deep shadows and strong 

 play of sunshine on the white surfaces partly compensate 

 for this defect. The minarets hardly add a feature to 

 the views, for they have no architectural pretensions, 

 and are mere slim candlesticks of stone crowned by an 

 extinguisher. When one enters the town the first im 

 pression is of universal shapelessness of a total absence 

 of the sense of proportion. The houses are like great 

 packing-cases, set down by chance in irregular groups, 

 intersected by narrow lanes. There is no attempt to 



