130 CIVIL HISTORY AND 



huts, farnished mereh- with a sevir, or long bench of 

 straw ropes; nor do they afford any refreshment 

 hut kischer^ a hot infusion of coffee-beans, or some- 

 times millet-cakes with camePs milk and butter. 

 The kischer is served out in coarse earthen cups ; 

 wheaten-bread was a rarity in the province, and the 

 water was scarce and bad. The owner or master 

 of the inn generally resides in some neighbouring 

 village, whence he comes daily to wait for passen- 

 gers. Another description of coffee-houses is the 

 ma?isale, where travellers are received and enter- 

 tained gratuitously, if they will be content with the 

 usual fare of the country. The guests are all lodged 

 in one common apartment, which is served and 

 furnished in the same homely style as the mokeias. 

 The city of Beit el Fakih (or House of the Sage) 

 derived its name and origin from a famous saint, 

 Achmed ibn Mousa, whose sepulchre is shown in a 

 handsome mosque near the town. His reputation 

 for miraculous cures was as celebrated as that of 

 any martyr or confessor in the Romish calendar. 

 One of his most wonderful performances was the 

 liberation of a Turkish pasha who had been for 

 twenty years a captive in Spain, where he was bound 

 in a dungeon to two huge stones, with ponderous 

 and massy chains. Long and in vain had he invoked 

 every canonized name in the annals of Islam ; but 

 when the aid of Achmed was solicited, the compas- 

 sionate saint stretched his hand from the tomb, and 

 at this signal the pasha instantly arrived from Spain, 

 carrying with him both fetters and stones, to the 

 great amazement of the inhabitants of Beit el Fakih, 

 who were then met to celebrate the anniversary fes- 

 tival of their ghostl}^ patron. The city contains 

 little of an interesting nature. The houses stand 

 separate from each other ; many of them are built 

 of stone, others of mud mixed with dung. The sur- 

 rounding plain, though not fertile, is well cultivated ; 

 and the authority of the resident dowlah extends 



