196 HEJAZ. 



lay freely about them in cases of quarrels or riots. 

 Their number exceeds forty, and most of them are 

 negroes or copper-coloured Indians. The aga is a 

 personage of great importance, entitled to sit in the 

 presence of the pasha and the sheriff. 



The revenue of the mosque is considerable, al- 

 though it has been deprived of the best branches of 

 its income. There are few towns or districts in the 

 Turkish empire in which it does not possess prop- 

 erty in land or houses ; but the annual amount is 

 often withheld by the provincial governors, or dimin- 

 ished by the number of hands through which it 

 passes. Formerly the sultans of Egypt and Con- 

 stantinople sent it large sums every year ; but at 

 present it is reduced to a state of comparative pov- 

 erty. Notwithstanding the stories about its riches, 

 it possesses no treasures except a few golden lamps. 

 The history of the Beitullah has occupied the pens 

 of many learned Arabs ; but in its construction it 

 differs little from many other buildings of the same 

 kind in Asia. Those of Aleppo, Damascus, and 

 Cairo are exactly on the same plan, with an arched 

 colonnade round an open square. 



The inhabitants of Mecca may all be called for- 

 eigners or the offspring of foreigners, except a few 

 Hejaz Bedouins or their descendants, who have set- 

 tled there. Though a mixed population, they have 

 nearly the same manners, and wear the same dress ; 

 so little tenacious are they of their national cus- 

 toms. There are few families in moderate circum- 

 stances that do not keep slaves ; the male and female 

 servants are negroes ; and most of the wealthier in- 

 habitants, in addition to their lawful wives, keep 

 Abyssinian mistresses. It is considered disgraceful 

 to sell a concubine : if she bears a child, and the 

 master has not already four legally-married wives, 

 he takes her in matrimony ; if not, she remains in 

 liis house for life ; and in some instances the num- 

 ber of concubines, old and young, is increased to 



