MECCA. 203 



smiths, who make small vessels for the hajjis to 

 carry away some of the Zemzem water ; but not a 

 man is to be found capable of engraving an inscrip- 

 tion, or fabricating a lock and key. All the doors 

 are fastened with large wooden bolts ; and the skill 

 of the cutler is only adequate to the manufacture 

 of matchlocks, lances, and halberds, which are 

 forged in the rudest manner ; a hole in the ground 

 serving for a furnace, and one or two goat-skins, 

 waved before the fire, supplying the place of bel- 

 lows. The swords, watches, and other hardware to 

 be found in the bazars are imported from Europe. 

 In different shops are sold strings of coral and false 

 pearls, rosaries made of aloe, sandal, or kalambar 

 wood, brilliant necklaces of cut carnelions, seals, 

 rings, and similar jewelry ; but all these are kept 

 by Indian merchants. Here, too, are to be seen 

 grocers, druggists, tobacconists, haberdashers, san- 

 dal-makers, and a great many dealers in old clothes. 

 There are a few large flour-mills worked by horses ; 

 but the common practice is to use hand-mills, which 

 are usually turned by women or the slaves of the 

 family. 



It cannot be expected that learning can flourish 

 in a place where every mind is occupied in the 

 search of gain or of paradise ; and in this respect 

 Mecca is perhaps inferior to any city of equal popu- 

 lation in the East. The whole knowledge of the 

 inhabitants is confined to reading the Koran, and 

 writing but indifferently. There are no public libra- 

 ries, and not a single school or seminary ; the mosque 

 being the only place where boys are taught the ele- 

 mentary parts of education. Children from their 

 infancy learn to repeat prayers and ceremonies ; but 

 this is merely to make money by officiating as guides 

 to the pilgrims. The crafts of bookselling and book- 

 binding are of course unknown. The language of 

 the Meccawees, however, is still more pure and ele- 

 gant, both in phraseology and pronunciation, than 



