204 HEJAZ. 



that of any other town where Arabic is spoken. It 

 approaches nearest to the oldvv^ritten Arabic, and is 

 free from those affectations and perversions of the 

 original sense which abound in other provinces. As 

 the sciences form no lucrative profession, they are 

 in consequence totally neglected. The astronomer 

 of the mosque learns to know the exact time of the 

 sun's passing the meridian, to regulate the hours 

 of prayer ; and the few druggists, or venders of 

 medicine, deal in nothing but miraculous balsams 

 and infallible elixirs ; their potions are all sweet and 

 agreeable, while the musk or aloes-wood, which 

 they burn in their sliops, diffuses a delicious odour 

 that tends to establish their reputation. 



As for the number of inhabitants in Mecca, trav- 

 ellers have found it very difficult to calculate with 

 any degree of certainty ; registers are never kept, 

 and even the amount of houses is not ascertained. 

 In former times it is said to have contained more 

 than 100,000 souls ; and when sacked by the Kar- 

 mathian chief in 936, his ferocious soldiers are sup- 

 posed to have put more than 30,000 to the sword. 

 Ali Bey reckoned that it did not shelter more than 

 from 16,000 to 18,000; Burckhardt, a later • author^ 

 ity, gives as the result of his inquiries, for the popu- 

 lation of the city and suburbs between 25,000 and 

 30,000 stationary inhabitants, besides from 2000 to 

 4000 Abyssinians and black slaves. The dwellings, 

 however, are capable of containing three times that 

 number, some quarters of the suburbs being entirely 

 deserted and in ruins ; so that, unless the zeal of the 

 hajjis revive, the capital of Islam must gradually 

 sink into decay. 



