122 CIVIL HISTORY AND 



and a camel's load costs two crowns. There is a 

 partial supply of pit-coal, and even peat is used, but 

 of so bad a quality as to require a mixture of straw 

 to make it burn. The castle contains a mint, and a 

 series of prisons for persons of different ranks. It 

 is the residence of several princes of the blood. 

 The battery consisted, when Niebuhr visited it, of 

 seven iron cannons, partly buried in the sand and 

 partly mounted upon broken carriages ; and these, 

 with six others near the gates, which are fired on 

 festival-days, were all the artillery of the metropolis 

 of Yemen. 



The first Europeans that visited the court of Sa- 

 naa were the deputation of a company of French 

 merchants of St. Malo engaged in the coffee-trade, 

 during their second expedition in 1711 and the two 

 following years. The residence of the imams was 

 then at Mohaib or Mouab, a small town to the north 

 of Sanaa, and eight days' journey from Mocha. It 

 was built by the sovereign then on the throne, Mo- 

 hammed, who was involved in perpetual wars ; and 

 appeared remarkable for nothing but its palace, which 

 consisted of two large wings three stories high. The 

 walls and most part of the houses were of mud. 



That prince is described as an old man, eighty- 

 seven years of age, of a complexion inclining to 

 tawny, and an agreeable aspect. In his dress he 

 maintained the greatest simplicity, never wearing 

 any other habit than a fine cloth of a green or yellow 

 colour, without any ornament. His legs and feet 

 were bare, with the exception of slippers after the 

 Turkish fashion. The only mark of distinction was 

 a kind of veil of white silk over his turban, which 

 covered his head, and, falling down before, was tied 

 under his chin like a woman's hood. The same 

 plainness and modesty of attire were observed in 

 the courtiers and other officers of the household. 

 The grandees never approached him without taking 

 hold of his right hand, which was laid upon his 



