MECCA. 189 



marble, and inscribed with prayers and invocations. 

 The interior of the Kaaba consists only of a hall, 

 the floor of which is paved with the finest marble ; 

 and the lower part of the walls is ornamented with 

 inscriptions, arabesques in relief, and similar deco- 

 rations. The ceiling is supported by two columns, 

 and there is a door through which persons ascend 

 to the roof. The hall is hghted by an infinite num- 

 ber of gold lamps, and almost entirely covered with 

 cloth of a rose-coloured silk, lined with white, and 

 sprinkled with flowers embroidered with silver. 



Near the entrance, at the north-eastern corner, is 

 the famous Black Stone, called by the Moslems 

 Hajra el Assouad, or Heavenly Stone. It forms a 

 part of the sharp angle of the building, and is inserted 

 four or five feet above the ground. The shape is an 

 irregular oval, about seven inches in diameter. Its 

 colour is now a deep reddish brown, approaching to 

 black ; and it is surrounded by a border of nearly 

 the same colour, resembling a cement of pitch and 

 gravel, and from two to three inches in breadth. 

 Both the border and the stone itself are encircled 

 by a silver band, swelling to a considerable breadth 

 below, where it is studded with nails of the same 

 metal. The surface is undulated, and seems com- 

 posed of about a dozen smaller stones of different 

 sizes and shapes, but perfectly smooth, and well 

 joined with a small quantity of cement. It looks 

 as if the whole had been dashed into many pieces 

 by a severe concussion, and then reunited ; — an 

 appearance that may perhaps be explained by the 

 various disasters to which it has been exposed. 

 During the fire that occurred in the time of Yezzid I. 

 (A. D. 682), the violent heat split it into three pieces; 

 and when the fragments were replaced, it was neces- 

 sary to surround them with a rim of silver, which is 

 said to have been renewed by Haroun al Raschid. 

 It was in two pieces when the Karmathians carried 

 it away, having been broken by a blow from a soldier 



