GOVERNMENT OF ARABIA. ] 39 



gates, and a number of mosques, some of which 

 were erected by the Turkish pashas. The public 

 baths are only twelve ; but there are several noble 

 edifices built in the Arabian style. No less than 

 three palaces were erected by the Imam Mahadi : 

 these are constructed partly of brick, and partly of 

 hewn stone; but they must not be judged, in point 

 of elegance or accommodation, by the standard of 

 European taste. Only one of them could boast the 

 luxury of glass windows, though they are provided 

 with extensive gardens. Some of the principal in- 

 habitants have in their country-houses small panes 

 of stained glass brought from Venice. In the city 

 the windows have merely shutters, which are closed 

 in time of rain, and the house is then lighted by a 

 round wicket fitted with a piece of Muscovy glass. 



Here, as in most other places in the East, there 

 are large simseras or caravansaries for merchants 

 and travellers ; as also separate bazaars for wood, 

 coal, iron, grapes, corn, butter, salt, bread, and 

 the bartering of old clothes for new. The other 

 trades, including all who traffic in the merchandise 

 of India, Persia, and Turkey, as well as those who 

 deal in all sorts of spices and drugs ; the fruiterers, 

 carpenters, smiths, shoemakers, saddlers, tailors, 

 stone-cutters, goldsmiths, barbers, cooks, and writ- 

 ers or scribes, have each their respective stand in 

 the open street, with their little portable shops. 

 Jews are not permitted to live in the city ; they re- 

 side, to the number of about 2000, in a village in 

 the suburbs. They are treated with great contempt ; 

 yet the best artisans in Arabia are of this nation, 

 especially potters and goldsmiths, who come within 

 the walls by day to work in their little shops, and in 



