206 HEJAZ. 



their framework elaborately carved, or painted with 

 brilliant colours. In front hang blinds made of 

 slight reeds,, which exclude flies and gnats while they 

 admit fresh air. The doors are generally approached 

 by a few steps, and have small seats on each side. 



The city is open on every side ; though in former 

 times its extremities were protected by three walls, 

 ruins of which are still visible. Except four or 

 five large palaces belonging to the sheriff, two col- 

 leges, and the great mosque, it cannot boast of any 

 public edifices ; and in this respect it is perhaps 

 more deficient than any other Oriental town of the 

 same size. Nearly all the common houses are di- 

 vided into small apartments, for the accommodation 

 of lodgers during the pilgrimage. The terraces on 

 the roof are concealed from view by slight parapet- 

 walls ; for, throughout the East, it is reckoned dis- 

 creditable for a man to appear where he might be 

 accused of looking at the women, who pass the greater 

 part of their time on the terraces, employed in hang- 

 ing up linen, drying corn, and various domestic oc- 

 cupations. The streets being sandy and un paved are 

 disagreeable in summer, and equally so from mud 

 in the rainy season, during which they are scarcely 

 passable ; and the lower parts of the town, where 

 the water does not run off, are converted into pools, 

 and allowed to remain till they dry. 



The police of the city is badly regulated: as 

 there are no lamps, the streets are totally dark, 

 and encumbered with the rubbish and sweepings 

 cast from the houses. The inhabitants are but 

 poorly supplied with water ; the best is conveyed 

 from the vicinity of Arafat, six or seven hours dis- 

 tant, by an aqueduct of vast labour and magnitude, 



