214 HEJAZ. 



This is enclosed by a semicircular wall (called El 

 Hatim) about three or four feet from the side of 

 the Kaaba. It is built of solid stone, five feet in 

 height and four thick, cased all over with white 

 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 lighted 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 Haj- 

 ra 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 

 itis studded with nails of the same metal. Thesurface 

 is undulated, and seems composed of about a dozen 

 smaller stones of different sizes and shapes, but per- 

 fectly smooth, and well joined with a small quantity 

 of cement. It looks as if the whole had been dash- 

 ed into many pieces by a severe concussion, and 

 then reunited ; an appearance that may perhaps 



