222 HEJAZ. 



most of them are negroes or copper-coloured Indians. 

 The aga is a personage of great importance, entitled 

 to sit in the presence of the pasha and the sheriff. 



The revenue of the mosque is considerable, al- 

 though it has been deprived of the best branches of 

 its income. There are few towns or districts in the 

 Turkish empire in which it does not possess pro- 

 perty in land or houses ; but the annual amount is 

 often withheld by the provincial governors, or di- 

 minished by the number of hands through which it 

 passes. Formerly the sultans of Egypt and Constan- 

 tinople sent it large sums every year ; but at pre- 

 sent it is reduced to a state of comparative poverty. 

 Notwithstanding the stories about its riches, it pos- 

 sesses no treasures except a few golden lamps. The 

 history of the Beitullah has occupied the pens of 

 many learned Arabs ; but in its construction it dif- 

 fers little from many other buildings of the same kind 

 in Asia. Those of Aleppo, Damascus, and Cairo, 

 are exactly on the same plan, with an arched co- 

 lonnade round an open square. 



The inhabitants of Mecca may all be called fo- 

 reigners or the offspring of foreigners, except a few 

 Hejaz Bedouins or their descendants, who have set- 

 tled there. Though a mixed population, they have 

 nearly the same manners, and wear the same dress ; 

 so little tenacious are they of their national customs. 

 There are few families in moderate circumstances 

 that do not keep slaves ; the male and female ser- 

 vants are negroes ; and most of the wealthier in- 

 habitants, in addition to their lawful wives, keep 

 Abyssinian mistresses. It is considered disgraceful 

 to sell a concubine : if she bears a child, and the 

 master has not already four legally-married wives, 



