230 



HEJAZ. 



supplying the place of bellows. The swords, watches, 

 and other hardware to be found in the bazaars, are 

 imported from Europe. In different shops are sold 

 strings of coral and false pearls, rosaries made of 

 aloe, sandal, or kalambar wood, brilliant necklaces 

 of cut carnelions, seals, rings, and similar jewellery; 

 but all these are kept by Indian merchants. Here, 

 too, are to be seen grocers, druggists, tobacconists, 

 haberdashers, sandal-makers, and a great many deal- 

 ers in old clothes. There are a few large flour-mills 

 worked by horses ; but the common practice is to use 

 hand-mills, which are usually turned by women or 

 the slaves of the family. 



It cannot be expected that learning can flourish 

 in a place where every mind is occupied in the search 

 of gain or of paradise ; and in this respect Mecca is 

 perhaps inferior to any city of equal population in 

 the East. The whole knowledge of the inhabitants 

 is confined to reading the Koran, and writing but 

 indifferently. There are no public libraries, and 

 not a single school or seminary ; the mosque being 

 the only place where boys are taught the elementary 

 parts of education. Children from their infancy 

 learn to repeat prayers and ceremonies ; but this is 

 merely to make money by officiating as guides to 

 the pilgrims. The crafts of bookselling and book- 

 binding are of course unknown. The language of the 

 Meccawees, however, is still more pure and elegant, 

 both in phraseology and pronunciation, than that 

 of any other town where Arabic is spoken. It ap- 

 proaches nearest to the old written Arabic, and is 

 free from those affectations and perversions of the 

 original sense which abound in other provinces. As 

 the sciences form no lucrative profession, they are in 



