54 HYPOCRISY. 



with leaves of the palm-tree, fastened down by the 

 common string of the country, made of the leaf of 

 the doom palm split and twisted by the hand into a 

 strong rope ; a small fence of stones, two or three 

 feet high, enclosed in front a little semicircular 

 court, in which were planted four palm-trees, two on 

 each side of the entrance. In this court, squatting 

 under the shade of the trees, or idly lounging upon 

 the top of the wall, were collected all the idlers of 

 the town; and as these, besides gossiping and dozing, 

 were particularly attentive to the daily prayers and 

 ablutions as prescribed in the Koran, I had not a 

 doubt that thev were the worst characters in Ta- 

 jourah, for I never met among the Mahomedans a 

 strict observer of the stated hours and forms of 

 prayer, but I always found him to be crafty, design- 

 ing, and treacherous. The only man I ever met 

 with during my subsequent journey, who deli- 

 berately, and for days, watched for an opportunity 

 to assassinate me, was one of these pharisaical 

 rascals, who always chose the largest boulder or 

 detached piece of rock he could find, on which to 

 exalt himself above every one else during the per- 

 formance of his prostrations or prayers. 



Two other mosques, the only stone buildings in Ta- 

 jourah, were much inferior in size to the one I have 

 just described, being but a foot or two higher than 

 the devotees; the roofs were flat, and a white lime- 

 wash, prepared from the roasted shell coral reef 

 behind the town, slacked with water, had been 



