87 
about a foot broad. The part of the stone that is not 
covered by the silver at the angle is almost a semi- 
circle, six inches in height, by eight inches six lines 
diameter at its base. 
We believe that this miraculous stone was a trans- 
parent hyacinth, brought from heaven to Abraham 
by the angel Gabriel, as a pledge of his divinity; and, 
being touched by an impure woman, became black 
and opaque. 
This stone is a fragment of volcanic basalts, which 
is sprinkled throughout its circumference with small 
pointed coloured crystals, and varied with red felds- 
path, upon a dark black ground like coal, except one 
of its protuberances, which is a little reddish. 
The continual kisses and touchings of the faithful 
have worn the surface uneven, so that it now has a 
muscular appearance. It has nearly fifteen muscles 3 
and one deep hollow. 
Upon comparing the borders of the stone that are 
covered and secured by the silver with the uncovered 
part, I found the latter had lost nearly twelve lines of 
its thickness; from whence we may infer, that if the 
stone was smooth and even in the time of the Prophet^ 
it has lost a line during each succeeding age. 
The interior of the Kaaba consists only of a hall § 
which is raised above the outside plane, the same 
height as the door. 
Two columns, of less than two feet diameter, placed 
in the middle, support the roof of it, of which I cannot 
describe the form within, because it was covered with 
a magnificent cloth that hid it. This cloth also covered 
the walls and the columns, from the top to within five 
feet of the pavement of the hall. The cloth was of a 
rose-coloured silk, sprinkled with flowers embroider- 
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