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tachcd entirely to the service of the temple, live upon 
the alms and gifts of the pilgrims. 
Such are their resources. Deplorable opulence! 
which has stamped upon their countenances the mark 
of the extreme misery that surrounds them. 
An Arab is by nature generally thin; but those of 
Mecca, and above all those that serve in the temple, 
seem absolutely walking skeletons, clothed with a 
parchment that covers their bones. I must own I Was 
struck with astonishment when I saw them for the first 
time upon my arrival. What I have advanced may be 
perhaps considered as an exaggeration; but I protest 
to the truth of my assertions; and may also add, that 
it is impossible, without seeing them, to form an idea 
of an assemblage of such lean and scraggy -looking 
men, as all of them are, with the exception of the chief 
of Zemzem, who is the only person that is at all lusty, 
and two or three eunuchs, a little less thin than the 
others. It appears even impossible that these skeletons, 
or shadows, should be able to stand so long as they 
do, when we reflect upon their large sunk eyes; slen- 
der noses; cheeks hollow to the bones; legs and arms 
absolutely shrivelled up; ribs, veins, and nerves, in no 
better state; and the whole of their frame so wasted, 
that they might be mistaken for true anatomical mo- 
dels. Such is the frightful appearance of these unhappy 
creatures, that it is painful to be obliged to look at 
them. This is the existence which these servants of 
the temple enjoy; but the pleasures that await them in 
Paradise are preferable to all the riches of the earth. 
There are no people more dull and melancholy than 
these. I never once heard the sound of a musical in- 
strument or song during the whole of my stay, that 
was executed by a man; but my ears were struck 
