126 
monies of marriages and births were not accompanied 
by any feasts or rejoicings, as in other countries; and 
I myself did not see any celebrated. 
Interments take place without any ceremony. They 
carry the body to the foot of the Kaaba, where the 
faithful who are present repeat a short prayer for the 
deceased after the ordinary canonical prayer; and they 
carry away the corpse to bury it in a ditch outside the 
town. There are a number of hand-barrows for this 
purpose before one of the doors of the temple, in the 
public path; one of which is engaged by the family of 
the deceased, who place the body upon it, dressed in 
its ordinary habit, without the least ornament, or even 
the covering of a pall. After the interment they bring 
the barrow to the place from whence they took it. 
The climate of Mecca is torrid, not only on account 
of its geographical latitude, but particularly its topo- 
graphical position, in the middle of mountains. 
The greatest heat I observed during my stay was 
23 \ °* of Reaumur, on the 5th February, at sun-set; 
and the least 16°, f on the 16th of the same month, at 
seven o'clock in the morning. 
I would have mended my hygrometer, but the im- 
possibility of finding a hair prevented me. This may 
appear perhaps incredible, but it is not the less true. 
In the midst of a numerous population, in the bosom 
of a court, I could not procure one. The men have 
their heads completely shaved; and the hair of their 
beards is not good. The women, through a sort of 
superstition, would not give one of their hairs for all 
the world, because they are persuaded that they might 
be used as witchcraft against them. It is on this 
* 87 Fahrenheit. 
t 67 £ Fahrenheit. 
