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account that they bury the hair which comes from their 
heads when they comb them, so that no one may see 
it. They do the same when they cut their nails. There 
are many of the men who share this superstition; but 
the Wehhabites think very differently; for at the period 
of their pilgrimage I saw them shaved in the street; 
and the place they had occupied was so covered with 
hair, that it would have been very easy to have stuffed 
a mattress; but all of it was short, being no more than 
about an inch in length. 
It was on this account that I could not mend my 
hygrometer; but the air was in general in a state of 
dryness during my stay. The wind blew from the 
south-west, with some intervals of calms. I always 
made my observations upon the upper wind, observing 
the direction of the clouds; because the lower wind, 
modified incessantly by the mountains which surround 
the city, deceived the observer. It was upon this ac- 
count, when there were no clouds, vapours, or smoke, 
at a certain height, to point out to me the current of 
the upper wind, I could not make any note in my ta- 
bles of meteorological observations. 
During the time I was at Mecca, the sky was alter- 
nately serene and cloudy, as in temperate climates; 
but I did not remark the abrupt and terrible changes 
in the temperature, from dry to humid, which I wit- 
nessed at Djedda. 
The climate appears wholesome, for there are not 
many sick or chronical complaints there; but, to com- 
pensate for this, there are not many old men to be 
seen, few at least of a very advanced age. Some are 
blind, but none with the ophthalmia, so common in 
Egypt. 
It may be imagined, after what I hay£ said, how 
