275 
for example, half a dozen fowls may be had for a 
Spanish piastre. The bread commonly eaten is a sort of 
bad cake, but there is some very good bread to be had; 
good vegetables, herbs, and fruits, are in abundanee, 
though they are all produced rather late in the season. 
The meat is of an excellent quality. As to water, the 
inhabitants are obliged to drink the rain water, which 
is preserved in the cisterns of the Haram and of the 
private houses. The spring, which is nearly at the bot- 
tom of the Torrent of Cedron, is used for watering the 
cattle and for irrigation; but the inhabitants have also 
recourse to it for domestic uses, when the scarcity of 
rain causes the cisterns to be empty. 
This capital forms a kind of centre between Arabia, 
Egypt, and Syria, and is a point of re- union for the 
Arabs of those three countries, who go to Jerusalem to 
carry on their commerce of exchange. The principal 
branch of commerce in Palestine consists in the ex- 
portation of oil; but on the other hand, rice, which is 
the chief article of the food of the inhabitants, cannot be 
cultivated in the country, on account of the scarcity of 
water. They are obliged to import it from Egypt, and 
this importation countervails the advantages of, the ex- 
portation of the oils. 
The weights, measures, and money are the same as 
those of Turkey. The Spanish piastre is worth four and 
a half Turkish piastres, or 180 paras. 
Horses are scarce, and of an inferior breed; but there 
is a great number of mules, small indeed in shape, but 
very serviceable. The asses are small, like those of 
Arabia and Egypt, but not so good. There are but few 
camels. 
There is a great diversity of costume, every body 
adopting that which he likes best, whether Arab, Syri- 
