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Here may be found the fine cloths of India and Persia; 
but the greatest part of the cloths are manufactured 
upon the spot. These articles are in such great abun- 
dance, that there are several streets of warehouses filled 
with them from one end to the other. There are reckon- 
ed more than four thousand manufacturers of silk and 
cotton stuffs at Damascus; but they do not manufac- 
ture any linens, nor indeed is flax cultivated in the 
country. 
The bazars are in general covered with wooden 
virandahs, which have windows open in the upper part. 
They have just erected a handsome one of these build- 
ings in front of the seraya. I perceived here the shop 
of an Arabian clock-maker, who was at work upon a 
time-piece. 
I believe that next to the, warehouses of silks and 
cottons, the shops of the saddlers are the most numer- 
ous, and occupy the second degree of eminence in the 
city. I remarked a great quantity of them, in some of 
which were articles of superior workmanship. These 
two branches of commerce are carried on to a great 
extent here, because Turkey, Egypt, Africa, and Ara- 
bia, consume the silks; and the articles of leather are 
bought up by the Arabs that people the vast deserts in 
the vicinity as far as Bagdad and Medina, and who 
have no market at which they can buy in preference to 
Damascus. 
The armourers form also one of the principal bodies 
of merchants, although the celebrated manufacture of 
Damascene sabres no longer exists; those which are 
now made here are not of superior temper to those of 
Turkey. Common knives are also made here. The 
sabres of the ancient manufactory pass from hand to 
hand, and are esteemed very precious. Of course the 
