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me to believe that both these cities, Horns and Ha ma, 
were only villages, a little larger than the others. 
There are many houses entirely built of stone; the 
greater number, however, have only the lower part so 
constructed, whilst the upper part is of brick work 
covered with white marl. There are several in the outer 
suburbs which are crowned with conical cupolas as at 
Damascus. 
The streets are in general narrow and irregular; but 
the principal ones which form the bazars, are tolerably 
straight and wide, several of them are entirely covered 
over. 
The bazars are numerous, and abundantly furnished 
with provisions and merchandize. The crowd of per- 
sons in them is sometimes immense. There are several 
handsome and well frequented coffee-houses, and many 
mosques with lofty minarets; but all those which I 
visited, are small, being composed only of a narrow 
court, with a fountain or reservoir of water in the mid- 
die, a range or two of arches resting upon pillars, 
where the mehreb or the niche for the Imaum is placed, 
as well as the monbar or the tribune for the Friday 
prayer. 
The river, over which are two bridges, forms a most 
interesting picture. It is enclosed between houses and 
charming gardens. Its water bounds in cascades over 
numerous dikes, placed one above another across the 
river. The intention of these embankments or dikes, is 
to direct the water upon several hydraulic wheels, some 
of which are nearly thirty-two feet in diameter. These 
wheels serve to raise water from the river, and are so 
well constructed, that far from producing the noise and 
the tiresome clacking, which arise generally from ma- 
chines of this kind, they emit, on the contrary, ex- 
