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The form of the houses consists always of a square 
court, of which two, three, or all four sides are surround- 
ed by a gallery. A very narrow room of the length of 
this gallery runs parallel with it; but these rooms have 
generally no windows, nor any other opening than the 
door in the middle which opens on the gallery; hence 
all their dwellings are dark and badly aired. The roofs 
of the houses are flat, and covered with the same kind 
of plaister as the floors of the rooms. 
The walls are made of lime, plaister, and stones, but 
more commonly of a kind of greasy clay beat up with 
water. In order to erect such a wall two planks are placed 
perpendicularly with a sufficient space between them, 
into which is thrown the clay kneaded with water till it 
has acquired the consistency of paste. Two men then 
beat it down between the two planks with their clubs; 
they accompany their works with songs, to which their 
clubs beat time. The difficulty of procuring strong 
beams obliges them to construct very narrow rooms, in 
order to make the small wood of the country answer 
their purpose. They put over it a bed of reeds, which 
they cover with plaister about a foot thick; this heavy 
ceiling crushes the dwelling, and seldom lasts long. 
The doors are of a very clumsy construction, and 
most of the locks at Tangier are made of wood. 
The use of sewers and other important conveniences 
is almost unknown there. 
The architecture of the mosques is as rude as that of 
the houses. The principal mosque is composed of a 
yard surrounded by arcades, and opposite its gate are 
several rows of parallel arches. The front is entirely 
plain, and the minaret is placed at the left corner. The 
arches and the roof are very low; the timber work, which 
is very clumsy, is open, and the construction in general 
Of this building very indifferent. 
