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»pen,butare frequented only by men. Even there the 
Mussulman character of gravity is strictly observed* 
Being obliged to fast all the day, they wait with im- 
patience for the hour of Mogareb, or sun-set; and upon 
the first summons of El-mudden, or the crier, from the 
top of the minaret, every one gets into motion, and re- 
pairs the fast, by eating immediately a kind of thick 
gruel or paste, made of flour, with some honey, sugar, 
or any other seasoning that may be liked. This is very 
nourishing. They then say their prayers, and after- 
wards begin their dinner. Some eat three or four times 
in the nis;ht. For mv own part, I took onlv some tea, 
and in the morning before dawn some of this gruel, and 
a little couscussou. 
Rich people hardly Feel the fast of Ramadan, for they 
sleep all the day, and in the night they make up abun- 
dantly for the privations of the day; so that they only 
change the periods of their daily enjoyments. But for 
the lower classes this fast is a real penance. As they 
have to get their subsistence by the labour of the day; 
they cannot elude the rigour of the precept by chang- 
ing their hours. This fast of Ramadan is so strictly 
observed, that a Mussulman who breaks it, without any 
legal cause, and especially if in the presence of witnes- 
ses, would be deemed to deserve death as an infidel. 
As the Arabian months are lunar, and as every month 
begins from the moment that the new moon is discov- 
ered, the Mahometans are very attentive in observing 
the sky. Hence they have on this subject a peculiar 
bold and very piercing sight. Very often they showed 
me the spot where they saw the new moon, without my 
being able to observe any thing like it, till by looking 
through my telescope I discovered that they were not 
mistaken. It is sufficient that two witnesses declare before 
