narrow streets; but there are many open spaces, entirely void of buildings, and covered with sand, on which the camels of the traders remain. Many palms grow in the town, and some houses have small square enclosures, in which are cultivated a few red peppers and onions. The street of entrance is a broad space of at least a hundred yards, leading to the wall that surrounds the castle, and is extremely pretty: here the horsemen have full scope to display their abilities when they skirmish before the Sultan. The castle itself is an immense mud building, rising to the height of eighty or ninety feet, with little battlements on the walls (a fancy of the present Sultan’s ) ; and at a distance really looks warlike. Like all the other buildings, it has no pretensions to regularity: the lower walls are fifty or sixty feet in thickness; the upper taper off to about four or five feet. In consequence of the immense mass o f wall, the apartments are very small, and few in number. The rooms occupied by the Sultan are of the best quality, (that is to say, comparatively), for the walls are tolerably smooth, and white-washed, and have ornamental daubs of red paint in blotches, by way of effect. His couch is spread on the ground, and his visitors squat down on the sandy floor at a respectful distance; we, however, were always honoured by having a corner of the carpet offered to us. The best and most airy part of the castle is occupied by the women, who have small rooms round a large court, in which they take exercise) grind corn, cook, and perform other domestic offices. The number called Kibere, or great ladies, seldom exceeds six. This dignified title is generally given to the mothers of the Sultan’s children, or to those, who, having once been great favourites, are appointed governesses to the rest. There are, on the whole, about fifty young women, all black and very comely .; and from what stolen ¿lances we could obtain, they appeared extremely well dressed. 'They are guarded by five eunuchs, who keep up their authority by occasionally beating them. The Sultan has three sons and two daughters, who live with him in this cage, the doors of which are locked at night, and the keys brought to him, so that he remains free from any fear of attack. The castle is entered by a long winding passage in the wall, quite dark and very steep. At the door is a large shed, looking on a square space, capable of containing three or four hundred men closely huddled together. Under this shed is a great chair of state (once finely gilt and ornamented), with a patchwork quilt thrown over i t ; and behind it are the remains of two large looking-glasses. In this chair the Sultan receives homage every Friday, before he ascends the castle, after returning from the Mosque. This place is the Mejlees, S lv f f i and was the scene of all the cruelties practised by Mukni when he first took possession of the country. There are several pools of stagnant salt water in the town, which, I conceive, in a great measure, promote the advance of the summer fevers and agues. The burying-places are outside the walls, and are of considerable extent. In lieu of stones, small mud embankments are formed round the graves, which are ornamented with shreds of cloth tied to small sticks, with broken pots, and sometimes ostrich eggs. One of the burying-places is for slaves, who are laid very little below the surface; and in some parts the sand has been so carried away by the wind, as to expose their skeletons to view. Owing to the want of wood, no coffins are used; the bodies are merely wrapped in a mat, or linen cloth, and covered with palm branches, over which the earth is thrown. When the branches decay, the earth falls in ; and the graves are easily known by being concave instead of convex. The place where the former Sultans are buried is a plain near the town; their graves are only distinguished from those of other people by having a larger o 2
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