'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎603] (696/905)

CHAP. XXIII.]
THE BEIT ULLAH.
603
about 100,000 to the permanent inhabitants, who are between Trade.
25,000 and 30,000 souls. 1 During the pilgrimage, the town
is enlivened by well-stored shops in every quarter, and the city
becomes an immense fair, in which coffee, myrrh, incense, and
other products of Arabia, are exchanged for the richest and
most valuable commodities of Persia, India, and Europe, to the
amount of several millions of dollars. The appearance of the
city, at other times, is sombre ; no trees or gardens cheer the eye,
and there are but few khans, baths, serais, or even mosques.
There are but few cisterns for collecting rain; the well Scarcity of
water is brackish, and during the pilgrimage sweet water water '
becomes an absolute scarcity. 2 At other times the city is chie-fly
supplied by a conduit coming from the vicinity of Arafat, a
distance of six hours ; this extensive work was constructed by
Zebeyda, wife of Harun-el-Rashid.
In the widest part of the valley stands the famous Beit Beit uiiah.
Ullah (House of God), once called El Belkat, 3 which, like the
edifice at Medina, is chiefly remarkable for the monument it
contains. 4
The ka'bah is so called from its form being nearly a cube. Description of
(kaab). It is a massive structure of gray Mekkah stone, nearly e a a •
44 feet long by 35 feet wide, and from 35 to 40 feet high,
with a flat roof, supported by two columns, between which are
hundreds of lamps hung in festoons. The only entrance is on
the north side, by a door coated with silver, about seven feet
from the ground, and this is opened but two or three times in
the year. 5 The interior consists of one apartment, whose walls,
columns, and ceiling, are covered with red embroidered silk
reaching to within five feet of the floor, which is of marble.
Near the entrance, at the north-east corner, and four or five
feet above the ground, is the famous black stone, which is not
solid, but composed of some dozen pieces cemented together,
and strengthened by a band of silver studded with silver
nails. 6
1 Burckhardt's Travels in Arabia, vol. I., p. 242. 8 Ibid., p. 194.
3 Arabic MS., 7504, in the British Museum.
* Burckhardt's Travels in Arabia, vol. I., p. 243. s Ibid., p. 249.
6 Ibid., pp. 249, 250.
4 H 2