The famous city of Mecha or Mecca is populous and well built, in a round
form, having six thousand houses as well built as those in Rome, some of
which have cost three or four thousand pieces of gold. It has no walls,
being protected or fortified as it were on all sides by mountains, over
one of which, about two furlongs from the city, the road is cut by which
we descended into the plain below; but there are three other entries
through the mountains. It is under the dominion of a sultan, one of four
brethren of the progeny of Mahomet, who is subject to the Soldan of
Egypt, but his other three brothers are continually at war with him. On
the 18th day of May, descending from the before-mentioned road obliquely
into the plain, we came to Mecca by the north side. On the south side of
the city there are two mountains very near each other, having a very
narrow intervening valley, which is the way leading to Mecca on that
side. To the east there in a similar valley between two other mountains,
by which is the road to a mountain where they sacrifice to the
patriarchs Abraham and Isaac, which hill or mount is ten or twelve miles
from Mecca, and is about three stone throws in height, being all of a
stone as hard as marble, yet is not marble. On the top of this mount is
a temple or mosque, built after their manner, having three entrances. At
the foot of the mountain are two great cisterns, which preserve water
free from corruption: one of these is reserved for the camels belonging
to the caravan of Cairo, and the other for that of Damascus. These
cisterns are filled by rain water, which is brought from a great way
off. We shall speak afterwards of the sacrifices performed at this
mountain, and must now return to Mecca.

On our arrival we found the caravan from Memphis, or Babylon of Egypt,
which had arrived eight days before us, coming by a different way, and
consisted of 64,000 camels, with a guard of an hundred Mamelukes. This
city of Mecca is assuredly cursed of God, for it is situated in a most