wisdom and purity which he gradually acquired.

Finally, in April, 1326, our traveler reached Alexandria, the first
strange city which impressed him by its size and splendor. 'Alexandria,'
says he, 'is a jewel whereof the brilliancy is manifest--a virgin which
sparkles with her ornaments. She illumines the Occident with her
splendor: she unites the most diverse beauties, on account of her
situation midway between the Rising and the Setting.' At that time the
celebrated Pharos was still standing, and the following description of
it, though not very clear, will interest the reader: 'It is a square
edifice, which towers into the air. Its gate is raised above the surface
of the earth, and opposite to it there is an edifice of similar height,
which serves to support planks, across which one must wait to arrive at
the gate of the Pharos. When these planks are taken away, there is no
means of crossing. Inside of the entrance is a space where the guardian
of the edifice is stationed. The interior of the Pharos contains many
apartments. Each of its four sides is a hundred and forty spans in
length. The building is situated on a high hill, one parasang from the
city, and on a tongue of land which the sea surrounds on three sides.
One can therefore only reach the Pharos from the land side, by leaving
the city. I directed my course towards the Pharos a second time, on my
return to the West, in the year 1349, and I found that its ruin was
complete, so that one could neither enter, nor even reach the gate.'

Commencing with Alexandria, Ibn Batuta is careful, in every city which
he visits, to give an account of the distinguished _shekhs_ or _imams_,
with characteristic anecdotes of their saintly or miraculous lives. The
value and interest of these sketches reconcile us to the brevity of his
descriptions. He tells us, for example, that the _kadi_ (judge) of
Alexandria, who was likewise a master of the art of eloquence, 'covered