of these quarters the next day.

Prince Houssain could not view this quarter without admiration.
It was large, divided into several streets, all vaulted and
shaded from the sun, but yet very light. The shops were all of
the same size and proportion; and all who dealt in the same sort
of goods, as well as all the artists of the same profession,
lived in one street.

The number of shops stocked with all kinds of merchandizes, such
as the finest linens from several parts of India, some painted in
the most lively colours, and representing men, landscapes, trees,
and flowers; silks and brocades from Persia, China, and other
places; porcelain from Japan and China; foot carpets of all
sizes; surprised him so much, that he knew not how to believe his
eyes: but when he came to the shops of the goldsmiths and
jewellers (for those two trades were exercised by the same
merchants), he was in a kind of ecstasy, at beholding such
prodigious quantities of wrought gold and silver, and was dazzled
by the lustre of the pearls, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and
other precious stones exposed to sale. But if he was amazed at
seeing so many treasures in one place, he was much more surprised
when he came to judge of the wealth of the whole kingdom, by
considering, that except the brahmins, and ministers of the
idols, who profess a life retired from worldly vanity, there was
not an Indian, man or woman, through the extent of the kingdom,
but wore necklaces, bracelets, and ornaments about their legs and
feet, made of pearls, and precious stones, which appeared with
the greater lustre, as they were blacks, which colour admirably
set off their brilliancy.