[p.105] carved, or gaudily painted. Before them hang blinds made of
slight reeds, which exclude flies and gnats while they admit fresh air.
Every house has its terrace, the floor of which (composed of a
preparation from lime-stone) is built with a slight inclination, so that
the rain-water runs off through gutters into the street; for the rains
here are so irregular that it is not worth while to collect the water of
them in cisterns, as is done in Syria. The terraces are concealed from
view by slight parapet walls; for throughout the east it is reckoned
discreditable that a man should appear upon the terrace, whence he might
be accused of looking at women in the neighbour-ing houses, as the
females pass much of their time on the terraces, employed in various
domestic occupations, such as drying corn, hanging up linen, &c. The
Europeans of Aleppo alone enjoy the privilege of frequenting their
terraces, which are often beautifully built of stone; here they resort
during the summer evenings, and often to sup and pass the night. All the
houses of the Mekkawys, except those of the principal and richest
inhabitants, are constructed for the accommodation of lodgers, being
divided into many apart-ments, separated from each other, and each
consisting of a sitting-room and a small kitchen. Since the pilgrimage,
which has begun to decline, (this happened before the Wahaby conquest,)
many of the Mekkawys, no longer deriving profit from the letting of
their lodgings, found themselves unable to afford the expense of
repairs; and thus numerous buildings in the out-skirts have fallen
completely into ruin, and the town itself exhibits in every street
houses rapidly decaying. I saw only one of recent construction; it was
in the quarter of El Shebeyka, belonged to a sherif, and cost, as report
said, one hundred and fifty purses; such a house might have been built
at Cairo for sixty purses.

The streets are all unpaved; and in summer time the sand and dust in