A Sect Of "Light-
-Extinguishers" Is Said To Exist In India, As Well As In Mesopotamia,
And To Them The Ismayleys Of Syria And Those Of Mekka May, Perhaps,
Belong.
Those whom I saw at Mekka have rather the features of Persians
than of Indians, and are taller and stouter men than Indians in
general.
[The people here mentioned by our author were probably some
Parsees from Surat or Bombay.]
About the middle of the Soueyga, where the street is only four paces in
breadth, are stone benches on each side. Here Abyssinian male and female
slaves are exposed for sale; and as beauty is an universal attraction,
these benches are always surrounded by hadjys, both old and young, who
often pretend to bargain with the dealers, for the purpose of viewing
the slave-girls, during a few moments, in some adjoining apartment. Many
of these slaves are carried from hence to the northern parts of Turkey.
The price of the handsomest was from one hundred and ten to one hundred
and twenty dollars.
At the extremity of the Soueyga, the street is covered with a high
vaulted roof of stone, supported on each side by several massy
buildings, serving as warehouses to the wealthy merchants; they were the
work of one Mohammed, Pasha of Damascus, who lived several centuries
ago, and now belong to the mosque. This, being the coolest spot in the
town during mid-day, is on that account the most frequented. In the
Soueyga all the gentlemen hadjys take their morning and evening lounge,
and smoke their pipes.
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of 182297
