Some Turkish Soldiers Now Live
In The House, Which Is Already Half Ruined By Them.
A public fountain of
sweet water, no longer in use, with a pretty cupola built over it,
stands on one side of the garden; on the other is a large well of
brackish water:
Many such are dispersed over the Moabede.
The road from Mekka, eastward, towards Arafat and Tayf, passes by this
house; at a short distance beyond it the valley widens, and here the
Egyptian Hadj establishes its encampment, part of which generally
stretches over the plain towards the birket. Formerly, the Syrian
caravan used to encamp at the same place. Between the garden-house and
the palace or barrack just mentioned, the aqueduct of Mekka is conducted
above ground for about one hundred paces, in a channel of stone,
plaistered on the inside, and rising four feet above the surface. This
is the only place in the valley of Mekka where it is visible.
As soon as we pass these extreme precincts of Mekka, the Desert presents
itself; for neither gardens, trees, nor pleasure-houses, line the
avenues to the town, which is surrounded on every side by barren sandy
valleys, and equally barren hills. A stranger placed on the great road
to Tayf, just beyond the turn of the hill, in the immediate
neigh-bourhood of the Sherif's garden-house, would think himself as far
removed from human society as if he were in the midst of the Nubian
Desert. But this may be wholly ascribed to the apathy of the
inhabitants, and their indifference for agricultural pursuits.
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