[P.179] closer in texture than the black exterior cover. The old
hangings, which had been up for more than twenty years, were now
publicly sold to devotees at the rate of about one dollar for a
piece of six inches square. The right of offering these hangings
was in the person who gave the exterior kessoua, though exceptions
sometimes occurred, as in A.H. 865, when Shah Rokh, king of Persia,
sent a magnificent covering for the interior. [See Kotobeddyn.]
Before the gate called Bab-es-Salam is a shop where pieces both of the
exterior and interior coverings are constantly for sale: those of the
latter are most esteemed. I have seen waistcoats made of them, which, of
course, are reckoned the safest coat of mail that one of the faithful
can wear. In the same shop are sold drawings of Mekka and Medina, done
in a coarse and most gaudy style upon paper or linen, and small
impressions of prayers, &c. from engravings on wood. I bought some of
these, for the same purpose as the Zemzem bottles which I took front
hence.
[p.180] REMARKS ON THE INHABITANTS OF MEKKA AND DJIDDA.
MEKKA and Djidda are inhabited by the same class of people; and their
character and customs are the same. I have already remarked that all the
rich Mekkawys have houses at Djidda, and that the commercial employments
of the two cities are alike.
