For The Want Of Public Buildings, However,
In The Town, A Compensation Is Made By The Number Of Pretty Private
Habitations, having small gardens, with wells, the water of which is
used in irrigation, and fills marble basins, round which,
In summer-
time, the owners pass the hours of noon under lofty sheds.
The castle, which I have mentioned above, is surrounded by very strong
walls, and several high and solid towers. I was not permitted to enter
it, on applying at the gate. It contains sufficient space for six or
eight hundred men; has many arched rooms, bomb-proof; and, if well
garrisoned, and furnished with provisions, may be deemed impregnable by
an Arabian force, as it is built upon a rock, and therefore cannot be
undermined. To European artillery, however, it would appear an
insignificant fort. It contains a deep well of good water.
[p.326] Two or three, guns only are at present mounted on its towers;
nor were there more than a dozen serviceable guns to defend the whole
town.
On the west and south of the town extend the suburbs, which cover more
ground than the town itself. They are separated from it by an open
space, narrow on the south side, but widening on the west, before the
Cairo gate, where it forms a large public place, called Monakh; a name
implying that caravans alight there, which is really the case, as it is
always crowded with camels and Bedouins. Several rows of small huts and
sheds are erected here, in which provisions are sold, principally corn,
dates, vegetables, and butter; and a number of coffee-huts, which are
beset the whole day with visiters. The side of the suburbs fronting the
Monakh has no walls; but on the outside, to the west and south, they are
enclosed by a wall, of inferior size and strength to the interior town
wall. In several parts it is completely ruined; on the south side only
it is defended by small towers. Four gates lead from the suburbs into
the open country; they are small wooden doors, of no strength, except
that leading from the Cairo gate, which is larger and better built than
the rest.
The greater part of the suburbs consists in large court-yards, with low
apartments built round them, on the ground-floor, and separated from
each other by gardens and plantations. These are called Hosh, (plur.
Hyshan,) and are inhabited by all the lower classes of the town, many
Bedouins who have become settlers here, and all those who are engaged in
agriculture. Each hosh contains thirty or forty families; thus forming
so many small separate hamlets, which, in times of unsettled government,
are frequently engaged in desperate feuds with each other. The cattle is
kept in the midst of the court-yard, in each of which is a large well;
and the only gate of entrance is regularly shut at night. On the S. and
N.W. sides of the town, within the precincts of the wall, the suburbs
consist entirely of similar court-yards, with extensive gardens between
and behind them.
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