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214.
15 feet in diametre, half filled with water, and supplied
by means of a lead pipe through which a slow stream was
constantly pouring. There were a few dwarf orange trees in
large boxes around the basin. We entered two of the rooms
which were poorly furnished according to European taste, and
noticed several women around who were either servants or of
the family. On one side of the door frame of every room was
a small piece of parchment, held in place by a piece of tin
nailed to the wood, on which was written an extract from
the Jewish Talmud. Some maxim or injunction as to correct
moral behaviour. There was no musulman household to
which we could be admitted, nor did we care to see one.
My curiosity on that score had been completely satisfied by the
ease with which I could look into the carriages containing the
sultan’s women while in Constantinople, and a visit to his
newest palace, which has been described, explained how all
the females would be isolated when it would be occupied.
Our dinner was partaken of at our inn by
candlelight, and during our dessert, which consisted of
oranges, the dealer in sword blades appeared. His prices
were very high and Hambro ended by buying one for which
I think he paid over $60. They are costly on account of the
gold inlaying which, in the best ones, is intricate, consisting
of extracts from the Koran, mottoes, etc. but they are only in-
teresting from association, as their curved shape is entirely
unsuited to the modern requirements in that arm. Many
British officers had bought Damascus swords when the war
in the Crimea commenced, but by this time the demand had
almost ceased, and moreover the quality of the steel was very
inferior to those of English make.
Hambro had some curiosity to see the other sex somewhat more
closely than through a veil, and when the sword dealer had left
us we went with Abdallah to a house distant about a quarter
of an hour’s walk and there met two females who I believed
were Armenians. They were unveiled and dressed somewhat
after the European fashion. They were somewhat musical as
one played a little on a guitar or mandolin, but as it was use-
less to attempt to talk with either of them, notwithstanding
their being both good looking, we considered the visit profitless
and soon left. The barking of mangy curs as we went along
the narrow lanes, each one provided with a lantern, was an
incident of life in an eastern city that made an impression
upon me.
The manufacture of cloth of various kinds
on hand looms was a profitable industry in Damascus for
centuries, and the term “Damask” is derived from that city.
There is still some work of the kind done there, but in small
quantities, and several pedlars brought specimens to show
us, one or two pieces of which I bought.
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