d
marble fountain in the walls--everywhere it poured forth its rich
abundance; and my horse and I soon quenched our burning thirst in Abana
and Pharphar.

On we went, among gardens, fountains, odours, and cool shade, absorbed
in sensations of delight. Fruits of every delicate shape and hue bent
the boughs hospitably over our heads; flowers hung in canopy upon the
trees and lay in variegated carpet on the ground; the lanes through
which we went were long arcades of arching boughs; the walls were
composed of large square blocks of dried mud, which, in that bright,
dazzling light somewhat resembled Cyclopean architecture, and gave, I
know not what, of simplicity and primitiveness to the scene.

At length I entered the city, and thenceforth lost the sun while I
remained there. The luxurious people of Damascus exclude all sunshine
from their bazaars by awnings of thick mat, whenever vine-trellises or
vaulted roofs do not render this precaution unnecessary. The effects of
this pleasant gloom, the cool currents of air created by the narrow
streets, the vividness of the bazaars, the variety and beauty of the
Oriental dress, the fragrant smell of the spice-shops, the tinkle of the
brass cups of the sherbet seller--all this affords a pleasant but
bewildering change from the silent desert and the glare of sunshine.

And then the glimpse of places strange to your eye, yet familiar to your
imagination, that you catch as you pass along. Here is the portal of a
large khan, with a fountain and cistern in the midst. Camels and bales
of merchandise and turbaned negroes are scattered over its wide
quadrangle, and an arcade of shops or offices surrounds it, above and
below, like the streets of Chester. Another portal opens into a public
bath, with its fountains, its reservoirs, its gay carpets, and its
luxurious inmates clad in white linen and reclining on cushions as they
smoke their chibouques.

I lodged at the Franciscan Convent, of which the terrace commands the
best view, perhaps, of the city. The young Christian women of Damascus
come hither in numbers to confess, which, if their tongues be as candid
as their eloquent eyes, must be rather a protracted business. They are
passing fair; but the Jewess, with her aristocratic mien, her proud, yet
airy step, and her eagle eye, throws all others into the shade, and
vindicates her lineal descent from Eve, in this, Eve's native land.

I thought Damascus was a great improvement on Cairo i