In general, there is, on the ground floor, an apartment called a “mandar′ah,” in which male visitors are received. This has a wide wooden grated window, or two windows of this kind, next the court. A small part of the floor, extending from the door to the opposite side of the room, is six or seven inches lower than the rest: this part is called the “durká’ah.”[21] In a handsome house, the durká’ah of the mandar′ah is paved with white and black marble, and little pieces of fine red tile, inlaid in complicated and tasteful patterns, and has in the centre a fountain (called “faskeeyeh”), which plays into a small shallow pool, lined with coloured marbles, etc., like the surrounding pavement. I give a sketch of the fountain. The water which falls from the fountain is drained off from the pool by a pipe. There is generally, fronting the door, at the end of the durká’ah, a shelf of marble or of common stone, about four feet high, called a “suffeh,” supported by two or more arches, or by a single arch, under which are placed utensils in ordinary use—such as perfuming vessels, and the basin and ewer which are used for washing before and after meals, and for the ablution preparatory to prayer: water-bottles, coffee cups, etc., are placed upon the suffeh. In handsome houses, the arches of the suffeh are faced with marble and tile, like the pool of the fountain represented in the sketch above, and sometimes the wall over it, to the height of about four feet or more, is also cased with similar materials: partly with large upright slabs, and partly with small pieces, like the durká’ah. The raised part of the floor of the room is called “leewán”[22] (a corruption of “el-eewán,” which signifies “any raised place to sit upon,” and also “a palace”). Every person slips off his shoes on the durká’ah before he steps upon the leewán.[23] The latter is generally paved with common stone, and covered with a mat in summer, and a carpet over the mat in winter; and has a mattress and cushions placed against each of its three walls, composing what is called a “deewán,” or divan. The mattress, which is generally about three feet wide and three or four inches thick, is placed either on the ground or on a raised frame; and the cushions, which are usually of a length equal to the width of the mattress, and of a height equal to half that measure, lean against the wall. Both mattresses and cushions are stuffed with cotton, and are covered with printed calico, cloth, or some more expensive stuff. The walls are plastered and whitewashed. There are generally, in the walls, two or three shallow cupboards, the doors of which are composed of very small panels, on account of the heat and dryness of the climate, which cause wood to warp and shrink as if it were placed in an oven; for which reason the doors of the apartments also are constructed in the same manner. We observe great variety and much ingenuity displayed in the