Part of his fine stud of Arabian horses were handsomely caparisoned and brought to the door, for us to ride through the town and into the suburbs, to see the extensive villages of the Arabs, Sommanlis, or Abyssinians. The village, occupied formerly by the Jews, was deserted; what had become of them, we could not learn. Two slaves were placed at the stirrup of each horse to accompany the party: for the most part of the way they kept pace with the riders. These villages are situated, generally, in the midst of extensive date-groves. The houses of the Sommanlis have neat conical roofs, made of date-leaves, or coarse rushes, and the sides are of the same material, or of mats. They have woolly hair mostly, extremely black skins, but prominent noses, limbs well formed, fine teeth, and rather pleasant countenances: they are as straight built as the young areca. There is a strange fashion prevailing among the fops of this village; that of changing the colour of their wool to a light brown or yellow; but as the colouring of gray hair, among a more civilized people, is by no means uncommon, they are not, therefore, altogether singular. These fops had no other covering to boast of than a waist-cloth. [Sidenote: MOCHA--BEGGARS.] The lofty mountains of Yemen afford great relief to the inland prospect; but in the immediate vicinity of Mocha, there is only an extensive date-grove; elsewhere every thing is desolate and steril: the eye wanders in vain for an oasis, for some green spot, and sees only tufts of coarse brown grass, and a plain of sand. The town has a very neat and substantial appearance from the roadstead, presenting to the view a compact mass of white buildings, mosques, minarets, and castles, breaking only the uniformity of the scene. They are lofty, so as to catch every breeze which passes over the walls--are flat-roofed, and the inhabitants sleep on them in consequence of the excessive heat. They are protected, in part, against the baneful effects arising from heavy dews, and from the power of the moon, by a light leaf roof; are clumsily built, mostly of brick baked in the sun; and there is no appearance that a level was ever used. The floors are undulating, like the waves of the sea. Crooked, dark, and narrow passages, and steep staircases, with strong doors at every landing, ready to be barricaded in case of an insurrection, or an enemy making his appearance, are common in every house: in fact, every dwelling is a strong castle. On entering within the city walls, all idea of comfort instantly vanishes; dirty, intricate streets are every where lumbered with the rubbish from ruined buildings; turbaned heads, the red military cap, and loose floating garments, are seen at every step, all being heavily armed about the waist, “ready to do battle;” women, with closely veiled faces; porters, sweating most profusely, under heavy loads of luscious dates, oozing through the meshes of the slight mat covering; strings