Having thus given some general information and advice, I proceed to make a few remarks on the present state of the city. A walk through the streets, when undertaken without a special purpose, is more oppressive than refreshing. They are narrow and dark, frequently arched over, and almost deserted. They are paved with stones, ill joined and uneven. These are not easy to walk on, as their surfaces are smooth and slippery, especially in the rainy season; and on horseback they are very dangerous, as I experienced myself the first time that I saw them. As the city slopes from west to east, the streets generally fall in the same direction; so that the upper are less filthy than the lower, which in the rainy season are horribly foul, since the dirt all lodges in them, and no one takes the trouble to remove it. Surraya Pasha issued strict orders to the street police, and frequently inspected them himself; but it is very hard work to keep the Arabs from their beloved mud. In the more frequented parts of the town the shops are generally mean in appearance, and disgust rather than amuse the spectators. The houses are built with small stones, some black with age, the rest light grey. Most of them have no windows outside, and those which have resemble prisons or monasteries, as the apertures are small and barred. This produces a very dull and oppressive effect, until the eye becomes accustomed to it. The entrance-doors are generally low and narrow, and I recommend the stranger not to form his opinion of the internal arrangements from what he sees on the threshold. The houses have terrace-roofs, many of which are covered with slabs of stone well united; but the generality are formed of small pieces mixed with cement, beaten into a solid mass, which however does not possess much power of resistance, as it cracks with the heat of the sun, and admits the water in rainy weather; consequently many of the houses are damp, and their inhabitants liable to fevers. These terrace-roofs are surrounded by a wall five or six feet high, serving as a parapet. It is formed of small earthenware tubes, making it look like the side of a dovecot; but by this means the women, by whom the roofs are used as places for exercise and amusement, can see, without being seen.