adherents of Mohammed used to start in their exercise of running. Medina is well built, entirely of stone; its houses are generally two stories high, with flat roofs. As they are not white-washed, and the stone is of a dark colour, the streets have rather a gloomy aspect; and are, for the most part, very narrow, often only two or three paces across: a few of the principal streets are paved with large blocks of stone; a comfort which a traveller little expects to find in Arabia. It is, on the whole, one of the best-built towns I have seen in the East, ranking, in this respect, next to Aleppo. At present, it has a desolate [p.324] appearance: the houses are suffered to decay; their owners, who formerly derived great profits from the crowd of visiters which arrived here at all times of the year, now find their income diminished, and decline the heavy expense of building, as they know they cannot be reimbursed by the letting out of apartments. Ruined houses, and walls wanting repair, are seen in every part of the town; and Medina presents the same disheartening view as most of the Eastern towns, which now afford but faint images of their ancient splendour. The principal street of Medina is also the broadest, and leads from the Cairo gate to the great mosque: in this street are most of the shops. Another considerable street, called El Belát, runs from the mosque to the Syrian gate; but many of its houses are in ruins: this contains also a few shops, but none are found in other parts of the town; thus differing from Mekka, which is one continued market. In general, the latter is much more like an Arab town than Medina, which resembles more a Syrian city. I had no time to trace all the different quarters of the town; but I shall here give the names by which they are at present known. The quarter comprised between the two main streets leading from the Egyptian and Syrian gates to the mosque, are, Es-Saha, Komet Hasheyfe, El Belát, Zogág el Towál, (here is situated the Mekkam, or house of the Kadhy, and several pleasant gardens are attached to the larger buildings;) Zogág el Dhorra, Sakyfet Shakhy, Zogág el Bakar. The quarters lying to the north of the street El Belát, extending to the north of the mosque, as far as the gate El Djoma, are:--El Hamáta, Zogág el Habs, Zogág Ankyny, Zogág es’ Semáhedy, Háret el Meyda, Haret es’ Shershoura, Zogág el Bedour, Haret el Agowat, where the eunuchs of the mosque live. The quarters from the gate El Djoma, along the southern parts of the town, as far as the Egyptian gate, and the great market-street, are: Derwan, Es-Salehye, Zogág Yáhou, Háret Ahmed Heydar, Háret Beni Hosseyn, the tribe of Beni Hosseyn living here; Háret el Besough, Háret Sakyfet, Er-Resás, Zogág el Zerendy, Zogág el Kibreit, [p.325] Zogág el Hadjamyn, Háret Sydy Málek, where Málek ibn Anes, the founder of the Malekite sect, had his house, and Háret el Kamáshyn.