The houses in Masuah are, in general, built of poles and bent grass, as in the towns of Arabia; but, besides these, there are about twenty of stone, six or eight of which are two storeys each; though the second seldom consists of more than one room, and that one generally not a large one. The stones are drawn out of the sea as at Dahalac; and in these we see the beds of that curious mussel, or shell-fish, found to be contained in the solid rock at Mahon, called _Dattoli da mare_, or sea-dates, the fish of which I never saw in the Red Sea; though there is no doubt but they are to be found in the rocky islands about Masuah, if they break the rocks for them. Although Masuah is situated in the very entrance of Abyssinia, a very plentiful country, yet all the necessaries of life are scarce and dear. Their quality, too, is very indifferent. This is owing to the difficulty, expence, and danger of carrying the several articles through the desert flat country, called Samhar, which lies between Arkeeko and the mountains of Abyssinia; as well as to the extortions exercised by the Naybe, who takes, under the name of customs, whatever part he pleases of the goods and provisions brought to that island; by which means the profit of the seller is so small, as not to be worth the pains and risk of bringing it: 20 rotol of butter cost a pataka and a half, 3½ harf; or, in one term, 45½ harf. A goat is half of a pataka; a sheep, two-thirds of a pataka; the ardep of wheat, 4 patakas; Dora, from Arabia, 2 patakas. ---- _Venit, vilissima rerum_, _Hic aqua._ Horat. lib. I. Sat. 6. v. 88. Water is sold for three diwanis, or paras, the 7 gallons. The same sort of money is in use at Masuah, and the opposite coast of Arabia; and it is indeed owing to the commercial intercourse with that coast that any coin is current in this or the western side. It is all valued by the Venetian sequin. But glass beads, called Contaria, of all kinds and colours, perfect and broken, pass for small money, and are called, in their language, Borjooke. _TABLE of the relative VALUE of MONEY._ Venetian Sequin, 2¼ Pataka. Pataka or Imperial Dollar, 28 Harf. 1 Harf, 4 Diwani. 10 Kibeer, 1 Diwani. 1 Kibeer, 3 Borjooke, or Grains. The Harf is likewise called Dahab, a word very equivocal, as it means, in Arabic, gold, and frequently a sequin. The Harf is 120 grains of beads. The zermabub, or sequin of Constantinople, is not current here. Those that have them, can only dispose of them to the women, who hang them about their temples, to their necklaces, and round the necks of their children. The fraction of the pataka is the half and quarter, which pass here likewise.