Page 415 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

388
SOUTHERN ARABIA. [CH.

these being one which is occupied by Sul­

tan Mahassan, when he resides in the town,
and is similar in form and construction
to the Turkish dwellings in Jiddah. There
is the same profusion of ornamental wood­
work about the windows: beams of timber
traverse the walls, and sentences from the
Koran are inscribed over the doors. The up­

per part of the walls is turreted, and various
devices are also executed over or around
the doors and windows, in the thick coating
of cement with which the whole building has
been covered, and which from the sea, when
contrasted with the sombre hue of the sur­
rounding mountains, must have produced a
light and cheerful effect. The fortifications
encircling the town, and the artillery with
which they are mounted, were constructed
and furnished by Sultan Selim, At the
cost of immense labour, a wall has been

carried, for an extent of about four miles,
completely round the first ridge of moun-
tains, which rise up over the town. Others
are built along the heights on either side the
pass; indeed most of the defiles through the
mountains have been fortified, and on their