[p.10] fossils. Almost every house has two stories, with many small
windows and wooden shutters. Some have bow-windows, which exhibit a
great display of joiners or carpenters work. There is, generally, a
spacious hall at the entrance, where strangers are received, and which,
during the heat of the day, is cooler than any other part of the house,
as its floor is kept almost constantly wet. The distribution of rooms is
nearly the same as in the houses of Egypt and Syria; with this
difference, however, that in Djidda there are not so many large and
lofty apartments as in those countries, where but few houses, at least
of the natives, have two stories, whilst the rooms on the ground-floor
are sometimes of a considerable height. It thus happens that, in many
houses of the Hedjaz, the only cool spot is the entrance-hall; and here,
at noon, the master, with all his male attendants, hired servants or
slaves, may be seen enjoying, the siesta. [Although the cool breeze comes
only from the north, yet the Arabians do not seem to take so much
advantage of it in their houses as the Egyptians, whose principal rooms
are generally so contrived as to open towards the north. The large
ventilators constructed on the terraces of houses in Egypt, and which
diffuse a current of air through all the lower apartments, are unknown
in the Hedjaz.] As building is very expensive in this country, little is
adapted for outward show beyond the lattice-work of the bow-windows;
this frequently is painted with most gaudy colours, both on the outside
and inside. In many houses the lawful wife of a man occupies one part,
and his female Abyssinian slaves are lodged in their own distinct
apartments; convenience, therefore, in the building, is more studied
than size or beauty; yet, in Egypt, many ordinary houses have spacious
and handsome rooms.