CHAPTER XII.
The bazaar at Damascus--The khan--Grotto of St.Paul--Fanaticism of the inhabitants--Departure from Damascus--The desert--Military escort--Heliopolis or Balbeck--Stupendous ruins--Continuation of our voyage through the desert--The plague--The Lebanon range--Cedar- trees--Druses and Maronites--Importunate beggars--Thievish propensities of the Arabs.
July 4th.
Damascus is one of the most ancient cities of the East, but yet we see no ruins; a proof that no grand buildings ever existed here, and that therefore the houses, as they became old and useless, were replaced by new ones.
To-day we visited the seat of all the riches--the great bazaar.

It is mostly covered in, but only with beams and straw mats.

On both sides are rows of wooden booths, containing all kinds of articles, but a great preponderance of eatables, which are sold at an extraordinarily cheap rate.

We found the "mish-mish" particularly good.
As in Constantinople, the rarest and most costly of the wares are not exposed for sale, but must be sought for in closed store-houses.
The booths look like inferior hucksters' shops, and each merchant is seen sitting in the midst of his goods.

We passed hastily through the bazaar, in order soon to reach the great mosque, situate in the midst of it.