The most he does is to saunter slowly from the bath to the coffee-house, and there to kill his time with the help of a pipe and a cup of coffee, staring vacantly on the ground before him.

Although the coffee- houses are more frequented than any other buildings in the East, they are often miserable sheds, being all small, and generally built only of wood.
The inhabitants of Damascus wear the usual Oriental garb, but as a rule I thought them better dressed than in any Eastern town.

Some of the women are veiled, but others go abroad with their faces uncovered.

I saw here some very attractive countenances; and an unusual number of lovely children's heads looked at me from all sides with an inquisitive smile.
In reference to religious matters, these people seem very fanatical; they particularly dislike strangers.

For instance, the painter S.
wished to make sketches of the khan, the fountain, and a few other interesting objects or views.