Every morning, immediately after sunrise, a few skins of water are brought for the purpose of cleaning the cooking utensils; at nine o'clock in the morning and five in the afternoon a few camels come laden with skins of fresh water, which are emptied into two stone tanks in the courtyard.

Then all fill their cooking and drinking vessels, but in such an untidy way that I felt not the slightest inclination to drink.

One man was ladling out the water with a dirty pot, while another dabbled in the tank with his filthy hands; and some even put their dirty feet on the run and washed them, so that some of the water ran back into the tank.

This receptacle is moreover never cleaned, so that dirt accumulates upon dirt, and the only way to obtain clear water is by filtering it.
On the second day of my residence here I was exceedingly surprised to observe that the courtyard, the staircases, the rooms, etc.

were being cleaned and swept with particular care.