supply which it affords in ordinary times is barely sufficient for the
use of the inhabitants, and during the pilgrimage sweet water becomes an
absolute scarcity; a small skin of water (two of which skins a person may
carry) being then often sold for one shilling--a very high price among
Arabs.

There are two places in the interior of Mekka where the aqueduct runs
above ground; there the water is let off into small channels or
fountains, at which some slaves of the Sherif are stationed, to exact a
toll from persons filling their water-skins. In the time of the Hadj,
these fountains are surrounded day and night by crowds of people
quarrelling and fighting for access to the water. During the late siege,
the Wahabys cut off the supply of water from the aqueduct; and it was not
till some time after, that the injury which this structure then received,
was partially repaired.

There is a small spring which oozes from under the rocks behind the great
palace of the Sherif, called Beit el Sad; it is said to afford the best
water in this country, but the supply is very scanty. The spring is
enclosed, and appropriated wholly to the Sherif's family.

Beggars, and infirm or indigent hadjys, often entreat the passengers in
the streets of Mekka for a draught of sweet water; they particularly
surround the water-stands, which are seen in every corner, and where, for
two paras in the time of the Hadj, and for one para, at other times, as
much water may be obtained as will fill a jar.--_Burckhardt's Travels in
Arabia_.

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