_ 137 _ them, for this is the penalty they impose for every kind of offence. They only mete out justice to those who have nothing to give them. The Venetians will suffer anything for the sake of greed, for from the Doge to the humblest, these are the people greediest for trade in the world. All of them live for this, and the richest and most respected noblemen have representatives in Aleppo, Alexandria, Damascus, Constantinople, Cyprus and many other places. There are great bazaars in the city abounding in every kind of necessity, many streets of merchants and craftsmen of every kind in great numbers. There are many large caravanserais, bath-houses, sumptuous stonework buildings, many noble and sumptuous houses in the same stonework, admirably built mosques. The province is very fertile, with much wheat, barley, meats, olive-oil and olives better than those from Seville, and every kind of fruit in great plenty. All this lies to the west, for to the east there is only a half-day journey of land dotted with peasant-villages. All beyond that is desert, across which caravans go and come to and from Basra. Through the middle of the city, there is a large river serving the whole of it. A pasha is continually there
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