_ 67 _ returning. One is East to West and the other is North-East to South-West. Anyone entering the port carries a plummet in his hand and the channels are so narrow that they accommodate scarcely one ship at a time in each. For this reason, entrance is very dangerous. The site of the city is a land so dry that there is not a single grove of trees on a piece of grass, and very little fresh water, because it rains rarely. At this time, it had about a thousand inhabitants. The two-storied houses are of whitewashed stone and have many windows and chimneys. The city is well supplied with provisions, which are brought from outside, and has much merchandise, because it is a meeting place for those coming from India to Cairo, and Alexandria, and from these two cities to India. At seven leagues from this city into the interior lies the cursed house at Mecca to which Arabs make their pilgrimage, as Christians make to the holy sepulcher at Jerusalem. This is to pay homage to the abominable one they call Mohammed. When the governor arrived in the shallows, I spoke of he appeared with the whole fleet at a league from the city, in view of the beach. They began to fire the artillery placed on the beach on our ships. The balls came so fast and
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