o be said, and
whence the body was to be conducted to the grave; and having been
informed, sent back his slave with the goods, and walked towards
the mosque. He got thither before the prayers were ended, which
were said in a hall hung with black satin. The corpse was taken
up, and followed by the kindred, the merchants, and Ganem, to the
place of burial, which was at some distance without the city. It
was a stone structure, in form of a dome, purposely built to
receive the bodies of all the family of the deceased, and being
very small, they had pitched tents around, that all the company
might be sheltered during the ceremony. The monument was opened,
and the corpse laid in it, after which it was shut up. Then the
imam, and other ministers of the mosque, sat down in a ring on
carpets, in the largest tent, and recited the rest of the
prayers. They also read the Fateah, or introductory chapter of
the Koraun, appointed for the burial of the dead. The kindred and
merchants sat round, in the same manner, behind the ministers.

It was near night before all was ended: Ganem who had not
expected such a long ceremony, began to be uneasy, and the more
so, when he saw meat served up, in memory of the deceased,
according to the custom of the Mahummedans. He was also told that
the tents had been set up not only against the heat of the sun,
but also against the evening dew, because they should not return
to the city before the next morning. These words perplexed Ganem.
"I am a stranger," said he to himself, "and have the reputation
of being a rich merchant; thieves may take the opportunity of my
absence, and rob my house. My slaves may be tempted by so
favourable an opportunity; they may run away with all the gold I
have received for my goods, and whither shall I go to look for
them?" Full of these thoughts, he ate a few mouthfuls hastily,
and slipped away from the company.

He made all possible haste; but, as it often happens that the
more a man hurries the less he advances, he went astray in the
dark, so that it was near midnight when he came to the city gate;
which, to add to his misfortune, was shut. This was a fresh
affliction to him, and he was obliged to look for some convenient
place in which to pass the rest of the night till the gate was
opened. He went into a burial-place, so spacious, that it reached
from the city to the very place he had left. He advanced to some
high walls, which enclosed a small field, being the mau