weapons of war. And the party saw their companions lying
dead: so they buried them. They saw also the gate-keepers and servants
and chamberlains and lieutenants lying upon beds of silk, all of them
dead. And they entered the market of the city, and beheld a great
market, with lofty buildings, none of which projected beyond another:
the shops were open, and the scales hung up, and the utensils of brass
ranged in order, and the khans were full of all kinds of goods. And they
saw the merchants dead in their shops: their skins were dried, and their
bones were carious, and they had become examples to him who would be
admonished. They saw likewise four markets of particular shops filled
with wealth. And they left this place, and passed on to the silk-market,
in which were silks and brocades interwoven with red gold and white
silver upon various colours, and the owners were dead, lying upon skins,
and appearing almost as though they would speak. Leaving these, they
went on to the market of jewels and pearls and jacinths; and they left
it, and passed on to the market of the money-changers, whom they found
dead, with varieties of silks beneath them, and their shops were filled
with gold and silver. These they left, and they proceeded to the market
of the perfumers; and lo, their shops were filled with varieties of
perfumes, and bags of musk, and ambergris, and aloes-wood, and nedd, and
camphor, and other things; and the owners were all dead, not having with
them any food. And when they went forth from the market of the
perfumers, they found near unto it a palace, decorated, and strongly
constructed; and they entered it, and found banners unfurled, and drawn
swords, and strung bows, and shields hung up by chains of gold and
silver, and helmets gilded with red gold. And in the passages of that
palace were benches of ivory, ornamented with plates of brilliant gold,
and with silk, on which were men whose skins had dried upon the bones:
the ignorant would imagine them to be sleeping; but, from the want of
food, they had died, and tasted mortality. Upon this, the Emeer Moosa
paused, extolling the perfection of God (whose name be exalted!) and his
holiness, and contemplating the beauty of that palace.

[They find the palace a marvel of splendor, but as awfully
silent and mausoleum-like as the rest of the city; and soon
reach a magnificent hall in which lies the dead body of
"Jedmur, the Daughter of the King of the Am