or TAIF, a town of Arabia, in the Hedsjas, situated in a mountainous but fertile and well-cultivated district. It was visited by Burckhardt in 1814, who describes it at that time as nearly in a state of ruin, many of the buildings having been nearly destroyed by the Wahabys when they took Taif in 1802; and the town having afterwards been abandoned, every thing is hastening to decay. There were not more than four or five buildings, inhabited by the principal officers of the pacha, above the common size. There were at that time two small mosques. The tomb of El Abbas, which had a good dome over it, and was often visited by pilgrims, was entirely destroyed by the Wahabys. Taif is celebrated for its beautiful gardens, which are situated some distance from the town, are well watered by wells and rivulets descending from the mountains, and produce grapes of a very large size and delicious flavour, figs, quinces, and pomegranates, besides all the other fruits which are found in these climates. They are also renowned for the finest roses, which, like the grapes, are transported to all parts of the country. There are small pavilions in these gardens, to which the people of Taif, and formerly the great merchants of Mecca, resorted in summer. They had all their houses and establishments here, and lost considerable property when the town was plundered by the Wahabys. The indigenous inhabitants of Taif are Arabs. There are a few natives of Mecca, but the far greater part of the foreigners are Indians by origin, who still preserve the dress and manners of Indian Mussulmans. Some are merchants, but the greater part are druggists, whose trade is of great importance from the general predilection of all classes for drugs and perfumes. Taif was a commercial town before the Wahaby invasion, when it was plundered. It was resorted to by the Arabs of the country around for articles of dress, while by the mountain tribes were brought supplies of wheat and barley in caravans. It was also a considerable entrepot for coffee, brought from the mountains of Yemen by the Bedouins on camels. When Burckhardt visited it, every thing denoted great misery. The only imports from the interior were dates; and the streets abounded with beggars, many of whom must have perished with hunger, as it cost at that time a sum equal to tenpence to procure bread enough for a man's daily subsistence. The town is supplied with water from two copious wells. It is sixty miles south-east from Mecca.