21.   Crowds thinned in the afternoon when people turned their attention to the historic boat races on the Grand Canal, which the museum faces.

22.   Some were still lining up outside of IBA branches Tuesday morning to withdraw their money, but the crowds thinned considerably later in the day.

23.   The crowd thinned considerably, however, after a mid-afternoon shower.

24.   The crowd had thinned before daybreak Friday, but thousands returned to mass for a march on the presidential palace.

25.   They took no action to remove anybody and by daylight Monday the crowd had thinned considerably.

26.   When the crowd of hundreds of thousands finally thinned, Saudi security forces clearly were relieved.