» • €>, \.^ O w ( ,«^ .^\f V 4 • » # '*^^. 4 > 0* ^^0^ ^ /"- 9 I ^ ■V*-I ^ • f . e It o / J(A^i^ PILGRIMS COSTUME PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF A PILGRIMAGE TO EL-MEDINAH AND MECCAH. BY EICHAED F. BUETON, UZUT. BOMBAY ABMT. WITH INTRODUCTION BY BAYARD TAYLOR. 'Oai DoUoiui of Meecah must be drawn from the Arabians; as no unbeliever U permitted to enter the titf, traveller* are ailent."— Giiion, chap. SO. iii\ ^agf, nnb S^foo llluslratbtts. FIR^T AMBEOCAV TXfVnpy. NEW YORK: G. P. PUTNAM & CO., 821 BROADWAY. 1856. ^-^^^^ R Craighead, Printbr, 53 Vesey Pt , N. T. PUBLISHERS' PREFACE. The Englisli Edition of " Burton's Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah" was originally published in three volumes, large octavo. In order to meet the requirements of the American pubKc, both as regards the size and expense of the work, it has been deemed expedient to abridge and condense some chapters. The portions omitted, however, do not affect the narrative or the incidents of the visit to the Holy Places, but chiefly relate to Lieut. Burton's preliminary residence in Egypt, and to historical and ethnological considera- tions. An Appendix, containing a resume of former explorations, is also omitted, but its place is supplied by the introductory essay by Bayard Taylor. We believe that the readers of the narrative of Lieut. Burton's singular and dangerous journey will sustain us in the assertion, that no volume of modern travel possesses greater intrinsic interest or originality, while for graphic description it compares favorably with the "Eothen" of Eanglake, or the " Orescent and the Cross" of Warburton. G. P. PUTNAM & 00. 821 Beoadway, K. Y. EDITOR'S PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION. The interest just now felt in everything that relates to the East would alone be sujficient to ensure to the author of "El Medinah and Meccah" the favorable consideration of the Reading Public. But when it is borne in mind that since the days of William Pitts of Exeter (a.d. 1678-1688) no European travellers, with the exception of Burckhardt* and Lieut. Burton,f have been able to send us back an account of their travels there, it cannot be doubted but that the present work will be hailed as a welcome addition to our knowledge of these hitherto mysterious penet/ralia of Mahommedan superstition. In fact, El Medinah may be considered almost a virgin theme; for as Burckhardt was pros- trated by sickness throughout the period of his stay in the Northern Hejaz, he was not able to describe it as satisfactorily or minutely as he did the southern coun- try, — he could not send a plan of the mosque, or correct the popular but erroneous ideas which prevail concern- ing it and the surrounding city. * In 1811. f Captain Sadlier is not mentioned, as his Frankish dress prevented his entering the city. VI PREFACE. The reader may question the propriety of introduc- ing, in a work of description, anecdotes which may appear open to the charge of triviality. The author's object, however, seems to be to illustrate the peculiari- ties of the people, — ^to dramatize, as it were, the dry journal of a journey, — and to preserve the tone of the adventures, together with that local coloring in which mainly consists '^ V education d'un voyageP It was during a residence of many years in India that Mr. Burton had fitted himself for his late undertaking, by acquiring, through his peculiar aptitude for such studies, a thorough acquaintance with various dialects of Arabia and Persia ; and, indeed, his Eastern cast of features seemed to point him out as the very person of all others best suited for an expedition like that de- scribed in the following pages. It will be observed that in writing Arabic, Hindoos- tannee, Persian, or Turkish words, the author has gene- rally adopted the system proposed by Sir William Jones and modified by later Orientalists. But when a word (like Fat-hah for Fatihah) has been " stamped" by general popular use, the conversational form has been preferred ; and the same, too, may be said of the com- mon corruptions, Cairo, Kadi, &c., which, in any other form, would appear to us pedantic and ridiculous. StiU, in the absence of the author, it must be expected that some trifling errors and inaccuracies will have here and there crept in. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I PAGB A few Words concerning what Induced me to a Pilgrimage, . . 1*7 CHAPTER n. I Leave Alexandria, 29 CHAPTER ni. The Nile Steamboat, 41 CHAPTER IV. Life in the Wakdlah, 48 CHAPTER V. The Mosque, 1Z CHAPTER VL Preparations to Quit Cairo, 86 CHAPTER Vn. From Cairo to Suez, , 94 CHAPTER VHI. Suez, 107 CHAPTER IX. The Pilgrim Ship, . 120 CHAPTER X. ToYambu, 136 CHAPTER XL The Halt at Yambu, 145 CHAPTER XIL From Yambu to Bir Abbas, 155 CHAPTER XHL Fi*om Bir Abbas to El Medinah, 16*7 CHAPTER XIV. Through the Suburb of El Medinah to Hamid's House, .... 179 CHAPTER XV. A Visit to the Prophet's Tomb. 194 Vm CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVL pagb El Medinah, 230 CHAPTER XVn. A Ride to the Mo8q[ue of Kuba, , 243 CHAPTER XVm. The Visitation of Hamzah's Tomb, 267 CHAPTER XIX. The People of El Medinah, 2*78 CHAPTER XX. A Visit to the Saints' Cemetery, . 290 CHAPTER XXL From El Medinah to El Suwayrkiyah, 804 CHAPTER XXn. The Bedouins of El Hejaz, SIB CHAPTER XXIIL From El Suwayrkiyah to Meccah, 846 CHAPTER XXIV, The House of Allah, .• 366 CHAPTER XXV. The First Visit to the House of Allah, 889 CHAPTER XXVI. Of Ha]j, or Pilgrimage, 401 CHAPTER XXVII The Ceremonies of the Yaum El Tarwiyah, 418 CHAPTER XXVni The Ceremonies of the Day of Arafat, 423 CHAPTER XXIX. The Ceremonies of the Day of Victims, 432 CHAPTER XXX. The Days of Drying Flesh, 446 CHAPTER XXXL .> Life at Meccah, and the Little Pilgrimage, 468 CHAPTER XXXn. Places of Pious Visitation at Meccah, ... ... 469 CHAPTER XXXIIL To Jeddah, * 479 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. BY BAYARD TAYLOR. The present century is already remarkable beyond the last, for the extent and richness of its contributions to geo- graphical knowledge ; but the generation in which we live will be especially noted hereafter as that which has pre- eminently invaded the few lingering haunts of fable, and brought their cherished mysteries under the microscopic lenses of modem eyes. "Within ten years the courageous M. Hue has penetrated through the vast interior realms of China and Tartary, to the sacred city of Lha-Ssa, of which he has given the first satisfactory description ; Lieutenant Lynch has exploded the superstitious terrors with which the Dead Sea was regarded ; Dr. Barth has returned safely to Europe, after a residence of seven months at Tim- buctoo ; Dr. Krapf has looked upon the snowy pinnacles of the long lost Mountains of the Moon ; and now, Lieu- tenant Burton, having penetrated to Medina and Mecca, and entered the holiest sanctuaries of the Moslem faith, presents us with the picturesque story of his pilgrimage. The extreme reverence in which these cities are held. X INTRODUCTION. and that jealousy which prevents all acknowledged fol- lowers of other religions from visiting, or even approaching them, undoubtedly grew out of the fierce and fanatical character of Mohammedanism in its earlier days. The violence of that fanaticism is now over. Except in Arabia, the cradle and stronghold of Islam, the Frank Christians mingle freely with the followers of the Prophet, not only without indignity, but in many places as their friends and protectors. The rapid spread of intercourse between the East and the West, and, more than all, the recent alliance of Christian and Moslem powers in the war against Russia, has greatly weakened, and, in the course of time, may wholly obliterate, the bitterness of that religious prejudice which has hitherto been the characteristic of such inter- course. Its effect is already seen, in the facility with which travellers now obtain access to the sacred mosques of Constantinople and Cairo. Even the Mosque of Omar, at Jerusalem, where, five years ago, Christians were stoned for attempting to enter — ^whose gates would not open to a Frank for a firman of the Sultan himself— has alike become accessible to profane feet. The same change will even- tually overtake the more bigoted population of the Hedjaz, and future travellers, perhaps, in green veils and spectacles, may languidly scrutinize the mosques of Mecca. The success of such men as Burckhardt and Burton should not be ascribed, however, to this circumstance. It is entirely due to their courage, prudence, and perseverance, and to their intimate acquaintance with eastern life, and the cere- monials of the Moslem faith. INTRODUCTION. 33 The design of visiting Mecca has been a favorite one with travellers for centuries past, but the difficulties in the way of its prosecution have been so great, that the number of those who succeeded may be reckoned upon the fingers of one's hand. Lieutenant Burton, in an Appendix to the English edition of his work, gives extracts from the de- scriptions of his predecessors, which differ from his own and Burckhardt's in some trifling particulars, but correspond much more nearly than might have been expected from travellers of such different epochs. Gibbon, at the time of writing his " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," was not aware any Christian had reached Mecca up to that time. It appears, however, from Mr. Burton's investiga- tions, that two persons had accomplished the journey — Lodovico Bartema, a gentleman of Rome, in the year 1603 ; and Joseph Pitts, of Exon, England, in 1680. To these may be added, in later years, Giovanni Finati, an Italian renegade, and Burckhardt, both in 1814, and Burton, in 1853. The French apostates in the service of Mohammed Ali, some of whom made the usual pilgrimage, as good Mussulmans, need not be reckoned. Some of them have published accounts of their experiences, it is true ; but, as new converts to the faith, they were regarded with distrust, and thereby prevented from making measure- ments or observations. Their accounts are therefore very inaccurate, and contribute nothing to our knowledge of the holy cities. The first traveller on the list, Lodovico Bartema, visited Damascus in his wanderings through the East, and Sii INTRODUCTION. there won the friendship of a Mameluke captain, who was a renegade Christian. Disguising himself as a Mameluke, he accompanied the latter on a pilgrimage to Mecca, appa- rently conducting himself as a devout Mussulman, for his real character was not suspected, although he was after- wards imprisoned for a time in Yemen, on acknowledging himself a Christian. His narrative has all the quaint sim- plicity and picturesque character of those of the early travellers, with no more credulity than is necessary to give piquancy to his story. Lieutenant Burton, who of course is thoroughly competent to judge on this point, places him in the foremost rank of the old oriental travellers, for cor- rectness of observation and readiness of wit. Joseph Pitts was an English boy, who, for love of adventure going to sea in his fifteenth or sixteenth year, was captured by Algerine pirates and sold as a slave. His master, who had been a great sinner, determined to convert him, as an atonement for his own impiety, and achieved his object by means of the bastinado. Pitts submitted to this violent conversion, and performed all the external forms and ceremonies required of him ; but hated the new faith in his heart, with a vehemence which was *not in the least abated by fifteen years of Moslem life. He was taken to Mecca and El Medinah by his master, remained some months in the former city, and returned to Cairo. Having received his fi'eedom, he determined to make his escape, in which, after various adventures, he succeeded, and returned safely to England. His de- scriptions of the Beit Allah (house of God) at Mecca, the INTRODUCTION. XUl ceremonies on Mount Arafat, the stoning of the devil, and other features of the pilgrimage, are very circumstantial and correct, considering that they were written from memory, after a lapse of many years. Lieutenant Bur- ton finds little fault with Pitts, except his hatred and bigotry, which the manner of his conversion may well explain. Finati was an ignorant and unprincipled Italian rene- gade, who made the campaign against the Wahabees for the recovery of Mecca and Medina, in the army of Mohammed Ali. Mr. Bankes, the English traveller, after- wards took him into his service, and translated the narra- tive of his adventures, which was dictated in Italian, as he was unable to write. The particulars he gives concerning the holy places of Mecca are very imperfect and unsatis- factory. Burckhardt, who made his visit to Mecca and Medina in the same year as Finati, may be considered as the first enlightened and experienced traveller who describes those places. He ventured on the undertaking only after years of preparation in the East, and a fami- liarity with the language and the faith so complete, that, under his assumed name of Shekh Ibrahim, his real cha- racter was unsuspected. Once only, when visiting Mo- hammed Ali, at Tayf, was he subjected to a rigid exami- nation on points of Mohammedan doctrine, by two learned sheJchs ul-Islam^ at the instance of the pasha, who had heard suspicions whispered against him in Cairo. Burck- hardt passed the test triumphantly, the shekhs declaring, that he was not only a genuine Mussulman, but one of XIV INTRODUCTION. unusual learning and piety. After performing all the ceremonies of the pilgrimage, he returned to Mecca, where he remained three months, before visiting Medina. At the latter place he was too ill to make many observations, and his descriptions are more meagre than usual. His accounts of the holy edifices of Mecca, and the pilgrim ceremonies, however, are very complete, and Burton pays the highest tribute to his correctness, by copying entire his description of the Kaaba. The present author, therefore, traverses a partly beaten track, but a track wherein the last success reflects as much honor as the first. His exjDeriment, in fact, was even more daring than that of Burckhardt, whose assumed character was already recognised throughout the Orient, and who, after his examination at Tayf, was placed beyond the reach of suspicion. Burton, on the other hand, was a novice in this special field, and was obliged to disguise himself under a totally different character. He took his part with admirable boldness and skill, and when once suspected by the young Meccan rogue, Mohammed, whose travels had made his vision precociously keen, was zea- lously defended by the remainder of the party, who com- pletely silenced his accuser. Burton's narrative is especially valuable for his fiill and accurate particulars of the religious observances of the pilgrimage, and the various formulas of salutation and prayer. In this respect there is no other work of the kind equal to it. His descriptions of the holy edifices are scrupulously technical and ctireful ; and he gives us, for the first time, sketches of the sacred citief? INTBODUCTI ON. XV which impress us with their fidelity to nature. We could have desired more ample pictures of the scenery through which he passed, and the spirited account of the voyage from Suez to Yambu shows that he is not deficient in descriptive power. But much allowance must be made for the night travels of the pilgrim caravan, and the conse- quent fatigue of the traveller. He has the advantage over Burckhardt of writing in his mother-tongue, and his narrative is much richer in those characteristic personal incidents and adventures which are the vital spirit of books of travel. It is to be hoped that so prudent, daring, and intelli- gent a traveller will be permitted to carry out his original scheme of exploring the interior of the Arabian peninsula — one of the richest and most interesting fields of research now remaining. Certainly no one is better qualified for the undertaking. B. T. New Yoek, July Is^, 1866. X™ Tor ^ G. P Putnam & C- A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. ♦<» CHAPTER I. TO ALEXANDRIA. A FEW WORDS CONCERNING WHAT INDUCED MB TO A PILGRIMAGE. In t^.e autumn of 1852, through the medium of General Moiiteith, I offered my services to the Royal Geographical Society of London, for the purpose of removing that oppro- brium to modern adventure, the huge white blot which in our maps still notes the eastern and the central regions of Arabia. A deputation from that distinguished body, with their usual zeal for discovery and readiness to encourage the discoverer, honored me by warmly supporting, in a personal interview with the Chairman of the Court of Directors to the East India Company, my application for three years' leave of absence on special duty from India to Muscat. But they were unable to prevail upon Sir James Hogg, who, remembering the fatalities which of late years have befallen sundry soldier-travellers in the East, refused his sanction, alleging as a reason that the contemplated 18 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. jouraey was of too dangerous a nature. In compensation, however, for the disappomtment, I was graciously allowed the additional furlough of a year, in order to pursue my Arabic studies in lands where the language is best learned. What remained for me but to prove, by trial, that what might be perilous to other travellers is safe to me. The " experimentum crucis" was a visit to El Hejaz, at once the most difficult and the most dangerous point by which a European can enter Arabia. I had intended, had the period of leave originally applied for been granted, to land at Muscat — a favorable starting-place — and there to apply myself, slowly and surely, to the task of spanning the deserts. But now I was to hurry, in the midst of summer, after a four years' sojourn in Europe, during which many things Oriental had fallen away from my memory, and — after passing through the ordeal of Egypt, a country where the police is curious as in Rome or Milan — ^to begin with the Moslem's Holy Land, the jealously guarded and exclu- sive Haram. However, being liberally supplied with the means of travel by the Royal Geographical Society ; thoroughly tired of " progress" and of " civilization ;" curious to see with my eyes what others are content to " hear with ears," namely, Moslem's inner life in a really Mohammedan country; and longing, if truth be told, to set foot on that mysterious spot which no tourist had yet described, measured, sketched and daguerreotyped, I re- solved to resume an old character of a Persian wanderer,* and to make the attempt. The principal object with which I started was this : — To cross the unknown Arabian Peninsula, in a direct line from either El Medinah to Muscat, or diagonally from Meccah to * The vagrant, the merchant, and the philosopher, amongst Orientals, are frequently united in the same person. HOW AND WHY UNDERTAKEN. 19 Makallah on the Indian Ocean. By what circumstances my plans were defeated, the reader will discover in the course of this volume. The secondary objects were numerous. I was desu'ous to find out if any market for horses could be ^ opened between Central Arabia and India, where the studs are beginning to excite general dissatisfaction ; to obtain information concerning the Great Eastern wilderness, the vast expanse marked Ruba el Khali (the empty abode) in our maps ; to inquire into the hydrography of the Hejaz, its water-shed, the disputed slope of the country, and the existence or non-existence of perennial streams ; and finally, to try, by actual observation, the truth of a theory proposed by the learned Orientahst, Col. Sykes, namely, that if history speak truth, in the population of the vast Peninsula there must exist certain physiological difierences sufficient to warrant our questioning the common origin of the Arab family. As regards the horses, I am satisfied that from the Eastern coast something might be done, — nothing on the Western, where the animals, though " thorough-bred," are mere " weeds," of a foolish price, and procurable only by chance. Of the Ruba el Khali I have heard enough, from credible relators, to conclude that its horrid depths swarm with a large and half-starving population ; that it abounds in wadys, valleys, gullies, and ravines, par- tially fertilized by intermittent torrents ; and therefore, that the land is open only to the adventurous traveller. More- over, I am satisfied, that in spite of all geographers, from Ptolemy to Jormard, Arabia, which abounds in fiumaras^ * In a communication made to the Royal Geographical Society, and published in the 24th voL of the Journal, I have given my reasons for naturalising this "word. It will be used in the following pages to express a " hill water-course, which rolls a torrent after rain, and is either partially or wholly dry during the drought season." It is, in fact, the Indian "KuUah." 20 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. possesses not a single perennial stream worthy the name of river; and the testimony of the natives induces me to think, with WalUn, contrary to Ritter and others, that the Peninsula falls instead of rising towards the south. Finally, I have found proof, to be produced in a futm-e part of this pubhcation, for believing in three distinct races. 1. The aborigines of the country, driven, like the Bheels and other autochthonic Indians, into the eastern and south-eastern wilds bordering upon the ocean. 2. A Syrian or Mesopo- tamian stock, typified by Shem and Joktan, that drove the indigense from the choicest tracts of country ; these invaders still enjoy their conquests, representing the great Arabian people. And 3. An impure Egypto-Arab clan — we per- sonify it by Ishmael, his son Nebajoth and Edom (Esau, the son of Isaac) — that populated and still populates the Sinaitic Peninsula. And in most places, even in the heart of Meccah, I met with debris of heathenry, proscribed by Mohammed, yet still popular, though the ignorant observers of the old customs assign to them a modern and a rational- istic origin. I have entitled this account of my summer's tour through El Hejaz, a personal narrative, and I have labored to make its nature correspond with its name, simply because " it is the personal that interests mankind." Many may not follow my example ;* but some, perchance, will be curious to see what measures I adopted, in order to appear * The only European I have met with who visited Meccah without apostatising, is M. Bertolucci, Swedish Consul at Cairo. This gentle- man persuaded the Bedouin camel men who were accompanying him to Taif, to introduce him in disguise ; he naively owns that his terror of discovery prevented his making any observations. Dr. Wallin, of Finland, performed the Haj in 1846 ; but his " somewhat perilous posi- tion, and the filthy company of Persians," were effectual obstacles to his taking notes. GETTING INTO TRAIN. 21 suddenly as an Eastern upon the stage of Oriental life ; and as the recital may be found useful by future adventurers, I make no apology for the egotistical semblance of the narra- tive. Those who have felt the want of some " silent friend" to aid them with advice, when it must not be asked, will appreciate what may appear to the uninterested critic mere outpourings of a mind full of self. In April, 1853, I left London for Southampton. By the advice of a brother officer — ^little thought at that time the adviser or the advised how valuable was the suggestion — my Eastern dress was called into requisition before leaving town, and all my " impedimenta" were taught to look exceedingly Oriental. Early the next day a " Persian Prince" embarked on board the Peninsular and Oriental Company's screw steamer " Bengal." A fortnight was profitably spent in getting into the train of Oriental manners. For what poUte Chesterfield says of the difiference between a gentleman and his reverse — namely, that both perform the same offices of life, but each in a several and widely different way — ^is notably as applicable to the manners of the Eastern as of the Western men. Look, for instance, at an Indian Moslem drinking a glass of water. With us the operation is simple enough, but his performance includes no less than five novelties. In the first place, he clutches his tumbler as though it were the throat of a foe ; secondly, he ejaculates, " In the name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful !" before wetting his lips ; thirdly, he imbibes the contents, swallowing them, not drinking, and ending with a satisfied grunt ; fourthly, before setting down the cup, he sighs forth, " Praise be to Allah !" — of which you will understand the full meaning in the Desert ; and, fifthly, he replies, " May Allah make it pleasant to thee !" in answer to his friend's poUte " Pleasur- ably and health !" Also he is careful to avoid the irreli- 22 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. gious action of drinking the pure element in a standing position, mindful, however, of the three recognised excep- tions, the fluid of the Holy Well, Zem-zem, water distri- buted in charity, and that which remains after Wuzu, the lesser ablution. Moreover, in Europe one forgets the use of the right hand, the manipulation of the rosary, the abuse of the chair, — your genuine Oriental looks almost as comfortable in one as a sailor upon the back of a high- trotting horse — the rolling gait with the toes straight to the front, the grave look and the habit of pious ejacula- tions. Our voyage over the " summer sea" was an eventless one. The ship was in every way comfortable ; the cook, strange to say, was good, and the voyage lasted long- enough, and not too long. On the evening of the thir- teenth day after our start, the big-trowsered pilot, so lovely in his deformities to western eyes, made his appear- ance, and the good screw " Bengal" found herself at anchor off the Headland of Figs. Having been invited to start fi*om the house of a kind friend, I disembarked with him, and rejoiced to see that by dint of a beard and a shaven head I had succeeded in mis- leading the inquisitive spirit of the populace. The mingled herd of spectators before whom we passed in review on the landing-place, hearing an audible " Alhamdulillah,"* whis- pered " Moslem !" The infant population spared me the compliments usually addressed to hatted heads ; and when a little boy, presuming that the occasion might possibly open the hand of generosity, looked in my face and * "Praise be to Allah, Lord of the (three) worlds!'* a pious ejacula- tion, which leaves the lips of the True Believer on all occasions of con- cluding actions. THE "kAIF." 23 exclaimed, " Bakhshish,"* he obtained in reply " Mafish ;"f Tvhich convinced the bystanders that the sheep-skin con- tained a real sheep. We then mounted a carriage, fought our way through the donkeys, and in half an hour found ourselves, chibouque in mouth and coffee-cup in hand, seated on divans in my Mend's hospitable house. Wonderful was the contrast between the steamer and that villa on the Mahmudiyah canal ! Startling the sudden change from presto to adagio life! In thirteen days we had passed from the clammy grey fog, that atmosphere of industry which kept us at an anchor off the Isle of Wight, through the livehest air of the inland sea, whose sparkling blue and purple haze spread charms even on Africa's bel- dame features, and now we were sitting silent and still, lis- tening to the monotonous melody of the East — the soft night-breeze wandering through starlight skies and tufted trees, with a voice of melancholy meaning. And this is the Arab's Kaif. The savoring of animal existence ; the passive enjoyment of mere sense ; the plea- sant languor, the dreamy tranquilhty, the airy castle-build- ing, which in Asia stand in lieu of the vigorous, intensive, passionate life of Europe. It is the result of a lively, impressible, excitable nature, and exquisite sensibility of nerve, — a facility for voluptuousness unknown to northern regions ; where happiness is placed in the exertion of men- * " Bakhshish" s&ja a modern writer, " is a fee or present which the Arabs (he here means the Egyptians, who got the word from the Per- sians through the Turks) claim on all occasions for services you render them, as well as for services they have rendered you. This bakhshish, in fact, is a sort of alms or tribute, which the poor Arab believes him- self entitled to claim from every respectable-looking person." f Mafish, " There is none," equivalent to, " I have left my purse at home." Ifothing takes the Oriental mind so much as a retort allitera- tive or jingling. 24 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. tal and physical powers ; where niggard earth commands ceaseless sweat of brow, and damp chill air demands per- petual excitement, exercise, or change, or adventure, or dissipation, for want of something better. In the East, man requires but rest and shade : upon the banks of a bub- bling stream, or under the cool shelter of a perfumed tree, he is perfectly happy, smoking a pipe, or sipping a cup of coffee, or drinking a glass of sherbet, but, above all things, deranging body and mind as little as possible ; the trouble of conversations, the displeasures of memory, and the vanity of thought being the most unpleasant interruptions to his Kaif. No wonder that Kaif is a word untranslatable in our mother-tongue !* The better to blind the inquisitive eyes of servants and visitors, my friend lodged me in an outhouse, where I could revel in the utmost freedom of Ufe and manners. And although some Armenian Dragoman, a restless spy like all his race, occasionally remarked that "voila un Persan diablement degage," none, except those who were entrusted with the secret, had any idea of the part I was playing. The domestics, devout Moslems, pronounced me to be an Ajemi,* a kind of Mohammedan, not a good one like them- selves, but still, better than nothing. I lost no time in securing the assistance of a Shaykh,f and plunged once more into the intricacies of the Faith, revived my recollec- tians of religious ablution, read the Koran, and again became an adept in the art of prostration. My leisure hours were employed in visiting the baths and coffee-houses, in attend- * In a coarser sense "kaif" is applied to all manner of intoxication. Sonnini is not wrong when he says, " the Arabs give the name of Kaif to the voluptuous relaxation, the dcHcious stupor, produced by the smoking of hemp." f A Persian opposed to an Arab. X A priest, elder, chieftain, language-master, MECCAH. and for a medicine chest * I bought a pea-green box with red and yellow flowers, capable of standing falls from a camel twice a day. The next step was to find out when the local steamer would start for Cairo, and accordingly I betook myself to the Transit Office. No vessel was advertised; I was directed to call every evening till satisfied. At last the fortunate event took place. A " weekly departure," which, by the by, occurred once every fortnight or so, was in order for the next day. I hurried to the office, but did not reach it till past noon — the hour of idleness. A little, dark gentleman, so formed and dressed as exactly to resemble a liver-and-tan bull-terrier, who, with his heels on the table, was dozing, cigar in mouth, over the last "Gahgnani," positively refused, after a time — for at first he would not speak at aU — to let me take my passage till three in the * Any " Companion to the Medicine Chest " will give, to those that require such information, the names of drugs and instruments necessary for a journey : but it must be borne in mind that hot countries require double quantities of tonics, and half the allowance of cathartics, neces- sary in cold climates. Sonnini, however, is right when he says of the Egyptian fellahs, that their stomachs, accustomed to digest bread badly baked, acrid and raw vegetables, and other green and unwholesome nourishment, require doses fit only for horses. Advisable precautions are, in the first place, to avoid, if travelling as a native, any signs of European manufacture in knives, scissors, weights, scales, and other such articles. Secondly, glass bottles are use- less ; the drugs should be stowed away in tin or wooden boxes, such as the natives of the country use, and when a phial is required it must be fitted into an etui of some kind. By this means, ground glass stoppers, and plentiful cotton stuffing, the most volatile essences may be carried about without great waste. After six months of the driest heat in Egypt and Arabia, not more than about one-fourth of my Prussic acid and chloroform had evaporated. And, thirdly, if you travel in the East, a few bottles of tincture of cantharides — highly useful as a rubefa- cient, excitant, et cetera — ^must never be omitted. INDIAN STYLE OP DOING BUSINESS. 39 afternoon. I inquired when the boat started, upon which he referred me, as I had spoken bad Italian, to the adver- tisement. I pleaded inability to read or write, whereupon he testily cried, " Alle nove ! alle nove !" — at nine ! at nine ! Still appearing uncertain, I drove him out of his chair, when he rose with a curse, and read 8 a. m. An unhappy Eastern, depending upon what he said, would have been precisely one hour too late. Thus were we lapsing into the real good old Indian style of doing business. Thus Indicus orders his first clerk to execute some commission ; the senior, having " work" upon his hands, sends a junior ; the junior finds the sun hot, and passes on the word to a " peon ;" the " peon" charges a porter with the errand, and the porter quietly sits or dozes in his place, trusting that fate will bring him out of the scrape, but firmly resolved, though the shattered globe fall, not to stir an inch. The reader, I must again express a hope, will pardon the egotism of these descriptions — my object is to show him how business is carried on in these hot countries, business generally. For had I, instead of being Abdullah the Dervish, been a rich native merchant, it would have been the same. How many complaints of similar treatment have I heard in different parts of the Eastern world ! and how little can one realise them without having actually experienced the evil ! For the future, I shall never see a " nigger" squatting away half a dozen mortal hours in a broiling sun, patiently waiting for something or for some one, without a lively remembrance of my own cooling of the calces at the custom-house of Alexandria. At length, about the end of May, all was ready. Not without a feeling of regret I left my little room among the white myrtle blossoms and the oleander flowers. I kissed, with humble ostentation, my kind host's hand, in presence 40 " A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AN^D MECCAH. of his servants, bade adieu to my patients, who now amounted to about fifty, shaking hands with all meekly and with religious equahty of attention, and, mounted in a " trap" which looked like a cross between a wheelbarrow and a dog-cart, drawn by a kicking, jibbing, and biting mule, I set out for the steamer. CHAPTER m. THE NILE STEAMBOAT. In the days of the Pitts we have invariably a " Kelation" of Egyptian travellers who embark for a place called " Roseet," on the " River ISTilus." Wanderers of the Bru- cian age were wont to record their impressions of voyage upon land subjects observed between Alexandria and Cairo. A little later we find every one inditing rhapsodies about, and descriptions of, his or her dahabiyeh (barge) on the canal. After this came the steamer. And after the steamer will come the railroad, which may disappoint the author tourist, but will be delightful to that sensible class of men who wish to get over the greatest extent of ground with the least inconvenience to themselves and others. Then shall the Mahmudiyah — ugliest and most wearisome of canals — be given up to cotton boats and grain barges, and then will note-books and the headings of chapters ignore its existence. I saw the canal at its worst, when the water was low, and have not one syllable to say in its favor. Instead of thu*ty hours, we took three mortal days and nights to reach Cairo, and we grounded with painful regularity four 42 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. or five times between sunrise and sunset. In the scenery on the banks sketchers and describers have left you nought to see. The Pyramids of Cheops and Cephren, " rearing their majestic heads above the margin of the desert," only suggest the remark that they have been remarkably well- sketched ; and thus you proceed till with a real feeling of satisfaction you moor alongside of the tumble-down old suburb Bulak. I had taken a third-class or deck passage, whereby the evils of the journey were exasperated. A roasting sun pierced the canvas awning like hot water through a gauze veil, and by night the cold dews fell raw and thick as a Scotch mist. The cooking was abominable, and the dignity of Dervish-hood did not allow me to sit at meat with infidels, or to eat the food they had polluted. So the Der- vish squatted apart, smoking perpetually, with occasional interruptions to say his prayers and to tell his beads upon the mighty rosary, and he drank the muddy water of the canal out of a leathern bucket, and he munched his bread and garlic* with a desperate sanctimoniousness. * Those skilled in simples, Eastern as well as Western, praise garlic highly, declaring that it " strengthens the body, prepares the constitu- tion for fatigue, brightens the sight, and, by increasing the digestive power, obviates the ill effects arising from sudden change of air and water." The old Egyptians highly esteemed this vegetable, which, with onions and leeks, enters into the list of articles so much regretted by the Hebrews (Numbers, xi. 6; Koran, Chap. 2). The modern people of the Nile, like the Spaniards, delight in onions, which, as they contain between 25 and 30 per cent, of gluten, are highly nutritive. In Arabia, however, the stranger must use this vegetable sparingly. The city people despise it as the food of a fellah — a boor. The Wah- habis have a prejudice against onions, leeks, and garlic, because the Prophet disliked their strong smell, and all strict Moslems refuse to eat them immediately before visiting the mosque or meeting for public prayer THE SCENE ON BOARD THE NILE STEAMftR. 43 The "Little Asthmatic," as the steamer is called, was crowded, and discipline not daring to mark out particular places, the scene on board of her was a motley one. There were two Indian officers, who naturally spoke to none but each other, drank bad tea, and smoked their cigars like Britons. A troop of the Kurd Kawwas, escorting treasure, was surrounded by a group of noisy Greeks ; these men's gross practical jokes sounding anything but pleasant to the solemn Moslems, whose saddle-bags and furniture were at every moment in danger of being defiled by abominable drinks and the ejected juices of tobacco. There was one pretty woman on board, a Spanish girl, who looked strangely misplaced — a rose in a field of thistles. Some silent Italians, with noisy interpreters, sat staidly upon the benches. It was soon found out, through the communicative dragoman, that their business was to buy horses for H. M. of Sardinia : they were exposed to a volley of questions delivered by a party of French tradesmen returning to Cairo, but they shielded themselves and fought shy with Machiavellian dexterity. Besides these was a German — a " beer-bottle in the morning and a bottle of beer in the evening," to bor- row a simile from his own nation — a Syrian merchant, the richest and ugliest of Alexandria, and a few French house- painters going to decorate the Pacha's palace at Shoobra. These last were the happiest of our voyagers, — ^veritable children of Paris, Montagnards, Voltairiens, and thorough- bred Sans-Soucis. All day they sat upon deck chattering as only their lively nation can chatter, indulging in ultra- gallic maxims, then singing, then dancing, then sleeping and rising to play, to drink, talk, dance, and sing again. They being new comers, free from the western morgue so soon caught by Oriental Europeans, were particularly civil to me, even wishing to mix me a strong draught; but \ was not so fortunate with all on board. A large shop- 44 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND JilECCAH. keeper threatened to " briser^^ my " figure" for putting my pipe near his " pantaloons ; but seeing me finger my dagger curiously, though I did not shift my pipe, he forgot to remember his threat. I had taken charge of a parcel for one M. P , a student of Coptic, and remitted it to him on board ; of this httle service the only acknowledgment was a stare and a petulant inquiry why I had not given it to him before. And one of the Englishmen, half pubhcly, half privily, as though communing with himself, condemned my organs of vision because I happened to touch his elbow. He was a man in my own service ; I pardoned him in con- sideration of the compliment paid to my disguise. Two fellow-passengers were destined to play an impor- tant part in my comedy of Cairo. Just after we had started, a little event afforded us some amusement. On the bank appeared a short, fat, pursy kind of man, whose efforts to board the steamer were notably ridiculous. With attention divided between the vessel and a carpet bag carried by his ■ donkey boy, he ran along the sides of the canal, now stum- bling into hollows, then climbing heights, then standing shouting upon the projections with the fierce sun upon his back, till every one thought his breath was completely gone. But no ! game to the backbone, he would have perished miserably rather than lose his fare : " perseverance," say the copy-books, " accomplishes great things :" at last he was taken on board, and presently he lay down to sleep. His sooty complexion, lank black hair, features in which appeared beaucoup de finesse^ that is to say, abundant rascality, an eternal smile and treacherous eyes, his gold* ring, dress of showy colors, fleshy stomach, fat legs, round back, and a peculiar mamier of frowning and fawning simultaneously, * The stricter sort of Moslems, such as the Arabs, will not wear gold ornaments, which are forbidden by their law. ARRIVAL AT BULAK. 45 marked him an Indian. When he awoke he introduced him- self to me as Miyan Khudabakhsh Namdar, a native of Lahore : he carried on the trade of a shawl merchant in London and Paris, where he lived two years, and after a pilgrimage intended to pm*ge away the sins of civilized lands, had settled at Cairo. My second friend, Haji Wali, I will introduce to the reader in a future chapter. Long conversations in Persian and Hindostani, abridged the tediousness of the voyage, and when we arrived at Bulak, the polite Khudabakhsh insisted on my making his house my home. I was unwilling to accept the man's civility, disliking his looks, but he advanced cogent reasons for changing my mind. His servants cleared my luggage through the cus- tom-house, and a few minutes after our arrival I found my- self in his abode near the Ezbekiyah Gardens, sitting in a cool mashrabiyah * that gracefully projected over a garden, and sipping the favorite glass of pomegranate syrup. As the wakalahs or caravanserais were at that time full of pilgrims, I remained with Khudabakhsh ten days or a fortnight. But at the end of that time, my patience was thoroughly exhausted. My host had become a civilized man, who sat on chairs, ate with a fork, talked European politics, and had learned to admire, if not to understand liberty — ^liberal ideas ! and was I not flying from such things? Besides which, w^e English have a peculiar national quality, which the Indians, with their characteristic acuteness, soon perceived, and described by an opprobrious name. Observ- ing our solitary habits, that we could not and would not, * The projecting latticed windo-w, made of wood richly carved, for whicl* Cairo was once so famous. But they are growing out of fashion with nmg Egypt, disappearing before glass and imsightly green blinds. 46 A PILGKIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. sit and talk and sip sherbet and smoke with them, they called us " Jungli" — wild men, fresh caught in the jungle and sent to rule over the land of Hind.* Certainly nothing suits us less than perpetual society, an utter want of solitude, when one cannot retire into oneself an instant without being asked some puerile question by a friend, or look into a book without a servant peering over one's shoulder ; when from the hour you rise to the time you rest, you must ever be talking or hstening, you must converse yourself to sleep in a public dormitory, and give ear to your companions' snores and mutterings at midnight.f The very essence of Oriental hospitality, however, is this family style of reception, which costs your host neither coin nor trouble. You make one more at his eating tray, and an additional mattress appears in the sleeping room. When you depart, you leave if you like a little present, merely for a memorial, with your entertainer ; he would be offended if you offered it him openly as a remuneration,! and you give some trifling sums to the servants. Thus you will be welcome wherever you go. If perchance you are * Caste in India arises from the peculiarly sociable nature of the native mind, for which reason " it is found existing among sects whose creeds are as dififerent and as opposite as those of the Hindoo and the Christian." Hence, nothing can be more terrible to a man than expul- sion from caste ; the excommunication of our feudal times was not a more dreadful form of living death. \ With us, every man's house is his castle. But caste divides a people into huge families, each member of which has a right to know every thing about his " caste-brother," because a whole body might be polluted and degraded by the act of an individual. Hence there is no such thing as domestic privacy, and no system of espionage devised by rulers could be so complete as that self-imposed by the Hindoos. ■j; I speak of the rare tracts in which the old barbarous hospitality still lingers. THE LAWS OF HOSPITALITY. 41 detained perforce in such a situation, — which may easily happen to you, medical man, — you have only to make your- self as disagreeable as possible, by calling for all manner of impossible things. Shame is a passion with Eastern nations. Your host would blush to point out to you the indecorum of your conduct; and the laws of hospitality oblige him to supply the every want of a guest, even though he be a detenu. CHAPTER IV. LIFE IN THE WAKALAH. The "wakalah," as the caravanserai or khan is called in Egypt, combines the offices of hotel, lodging house, and store. It is at Cairo, as at Constantinople, a massive pile of buildings surrounding a quadrangular " hosh " or court- yard. On the ground-floor are rooms like caverns for mer- chandise, and shops of different kinds — ^tailors, cobblers, bakers, tobacconists, fruiterers, and others. A roofless gallery or a covered verandah, into which all the apart- ments open, runs round the first and sometimes the second story: the latter, however, is usually exposed to the sun and wind. The accommodations consist of sets of two or three rooms, generally an inner one and an outer; this contains a hearth for cooking, a bathing place, and similar necessaries. The staircases are high, narrow, and exceed- ingly dirty, dark at night and often in bad repair ; a goat or donkey is tethered upon the different landings; here and there a fresh skin is stretched in process of tanning, and the smell reminds the veteran traveller of those closets in the old French inns where cats used to be prepared for playing the part of jugged hare. The interior is unfur- LIFE IN THE WAKALAH. 49 nished ; «^ven the pegs upon which clothes are hung have been pulled doTVTi for firewood : the walls are bare but for stains, thick cobwebs depend in festoons from the black- ened rafters of the ceiling, and the stone floor would dis- grace a civilised prison: the windows are huge apertures carefully barred with wood or iron, and in rare places show remains of glass or paper pasted over the frame- works. In the court-yard the poorer sort of travellers consort with tethered beasts of burden, beggars howl, and the slaves lie basking and scratching themselves upon mountainous heaps of cotton bales and other mer- chandise. This is not a tempting picture, yet is the wakalah a most amusing place, presenting a succession of scenes which would delight lovers of the Dutch school — a rich exemplification of the grotesque, and what is called by our artists the " dirty picturesque." I could find no room in the Wakalah Khan Khalil, (the Long's, or Meurice's, of native Cairo,) I was therefore obliged to put up with the Jemaliyah, the Greek quarter, a place swamiing with drmiken Christians, and therefore not altogether fashionable. Even for this I had to wait a week. The pilgrims were flocking to Cairo, and to none other would the prudent hotel keej)ers open their doors, for the following sufiicient reasons. .When you enter a wa- kalah the first thing you have to do is to pay a small sum, varying from two to five shillings, for the miftah (the key). This is generally equivalent to a month's rent, so the sooner you leave the house the better for it. I was obliged to call myself a Turkish pilgrim in order to get possession of two most comfortless rooms, which I afterwards learned were celebrated for making travellers ill, and I had to pay eight- een piastres for the key and eighteen ditto per mensem for rent, besides five piastres to the man who swept and washed 3 60 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. the place. So that for this month my house hire amoimted to nearly four pence a day. But I was fortunate enough in choosing the Jemaliyah Wakalah, for I found a friend there. On board the steamer a fellow voyager, seeing me sitting alone and therefore as he conceived in discomfort, placed himself by my side and opened a hot fire of kind inquiries. He was a man about Ibrty-five, of middle size, with a large round head closely shaven, a bull-neck, limbs sturdy as a Saxon's, a thin red beard, and handsome features beaming with benevolence. A curious dry humor he had, delighting in " quizzing," bat in so quiet, solemn, and quaint a way that before you knew him you could scarcely divine his drift. " Thank Allah we carry a doctor !" said my friend more than once, with apparent fervor of gratitude, after he had discovered my profession. I was fairly taken by the pious ejaculation, and some days elapsed before the drift of his remark became apparent. " You doctors," he explained, when we were more intimate, " what do you do ? a man goes to you for oph- thalmia. It is a purge, a blister, and a drop on the eye ! Is it for fever? Avell ! a purge and kinakina (quinine). For dysentery ? a purge and extract of opium. Wallah ! I am as good a physician as the best of you," he would add, with a broad grin, " if I only knew a few break-jaw Arabic names of diseases." Haji Wali therefore emphatically advised me to make bread by honestly teaching languages. " We are doctor- ridden," said he, and I found it was the case. When we lived under the same roof, the Haji and I became fast friends. During the day we called on each other fi-equently, we dined together, and passed the even- ing in a mosque, or some other place of public pastime. Coyly at first, but less guardedly as we grew bolder, we THE PILGRIM BECOMES AN AFGHAN. 61 smoked the forbidden weed "hashish,"* conversing length- ily the while about that world of which I had seen so much. Originally from Russia he also had been a tra- veller, and in his wanderings had cast off most of the pre- judices of his people. " I believe in Allah and his Pro- phet, and in nothing else," was his sturdy creed ; he rejected alchemy, genii, and magicians, and truly he had a most unoriental distaste for tales of wonder. When I entered the wakalah, he constituted himself my cicerone, and especially guarded me against the cheating of trades- men. By his advice I laid aside the dervish's gown, the large blue pantaloons, and the short shirt, in fact all con- nexion with Persia and the Persians. '' If you persist in being an Ajemi," said the Haji, " you will get yourself into trouble ; in Egypt you will be cursed, in Arabia yon will be beaten because you are a heretic, you will pay the treble of what other travellers do, and if you fall sick you may die by the roadside." After long dehberation about the choice of nations I became a Pathan.f Born in India, * By the Indians called Bhang, the Persians Bang, and the natives of Barbary, I believe, Fasukh. The Hottentots use it, and even the Sibe- rians, we are told, intoxicate themselves by the vapor of this seed thrown upon red-hot stones. Egypt surpasses all other nations in the variety of compounds into which this fascinating drug enters, and will one day probably supply the Western world with "Indian hemp," when its solid merits are duly appreciated. At present in Europe it is chiefly confined, as cognac and opium used to be, to the apothecary's shelves. Some adventurous individuals at Paris, after the perusal of " Monte Christo," attempted an " orgie" in one of the cafes, but with poor success. f The Indian name of an Afghan, supposed to be a corruption of the Arabic Fathan (a conqueror), or a derivation from the Hindostani paithna, to penetrate (into the hostile ranks). It is an honorable term in Arabia, where " Khurasani" (a native of Khorassan) leads men to suspect a Persian, and the other generic appellation of the Afghan tribes. 52 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND LIECCAH. of Afghan parents, who had settled in the country, edu- cated at Rangoon, and sent out to wander, as men of that race frequently are from early youth, I was well guarded against the danger of detection by a fellow countryman. To support the character requires a knowledge of Persian, Hindostani, and Arabic, all of which I knew sufficiently well to pass muster; any trifling inaccuracy was charged upon my long residence at Rangoon. This was an impor- tant step. The first question at the sh'op, on the camel, and in the mosque is, " What is thy name ?" the second, " Whence comest thou ?" This is not generally imperti- nent, or intended to be annoying ; if, however, you see any evil intention in the questioner, you may rather roughly ask him, " What may be his maternal parent's name" — equi- valent to inquiring, Anglic^, in what church his mother was married — and escape your difficulties undercover of a storm. But this is rarely necessary. I assumed the polite and pliant manners of an Indian physician, and the dress of a small Ef- fendi,* still, however, representing myself to be a Dervish, and fi'equenting the places where Dervishes congregate. " What business," asked the Haji, " have those reverend men with politics or statistics, or any of the information which you are collecting ? Call yourself a religious wan- derer if you like, and let those who ask the object of your peregrinations know that you are under a vow to visit all the holy places in Islam. Thus you will persuade them that you are a man of rank under a cloud, and you will receive much more civility than perhaps you deserve," con- cluded my fi'iend, with a dry laugh. The remark proved his sagacity, and, after ample experience, I had not to repent having been guided by his advice. After lodging myself in the Wakalah, my first object * Gentleman. NO EASTERN WORD FOR " GRATITUDE." 53 was to make a certain stir in the world. In Europe, your travelling doctor advertises the loss of a diamond ring, the gift of a Russian autocrat, or he monopolises a whole column in a newspaper, feeing perhaps a title for the use of a signature ; the large brass plate, the gold-headed cane, the rattling chariot, and the summons from the sermon, complete the work. Here there is no such royal road to medical fame. You must begin by sitting with the porter, who is sure to have blear eyes, into which you drop a little nitrate of silver, whilst you instil into his ear the pleasing intelligence that you never take a fee from the poor. He recovers ; his report of you spreads far and wide, crowding your doors with paupers. They come to you as though you were their servant, and when cured turn their backs upon you for ever. Hence it is that European doctors generally complain of ingratitude on the part of their Oriental patients. It is true that if you save a man's Hfe he naturally asks you for the means of preserving it. Moreover, in none of the Eastern languages with which I am acquainted, is there a single term conveying the mean- ing of our " gratitude," and none but the Germans have ideas unexplainable by words. But you must not condemn this absence of a virtue without considering the cause. An Oriental deems that he has a right to your surplus. " Daily bread is divided" (by heaven) he asserts, and eating yours he considers it his own. Thus it is with other things. He is thankful to Allah for the gifts of the Creator, but he has a claim to the good offices of a fellow creature. In rendering him a service you have but done your duty, and he would not pay you so poor a compliment as to praise you for the act. He leaves you, his benefactor, with a short prayer for the length of your days. " Thank you," being expressed by " Allah increase thy weal !" or the selfish wish that your shadow (with which you protect him and his fellows) 54 PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. may never be less. And this is probably the last you hear of him. There is a discomfort in such proceedings, a reasonable, a metaphysical coldness, uglily contrasting in theory mth the genial warmth which a little more heart would infuse into them. In theory, I say, not in practice. What can be more troublesome than, when you have obliged a man, to run the gauntlet of his and his family^s thanksgivings. " To find yourself become a master from being a Mend," a great man where you were an equal ; not to be contra- dicted, where shortly before every one gave his opinion freely. You must be unamiable if these considerations de- ter you from benefiting your friend, yet, I humbly opine, you still may fear his gratefulness. To resume. When the mob has raised you to fame, patients of a better class will slowly appear on the scene. After some coquetting about " etiquette," whether you are to visit them or they are to call upon you, they make up their minds to see you, and to judge with their eyes whether you are to be trusted or not ; whilst you, on your side, set out with the determination that they shall at once cross the Rubicon, — in less classical phrase, swallow your drug. If you visit the house, you insist on the patient's servants at- tending you ; he must also provide and pay for an ass for your conveyance, no matter if it be only to the other side of the street. Your confidential man accompanies you, primed for replies to the " fifty searching questions" of the " servants' hall." You are lifted off the saddle tenderly, as nurses dis- mount their charges, when you arrive at the gate, and you waddle up stairs with dignity. Arrived at the sick room, you salute those present with a general "peace be upon you!" to which they respond, " and upon you be the peace and the mercy of Allah, and his blessing!" To the invalid you say, " There is nothing the matter, please Allah, except tlie A MEDICAL man's VISIT IN THE EAST. 55 health ;" to which the proper answer — for here every sign of ceremony has its countersign — is, " may Allah give thee health!" You then sit down and acknowledge the presence of the company by raising your right hand to your lips and forehead, bowing the while circularly ; each individual re- turns the civility by a similar gesture. Then inquiry about the state of your health ensues. Then you are asked what refreshment you will take : you studiously mention some- thing not likely to be in the house, but at last you rough it with a pipe and a cup of coffee. Then you proceed to the patient, who extends his wrist, and asks you what his com- plaint is. Then you examine his tongue, you feel his pulse, you look learned, and — he is talking all the time — after hearing a detailed list of all his ailments, you gravely dis- cover them, taking for the same as much praise to yourself as does the practising phrenologist, for a similar simple ex- ercise of the reasoning faculties. The disease to be respect- able must invariably be connected with one of the four tem- peraments, or the four elements, or the " humors of Hip- pocrates." Cure is easy, but it will take time, and you, the doctor, require attention ; any little rudeness it is in your power to punish by an alteration in the pill, or the powder, and, so unknown is professional honor, that none will brave your displeasure. If you would pass for a native practi- tioner, you must then proceed to a most uncomfortable part of your visit, bargaining for fees. Nothing more eifectually arouses suspicion than disinterestedness in a doctor. I once cured a rich Hazramaut merchant of rheumatism, and neglected to make him pay for treatment; he carried oif one of my coffee cups, and was unceasingly wondering where I came from. So I made him produce five piastres, a shilling, which he threw upon the carpet, cursing Indian avarice. " You will bring on another illness," said my friend the Haji, when he heard of it. Properly speaking the fee for a visit to 56 PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. a respectable man is 20 piastres, but with the rich patient you begin by making a bargain. He complains, for instance, of dysentery and sciatica. You demand 10^. for the dysen- tery, and 201. for the sciatica. But you will rarely get it. The Eastern pays a doctor's bill as an Irishman does his *' rint," making a grievance of it. Your patient will show indisputable signs of convalescence : he will laugh and jest half the day ; but the moment you appear, groans and a lengthened visage, and pretended compaints welcome you. Then your way is to throw out some such hint as " The world is a carcass, and they who seek it are dogs." And you refhse to treat the second disorder, which conduct may bring the refractory one to his senses. " Dat Galenus opes," however, is a Western apothegm: the utmost "Jali- nus" can do for you here is to provide you with the neces- saries and the comforts of life. Whatever you prescribe must be sohd and material, and if you accompany it with somethmg painful, such as rubbing unto scarification with a horse brush, so much the better. Easterns, as our peasants in Euro23e, like the doctor to " give them the value of their money." Besides which, rough measures act beneficially upon their imagination. So the Hakim of the King of Persia cured fevers by the bastmado ; patients are bene- ficially baked in a bread-oven at Bagdad ; and an Egyptian at Alexandria, whose quartan resisted the strongest appli- ances of European physic, was efiectually healed by the actual cautery, which a certain Arab Shaykh applied to the crown of his head. When you administer with your own hand the remedy — half-a-dozen huge bread pills, dipped in a solution of aloes or cinnamon water, flavored with assa- fcBtida, which in the case of the dyspeptic rich often sufiice, if they will but diet themselves — you are careful to say, MEDICAL TREATMENT IN THE EAST. 5? "In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the mercifiil.'' And after the patient has been dosed, " Praise be to Allah, the cnrer, the healer ;" you then call for pen, ink, and paper, and write some such prescription as this : — «A* " In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the mercifal, and blessings and peace be upon our Lord the Prophet, and his family, and his companions one and all ! But afterwards let him take bees- honey and cinnamon and album grsecum, of each half a part, and of ginger a whole part, which let him pound and mix with the honey, and form boluses, each bolus the weight of a miskal, and of it let him use every day a miskal on the saliva.f Yerily its effects are wonderful. And let him abstain from flesh, fish, vegetables, sweet- meats, flatulent food, acids of aU descriptions, as well as the major ablution, and life in perfect quiet. So shall he be cured by the help of the King the Healer. J And the peace." § The diet, I need scarcely say, should be rigorous ; no- thing has tended more to bring the European system of medicine into contempt among orientals than our inatten- tion to this branch of the therapeutic art. When an Indian takes cathartic medicine, he prepares himself for it by diet and rest two or three days before its adhibition, and as gradually after the dose, he relapses into his usual habits ; if he break through the regime it is concluded that fatal results must ensue. The ancient Egyptians we learn from Herodotus devoted a certain number of days in each month * A monogram generally placed at the head of writings. It is the initial letter of " Allah," and the first of the alphabet, used from time immemorial to denote the origin of creation. " I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last." f " Al' ar-rik," that is to say, fasting — ^the first thing in the morning. X The Almighty. § Was'-solam, i. e. adieu. 0-* 58 PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. to the use of alteratives, and the period was consecutive, doubtless in order to graduate the strength of the medicine. The Persians, when under salivation, shut themselves up in a warm room, never undress, and so carefully guard against cold that they even drink tepid water. When the Afghan princes find it necessary to employ Chob-Chini, (the Jin- seng, or China root so celebrated as a purifier, tonic, and aphrodisiac) they choose the spring season; they remove to a garden, where flowers and trees and bubbling streams soothe their senses; they carefully avoid fatigue and trouble of all kinds, and will not even hear a letter read, lest it should contain bad news. When the prescription is written out, you affix an im- pression of your ring seal to the beginning and the end of it, that no one may be able to add to or to take from its contents. And when you send medicine to a patient of rank, who is sure to have enemies, you adopt some similar precaution against the box or the bottle being opened. One of the Pashas whom I attended — a brave soldier, who had been a favorite with Mohammed Ali, and therefore was degraded by his successor — ^kept an impression of my ring in wax, to compare with that upon the phials. Men have not forgotten how frequently, in former times, those who became obnoxious to the state were seized with sudden and fatal cramps in the stomach. In the case of the doctor it is common prudence to adopt these precau- tions, as all evil consequences would be charged upon him, and he would be exposed to the family's revenge. Cairo, though abounding in medical practitioners, can still support more ; but they must be Indians, or Chinese, or Maghrabis to thrive. The Egyptians are thoroughly disgusted with European treatment, which is here about as efficacious as in India — that is to say, not at all. But they are ignorant of the medicine of Hind, and therefore great SUPERSTITIOUS INFLUENCES OF CLIMATE. 69 is its name ; deservedly perhaps, for skill in simples and dietetics. Besides which the Indian may deal in charms and spells — things to which the latitude gives such force that even Europeans learn to put faith in them. The tra- veller who, on the banks of the Seine, scoffs at Sights and Sounds, Table-turning and Spirit-rapping, in the wilds of Tartary and Thibet sees a something supernatural and dia- bohcal in the bungling 8ie-fa of the Bohte^ Some sensible men, who pass for philosophers among their friends, have been caught by the incantations of the turbaned and bearded Cairo magician. In our West African colonies the phrase " growing black," was applied to colonists, who, after a tenn of residence, became thoroughly imbued with the superstitions of the land. And there are not wanting old Enghsh Indians, intelligent men, that place firm trust in tales and tenets too puerUe even for the Hindus to believe. As- "Hindi" I could use animal magnetism, taking care, however, to give the science a specious super- natural apj)earance. Haji Wall, who, professing positive scepticism, showed the greatest interest in the subject, as a curiosity, advised me not to practise pure mesmerism ; otherwise, that I should infallibly become a " Companion of Devils." " You must call this an Indian secret," said my friend, " for it is clear that you are no Mashaikh,f and * Certain Lamas who, we learn from M. Hue, perform famous Sie-fa, or supernaturalisms, such as cutting open the abdomen, licking red-hot irons, making incisions in various parts of the body, which an instant afterwards leave no trace behind, nquo. BARGAINING FOR CAMELS. 147 the people strange in the East ; they are prond Avithout insolence, and look manly without blustering. Their walk partakes somewhat of the nature of a strut, owing, per- haps, to the shape of the sandals, not a little assisted by the self-esteem of the wearer, but there is nothing offensive in it ; moreover, the population has a healthy appearance, and, fresh from Egypt, I could not help noticing their free- dom from oj)hthalmic disease. On the afternoon of the day of our arrival we sent for a MuJcharrij* and began to treat for camels. We agreed to pay three dollars for each camel, half in ready money, the other half after reaching our destination, and to start on the evening of the next day with a grain-caravan, guarded by an escort of irregular cavalry. I hired two animals, one for my luggage and servant, the other for the boy Mohammed and myself, expressly stipulating that we were to ride the better, and that if it broke down on the road, its place should be supplied by another as good. My iiiends could not dissemble their uneasiness, when informed by the Mukharrij that the Hazimi tribe was " out," and that travellers had to fight every day. The Daghistanis also contributed to their alarm. " We met," said they, "between two hundred and three hundred devils on a Razzia near El Medinah; we gave them the Salam, but they would not reply, although we were all on dro- medaries. Then they asked us if we were men of El Medinah, and we replied, ' Yes,' and lastly, they wanted to know the end of our journey ; so we said Bir * The Shaykh. or agent of the camels, without whose assistance it would be difficult to hire beasts. He brings the Bedouins with him, talks them over to fair terms, sees the " arbun," or earnest money, deli- vered to them, and is answerable for their not failing in their engage- ment. 148 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH, Abbas."* The Bedouins who had accompanied the Dag- histanis belonged to some tribe unconnected with the Hazimi: the spokesman rolled his head, as much as to say, "Allah has preserved us!" "Sir," said Shaykh Nur to me, "we must wait till all this is over." I told him to hold his tongue, and sharply reproved the boy Mohammed, upon whose manner the effect of finding himself suddenly in a fresh country had wrought a change for the worse. " Why ye were lions at Cairo — and here, at Yambu, you are cats — hens !" It was not long, how- ever, before the youth's impudence returned upon him with increased violence. We sat through the afternoon in the little room on the terrace, whose reflected heat, together with the fiery winds from the wilderness, seemed to incommode even my com- panions. After sunset we dined in the open air, a body of twenty : master, servants, children, and strangers. All the procurable rugs and pillows had been seized to make a divan, and we all squatted round a large cauldron of boiled rice, containing square masses of mutton, the whole covered with clarified butter. Saad the Devil was now in his glory. With what anecdotes the occasion supplied him ! — his tongue seemed to wag with a perpetual motion — for each man he had a boisterous greeting, and to judge * The not returning " Salam" was a sign on the part of the Bedomua that they were out to fight, and not to make friends ; and the drome- dary riders, who generally travel without much to rob, thought this behavior a declaration of desperate designs. The Bedouins asked if they were El Medinah men ; because the former do not like, unless when absolutely necessary, to plunder the people of the Holy City. And the Daghistanis said their destination was Bir Abbas, a neighbor- ing, instead of Yambu, a distant port, because those who travel on a long journey, being supposed to have more fands with them, are more likely to be molested. PREPARATIONS FOR TRAVELLING. 149 fi'om his whisperings he must have been in every one's privacy and confidence. Conversation over, pipes and coffee was prolonged to 10 p. m. — a late hour in these lands ; then we prayed the Ishah,* and, spreading our mats upon the terrace, slept in the open air. The forenoon of the next day was occupied in making sundry small purchases. We laid in seven days' provision for the journey, repacked our boxes, polished and loaded our arms, and attired ourselves appropriately for the road. I bought for my own conveyance a shugduf or litter, for which I paid tw^o dollars. It is a vehicle approj)riated to women and children, fathers of families, married men, " Shelebis,"f and generally to those who are too effemi- nate to ride. My reason for choosing it was, that notes are more easily taken in it than on a dromedary's back ; the excuse of lameness prevented it detracting from my manhood, and I was careful when entering any populous place to borrow or hire a saddled beast. Our party dined early that day, for the camels had been sitting at the gate since noon. We had the usual trouble in loading them ; the owners of the animals vocife- rating about the unconscionable weight, the owners of the goods swearing that such weight a child could carry, while the beasts, taking part with their proprietors, moaned piteously, roared, made vicious attempts to bite, and started up with an agility that threw the half secured boxes or sacks headlong to the ground. About 3 p. m. all was ready — the camels formed into Indian file, and were placed standing in the streets — but, as usual with Oriental travellers, all the men dispersed about the town, so we did not mount before it was late in the afternoon. I must now take the liberty of presenting to the reader * The night prayer. f " Exquisites." / 150 A PILGKIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. an Arab Shaykh, fully equipped for travelling. Nothing can be more picturesque than the costume, and it is with regret that we see it exchanged in the towns and more civilized parts for any other. The long locks or the shaven scalps are surmounted by a white cotton skull-cap, over which is a'^kufiyah — a large square kerchief of silk and cotton mixed, and generally of a dull red color, with a bright yellow border, from which depend crimson silk twist, ending in little tassels that reach the wearer's waist. Doubled into a triangle, and bound with a fillet of rope, a skein of yarn, or a twist of wool, the kerchief fits the head closely behind ; it projects over the forehead, shading the eyes, and thus gives a fierce look to the countenance. On certain occasions one end is brought round the lower part of the face, and is fastened behind the head, leaving only the eyes visible. This veiling the features is technically called Lisam — the chiefs generally fight so, and it is the usual disguise when a man fears the avenger of blood, or a woman starts to take her S>ar^ In hot weather it is sup- posed to keep the Simoom, in cold weather the catarrh, from the lungs. The body dress is simply a Kamis or cotton shirt ; tight sleeved, opening in front, and adorned round the waist and collar, and down the breast, with embroidery like net- work, it extends fi-om neck to foot. Some wear wide trousers, but the Bedouins consider such things efieminate, and they have not yet fallen into the folly of socks and stockings. Over the Kamis is thrown a long skirted and short-sleeved cloak of camel's hair, called an Aba. It is made m many patterns, and of all materials jfrom pure silk to coarse sheep's wool ; some prefer it brown, othei's white, others striped : in El Hejaz the favorite Aba is a white one, ^ * " The " blood revenge." THE POOKEIt CLASS OF ARABS. 151 embroidered with gold, tinsel, or yellow thread in two large triangles, capped with broad bands and other figures running down the shoulders and sides of the back. It is lined inside the shoulders and breast with handsome stuffs of silk and cotton mixed, and is tied in front by elaborate strings, and tassels or acorns of silk and gold. A sash con- fines the Kamis at the waist, and supports the silver-hilted dagger or crooked dagger, and the picturesque Arab san- dal completes the costume. Finally, the Shaykh's arms are a matchlock slung behind his back, and a sword ; in his right hand he carries a light crooked stick about two feet and a half long, called a Mas-hob^ used for guiding camels, or a short javelin. The poorer class of Arabs twist round their waist, next to the skin, a long plait of greasy leather, to support the back, and they gird the shirt at the middle merely with a cord, or with a coarse sash. The dagger is stuck in the sash, and a bandoleer slung over the shoulders carries their cartridge-case, powder-flask, flint and steel, priming-horn, and other necessaries. With the traveller, the waist is an elaborate affair, Below all is worn the money pouch, con- cealed by the Kamis ; the latter is girt with a waist shawl, over which is strapped a leathern belt for carrying arms. The latter article should always be well garnished with a pair of long-barrelled and silver-mounted flint pistols, a large and a small dagger, and an iron ramrod with pincers inside ; a little leathern pouch fastened to the waist strap on the right side contains cartridge, wadding, and a flask of pruning powder. The sword hangs over the shoulder with crimson silk cords and huge tassels ; well dressed men apply the same showy ornaments to their pistols. In the hand may be carried a bell-mouthed blunderbuss, or, better still, a long single-barrel gun with an ounce bore. All these weapons must shine like silver, if you wish to 152 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. be respected ; for attention to arms is here a sign of manli- ness. Pilgrims, especially those from Turkey, carry a " Ha- mail," to denote their holy errand. This is a pocket Koran, in a handsome gold embroidered crimson velvet or red morocco case, slung by red silk cords over the left shoulder. It must hang down by the right side, and should never for respect depend below the waist-belt. For this I substituted a most useful article. To all appearance a "Hamail," it had inside three compartments, one for my watch and com- pass, the second for ready money, and the third contained penknife, pencils, and sUps of paper, which I could hold concealed in the hollow of my hand. These were for writ- ing and drawing : opportunities of making a " fair copy" into the diary-book,* are never wanting to the acute tra- veller. He must, however, beware of sketching before the Bedouins, who would certainly proceed to extreme mea- sures, suspecting him to be a spy or a sorcerer.f Nothing * My diary-book was made up for me by a Cairene : it was a long thin volume fitting into a breast-pocket, where it could be carried with- out being seen. I began by writing notes in the Arabic character, but as no risk appeared, my journal was afterwards kept in English. More than once, by way of experiment, I showed the writing on a loose slip of paper to my companions, and astonished them with the strange cha- racter derived from Solomon and Alexander, the Lord of the two Horns, which we Afghans still use. f An accident of this kind happened not long ago to a German traveller in the Hadramaut, who shall be nameless. He had the morti- fication to see his sketch-book, the labor of months, summarily appro- priated and destroyed by the Arabs. I was told by a Hadramaut man at Cairo, and by several at Aden, that the gentleman had at the time a narrow escape with his life ; the Bedouins wished to put him to death as a spy, sent by the Frank to ensorceler their country, but the Shaykhs forbade bloodshed, and merely deported the offender. Tra- vellers caught sketching are not often treated with such forbearance. LEAVING YAMBU. 153 SO effectually puzzles these people as our habit of putting everything on paper ; their imaginations are set at work, and then the worst may be expected from them. The only safe way of writing in presence of a Bedouin would be when drawing out a horoscope or preparing a charm ; he also objects not, if you can warm his heart upon the sub- ject, to seemg you take notes in a book of genealogies. You might begin with, " And you, men of Harb, on which origin do you pride yourselves ?" And while the Hsteners become fluent upon the, to them, all interesting theme, you could put down whatever you please upon the margin. The towns-people are more Hberal, and years ago the holy shrines have been drawn, and even lithographed, by Eastern artists : still, if you wish to avoid all suspicion, you must rarely be seen with pen or with pencil in hand. At 6 p. M. descending the stairs of our Wakalat, we found the camels standing loaded in the street and shifting their ground in token of impatience.* My shugduf, perched upon the back of a tall strong animal, nodded and swayed about with his every motion, impressing me with the idea that the first step would throw it over the shoulders or the crupper. The camel-men told me I must climb up the ani- mal's neck, and so creep into the vehicle. But my foot dis- abling me from such exertion, I insisted on their bringing the beast to squat, which they did grumbhngly. We took leave of Omar Effendi's brothers and their dependents, who insisted on paying us the compliment of accompanying us to the gate. Then we mounted and started, which was a sig- nal for all our party to disperse once more. Some heard the report of a vessel having arrived from Suez, with Ma- * All Arabs assert that it pains the loaded camel's feet to stand still, and certainly the " fidgetiness " of the animal to start, looks as if he had some reason to prefer walking. 7* 154 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. hommed Shiklibah and other friends on board ; these hurried down to the harbor for a parting word. Others, declaring they had forgotten some necessaries for the way, ran ofl* to the bazaar to spend one last hour in gossiping at the coffee- house. Then the sun set, and prayers must be said. The brief twilight had almost faded away before all had mounted. With loud cries, we threaded our way through long, dusty, narrow streets, flanked with white-washed habitations at considerable intervals, and large heaps of rubbish, sometimes higher than the houses. We were stopped at the gate to ascertain if we were strangers, in which case the guard would have done his best to extract a few piastres before allowing our luggage to pass ; but he soon perceived by my companions' accent, that they were sons of the Holy City — consequently, that the case was hopeless. The moon rose fair and clear, dazzling us with light as we emerged from the shadowy streets, and when we launched into the Desert the sweet air delightfully contrasted with the close offensive atmosphere of the town. My companions, as Arabs will do on such occasions, began to sing. CHAPTER Xn. PROM TAMBU TO BIR ABBAS. On the 18th July, about 7 p. m., we passed through the gate of Yambu, and took a due easterly course. Our route lay over the plain between the mountains of Radhawh on the left and the sea on the right hand ; the land was desert, that is to say, a hard level plain, strewed with rounded lumps of granite and greenstone schist, with here and there a dwarf acacia, and a tuft of rank camel grass. By the Hght of a glorious moon nearly at its full I was able to see the coun- try tolerably well. Our Httle party consisted of twelve camels, and we tra- velled in Indian file, head tied to tail, with but one outrider, Omar Effendi, whose rank required him to mount a drome- dary with showy trappings. All the party, except Omar Eifendi, in token of poverty, were dressed in the coarsest and dirtiest of clothes, — ^the general suit consisting of a shirt torn in divers places and a bit of rag wrapped round the head. They carried short chibouques without mouth-pieces, and tobacco-pouches of greasy leather. Though the coun- try hereabouts is perfectly safe, all had their arms in readi- ness, and the unusual silence that succeeded to the singing, 166 A PILGKIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. (even Saad the Devil held his tongue,) was sufficient to show how much they feared for themselves and their property. After a slow march of two hours facing the moon, we turned somewhat towards the N. E., and began to pass over un- dulating ground, in which a steady rise was perceptible. "We arrived at the halting-place at three in the morning after a short march of about eight hours, during which we could not have passed over more than sixteen miles. The camels were nakh'd ; the boxes were taken off and piled together as a precaution against invisible robbers; my httle tent, the only one in the party, was pitched ; we then spread our rugs upon the ground and lay down to sleep. We arose at about 9 a. m., and after congratulating one another upon being once \nore in the " dear Desert," we proceeded m exhilarated mood to light the fire for pipes and breakfast. The meal was soon dispatched, after which I proceeded to inspect our position. About a mile to the westward lay the little village of Musahlah,* a group of miserable clay hovels. On the south was a strip of bright blue sea, and all around, an iron plain producing naught but stones and grass-hoppers, bounded northward by a grisly wall of blackish rock. Here and there a shrub fit only for fuel, or a tuft of coarse grass, crisp with heat, met the eye. All was sun-parched ; the furious heat from above was drying up the sap and juice of the land, as the shivering and quivering atmosphere showed ; more- over the heavy dews of these regions, forming in large drops upon the plants and stones, concentrate the morning rays * The reader must be -warned that these little villages in Arabia, as in Sindh and Belochistan, are continually changing their names, whilst the larger settlements always retain the same. The traveller, too, must beware of writing down the first answer he receives ; in one of our maps a village on the Euphrates is gravely named " M'adri," (" Don't know.") A DINNER IN THE DESERT. 157 upon them Kke a system of burning glasses. After making these few observations I followed the example of my com- panions, and went to sleep. At 2 P.M. we were roused to a dinner as simple as the breakfast had been. Our potations began before dinner with a vile-tasted but wholesome drink called Akit ; * at the meal we drank leather-flavored water, and ended with a large cupful of scalding tea. Enormous quantities of liquid were consumed, for the sun seemed to have got into our throats, and the perspiration trickled from us as after a shower of rain. Whilst we were eating, a Bedouin woman passed close by the tent, leading a flock of sheep and goats, seeing which I expressed a desire to drink milk. My com- panions sent by one of the camel-men a bit of bread, and asked in exchange for a cupful of " laban." f Thus I learned that the Arabs, even in this corrupt region, still adhere to the meaningless custom of their ancestors, who chose to make the term " labban " (milk-seller) an opprobrium and a disgrace. Possibly the origin of the prejudice might be the recognising of a traveller's guest-right to call for milk gratis. However this may be, no one will in the present day sell this article of consumption, even at civilized Meccah, except Egyptians, a people supposed to be utterly without honor. As a general rule in the Hejaz, milk abounds in the spring, but at aU other times of the year it is difficult to be procured. The Bedouin woman managed, however, to send me back a cuiDful. At 3 P.M. we were ready to start, and all saw, with un- * The Arabs make it by evaporating the serous part of the milk ; the remainder is then formed into cakes or lumps with the hand, and spread upon hair cloth to dry. They eat it with clarified butter, and drink it melted in water. It is considered a cooling and refreshing beve- rage, but boasts few attractions to the stranger, f In Arabic an^ Hebrew milk, 158 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. speakable gratification, a huge black nimbus rise and range itself, like a good genius, between us and our terrible foe, the sun. We hoped that it contained rain, but presently a blast of hot wind, hke the breath of a volcano, blew over the plain, and the aii- was filled with particles of sand. When we had loaded and mounted, my coachmen, two in number, came up to the shugduf and demanded " bakhshish," which, it appears, they are now in the habit of doing each time the traveller starts. I was at first surprised to find the word here, but after a few days of Bedouin society, my wonder diminished. The men were Beni-Harb of the great Hejazi tribe, which has kept its blood pure for the last thirteen cen- turies, how much more we know not — but they had been corrupted by intercourse with pilgrims, retaining none oi their ancestral quahties but greed of gain, revengefulness, pugnacity, and a frantic kind of bravery, displayed on rare occasions. I taunted them severely with their resemblance to the Fellahs of Egypt. They would have resented this with asperity, had it proceeded from their own people, but the Turkish pilgrim — ^the character in which they knew me, despite my Arab dress — is a privileged person. Their outer man was contemptible ; small choco- late-colored beings, stunted and thin, with mops of coarse bushy hair burned brown by the sun, straggling beards, vicious eyes, frowning brows, screaming voices, and well- made, but attenuated, limbs. On their heads were (kerchiefs) in the last stage of wear ; a tattered shirt, indigo- dyed, and girt with a bit of common rope, composed their brief clothing ; and their feet were protected from the stones by soles of thick leather, kept in place by narrow thongs tied to the ancle. Both were armed, one with a matchlock, and a Shintiyan * in a leathern scabbard, slung over the * The Shintiyan is the common sword-blade of the Bedouins. Ex- cellent weapons abound in this country, the reason being, that there is a "harami" or thieves. 159 shoulder, the other with a nehut^ and both showed at the waist the Arab's invariable companion, the dagger. Our party was now a strong one. We had about 200 camels carrying grain, attended by their proprietors, trucu- lent looking as the contrabandists of the Pyrenees. The escort was composed of seven Irregular Turkish cavalry, tolerably mounted, and supplied each with an armory in epitome. They were privily derided by our party, who, being Arabs, had a sneaking fondness for the Bedouins, how- ever loath they might be to see them amongst the boxes. For three hours we travelled in a south-easterly direction upon a hard plain and a sandy flat, on which several waters from the highlands find a passage to the sea westward. Gradually we were siding towards the mountains, and at sunset I observed that we had sensibly neared them. We dismounted for a short halt, and, strangers being present, my companions said their prayers before sitting down to smoke — a pious exercise in which they did not engage for three days afterwards, when they met certain acquaintances at El Hamra. As evening came on, we emerged from a scent of acacias and tamarisk and turned due east, travers- ing an open country with a perceptible rise. Scarcely was it dark before the cry of " Harami " (thieves) rose loud in the rear. All the camel-men brandished their huge staves, and rushed back vociferating in the direction of the rob- bers. They were followed by all the horsemen, and truly, had the thieves possessed the usual acuteness of the pro- fession, they might have driven off the camels in our van with safety and convenience. But these contemptible beings perpetual demand for them, and when once purchased, they become heir-looms in the family. I have heard that when the Beni Bu Ali tribe, near Ras el Khaymah, was defeated with slaughter by Sir laonel Smith's expedition, the victors found many valuable old European blades in the hands of the slain. 160 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MBDINAH AND MECCAH. were only half a dozen in number, and they had lighted their matchlocks, which drew a bullet or two in their direc- tion, whereupon they ran away. This incident aroused no inconsiderable excitement, for it seemed ominous of worse things about to happen to us when entangled in the hills, and the faces of my companions, perfect barometers of fair and foul tidings, fell to zero. For nine hours we journeyed through a brilliant moonlight, and as the first grey streak appeared in the Eastern sky we entered a scanty " misyal^'* * or fiumara^ strewed with pebbles and rounded stones, about half a mile in breadth, and flanked by almost perpendicular hills of primitive formation. I began by asking the names of peaks and other remarkable spots, when I found that a folio volume would not contain a three months' collection ; every hill and dale, flat, valley, and water-course here has its proper name or rather names. The ingenuity shown by the Bedouins in distinguishing between locahties the most similar, is the result of a high organization of the perceptive faculties, perfected by the practice of observing a recur- rence of landscape features few in number and varying but little amongst themselves. After travelUng two hours up this torrent bed, winding in an easterly direction, and cross- ing some " Harrah^'^ or ridges of rock, and " Ria^'* steep descents, we found ourselves at 8 a.m., after a march of about thirty-four miles, at Bir Said (Said's well), our desti- nation. I had been led to expect a pastoral scene, wild flowers, flocks, and flowing waters at the " well ;" so I looked with a jaundiced eye upon a deep hole full of slightly brackish water dug in a tamped hollow — a kind of punch-bowl with granite walls, upon whose grim surface a few thorns, of passing hardihood, braved the sun for a season. Not a * The dry channel of a hill watercourse. A DESOLATE VALLEY. 161 house was in sight — it was as barren and desolate a spot as the sun ever " viewed in his wide career." But this is what the Arabian traveller must expect. He is to traverse, for instance, the Wady El Ward — the vale of flowers ; he indulges in sweet recollections of Indian lakes beautiful with the lotus, and Persian plains upon which narcissus is the meanest of grasses ; he sees a plain like tamp-work, where knobs of granite act daisies, and at every fifty yards some hapless bud or blossom dying of inanition among the stones. The sun scorched our feet as we planted the tent, and, after drinking our breakfast, we passed the usual day of perspiration and semi-lethargy. In discomfort man natu- rally hails a change, even though it be one from bad to worse. When our enemy began slanting towards the west, we felt ready enough to proceed on our journey. The camels were laden shortly after 3 p. m., and we started with water jars in our hands through a storm of simoom. We travelled five hours in a north-easterly course up a diagonal valley, through a country fantastic in its desola- tion — a mass of huge hills, barren plains, and desert vales. Even the sturdy acacias here failed, and in some places the camel grass could not find earth enough to take root in. The road wound among mountains, rocks, and hills of gra- nite, over broken ground, flanked by huge blocks and boulders, piled up as if man's art had aided nature to dis- figure herself. Yast clefts seamed hke scars the hideous face of earth ; here they widened into dark caves, there they were choked up with glistening drift sand. Not a bird or a beast was to be seen or heard ; their presence would have argued the vicinity of water, and though my companions opined that Bedouins were lurking among the rocks, I decided that these Bedouins were the creatures of their fears. Above, a sky like polished blue steel, with a 162 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. tremendous blaze of yellow light, glared upon us without the thinnest veil of mist cloud. The distant prospect, indeed, was more attractive than the near view, because it borrowed a bright azure tinge from the intervening atmo- sphere ; but the jagged peaks and the perpendicular streaks of shadow down the flanks of the mountainous background showed that no change for the better was yet in store for us. Between 10 and 11 p. m. we reached human habitations — a phenomenon unseen since we left Musahhal — in the long stragghng village called El Hamra, from the redness of the sands near which it is built, or El Wasitah, the " half-way" village, because it is the middle station between Yambu and El Medinah. It is therefore considerably out of place in Burckhardt's map, and those who copy from it make it about half-way nearer the seaport than it really is. We wandered about nearly an hour in search of an en- camping place, for the surly villagers ordered us off every flatter bit of ground, without however deigning to show us where our jaded beasts might rest. At last, after much wrangling, we found the usual spot; the camels were unloaded, the boxes and baggage were disposed in a circle for greater security against the petty pilferers in which this part of the road abounds, and my companions spread their rugs so as to sleep upon their valuables. I placed a drawn sword by my side,* and a cocked pistol under my pillow ; the saddle-bag, a carpet spread upon the cool loose sand, formed by no means an uncomfortable couch, and upon it 1 enjoyed a sound sleep till daybreak. Rising at dawn, I proceeded to visit the village. It is * This act, by the by, I afterwards learned to be a great act of im- prudence. Nothing renders the Arab thief so active as the chance of stealing a good weapon. DESCRIPTION OF EL HAMEA. 163 built up^^n a narrow shelf at the top of a precipitous liill to the North, and on the South runs a sandy Fiumara, about half a mile broad. On all sides are rocks and mountains, rough and stony ; so you find yourself in another of those punch-bowls which the Arabs seem to consider choice sites for settlements. Water of good quality is readily found in it by digging a few feet below the surface at the angles Avhere the stream as it runs forms the deepest hollows, and in some places the stony sides give out bubbling springs.* El Hamra itself is a collection of stunted houses, or rather hovels, made of unbaked brick and mud, roofed over with palm leaves, and pierced with air holes, which occa- sionally boast a bit of plank for a shutter. It appears thickly populated in the parts where the walls are stand- ing, but it abounds in ruins. It is well supplied with pro- visions, which are here cheaper than at El Medinah. In the village are a few shops where grain, huge plantains, ready-made bread, rice, clarified butter, and other edibles, are to be purchased. Palm orchards of considerable extent supply it with dates. The bazaar is, like the generality of such places in Eastern villages, a long lane, here covered with matting, there open to the sun, and the streets — if they may be so called— though narrow, are full of dust and glare. ISTear the encamping ground of caravans is a fort for the officer commanding a troop of Albanian cavalry, whose duty it is to defend the village, to hold the country, and to escort merchant travellers. Around the El Hamra fort are clusters of palm-leaf huts, where the soldiery lounge and smoke, and near it the usual coffee-house, a * Near El Hamra, at the base of the southern hills, within fire of the forts, there is a fine spring of sweet water. All such fountains are much prized by the people, who call them " rock-water," and attribute to them tonic and digestive virtues. 164 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. shed kept by an Albanian. These places are frequented probably on account of the intense heat inside the fort. We passed a comfortless day at the "Red village." Large flocks of sheep and goats were being driven in and out of the place, but their surly shepherds would give no milk, even in exchange for bread and meat. Before break- fast I bought a moderately sized sheep for a dollar. Shaykh Hamid killed it, according to rule, and my companions soon prepared a feast of boiled mutton, But our day was especially soured by a report, that Saad, the great robber- chief, and his brother, were in the field ; consequently that our march would be delayed for some time : every half- hour some fresh tattle from the camp or the cofiee-house added fuel to the fire of our impatience. Saad, the old man of the mountains, was described to me as a little brown Bedouin, contemptible in appearance, but remarkable for courage and ready wit. He has a keen scent for treachery and requires to keep it in exercise. A blood feud with Abdul Muttaleb, the present sherif of Meccah, who slew his nephew, and the hostility of several Sultans, has rendered his life an eventful one. He lost all his teeth by poison, which would have killed him, had he not in mis- take, after swallowing the potion, corrected it by driaking off a large pot of clarified butter. Since that time he has lived entirely upon fi-uits which he gathers for himself, and coffee which he prepares with his own hand. In Sultan Mohammed's time he received fi-om Constantmople a gor- geous purse, which he was told to open himself, as it con- tained something for his private inspection. Suspecting treachery he gave it for this purpose to a slave, bidding him carry it to some distance ; the bearer was shot by a pistol cunningly fixed, like Rob Roy's, in the folds of the bag. But whether this well-known story be " true or only well found," it is certahi that Shaykh Saad now fears the Turks, MEETING OP CARAVANS. 165 even " when they bring gifts." The Sultan sends or is sup- posed to send him presents of fine horses, robes of honor, and a large quantity of grain. But the Shaykh, trusting to his hills rather than to steeds, sells them ; he gives away the dresses to his slaves, and distributes the grain amongst his clansmen. Of his character men tell two tales; some praise his charity, and caU him the friend of the poor, as certainly as he is a foe to the rich. Others on the contrary describe him as cruel, cold-blooded, and notably, even among Arabs, re- vengeful and avaricious. The truth probably lies between these two extremes, but I observed that those of my compa- nions who spoke most highly of the robber chief when at a distance seemed to be in the sudorifreddi whilst under the shadow of his hills. El Hamra is the third station from El Medinah, in the Darb Sultani — "Sultan's" or "High Road," the westerly line leading to Meccah along the sea-coast. When the rob- bers permit, the pilgrims prefer this route to all others on account of its superior climate, the facility of procuring wa- ter and supplies, the vicinity of the sea, and the circumstance of its passing through " Bedr," the scene of the Prophet's principal military exploits. After mid-day, (on the 21st July,) when we had made up our minds that fate had deter- mined we should halt at El Hamra, a caravan arrived from Meccah, and the new travellers had interest to procure an escort and permission to proceed towards El Medinah with- out delay. The good news filled us with joy. A little after 4 p. M. we urged our panting camels over the fiery sands to join the Meccans, who were standing ready for the march, on the other side of the torrent bed, and at five we started in an easterly direction. My companions had found friends and relations in the Meccan caravan, — ^the boy Mohammed's elder brother, about whom more anon, was of the number ; — they were full of 166 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. news and excitement. At sunset they prayed with unction ; even Saad and Hamid had not the face to sit their camels during the halt, when all around were washing, sanding themselves, and busy with theii* devotions. We then ate our suppers, remounted, and started once more. Shortly after night set m, we came to a sudden halt. A dozen dif- ferent reports arose to account for this circumstance, which was occasioned by a band of Bedouins, who had manned a gorge, and sent forward a " parliamentary" ordering us forth- with to stop. They at first demanded money to let us pass ; but at last, hearmg that we Avere sons of the Holy Cities, they granted us transit on the sole condition that the military, — whom they, like Irish peasants, hate and fear, — should re- turn to whence they came. Upon this, our escort, 200 men, wheeled their horses round and galloped back to their bar- racks. "We moved onwards, without, however, seeing any robbers; my camel-man pointed out their haunts, and showed me a small bird hovering over a place where he sup- posed water trickled from the rock. Our night's journey had no other incident. We travel- led over rising ground with the moon full in our faces, and about midnight passed through another long straggling line of villages, called Jadaydeh. At 4 a. m., having travelled about twenty-four miles due east, we encamped at Bir Abbas, CHAPTER XIII. FROM BIR ABBAS TO EL MEDINAH. The position of Bir Abbas exactly resembles that of El Hamra, except that the bulge of the hill-girt fiumara is at this place about two miles wide. " There are the usual stone forts and palm-leaved hovels for the troopers," sta- tioned here to hold the place and to escort travellers, with a coffee-shed, and a hut or two, called a bazaar, but no vil- lage. The encamping ground was a bed of loose sand, with which the violent simoom wind filled the air : not a tree nor a bush was in sight ; a species of hardy locust and swarms of flies were the only remnants of animal life. Although we were now some hundred feet, to judge by the water-shed, above the level of the sea, the mid-day sun scorched even through the tent ; our frail tenement was more than once blown down, and the heat of the sand made the work of repitching it a painful one. Again my companions, after breakfasting, hurried to the coffee-house, and returned one after the other with dispiriting reports. Before noon a small caravan which followed us came in with two dead bodies, — a trooj)er shot by the Bedouins, and an Albanian killed by sun-stroke, or the fiery wind. Shortly after mid- 168 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDDJAH AND MECCAH. day a Cafila, travelling in an opposite direction, passed by US ; it was composed chiefly of Indian pilgrims, habited in correct costmne, and hurrying towards Meccah in hot haste. They had been allowed to pass mimolested, because probably a pound sterling could not have been collected from a hundred pockets, and Saad the robber sometimes does a cheap good deed. But our party having valuables with them did not seem to gather heart from this event. In the evening we aU went out to see some Arab Shaykhs who were travelling to Bir Abbas in order to receive their salaries. Without such douceurs^ it is popularly said and believed, no stone walls could enable a Turk to hold El Hejaz against the hill men. The party looked well ; they were Harbis, dignified old men in the picturesque Arab costume, with erect forms, fierce thin features, and white beards, well armed, and mounted upon high-bred and handsomely equipped dromedaries fi-om El Shark.* Pre- ceded by their half-naked clansmen, carrying spears twelve or thu'teen feet long, garnished with single or double tufts of black ostrich feathers, and ponderous matchlocks, which were discharged on approaching the fort, they were not without a kind of barbaric pomp. Immediately after the reception of these Shaykhs, there was a parade of the Arnaut Irregular horse. About 500 of them rode out to the sound of a naJcus or little kettle- drum, whose puny notes strikingly contrasted with this really martial sight. The men, it is true, were mounted on lean Arab and Egyptian nags, were ragged looking as their clolhes, and each trooper was armed in his own way, * El Shark, " the East," is the popular name in the Hejaz for the western region as far as Baghdad and Bussora, especially Nijd. The latter province supplies the Holy Land with its choicest horses and camels. THE AENAUT IEREGUI.AR HORSE. 169 though all had swords, pistols, and matchlocks, or firelocks of some kind. But they rode hard as Galway squireens, and there was a gallant reckless look about the fellows which prepossessed me strongly in their favor. Their ani- mals, too, though notable " screws," were well trained, and their accoutrements were intended for use, not show. I watched their manoeuvres with curiosity. They left their cantonments one by one, and, at the sound of the tom-tom, by degrees formed a plump — column it could not be called — all huddled together in confusion. Presently the little kettle-drum changed its note and the parade its aspect. All the serried body dispersed as Light Infantry would, continuing their advance, now hanging back, then making a rush, and all the time keeping up a hot fire upon the enemy. At another signal they suddenly put their horses to fuU s^Deed, and, closing upon the centre, again advanced in a dense mass. After three quarters of an hour parad- ing, sometimes charging singly, often in bodies, now to the right, then to the left, and then straight in fi-ont, when requisite halting and occasionally retreating, Parthian-like, the Arnauts turned en masse- towards their lines. As they neared them, aU broke off and galloped in, ventre d terre^ discharging their shotted guns with much recklessness against objects assumed to denote the enemy. But ball cartridge seemed to be plentiful hereabouts ; during the whole of this and the next day, I remarked that bullets were fired away in mere fun.* * The Albanians, delighting in the noise of musketry, notch the ball in order to make it sing the louder. When fighting, they often adopt the excellent plan — excellent, when rifles are not procurable — of driy- ing a long iron nail through the bullet, and fixing its head into the cartridge. Thus the cartridge is strengthened, the bullet is rifled, and the wound which it inflicts is a fatal one. Round balls are apt to pass into and out of savages without killing them, and many an Afghan, 8 170 A PILGBIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. A distant dropping of fire-arms ushered in the evening of our first melancholy day at Bir Abbas. This, said my companions, was a sign that the troops and the hill-men were fighting at no great distance. They communicated the inteUigence, as if it ought to be an effectual check upon my impatience to proceed ; it acted, however, in the contrary way. I supposed that the Bedouins, after battling out the night, would be less warhke the next day ; the others, how- ever, by no means agreed in opinion with me. At Yambu the whole party had boasted loudly that the people of El Medinah could keep their Bedouins in order, and had twitted the boy Mohammed with their superiority in this respect to his townsmen, the Meccans. But now that a trial was impending, I saw none of the fearlessness so con- spicuous when the peril was only possible. The change was charitably to be explained by the presence of their valuables; the "saMaraAs," hke conscience, making cowards of them all. But the young Meccan, who, having sent on his box by sea fi'om Yambu to Jeddah, felt merry, Hke the empty traveller, would not lose the opportunity to pay off old scores. He taunted the Medinites till they stamped and raved with fury. At last, fearing some violence, and feeling that I was answerable for the boy's safety to his family, — having persuaded him to accompany me on the journey, — seizing him by the nape of the neck and the upper posterior portion of his nether garments, I drove him before me into the tent. That night I slept within my shugduf, for it would have been mere madness to lie on the open plain in a place so infested by banditti. The being armed is but a poor pre- caution near this robbers' haunt. K a man be wounded in after being shot or run throiigli the body, has mortally wounded his English adversary before falling. A FOKCED HALT. 171 the very act of plundering, an exorbitant sum must be paid for blood-money. If you kill him, even to save your hfe, then adieu to any chance of escaping destruction. I was roused three or four times during the night by jackals and dogs prowling about our little camp, and thus observed that my companions, who had agreed amongst themselves to keep watch by turns, had all fallen into a sound sleep. However, when we awoke in the morning, the usual inspec- tion of goods and chattels showed that nothing was miss- ing. The next day was a forced halt, a sore stimulant to the traveller's ill-humor ; and the sun, the sanxl, the dust, the furious simoom, and the want of ceilTiln small supplies, aggravated our grievance. My sore foot had been inflamed by a dressing of onion skin which the Lady Maryam had insisted upon applying to it. Still I was resolved to push forward by any conveyance that could be procured, and offered ten dollars for a fresh dromedary to take me on to El Medinah. Shaykh Hamid also declared he would leave his box in charge of a friend and accompany me. Saad the Devil flew into a passion at the idea of any member of the party escaping the general evil, and he privily threatened Mohammed to cut off the legs of any camel that ventured into camp. This, the boy, — who, Hke a boy of the world as he was, never lost an opportunity of making mischief, — instantly communicated to me, and it brought on a furious dispute. Saad was reproved and apologised for by the rest of the party, and presently he himself was pacified, prin- cipally, I believe, by the intelligence that no camel was to be hired at Bir Abbas. One of the Arnaut garrison, who had obtained leave to go to El Medinah, came to ask us if we could mount him, as otherwise he should be obliged to walk the whole way. With him we debated the propriety of attempting a passage through the hills by one of the 172 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. many bye-paths that traverse them ; the project was amply discussed, and duly rejected. We passed the day in the usual manner; all crowded together for shelter under the tent — even Maryam joined us, loudly informing Ali, her son, that his mother was no longer a woman but a man — whilst our party generally, cowering away from the fierce glances of the sun, were either eating or occasionally smoking, or were occupied in cooling and drinking water. About sunset-time came a report that we were to start that night. None could believe that such good was in store for us ; before sleeping, however, we placed each camel's pack apart, so as to be ready for loading at a moment's notice, and we took care to watch that our Bedouins did not drive their animals away to any distance. At last about 11 p. m., as the moon began to peep over the eastern wall of rock, was heard the glad sound of the little kettle-drum calling the Albanian troopers to mount and march. In the shortest possible time all made ready, and hurriedly crossing the sandy flat, we found ourselves in company with three or four caravans, forming one large body for better defence against the dreadful Hawamid. By dint of much manoeuvring, arms in hand — Shaykh Hamid and the "Devil" took the prominent parts — we, though the last comers, managed to secure places about the middle of the line. We travelled that night up the fiumara in an easterly direction, and at early dawn found ourselves in an ill-famed gorge called Shuab el Haj (the "^ Pilgrim's Pass"). The loudest talkers became silent as we neared it, and their countenances showed apprehension written in legible cha- racters. Presently from the high precipitous cliff on our left thin blue curls of smoke, — somehow or other they caught every eye, — rose in the air, and instantly afterwards rank the loud sharp cracks of the hillmen's matchlocks, THE pilgrim's PASS. 173 echoed by the rocks on the right. A number of Bedouins were to be seen swarming like hornets over the crests of the rocks, boys as well as men carrying huge weapons, and climbing with the agility of cats. They took up comfortable places in the cut-throat eminence, and began firing upon us with perfect convenience to themselves. It was useless to challenge the Bedouins to come down and fight us upon the plain like men ; they will do this on the eastern coast of Arabia, but rarely, if ever, in El Hejaz. And it was equally unprofitable for our escort to fire upon a foe ensconced behind stones. Besides which, had a robber been killed, the whole country would have risen to a man ; with a force of 3,000 or 4,000, they might have gained courage to over- power a caravan, and in such a case not a soul would have escaped. As it was, the Bedouins directed their fire principally against the unhappy Albanians. Some of these called for assistance to the party of Shaykhs that accompanied us fi-om Bir Abbas, but the dignified old men, dismounting and squatting round their pipes in council, came to the conclusion that, as the robbers would probably turn a deaf ear to their words, they had better spare them- selves the trouble of speaking. We had therefore nothing to do but to blaze away as much powder, and to veil ourselves in as much smoke as possible ; the result of the afiair was that we lost twelve men, besides camels and other beasts of burden. After another hour's hurried ride through the "Wady Sayyalah appeared Shuhada, to which we pushed on, " Like nighted swain on lonely road. When close behind fierce goblins tread." Shuhada is a place which derives its name, " The Mar- tyrs," because here are supposed to be buried forty braves 174 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AKD MECCAH. that fell in one of Mohammed's many skirmishes. Some authorities consider it the cemetery of the people of Wady Sayyalah. The once populous valley is now barren, and one might easily pass by the consecrated spot without observing a few ruined walls and a cluster of rude graves of the Bedouins, each an oval of rough stones lying beneath the thorn trees on the left of and a little off the road. An- other half hour took us to a favorite halting-place, Bir El Hindi,* so called from some forgotten Indian who dug a well there. But we left it behind, wishing to put as much space as we could between our tents and the nests of the Hamidah. Then quitting the fiumara, we struck north- wards into a well-trodden road running over stony rising ground. The heat became sickening ; here, and in the East generally, at no time is the sun more dangerous than between 8 and 9 a. m. : still we hurried on. It was not before 11 a. m. that we reached our destination, a rugged plain covered with stones, coarse gravel, and thorn trees in abundance, and surrounded by inhospitable rocks, pinnacle, shaped, of granite below, and in the upper parts fine lime- stone. The well was at least two miles distant, and not a hovel was in sight ; a few Bedouin children belonging to an outcast tribe fed their starveling goats upon the hills. That night we must have travelled about twenty-two miles ; the direction of the road was due east, and the only remarkable feature in the ground was its steady rise. We pitched the tent under a villanous Mimosa, the * The Indians sink wells in Arabia for the same reason which impels them to dig tanks at home, — " nam ke waste," — " for the purpose of name ;" thereby denoting, together with a laudable desire for post- humous fame, a notable lack of ingenuity in securing it. For it gene- rally happens that before the third generation has fallen, the well and the tank hare either lost their original names, or have exchanged them for newer and better ones. ILL-HUMOE. 175 tree whose shade is compared by poetic Bedouins to the false friend who deserts you in your utmost need. I enlivened the hot dull day by a final dispute with Saad the Devil. His alacrity at Yambu obtained for him the loan of a couple of dollars : he had bought grain at El Hamra, and now we were near El Medinah ; still there was not a word about repayment. And knowing that an Oriental debtor discharges his debt as he pays his rent, — namely, with the greatest unwillingness, — and that, on the other hand, an Oriental creditor will devote the labor of a year to recovering a sixpence, I resolved to act as a native of the country, placed in my position, would, and by dint of sheer dunning and demanding pledges try to recover my property. About noon Saad the Devil, after a fiirious rush, bare-headed, through the burning sun, flung the two dollars down upon my carpet : however, he presently recovered, and, as sub- sequent events showed, I had chosen the right part. Had he not been forced to repay his debt he would have despised me as a "freshman," and asked for more. As it was, the boy Mohammed bore the brunt of unpopular feeling, my want of liberality being traced to his secret and perfidious admonitions. He supported his burden the more philo- sophically, because, as he notably calculated, every dollar saved at El Medinah would be spent under his stewardship at Meccah. At 4 p. M. we left Suwaykah, all of us in the Grossest of humors, and travelled in a E". E. direction. So out of temper were my companions, that at sunset, of the whole party, Omar Efiendi was the only one who would eat supper. The rest sat upon the ground, pouting, grumbling, and — ^they had been allowed to exhaust my stock of Lata- kia — smoking Syrian tobacco as if it were a grievance. Such a game at naughty children, I have seldom seen played even by the Oriental men. The boy Mohammed 176 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINA!! AND MECCAH. privily remarked to me that the camel-men's beards were now in his fist, — meaning that we were out of their kinsmen, the Harb's, reach. He soon found an opportmiity to quarrel with them; and, because one of his questions was not answered in the shortest possible time, he proceeded to abuse them in language which sent their hands flying in the direction of their swords. Despite, however, this threaten- ing demeanor, the youth, knowing that he now could safely go to any lengths, continued his ill words, and Man- ser's face was so comically furious, that I felt too much amused to interfere. At last the camel-men disappeared, thereby punishing us most effectually for our sport. The road lay up rocky hill and down stony vale ; a tripping and stumbling dromedary had been substituted for the usual one : the consequence was that we had either a totter or a tumble once per mile during the whole of that long night. In vain the now fiery Mohammed called for the assistance of the camel-men with the full force of his lungs : " Where be those owls, those oxen of the oxen, those beggars, those cut-off ones, those foreigners, those sons of flight ? vrithered be their hands ! palsied be their fingers ! the foul mustachioed fellows, basest of the Arabs, that ever hammered tent-peg, sneaking cats, goats of El Akhfash ! Truly I will torture them to the torture of oil, the mines of infamy ! the cold of countenance ! " * The Bedouin brotherhood of the camel- men looked at him wickedly, muttering the while "By Al- lah! and by Allah ! and by Allah ! O boy, we will flog thee like a hound when we catch thee in the Desert ! " Some days after our arrival at Medinah, Shaykh Hamid warned * A " cold-of-countenance" is a fool. Arabs use the word " cold " in a peculiar way. " May Allah refrigerate thy countenance I " i. e. may it show misery and want. *' By Allah, a cold speech I " that is to Bay, a silly or an abusive tirade. IN SIGHT OF EL MEDINAH. 177 him seriously never again to go such perilous lengths, as the Beni Harb were celebrated for shooting or poniarding the man who ventured to use even the mild epithet " O jack- ass ! " to them. The sun had risen before I shook off the lethargic effects of such a night. All around me were hurrying their camels, regardless of rough ground, and not a soul spoke a word to his neighbor. " Are there robbers in sight ?" was the natural question. " No !» replied Mohammed ; " they are walking with their eyes,* they will presently see their homes!" Rapidly we passed the Wady el Akik, of which a thousand pretty things have been said by the Arab poets. It was as " dry as summer's dust," and its " beautiful trees" appeared in the shape of. vegetable mum- mies. Half an hour after leaving the " blessed valley" we came to a huge flight of steps roughly cut in a long broad line of black scoriaceous basalt. This is called the Mudar- raj or flight of steps over the western ridge of the so-called El Harratain. It is holy ground ; for the prophet spoke well of it. Arrived at the top we passed through a lane of black scoria, with steep banks on both sides, and after a few minutes a full view of the city suddenly opened upon us. We halted our beasts as if by word of command. All of us descended, in imitation of the pious of old, and sat down, jaded and hungry as we were, to feast our eyes with a view of the Holy City. " O Allah ! this is the Haram (sanctuary) of the Prophet; make it to us a protection from hell fire, and a refuge from eternal punishment ! O open the gates of thy mercy, and let us pass through them to the land of joy !" and " O Allah, bless the last of Prophets, * That is to say, they would use, if necessary, the dearest and noblest parts of their bodies (their eyes) to do the duty of the basest {L e. their feetX 8* 178 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. the seal of prophecy, with blessings in number as the stars of heaven, and the waves of the sea, and the sands of the waste — ^bless him, O Lord of Might and Majesty, as long as the corn field and the date grove continue to feed man- kind !'" And again, " Live for ever, O most excellent of Prophets ! — ^live in the shadow of happiness during the hours of night and the times of day, whilst the bird of the tamarisk (the dove) moaneth like the childless mother, whilst the west*wind bloweth gently over the hills of Nejd, and the lightning flasheth bright in the firmament of El Hejaz !" Such were the poetical exclamations that rose all around me, showing how deeply tinged with imagination becomes the language of the Arab under the influence of strong passion or reUgious enthusiasm. I now understood the fall value of a phrase in the Moslem ritual, " And when his (the pilgrim's) eyes fall upon the trees of El Medinah^ let him raise his voice and bless the Prophet with the choicest of blessings." In all the fair view before us, nothing was more striking, after the desolation through which we had passed, than the gardens and orchards about the town. It was impossible not to enter into the spirit of my companions, and truly I believe that for some minutes my enthusiasm rose as high as theirs. But pre- sently, when we remounted, the traveller returned strong upon me : I made a rough sketch of the town, put ques- tions about the principal buildings, and in fact collected materials for the next chapter. The distance traversed that night was about twenty miles in a direction varying from easterly and north-east- erly. We reached El Medinah on the 25th July, thus taking nearly eight days to travel over little more than 130 miles. This journey is performed with camels in four days, and a good dromedary will do it without difficulty in half that time. CHAPTER XIV. THROUGH THE SUBUEB OP EL MEDIN^AH TO HAMID'S HOUSE. As we looked eastward the sun arose out of the horizon of low hill, blurred and dotted with small tufted trees, which jfrom the morning mists gained a giant stature, and the earth was stained with gold and purple. Before us lay a spacious plain, bounded in front by the undulating ground of Nejd ; on the left was a grim barrier of rocks, the cele- brated Mount Ohod, with a clump of verdure and a white dome or two nestling at its base. Rightwards, broad streaks of lilac-colored mists were thick with gathered dew, there pierced and thinned by the morning rays, stretched over the date groves and the gardens of Kuba, which stood out in emerald green from the dull tawny surface of the plain. Below, at the distance of about two miles lay El Medinah ; at first sight it appeared a large place, but a closer inspec- tion proved the impression to be an erroneous one. A tor- tuous road from the Harrah to the city, wound across the plain and led to a tall rectangular gateway, pierced in the ruinous mud wall which surrounds the suburb. This is the " Ambari" entrance. It is flanked on the left (speaking as a sketcher) by the domes and ininarets of ^ pretty Turkish 180 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. building, a " Takiyah," erected by the late Mohammed Ali for the reception of Dervish travellers ; on the right by a long low line of white-washed buildings garnished with ugly square windows, an imitation of civilised barracks. Begm- ning from the left hand, as we sat upon the ridge, the remarkable features of the town thus presented themselves in succession. Outside, amongst the palm-trees to the north of the city, were the picturesque ruins of a large old sebil^ or pubhc fountain, and between this and the enceiate, stood a conspicuous building, in the Turkish pavUion style — the governor's palace. On the north-west angle of the town wall is a tall white-washed fort, partly built upon an out- cropping mass of rock ; its ramparts and embrasures give it a modern and European appearance, which contrasts strangely with its truly Oriental history.* In the suburb " El Munakhah" rise the bran-new domes and minarets of the five mosques, standing brightly out from the dull grey mass of house and ground. And behind is the most easterly part of the city : remarkable from afar, is the gem of El Medinah, the four tall substantial towers, and the flashing green dome under which the Prophet's remains rest. Half concealed by this mass of buildings and by the houses of the town are certain white specks upon a green surface, the tombs that adorn the venerable cemetery of El Bakia. And from that point southwards began the mass of palm groves celebrated in El Islam as the " trees of El Medinah." The foreground was well fitted to set off such a view ; fields of black basaltic scoriae showing clear signs of a volcanic origin, were broken up into huge blocks and boulders, through which a descent, tolerably steep for camels, wound down into the plain. * In the East, wherever there is a compound of fort and city, that place has certainly been in the habit of being divided against itselt AFFECTIONATE NATURE OF THE ARABS. 181 After a few minutes' rest I remounted, and slowly rode on towards the gate. Even at this early hour the way was crowded with an eager multitude coming out to meet the caravan. My companions preferred walking, apparently for the better convenience of kissing, embracing, and shaking hands with relations and friends. Truly the Arabs show more heart on these occasions than any Oriental people I know ; they are of a more affectionate nature than the Per- sians, and their manners are far more demonstrative than those of the Indians, The respectable Maryam's younger son, a pleasant contrast to her surly elder, was weeping aloud for joy as he ran round his mother's camel, he standing on tiptoe, she bending double in vain attempts to exchange a kiss; and, generally, when near relatives or intimates, or school companions, met, the fountains of their eyes were opened. Friends and comrades greeted each other, regard- less of rank or fortune, with affectionate embraces, and an abundance of gestures, which neither party seemed to think of answering. The general mode of embracing was to throw one arm over the shoulder and the other round the side, placing the chin first upon the left and then upon the right collar bone, and rapidly shifting till a "Jam satis^^ suggested itself to both parties. Inferiors saluted their superiors by attempting to kiss hands, which were violently snatched away ; whilst mere acquaintances gave each other a cordial '''' 2^oignee de mains^'' and then raising the finger tips to their lips kissed them with apparent relish. Passing through the Bab Ambari we defiled slowly down a broad dusty street, and traversed the Hara% or Quarter of the same name. El Ambariyah, the principal one in the Munakhah suburb. The street was by no means remarkable after Cairo ; only it is rather wider and more regular than the traveller is accustomed to in Asiatic cities. I was asto- nished to see on both sides of the way, in so small a place, 182 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. SO large a number of houses too ruinous to be occupied. Then we crossed a bridge, — a single little round arch of roughly hewn stone, built over the bed of a torrent, which in some parts appeared about fifty feet broad, with banks shrouding a high and deeply indented water-mark. The Shaykh had preceded us early that morning, in order to prepare an apartment for his guests, and to receive the first loud congratulations and embraces of his mother and the daughter of his uncle.* Apparently he had not con- cluded this pleasing office when we arrived, for the camels were kneeling at least five minutes at his door, before he came out to offer the usual hospitable salutation. I stared to see the difference of his appearance this morning. The razor had passed over his head and face ; the former was now surmounted by a muslin turban of goodly size, wound round a new embroidered cap, and the latter, besides being clean, boasted of neat little mustachios turned up hke two commas, and a well-trimmed goat's beard narrowed until it resembled what our grammars call an " exclamation point." ( ! ) The dirty torn shu-t, with a bit of rope round the loins, had been exchanged for a jubhah or outer cloak of light pink merino, a long-sleeved caftan of rich flowered stuff, a fine shirt of JB[alaili\ and a grand silk sash, of a plaid pat- tern, elaborately fringed at both ends, and wound round two thirds of his body for better display. His pantaloons were also of Halaili with tasteful edgings like a " panta- * Arabs, and, indeed, most Orientals, are generally received, after re- turning from a journey, with shrill cries of joy by all the fair part of the household, and this demonstration they do not like strangers to hear. f Halaili is a cotton stuff, with long stripes of white silk, a favorite material amongst the city Arabs. At Constantinople, where the best is made, the piece, which wiU cut into two shirts, costs about thirty shillings. IMPROVEMENT IN THE SHAYKH'S MANNERS. 183 lette's" about the ancles, and Ms bare and sun-burnt feet had undergone a thorough purification before being encased in new mizz^ and papooshes of bright lemon-colored leather of the newest and most fashionable Constantinople cut. In one of his now delicate hands the Shaykh bore a mother-of- pearl rosary, token of piety, in the other a handsome pipe with a jasmine stick, and an expensive amber mouth-piece ; his tobacco pouch dangling from his waist, as well as the little purse in the bosom pocket of his coat, was of broad cloth richly embroidered with gold. In course of time I saw that all my companions had metamorphosed themselves in an equally remarkable manner. Like men of sense they appeared in tatters where they were, or when they wished to be, imknown, and in fine linen where the world judged their prosperity by their attire. The Shaykh, whose manners had changed with his dress, from the vulgar and boisterous to a certain staid courtesy, took my hand, and led me up to the 'majUs^\ which was swept and garnished with all due apparatus for the forth- coming reception ceremony. And behind us followed the boy Mohammed, looking more downcast and ashamed of himself than I can possibly describe ; he was still in his rags, and he felt keenly that every visitor staring at him would mentally inquire "who may that snob be?" With the deepest deject edness he squeezed himself into a corner, and Shaykh Nur, who was foully dirty as an Indian en voyage always is, would have joined him in his shame, had I not ordered the " slave" to make himself generally useful. It is customary for all relations and friends to call upon the tra- * The " Mizz'* (in colloquial Arabic Misd) are the tight-fitting inner slippers of soft Cordovan leather, worn as stockings inside the slipper. \ The majlis (" the place of sitting") is the drawing or reception room ; it is usually in the first story of the house, below the apartments of the women. 184 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. veller the day he returns, that is to say, if amity is to endure. The pipes therefore stood ready filled, the divans were duly spread, and the coffee* was being boiled upon a brazier in the passage. Scarcely had I taken my place at the cool window sill, — it was the best in the room, — ^before the visitors began to pour in, and the Shaykh rose to wel- come and embrace them. They sat down, smoked, chatted politics, asked all manner of questions about the other way- farers and absent friends, drank coffee, and after an hour's visit, rose abruptly, and, exchanging embraces, took leave. The little men entered the assembly, after an accolade at the door, noiselessly, squatted upon the worst seats with polite congees to the rest of the assembly, smoked, and took their coffee, as it were, under protest, and ghded out of the room as quietly as they crept in. The great people, gene- rally busy and consequential individuals, upon whose coun- tenances were written the words " well to do in the world," appeared with a noise that made each person in the room rise reverentially upon his feet, sat down with importance, monopohsed the conversation, and, departing in a dignified * The coffee drank at El Medinah is generally of a good quality. In Egypt tliat beverage in the common coffee-shops is, — as required to be by the people who frequent those places, — " bitter as death, black as Satan, and hot as Jehannum." To effect this desideratum, therefore, they toast the grain to blackness, boil it to bitterness, and then drink scalding stuff of the consistency of water-gruel. At El Medinah, on the contrary, — as indeed in the houses of the better classes even in Egypt, — the grain is carefully picked, and that the flavor may be preserved, it is never put upon the fire until required. It is toasted too till it becomes yellow, not black ; and afterwards is bruised, not pounded to powder. The water into which it is thrown is allowed to boil up three times, after which a cold sprinkling is administered to clear it, and then the fine light-dun infusion is poured off into another pot. The Arabs seL dom drink more than one cup of coffee at a time, but with many the time is every half hour of the day. A SPECIMEN OP ARAB CHILDREN. 185 manner, expected all to be standing on the occasion. The Holy war, as usual, was the grand topic of conversation. The Sultan had ordered the Czar to become a Moslem. The Czar had sued for peace, and offered tribute and fealty. But the Sultan had exclaimed, " No, by Allah ! El Islam !" The Czar could not be expected to take such a step without a little hesitation, but " Allah smites the faces of the Infi- dels !" Abdel Mejid would dispose of the " Moskow"* in a short time ; after which he would turn his victorious army against all the idolaters of Feringistan, beginning with the Enghsh, the French, and the Aroam or Greeks. Amongst much of this nonsense, — when applied to for my opinion, I was careful to make it popular, — I heard news foreboding no good to my journey towards Muscat. The Bedouins had decided that there was to be an Arab contingent, and had been looking forward to the spoils of Europe ; this had caused quarrels, as all the men wanted to go, and not a ten- year-old would be left behind. The consequence was, that this amiable people was fighting in all directions. At least so said the visitors, and I afterwards found out that they were not far wi'ong. To the plague of strangers succeeded that of children. No sooner did the majlis become, comparatively speaking, vacant, than they rushed in en masse y treading upon our toes, making the noise of a nursery of madlings, pulling to pieces everything they could lay their hands upon, ari^ using language that would have alarmed an old man-o'- war's-man.f In fact, no one can conceive the plague but * The common name for the Russians in Egypt and El Hejaz. f Parents and full-grown men amuse themselves with grossly abus- ing children, almost as soon as they can speak, in order to excite their rage, and to judge of their dispositions. This supplies the infant popu- lation with a large stock-in-trade of ribaldry. They literally lisp in bad language. 186 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. those who have studied the ^'- enfans terrihles'^'' which India sends home in cargoes. One urchin, scarcely three years old, told me that his father had a sword at home with which he would cut my throat from ear to ear, suiting the action to the word, because I objected to his perching upon my wounded foot. By a few taunts, I made the little wretch almost mad with rage ; he shook his infant fist at me, and then opening his enormous round black eyes to their utmost stretch, he looked at me, and licked his knee with portentous meaning. Shaykh Hamid, happening to come in at the moment, stood aghast at the doorway, hand on chin, to see the Effendi subject to such indignity, and it was not without trouble that I saved the ofiender fi'om summary nursery discipline. Another scamp caught up one of my loaded pistols before I could snatch it out of his hand, and clapped it to his neighbor's head ; fortunately, it was on half-cock, and the trigger was a stiff one. Then a serious and majestic boy about six years old, with an ink- stand in his belt, in token of his receiving a Kterary educa- tion, seized my pipe and began to smoke it with huge puffs. I ventured laughingly to institute a comparison between his person and the pipe-stick, when he threw it upon the ground, and stared at me fixedly with flaming eyes and features distorted by anger. The cause of this " boldness" soon appeared. The boys, instead of being well beaten, were scolded with fierce faces, a mode of punishment which only made them laugh. They had their redeeming points, however ; they were manly angry boys, who punched one another Hke Anglo-Saxons in the house, and abroad they are always fighting with sticks and stones. And they examined our weapons, — ^before deigning to look at anything else, — as if eighteen instead of five had been the general age. At last I so far broke through the laws of Arab polite* THE SHAYKH'S REAL POLITENESS. 187 ness as to inform my host in plain words, that I was hungry, thirsty, and sleepy, and that I wanted to be alone before visiting the Haram. The good-natured Shaykh, who was j)reparing to go out at once in order to pray at his father's grave, immediately brought me breakfast, lighted a pipe, spread a bed, darkened the room, turned out the children, and left me to the society I most desired — my own. I then overheard him summon his mother, wife, and other female relatives into the store-room, where his treasures had been carefully stored away. During the forenoon, in the pre- sence of the visitors, one of Hamid's uncles had urged him, half jocularly, to bring out the sahharah. The Shaykh did not care to do anything of the kind. Every time a new box is opened in this part of the world, the owner's generosity is appealed to by those whom a refusal offends, and he must allow himself to be plundered with the best possible grace. Hamid therefore prudently suffered all to depart before exhibiting his spoils ; which, to judge by the exclamations of deUght which they elicited from feminine lips, proved a satisfactory collection to those concerned. After sleeping, we all set out in a body to the Haram, as this is a duty which must not be delayed by the pious. The boy Mohammed was in better spirits, — the effect of having borrowed, amongst other articles of clothing, an exceedingly gaudy embroidered coat from Shaykh Hamid. As for Shaykh Nur, he had brushed up his tarboosh, and, by means of some cast-off dresses of mine, had made him- self look like a respectable Abyssinian slave, in a nonde- script toilette, half Turkish, half Indian. I propose to reserve the ceremony of ziyarat^ or visitation, for another chapter, and to conclude this with a short account of our style of Uving at the Shaykh's hospitable house. Hamid's abode is a small corner building, open on the north and east to the Barr El Munakhah : the ground floor 188 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. contains only a kind of vestibule, in which coarse articles, hke old shugdufs^ mats and bits of sacking are stowed away; the rest is devoted to purposes of sewerage. As- cending dark winding steps of ragged stone covered with hard black earth, you come to the first floor, where the men live. It consists of two rooms to the front of the house, one a Tnajlis or sitting room, and another converted into a store. Behind them is a dark passage, into which the doors open ; and the back part of the first story is a long windowless room, containing a hanafiyah^ and other conveniences for purification. The kitchen is on the second floor, which I did not inspect, it being as usual occupied by the Harem. The majlis has dwarf windows, or rather apertures in the northern and eastern walls, with rude wooden shutters and reed bhnds — ^the embrasures being garnished with cushions, where you sit, morning and evening, to enjoy the cool air; the ceiling is of date sticks laid across palm rafters stained red, and the walls are of rough scoriae, burnt bricks, and wood-work cemented with lime. The only signs of fiirniture in the sitting-room are a diwanf round the sides and a carpet in the centre. A huge wooden box, like a seaman's chest, occupies one of the corners. In the southern wall there is a suffeh^ or little shelf of common stone, supported by a single arch ; upon * The Hanafiyah is a large vessel of copper, sometimes tinned, ■with a cock in the lower part, and, generally, an ewer, or a basin, to receive the water. f The diwan is a line of flat cushions ranged round the room, either placed upon the ground, or on wooden benches, or on a step of masonry, varying in height according to the fashion of the day. Cot- ton-stuffed pillows, covered with chintz for summer, and silk for win- ter, are placed against the wall, and can be moved to make a luxurious heap ; their covers are generally all of the same color, except those at the end. MIDDLE CLASS HOUSE AT EL MEDINAH. 189 this are placed articles in hourly use, perfurae-bottles, coffee-cups, a stray book or two, and sometimes a turban, to be out of the children's way. Two hooks on the western wall, placed jealously high up, support a pair of pistols with handsome crimson cords and tassels, and half a dozen cherry-stick pipes. The passage, like the staii's, is spread over with hard black earth, and regularly watered twice a day during hot weather. The household consisted of Hamid's mother, wife, some nephews and nieces, small children who ran about in a half wild and more than half nude state, and two African slave girls. When the Damascus caravan came in, it was further reinforced by the arrival of his three younger brothers. The majlis was tolerably cool during the early part of the day ; in the afternoon the sun shone fiercely upon it. I have described the establishment at some length as a speci- men of how the middle -classes of society are lodged at El Medinah. The upper classes affect Turkish and Egyptian luxuries in their homes, as I had an opportunity of seeing at Omar Effendi's house in the " Barr;" and the abodes of the poorer classes are everywhere in these countries very similar. Our life in Shaykh Hamid's house was quiet, but not disagreeable. I never once set eyes upon the face of woman there, unless the African slave girls be allowed the title. Even these at first attempted to draw their ragged veils over their sable charms, and would not answer the simplest question ; by degrees they allowed me to see them, and they ventured their strange voices to reply to me ; still they never threw off a certain appearance of shame.* I * Their voice? are strangely soft and delicate, considering the ap- pearance of the organs from which they proceed. Possibly this may be a characteristic of the African races; it is remarkable amongst the Somali women. 190 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. never saw, nor even heard, the youthful mistress of the household, who stayed all day in the upper rooms. The old lady, Hamid's mother, would stand upon the stairs, and converse aloud with her son, and when few people were about the house with me. She never, however, as after- wards happened to an ancient dame at Meccah, came and sat by my side. When lying durmg mid-day in the gallery, I often saw parties of women mount the stairs to the Gy- ncBconitis^ and sometimes an individual would stand to shake a muffled hand * with Hamid, to gossip a while, and to put some questions concerning absent friends ; but they were most decorously wi'apped up, nor did they ever deign to deroger^ even by exposing an inch of cheek. At dawn we arose, washed, prayed, and broke our fast upon a crust of stale bread, before smoking a pipe, and drinking a cup of coffee. Then it was time to dress, to mount, and to visit the Haram in one of the holy places outside the city. Returning before the sun became intole- rable, we sat together, and with conversation, shishas, and chibouques, coffee and cold water perfumed with mastich- smoke, we whiled away the time till an early dinner which appeared at the primitive hour of 11 a. m. The meal, here called El Ghada, was served in the majlis on a large copper tray, sent from the upper apartments. Ejaculating "Bis- millah" — the Moslem grace — we all sat round it, and dipped equal hands into the dishes set before us. We had usually un- leavened bread, different kinds of meat and vegetable stews, and at the end of the first course plain boiled rice, eaten with spoons ; then came the fruits, fresh dates, grapes, and * After touching the skin of a strange ■woman, it is not lawful in El Islam to pray without ablution. For this reason, when a fair dame shakes hands with you, she wraps up her fingers in a kerchief, or in the end of her veil. THE PILGRIM'S LOVE OF EETIREMENT. 191 pomegranates. After dinner I used invariably to find some excuse — such as the habit of a " Kayllilah" (mid-day siesta)* or the being a " Saudawi"f or person of melancholy tem- perament, to have a rug spread in the dark passage behind the majlis^ and there to he reading, dozing, smoking or waiting, en cachette^ in complete deshabille aU through the worst part of the day, from noon to sunset. Then came the hour for receiving or paying visits. The evening prayers ensued, either at home or in the Haram, followed by our supper, another substantial meal hke the dinner, but more plentiful, of bread, meat, vegetables, plain rice and fruits, concluding with the invariable pipes and coffee. To pass our soiree^ we occasionally dressed in common clothes, 3houldered a nebtit,J; and went to the cafe ; sometimes on * Kaylulah is the half hour's siesta about noon. It is a Sunnat, and bhe Prophet said of it, " Kilu, fa inn a 'sh'Shayatina la Takil," — " Take bhe mid-day siesta, for, verily, the devils sleep not at this hour." " Ay- Lulah" is the sleeping after morning prayers, which causes heaviness and inability to work. Ghayulah is the sleeping about 9 a. m,, the effect of which is poverty and wretchedness. Kaylulah (with the guttural kaf) is sleeping before evening prayers, a practice reprobated in every part of the East. And, finally, Faylulah is sleeping immediately after sun- set, — also considered highly detrimental. f The Arabs, who suffer greatly from melancholia, are kind to peo- ple afflicted with this complaint ; it is supposed to cause a distaste for society, and a longing for solitude, an unsettled habit of mind, and a neglect of worldly affairs. Probably it is the effect of overworking the brain, in a hot dry atmosphere. I have remarked, that in Arabia stu- dents are subject to it, and that amongst their philosophers and literary men, there is scarcely an individual who was not spoken of as a " Saudawi." \ This habit of going out at night in common clothes, with a nebut upon one's shoulder, is, as far as I could discover, popular at El Medinah, but confined to the lowest classes at Meccah. The boy Mohammed always spoke of it with undisguised disapprobation. During my stay at Meccah, I saw no such costume amongst respectable people there though sometimes, perhaps, there was a suspicion of a disguise. 192 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. festive occasions we indulged in a Taatumah (or Itmiyah), a late supper of sweetmeats, pomegranates and dried fruits. Usually we sat upon mattresses spread upon the ground in the open air at the Shaykh's door, receiving evening visits, chatting, telling stories, and maldng merry, till each, as he felt the approach of the drowsy god, sank down into his proper place, and fell asleep. Whatever may be the heat of the day, the night at El Medinah, owing, I suppose, to its elevated position, is cool and pleasant. In order to allay the dust, the ground before the Shaykh's door was watered every evening, and the evaporation was almost too great to be safe, — ^the boy Mohammed suffered from a smart attack of lumbago, which, however, yielded readily to frictions of olive oil in which ginger had been boiled. Our greatest inconvenience at night time was the pugnacity of the animal creation. The horses of the troopers tethered in the Barr were sure to break loose once in twelve hours. Some hobbled old nag, having slipped his head-stall, would advance with kangaroo-leaps towards a neighbor against whom he had a private grudge. Their heads would touch for a moment ; then came a snort and a whining, a furious kick, and lastly, a second horse loose and dashing about with head and tail viciously cocked. This was the signal for a general break- ing of halters and heel-ropes ; after which a " stampedo" scoured the plain, galloping, rearing, kicking, biting, snort- ing, pawing, and screaming, with the dogs barking sympa- thetically, and the horse-keepers shouting in hot pursuit. It was a strange sight to see by moon-light, the forms' of these " demon~ steeds" exaggerated by the shadows ; and on more than one occasion we had all to start up precipitately from our beds, and yield them to a couple of combatants who were determined to fight out their quarrel d Voutrmice, wherevei" the battle-field might be. A PERSIAN lady's CONTEMPT FOR BOYS. 193 The dogs at El Medinah are not less pugnacious than the horses.* They are stronger and braver than those that haunt the streets at Cairo ; like the Egyptians, they have amongst themselves a system of police regulations, which brings down all the posse comitatus upon the unhappy straggler who ventures into a strange quarter of the town. There are certain superstitions about the dog resem- bling ours, only, as usual, more poetical and less grotesque, current in El Hejaz. Most people believe that when the animal howls without apparent cause in the neighbor- hood of a house, it forebodes death to one of the inmates. For the dog they say can distinguish the awful form of Azrael, the angel of death, hovering over the doomed abode, whereas man's spiritual sight is dull and dim by reason of his sins. When the Damascus caravan entered El Medinah, our day became a little more amusing. From the windows of Shaykh Hamid's house there was a perpetual succession of strange scenes. A Persian nobleman, also, had pitched his tents so opportunely near the door, that the whole course of his private hfe became public and patent to the boy Mohammed, who amused his companions by reporting all manner of ludicrous scenes. The Persian's wife was rather a pretty woman, and she excited the youth's fierce indigna- tion, by not veiling her face when he gazed at her, — there- by showing that, as his beard was not grown, she con- sidered him a mere boy. " I will ask her to marry me," said Mohammed, " and thereby rouse her shame ! " He did so, but, unhappy youth ! the Persian never even ceased fan- ning herself. The boy Mohammed was for once confounded. * Burekliardt remarks that El Medinah is the only town in the East from which dogs are excluded. This was probably as much a relic of "Wahhabeism (that sect hating even to look at a dog), as arising from apprehension of the mosque being polluted by canine intrusion. 9 CHAPTER XV. A VISIT TO THE PEOPHET'S TOMB. Having performed the greater ablution, and used the tooth- stick as directed, and dressed ourselves in white clothes, which the prophet loved, we were ready to start upon our holy errand. As my foot still gave me great pain, Shaykh Hamid sent for a donkey. A wretched animal appeared, raw-backed, lame of one leg, and wanting an ear, with accoutrements to match, and pack-saddle without stirrups, and a halter instead of a bridle. Such as the brute was, however, I had to mount it, and to ride through the Misri gate, to the wonder of certain Bedouins, who, like the Indians, despise the ass. " Honorable is the riding of a horse to the rider, But the mule is a dishonor, and the ass a disgrace," says their song. The Turkish pilgrims, however, who appear to take a pride in ignoring all Arab points of pre- judice, generally mount donkeys when they cannot walk. The Bedouins therefore settled among themselves, audibly enough, that I was an Osmanli, who of course could not HOW TO VISIT THE PKOPHET'S MOSQUE. 196 understand Arabic, and put the question generally, "by what curse of Allah they had been subjected to ass- riders ? " But Shaykh Hamid is lecturing me upon the subject of the mosque. The Masjid El Nabawi, or the Prophet's Mosque, is one of the Haramain, or the " two sanctuaries" of El Islam, and is the second of the three* most venerable places of wor- ship in the world ; the other two being the Masjid El Haram of Meccah (connected with Abraham) and the Masjid El Aksa of Jerusalem (the peculiar place of Solo- mon). A Hadis or traditional saying of Mohammed asserts, " One prayer in this my mosque is more efficacious than a thousand in other places, save only the Masjid El Haram."f It is therefore the visitor's duty, as long as he stays at El Medinah, to pray the five times per diem there, to pass the day in it reading the Koran, and the night, if possible, in watching and devotion. A visit to the Masjid El Nabawi, and the holy spots within it, is technically called " Ziyarat" or Visitation. An essential difference is made between this rite and Hajj pilgrimage. The latter is obligatory by Koranic order upon every Moslem once in his life : the former is only a meritorious action. " Tawaf,'' or circumambulation of the House of Allah at Meccah, must never be performed at the Prophet's tomb. This should not be visited in the ihram or pilgrim dress ; men should not kiss it, touch it with the hand, or press the bosom against it, as at the Kaabah ; or rub the face with dust collected near the sepulchre ; and * Others add a fourth, namely, the Masjid El Takwa, at Kuba. f The Moslem divines, however, naively remind their readers, that they are not to pray once in the El Medinah mosqne, and neglect the other 999, as if absolved from the necessity of them. 196 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. those who prostrate themselves before it, like certaiQ ignorant Indians, are held to be guilty of deadly sin. On the other hand, to spit upon any part of the mosque, or to treat it with contempt, is held to be the act of an infidel. Thus learning and the religious have settled, one would have thought, accurately enough the spiritual rank and dig- nity of the Masjid El Nabawi. But mankind, especially in the East, must always be in extremes. The orthodox school of El Malik holds El Medinah, on account of the sanctity of, and the religious benefits to be derived fi-om Mohammed's tomb, more honorable than Meccah. The Wahhabis, on the other hand, rejecting the intercession of the Prophet on the day of judgment ; considering the grave of a mere mortal unworthy of notice ; and highly disgusted by the idolatrous respect paid to it by certain foolish Moslems, plundered the sacred building with sacrilegious violence, and forbade visi- tors from distant countries to enter El Medinah.* The general consensus of El Islam admits the superiority of the Bait AUah ("House of God") at Meccah to the whole world, and declares El Medinah to be more venerable than every part of Meccah, and consequently all the earth, except only the Bait Allah. Passing through the muddy streets, — ^they had been fi'eshly watered before evening time, — ^I came suddenly upon the mosque. Like that at Meccah the approach is choked up by ignoble buildings, some actually touching the holy "enceinte," others separated by narrow lanes. There is no outer front, no general aspect of the Prophet's mosque ; con- sequently, as a building, it has neither beauty nor dignity. And entering the Bab el Rahmah — ^the Gate of Pity, — by a * In A.D. ISOY, they prevented Ali Bey (the Spaniard Badia) from entering El Medinah, and it appears that he had reason to congratulate himself upon escaping without severe punishment. THE PROPHET'S MOSQUE DESCRIBED. 197 diminutive flight of steps, I was astonished at the mean and tawdry appearance of a place so universally venerated in the Moslem world. It is not, like the Meccan mosque, grand and simple — ^the expression of a single sublime idea : the longer I looked at it, the more it suggested the resem- blance of a museum of second-rate art, a curiosity-shop, full of ornaments that are not accessories, and decorated with pauper splendor. The Masjid el Nabi is a parallelogram about 420 feet in length by 340 broad, the direction of the long walls being nearly north and south. As usual in El Islam, it is a hypaethral building with a spacious central area, called El Sahn, El Hosh, El Haswah, or El Ramlah, surrounded by a peristyle with numerous rows of pillars like the colonnades of an ItaUan monastery. Their arcades or porticoes are flat- ceilinged, domed above with the small half-orange cupola of Spain, and divided into four parts by narrow passages, three or four steps below the level of the pavement. Along the whole inner length of the northern short wall runs the Mejidi Riwak, so called from the reigning sultan. The western long wall is occupied by the Kiwak of the Rahmah Gate ; the eastern by that of the Bab el Nisa, the " women's en- trance."* Embracing the inner length of the southern short wall, and deeper by nearly treble the amount of columns, than the other porticoes, is the main colonnade, called El Rauzah, the adytum containing all that is venerable in the building. These four riwaks, arched externally, are sup- ported internally by pillars of different shape and material, varying from fine porphyry to dirty plaster; the southern one, where the sepulchre or cenotaph stands, is paved with handsome slabs of white marble and marquetry work, here * This gate derives its peculiar name from its vicinity to the Lady Fatimah's tomb ; women, when they do visit the mosque, enter it through all the doors indifferently. 198 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. and there covered with coarse matting, and above this by unclean carpets, Avell worn by faithful feet.* But this is not the time for Tafarruj, or lionising; Shaykh Hamid warns me with a nudge, that other things are expected of a Zair. He leads me to the Bab el Salam, fighting his way through a troop of beggars, and inquires markedly if I am rehgiously pure. Then, placing our hands a little below and on the left of the waist, the palm of the right covering the back of the left, in the position of prayer, and beginning with the right feet,]; we pace slowly forwards down the line ^called the Muwajihat el Sharifah, or " the Holy Fronting," which, divided off like an aisle, runs parallel with the southern wall of the mosque. On my right hand walked the Shaykh, who recited aloud the following prayer, which I repeated after him.§ It is literally rendered, as, in- deed, are all the formulae, and the reader is requested to excuse the barbarous fidelity of the translation. " In the name of Allah and in the Faith of Allah's Prophet ! O Lord cause me to enter the entering of Truth, and cause me to issue forth the issuing of Truth, and permit me to draw near to thee, and make me a Sultan Victorious ! " |j Then * These carpets are swept by the eunuchs, who let out the oflBce for a certain fee to pilgrims, every morBing, immediately after sunrise. Their diligence, however, does by no means prevent the presence of certain little parasites, concerning which politeness is dumb. \ Because if not pure, ablution is performed at the well in the centre of the hypsethra. Zairs are ordered to visit the mosque perfumed and in their best clothes, and the Hauafi school deems it lawful on this occasion only to wear dresses of pure silk. :): In this mosque, as in all others, it is proper to enter with the right foot, and retire with the left. § I must warn the reader that almost every Muzzawwir has his own litany, which descends from father to son : moreover all the books diffet at least as much as do the oral authorities. I That is to say, " over the world, the flesh, and the devil." VISIT TO THE RAUZAH. 199 followed blessings upon the Prophet, and afterwards ; " O Allah ! open to me the doors of thy mercy, and grant me entrance into it, and protect me from the Stoned Devil!" During this preliminary prayer we had passed down two thirds of the Muwajihat el Sharifah. On the left hand is a dwarf wall, about the height of a man, painted with arabes- ques, and pierced with four small doors which open into the Muwajihat. In this barrier are sundry small erections, the niche called the Mihrab Sulaymani,* the Mambar, or pulpit, and the Mihrab el Nabawif The two niches are of beauti- ful mosaic, richly worked with various colored marbles, and the pulpit is a graceful collection of slender columns, elegant tracery, and inscriptions admirably carved. Arrived at the western small door in the dwarf wall, we entered the cele- brated spot called El Rauzah, or the Garden, after a saying of the Prophet's, " between my Tomb and my Pulpit is a Garden of the Gardens of Paradise."J On the north and * This by strangers is called th« Masalla Shafei, or the Place of Prayer of the Shafei school. It was sent from Constantinople about 100 years ago, by Sultan Sulayman the Magnificent. He built the Sulay- maniyah minaret, and has immortalised his name at El Medinah, as well as at Meccah, by the number of his donations to the shrine. I Here is supposed to have been one of the Prophet's favorite sta- tions of prayer. It is commonly called the Musalla Hanafi, because now appropriated by that school. :}: This tradition, like most others referring to events posterior to the Prophet's death, is differently given, and so important are the variations, that I only admire how all El Islam does not follow Wahhabi example and summarily consign them to oblivion. Some read "between my dwelling-house (in the mosque) and my place of prayer (in the Barr el Munakhah) is a Garden of the Gardens of Paradise. Others again, " between my house and my pulpit is a Garden of the Gardens of Para disc." A third tradition — "Between my tomb and my pulpit is a Garden of the Gardens of Paradise, and verily my pulpit is in my Full Cistern." Tara, or " upon a Full Cistern of the Cisterns of Paradise," has given rise to a new superstition. " Tara," according to some com- 200 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. ■west sides it is not divided from the rest of the portico ; on the south lies the dwarf wall, and on the east it is limited by the west end of the lattice-work containing the tomb. Ac- companied by my Muzawwir I entered the Rauzah, and was placed by him with the Mukabbariyah * behind me, fi-onting Meccah, with my right shoulder opposite to and about twenty feet distant from the dexter pillar of the Prophet's Pulpit.f There, after saying the afternoon prayers,;); I per- formed the usual two prostrations in honor of the temple,§ mentators, alludes especially to the cistern El Kausar; consequently this Raiizah is, like the black stone at Meccah, bond fide, a bit of Para- dise, and on the day of resurrection, it shall return bodily to the place whence it came. Be this as it may, all Moslems are warned that the Rauzah is a most holy spot. None but the Prophet and his son-in-law Ali ever entered it, when ceremonially impure, without being guilty of deadly sin. The Mohanunedan of the present day is especially informed that on no account must he here tell lies in it, or even perjure himself Thus the Rauzah must be respected as much as the interior of the Bait Allah at Meccah. * This is a stone desk on four pillars, where the Muhallighs (or clerks) recite the Ikdmah, the call to divine service. f I shall have something to say about this pulpit when entering into the history of the Haram. :}: The afternoon prayers being J^arz, or obligatory, were recited, be- cause we feared that evening might come on before the ceremony of Ziydrat (visitation) concluded, and thus the time for El Asr (afternoon prayers) might pass away. The reader may think this rather a curious forethought in a man who, like Hamid, never prayed except when he found the case urgent. Such, however, is the strict order, and my Musawwir was right to see it executed. § This two-prostration prayer, which generally is recited in honor of the mosque, is here, say divines, addressed especially to the Deity by the visitor who intends to beg the intercession of his Prophet. It is only just to confess that the Moslems have done their best by all means in human power, here as well as elsewhere, to inculcate the doctrine of eternal distinction between the creature and the creator. Many of the Maliki school, however, make the ceremony of Ziyarat to precede the prayer to the Deity. BEC4GARS BESIEGE THE PILGRIM. 201 and at the end of them recited the 109th and the 112th chapters of the Koran — the " Kul ya ayynha'l Kafiruna," and the " Surat El Ikhlas," called also the "Kul Huw Allah," or the declaration of unity ; and may be thus trans- lated : 1. " Say, he is the one God !" 2. " The eternal God !" 3. " He begets not, nor is he begot." 4. " And unto him the like is not." After which was performed a single Sujdah of thanks,* in gratitude to Allah for making it my fate to visit so holy a spot. This being the recognised time to give alms, I was besieged by beggars, who spread their napkins before us on the ground sprinkled with a few coppers to excite gene- rosity. But not wishing to be distracted by them, before leaving Hamid's house I had asked change of two doUars, and had given it to the boy Mohammed, who accompanied me, strictly charging him to make that sum last all through the mosque. My answer to the beggars was a reference to my attendant, backed by the simple action of turning my pockets inside out, and whilst he was battling with the beggars, I proceeded to cast my first coup-d'oeil upon the Rauzah. The " Garden" is the most elaborate part of the mosque. Little can be said in its praise by day, when it bears the same relation to a second-rate church in Rome as an English chapel-of-ease to Westminster Abbey. It is a space of about eighty feet in length, tawdrily decorated so as to resemble a garden. The carpets are flowered, and the pediments of the columns are cased with bright green tiles, and adorned * The Sujdah is a single " prostration" with the forehead touching the ground. It is performed from a sitting position, after the Dua or supplication that concludes the two-prostration prayer. 9* 202 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDIXAH AND MECCAH. to the height of a man with gaudy and unnatural vegetation in arabesque. It is disfigured by handsome branched cande- labras of cut crystal, the work, I believe, of a London house, and presented to the shrine by the late Abbas Pacha of Egypt.* The only admirable feature of the view is the light cast by the windows of stained glassf in the southern wall. Its peculiar background, the railing of the tomb, a splendid filagree-work of green and polished brass, gilt or made to resemble gold, looks more picturesque near than at a dis- tance, when it suggests the idea of a gigantic bird-cage. But at night the eye, dazzled by oil lamps suspended from the roof,]; by huge wax candles, and by smaller illuminations falling upon crowds of visitors in handsome attire, with the rich and the noblest of the city sitting in congregation when service is performed, becomes less critical. Still the scene must be viewed with a Moslem's spirit, and until a man is thoroughly embued with the East, the last place the Rauzah will remind him of, is that which the architect primarily intended it to resemble — a garden. Then with Hamid, professionally solemn, I reassumed the position of prayer, as regards the hands ; and retraced my steps. After passing through another small door in the dwarf wall that bounds the Muwajihah^ we did not turn to the right, which would have led us to the Bab El Salam ; our course was in an opposite direction, towards the eastern wall of the temple. Meanwhile we repeated " Verily Allah and his Angels bless§ the Prophet ! O ye who believe, bless * The candles are still sent from Cah*o. f These windows are a present from Kaid-bey, the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. \ These oil lamps are a present from the Sultan. § The act of blessing the Prophet is one of peculiar efficacy in a reli- gious point of view. Cases are quoted of sinners being actually snatched from hell by a glorious figure, the personification of the blessings which THE HUJRAH DESCRIBED. 203 him, and salute liim with honor!" At the end of this prayer, we arrived at the Mausoleum, which requires some description before the reader can understand the nature of our proceedings there. The Sujrah^ or " Chamber" as it is called, from the cir- cumstance of its having been Ayisha's room, is an irregular square of from 50 to 55 feet in the S. E. corner of the build- ing, and separated on all sides from the walls of the mosque by a passage about 26 feet broad on the S. side, and 20 on the eastern. The reason of this isolation has been before explained, and there is a saying of Mohammed's, " O Allah cause not my tomb to become an object of idolatrous ado- ration ! May AUali's wrath fall heavy upon the people who make the tombs of their prophets places of prayer !"* Inside there are, or are supposed to be, three tombs facing the had been called down by them upon Mohammed's head, This most poetical idea is borrowed, I believe from the ancient Guebres, who fabled that a man's good works assumed a beautiful female shape, which stood to meet his soul when winding its way to judgment. Also when a Moslem blesses Mohammed at El Medinah, his sius are not written down for three days, — thus allowing ample margin for repentance, — ^by the recording angel. El Malakain (the two Angels), or Kiram el Kati- bin (the Generous Writers), are mere personifications of the good prin- ciple and the evil principle of man's nature : they are fabled to occupy each a shoulder, and to keep a list of words and deeds. This is certainly borrowed from a more ancient faith. In Hermas 11. (command 6), we are told that ** every man has two angels, one of godliness the other of iniquity," who endeavor to secure his allegiance, — a superstition seem- ingly founded upon the dualism of the old Persians. Mediaeval Europe, which borrowed so much from the East at the time of the Ci'usades, degraded these angels into good and bad fairies for children's stories. * Yet Mohammed enjoined his followers to frequent grave-yards. "Visit graves ; of a verity they shall make you think of futurity !" and again, "Whoso visiteth the grave of his two parents every Friday, or one of the two, he shall be written a pious child, even though he might have been in the world, before tliat, disobedient to them." 204 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. south, surrounded by stone walls without any aperture, or, as others say, by strong planking.* Whatever this material may be, it is hung outside with a curtain, somewhat like a large four-post bed. The outer railing is separated by a dark narrow passage from the inner one, which it surrounds, and is of iron filagree painted of a vivid grass green, — ^with a view to the garden, — whilst carefully inserted in the ver- dure, and doubly bright by contrast, is the gilt or burnished brass work forming the long and graceful letters of the Suls character, and disposed into the Moslem creed, the pro- fession of unity, and similar religious sentences. On the south side, for greater honor, the railing is plated over with silver, and silver letters are interlaced with it. This fence, which connects the columns and forbids passage to all men, may be compared to the baldacchino of Roman churches. It has four gates : that to the south is the Bab el Muwajihah ; eastward is the gate of our Lady Fatimah ; westward the Bab el Taubah, (of repentance,) opening into the Rauzah or garden, and to the north, the Bab el Shami or Syrian gate. They are constantly kept closed, except the fourth, which admits, into the dark narrow passage above alluded to, the officers who have charge of the trea- sures there deposited, and the eunuchs who sweep the floor, light the lamps, and carry away the presents sometimes thrown in here by devotees.f In the southern side of the * The truth ia no one knows what is there. I have even heard a learned Persian declare that there is no wall behind the curtain, which hangs so loosely that, when the wind blows against it, it defines the form of a block of marble, or a built-up tomb. I believe this to be wholly apocryphal, for reasons which will presently be offered. f The peculiar place where the guardians of the tomb sit and con- fabulate is the Dakkat el Ayhawat (eunuch's bench) or el Mayda — ^the table — a raised bench of stone and wood, on the north side of the Hujrah. The remaining part of this side is partitioned off from the body of the THE PEAYER AT THE MOSQUE. 205 fence are three windows, holes about half a foot square, and placed from four to five feet above the ground ; they are said to be between three and four cubits distant from the Prophet's head. The most westerly of these is supposed to front Mohammed's tomb, wherefore it is called the Shubak el Nabi, or the Prophet's window. The next, on the right as you front it, is Abubekr's, and the most easterly of the three is Omar's. Above the Hujrah is the Green Dome, surmounted outside by a large gilt crescent springing from a series of globes. The glowing imaginations of the Mos- lems crown this gem of the building with a pillar of hea- venly light, which directs from three days' distance the pilgrims' steps towards El Medinah. But alas ! none save holy men, (and perhaps, odylic sensitives,) whose material organs are piercing as their vision spiritual, are allowed the privilege of beholding this poetic splendor. Arrived at the Shubah el Nabi, Hamid took his stand about six feet or so out of reach of the railing, and at that respectful distance fi'om, and facing* the Hazirah (or pre- sence), with hands raised as in prayer, he recited the follow- ing supplication in a low voice, telling me in a stage whis- per to repeat it after him with awe, and fear, and love. " Peace be with thee, O Prophet of Allah, and the mercy of Allah and his blessings ! Peace be with thee, O Prophet mosque by a dwarf wall, inclosing the " Khasafat el Sultan," the place where Fakihs are perpetually engaged in Khitmahs, or perusals of the Koran, on behalf of the reigning Sultan. * The ancient practice of El Islam during the recitation of the follow- ing benedictions was to face Meccah, the back being turned towards the tomb, and to form a mental image of the Prophet, supposing him to be in front. El Kirmani and other doctors prefer this as the more venera- ble custom, but in these days it is completely exploded, and the purist would probably be soundly bastinadoed by the eunuchs for attempt- ing it. 206 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL ISfEDINAH AND MECCAH. of Allah ! Peace be with thee, O friend of Allah ! Peace be with thee, O best of Allah's creation ! Peace be with thee, O pure creature of Allah ! Peace be with thee, O chief of Prophets ! Peace be with thee, O seal of the Pro- phets ! Peace be with thee, O prince of the pious ! Peace be with thee, O Prophet of the Lord of the (three) worlds ! Peace be with thee, and with thy family, and with thy pure wives ! Peace be with thee, and with all thy companions ! Peace be with thee, and with all the Prophets, and with those sent to preach Allah's word ! Peace be with thee, and with all Allah's righteous worshippers ! Peace be with thee, O thou bringer of glad tidings ! Peace be with thee, O bearer of threats ! Peace be with thee, O thou bright lamp! Peace be with thee, O thou Prophet of mercy! Peace be with thee, O ruler of thy faith ! Peace be with thee, O opener of grief ! Peace be with thee ! and Allah bless thee ! and Allah repay thee for us, O thou Prophet of Allah ! the choicest of blessings with which he ever blessed prophet ! Allah bless thee as often as mentioners have men- tioned thee, and forgetters have forgotten thee ! And Allah bless thee among the first and the last, with the best, the highest, and the fullest of blessings ever bestowed on man, even as we escaped error by means of thee, and were made to see after bUndness, and after ignorance, were directed into the right way. I bear witness that there is no Allah but Allah, and I testify that thou art his servant, and his prophet, and his faithful follower, and best creature. And I bear witness, O Prophet of Allah ! that thou hast deUvered thy message, and discharged thy trust, and advised thy faith, and opened grief, and published proofs, and fought valiantly for thy Lord, and worshipped thy God till certainty came to thee (^. e. to the hour of death), and we thy friends, O Prophet of Allah ! appear before thee travellers from dis- tant lands and far countries, thi-ough dangers and difficul- THE PRAYER AT THE MOSQUE. 207 ties, in the times of darkness, and in the hours of day, long- ing to give thee thy rights (i. e. to honor the Prophet by benediction and visitation), and to obtain the blessings of thine intercession, for our sins have broken our backs, and thou intercedest with the Healer. And Allah said,* ' And though they have injured themselves, they came to thee, and begged thee to secure their pardon, and they found God an acceptor of penitence, and full of compassion.' O Prophet of Allah, intercession ! intercession! intercession !f O Allah bless Mohammed and Mohammed's family, and give him superiority and high rank, even as thou didst pro-, mise him, and graciously allow us to conclude this visita- tion. I deposit on this spot, and near thee, O Prophet of God, my everlasting profession (of faith) from this our day, to the day of judgment, that there is no Allah but Allah, and that our Lord Mohammed is his servant, and his Pro- phet4 Amen ! O Lord of the (three) worlds !' "§ After which, performing Ziyarat for ourselves, || we * This is the usual mtroduction to a quotation from the Koran. •j- It may easily be conceived how offensive this must be to the Wahhabis, who consider it blasphemy to assert that a mere man can stand between the Creator and the creature on the last day. :j: This is called the Testification. Like the Fat-hdh, it is repeated at every holy place and tomb visited at El Medinah. § Burckhardt mentions that in his day, among other favors suppli- cated in prayer to the Deity, the following request was made, — " Destroy our enemies, and may the torments of hell fire be their lot !" I never heard it at the Prophet's tomb As the above benediction is rather a long one, the Zair is allowed to shorten it d discretion, but on no account to say less than " Peace be with thee, Prophet of Allah" — ^this being the gist of the ceremony. I Though performing Ziyarat for myself, I had pi-omised my old Shaykh at Cairo to recite a Fat-hah in his name at the Prophet's tomb ; so a double recitation fell to my lot. If acting Zair for another person (a common custom we read, even in the days of El Walid, the Caliph of 208 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. repeated the Fat-Mh or "opening" chapter of the Ko- ran. " 1. In the name of Allah, the merciful, the compas- sionate ! " 2. Praise be to Allah, who the (three) worlds made. " 3. The merciM, the compassionate. " 4. The king of the day of fate. " 5. Thee (alone) do we worship, and of thee (alone) do we ask aid. " 6. Guide us to the path that is straight — " 7. The path of those for whom thy love is great, not those on whom is hate, nor they that deviate. "Amen! O Lord of Angels, Ginns, and men!"* After reciting this mentally with upraised hands, the forefinger of the right hand being extended to its full length, we drew our palms down our faces and did alms- deeds, a vital part of the ceremony. Thus concludes the first part of the ceremony of visitation at the Prophet's tomb. Hamid then stepped about a foot and a half to the right, and I followed his example ; so as to place myself exactly opposite the second aperture in the grating called Abu- bekr's window. There, making a sign towards the mauso- leum, we addressed its inmate as follows : "Peace be with thee, O Abubekr, O thou truthful one ! Peace be with Damascus), you are bound to mention your principal's name at the begin- ning of the benediction, thus: "Peace be with thee, O Prophet of Allah, from such a one, the son of such a one, who wants thine interces- sion, and begs for pardon and mercy." Most Zairs recite Fat-hahs for all their friends and relations at the tomb. * I have endeovored in this translation to imitate the imperfect rhyme of the original Arabic. Such an attempt, however, is full of difficul- ties : the Arabic is a language in which, like Italian, it is almost impos- sible not to rhyme. BENEDICTION ON OMAR. 209 thee, O caliph of Allah's Prophet over his people ! Peace be with thee, O Companion of the Cave, and friend in travel ! Peace be with thee, O thou banner of the fugitives and the auxiliaries ! I testify that thou didst ever stand firm in the right way, and wast a smiter of the infidel, and a benefactor to thine own people. Allah grant thee through his Prophet weal ! We pray Almighty God to cause us to die in thy friendship, and to raise us up in company with his Prophet and thyself, even as he hath mercifully vouchsafed to us this visitation."* After which we closed one more step to the right, and standing opposite Omar's window, the most easterly of the three, after making a sign with our hands, we addressed the just Caliph in these words : " Peace be with thee, O Omar ! O thou just one ! thou prince of true believers ! Peace be with thee, who spakest with truth, and who madest thy word agree with the Strong Book ! (the Koran), O thou Faruk.f Thou faithful one! who girdest thy loins with the Prophet, and the first believers, and with them didst make up the full number forty,J and thus causedst to be accomplished the Prophet's prayer,§ and then didst return to thy God a martyr leaving the world with praise ! Allah grant thee, through his Prophet and his CaUph and his followers, the best of good, and may Allah feel in thee all satisfaction !" Shaykh Hamid, after wrenching a beggar or two from * It will not be necessary to inform the reader more than once that all these several divisions of prayer ended with the Testification and the Fdt-hdh. f Faruk, — the separator, — a title of Omar. X When the number of the As-hab or " Companions" was thirty- nine, they were suddenly joined by Omar, who thus became the fortieth. § It is said that Mohammed prayed long for the conversion of Omar to El Islam, knowing his sterling qualities, and the aid he would lend to the establishment of the faith. 210 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. my shoulders, then permitted me to draw near to the little window, called the Prophet's, and look in. Here my pro- ceedings were watched with suspicious eyes. The Persians have sometimes managed to pollute the part near Abubekr's and Omar's graves by tossing through the aperture what is externally a handsome shawl intended as a present for the tomb.* After straining my eyes for a time I saw a curtain, f or rather hangings, with three inscriptions in large gold letters, informing readers, that behind them lie Allah's Pro- phet and the two first caliphs. The exact place of Moham- * This foolish fanaticism has lost many an innocent life, for the Arabs on these occasions seize their sabres, and cut down every Persian they meet. Still, bigoted Shiahs persist in practising and applauding it, and the man who can boast at Shiraz of having defiled Abubekr's, Omar's, or Osman's tomb becomes at once a lion and a hero. I Burekhardt, with his usual accuracy, asserts that a new curtain is. sent when the old one is decayed, or when a new Sultan ascends the throne, and those authors err who, like Maundrell, declare the curtain to be removed every year. The Damascus caravan conveys, together with its Mahmal or emblem of royalty, the new Kiswah (or " garment") when required for the tomb. It is put on by the eunuchs, who enter the baldaquin by its northern gate at night time, and there is a superstitious story amongst the people that they guard their eyes with veils against the supernatural splendors which pour from the tomb. The Kiswah is a black, purple, or green brocade, embroidered with white or with silver letters. A piece in my possession, the gift of Omar Effendi, is a handsome silk and cotton Damascus brocade, with white letters worked in it — manifestly the produce of manual labor, not the poor dull work of machinery. It contains the formula of the Moslem faith in the cursive style of the Suls character, seventy-two varieties of which are enumerated by calligraphers. Nothing can be more elegant or appropriate than its appearance. The old curtain is usually dis- tributed amongst the officers of the mosque, and sold in bits to pilgrims ; in some distant Moslem countries, the possessor of such a relic would be considered a saint When treating of the history of the mosque, some remaa'ks will be offered about the origin of this curtain. DESCRIPTION OF THE TOMB. 211 med's tomb is moreover distinguished by a large pearl rosary, and a peculiar ornament, the celebrated Kaukab el Durri, or constellation of pearls, suspended to the curtain breast high.* This is described to be a " brilliant star set in diamonds and pearls," and placed in the dark in order that man's eye may be able to bear its splendors ; the vulgar believe it to be a "jewel of the jewels of Paradise." To me it greatly resembled the round stoppers of glass, used for the humbler sort of decanters, but I never saw it quite near enough to judge fairly of it, and did not think fit to pay an exorbitant sura for the privilege of entering the inner passage of the baldaquin.f Altogether the coup-d'oeil had nothing to recommend it by day. At night, when the lamps hung in this passage shed a dim light upon the mosaic work of the marble floors, upon the ghttering inscriptions, and the massive hangings, the scene is more likely to become " ken-speckle." Never having seen the tomb, J; I must dej)ict it from * The place of the Prophet's head is, I was told, marked by a fine Koran hung up to the curtain ! This volume is probably a successor to the relic formerly kept there, the Cufic Koran belonging to Osman, the fourth Caliph, which Burckhardt supposes to have perished in the con- flagration which destroyed the mosque. \ The eunuchs of the tomb have the privilege of admitting strangers. In this passage are preserved the treasures of the place; they are a " bait Mai el Muslimin," or public treasury of the Moslems ; therefore to be employed by the Caliph {i. e. the reigning Sultan) for the exigen- cies of the faith. The amount is said to be enormous, which I doubt. \ And I might add, never having seen one who has seen it, Niebuhr is utterly incorrect in his hearsay description of it. It is not " enclosed within iron railings for fear lest the people might superstitiously offer woi-ship to the ashes of the Prophet." The tomb is not " of plain mason- work in the form of a chest," nor does any one believe that it is " placed within or between two other tombs, in which rest the ashes of the two first caliphs." Tlie traveller appears to have lent a credu- lous ear to the eminent Arab merchant, who told him that a guard was 212 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. books, by no means an easy task. Most of the historians are silent after describing the inner walls of the Hujrah. El Kalka-shandi declares " in eo lapidem nobilem continere se- pulchra Apostoli, Abubecr et Omar, circumcinctum peribole in modum conclavis fere usque ad tectum assurgente quae velo serico nigro obligatur." This author, then, agrees with my Persian friends, who declare the sepulchre to be a mar- ble slab. Ibn Jubayr, who travelled a. h. 580, relates that the Prophet's coffin is a box of ebony (abnus) covered with sandal-wood, and plated with silver ; it is placed, he says, behind a curtain, and surrounded by an iron grating. El Samanhudi, quoted by Burckhardt, declares that the cur- tain covers a square building of black stones, in the interior of which are the tombs of Mohammed and his two immedi- ate successors. He adds that the tombs are deep holes, and that the coffin which contains the Prophet is cased with silver, and has on the top a marble slab inscribed " Bismil- lah ! AUahumma salli alayh !" (" In the name of Allah ! Allah have mercy upon him !")* placed over the tomb to prevent the populace scraping dirt from about it, and preserving it as a relic. * Burckhardt, however, must be in error when he says, " The tombs are also covered with precious stuffs, and in the shape of catafalques, like that of Ibrahim in the great mosque of Meccah." The eunuchs positively declare that no one ever approaches the tomb, and that he who ventured to do so would at once be blinded by the supernatural light. Moreover, the historians of El Medinah all quote tales of certain visions of the Prophet, directing his tomb to be cleared of dust that had fallen upon it from above, in which case some man celebrated for piety and purity was let through a hole in the roof, by cords, down to the tomb, with directions to wipe it with his beard. This style of ingress is explained by another assertion of El Samanhudi, quoted by Burck- hardt. In A. H. 892, when Kaid-bey rebuilt the mosque, which had been destroyed by lightning, three deep graves were found in the inside, full of rubbish, but the author of this history, who himself entered it, POSITION OP THE PBOPHEl'S BODY. 213 The Prophet's body, it should be remembered, hes, or is supposed to lie, stretched at full length on the right side, with the right palm supporting the right cheek, the face fronting Meccah, as Moslems are always buried, and con- sequently the body lies with the head almost to due West and the feet to due East. Close behind him is placed Abu- bekr, whose face fronts the Prophet's shoulder,* and lastly Omar holds the same position with respect to his predecessor. It is popularly believed that in the Hujrah there is now spare place for only a single grave, which is reserved for Isa ben Maryam after his second coming. The historians of El Islam are full of tales proving that though many of their early saints, as Osman the Caliph and Hasan the Imam, were desirous of being buried there, and that although Ayisha, to whom the room belonged, willingly acceded to their wishes, son of man has as yet been unable to occupy it. After the Fat-hah pronounced at Omar's tomb, and the short inspection of the Hujrah, Shaykh Hamid led me round the south-east corner of the baldaquin.f Turning towards savr no traces of tombs. The original place of Mohammed's tomb was ascertained with great difficulty: the walls of the Hujrah were then rebuilt, and the iron railing placed round it, which is now there. * Upon this point authors greatly disagree. Ibn Jubayr, for instance, says, that Abubekr's head is opposite the Prophet's feet, and that Omar's face is on a level with Abubekr's shoulder. The vulgar story of the suspended coffin has been explained in two ways. Niebuhr supposes it to have arisen from the rude drawings sold to strangers. Mr. William Bankes (Giovanni Finati, vol. ii. p. 289) more sensibly believes that the mass of rock popularly described as hanging unsupported in the mosque of Omar at Jerusalem, was confounded by Christians, who could not have seen either of these Moslem shrines, with the Prophet's tomb at El Medinah. f Some Moslems end their Ziyarat at the Prophet's tomb ; others, instead of advancing, as I did, return to the Prophet's window, pray, and beg pardon for their parents and themselves, and ask all they desire. 214 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH, the north we stopped at what is commonly called the Mah- bat Jibrail, ("Place of the Archangel Gabriel's Descent with the Heavenly Revelations,") or simply El Malaikah — the Angels. It is a small window in the eastern wall of the mosque ; we tmned our backs upon it, and fronting the Hujrah, recited the following prayer : — " Peace be with you, ye Angels of Allah, the Mukarra- bin (cherubs), and the Musharrafin (seraphs), the pure, the holy, honored by the dwellers in heaven, and by those who abide upon the earth. O beneficent Lord ! O long-suffering ! O Almighty ! O Pitier ! O thou Compassionate One ! per- fect our light, and pardon our sins, and accept penitence for concluding with prayers to the Almighty. Thence they repair to the Rauzah or Garden, and standing at the column called after Abu Luba- bah, pray a two-prostration prayer there ; concluding with the " Dua," or benediction upon the Prophet, and there repeat these words : " O Allah, thou hast said, and thy word is true, ' Say, O Lord, pardon and show mercy ; for thou art the best of the Merciful,' (chap. 23). O Grod, verily we have heard thy word, and we come for intercession to thy Prophet from our own sins, repenting our errors, and confessing our shortcomings and transgressions ! Allah, pity us, and by the dignity of thy Prophet raise our place (in the heavenly kingdom) 1 O Allah, pardon our brothers who have preceded us in * the Faith ! ' " Then the Zair prays for himself, and his parents, and for those he loves. He should repeat, " Allah have mercy upon thee, O Prophet of Allah 1" seventy times, when an angel will reply, " Allah bless thee, O thou blesser 1 " Then he should sit before the pulpit, and mentally conceive in it the Prophet surrounded by the Fugitives and the Auxiliaries. Some place the right hand upon the pulpit, even as Mohammed used to do. The Zair then returns to the column of Abu Lubabah, and repents his sins there. Secondly, he stands in prayer at All's pillar in front of the form. And lastly, he repairs to the Ustuwanat el As-hab, (the Companion's Column,) the fourth distant from the pulpit on the right, and the third from, the Hujrah on the left ; here he prays, and meditates, and blesses Allah and the Prophet. After which, he proceeds to visit the rest of the holy places. THE TOMB OF THE LADY FATIMAH. 215 our oifences, and cause us to die among the holy ! Peace be with ye, Angels of the Merciful, one and all ! And the mercy of God and his blessings be upon you !" after which I was shown the spot in the Hujrah where Sayyidna Isa shall be buried* by Mohammed's side. Then turning towards the west, at a point where there is a break in the symmetry of the Hujrah, we arrived at the sixth station, the sepulchre or cenotaph of the Lady Fatimah. Her grave is outside the enceinte and the curtain which surrounds her father's remains, so strict is Moslem decorum, and so exalted its opinion of the " Virgin's" deUcacy ; the eastern side of the Hujrah, here turning a little westward, interrupting the shape of the square, in order to give this spot the appearance of disconnection with the rest of the building. The tomb, seen through a square aperture like those above described, is a long catafalque, covered with a black pall. Though there is great doubt whether the lady be not buried \\dth her son Hasan in the Bakia cemetery, this place is always visited by the pious Moslem. The following is the prayer opposite the grave of the amiable Fatimah : — "Peace be with thee, daughter of the Messenger of Allah ! Peace be with thee, daughter of the Prophet of Allah ! Peace be with thee, thou daughter of Mustafa ! Peace be with thee, thou mother of the Shurafa !f Peace be with thee, O Lady amongst women ! Peace be with * It is almost unnecessary to inform the reader that all Moslems deny the personal suffering of Christ, cleaving to the heresy of the Christian Docetes, — certain " beasts in the shape of men," as they are called in the Epistles of Ignatius to the Smyrneans, — who believed that a phantom was crucified in our Savior's place. They also hold to the second coming of the Lord in the flesh, as a forerunner to Mohammed, who shall reappear shortly before the day of judgment. •j- Plural of Sherif, a descendant of Mohammed. 216 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. thee, O fifth of the Ahl El Kisa !* Peace be mth thee, O Zahra and Batlil ! f Peace be with thee, O daughter of the Prophet ! Peace be with thee, O spouse of our lord Ali El Murtaza ! Peace be with thee, O mother of Hassan and Hosayn, the two moons, the two lights, the two pearls, the two princes of the youth of heaven, and gladness of the eyes| of true behevers ! Peace be with thee and with thy sire. El Mustafa, and thy husband, our lord Ali! Allah honor his face, and thy face, and thy father's face in Para- dise, and thy two sons the Hasanayn ! And the mercy of Allah and his blessings !" (Concluding with the Testification and the Fat-hah.) We then broke away as we best could from the crowd of female " askers," who have established their Lares and Penates under the shadow of the Lady's mng, and advancing a few paces, we fronted to the north, and recited a prayer in honor of Hamzah, and the martyrs who lie buried at the foot of Mount Ohod.§ We then turned to the right, and, front- ing the easterly wall, prayed for the souls of the blessed whose mortal spirits repose within El Bakia's hallowed circuit. || * The " people of the garment," so called, because on one occasion the Prophet wrapped his cloak around himself, his daughter, his son-in-law* and his two grandsons, thereby separating them in dignity from other Moslems. f Burckhardt translates " Zahra" " bright blooming Fatimah." This I believe to be the literal meaning of the epithet. When thus appliedi however, it denotes " virginem ra Kara^irivia nescientem," in which state of purity the daughter of the Prophet is supposed to have lived. For the same reason she is called El Batul, the Virgin, — a title given by Eastern Christians to the Mother of our Lord. The perpetual virginity of Fatimah, even after the motherhood, is a point of orthodoxy in El Islam. :}: Meaning "joy and gladness in the sight of true believers." § The prayer is now omitted, in order to avoid the repetition of it when describing a visit to Mount Ohod. I The prayers usually recited here are especially in honor of Abbas, AT THE prophet's WINDOW. 21 1 After this we returned to the southern wall of the mosque, and, facing towards Meccah, we recited the follow- ing suppUcation : — " O Allah ! (three times repeated), O Compassionate ! O Beneficent ! O Requiter (of good and evil) ! O Prince ! O Ruler ! O ancient of Benefits ! O Omniscient ! O thou who givest when asked, and who aidest when aid is required, accept this our Visitation, and preserve us from dangers, and make easy our afiairs, and expand our chests,* and receive our prostration, and requite us according to our good deeds, and turn not our evil deeds against us, and place not over us one who feareth not thee, and one who pitieth not us, and write safety and health upon us and upon thy slaves, the Hujjaj, and the Ghuzat, and the Zawwar,f and the home-dwellers and the wayfarers of the Moslems, by land and by sea, and pardon those of the faith of our lord Mohammed one and all !" (Then the Testification and the Fat-hah.) From the southern wall we returned to the " Prophet's "Window," where we recited the following tetrastich and prayer. •* Mustafa ! verily, I stand at thy door, A man, weak and fearful, by reason of my sins : If thou aid me not, O Prophet of Allah ! I ^e — ^for in the world there is none generous as thou art I" " Of a truth, Allah and his Angels bless the Prophet ! O Hasan, (Ali, called) Zayn-El-Abidin, Osman, the Lady Halimah, the Martyrs, and the Mothers of the Moslems {i. e. the Prophet's wives), buried in the holy cemetery. "When describing a visit to El Balda, they will be translated at full length. * That is to say, " gladden our hearts." f Hujjaj is the plural of Hajj — pilgrims; Ghuzat, of Ghazi — cru- saders ; and Zawwar of Zair — visitors to Mohammed's tomb. 10 218 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. ye who believe bless him and salute him with salutation !* O AUah ! verily I implore thy pardon, and supplicate there- fore thine aid in this world as in the next ! O Allah ! O Allah ! abandon us not in this holy place to the consequen- ces of our sins without pardoning them, or to our griefs witHout consoling them, or to our fears, O Allah ! without removing them. And blessings and salutation to thee, O Prince of Prophets, Commissioned (to preach the word), and praise to Allah the lord of the (three) worlds!" (Then the Testification and the Fat-hah.) We turned away from the Hujrah, and after gratifying a meek-looking but exceedingly importunate Indian beggar, who insisted on stunning me with the Chapter Y, S,f we fronted southwards, and taking care that our backs should not be in a line with the Prophet's face, stood opposite the niche called Mihrab Osma. There Hamid proceeded with another suppHcation. " O Allah ! (three times repeated), O Safeguard of the fearful, and defenders of those who trust in thee, and pitier of the weak, the poor, and the des- titute ! accept us^ O Beneficent ! and pardon us, O Merci- fdl ! and receive our penitence, O Compassionate ! and have mercy upon us, O Forgiver ! — for verily none but thou can remit sin ! Of a truth thou alone knowest the hidden and veilest man's transgressions : veil, then, our oflences, and pardon our sins, and expand our chests, and cause our last words at the supreme hour of life to be the words, ' There is no God but AUah, J; and our lord Mohammed is the Pro- * " Taslim" is " to say Salam" to a person. f The Ya Sin (Y, S), the 36th chapter of the Koran, frequently recit- ed by those whose profession it is to say such masses for the benefit of living, as well as of dead, sinners. Most educated Moslems commit it to memory. :j: (Or more correctly, " There is no Ilah but Allah," that is, " There is no Deity but God.") THE PILGRIM TAYS FOR HIS DIGNITY. 219 phet of Allah !' O Allah ! cause us to live according to this saying, O thou Giver of life ! and make us to die in this faith, O thou ruler of death ! And the best of blessings and the completest of salutations upon the sole Lord of In- tercession, our Lord Mohammed and his family, and his companions one and all!" (Then the Testification and the Fat-hah.) And, lastly, we returned to the Garden, and prayed another two-prostration prayer, ending, as we began, with the worship of the Creator. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Unfortunately for me, the boy Mohammed had donned that grand embroidered coat. At the end of the ceremony the Aghas, or eunuchs of the mosque, — a race of men con- sidered respectable by their office, and prone to make themselves respected by the freest administration of club law, — assembled in El Rauzat to offer me the congratula- tion "Ziyaratak Mubarak" — "blessed be thy visitation," and to demand fees. Then came the Sakka, or water- carrier of the Zemzen,* offering a tinned saucer filled from the holy source. And lastly I was beset by beggars, — some mild beggars and picturesque, who sat upon the ground immersed in the contemplation of their napkins ; others angry beggars, who cursed if they were not gratified ; and others noisy and petulant beggars, especially the feminine party near the Lady's tomb, who captured me by the skirt of my garment, compelling me to ransom myself. There were, besides, pretty beggars, boys who held out the right hand on the score of good looks ; ugly beggars, emaciated rascals, whose long hair, dirt, and leanness, entitled them to charity ; and lastly, the blind, the halt, and the diseased, * This has become a generic name for a well situated within the walls of a mosqne. 220 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. who, as sons of the Holy City, demanded from the Faithful that support with which they could not provide themselves. Having been compelled by my companions, highly against my inchnation, to become a man of rank, I was obliged to pay in proportion, and my almoner in the handsome coat, as usual, took a pride in being profuse. This first visit cost me double what I had intended — four dollars — nearly one pound sterling, and never afterwards could I pay less than half that sum.* Having now performed all the duties of a good Zair, I was permitted by Shaykh Hamid to wander about and see the sights. We began our circumambulation at the Bab el Salam, — the Gate of Salvation, — ^in the southern portion of the western long wall of the mosque. It is a fine arch- way handsomely incrusted with marble and glazed tiles ; the number of gilt inscriptions on its sides give it, especially at night-time, an appearance of considerable splendor. The portcullis-like doors are of wood, strengthened with brass plates, and nails of the same metal. Outside this gate is a little Sabil, or public fountain, where those who will not pay for the water, kept ready in large earthen jars by the " Sakka," of the mosque, perform theu' ablutions gratis. Here all the mendicants congregate in force, sitting on the outer steps and at the entrance of the mosque, up and through which the visitors must pass. About the centre of the western wall is the Bab el Rahmah — the Gate of Pity. It admits the dead bodies of the Faithful when carried to be prayed over in the mosque ; there is nothing remarkable in * As might be expected, the more a man pays, the higher he esti- mates his own dignity. Some Indians have spent as much as 500 dollars during a first visit. Others have " made maulids," i. e., feasted all the poor connected with the temple with rice, meat, &o., while others brought rare and expensive presents for the officials. Such generosity, however; is becoming rare in these unworthy days. THE FIVE GATES AND FIVE MINARETS. 221 its appearance ; in common with the other gates, it has huge folding doors, iron-bound, an external flight of steps, and a few modern inscriptions. The Bab Mejidi or Gate (of the Sultan Abd el) Mejid stands in the centre of the northern wall ; like its portico, it is unfinished, but its pre- sent appearance promises that it will eclipse all except the Bab el Salam. The Bab el Nisa is in the eastern wall opposite the Bab el Rahmah, with which it is connected by the " Farsh el Hajar," a broad band of stone, two or three steps below the level of the portico, and slightly raised above the Sahn or the hypgethral portion of the mosque. And lastly, in the southern portion of the same eastern wall is the Bab Jibrail, the Gate of the Archangel Gabriel.* All these entrances are arrived at by short external flights of steps leading from the streets, as the base of the temple, unlike that of Meccah, is a little higher than the foundations of the buildings around it. The doors are closed by the eunuchs in attendance, immediately after night prayers, except during the blessed month El Rama- zan, and the pilgrimage season, when a number of pious visitors pay considerable fees to pass the night there in meditation and prayer. The minarets are five in number; but one, the Shi- kayliyah, at the north-west angle of the building, has been levelled, and is still in process of being re-built. The Munar Bab el Salam stands by the gate of that name : it is a tall handsome tower surmounted by a large bull, or cow, of * Most of these entrances have been named and renamed. The Bab Jibrail, for instance, which derives its present appellation from the general belief that the angel once passed through it, is generally called in books Bab el Jabr, the Gate of Repairing (the broken fortunes of a friend or follower). It must not be confounded with the Mahbat Jibrail, or the window near it in the eastern wall, where the archangel usually descended from heaven with the Wahy or Inspiration. 222 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. brass gilt or burnished. The Miinar Bab el Rahmah, about the centre of the western wall, is of more simple form than the others : it has two galleries with the superior portion circular, and surmounted by the comical "extinguisher" roof so common in Turkey and Egypt. On the north-east angle of the mosque stands the Sulaymaniyah Munar, so named after its founder, Sultan Sulayman the Magnificent. It is a well-built and a substantial stone tower divided into three stages; the two lower portions are polygonal, the upper one circular, and each terminates in a platform with a railed gallery carried all round for the protection of those who ascend. And lastly, from the south-east angle of the mosque, supposed to lie upon the spot where Belal, the Prophet's crier, called the first Moslems to prayer,* springs the Munar Raisiyah, so called because it is appropriated to the Ruasa or chiefs of the Muezzins. Like the Sulamaniyah, it consists of three parts : the first and second stages are polygonal, and the third, a circular one, is furnished like the lower two with a railed gallery. Both the latter minarets end in solid ovals of masonry, from which project a number of wooden triangles.f To these and to the galleries on all festive occasions, such as the arrival of the Damascus cara- van, are hung oil lamps — a poor attempt at illumination, which may perhaps rationally explain the origin of the Medinite superstition concerning the column of light which crowns the Prophet's tomb. There is no uniformity in the shape or the size of these four minarets, and at first sight, despite their beauty and grandeur, they appear somewhat * Belal, the loud-lunged crier, stood, we are informed by Moslem historians, upon a part of the roof on one of the walls of the mosque. The minaret, as the next chapter will show, was the invention of a more tasteful age. \ (As on all the minarets of Cairo.) THE PORCHES OF THE MOSQUE. 223 bizarre and misplaced. But after a few days I found that Kiy eye grew accustomed to them, and that I had no diffi- culty in appreciating their massive proportions and lofty forms. Equally irregular are the Riwaks, or porches, surround- ing the hypsethral court. Along the northern wall there will be, when finished, a fine colonnade of granite, paved with marble. The eastern Riwak has three rows of pillars, the western four, and the southern, under which stands the tomb, of course has its columns ranged deeper than all the others. These supports of the building are of different material ; some of fine marble, others of rough stone merely plastered over and painted with the most vulgar of ara- besques, Vermillion and black in irregular patches, and broad streaks like the stage face of a London clown.* Their size moreover is different, the southern colonnade being com- posed of pillars palpably larger than those in the other parts of the mosque. Scarcely any two shafts have similar capi- tals ; many have no pedestal, and some of them are cut with a painful ignorance of art. I cannot extend my admiration of the minarets to the columns — in their " architectural law- lessness" there is not a redeeming point. . Of these unpraisable pillars three are celebrated in the annals of El Islam, for which reason their names are painted upon them, and five others enjoy the honor of distinctive appellations. The first is called El Mukhallak, because, on some occasion of impurity, it was anointed with a perfume called Khaluk. It is near the Mihrab el Nabawi, on the right of the place where the Imam prays, and notes the spot where, before the invention of the pulpit, the Prophet, leaning upon the Ustuwanat el Hannanah — the weeping * This abomination may be seen in Egypt on many of the tombs,— those outside the Bab el Nasr at Cairo, for instance. 224 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. Pillar* — ^nsed to recite the Khutbah or Friday sermon. The second stands third from the pulpit, and third fi-om the Hujrah. It is called the Pillar of Ayisha, also the Ustu- wanat el Kurah, or the column of Lots, because the Prophet, according to the testimony of his favorite wife, declared that if men knew the value of the place, they would cast lots to pray there : in some books it is known as the piUar of the Muhajirin or Fugitives, and others mention it as El Muk- hallak — the Perfumed. Twenty cubits distant from Ayisha's piUar, and the second from the Hujrah, and the fourth from the pulpit, is the Pillar of Repentance, or of Abu Lubabah. It derives its name from the following circumstance. Abu Lubabah was a native of El Medinah, one of the auxiliaries and a companion of Mohammed, originally it is said a Jew, according to others of the Beni Amr ebn Auf of the Aus tribe. Being sent for by his kinsmen or his allies, the Beni Kurayzah, at that time capitulating to Mohammed, he was consulted by the distracted tribe : men, women and children threw themselves at his feet, and begged of him to inter- cede for them with the offended Prophet. Abu Lubabah swore he would do so : at the same time, he drew his hand across his throat, as much as to say, " Defend yourselves to the last, for if you yield, such is your doom." Afterwards repenting, he bound himself Tvith a huge chain to the date- tree in whose place the column now stands, vowing to con- tinue there until Allah and the Prophet accepted his peni- tence, a circumstance which did not take place tiU the tenth day, when his hearing was gone and he had almost lost his sight. The less celebrated pillars are the Ustuwanat Sari, or column of the Cot, where the Prophet was wont to sit medi- * The tale of this weeping pillar is -well known. Some suppose it to have been buried beneath the pulpit : others — they are few in number ^-declare that it was inserted in the body of the pulpit. THE GAEDEN OE OUR LADY FATIMAH. 225 tating on his humble couch of date-sticks. The Ustuwanat Ali notes the spot where the fourth caliph used to pray and watch his father-in-law at night. At the Ustuwanat el Wufud, as its name denotes, the Prophet received envoys, couriers, and emissaries from foreign places. The Ustuwanat el Tahajjud now stands where Mohammed sitting upon his mat passed the night in prayer. And lastly is the Makam Jibrail (Gabriel's place), for whose other name, Mirbaat el Bair, " the pole of the beast of burden," I have been unable to find an explanation. The four Riwaks, or porches, of the Medinah mosque open upon a hypsethral court of parallelogrammic shape. The only remarkable object in it * is a square of wooden railing enclosing a place frill of well-watered earth, called the Garden of our Lady Fatimah.f It now contains a dozen date-trees — in Ibn Jubayr's time there were fifteen. Their fruit is sent by the eunuchs as presents to the Sultan and the great men of the Islam ; it is highly valued by the vulgar, but the Ulema do not think much of its claims to importance. Among the palms are the venerable remains of a Sidr, or Lote tree, whose produce J is sold for inordinate * The little domed building whieli figures in the native sketches and in all onr prints of the El Medinah mosque, was taken down three or four years ago. It occupied part of the centre of the square, and •was called Kubbat el Zayt — Dome of Oil — or Kubbat el Shama — Dome of Candles — from its use as a store-room for lamps and wax candles. •{• This is its name among the illiterate, who firmly believe the palms to be descendants of trees planted there by the hands of the Prophet's, daughter. As far as I could discover, the tradition has no foundation, and in old times there was no garden in the hypsethral court. The vulgar are in the habit of eating a certain kind of date, " El Say hani," in the mosque, and of throwing the stones about ; this practice is vio- lently denounced by the Ulema. :^ Rhamnus JiTabeca Forsk. The fruit, called Nebek, is eaten, and the leaves are used for the purpose of washing dead bodies. The visitor 10* 226 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. sums. The enclosure is entered by a dwarf gate in the south-eastern portion of the railing, near the well, and one of the eunuchs is generally to be seen in it : it is under the charge of the Mudir, or chief treasurer. These gardens are not uncommon in Moslem mosques, as the traveller who passes through Cairo can convince himself. They form a pretty and an appropriate feature in a buildmg erected for the worship of Him "who spread the earth with carpets of flowers and drew shady trees from the dead ground." A tradition of the Prophet also declares that "acceptable is devotion in the garden and in the orchard." At the south-east angle of the enclosure, under a wooden roof supported by pillars of the same material, stands the Zemzem, generally called the Bir el Nabi, or *'the Prophet's well." My predecessor declares that the brackishness of its produce has stood in the way of its reputation for holiness. Yet a well educated man told me that it was as "light" water* as any in El Medinah, — a fact which he accounted for by supposing a subterraneous passage f which connects it with the great Zemzem at Meccah. Others, again, believe that it is filled by a vein of water springmg directly under the Prophet's grave : is not forbidden to take fruit or water as presents from El Medinah, but it is unlawful for him to carry away earth, or stones, or cakes of dust, made for sale to the ignorant. * The Arabs, who, like all Orientals, are exceedingly curious about water, take the trouble to weigh the produce of their wells ; the lighter the water, the more digestible and wholesome it is considered. f The common phenomenon of rivers flowing underground in Arabia has, doubtless, suggested to the people these subterraneous passages, with which they connect the most distant places. At El Medinah, amongst other tales of short cuts known only to certain Bedouin fami- lies, a man told me of a shaft leading from his native city to Hadra- maut: according to him, it existed in the times of the Prophet, and waa a journey of only three days! MANNER OF LEAVING THE MOSQUE. 227 generally, however, among the learned it is not more revered than our Lady's Garden, nor is it ranked in books among the holy wells of El Medinah. Between this Zem- zem and the eastern Riwak is the Stoa, or academia, of the Prophet's city. In the cool mornings and evenings the ground is strewed with professors, who teach, as an eminent orientalist hath it, the young idea to shout rather than to shoot.* A few feet to the south of the palm garden is a movable wooden planking painted green, and about three feet high ; it serves to separate the congregation from the Imam when he prays here ; and at the north-eastern angle of the enclosure is a Shajar Kanadil, a large brass chande- lier, which completes the furniture of the court. After this inspection, the shadows of evening began to gather round us. We left the mosque, reverently taking care to issue forth with the left foot, and not to back out of it as in the Sunnat, or practice derived from the Prophet, when taking leave of the Meccan mosque. To conclude this long chapter. Although every Moslem, learned and simple, firmly believes that Mohammed's remains are interred in the Hujrah at El Medinah, I cannot help suspecting that the place is at least as doubtful as that of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. It must be remem- bered that a great tumult followed the announcement of the Prophet's death, when the people, as often happens, f * The Mosque Library is kept in large chests near the Bab el Salam; the only MS. of any value here is a Koran written in the Sulsi hand. It is nearly four feet long, bound in a "wooden cover, and padlocked, so as to require from the curious a " silver key." f So the peasants in Brittany believe that Napoleon the First is not yet dead; the Prussians expect Frederick the Second; the Swiss, William Tell; the older English, King Arthur; and certain modern fanatics look forward to the re-appearance of Joanna Southcote. Why multiply instances in so well known a branch of the history of popular superstitions ? 228 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDIXAH AND MECCAH. believing him to be immortal, refused to credit the report, and even Omar threatened destruction to any one that asserted it. Moreover the body was scarcely cold when the contest about the succession arose between the fugitives of Meccah and the auxiliaries of El Medinah : in the ardor of which, according to the Shiahs, the house of Ali and Fatimah, — within a few feet of the spot where the tomb of the Prophet is now placed — was threatened with fire, and that Abubekr was elected caliph that same evening. If any one find cause to wonder that the last resting-place of a personage so important was not fixed for ever, he may find many a parallel case in El Medinah. To quote no other, three places claim the honor of containing the Lady Fatimah's mortal spoils, although one might suppose that the daughter of a Prophet and the mother of the Imams would not be laid in an unknown grave. My reasons for incredulity are the following : 1. From the earliest days the shape of the Prophet's tomb has never been generally known in El Islam. For this reason it is that graves are made convex in some countries, and flat in others: had there been a Sunnat,* this would not have been the case. 2. The discrepant accounts of the learned. El Saman- hudi, perhaps the highest authority, contradicts himself. In one place he describes the coffin ; in another he expressly declares that he entered the Hujrah when it was being repaired by Kaid-bey, and saw in the inside three deep graves, but no traces of tombs, f Either, then, the mortal * The Sunnat is tlie custom or practice of the Prophet, rigidly con- formed to by every good and orthodox Moslem. •j- The reader •will bear in mind that I am quoting from Bnrckhardt. "When in El Hejaz and at Cairo, I vainly endeavored to buy a copy of El Samanhudi. One -w^as shown to me at El Medinah ; unhappily, it bore the word "Wakf (bequeathed), and belonged to the mosque. I was scarcely allowed time to read it. FURTHER INVESTIGATION DESIRABLE. 229 remains of the Prophet had — despite Moslem superstition* — mingled with the dust (a probable circumstance after nearly 900 years' interment), or, what is more likely, they had been removed by the Shiah schismatics who for centu- ries had charge of the sepulchre. 3. And lastly, I cannot but look upon the tale of the blinding light which surrounds the Prophet's tomb, and now universally believed upon the authority of the attendant eunuchs, who must know its falsehood, as a priestly gloss intended to conceal a defect. I here conclude the subject, committing it to some future and more favored investigator. In offering the above remarks, I am far from wishing to throw a doubt upon an established point of history. But where a suspicion of fable arises from popular " facts," a knowledge of man and of his manners teaches us to regard it with favoring eye. * In Moslem law, prophets, martyrs, and saints, are not supposed to be dead; their property, therefore, remains their own. The Ulema have confounded themselves in the consideration of the prophetic state after death. Many declare that prophets live and pray for forty days in the tomb ; at the expiration of which time, they are taken to the presence of their Maker, where they remain till the last blast of Israfil's trumpet. The common belief, however, leaves the bodies in the graves, but no one would dare to assert that the holy ones are suffered to under- go corruption. On the contrary, their faces are blooming, their eyes bright, and blood would issue from their bodies if wounded. El Islam, as will afterwards appear, abounds in traditions of the ancient tombs of saints and martyrs, when accidentally opened, ex- posing to view corpses apparently freshly buried. And it has come to pass that this fact, the result of sanctity, has now become an unerring indication of it. A remarkable case in point is that of the late Sherif Ghalib, the father of the present prince of Meccah. In his lifetime he was reviled as a tyrant. But some years after his death, his body was found undecomposed ; he then became a saint, and men now pray at his tomb. Perhaps his tyranny was no drawback to his holy reputation. CHAPTER XVI. EL MEDIN^AH.* It is equally difficult to define, politically or geographically, the limits of El Hejaz. Whilst some authors fix its north- ern frontier at Aylah and the Desert, making Yemen its southern limit, others include in it only the tract of land lying between Meccah and El Medinah. As the country has no natui'al boundaries, and its poUtical limits change with every generation, perhaps the best distribution of its fi-ontier would be that which includes aU the properly called Holy Land, making Yambu the northern and Jeddah the southern extremes, while a line drawn through El Medinah, Suwayrkiyah, and Jebel Kora, the mountain of Taif, might represent its eastern boundary. Thus El Hejaz would be an irregular parallelogram, about 250 miles in length, with a maximum breadth of 150 miles. Two meanings are assigned to the name of this region ; according to most * Amongst a people who, like the Arabs or the Spaniards, hold a plurality of names to be a sign of dignity, so illustrious a spot as El Medinah could not fail to be rich in nomenclature. A Hadis declares, " to El Medinah belong ten names :" books, however, enumerate nearly a hundred. THE SPACE OCCUPIED BY " SANCTUARY." 231 authorities, it means the "Separator," or " Barrier," between Nejd and Tehamah ;* according to others, the " colligated," (by mountains). Medinat el Nabi, the Prophet's City, or, as it is usually called for brevity. El Medinah, the City, is situated on the borders of Nejd, upon the vast plateau of high land which forms central Arabia. The limits of the sanctuary called the Hudud el Haram, as defined by the Prophet, may still serve to mark out the city's plain. Northwards, at a dis- tance of about three miles, is Jebel Ohod, or, according to others, Jebel Saur, a hill somewhat beyond Ohod ; these are the last ribs of the vast primitive and graniticf chine that, extending from Lebanon to near Aden, and from Aden again to Muscat, fringes the Arabian trapezium. To the S.W. the plain is bounded by ridges of scoriaceous basalt, and by a buttress of rock called Jebel Ayr, like Ohod, about three miles distant from the town. Westward, accord- ing to some authors, is the Mosque Zu'l Halifah. On the east there are no natural landmarks, or even artificial, like the " Alamain" at Meccah ; an imaginary line, therefore, is drawn, forming an irregular circle, of which the town is the centre, with a diameter of from ten to twelve miles. Such is the sanctuary.! Geographically considered, the plain is bounded, on the east, by a thin line of low dark hills, tra- * Or, according to others, between Yemen and Syria. f Such is its formation in El Hejaz. ij: Within the sanctuary all Muharramat, or sins, are forbidden ; but the several schools advocate different degrees of strictness. The Imam Malik, for instance, allows no latrinoe nearer to El Medinah than Jebel Ayr, a distance of about three miles. He also forbids slaying wild animals, but at the same time he specifies no punishment for the offence. Some do not allow the felling of trees, alleging that the Prophet en- joined their preservation as an ornament to the city, and a pleasure to visitors. El Khattabi, on the contrary, permits people to cut wood, and this ia certainly the general practice. All authors strenuously forbid 232 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. versed by the Darb el Sharki, or the " eastern road," through Nejd to Meccah : southwards, the plateau is open, and almost perfectly level as far as the eye can see. El Medmah dates its origin doubtless from ancient times, and the cause of its prosperity is evident in the abun- dant supply of a necessary generally scarce in Arabia. The formation of the plain is in some places salt sand, but usu- ally a white chalk, and a loamy clay, which even by the roughest manipulation makes tolerable bricks. Lime also abounds. The town is situated upon a gently shelving part of the plain, the lowest portion of which, to judge from the water-shed, is at the southern base of Mount Ohod, hence called El Safilah, and the Awali, or plains about Kuba, and the East. Water is abundant, though rarely of good quali- ty. In the days of the Prophet, the Madani consumed the produce of wells, seven of which are still celebrated by the •within the boundaries slaying man (except invaders, infidels, and the sacrilegious), drinking spirits, and leading an immoral life. As regards the dignity of the sanctuary, there is but one opinion ; a number of Hadis testify to its honor, praise its people, and threaten dreadful things to those who injure it or them. It is certain that on the last day, the Prophet will intercede for, and aid, all those who die, and are buried, at El Medinah. Therefore, the Imam Malik made but one pilgrimage to Meccah, fearing to leave his bones in any other cemetery but El Bakia. There is, however, much debate concerning the compara- tive sanctity of El Medinah and Meccah. Some say Mohammed prefer- red the former, blessing it as Abraham did Meccah. Moreover, as a tradition declares that every man's body is drawn from the dust of the ground in which he is buried. El Medinah, it is evident, had the honor of supplying materials for the Prophet's person. Others, like Omar, were uncertain in favor of which city to decide. Others openly assert the pre-eminence of Meccah ; the general consensus of El Islam prefer- ring El Medinah to Meccah, save only the Bait Allah in the latter city. This last is & juste-m,ilieu view, by no means in favor with the inhabit- ants of either place. In the meanwhile the Meccans claim unlimited superiority over the Madani ; the Madani over the Meccans. THE WINTER AT EL MEDHSTAII EIGOROITS. 233 people. Historians relate that Omar, the second Caliph, provided the town with drinking-water from the northern parts of the plains by means of an aqueduct. The modern city is supplied by a source called the Ayn El Zarka or Azure spring. During my stay at El Medinah, I always drank this water, which appeared to me, as the citizens declared it to be, sweet and wholesome. There are many wells in the town, as water is found at about 20 feet below the surface of the soil, but few of them produce anything fit for drinking, some being salt, and others bitter. As is usual in the hilly countries of the East, the wide beds and fiumaras, even in the dry season, will supply the travellers for a day or two with an abundance of water, infiltrated into, and, in some cases, flowing beneath the sand. The climate of the plain is celebrated for a long and comparatively speaking rigorous winter ; a popular saying records the opinion of the Prophet " that he who patiently endures the cold of El Medinah and the heat of Meccah, merits a reward in Paradise." Ice is not seen in the town, but may frequently be met with, it is said, on Jebel Ohod ; fires are lighted in the houses during winter, and palsies attack those who at this season imprudently bathe in cold water. The fair complexions of the people prove that this account of the wintry rigors is not exaggerated. And the European reader will observe that the Arabs generally reckon three seasons, including our autumn in their summer. The hot weather at El Medinah appeared to me as extreme as the mntry cold is described to be, but the air was dry, and the open plain prevented the faint stagnant sultriness which distinguishes Meccah. Moreover, though the afternoons were close, the nights and the mornings were cool and dewy. At this season of the year the citizens sleep on the house-tops, or on the ground outside their doors. Strangers must follow this example with circumspection; the 234 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. open air is safe in the Desert, but in cities it causes to the unaccustomed violent colds and febrile affections. I collected the following notes upon the diseases and medical treatment of the northern Hejaz. El Medinah has been visited four times by the Rih el Asfar,* or Cholera Morbus, which is said to have committed great ravages, sometimes carrying off whole households. In the Rah- mat el Kabirah, the " Great Mercy," as the worst attack is piously called, whenever a man vomited, he was abandoned to his fate ; before that he was treated with mint, lime-juice, and copious draughts of coffee. It is still the boast of El Medinah that the Taiin or plague has never passed their frontier. The Judari, or small-pox, appears to be indigenous to the countries bordering upon the Red Sea; we read of it there in the earliest works of the Arabs, and even to the present day it sometimes sweeps through Arabia and the Somali country with desolating violence. In the town of El Medinah it is fatal to children, many of whom, how- ever, are in these days inoculated : f amongst the Be- douins old men die of it, but adults are rarely victims, either in the city or in the desert. The nurse closes up the room during the day, and carefully excludes the night-au-, believing that, as the disease is " hot,"J a breath of wind would kill the patient. During the hours of darkness, a lighted candle or lamp is always placed by the side of the * Properly meaning the yellow wind or air ; the antiquity of the word and its origin are still disputed. f In Yemen, we are told by Niebuhr, a rude form of inoculation — the mother pricking the child's arm with a thorn — ^has been known from time immemorial. My Medinah friend assured me that only during the last generation, this practice has been introduced amongst the Bedouins of El Hejaz. :}: Orientals divide their diseases, as they do remedies and articles of diet, into hot, cold, and temperate, OPHTHALMIA IN EGYPT AND SINDII. 235 bed, or the sufferer would die of madness, brought on by- evil spirits or fright. Sheep's-wool is burnt in the sick room, as death would follow the inhaling of any perfume. The only remedy I have heard of is pounded Kohl (anti- mony) drunk in water, and the same is drawn along the breadth of the eyelid, to prevent blindness. The diet is lentils and a peculiar kind of date, called Tamr el Birni. On the 21st day, the patient is washed with salt and tepid water. Ophthahnia is rare.* In the summer, * Herodotus (Euterpe) has two allusions to eye disease, which seems to have afflicted the Egyptians from the most ancient times. Sesostris the Great died stone-blind ; his successor lost his sight for ten years, and the Hermaic books had reason to devote a whole volume to ophthalmic disease. But in the old days of idolatry, the hygienic and prophylactic practices alluded to by Herodotus, the greater cleanliness of tlie people, and the attention paid to the canals and drainage, probably prevented this malarious disease becoming the scourge which it is now. The similarity of the soil and the climate of Egypt to that of Upper Sindh, and the prevalence of the complaint in both countries, assist us in investigating the predisposing causes. These are, the nitrous and pungent nature of the soil — what the old Greek calls " acrid matter exuding from the earth," — and the sudden transition from extreme dry- ness to excessive damp checking the invisible perspiration of the circxim- orbital parts, and flying to an organ which is already weakened by the fierce glare of the sun, and the fine dust raised by the Khamsin or the Chaliho. Glare and dust alone seldom cause eye disease. Every one knows that ophthalmia is unknown in the desert, and the people of El Hejaz, who live in an atmosphere of blaze and sand, seldom lose their sight. The Egyptian usually catches ophthalmia in his childhood. It begins with simple conjunctivitis, caused by constitutional predisposition, expo- sure, diet, and allowing the eye to be covered with swarms of flies. He neglects the early symptoms, and cares the less for being a Cyclops, as the infirmity will most probably exempt him from military service. Presently the same organ becomes afi'ected sympathetically. As before* simple disease of the conjunctiva passes into purulent ophthalmia. The m^n, after waiting a while, will go to the doctor and show a large cica- 236 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. quotidian and tertian fevers (Hummah Salis) are not un- common, and if accompanied by vomitings, they are fre- quently fatal. The attack generally begins with the ISTaffa- zah, or cold fit, and is followed by El Hummah, the hot stage. The principal remedies are coohng drinks, and syrups. After the fever the face and body frequently swell, and indurated lumps appear in the legs and stomach. Jaundice and bilious complaints are common, and the former is popu- larly cured in a peculiar way. The sick man looks mto a pot full of water, whilst the exerciser, reciting a certain spell, draws the heads of two needles from the patient's ears along his eyes, down his face, lastly dipping them into water, which at once becomes yellow. Others have " Mirayat," magic mirrors,* on which the patient looks, and loses the complaint. Dysenteries frequently occur in the fruit season, when the greedy Arabs devour all manner of unripe peaches, grapes, and pomegranates. Hydrophobia is rare, and the people have many superstitions about it. They suppose that a bit of meat falls from the sky, and that the dog who eats it becomes mad. I was assured by respectable persons, that when a man is bitten, they shut him up with food, in a soli- tary chamber, for four days, and that if at the end of that time he still howls like a dog, they expel the Ghul (Devil) trix in each eye, the result of an ulcerated cornea. Physic can do no- thing for him ; he remains blind for life. He is now provided for, either by living with his friends, who seldom refuse him a loaf of bread, or if industriously inclined, by begging, by acting Muezzin, or by engaging himself as " Yemeniyah," or chaunter, at funerals. His children are thus predisposed to the paternal complaint, and gradually the race be- comes tender-eyed. Most travellers have observed that imported African slaves seldom become blind either in Egypt or in Sindh. * This invention dates from the most ancient times, and both in the East and the West has been used by the weird brotherhood to produce the appearance of the absent and the dead, to discover treasure, to detect thieves, to cure disease, and to learn the secrets of the unknown world. TEEATMENT OF WOUNDS AND CHRONIC DISEASES. 237 from him, by pouring over him boiling water mixed with ashes — a certain cure I can easily believe. The only descrip- tion of leprosy known in El Hejaz is that called " Baras ;" it appears in white patches on the skin, seldom attacks any but the poorer classes, and is considered incurable. Wounds are treated by Marham, or ointments, especially the Balesan, or Balsam of Meccah ; a cloth is tied round the hmb, and not removed till the wound heals, which amongst this people of simple life generally takes place by first intention. There is, however, the greatest prejudice against allowing water to touch a wound or a sore. By the above short account it will Ve seen that the Arabs are no longer the most skilful physicians in the world. They have, however, one great advantage in their practice, and are sensible enough to make free use of it. As the chil- dren of almost all respectable citizens are brought up in the Desert, the camp becomes to them a native village. In all cases of severe wounds or chronic diseases, the patient is ordered off to the black tents, where he Uves as a Bedouin, drinking camels' milk, a diet highly cathartic, for the first three or four days, and doing nothing. This has been the practice from time immemorial in Arabia, whereas Europe is only beginning to systematise the adhibition of air, exer- cise, and simple living. And even now we are obliged to veil it under the garb of charlatanry — ^to call it a " milk- cure" in Switzerland, a " water-cure" in Silesia, a " grape- cure" in France, a " hunger-cure" in Germany, and other sensible names which act as dust in the public eyes. El Medinah consists of three parts, — a town, a fort, and a suburb Httle smaller than the body of the place. The town itself is about one-third larger than Suez, or about half the size of Meccah. It is a walled enclosure forming an irre- gular oval with four gates. The eastern gates are fine massive buildings, with double towers close together, painted 238 A PILGKIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. with broad bands of red, yellow, and other colors.* In then' shady and well- watered interiors, soldiers find room to keep guard, camel-men dispute, and numerous idlers congregate, to enjoy the luxuries of coolness and companionship. Beyond this gate, in the street leading to the mosque, is the great bazaar. Outside it lie the Suk el Khuzayriyah, or green- grocers' market, and the Suk el Habbabah, or the grain bazaar, with a fair sprinkling of coffee-houses. These mar- kets are long masses of palm-leaf huts, blackened in the sun and wind, of a mean and squalid appearance, detracting gi-eatly from the appearance of the gate. Amongst them there is a little domed and whitewashed buUding, which I was told is a Sabil or public fountain. In the days of the Prophet the town was not walled. Now, the enceinte is in excellent condition. The walls are well built of granite and lava blocks, in regular layers, cemented with lime ; they are provided with long loopholes, and trefoil-shaped crenelles : in order to secure a flanking fire, semicircular towers, also looi^holed and crenellated, are disposed in the curtain at short and irregular intervals. Inside, the streets are what they always should be in these torrid lands, deep, dark, and narrow, in few places paved — a thing to be deprecated — and generally covered with black earth well watered and trodden to hardness. The most considerable lines radiate towards the mosques. There are few public buildings. The houses are well built for the East, flat-roofed and double-storied ; the materials generally used are a basaltic scoria, burnt brick and palm wood. The best of them enclose spacious coui*t- yards and small gardens with wells, where water basins and date trees gladden the owners' eyes. The latticed balco- nies, first seen by the European traveller at Alexandria, are * They may be compared to the gateway towers of the old Norman castles — Arqiies, for instance. THE CASTLE OF EL MEDINAH. 239 here common, and the windows are mere apertures in the walls, garnished, as usual in Arab cities, with a shutter of planking. El Medinah fell rapidly under the Wahhabis, but after their retreat, it soon rose again, and now it is probably as comfortable and flourishing a Httle city as any to be found in the East. It contains between fifty and*sixty streets, including the alleys and culs de sac. There is about the same number of Harat or quarters. Within the town few houses are in a dilapidated condition. The best authorities estimate the number of habitations at about 1500 within the enceinte, and those in the suburb at 1000. I consider both accounts exaggerated ; the former might contain 800, and the Munakhah perhaps 600 ; at the same time I must con- fess not to have counted them, and Captain Sadher (in a.d. 1819) declares that the Turks, who had just made a kind of census, reckoned 6000 houses and a population of 8,000 souls. Assuming the population to be 16,000 (Burckhardt estimates it as high as 20,000), of which 9000 occupy the city, and 7000 the suburbs and fort, this would give little more than twelve inhabitants to each house (taking the total number at 1,300), a fair estimate for an Arab town, where the abodes are large and slaves abound. The castle joins on to the IST.W. angle of the city en- ceinte, and the wall of its eastern outwork is pierced for a communication between the Munakhah Suburb, through a court strewed with guns and warlike apparatus, and the Bab el Shami, or the Syrian Gate. Having been refused entrance into the fort, I can describe only its exterior. The outer wall resembles that of the city, only its towers are more solid, and the curtain appears better calculated for work. Inside, a donjon, built upon a rock, bears proudly enough the banner of the crescent and the star ; its white- washed walls make it a conspicuous object, and guns pointed in all directions, especially upon the town, project 240 A PILGIilMAGE TO EL MEDHsTAH AND MECCAH. from theii' embrasures. The castle is said to contain wells, bomb proofs, provisions, and munitions of war; if so, it must be a kind of Gibraltar to the Bedouins and the Wah- habis. The garrison consisted of a Nisf Urtah, or half battalion (400 men) of Kizam infantry, commanded by a Pacha; his authority also extends to a Sanjak, or about 500 Kurdish and Albanian irregular cavalry, whose duty it is to escort caravans, to convey treasures, and to be shot in the passes. The suburbs lie to the S. and W. of the town. West- wards, between El Medinah and its faubourg, lies the plain of El Munakhah, about three quarters of a mile long, by 300 yards broad. The straggling suburbs occupy more ground than the city ; fronting the enceinte they are Avith- out walls ; towards the west, where open country lies, they are enclosed by mud or raw brick ramparts, with little round towers, all falling to decay. A number of small gates lead from the suburb into the country. The suburb contains no buildings of any consequence, except the official residence of the governor, a plain building near the Barr el Munakhah, and the Five Mosques, which every Zair is expected to visit. They are 1. The Prophet's mosque in the Munakhah. 2. Abubekr's, near the Ayn el Zarka. 3. AJi's mosque in the Zukak el Tayyar of the Munak- hah. 4. Omar's mosque. 5. Balal's mosque, celebrated in books ; I did not see it, and some Madani assured me that it no longer exists. A description of one of these buildings will suffice, for they are all similar. Mohammed's mosque in the Munak- hah stands upon a spot formerly occupied, some say, by the Jami Ghamamah. Others believe it to be founded upon the Musalla el Nabi, a place where the Prophet THE SUBURBS OF EL MEDINAH. 241 recited the first Festival prayers after his arrival at El Medinah, and used frequently to pray, and to address those of his followers who hved far from the Haram. It is a trim modern building of cut stone and lime, in regular layers of parallelogrammic shape, surmounted by one large and four smaller cupolas. These are all white-washed, and the principal one is capped with a large crescent, or rather a ti-ident rising from a series of gilt globes. The minaret is the usual Turkish shape, with a conical roof, and a single gallery for the Muezzin. An acacia tree or two on the eastern side, and behind it a wall-Hke line of mud-houses, finish the coup dPmilj the interior of this building is as simple as the exterior. And here I may remark that the Arabs have little idea of splendor, either in their public or in their private architecture. Whatever strikes the traveller's eye in El Hejaz is always either an importation or the work of foreign artists. This arises from the simple tastes of the people, combined, doubtless, with their notable thriftiness. If strangers will build for them, they argue, why should they build for themselves? Moreover, they have scant inducement to lavish money upon grand edifices. Whenever a disturbance takes place, domestic or from without, the principal buildings are sure to suffer. And the climate is inimical to their enduring.. Both ground and air at Meccah, as well as at El Medinah, are damp and nitrous in winter, in summer dry and torrid : the lime is poor ; palm timber soon decays ; even foreign wood-work suffers, and a few years suffice to level the proudest pile with the dust. The suburbs to the S. of El Medinah are a collection of walled villages, with plantations and gardens between. They are laid out in the form, called here as in Egypt, Hosh — court-yards, with single-storied buildings opening into them. These enclosures contain the cattle of the 11 242 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. inhabitants ; they have strong wooden doors, shut at night to prevent " lifting," and are capable of being stoutly de- fended. The inhabitants of the suburb are for the most part Bedouin settlers, and a race of schismatics who will be noticed in another chapter. Beyond these suburbs, to the S., as well as to the N. and N.E., lie gardens and ex- tensive plantations of palm-trees. CHAPTER XVII. A RIDE TO THE MOSQUE OF KUBA. The principal places of pious visitation in the vicinity of El Medinah, are the Mosques of Kuba, the Cemetery El Bakia, and the martyr Hamzah's tomb, at the foot of Mount Ohod. These the Zair is directed by all the Ulema to visit, and on the holy ground to pray Allah for a blessing upon himself, and upon his brethren of the faith. Early one Saturday morning, I started for Kuba with a motley crowd of devotees. Shaykh Hamid, my Muzawwir, w^as by my side, mounted upon an ass more miserable than I had yet seen. The boy Mohammed had procured for me a Meccan dromedary, mth splendid trappings, a saddle with burnished metal peaks before and behind, covered with a huge sheepskin dyed crimson, and girthed over fine saddle- Ibags, whose enormous tassels hung almost to the ground The youth himself being too grand to ride a donkey, and unable to borrow a horse, preferred walking. He was proud as a peacock, being habited in a style somewhat resembling the plume of that gorgeous bird, in the coat of many colors — ^yellow, red, and golden flowers, apparently sewed on a field of bright green silk — which cost me so 244 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. dear in the Haram. He was armed, as indeed all of us were, in readiness for the Bedouins, and he anxiously awaited opportunities of discharging his pistol. Our course lay from Shaykh Hamid's house in the Munakhah, along and up the fiumara, "El Sayh," and through the Bab Kuba, a little gate in the suburb wall, where, by the by, my mounted companion was nearly trampled down by a rush of half wild camels. Outside the town in this direction, southward, is a plain of clay, mixed with chalk, and here and there with sand, whence protrude blocks and little ridges of basalt. Presently the iN'akhil, or palm plantations began. Nothing lovelier to the eye, weary with hot red glare, than the rich green waving crops and cool shade — for hours I could have sat and looked at it, requiring no other occupa- tion — ^the " food of vision," as the Arabs call it, and " pure water to the parched throat." The air was soft and balmy, a perfumed breeze, strange luxury in El Hejaz, wandered amongst the date fronds ; there were fresh flowers and bright foliage, — in fact at mid-summer, every beautiful fea- ture of spring. N^othing more delightful to the ear than the warbhng of the small birds, that sweet familiar sound, the splashing of tiny cascades from the wells into the wooden troughs, and the musical song of the water-wheels. Travellers— young travellers — in the East talk of the " dis- mal grating," the " mournful monotony," and the " melan- choly creaking of these dismal machines." To the veteran wanderer their sound is delightful from association, remind- ing him of green fields, cool water-courses, hospitable villagers, and plentiful crops. The expatriated Nubian, for instance, listens to the water-wheel with as deep emotion as the Ranz des Yaches ever excited in the hearts of Swit- zer mercenary at Naples, or " Lochaber no more," among a regiment of Highlanders in the West Indies. THE DATES OF EL MEDINAH. 245 The date-trees of El Medinah merit their celebrity. Their stately columnar stems, here, seem higher than in other lands, and their lower fronds are allowed to tremble in the breeze without mutilation. These enormous palms were loaded with ripening fruit, and the clusters, carefully tied up, must often have weighed upwards of eighty pounds. They hung down between the lower branches by a bright yellow stem, as thick as a man's ankle. Books enumerate 139 varieties of trees; of these between sixty and seventy are well-known, and each is distinguished, as usual among Arabs, by its peculiar name. The best kind is El Shelebi ; it is packed in skins, or in flat round boxes covered with paper, somewhat in the manner of French prunes, and sent as presents to the remotest parts of the Moslem world. The fruit is about two inches long, with a small stone, and what appeared to me a pecuhar aromatic flavor and smell ; it is seldom eaten by the citizens on account of the price, which varies from two to ten piastres the pound. The tree, moreover, is rare, and said to be not so productive as the other species. The Ajwah is eaten, but not sold, because a tradition of the Prophet declares, that whoso breaketh his fast every day with six or seven of the Ajwah-date need fear neither poison nor magic. The third kind. El Hilwah, also a large date, derives a name from its exceeding sweet- ness : of this tree the Moslems relate that the Prophet planted a stone, which in a few minutes grew up and bore fruit. Next comes El Birni, of which was said " it causeth sickness to depart, and there is no sickness in it." The Wahshi on one occasion bent his head, and salaamed to Mohammed as he ate its fi'uit, for which reason even now its lofty tuft turns earthwards. The Sayhani is so called, because when the founder of El Islam, holding All's hand, happened to pass beneath, it cried, " This is Mohammed the Prince of Prophets, and this is Ali the Prince of the Pious, 246 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. and the progenitor of the immaculate Imams." Of course the descendants of so intelligent a vegetable hold high rank in the kingdom of palms, and the vulgar were in the habit of eating the Sayhani and of throwing the stones about the Haram. The Khuzayriyah is so called, because it preserves its green color, even when perfectly ripe ; it is dried and preserved as a curiosity. The Jebeli is that most usually eaten : the poorest kinds are the " Laun," and the Hilayah, costing from 4 to 7 piastres per mudd (about eleven pounds). The fruit is prepared in a great variety of ways : per- haps the most favorite dish is a broil with clarified butter, highly distasteful to the European palate. The date is also left upon the tree to dry, and then called " Balah :" this is eaten at dessert as the " Nukliyat," the " quatre mendiants," of Persia. Amongst peculiar preparations must be men- tioned the Kulladat el Sham. The unripe fruit is dipped in boiling water to preserve its gamboge color, strung upon a thick thread and hung out in the air to dry. These strings are worn all over El Hejaz as necklaces by children, who seldom fail to munch the ornament when not in fear of slap- pings, and they are sent as presents to distant countries. January and February are the time for the masculation of the palm. The " Nakhwali," as he is called, opens the female flower, and having inserted the inverted male flowers, binds them together : this operation is performed as in Egypt upon each cluster. The fruit is ripe about the mid- dle of May, and the gathering of it forms the Arab's " ven- demmia." The people make merry the more readily because their favorite fruit is liable to a variety of accidents : droughts injure the tree, locusts destroy the produce, and the date crop, like most productions which men are imprudent enough to adopt singly as the staff of life, is subject to failure. One of the reasons for the excellence of Medinah dates is THE COOL SHADES OP KUBA. 247 the quantity of water they obtain ; each garden or field has its well, and even in the hottest weather the Persian wheel floods the soil every third day. It has been observed that the date-tree can live in dry and barren spots ; but it loves the beds of streams and places where moisture is procurable. The palms scattered over the other parts of the Medinah plain, and depending solely upon rain water, produce less fruit, and that too of an inferior quality. Verdure is not usually wholesome in Arabia, yet invalids leave the close atmosphere of El Medinah to seek health under the cool shades of Kuba. The gardens are divided by what might almost be called lanes, long narrow lines with tall reed fences on both sides. The graceful branches of the Tamarisk pearled with manna, and cottoned over with dew, and the broad leaves of the castor plant, glistening in the sun, protected us from the morning rays. The ground on both sides of the way was sunken, the earth being dis- posed in heaps at the foot of the fences, an arrangement which faciUtates irrigation, by giving a fall to the water, and in some cases affords a richer soil than the surface. This part of the Medinah plain, however, being higher than the rest, is less subject to the disease of salt and nitre. On the way here and there the earth crumbles and looks dark under the dew of morning, but nowhere has it broken out into that glittering efflorescence which notes the last stage of the attack. The fields and gardens are divided into small oblongs separated from one another by little ridges of mould which form diminutive water courses. Of the cereals there are luxuriant maize, wheat, and barley, but the latter two are in small quantities. Here and there patches of " Barsim," or Egyptian clover, glitter brightly in the sun. The princi- pal vegetables are Badanjan {egg plant), the Bamiyah (a kind of esculent hibiscus, called Bhendi in India), and Mulukhiyah (Corchoris oUtorius), a mucilaginous spinage 248 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH, common throughout this part of the East. These three are eaten by citizens of every rank ; they are in fact the greens and potatoes of El Medinah. I remarked also onions and leeks in fair quantities, a few beds of carrots and beans, some fijl (radishes), lift (turnips), gourds, cucumbers, and similar plants. Fruit trees abound. There are fine descrip- tions of vines, the best of which is El Sherifi, a long white grape of a flavor somewhat resembling the produce of Tus- cany.* Next to it, and very similar, is El Birni. The Hijazi is a round fruit, sweet, but insipid, which is also the reproach of the Sawadi or black grapes. And lastly, the Raziki is a small white fruit, with a diminutive stone. The N^ebek, or Jujube, is here a fine large tree with a dark green leaf, roundish and pohshed like the olive ; it is armied with a short, curved, and sharp thorn,f and bears a pale straw- colored berry about the size of a gooseberry, with red streaks on the side next the sun. Little can be said in favor of the fruit, which has been compared successively by disappointed " Lotus eaters" to a bad plum, an unripe cherry, and an in- sipid apple. It is, however, a favorite with the people of El Medinah. There are a few peaches, hard like the Egyp- tian, and almost tasteless, fit only for stewing, but greedily eaten in a half-ripe state, large coarse bananas, lime trees, a few water melons, figs and apples, but neither apricots nor pears. There are three kinds of pomegranates ; the best * The resemblance is probably produced by the similarity of treat- ment. At El Medinah, as in Italy, the vine is " married" to some tali tree, which, selfish as a husband, appropriates to itself the best of every- thing, — sun, breeze, and rain. f This thorn (the Rhamnus I^abeca, or Zizyphus Spina Christi) is supposed to be that which crowned our Saviour's head. There are Mimosas in Syria ; but no tree, save the fabled Zakkum, could produce the terrible apparatus with which certain French painters of the modern school have attempted to heighten the terrors of the scene. THE PJEOPLE OP KUBA. 249 is the Shami (Syrian) ; it is red outside, very sweet, and costs one piastre ; the Turki is large and of a white color ; and the Misri has a greenish rind, and a somewhat subacid and harsh flavor : these latter are sold four times as cheap as the best. I never saw in the East, except at Meccah, a finer fruit than the Shami : almost stoneless, like those of Muscat, they are delicately perfumed and as large as an infant's head. El Medinah is celebrated for its thick pome- granate syrup, drunk with water during the hot weather, and esteemed cooling and wholesome. After threading our way through the gardens, an ope- ration requiring less time than to describe them, we saw, peeping through the groves, Kuba's simple minaret. Then we came in sight of a confused heap of huts and dwelling- houses, cha|)els and towers with trees between, and foul lanes, heaps of rubbish and barking dogs, — the usual mate- rial of a Hejazi village. Having dismounted, we gave our animals in charge of a dozen infant Bedouins, the produce of the peasant gardeners, who shouted " Bakhshish" the moment they saw us. To this they were urged by their mothers, and I willingly parted with a few paras for the purpose of establishing an mtercourse with fellow creatures so fearfully and wonderfully resembling the tail-less baboon. Their bodies, unlike those of Egyptian children, were slim* and straight, but their ribs stood out with a curious dis- tinctness, the color of the skin was that oily lamp-black seen upon the face of a European sweep, and the elf-locks, peeping out of the cocoa-nut heads, had been stained by the sun, wind, and rain to that reddish-brown hue which Hindoo romances have appropriated to their Rakshasas or * Travellers always remark the curious pot-l:)ellied children on the banks of the Nile. This conformation is admired by the Egyptians, who consider it a sign of strength, and a promise of fine growth. 11* 250 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. demons. Each anatomy carried in his arms a stark-naked miniature of himself, fierce-looking babies with faces all eyes, and the strong little wi*etches were still able to extend the right hand and exert their lungs with direful clamor. Their mothers were fit progenitors for such pro- geny : long, gaunt, with emaciated limbs, wall-sided, high- shouldered, and straight-backed, with pendulous bosoms, spider-like arms, and splay feet. Their long elf-locks, wrinkled faces, and high cheek-bones, their Hps darker than the ej)idermis, hollow staring eyes, sparkling as if to Hght up the extreme ugliness around, and voices screaming as if in a perennial rage, invested them with all the " charms of Sycorax." These " houris of hell" w^ere habited in long night-gowns dyed blue to conceal want of washing, and the squahd children had about a yard of the same material wrapped round their waist for all toilette. This is not an overdrawn portrait of the farmer race of Arabs, the most despised by their fellow countrymen, and the most hard- favored, morally as well as physically, of all the breed. Before entering the mosque of El Kuba it will be necessary to call to nmid some passages of its past history. When the Prophet's she camel. El Kaswa, as he was approaching El Medinah after the flight from Meccah, knelt down here, he desired his companions to mount the animal. Abubekr and Omar did so ; still she sat upon the ground, but when All obeyed the order, she arose. The Prophet bade him loose her halter, for she was directed by Allah, and the mosque walls were built upon the line over which she trod. It was the first place of public prayer in El Islam. Mohammed laid the first brick, and with an " Anzah" or iron-shod javelin, marked out the direction of prayer ; each of his successors followed his example. The mosque of El Kuba was much respected by Omar, who once finding it empty, swept it himself with a broom of THE MOSQUE OP EL KUBA. 251 thorns, and expressed his wonder at the lukewarniness of Moslem piety. It was originally a square building of very small size ; Osman enlarged it in the direction of the minaret, making it sixty-six cubits each way. It is no longer " mean and decayed" as in Burckhardt's time : the Sultan Abd el Hamid, father of Mahmoud, erected a neat structure of cut stone, whose crjenelles make it look more like a place of defence than of prayer. It has, however, no pretensions to grandeur. The minaret is of the Turkish shape. To the south a small and narrow Riwak, or raised hypostyle, with unpretending columns, looks out north- wards upon a little open area simply sanded over ; and this is the whole building. The large Mastabah or stone bench at the entrance of the mosque, was crowded with sitting people : we therefore lost no time, after ablution and the Niyat (" the intention") peculiar to this visitation, in ascending the steps, in pulling off our slippers, and in entering the sacred building. "We stood upon the Prophet's place of prayer :* after Shaykh ISTur and Hamid had forcibly cleared that auspicious spot of a devout Indian, and had spread a rug upon the dirty matting, we performed a two-prostration prayer, in front of a pillar into which a diminutive marble niche had been inserted by way of memento. Then came the Dua or sup- plication, which was as follows : " O Allah ! bless and preserve, and iacrease, and per- petuate, and benefit, and be propitious to, our lord Moham- med, and to his family, and to his companions, and be thou their Preserver ! O Allah ! this is the mosque Kuba, and the place of the Prophet's prayers. O Allah ! pardon our sins, and veil our faults, and place not over us one who * This is believed to be the spot where the Prophet performed his first Rukat, or bending of the back in prayer. 252 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. feareth not thee, and who pitieth not us, and pardon us, and the true believers, men and women, the quick of them and the dead ; for verily thou, O Lord, art the hearer, the near to us, the answerer of our supplications." After which we recited the Testification and the F4t-hah, and we drew our palms as usual down our faces. We then moved away to the south-eastern corner of the edifice, and stood before a niche in the southern wall. It is called "Takat el Kashf" or "niche of disclosure," by those who believe that as the Prophet was standing un- decided about the direction of Meccah, the Ai'changel Gabriel removed all obstructions to his vision. There again we went through the two-prostration prayer, the supplication, the testification, and the Fat-hah, under diffi- culties, for people crowded us excessively. During our devotions, I vainly attempted to decypher a Cufic inscrip- tion fixed in the wall above and on the right of the niche, — my regret, however, at this failure was transitory, the character not being of an ancient date. Then we left the Riwak, and despite the morning sun which shone fiercely with a sickly heat, we went to the open area where stands the " Mabrak el Nakah," or the " place of kneeling of the she dromedary." This, the exact spot where El Kaswa sat down, is covered with a diminutive dome of cut stone, supported by four stone pillars ; the building is about eight feet high and a little less in length and breadth. It has the appearance of being modern. On the floor, which was raised by steps above the level of the ground, lay, as usual, a bit of dirty matting, upon which we again went through the ceremonies above detailed. Then issuing from the canopy into the sun, a little out- side the Riwak and close to the Mabrak, we prayed upon the " Makan el Ayat," or the " place of signs." Here was revealed to Mohammed a passage in the Koran especially THE MOSQUE OP PIETY. 253 alluding to the purity of the place and of the people of Kuba, " a temple founded in purity from its first day :" and again; "there men live who loved to be cleansed, and verily Allah delights in the clean." The Prophet exclaimed in admiration, "O ye sons of Amr! what have ye done to deserve all this praise and beneficence ?" when the people offered him an explanation of their personal cleanliness which I do not care to repeat. The mosque of Kuba from that day took a fresh title — Masjid el Takwa, or the " Mosque of Piety." Having finished our prayers and ceremonies at the mosque of piety, we fought our way out through a crowd of importunate beggars, and turning a few paces to the left, halted near a small chapel adjoining the south-west angle of the larger temple. We there stood at a grated window in the western wall, and recited a supplication, looking the while most reverently at a dark dwarf archway under which the lady Fatimah used to sit grinding grain in a hand mill. The mosque in consequence bears the name of Sittna Fati- mah. A surly-looking Khadim, or guardian, stood at the door demanding a dollar in the most authoritative Arab tone — we therefore did not enter. At El Medinah and at Meccah the traveller's hand must be perpetually in his pouch : no stranger in Paris or London is more surely or more severely taken in. Already I began to fear that my eighty pounds would not suffice for all the expenses of sight- seeing, and the apprehension was justified by the sequel. At Meccah, my purse was too low to admit of my paying five dollars for admittance to the Makam Ibrahim ; which caused me much regret, as no European has ever entered it. My only friend was the boy Mohammed, who displayed a fiery economy that brought him into considerable dis- repute with his countrymen. They saw with emotion that he was preaching parsimony to me solely that I might have 254 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. more money to spend at Meccah under his auspices. This being probably the case, I threw all the blame of penurious- ness upon the young Machiavel's shoulders, and resolved, as he had taken charge of my finances at El Medinah, so at Meccah to administer them myself. After praying at the window, to the great disgust of the Khadim, who openly asserted that we were " low fellows," we passed through some lanes lined with beggars and Bedouin children, till we came to a third little mosque situated due south of the larger one. This is called the Masjid Arafat, and is erected upon a mound- also named Tall Arafat, because on one occasion the Prophet, being unable to visit the Holy mountain at the pilgrimage season, stood there, saw thi'ough the intervening space, and in spirit performed the ceremony. Here also we looked into a window instead of opening the door with a silver key, and the Tnesquin appearance of all within prevented my regretting the necessity of economy. In India or Sindli every village would have a better mosque. Our last visit was to a fourth chapel, the Masjid Ali, so termed because the Prophet's son-in-law had a house upon this spot. After praying there — and terribly hot the httle hole was! — we repaired to the last place of visitation at Kuba — a large deep well called the Bir El Aris, in a garden to the west of the Mosque of Piety, with a little oratory adjoining it. A Persian wheel was going drowsily round, and the cool water fell into a tiny pool, whence it whirled and bubbled away in childish mimicry of a river. The music sounded sweet in my ears, I stubbornly refused to do any more praying — though Shaykh Hamid^ for form's sake, reiterated with parental emphasis, "how very wrong it was," — and sat down, as the Prophet himself did not disdain to do, with the resolution of enjoying on the brink of the well a few moments of unwonted "Kaif." The heat was overpow- THE BIR EL ARIS. 255 ering, though it was only nine o'clock, the sound of the stream was soothing, that water wheel was creaking a lullaby, and the limes and the pomegranates, gently rustling, shed voluptuous fragrance through the morning air. I fell asleep — and wondrous the contrast ! — dreamed that I was once more standing "By the wall whereon hangeth the crucified vine," looking upon the valley of the Lianne, with its glaucous seas and grey skies, and banks here and there white with snow. The Bir el Aris,* so called after a Jew of El Medinah, is one which the Prophet delighted to visit. He would sit upon its brink with his bare legs hanging over the side, and his companions used to imitate his example. This practice caused a sad disaster ; in the sixth year of his caliphate, Osman dropped from his finger Mohammed's seal ring, which, engraved in three hnes with " Mohammed — ^Apostle — (of) Allah," had served to seal the letters sent to neighboring kings, and had descended to the three first successors.f The precious article was not recovered after three days' search, and the well was thenceforward called Bir el Khatim — of the Seal Ring. It is also called the Bir el Taflat — of Salivaf — ^because the Prophet honored it by * Some authors mention a second Bir el Aris, belonging in part to the Caliph Osman. I Others assert, with less probability, that the article in question was lost by one Maakah, a favorite of Osman. As that ill-fated Caliph's troubles began at the time of this accident, the ring is generally com- pared to Solomon's. Our popular authors, who assert that Mohammed himself lost the ring, are greatly in error. J According to some authors, Mohammed drew a bucket of water, drank part of the contents, spat into the rest, and poured it back into the well, which instantly became sweet. 256 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDIN^AH AND MECCAH. expectoration, which, by the by, he seems to have done to almost all the wells in El Medinah. The effect of the operation upon the Bir el Aris, say the historians, was to sweeten the water, which before was salt. Their testimony, however, did not prevent my detecting a pronounced medicinal taste in the lukewarm draught drawn for me by Shaykh Hamid. In the Prophet's day the total number of wells is recorded to have been twenty : most of them have long since disappeared ; but there still remain seven, whose waters were drunk by the Prophet, and which, in consequence, the Zair is directed to visit.* After my sleep, which was allowed to last until a pipe or two of latakia had gone round the party, we remounted our animals. On the left of the village returning towards El Medinah, my companions pointed out to me a garden, called El Mad- shuniyah. It contains a quarry of the yellow loam or bole- earth, called by the Arabs Tafl, the Persians Gili Sarshui, and the Sindhians Metu. It is used as soap in many parts of the East, and, mixed with oil, it is supposed to cool the body, and to render the skin fresh and supple. It is related that the Prophet cured a Bedouin of the Beni Haris tribe of fever by washing him with a pot of Tafl dissolved in water, and hence the earth of El Medinah derived its heal- ing fame. As far as I could learn from the Madani, this clay is no longer valued by them, either medicinally or cosmetically : the only use they could mention was its being eaten by the fair sex, when in the pecuUar state described by " chlorosis." * The pious perform the Lesser Ablution upon the brink of the seven wells, and drink of the remnant of the water in " tabarruk" or to secure the blessing of God. CHAPTER XVin. THE VISITATION OF HAMZAH'S TOMB. On the morning of Sunday, the twenty-third Zu'l Kaadah (28th August 1853), arrived the great caravan from El Sham or Damascus.* It is popularly called Hajj El Shami, or the "Damascus pilgrimage," as the Egyptian Cafala is El Misri,f or the Cairo pilgrimage. It is the main stream vrhich carries off all the small currents that at this season of general movement flow from central Asia towards the great centre of the Islamitic world, and in 1853 amounted to about 7000 souls. It was anxiously expected by the people for several reasons. In the first place, it brought with it a new curtain for the Prophet's Hujrah, the old one being in a tattered condition ; secondly, it had charge of the annual stipends and pensions of the citizens ; and third- ly, many families expected members returning under its escort to their homes. The popular anxiety was greatly increased by the disordered state of the country round * This city derives its name, the " Great Gate of Pilgrimage," and the " Key of the Prophet's Tomb," from its being the gathering-place of this caravan. f The Egyptians corruptly pronounce El Misr — Cairo—" El Masr." 258 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. about; and, moreover, the great caravan had been one day late, generally arriving on the morning of the 22nd Zu'l Kaadah. During the night three of Shaykh Hamid's brothers, who had entered as Muzawwirs with the Haji, came sud- denly to the house : they leaped off their camels, and lost not a moment in going through the usual scene of kissing, embracing, and weeping bitterly for joy. I arose in the morning, and looked out from the windows of the majlis : the Barr el Munakhah, from a dusty waste dotted with a few Bedouins and hair tents, had assumed all the various shapes and the colors of a kaleidoscope. The eye was bewildered by the shifting of innumerable details, in all parts totally different from one another, thrown confusedly together in one small field ; and, however jaded with sight- seeing, it dwelt with delight upon the vivacity, the variety, and the intense picturesqueness of the scene. In one night had sprung up a town of tents of every size, color, and shape, — round, square and oblong, — open and closed, — from the shawl-lined and gilt-topped pavilion of the pacha, with all the luxurious appurtenances of the Haram, to its neighbor the little dirty green "rowtie" of the tobacco- seller. They were pitched in admirable order : here ranged in a long line, where a street was required ; there packed in dense masses, where thoroughfares were unnecessary. But how describe the utter confusion in the crowding, the bustling, and the vast variety and volume of sound ? Huge white Syrian dromedaries, compared with which those of El Hejaz appeared mere pony-camels, jingling large bells, and bearing shugdufs* like miniature green tents, swaying * The Syrian shugduf differs entirely from that of El Hejaz. It is composed of two solid wooden cots about four feet in length, slung along the camel's sides and covered over with cloth, in the shape of a tent. They are nearly twice as heavy as the Hejazi litter, and yet a THE "DAMASCUS PILGRIMAGE." 259 and tossing upon their backs; gorgeous Takhtrawan, or litters borne between camels or mules with scarlet and brass trappings; Bedouins bestriding naked-backed "De- luls,"* and clinging like apes to the hairy humps ; Arnaut, Turkish, and Kurd irregular horsemen, fiercer looking in their mirth than Roman peasants in their rage; fainting Persian pilgrims, forcing their stubborn dromedaries to kneel, or dismounted grumbling from jaded donkeys; Kah- wagis, sherbet sellers, and ambulant tobacconists crying their goods; country-people driving flocks of sheep and goats with infinite clamor through lines of horses fiercely snorting and rearing; towns-people seeking their friends; returned travellers exchanging affectionate salutes ; devout Hajis jolting one another, running under the legs of camels, and tumbling over the tents' ropes in their hurry to reach the Haram; cannon roaring from the citadel; shopmen, water-carriers and fruit venders fighting over their bargains; boys bullying heretics with loud screams ; a well-mounted party of fine old Arab Shaykhs of Hamidah clan, preceded by their varlets, performing the Arzah or war dance, — com- pared with which the Pyrenean bear's performance is grace itself, — firing their duck guns upwards, or blowing the powder into the calves of those before them, brandishing their swords, leaping frantically the while, with their bright- colored rags floating in the wind, tossing their long spears tufted with ostrich feathers high in the air, reckless where they fall ; servants seeking their masters, and masters their tents, with vain cries of Ya Mohammed ; f grandees riding Syrian camel-man -would as surely refuse to put one of the latter upon his beast's back, as the Hejazi to carry a Syrian litter. * This is the Arabic modern word, synonymous with the Egyptian Hajin, namely, a she dromedary. The word " I^akah," at present popu- lar in El Hejaz, means a she dromedary kept for breeding as well as ri ling, \ One might as sensibly cry out " John " in an English theatre. 260 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. mules or stalking on foot, preceded by their crowd-beaters, shouting to clear the way ; — ^here the loud shrieks of women and children, whose litters are bumping and rasping against one another ; — there the low moaning of some poor wretch that is seeking a shady corner to die in : — add a thick dust which blurs the outlines like a London fog, with a flaming sun that draws sparkles of fire from the burnished weapons of the crowd, and the brass balls of tent and litter ; and — I doubt, gentle reader, that even the length, the jar, and the confusion of this description is adequate to its subject, or that any word-painting of mine can convey a just idea of the scene. This was the day appointed for our visiting the martyrs of Ohod. After praying the dawn-prayers as directed at the Haram, we mounted our donkeys, and, armed with pistols and knives, set out from the city. Our party was a large one. Saad the Devil had offered to accompany us, and the bustle around kept him in the best of humors ; Omar Effendi was also there, quiet looking and humble as usual, leading his ass to avoid the trouble of dismounting every second minute.* I had the boy Mohammed and my " slave," and Shaykh Hamid was attended by half a dozen relations. To avoid the crush of the Barr el Munakhah, we made a detour westwards, over the bridge and down the course of the torrent-bed " el Sayh." During the greater part of the time we were struggling through a living tide ; and among dromedaries and chargers, a donkey is by no means a pleasant monture. With some difficulty, but with- out any more serious accident than a fall or two, we found ourselves in the space beyond and northward of the city. This also was covered with travellers and tents, amongst * Reepectable men in El Hejaz, when they meet friends, acquaint- ances, or superiors, consider it only polite to dismount from a donkey. JEBEL OHOD. 261 which, on an eminence to the left of the road, rose con- spicuous the bright green pavihon of the Emir El Hajj, the commandant of the caravan.* Hard by, half its height sur- rounded by a kanat or tent wall, stood the Syrian or Sultan's Mahmal, all glittering with green and gilding and gold, and around it were pitched the handsome habitations of the prin- cipal officers and grandees of the pilgrimage. On the right hand lay extensive palm plantations, and on the left, strewed over the plain, were signs of wells and tanks, built to supply the Hajj with water. We pass two small buildings, — one the Kubbat El Sabak or Dome of Precedence, where the Pro- phet's warrior friends used to display then* horsemanship ; the second the mdkan or burial-place of Sayyidna Zaki el Din, one of Mohammed's multitudinous descendants. Then we fall into a plain, resembling that of Kuba, but less fertile. While we are jogging over it, a few words concerning Mount Ohod may not be misplaced. A popular distich says, " Verily there is healing to the eye that looks Unto Ohod and the two Harratsf near." And of this holy hill the Prophet declared, " Ohod is a * The title of the pacha who has the privilege of conducting the caravan. It is a lucrative as well as an honorable employment, for the emir enjoys the droit d^aubaine, becoming heir to the personal property of all pilgrims who die in the holy cities or on the line of march. And no Persian, even of the poorest, would think of undertaking a pilgrimage by this line of country, without having at least 80^. in ready money with him. The first person who bore the title of Emir El Hajj was Abubekr, who in the 9th year of the Hijrah led 300 Moslems from El Medinah to the Meccah pilgrimage. On this occasion idolaters and infidels were for the first time expelled the Holy City. •(• " Harrat" from Harr (heat) is the generic name of lava, porous basalt, scoriae, greenstone, schiste, and others supposed to be of igneous origin. It is also used to denote a ridge or hill of such formation. 262 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. mountain which loves ns and which we love : it is upon the gate of Heaven ;"* adding, " and Ayr is a place which hates us and which we hate : it is upon the gate of Hell." The former sheltered Mohammed in the time of danger, there- fore on Resurrection Day it will be raised to paradise: whereas Jebel Ayr, its neighbor, having been so ill-judged as to refuse the Prophet water on an occasion while he thirsted, will be cast incontinently into Hell. Moslem divines, be it observed, ascribe to Mohammed miraculous authority over animals, vegetables, and minerals, as well as over men, angels, and jinns. Hence the speaking wolf, the weeping post, the oil-stone, and the love and hate of these two mountains. It is probably one of the many remains of ancient paganism pulled down and afterwards used to build up the edifice of El Islam. Jebel Ohod owes its present reputation to a cave which sheltered the Prophet when pursued by his enemies, to certain springs of which he drank, and especially to its being the scene of a battle celebrated in El Islam. On Saturday, the 11th Shawwal, in the 3rd year of the Hijrah (26th January a. d. 625) Mohammed with 700 men engaged 3000 infidels under the command of Abu Sufiyan, ran great personal danger, and lost his uncle Hamzah, the " Lord of Martyrs." On the topmost pinnacle, also, is the Kubbat Harlin, the dome erected over Aaron's remains. It is now, I was told, in a ruinous condition. After half an hour's ride we came to the Mustarah or resting place, so called because the Prophet sat here for a few minutes on his way to the battle of Ohod. It is a newly- built square enclosure of dwarf white-washed walls, within which devotees pray. On the outside fronting El Medinah is a seat Hke a chair of rough stones. Here I was placed * Meaning that on that day it shall be so treated. THE FIELD OF OHOD. 263 by my Muzawwir, who recited an insignificant supplication to yr>e repeated after him. At its end with the Fat-hah and accompaniments, we remounted our asses and resumed our way. Travelling onwards, we came in sight of the second harrat or ridge. It lies to the right and left of the road, and resembles lines of lava, but I had not an opportunity to examine it narrowly.* Then we reached the gardens of Ohod, which reflect in miniature those of Kuba, and presently we arrived at what explained the presence oi* verdure and vegetable life, — a deep fiumara full of loose sand and large stones denoting an impetuous stream. On the south of the fiumara is a village on an eminence, con- taining some large brick houses now in a ruinous state ; these are the villas of opulent and religious citizens who visited the place for change of air, recreation, and worship at Hamzah's tomb. Our donkeys sank fetlock-deep in the loose sand of the torrent-bed. Then reaching the northern side and ascending a gentle slope, we found ourselves upon the battle-field. This spot, so celebrated in the annals of El Islam, is a shelving strip of land, close to the southern base of Mount Ohod. The army of the infidels advanced from the fiumara in crescent shape, with Abu Sufiyan, the general, and his idols in the centre. It is distant about three miles from El Medinah, in a northerly direction. All the visitor sees is hard gravelly ground, covered with little heaps of various colored granite, red sandstone, and bits of porphyry, to denote the different places where the martyrs fell, and were * When engaged in such a holy errand as this, to have ridden away for the purpose of inspecting a line of black stone, would have been certain to arouse the suspicions of an Arab. Either, he would argue, you recognise the place of some treasure described in your books, oi you are a magician seeking a talisman. 264 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AISTD MECCAH. buried.* Seen from this point, there is something appalling in the look of the Holy Mountain. Its seared and jagged flanks rise like masses of iron from the plain, and the crevice into which the Moslem host retired, when the disobedience of the archers in hastening to plunder enabled Khalid bin Walid to fall upon Mohammed's rear, is the only break in the grim walk Reeking with heat, its surface produces not one green shrub or stunted tree; not a bii'd or beast appeared upon its inhospitable sides, and the bright blue sky glaring above its bald and sullen brow, made it look only the more repulsive. I was glad to turn my eyes away from it. To the left of the road N. of the fiumara, and leading to the mountains, stands Hamzah's Mosque, which, like the Haram of El Medinah, is a mausoleum as well as a fane. It is a small square strongly-built edifice of hewn stone, with a dome covering the solitary hypostele to the south, and the usual minaret. On the eastern side of the building a half wing projects, and opens to the south, with a small door upon a Mastabah or stone bench five or six feet high, which completes the square of the edifice. On the right of the road opposite Hamzah's Mosque, is a large erection, now in ruins, containing a deep hole leading to a well, and huge platforms fbr the accommodation of travellers, and beyond, towards the mountains, are the small edifices pre- sently to be described. Some Turkish women were sitting veiled upon the shady platform opposite the Martyi's' Mosque. At a little distance their husbands, and the servants holding horses and asses, lay upon the ground, and a large crowd of Bedouins, boys, girls, and old women, had gathered around * They are said to be seventy, but the heaps appeared to me at least three times more nmnerous. THE VISITATION OF HAMZAH. 265 to beg, draw water, and sell dry dates. They were await- ing the guardian, who had not yet acknowledged the sum- mons. After half an hour's vain patience, we determined to proceed with the ceremonies. Ascending by its steps the Mastabah subtending half the eastern wall, Shaykh Hamid placed me so as to front the tomb. There, stand- ing in the burnmg sun, we repeated the following prayer • "Peace be with thee, O our Lord Hamzah! O paternal uncle of Allah's messenger! O paternal uncle of Allah's Prophet ! Peace be with thee, O paternal uncle of Mus- tafa ! Peace be with thee, O Prince of the Martyrs ! O prince of the happy ! Peace be with thee, O Lion of Allah ! O Lion of his Prophet !" Concluding with the Tes- tification and the Fat-hah. After which, we asked Hamzah and his companions to lend us their aid, in obtaining for us and ours pardon, worldly prosperity, and future happiness. Scarcely had we finished when, mounted on a high-trotting dromedary, appeared the emissary of Mohammed Khalifah, descendant of El Abbas, who keeps the key of the mosque, and receives the fees and donations of the devout. It was to be opened for the Turkish pilgrims. I waited to see the interior. The Arab drew forth from his pouch, with abundant solemnity, a bunch of curiously made keys, and sharply directed me to stand away from and out of sight of the door. When I obeyed, grumblingly, he began to rattle the locks, and to snap the padlocks, opening them slowly, shaking them, and making as much noise as possible. The reason of the precaution — it sounded like poetry if not sense — is this. It is believed that the souls of martyrs, leaving the habitations of their senseless clay,* are fond of* * Some historians relate that forty-six years after the battle of Ohod, the tombs were laid bare by a torrent, when the corpses 12 266 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. sitting together in spiritual converse, and profane eye must not fall upon the scene. What grand pictures tliese ima- ginative Arabs see ! Conceive the majestic figures of the saints — for the soul with Mohammedans is hke the old Euro- pean spirit, a something immaterial in the shape of the body — with long grey beards, earnest faces, and solemn eyes, reposing beneath the palms, and discussing events now buried in the darkness of a thousand years. I would fain be hard upon this superstition, but shame prevents. When, in Nottingham, eggs may not be carried out after sunset ; when Ireland hears Banshees, or appari- tional old women, with streaming hair, and dressed in blue mantles; whetl Scotland sees a shroud about a person, showing his approaching death ; when France has her loup- garous, revenants, and poules du Vendredi Saint (^. e. hens hatched on Good Friday supposed to change color every year) : as long as the "Holy Coat cures devotees at TreA'^es, Madonnas wink at Rimini, San Gennaro melts at Naples, and Addolorate and Estatiche make converts to hysteria at Rome — whilst the Yii-gin manifests herself to children on the Alps, whilst Germany sends forth Psychography, whilst Europe, the civilized, the enlightened, the sceptical, dotes over suck puerilities as clairvoyance and table-turning ; and whilst even hard-headed America beheves in " mediums," in " snail-telegraphs,'' and " spirit-rappings," — ^I must hold the men of El Medinah to be as wise, and their superstition to be as respectable as others. But the realities of Hamzah's Mosque have little to appeared in their wdnding-sheets as if buried the day before. Some had their hands upon their death wounds, from which fresh blood trickled when the pressure was forcibly removed. In opposition to this Moslem theory, we have that of the Modern Greeks, namely, that if the body be not decomposed within a year, it shows that the soul is not where it should be. HAMZAH'S MOSQUE. 267 recommend them. The building is like that of Kuba, only smaller, and the hypostele is hung with criil lamps and ostrich eggs, the usual paltry furniture of an Arab mauso- leum. On the walls are a few modem inscriptions and framed poetry, written in a caligraphic hand. Beneath the Rivak hes Hamzah, under a mass of black basaltic stone, like that of Aden, only more porous and scoriaceous, convex at the top, like a heap of earth, without the Kiswat,* or cover of a saint's tomb, and railed around with wooden bars. At his head or westward, lies Abdullah bin Jaish, a name little known to fame, under a plain white-Avashed tomb, also convex ; and in the court-yard is a similar one, erected over the remains of Shammas bin TJsman, another obscure companion. We then passed through a door in the northern part of the western wall, and saw a diminutive palm plantation and a well. After which we left the mosque, and I was under the " fatal necessity " of paying a dollar for the honor of entering it. But the guardian promised that the chapters Y. S. and El Ikhlas should be recited for my benefit — the latter forty times — and if their efficacy be one-twentieth part of what men say it is, the reader cannot quote against me a certain popular proverb, concerning an order of men easily parted from their money. Issuing from the mosque, we advanced a few paces towards the mountain. On our left we passed by — at a re- spectable distance, for the Turkish Hajis cried out that their women were engaged in ablution — a large Sehrij or tank, built of cut stone with steps, and intended to detain the over- flowing waters of the torrent. The next place we prayed at was a small square, enclosed with dwarf white-washed * In the common tombs of martyrs, saints, and holy men, this cov- ering is usually of green cloth, with long white letters sewn upon it. I forgot to ask whether it was temporarily absent from Ilamzah'a grave. 268 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. walls, containing a few graves denoted by ovals of loose stones thinly spread upon the ground. This is primitive Arab simplicity. The Bedouins still mark the places of their dead with four stones planted at the head, the feet, and the sides, in the centre the earth is either heaped up Musannam (^. e. like the hump of a camel), or more gene- rally left Musattah — level. I therefore suppose that the lat- ter was the original shape of the Prophet's tomb. Within the enclosure certain martyrs of the holy army were buried. After praying there, we repaired to a small building still nearer to the foot of the mountain. It is the usual cupola springing from four square walls, not in the best preserva- tion. Here the Prophet prayed, and it is called the Khub- bat El Sanaya, " Dome of the Front Teeth," from the fol- lowing circumstance. Five infidels were bound by oath to slay Mohammed at the battle of Ohod ; one of these, Ibn Kumayyah, threw so many stones and with such good will that two rings of the Prophet's helmet were driven into his cheek, and blood poured from his brow down his mustachios, which he wiped with a cloak to prevent the drops falling to the ground. Then Utbah bin Abi Wakkas hurled a stone at him, which, splitting his lower lip, knocked out one of his front teeth. On the left of the Mihrab, inserted low down in the wall, is a square stone, upon which Shayhk Hamid showed me the impression of a tooth : he kissed it with peculiar reverence, and so did I. But the boy Mo- hammed being by me objurgated — for I remarked in him a jaunty demeanor combined with neglectfulness of ceremo- nies — saluted it sulkily, muttering the while hints about the holiness of his birth-place exempting him from the trouble of stooping. Already he had appeared at the Haram with- out his Jubbeh, and with ungirt loins, — ^in waistcoat and shirt sleeves. Moreover he had conducted himself indeco- rously by nudging Shaykh Hamid's sides during divine HABIT OF SCRIBBLING. 269 service. Feeling that the youth's " moral man " was, like his physical, under my charge, and determined to arrest a com-se of conduct which must have ended in obtaining for me, the master, the reputation of a " son of Belial," I insisted upon his joining us in the customary two-prostration prayers. And Saad the Devil taking my side of the ques- tion with his usual alacrity when a disturbance was in prospect, the youth found it necessary to yield. After this little scene, Shaykh Hamid pointed out a sprawling inscrip- tion blessing the companions of the Prophet. The unhappy Abubekr's name had been half effaced by some fanatic Shiah, a circumstance which seemed to arouse all the evil in my companion's nature, and looking close at the wall I found a line of Persian verse to this effect : " I am weary of my life (Umr), because it bears the name of Umar."* We English wanderers are beginning to be shamed out of our habit of scribbling names and nonsense in noted spots. Yet the practice is both classical and oriental. The Greeks and Persians left their marks everywhere, as Egypt shows, and the paws of the Sphinx bear scratches which, being interpreted, are found to be the same manner of trash as that written upon the remains of Thebes in a. d. 1853. And Easterns never appear to enter a building with a white wall without inditing upon it platitudes in verse and prose. Influenced by these considerations, I drew forth a pencil and inscribed in the Kubbat El Sanaya, " Abdullah, the servant of Allah." (a. h. 1269.) * In the Persian character the word Umr, life, and Umar, the name of the hated caliph, are written exactly in the same way; which explains the pun. 270 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDIJSTAH AND INIECCAH. Issuing from the dome we turned a few paces to the left, passed northwards, and blessed the martyrs of Ohod. Then agam we moved a few paces forward and went through a similar ceremony, supposing ourselves to be in the cave that sheltered the Prophet. After which, return- ing towards the torrent-bed by the way we came, we stood a small distance from a cupola called Kubbat. El Masra. We faced towards it and finished the ceremonies of this Ziyarat by a supplication, the Testification, and the Fat- hah. In the evening I went with my friends to the Haram. The minaret galleries were hung with lamps, and the inside of the temple was illuminated. It was crowded with Hajis, amongst whom were many women, a circumstance which struck me from its being unusual.* Some pious pilgrims, who had duly paid for the privilege, were perched upon ladders trimming wax candles of vast dimensions, others were laying up for themselves rewards in paradise, by per- forming the same office to the lamps ; many were going through the ceremonies of Ziyarat, and not a few were sitting in different parts of the mosque apparently over- whelmed with emotion. The boys and the beggars were inspired with fresh energy, the Aghawat were gruffer and surlier than I had ever seen them, and the young men about town walked and talked with a freer and an easier demeanor than usual. My old friends the Persians — there were about 1200 of them in the Hajj caravan — attracted my attention. The doorkeepers stopped them with curses as they were about to enter, and all claimed from each the sum of five piastres, whilst other Moslems are allowed to * The Prophet preferred women and young boys to pray privately, and in some parts of El Islam they are not allowed to join a congrega- tion. At El Medinah, however, it is no longer, as in Burckhardt's time, " thought very indecorous in women to enter the mosque." THE PERSIAN TILGRIMS. 271 enter the mosque free. Unhappy men ! they had lost all the Shiraz swagger, their mustachios drooped pitiably, their eyes would not look any one in the face, and not a head bore a cap stuck upon it crookedly. Whenever an " Ajemi," whatever might be his rank, stood in the way of an Arab or a Turk, he was rudely thrust aside, with abuse, mut- tered loud enough to be heard by all around. All eyes followed them as they went through the ceremonies of Ziyarat, especially as they approached the tombs of Abu- bekr and Omar, — which every man is bound to defile if he can, — and the supposed place of Fatimah's burial. Here they stood in parties, after praying before the Prophet's window: one read from a book the pathetic tale of the Lady's life, sorrows, and mourning death, whilst the others listened to him with breathless attention. Sometimes their emotion was too strong to be repressed. " Ay Fatimah ! Ay Mazlumah ! Way I way 1 — O Fatimah ! O thou injured one ! Alas ! alas !" — burst involuntarily from their lips, despite the danger of such exclamations, tears trickled down their hairy cheeks, and their brawny bosoms heaved with sobs. A strange sight it was to see rugged fellows, mountaineers, perhaps, or the fierce Iliyat of the plains, sometimes weeping silently Uke children, sometimes shriek- ing like hysteric girls, and utterly careless to conceal a grief so coarse and grisly, at the same time so true and real, that we knew not how to behold it. Then the Satanic scowls with which they passed by or pretended to pray at the hated Omar's tomb ! With what curses their hearts are belying those mouths full of blessings ! How they are internally canonising Fayruz,* and praying for his eternal happiness in the presence of the murdered man ! Sticks and stones, however, and not unfrequently the knife and * The Persian slave who stabbed Omar in the mosque. 272 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. the sabre, have taught them the hard lesson of disciplining their feelings, and nothing but a furious contraction of the brow, a roll of the eye, intensely vicious, and a twitching of the muscles about the region of the mouth, denotes the wild storm of wrath within. They generally, too, manage to discharge some part of their passion in words. " Hail Omar thou hog !" exclaims some fanatic Madani as he passes by the heretic — a demand more outraging than requiring a red-hot, black-north Protestant to bless the Pope. " O Allah ! hell him !" meekly responds the Persian, changing the benediction to a curse most intelligible to, and most delicious in his fellows' ears.f I found an evening hour in the steamy heat of the Haram, equal to half a dozen afternoons ; and left it resolved not to visit it till the Hajj departed from El Medinah. It was only prudent not to see much of the Ajemis ; and as I did so somewhat ostentatiously, my com- panions discovered that the Haj Abdullah, having slain many of those heretics in some war or other, was avoiding them to escape retaliation. In proof of my generalistic qualities, the rolling down of the water jar upon the heads of the Maghribi pilgrims in the " Golden Thread" was quoted, and all offered to fight for me a Voutrance. I took care not to contradict the report. * I have heard of a Persian being beaten to death, because instead of saying " peace be with thee, Ya Omar," he insisted upon saying " peace be with thee, Ya Humdr (0 ass 1)" CHAPTER XIX. THE PEOPLE OF EL MEDINAH. El Medikah contains but few families descended from the Prophet's auxiliaries. I heard only four whose genea- logy is undoubted. These were, — 1. The Bait el Ansari, or descendants of Abu Ayyub, a most noble race whose tree ramifies through a space of 1500 years. They keep the keys of the Kuba mosque, and are Imams in the Haram, but the family is no longer wealthy or powerful. 2. The Bait Abu Jud: they supply the Haram with Imams and Muezzins. I was told that there are now but two siu'viving members of this family, a boy and a girl. 3. The Bait el Shaab, a numerous race. Some of the members travel professionally, others trade, and others are employed in the Haram. 4. The Bait el Karrani, who are mostly engaged in commerce. There is also a race called el Nakhawilah, who, accord- ing to some, are descendants of the Ansar, whilst others derive them from Yezid, the son of Muawiyah : the latter opinion is improbable, as the Caliph in (question "v^as the 274 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. mortal foe to All's family, which is inordinately venerated by these people. As far as I could ascertain, they abuse the Shaykhain :* all my informants agreed upon this point, but none could tell me why they neglected to bedevil Osman, the third object of hatred to the Shiah persuasion. They are numerous and warUke, yet they are despised by the townspeople, because they openly profess heresy, and, are moreover of humble degree. They have their own priests and instructors, although subject to the ortho- dox Kazi, marry in their own sect, are confined to low offices, such as slaughtering animals, sweeping, and garden- ing, and are not allowed to enter the Haram during life, or to be carried to it after death. Their corpses are taken down an outer street called the Darb el Jenazah — Road of Biers — to their own cemetery near El Bakia. They dress and speak Arabic, like the townspeople ; but the Arabs pretend to distinguish them by a peculiar look denoting their degradation, — doubtless the mistake of effect for cause, made about all such "Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast." A number of reports are current about the horrid customs of these people, and their community of women with the Persian pilgrims who pass through the town. It need scarcely be said that such tales coming from the mouths of fanatic foes are not to be credited. I regret not having had an opportunity to become intimate with any of the ll^akhawilah, from whom curious information might be elicited. Orthodox Moslems do not like to be ques- tioned about such hateful subjects ; when I attempted to learn something from one of my acquaintance, Shaykh Ula el Din, of a Kurd family, settled at El Medinah, a man who * The " two Shaykhs" — Abubekr and Omar, THE MEDINITES. 275 had travelled over the East, and who spoke five languages to perfection, he coldly replied that he had never consorted with these heretics. Sayyids and Sherifs, the descendants of the Prophet, here abound. There are about 200 families of Sayyid Alawiyah, — descendants of Ali by any of his wives but Fatimah, — ^they bear no distinctive mark in dress or appearance, and are either employed at the temple or engage in trade. Of the KhaHfiyyah, or descendants of Abbas, there is, I am told, but one household, who act as Imams in the Haram, and have charge of Hamzah's tomb. Some declare that there are a few of the Siddikiyah, or descendants from Abubekr ; others ignored them. The rest of the population of El Medinah is a motley race composed of offshoots from every nation in El Islam. The sanctity of the city attracts strangers, who, purposing to stay but a short time, become residents: after finding some employment, they marry, have families, die, and are buried there, with an eye to the spiritual advantages of the place. I was much importuned to stay at El Medinah. The only known physician was one Shaykh Abdullah Sahib, an Indian, a learned man, but of so melancholic a tempera- ment, and so ascetic in his habits, that his knowledge was entirely lost to the public. The present ruling race at El Medinah, in consequence of political vicissitudes, are the sons of Turkish fathers by Arab mothers. These half-castes are now numerous, and have managed to secure the highest and most lucrative offices. Besides Turks, there are fami- lies originally from the Maghrib, Takruris, Egyptians in considerable numbers, settlers from Yemen and other parts of Arabia, Syrians, Kurds, Afghans, Daghistani fi'om the Caucasus, and a few Jawi — Java Moslems. The Lidians are not so numerous in proportion here as at Meccah ; still Hindostani is by no means uncommonly heard in the streets. 276 A PILGETMAGE TO EI. MEDINAH AND MECCAH. They preserve their peculiar costume, the women persisting in showing their faces, and in wearing tight, exceedingly tight, pantaloons. This, together with other reasons, secures for them the contempt of the Arabs. At El Me- dinah they are generally smaU shopkeepers, especially drug- gists and sellers of Kumash (cloths), and form a society of their own. The citizens of El Medinah are a favored race, al- though their city is not, like Meccah, the grand mart of the Moslem world or the meeting-place of nations. They pay no taxes, and reject the idea of a " Miri," or land-cess, with extreme disdain. "Are we, the children of the Pro- phet," they exclaim, "to support or to be supported ?" The Wahhabis, not understanding the argument, taxed them, as was their wont, in specie and in materials, for which reason the very name of the Puritans is an abomination. As has before been shown, all the numerous attendants at the mosque are paid partly by the Sultan, partly by aukaf, the rents of houses and lands bequeathed to the shrine, and scattered over every part of the Moslem world. When a Madani is inclined to travel, he applies to the Mudir el Haram, and receives from him a paper which en- titles him to the receipt of a considerable sum at Con- stantinople. The Madani traveller, on arrival at Constantinople, reports his arrival to his consul, the Wakil el Haramain. This "Agent of the two Holy Places" applies to the Nazir el Aukaf, or "Intendant of Bequests;" the latter, after transmitting the demand to the different officers of the treasury, sends the money to the Wakil, who delivers it to the applicant. This gift is sometimes squandered in plea- sure, more often invested profitably either in merchandise or in articles of home-use, presents of dress and jewellery for the women, handsome arms, especially pistols and TRADE AT EL MEDINAH. 211 halas*si\k tassels, amber pipe-pieces, slippers, and embroider- ed purses. They are packed up in one or two large sahharahs (chests), and then commences the labor of returning home gratis. I have already described the extent of mental agi- tation caused during the journey by these precious convoys. Besides the Ikram, most of the Madani, when upon these begging trips, are received as guests by great men at Con- stantinople. The citizens whose turn it is not to travel, await the Aukaf and Sadakat, forwarded every year by the Damascus caravan ; besides which, as has been before ex- plained, the Haram supplies even those not officially em- ployed in it with many perquisites. Without these advantages El Medinah would soon be abandoned to cultivators and Bedouins. Though commerce is here honorable, as everywhere in the East, business is " slack," because the higher classes prefer the idleness of administering their landed estates, and being servants to the mosque. I heard of only four respectable houses. They all deal in grain, cloth, and provisions, and perhaps the richest have a capital of 20,000 dollars. Caravans in the cold weather are constantly passing between El Medinah and Egypt, but they are rather bodies of visitors to Con- stantinople than traders travelling for gain. Corn is brought from Jeddah by land, and imported into Yambu or El Rais, a port on the Red Sea, one day and a half's journey from Safra. There is an active provision trade with the neighboring Bedouins, and the Syrian Hajj supplies the citizens with apparel and articles of luxury — tobacco, dried fruits, sweetmeats, knives, and all that is included under the word " notions." There are few store- keepers, and their dealings are petty, because articles of * The Turkish " yataghan." It is a long dagger, intended for thrust- ing rather than cutting. 278 A PILGEI3IAGE TO EL MEDIXAH AND MECCAH. every kind are brought from Egypt, Syria, and Constan- tinople. As a general rule, labor is exceedingly expensive, and at the visitation time a man will demand fifteen or twenty piastres fi-om a stranger for such a trifling job as mending an umbrella. Handicraftsmen and artisans — carpenters, masons, locksmiths, .potters and others, are either slaves or foreigners, mostly Egyptians. This pro- ceeds partly from the pride of the people. They are taught from their childhood that the Madani is a favored being, to be respected however vile or schismatic, and that the vengeance of Allah will fall upon any one who ventures to abuse, much more to strike him. They receive a stran- ger at the shop window with the haughtiness of Pachas, and take pains to show him by words as well as by looks, that they consider themselves as " good gentlemen as princes, only not so rich." Added to this pride are indolence, and the true Arab prejudice, which, even in the present day, prevents a Bedouin from marrying the daughter of an artisan. Like CastiUans they consider labor humiliating to any but a slave ; nor is this, as a clevei- French author remarks, by any means an unreasonable idea, since Heaven, to punish man for disobedience, caused him to eat daily bread by the sweat of his brow. Besides, there is degradation, moral and physical, in handiwork compared with the freedom of the desert. The loom and the file do not conserve courtesy and chivalry Hke the sword and spear ; man extending his tongue, to use an Arab phrase, when a cuff and not a stab is to be the consequence of an injurious expression. Even the ruflian becomes pohte in California, where his brother ruffian carries a revolver, and those European nations who were most poHshed when every gentleman wore a rapier have become the rudest since Civilisation disarmed them. The citizens, despite their being generally in debt, ma- THE HOUSEHOLD AT EL MEDINAH. 219 nage to live well. Their cookery, like that of Meccah, has borrowed something from Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Persia, and India ; like aU Orientals they are exceedingly fond of clarified butter.* I have seen the boy Mohammed drink off nearly a tumbler full, although his friends warned him that it would make him as fat as an elephant. When a man cannot enjoy clarified butter in these countries, it is considered a sign that his stomach is out of order, and all my excuses of a melancholic temperament were required to be in full play to prevent the infliction of fried meat swim- ming in grease, or that guest-dish, rice saturated with melt- ed — perhaps I should say — rancid butter. The house of a Madani in good circumstances is comfortable, for the build- ing is substantial, and the attendance respectable. Black slave-girls here perform the complicated duties of servant- maids in England ; they are taught to sew, to cook, and to wash, besides sweeping the house and drawing water for domestic use. Hasinah (the " Charmer," a decided misno- mer) costs from 40 to 50 dollars : if she be a mother, her value is less, but neat-handedness, propriety of demeanor, and skill in feminine accomplishments, raise her to 100 dol- lars, 251. A little black boy, perfect in all his points, and tolerably intelligent, costs about 1000 piastres; girls are dearer, and eunuchs fetch double that sum. The older the children become, the more their value diminishes, and no one would purchase, save under exceptional circumstances, an adult slave, because he is never parted with but for * Physiologists have remarked that fat and greasy food, containing a quantity of carbon, is peculiar to cold countries, whereas the inhabit- ants of the tropics delight in fruits, vegetables, and articles of diet which do not increase caloric. This must be taken cum grano. In Italy, Spain, and Greece, the general use of olive oil begins. In Africa and Asia, especially in the hottest parts, the people habitually eat enough clarified butter to satisfy an Esquimaux. 280 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. some incurable vice. The Abyssinian, mostly Galla, girls, so much prized because their skins are always cool in the hottest weather, are here rare; they seldom sell for less than 20?., and often fetch QOl. I never heard of a Jariyah Bayza, a white slave-girl, being in the market at El Medi- nah : in Circassia they fetch from 100?. to 400?. prime cost, and few men in El Hejaz could afford so expensive a luxury. The bazaar at El Medinah is poor, and, as almost all the slaves are brought from Meccah by the Jallabs, or drivers, after exporting the best to Egypt, the town receives only the refuse.* The personal appearance of the Madani makes the stran- ger wonder how this mongrel population of settlers has acquired a peculiar and almost an Arab physiognomy. They are remarkably fair, the effect of a cold climate ; sometimes the cheeks are lighted up with red, and the hair is a dark chestnut — at El Medinah I was not stared at as a white man. In some points they approach the true Arab type, that is to say, the Bedouins of ancient and noble family. The cheek- bones are high and saillant, the eye small, more round than long, piercing, fiery, deep-set, and brown rather than black. The head is small, the ears well-cut, the face long and oval, though not unfrequently disfigured by what is popularly called the " lantern-jaw ;" the forehead high, bony, broad, and slightly retreating, and the beard and mustachios scanty, consisting of two tufts upon the chin, with, generally speak- ing, Uttle or no whisker. These are the points of resem- blance between the city and the country Arab. The difl ference is equally remarkable. The temperament of the * Some of these slaves come from Abyssinia : the greater part are driven from the Galla country, and exported at the harbors of the So- matdi coast, Berberah, Tajurrah, and Zayla. As many as 2000 slaves from the former place, and 4000 from the latter, are annually shipped off to Mocha, Jeddah, Suez, and Muscat. DRESS OF THE MADANI. 281 Madani is not purely nervous, like that of the Bedouins, but admits a large admixture of the bilious and, though rarely, the lymphatic. The cheeks are fuller, the jaws project more than in the pure race, the lips are more fleshy, more sensual and ill-fitting, the features are broader, and the limbs are stouter and more bony. The beard is a little thicker, and the young Arabs of the towns are beginning to imitate the Turks in that abomination to their ancestors — shaving. Personal vanity, always a ruling passion among Orientals, and a hopeless wish to emulate the flowing beards of the Turks and the Persians — the only nations in the world who ought not to shave the chin — have overruled even the reli- gious objections to such innovation. I was more frequently appealed to at El Medinah than anywhere else, for some means of removing the opprobrium " Kusah."* They dye the beard with gall nuts, henna, and other preparations. Much refinement of dress is now found at El Medinah, Con- stantinople, the Paris of the East, supplying it with the newest fashions. The women di-ess, like the men, hand- somely. In-doors they wear, I am told, a boddice of calico and other stuffs, which supports the bosom without the evils of European stays. Over this is a wide shirt, of the white stuff called Halaili or Burunjuk, with enormous sleeves, and flowing down to the feet : the pantaloons are not wide, like the Egyptians, but rather tight, approaching to the Indian cut, without its exaggeration. Abroad, they throw over the head a silk or a cotton Milayah, generally chequered white and blue. Women of all ranks dye the soles of the feet and the palms of the hands black, and trace thin lines down the inside of the fingers, by first applying a plaster of henna and then a mixture, called " Shadar," of gall nuts, alum, and lime. The hair, parted in the centre, is plaited * A *' scant-bearded man.'* 282 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. into about twenty little twists called Jadilah.* Of orna- ments, as usual among Orientals, they have a vast variety, ranging from brass and spangles to gold and precious stones; and they delight in strong perfumes — ^musk, civet, amber- gris, attar of rose, oil of jasmine, aloe-wood, and extract of cinnamon. Both sexes wear Constantinople slippers. The wo- men draw on Khuff, inner slippers, of bright yellow leather, serving for socks, and covering the ancle, with papooshes of the same material, sometimes lined with velvet and em- broidered with a gold sprig under the hollow of the foot. In mourning the men show no difference of dress, like good Moslems, to whom such display of grief is forbidden. But the women, who cannot dissociate the heart and the toilette, evince their sorrow by wearing white clothes and by doffing their ornaments. This is a modern custom : the accurate Burckhardt informs us that in his day the women of El Medinah did not wear mourning. The Madani generally appear abroad on foot. Few animals are kept here, on account, I sujDpose, of the expense of feeding them. The Cavalry are mounted on poor Egyp- tian nags. The horses ridden by rich men are generally Nejdi, costing from 200 to 300 dollars. Camels are nume- rous, but those bred in El Hejaz are small, weak, and con- sequently little prized. Dromedaries of good breed are to be had for any sum between 10 and 400 dollars; they are diminutive but exceedingly swift, sure-footed, sagacious, thorough-bred, with eyes like the antelope, and muzzles that would almost enter a tumbler. Mules are not found at El Medinah, although popular prejudice does not now forbid the people to mount them. Asses come from Egypt and Meccah. * In the plural called Jedail. It is a most becoming head-dress when the hair is thick, and when — which I regret to say is rare in Ara- bia — the twists are undone for ablution once a day. MANNERS OP THE MADANI. 283 The manners of the Madani are graver and somewhat more pompous than those of any Arabs with whom I ever mixed. This they appear to have borrowed from their rulers, the Turks. But their austerity and ceremoniousness are skm deep. In intimacy or in anger the garb of pohte- ness is thrown off, and the screaming Arab voice, the voluble, copious, and emphatic abuse, and the mania for gesticula- tion, return in all their deformity. They are great talkers, as the following little trait shows. When a man is opposed to more than his match in disputing or bargaining, instead of patiently saying to himself sHl crache il est mort^ he inter- rupts the adversary with a " Sail' ala Mohammed^" — bless the Prophet. Every good Moslem is obliged to obey such requisition by responding, " Allahumma salli alayh,"^ — O Allah bless him! But the Madani curtails the phrase to '* A'n," supposing it to be an equivalent, and proceeds in his loquacity. Then perhaps the baffled opponent will shout out '" Wahhid,'' i. e. " Attest the unity of the Deity ;" when, instead of employing the usual religious phrases to assert that dogma, he wiU briefly ejaculate " Al," and hurry on with, the course of conversation. As it may be supposed, these wars of words frequently end in violent quarrels. For, to do the Madani justice, they are always ready to fight. It is not to be believed that in a town garrisoned by Turkish troops, full of travelled traders, and which supports itself by plundering Hajis, the primitive virtues of the Arab could exist. The Meccans, a dark people, say of the Madani that their hearts are black as their skins are white. This is of course exaggerated ; but it is not too much to assert that pride, pugnacity, a pecuHar point of honor, and a vindictiveness of wonderful force and patience, are the only characteristic traits of Arab character which the citizens of El Medinah habitually display. Here you meet with scant remains of the chivalry of the desert. A man 284 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. will abuse his guest, even though he will not dine without him, and would protect him. bravely against an enemy. And words often pass lightly between individuals which suffice to cause a blood feud amongst Bedouins. The out- ward appearance of decorum is conspicuous amongst the Madani. There are no places where Corinthians dwell, as at Meccah, Cairo, and Jeddah. Adultery, if detected, would be punished by lapidation according to the rigor of the Koranic law, and simple immoraUty by religious stripes, or, if of repeated occurrence, by expulsion from the city. But scandals seldom occur, and the women, I am told, behave vrith great decency. Abroad, they have the usual Moslem pleasures of marriage, lyings-in, circumcision feasts, holy visitations, and ftmerals. At home, they employ them- selves with domestic matters, and especially in scolding " Hasinah " and " Zaaferan." In this occupation they sur- pass even the notable EngUsh house-keeper of the middle orders of society — the latter being confined to " knagging at " her slave, whereas the Arab lady is allowed an un- bounded extent of vocabulary. At Shaykh Hamid's house, however, I cannot accuse the women of " Swearing into strong shudders The immortal gods who heard them." They abused the black girls with unction, but without any violent expletives. At Meccah, however, the old lady in whose house I was living would, when excited by the me- lancholy temperament of her eldest son and his irregular hours of eating, scold him in the grossest terms not unfre- quently ridiculous in the extreme. For instance, one of her assertions was that he — the son — was the offspring of an immoral mother ; which assertion, one might suppose, reflected not indirectly upon herself. So in Egypt I have PERSONAL CONCEIT. 285 r frequently heard a father, when reproving his boy, address him by " O dog, son of a dog ! " and " O spawn of an infi- del — of a Jew — of a Christian." Amongst the men of El Medinah I remarked a considerable share of hypocrisy. Their mouths were as full of religious salutations, exclama- tions, and hacknied quotations from the Koran as of inde- cency and vile abuse, — a point in which they resemble the Persians. As before observed, they preserve their repu- tation as the sons of a holy city by praying only in public. At Constantinople they are by no means remarkable for sobriety. Intoxicating liquors, especially araki, are made in El Medinah only by the Turks ; the citizens seldom in- dulge in this way at home, as detection by smell is imminent among a people of water-bibbers. During the whole time of my stay I had to content myself with a single bottle of cognac, colored and scented to resemble medicine. The Madani are, like the Meccans, a curious mixture of generosity and meanness, of profuseness and penuriousness. But the former quality is the result of ostentation, the latter a characteristic of the Semitic race, long ago made familiar to Europe by the Jew. Above all their qualities, personal conceit is remarkable ; they show it in their strut, in their looks, and almost in every word. " I am such a one, the son of such a one," is a common expletive, especially in times of danger ; and this spirit is not wholly to be con- demned, as it certainly acts as an incentive to gallant actions. But it often excites them to vie with one another in expensive entertainments and similar vanities. Upon the whole, though alive to the infirmities of the Madani charac- ter, I thought favorably of it, finding among this people more of the redeeming point, manliness, than in most Eastern nations with whom I am acquainted. The Arabs, like the Egyptians, all marry. Yet, as usual, they are hard and facetious upon that ill-treated sub- 286 A PILGEIIiIAGE TO EL 3IEDIXAH AND MECCAH. ject matrimony. It has exercised not a little the brain of their wits and sages, who have not failed to indite notable things concerning it. Saith "Harikar el Hakim" to his nephew Nadan, whom he would dissuade from taking to himself a wife, " Marriage is joy for a month and sorrow for life, and the paying of settlements and the breaking of back (^. e. under the load of misery), and the listening to a woman's tongue !" And again, we have in verse : — " They said, ' Marry !* I replied, ' far be it from me To take to my bosom a sackful of snakes. I am free — why then become a slave ? May Allah never bless -womankind 1' " And the following lines are generally quoted, as affording a kind of bird's-eye view of female existence : — " From 10 (years of age) unto 20, A repose to the eyes of beholders. From 20 unto 30, Still fair and full of fle-sh. From 30 unto 40, A mother of many boys and girls. From 40 unto 50, An old woman of the deceitfuL From 50 unto 60, Slay her with a knife. From 60 unto 70, The curse of Allah upon them, one and all ! Another popular couplet makes a most unsupported asser- tion : — " They declare womankind to be heaven to man, I say, * Allah give me Jehannum, and not this heaven.' " Yet the fair sex has the laugh on its side, for these railers, at El Medinah as in other places, invariably marry. The CEREMONY OF MAREIAGE. 287 ceremony is tedious and expensive. It begins with a Khit- bah or betrothal : the father of the young man repairs to the parent or guardian of the marriageable girl, and at the end of his visit exclaims, " The Fat-Hah ! we beg of your kindness your daughter for our son." Should the other be favorable to the proposal, his reply is, " Welcome and con- gratulation to you ; but we must perform Istikharah ;"* and when consent is given, both pledge themselves to the agreement by reciting the Fat-Hah. Then commence ne- gotiations about the Mahr or sum settled upon the bride ;f and after the smoothing of this difficulty follow feastings of friends and relatives, male and female. The marriage itself is called Akd el Nikah or Ziwaj. A Walimah or banquet is prepared by the father of the ArisJ at his own house, and the Kazi attends to perform the nuptial cere- mony, the girl's consent being obtained through her Wakil, any male relation whom she commissions to act for her. Then, with great pomp and circumstance, the Aris visits his Arusah at her father's house ; and finally, with a Zufiah or procession and sundry ceremonies at the Haram, the bride is brought to her new home. Arab funerals are as simple as their marriages are com- phcated. ISTeither Naddabah (myriologist or hired keener), * This means consulting the will of the Deity, by praying for a dream in sleep, by the rosary, by opening the Koran, and other such devices, which bear blame if a negative be deemed necessary. It is a custom throughout the Moslem world, a relic, doubtless, of the Azlam or Kidah (seven divining-arrows) of the Pagan times. At El Medinah it is generally called Khirah. \ Among respectable citizens 400 dollars would be considered a fair average sum ; the expense of the ceremony would be about half. Thia amount of ready money (150/.) not being always procurable, many of the Madani marry late in life. If. El Aris is the bridegroom. El Arusah the bride. 288 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. nor indeed any female, even a relation, is present at burials, as in other parts of the Moslem world,* and it is esteemed disgraceful for a man to weep aloud. The Prophet, who doubtless had heard of those pagan mournings, where an effeminate and unlimited display of woe was often termi- nated by licentious excesses, like our half-heathen " wakes," forbad aught beyond a decent demonstration of grief. And his strong good sense enabled him to see the folly of pro- fessional mourners. At El Medinah the corpse is interred shortly after decease. The bier is carried through the streets at a moderate pace, by the friends and the relatives, these bringing up the rear. Every man who passes lends his shoulder for a minute, a mark of respect to the dead, and also considered a pious and a prayerful act. Arrived at the Haram, they carry the corpse in visitation to the Prophet's window, and pray over it at Gsman's niche. Finally, it is interred after the usual Moslem fashion in the cemetery El Bakia. El Medinah, though pillaged by the Wahhabis, still abounds in books. Near the Haram are two Madrasah or colleges — the Mahmudiyah, so called from Sultan Mahmud, and that of Bashir Agha : both have large stores of the- ological and other works. I also heard of extensive private collections, particularly of one belonging to the chief of the Sayyids, a certain Mohammed Jemal el Lail, whose father is well known in India. Besides which, there is a large bequest of books presented to the mosque or entailed upon particular families. The celebrated Mohammed Ibn Ab- dUlah El Sannusi has removed his collection, amounting, it is said, to 8000 volumes, from El Medinah to his house in * Boys are allowed to be present, but tbey are not permitted to cry. Of their so misdemeaning themselves there is little danger ; the Arab in these matters is a man from his cradle. STATE OF LEARNING AT EL MEDINAH. 289 Jebel Kubays at Meccali. The burial-place of the Prophet no longer lies open to the charge of utter ignorance brought against it by my predecessor. The people now praise their Ulema for learning, and boast a superiority in respect to science over Meccah. Yet many students leave the place for Damascus and Cairo, where the Riwak El Haramain (college of the two shrines) in the Azhar mosque is always crowded, and though Omar Effendi boasted to me that hih city was full of lore " as an egg is full of meat," he did not appear the less anxious to attend the lectures of Egyp- tian professors. But none of my informants claimed for El Medinah any facihties of studying other than the purely religious sciences. Philosophy, medicine, arithmetic, ma- thematics, and algebra cannot be learnt here. But after denying the Madani the praise of varied learning, it must be owned that their quick observation and retentive me- mories have stored up for them an abundance of superficial knowledge, culled from conversations in the market and in the cam]). I found it impossible here to display those feats which in Sindh, Southern Persia, Eastern Arabia, and many parts of India, would be looked upon as miraculous. Most probably one of the company had witnessed the per- formance of some Italian conjuror, at Constantinople or Alexandria, and retained a hvely recollection of every manoeuvre. As linguists they are not equal to the Meccans, who surpass all Orientals excepting only the Armenians; the Madani seldom know Turkish, and more rarely still Persian and Indian. Those only who have studied in Egypt chant the Koran well. The citizens speak and pronounce their language purely: they are not equal to the people of the southern Hejaz, stiU their Arabic is refreshing after the horrors of Cairo and Muscat. 13 CHAPTER XX. A VISIT TO THE SAINTS' CEMETERY. A QUAEEEL which was renewed about this time between two rival families of the Beni Harb put an end to any lin- gering possibihty of my prosecuting my journey to Muscat, as originally intended. My disappointment was bitter at first, but consolation soon suggested itself. Under the most favorable circumstances, a Bedouin-trip from El Medinah to Muscat, 1500 or 1600 miles, would require at least ten months ; whereas, under pain of losing my commission,* I was ordered to be at Bombay before the end of March. Moreover, entering Arabia by El Hejaz, as has before been said, I was obliged to leave behind all my instruments except a watch and a pocket compass, so the benefit rendered to geography by my trip would have been scanty. Still remained to me the comfort of reflecting that possibly at Meccah some opportunity of crossing the Peninsula might present itself. At any rate I had the certainty of seeing the strange wild country of the Hejaz, and of being present at the ceremonies of the Holy City. * The parliamentary limit of an officer's leave from India is five years:- if he overstay that period, he forfeits his commission. THE BURIAL-PLACE OF THE SAINTS. 291 I must request the reader to bear with a Visitation once more : we shall conclude it with a ride to El Bakia. This venerable spot is frequented by the pious every day after the prayer at the Prophet's Tomb, and especially on Fri- days. The least we can do is to go there once. Our party started one morning, — on donkeys, as usual, for my foot was not yet strong, — along the Darb el Jenazah round the southern wall of the town. The locomotives were decidedly slow, principally in consequence of the tent- ropes which the Hajis had pinned down literally over the plain, and falls were by no means infrequent. At last we arrived at the end of the Darb, where I committed myself by mistaking the decaying place of those miserable schis- matics the Nakhawilah for El Bakia, the glorious cemetery of the Saints. Hamid corrected my blunder with tartness, to which I replied as tartly, that in our country — ^Affghan- istan — we burned the body of every heretic upon whom we could lay our hands. This truly Islamitic custom was heard with general applause, and as the little dispute ended, we stood at the open gate of El Bakia. Then having dis- mounted I sat down on a low Dakkah or stone bench within the walls, to obtain a general view and to prepare for the most fatiguing of the visitations. The burial-place of the Saints is an irregular oblong surrounded by walls which are connected with the suburb at their S. W. angle. Around it palm plantations seem to flourish. It is smaU, considering the extensive use made of it : all that die at El Medinah, strangers as well as natives, except only heretics and schismatics, expect to be interred in it. It must be choked with corpses, which it could not contain did not the Moslem style of burial greatly favor rapid decomposition, and it has all the inconveniences of " intramural sepulture." The gate is small and ignoble ; a mere doo'rway in the wall. Inside there are no flower- 292 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. plots, no tall trees, in fact none of the refinements which lighten the gloom of the Christian burial-place : the build- ings are. simple, they might even be called mean. Almost all are the common Arab mosque, cleanly white-washed, and looking quite new. The ancient monuments were levelled to the ground by Saad the Wahhabi and his puritan followers, who waged pitiless warfare against what must have appeared to them magnificent mausolea, deeming as they did a loose heap of stones sufficient for a grave. In Burckhardt's time the whole place was a "confused ac- cumulation of heaps of earth, wide pits, and rubbish, without a single regular tomb-stone." The present erec- tions owe their existence, I was told, to the liberahty of the Sultans Abd El Hamid and Mahmud. A poor pilgrim has lately started on his last journey, and his corpse, unattended by friends or mourners, is carried upon the shoulders of hired buriers into the cemetery. Suddenly they stay their rapid steps, and throw the body upon the ground. There is a life-like pliability about it as it falls, and the tight cerements so define the outlines that the action makes me shudder. It looks almost as if the dead pilgrim were conscious of what is about to occur. They have forgotten their tools; one man starts to fetch them, and three sit down to smoke. After a time a shallow grave is hastily scooped out. The corpse is packed into it with such unseemly haste that earth touches it in all direc- tions, — cruel carelessness among Moslems, who believe this to torture the sentient frame. One comfort suggests itself. The poor man being a pilgrim has died Shahid — ^in martyr- dom. Ere long his spirit shall leave El Bakia, " And he on honey-dew shall feed, And drink the milk of Paradise." I entered the holy cemetery right foot forwards, as if it THE TOMB OF OSMAN. 293 were a mosque, and barefooted, to avoid suspicion of being a heretic. For though the citizens wear their shoes in. the Bakia, they are much offended at seeing the Persians fol- low their example. Walking down a rough narrow path, which leads from the western to the eastern extremity of El Bakia, we entered the humble mausoleum of the caliph Osman — Osman " El Mazlum," or the " ill-treated," he is called by some Moslem travellers. When he was slain, his friends wished to bury him by the Prophet in the Hujrah, and Ayisha made no objection to the measure. But the people of Egypt became violent, swore that the corpse should neither be buried nor be prayed over, and only permitted it to be removed upon the threat of Habibah (one of the " Mothers" of the Mos- lems, and daughter of Abu Sufiyan) to expose her counte- nance. During the night that followed his death Osman was carried out by several of his friends to El Bakia, from which, however, they were driven away, and obliged to deposit their burden in a garden, eastward of and outside the saints' cemetery. It was called Husn Kaukab, and was looked upon as an inauspicious place of sepulture, till Mar- wan included it in El Bakia. Then moving a few paces to the north, we faced east- wards, and performed the visitation of Abu Said el Khazari, a Sahib or companion of the Prophet, whose sepulchre lies outside El Bakia. The third place visited was a dome con- taining the tomb of our lady Halimah, the Bedouin wet- nurse who took charge of Mohammed.* After which, jfronting the north, we stood before a low * This woman, according to some accounts, also saved Mohammed's life, when an Arab Kahin or diviner, foreseeing that the child was des- tined to subvert the national faith, urged the bystanders to bury their swords in his bosom. 294 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. enclosure, containing ovals of loose stones, disposed side by side. These are the martyrs of El Bakia, who received the crown of glory at the hands of El Muslim, the general of the arch-heretic Yezid. The fifth station is near the centre of the cemetery at the tomb of Ibrahim, who died, to the eternal regret of El Islam, some say six months old, others in his second year. He was the son of Mariyah, the Coptic girl, sent as a present to Mohammed by Jarih, the governor of Alexandria. The Prophet with his own hand piled earth upon the grave, and sprinkled it with water,— a ceremony then first performed, — disposed small stones upon it, and pronounced the final salutation.* Then we visited El ISTafi Maula, son of Omar, generally called Imam Nafi el Kari, or the Koran chaunter ; and near him the great doctor Imam Malik ibn Anas, a native of El Medinah, and one of the most dutiful of her sons. The eighth station is at the tomb of Ukayl bin Abi Talib, brother of Ali. Then we visited the spot where lie interred all the Prophet's wives, Ayisha included.! After the *' Mothers of the Moslems," we prayed at the tombs of Mohammed's daughters, said to be ten in number. In compliment probably to the Hajj, the beggars mus- tered strong that morning at El Bakia. Along the walls and at the entrance of each building squatted ancient dames, all engaged in fervent contemplation of every approaching face, and in pointing to dirty cotton napkins spread upon the ground before them, and studded with a few coins, gold, silver, or copper, according to the expec- * For which reason many holy men were buried in this part of the cemetery, every one being ambitious to lie in ground which had been honored by the Prophet's hands. f Khadijah, who lies at Meccah, is the only exception. Mohammed married fifteen wives, of whom nine survived him. THE DOME OF ABBAS. 295 tations of the proprietress. They raised their voices to demand largesse : some promised to write Fat-Fahs, and the most audacious seized visitors by the skirts of their gar- ments. Fakihs, ready to write "Y. S." or anything else demanded of them, covered the little heaps and eminences of the cemetery, all begging lustily, and looking as though they would murder you, when told how beneficent is Allah.* At the doors of the tombs old housewives, and some young ones also, struggled with you for your slippers as you doffed them, and not unfrequently the charge of the pair was divided between two. Inside when the boys were not loud enough or importunate enough for presents, they were urged on by the adults and seniors, the relatives of the " Khadims" and hangers-on. Unfortunately for me, Shaykh Hamid was renowned for taking charge of wealthy pil- grims : the result was, that my purse was lightened of three dollars. I must add that although at least fifty female voices loudly promised that morning, for the sum of ten paras each, to supplicate Allah in behalf of my lameness, no perceptible good came of their efforts. Before leaving El Bakia, we went to the eleventh station, the Kubbat el Abbasiyah, or Dome of Abbas. Originally built by the Abbaside Caliphs in a. h. 519, it is a larger and a handsomer building than its fellows, and is situated on the right hand side of the gate as you enter in. The crowd of beggars at the door testified to its import- ance : they were attracted by the Persians who assemble here in force to weep and pray. Crossing the threshold with some difficulty, I walked round a mass of tombs which occupies the centre of the building, leaving but a narrow passage between it and the walls. It is railed round, covered over with several " kiswahs" of green cloth, worked * A polite form of objecting to be charitable. 296 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. with white letters, and looked like a confused heap ; but it might have appeared irregular to me by the reason of the mob around. The eastern portion contains the body of El Hasan, the son of Ali, and grandson of the Prophet ; the Imam Zayn el Abidin, son of El Hosayn, and great-grand- son to the Prophet ; the Imam Mohammed El Bakir (fifth Imam), son to Zayn el Abidin ; and his son the Imam Jaafar el Sadik — all four descendants of the Prophet, and buried in the same grave with Abbas ibn Abd el Muttaleb, uncle to Mohammed. We stood opposite this mysterious tomb, and repeated, with difiiculty by reason of the Persians weeping, the fol- lowing supplication : — " Peace be with ye, O family of the Prophet ! O Lord Abbas, the free from impurity and un- cleanness, and father's brother to the best of men ! And thou too, O Lord Hasan, grandson of the Prophet ! And thou too, O Lord Zayn el Abidin ! Peace be with ye, one and all, for verily God hath been pleased to free you from all guile, and to purify you with all purity. The mercy of Allah and his blessings be upon you, and verily he is the Praised, the Mighty !" After which, freeing ourselves from the hands of greedy boys, we turned round and faced the southern wall, close to which is a tomb attributed to the Lady Fatimah.* I will not repeat the prayer, it being the same as that recited in the Haram. * Moslem historians seem to delight in the obscurity which hangs over the lady's last resting-place, as if it were an honor even for the receptacle of her ashes to be concealed from the eyes of men. Some place her in the Haram, relying upon this tradition : — Fatimah, feeling about to die, rose up joyfully, performed the greater ablution, dressed herself in pure garments, spread a mat upon the floor of her house near the Prophet's Tomb, lay down fronting the Kiblah, placed her hand under her cheek, and said to her attendant, " I am pure and in a pure dress; now let no one uncover my body, but bmy me where I lie!" inJMBER OF MOSQUES AT EL MEDINAH. 297 Issuing from the hot and crowded dome, we recovered our slippers after much trouble, and found that our gar- ments had suffered from the frantic gesticulations of the Persians. We then walked to the gate of El Bakia, stood facing the cemetery upon an elevated piece of ground, and delivered the general benediction. After which, issuing fi*om El Bakia,* we advanced northwards, leaving the city gate on the left hand, and came to a small Kubbah close to the road. It is visited as containing the tomb of the Prophet's paternal aunts. Hur- rying over our directions here, — ^for we were tired in- deed, — we applied to a Sakka for water, and entered a lit- tle coffee-house near the gate of the town, after which we rode home. I have now described, I fear at a wearying length, the spots visited by every Zair at El Medinah. The guide-books mention altogether between fifty and fifty-five mosques and other holy places, most of which are now unknown even by name to the citizens. Besides fourteen principal mosques, and which actually have a " local habitation," I find the names, and nothing but the names, of forty mosques. The reader loses little by my unwillingness to offer him a detailed list of such appel- Wben Ali returned he found his ■wife dead, and complied with her last wishes. Omar bin Abd el Aziz believed this tradition, when he included the room in the mosque ; and generally in El Islam Fatimah is supposed to be buried in the Haram. * The other celebrities in El Bakia are, Fatimah bint Asad, mother of Ali. She was buried with great religious pomp. The Prophet shrouded her with his own garment (to prevent hell from touching her), dug her grave, lay down in it (that it might never squeeze or be narrow to her), assisted in carrying the bier, prayed over her, and pro- claimed her certain of future felicity. Over her tomb was written, *' The grave hath not closed upon one like Fatimah, daughter of Asad." ^ 298 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDIXAH AND MECCAH. lations as Masjid Beni Abdel Ashhal, Masjid Beni Harisah, Masjid Beni Haram, Masjid el Fash, Masjid EI Sukiya, " Cum multis aliis quae nunc perscribere longum, est." The Damascus caravan was to start on the 27th Zu'l Kaadah (1st September). I had intended to stay at El Medinah till the last moment, and to accompany the Kafi- lat el Tayyarah, or the " Flying Caravan," which usually leaves on the 2nd Zu'l Hijjah, two days after that of Damascus. Suddenly arose the rumor that there would be no Tay- yarah,* and that all pilgrims must proceed with the Da- mascus caravan, or await the Rakb or dromedary-caravan. The Sherif Zayd, Saad the Robber's only friend, had paid him an unsuccessful visit. Schinderhans demanded back his Shaykh-ship, in return for a safe-conduct through his country : " Otherwise," said he, " I wiU cut the throat of every hen that ventures into the passes." The Sherif Zayd returned to El Medinah on the 25th Zu'l Kaadah (30th August). Early on the morning of the next day, Shaykh Hamid returned hurriedly from the ba- zaar, exclaiming, " You must make ready at once, Effendi ! — there will be no Tayyarah — all Hajis start to-morrow — Allah will make it easy to you ! — ^have you your water- skins in order ? — you are to travel down the Darb El Sharki, where you will not see water for three days !" Poor Hamid looked horror-struck as he concluded this fearful announcement, whicl filled me with joy. Burck- hardt had visited and described the Darb El Sultani, the "High" or "Royal road" along the coast. But no Euro- pean had as yet travelled down by Harun El Rashid's and * The " Tayyarah," or " Flying Caravan," is lightly laden, and tra- vels by forced marches. PKEPARATION. 299 the Lady Zubaydali's celebrated route through the jNTejd Desert. Not a moment, however, was to be lost : we expected to start early the next morning. The boy Mohammed went forth, and bought for eighty piastres a shugdul, which lasted us throughout the pilgrimage, and for fifteen piastres a shibriyah or cot to be occupied by Shaykh Nur, who did not rehsh sleeping on boxes. The youth was employed all day, with sleeves tucked up and working like a porter, in covering the Utter with matting and rugs, in mending bro- ken parts, and in providing it with large pockets for provi- sions inside and outside, with pouches to contain the gug- glets of cooled water. Meanwhile Shaykh Nur and I, havuig inspected the water-skins, found that the rats had made considerable rents in two of them. There being no workman procurable at this time for gold, I sat down to patch the damaged articles, whilst Nur was sent to lay in provisions for four- teen days.* By my companion's advice I took wheat-flour, rice, turmeric, onions, dates, unleavened bread of two kinds, cheese, limes, tobacco, sugar, tea and coffee. Hamid himself started upon the most important part of our business. Faithful camel-men are required upon a road where robberies are frequent and stabbings occasional, and where there is no law to prevent desertion or to limit new and exorbitant demands. After a time he returned, accom- panied by a boy and a Bedouin, a short, thin, well-built old man with regular features, a white beard, and a cool clear eye ; his hmbs, as usual, were scarred wdth wounds. Masud, of the Rahlah, a sub-family of the Hamidah family of the * The journey is calculated at eleven days ; but provisions are apt to spoil, and the Bedouin camel-men expect to be fed. Besides which, pilferers abound. 800 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. Beni Harb, came in with a dignified demeanor, applied his dexter palm to om's, sat down, declined a pipe, accepted coffee, and after drinking it, looked at us to show that he was ready for negotiation. We opened the proceedings with "We want men and not camels," and the conversa- tion proceeded in the purest Hejazi. After much discus- sion we agreed, if compelled to travel by the Darb El Sharki, to pay twenty dollars for two camels, and to ad- vance arhiin or earnest-money to half that amount. The Shaykh bound himself to provide us with good animals, which moreover were to be changed in case of accidents ; he was also to supply his beasts with water, and to accom- pany us to Arafat and back. But, absolutely refusing to carry my large box, he declared that the tent under the shugduf was burden enough for one camel, and that the small green case of drugs, the saddle-bags, and the pro- vision-sacks surmounted by Nur's cot, were amply suffi- cient for the other. On our part we bound ourselves to feed the Shaykh and his son, supplying them either with i-BW or with cooked provender, and, upon our return to Meccah from Mount Arafat, to pay the remaining hire with a discretionary present. Hamid then addressed to me flowery praises of the old Bedouin. After which, turning to the latter, he ex- claimed, " Thou wilt treat these friends well, O Masud the Harbi ! " The ancient replied with a dignity that had no pomposity in it, — " Even as Abu Shawarib — the Father of Mustachios * — behaveth to us, so will we behave to him ! " He then arose, bade us be prepared when the departure- * Most men of the Shafei school clip their mustachios exceedingly short; some clean shave the upper lip, the imperial, and the parts of the beard about the corners of the mouth, and the fore-part of the cheeks. I neglected so to do, which soon won for me the epithet ro* corded above. ADIEUS. 301 gun sounded, saluted us, and stalked out of the room, fol- lowed by his son, who, under pretext of dozmg, had men- tally made an inventory of every article in the room, our- selves especially included. When the Bedouins disappeared, Shaykh Hamid shook liis head, advising me to give them plenty to eat, and never to allow twenty-four hours to elapse without dipping hand in the same dish with them, in order that the party might always be " malihln," — on terms of salt. He concluded with a copious lecture upon the villany of Bedouins, and their habit of drinking travellers' water. I was to place the skins on a camel in front, and not behind; to hang the skins with their mouths carefully tied, and turned upwards, contrary to the general practice; always to keep a good store of liquid, and at night to place it under the safeguard of the tent. In the afternoon, Omar Effendi and others dropped in to take leave. They found me \n the midst of preparations, sewing sacks, fitting up a pipe, patching water-bags, and packing medicines. My fellow-traveller had brought me some pencils, and a pen-knife, as " forget-me-nots," for we were by no means sure of meeting again. He hinted, however, at another escape from the paternal abode, and proposed, if possible, to join the Dromedary-Caravan. Shaykh Hamid said the same, but I saw by the expression of his face, that his mother and wife would not give him leave from home so soon after his return. Towards evening time the Barr el Munakliah became a scene of exceeding confusion. The town of tents lay upon the ground. Camels were being laden, and were roaring under the weight of litters, cots, boxes, and baggage. Horses and mules gallopped about. Men were rushing wildly in all directions on worldly errands, or hurrying to pay a farewell visit to the Prophet's Tomb. Women and 302 A PILviEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. children sat screaming on the ground, or ran about dis- tracted, or called their vehicles to escape the danger of being crushed. Every now and then a random shot excited all into the belief that the departure-gun had sounded. At times we heard a volley from the robbers' hills, which elicited a general groan, for the pilgrims were still, to use their own phrase, "between fear and hope," and, con- sequently, still far from " one of the two comforts."* Then would sound the loud " Jhin-Jhin" of the camels' bells, as the stately animals paced away with some grandee's gilt and emblazoned litter, the sharp grunt of the dromedary, and the loud neighing of excited steeds. About an hour after sunset all our preparations were concluded, save only the shugduf, at which the boy Mohammed still worked with untiring zeal ; he wisely remembered that in it he had to spend the best portion of a week and a half. The evening was hot, we therefore dined outside the house. I was told to repair to the Haram for the "Farewell Visitation;" but my decided objection to this step was that we were all to part, — ^how soon ! — and when to meet agam we knew not. My com- panions smiled consent, assuring me that the ceremony could be performed as well at a distance as in the temple. Then began the uncomfortable process of paying ofi' little bills. The Eastern creditor always, for divers reasons, waits the last moment before he claims his debt. Shaykh Hamid had frequently hinted at his difficulties; the only means of escape from which, he said, was to rely upon Allah. He had treated me so hospitably, that I could not take back any part of the 51. lent to him at Suez. His three * The " two comforts'* are success and despair ; the latter, accord- ing to the Arabf, being a more enviable state of feeling than doubt or hope deferred. LAST NIGHT AT EL MEDINAH. 303 brothers received a dollar or two each, and one or two of his cousins hinted to some effect that such a proceeding would meet with their appK)bation. The luggage was then carried down, and disposed in packs upon the ground before the house, so as to be ready for loading at a moment's notice. Many flying parties of travellers had almost started on the high road, and late in the evening came a new report that the body of the caravan would march about midnight. We sat up till about 2 A. M., when, having heard no gun, and seen no camels, we lay down to sleep through the sultry remnant of the hours of darkness. Thus, gentle reader, was spent my last night at El Medinah. I had reason to congratulate myself upon having passed through the first danger. Meccah is so near the coast, that, in case of detection, the traveller might escape in a few hours to Jeddah, where he would find an English vice- consul, protection from the Turkish authorities, and possibly a British cruiser in the harbor. But at El Medinah dis- covery would entail more serious consequences. The next risk to run was the journey between the two cities, on which it would be easy for the local officials quietly to dispose of a suspected person by giving a dollar to a Be- douin. CHAPTER XXI. FEOM EL MEDINAH TO EL SUWAYEKIYAH. Four roads lead from El Medinah to Meccah. The " Darb El Sultani," or " Sultan's Way," follows the line of coast : this "General Passage" has been minutely described by my great predecessor. The "Tarik El Ghabir," a mountain path, is avoided by the Mahmal and the great caravans, on account of its rugged passes; water abounds along the whole line, but there is not a single village ; and the Sobh Bedouins, who own the soil, are inveterate plunderers. The route called "Wady El Kura" is a favorite with drome- dary-caravans ; on this road are two or three small settle- ments, regular wells, and free passage through the Beni Amr tribe. The Darb El Sharki, or " Eastern road," down which I travelled, owes its existence to the piety of Zubay- dah Khatun, wife of Harun el Rashid. That estimable princess dug wells from Baghdad to El Medinah, and built, we are told, a wall to direct pilgrims over the shifting sands. There is a fifth road, or rather mountain path, concerning which I can give no information. At 8 A. M. on Wednesday, the 26th Zu'l Kaadah (31st August, 1853), as we were sitting at the window of Hamid's KL GHADIE. 305 house after our early meal, suddenly appeared, in hottest haste, Masud, our Camel-Shay kh. He was accompanied by his son, a bold boy about fourteen years of age, who fought sturdily about the weight of each package as it was thrown over the camel's back ; and his nephew, an ugly pock- marked lad, too lazy even to quarrel. We were ordered to lose no time in loading ; all started into activity, and at 9 A. M. I found myself standing opposite the " Egyptian Gate," surrounded by my friends, who had accompanied me thus far on foot, to take leave mth due honor. After affectionate embraces and parting mementoes, we mounted, the boy Mohammed and I in the shugduf, or litter, and Shaykh Nur in his shibriyah, or cot. Then, in company Avith some Turks and Meccans, for Masud owned a string of nine camels, we passed through the little gate near the castle, and shaped our course towards the north. On our right lay the palm-groves, which conceal this part of the city ; far to the left rose the domes of Hamzah's Mosques at the foot of Mount Ohod ; and in front a band of road crowded with motley groups, stretched over a barren stony plain. After an hour's slow march, we fell into the Nejd road, and came to a place called El Ghadir, or the Basin. There we halted and turned to take a farewell of the Holy City. All the pilgrims dismounted and gazed at the venerable minarets and the Green Dome, spots upon which their me- mory would ever dwell with a fond and yearning interest. Remounting at noon we crossed a fiumara which runs, according to my Camel-Shaykh, from N. to S. ; we were therefore emerging from the Medinah basin. The sky began to be clouded, and although the air was stiU full of simoom, cold draughts occasionally poured down from the hills. Ai*abs fear this " bitter change Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierce,** 306 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. and call that a dangerous climate which is cold in the hot season and hot in the cold. Travellinoj over a roug^h and stony path, dotted with thorny acacias, we arrived about 2 p. M. at the bed of lava heard of by Burckhardt. The aspect of the country was volcanic, abounding in basalts and scoriss, more or less porous. I made diligent enquiries about the existence of active volcanoes in this part of El Hejaz, and heard of none. At 5 p. M., travelling towards the East, we entered a pass, which follows the course of a wide fiumara, walled in by steep and barren hills — the portals of a region too wild even for Bedouins. The torrent-bed narrowed where the turns were abrupt, and the drift of heavy stones, with a water-mark from 6 to V feet high, showed that after rains a violent stream runs from E. and S.E. to W. and N.W. The fertilising fluid is close to the surface, evidenced by a spare growth of acacia, camel-grass, and at some angles of the bed by the Daum, or Theban palm.* I remarked what are technically called " Hufrah," holes dug for water in the sand ; and my guide assured me that somewhere near there is a spring flowing from the rocks. After the long and sultry afternoon, beasts of burden began to sink in considerable numbers. The fresh carcasses of asses, ponies, and camels dotted the way-side : those that had been allowed to die were abandoned to the foul carrion- birds, the Rakham (vulture), and the yellow Ukab ; and all whose throats had been properly cut were surrounded by troops of Takruri pilgrims. These half-starved wretches cut steaks from the choice portions, and slung them over their shoulders till an opportunity for cooking might arrive. I never saw men more destitute. They carried wooden * This is the palm, capped with large fan-shaped leaves, described by every traveller in Egypt and the nearer East. HOW PILGRIMS LIVE ON A MARCH. 307 bowls, which they filled with water by begging ; their only weapon was a small knife, tied in a leathern sheath above the elbow ; and their costume an old skull-cap, strips of leather tied like sandals under the feet, and a long dirty shirt, or sometimes a mere rag covering the loins. Some were perfect savages, others had been fine-looking men, broad-shouldered and long-limbed; many were lamed by latigue and thorns; and looking at most of them, I saw death depicted in their forms and features. After two hours' slow niarching up the fiumara east- wards, we saw in front of us a wall of rock, and turning abruptly southwards, we left the bed, and ascended rising ground. Already it was night ; an hour, however, elapsed before we saw, at a distance, the twinkling fires, and heard the watch-cries of our camp. It was pitched in a hollow, under hills, in excellent order, the Pacha's pavilion sur- rounded by his soldiers and guards disposed in tents, with sentinels, regularly posted, protecting the outskirts of the encampment. One of our men, whom we had sent forward, met us on the way, and led us to an open place, where we unloaded the camels, raised our canvas home, lighted fires, and prepared, with supper, for a good night's rest. Living is simple on such marches. The pouches inside and outside the shugduf contain provisions and water, with which you supply yourself when inclined. At certain hours of the day, ambulant vendors offer sherbet, lemonade, hot coffee, and water-pipes admirably prepared.* Chibouques may be smoked in the litter; but few care to do so during the simoom. The first thing, however, called for at the halt- * The charge for a cup of coffee is one piastre and a half. A pipe- bearer will engage himself for about ll. per mensem; he is always a veteran smoker, and in these regions, it is an axiom that the flavor of your pipe mainly depends on the filler. 308 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. ing-place is the pipe, and its delightful soothing influence, followed by a cup of coffee, and a "forty winks" upon the sand, ^vill awaken an appetite not to be roused by other means. How could Waterton, the traveller, abuse the pipe ? During the night halt, provisions are cooked : rice, or kichri, a mixture of pulse and rice, are eaten with Chut- nee and lime-pickle, varied, occasionally, by tough mutton and indigestible goat. We arrived at Ja El Sherifah at 8 p. m. after a march of about twenty-two miles.* This halting-place is the ren- dezvous of caravans : it lies 50° S.E. of El Medinah, and belongs rather to Nejd than to El Hejaz. At 3 A. M., on Thursday, we started up at the sound of the departure-gun, struck the tent, loaded the camels, mounted, and found ourselves hurrying through a gloomy pass, in the hills, to secure a good place in the caravan. This is an object of some importance, as, during the whole journey, marching order must not be broken. We met with a host of minor accidents, camels falling, shugdufs bumping against one another, and plentiful abuse. Per- tinaciously we hurried on till 6 a. m., at which hour we emerged from the black pass. The large crimson sun rose upon us, disclosing, through purple mists, a hollow of coarse yellow gravel, based upon a hard whitish clay. Entering it, we dismounted, prayed, broke our fast, and after half an hour's halt proceeded to cross its breadth. The appear- ance of the caravan was most striking, as it threaded its * A day's journey in Arabia is generally reckoned at twenty-four or twenty-five Arab miles. Abulfeda leaves the distance of a Marhalah (or Manzil, a station) undetermined. El Idrisi reckons it at thirty miles, but speaks of short as well as long marches. The only ideas of distance known to the Bedouin of El Hejaz are the fanciful Saat or hour, and the uncertain Manzil or halt ; the former varies from 2 to 3^ miles, the latter from 15 to 25 miles. THE APPEAEANCE OF THE CAEAVAN. 309 glow way over the smooth surface of the low plain. To judge by the eye, there were at least 7,000 souls, on foot, on horseback, in litters, or bestriding the splendid camels of Syria. There were eight gradations of pilgrims. The lowest hobbled with heavy staves. Then came the riders of asses, camels, and mules. Respectable men, especially Arabs, mounted dromedaries, and the soldiers had horses : a led animal was saddled for every grandee, ready whenever he might wish to leave his litter. Women, children, and inva- lids of the poorer classes sat upon a " haml musattah," — bits of cloth spread over two large boxes which formed the camel's load. Many occupied shibriyahs, a few, shugdufs, and only the wealthy and the noble rode in Takhtrawan (litters), carried by camels or mules.* The morning beams fell brightly upon the glancing arms which surrounded the stripped Mahmal,f and upon the scarlet and gilt litters of the grandees. Not the least beauty of the spectacle was its wondrous variety of detail : no man was dressed like his neighbor, no camel was caparisoned, nor horse clothed in uniform, as it were. And nothing stranger than the con- trast ; — a band of half-naked Takruri marching with the Pacha's equipage, and long-capped, bearded Persians con- versing with Tarbushed and shaven Turks. * The vehicle mainly regulates the expense, as it evidences a man's means. I have heard of a husband and wife leaving Alexandria with three months' provision and the sum of 5l. They would mount a camel, lodge in public buildings, when possible, probably be reduced to beg- gary, and possibly starve on the road. On the other hand the minimum expenditure, — for necessaries, not donations and luxuries, — of a man who rides in a Takhtrawan from Damascus and back, would be about 12001. f On the line of march the Mahmal, stripped of its embroidered cover, is carried on camel-back, a mere framewood. Even the gilt silver balls and crescent are exchanged for similar articles in brass. 310 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. The plain even at an early hour reeked with vapors distilled by the fires of the simoom : about noon, however, the air became cloudy, and nothmg of color remained, save that white haze, dull, but glaring withal, which is the pre- vailing day-tint in these regions. At mid-day we reached a narrowing of the basin, where, from both sides, "Irk," or low hills, stretch their last spurs into the plain. But after half a mile, it again widened to upwards of two miles. At 2 p. M. we turned towards the S.W., ascended stony ground, and found ourselves one hour afterwards in a desolate rocky flat, distant about twenty-four miles of unusually winding road from our last station. After pitching the tent, we prepared to recruit our sup- ply of water ; for Masud warned me that his camels had not drunk for ninety hours, and that they would soon sink under the privation. The boy Mohammed, mounting a drome- dary, set ofT with the Shaykh and many water-bags, giving me an opportunity of writing out my journal. They did not return home till after nightfall, a delay caused by many adventures. The wells are in a fiumara, as usual, about two miles distant from the halting-place, and the soldiers, regular as weU as irregular, occupied the water and exacted hard coin in exchange for it. The men are not to blame ; they would die of starvation, but for this resource. The boy Mo- hammed had been engaged in several quarrels ; but after snapping his pistol at a Persian pilgrim's head, he came forth triumphant with two skins of sweetish water, for which we paid ten piastres. He was in his glory. There were many Meccans in the caravan, among them his elder brother and several friends ; the Sherif Zayd had sent, he said, to ask why he did not travel with his compatriots. That evening he drank so copiously of clarified butter, and ate dates mashed with flom* and other abominations to such an extent, that at night he prepared to give up the ghost. We passed THE NIGHT MARCH. 311 a pleasant hour or two before sleeping. I began to like the old Shaykh Masud, who, seeing it, entertained me with his genealogy, his battles, and his family affairs. The rest of the party could not prevent expressing contempt when they heard me putting frequent questions about torrents, hills. Bedouins, and the directions of places. " Let the Father of Mustachios ask and learn," said the old man ; "he is friendly with the Bedouins, and knows better than you all." This; reproof was intended to be bitter as the poet's satire, — " All fools have still an itching to deride, And fain would be upon the laughing side." It called forth, however, another burst of merriment, for the jeerers remembered my nickname to have belonged to that pestilent heretic, Saud the Wahhabi. On Saturday, the 3rd September, that hateful signal-gun awoke us at 1 a. m. In Arab travel there is nothing more disagreeable than the Sariyah or night-march, and yet the people are inexorable about it. " Choose early darkness (Daljah) for your wayfarings," said the Prophet, " as the calamities of the earth — serpents and wild beasts — appear not at night." I can scarcely find words to express the weary horrors of a long night's march, during which the hapless traveller, filming, if a European, with disappoint- ment in his hopes of " seeing, the country," is compelled to sit upon the back of a creeping camel. The day sleep too is a kind of lethargy, and it is all but impossible to preserve an appetite during the hours of heat. At half-past 5 a. m., after drowsily stumbling through hours of outer darkness, we entered a spacious basin at least six miles broad, and limited by a circlet of low hill. It was overgrown with camel-grass and acacia trees — mere vege- table mummies ; — in many places the water had left a mark ; 312 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. and here and there the ground was pitted with mud-flakes, the remains of recently dried pools. After an hour's rapid march we toiled over a rugged ridge, composed of broken and detached blocks of basalt and scoriae, fantastically piled together, and dotted with thorny trees. It was wonderful to see the camels stepping from block to block with the sagacity of mountaineers ; assuring themselves of their fore- feet before trusting all their weight to advance. Not a camel fell, either here or on any other ridge : they moaned, however, piteously, for the sudden turns of the path puzzled them ; the ascents were painful, the descents were still more so ; the rocks were sharp, deep holes yawned between the blocks, and occasionally an acacia caught the shugduf, almost overthrowing the hapless bearer by the suddenness and the tenacity of its clutch. Descending the ridge, we entered another hill-encircled basin of gravel and clay. In many places basalt in piles and crumbling strata of hornblende schiste, disposed edgeways, green within, and without blackened by sun and rain, cropped out of the ground. At half-past ten we found our- selves in an "acacia-barren," one of the things which pil- grims dread. Here shugdufs are bodily pulled off the camel's back and broken upon the hard ground ; the animals drop upon their knees, the whole line is deranged, and every one, losing his temper, attacks his Moslem Brother. The road was flanked on the left by an iron wall of black basalt. Il^oon brought us to another ridge, whence we descended into a second wooden basin surrounded by hills. Here the air was filled with those pillars of sand so gra- phically described by Abyssinian Bruce. They scudded on the wings of the whirlwind over the plain — huge yellow shafts, with lofty heads, horizontally bent backwards, in the form of clouds ; and on more than one occasion camels were overthrown by them. It required little stretch of fancy to HOW TO AXLAT THIEST IN THE EAST. 313 enter into the Arab's superstition. These sand-columns are supposed to be genii of the waste, which cannot be caught — a notion arising from the fitful movements of the wind-eddy that raises them — and, as they advance, the pious Moslem stretches out his finger, exclaiming, "Iron! O thou ill- omened one !" During the forenoon we were troubled with simoom, which, instead of promoting perspiration, chokes up and hardens the skin. The Arabs complain greatly of its vio- lence on this line of road. Here I first remarked the diffi- culty with which the Bedouins bear thirst. Ya Latif — O ! Merciful Lord — they exclaimed at times, and yet they behaved like men.* I had ordered them to place the water- camel in front, so as to exercise due supervision. Shaykh Masud and his son made only an occasional reference to the skins. But his nephew, a short, thin, pock-marked lad of eighteen, whose black skin and woolly head suggested the idea of a semi- African and ignoble origin, was always drink- l^o; ; except when he climbed the camel's back, and, dozing upcti the damp load, forgot his thirst. In vain we ordered, Wi taunted, and we abused him : he would drink, he would Bleep, but he would not work. * The Eastern Arabs allay the torments of thirst by a spoonful of clarified butter, carried on journeys in a leathern bottle. Every Euro- pean traveller has some recipe of his own. One chews a mnsket-bullet or a small stone. A second smears his legs with butter. Another eats a crust of dry bread, which exacerbates the torments, and afterwards brings relief A fourth throws water over his face and hands or his legs and feet ; a fifth smokes, and a sixth turns his dorsal region (raising his coat-tail) to the fire. I have always found that the only remedy is to be patient and not to talk. The more you drink, the more you require to drink — water or strong waters. But after the first two hours' abstinence you have mastered the overpowering feeling of thirst, and then to refrain is easy. 14 314 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AT^D MECCAH. Early in the afternoon we reached a diminutive flat, on a fiumara bank. Beyond it lies a Mahjar or stony gi'ound, black as usual in El Hejaz, and over its length lay the road, white with dust and the sand deposited by the camels' feet. Having arrived before the Pacha, we did not know where to pitch ; many opining that the caravan would traverse the Mahjar and halt beyond it. We soon alighted, however, pitched the tent under a burning sun, and were imitated by the rest of the party. We loitered on Sunday, the 4th September, at El Hij- riyah, although the Shaykh forewarned us of a long march. But there is a kind of discipline in these great caravans. A gun sounds the order to strike the tents, and a second bids you march off with all speed. There are short halts of half an hour each at dawn, noon, the afternoon, and sunset, for devotional purposes, and these are regulated by a cannon or a culverin. At such times the Syrian and Persian ser- vants, who are admirably expert in their calling, pitch the large green tents, with gilt crescents, for the dignitarii^s and their hareems. The last resting-place is known by she hurrying forward of these " Farrash,"* who are determin'id to be the first on the ground and at the well. A discharge of three guns denotes the station, and when the caravan moves by night, a single cannon sounds three or four halts at irregular intervals. Leaving our camp at seven a.m., we passed over the grim stone-field by a detestable footpath, and at nine o'clock struck into a broad fiumara, which runs from the east towards the noith-west. Up this line we travelled the whole day. About six p.m., we came upon a basin at least twelve miles broad, which absorbs the water of the adjacent hiUs. Accustomed as I have been to miraore, a Ions: thin * Tent-pitchers, &e. GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE COUJS'TRY. 315 line of salt efflorescence appearing at some distance on the plain below us, when the shades of evening invested the view, completely deceived me. Even the Arabs were divided in opinion, some thinking it was the effects of the rain which fell the day before : others were more acute.* Upon the horizon beyond the plain rose dark, fort-like masses of rock which I mistook for buildings, the more readily as the Shaykh had warned me that we were approaching a populous place. At last descending a long steep hill, we entered upon the level ground, and discovered our error by the crunching sound of the camels' feet upon large curling flakes of nitrous salt overlying caked mud. Those civilised birds, the kite and the crow, warned us that we were in the vicinity of man. It was not, however, before eleven p.m., that we entered the confines of El Suwayrkiyah. The fact was made patent to us by the stumbling and the falling of our dromedaries over the little ridges of dried clay disposed in squares upon the fields. There were other obstacles, such as garden walls, wells, and hovels, so that midnight had sped before our weary camels reached the resting-place. A rumor that we were to halt here the next day, made us think lightly of present troubles ; it proved, however, to be false. During the last four days I attentively observed the general face of the country. This line is a succession of low plains and basins, here quasi-circular, there irregularly oblong, surrounded by rolling hills and cut by fiumaras which passed through the higher ground. The basins are divided by ridges and flats of basalt and greenstone ave- * It is said that beasts are never deceived by the mirage, and this, as far as my experience goes, is correct. May not the reason be that most of them kno-w the vicinity of water rather by smell than by sight! 316 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. raging from 100 to 200 feet in height. The general form is a huge prism ; sometimes there is a table on the top. From El Medinah to El Suwayrkiyah the low beds of sandy fiumaras abound. Water obtained by digging is good where rain is fresh in the fiumaras ; saltish, so as to taste at first unnaturally sweet, in the plains, and bitter in the basins and lowlands where nitre effloresces and rain has had time to become tainted. The landward faces of the hills are disposed at a sloping angle, contrasting strongly with the perpendicularity of their seaward sides, and I saw no inner range corresponding with, and parallel to, the maritime chain. Nowhere is there a land in which Earth's anatomy lies so barren, or one richer in volcanic and pri- mary formations. Especially towards the south, the hills are abrupt and highly vertical, with black and barren flanks, ribbed with furrows and fissures, with wide and for- midable precipices and castellated summits hke the work of man. The predominant formation was basalt, called by the Arabs Hell-stone ; here and there it is porous and cellu- lar ; in some places compact and black ; and in others coarse and gritty, of a tarry color, and when fractured, shining with bright points. Hornblende abounds at El Medinah and throughout this part of El Hejaz: it crops out of the ground edgeways, black and brittle. Green- stone, diorite, and actinolite are found, though not so abundantly as those above mentioned. The granites, called in Arabic Suwan,* abound. Some are large grained, of a pink color, and appear in blocks, which, flaking off" under the influence of the atmosphere, form into ooidal blocks and * The Arabic language has a copious terminology for the mineral as well as the botanical productions of the country : with little altera- tion it might be made to express all the requirements of our modem geology. GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS. 317 boulders piled in irregular heaps. Others are grey and compact enough to take a high poUsh when cut. The syenite is generally coarse, although there is occasionally found a rich red variety of that stone. I have never seen Eurite or Euritic porphyry except in small pieces, and the same may be said of the petrosilex and the milky quartz. In some parts, particularly between Yambu and El Medi- nah, there is an abundance of tawny yellow gneiss mark- edly stratified. The transition formations are represented by a fine calcareous sandstone of a bright ochre color ; it is used at Meccah to adorn the exteriors of houses, bands of this stone being here and there inserted into the courses of masonry. There is also a small admixture of the greenish sandstone which abounds at Aden. The secondary forma- tion is represented by a fine limestone, in some places almost fit for the purposes of lithography, and a coarse gypsum often of a tufaceous nature. The maritime towns are mostly built of coralline. For the superficial accumu- lations of the country, I may refer the reader to any description of the Desert between Cairo and Suez. CHAPTER XXn. THE BEDOUINS OF EL HEJAZ. I WILL not apologize for entering into details concerning the personale of the Bedouins : a precise physical portrait of race, it has justly been remarked, is the sole deficiency in the otherwise perfect pages of Bruce and Burckhardt. ^ The temperament of the Hejazi is not unfrequently the pure nervous, as the height of the forehead and the fine texture of the hair prove. Sometimes the bihous, and rarely the sanguine, elements predominate : the lymphatic I never saw. He has large nervous centres, and well formed spine and brain, a conformation favorable to longe- vitv. Bartema well describes his color as a " dark leonine:" it varies from the deepest Spanish to a chocolate hue, and its varieties are attributed by the people to blood. The skin is hard, dry, and soon wrinkled by exposure. The xanthous complexion is rare, though not unknown in cities, but the leucous does not exist. The crinal hair is fi*e- quently lightened by bleaching, and the pilar is generally browner than the crinal. The voice is strong and clear, but rather barytone than bass: in anger it becomes a shrill chattering like the cry of a wild animal. The look of a THE BEDOUINS. 319 chief is dignified and grave, even to pensiveness ; the " respectable man's " is self-sufficient and fierce ; the lower orders look ferocious or stupid and inquisitive. Yet there is not much difference in this point between men of the same tribe, who have similar pursuits which engender simi- lar passions. " Expression " is the grand diversifier of ap- pearance among civilized people: in the desert it knows few varieties. The Bedouin cranium is small, ooidal, long, high, nar- row, and remarkable in the occiput for the development of Gall's second propensity : the crown slopes upwards towards the region of firmness, which is elevated ; whilst the sides are flat to a fault. The hair, exposed to sun, wind, and rain, acquires a coarseness not natural to it : worn in rag- ged elf-locks, hanging down to the breast, or shaved in the form " Shushah," nothing can be wilder than its appear- ance. The face is made to be a long oval, but want of flesh detracts from its regularity. The forehead is high, broad, and retreating : the upper portion is moderately developed ; but nothing can be finer than the lower brow, and the frontal sinuses stand out, indicating bodily strength and activity of character. The eyebrows are long, bushy, and crooked, broken, as it were, at the angle where " order " is supposed to be, and bent in sign of thoughtfulness. Most popular writers, following De Page, describe the Arab eye as large, ardent, and black. The Bedouin of the Hejaz, and indeed the race generally, has a small eye, round, rest- less, deep-set and fiery, denoting keen inspection with an ardent temperament and an impassioned character. Its color is dark brown or green brown, and the pupil is often speckled. The habit of pursing up the skin below the orbits and half closing the fids to prevent dazzle, plants the outer angles with premature crow's feet. Another peculi- arity is the sudden way in which the eye opens, especially 320 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. under excitement. This, combined with its fixity of gaze, forms an expression now of lively fierceness, then of exceed- ing sternness ; whilst the narrow space between the orbits impresses the comitenance in repose with an intelligence not destitute of cunning. As a general rule, however, the expression of the Bedouin's face is rather dignity than that of cunning, for which the Semitic race is celebrated, and there are lines about the mouth in variance with the stern or the fierce look of the brow. The ears are like those of Arab horses, small, well-cut, " castey" and elaborate, with many elevations and depressions. His nose is pronounced, generally aquiUne, but sometimes straight like those Greek statues which have been treated as prodigious exaggera- tions of the facial angle. For the most part, it is a well- made feature with delicate nostrils below which the septum appears : in anger they swell and open like a perfectly bred mare's. I have, however, seen, in not a few instances, pert and offensive "pugs." Deep furrows descend from the wings of the nose, showing an uncertain temper, now too grave, then too gay. The mouth is irregular. The lips are either hordes^ denoting rudeness and want of taste, or they form a mere line. In the latter case there is an ap- pearance of undue development in the upper portion of the countenance, especially when the jaws are ascetically thin, and the chin weakly retreats. The latter feature, however, is generally well and strongly made. The teeth, as usual among Orientals, are white, even, short, and broad — indi- cations of strength. Some tribes trim their moustachios according to the " Sunnat ; " the Shafei often shave them, and many allow them to hang Persian-like over the lips. The beard is represented by two tangled tufts upon the chin ; where whisker should be, the place is either bare or thinly covered with straggling pile. The Bedouins of El Hejaz are short men, about the THE BEDOUINS. 321 height of the Indians near Bombay, but weighing on an average a stone more. As usual in this stage of society, stature varies little ; you rarely see a giant, and scarcely ever a dwarf. Deformity is checked by the Spartan restraint upon population, and no weakly infant can live through a Bedouin life. The figure, though spare, is square and well knit, fulness of limb never appears but about spring when milk abounds : I have seen two or three mus- cular figures, but never a fat man. The neck is sinewy, the chest broad, the flank thin, and the stomach in-drawn ; the legs, though fleshless, are well-made, especially when the knee and ankle are not bowed by too early riding. The shins seldom bend to the front as in the African race. The arms are thin, with muscles like whip-cords, and the hands and feet are, in point of size and delicacy, a link between Europe and India. As in the Celt, the Arab thumb is remarkably long, extending almost to the first joint of the index, which, with its easy rotation, makes it a perfect pre- hensile instrument : the palm also is fleshless, small-boned, and elastic. With his small active figure it is not strange that the wildest Bedouin's gait should be pleasing; he neither unfits himself for walking, nor distorts his ankles by turning out his toes according to the farcical rule of fashion, and his shoulders are not dressed like a drill sergeant's, to throw all the weight of the body upon the heels. Yet there is no slouch in his walk; it is Ught and springy, and errs only in one point, sometimes becoming a kind of strut. Such is the Bedouin, and such he has been for ages. The national type has been preserved by systematic inter- marriage. The wild men do not refuse their daughters to a stranger, but the son-in-law would be forced to settle among them, and this Hfe, which has charms for a while, ends in becoming wearisome. Here no evil results are anticipated 14* 322 A PILGRIMAGE TO KL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. from the union of first cousins, and the experience of ages and of a nation may be trusted. Every Bedouin has a right to marry his father's brother's daughter before she is given to a stranger ; hence " cousin" in polite phrase signi- fies a " wife." Our physiologists* adduce the Sangre Azul of Spain and the case of the lower animals to prove that degeneracy inevitably follows " breeding-in."f Either they have theorised from insufficient facts, or civilisation and artificial living exercise some pecuUar influence, or Arabia is a soUtary exception to a general rule. The fact which I have mentioned is patent to every Eastern traveller. After this weary description, the reader will perceive with pleasure that we are approaching an interesting theme, the first question of mankind to the wanderer — " What are the women hke?" Truth compels me to state that the women of the Hejazi Bedouins are by no means comely. Although the Beni Amur boast of some pretty girls, yet they are far inferior to the high-bosomed beauties of Nejd. The Hejazi woman's eyes are fierce, her features harsh, and her face haggard ; like all people of the South, she soon fades, and in old age her appearance is truly witch-like. Withered crones abound in the camps, where old men are seldom seen. The manners of the Bedouins are free and simple: " vulgarity" and affectation, awkwardness and embarrass- * Dr. Howe (Report on Idiotcy in Massachusetts, 1848,) asserts that " the law against the marriage of relations is made out as clearly as though it were written on tables of stone." He proceeds to show that in seventeen households where the parents were connected by blood, of ninety-five children one was a dwarf, one deaf, twelve scrofulous, and forty-four idiots — total fifty-eight diseased ! •j- Yet the celebrated " Flying Childers" and all his race were remarkably bred in. Tliere is still, in my humble opinion, much mystery about the subject, to be cleared up only by the studies of phyaiologists. THE BEDOUINS. 3^3 ment, are weeds of civilised growth, unknown to the people of the desert. Yet their manners are sometimes dashed with a strange ceremoniousness. When two friends meet, they either embrace, or both extend their right hands, clapping palm to palm ; their foreheads are either pressed together, or their heads moved from side to side, whilst for minutes together mutual inquiries are made and answered. It is a breach of decorum, even when eating, to turn the back upon a person, and when a Bedouin does it he intends an insult. When a friend approaches the camp — ^it is not done to strangers for fear of startUng them — those who catch sight of him shout out his name, and gallop up saluting with lances or firmg matchlocks in the air. This is the well- known gunpowder play. As a general rule the Bedouins are polite in language, but in anger temper is soon shown, and although life may not be in peril, the foulest epithets, dog, drunkard, liar and infidel, are discharged like pistol shots by both parties. The best character of the Bedouin is a truly noble compound of determination, gentleness, and generosity. Usually they are a mixture of worldly cunning and great simplicity, sensitive to touchiness, good-tempered souls, solemn and dignified withal, fond of a jest yet of a grave turn of mind, easily managed by a laugh and a soft word, and placable^ after passion, though madly revengeful after injury. The reader will inquire, like the critics of a certain modern humorist, how the fabric of society can be sup- ported by such material. In the first place, it is a kind of " societe leonine^'''' in which the fiercest, the strongest, the craftiest obtains complete mastery over his fellows, and this gives a key-stone to the arch. Secondly, there is the terrible blood-feud, which even the most reckless fear for their posterity. And, thirdly, though the revealed law of the Koran, being insufticient for the desert, is openly 324 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. disregarded, the immemorial customs of the "Kazi el Arab " * form a system stringent in the extreme. The valor of the Bedouin is fitful and uncertain, and his ideas of bravery do not prepossess us. His romances, full of foolhardy feats and impossible exploits, might charm for a time, but would not become the standard works of a really fighting people. Nor would a truly valorous race admire the timid freebooters who safely fire down upon caravans from their eyries. Arab wars, too, are a succes- sion of skirmishes, in which 500 men will retreat after losing a dozen of their number. In this partisan fighting the first charge secures a victory, and the vanquished fly till covered by the shades of night. Then come cries of women, deep oaths, wild poetry, excitement, and reprisals, which will probably end in the flight of the former victor. When peace is to be made, both parties coimt up their dead, and the usual blood-money is paid for excess on either side. Generally, however, the feud endures till all becoming weary of it, some great man, as the sherif of Meccah, is called upon to settle the terms of a treaty, which is nothing but an armistice. After a few months' peace, a glance or a word will draw blood, for these hates are old things, and new dissensions easily shoot up from them. But, contemptible though their battles be, the Bedouins are not cowards. The habit of danger in raids and blood- feuds, the continual uncertainty of existence, the desert, the chase, the hard life and exposure to the air, blunting the nervous system; the presence and the practice of weapons of horsemanship, sharpshooting, and martial exer- cises, habituate them to look death in the face like men, * The " Kazi el Arab" (Judge of the Arabs) was in distinction to the Kazi el Shara, or the Kazi of the Koran. The former was, almost always, some sharp-witted greybeard, with a minute knowledge of genealogy and precedents, a retentive memory and an eloquent tongue. SOCIAL POSITION OF THE WOMEN. 325 and powerful motives will make them heroes. The Eng- lish, it is said, fight willingly for liberty, our neighbors for glory ; the Spaniard fights, or rather fought, for religion and the " Pundonor," and the Irishman fights for the fun of fighting. Gain and revenge draw the Arab's sword : yet then he uses it fitfully enough, without the gay gal- lantry of the French or the persistency of the Anglo-Saxon. To become desperate he must have the all powerful stimu- lants of honor and fanaticism. Frenzied by the taunts of his women, or by the fear of being branded as a coward, he is capable of any mad deed. And the obstinacy pro- duced by strong religious impressions gives a steadfastness to his spirit unknown to mere enthusiasm. There are two things which tend to soften the ferocity of Bedouin life. These are, in the first place, intercourse with citizens, who frequently visit and entrust their chil- dren to the people of the Black tents ; and, secondly, the social position of the women. The author of certain " Lectures on Poetry, addressed to Working Men," asserts that Passion became Love imder the influence of Christianity, and that the idea of a virgin mother spread over the sex a sanctity unknown to the poetry or the philosophy of Greece and Rome. Passing over the objections of deified Eros and Immortal Psyche and of the virgin mother, — symbol of moral purity, — being common to all old and material faiths, I believe that all the noble tribes of savages display the principle. Thus we might expect to find wherever the fancy, the imagination, and the ideality are strong, some traces of a sentiment innate in the human organization. It exists, says Mr. Cat- lin, amongst the North American Indians, and even the Gallas and the Somal of Africa are not wholly destitute of it. But when the barbarian becomes a semi-barbarian, as are the most polished Orientals, or as were the classical authors 326 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. of Greece and Rome, then women fall from their proper place in society, become mere articles of luxury, and sink into the lowest moral condition.* In the next stage, " civi- lization," they rise again to be " highly accomplished," and not a httle frivolous. Were it not evident that the spiritualising of sexuality by imagination is universal among the highest orders of * Miss Martineau, when travelling through Egypt, once visited a harem, and there found, among many things, especially in their igno- rance of books and book-making, materials for a heart-broken wail over the degradation of her sex. The learned lady indulges, too, in sundry strong and unsavory comparisons between the harem and certain haunts of vice in Europe. On the other hand, male travellers generally speak lovingly of the harem. Sonnini, no admirer of Egypt, expatiates on "the generous virtues, the examples of magnanimity and affectionate attachment, the sentiments ardent, yet gentle, forming a delightful unison with personal charms in the harems of the Mamelukes." As usual, the truth lies somewhere between the two extremes. Himian nature, all the world over, differs but in degree. Everywhere women may be " capricious, coy, and hard to please " in common con- junctures: in the hour of need they will display devoted heroism. Any chronicler of the Afghan war will bear witness that warm hearts, noble sentiments, and an overflowing kindness to the poor, the weak, and the unhappy, are found even in a harem. Europe now knows that the Moslem husband provides separate apartments and a distinct esta- blishment for each of his wives, unless, as sometimes happens, one be an old woman and the other a child. And, confessing that envy, hatred, and malice often flourish in polygamy, the Moslem asks. Is monogamy open to no objections? As far as my limited observations go, poly- andry is the only state of society in which jealousy and quarrels about the sex are the exception and not the rule of life. In quality of doctor I have seen a little and heard much of the harem. It very much resembles a European home composed of a man, his wife, and his mother. And I have seen in the West many a " happy fire-side " fitter to make Miss Martineau's heart ache than any harem in Grand Cairo. STYLE OF THE ARAB POETS. 327 mankind, I should attribute the origin of love to the influ ence of the Arabs' poetry and chivalry upon European ideas rather than to mediaeval Christianity. In pastoral life, tribes often meet for a time, live together whilst pasturage lasts, and then separate perhaps for a gene- ration. Under such circumstance youths will lose heart to maidens, whom possibly, by the laws of the clan, they may not marry,* and the light o' love will fly her home. The fugitives must brave every danger, for revenge, at all times the Bedouin's idol, now. becomes the lode-star of his exist- ence. But the Arab lover will dare all consequences. *' Men have died and the worms have eaten them, but not for love," may be true in the West ; it is false in the East. This is attested in every tale where love, and not ambition, is the groundwork of the narrative.f And nothing can be more tender, more pathetic than the use made of these separations and long absences by the old Arab poets. Whoever peruses the Suspended Poem of Lebid, will find thoughts at once so plaintive and so noble, that even Dr. Carlyle's learned verse cannot wholly deface their charm. The author returns from afar. He looks upon the traces of hearth and home still ftirrowing the desert ground. In bitterness of spirit * There is no objection to intermarriage between equal clans, but the higher will not give their daughters to the lower in dignity. •j- For instance : " A certain religious man was so deeply affected with the love of a king's daughter, that he was brought to the brink of the grave," is a favorite inscriptive formula. Usually the hero " sickens in consequence of the heroine's absence, and continues to the hour of his death in the utmost grief and anxiety." He rarely kills himself, but sometimes, when in love with a pretty infidel, he drinks wine and he burns the Koran. The " hated rival'' is not a formidable person ; but there are for good reasons great jealousy of female friends, and not a little fear of the beloved's kinsmen. Such are the material sentiments ; the spiritual part is a thread of mysticism, upon which all the pearls of adventure and accident are strung. 328 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. he checks himself from calling aloud upon his lovers and his friends. He melts at the remembrance of their depart- ure, and long indulges in the absorbing theme. Then he strengthens himself by the thought of Nawara's inconstancy, how she left him and never thought of him again. He impatiently dwells upon the charms of the places which detain her, advocates flight from the changing lover and the false friend, and, in the exultation with which he feels his swift dromedary start under him upon her rapid course, he seems to find some consolation /or woman's perfidy and forsretfulness. Yet he cannot abandon Nawara's name or memory. Again he dwells with yearning upon scenes of past felicity, and he boasts of his prowess — a fresh reproach to her — of his gentle birth, and of his hospitaUty. He ends with an encomium upon his clan, to which he attributes, as a noble Arab should, all the virtues of man. This is Gold- smith's deserted village in El Hejaz. But the Arab, with equal simplicity and pathos, has a fire, a force of language, and a depth of feeling, which the Irishman, admirable as his verse is, could never rival. In the early days of El Islam, if history be credible, Arabia had a race of heroines. Within the last century, Ghaliyah, the wife of a Wahhabi chief, opposed Mohammed Ali himself in many a bloody field. A few years ago, when Ibn Asm, popularly called Ibn Rumi, chief of the Zabayd clan about Rabigh, was treacherously slain by the Turkish general, Kurdi Usman, his sister, a fair young girl, deter- mined to revenge him. She fixed upon the " Arafat-day" of pilgrimage for the accomplishment of her designs, dis- guised herself in male attire, drew her kerchief in the form " lisam" over the lower part of her face, and with lighted match awaited her enemy. The Turk, however, was not present, and the girl was arrested to win for herself a local reputation equal to the maid of Salamanca. Thus it is that THE SONGS OP ANTAK. 329 the Arab has learned to swear that great oath "by the honor of my women." The Bedouins are not without a certain Platonic affection, which they call " Hawa uzri," — pardonable love. They draw the fine line between amant and amoureux : this is derided by the townspeople, little suspecting how much such a custom says in favor of the wild men. In the cities, however, it could not prevail. Arabs, like other Orientals, hold that, in such matters, man is saved, not by faith, but by want of faith. They have also a saying, not unlike ours — " She partly is to blame who has been tried, He comes too near who comes to be denied." The evil of this system is that they, like certain southerns, pensano sempre al male — always suspect, which may be worldly wise, and also always show their suspicions, which is assuredly foolish. For thus they demoralize their women, who might be kept in the way of right by self-respect and a sense of duty. From ancient periods of the Arab's history we find him practising " knight-errantry," the wildest form of chivalry. " The Songs of Antar," says the author of the " Crescent and the Cross," " show little of the true chivalric spirit." What thinks the reader of sentiments like these ? " This vahant man," remarks Antar (who was " ever interested for the weaker sex"), " hath defended the honor of women." We read in another place, " Mercy, my lord, is the noblest quality of the noble." Again, " It is the most ignominious of deeds to take free-born women prisoners." " Bear not malice, O Shibub," quoth the hero, " for of malice good never came." Is there no true greatness in this sentiment ? — " Birth is the boast of the faineant; noble is the youth who beareth every ill, who clotheth himself in mail during 330 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. the noon-tide heat, and who wandereth through the outer darkness of night." And why does the " knight of knights" love Ibla ? Because " she is blooming as the sun at dawn, with hair black as the midnight shades, with Paradise in her eye, her bosom an enchantment, and a form waving like the tamarisk when the soft wind blows from the hills of Nejd ?" Yes, but his chest expands also with the thoughts of her "faith, purity, and affection," — it is her moral as well as her material excellence that makes her the hero's " hope, and hearing, and sight." Briefly, in An tar I discern " — A love exalted high, By all the glow of chivaliy ;" and I lament to see so many intelligent travellers misjudg- ing the Arab after a superficial experience of a few debased Syrians or Sinaites. The true children of Antar have not " ceased to be gentlemen." I In the days of ignorance, it was the custom for Bedouins, when tormented by the tender passion, which seems to have attacked them in the form of " possession," for long years to sigh and wail and wander, doing the most trucu- lent deeds to melt the obdurate fair. When Arabia Islamized, the practice changed its element for proselytism. The Fourth Caliph is fabled to have travelled far, redress- ing the injured, punishing the injurer, preaching to the infidel, and especially protecting women — the chief end and aim of knighthood. The Caliph El Mutasem heard in the assembly of his courtiers that a woman of Sayyid family had been taken prisoner by a " Greek barbarian" of Ammoria. The man on one occasion struck her, when she cried, "Help me, O Mutasem!" and the clown said derisively, " "Wait till he cometh upon his pied steed !" The chival- rous prince arose, sealed up the wine cup which he held in BEDOUIN POETRY. 331 his hand, took oath to do his knightly devoir^ and on the morrow started for Ammoria, with 70,000 men, each mounted on a piebald charger. Having taken the place, he entered it, exclaiming, " Labbayki, Labbayki !" — Here am I at thy call. He struck off the caitiff's head, released the lady with his own hands, ordered the cupbearer to bring the sealed bowl, and drank from it, exclaiming, "Now, indeed, wine is good !" It is the existence of this chivalry among the " Children of Antar" which makes the society of Bedouins ("damned saints," perchance, and " honorable villains,") so delightful to the traveller who understands and is understood by them. Your guide will protect you with blade and spear, even against his kindred, and he expects you to do the same for him. You may give a man the lie, but you must lose no time in baring your sword. If involved in dispute with overwhelming numbers, you address some elder, "Dak- hilak ya Shaykh ! " — (I am) thy protected, O Sir, — and he will espouse your quarrel, and, indeed, with greater heat and energy than if it were his own. But why multiply in- stances ? The language of love and war and aU excitement is poetry, and here, again, the Bedouin excels. Travellers complain that the wild men cease to sing. This is true if "poet" be limited to a few authors whose existence every- where depends upon the accidents of patronage or politi- cal occurrences. A far stronger evidence of poetic feeling is afforded by the phraseology of the Arab, and the highly imaginative turn of his commonest expressions. Destitute of the poetic taste, as we define it, he certainly is ; as in the Milesian, wit and fancy, vivacity and passion, are too strong for reason and judgment, the reins which guide Apollo's car. And although the Bedouins no longer boast a Lebid or a Maisunah, yet they are passionately fond of their an- 332 A PILGEIMAGB TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. cient bards.* A man skilful in reading El Mutanabi and the Suspended Poems would be received by them with the honors paid by civilization to the travelling millionnaire. f I cannot well explain the effect of Arab poetry to one who has not visited the Desert.J Apart from the pomp of words and the music of the sound, there is a dreaminess of idea and a haze thrown over the object, infinitely attractive, but indescribable. Description, indeed, would rob the song of indistinctness, its essence. To borrow a simile from a sister art, the Arab poet sets before the mental eye the dim grand outlines of a picture, — ^which must be filled up by the reader, guided only by a few glorious touches, power- fully standing out, and the sentiment which the scene is intended to express; — whereas, we Europeans and modems, * I am informed that the Beni Kahtan still improvise, but I never heard them. The traveller in Arabia will always be told that some re- mote clan still produces mighty bards, and uses in conversation the ter- minal vowels of the classic tongue, but he will not believe these asser- tions till personally convinced of their truth. The Bedouin dialect, however, though debased, is still, as of yore, purer than the language of the citizens. During the days when philo- logy was a passion in the East, those Stephens and Johnsons of Semitic lore, Firuzabadi and El Zamakhshari, wandered from tribe to tribe and tent to tent, collecting words and elucidating disputed significations. Their grammatical adventures are still remembered, and are favorite stories with scholars. f I say " skilful in reading," because the Arabs, like the Spaniards, hate to hear their language mangled by mispronunciation. When Burck- hardt, who spoke badly, began to read verse to the Bedouins, they could not refrain from a movement of impatience, and used to snatch the book out of his hands. J The civilised poets of the Arab cities throw the chann of* the Desert over their verse, by images borrowed from its scenery — ^the dromedary, the mirage, and the well — as naturally as certain of our songsters, confessedly haters of the country, babble of distant kine, shady groves, spring showers, and purling rills. BRIGANDAGE HONORABLE AMONG THE BEDOUINS. 333 by stippling and minute touches, produce a miniature on a large scale so objective as to exhaust rather than to arouse reflection. As the poet is a creator, the Arab's is poetry, the European's versical description. The language leaves a mysterious vagueness between the relation of word to word, which materially assists the sentiment, not the sense, of the poem. When verbs and nouns have — each one — many different significations, only the radical or general idea suggests itself Rich and varied synonyms, illustrating the finest shades of meaning, are artfully used ; now scat- tered to startle us by distinctness, now to form as it were a star about which dimly seen satellites revolve. There is in the Semitic dialect a copiousness of rhyme which leaves the poet almost unfettered to choose the desired expression. Hence it is that a stranger speaking Arabic becomes poet- ical as naturally as he would be witty in French and philo- sophic in German. Truly spake Mohammed el Damiri, " Wisdom hath alighted upon three things — the brain of the Franks, the hands of the Chinese, and the tongues of the Arabs." The name of " harami " — ^brigand — is still honorable among the Hejazi Bedouins. Slain in raid or foray, a man is said to die "ghandtir," or a brave. He, on the other hand, who is lucky enough, as we should express it, to die in his bed, is called "fatis" (carrion), his weeping mother will exclaim, "O that my son had perished of a cut throat!" and her attendant crones will suggest, with deference, that such evil came of the will of Allah. It is told of the La- habah, a sub-family of the Auf near Rabigh, that a girl will refuse even her cousin unless, in the absence of other op- portunities, he plunder some article from the Hajj caravan in front of the Pacha's links. Detected twenty years ago, the delinquent would have been impaled ; now he escapes with a rib-roasting. Fear of the blood-feud, and the cer- 834 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL BIEDINAH AND MECCAH. tainty of a shut road to future travellers, prevent the Turks proceeding to extremes. They conceal then* weakness by pretending that the Sultan hesitates to wage a war of ex- termination with the thieves of the Holy Land. Hence, petty pilfering has re-appeared in El-Hejaz. The true Bedouin style of plundering, with its nume- rous niceties of honor and gentlemanly manners, gives the robber a consciousness of moral rectitude. " Strip off that coat, O certain person! and that turban," exclaims the highwayman, " they are wanted by my lady-cousin." You will (of course if necessary) lend ready ear to an order thus politely attributed to the wants of the fair sex. If you will add a few obliging expressions to the bundle, and offer Latro a cup of coffee and a pipe, you will talk half your toilette back to your person ; and if you can quote a little poetry, you will part the best of friends, leaving perhaps only a pair of sandals behind you. But should you 1,1 esi- tate, Latro^ lamenting the painful necessity, touches up your back with the heel of his spear. If this hint suffice not, he will make things plain by the lance's point, and when blood shows, the tiger-part of humanity appears. I omit general details about the often described Sar (Thar), or Vendetta. The price of blood is 800 dollars =200?.), or rather that sum imperfectly expressed by live- stock. All the blood relations of the slayer assist to make up the required amount, rating each animal at three or four times its proper value. On such occasions violent scenes arise from the conflict of the Arab's two pet pas- sions, avarice and revenge. The " avenger of blood " longs to cut the foe's throat. On the other hand, how let slip an opportunity of enriching himself? His covetousness is intense, as are all his pas- sions. He has always a project of buying a new drome- dary, or of investing capital in some marvellous colt ; the BEDOUIN SPORTS. 335 consequence is, that he is insatiable. Still he receives blood-money with a feeling of shame ; and if it be offered to an old woman — the most revengeful variety of our species, be it remarked, — she will dash it to the ground, and clutch her knife, and fiercely swear by Allah that she will not eat her son's blood. The Bedouin considers himself a man only when mounted on horseback, lance in hand, bound for a foray or a fray, carolling some such gaiety as — " A steede I a steede of matchlesse speede 1 A sword of metal keene I All else to noble minds is drosse, All else on earth is meane." Even in his sports he affects those that imitate war. Preserving the instinctive qualities which lie dormant in civilisation, he is an admirable " Venator." The children, men in miniature, begin a rude system of gymnastics when they can walk. " My young ones play upon the backs of camels," was the reply made to me by a Jehayni Bedouin when offered some Egyptian plaything. The men pass their time principally in hawking, shooting, and riding. The " Sakr," I am told, is th6 only falcon in general use ; they train it to pursue the gazelle, which greyhounds pull down when fatigued. I have heard much of their excel- lent marksmanship, but saw only moderate practice with a long matchlock rested and fired at standing objects. Double-barrelled guns are rare amongst them.* Their principal weapons are matchlocks and firelocks, pistols, javeUns, spears, swords, and the dagger called " Jambiyah;" the shng and the bow have long been given up. The guns come from Egypt, Syria, and Turkey ; for the Bedouin * Here called " bandukiyah bi rubayn," or the two-mouthed gun. 336 A PiriGEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. cannot make, although he can repair, this arm. He parti- cularly values a good old barrel seven spans long, and would rather keep it than his coat ; consequently, a family often boasts of four or five guns, which descend from ge- neration to generation. The price of a gun varies from two to sixty dollars. The Bedouins collect nitre in the country, make excellent charcoal, and import sulphur from Egypt and India ; their powder, however, is coarse and weak. For hares and birds they cut up into slugs a bar of lead hammered out to a convenient size, and they cast bul- lets in moulds. They are fond of ball-practice, firing, as every sensible man does, at short distances, and striving at extreme precision. They are fond of backing themselves with wagers, and will shoot for a sheep, the loser inviting his friends to a feast. On festivals they boil a sheep's head, and use it as mark and prize. Those who affect ex- cellence are said to fire at a bullet hanging by a thrjead ; curious, however, to relate, the Bedouins of El Hejaz have but just learned the art, general in Persia and Barbary, of shooting from horseback at speed. Pistols have been lately introduced into the Hejaz, and are not common amongst the Bedouins. The citizens are fond of this weapon, as it is derived from Constantinople. The spears, called Kanat, or reeds, are made of male bamboos imported from India. They are about twelve feet long, iron shod, with a long tapering point, beneath which are one or two tufts of black ostrich feathers. Be- sides the Mirzak, or javelin, they have a spear called " Shalfah," a bamboo or palmstick garnished with a head about the breadth of a man's hand. No good swords are fabricated in El Hejaz. The Khelawiyah and other Desert clans have made some poor attempts at blades. They are brought from Persia, India, and Egypt ; but I never saw anything of value. BEDOUIN MUSIC. 337 The Darakah, or shield, also comes from India. It is the common Cutch article, supposed to be made of rhinoce- ros hide, and displaying as much brass knob and gold wash as possible. The Bedouins still use in the remoter parts Diraa, or coats of mail, worn by horsemen over buff jackets. The dagger is made in Yemen and other places ; it has a vast variety of shapes, each of which, as usual, has its proper name. Generally they are but little curved (whereas the gadaymi of Yemen and Hazramaut is almost a semicir- cle), with tapering blade, wooden handle, and scabbard of the same material overlaid mth brass. At the point of the scabbard is a round knob, and the weapon is so long, that a man when walking cannot swing his right arm. In nar- row places he must enter sideways. But it is the mode always to appear in dagger, and the weapon, like the French soldier's coupe-choux^ is really useful for such blood- less pm'poses as cutting wood and gathering grass. In price they vary from one to thirty dollars. The Heja2d Bedouins have no game of chance, and dare not, I am told, ferment the juice of the Daum palm, as proximity to Aden has taught the wild men of Yemen. Their music is in a rude state. The principal instrument is the tabl or kettle-drum, which is of two kinds ; one, the smaller, used at festivals ; the other at large copper " tom- tom," for martial purposes, covered with leather, and played upon, pulpit-like, with fist and not with stick. Be- sides which, they have the one-stringed Rubabah, or guitar, that " monotonous, but charming instrument of the Desert." In another place I have described their dancing, which is an ignoble spectacle. The Bedouins of El Hejaz have all the knowledge necessary for procuring and protecting the riches of savage life. They are perfect in the breeding, the training, and the selling of cattle. They know sufficient of astronomy to 15 338 A PILGBIMAGE TO EL MEDINA!! AND MECCAH. guide themselves by night, and are acquainted with the names of the principal stars. Their local memory is wonder- ful. Such is their instinct in the art of Asar, or tracking, that it is popularly said of the Zubayd clan, which lives between Meccah and El Medinah, a man will lose a she camel and know her four-year-old colt by its foot. Always engaged in rough exercises and perilous journeys, they have learned a kind of farriery and a simple system of surgery. In cases of fracture they bind on splints with cloth bands, and the patient drinks camel's milk and clarified butter till he is cured. Cut-wounds are washed carefully, sprinkled with meal gunpowder, and sewn up. They dress gunshot wounds with raw camels' flesh, and rely entirely upon nature and diet. When bitten by snakes or stung by scorpions they scarify the wound with a razor, recite a charm, and apply to it a dressing of garlic. The wealthy have " fiss," or ring-stones, brought from India, and used with a formula of prayer to extract venom. Some few possess the "Teri- yak" (Theriack) of El Irak — the great counter-poison, internal as well as external, of the East. The poorer classes all wear the " hibas " of Yemen ; two yarns of black sheep's wool tied round the leg, under the knee and above the ankle. When bitten, the suiferer tightens these cords above the injured part, which he immediately scarifies ; thus they act as tourniquets. The Bedouin's knowledge of medicine is unusually limited in this part of Arabia, where even simples are not requii'ed by a people who rise with dawn, eat little, always breathe desert air, and " at night make the camels their curfew." The great tonic is clarified butter, and the " kay," or actual cautery, is used even for rheumatism. This counter-irritant, together with a curious and artful phlebotomy, blood being taken, as by the Italians, from the toes, the fingers, and other parts of the body, are the Arab panaceas. Mules' teeth, roasted BELIGION OF THE BEDOUINS. 339 and imperfectly pounded, cure cataract. Teeth are extracted by the farrier's pincers, and the worm which throughout the East is supposed to produce tooth-ache, falls by fumiga- tion. And, finally, after great fatigue, or when suffering from cold, the body is copiously greased with clarified but- ter and exposed to a blazing fire. Mohammed and his followers conquered only the more civilised Bedouins ; and there is even to this day little or no rehgion amongst the wild people, except amongst those on the coast or in the vicinity of cities. The faith of the Be- douin comes from El Islam, whose hold is weak. But his customs and institutions, the growth of his climate, his nature, and his wants, are still those of his ancestors, che- rished ere Meccah had sent forth a Prophet, and likely to survive the day when every vestige of the Kaabah shall have disappeared. Of this nature are the Hejazi's pagan oaths, their heathenish names (few being Moslem except "Mo- hammed"), their ordeal of licking red-hot iron, their Salkh, or scarification, proof of manliness, their blood revenge, their eating carrion (^. e. the body of an animal killed with- out the usual formula), and their lending wives to strangers. All these I hold to be remnants of some old creed ; nor should I despair of finding among the Bedouins bordering upon the Great Desert some lingering system of idolatry. The Bedouins of El Hejaz call themselves Shafei ; but what is put into the mouths of their brethren in the West applies equally well here. " We pray not, because we must drink the water of ablution ; we give no alms, because we ask them; we fast not the Ramazan month, because we starve throughout the year; and we do no pilgrimage, because the world is the House of Allah." Their blunders in rehgious matters supply the citizens with many droll sto- ries. And it is to be observed that they do not, like the Greek pirates or the Italian bandits, preserve a religious 340 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. element in their plunderings : they make no vows and care- ftilly avoid offerings. The ceremonies of Bedouin life are few and simple — . circumcisions, marriages, and funerals. Women being a marketable commodity in barbarism as in civilisation, youths in El Hejaz are not married till the father can afford to pay for a bride. There is little pomp or ceremony save firing of guns, dancing, singing, and eating mutton. The "settlement" is usually about thirty sound Spanish dollars, half paid down, and the other half owed by the bridegroom to the fathers, the brothers, or the kindred of his spouse. Some tribes will take animals in lieu of ready money. A man of wrath not contented with his bride, puts her away at once. If peaceably inclined, by a short delay he avoids scandal. Divorces are very frequent among Be- douins, and if the settlement money be duly paid, no evil comes of them. The funerals of the wild men resemble those of the citi- zens, only they are more simple ; the dead are buried where they die. The corpse, after being washed, is shrouded in any rags procurable, and, women and hired weepers not being permitted to attend, is carried to the grave by men only. A hole is dug, according to Moslem custom; dry wood, which everywhere abounds, is disposed to cover the corpse, and an oval of stones surrounding a mound of earth keeps out jackals and denotes the spot. These Bedouins have not, like the wild Sindhis and Belochis, favorite ceme- teries, to which they transport their dead from afar. The traveller will find no difficulty in living amongst the Hejazi Bedouins. " Trust to their honor and you are safe," as was said of the Crow Indians, " to their honesty, and they will steal the hair off your head." Only the wanderer must adopt the wild man's motto, " omnia mea mecum porto^^'' he must have good nerves, be capable of fatigue and ARAB GOVERNMENT. 841 hardship, and possess some knowledge of drugs, shoot and ride well, speak Arabic and Turkish, know by reading the customs, and avoid offending against local prejudices, by causing himself, for instance, to be called " Taggaa." Cau- tion must be exercised in choosing a companion who has not too many blood feuds. There is no objection to carrying a copper watch and a pocket compass, and a Koran could be fitted with secret pockets for notes and pencil. Strangers should especially avoid handsome weapons : these tempt the Bedouins' cupidity more than gold. The other extreme, defencelessness, is equally objectionable. It is needless to say that the traveller must never be seen writing anything but charms, and on no account sketch in public. He should be careful in questioning, and rather lead up to information than ask directly. It offends some Bedouins, besides denot- ing ignorance and curiosity, to be asked their names or those of their clans : a man may be living incognito, and the tribes distinguish themselves when they desire to do so by dress, personal appearance, voice, dialect, and accentuation, points of difference plain to the initiated. A few dollars suffice for the road, and if you would be " respectable," a taste which I dare not deprecate, some such presents as razors and Tarbushes are required for the chiefs. The government of the Arabs may be called almost an autonomy. The tribes never obey their shaykhs, unless for personal considerations, and, as in a civilised army, there generally is some sharp-witted and brazen-faced individual whose voice is louder than the general's. In their leonine society the sword is the great administrator of law. The Arab's dress marks his simplicity ; it gives him a nationahty, as, according to John Evelyn, " prodigious breeches " did to the Swiss. It is remarkably picturesque, and with sorrow we see it now confined to the wildest Bedouins and a few Sherifs. The necessary dress of a man is .342 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINA!! AND MECCAH. his Saub (Tobe), a blue calico shirt, reaching from neck to ankles, tight or loose-sleeved, opening at the chest in front, and rather narrow below ; so that the wearer, when running, must either hold it up or tuck it into his belt. The latter article, called Hakw, is a plaited leathern thong, twisted round the waist very tightly, so as to support the back. The trowsers and the " Futah," or loin cloth of cities, are looked upon as signs of effemuaacy. In cold weather the chiefs wear over the shirt an Aba, or cloak. These garments are made in Nejd and the eastern districts ; they are of four colors, white, black, red, and brown-striped. The best are of camel's-hair, and may cost fifteen dollars ; the worst, of sheep's wool, are worth only three ; both are cheap, as they last for years. The Mahramah (head-cloth) comes from Syria ; which, with Nejd, supplies also the Kufiyah, or head- kerchief. The " Ukal," fillets bound over the kerchief, are of many kinds ; the Bisher tribe near Meccah make a kind of crown like the gloria round a saint's head, with bits of wood, in which are set pieces of mother-o'-pearl. Sandals, too, are of every description, from the simple sole of leather tied on with thongs, to the handsome and elaborate chaus- sure of Meccah ; the price varies from a piastre to a dollar, and the very poor walk bare-footed. A leathern bandoleer, called Majdal, passed over the left shoulder, and reaching to the right hip, supports a line of brass cylinders for cartrid- ges. The other cross-belt (El Masdar), made of leather, ornamented with brass rings, hangs down at the left side, and carries a Kharizah, or hide-case for bullets. And finally, the Hizam, or waist-belt, holds the dagger and extra car- tridge cases. A Bedouin never appears in public unarmed. The women wear, like their masters, dark blue cotton Tobes, but larger and looser. When abroad they cover the head with a yashmak of black stuff, or poppy-colored Burka of the Egyptian shape. They wear no pantaloons, and FOOD OF THE BEDOUINS. 343 rarely slippers or sandals. The hair is tAvisted into " Majdul,'* little pig-tails, and coi:)iously anointed with clarified butter. The rich perfume the skin with rose and cinnamon-scented oils, and Avear in then* hair El Shayh, sweetest herb of the desert ; their ornaments are bracelets, collars, ear and nose- rings of gold, silver, or silver-gilt. The poorer classes wear strings of silver coins hung round the neck. The true Bedouin is an abstemious man, capable of liv- ing for six months on ten ounces of food per diem ; the milk of a single camel, and a handful of dates dry, or fried in clarified butter, suffice for his wants. He despises the obese and all who requu-e regular and plentiful meals, sleeps on a mat, and knows neither luxury nor comfort, freezing during one quarter and frying three quarters of the year. But though he can endure hunger like all savages, he will gorge when an opportunity offers. I never saw the man who could refrain from water upon the line of march. They are still " acridophagi," and even the citizens far prefer a dish of locusts to the " fasikh," which act as anchovies, sardines, and herrmgs in Egypt. They light a fire at night, and as the insects fall dead they quote this couplet to justify their being eaten — " "We are allowed two carrions and two bloods, The fish and locusts, the liver and the spleen." Where they have no crops to lose, the people are thank- ftd for a fall of locusts. In El Hejaz the flights are uncertain ; during the last five years El Medinah has seen but few. They are prepared for eatmg by boiling in salt water and drying four or five days in the sun : a " wet " locust to an Arab is as a snail to a Briton. The head is plucked off, the stomach drawn, the wings and the prickly part of the legs are plucked, and the insect is ready for the 344 A PILGEIMAGE TO EI. MEDINAH AND JtECCAH. table. Locusts are never eaten with sweet things, which would be nauseous ; the dish is always " hot " wdth salt and pepper, or onions fried in clarified butter, when it tastes nearly as well as a plate of stale shrimps. The favorite food on journeys is meat cut into strips and sun-dried. This, with a bag of milk-balls and a little coffee, must sufiice for journey or campaign. The Bedouins know neither fermented nor distilled liquors, although fie upon thee, drunkard ! is a popular phrase, preserving the memory of a better state of things. Some clans, though not all, smoke tobacco. It is generally the growth of the country called Hejazi or Kazimiyah ; a green weed, very strong, with a foul smell, and costmg about one piastre per pound. The tribes of El Hejaz are tediously numerous. The Beni Harb, however, is now the ruling clan in the Holy Land. CHAPTER XXin. FEOM EL SrrWATEKIYAH TO MEOCAH. We have now left the territory of El Medinah. El Su- wayrkiyah, which belongs to the Sherif of Meccah, is by dead reckoning about ninety-nine miles along the road from the Prophet's burial-place. The town, consisting of about 100 houses, is built at the base and on the sides of a basaltic mass, which rises abruptly from the hard clayey plain. There is little to describe in the narrow streets and the mud houses, which are essentially Arab. The fields around are divided into little square plots by earthen ridges and stone walls ; some of the palms are fine grown trees, and the wells appeared numerous. The water is near the surface and plentiful, but it has a brackish taste, highly dis- agreeable after a few days' use, and the effects are the re- verse of chalybeate. The morning after our arrival at El Suwayrkiyah wit- nessed a commotion in our little party : hitherto they had kept together in fear of the road. Among the number was one Ali bin Ya Sin, a perfect " old man of the sea." By profession he was a " Zem Zemi," or dispenser of water 15* 346 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. from the Holy Well,* and he had a handsome " palazzo " at the foot of Abu Kubays m Meccah, which he periodically converted into a boarding house. Though past sixty, very decrepit, bent by age, white-bearded, and toothless, he still acted cicerone to pilgrims, and for that purpose travelled once every year to El Medinah. These trips had given him the cunning of a veteran voyager. He lived well and cheaply; his home-made shugduf, the model of comfort, was garnished with soft cushions and pUlars, whilst from the pockets protruded select bottles of pickled limes and similar luxuries ; he had his travelling shishah,f and at the halting-place, disdaining the crowded, reeking tent, he had a contrivance for converting his vehicle into a habitation. He was a type of the Arab old man. He mumbled all day and three-quarters of the night, for he had des insomnies. His nerves were so fine, that if any one mounted his shug- duf, the unfortunate was condemned to lie like a statue. Fidgety and priggishly neat, nothing annoyed him so much as a moment's delay or an article out of place, a rag removed from his water-gugglet, or a cooking pot imper- fectly free from soot ; and I judged his avarice by observing that he made a point of picking up and eating the grains scattered from our pomegranates, exclaiming that the heavenly seed (located there by Arab superstition) might be one of those so wantonly wasted. * There are certain officers called Zem Zemi, -who distribute the holy water. In the case of a respectable pilgrim they have a large jar marked with his names and titles, and sent every morning to his lodg- ings. If he be generous, one or more will be placed in the Haram, that men may drink in his honor. The Zem Zemi expects a present varying from five to eleven dollars. t The shishah, smoked on the camel, is a tin canister divided into two compartments, the lower half for the water, the upper one for the tobacco. The cover is pierced with holes to feed the fire, and a short hooka-snake projects from one side. A TYPE OF THE ARAB OLD MAN. 347 Ali bin Ya Sin, returning to his native city, had not been happy in his choice of a companion this time. The other occuj)ani, of the handsome shugduf was an ignoble- faced Egyptian from El Medinah. This ill-suited pair clave together for awhile, but at El Suwayrkiyah some dispute about a copper coin made them permanent foes. With threats and abuse such as none but an Egyptian could tamely hear, Ali kicked his quondam friend out of the vehicle. But terrified, after reflection, by the possibility that the man now his enemy might combine with two or three Syrians of our party to do him a harm, and frightened by a few black looks, the senior determined to fortify him- self by a friend. Connected with the boy Mohammed's family, he easily obtained an introduction to me ; he kissed my hand with great servility, declared that his servant had behaved disgracefully, and begged my protection, together with the occasional attendance of my " slave." This was readily granted in pity for the old man, who became immensely grateful. He offered at once to take Shaykh Nur into his shugduf. The Indian boy had already reduced to ruins the frail structure of his shibriyah, by lying upon it lengthways, whereas prudent travellers sit in it cross-legged and facing the camel. Moreover, he had been laughed to scorn by the Bedouins, who, seeing him pull up his dromedary to mount and dismount, had questioned his sex, and determined him to be a woman of the " Miyan." * I could not rebuke them ; the poor fellow's timidity was a ridiculous contrast to the Bedouin's style of mounting ; a pull at the camel's head, the left foot placed on the neck, an agile spring, and a scramble into the saddle. Shaykh Nur, elated by the sight of old Ali's * The Hindostani word for "sir." Bedouins address it sUglitmgly to Indians. 348 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. luxuries, promised himself some joyous hours ; but next morning ho owned with a sigh that he had purchased splendor at the extravagant price of happiness — the senior's tongue never rested throughout the livelong night. During one half-halt at El Sawayrkiyah we determined to have a small feast ; we bought some fresh dates, and paid a dollar and a half for a sheep. Hungry travellers consider "liver and fry" a dish to set before a shaykh. On this occasion, however, our enjoyment was marred by the water; even Soyer's dinners would scarcely charm if washed down with cups of a certain mineral-spring found at Epsom. We started at 10 a. m. in a south-easterly direction, and travelled over a flat thinly dotted with desert vegeta- tion. At 1 p. M. we passed a basaltic ridge, and then, entering a long depressed line of country, a kind of valley, paced down it five tedious hours. The simoom as usual was blowing hard, and it seemed to affect the traveller's temper. In one place I saw a Turk who could not speak a word of Arabic, violently disputing with an Arab who could not speak a word of Turkish. The pilgrim insisted upon adding to the camel's load a few dry sticks, such as are picked up for cooking. The camel man as perseveringly threw off the extra burden. They screamed with rage, hustled each other, and at last the Turk dealt the Arab a heavy blow. I afterwards heard that the pilgrim was mortally wounded that night, his stomach being ripped open with a dagger. On inquiring what had become of him, I was assured that he had been comfortably wrapped up in his shroud and placed in a half-dug grave. This is the general practice in the case of the poor and solitary, whom illness or accident incapacitates from proceeding. It is impossible to contemplate such a fate without horror ; the THE BAGHDAD CABAVAN. 349 torturing thirst of a wound,* the burning sun heating the brain to madness, and — worst of all, for they do not wait till death — the attacks of the jackal, the vulture, and the raven of the wild. At 8 P.M. the camels began to stumble over the dwarf dykes of the wheat and barley fields, and presently we arrived at our halting-place, a large village called El Su- fayna. The plain was already dotted with tents and lights. We found the Baghdad caravan, whose route here falls into the Darb el Sharki. It consists of a few Persians and Kurds, and collects the people of north-eastern Arabia, Wahhabis, and others. They are escorted by the Agayl tribe and the fierce mountaineers of Jebel Shamar. Scarcely was our tent pitched when the distant pattering of mus- ketry and an ominous tapping of the kettle-drum sent all my companions in different directions to inquire what was the cause of quarrel. The Baghdad Cafila, though not more than 2000 in number, men, women, and cnildren, had been proving to the Damascus caravan, that, being per- fectly ready to fight, they were not going to yield any point of precedence. From that time the two bodies en- camped in different places. I never saw a more pugnacious assembly : a look sufiiced for a quarrel. Once a Wahhabi stood in front of us, and by pointing with his finger and other insulting gestures, showed his hatred to the chi- bouque, in which I was peaceably indulging. It was im- possible to refrain from chastising his insolence by a polite and smiling offer of the offending pipe. This made him draw his dagger without a thought ; but it was sheathed again, for we all cocked our pistols, and these gentry prefer steel to lead. Though it was night when we encamped, * When Indians would say, " he was killed npon the spot," they use the picturesque phrase, " he asked not for water 350 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAII AND MECCAH. Shaykh Masud set out to water his moaning camels : they had not quenched their thirst for three days. He returned in a depressed state, having been bled by the soldiery at the well to the extent of forty piastres, or about eight shillings. After supper we spread our rugs and prepared to rest. And here I first remarked the coolness of the nights, prov- ing at this season of the year a considerable altitude above the sea. As a general rule the atmosj)here stagnated be- tween sunrise and 10 a.m., when a light wind rose. Dur- ing the forenoon the breeze strengthened, and it gradually diminished through the afternoon. Often about sunset there was a gale accompanied by dry storms of dust. At El Sufayna, though there was no night-breeze and little dew, a blanket was necessary, and the hours of darkness were invigorating enough to mitigate the effect of the sand and simoom-ridden day» Before sleeping I was introduced to a namesake, one Shaykh Abdullah of Meccali. flaving committed his shugduf to his son, a lad of fourteen, he had ridden forward on a dromedary, and had suddenly fallen ill. His objects in meeting me were to ask for some medi- cine, and a temporary seat in my shugduf; the latter I offered with pleasure, as the boy Mohammed was longing to mount a camel. The shaykh's illness was nothing but weakness brought on by the hardships of the journey : he attributed it to the hot wind, and the weight of a bag of dollars, which he had attached to his waist-belt. He was a man about forty, long, thin, pale, and of a purely nervous temperament ; and a few questions elicited the fact, that he had lately and suddenly given up his daily opium pill. I prepared one for him, placed him in my litter, and per- suaded him to stow away his burden in some place where it would be less troublesome. He was my companion for two marches, at the end of which he found his own shug- DESCRIPTION OF A DESERT. 361 duf, and I never met amongst the Arab citizens a better bred or better informed man. At Constantinople he had learned a little French, Italian, and Greek ; and from the properties of a shrub to the varieties of honey,* he was full of " useful knowledge," and open as a dictionary. We parted near Meccah, where I met him only once, and then accidentally, in the Valley of Muna. At half-past 5 a. m., on the 5th of September, we arose refreshed by the cool, comfortable night, and loaded the camels. We travelled towards the south-east, and entered a country destitute of the low ranges of hill, which from El Medinah southwards had bounded the horizon. After two miles' march, our camels climbed up a precipitous ridge, and then descended into a broad gravel plain. From 10 to 11 A. M. our course was southerly, over a high table-land, and we afterwards traversed for five hours and a half a plain which bore signs of standing water. This day's march was peculiarly Arabian. It was a desert peopled only with echoes, — a place of death for what little there is to die in it, — a wilderness, where, to use my companion's phrase, there is nothing but He. f Nature, scalped, flayed, disco- vered her anatomy to the gazer's eye. The horizon was a sea of mirage ; gigantic sand columns whirled over the plain ; and on both sides of our road were huge piles of bare rock, standing detached upon the surface of sand and clay. Here they appeared in oval lumps, heaped up with a semblance * The Arabs are curious in and fond of honey : Meccah alone affords eight or nine different varieties. The best, and in Arab parlance the " coldest," is the green kind, produced by bees that feed upon a thorny plant called "sihhah." The white and red honeys rank next. The woret is the Asal Asmar (brown honey), which sells for something un- der a piastre per pound. f "La Siwa Hu," i. e. where there is none but Allah. 352 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECOAH. of symmetry ; there a single boulder stood, with its narrow foundation based upon a pedestal of low, dome-shaped rock. All are of a pink coarse-grained granite, which flakes off in large crusts under the influence of the atmosphere. I re- marked one block which could not measure less than thirty feet in height. Through these scenes we travelled till about half-past 4 p. m., when the guns suddenly roared a halt. There was not a trace of human habitation around us : a few parched shrubs and the granite heaps were the only objects diversifying the hard clayey plain. Shaykh Masud correct- ly guessed the cause of our detention at the inhospitable *' halting place of the Mutayr" (Bedouins). " Cook your bread and boil your coffee," said the old man, " the camels win rest for awhile and the gun sound at nightfall." At half-past ten that evening we heard the signal for departure, and as the moon was still young we prepared for a hard night's work. We took a south-westerly course through what is called a Waar — rough ground covered with thicket. Darkness fell upon us like a pall. The camels tripped and stumbled, tossing their litters like cock- boats in a short sea ; at times the shugdufs were well nigh torn off their backs. When we came to a ridge worse than usual, old Masud would seize my camel's halter, and, ac- companied by his son and nephew bearing lights, encou- rage the animals with gesture and voice. It was a strange, wild scene. The black basaltic field was dotted with the huge and doubtful forms of spongy-footed camels with silent tread, looming like phantoms in the midnight air ; the hot wind moaned, and whirled from the torches sheets of flame and fiery smoke, whilst ever and anon a swift tra- velling Takhtrawan, drawn by mules, and surrounded by runners bearing gigantic mashals,* threw a passing glow of * This article, an iron cylinder with bands, mounted on a long pole, corresponds with the European cresset of the fifteenth century. THE EASTERN AND WESTERN MAN. 353 red light upon the dark road and the dusky multitude: On this occasion the rule was " every man for himself." Each pressed forward into the best path, thinking only of preceding others. The Syrians, amongst whom our little party had become entangled, proved most unpleasant com- panions ; they often stopped the way, insisting upon their right to precedence. On one occasion a horseman had the audacity to untie the halter of my dromedary, and thus to cast us adrift, as it were to make room for some secluded friend. I seized my sword ; but Shaykh Abdullah stayed my hand, and addressed the intruder in terms sufficiently violent to make him slmk away. 'Not was this the only occasion on which my companion was successful with the Syrians. He would begin with a mild " Move a little, O my father ! " followed, if fruitless, by " Out of the way, O father of Syria !*" and if still ineffectual, concluding with a " Begone, O he ! " This ranged between civility and stern- ness. If without effect, it was followed by revilings to the "Abusers of the Salt," the "Yezid," the "offspring of Shimr." Another remark which I made about my compa- nion's conduct well illustrates the difference between the Eastern and Western man. When traversing a dangerous place, Shaykh Abdullah the European attended to his camel with loud cries of " Hai ! Hai ! " f and an occasional switch- ing. Shaykh Abdullah the Asiatic commended himself to Allah by repeated ejaculations of " Ya Satir ! Ya Sattar ! " The morning of Wednesday (Sept. 6th) broke as we en- tered a wide plain. In many places were signs of water ; lines of basalt here and there seamed the surface, and wide sheets of the tufaceous gypsum called by the Arabs " sab- * " Abu Sham," a familiar address in El Hejaz to Syrians. f There is a regular language to camels. " Ikh ! ikh !" makes them kneel; "Yakh Yakh!" urges them on; "Hai! Hai!" induces caution^ and so on. 354 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. khah " shone like mirrors set in russet fi-ame-work of the flat. This substance is found in cakes, often a foot long by an inch in depth, curled by the sun's rays and overlying clay into which water had sunk. After our harassing night, day came on with a sad feeling of oppression, greatly increased by the unnatural glare. At 10 A. M. we pitched the tent in the first convenient spot, and lost no time in stretching our cramped limbs upon the bosom of mother Earth. In our anxiety to rest we had strayed from the Damas- cus caravan into the mountaineers of Shamar. Our Shaykh Masud manifestly did not like the company ; for shortly after 3 p.m. he insisted upon our striking the tent and rejoining the Hajj, which lay encamped about two miles distant in the western part of the basin. We loaded, therefore, and half an hour before sunset found ourselves in more congenial society. To my great disappointment a stir was observable in the caravan. I at once understood that another night-march was in store for us. At 6 P.M. we again mounted and turned towards the eastern plain. A heavy shower was falling upon the western hills, whence came damp and dangerous blasts. Between 9 P.M. and the dawn of the next day we had a repetition of the last night's scenes, over a road so rugged and danger- ous, that I wondered how men could prefer to travel in the darkness. But the camels of Damascus were now worn out with fatigue ; they could not endure the sun, and our time was too precious for a halt. My night was spent perched upon the front bar of my shugduf, encouraging the drome- dary, and that we had not one fall excited my extreme astonishment. At 5 a.m. we entered a wide plain thickly clothed with the usual thorny trees, in whose strong grasp many a shugduf lost its covering, and not a few were dragged with their screaming inmates to the ground. A PRECIOUS CLAN OF BEDOUINS. 355 About five hours afterwards we crossed a high ridge, and saw below us the camp of the caravan not more than two miles distant. At 11 A.M. we had reached our station. It is called El Birkat (the Tank), from a large and now ruinous cistern built of hewn stone by the Caliph Harun. The land belongs to the Utaybah Bedouins, the bravest and most ferocious clan in El Hejaz; and the citizens denote their dread of these banditti by assertmg, that to increase their courage they drink their enemy's blood.* My companions shook their heads when questioned upon the subject, and prayed that we might not become too well acquainted with them — an ill-omened speech. As we were now near the Holy City, all the Meccans were busy canvassing for lodgers and offering their services to pilgrims. Quarrels, too, were of hourly occurrence. In our party was an Arnaut, a white-bearded old man, so decrepit that he could scarcely stand, and yet so violent that no one could manage him but his African slave, a brazen-faced httle wretch about fourteen years of age. Words were bandied between this angry senior and Shaykh Masud, when the latter insinuated, sarcastically, that if the former had teeth he would be more intelligible. The Arnaut in his rage seized a pole, raised it, and delivered a blow which missed the camel man, but brought the striker headlong to the ground. Masud exclaimed, with shrieks of rage, " Have we come to this, that every old dastard Turk smites us ?" Our party had the greatest trouble to quiet the quarrellers. The Arab listened to us when we threatened him with the Pacha. But the Arnaut, whose * Some believe this literally, others consider it a phrase expressive of blood-thirstiness. It is the only suspicion of cannibalism, if I may use the word, now attaching to El Hejaz. 356 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDIjSTAH AND MECCAH. rage was " like red-hot steel," would hear nothing but our repeated declarations, that unless he behaved more like a pil- grim, we should be compelled to leave him and his slave behind. On the Vth September, at 4 p.m., we left El Birkat, and travelled eastwards over rolling ground thickly wooded. About 2 A.M. we began ascending hills in a south-westerly- direction, and presently fell into the bed of a large rock- girt fiumara, which runs from east to west. The sands were overgrown with saline and salsolaceous plants. At 6 A.M. we left the fiumara, and, turning to the west, arrived about an hour afterwards at the station. El Zaribah, *' the valley," is an undulating plain amongst high granite hills. In many parts it was faintly green; water was close to the surface, and rain stood upon the ground. During the night we had travelled about twenty-three miles Having pitched the tent, and eaten and slept, we pre- pared to perform the ceremony of El Ihram (assuming the pilgrim-garb), as El Zaribah is the mikat, or the appointed place.* Between the noonday and the afternoon prayers a barber attended to shave our heads, cut our nails, and trim our mustachios. Then, having bathed and perfum- ed ourselves — the latter is a questionable point — we don- ned the attire, which is nothing but two new cotton cloths, each six feet long by three and a half broad, white, with narrow red stripes and fringes ; in fact, the costume called " El Eddeh" in the baths at Cairo.f Our * " El Ihram" literally meaning " prohibition" or " making unlaw- ful," equivalent to our " mortification," is applied to the ceremony of the toilette, and also to the dress itself. f These sheets are not positively necessary ; any clean cotton cloth not sewn in any part will serve equally well Servants and attendants expect the master to present them with an " ihram." HOW TO BE A GOOD PILGRIM. 357 heads were bare, and nothing was allowed upon the instep.* After the toilet we were placed with our faces in the direction of Meccah, and ordered to say aloud, " I vow this ihram of hajj (the pilgrimage) and the umrah (the little pilgrimage) to Allah Almighty !" Having thus performed a two-prostration prayer, we repeated, without rising from the sitting position, these words, " O Allah ! verily I pur- pose the hajj and the umrah, then enable me to accom- phsh the two, and accept them both of me, and make both blessed to me!" When these ceremonies had been duly performed, our friend Shaykh Abdullah, who acted as director of our consciences, bade us be good pil- grims, avoiding quarrels, bad language, immorality, and light conversation. We must so reverence life that we should avoid killing game, causing an animal to fly, and even pointing it out for destruction ; f nor should we scratch ourselves, save with the open palm, lest vermin be destroyed, or a hair uprooted by the nail. We were to respect the sanctuary by sparing the trees, and not to pluck a single blade of grass. As regards personal con- siderations, we were to abstain from all oils, perfumes, and unguents ; from washing the head with mallow or lote leaves ; from dyeing, shaving, cutting, or vellicating a sin- gle pile or hair ; and though we might take advantage of shade, and even form it with upraised hands, we must by no means cover our sconces. For each infraction of * Sandals are made at Meccah expressly for the pilgrimage : the poorer classes cut off the upper leathers of an old pair of shoes, ■j- The object of these ordinances is clearly to inculcate the strictest observance of the " truce of God." Pilgrims, however, are allowed to slay, if necessary, " the five noxious," viz., a crow, a kite, a scorpion, a rat, and a biting dog. 358 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. these ordinances we must sacrifice a sheep ; * and it is commonly said by Moslems, that none but the Prophet could be perfect in the intricacies of pilgrimage. The wife and daughters of a Turkish pilgrim of our party assumed the ihram at the same time as ourselves. They appeared dressed in white garments ; and they had exchanged the lisam, that coquettish fold of muslin which veils without concealing the lower part of the face, for a hideous mask, made of split, dried, and plaited palm leaves, with two " bull's-eyes," for light.f I could not help laugh- ing when these strange figures met my sight, and, to judge from the shaking of their shoulders, they were not less sus- ceptible to the merriment which they had caused. At 3 p. M. we left El Zaribah, travelling towards the S. W., and a wondrously picturesque scene met the eye. Crowds hurried along, habited in the pilgrim garb, whose whiteness contrasted strangely with their black skins, their newly shaven heads glistening in the sun, and long black hair streaming in the wind. The rocks rang with shouts of " Labbayk ! Labbayk ! " At a pass we fell in with the Wahhabis, accompanpng the Baghdad caravan, screaming " here am I ; " and, guided by a large, loud kettle-drum, they followed in double file the camel of a standard-bearer, whose green flag bore in huge white letters the formula of the Moslem creed. They were wild-looking mountaineers, dark and fierce, with hair twisted into thin dalik or plaits : each was arme^ with a long spear, a matchlock, or a dag- ger. They were seated upon coarse wooden saddles, with- out cushions or stirrups, a fine saddle-cloth alone denoting * The victim is sacrificed as a confession that the offender deems himself worthy of death ; the offerer is not allowed to taste any por- tion of his offering. f The reason why this " ugly" must be worn, is, that a woman's veil during the pilgrimage ceremonies is not allowed to touch her face. A SUSPICIOUS DEFILE. 359 a chief. The womea emulated the men ; they either guided their own dromedaries, or, sitting in pillion, they clung to their husbands ; veils they disdained, and their counte- nances certainly belonged not to a " soft sex." These Wahhabis were by no means pleasant companions. Most of them were followed by spare dromedaries, either un- laden or carrying water-skins, fodder, fuel, and other necessaries for the march. The beasts delighted in dash- ing furiously through one file, which being colligated, was throAyn each time into the greatest confusion. And when- ever we were observed smoking, we were cursed aloud for infidels and idolaters. At about half-past 5 p. m. we entered a suspicious-look- ing place. On the right was a stony buttress, along whose base the stream, when there is one, flows ; and to this depression was our road limited by the rocks and thorn trees, which filled the other half of the channel. The left side was a precipice, grim and barren, but not so abrupt as its brother. Opposite us the way seemed barred by piles of hills, crest rising above crest into the far blue distance. Day still smiled upon the upper peaks, but the lower slopes and the fiumara bed were already curtained with grey sombre shade. A damp seemed to fall upon our spirits as we ap- proached this Yalley Perilous. I remarked with wonder that the voices of the women and children sank into silence, and the loud Labbaykas of the pilgrims were gradually stilled. Whilst still speculating upon the cause of this phe- nomenon it became apparent. A small curl of smoke, like a lady's ringlet, on the summit of the right-hand precipice caught my eye, and simultaneous with the echoing crack of the matchlock a high-trotting dromedary in front of me rolled over the sands — a bullet had split his heart — throw- ing his rider a goodly somerset of five or six yards. 360 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. Ensued terrible confusion; women screamed, children shrieked, and men vociferated, each one striving with might and main to urge his animal out of the place of death. But the road being narrow, they only managed to jam the vehicles in a solid immovable mass. At every matchlock shot a shudder ran through the huge body, as when the surgeon's scalpel touches some more sensitive nerve. The irregular horsemen, perfectly useless, galloped up and down over the stones, shouting to and ordering one another. The Pacha of the army had his carpet spread at the foot of the left-hand precipice, and debated over his pipe with the officers what ought to be done. No good genius whis- pered " crown the heights." Then it was that the conduct of the Wahhabis found favor in my eyes. They came up, galloping their camels, with their elf-locks tossing in the wind, and their flaring matches casting a strange lurid light over their features. Taking up a position, one body began to fire upon the Utaybah robbers, whilst two or three hundred, dismount- ing, swarmed up the hill under the guidance of the Sherif Zayd. I had remarked this nobleman at El Medinah as a model specimen of the pure Arab. Like all Sherifs, he is celebrated for bravery, and has killed many with his own hand. When urged at El Zaribah to ride into Meccah, he swore that he would not leave the caravan till in sight of the walls ; and, fortunately for the pilgrims, he kept his word. Presently the firing was heard far in our rear — the robbers having fled ; the head of the column advanced, and the dense body of pilgrims opened out. Our forced halt was now exchanged for a flight. It required much man- agement to steer our desert-craft clear of danger ; but Shaykh Masud was equal to the occasion. That many were lost was evident by the boxes and baggage that strewed the shingles. I had no means of ascertaining the number A LITTLE BRAVADO. 361 of men killed and wounded: reports were contradictory, and exaggeration unanimous. The robbers were said to be 150 in number : their object was plunder, and they would eat the shot camels. But their principal ambition was the boast, " We, the Utaybah, on such and such a night stopped the Sultan's mahmal one whole hour in the pass." As we advanced our escort took care to fire every large dry asclepias, to disperse the shades which buried us. Again the scene became wondrous wild. At the beginning of the skirmish I had primed my pis- tols, and sat with them ready for use. But soon seeing that there was nothing to be done, and, wishing to make an im- pression, — nowhere does Bobadil now "go down" but in the East, — I called aloud for my supper. Shaykh Nur, exanimate with fear, could not move. The boy Moham- med ejaculated only an "Oh, sir!" and the people around exclaimed in disgust, "By Allah! he eats!" Shaykh Ab- dullah, the Meccan, being a man of spirit, was amused by the spectacle. "Are these Afghan manners, Effendim?" he inquired from the shugduf behind me. " Yes," I replied aloud, " in my country we always dine before an attack of robbers, because that gentry is in the habit of sending men to bed supperless." The Shaykh laughed aloud, but those around him looked offended. I thought the bravado this time raal place j but a little event which took place on my way to Jeddah proved that it was not quite a failure. On either side were ribbed precipices, dark, angry, and towering above, till their summits mingled with the glooms of night ; and between them formidable looked the chasm, down which our host hurried with shouts and discharges of matchlocks. The torch-smoke and the night-fires of flaming asclepias formed a canopy, sable above and livid red below, which hung over our heads like a sheet, and divided the cliffs into two equal parts. Here the fii'e 16 362 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. flashed fiercely fi'om a tall thorn, that crackled and shot up showers of sparks into the air ; there it died away in lurid gleams, which lit up a truly Stygian scnee. As usual, how- ever, the picturesque had its inconveniences. There was no path. Rocks, stone-banks, and trees obstructed our passage. The camels, now blind in darkness, then dazzled by a flood of light, stumbled frequently ; in some places slipping down a steep descent, in others shding over a sheet of mud. There were furious quarrels and fierce language between camel-men and their hirers, and threats to fellow- travellers; in fact, we were united in discord. I passed that night crying, " Hai Hai ! " switching the camel, and fruitlessly endeavoring to fustigate Masud's nephew, who resolutely slept on the water-bags. During the hours of darkness we made four or five halts, when we boiled coffee and smoked pipes, but men and beasts were begin- ning to suffer from a deadly fatigue. Dawn found us still travelling down the fiumara, which here is about 100 yards broad. We then turned northward, and sighted El Mazik, more generally known as Wady Laymun, the Yalley of Limes. On the right bank of the fiumara stood the Meccan Sherif's state pavilion, green and gold : it was surrounded by his attendants, and prepared to receive the Pacha of the cara- van. We advanced half a mile, and encamped temporarily in a hill-girt bulge of the fiumara bed. Shaykh Masud allowed us only four hours' halt ; he wished to precede the main body. After breaking our fast joyously upon limes, pomegranates, and fi-esh dates, we sallied forth to admire the beauties of the place. We are once more on classic ground, and this wady, celebrated for the purity of its air, has from remote ages been a favorite resort of the Meccans. , Exactly at noon Masud seized the halter of the foremost AN ACCIDENT ON CAMEL-BACK. 363 camel, and we started down the fiumara. Troops of Be- douin girls looked over the orchard walls laughingly, and children came out to offer us fresh fruit and sweet water. In some places were clumps of trees, and scattered villages warned us that we were approaching a city. Far to the left rose the blue peaks of Taif, and the mountain road, a white thread upon the nearer heights, was pointed out to me. Here I first saw the tree, or rather shrub, which bears the balm of Gilead, erst so celebrated for its tonic and stomachic properties. I told Shaykh Masud to break off a twig, which he did heedlessly. The act was witnessed by our party with a roar of laughter, and the astounded shaykh was warned that he had become subject to an atoning sacrifice.* Of course he denounced me as the instigator, and I could not fairly refuse assistance. The tree has of late years been carefully described by many botanists ; I will only say that the bark resembled in color a cherry-stick pipe, the inside was a fight yellow, and the juice made my fingers stick together. As we jogged on we were passed by the cavalcade of no less a personage than the Sherif of Meccah. Abd el Muttalib bin Ghalib is a dark, beardless old man, with Afi-ican features, derived from his mother. He was plainly dressed in white garments and a white muslin turban, which made him look jet black ; he rode an ambfing mule, and the only emblem of his dignity was the large green satin umbrella borne by an attendant on foot.f Scattered * This being one of the " Muharrimat," or actions forbidden to a pilgrim. At all times, say the Moslems, there are three vile trades, viz., those of the Harak el Hajar (stone-burner), the Kati el Shajar (tree-cut- ter), and the Bayi el Bashar (man-seller). f From India to Abyssinia the umbrella is the sign of royalty : the Arabs of Meccah and Sennaa probably derived the custom from the Hindus. 364 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. around him were about forty matchlock-men, mostly slaves. We halted as evening approached, and strained our eyes, but all in vain, to catch sight of Meccah, which lies in a winding" valley. By Shaykh Abdullah's direction I recited, after the usual devotions, the following prayer. The reader is forewarned that it is difficult to preserve the flowers of Oriental rhetoric in a European tongue. " O Allah ! verily this is thy safeguard (Amn) and thy Sanctuary (Haram) ! Into it whoso entereth becometh safe (Amin). So deny (Harrim) my flesh and blood, my bones and skin, to hell-fire. O Allah ! save me from thy wrath on the day when thy servants shall be raised from the dead. I conjure thee by this that thou art Allah, besides whom is none (thou only), the merciful, the com- passionate. And have mercy upon our lord Moham- med, and upon the progeny of our lord Mohammed, and upon his followers, one and all!" This was con- cluded with the " Talbiyat," and with an especial prayer for myself. We again mounted, and night completed our disap- pointment. About 1 A.M. I was aroused by general excite- ment. *' Meccah ! Meccah !" cried some voices ; " The Sanctuary ! O the Sanctuary !" exclaimed others ; and all burst into loud "Labbayk," not unfrequently broken by sobs. I looked out from my litter, and saw by the Ught of the southern stars the dim outlines of a large city, a shade darker than the surrounding plain. We were passing over the last ridge by a " winding path" flanked on both sides by watch-towers, which command the " Darb el Maala," or road leading from the north into Meccah. Thence we passed into the Maabidah (northern suburb), where the Sherif's palace is built. After this, on the left hand, came the deserted abode of the Sherif bin Aun, now said to be a AEKIYAL AT MECCAH. 865 " haunted house."* Opposite to it lies the Jannat el Maala, the holy cemetery of Meccah. Thence, turning to the right, we entered the Sulaymaniyah or Afghan quarter. Here the boy Mohammed, being an inhabitant of the Sha- miyah or Syrian ward, thought proper to display some ap- prehension. These two are on bad terms ; children never meet without exchanging volleys of stones, and men fight furiously with quarter-staves. Sometimes, despite the ter- rors of religion, the knile and sabre are drawn. But these hostilities have their code. If a citizen be killed, there is a subscription for blood-money. An inhabitant of one quar- ter, passing singly through another, becomes a guest ; once beyond the walls, he is likely to be beaten to insensibility by his hospitable foes. At the Sulaymaniyah we turned off the main road into a bye- way, and ascended by narrow lanes the rough heights of Jebel Hindi, upon which stands a small whitewashed and crenellated building called a " fort." Thence descending, we threaded dark streets, in places crowded with rude cots and dusky figures, and finally at 2 a. m. we found ourselves at the door of the boy Mohammed's house. We arrived on the morning of Sunday the 7th Zu'l Hijjah (11th September, 1853), and had one day before the beginning of the pilgrimage to repose and visit the Haram. From El Medinah to Meccah the distance, according to my calculation, was 248 Enghsh miles, which was accomplished in eleven marches. * I cannot conceive what made the accurate Niebuhr fall into the strange error that " apparitions are unknown in Arabia." Arabs fear to sleep alone, to enter the bath at night, to pass by cemeteries during dark, and to sit amongst ruins, simply for fear of apparitions. And Arabia, together with Persia, has supplied half the Western World — Southern Europe — with its ghost stories and tales of angels, demons, and fairies. To quote Milton, the land is struck " with superstition as with a planet." CHAPTER XXIV. THE HOUSE OF ALLAH. The House of Allah has been so fully described by my pre- decessors, that there is Httle inducement to attempt a new portrait. Readers, however, may desire a view of the great sanctuary, and, indeed, without a plan and its explanation, the ceremonies of the Haram would be scarcely intelhgible. I will do homage to the memory of the accurate Burck- hardt, and extract from his pages a description which may be illustrated by a few notes. " The Kaabah stands in an oblong square (enclosed by a great wall) 250 paces long, and 200 broad, none of the sides of which run quite in a straight line, though at first sight the whole appears to be of a regular shape. This open square is enclosed on the eastern side by a colonnade. The pillars stand in a quadruple row ; they are three deep on the other sides, and united by pointed arches, every four of which support a small dome plastered and whitened on the outside. These domes, according to Kotobeddyn, are 152 in number.* The pillars are above twenty feet in height, * On each short side I counted 24 domes; on the long 35. This would give a total of 118 along the cloisters. The Arabs reckon in all THE MOSQUE AT MECCAH. 367 and generally from one foot and a half to one foot and three quarters in diameter ; but little regularity has been observed in regard to them. Some are of white marble, granite or porphyry ; but the greater number are of common stone of the Meccah mountains. El Fasy states the whole at 589, and says they are all of marble excepting 126, which are of common stone, and three of composition. Kotobeddyn reckons 555, of which, according to him, 311 are of marble, and the rest of the stone taken from the neighboring moun- tains ; but neither of these authors lived to see the latest repairs of the mosque, after the destruction occasioned by a torrent in a, d. 1626.* Between every three or four columns stands an octagonal one, about four feet in thickness. On the east side are two shafts of reddish grey granite in one piece, and one fine grey porphyry with slabs of white feld- spath. On the north side is one red granite column, and one of fine-grained red porphyry ; these are probably the columns which Kotobeddyn states to have been brought from Egypt, and principally from Akhmin (Panopolis), when the chief (Caliph) El Mohdy enlarged the mosque in a. h. 163. Among the 450 or 500 columns which form the enclo- sure I found not any two capitals or bases exactly alike. The capitals are of coarse Saracen workmanship ; some of them, which had served for former buildings, by the igno- 152 ; viz. 24 on the east side, on the north 36, on the south 36; one on the mosque corner, near the Zarurah minaret ; 16 at the porch of the Bab el Ziyadah ; and 1 6 at the Bab Ibrahim. The shape of these domes is the usual " Media-Naranja," and the superstition of the Meccans in- forms the pilgrim that they cannot be counted. Books reckon 1362 pinnacles or battlements on the temple waU. * I counted in the temple 564 pillars. It is, however, difficult to be accurate, as the four colonnades and the porticos about the two great gates are irregular ; topographical observations, moreover, must here be much under difficulties. Ali Bey numbers them roughly at " plus de 600 colonnes et pUastres." 368 A PILGKIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. ranee of the workmen, have been placed upside down upon the shafts. I observed about half a dozen marble bases of good Grecian workmanship. A few of the marble columns bear Arabic or Cufic inscriptions, in which I read the dates 863 and 762 (a. h.)* A column on the east side exhibits a very ancient Cufic inscription, somewhat defaced, which I could neither read nor copy. Some of the columns are strengthened with broad iron rings or bands,f as in many other Saracen buildings of the East. " Some parts of the walls and arches are gaudily painted in stripes of yellow, red, and blue, as are also minarets. Paintings of flowers, in the usual Muselman style, are nowhere seen; the floors of the colonnades are paved with large stones badly cemented together." "Some paved causeways lead from the colonnades towards the Kaabah, or Holy House, in the centre. They are of sufiicient breadth to admit four or five persons to walk abreast, and they are elevated about nine inches above the ground. Between these causeways, which are covered with fine gravel or sand, gi*ass appears growing in several places, produced by the Zem Zem water oozing out of the jars placed in {on) the ground in long rows during the day.J There is a descent of eight or ten steps from the gates on the north side into the platform of the colonnade, * The author afterwards informs us, that " the temple has been so often ruined and repaired, that no traces of remote antiquity are to be found about it." He mentions some modern and unimportant inscrip- tions upon the walls and over the gates. Knowing that many of the pillars were sent in ships from Syria and Egypt by the Caliph El Mahdi, a traveller would have expected better things. f The reason being, that " those shafts formed of the Meccan stone are mostly in three pieces ; but the marble shafts are in one piece." X The jars are little amphorae, each inscribed with the name of the donor and a peculiar cypher. THE KAABAH. 369 and of three or four steps from the gates on the south side." " Towards the middle of this area stands the Kaabah ; it is 115 paces from the north colonnade, and 88 from the south. For this want of symmetry we may readily account, the Kaabah having existed prior to the mosque, which was built around it, and enlarged at different periods. The Kaabah is an oblong massive structure, 18 paces in length, 14 in breadth, and from 35 to 40 feet in height. It is constructed of the grey Mekka stone, in lai'ge blocks of different sizes joined together, in a very rough manner, with bad cement.* It was entirely rebuilt, as it now stands, in A. D. 1627. The torrent in the preceding year had thrown down three of its sides, and, preparatory to its re-erection, the fourth side was, according to Asamy, pulled down, after the Olemas, or learned divines, had been con- sulted on the question whether mortals might be permitted to destroy any part of the holy edifice without incurring the charge of sacrilege and infidehty." " The Kaabah stands upon a base two feet in height, which presents a sharp inclined plane.f Its roof being flat, it has at a distance the appearance of a perfect cube. The * I would alter this sentence thus : — " It is built of fine grey granite in horizontal courses of masonry of irregular depth; the stones are tolerably fitted together, and held by excellent mortar like Eoman cement." The lines are also straight. f This base is called El Shazarwan, from the Persian Shadarwan, a cornice, eaves, or canopy. It is in pent-house shape, projecting about a foot beyond the wall, and composed of fine white marble slabs, polished like glass ; there are two breaks in it, one opposite and imder the door- way, and another in front of Ishmael's tomb. Pilgrims are directed, during circimiambulation, to keep their bodies outside of the Shazarwan ; this would imply it to be part of the building, but its only use appears in the large brass rings welded into it, for the purpose of holding down the Kaabah covering. 16* 370 A PILGKIMAGE TO EL MEDLNAH AND MECCAH. only door whicli affords entrance, and which is opened but two or three times a year,* is on the north side and about seven feet above the ground. In the first periods of Islam, however, when it was rebuilt in a. h. 64 by Ibn Zebeyr, chief of Mecca, it had two doors even with the ground- floor of the mosque. The present door (which, according to Azraky, was brought hither from Constantinople in a. d. 1633) is wholly coated with silver, and has several gilt ornaments; upon its threshold are placed every night various small hghted wax candles, and perfuming pans, filled with musk, aloe-wood, &c." f "At the north-east (south-east) corner of theKaabah, near the door, is the famous ' Black Stone ;'| it forms a part of * In Ibn Jubair's time the Kaabab -was opened every day in Rajab, and in other months on every Monday and Friday. The house may now be entered ten or twelve times a year gratis ; and by pilgrims as often as they can collect, amongst parties, a sum sufficient to tempt the guardians' cupidity. f Pilgrims and ignorant devotees collect the drippings of wax, the ashes of the aloe- wood, and the dust from the " Atabah," or threshold of the Kaabah, either to rub upon their foreheads or to preserve as relics. These superstitious practices are sternly rebuked by the Ulema. J I will not enter into the fabulous origin of the Hajar el Aswad- Some of the traditions connected with it are truly absurd. " When Allah," says Ali, "made covenant with the sons of Adam on the Day of Fealty, he placed the paper inside the stone ;" it will, therefore, appear at the judgment, and bear witness to all who have touched it. Moslems agree that it was originally white, and became black by reason of men's sins. It appeared to me a common aerolite covered with a thick shaggy coating, glossy and pitch-like, worn and polished. Dr. Wilson of Bombay showed me a specimen in his possession, which externally appeared to be a black slag, with the inside of a bright and sparkling greyish- white, the result of admixture of nickel with the iron. This might possibly, as the learned Orientalist then suggested, account for the mythic change of color, its appearance on earth after a thunder- storm, and its being originally a material part of the heavens. Kutb el THE "black stone." 371 the sharp angle of the building* at four or five feet above the ground.f It is an irregular oval, about seven inches in diameter, with an undulating surface, composed of about a dozen smaller stones of different sizes and shapes, well joined together mth a small quantity of cement, and per- fectly well smoothed : it looks as if the whole had been broken into many pieces by a violent blow, and then united again. It is very difficult to determine accurately the quality of this stone, which has been worn to its present surface by the millions of touches and kisses it has received. It appeared to me like a lava, containing several small extraneous particles of a whitish and of a yellowish sub- stance. Its color is now a deep reddish brown, approaching to black. It is surrounded on all sides by a border com- posed of a substance which I took to be a close cement of pitch and gravel of a similar, but not quite the same brownish color.| This border serves to support its detached Din expressly declares that, when the Karamitah restored it after twenty-two years to the Meccans, men kissed it and rubbed it upon their brows ; and remarked that the blackness was only superficial, the inside being white. * Presenting this appearance in profile. The Hajar has suflfered from the iconoclastic principle of Islam, having once narrowly escaped destruction by order of El Hakim of Egypt. In these days the metal rim serves as a protection as well as an ornament. \ The height of the Hajar from the ground, according to my mea- surement, is four feet nine inches; Ali Bey places it forty-two inches above the pavement. X The color appeared to me black and metallic, and the centre of the stone was sunk about two inches below the metal circle. Eound the sides was a reddish brown cement, almost level with the metal, and sloping down to the middle of the stone. Ibn Jubair declares the depth of the stone unknown, but that most people believe it to extend two cubits into the wall. In his day it was three "Shibi'" (the large span from the thumb to the little finger tip) broad, and one span long, with knobs, and a joining of four pieces. 372 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. pieces ; it is two or three inches in breadth, and rises a little above the surface of the stone. Both the border and the stone itself are encircled by a silver band,* broader below than above, and on the two sides, with a considerable swelling below, as if a part of the stone were hidden under it. The lower part of the border is studded with silver nails." "In the south-east corner of the Kaabah, or, as the Arabs call it, Rokn el Yemany, there is another stone about five feet from the ground ; it is one foot and a half in length, and two inches in breadth, placed upright, and of the common Meccah stone. This the people walking round the Kaabah touch only with the right hand ; they do not kiss it.f " On the north side of the Kaabah, just by its door, and close to the wall, is a slight hollow in the ground, lined with marble, and sufficiently large to admit of three per- sons sitting. Here it is thought meritorious to pray : the spot is called El Maajan, and supposed to be where Abraham and his son Ismail kneaded the chalk and mud which they used in building the Kaabah ; and near this Maajan the former is said to have placed the large stone upon which he stood while working at the masonry. On the basis of the Kaabah, just over the Maajan, is an ancient Cufic inscription ; but this I was unable to decipher, and had no opportunity of copying it." " On the west (north-west) side of the Kaabah, about two feet below its summit, is the famous Myzab, or water- which the Karamitah had broken. The stone "was set in a silver band. Its softness and moisture were such, says Ibn Jubair, " that the sinner never would remove his mouth from it, which phenomenon made the Prophet declare it to be the covenant of Allah on earth." * The band is now a massive arch of gold or silver gilt. I found the aperture in which the stone is, one span and three fingers long. f I have frequently seen it kissed by men and women. THE TOMB OF ISMAYL. 373 spout,* through which the rain-water collected on the roof of the building is discharged, so as to fall upon the ground ; it is about four feet in length, and six inches in breadth, as well as I could judge from below, with borders equal in height to its breadth. At the mouth hangs what is called the beard of the Myzab : a gilt board, over which the water flows. This spout was sent hither from Constanti- nople in A. H. 981, and is reported to be of pure gold. The pavement round the Kaabah, below the Myzab, was laid down in a. h. 826, and consists of various colored stones, forming a very handsome specimen of mosaic. There are two large slabs of fine verde antico in the centre, which, according to Makrizi, were sent thither, as presents from Cairo, in a. h. 241. This is the spot where, according to Mohammedan tradition, Ismayl the son of Ibrahim, and his mother Hijirah are buried ; and here it is meritorious for the pilgrim to recite a prayer of two Rikats. On this side is a semicircular wall, the two extremities of which are in a line with the sides of the Kaabah, and distant from it three or four feet, leaving an opening, which leads to the burial- place of Ismayl. The wall bears the name of El Hatym ; and the area which it encloses is called Hedjer, on account of its being separated from the Kaabah : the wall itself also is sometimes so called." " Tradition says that the Kaabah once extended as far as the Hatym, and that this side having fallen down just at the time of the Hadj, the expenses of repairing it were demanded from the pilgrims, under a pretence that the revenues of government were not acquired in a maimer sufficiently pure to admit of their application towards a pur- * Generally called Myzab el Rahmah (of mercy). It carries rain from tlie roof, and discharges it upon Ishmael's grave, where pilgrims stand fighting to catch it. In El Edrisi's time it was of wood ; now it is said to be gold, but it looks very dingy. 374 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. pose SO sacred. The sum, however, obtained proved very inadequate ; all that could be done, therefore, was to raise a wall, which marked the space formerly occupied by the Kaabah. This tradition, although current among the Meto- wefs (cicerones), is at variance with history; which declares that the Hedjer was built by the Beni Koreish, who con- tracted the dimensions of the Kaabah : that it was united to the building by Hadjadj, and again separated from it by Ibn Zebeyr. It is asserted by Fasy, that a part of the Hedjer as it now stands was never comprehended within the Kaabah. The law regards it as a portion of the Kaabah, inasmuch as it is esteemed equally meritorious to pray in the Hedjer as in the Kaabah itself; and the pil- grims who have not an opportunity of entering the latter are permitted to affirm upon oath that they have prayed in the Kaabah, although they have only prostrated themselves within the enclosure of the Hatym. The wall is built of solid stone, about five feet in height, and four in thickness, cased all over with white marble, and inscribed with prayers and invoca- tions neatly sculptured upon the stone in modern characters. These and the casing, are the work of El Ghoury, the Egyptian sultan, in a. h. 91 7. The walk round the Kaabah is performed on the outside of the wall — the nearer to it the better." " Round the Kaabah is a good pavement of marble* about eight inches below the level of the great square ; it was laid in a. h. 981, by order of the sultan, and describes an iiTegular oval; it is surrounded by thirty-two slender gilt pillars, or rather poles, between every two of which are suspended seven glass lamps, always lighted after sunset.f * It is a fine, close, grey granite, polished like glass by the feet of the faithful ; the walk is called El Mataf, or the place of circumam- bulation. f These are now iron posts, very numerous, supporting cross rods, and of tolerably elegant shape. In Ali Bey's time there were " trente- THE FOUK STATIONS FOR PRAYERS. 375 Beyond the poles is a second pavement, about eight paces broad, somewhat elevated above the first, but of coarser work ; then another six inches higher, and eighteen paces broad, upon which stand several small buildings ; beyond this is the gravelled ground ; so that two broad steps may be said to lead from the square down to the Kaabah. The small buildings just mentioned which surround the Kaabah are the five Makams, with the well of Zem Zem, the arch called Bab es Salam, and the Mambar." " Opposite the four sides of the Kaabah stand four other small buildings, where the Imaums of the orthodox Moham- medan sects, the Hanefy, Shafey, Hanbaly, and Maleky take their station, and guide the congregation in their prayers. The Makam el Maleky on the south, and that of Hanbaly opposite the Black Stone, are small pavilions open on all sides, and supported by four slender pillars, with a light sloping roof, terminating in a point, exactly in the style of Indian pagodas. The Makam el Hanefy, which is the largest, being fifteen paces by eight, is open on all sides, and supported by twelve small pillars ; it has an upper story, also open, where the Mueddin who calls to prayers takes his stand. This was first built in a. h. 923, by Sultan Selim I. ; it was afterwards rebuilt by Khoshgeldy, governor of Djidda, in 947 ; but all the four Makams, as they now stand, were built in A. H. 1074. The Makam-es'-Shafey is over the well Zem Zem, to which it serves as an upper chamber.* une colonnes minces en piliers en bronze." Some native works say thirty-three, including two marble columns. Between each two hang several white or green glass globe-lamps, with wicks and oil floating on water ; their light is faint and dismal. The whole of the lamps in the Harara is said to be more than 1000, yet they serve but to " make darkness vi'^ible." * Only the Muezzin takes his stand here, and the Shafeis pray behind their Imam on the pavement round the Kaabah, between the 376 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. " IN'ear their respective Makams the adherents of the four dijOferent sects seat themselves for prayers. During my stay at Meccah the Hanefys always began their prayer first ; but, according to Muselman custom, the Shafeys should pray first in the mosque ; then the Hamefys, Malekys, and Hanbalys. The prayer of the Maghreb is an exception, which they are all enjoined to utter together.* The Makam el Hanbaly is the place where the ofiicers of government and other great people are seated during prayers ; here the Pacha and the sherif are placed, and in their absence the eunuchs of the temple. These fill the space under this Makam in front, and behind it the female Hadjys who visit the temple have their places assigned, to which they repair principally for the two evening prayers, few of them being seen in the mosque at the three other daily prayers : they also perform the Towaf, or walk round the Kaabah, but generally at night, though it is not uncom- mon to see them walking in the day-time among the men." " The present building which encloses Zem Zem stands close by the Makam Hanbaly, and was erected in a. h. 1072 : it is of a square shape, and of massive construction, with an corner of the well Zem Zem, and the Makam Ibrahim. This place is forty cubits from the Kaabah, that is to say, eight cubits nearer than the northern and southern " Makams." Thus the pavement forms an irregu- lar oval ring round the house, * In Burckhardt's time the schools prayed according to the seniority of their founders, and they uttered the Azan of El Maghrib together, because that is a peculiarly delicate hour, which easily passes by unnoticed. In the twelfth century, at all times but the evening, the Shafei began, then came the Maliki and Hanbali simultaneously, and, lastly, the Hauafi. Now the Shaykh el Muezzin begins the call, which is taken up by the others. He is a Hanafi ; as indeed are all the principal people at Meccah, only a few wild Sherifs of the hills being ShafeL EL KOBBATETN. 3 77 entrance to the north, opening into the room which contains the well. This room is beautifully ornamented with marbles of various colors ; and adjoining to it, but having a separate door, is a small room with a stone reservoir, which is always full of Zem Zem water. This the Hadjys get to drink by passing theii' hand with a cup through an iron grated open- ing, which serves as a window, into the reservoir, without entering the room. The mouth of the well is surrounded by a wall five feet in height and about ten feet in diameter. Upon this the people stand who draw up the water in lea- thern buckets, an iron railing being so placed as to prevent their falling in. In El Fasy's time there were eight marble basins in this room, for the purpose of ablution. " On the north-east (south-east) side of Zem Zem stand two small buildings, one behind the other, called El Kob- bateyn; they are covered by domes painted in the same manner as the mosque, and in them are kept water-jars, lamps, carpets, mats, brooms, and other articles used in the very mosque. These two ugly buildings are injurious to the interior appearance of the building, their heavy forms and structure being very disadvantageously contrasted with the light and airy shape of the Makams. I heard some Hadjys from Greece, men of better taste than the Arabs, express their regret that the Kobbateyn should be allowed to disfigure the mosque. They were built by Khoshgeldy, governor of Djidda a. h. 947; one is called Kobbert el Abbas, from having been placed on the site of a small tank said to have been formed by Abbas, the uncle of Mohammed." "A few paces west (north-west) of Zem Zem, and directly opposite to the door of the Kaabah, stands a ladder or staircase, which is moved up to the wall of the Kaabah on days when that building is opened, and by which the visitors ascend to the door. It is of wood, with some carved 378 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. ornaments, moves on low wheels, and is sufficiently broad to admit of four persons ascending abreast. The first ladder was sent hither from Cairo in a. h. 818 by Moyaed Abou el ISTaser, king of Egypt." " In the same line with the ladder and close by it stands a lightly built insulated and cii'cular arch, about fifteen feet wide, and eighteen feet high, called Bab-es-Salam, which must not be confounded with the great gate of the mosque, bearing the same name. Those who enter the Bait Ullah for the first time are enjoined to do so by the outer and inner Bab-es-Salam ; in passing under the latter they are to exclaim, ' O God, may it be a happy entrance.' I do not know by whom this arch was built, but it appears to be modern." " Nearly in front of the Bab-es-Salam and nearer than the Kaabah than any of the other surrounding buildings, stands the Makam Ibrahim.* This is a small building sup- ported by six pillars about eight feet high, four of which are surrounded from top to bottom by a fine iron railing, while they leave the space beyond the two hind pillars open; within the railing is a frame about five feet square, termi- nating in a pyramidal top, and said to contain the sacred stone upon which Ibrahim stood when he built the Kaabah, and w^hich with the help of his son Ismayl he had removed from hence to the place called Maajen, already mentioned. The stone is said to have yielded under the weight of the Patriarch, and to preserve the impression of his foot still visible upon it ; but no hadjy has ever seen it,f as the fii-ame * " The (praying) place of Abraham." Readers will remember that the Mecean Mosque is peculiarly connected with Ibrahim, whom Mos" lems prefer to all prophets except Mohammed. f This I believe to be incorrect. I was asked five dollars for per- mission to enter ; but the sum was too high for my finances. Learned men told me that the stone shows the impress of two feet, especially the THE MAMBAR, OR PULPIT OF THE MOSQUE. 379 is always entirely covered with a brocade of red silk richly embroidered. Persons are constantly seen before the railing invoking the good offices of Ibrahim ; and a short prayer must be uttered by the side of the Makam after the walk round the Kaabah is completed. In this part of the area the Khalif Soleyman built a fine reservoir in a.h. 97, which was filled from a spring east of Arafat ; but the Mekkawys destroyed it after his death, on the pretence that the water of Zem Zem was preferable." " On the side of Makam Ibrahim, facing the middle part of the front of the Kaabah, stands the Mambar, or pulpit of the mosque ; it is elegantly formed of fine white marble, with many sculptured ornaments ; and was sent as a present to the mosque in a. h. 969 by Sultan Soleyman Ibn Selym. A straight, narrow staircase leads up to the post of the Khatyb, or preacher, which is surmounted by a gilt polygonal pointed steeple, resembling an obelisk. Here a sermon is preached on Fridays and on certain festi- vals. These, like the Friday sermons of all mosques in the Mohammedan countries, are usually of the same turn, with some slight alterations upon extraordinary occasions." " I have now described all the buildings within the in- closure of the temple." " The gates of the mosque are nineteen in number, and are distributed about it without any order or symmetry." Burckhardt's description of the gates is short and im- perfect. On the eastern side of the mosque there are four principal entrances, seven on the southern side, three in the western, and five in the northern wall. The eastern gates are the Greater Bab el Salam, through which the pilgrim enters the mosque ; it is close to big toes, and devout pilgrims fill the cavities with water, which they rub over their eyes and faces. 880 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. the north-east angle. Next to it the Lesser Bab el Salam, with two small arches ; thirdly, the Bab el Nabi, where the Prophet used to pass through from Khadijah's house ; and, lastly, near the south-east corner, the Bab Ali, or of the Beni Hashem, opening upon the street between Safa and Marwah. Beyond the north-eastern corner, in the northern wall, is the Bab Duraybah, a small entrance with one arch. Next to it, almost fronting the Kaabah, is the grand adit, " Bab el Ziyadah," also known as Bab el Nadwah. Here the colonnade, projecting far beyond the normal line, forms a small square or hall supported by pillars, and a false colonnade of sixty-one columns leads to the true cloister of the mosque. This portion of the building being cool and shady, is crowded by the poor, the diseased, and the dying, during divine worship, and at other times by idlers, schoolboys, and merchants. Passing through three exter- nal arches, pilgrims descend by a flight of steps into the hall, where they deposit their slippers, it not being con- sidered decorous to hold them when circumambulating the Kaabah.* A broad pavement, in the shape of an irreguLr triangle, whose base is the cloister, leads to the circuit of the house. In the western wall are three entrances. The single- arched gate nearest to the north angle is called Bab Beni Saham or Bab el Umrah, because pilgrims pass through it to the Tanim and the ceremony El Umrah (Little Pilgrim- age). In the centre of the wall is the Bab Ibrahim, or Bab el Khayyatin (the Tailor's Gate) ; a single arch leading into a large projecting square, hke that of the Ziyadah en- * An old pair of slippers is here what the " shocking bad hat " is at a crowded house in Europe, a self-preserver. Burckhardt lost three pair. I, more fortunate or leas wealthy, only one. THE WESTERN GATES OF THE MOSQUE. 381 trance, but somewhat smaller. N'ear the south-west cor- ner is a double-arched adit, the Bab el Widaa (" of Farewell ") : hence departing pilgrims issue forth from the temple. At the western end of the southern wall is the two- arched Bab Umm Hani, so called after the lady's residence, when included in the mosque. Next to it is a similar building, which derives its name from the large college " Madrasat Ujlan ;" some call it Bab el Sherif, because it is opposite one of the palaces. After which, and also pierced with two arches, is the Bab el Jiyad, the gate leading to Jebel Jiyad. The next is also double arched, and called the Bab el Mujahid or el Rahmah (" of Mercy"). Nearly opposite the Kaabah, and connected with the pavement by a raised line of stone, is the Bab el Safa, through which pilgrims now issue to perform the ceremony " El Sai 'j " it is a small and unconspicuous erection. Next to it is the Bab el Baglah with two arches, and close to the south-east angle of the mosque the Bab Yunus, alias Bab Bazan, alias Bab el Zayt, alias Bab el Asharah, " of the ten," because a favorite with the ten first Sahabah, or Companions of the Prophet. " Most of these gates," says Burckhardt, " have high pointed arches ; but a few round arches are seen among them, which, like all arches of this kind in the Hejar, are nearly semicircular. They are with- out ornament, except the inscription on the exterior, which commemorates the name of the builder, and they are all posterior in date to the fourteenth century. As each gate consists of two or three arches, or divisions, separated by narrow walls, these divisions are counted in the enu- meration of the gates leading into the Kaabah, and they make up the number thirty-nine. There being no doors to the gates, the mosque is consequently open at all times. I have crossed at every hour of the night, and 882 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. always found people there, either at prayers or walking about."* " The outside walls of the mosques are those of the houses which surround it on all sides. These houses be- longed originally to the mosque ; the greater part are now the property of individuals. They are let out to the lichest Hadjys, at very high prices, as much as 500 piastres being given during the pilgrimage for a good apartment with windows opening into the mosque. Windows have in consequence been opened in many parts of the walls on a level with the street, and above that of the floor of the colonnades. Hadjys living in these apartments are allowed to perform the Friday's prayers at home ; because, having the Kaabah in view from the windows, they are supposed to be in the mosque itself, and to join in prayer those assem- bled within the temple. Upon a level with the ground floor of the colonnades and opening into them are small apartments formed in the walls, having the appearance of dungeons ; these have remained the property of the mosque while the houses above them belong to private individuals. They are let out to watermen, who deposit in them the Zem Zem jars, or to less opulent Hadjys who wish to live in the mosque. Some of the surrounding houses still belong to the mosque, and were originally intended for public schools, as their name of Medresa implies ; they are now all let out to Hadjys." " The exterior of the mosque is adorned with seven minarets irregularly distributed. They are quadrangular or round steeples, in no way differing from other minarets. The entrance to them is from the different buildings round the mosque, which they adjoin. A beautiful view of the * The Meccans love to boast that at no hour of the day or night ia the Kaabah ever seen without a devotee to perform " Tawaf.*' HISTORY OF THE KAABAH. 383 busy crowd below is attained by ascending the most northern one."* Having described at length the establishment attached to the mosque of El Medinah, I spare my readers a detailed account of the crowd of idlers that hang about the Meccan temple. The Naib el Haram, or vice-intendant, is one Say- yid Ali, said to be of Indian extraction ; he is superior to all the attendants. There are about eighty eunuchs, whose chief, Serur Agha, was a slave of Mohammed Ali Pacha. Their pay varies from 100 to 1000 piastres per mensem ; it is, however, inferior to the Medinah salaries. The Imams, Muezzins, Khatibs, Zem Zemis, &c., lace with water. Our excursion employed us longer than the description requires, — nine o'clock had struck before we reached the plain. All were in a state of excitement. Guns fired furi- ously. Horsemen and camel-riders galloped about without apparent object. Even the women and the children stcH)d and walked, too restless even to sleep. Arrived at the tent, THE BEST BEEED OP ARAB HORSES AT NEJD. 425 I was unpleasantly surprised to find a new visitor in an old acquaintance, Ali ibn Ya Sin the Zem Zemi. He had lost his mule, and, wandering in search of its keeper, he unfor- tunately feU in with our party. I had solid reasons to regret the mishap — he was far too curious and observant to suit my tastes. On the present occasion he, being uncomfortable, made us equally so. Accustomed to all the terrible "neat- ness" of an elderly damsel in Great Britain, a few specks of dirt upon the rugs, and half-a-dozen bits of cinder upon the ground, sufficed to give him attacks of " nerves." That day we breakfasted late, for night must come before we could eat again. After midday prayer we performed ablutions, some the greater, others the less, in preparation for the " wukuf," or standing. From noon onwards the hum and murmur of the multitude increased, and people were SQen swarming about in all directions. A second discharge of cannon (about p. m. 3 15) an- nounced the approach of El Asr, the afternoon prayer, and almost immediately we heard the ISTaubat, or band, preceding the Sherif's procession as he wended his way towards the mountain. Fortunately my tent was pitched close to the road, so that without trouble I had a perfect view of the scene. First came a cloud of mace-bearers, who, as usual on such occasions, cleared the path with scant ceremony. They were followed by the horsemen of the desert, wielding long and tufted spears. Immediately behind them came the led horses of the Sherif, upon which I fixed a curious eye. All were highly bred, and one, a brown Nejdi with black points, struck me as the perfection of an Arab. They were small, and apparently of the northern race.* Of their old * In Solomon's time the Egyptian horse cost 150 silver shekels, which, if the greater shekel be meant, would still be about the average price, 181. Abbas, the late Pacha, did his best to buy first-rate Arab stallions: on one occasion he sent a mission to El Medinah for Ihe sole 426 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. crimson-velvet caparisons the less said the better ; no little Indian Nawab would show aught so shabby on state occa- sions. After the chargers came a band of black slaves on foot, bearing huge matchlocks ; and immediately preceded by three green and two red flags, was the Sherif, riding in front of his family and courtiers. The prince, habited in a simple white Ihram, and bareheaded, mounted a mule ; the only sign of his rank was a large green and gold-embroi- dered umbrella, held over him by a slave. The rear was brought up by another troop of Bedouins on horses and camels. Behind this procession were the tents, whose doors and walls were scarcely visible for the crowd ; and the pic- turesque background was the granite hill covered wherever standing-room was to be found with white-robed pilgrims shouting Labbayks and waving the skirts of their glistening garments violently over their heads. Slowly the procession advanced towards the hill. Ex- actly at the hour El Asr the two Mahmals had taken their purpose of fetching a rare work on farriery. Yet it is doubted whether he ever had a first-rate Nejdi. A Bedouin sent to Cairo by one of the chiefs of Nejd, being shown by the viceroy's order over the stables, on being asked his opinion of the blood, replied bluntly, to the great man's disgust, that they did not contain a single thoroughbred. He added an apology on the part of his laird for the animals he had brought from Arabia, saying, that neither Sultan nor shaykh could procure colts of the best strain. For none of these horses would a staunch admirer of the long-legged monster called in England a thorough-bred give twenty pounds. They are mere " rats," short and stunted, ragged and fleshless, with rough coats and a slouching walk. But the experienced glance notes at once the fine snake-like head, ears like reeds, wide and projecting nostrils, large eyes, fiery and soft alternately, broad brow, deep base of skull, wide chest, crooked tail, limbs padded with muscle, and long elastic pasterns. And the animal put out to speed soon displays the wondrous force of blood. In fact, when buying Arabs, there are only three things to be'considered — ^blood, blood, and again blood. A PRETTY MECCAN. 427 station side by side on a platform in the lower slope. That of Damascus could be distinguished as the narrower and the more ornamented of the pair. The Sherif placed himself with his standard-bearers and retinue a little above the Mahmals, within hearing of the preacher. The pilgrims crowded up to the foot of the mountain ; the loud Labbayks of the Bedouins and Wahhabis fell to a solemn silence, and the waving of white robes ceased — a sign that the preacher had begun the Khutbat el Wakfah. From my tent I could distinguish the form of the old man upon his camel, but the distance was too great for ear to reach. But how came I to be at the tent ? A short confession will explain. They will shrive me who believe in inspired Spenser's lines : — " And eyery spirit, as it is more pure, And hath in it the more of heavenly light. So it the fairer body doth procure To habit in." The evil came of a "fairer body." I had prepared en cachette a slip of paper, and had hid in my Ihram a pencil destined to put down the heads of this rarely heard dis- course. But unhappily that red cashmere shawl was upon my shoulders. Close to us sat a party of fair Meccans, apparently belonging to the higher classes, and one of these I had already several times remarked. She was a tall girl, about eighteen years old, with regular features, a skin somewhat citrine-colored, but soft and clear, symmetrical eyebrows, the most beautiful eyes, and a figure all grace. There was no head thrown back, no straightened neck, no flat shoulders, nor toes turned out — in fact, no elegant bar- barisms ; but the shape was what the Arabs love, — soft, bending, and relaxed, as a woman's figure ought to be. Unhappily she wore, instead of the usual veil, a " Yash- 428 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. ' mak" of transparent muslin, bound round the face; and the chaperone, mother, or duenna, by whose side she stood, was apparently a very unsuspicious or compliant old per- son. Flirtilla fixed a glance of admiration upon my cash- mere. I directed a reply with interest at her eyes. She then, by the usual coquettish gesture, threw back an inch or two of head-veil, disclosing broad bands of jetty hair, crowning a lovely oval. My palpable admiration of the new charm was rewarded by a partial removal of the Yash- mak ; when a dimpled mouth and a rounded chin stood out from the envious muslin. Seeing that my companions were safely employed, I ventured upon the dangerous ground of raising hand to forehead. She smiled almost imperceptibly, and turned away. The pilgrim was in ecstasy. The sermon was then half over. I resolved to stay upon the plain and see what Flirtilla would do. Grace to the cashmere, we came to a good understanding. The next page will record my disappointment : — that evening the pilgrim resumed his soiled cotton cloth, and testily returned the red shawl to the boy Mohammed. The sermon always lasts till near sunset, or about three hours. At first it was spoken amid profound silence. Then loud, scattered " Amins " (Amen) and volleys of Labbayks exploded at uncertain intervals. At last the breeze brought to our ears a purgatorial chorus of cries, sobs, and shrieks. Even my party thought proper to be affected: old Ali rubbed his eyes, which in no case unconnected with dollars could by any amount of straining be made to shed even a crocodile's tear ; and the boy Mohammed wisely his hid face in the skirt of his Rida. Presently the people, exhausted by emotion, began to descend the hill in small parties ; and those below struck their tents and commenced loading their camels, although at least an hour's sermon remained. THE *• HURRY FROM ARAFAT.'* 429 On this occasion, however, all hurry to be foremost, as the race from Arafat is enjoyed by none but the Bedouins. Although we worked with a will, our animals were not ready to move before sunset, when the preacher gave the signal of *' israf," or permission to depart. The pilgrims, " swaying to and fro, Like waves of a great sea, that in mid shock Confound each other, white with foam and fear," rushed down the hill with a Labbayk, sounding like a blast, and took the road to Muna. Then I saw the scene which has given to this part of the ceremonies the name of El Dafa min Arafat, — the " Hurry from Arafat." Every man urged his beast with might and main : it was sunset ; the plain bristled with tent-pegs, litters were crushed, pedes- trians trampled, and camels overthrown : single combats with sticks and other weapons took place ; — here a woman, there a child, and there an animal were lost; briefly, it was a state of chaotic confusion. To my disgust, old Ali insisted upon bestowing his company upon me. He gave over his newly found mule to the boy Mohammed, bidding him take care of the beast, and mounted with me in the shugduf. I had persuaded Shaykh Masud, with a dollar, to keep close in the rear of the pretty Meccan ; and I wanted to sketch the Holy Hill. The Senior began to give orders about the camel — I, coun- ter orders. The camel was halted. I urged it on, old Ali directed it to be stopped. Meanwhile the charming face that smiled at me from the htter grew dimmer and dim- mer; the more I stormed, the less I was listened to — a string of camels crossed our path — I lost sight of the beauty. Then we began to advance. Now my determination to sketch seemed likely to fail before the Zem Zemi's little snake's eye;. After a few minutes' angry search for expe 430 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH, dients, one suggested itself. " Effendi !" said old Ali, " sit quiet ; there is danger here." I tossed about like one suffer- inar from evil conscience or the colic. " Effendi !" shrieked the Senior, " what are you doing ? You will be the death of us." " Wallah !" I replied, with a violent plunge, " it is all your fault ! There ! (another plunge) — put your beard out of the other opening, and Allah will make it easy to us." In the ecstasy of fear my tormentor turned his face, as he was bidden, towards the camel's head. A second halt ensued, when I looked out of the aperture in rear, and made a rough drawing of the Mountain of Mercy. At the Akhshabayn, double lines of camels, bristling with litters, clashed, and gave a shock more noisy than the meeting of torrents. It Avas already dark : no man knew what he was doing. The guns roared their brazen notes, re-echoed far and wide by the voices of the stony hills. A shower of rockets bursting in the air threw into still greater confusion the timorous mob of women and children. At the same time martial music rose from the masses of Nizam, and the stouter-hearted pilgrims were not sparing of their Labbayks, and " Eed kum Mubarak" — may your festival be happy ! After the pass of the two rugged hills, the road widened, and old Ali, who, during the bumping, had been in a silent convulsion of terror, recovered speech and spirits. This change he evidenced by beginning to be troublesome once more. Again I resolved to be his equal. Exclaiming, " My eyes are yellow with hunger !" I seized a pot full of savory meat which the old man had previously stored for supper, and, without further preamble, began to eat it greedily, at the same time ready to shout with laughter at the mumbling and grumbling sounds that proceeded from the darkness of the litter. We were at least three hours on the road before reaching Muzdalifah, and, being fatigued, we A NIGHT OF DISTUEBANCE. 431 resolved to pass the night there. The Mosque was brilliantly illuminated, but my hungry companions apparently thought more of supper and sleep than devotion. Whilst the tent was raised, the Indians prepared our food, boiled our coffee, filled pipes, and spread the rugs. Before sleeping, each man collected for himself seven bits of granite, the size of a small bean. Then, weary with emotion and exertion, all lay down except the boy Mohammed, who preceded us to find encamping ground at Muna. Old Ali, in lending his mule, made the most stringent arrangements with the youth about the exact place and the exact hour of meet- ing — an act of simplicity at which I could not but smile. The night was by no means peaceful or silent. Lines of camels jDassed us every ten minutes, and the shouting of travellers continued till near dawn. Pilgrims ought to have nighted at the Mosque, but, as in Burckhardt's time, so in mine, baggage was considered to be in danger here- abouts, and consequently most of the devotees spent the sermon hours in brooding over their boxes. CHAPTER XXIX. THE CEEEMONIES OF THE DAY OF VICTIMS. At dawn, on Wednesday, 14th Sept., a gun warned us to lose no time ; we arose hurriedly and started up the Batn Muhassir to Muna. By this means we lost at Muzdalifah the "Salat el Eed," or "Festival Prayers," the great solemnity of the Moslem year, performed by all the com- munity at day-break. My companion was so anxious to reach Meccah^ that he would not hear of devotions. About 8 A. M. we entered the village, and looked for the boy Mo- hammed in vain. Old Ali was dreadfully perplexed : a host of high-born Turkish pilgrims were, he said, expecting him ; his mule was missing, — could never appear, — he must be late, — should probably never reach Meccah, — what would be- come of him ? I began by administering admonition to the mind diseased ; but signaUy failing in a cure, amused myself with contemplating the world from my shugduf, leaving the office of directing it to old Ali. Kow he stopped, then he pressed forward ; here he thought he saw Mohammed, there he discovered our tent ; at one time he would " nakh" the camel to await, in patience, his supreme hour ; at another, half mad with nervousness, he would urge the excellent OLD ALI IN ILL-HUMOR. 433 Masud to hopeless inquiries. Finally, by good fortune, we found one of the boy Mohammed's cousins, who led us to an enclosure called Hosh el Uzem, in the southern portion of the Muna Basin, at the base of Mount Sabir.* There we pitched the tent, refreshed ourselves, and awaited the truant's return. Old Ali, failing to disturb my equanimity, attempted, as those who consort with philosophers often will do, to quarrel with me. But, finding no material wherewith to build a dispute in such fragments as " Ah !" — "Hem!" — "Wallah!" he hinted desperate intentions against the boy Mohammed. When, however, the youth appeared, with even more jauntiness of mien than usual, Ali bin Ya Sin lost heart, brushed by him, mounted his mule, and, doubtless cursing us "under his tongue," rode away, frown- ing viciously, with his heels playing" upon the beast's sides. Mohammed had been delayed, he said, by the difficulty of finding asses. We were now to mount for " the throw- ing,"f — as a preliminary to which, we washed " with seven waters" the seven pebbles brought from Muzdalifah, and bound them in our Ihrams. Our first destination was the entrance to the western end of the long line which com- poses the Muna village. We found a swarming crowd in the narrow road opposite the " Jamrat el Akabah,"| or, as it is vulgarly called, the Shaytan el Kabir — the " Great Devil." These names distinguish it from another pillar, the " Wusta," or "central place" (of stoning), built in the middle of Muna, and a third at the eastern end, "El Ula," or the " first place."§ * Even pitching ground here is charged to pilgrims. f Some authorities advise that this rite of " Kamy" be performed on foot. :j: The word " Jamrat" is applied to the place of stoning, as well as to the stones. § These numbers mark the successive spots where the Devil> in the 19 434 A PILQEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. The " Shaytan el Kabir" is a dwarf buttress of rude masonry, about eight feet high by two and a half broad, placed against a rough wall of stones, at the Meccan entrance to Muna. As the ceremony of "Ramy," or Lapidation, must be performed on the first day by all the pilgrims between sunrise and sunset, and as the fiend was malicious enough to appear in a rugged pass, the crowd makes the place dangerous. On one side of the road, which is not forty feet broad, stood a row of shops belong- ing principally to barbers. On the other side is the rugged wall of the pillar, with a chevaux de frise of Bedouins and naked boys. The narrow sjjace was crowded with pilgrims, all struggling like drowning men to approach as near as possible to the Devil ; — it would have been easy to run over the heads of the mass. Amongst them were horsemen with rearing chargers. Bedouins on wild camels, and grandees on mules and asses, with outrunners, were break- ing a way by assault and battery. I had read Ali Bey's self-felicitations upon escaping this place with " only two wounds in the left leg," and had duly provided myself with a hidden dagger. The precaution was not useless. Scarcely had my donkey entered the crowd than he was overthrown by a dromedary, and I found myself under the stamping and roaring beast's stomach. By a judicious use of the knife, I avoided being trampled upon, and lost no time in escaping from a place so ignobly dangerous. Some Moslem travel- lers assert, in proof of the sanctity of the spot, that no Moslem is ever killed here : I was assured by Meccans that accidents are by no means rare. Presently the boy Mohammed fought his way out of the shape of an old Shaykh, appeared to Adam, Abraham, and Ishmael, and was driven back by the simple process taught by Gabriel, of throwing etonefl about the size of a bean. THE CEREMONY OF "THROWING." 435 crowd Avith a bleeding nose. We both sat down upon a bench before a barber's booth, and, schooled by adversity, awaited with patience an opportunity. Finding an opening, we approached within about five cubits of the place, and holding each stone between the thumb and the forefinger* of the right hand, cast it at the pillar, exclaiming, " In the name of Allah, and Allah is Almighty ! (I do this) in hatred of the fiend and to his shame." After which came the Tahlil and the "Sana," or praise to Allah. The seven stones being duly thrown, we retired, and entering the barber's booth, took our places upon one of the earthen benches around it. This was the time to remove the Ihram or pilgrim's garb, and to return to Ihlal, the normal state of El Islam. The barber shaved our heads, f and, after trimming our beards and cutting our nails, made us repeat these words : " I purpose loosening my Ihram according to the practice of the Prophet, whom may Allah bless and preserve ! O Allah, make unto me in every hair, a light, a purity, and a generous reward! In the name of Allah, and Allah is Almighty!" At the conclusion of his labor the barber politely addressed to us a " Naiman" — Pleasure to you ! To which we as ceremoniously replied, " Allah give thee pleasure !" We had no clothes with us, but we could use our cloths to cover our heads and defend our feet from * Some hold the pebble as a schoolboy does a marble, others between the thumb and forefinger extended, others shoot them from the thumb knuckle, and most men consult their own convenience. f The barber removed all my hair. Hanifis shave at least a quarter of the head, Shafeis a few hairs on the right side. The prayer is, as usual, differently worded, some saying, "O Allah, this my forelock is in thy hand, then grant me for every hair a light on Resurrection-day, by thy mercy, O most Merciful of the Merciful !" I remarked that the hair was allowed to lie upon the ground, whereas strict Moslems, with that reverence for man's body — the Temple of the Supreme — which charac- terises their creed, carefully bury it in the earth. 436 A. PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. the fiery sun ; and we now could safely twirl our mustachios and stroke our beards, — placid enjoyments of which we had been deprived by the laws of pilgrimage. After resting about an hour in the booth, which, though crowded with sitting customers, was delightfully cool compared with the burning glare of the road, we mounted our asses, and at eleven a. m. started Meccah- wards. This return from Muna to Meccah is called El Nafr, or the Flight ; we did not fail to keep our asses at speed, with a few halts to refresh ourselves with guggiets of Avater. There was nothing remarkable in the scene: our ride in was a repetition of our ride out. In about half an hour we entered the city, and repaired to the boy Mohammed's house for the purpose of bathing and preparing to enter the Kaabah. Shortly after our arrival, the youth returned home in a state of excitement, exclaiming, "Rise, Effendi! bathe, dress, and follow me !" The Kaabah, though open, would for a time be empty, so that we should escape the crowd. My pilgrim's garb, which had not been removed, was made to look neat and somewhat Indian, and we sallied forth together without loss of time. A crowd had gathered round the Kaabah, and I had no wish to stand bareheaded and barefooted in the midday September sun. At the cry of " Open a path for the Haji who would enter the House," the gazers made way. Two stout Meccans, who stood below the door, raised me in their arms, whilst a third drew me from above into the building. At the entrance I was accosted by several officials, dark-looking Meccans, of whom the darkest and plainest was a youth of the Beni Shaybah family, the true sangre azul of El Hejaz. He held in his hand the huge silver-gilt padlock of the Kaabah, and presently taking his seat upon a kind of wooden press in the left corner of the THE INTERIOR OF THE KA.ABAH. 437 hall, he officially inquired my name, nation, and other par- ticulars. The replies were satisfactory, and the boy Moham- med was authoritatively ordered to conduct me round the building, and recite the prayers. I will not deny that, looking at the windowless walls, the officials at the door, and the crowd below — " And the place death, considering who I was," * my feelings were of the trapped-rat description acknow- ledged by the immortal nephew of his uncle Perez. This did not, however, prevent my carefully observing the scene during our long prayers, and making a rough plan with a pencil upon my white Ihram. Nothing is more simple than the interior of this cele- brated building. The pavement, which is level with the ground, is composed of slabs of fine and various colored marbles, mostly however white, disposed chequer-wise. The walls, as far as they can be seen, are of the same material, but the pieces are irregularly shaped, and many of them are engraved with long inscriptions in the Suls and other modern characters. The upper part of the walls, together with the ceihng, at which it is considered disrespectful to lookjf are covered with handsome red damask, flowered over with gold,J and tucked up about six feet high, so as to * However safe a Christian might he at Meccah, nothing could pre- serve him from the ready knives of enraged fanatics if detected in the House. The very idea is poUutiorf to a Moslem. •(• I do not know the origin of this superstition ; but it would be un- safe for a pilgrim to look fixedly at the Kaabah ceiling. Under the arras I was told is a strong planking of Saj, or Indian teak, and above it a stuccoed Sath, or flat roof. X Exactly realising the description of our English bard : — •' Goodly arras of great majesty, Woven with gold and silk so close and nere, That the rich metal lurked pr vily, As feigning to be hid from envloua eye." 438 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. be removed from pilgrims' hands. The ceiling is upheld by- three cross-beams, whose shapes appear under the arras : they rest upon the eastern and western walls, and are sup^ ported in the centre by three columns about twenty inches in diameter, covered with carved and ornamented aloe wood. At the Iraki corner there is a dwarf door, called Bab el Taubah (of repentance), leading into a narrow pas- sage built for the staircase by which the seryants ascend to the roof: it is never opened except for working purposes. The " Aswad " or " As'ad " corner is occupied by a flat- topped and quadrant-shaped press or safe in which at times is ]Dlaced the key of the Kaabah. Both door and safe are of aloe wood. Between the columns and about nine feet from the ground ran bars of a metal which I could not distinguish, and hanging to them were many lamps said to be of gold. This completes the upholstery work of the hall* Although there were in the Kaabah but a few atten- dants engaged in preparing it for the entrance of pilgrims, the windowless stone walls and the choked-up door made it worse than the Piombi of Venice ; the perspiration trickled in large drops, and I thought with horror what it must be when filled with a mass of jostling and crushing fanatics. Our devotions consisted of a two-prostration prayer, followed by long supplications at the Shami (west) corner, the Iraki (north) angle, the Yemani (south), and, lastly, opposite the southern third of the back wall. These concluded, I returned to the door, where payment is made. The boy Mohammed told me that the total expense would- be seven dollars. At the same time he had been indulging aloud in his favorite rhodomontade, boasting of my great- ness, and had declared me to be an Indian pilgrim, a race still supposed at Meccah to be made of gold.* When seven * These Indians are ever in extremes, paupers or millionaires, and like all Moslems, the more they pay at Meccah the higher become THE FEES ON VISITING THE KAABAH. 439 dollars were tendered they were rejected with instance. Expecting something of the kind, I had been careful to bring no more than eight. Being pulled and interpellated by half a dozen attendants, my course was to look stupid, and to pretend ignorance of the language. Presently the Shaybah youth bethought him of a contrivance. Drawing forth fi-om the press the key of the Kaabah, he partly bared it of its green-silk gold-lettered etui^ and rubbed a golden knob quatrefoil-shaped upon my eyes, in order to brighten them. I submitted to the operation with good grace, and added a dollar — ^my last — ^to the former offering. The Sherif received it with a hopeless glance, and, to my satisfaction, would not put forth his hand to be kissed. Then the attendants began to demand vails. I replied by opening my empty pouch. When let down from the door by the two brawny Meccans I was expected to pay them, and accordingly appointed to meet them at the boy Moham- med's house ; an arrangement to which they grumblingly assented. When delivered from these troubles, I was con- gratulated by my sharp companion thus : " Wallah, Effendi ! thou hast escaped well ! some men have left their skins be- hind." All pilgrims do not enter the Kaabah, and may refuse to do so for religious reasons. Umar Effendi, for instance, their character and religious titles. A Turkish Pacha seldom squanders 6o much money as does a Moslem merchant from the far East. Khuda- baksh, the Lahore shawl-dealer, owned to have spent 800^, in feastings and presents. He appeared to consider that sum a trifle, although, had a debtor carried off one tithe of it, his health would have been seriously affected. * The cover of the key is made, like Abraham's veil, of three colors, red, black, or green. It is of silk, embroidered with golden letters, and upon it are written the Bismillah, the name of the reigning Sultan, " Bag of the key of the holy Kaabah," and a verselet from the "Family of Amran " (Koran, ch. 3). 440 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDnSTAH AND MECCAH. who never missed a pilgrimage, had never seen the interior. Those who tread the hallowed floor are bound, among many other things, never again to walk barefooted, to take up fire with the fingers, or to tell lies. Most really consci- entious men cannot afford the luxuries of slippers, tongs, and truth. Lying to the Oriental is meat and drmk, and the roof that covers him. The Kaabah had been dressed in her new attire when we entered.* The covering, however, instead of being secured at the bottom to the metal rings in the basement, was tucked up by ropes from the roof and depended over each face in two long tongues. It was of a brilliant black, and the Hizam — the zone or golden band running round the upper portion of the building — as well as the Burka (face-veil) were of dazzling brightness. The orio^in of this custom must be souscht in the ancient practice of typifying the church visible by a virgin or bride. The poet Ab el Rahim el Burai, in one of his Gnostic effu- sions, has embodied the idea : — " And Meccah's bride (». e. the Kaabah) appeareth decked "with (miracu- lous) signs." This idea doubtless led to the face-veil, the covering, and the guardianship of eunuchs. The Meccan temple was first dressed as a mark of honor by Tubba the Himyarite when he Judaised. If we accept this fact, which is vouched for by oriental history, we are led to the conclusion that the children of Israel settled at * The use of the feminine pronoun is explained below. When un- clothed, the Kaabah is called Uryanah (naked), in opposition to its nor- mal state, " Muhramah," or clad in Ihram. In Burckhardt's time the house remained naked for fifteen days; and now the investiture is effected in a few hours. THE KISWAH. 441 Meccah had connected the temple with their own faith, and as a corollary, that the prophet of El Islam introduced their apocryphal traditions into his creed. The pagan Arabs did not remove the coverings : the old and torn Kiswah was covered with a new cloth, and the weight threatened to crush the buildinof. From the time of Kusav, the Kaabah was veiled by subscription, till Abu Rabiat el Mughayrah bin Abdullah, who having acquired great wealth by commerce, offered to provide the Kiswah on alternate years, and thereby gained the name of El Adl. The Prophet preferred a covering of fine Yemen cloth, and du'ected the expense to be defrayed by the Bait el Mai, or public treasury. Umar chose Egyptian linen, ordering the Kiswah to be renewed every year, and the old covering to be distributed among the pilgrims. In the reign of Usman the Kaabah was twice clothed, in winter and summer. For the former season it received a Kamis, or Tobe (shirt of brocade), with an Izar, or veil ; for the latter a suit of fine linen. Muawiyah at first supplied linen and brocade ; he afterwards exchanged the former for striped Yemen stuff, and ordered Shaybah bin Usman to strip the Kaabah, and perfume the walls with Khaluk. Shaybah divided the old Kiswah among the pilgrims, and Abdullah bin Abbas did not object to this distribution.* The Caliph Maamum (9th century) ordered the dress to be changed three times a year. In his day it was red brocade on the 10th Muharram; fine linen on the 1st Rajab; and white brocade on the 1st Shawwal. At last he was in- formed that the veil applied on the 10th of Muharram was * Ayisha also, -vrhen Shaybah proposed to bury the old Kiswah, that it might not be worn by the impui'e, directed him to sell it, and to dis- tribute the proceeds to the poor. The Meccans stUl follow the first half, but neglect the other part of the order given by the " Mother of the Moslems." To the present day they continue to sell it. 19* •it 2 A PILGKIMAGB TO EL MEDINAH AlfD MECCAH. too closely followed by the red brocade in the next month, and that it required renewing on the 1st of Shawwal. This he ordered to be done. El Mutawakkil (9th century), when informed that the dress was spoiled by pilgrims, at first ordered two to be given, and the brocade shirt to be let down as far as the pavement ; at last he sent a new veil every two months. During the Caliphat of the Abassides this investiture came to signify sovereignty in El Hejaz, which passed alternately from Baghdad to Egypt and Yemen. When the Holy Land fell under the power of the Usmanli, Sultan Selim ordered the Kiswah to be black, and his son. Sultan Sulayman the magnificent (10th century), devoted considerable sums to the purpose. In El Idrisi's time (12th century) the Kiswah was composed of black sUk, and renewed every year by the Caliph of Baghdad. Ibn Jubair writes that it was green and gold. The Kiswah remained with Egypt when Sultan Kalaun (13th century) conveyed the rents of two villages, " Baysus" and " Sind- bus," to the expense of providing an outer black and inner red curtain for the Kaabah, and hangings for the Prophet's tomb at El Medinah. The Kiswah was afterwards renewed at the accession of each Sultan. And the Wahhabi, during the first year of their conquest, covered the Kaabah with a red Kiswah of the same stuff as the fine Arabian Aba or cloak, and made at El Hasa. The Kiswah is now worked at a cotton manufactory called El Khurunfish, of the Tunm Bab el Shaariyah, Cairo. It is made by a hereditary family, called the Bait el Sadi, and, as the specimen in my possession proves, it is a coarse tissue of silk and cotton mixed. The Kiswah is composed of eight pieces — two for each face of the Kaabah — the seams being concealed by the Hizam, a broad band, which at a distance looks like gold ; it is lined with white calico, and supphed with cotton ropes. Anciently it is said all THE BOY Mohammed's mother. 443 the Koran was interwoven into it. Now, it is inscribed, " Verily, the first of houses founded for mankind (to wor- ship in) is that at Bekkah ; blessed and a direction to all creatures ; " together with seven chapters, namely, the Cave, Mariam, the Family of Amran, Repentance, T. H. with Y. S. and Tabarak. The character is that called Tu- mar, the largest style of Eastern caUigraphy, legible from a considerable distance. The Hizam is a band about two feet broad, and surrounding the Kaabah at two-thirds of its height. It is divided into four pieces, which are sewn toge- ther. On the first and second is inscribed the " Throne verselet," and on the third and fourth the titles of the reigning Sultan. These inscriptions are, Hke the Burka, or door curtain, gold worked into red silk, by the Bait el Sadi, When the Kiswah is ready at Khurunfish, it is carried in procession to the Mosque El Hasanayn, where it is lined, sewn, and prepared for the journey. After quitting the Kaabah, I returned home exhausted, and washed with henna and warm water, to mitigate the pain of the sun-scalds upon my arms, shoulders, and breast. The house was empty, all the Turkish pilgrims being still at Muna, and the old lady received me with peculiar atten- tion. I was ushered into an upper room, whose teak wain- scotings, covered with Cufic and other inscriptions, large carpets, and ample diwans, still showed a ragged splendor. The family had " seen better days," the Sherif Ghafib having confiscated three of its houses ; but it is still proud, and cannot merge the past into the present. In the " drawing- room," which the Turkish colonel occupied when at Mec- cah, the Kabirah suppHed me with a pipe, coffee, cold water, and breakfast. I won her heart by praising the graceless boy Mohammed ; like all mothers, she dearly loved the scamp of the family. When he entered, and saw his maternal parent standing near me, with only the end of 444 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MEOCAH. her veil drawn over her mouth, he began to scold her with divers insinuations. " Soon thou wilt sit amongst the men in the hall ! " he exclaimed. " O, my son," rejoined the Kabirah, " fear Allah, thy mother is in years ! " — and truly she was so, being at least fifty. " A-a-h ! " sneered the youth, who had formed, as boys of the world must do, or appear to do, a very low estimate of the sex. The old lady understood the drift of the exclamation, and departed with a half-laughing " may Allah disappoint thee ! " She soon, however, returned, bringing me water for ablution ; and having heard that I had not yet sacrificed a sheep at Muna, enjoined me to return and perform without delay that important rite. After resuming our laical toilette, and dressing gaily for the great festival, we mounted our asses about the cool of the afternoon, and returning to Muna, found the tent full of visitors. We sat down, and chatted together for an hour ; and I afterwards learned from the boy Mohammed, that all had pronounced me to be an " Ajemi." After their departure we debated about the victim, which is only a Sunnat, or Practice of the Prophet. It is generally sacri- ficed immediately after the first lapidation, and we had already been guilty of delay. Under these circumstances, and considering the meagre condition of my purse, I would not buy a sheep, but contented myself with watching my neighbors. They gave themselves great trouble, especially a large party of Indians pitched near us, to buy the victim cheap ; but the Bedouins were not less acute, and he was happy who paid less than a dollar and a quarter. Some preferred contributing to buy a lean ox. None but the Sherif and the principal dignitaries slaughtered camels. The pilgrims dragged their victims to a smooth rock near the Akabah, above which stands a small open pavilion, whose sides, red with fresh blood, showed that the prince THE BASIN OF MTNA. 445 and his attendants had been busy at sacrifice. Others stood before their tents, and, directing the victim's face towards the Kaabah, cut its throat, ejaculating " Bismil- lah! AUahu Akbar!" The boy Mohammed sneeringly directed my attention to the Indians, who, being a mild race, had hired an Arab butcher to do the deed of blood ; and he aroused all Shaykh Nur's ire by his taunting com- ments upon the chicken-heartedness of the men of Hind. It is considered a meritorious act to give away the victim without eating any portion of its flesh. Parties of Takruri might be seen, sitting vulture-like, contemplating the sheep and goats ; and no sooner was the signal given, than they fell upon the bodies, and cut them up without removing them. The surface of the valley soon came to resemble the dirtiest slaughter-house, and my prescient soul drew bad auguries for the future. We had spent a sultry afternoon in the basin of Muna, which is not unlike a volcanic crater. Towards night the occasional pufls of simoom ceased, and through the air of deadly stillness a mass of purple nunbus, bisected by a thin grey Hne of mist-cloud, rolled down upon us fi'om the Taif hills. When darkness gave the signal, most of the pilgrims pressed towards the square in front of the Muna mosque, to enjoy the pyrotechnics and the discharge of cannon. But during the spectacle came on a windy storm, whose light- nings, flashing their fire from pole to pole, paled the rockets, and whose thunderings, re-echoed by the rocky hills, drowned the puny artillery of man. We were disap- pointed in our hopes of rain. A few huge drops pattered upon the plain and sank into its thirsty entrails ; all the rest was thunder and lightning, dust-clouds and whirlwind. CHAPTER XXX. THE DAYS OF DRYING FLESH. All was dull after the excitement of the Great Festival. The heat of the night succeeding rendered every effort to sleep abortive ; and as our little camp required a guard in a place so celebrated for plunderers, I spent the great part of the time sitting in the clear pure moonlight. After midnight* we again repaired to the Devils, and, beginning with the Ula, or first pillar, at the eastern extre- mity of Muna, threw at each 7 stones (making a total of 21), with the ceremonies before described. On Thursday we arose before dawn, and prepared with a light breakfast for the fatigues of a climbing walk. After half an hour spent in hopping from boulder to boulder, we arrived at a place situated on the lower declivity of Jebel * It is not safe to perform this ceremony at an early hour, although the ritual forbids it being deferred after sunset. A crowd of women, however, assembled at the Devils in the earlier part of the 1 1th night (our 10th) ; and these dames, despite the oriental modesty of face-veils, attack a stranger with hands and stones as heartily as English hop-ga- therers hasten to duck the Acteon who falls in their way. Hence, popular usage allows stones to be thrown by the men until the morning prayers of the 11th Zul Hijjah. THE HEJAZI APES. 447 Sabir, the nortliern wall of the Muna basin. Here is the Majarr el Kabsh, "the Draggigg-place of the Ram;" a small whitewashed square, divided into two compartments. In the N.E. corner is a block of granite, in which a huge gash, several inches broad, some feet deep, and completely splitting the stone in knife-shape, notes the spot where Ibrahim's blade fell when the archangel Gabriel forbade him to slay Ismail his son. We descended by a flight of steps, and under the stifling ledge of rock found mats and praying rugs, which, at this early hour, were not over crowded. We followed the example of the patriarchs, and prayed a two-prostration prayer in each of the enclosures. After distributing the usual gratification, we left the place, and proceeded to mount the hill, in hope of seeing some of the apes said still to haunt the heights. These animals are supposed by the Meccans to have been Jews, thus trans- formed for having broken the Sabbath by hunting. They abound in the elevated regions about Arafat and Taif, where they are caught by mixing the juice of the asclepias and nar- cotics with dates and other sweet bait. The Hejazi ape is a hideous cynocephalus, with small eyes placed close together, and almost hidden by a disproportionate snout ; a greenish- brown coat, long arms, and a stern of lively pink, like fresh meat. They are docile, and are said to be fond of spirituous liquors, and to display an inordinate affection for women. El Masud tells about them a variety of anecdotes. According to him, their principal use in Hind and Chin was to protect kings from poison by eating suspected dishes. The Be- douins have many tales concerning them. It is universally believed that they catch and kill kites by exposing the pink portion of their persons and concealing the rest : the bird pounces upon what appears to be raw meat, and presently finds himself viciously plucked alive. Throughout Arabia an old story is told of them. A merchant was once plun- 448 A PELGBIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. dered during . his absence by a troop of these apes : they tore open his bales, and charmed with the scarlet hue of the tarbushes began applying those articles of dress to uses quite opposite to their normal purpose. The merchant was in despair, when his slave offered for a consideration to re- cover the goods. Placing himself in front, like a fugleman to the ape-company, he went through a variety of manoeu- vres with a tarbush, and concluded with throwing it far away. The recruits carefully imitated him, and the drill concluded with his firing a shot : the plunderers decamped and the caps were regained. Failmg to see any apes, we retired to the tent ere the sun waxed hot, in anticipation of a terrible day. Nor were we far wrong. In addition to the heat, we had swarms of flies, and the blood-stained earth began to reek with noisome vapors. Nought moved in the air except kites and vul- tures, speckling the deep blue sky : the denizens of earth seemed paralysed by the sun. I spent the time between breakfast and nightfall lying half-dressed upon a mat, mov- ing round the tent-pole to escape the glare, and watching my numerous neighbors, male and female. The Indians were particularly kind, filling my pipe, offering cooled water, and performing similar little offices. I repaid them with a supply of provisions, which, at Muna market-prices, these unfortunates could ill-afford. When the moon arose the boy Mohammed and I walk- ed out into the town, performed our second day's lapida- tion, and visited the coffee-houses. The shops were closed early, but business was transacted in places of public re- sort till midnight. "We entered the houses of numerous acquaintances, who accosted my companion, and were hos- pitably welcomed with pipes and coffee. The first question always was "Who is this pilgrim?" and more than once the reply, " An Afghan," elicited the language of my own BEDOUIN DANCING. 449 country, which I could no longer speak. Of this phenome- non, however, nothing was thought : many Afglians settled in India know not a word of Pushtu, and even above the Passes many of the townspeople are imperfectly acquainted with it. The Meccans, in consequence of their extensive intercourse with strangers and habits of travelling, are ad- mirable conversational linguists. They speak Arabic re- markably well, and with a volubility surpassing the most lively of our continental nations. Persian, Turkish, and Hindostani are generally known ; and the Mutawwifs, who devote themselves to particular races of pilgrims, soon be- come masters of the language. Returning homewards, we were called to a spot by the clapping of hands and the loud sound of song. We found a crowd of Bedouins surrounding a group engaged in their favorite occupation of dancing. The performance is wild in the extreme, resembling rather the hopping of bears than the inspirations of Terpsichore. The bystanders joined in the song ; an interminable recitative, as usual in the minor key, and as Orientals are admirable timists, it sounded like one voice. The refrain appeared to be — "L4Yayha! LdYayhdl" to which no one could assign a meaning. At other times they sang something intelligible. The style of the saltation, called Rufayhah, rivalled the song. The dancers raised both arms high above their heads, brandishing a dagger, pistol, or some other small weapon. They followed each other by hops, on one or both feet, sometimes indulging in the most demented leaps ; whilst the bystanders clapped with their palms a more enlivening mea- sure. This I was told is especially their war-dance. They have other forms, which my eyes were not fated to see. 450 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. Amongst the Bedouins of El Hejaz, unlike the Somali and other African races, the sexes never mingle : the girls may dance together, but it would be disgraceful to perform in the company of men. After so much excitement we retired to rest, and slept soundly. On Friday, the 12th Zu'l Hijjah, the camels appeared, according to order, at early dawn, and they were loaded with little delay. We were anxious to enter Meccah m time for the sermon, and I for one was eager to escape the now pestilential air of Muna. Literally, the land stank. Five or six thousand animals had been slain and cut up in this Devil's Punch-bowl. I leave the reader to imagine the rest. The evil might be avoided by building "abattoirs," or, more easily still, by digging long trenches, or by ordering all pilgrims, under pain of mulct, to sacrifice in the same place. Un- happily, the spirit of El Islam is opposed to these pre- cautions of common sense. " Inshallah" and " Kismat" take the place of prevention and cure. And at Meccah, the head-quarters of the faith, a desolating attack of cho- lera is preferred to the impiety of " flying in the face of Providence," and the folly of endeavoring to avert inevitable decrees. Mounting our camels, and led by Masud, we entered Muna by the eastern end, and from the litter threw the remaining twenty-one stones. I could now see the principal Imes of shops, and, having been led to expect a grand display of merchandise, was surprised to find only mat-booths and sh^ds, stocked chiefly with provisions. The exit from Muna Was crowded, for many, like ourselves, had fled from the revolting scene. I could not think without pity of those whom religious scruples detained another day and a half in this foul spot. THE SERMON AT MECCAH. 451 After entering Meccah we bathed, and when the noon drew nigh we repaired to the Haram for the purpose of hearing the sermon. Descending to the cloisters below the Bab el Ziyadah, I stood wonderstruck by the scene before me. The vast quadrangle was crowded with worshippers sitting in long rows, and everywhere facing the central black tower : the showy colors of their dresses were not to be surpassed by a garden of the most brilliant flowers, and such diversity of detail would probably not be seen massed together in any other building upon earth. The women, a dull and sombre-looking group, sat apart in their peculiar place. The Pacha stood on the roof of Zem Zem, sur- rounded by guards in Nizam uniform. Where the principal ulema stationed themselves the crowd was thicker ; and in the more auspicious spots nought was to be seen but a pavement of heads and shoulders. Nothing seemed to move but a few dervishes, who, censer in hand, sidled through the rows and received the unsolicited alms of the faithful. Apparently in the midst, and raised above the crowd by the tall, pointed pulpit, whose gilt spire flamed in the sun, sat the preacher, an old man with snowy beard. The style of headdress callei "Taylasan"* covered his turban, which was white as his robes, and a short staff" sup- ported his left hand. Presently he arose, took the staff in his right hand, pronounced a few inaudible words, and sat down again on one of the lower steps, whilst a Muezzin, at the foot of the pulpit, recited the call to sermon. Then the old man stood up and began to preach. As the majestic figure began to exert itself there was a deep silence. Pre- sently a general " Amin" was intoned by the crowd at the conclusion of some long sentence. And at last, towards the * A scarf thrown over the head, with one end brought round under the chiu and passed over the left shoulder, composes the " Taylasau." 452 A PILGEIMAGB TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. end of the sermon, every third or fourth word was followed by the sunultaneous rise and fall of thousands of voices. I have seen the religious ceremonies of many lands, but never — ^nowhere — aught so solemn, so impressive as this spectacle. CHAPTER XXXI. LIFE AT MECCAH, AND THE LITTLE PILGRIMAGE. My few remaining days at Meccah sped pleasantly. Umar Effendi visited me regularly, and arranged to accompany me furtively to Cairo. I had already consulted Mohammed Shiklibbha, — who suddenly appeared at Muna, having drop- ped down from Suez to Jeddah, and reached Meccah in time for pilgrimage, — about the possibility of proceeding east- ward. The honest fellow's eyebrows rose till they almost touched his turban, and he exclaimed in a roaring voice, " Wallah ! Effendi ! thou art surely mad." Every day he brought me news of the different caravans. The Bedouins of El Hejaz were, he said, in a ferment caused by reports of the Holy War, want of money, and rumors of quarrels between the Sherif and the Pacha: already they spoke of an attack upon Jeddah. Shaykh Masud, the camel-man, with whom I parted on the best of terms, seriously advised my remaining at Meccah for some months even before proceed- ing to Sanaa. Others gave the same counsel. Briefly I saw that my star was not then in the ascendant, and resolved to reserve myself for a more propitious conjuncture by returning to Egypt. 454 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. The Turkish colonel and I had become as friendly as two men ignoring each other's speech could be. He had derived benefit from some prescription ; but, like all his countrymen, he was pining to leave Meccah.* Whilst the pilgrimage lasted, said they, no mal de pays came to trouble them ; but, its excitement over, they could think of nothing but their wives and children. Long-drawn faces and continual sighs evidenced nostalgia. At last the house became a scene of preparation. Blue china-ware and basketed bottles of Zem Zem water appeared standing in solid columns, and pilgrims occupied themselves in hunting for mementos of Meccah, drawings, combs, balm, henna, tooth-sticks, aloe- wood, turquoises, coral and mother-o'-pearl rosaries, shreds of Kiswah-cloth and fine Abas, or cloaks of camels'-wool. It was not safe to mount the stairs without shouting " Tarik " — out of the way ! — at every step, on peril of meet- ing face to face some excited fair.* The lower floor was crowded with provision-vendors ; and the staple article of conversation seemed to be the chance of a steamer from Jeddah to Suez. Weary of the wrangling and chafiering of the hall below, I had persuaded my kind hostess, in spite of the surly skele- ton her brother, partially to clear out a small store-room in the first floor, and to abandon it to me between the hours of ten and four. During the heat of the day clothing is un- endurable at Meccah. The city is so " compacted together" by hills, that even the simoom can scarcely sweep it, the heat reverberated by the bare rocks is intense, and the nor- * Not more than one-quarter of the pilgrims who appear at Arafat go on to El Medinah ; the expense, the hardships, and the dangers of the journey account for the smallness of the number. •j- When respectable married men live together in the same house, a rare occurrence, except on journeys, this most ungallant practice of clearing the way is and must be kept up in the East. A MELANCHOLIST. 455 mal atmosphere of an eastern town communicates a faint lassitude to the body and irritability to the mind. The houses being unusually strong and well-built, might by some art of thermantidote be rendered cool enough in the hottest weather : they are now ovens.* It was my habit to retire immediately after the late breakfast to the little room upstairs, to sprinkle it with water, and lie down upon a mat. In the few precious moments of privacy notes were committed to paper, but one eye was ever fixed on the door. Sometimes a patient would interrupt me, but a doc- tor is far less popular in El Hejaz than in Egypt. The people, being more healthy, have less faith in physic : Shaykh Masud and his son had never tasted in their lives aught more medicinal than green dates and camels' milk. Occa- sionally the black slave girls came into the room, asking if the pilgrim wanted a pipe or a cup of coffee : they generally retired in a state of delight, attempting vainly to conceal with a corner of tattered veil a grand display of ivory con- sequent upon some small and innocent facetiousness. The most frequent of my visitors was Abdullah, the Kabirah's eldest son. This melancholy Jacques had joined our cara- van at El Hamra, on the Yambu road, accompanied us to El Medinah, lived there, and journeyed to Meccah with the Syrian pilgrimage ; yet he had not once come to visit me or to see his brother, the boy Mohammed. When gently re- proached for this omission he declared it to be his way — that * I regret being unable to ofifer the reader a sketch of Meccah, or of the Great Temple. The stranger who wotild do this should visit the city out of the pilgrimage season, and hire a room looking into the quadrangle of the Haram. This addition to our knowledge is the more required, as our popular sketches (generally taken from D'Ohsson) are utterly incorrect. The Kaabah is always a recognisable building ; but the '* View of Meccah " known to Europe is not more like Meccah than like Cairo or Bombay. 456 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. he never called upon strangers until sent for. He was a per- fect Saudawi (melancholist) in mind, manners, and personal appearance, and this class of humanity in the East is almost as uncomfortable to the household as the idiot of Europe. I was frequently obliged to share my meals with him, as his mother — though most filially and reverentially entreated — would not supply him with breakfast two hours after the proper time, or with a dinner served up forty minutes before the rest of the household. Often, too, I had to curb, by polite deprecation, the impetuosity of the fiery old Kabirah's tongue. Thus Abdullah and I became friends, after a fashion. He purchased several little articles required, and never failed to pass hours in my closet, giving me much information about the country, deploring the laxity of Meccan morals, and lamenting that in these evil days his countrymen had forfeited their name at Cairo and Constan- tinople. His curiosity about the English in India was great, and I satisfied it by praising, as a Moslem would, their *' politike," their even-handed justice, and their good star. Then he would inquire into the truth of a fable extensively known on the shores of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The English, it is said, sent a mission to Mohammed, inquir- ing into his doctrines, and begging that Khalid bin Walid might be sent to proselytise them. Unfortunately, the envoys arrived too late — the Prophet's soul had winged its way to Paradise. An abstract of the Moslem scheme was, however, sent to the "Ingreez," who declined, as the founder of the new faith was no more, to abandon their own religion ; but the refusal was accompanied with expressions of regard. For this reason many Moslems in Barbary and other countries hold the English to be, of all "People of the Books," the best inclined towards them. Late in the afternoon I used to rise, perform ablution, and repair to the Haram, or wander about the bazaars till THE CITIZENS OP MECCAH. 457 sunset. After this it was necessary to return home and prepare for supper — dinner it would be called in the West. The meal concluded, I used to sit for a time outside the street door in great dignity, upon a broken-backed black- wood chair, traditionally said to have been left in the house by one of the princes of Delhi, smoking a hookah, and drinking sundiy cups of strong green tea with a slice of lime, a fair substitute for milk. At this hour the seat was as in a theatre, but the words of the actors were of a nature somewhat too Fescennine for the public. After nightfall we either returned to the Haram or retired to rest. Our common dormitory was the flat roof of the house ; under each cot stood a water-gugglet ; and all slept, as must be done in the torrid lands, on and not in bed. I sojourned at Meccah but a short time, and, as usual with travellers, did not see the best specimens of the popu- lation. The citizens appeared to me more civilised and more vicious than those of El Medinah. They often leave — " Home, where small experience grows," and — " qui multum peregrinatur^ raro sanetificatur''^ — be- come a worldly-wise, God-forgetting, and Mammonish sort of folk. The pilgrim is forbidden, or rather dissuaded, from abiding at Meccah after the rites, and wisely. Great emotions miist be followed by a reaction. And he who stands struck by the first aspect of Allah's house, after a few months, the marvel becoming stale, sweeps past it with indifference or something worse. There is, however, little at Meccah to offend the eye. Like certain other nations further west, a layer of ashes overspreads the fire : the mine is concealed by a green turf fair to look upon. It is only when wandering by starlight through the northern outskirts of the town that men may 20 458 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. be seen with light complexions and delicate limbs, coarse turbans and Egyptian woollen robes, speaking disguise and the purpose of disguise. No one within the memory of man has suffered the penalty of immorality. Spirituous liquors are no longer sold, as in Burckhardt's day, in shops ; and some Arnaut officers assured me that they found con- siderable difficulty in smuggling flasks of " raki" from Jeddah. The Meccan is a darker man than the Medinite. The people explain this by the heat of the climate. I rather believe it to be caused by the number of female slaves that find their way into the market. Gallas, Sawahilis, a few Somalis, and Abyssinians, are embarked at Suakin, Zayla, Tajurrah, and Berbera, carried in thousands to Jeddah, and the Holy City has the pick of each batch. Thence the stream sets northward, a small current towards El Medinah, and the main line to Egypt and Turkey. Most Meccans have black concubines, and, as has been said, the appear- ance of the Sherif is almost that of a negro. I did not see one handsome man in the Holy City, although some of the women appeared to me beautiful. The male profile is high and bony, the forehead recedes, and the head rises unplea- santly towards the region of firmness. In most families male children, when forty days old, are taken to the Kaabah, prayed over, and carried home, where the barber draws with a razor three parallel gashes down the fleshy portion of each cheek, from the exterior angles of the eyes almost to the corners of the mouth. These " mashali," as they are called,* may be of modern date : the citizens * The act is called " Tashrit," or gashing. The body is also marked, but with smaller cuts, so that the child is covered with blood. Ali Bey was told by some Meccans that the face-gashes served for the purpose of phlebotomy, by others that they were signs that the scarred was the servant of Allah's house. He attributes this male-gashing, like female CHARACTER OF THE MECCANS. 459 declare that the custom was unknown to their ancestors. I am tempted to assign to it a high antiquity." In point of figure the Meccan is somewhat coarse and lymphatic. The young men are rather stout and athletic, but in middle age — when man " swills and swells" — they are apt to dege- nerate into corpulence. The Meccan is a covetous spendthrift. His wealth, lightly won, is lightly prized. Pay, pension, stipends, pre- sents, and the " Ikram" here, as at El Medinah, supply the citizen with the means of idleness. With him everything is on the most expensive scale, his marriage, his religious ceremonies, and his household expenses. His house is luxuriously furnished, entertainments are frequent, and the junketings of the women make up a heavy bill at the end of the year. It is a common practice for the citizen to anticipate the pilgrimage season by falling into the hands of the usurer. If he be in luck, he catches and " skins" one or more of the richest Hajis. On the other hand, should fortune fail him, he will feel for life the effect of interest running on at the rate of at least 50 per cent., the simple and the compound forms of which are equally fami- liar to the wily Sarraf.* tattooing, to coquetry. The citizens told me that the custom arose from the necessity of preserving children from the kidnapping Persians, and that it is preserved as a mark of the Holy City. But its wide diffusion denotes an earlier origin. Mohammed expressly forbad his followers to mark the skin with scars. These " beauty-marks" are common to the nations in the regions to the west of the Red Sea. The Barabarah of Upper Egypt adorn their faces with scars exactly like the Meccans. The Abyssinians moxa themselves in hecatombs for fashion's sake. I have seen cheeks gashed, as in the Holy City, among the Gallas. Certain races of the Sawahil trace around the head a corona of little cuts, like those of a cupping instrument. And, to quote no other instances, some Somalia raise ghastly seams upon their chocolate-colored skins. * The Indian " Shroff "—banker, money-changer, and usurer. 460 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. The most unpleasant peculiarities of the Meccaus are their pride and coarseness of language. They look upon themselves as the cream of earth's sons, and resent with extreme asperity the least slighting word concerning the Holy City and its denizens. They plume themselves upon their holy descent, their exclusion of infidels, their strict fastings, their learned men, and their purity of language. In fact, their pride shows itself at every moment ; but it is not the pride which makes a man too proud to do a dirty action. My predecessor did not remark their scurrility : he seems, on the contrary, rather to commend them for respectability in this point. If he be correct, the present generation has degenerated. The Meccans appeared to me distinguished, even in this foul-mouthed East, by the supe- rior licentiousness of their language. Abuse was bad enough in the streets, but in the house it became intole- rable. The Turkish pilgrims remarked, but they were too proud to take notice of it. The boy Mohammed and one of his tall cousins at last transgressed the limits of my endur- ance. They had been abusing each other vilely one day at the house-door about dawn, when I administered the most open reprimand : "In my country (Afghanistan) we hold this to be the hour of prayer, the season of good thoughts, when men remember Allah ; even the Kafir doth not begin the day with curses and abuse." The people around ap- proved, and even the ofienders could not refrain fi-om say- ing, " Thou hast spoken truth, O EfiTendi ! » Then the by- standers began, as usual, to " improve the occasion." " See," they exclaimed, " this Sulaymani gentleman, he is not the son of a Holy City, and yet he teacheth you — ye, the children of the Prophet ! — repent and fear Allah !," They replied, " Yerily we do repent, and Allah is a pardoner and the merciful ! " — were silent for an hour, and then abused each other more foully than before. Yet it is a good point MECCAN AND CHRISTIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 461 in the Meccan character, that it is open to reason, can con- fess itself in error, and displays none of that doggedness of vice which distinguishes the sinner of a more stolid race. Like the people of Southern Europe, the Semite is easily managed by a jest : though grave and thoughtful, he is by no means deficient in the sly wit which we call humor, and the solemn gravity of his words contrasts amusingly with his ideas. He particularly excels in the Cervantic art, the spirit of which, says Sterne, is to clothe low sub- jects in sublime language. In Mohammed's life we find that he by no means disdained a joke, sometimes a little hasarde^ as in the case of the Paradise-coveting old woman. The other redeeming qualities of the Meccan are his courage, his bonhomie^ his manly suavity of manners, his fiery sense of honor, his strong family affections, his near approach to what we call patriotism, and his general know- ledge : the reproach of extreme ignorance which Burck- hardt directs against the Holy City has long ago sped to the limbo of things that were. The dark half of the picture is pride, bigotry, irreligion, greed of gain, immorality, and prodigal ostentation. Of the pilgrimage ceremonies I cannot speak harshly. It may be true that " the rites of the Kaabah, emasculated of every idolatrous tendency, still hang a strange unmean- ing shroud around the living theism of Islam." But what nation, either in the West or the East, has been able to cast out from its ceremonies every suspicion of its old idolatry ? What are the English mistletoe, the Irish wake, the Par- don of Brittany, the Carnival and the Worship at Iserna ? Better far to consider the Meccan pilgrimage rites in the light of Evil-worship turned into lessons of Good than to philosophise about their strangeness, and to err in asserting them to be insignificant. Even the Bedouin circumambu- lating the Kaabah fortifies his wild belief by the fond 462 A PILGKIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. thought that he treads the path of " Allah's friend." At Arafat the good Moslem worships in imitation of the " Pure of Allah ;" * and when hurhng stones and curses at three senseless little buttresses which commemorate the appear- ance of the fiend, the materiaHsm of the action gives to its sentiment all the strength and endurance of reality. The supernatural agencies of pilgrimage are carefully and sparingly distributed. The angels who restore the stones fi-om Muna to Muzdalifah, the heavenly host whose pinions cause the Kaabah's veil to rise and wave, and the myste- rious complement of the pilgrims' total at the Arafat ser- mon, all belong to the category of spiritual creatures walk- ing earth unseen, — a poetical tenet, not condenmed by Christianity. The Meccans are, it is true, to be re- proached with their open Mammon worship, at times and at places the most sacred and venerable; but this has no ' other effect upon the pilgrims than to excite disgust and open reprehension. Here, however, we see no such silly fi-auds as heavenly fire drawn from a phosphor-match ; nor do two rival churches fight in the flesh with teeth and nails, requiring the contemptuous interference of an infidel power to keep order. As regards the Meccan and Moslem belief that Abraham and his son built the Kaabah, it may be observed that the Genesitic account of the Great Patriarch has suggested to learned men the idea of two Abrahams, one the son of Terah, another the son of Azar (fire), a Prometheus, who imported civilisation and knowledge into Arabia from Harran, the sacred centre of Sabaean learning. Moslem historians all agree in representing Abraham as a star- worshipper in youth, and Eusebius calls the patriarch son of Athar ; his father's name, therefore, is no Arab invention. Whether Ishmael * Adam. DANGERS OF VISITING MECCAH. 463 or his sire ever visited Meccali to build the Kaabah is, in my humble opinion, an open question. The Jewish Scrip- ture informs us only that the patriarch dwelt at Beersheba and Gerar, in the S.W. of Palestine, without any allusion to the annual visit which Moslems declare he paid to their Holy City. At the same time Arab tradition speaks clearly and consistently upon the subject, and generally omits those miraculous and superstitious adjuncts which cast shadows of sore doubts upon the philosopher's mind. Those who know the habits of the expatriated Jews and Christians of the East — their practice of connecting all remarkable spots with their old traditions — will readily believe that the children of Israel settled in pagan Meccah saw in its idolatry some perverted form of their own worship. The amount of risk which a stranger must encounter at the pilgrimage rites is still considerable. A learned Orien- talist and divine intimated his intention, in a work published but a few years ago, of visiting Meccah without disguise. He was assured that the Turkish governor would now offer no obstacle to a European traveller. I would strongly dis- suade a friend from making the attempt. It is true that the Frank is no longer insulted when he ventures out of the Meccan Gate of Jeddah ; and that our vice-consuls and tra- vellers are allowed, on condition that their glance do not pollute the shrine, to visit Taif and the regions lying east- ward of the Holy City. Neither the Pacha nor the Sherif would, in these days, dare to enforce, in the case of an Eng- lishman, the old law, a choice thrice offered between cir- cumcision and death. But the first Bedouin who caught sight of the Frank's hat would not deem himself a man if he did not drive a bullet through the wearer's head. At the pilgrimage season disguise is easy, on account of the vast and varied multitudes which visit Meccah, exposing the tra- veller only to " stand the buffet with knaves who smell of 464 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. sweat." But woe to the unfortunate who happens to be recognised in public as an infidel, — unless at least he could throw himself at once upon the protection of the govern- ment.* Amidst, however, a crowd of pilgrims, whose fana- ticism is worked up to the highest pitch, detection would probably ensure his dismissal at once al numero de' piu. Those who find danger the salt of pleasure may visit Meccah; but if asked whether the results justify the risk, I should reply in the negative. And the vice-consul at Jeddah would only do his duty in peremptorily forbidding European tra- vellers to attempt Meccah without disguise, until the day comes when such steps can be taken in the certainty of not causing a mishap, which would not redound to our reputa- tion, as we could not in justice revenge it. On the 14th Zu'l Hijjah we started to perform the rite of Umrah, or Little Pilgrimage. After performing ablution, and resuming the Ihram with the usual ceremonies, I set out, accompanied by the boy Mohammed and his brother Ab- dullah. Mounting asses, which resembled mules in size and speed,! we rode to the Haram, and prayed there. Again * The best way would be to rush, if possible, into a house ; and the owner would then, for his own interest, as well as honor, defend a stran- ger till assistance could be procured. f Pliny is cei-tainly right about this useful quadruped and its con- geners, the zebra and the wild ass, in describing it as " animal frigoris maxime impatiens." It degenerates in cold regions, unless, as in Afghan- istan and Barbary, there be a long, hot, and dry summer. Aden, Cutch, and Baghdad have fine breeds, whereas those of India and south-eastern Africa are poor and weak. The best and the highest-priced come fi'om the Maghrib, and second to them ranks the Egyptian race. At Meccah careful feeding and kind usage transform the dull slave into an active and symmetrical friend of man : he knows his owner's kind voice, and if one of the two fast, it is generally the biped. The asses of the Holy City are tall and plump, with sleek coats, generally ash or grey-colored, the eyes of deers heads gracefully carried, an ambling gait, and ex-. THE UMRAH OR LITTLE PILGRIMAGE. 465 remounting, we issued through the Bab el Safa towards the open country N.E. of the city. The way was crowded with pilgrims, on foot as well as mounted, and their loud Lab- bayks distinguished those engaged in the Umrah rite from the many whose business was with the camp of the Damas- cus caravan. At about half a mile from the city we passed on the left a huge heap of stones, where my companions stood and cursed. This grim-looking cairn is popularly believed to note the place of the well where Abu Lahab laid an ambuscade for the Prophet. This wicked uncle stationed there a slave, with orders to throw headlong into the pit the first person who approached hun, and privily persuaded his nephew to visit the spot at night : after a time, anxiously hoping to hear that the deed had been doue, Abu Lahab incautiously drew nigh, and was precipitJ^ited by his own bravo into the place of destruction. Hence the well-known saying in Islam, " Whoso diggeth a well for his brother shall fall into it himself;" We added our quota of stones, and proceeding, saw the Jeddah road spanning the plain hke a white ribbon. In front of us the highway was now Mned with coffee-tents, before which effeminate dancing-boys per- formed to admiring Syrians : a small whitewashed " bunga- low," the palace of the Emir el Hajj, lay on the left, and all around it clustered the motley encampment of his pilgrims. After cantering about three miles from the city, we reached the Alamain, or two pillars that limit the sanctuary ; and a little beyond it, is the small settlement, popularly called El Umrah. Dismounting here, we sat down on rugs outside a coffee-tent to enjoy the beauty of the moonlight night, and an hour of " Kaif " in the sweet air of the desert. Presently the coffee-tent keeper, aft.er receiving payment, tremely sure-footed. They are equal to great fatigue, and the stallions have been known, in their ferocity, to kill the groom. The price varies from 25 to 150 dollars. 2Q* 466 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. brought US water for ablution. This preamble over, we entered the principal chapel; an unpretending building, badly lighted, spread with dirty rugs, full of pilgrims, and offensively close. Here we prayed the Isha, or night devo- tions, and then a two-prostration prayer in honor of the Ihram, after which we distributed gratuities to the guar- dians, and alms to the importunate beggars. And now I perceived the object of Abdullah's companionship. The melancholy man assured me that he had ridden out for love of me, and in order to perform as Wakil (substitute) a vica- rious pilgrimage for my parents. Vainly I assured him that they had been strict in the exercises of their faith. He would take no denial, and I perceived that love of me meant love of my dollars. With a surly assent, he was at last per- mitted to act for the " pious pilgrims Yusuf (Joseph) bin Ahmed and Fatimah bint Yunus," my progenitors. It was impossible to prevent smiling at contrasts, as Abdullah, gravely raising his hands, and directing his face to the Kaabah, intoned, " I do vow this Ihram of Umrah in the name of Yusuf son of Ahmed, and Fatimah daughter of Yimus ; then render it attainable to them, and accept it of them ! Bismillah ! Allahu Akbar !" Remounting, we galloped towards Meccah, shouting Labbayk, and halting at every half mile to smoke and drink coffee. In a short time we entered the city, and repairing to the Haram by the Safa Gate, performed the Tawaf, or circumambulation of Umrah. After this dull roimd and necessary repose we left the temple by the same exit, and mounting once more, turned towards the hill El Safa, which stands about 100 yards S. E. of the Mosque, and as little deserves its name of " mountain" as do those that undulate the face of modern Rome. The Safa end is closed by a mean-looking building, composed of three round arches, with a dwarf flight of steps leading up to them out of a MAEWAH. 467 narrow road. Without dismounting, we wheeled our donkeys round, "left shoulders forward" — no easy task in the crowd, — and vainly striving to sight the Kaabah through the Bab el Safa, performed the Niyat, or the run- ning. After Tahlil, Takbir, and Talbiyat, we raised our hands in the supplicatory position, and twice repeated, "There is no god but Allah, alone without partner; his is the kingdom, unto him be praise; he giveth life and death, he is alive and perisheth not ; in his hand is good, and he over all things is omnipotent." Then, with the donkey-boys leading our animals and a stout fellow pre- ceding us with a lantern and a quarter-staff to keep off the running Bedouins, camel-men, and riders of asses, we descended Safa, and slowly walked down the street El Masaa, towards Marwah. During our descent we recited aloud, " O Allah, cause me to act according to the Sunnat of thy Prophet, and to die in his faith, and defend me from errors and disobedience by thy mercy, O most merciful of the merciful !" Arrived at what is called the Batn el Wady (belly of the vale), a place now denoted by the Milain el Akhzarain (the two green pillars), one fixed in the eastern course of the Haram, the other in a house on the right side, we began the running by urging on our beasts. At length we reached Marwah. The houses clus- ter in amphitheatre shape above it, and from the Masaa, or street below, a short flight of steps leads to a platform, bounded on three sides like a tennis court, by tall walls without arches. The street, seen from above, has a bow- string curve : it is between 800 and 900 feet long, with high houses on both sides, and small lanes branching off from it. At the foot of the platform we brought the " right shoulder forward," so as to face the Kaabah, and raising hands to ears, thrice exclaimed, " Allahu Akbar." 468 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. This concluded the first course, and, of these, seven com- pose the ceremony El Sai, or the running. There was a startling contrast with the origin of this ceremony, — " When the poor outcast on the cheerless wild, Arabia's parent, clasped her fainting child," — as the Turkish infantry marched, in European dress, with sloped arms, down the Masaa to relieve guard. By the side of the half-naked, running Bedouins, they looked as if epochs, disconnected by long centuries, had met. A laxity, too, there was in the fi-equent appearance of dogs upon this holy and most memorial ground, which said little in favor of the religious strictness of the administration. Our Sai ended at Mount Marwah. There we dismount- ed, and sat outside a barber's shop, on the right-hand of the street. He operated upon our heads, cau^ng us to repeat, " O Allah, this my forelock is in thy hand, then grant me for every hair a light on the resurrection-day, O most merciful of the merciful !" This, and the praying for it, constituted the fourth portion of the Umrah, or Little Pilgrimage. Throwing the skirts of our garments over our heads, to show that our " Ihram" was now exchanged for the normal state, " Ihlal," we cantered to the Haram, prayed there a two-prostration prayer, and returned home not a little fatigued. CHAPTER XXXn. PLACES OF PIOUS YISITATION AT MECCAH. The lionizer has little work at the Holy City. With the exceptions of Jebel Nur and Jebel Saur, all the places of pious visitation lie inside or close outside the city. It is well worth the traveller's while to ascend Abu Kubays ; not so much to inspect the Makan el Hajar and the Shakk el Kamar,* as to obtain an excellent bird's-eye view of the Haram and the parts adjacent. The boy Mohammed had applied himself sedulously to commerce after his return home; and had actually been seen by Shaykh N^ur sitting in a shop and selling small curiosities. With my plenary consent I was made over to Abdullah, his brother. On the morning of the 19th Sept. he hired two asses, and accompanied me as guide to the holy places. * The tradition of these places is related by every historian. The former is the repository of the Black Stone during the Deluge. The latter, " splitting of the moon," is the spot \rhere the ]*rophet stood when, to convert the idolatrous Kuraysh, he caused half of the orb of night to rise from behind Abu Kubays, and the other from Jebel Kay- kaan, on the western horizon. This silly legend appears unknown to Mohammed's day. 410 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. Mounting our animals, we followed the road before described to the Jannat el Maala, the sacred cemetery of Meccah. A rough wall, with a poor gateway, encloses a patch of barren and grim-looking ground at the foot of the chain which bounds the city's western suburb. Inside are a few ignoble, whitewashed domes ; all are of modern con- struction, for here, as at El Bakia, further north, the Wahabis indulged their levelling propensities. The rest of the ground shows some small enclosures belonging to par- ticular houses — equivalent to our family vaults — and tlie ruins of humble tombs, lying in confusion, whilst a few parched aloes spring from between the bricks and stones.* This cemetery is celebrated in local history : here the body of Abdullah bin Zubayr was exposed by order of Hajjaj bin Yusuf ; and the number of saints buried in it has been so numerous, that even in the twelfth century many had fallen into oblivion. It is visited by the citizens on Fridays, and by women on Thursdays, to prevent that meeting of sexes which in the East is so detrimental to public decorum. After a long supplication, pronounced standing at the doorway, we entered, and sauntered about the burial- ground. On the left of the road stood an enclosure, which, according to Abdullah, belonged to his family. The door and stone slabs, being valuable to the poor, had been removed, and the graves of his forefathers appeared to have been invaded by the jackal. He sighed, recited a Fat-hah with tears in his eyes, and hurried me away from the spot. The first dome which we visited covered the remains of Abdel Rahman, the son of Abubekr, one of the worthies * The aloe here, as in Egypt, is hung, like the dried crocodile, over houses as a talisman against evil spirits. TOMB OF THE PROPHET'S MOTHER. 471 of El Islam, equally respected by Sunni and Shiah. The tomb was a simple catafalque, covered with the usual cloth. After performing our devotions at this grave, and distributing a few piastres to guardians and beggars, we crossed the main path, and found ourselves at the door of the cupola, beneath which sleeps the venerable Khadijah, Mohammed's first wife. The tomb was covered with a green cloth, and the walls of the little building were deco- rated with written specimens of religious poetry. A little beyond it, we were shown into another dome, the resting- place of Sitt Aminah, the Prophet's mother.* Burckhardt chronicles its ill usage by the fanatic Wahhabis : it has now been rebuilt in that frugal style which chai*acterises the architecture of El Hejaz. An old woman exceedingly gar- rulous came to the door, invited us in, and superintended our devotions ; at the end of which she sprinkled rose-water upon my face. When asked for a cool draught she handed me a metal saucer, whose contents smelt strongly of mastic, earnestly directing me to drink it in a sitting posture. This tomb she informed ns is the property of a single woman, who visits it every evening, receives the contribu- tions of the Faithful, prays, sweeps the pavement, and dusts the furniture. We lefl five piastres for this respectable maiden, and gratified the ofiicious crone with another shil- ling. She repaid us by signalling to some score of beggars that a rich pilgrim had entered the Maala, and their impor- tunities fairly drove me out of the hallowed walls. Leaving the Jannat el Maala, we returned towards * Burckhardt mentions the " Tomb of Umna, the mother of Moham- med,'* in the Maala at Meccah ; and all the ciceroni agree about the locality. Yet historians place it at Abwa, where she died, after visit- ing El Medinah to introduce her son to his relations. And the learned believe that the Prophet refused to pray over or to intercede for his mother, she having died before El Islam \ras revealed. 472 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. the town, and halted on the left side of the road, at a mean building called the Masjid el Jinn (of the Genii). Here was revealed the seventy-second chapter of the Koran, called after the name of the mysterious firedrakes who paid fealty to the Prophet. Descending a flight of steps, — for this mosque, like all ancient localities at Meccah, is as much below as above ground, — we entered a small apartment containing water-pots for drinking and all the appurtenances of ablution. In it is show tlie Mauza el Khatt (place of the writing), where Moham- med wrote, a letter to Abu Masud after the homage of the genii. A second and interior flight of stone steps led to another diminutive oratory, where the Prophet used to pray and receive the archangel Gabriel. Hav- ing performed a pair of prostrations, which caused the perspiration to burst forth as if in a Russian bath, I paid a few piastres, and issued from the building with much satisfaction. We had some difficulty in urging our donkeys through the crowded street, called the Zukak el Hajar. Presently we arrived at the Bait el Naby, the Prophet's old house, in which he lived with the Sitt Khadijah. Here, says Burckhardt, the Lady Fatimah first saw the light ; and here, according to Ibn Jubair, Hasan and Husayn were born. Dismounting at the entrance we descended a deep flight of steps, and found ourselves in a spacious hall, vaulted, and of better appearance than most of the sacred edifices at Meccah. In the centre, and well railed roimd, stood a closet of rich green and gold stuffs, in shape not unlike an umbrella tent. A surly porter guarded the closed door, which some respectable people vainly attempted to open by honeyed words : a whisper from Abdullah solved the difficulty. I was directed to lie at full length upon my stomach, and to kiss a black-looking stone — said to be the SLAVE TRADE OF EASTERN AFRICA. 473 lower half of the Lady Fatimah's quern — fixed at the bottom of a basm of the same material. Thence we repaired to a corner, and recited a two-prostration at the place where the Prophet used to pray the Sunnat and the Nafilah, or super- erogatory devotions. Again remounting, we proceeded at a leisurely pace homewards, and on the way we passed through the prin- cipal slave-market. It is a large street, roofed with mat- ting and lull oi coffee-houses. The merchandise sits in rows, parallel with the walls. The prettiest girls occupied the highest benches, below them were the plain, and lowest of all the boys. They were all gaily dressed in pink and other light-colored muslins, with transparent veils over their heads ; and, whether from the effect of such unusual splen- dor, or from the reaction succeeding to their terrible land- journey and sea-voyage, they appeared perfectly happy, laughing loudly, talking unknown tongues, and quizzing purchasers, even during the delicate operation of purchas- ing. There were some pretty Gallas, douce-iooking Abys- sinians, and Africans of various degrees of hideousness, from the half-Arab Somal to the baboon-like Sawahili. The highest price of which I could hear was 60/. And here I matured a resolve to strike, if favored by fortune, a death- blow at a trade which is eating into the vitals of industry in Eastern Africa. The reflection was pleasant, — the idea that the humble Haji, contemplating the scene fi'om his donkey, might become the instrument of the total abolition of this pernicious traffic* What would have become of * About a year since writing the above I was informed that a firman has been issued by the Porte suppressing the traffic from central Africa. Hitherto we have respected slavery in the Red Sea, because the Turk thence drew his supplies ; we are now destitute of an excuse. A single steamer would destroy the trade, and if we delay to take active measures, the people of England, who have spent millions in keep- 474 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. that pilgrim had the crowd in the slave-market guessed his intentions ? Passing through the large bazaar, called the Suk el Lail, I saw the palace of Mohammed bin Aun, quondam Prince of Meccah. It has a certain look of rude magnifi- cence, the effect of huge hanging balconies scattered in profusion over lofty walls, claire-voies of brick-work, and courses of various-colored stone. The owner is highly po- pular among the Bedouins, and feared by the citizens on account of his fierce looks, courage, and treachery. They described him to me as " vir bonus, bene strangulando peritus;" but Mr. Cole, who knew him personally, gave him a high character for generosity and freedom from fana- ticism. He seems to have some idea of the state which should " hedge in " a ruler. His palaces at Meccah, and that now turned into a Wakalah at Jeddah, are the only places in the country that can be called princely. He is now a state prisoner at Constantinople, and the Bedouins pray for his return in vain.* ing up a "West African squadron, will not hold us guiltless of negli- gence. * This man was first invested with the Sherifat by Mohammed Ali of Egypt in a.d. 1827, when Yahya, Prince of Meecnh, fled, after stab- bing his nephew in the Kaabah, to the Beni Harb Bedouins. He was supported by Ahmed Pacha of Meccah, with a large army ; but after tlie battle of Tarabah, in which Ibrahim Pacha was worsted by the Bedouins, Mohammed bin Aun, accused of acting as Sylla, was sent in honorable bondage to Cairo. He again returned to Meccah, where the rapacity of his eldest son Abdullah, who would rob pilgrims, caused fresh misfortunes. In a.d. 1851, when Abd el Muttaleb was appointed Sherif, the Pacha was ordered to send Bin Aun to Stamboul ; no easy task. The Turk succeeded by a manoeuvre. Mohammed's two sons happening to be at Jeddah, were invited to inspect a man-of-war, and were there made prisoners. Thereupon the father yielded himself up ; although, it is said, the flashing of the Bedouin's sabre during his em- barkation made the Turks rejoice that they had won the day by state- PLACES OF PIOUS VISITATION. 475 The other places of pious visitation at Meccah are briefly these : — 1. Natak el ISTaby, a small oratory in the Zukah el Ha- jar. It derives its name from the following circumstance : — As the Prophet was knocking at the door of Abubekr's shop, a stone gave him God-speed, and told him that the master was not at home. This wonderful mineral is of a reddish-black color, about a foot in dimension, and fixed in the wall somewhat higher than a man's head. There are servants attached to it, and the street sides are spread, as usual, with the napkins of importunate beggars. 2. Maulid el Naby, or the Prophet's birth-place. This is a little chapel in the Suk el Lail, not far from Mohammed bin Ann's palace. It is below the present level of the ground, and in the centre is a kind of tent, concealing, it is said, a hole in the floor upon which Aminah sat to be delivered. 3. In the quarter " Shaab Ali," near the Maulid el Naby, is the birthplace of Ali, another oratory below the ground. 4. Near Khadijah's house and the Natak el Naby is a place called El Muttaka, from a stone against which the Prophet leaned when worn out with fatigue. It is much visited by devotees ; and some declare that, on one occa- sion, when the Father of Lies appeared to the Prophet in the form of an elderly gentleman and tempted him to sin by asserting that the mosque-prayers were over, this stone, disclosing the fraud, caused the fiend to flee. 5. Maulid Hamzah, a little building near the Shebayki cemetery. Here was the Bazan, or channel down which craft. The wild men of El Hejaz still sing songs in honor of this Sherif, and the Sultan will probably never dismiss a prisoner who, though old, is still able and willing to cause him trouble. 476 A PILGEIMAGE TO EL MEDIXAH AND MECCAH. the Ayn Honayn ran into the Bh-kat Majid. Many author ities doubt that Hamzah was born at this place.* The reader must now be as tired of " pious visitations" as I was. Before leaving Meccah I was urgently invited to dine by old Ali, a proof that he entertained inordinate expecta- tions, excited, it appeared, by the boy Mohammed, for the simple purpose of exalting his own dignity. One day we were hurriedly summoned about 3 p.m. to the senior's house, a large building in the Zukah el Hajar. We found it full of pilgrims, amongst whom we had no trouble to recognise our feUow-travellers the quarrelsome old Arnaut and his impudent slave-boy. Ali met us upon the staircase and conducted us into an upper room, where we sat upon divans and with pipes and coffee prepared for dinner. Pre- sently the semicircle arose to receive a eunuch, who lodged somewhere in the house. He was a person of importance, being the guardian of some dames of high degree at Cairo or Constantinople : the highest place and the best pipe were unhesitatingly offered to and accepted by him. He sat down with dignity, answered diplomatically certain mysterious questions about the dames, and then glued his blubber lips to a handsome mouthpiece of lemon-colored amber. It was a fair lesson of humiUty for a man to find himself ranked beneath this high-shouldered, spindle-shank- ed, beardless bit of neutrality, and as such I took it duly to heart. The dinner was served up in a " Sini," a plated copper tray about six feet in circumference, and handsomely orna- mented with arabesques and inscriptions. Under this was the usual Kursi, or stool, composed of mother-o'-pearl facets * The reader is warned that I did not see the five places above enumerated. The ciceroni and books mention twelve other visitations, Several of which are known only by name. A DINNER AT MECCAH. 477 set in sandal wood ; and upon it a well-tinned and clean- looking service of the same material as the Sini. We began with a variety of stews ; stews with spinach, stews Avith bamiyah (hibiscus), and rich vegetable stews. These being removed, we dipped hands in " Biryani," a meat pillaw, abounding in clarified butter ; " Kimah," finely chopped meat ; " Warak Mahshi," vine leaves filled with chopped and spiced mutton, and folded into small triangles ; " Kabab," or bits of roti spitted in mouthfals upon a splin- ter of wood ; together with a " Salatah " of the crispest cucumber, and various dishes of watermelon cut up into squares. Bread was represented by the eastern scone ; but it was of superior flavor and far better than the ill- famed Chapati of India. Our drink was water perfumed with mastic. After the meat came a "Kunafah," fine vermicelli sweetened with honey and sprinkled with pow- dered white sugar ; several stews of apples and quinces ; " Nuhallibah," a thin jelly made of rice, flour, milk, starch, and a little perfume ; together with squares of Rahah,* a confiture highly prized in these regions, because it comes from Constantinople. Fruits were then placed upon the table ; plates full of pomegranate grains and dates of the finest flavor. The dinner concluded with a pillaw of boiled rice and butter ; for the easier discussion of which we were provided with carved wooden spoons. Orientals ignore the delightful French art of prolonging a dinner. After washing your hands, you sit down, throw * Familiar for " Rabat el Hulkum," — ^the pleasure of the throat, — a name which has sorely puzzled our tourists. This sweetmeat would be pleasant did it not smell so strongly of the perruquier's shop. Rosewater tempts to many culinary sins in the East; and Europeans cannot dissociate it from the idea of a lotion. However, if a guest is to be honored, rosewater must often take the place of the pure element, even in tea. 478 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. an embroidered napkin over your knees, and with a " Bis- millah," by way of grace, plunge your hand into the attrac- tive dish, changing ah libitum^ occasionally sucking your finger-tips as boys do lollipops, and varying that diversion by cramming a chosen morsel into a friend's mouth. When your hunger is satisfied you do not sit for your compa- nions ; you exclaim " Al Hamd ! " edge away from the tray, wash your hands and mouth with soap, display signs of repletion, otherwise you will be pressed to eat more, seize your pipe, sip your coffee, and take your " Kaif." Nor is it customary, in these benighted lands, to sit together after dinner — ^the evening prayer cuts short the stance. Before we arose to take leave of Ali a boy ran into the room, and displayed those infantine civilities which in the East are equivalent to begging for a present. I slipped a dollar into his hand ; at sight of which he, veritable little Meccan, could not contain his joy. " The Riyal ! " he ex- claimed ; " the Riyal ! look, grandpa', the good Effendi has given me a Riyal!" The old gentleman's eyes twinkled with emotion : he saw how easily money had slipped from my fingers, and he fondly hoped that he had not seen the last piece. " Verily thou art a good young man ! " he ejaculated, adding fervently, as prayers cost nothing, " May Allah further all thy desires." A gentle patting of the back evidenced high approval. I never saw Ali after that evening, but entrusted to the boy Mohammed what was considered a just equivalent for his services. CHAPTER XXXIIl. TO JEDDAH. A GENERAL plunge into worldly pursuits and pleasures an- nounced the end of the pilgrimage ceremonies. All the devotees were now " whitewashed," the book of their sins was a tabula rasa: too many of them lost no time in making a new departure " down south," and in opening a fresh ac- count.* The Moslem's " Holy Week " over, nothing detained me at Meccah. For reasons before stated, I resolved upon returning to Cairo, resting there for awhile, and starting a second time for the interior, vid Muwaylah.f * The faith must not bear the blame of the irregularities. They may be equally observed in the Calvinist, after a Sunday of prayer, sinning through Monday with a zest, and the Romanist falling back with new fervor upon the causes of his confession and penance, as in the Moslem who washes his soul clean by running and circumambula- tion ; and, in fairness, it must be observed that, as amongst Christians, so in the Moslem persuasion, there are many notable exceptions to this rule of extremes. Several of my friends and acquaintances date their reformation from their first sight of the Kaabah. f This second plan was defeated by bad health, which detained me in Egypt till a return to India became imperative. 480 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. The Meccans are as fond of little presents as are nuns : the Kabirah took an affectionate leave of me ; begged me to be careful of her boy, who was to accompany me to Jeddah, and laid friendly but firm hands upon a brass pestle and mortar, upon which she had long cast the eye of concupiscence. Having hired two camels for thirty-five piastres, and paid half the sum in advance, I sent on my heavy boxes with Shaykh, now Haji ISTur, to Jeddah.* Umar Effendi was to wait at Meccah till his father had started, in com- mand of the dromedary caravan, when he would privily take ass, join me at the port, and return to his beloved Cairo. I bade a long farewell to all my friends, embracing the Turkish pilgrims, and mounting on donkeys, the boy Mohammed and I left the house. Abdullah the Melancholy followed us on foot through the city, and took leave of me, though without embracing, at the Shebayki quarter. Issuing into the open plain, I felt a thrill of pleasure — such pleasure as only the captive delivered from his dun- geon can experience. The sunbeams warmed me into renewed life and vigor, the air of the desert was a perfume, and the homely face of nature was as the smile of an old friend. I contemplated the Syrian caravan, lying on the right of our road, without any of the sadness usually suggested by a last look. It is not my intention minutely to describe the line down which we travelled that night : the pages of Burck- hardt give full information about the country. Leaving Meccah, we fell into the direct road running south of Wady Fatimah, and traversed for about an hour a flat sm-rounded by hills. Then we entered a valley by a flight * The usual hire is thirty piastres, but in the pilgrimage season a dollar is often paid. The hire of an ass varies from one to three riyals. A MAN OF MANY TONGUES. 481 of rough stone steps, dangerously slippery and zigzag, intended to facilitate the descent for camels and laden beasts. About midnight we passed into a hill-girt Wady, now covered with deep sands, now hard with gravelly clay ; and finally, about dawn, we sighted the maritime plain of Jeddah, Shortly after leaving the city our party was joined by other travellers, and towards evening we found ourselves in force, the effect of an order that pilgrims must not proceed singly upon this road. Coffee-houses and places of refreshment abounding, we halted every five miles to refresh ourselves and the donkeys. At sunset we prayed near a Turkish guard-house, where one of the soldiers kindly supplied me with water for ablution. Before nightfall I was accosted in Turkish, by a one-eyed old fellow, who, — " With faded brow, Entrenched with many a frown, and conic beard,"— and habited in unclean garments, was bestriding a donkey faded as himself When I shook my head, he addressed me in Persian. The same manoeuvre made him try Arabic : still he obtamed no answer. He then grumbled out good HindostanL That also failing he tried successively Pushtu, Armenian, English, French, and Italian. At last I could "keep a stiff lip" no longer; at every change of dialect his emphasis beginning with "Then who the d are you ? " became more emphatic. I turned upon him in Persian, and found that he had been a pilot, a courier, and a servant to eastern tourists, and that he had visited England, France, and Italy, the Cape, India, Central Asia, and China. We then chatted in English, which Haji Akif spoke well, but with all manner of courier's phrases ; Haji Abdullah so badly, that he was counselled a course of study. 21 482 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAU. It was not a little curious to hear such phrases as " Come 'p, Neddy," and " Ore nom d'un hattdet^"* almost within ear- shot of the tomb of Ishmael, the birthplace of Mohammed, and the Sanctuary of El Islam. At about 8 p. M. we passed the Alamain, which define the Sanctuary in this direction. They stand about nine miles from Meccah. On the road, as night advanced, we met long strings of camels, some carrying litters, others huge beams, and others bales of coffee, grain, and merchan- dise. Sleep began to weigh heavy on my companions' eye- lids, and the boy Mohammed hung over the flank of his donkey in a most ludicrous position. About midnight we reached a mass of huts, called El Haddah. At " the boundary," which is considered to be the half-way halting-place, pilgrims must assume the religious garb, and infidels travelling to Taif, are taken off the Mec- can road into one leading northwards to Arafat. The set- tlement is a collection of huts and hovels, built with sticks and reeds, supporting brushwood and burned and blackened palm leaves. It is maintained for supplying pilgrims with coffee and water. Travellers speak with horror of its heat during the day ; Ali Bey, who visited it twice, compares it to a furnace. Here the country slopes gradually towards the sea, the hills draw off, and every object denotes de- parture fi-om the Meccan plateau. At El Haddah we dis- mounted for an hour's halt. A coffee-house supplied us with mats, water-pipes, and other necessaries ; We then pro- duced a basket of provisions, the parting gift of the kind Kabirah, and, this late supper concluded, we lay down to doze. After half an hour's halt had expired, and the donkeys were saddled, I shook up with difiiculty the boy Moham- med, and induced him to mount. He was, to use his own expression, dead of sleep ; and we had scarcely advanced A CHARACTERISTIC ADVENTURE. 483 an hour when, arriving at another little coifee-house, he threw himself upon the ground, and declared it impossible to proceed. This act caused some confusion. The donkey- boy was a pert little Bedouin, offensively republican in man- ner. He had several times addressed me impudently, or- dering me not to flog his animal or to hammer its sides with my heels. On these occasions he received a contemp- tuous snub, which had the effect of silencing him. But, now, thinking we were in his power, he swore that he would lead away the beasts, and leave us behind to be rob- bed and murdered. A pinch of the windpipe, and a spin over the ground, altered his plan at the outset of execution. He gnawed his hand with impotent rage, and went away, threatening us with the governor of Jeddah next morning. Then an Egyptian of the party took up the thread of re- monstrance ; and, aided by the old linguist, who said, in English, " By G ! you must budge, you'll catch it here ! " he assumed a brisk and energetic ^yle, exclaiming, "Yallah! rise and mount, thou art only losing our time; thou dost not intend to sleep in the Desert ! " I replied, "Son of my uncle, do not exceed in talk !"* rolled over on the other side heavily, as doth Encelades, and pretended to snore, whilst the cowed Egyptian urged the others to make us move. The question was thus settled by the boy Mohammed, who had been aroused by the dispute: "Do you know," he whispered, in awful accents, "what that person is ? " and he pointed at me. " Why, no," replied the others. "Well," said the youth, "the other day the Utaybah showed us death in the Zaribah Pass, and what do you think he did ? " " Wallah ! what do we know ! " exclaimed the Egyptian. "What did he do ?" " He called * " Fuzul" (excess) in Arabic is equivalent to telling a man in Eng- lish not to be impertinent. 484 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINA!! AND MECCAH, for his dinner," replied the youth, with a slow and sarcastic emphasis. That trait was enough. The others mounted and left us quietly to sleep. I have been diffuse in relating this little adventure, which is characteristic, showing what bravado can do in Arabia. It also suggests a lesson, which every traveller in these regions should take well to heart. The people are always ready to terrify him with frightful stories, which are the merest phantoms of cowardice. The reason why the Egyptian displayed so much philanthropy was that had one of the party been lost, the survivors might have fallen into trouble. But in this place, we were, I believe, — despite the declarations of our companions that it was infested with Turpins and Gasperonis, — as safe as if in Meccah. Every night, dui-ing the pilgrimage season, a troop of about fifty horsemen patrols the roads ; we were all armed to the teeth, and our paity looked too formidable to be " cruelly beaten by a single footpad." Our nap concluded, we remounted and resumed the weary way down a sandy valley, in which the poor donkeys sank fetlock-deep. At daivn we found our companions halted, and praying at another Httle coffee-house. Here an exchange of what is popularly called " chaff" took place. "Well," cried the Egyptian, "what have you gained by halting ? We have been quiet here, praying and smoking for the last hour !^ " Go, eat thy buried beans,"* we replied. " What does an Egyptian boor know of manliness ?" The surly donkey-boy was worked up into a paroxysm of passion by such small jokes as telling him to convey our salaams to the Governor of Jeddah, and by calling the asses after the name of his tribe. He replied by " foul, unman- * The farorite Egyptian " kitchen ;" held to be contemptible food by the Arabs. THE WAKALAH AT JEDDAH. 485 nered, scurril taunts," which only drew forth fresh derision, and the coflee-house keeper laughed consumedly, having probably seldom entertained such " funny gentlemen." Shortly after leaving we found the last spm- of the hills that sink into the Jeddah Plain. This view would for some time be my last of — " Infamous hills, and sandy, perilous wilds ;" and I contemplated it with the pleasure of one escaping fi'om it. Before us lay the usual iron flat of these regions, whitish with salt, and tawny with stones and gravel ; but relieved and beautified by the distant white walls, whose canopy was the lovely blue sea. iN'ot a tree, not a patch of verdure was in sight, nothing distracted our attention from the sheet of turquoises in the distance. Merrily the httle donkeys hobbled on, in spite of their fatigue. Soon we dis- tinguished the features of the town, the minarets, the forti- fications, and a small dome outside the walls. The sun began to glow fiercely, and we were not sorry when, at about 8 a. m., after passing through the mass of hovels and cofiee-houses, cemeteries and sand hills, which forms the eastern approach to Jeddah, we entered the for- tified Bab Makkah. Allowing eleven hours for our actual march, — we halted about three, — r-those wonderful donkeys had accomplished between forty-four and forty-six miles, generally of deep sand, in one night. And they passed the archway of Jeddah almost as nimbly as when they left Meccah. Shaykh ISTur had been ordered to take rooms for me in a vast pile of madrepore, once the palace of Mohammed bin Aun, and now converted into a Wakalah. Instead of so doing, Indian-like, he had made a gipsy encampment m the square opening upon the harbor. After administering the 486 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. requisite correction, I found a room that would suit me. In less than an hour it was swept, sprinkled with water spread with mats, and made as comfortable as its capability admitted. At Jeddah I felt once more at home. The Bri^ tish flag was a restorative, and the sight of the sea acted as a tonic. The Maharattas were not far wrong when they kept their English captives out of reach of the ocean, declaring that we are an amphibious race, to whom the wave is a home. After a day's repose at the caravanserai, the camel-man and the donkey-boy clamoring for money, and I not having more than tenpence of borrowed coin, it was necessary to cash at the British vice-consulate a draft given to me by the Royal Geographical Society. With some trouble I saw Mr. Cole, who, suffering from fever, was declared to be " not at home." His dragoman did by no means admire my looks ; in fact, the general voice of the household was against me. After some fi-uitless messages, I sent up a scrawl to Mr. Cole, who decided upon admitting the importunate Afghan. An exclamation of astonishment and a hospitable welcome followed my self-introduction as an officer of the Indian army. Amongst other things, the vice-consul informed me that, in divers discussions with the Turks about the possi- bility of an EngUshman finding his way en cachette to Mec- cah, he had asserted that his compatriots could do every- thing, even pilgrim to the Holy City. The Moslems politely assented to the first, but denied the second part of the pro- position. Mr. Cole promised himself a laugh at the Turks' beards ; but, since my departure, he wrote to me that the subject made the owners' faces look so serious, that he did not Hke recurring to it. Truly gratifying to the pride of an Englishman was our high official position assumed and maintained at Jeddah. Mr. Cole had never lowered himself in the estimation of the JEDDAH. 487 proud race with which he has to deal, by private or mer- cantile transactions with the authorities. He has steadily withstood the wrath of the Meccan Sherif, and taught him to respect the British name. Jeddah has often been described by modern pens. Burckhardt (in a. d. 1814) devoted 100 pages of his two volumes to the unhappy capital of the Tehamet el Hejaz, the lowlands of the mountain region. When I visited it, it was in a state of commotion, owing to the perpetual passage of pilgrims, and provisions were for the same reason scarce and dear. The two large Wakalah, of which the place boasts, were crowded with travellers, and many were reduced to encamping upon the squares. Another subject of confusion was the state of the soldiery. The Nizam, or Regulars, had not been paid for seven months, and the Arnauts could scarcely sum up what was owing to them. Easterns are wonderfully amenable to discipline ; a European army, under the circumstances, would proba- bly have helped itself. But the Pacha knew that there is a limit to man's endurance, and he was anxiously casting about for some contrivance that would replenish the empty pouches of his troops. The worried dignitary must have sighed for those beaux jours when privily firing the town and allowing the soldiers to plunder, was the oriental style of settling arrears of pay. Jeddah displays all the license of a seaport and garrison town. Fair Corinthians establish themselves even within earshot of the Karakun, or guard-post ; a symptom of excessive laxity in the authorities, for it is the duty of the watch to visit all such irregularities with a bastinado pre- paratory to confinement. My guardians and attendants at the Wakalah used to fetch araki in a clear glass bottle, without even the decency of a cloth, and the messenger twice returned from these errands decidedly drunk. More 488 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. extraordinary still, the people seemed to take no notice of the scandal. The little "Dwarka" had been sent by the Bombay Steam Navigation Company to convey pilgrims from El Hejaz to India. I was still hesitating about my next voyage, not wishing to coast the Red Sea in this season without a companion, when one morning Umar Effendi appeared at the door, weary, and dragging after him an ass more jaded than himself. We supplied him with a pipe and a cup of hot tea, and, as he was fearful of pursuit, we showed him a dark hole fiill of grass under which he might sleep concealed. The student's fears were realised ; his fe,ther appeared early the next morning, and having ascertained from the porter that the ftigitive was in the house, politely called upon me. Whilst he plied all manner of questions, his black slave furtively stared at everything in and about the room. But we had found time to cover the runaway with grass, and the old gentleman departed, after a fruitless search. There was, however, a grim smile about his mouth, which boded no good. That evening I went out to the Hammam, and, return- ing home, found the house in an uproar. The boy Moham- med, who had been miserably mauled, was furious with rage, and Shaykh Nur was equally unmanageable, by reason of his fear. In my absence the father had returned with a posse comitatus of friends and relatives. They questioned the youth, who delivered himself of many cir- cumstantial and emphatic mis-statements. Then they pro- ceeded to open the boxes ; upon which the boy Mohammed cast himself sprawling, with a vow to die rather than to endure such a disgrace. This procured for him some scat- tered slaps, which presently became a storm of blows, wheu a prying little boy discovered Umar Effendi's leg in the PARTING FROM THE BOY MOHAJIMED. 489 hiding-place. The student was led away unresisting, but mildly sweanng that he would allow no opportunity of escape to pass. I examined the boy Mohammed, and was pleased to find that he was not seriously hurt. To pacify his mind, I ofiered to sally out with him, and to rescue Umar Effendi by main force. This, which would only have brought us all into a brunt with quarter-staves, and similar servile weapons, was declined, as had been foreseen. But the youth recovered complacency, and a few well-merited encomiums upon his " pluck" restored him to high spirits. The reader must not fancy such escapade to be a serious thing in Arabia. The father did not punish his son ; he merely bargained with him to return home for a few days before starting to Egypt. This the young man did, and shortly afterwards I met him unexpectedly in the streets of Cairo. Deprived of my companion, I resolved to waste no time in the Red Sea, but to return to Egypt vdth the utmost expedition. The boy Mohammed having laid in a large store of grain, purchased with my money, having secured all my disposable articles, and having hinted that, after my return to India, a present of twenty dollars would find him at Meccah, asked leave, and departed with a cool- ness for which I could not account. Some days afterwards Shaykh Nur explained the cause. I had taken the youth with me on board the steamer, where a bad suspicion crossed his mind. " Now, I understand," said the boy Mohammed to his fellow-servant, " your master is a Sahib from India, he hath laughed at our beards." He parted as coolly fi-om Shaykh ISTur. These worthy youths had been drinking together, when Mohammed, having learned at Stamboul the fashionable practice of " Bad-masti," or " liquor-vice," dug his " fives" into Nur's eye. Nur erro- neously considering such exercise likely to induce blind- 21* 490 A PILGRIMAGE TO EL MEDINAH AND MECCAH. ness, complained to me ; but my sympathy was all with the other side. I asked the Indian why he had not riposte, and the Meccan once more overwhelmed the "Miyan" with taunt and jibe. It is not easy to pass the time at Jeddah. Whilst the boy Mohammed remained he used to pass the time in wrangling with some Indians, who were living next door to us, men, women, and children, in a promiscuous way. After his departure I used to spend my days at the vice- consulate ; the proceeding was not perhaps of the safest, but the temptation of meeting a fellow-countryman, and of chatting " shop " about the service, was too great to be resisted. I met there the principal merchants of Jeddah. I now proceed to the last of my visitations. Outside the town of Jeddah lies no less a personage than Sittna Hawwa, the Mother of mankind. The boy Mohammed and I, mounting asses one evening, issued through the Meccan gate, and turned towards the north-east over a sandy plain. After half an hour's ride, amongst dirty huts and tattered coffee-hovels, we reached the enceinte, and found the door closed. Presently a man came running with might from the town ; he was followed by two others ; and it struck me at the time that they applied the key with peculiar em- pressement, and made inordinately low congees as we entered the enclosure of whitewashed walls. " The Mother " is supposed to lie, like a Muslimah, front- ing the Kaabah, with her feet northwards, her head south- wards, and her right cheek propped by her right hand. Whitewashed, and conspicuous to the voyager and traveller from afar, is a diminutive dome with an opening to the west ; it is furnished as such places usually are in El Hejaz. Under it and in the centre is a square stone, planted up- right and fancifully carved, to represent the omphalic region of the human frame. This, as well as the dome, is called END OP THE PILGRIMAGE. 49l El Surrah, or the navel. The cicerone directed me to kiss this manner of hieroglyph, which I did, thinking the while that, under the circumstance, the salutation was quite uncalled for. Having prayed here, and at the head, where a few young trees grow, we walked along the side of the two parallel dwarf walls which define the outlines of the body : they are about six paces apart, and between them, upon Eve's neck, are two tombs, occupied, I was told, by Usman Pacha and his son, who repaired the Mother's sepulchre, I could not help remarking to the boy Moham- med, that if our first parent measured 120 paces from head to waist, and 80 from waist to heel, she must have presented much the appearance of a duck. To this the youth replied, flippantly, that he thanked his stars the Mother was under ground, otherwise that men would lose their senses with fright. On leaving the graveyard I offered the guardian a dol- lar, which he received witn a remonstrance that a man of my dignity should give so paltry a fee. Nor was he at all contented with the assurance that nothing more could be expected from an Afghan dervish, however pious. Next day the boy Mohammed explained the man's empressemetit and disappointment, — ^I had been mistaken for the Pacha of El Medinah. ^ic aH He 4: 4: For a time my peregrinations ended. Worn out with fatigue, and the fatal fiery heat, I embarked on board the "Dwarka," experienced the greatest kindness from the commander and chief officers (Messrs. WoUey and Taylor), and, wondering the while how the Turkish pilgrims who crowded the vessel did not take the trouble to throAv me overboard, in due time arrived at Suez. And here, reader, we part. Bear with me while I conclude, in the words of a brother traveller, long gone, but not forgotten — 492 A PILGRIMAGE TO KL MEDINAH AKD MECCAH. Fa-hian — this Personal Narrative of my Journey to El Hejaz ; " I have been exposed to perils, and I have escaped from them ; I have traversed the sea, and have not succum- bed under the severest fatigues; and my heart is moved with emotions of gratitude, that I have been permitted to effect the objects I had in view." THE EXD. H 513 8511 LB My '05 .TulY,r2.lSfia m <0' 4A^ A^^ * '^^ ^4^ o • * -.-* /^ ^^ '^ © « ^w > "^ A^ ♦^^ ^ ^9^ I » a ^ • « •^oV* - -^^0^ ^o t^ ^' HECKMAN ilNDERY INC. JUN85 N. MANCHESTER, INDIANA 46962 9 , ■TT o >