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MECCAH 
 
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 EDITED BY LADY BURTON 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 STANLEY LANE*POOLE 
 
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 G. BELL AND SONS, LTD. 
 
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 | PAGE 
 Introduction. By STANLEY LANE-POOLE - -~ Ix 
 i@eectace to the Third Edition -  - <- = (+ xxi 
 I Preface to the First Edition PE ele oct XX 
 oh] 
 te Part I.—At-Misr. 
 CHAPTER. 
 He I.—To Alexandria. A Few Words concerning 
 : what induced me to a Pilgrimage - i 
 p iJ.—I leave Alexandria - - d eT: 
 {I].—The Nile Steamboat.—The “ Little Asth- 
 YD matic” - : 2 - : - 29 
 “ —s«[V,—Life in the Wak4lah - : : 4 - 4! 
 3 V.—The Ramazan - ° . : - <7 4 
 RleeBncsMocquesw chars, Pace ben id 99 
 VII.—Preparations to Quit Cairo - : - 115 
 VIIl.—From CairotoSuez+ - - - «+ rar 
 IX,.—Suez . - - ae: ee - - 160 
 X.—The Pilgrim Ship - - - - - 186 
 
 768492 
 
VI Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER. PAGE 
 
 XI.~-To Yambu’ - . . ° . 
 XII.—The Halt at Yambu’ - : ° 7 : 
 XIII.—From Yambu’ to Bir Abb4és’ - ° - 
 XIV.—From Bir Abbas to Al-Madinah ° : 
 
 Part II.—A.-Mapinau. 
 XV.—Through the Suburb of Al-Madinah to 
 Hamid’s House - - . - - 
 XVI.—A Visit to the Prophet’s Tomb - - 
 
 XVII.—An Essay towards the History of the 
 Prophet’s Mosque - - . : : 
 
 XVIIL.—Al-Madinah *\-*. >. 
 XIX. 
 -XX.—The Visitation of Hamzah’s Tomb - : 
 
 A Ride to the Mosque of Kuba ~—s_—- 2 
 
> 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Tue “Pilgrimage” to the Holy Cities of Isldm, records the 
 ‘most famous adventure of one of the boldest explorers of this 
 century, and stands in need of no recommendation from any- 
 body. More then forty years have passed since its first 
 appearance, yet it is not forgotten, but seems as fresh now, 
 in its middle age, as when it astonished the world at its birth 
 
 in 1855. Its vivid descriptions, its pungent uncompromising 
 
 style, its intense personal “note”, distinguish it broadly from 
 the common run of books of travel; and the picture it gives 
 of Arab life and manners, the insight it reveals in Semitic 
 ideas, give it a permanent value as a national record, as true 
 to-day as half a century ago, and as true then as a thousand 
 years before. Dashed off in Burton's rapid impulsive way, 
 the book is the strangest compound of keen observation, 
 wide Oriental learning, a grim sardonic humour, and an 
 insobriety of opinion expressed in the writer’s vigorous verna- 
 cular. As a brilliant account of the Muslim Hajj and the life 
 of the pilgrims, and as a candid revelation of a powerful un. 
 bridled character, the book will hold a place of its own 
 among the classics of travel, and, unlike many classics, it will 
 also hold its readers. 
 
 It is, however, neither “to bury Cesar” after the manner 
 of classics, nor yet “to praise him” that these few pages are 
 set in front of so well-known a work as the Pilgrimage of the 
 “Hajj Abdullah.” Their object is rather to discover how 
 Burton came to achieve this astonishing feat without detec- 
 tion. Anyone, of course, who chooses to profess Islam publicly 
 before the Mohammadan authorities, has the right to go on 
 
 _ pilgrimage to the Holy Cities, the Harameyn of Arabia; and 
 
 he would probably accomplish the journey in safety unless 
 the devout mob were in an unusually fanatical temper or had 
 suspicions of the sincerity of his conversion. Burton, however, 
 made no such profession of faith; he posed, not as a rene. 
 gade from Christianity, but as a born Muslim. “My spirit.” 
 
oe Introduction 
 
 he wrote, “could not bend to own myself a Burmd, a rene. 
 gade—to be pointed at and shunned and catechised, an 
 object of suspicion to the many and of contempt to all.” He 
 would go as a born believer. He seemed to find a moral 
 superiority in the larger, more fundamental deception, and to 
 the casuist the delicate distinction offers a tempting problem 
 Worthy people have cast heavy stones at Burton for his 
 assumed apostasy, but he is probably within his rights in 
 maintaining that this is a matter which concerns nobody but 
 himself. There can be no question, however, that his imper- * 
 sonation multiplied the difficulties of the task. In the new 
 convert much might be excused on the ground of unfami- 
 liarity with the customs, ritual, and language; but the born 
 Muslim had no such refuge. He must be circumspect in 
 every act and word, ever on his guard lest a trivial lapse in 
 ordinary behaviour, still more the slightest deviation from 
 prescribed religious observances, bewray him. No one who 
 has not studied Islam in its own lands can realise the minute- 
 ness and multiplicity of the rules which every Muslim continually 
 observes in all the common acts of daily life. Burton has 
 given one example, in the various processes composing the 
 simple operation of drinking water (p. 6); and it may be 
 added that the position of the thumbs in performing a ve&‘a or 
 bowing at prayer may convict a man of flagrant heresy. All 
 these details must not only have been known but assiduously 
 practised by “Hajj Abdullah” before he ventured to risk his 
 life in the pilgrimage: for in such a case discovery un- 
 questionably spelt death. The inevitable penalty of detection 
 perhaps suggested the popular legend that Burton shot a man or 
 two, who discovered him in an unorthodox attitude. Apart 
 from other objections, he carried no firearms. His own modest ~ 
 confession was that he never killed a man in his life, and 
 one can imagine that he made it with a certain regret. 
 
 The successful disguise which carried Burton through the 
 perils described in these volumes was no new experiment. 
 He had practised it frequently in India. Indeed the ten 
 years preceding the pilgrimage to Mekka were chiefly spent 
 in a long apprenticeship to Eastern life. Curst, or blest, 
 with a spirit of incurable restlessness, his life had been a 
 wanderer’s almost from the first. How the man whom his 
 
Zl Introduction ‘XI 
 friends affectionately and not inappropriately called “Ruffian 
 Dick” came to be grandson of the Reverend Edward Burton, 
 rector of Tuam, is one of the mysteries of heredity; but 
 there were other elements in his ancestry to which he showed 
 a more natural affinity. His father, Lieut.-Colonel Joseph 
 Netterville Burton of the 36th Regiment, was a thorough 
 Irishman and a confirmed wanderer. Through him came 
 not only the Irish daredevilry, but also the primitive instincts 
 of the Westmoreland Border. From his mother he inherited 
 “a strain of the MacGregors, and he was proud of a remote 
 drop of Bourbon blood from the wrong side of the blanket. 
 People even discovered in his face as well as his character 
 a touch of the Gipsy race, ever wild and intractable, fierce 
 and resentful, intolerant of convention and self-restraint. His 
 bringing-up encouraged his natural impulse. Born in Hert- 
 fordshire,—quite a respectable county—19 March, 1821, his 
 childhood was spent partly in France, partly in Italy, and an 
 irreguiar education, however stimulating to his genius for 
 spoken dialects, ended at Trinity College, Oxford, somewhat 
 siimmarily, in rustication. It is not easy to picture Burton at 
 chapel and lecture, but one can readily fancy him “gated,” 
 and even view him arguing his case with aflomd before an 
 amazed but magisterial common-room. How completely out 
 of touch with Oxford ideas was this young fire-eater, fresh 
 from continental life, may be judged by his treatment of the 
 ordinary undergraduate, who laughed at his fierce moustache, 
 and was immediately requested to name his seconds|! 
 
 He was scarcely more in his element when he found him- 
 self a lieutenant in the 18th Bombay Native Infantry at 
 Baroda in October 1842. Discipline of any sort was distaste- 
 ful to the “amateur barbarian,” and he wearied of the un- 
 varying mess and the Anglo-Indian notion of life, “with its 
 dull routine of meaningless parades and tiresome courts- 
 martial,—where the business of life is comprised in ignoble 
 official squabbles, dislikes, disapprobations, and ‘references 
 tO superior authority’, where social intercourse is crushed 
 by ‘gup’, gossip, and the scandal of small colonial circles”— 
 so he wrote of Aden a little later. He thirsted for freedom, 
 and his appointment soon afterwards as assistant in the Survey 
 of Sind gave him the liberty and opportunities he wanted. 
 
x Introduction 
 
 The seven years he spent in India, in fact, laid the founda. 
 tions of all his later achievements. The talent for languages, | 
 discovered in Europe, was developed in India in marvellous - 
 perfection. Even at Oxford he had begun to teach himself 
 Arabic. In London he had worked at Hindustani with old 
 Duncan Forbes. But once in the fiving East his industry 
 and attainments became phenomenal. One after the other 
 he mastered the various spoken languages and dialects of 
 the people of India. Hindustani, Gujarati, Marathi, Persian, 
 Multani, even the complexities of Arabic, seemed to come~ 
 by nature, and in the Government examinations he came out 
 first. A visit to the Deccan on sick-leave in 1847 led to the 
 study of Dravidian tongues, Telugu and Toda; and at odd 
 times he amused himself with Sanskrit, Turkish, Pushtu, and 
 Armenian. Thus equipped, he mixed with the people as one 
 of themselves. 
 
 “So,” as he wrote in a fragment of autobiography, “after the first 
 year, when I had Persian at my fingers’ ends, sufficient Arabic to 
 read, write, and converse fluently, and a superficial knowledge of that 
 dialect of Punjaubee which is spoken in the wilder parts of the 
 province, I began the systematic study of the Sindian people. 
 
 “The first difficulty was to pass for an Oriental, and this was as. 
 necessary as it was difficult, The European official in India seldom, 
 if ever, sees anything in its real light, so dense is the veil which the 
 fearfulness, the duplicity, the prejudice, and the superstitions of the 
 natives hang before his eyes, And the white mam lives a life so dis- 
 tinct from the black, that hundreds of the former serve through what 
 they call their ‘term of exile’ without once being present at a circum- 
 cision feast, a wedding, or a funeral... After trying several characters, 
 the easiest to be assumed was, I found, that of a half-Arab, half- 
 Iranian, such as may be met with in thousands along the northern 
 shore of the Persian gulf. 
 
 “With hair falling upon his shoulders, a long beard, face and hands, 
 arms and feet, stained with a thin coat of henna, Mirza Abdullah of 
 Bushire—your humble servant—set out upon many and many a trip. 
 He was a éazzaz, a vendor of fine linen, calicoes, and muslins—such 
 chapmen are sometimes admitted to display their wares, even in the 
 sacred harem, by ‘fast’ and fashionable dames—and he had a little 
 pack of Jdijouterie and vertu reserved for emergencies. It was only, 
 however, when absolutely necessary that he displayed his stock-in- 
 trade; generally, he contented himself with alluding to it on all 
 possible occasions, boasting largely of his traffic, and asking a thou- 
 rand questions concerning the state of the market. Thus he could 
 walk into most. men’s houses, quite without ceremony; even if the 
 master dreamed of kicking him out, the mistress was sure to oppose 
 
fntroduction XIII 
 
 such measures with might and main, He secured numberless invitations, 
 was proposed to by several papas, and won, or had to think he won, 
 a few hearts; for he came as a rich man, and he stayed with dignity, 
 and he departed exacting all the honours. 
 
 “The timid villagers collected in crowds to see the rich merchant 
 in Oriental dress, riding. spear in hand, and pistols in his holsters, 
 ‘towards the litthe encampment pitched near their settlements. But 
 ‘regularly every evening on the line of march the Mirza issued from 
 his tent and wandered amongst them, collecting much information. 
 Now and then he rented a shop, and furnished it with clammy dates, 
 viscid molasses, tobacco, ginger, rancid oil, and strong-smelling sweet- 
 meats; and wonderful tales Fame told about these establishments. 
 “Sometimes the Mirza passed the evening in a mosque, listening to the 
 ragged students who, stretched at full length with their stomachs on 
 the dusty floor, and their arms supporting their heads, mumbled out 
 Arabic from the thumbed, soiled, and tattered pages of theology upon 
 which a dim oil light shed its scanty ray; or he sat debating the 
 niceties of faith with the long-bearded, shaven-pated, blear-eyed, and 
 stolid-faced genius loci, the Mullah. At other times, when in merrier 
 mood, he entered uninvited the first door whence issued the sounds 
 ef music and the dance;—a clean turban and a polite bow are the 
 best ‘tickets for soup’ the East knows. Or he played chess with 
 some native friend, or he consorted with the hemp drinkers and opium- 
 éaters in the es/aminets, or he visited the Mrs. Gadabouts and Gobe- 
 tweens who make matches amongst the Faithful, and gathered from 
 them a precious budget of private history and domestic scandal. 
 
 “What scenes he saw! What adventures he went through! But 
 who would believe, even if he ventured to detail them?” * 
 
 This is his own story, and Burton might be suspected 
 without offence of an occasional use of the “long bow,’ as well 
 as the sword, whereof he became a famous maitre d’armtes: 
 but the facts are confirmed by other witnesses, and there is 
 ‘no doubt that his disguise in dress, manners, and languages 
 was so perfect that he even deceived his own Persian muzshz, 
 to say nothing of the far easier feat of passing his mess-mates 
 and commanding officer unrecognised. A wig and goggles may 
 do wonders, but it is when the beak opens that the parrot 
 stands confessed. 
 
 His wanderings in Sind whilst engaged on the Survey led 
 to the production of one of his most interesting and vivid 
 books, “Scinde or the Unhappy Valley” (published in 1851). 
 During his seven years in India he had written much: gram- 
 matical papers on Jataki, Multdni, and Pushtu, for the Journal 
 
 * Life of Sir R. F. Burton, by Isabel Burton, & 155-7. 
 
KIV Introduction 
 
 of the Bombay Branch of the Asiatic Society (1849); reports | 
 to Government on Sind; a volume on the races of the Valley | 
 of the Indus; ‘“‘Goa and the Blue Mountains” (1851); and « 
 “Falconry in the Valley of the Indus” (1852). Fever and 
 severe opthalmia, partly due to over-study and over-exertion,— 
 combined with disgust at seeing no fighting, and disappoint- 
 ment at the ill-success of his application for the post of 
 interpreter in the Sikh War—led to his return to Europe 
 in 1850 on sick-leave. It was practically the end of his Indian | 
 career. “ 
 
 Already, when mingling with the Muslims in Sind, Burton 
 had formed the wish to visit Mekka during the pilgrimage; 
 but it would be a mistake to set down that adventurous 
 journey, described in these volumes, wholly to curiosity and 
 love of danger. The pilgrimage of 1853 was designed as a part 
 of a iarger scheme-—to cross “The Empty Abode,” the great 
 Eastern wilderness, to Maskat, and by this exploration to 
 remove a discreditable “huge white blot” from the map of 
 Arabia. The scheme was frustrated by a quarrel amongst the 
 tribes, ana only the first stage was accomplished. It is but 
 just to remember that with Burton the passion of the ex- 
 plorer marched far? passu with the restlessness of the wan- 
 derer: rove he must, but he would rove by preference 
 in untrodden paths, and thus make his love of adventure 
 minister to the advance of geographical science. 
 
 He had been in communication with the Royal Geograph- 
 ical Society before the Mekka pilgrimage, and his next journey 
 was undertaken with a strictly geographical object. The 
 Indian Government had long desired an exploration of the 
 dangerous Somali country, which had, and has still, a special 
 importance for the Red Sea trade; and Burton’s proposal to 
 conduct a small expedition was cautiously accepted. He had 
 but lately returned to Bombay from Arabia, but October 1854 
 found him back again at Aden preparing to enter another 
 terra incognita. He had the cooperation of three young 
 officers, one of them Lieutenant Speke; but the most peril- 
 ous and difficult part of the exploration, the journey into 
 the interior to Harar, the capital of the country, he achieved 
 alone. No one, not even the Roman Catholic Missionaries, 
 had entered this forbidding city, which shared with Tim. 
 
fatroduction XV 
 
 buktu the reputation of the white man’s grave: “The bigoted | 
 and barbarous people threatened death to the infidel who 
 ventured within its walls; some negro Merlin having, it is 
 said, read Decline and Fall in the first footsteps of the Frank.” 
 This courageous adventure has never been appreciated as 
 it deserves. Lady Burton does not exaggerate (for once) 
 when she describes it as “one of his most splendid and 
 dangerous expeditions. He disappeared into the desert for 
 four months; but this unnoticed, unknown journey has been 
 of great importance to the Egyptians, to the English, and 
 now to,.the Itahan army. At last the ‘Dreadful City’ was 
 sighted, and relying on his good Star and audacity, he walk- 
 ed boldly in, sending his compliments to the Amir and ask- 
 ing for audience. His diplomacy on this occasion, his capacity 
 for passing as an Arab, and his sound Mohammadan theo. 
 logy, gave him ten days in the city, where he slept every 
 night in peril of his life.’ The return journey was even 
 more hazardous; he was now dogged by hostile tribesmen, 
 bis provisions, and, worse still, water ran short, and he crossed 
 done thirsty desert in daily expectation of death by violence 
 or starvation. The narrative of the expedition to Harar, 
 “First Footsteps in East Africa” (1856) is one of the most 
 exciting, amusing, learned, and thorough, of his many books 
 of travel. Hardly had he. got. back to Aden from this ex- 
 hausting ride when, in attempting to lead a further expedi- 
 tion into Somali Land in April 1855, he was set upon by the 
 natives; one of his officers, Stroyan, was killed; Speke re- 
 ceived eleven wounds, and Burton himself spent an agonis- 
 ing night with a javelin through his mouth which he could 
 not draw out. 
 
 He was made of tougher stuff, however, than to care about 
 javelin wounds. Vhe misadventure did not daunt him, for 
 after volunteering for the Crimean War “to recover his 
 spirits,’ and holding a congenial] commission in Beatson's 
 Bashi-Bozuks at the Dardanelles, which had the bad luck to 
 get into official disgrace and never smelt powder, he was back 
 in Fast Africa, this time at Zanzibar, by December 1856. The 
 journey to Harar, the first attempt to penetrate East Africa 
 from the Red Sea, had led to larger efforts. ‘The Royal 
 Geographical Society had marked the born explorer, and 
 
XVI Introduction 
 
 had induced the Foreign Office to send him out to investi. 
 gate the unknown Lake region of Equatorial Africa, where 
 lay the hidden sources of the Nile. He was again accom- ~ 
 panied by Speke, and after many adventures, difficulties, 
 and hardships, in February 1858 they were the first Euro- 
 peans to set eyes on Lake Tanganyika. After exploring the 
 northern end of the lake, Burton fell ill, but in July he had 
 already roughly mapped out from Arab information the 
 position of the Ukerewe Lake, or Victoria Nyanza; and 
 during his disablement Captain Speke went north and found - 
 the great lake exactly where Burton had placed it. On the 
 unhappy disputes that followed there is no need to dwell. 
 Burton had discovered the Tanganyika and Speke had found 
 the Victoria Nyanza, and each claimed to have at last settled 
 the eternal problem of //e source of the Nile. The really 
 important point to notice is that Burton’s expedition was the 
 forerunner and direct incentive to all subsequent explorations: 
 his discovery of the Tanganyika led to the later and more 
 renowned journeys of Speke and Grant, Baker, Livingstone, 
 and Stanley; and his work on “The Lake Regions of Equa- 
 torial Africa” (1860, with the 33rd volume of the Proceed- 
 ings of the Royal Geographical Society) is the true parent 
 of the ponderous literature of Central African exploration. 
 As Burton was the first Englishman who succeeded in per- 
 forming the Pilgrimage to Medina and Mekka, so was he 
 the first to visit the interior of East Africa, and the first to 
 enter the region of the great Equatorial Lakes. He was the 
 original pioneer in those countries which under the names of 
 British and Italian Somali Land and British East Africa have 
 since acquired international significance, and are probably 
 destined to play an important part in the future development 
 of the no longer Dark Continent. Three years later he was 
 exploring another part of Africa which also has been brought 
 into the front of imperial “questions” —the Gold Coast, Da- 
 homey, and the Bight of Benin. By accident, foresight, or, 
 as he would have said, Fate, he was in the van of three great 
 movements in the expansion of England. A statesman, who 
 afterwards held the seals of the Foreign Office, remarked 
 with truth that before middle age Burton had crowded into 
 his life “more of study, more of hardship, and more of success- 
 
Introduction xvn 
 
 ful enterprise and adventure than would have sufficed to fill 
 up the existence of half a dozen ordinary men.” “Such a 
 career,” continued Lord Stanley, ‘does as much as a succes3- 
 ful campaign to keep up in the minds of the English people 
 that spirit of adventure and of enterprise, that looking to 
 reputation rather than to money, to love of effort rather 
 than to ease,—the old native English feeling which has made 
 -this country what it has become, and without which our 
 wealth and our material prosperity would not be worth one 
 year’s purchase.” 
 
 After 1858 Burton saw no more of the interior of East _ 
 Africa. The quarrel with Speke, and the way in which his 
 own services were passed over, embittered him, and he made 
 a tour in the western world to recover tone. He travelled 
 nearly 30,000 miles by sea and land. Visiting Salt Lake City, 
 he expressed a wish to be received into the community of 
 the Mormons; but Brigham Young, remembering the Mekka 
 incident, shook his head and shrewdly replied, ‘‘ No, Captain, 
 I think you have done that sort of thing once before!” 
 Nevertheless Burton’s “City of the Saints” (1861) presented a 
 vivid picture of Mormon life, “the most accurate description,” 
 said a good judge, of “morally, the most eccentric. pheno: 
 menon of our days.” Since 1849 Captain Burton’s connexion 
 with the Indian army had been somewhat nominal; in 1&61 
 he entered the service of the Foreign Office, and remained a 
 consul for the rest of his life. In that year he married Isabel 
 Arundell, and of all the exploits of his varied career there was 
 none which so honoured him as his power to win that rare 
 and exquisite devotion with which she worshipped and served 
 him through nearly thirty. years of trial, hard work, poverty, 
 exile, deadly climates, official difficulties, and latterly frequent 
 illness. Lady Burton’s romantic, ill-balanced, exaggerated bio- 
 graphy of her husband is, with all its patent faults, one of 
 the most pathetic and moving monuments which the unselfish 
 love of a woman has ever raised to the memory of her hero 
 No man could dare to call himself wortny of such devotion. 
 Unlucky in many things, “Ruffian Dick” was supremely 
 fortunate in his marriage. 
 
 In a merely material sense, too, Mrs. Burton brought her 
 husband better fortune. Her connexions enabled her to keep 
 
XVII [atreduction 
 
 him before the official mind, and it is safe to say that with. 
 out her aid he would have found some difficulty in getting 
 and more in keeping-his consular appointments. He held 
 successively the consulates at Fernando Po, from 1861, Santos 
 in Brazil, 1865, Damascus, 1869, and ‘Trieste, 1871 to. 1890. 
 Of these the one post for which his tastes, knowledge, and 
 experience seemed to have peculiarly fitted him was the 
 Damascus consulate, where he found himself completely in 
 his element, and looked forward to years of work among the 
 Arabs and in Arabic literature. The causes which led to his © 
 summary recall cannot be discussed within the limits of these 
 few pages, but although it is well known that the Foreign 
 Office resorts to such extreme measures with the greatest 
 reluctance and only upon grave provocation, Burton’s friends 
 and students of the East never ceased to regret his loss at 
 Damascus and his comparative obscurity at Trieste. It was 
 certainly a curious anomaly that two of the most brilliant 
 Arabic scholars of the day should be placed officially where 
 their special acquirements were peculiarly useless—Burton at 
 the Consulate of Trieste, and Palgrave at the Legation ot 
 Montevideo. Incompatibility of temper accounts for much, 
 however, in official as well as domestic life, and perhaps 
 neither of these distinguished scholars was particularly easy 
 to live with, or made a model subordinate. 
 
 Burton’s opportunities, however, were not neglected at his 
 various consular posts. His explorations whilst stationed at 
 Fernando Po led to the publication of two Volumes of 
 “Wanderings in West Africa” (1863), two more on “Abeo- 
 kuta and the Cameroons” (1863), and yet another pair on 
 his “Mission to the King of Dahomé” (1864), with a con- 
 cluding “Wit and Wisdom from West Africa” (1864). “The 
 Highlands of Brazil” (1869), represented the results of his 
 experience at Santos and in the interior of South America. 
 “Letters from the Battlefields of Paraguay” (1870), record 
 a journey across the continent from Argentina to Peru. The 
 residence at Damascus and many excursions are reflected 
 in “Unexplored Syria”, in which his intrepid wife collabor- 
 ated (1872). Other works of his later years, the fruit of various 
 journeys and revisitings of former scenes, were “Zanzibar” 
 (1872), “Ultima Thule, a summer in Iceland” (1845), “Gorilla 
 
Introduction XIX 
 
 Land or the Cataracts of the Congo” (1875), “Etruscan 
 Bologna” (1876), “Sind revisited” (1877), ““The Gold Mines of 
 Midian” (1878), “The Land of Midian” (1879), “To the Gold 
 Coast for Gold” (1883). Most of these works were in two 
 volumes, and the total number of volumes he published was 
 nearly seventy. On his favourite weapon he wrote “The Book 
 of the Sword” Vol. I, (1884), and “ A New System of Sword Exer- 
 cise” (1875), besides a “Complete System of Bayonet Exer. 
 cise” (1853). He contributed papers to the proceedings of the 
 Royu Geographical, Asiatic, and Anthropological Societies, 
 and wrote for various magazines and newspapers. Among his 
 latest wo.ks were his translations of the Lusiads of Camoens 
 (6 Vols. 1880), and of the Arabian Nights (16 Vols. 1885—8). 
 
 Burton’ translation of the Arabian Nights is, in its way, 
 even more celebrated than his Pilgrimage to Mekka. When 
 he was making his less famous journey to Harar, he used to 
 delight his Arab friends at Zeyla by reading them tales from 
 the Thousand and One Nights “that wonderful work, so often 
 translated, so much turned over, and so little understood at 
 home. The most familiar of books in England, next to the 
 Bible, it is one of the least known; the reason being that 
 about one-fifth is utterly unfit for translation; and the most 
 sanguine Orientalist would not dare to render literally more 
 than three-quarters of the remainder. Consequently the reader 
 loses the contrast—the very essence of the book.” * The “san- 
 guine Orientalist”’ nevertheless did dare to attempt thirty years 
 later what he declared to be impossible in 1855; but he ex- 
 pressly prepared his “literal rendering”’ for the use of students, 
 and printed it for private circulation, As a monument of his 
 Arabic learning and his encyclopedic knowledge of Eastern 
 life the translation of the Thousand and One Nights was 
 Burton's greatest achievement. It is open to criticism in many 
 ways, but when all is said, it is a remarkable performance. 
 It reveals its writer’s astonishing familiarity with the avgot and 
 “Billingsgate” of the Arabs, no less than with their most 
 secret, and, it must be added, most disgusting habits. As a 
 witness to his profound acquaintance with the vocabulary and 
 customs of the Muslims, the translation is unimpeachable; but 
 
 * R, F. Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa, i, 26 (Memorial Ed.). 
 
xX Introduction 
 
 it testifies no less clearly to an attitude of attraction towards 
 all that is most repulsive in life and literature, which has 
 procured it a peculiar notoriety that has no relation to its 
 scholarship. The “anthropological” notes, which have obtained 
 it a costly but unenviable place among the works labelled 
 “curious” in booksellers’ catalogues, evince an intimate ac- 
 quaintance with Oriental depravity, the confession of which has 
 at best the merit of boldness, whilst the elaborate exposition 
 of so much indescribable filth can scarcely be matter of 
 congratulation. It seems that the Pilgrimage to Mekka itself 
 was only saved from the top shelf by the absence of its 
 author from England; for -Sir Gardner Wilkinson, to whom 
 the manuscript was entrusted, remarked that the amount of 
 unpleasant garbage which he took upon himself to reject would 
 have rendered the book unfit for publication. Apart from 
 this characteristic, the translation of the Thousand and One 
 Nights is often marked by extraordinary resource and felicity 
 in the exact reproduction of the sense. Burton’s vocabulary 
 was marvellously extensive, and he often found the right 
 expression where everyone else had failed. But his fancy for 
 archaic words and phrases, his habit of coining a word when 
 none seemed fitted to his purpose, and the harsh and rugged 
 style he aftected, detract from the literary quality of the work 
 without really enhancing its fidelity to the original. With grave 
 defects, but sometimes brilliant merits, the translation holds 
 a mirror to its author. 
 
 Sir Richard Burton, who was created a Knight Commander 
 of the most distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George 
 in 1885, held his consulship at Trieste for eighteen years, and 
 died there 20th October, 1890, in his seventieth year. His body 
 was embalmed, and rests at Mortlake under an Arab tent, 
 of stone and marble, erected by his devoted wife. 
 
 STANLEY LANE-POOLE, 
 
Pier ACE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 etn LL TON. 
 
 Arter a lapse of twenty-five years, a third edition of 
 my Pilgrimage has been called for by the public, to whom 
 I take this opportunity of returning thanks. Messrs. 
 Mullan have chosen the very best opportunity. My two 
 publications concerning the Khedival Expeditions to 
 Midian (**The Gold Mines of Midian,” and “The Land 
 of Midian Revisited”), are, as I have stated in the 
 Preface, sequels and continuations of this Pilgrimage 
 from which the adventures forming their subject may be 
 said-to date. 
 
 The text has been carefully revised, and the ‘“‘bag- 
 gage of notes’ has been materially lightened. From the 
 Appendix I have removed matter which, though useful 
 to the student, is of scant general interest. The quaint 
 and interesting ‘Narrative and Voyages of Ludovicus 
 Vertomannus, Gentleman of Rome,’ need no longer be 
 read in extracts, when the whole has been printed by the 
 Hakluyt Society. (The Travels of Ludovico di Var- 
 thema in Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix, 
 in Persia, India, and Ethiopia, a.p. 1503 to 1508. Trans- 
 lated from the original Italian edition of 1510, with a 
 Preface by John Winter Jones, Esq., F.S.A., and edited, 
 
 1 These omitted notes and appendices have all been restored to 
 the present Edition. 
 
XXU Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccan. 
 
 with notes. and an Introduction, by George Percy Badger, 
 late Government Chaplain in the Presidency of Bombay. 
 London.) On the other hand, I have inserted after the 
 Appendix, with the permission of the author, two highly 
 interesting communications from Dr. Aloys Sprenger, the - 
 well-known Orientalist and Arabist, concerning the routes 
 of the Great Caravans. My friend supports his suspicions — 
 that an error of direction has been mads, and geographers) 
 will enjoy the benefit of his conscientious studies, topo- . 
 graphical and linguistic. : 
 
 The tment attacks made upon pilgrims and Dar- 
 wayshes call fora few wordsof notice. Even that learned 
 and amiable philanthropist, the late Dr. John Wilson of 
 Bombay (‘Lands of the Bible,” vol. ii., p. 302) alludes, 
 in the case of the Spaniard Badia, alias Ali Bey al-Abbasi, 
 to the “unjustifiable fanciful disguise of a Mohammedan 
 Pilgrim.” The author of the Ruddy Goose Theory (‘‘ Voice 
 of Israel from Mount Sinai’’) and compiler of the ‘“His- 
 torical Geography of Arabia” has dealt a foul blow to 
 the memory of Burckhardt, the energetic and inoffensive 
 Swiss traveller, “whose name has ever been held in the 
 highest repute. And now the ‘‘ Government. Chaplain ” 
 indites (Introduction, p. xxvii.) the following invidious 
 remarks touching the travels of Ludovico di Varthema 
 —the viv Deo carus, be it remarked, of the learned and 
 laical Julius. Cesar Scaliger: 
 
 “This is not the place to discuss the morality of an 
 act involving the deliberate and voluntary denial of what 
 a man holds to be truth in a matter so sacred as that of 
 Religion. Such a violation of conscience is not justifiable 
 by the end which the renegade (!) may have in view, 
 however abstractedly praiseworthy it may be; and even 
 granting that his demerit should be gauged by the amount 
 of knowledge which he possesses of what is true and 
 what false, the conclusion is inevitable, that nothing 
 short of utter ignorance of the precepts of his faith, or a 
 
Preface to the Third Edition. XXII 
 
 conscientious disbelief in them, can fairly relieve the 
 Christian, who conforms to Islamism without a corres- 
 ponding persuasion of its verity, of the deserved odium 
 all honest men attach to apostasy and hypocrisy.” 
 
 The reply to this tirade is simply, ‘‘Judge not; especi- 
 ally when you are ignorant of the case which you are 
 judging.” Perhaps also the writer may ask himself, Is. 
 it right for those to cast stones who dwell in a tenement 
 not devoid of fragility ? 
 
 The second attack proceeds from a place whence no 
 man would reasonably have expected it. The author of 
 the “Narrative of a Year’s Journey through Central and 
 Eastern Arabia” (vol. i., pp. 258-59) thus expresses his 
 opinions :— 
 
 ‘Passing oneself. off for a wandering Darweesh, as 
 some European explorers have attempted to do in the 
 East, is for more reasons than one a very bad plan. It 
 is unnecessary to dilate on that moral aspect of the pro- 
 ceeding which will always first strike unsophisticated 
 minds. To feign a religion which the adventurer himself 
 does not believe, to perform with scrupulous exactitude, 
 as of the highest and holiest import, practices which he 
 inwardly ridicules, and which he intends on his return to 
 hold up to the ridicule of others, to turn for weeks and 
 months together the most sacred and awful bearings of 
 man towards his Creator into a deliberate and truthless 
 mummery, not to mention other and yet darker touches, 
 —all this seems hardly compatible with the character of 
 a European gentleman, let alone that of a Christian.” 
 
 This comes admirably @ propos from a traveller who, 
 born a Protestant, of Jewish descent, placed himself ‘in 
 connection with,” in plain words took the vows of, ‘‘the 
 order of the Jesuits,” an order ‘‘ well-known in the annals 
 of philanthropic daring”;.a popular preacher who de- 
 claimed openly at Bayrit and elsewhere against his own 
 nation, till the proceedings of a certain Father Michael 
 
RXIV Pilevimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Cohen were made the subject of an official report by 
 Mr. Consul-General Moore (Bayrut, November 11, 1857); 
 an Englishman by birth who accepted French protection, 
 a secret mission, and the “‘liberality of the present Em- 
 . peror of the French”; a military officer travelling in the 
 garb of what he calls a native (Syrian) quack” with a 
 comrade who “by a slight but necessary fiction 
 passed for his brother-in-law'”; a gentleman who by 
 return to Protestantism violated his vows, and a traveller 
 who was proved by the experiment of Colonel (now Sir 
 Lewis) Pelly to have brought upon himself all the perils 
 and adventures that -have caused his charming work to 
 be considered so little werthy of trust. Truly such attack 
 argues a sublime daring. It is the principle of * vieille 
 coquette, nouvelle dévote”’; it is Satan preaching against 
 Sin. Both writers certainly lack the ‘“ giftie” to see 
 themselves as others see them. 
 
 In noticing these extracts my object is not to defend 
 myself: I recognize no man’s right to interfere between a 
 human being and his conscience. But what is there, I 
 would ask, in the Moslem Pilgrimage so offensive to 
 Christians---what makes it a subject of ‘‘inward ridicule’? 
 Do they not also venerate Abraham, the Father of the 
 Faithful? Did not Locke, and even greater names, hold 
 Mohammedans to be heterodox Christians, in fact Arians 
 who, till the end of the fourth century, represented the 
 mass of North-European Christianity? Did Mr. Lane 
 neverconform by praying at a Mosque in Cairo? did he 
 ever fear to confess it? has he been called an apostate for 
 so doing? Did not Father Michael Cohen prove himself 
 an excellent Moslem at Wahhabi-land. 
 
 The fact is, there are honest men who hold that Al- 
 
 1 The brother-in-law, Barakat J’rayj’ray, has since that time 
 followed suit: educated at the Jesuit college of Mu’allakah ‘Libanus) 
 he has settled as a Greek Catholic priest at the neighbouring town 
 of Zahleh. 
 
Preface to the Third Edition. XXV 
 
 Islam, in its capital tenets, approaches much nearer to the 
 faith of Jesus than do the Pauline and Athanasian modi- 
 fications which, in this our day, have divided the Indo- 
 European mind into Catholic and Roman, Greek and 
 Russian, Lutheran and Anglican. The disciples of Dr. 
 Daniel Schenkel’s school («A Sketch of the Character of 
 Jesus,” Longmans, 1869) will indeed find little difficulty 
 in making this admission. Practically, a visit after Arab 
 Meccah to Angle-Indian Aden, with its ‘“ priests after the 
 order of Melchisedeck,” suggested to me that the Moslem 
 may be more tolerant, more enlightened, more charitable, 
 than many societies of self-styled Christians. a. 
 
 And why rage so furiously against the ‘disguise of 
 a wandering Darwaysh?” In what point is the Dar- 
 waysh more a mummer or in what does he show more 
 of bétise than the quack? Is the Darwaysh anything but 
 an Oriental Freemason, and are Freemasons less Chris- 
 tians because they pray with Moslems and profess their 
 belief in simple unitarianism ? 
 
 I have said. And now to conclude. 
 
 After my return to Europe, many inquired if I was 
 not the only living European who has found his way to 
 the Head Quarters of the Moslem Faith. I may answer 
 in the affirmative, so far, at least, that when entering the 
 penetralia of Moslem life my Eastern origin was never 
 questioned, and my position was never what cagots would 
 describe asin loco apostate. 
 
 On the other hand, any Jew, Christian, or Pagan, 
 after declaring before the Kazi and the Police Authori- 
 ties at Cairo, or even at Damascus, that he embraces 
 Al-Islam, may perform, without fear of the so-called 
 Mosaic institution, ‘‘Al-Sunnah,” his pilgrimiage in all 
 safety. It might be dangerous to travel down the Desert- 
 line between Meccah and Al-Madinah during times of 
 popular excitement; but the coast route is always safe. 
 To the ‘new Moslem,” however, the old Moslem is rarely 
 
XxVI Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 well affected; and the former, as a rule, returns home 
 unpleasantly impressed by his experiences. 
 
 The Eastern world moves slowly—eppur si miuove. 
 Half a generation ago steamers were first started to 
 Jeddah: now we hear of a projected railroad from that 
 
 port to Meccah, the shareholders being all Moslems. — 
 
 And the example of Jerusalem encourages us to hope © 
 that long before the end.of the century a visit to Meccah) 
 will not fi more difficult than a trip to Hebron. 
 
 Ziyadeh hadd-t-adab! 
 
 RicHarp F. Burrfron. 
 Loudun, 31st March, 1879. 
 
 al age cll 
 
 “ 
 
PREFACE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 FIRST EDITION. 
 
 —_—— 
 
 The interest just now felt in everything that relates 
 to the East would alone be sufficient to ensure to the 
 author of “* El Medinah and Meccah” the favourable 
 consideration of the Reading Public. But when it is 
 borne in mind that since the days of William Pitts of 
 Exeter (a.p. 1678—1688) no European travellers, with 
 the exception of Burckhardt! and Lieut. Burton,” 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 penetralia of Mohammedan 
 superstition. In fact, El Madinah may be considered 
 almost a virgin theme; for as Burckhardt was prostrated 
 
 by sickness throughout the period of his stay in the 
 
 Northern Hejaz, he was not able to describe it as satis- 
 factorily or minutely as he did the Southern country,— 
 he could not send a plan of the Mosque, or correct the 
 popular but erroneous ideas which prevail concerning it 
 and the surrounding city. 
 The reader may question the propriety of introducing 
 { In 1811. 
 2 Captain Sadlier is not mentioned, as his F rankish dress pre- 
 vented his entering the city. 
 
XXVIII Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 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 peculiarities of the 
 people—to dramatise, as it were, the dry journal of a 
 journey,—and to preserve the tone of the adventures, 
 together with that local colouring in which mainly con- 
 sists ‘‘l’education d’un voyage.” For the same reason, the 
 prayers of the “ Visitation” ceremony have been trans- 
 lated at length, despite the danger of inducing tedium ; 
 they are an essential part of the subject, and cannot be 
 omitted, nor be represented by ‘‘ specimens.” 
 
 The extent of the Appendix requires some explana- 
 tion. Few but literati are aware of the existence of 
 Lodovico Bartema’s naive recital, of the quaint narrative 
 of Jos. Pitts, or of the wild journal of Giovanni Finati. 
 Such extracts have been now made from these writers 
 that the general reader can become acquainted with the 
 adventures and opinions of the different travellers who 
 have visited E] Hejaz during a space of 350 years. Thus, 
 with the second volume of Burckhardt’s Travels in 
 Arabia, the geographer, curious concerning this portion 
 of the Moslem’s Holy Land, possesses all that has as yet 
 been written upon the subject. 
 
 The editor, to whom the author in his absence has 
 intrusted his work, had hoped to have completed it by 
 the simultaneous publication of the third volume, con- 
 taining the pilgrimage to Meccah. The delay, however, 
 in the arrival from India of this portion of the MS. has 
 been such as to induce him at once to publish El] Misr 
 and E] Medinah. The concluding volume on Meccah is 
 now in the hands of the publisher, and will appear in the 
 Autumn of the present year. Meanwhile the Public will 
 not lose sight of the subject of Arabia. Part of El] Hejaz 
 has lately been inspected by M. Charles Didier, an 
 eminent name in French literature, and by the Abbé 
 Hamilton,—persuaded, it is believed, by our author to 
 
Preface to the First Edition. XXIX 
 
 visit Taif and Wady Laymum. Though entirely uncon- 
 nected with the subjects of Meccah and El Medinah, the 
 account of the Sherif’s Court where these gentlemen were 
 received with distinction, and of the almost anknown 
 regions about Jebel Kora, will doubtless be welcomed by 
 the Orientalists and Geographers of Europe. 
 
 Mr. Burton is already known by his * History of 
 Sindh.” And as if to mark their sense of the spirit of 
 observation and daring evinced by him when in that 
 country, and still more during his late journeyings in 
 Arabia and East Africa, the Geographical Society, 
 through their learned Secretary, Dr. Norton Shaw, have 
 given valuable aid to this work in its progress through 
 the press, supplying maps where necessary to complete 
 the illustrations supplied by the author,—who, it will be 
 perceived, is himself no mean draughtsman. 
 
 It was during a residence of many years in India 
 that Mr. Burton had fitted himself for his late undertak- 
 ing, 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 (vide Frontispiece, Vol. II.) seemed already to 
 point him out as the very person of all others best suited 
 for an expedition like that described in the following 
 pages. 
 
 It will be observed that in writing Arabic, Hindoo- 
 stannee, Persian, or Turkish words, the author has 
 generally adopted the system proposed by Sir William 
 Jones and modified by later Orientalists.1 But when a 
 word (like Fatihah for Fat-hah) has been ‘“‘ stamped” by 
 general popular use, the conversational form has been 
 
 t The orthography of Eastern words was revised for the Memorial 
 Edition by Mr. Leonard C. Smithers, from Sir R, F. Burton’s MS. 
 corrections, and in accordance with the orthography of Sir Richard’s 
 most recent Oriental Work, “The Book of the Thousand Nights and 
 a Night.” 
 
XXX Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 preferred; and the same, too, may be said of the common 
 corruptions, Cairo, Kadi, &c., which, in any other form, 
 would appear to us pedantic and ridiculous. Still, in the 
 absence of the author, it must be expected that sume 
 trifling errors and inaccuraces will have here and there 
 have crept in. In justice to others and himself, the 
 Editor, however, feels bound to acknowledge, with much 
 gratitude, that where such or even greater mistakes have 
 been avoided, it has been mainly due to the continued 
 kindness of an Eastern scholar of more than European 
 reputation,—who has assisted in revising the sheets before 
 finally consigning them to the printer. 
 
 Let us hope that the proofs now furnished of untiring 
 energy and capacity for observation and research by our 
 author, as well as his ability to bear fatigue and exposure 
 to the most inclement climate, will induce the Govern- 
 ments of this country and of India to provide him with 
 men and means (evidently all that is required for the 
 purpose) to pursue his adventurous and useful career in 
 other countries equally difficult of access, and, if possible, 
 of still greater interest, than the Eastern shores of the 
 Red Sea. 
 
 Tuomas L. Wottey. 
 
 Hampton Court Palace, 
 June, 1855 
 
TO 
 GCOcONEE WILLIAM. SYKES, 
 FR. S0C:,-M. R. G, SOC., M.. R.A. SOC., 
 
 AND LORD RECTOR OF THE MARISCHAL COLLEGE, 
 ABERDEEN. 
 
 I po not parade your name, my dear Colonel, in the 
 van of this volume, after the manner of that acute 
 tactician who stuck a Koran upon his lance in order to 
 win a battle. Believe me it is not my object to use your 
 orthodoxy as a cover to my heresies of sentiment and 
 science, in politics, political economy and—what not? 
 
 But whatever I have done on this occasion,—if I 
 have done any thing,—has been by the assistance of a 
 host of friends, amongst whom you were ever the fore- 
 most. And the highest privilege I aim at is this oppor- 
 tunity of publicly acknowledging the multitude of 
 obligations owed to you and to them. Accept, my dear 
 Colonel, this humble return for your kindness, and ever 
 believe me, | 
 
 The sincerest of your well wishers, 
 RIcHARD F, BURTON. 
 
Lew 
 
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 AL-MADINAH AND MECCAH. 
 
 ol ek 1 Pe 
 TO ALEXANDRIA. 
 A few Words concerning what induced me to a Pilgrimage. 
 
 In the autumn of 1852, through the medium of my 
 excellent friend, the late General Monteith, I offered 
 my services to the Royal Geographical Society of 
 London, for the purpose of removing that opprobrium 
 to modern adventure, the huge white blot which in our 
 maps still notes the Eastern and the Central regions of 
 Arabia. Sir Roderick I. Murchison, Colonel P. Yorke 
 and Dr. Shaw, a deputation from that distinguished body, 
 with their usual zeal for discovery and readiness to en- 
 courage the discoverer, honoured me by warmly support- 
 ing, In a personal interview with the then Chairman of 
 the then Court of Directors to the then Honourable East 
 India Company, my application for three years’ leave of 
 absence on special duty from India to Maskat. But 
 they were unable to prevail upon the said Chairman, the 
 late 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 
 
 1 ‘Remembering . ... reason,” afterwards altered by the author te 
 “much disliking, if fact must be told, my impolitic habit of 
 telling political truths, (in 1851 I had submitted to the Court of Di- 
 
 rectors certain remarks upon the subject of Anglo-Indian misrule: 1 
 VOL. I, B 
 
2 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 that the contemplated journey was of too dangerous a 
 nature. In compensation, however, for the disappoint- — 
 ment, I was 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 was safe to 
 me? The ‘‘experimentum crucis” was a visit to Al-Hijaz, 
 at once the most difficult and the most dangercus point by - 
 which a European can enter Arabia. I had intended, 
 had the period of leave originally applied for been granted, 
 to land at Maskat—a favourable 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 faded 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 exclusive Harim. However, 
 being liberally supplied with the means of travel by the 
 Royal Geographical Society; thoroughly tired of ‘ pro- 
 gress” and of ‘ civilisation ;”’ curious to see with my eyes 
 what others are content to ‘hear with ears,” namely, 
 ‘Toslem inner life in a really Mohammedan country; and 
 longing, if truth be told, to set foot on that mysterious 
 spot which no vacation tourist has yet described, mea- 
 sured, sketched and photographed, I resolved to resume 
 my old character of a Persian wanderer,’ a ** Darwaysh,” 
 and to make the attempt. 
 
 need hardly say that the publication was refused with many threats), 
 and not unwilling to mortify my supporter (his colleague, Colonel 
 W. Sykes), refused his sanction, alleging as a no-reason,’’ ef seq. 
 
 1 The vagrant, the merchant, and the philosopher, amongst 
 Orientals, are frequently united in the same person. 
 
I.—-To Alexandria. 3 
 
 The principal object with which I started was this: 
 to cross the unknown Arabian Peninsula, in a direct 
 line from either Al-Madinah to Maskat, or diagonally 
 from Meccah to Makallah on the Indian Ocean. By 
 what ‘‘Circumstance, the miscreator’’ my plans were 
 defeated, the reader will discover in the course of these 
 volumes. The secondary objects were numerous. I was 
 desirous to find out if any market for horses could be 
 opened between Central Arabia and India, where the 
 studs were beginning to excite general dissatisfaction ; 
 to obtain information concerning the Great Eastern 
 wilderness, the vast expanse marked Rub’a al-Khali (the 
 ‘‘ Empty Abode”’) in our maps; to inquire into the hydro- 
 graphy of the Hijaz, its water-shed, the disputed slope 
 of the country, and the existence or non-existence of 
 perennial streams ; and finally, to try, by actual observa- 
 tion, the truth of a theory proposed by Colonel W. Sykes, 
 namely, that if tradition be true, in the population of the 
 vast Peninsula there must exist certain physiological 
 differences sufficient to warrant our questioning the 
 common origin of the Arab family. As regards 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 
 Rub’a al-Khali I have heard enough, from credible re- 
 lators, to conclude that its horrid depths swarm witha 
 large and half-starving population; that it abounds in 
 Wadys, valleys, gullies and ravines, partially fertilised by 
 intermittent torrents; and, therefore, that the land is 
 open to the adventurous traveller. Moreover, I am satis- 
 fied, that in spite of all geographers, from Ptolemy to 
 Jomard, Arabia, which abounds in fimwmaras,’ possesses not 
 
 1 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 
 
4 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 a single perennial stream worthy the name of river;' and 
 the testimony of the natives induces me to think, with 
 Wallin, 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 future part of this publica- 
 tion, for believing in three distinct races. 1. Theaborigines 
 of the country, driven like the Bhils and other autoch- 
 thonic Indians, into the eastern and south-eastern wilds 
 bordering upon the ocean. 2. A Syrian or Mesopotamian 
 stock, typified by Shem and Joktan, that drove the Indi- 
 gene from the choicest tracts of country ; these invaders 
 still enjoy their conquests, representing the great Arabian 
 people. And 3. An impure Syro-Egyptian clan—we per- 
 sonify it by Ishmael, by his son Nabajoth, and by 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 débvis of hea- 
 thenry, proscribed by Mohammed, yet still popular, while 
 the ignorant observers of the old customs assign to them 
 a modern and a rationalistic origin. 
 
 I have entitled this account of my summer’s tour 
 through Al-Hijaz, a Personal Narrative, and I have 
 laboured to make its nature correspond with its name, 
 simply because ‘‘it is the personal that interests man- 
 kind.” Many may not follow my example;? but some 
 
 express a ‘‘ hill water-course, which rolls a torrent after rain, and ‘is 
 either partially or wholly dry during the droughts.” It is, in fact, 
 the Indian ‘‘ Nullah, or Nala.” 
 
 1‘‘In provinciis Arabum, ait Ibn Haukal, nullus dignoscitur 
 fluvius, aut mare quod navigia ferat.’’ This truth has been disputed, 
 but now it is generally acknowledged. 
 
 2 A French traveller, the Viscount Escayrac de Lanture, was liv- 
 ing at Cairo as a native of the East, and preparing for a pilgrimage 
 when I was similarly engaged. Unfortunately he went to Damascus, 
 where some disturbance compelled him to resume his. nationality. 
 The only European I have met with who visited Meccah without 
 
I.—TIo Alexandria. 5 
 
 perchance will be curious to see what measures I adopted, 
 
 in order to appear 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 egotisti- 
 cal semblance of the narrative. 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. 
 
 On the evening of April 3, 1853, I left London for 
 Southampton. By the advice of a brother officer, 
 Captain (now Colonel) Henry Grindlay, of the Bengal 
 Cavalry,—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,” ac- 
 companied by Captain Grindlay, embarked on board the 
 Peninsular and Oriental Company’s magnificent screw 
 steamer “ Bengal.” 
 
 apostatising, is M. Bertolucci, Swedish Consul at Cairo. This gentle- 
 man persuaded the Badawin 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. George A. 
 Wallin, of Finland, performed the Hajj in 1845; but his ‘somewhat 
 perilous position, and the filthy company of Persians,’’ were effectual 
 obstacles to his taking notes. 
 
 t No one felt the want of this ‘silent friend '’ more than myself ; 
 for though Eastern Arabia would not have been strange to me, the 
 Western regions were a terra incognita. Through Dr. Norton Shaw, 
 Secretary to the Royal Geographical Society, I addressed a paper full 
 of questions to Dr. Wallin, professor of Arabic at the University of 
 Helsingfors. But that adventurous traveller and industrious Orientalist 
 was then, as we afterwards heard with sorrow, no more; so the queries 
 remained unanswered. In these pages I have been careful to solve all 
 the little financial and domestic difficulties, so perplexing to the 
 ‘freshman,’ whom circumstances’ compel to conceal his freshness 
 from the prying eyes of friends. 
 
6 Pilgnmage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, 
 
 A fortnight was profitably spent in getting into the 
 train of Oriental manners. For what polite Chesterfield 
 says of the difference 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 man. Look, for instance, at that Indian 
 Moslem drinking a glass of water. With us the opera- 
 tion is simple enough, but his performance includes no 
 fewer 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 Com- 
 passionate, the Merciful!” before wetting his lips; thirdly, 
 he imbibes the contents, swallowing them, not sipping 
 them as he ought to do, and ending with a satisfied 
 grunt; fourthly, before setting down the cup, he sighs 
 forth, ‘* Praise be to Allah!’”—of which you will under- 
 
 stand the full meaning in the Desert; and, fifthly, he 
 
 replies, ‘‘ May Allah make it pleasant to thee!” in answer 
 to his friend’s polite ‘‘ Pleasurably and health!” Also he 
 is careful to avoid the irreligious action of drinking the 
 pure element in a standing position, mindful, however, 
 of the three recognised exceptions, the fluid of the Holy 
 Well Zemzem, water distributed in charity, and that 
 which remains after Wuzu, the lesser ablution. More- 
 over, in Europe, where both extremities are used indis- 
 criminately, one forgets the exclusive use of the right 
 hand, the manipulation of the rosary, the abuse of the 
 chair,—your genuine Oriental gathers up his legs, looking 
 almost as comfortable in it 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 ejacu- 
 lations. 
 
 Our voyage over the ‘‘stimmer sea” was eventless. 
 In a steamer of two or three thousand tons you discover 
 
I.—To Alexandria. ; 
 
 the once dreaded, now contemptible, ‘‘ stormy waters” only 
 by the band—a standing nuisance be it remarked— 
 performing 
 
 * There we lay 
 All the day, 
 In the Bay of Biscay, O!”" 
 
 The sight of glorious Trafalgar’ excites none of the 
 sentiments with which a tedious sail used to invest it. 
 “Gib” is, probably, better known to you, by Théophile 
 Gautier and Eliot Warburton, than the regions about 
 Cornhill; besides which, you anchor under the Rock 
 exactly long enough to land and to breakfast. Malta, 
 
 too, wears an old familiar face, which bids you order a ~ 
 
 dinner and superintend the iceing of claret (beginning of 
 Oriental barbarism), instead of galloping about on donkey- 
 back through fiery air in memory of St. Paul and White- 
 Cross Knights. But though our journey might be called 
 monotonous, there was nothing to complain of. 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 thirteenth day after our 
 start, the big-trowsered pilot, so lovely in his deformities 
 to western eyes, made his appearance, and the good screw 
 ‘‘ Bengal” found herself at anchor off the Headland of 
 Clay.” 
 
 Having been invited to start from the house of a 
 kind friend, john W. Larking, I disembarked with him, and 
 
 1 ‘Then came Trafalgar: would that Nelson had known the 
 meaning of that name! it would have fixed a smile upon his dying 
 lips!’ so says the Rider through the Nubian Desert, giving us ina 
 foot note the curious information that ‘“ Trafalgar’’ is an Arabic 
 word, which means the ‘‘ Cage of Laurels.’ Trafalgar is nothing but 
 a corruption of Tarf al-Gharb—the side or skirt of the West ; it being 
 the most occidental point then reached by Arab conquest. : 
 
 2 In Arabic ‘“‘ Ras al-Tin,” the promontory upon which immortal 
 Pharos once stood. It is so called from the argile there found and 
 which supported an old pottery. 
 
8 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 rejoiced to see that by dint of a beard and a shaven head 
 
 I had succeeded, like the Lord of Geesh, in ‘‘ misleading 
 the inquisitive spirit of the populace.” The mingled herd 
 of spectators before whom we passed in review on the 
 landing-place, hearing an audible ‘ Alhamdolillah”? whis- 
 pered ‘‘Muslim!”’ 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 faceand exclaimed 
 ‘¢ Bakhshish,’”” he obtained in reply a ‘‘ Mafish ;”* which 
 convinced the bystanders that the sheep-skin covered a 
 real sheep. We then mounted a carriage, fought our 
 way through the donkeys, and in half an hour found our- 
 selves, chibik in mouth and coffee-cup in hand, seated 
 on the diwan of my friend Larking’s hospitable home. 
 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 at- 
 
 1‘‘ Praise be to Allah, Lord of the (three) worlds!” a pious 
 ejaculation, which leaves the lips of the True Believer on all occasions 
 of concluding actions. 
 
 2‘ Bakhshish,” says a modern writer, ‘tis a fee or present which 
 the Arabs (he here means the Egyptians, who got the word from the 
 Persians through the Turks,) claim on all occasions for services you 
 render them, as well as for services they have rendered you. A 
 doctor visits a patient gratis,—the patient or his servant willask fora 
 btkhshish (largesse) ; you employ, pay, clothe, and feed a child—the 
 father will demand his bakhshish ; you may save the life of an Arab, 
 at the risk of your own, and he will certainly claim a bakhshish. This 
 bakhshish, in fact, is a sort of alms or tribute, which the poor Arab 
 believes himself entitled to claim from every respectable-looking 
 person.” 
 
 3 Mafish, ‘‘ there is none,”’ equivalent to, ‘‘I have left my purse at 
 home.”’ Nothing takes the Oriental mind so much as a retort alliter- 
 ative or jingling. An officer in the Bombay army (Colonel Hamerton) 
 once saved himself from assault and battery by informing a furious 
 band of natives, that under British rule ‘‘ havakat na hui, bavahat hui," 
 “blessing hath there been to you; Lane there hath been none.” 
 
 “fe 
 
I.—To Alexandria. 9 
 
 mosphere of industry which kept us at anchor off the Isle. 
 of Wight, through the loveliest air of the Inland Sea, 
 whose sparkling blue and purple haze spread charms even 
 on N. Africa’s beldame features, and now we are sitting 
 silent and still, listening to the monotonous melody of the 
 East—the soft night-breeze wandering through starlit 
 skies and tufted trees, with a voice of melancholy mean- 
 ing. 
 
 And this is the Arab’s Kayf. The savouring of 
 animal existence ; the passive enjoyment of mere sense ; 
 the pleasant languor, the dreamy tranquillity, the airy 
 castle-building, 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 sensi- 
 bility of nerve; it argues a facility for voluptuousness un- 
 known to northern regions, where happiness is placed in 
 the exertion of mental and physical powers; where Ernst 
 ist das Leben; where niggard earth commands ceaseless 
 sweat of face, and damp chill air demands perpetual 
 excitement, exercise, or change, or adventure, or dissipa- 
 tion, for want of something better. In the East, man 
 wants but rest and shade: upon the banks of a bubbling 
 stream, or under the cool shelter of a perfumed tree, ho 
 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 inter- 
 ruptions to his Kayf. No wonder that “ Kayf” is a word 
 untranslatable in our mother-tongue ! 
 
 ** Laudabunt alii claram Rhodon aut Mytelenen. ' 
 Let others describe the once famous Capital of 
 
 1 In a coarser sense ‘‘ kayf’’ is applied to all manner of intoxica- 
 tion. Sonnini is not wrong when he says, ‘‘ the Arabs give the name 
 of Kayf to the voluptuous relaxation, the delicious stupor, produced 
 by the-smoking of hemp.”’ 
 
10 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, 
 
 Egypt, this City of Misnomers, whose dry docks are ever 
 wet, and whose marble fountain is eternally dry, whose 
 ‘¢Cleopatra’s Needle’? is neither a needle nor Cleo- 
 patra’s; whose ‘‘ Pompey’s Pillar” never had any earthly 
 connection with Pompey; and whose Cleopatra’s Baths 
 are, according to veracious travellers, no baths at all. 
 Yet it is a wonderful place, this ‘* Libyan suburb” of our 
 day, this outpost of civilisation planted upon the skirts 
 of barbarism, this Osiris seated side by side with Typhon, 
 his great old enemy. Still may be said of it, ‘‘it ever 
 beareth something new?;’’ and Alexandria, a threadbare 
 subject in Bruce’s time, is even yet, from its perpetual 
 changes, a fit field for modern description.? 
 
 1 Cleopatra’s Needle is called by the native Ciceroni ‘‘ Masallat 
 Firaun,” Pharaoh's packing needle. What Solomon, and the Jinnis 
 and Sikandar zu’l karnain (Alexander of Macedon), are to other 
 Moslem lands, such is Pharaoh to Egypt, the ‘‘ Czesar aut Diabolus"’ 
 of the Nile. The ichneumon becomes ‘‘ Pharaoh’s cat,’’—even the 
 French were bitten and named it, le rat de Pharaon; the prickly 
 pear, ‘‘ Pharaoh’s fig ;” the guinea-worm, ‘‘ Pharaoh’s worm ;” cer- 
 tain unapproachable sulphur springs, ‘‘ Pharach’s bath; a mau- 
 soleum at Petra, ‘‘ Pharaoh’s palace;’’ the mongrel race now 
 inhabiting the valley of the Nile is contemptuously named by 
 Turks and Arabs ‘“Jins Firaun,” or ‘‘Pharaoh’s Breed ;” and a toul 
 kind of vulture (vultur percnopterus, ak baba of the Turks, and ukab 
 of Sind), ‘‘ Pharaoh’s hen.”” This abhorrence of Pharaoh is, how- 
 ever, confined to the vulgar and the religious. The philosophers 
 and mystics of Al-Islam, in their admiration of his impious daring, 
 make him equal, and even superior, to Moses. Sahil, a celebrated 
 Sufi, declares that the secret of the soul (7.e., its emanation) was 
 first revealed when Pharaoh declared himself a god. And Al- 
 Ghazali sees in such temerity nothing but the most noble aspiration 
 to the divine, innate in the human, spirit. (Dabistan, vol. iii.) 
 
 2 Aci pepei ti xalvoy. ‘‘ Quid novi fert Africa ?’’ said the Romans 
 ‘‘In the same season Fayoles, tetrarch of Numidia, sent from the 
 land of Africa to Grangousier, the most hideously great mare that 
 was ever seen; for you know well enough how it is said, that ‘ Africa 
 always is productive of some new thing.’”’ 
 
 3 Alexandria, moreover, is an interesting place to Moslems, on 
 eccount of the prophecy that it will succeed to the honours of Meccah, 
 
I.—To Alexandria. — 11 
 
 The better to blind the inquisitive eyes of servants 
 and visitors, my friend, Larking, lodged me in an out- 
 house, where I could revel in the utmost freedom of 
 life and manners. And although some Armenian Drago- 
 man, a restless spy like all his race, occasionally remarked 
 voila un Persan diablement dégagé, none, except those 
 _who were entrusted with the secret, had any idea of the 
 part I was playing. The domestics, devout Moslems, 
 pronounced me an ’Ajami,' a kind of Mohammedan, not 
 a good one like themselves, but, still better than nothing. 
 I lost no time in securing the assistance of a Shaykh,’ 
 and plunged once more into the intricacies of the Faith; 
 revived my recollections of religious ablutions, read the 
 Koran, and again became an adept in the art of prostra- 
 tion. My leisure hours were employed in visiting the 
 baths and coffee-houses, in attending the bazars, and in 
 shopping,—an operation which hereabouts consists of 
 sitting upon a chapman’s counter, smoking, sipping 
 coffee, and telling your beads the while, to show that you 
 are not of the slaves for whom time is made; in fact, in 
 pitting your patience against that of your adversary, the 
 vendor. I found time for a short excursion to a country 
 village on the banks of the canal; nor was an opportunity 
 of seeing ‘‘ Al-nahl,” the ‘‘ Bee-dance,” neglected, for it 
 would be some months before my eyes might dwell on 
 such a pleasant spectacle again. 
 
 ‘‘ Delicias videam, Nile jocose, tuas!"* 
 
 Careful of graver matters, I attended the mosque, 
 and visited the venerable localities in which modern 
 Alexandria abounds. Pilgrimaging Moslems are here 
 
 when the holy city falls into the hands of the infidel. In its turn 
 Alexandria will be followed by Kairawan (in the Regency of Tunis) ; 
 and this by Rashid or Rosetta, which last shall endure to the end of 
 time. 
 
 1 A Persian as opposed to an Arab. 
 
 2 A priest, elder, chieftain, language-master, private-tutor, &c., &c. 
 
12 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 shown the tomb of Al-nabi Daniyal (Daniel the Prophet), 
 discovered upon a spot where the late Sultan Mahmid 
 dreamed that he saw an ancient man at prayer.’ Sikandar 
 al-Rumi, the Moslem Alexander the Great, of course left 
 his bones in the place bearing his name, or, as he ought 
 to have done so, bones have been found for him. Alex- 
 andria also boasts of two celebrated Walis—holy men. 
 One is Mohammed al-Busiri, the author of a poem 
 called Al-Burdah, universally read by the world of Islam, 
 and locally recited at funerals and on other solemn occa- 
 sions. The other is Abu Abbas al-Andalisi, a sage and 
 saint of the first water, at whose tomb prayer is never 
 breathed in vain. 
 
 It is not to be supposed that the people of Alexandria 
 could look upon my phials and pill-boxes without a 
 yearning for their contents. An Indian doctor, too, was 
 anovelty tothem; Franks they despised,—but a man who 
 had come so far from East and West! Then there was 
 something infinitely seducing in the character of a magi- 
 cian, doctor, and fakir, each admirable of itself, thus 
 combined to make ‘* great medicine.” Men, women, and 
 children besieged my door, by which means I could see 
 the people face to face, and especially the fair sex, of 
 which Europeans, generally speaking, know only the 
 worst specimens. Even respectable natives, after wit- 
 nessing a performance of ‘‘ Mandal” and the Magic 
 mirror”, opined that the stranger was a holy man, gifted 
 
 1 The Persians place the Prophet’s tomb at Susan or Sus, des- 
 cribed by Ibn Haukal (p. 76). The readers of Ibn Batutah may 
 think it strange that the learned and pious traveller in his account of 
 Alexandria (chap. 2.) makes no allusion to the present holy deceased 
 that distinguish the city. All the saints are now clear forgotten. For 
 it is the fate of saints, like distinguished sinners, to die twice. 
 
 2 The Mandal is that form of Oriental divination which owes its 
 praesent celebrity in Europe to Mr. Lane. Both it and the magic 
 mirror are hackneyed subjects, but I have been tempted to a few 
 words concerning them in another part of these volumes. Meanwhile 
 
I.—To Alexandria. 13 
 
 with supernatural powers, and knowing everything. One 
 old person sent to offer me his daughter in marriage; he 
 
 said nothing about dowry,—but I thought proper to de- 
 cline the honour. Anda middle-aged lady proffered me 
 the sum of one hundred piastres, nearly one pound ster- 
 ling, if I would stay at Alexandria, and ee et the 
 restoration of her blind left eye. 
 
 But the reader must not be led to suppose that I 
 acted *“‘ Carabin” or *‘ Sangrado ” without any knowledge 
 of my trade. From youth I have always been a dabbler 
 in medical and mystical study. Moreover, the practice 
 of physic is comparatively easy amongst dwellers in warm 
 latitudes, uncivilised peoples, where there is not that com- 
 plication of maladies which troubles more polished nations. 
 And further, what simplifies extremely the treatment of 
 the sick in these parts is the undoubted periodicity of 
 disease, reducing almost all to one type—ague.’ Many 
 of the complaints: of tropical climates, as medical men 
 weli know, display palpably intermittent symptoms little 
 known to colder countries ; and speaking from individual 
 experience, I may safely assert that in all cases of suftfer- 
 ing, from a wound to ophthalmia, this* phenomenon has 
 forced itself upon my notice. So much by way of excuse. 
 I therefore considered myself as well qualified for the 
 work as if I had taken out a buono per Testero diploma at 
 Padua, and not more likely to do active harm than most 
 of the regularly graduated young surgeons who start to 
 “finish” themselves upon the frame of the British soldier. 
 
 After a month’s hard work at Alexandria, I prepared 
 to assume the character of a wandering Darwaysh; after 
 
 I request the reader not to set me down as a mere charlatan; medi- 
 
 cine in the East is so essentially united with superstitious practices, 
 that he who would pass for an expert practitioner, must necessarily 
 represent himself an ‘‘ adept.” 
 
 1 Hence the origin, I believe, of the Chrentinaai System, a 
 discovery which physic owes to my old friend, the late Dr. Samuel 
 Dickson. 
 
i4 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 reforming my title from ‘ Mirza”! to “‘Shaykh” Ab- 
 dullah.2 A reverend man, whose name I do not care to 
 quote, some time ago initiated me into his order, the 
 Kadiriyah, under the high-sounding name of Bismillah- 
 Shah :* and, after a due period of probation, he graciously 
 elevated me to the proud position of a Murshid,‘ or Master 
 in the mystic craft. I was therefore sufficiently well ac- 
 quainted with the tenets and practices of these Oriental 
 Freemasons. No character in the Moslem world is so 
 proper for disguise as that of the Darwaysh. Itis assumed 
 by all ranks, ages, and creeds; by the nobleman who has 
 been disgraced at court, and by the peasant who is too 
 idle to till the ground; by Dives, who is weary of life, and 
 by Lazarus, who begs his bread from door to door. 
 Further, the Darwaysh is allowed to ignore ceremony and 
 politeness, as one who ceases to appear upon the stage of 
 life; he-may pray or not, marry or remain single as he 
 pleases, be respectable in cloth of frieze as in cloth of 
 gold, and no one asks him—the chartered vagabond— 
 
 zi The Persian ‘‘ Mister." In future chapters the reader will see 
 the uncomfortable consequences of my having appeared in Egypt as 
 a Persian. Although I found out the mistake, and worked hard to 
 correct it, the bad name stuck to me; bazar reports fly quicker and 
 hit harder than newspaper paragraphs. 
 
 2 Arab Christians sometimes take the name of “‘Abdullah,” servant 
 of Allah—* which,” as a modern traveller observes, ‘‘ all sects and re- 
 ligions might be equally proud to adopt.’ The Moslem Prophet 
 said, ‘the names most approved of God are Abdullah, Abd-al- 
 rahman (Slave of the Compassionate), and such like.” 
 
 3 ‘‘ King in-the-name-of-Allah,” a kind of Oriental “ Praise-God- 
 Barebones.’’ When a man appears as a Fakir or Darwaysh, he casts 
 off, in process of regeneration, together with other worldly sloughs, 
 his laical name for some brilliant coat of nomenclature rich i in religi- 
 ous promise. 
 
 4 A Murshid is one allowed to admit Murids or apprentices into 
 the order. As the form of the diploma conferred upon this occasion 
 may be new to many European Orientalists, I have, translated it in 
 Appendix I. 
 
L.—To Alexandria. 18 
 
 _"\Why he comes here? or Wherefore he goes there? He 
 
 may wend his way on foot alone, or ride his Arab mare 
 followed by a dozen servants; he is equally feared with- 
 out weapons, as swaggering through the streets armed to 
 the teeth. The more haughty and offensive he is to the 
 people, the more they respect him; a decided advantage 
 to the traveller of choleric temperament. In the hour of 
 imminent danger, he has only to become a maniac, and 
 he is safe ; a madman in the East, like a notably eccentric 
 character in the West, is allowed to say or do whatever 
 the spirit directs. Add to this character a little know- 
 ledge of medicine, a ‘‘ moderate skill in magic, and a repu- 
 tation for caring for nothing but study and books,” to- 
 gether with capital sufficient to save you from the chance 
 of starving, and you appear in the East to peculiar 
 advantage. The only danger of the ‘“‘ Mystic Path’” is, 
 that the Darwaysh’s ragged coat not unfrequently covers 
 the cut-throat, and, if seized in the society of such a 
 ‘‘ brother,” you may reluctantly become his companion, 
 under the stick or on the stake. For beit known, Dar- 
 wayshes are of two orders, the Sharai, or those who con: 
 form to religion, and the Bi-Sharai, or Luti, whose prac- 
 tices are hinted at by their own tradition that ‘“‘he we 
 daurna name” once joined them for a week, but at the 
 end of that time left them in dismay, and returned to 
 - whence he came. 
 
 —— 
 
 1 The Tarikat or path, which leads, or is suppused to lead, to. 
 Heaven. * 
 
CHAPTER dh 
 } LEAVE ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 Tue thorough-bred wanderer’s idiosyncracy I pre- 
 sume to be a composition of what phrenologists call 
 ‘‘inhabitiveness” and ‘ locality” equally and largely de- 
 veloped. After a long and toilsome march, weary of the 
 way, he drops into the nearest place of rest to become the 
 most domestic of men. For a while he smokes the “‘ pipe 
 of permanence’? with an infinite zest; he delights in 
 various siestas during the day, relishing withal deep 
 sleep during the dark hours; he enjoys dining at a fixed 
 dinner hour, and he wonders at the demoralisation of the 
 mind which cannot find means of excitement in chit-chat 
 or small talk, in a novel or a newspaper. But soon the 
 passive fit has passed away; again a paroxysm of ennui 
 coming on by slow degrees, Viator loses appetite, he 
 walks about his room all night, he yawns at conversa- 
 tions, and a book acts upon him as anarcotic. The man 
 wants to wander, and he must do so, or he shall die. 
 
 After about a month most pleasantly spent at Alex- 
 andria, I perceived the approach of the enemy, and as 
 nothing hampered my incomings and outgoings, I sur- 
 rendered. The world was ‘all before me,” and there 
 was pleasant excitement in plunging single-handed into 
 its chilling depths. My Alexandrian Shaykh, whose heart 
 
 1 The long pipe which at home takes the place of the shorter 
 chibak used on the road. 
 
I].—I Leave Alexandna. 17 
 
 fell victim to a new “‘jubbah,” which I had given in ex- 
 change for his tattered za’abut' offered me, in consideration 
 of a certain monthly stipend, the affections of a brother and 
 religious refreshment, proposing to send his wife back to 
 her papa, and to accompany me, in the capacity of private 
 chaplain to the other side of Kaf.? I politely accepted 
 ‘tthe ‘‘ Bruderschaft,’ but many reasons induced me to 
 decline his society and services. In the first place, he 
 spoke the detestable Egyptian jargon. Secondly, it was 
 but prudent to lose the ‘‘spoor”’ between Alexandria and 
 Suez. And, thirdly, my ‘‘brother” had shifting eyes 
 (symptoms of fickleness), close together (indices of cun- 
 ning) ; a flat-crowned head, and large ill-fitting lips; signs 
 which led me to think lightly of his honesty, firmness, 
 and courage. Phrenology and physiognomy, be it ob- 
 served, disappoint you often amongst civilised people, the 
 proper action of whose brain upon the features is impeded 
 by the external pressure of education, accident, exam- 
 ple, habit, and necessity. But they are tolerably safe 
 guides when groping your way through the mind of man 
 in his so-called natural state, a being of impulse, in that 
 chrysalis condition of mental development which is rather . 
 instinct than reason. | 
 
 Before my departure, however, there was much to be | 
 done. 
 
 The land of the Pharaohs is becoming civilised, and 
 unpleasantly so: nothing can be more uncomfortablethan 
 its present middle state, between barbarism and the re- 
 verse. The prohibition against carrying arms is rigid as 
 in Italy; all ‘* violence” is violently denounced; and be- 
 
 1 The jubbah is a long outer garment, generally of cloth, worn by 
 learned and respectable men. The za’abut is a large bag-sleeved black 
 or brown coloured robe made of home-spun woollen, the garb of the 
 peasant, the hedge-priest, and the darwaysh. 
 
 2 The mountain which encircles the globe, according to the sacred 
 geography of the Moslems. ‘To ‘go to Kaf”’ is equivalent to our ‘‘ go 
 to Jericho,”’ or—somewhere else. 
 
 Wx 
 
18 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 heading being deemed cruel, the most atrocious crimes, 
 as well as those small political offences, which in the days 
 of the Mamliks would have led to a beyship or a bow- 
 string, receive fourfold punishment by deportation to 
 Fayzoghla, the local Cayenne. If you order your peasant 
 to be flogged, his friends gather in threatening hundreds 
 at your gates; when you curse your boatman, he com: 
 plains to your consul; the dragomans afflict you with 
 strange wild notions about honesty ; a Government order 
 prevents you from using vituperative language to the 
 ‘‘natives” in general; and the very donkey boys are be- 
 coming cognisant of the right of man to remain un- 
 bastinadoed. Still the old leaven remains behind: here, 
 as elsewhere in the ‘‘ Morning-land,” you cannot hold 
 your own without employing the vote de fait. The pass- 
 port system, now dying out of Europe, has sprung up, or 
 rather has revived, in Egypt, with peculiar vigour.’ Its 
 good effects claim for it our respect ; still we cannot but 
 lament its inconvenience. By we, I mean real Easterns. 
 As strangers—even those whose beards have whitened in 
 the land—know absolutely nothing of what unfortunate 
 natives must endure, I am tempted to subjoin a short 
 
 1 Sir G. Wilkinson, referring his readers to Strabo, remarks that 
 the ‘‘troublesome system of passports seems to have been adopted by 
 the Egyptians at a very early period.” Its present rigours, which 
 have lasted since the European troubles in 1848 and 1849, have a two- 
 fold object ; in the first place, to act as a clog upon the dangerous 
 emigrants which Germany, Italy, and Greece have sent out into the 
 world; and secondly, to confine the subjects of the present Pasha of 
 Egypt to their fatherland and the habit of paying taxes, The en- 
 lightened ruler (this was written during the rule of Abbas Pasha) 
 knows his own interests, and never willingly parts with a subject liable 
 to cess, at times objecting even to their obeying pilgrimage law. We, 
 on the other hand, in India, allow a freedom of emigration, in my humbie 
 opinion, highly injurious to us. For not only does this exodus thin 
 the population, and tend to impoverish the land, it also serves to bring 
 our rule into disrepute in foreign lands. At another time, I. shall dis. 
 cuss this subject more fully. 
 
II.—I Leave Alexandnia. 19 
 
 sketch of my adventures in search of a Tazkirah, or pass- 
 port, at Alexandria. 
 
 Through ignorance which might have cost me dear 
 but for friend Larking’s weight with the local authorities, 
 I had neglected to provide myself with a passport in 
 England, and it was not without difficulty, involving 
 much unclean dressing and an unlimited expenditure of 
 broken English, that I obtained from H. B. M’s Consul at 
 Alexandria a certificate, declaring me to be an Indo- 
 British subject named Abdullah, by profession a doctor, 
 aged thirty, and not distinguished—at least so the fre- 
 quent blanks seemed to denote—by any remarkable con- 
 formation of eyes, nose, or cheek. For this I disbursed 
 a dollar. And here let me record the indignation with 
 which I did it. That mighty Britain—the mistress of 
 the seas—the ruler of one-sixth of mankind—should 
 charge five shillings to pay for the shadow of her protect- 
 ingwing! That I cannot speak my modernised ‘‘civis sum 
 Romanus” without putting my hand into my pocket, in 
 order that these officers of the Great Queen may not take 
 too ruinously from a revenue of seventy millions! O the 
 meanness of our magnificence! the littleness of our great- 
 ness | 
 
 My new passport would not carry me without the 
 Zabit or Police Magistrate’s counter-signature, said 
 H.B.M.’s Consul. Next day I went to the Zabit, who re- 
 ferred me tothe Muhafiz (Governor) of Alexandria, at 
 whose gate I had the honour of squatting at least three 
 hours, till a more compassionate clerk vouchsafed the in- 
 formation that the proper place to apply to was the Diwan 
 Kharijiyah (the Foreign Office). Thus a second day was 
 utterly lost. On the morning of the third 1 started, as 
 directed, for tne Palace, which crowns the Headland of 
 Clay. It is a huge and couthless shell ot building in 
 parallelogrammic form, containing all kinds of public 
 offices in glorious confusion, looking with their glaring 
 
20 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 white-washed faces. upon a central court, where a few 
 leafless wind-wrung trees seem struggling for the breath 
 of life in an eternal atmosphere of clay-dust and sun- 
 blaze. 
 
 The first person I addressed was a Kawwas? or 
 police officer, who, coiled comfortably up in a bit of shade 
 fitting his person like a robe, was in full enjoyment of the 
 Asiatic “* Kayf.” Having presented the consular certifi- 
 cate and briefly stated the nature of my business, I ven- 
 tured to inquire what was the right course to pursue fag 
 a visa. 
 
 They have little respect for Darwayshes, it appears, at 
 Alexandria. 
 
 M’adri—* Don’t know,” growled the man of autho- 
 rity, without moving any thing but the quantity of tongue 
 absolutely necessary for articulation. 
 
 Now there are three ways of treating Asiatic officials, 
 —by bribe, by bullying, or by bothering them with a 
 dogged perseverance into attending to youand your con- 
 cerns. The latter is the peculiar province of the poor; 
 moreover, this time I resolved, for other reasons, to be 
 patient. I repeated my question in almost the same 
 words. Ruh! ‘ Be off,” was what I obtained for all 
 reply. But this time the questioned went so far as to 
 open his eyes. Still I stood twirling the paper in my 
 hands, and looking very humble and very persevering, till a 
 loud Ruh ya Kalb! ‘“*Go, O dog!” converted into a 
 responsive curse the little speech I was preparing about 
 
 1 The glare of Alexandria has become a matter of fable in the 
 East. The stucco employed in overlaying its walls, erected by Zul- 
 karnayn, was so exquisitely tempered and so beautifully polished, that 
 the inhabitants, in order to protect themselves from DERIESss were 
 constrained to wear masks. 
 
 2 The word literally means ‘‘a bowman, an dechttee remind- 
 ing us of ‘les archers de la Sainte Hermandade,” in the most 
 delicious of modern fictions. Some mis-spell the word ‘‘ Kawas, "' 
 “ Cavass,”’ and so forth ! . 
 
: 
 
 IT.—I Leave Alexandria. 21 
 
 the brotherhood of Al-Islam and the mutual duties ob- 
 
 _ligatory on true believers. I then turned away slowly 
 
 and fiercely, for the next thing might have been a cut 
 with the Kurbaj,! and, by the hammer of Thor! British 
 flesh and blood could never have stood that. 
 
 After which satisfactory scene,—for satisfactory it - 
 
 was in one sense, proving the complete fitness of the 
 
 Darwaysh’s costume,—I tried a dozen other promiscuous 
 sources of information,—policemen, grooms, scribes, 
 donkey-boys, and idlers in general. At length, wearied 
 of patience, I offered a soldier some pinches of tobacco, 
 and promised him an Oriental sixpence if he would manage 
 the business for me. The man was interested by the 
 tobacco and the pence; he took my hand, and inquiring 
 the while he went along, led me from place to place, till, 
 mounting a grand staircase, I stood in the presence of 
 Abbas Effendi, Naib or deputy to the Governor. 
 
 It was a little, whey-faced, black-bearded Turk, 
 coiled up in the usual conglomerate posture upon a 
 calico-covered diwan, at the end of a long, bare, large- 
 windowed room. Without deigning even to nod the 
 head, which hung over his shoulder with transcendent 
 listlessness and affectation of pride, in answer to my 
 salams and benedictions, he eyed me with wicked eyes, 
 
 and faintly ejaculated ‘‘ Min ent??”” Then hearing that 
 
 I was a Darwaysh and doctor—he must be an Osmanli 
 Voltairean, that little Turk—the official snorted a con- 
 temptuous snort. He condescendingly added, however, 
 that the proper source to seek was ‘“‘ Taht,” which, mean- 
 ing simply ‘“* below,” conveyed to an utter stranger rather 
 imperfect information from a topographical point of view. 
 
 At length, however, my soldier guide found out that 
 
 1 A whip, a cravache of dried and twisted hippopotamus hide, 
 the ferule, horsewhip, and ‘‘cat o’ nine tails"’ of Egypt. 
 2 For ‘‘man anta?” who art thou? 
 
22 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 a room in the custom-house bore the honourable appella- 
 tion of ‘‘ Foreign Office.” Accordingly I went there, and, 
 after sitting at least a couple of hours at the bolted door 
 in the noon-day sun, was told, with a fury which made 
 me think I had sinned, that the officer in whose charge 
 the department was, had been presented with an olive 
 branch in the morning, and consequently that business 
 was not to be done that day. The angry-faced official 
 communicated the intelligence to a large group of Anado- 
 lian, Caramanian, Bosniac, and Roumelian Turks,— 
 sturdy, undersized, broad-shouldered, bare-legged, splay- 
 footed, horny-fisted, dark-browed, honest-looking moun- 
 taineers, who were lounging about with long pistols and 
 yataghans stuck in their broad sashes, head-gear com- 
 posed of immense tarbishes with proportionate turbands 
 coiled round them, and bearing two or three suits of sub- 
 stantial clothes, even at this season of the year, upon their 
 shoulders. 
 
 Like myself they had waited some hours, but they 
 were not so patient under disappointment: they bluntly 
 told the angry official that he and his master were a pair © 
 of idlers, and the curses that rumbled and gurgled in their 
 hairy throats as they strode towards the door sounded 
 like the growling of wild beasts. 
 
 Thus was another day truly orientally lost. On the 
 morrow, however, I obtained permission, in the character 
 of Dr. Abdullah, to visit any part of Egypt I pleased, 
 and to retain possession of my dagger and pistols. 
 
 And now I must explain what induced me to take 
 so much trouble about a passport. The home reader 
 naturally inquires, Why not travel under your Englisk 
 name ? 
 
 For this reason. In the generality of barbarous 
 
 - countries you must either proceed, like Bruce, prese1 ving 
 —the ‘‘dignity of manhood,” and carrying matters with a 
 high hand, or you must worm your way by timidity and 
 
 —_— 
 
Il—1 Leave Alexandra, 23 
 
 subservience; in fact, by becoming an animal too con- 
 temptible for man to let or injure. But to pass through the 
 Moslem’s Holy Land, you must either be a born believer, 
 or have become one; in the former case you may demean 
 yourself as you please, in the latter a path is ready pre- 
 pared for you. My spirit could not bend to own myself 
 
 ‘a Buymd,} a renegade—to be pointed at and shunned 
 
 and catechised, an object of suspicion to the many and of 
 
 ‘contempt to all. Moreover, it would have obstructed 
 
 the aim of my wanderings. The convert is always 
 watched with Argus eyes, and men do not willingly give 
 information to a ‘‘new Moslem,” especially a Frank: 
 they suspect his conversion to be feigned or forced, look 
 upon him as a spy, and let him see as little of life as 
 possible. Firmly as was my heart set upon travelling in 
 Arabia, by Heaven! I would have given up the dear 
 project rather than purchase a doubtful and partial success 
 at such a price. Consequently, I had no choice but to 
 appear as a born believer, and part of my birthright in 
 that respectable character was toil and trouble in obtain- 
 ing a Tazkirah.? 
 
 ’ Then I had to provide myself with certain neces- 
 saries for the way. These were not numerous. The 
 silver-mounted dressing-bag is here supplied by a rag 
 containing a Miswak® or tooth-stick, a bit of soap and 
 a comb, wooden, for bone and tortoiseshell are not, re- 
 ligiously speaking, correct. Equally simple was my ward- 
 
 1 An opprobrious name given by the Turks to their Christian 
 sonverts. The word is derived from buvmak, ‘‘ to twist, to turn.” 
 
 2 During my journey, and since my return, some Indian papers 
 c.\nducted by jocose editors made merry upon an Englishman “ turn- 
 ing Turk.” Once for all, I beg leave to point above for the facts of 
 the case; it must serve as a general answer to any pleasant little 
 fictions which may hereafter appear. 
 
 3 A stick of soft wood chewed at one end. It is generally used 
 throughout the East, where brushes should be avoided, as the natives 
 always suspect hogs’ bristles, 
 
24 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 robe; a change or two of clothing. It is a great mistake 
 to carry too few clothes, and those who travel as Orientals 
 should always have at least one very grand suit for use on 
 critical occasions. Throughout the Last a badly dressed 
 man is a pauper, and, as in England, a pauper—unless 
 he belongs to an order having a right to be poor—is a 
 scoundrel. The only article of canteen description was a 
 Zemzemiyah, a goat-skin water-bag, which, especially 
 when new, communicates to its contents a ferruginous 
 aspect and a wholesome, though hardly an attractive, 
 flavour of tanno-gelatine. This was a necessary; to 
 drink out of a tumbler, possibly fresh from pig-eating 
 lips, would have entailed a certain loss of reputation. 
 For bedding and furniture I had a coarse Persian rug— 
 which, besides being couch, acted as chair, table, and 
 oratory—a cotton-stuffed chintz-covered pillow, a blanket 
 in case of cold, and a sheet, which did duty for tent and 
 mosquito curtains in nights of heat.'' As shade is a con- 
 venience not always procurable, another necessary was a 
 huge cotton umbrella of Eastern make, brightly yellow, 
 suggesting the idea of an overgrown marigold. I had 
 also a substantial housewife, the gift of a kind relative, 
 Miss Elizabeth Stisted ; it was a roll of canvas, carefully 
 soiled, and garnished with needles and thread, cobblers’ 
 wax, buttons, and other such articles. These things 
 were most useful in lands where tailors abound not; 
 besides which, the sight of a man darning his coat or 
 patching his slippers teems with pleasing ideas of 
 humility. A dagger,? a brass inkstand and pen-holder 
 
 1 Almost all Easterns sleep under a sheet, which becomes a kind 
 of respirator, defending them from the dews and mosquitoes by night 
 and the flies by day. The ‘trough and ready "’ traveller will learn to 
 follow the example, remembering that ‘‘ Nature is founder of Customs 
 in savage countries ;’’ whereas, amongst the soi-disant civilised, Nature 
 has no deadlier enemy than Custom. 
 
 2 It is strictly forbidden to carry arms in Egypt. This, however, 
 does not prevent their being as necessary—especially in places like 
 
II.—I Leave Alexandria, 25 
 
 “ 
 
 stuck in the belt, and a mighty rosary, which on occasion 
 might have been converted into a weapon of offence, 
 completed my equipment. I must not omit to mention 
 the proper method of carrying money, which in these 
 lands should never be entrusted to box or bag. A 
 common cotton purse secured in a breast pocket (for 
 Egypt now abounds in that civilised animal, the pick- 
 pocket’), contained silver pieces and small change. My 
 gold, of which I carried twenty-five sovereigns, and papers, 
 were committed to a substantial leathern belt of Maghrabi 
 manufacture, made to be strapped round the waist 
 under the dress. ‘This is the Asiatic method of conceal- 
 ing valuables, and one more civilised than ours in the 
 last century, when Roderic Random and his companion 
 ‘sewed their money between the lining and the waist- 
 band of their breeches, except some loose silver for im- 
 
 Alexandria, where Greek and Italian ruffians abound—as they ever 
 were in Rome or Leghorn during the glorious times of Italian 
 “ liberty.” 
 
 1 In the Azhar Mosque, immediately after Friday service, a fellow 
 once put his hand into my pocket, which fact alone is ample evidence 
 of “‘ progress.” 
 
 2 As a general rule, always produce, when travelling, the minutest 
 bit of coin. At present, however, small change is dear in Egypt; the 
 Sarrafs, or money-changers, create the dearth in order to claim a 
 high agio. ‘The traveller must prepare himself for a most unpleasant 
 task in learning the different varieties of currency, which appear all 
 but endless, the result of deficiency in the national circulating medium. 
 There are, however, few copper coins, the pieces of ten or five faddah 
 (or parahs), whereas silver and gold abound. As regards the latter 
 metal, strangers should mistrust all small pieces, Turkish as well as 
 Egyptian. ‘The greater part are either cut or cracked, or perhaps 
 both, and worn down to mere spangles: after taking them, it . 
 will not be possible to pass them without considerable loss.” 
 Above all things, the traveller must be careful never to change 
 gold except in large towns, where such a display of wealth would not 
 arouse suspicion or cupidity; and on no occasion when travelling 
 even to pronounce the ill-omened word *‘ Kis’ (purse). Many have 
 lost their lives by neglecting these simple precaiitions. 
 
26 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 mediate expense on the road.” The great inconvenience 
 of the belt is its weight, especially where dollars must be 
 carried, as in Arabia, causing chafes and discomfort at 
 night. Moreover, it can scarcely be called safe. In 
 dangerous countries wary travellers will adopt surer 
 precautions.’ 7 
 
 A pair of common native Khurjin, or saddle-bags, 
 contained my wardrobe; the bed was readily rolled up into 
 a bundle; and for a medicine chest? I bought a pea- 
 green box with red and yellow flowers, capable of stand- 
 ing falls from a camel twice a day. 
 
 1 Some prefer a long chain of pure gold divided into links and 
 covered with leather, so as to resemble the twisted girdle which the 
 Arab fastens round his waist. It is a precaution well known to the 
 wandering knights of old. Others, again, in very critical situations, 
 open with a lancet the shoulder, or any other fleshy part of the body, 
 and insert a precious stone, which does not show in its novel purse. 
 
 2 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 coun- 
 tries require double quantities of tonics, and half the allowance’ of 
 cathartics necessary 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 useless: 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 étui 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 canthar- 
 ides—highly useful as a rubefacient, excitant, et cetera—must never 
 be omitted. I made the mistake of buying my drugs in England, and 
 had the useless trouble of looking after them during the journey. 
 Both at Alexandria and Cairo they are to be found in abundance, 
 cheaper than in London, and good enough for all practical purposes. 
 
Il.—I Leave Alexandria. ; 27 
 
 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 di- 
 rected to call every evening till satisfied. At last the 
 fortunate event took place: a ‘‘ weekly departure,” which, 
 by the bye, occurred once every fortnight or so, was in 
 orders 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—Mr. Green—so formed and dressed as 
 exactly to resemble a liver-and-tan bull-terrier, who with 
 his heels on the table was dosing, cigar in mouth, over 
 the last ‘‘ Galignani,” positively refused, after a time,— 
 for at first he would not speak at all,—to let me take my 
 passage till three in the afternoon. -I inquired when the 
 boat started, upon which he referred me, as I had spoken 
 bad Italian, to the advertisement. 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 East- 
 Indian style of doing business. Thus Anglo-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 
 ‘neon; the “‘ peon” charges a porter with the errand; 
 and the porter quietly sits or doses 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 length of these descriptions,—my object is to show 
 him how business is carried on in these hot countries. 
 Business generally. For had I been, not Abdullah the 
 Darwaysh, but a rich native merchant, it would have been 
 
 ” 
 
28 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 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 (1853) all was ready. 
 Not without a feeling of regret I left my little room 
 among the white myrtle blossoms and the rosy oleander 
 flowers with the almond smell. I kissed with humble 
 ostentation my good host’s hand in presence of his ser- 
 vants—he had become somewhat unpleasantly anxious, 
 of late, to induce in me the true Oriental feeling, by a 
 slight administration of the bastinado—I bade adieu to 
 my patients, who now amounted to about fifty, shaking 
 hands with all meekly and with religious equality of 
 attention; and, mounted in a ‘‘ trap” which looked like a 
 cross between a wheel-barrow and a dog-cart, drawn by a 
 kicking, jibbing, and biting mule, I set out for the steamer, 
 the “ Little Asthmatic.” 
 
Circ rer Lt: 
 THE: NILE STEAMBOAT—THE ‘! LITTLE’ ASTHMATIC,” 
 
 In the days of the Pitts we have invariably a “ Re- 
 lation” of Egyptian travellers who embark for a place 
 called ‘‘ Roseet”’ on the ‘‘ River Nilus.’”’ Wanderers of 
 the Brucean 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 Daha- 
 biyah (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 clean ignore its existence. 
 
 I saw the canal at its worst, when the water was low; 
 and I have not one syllable to say in its favour. Instead 
 of thirty hours, we took three morta] days and nights to 
 reach Cairo, and we grounded with painful regularity four 
 or five times between sunrise and sunset. Inthe scenery on 
 the banks sketchers and describers have left you nought to 
 see. From Pompey’s Pillar to the Maison Carrée, Kariom 
 and its potteries, Al-Birkah’ of the night birds, Bastarah 
 
 1 Villages ‘notorious for. the peculiar Egyptian revelry, an un- 
 doubted relic of the good old times, when ‘‘the. most religious of 
 
30 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, 
 
 with the alleys of trees, even unto Atfah, all things are 
 perfectly familiar to us, and have been so years before 
 the traveller actually sees them. The Nil al-Mubdrak 
 itsel{—the Blessed Nile,—as notably fails too at this season 
 to arouse enthusiasm. You see nothing but muddy waters, 
 dusty banks, a sand mist, a milky sky, and a glaring sun: 
 you feel nought but a breeze like the blast from a potter’s 
 furnace. You can only just distinguish through a veil of 
 reeking vapours the village Shibr Katt from the village 
 Kafr al-Zayyat, and you steam too far from Wardan 
 town to enjoy the Timonic satisfaction of enraging its 
 male population with “ Haykal! ya ibn Haykal! O 
 Haykal !—O son of Haykal?!” You are nearly wrecked, 
 as a matter of course, at the Barrage; and you are certainly 
 dumbfoundered by the sight of its ugly little Gothic 
 crenelles.? The Pyramids of Khufa and Khafra (Cheops 
 
 men "’ revelled at Canopus with an ardent piety in honour of Isis and 
 Osiris. 
 
 1 ‘‘ Haykal"' was a pleasant fellow, who, having basely abused 
 the confidence of the fair ones of Wardan, described their charms in 
 sarcastic verse, and stuck his scroll upon the door of the village 
 mosque, taking at the same time the wise precaution to change his 
 lodgings without delay. The very mention of his name affronts the 
 brave Wardanenses to the last extent, making them savage as Oxford 
 bargees. 
 
 2 The Barrage is a handsome bridge,—putting the style of archi- 
 tecture out of consideration,—the work of French engineers, origin- 
 ally projected by Napoleon the First. It was intended to act as a 
 dam, raising the waters of the Nile and conducting them to Suez, the 
 salt lakes, and a variety of other places, through a number of canals, 
 which, however, have not yet been opened. Meanwhile, it acts upon 
 the river’s trunk as did the sea of old upon its embouchurés, blocking 
 it up and converting the land around it to the condition of a swamp. 
 Moreover, it would have cleaned out the bed by means of sluice gates, 
 forming an artificial increase of current to draw off the deposit ; but 
 the gates are wanting, so the piers, serving only to raise the soil by 
 increasing the deposit of silt, collect and detain suspended matter, 
 which otherwise would not settle. Briefly, by a trifling expenditure 
 the Barrage might be made a blessing to Egypt; in its present state 
 
TIT.—The Nile Steamboat—The * Little Asthmatic.” 31 
 
 and Cephren) “rearing their majestic heads above the 
 margin of the Desert,” only suggest of remark that they 
 have been remarkably well-sketched; and thus you pro- 
 ceed till with a real feeling of satisfaction you moor 
 alongside of the tumble-down old suburb “ Bulak.” 
 
 To me there was double dulness in the scenery: it 
 -seemed to be Sind over again—the same morning mist 
 and noon-tide glare ; the same hot wind and heat clouds, 
 and fiery sunset, and evening glow; the same pillars of 
 dust and “devils” of sand sweeping like giants over the 
 plain; the same turbid waters of a broad, shallow stream 
 studded with sand-banks and silt-isles, with crashing 
 earth slips and ruins nodding over a kind of <liff, whose 
 base the stream gnaws with noisy tooth. On the banks, 
 saline ground sparkled and glittered like hoar-frost in the 
 sun; and here and there mud villages, solitary huts, 
 pigeon-towers, or watch turrets, whence little brown boys 
 shouted and slung stones at the birds, peeped out from 
 among bright green patches of palm-tree, tamarisk, and 
 mimosa, of maize,-tobacco, and sugar-cane. Beyond the 
 narrow tongue of land on the river banks lay the glaring, 
 ygllow Desert, with its low hills and sand slopes, bounded 
 by innumerable pyramids of Nature’s architecture. The 
 boats, with their sharp bows, preposterous sterns, and 
 lateen sails, might have belonged to the Indus. So might 
 the chocolate-skinned, blue-robed peasantry ; the women 
 carrying progeny on their hips, with the eternal waterpot 
 on their heads; and the men sleeping in the shade or 
 following the plough, to which probably Osiris first put 
 hand. The lower animals, like the higher, were the same; 
 gaunt, mange-stained camels, muddy buffaloes, scurvied 
 donkeys, sneaking jackals, and fox-like dogs. Even the 
 feathered creatures were perfectly familiar to my eye— 
 
 it is.a calamity, an ‘“‘enormves, cruel wonder,’’ more crushing to the 
 ‘people .han were the pyrami.is and sphinxes of old. 
 
32 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 paddy birds, pelicans, giant cranes, kites and wild water- 
 fowl. 
 
 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 dig- 
 nity of Darwaysh-hood did not allow me to sit at meat 
 with Infidels or to eat the food which they had polluted. 
 So the Pilgrim 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 sancti- 
 moniousness. | 
 
 The “ Little Asthmatic’”’ was densely crowded, and 
 discipline not daring to mark out particular places, the 
 scene on board of her was motley enough. There were 
 two Indian officers, who naturally spoke to none but each 
 other, drank bad tea, and smoked their cigars exclusively 
 
 1 Those skilled in simples, Eastern as well as Western, prajse 
 garlic highly, declaring that it ‘strengthens the body, prepares the 
 constitution for fatigue, brightens the sight, and, by increasing the 
 digestive power, obviates the ill-effects arising from sudden change of 
 air and water.’’ The traveller inserts it into his dietary in some 
 pleasant form, as ‘‘ Provence-butter,’’ because he observes that, 
 wherever fever and ague abound, the people, ignorant of cause but 
 observant of effect, make it a common article of food. 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. 5; 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, how- 
 ever, the stranger must use this vegetable sparingly. Thecity people - 
 despise it as the food of a Fellah—a boor. The Wahhabis have a pre- 
 judice against onions, leeks, and garlic, because the Prophet disliked 
 their strong smell, and all strict Moslems refuse to eat them im- 
 mediately before visiting the mosque, or meeting for public prayer. 
 
III.—The Nile Steamboat—The “ Little Asthmatic.” 33 
 
 | 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 plea- 
 sant to the solemn Moslems, whose saddle-bags and 
 furniture were at every. moment in danger of being de- 
 filed 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 ina 
 field of thistles. Some silent Italians, with noisy inter- 
 preters, 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 bya 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.borrow a simile from 
 his own nation ; a Syrian merchant, the richest and ug- 
 liest of Alexandria; and a few French house-painters going 
 to decorate the .Pasha’s palace at Shubra. These last 
 _were the happiest of our voyagers,—veritable children of 
 Paris, Montagnards, Voltaireans, and thoroughbred Sans- 
 Soucis. All day they sat upon deck chattering as only 
 their lively nation can chatter, indulging in ultra-gallic 
 - maxims, such as ‘on ne vieillit jamais a table ;” now play- 
 ing écarté for love or nothing, then composing “des pon- 
 ches un pew chiques;” now reciting adventures of the 
 category ‘‘ Mirabolant,” then singing, then dancing, then 
 sleeping, and rising to play, to drink, talk, dance, and sing 
 again. One chaunted: 
 . ‘Je n’ai pas connu mon pére 
 Ce respectable vieillard. 
 Je suis né trois ans trop tard," &c.; 
 Whilst another trolled out : 
 ‘‘Qu’est ce que je vois ? 
 Un canard en rébe de chambre !"' 
 
 1 A policeman; see Chap. I. 
 vor i. 
 
 QO 
 
So tae Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 They being newcomers, 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 I was 
 not so fortunate with all on board. A large shopkeeper — 
 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 little service the only acknowledg- 
 ment was a stare and a petulant inquiry why I had not 
 given it to him before. And one of the Englishmen, half 
 publicly, half privily, as though communing with himself, 
 condemned my organs of vision because I happened to 
 touch his elbow. He was _man in my own service; I 
 pardoned him in consideration of the compliment said to 
 my disguise. 
 
 Two fellow- pascaeeae were destined to play an im- 
 portant part in my comedy of Cairo. Just after we had — 
 started, a little event afforded us some amusement. On 
 the bank appeared a short, crummy, 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 stumbling into hollows, then climbing heights, 
 then standing shouting upon the projections with the 
 fierce sun upon his back, till everyone thought his breath 
 was completely gone. But no! game to the backbone, 
 he would have perished miserably rather than lose his 
 fare: ‘‘ patience and perseverance,” say the wise, ‘‘ got a 
 wife for his Reverence.” At last he was taken on board, 
 and presently he lay down to sleep. His sooty com-- 
 plexion, 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 
 ~-y The stricter sort of Moslems, such as the Arabs, will not wear 
 gold ornaments, which are forbidden by their law. 
 
ITI.—The Nile Steamboat—The “ Little Asthmatic.” 35 
 
 of showy colours, fleshy stomach, fat legs, round back, 
 and a peculiar manner of frowning and fawning simul- 
 taneously, marked him an Indian. When he awoke he 
 introduced himself tome as Miyan Khudabakhsh Namdar, 
 a native of Lahore: he had carried on the trade of a 
 shawl merchant in London and Paris, where he had lived 
 _ two years, and, after a pilgrimage intended to purge away 
 _ the sins of civilised lands, he had settled at Cairo. 
 
 My second friend, Haji Wali, I will introduce to the 
 reader in a future chapter; and my two expeditions to 
 Midian have brought him once more into notice.! 
 
 Long conversations in Persian and Hindfstani 
 abridged the tediousness of the voyage, and when we 
 arrived at Bulak, the polite Khudabakhsh insisted upon 
 my making his house my-home. I1 was unwilling to 
 accept the man’s civility, disliking his looks; but he ad- 
 vanced cogent reasons for changing my mind... His 
 servant cleared my luggage through the custom-house, 
 and a few minutes after our arrival I found myself in his 
 abode near the Azbakiyah Gardens, sitting in a cool 
 Mashrabiyah* that gracefully projected over a garden, 
 and sipping the favourite 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 civilised 
 man, who sat on chairs, who ate with a fork, who talked 
 European politics, and who had learned to admire, if not to 
 understand, liberty—liberal ideas! and was I not flying 
 from such things? Besides which, we English have a 
 
 1 See ‘‘ The Gold Mines of Midian,’”’ and ‘‘ The Land of Midian 
 (Revisited),” by Sir R. F. Burton. 
 
 2 The projecting latticed window, made of wood richly carved, 
 for which Cairo was once so famous. But they are growing out of 
 fashion with young Egypt, disappearing before heating glass and 
 unsightly green blinds. ‘ 
 
ed 
 36 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 peculiar national quality, which the Indians, with their 
 characteristic acuteness, soon perceived, and described by 
 an opprobrious name. Observing our solitary habits, 
 that we could not, and would not, sit and talk and sip - 
 sherbet and smoke with them, they called us “ Jangli ”»— 
 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 companion, 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 listening, you must converse yourself 
 to sleep in a public dormitory, and give ear to your com- 
 panions’ snores and mutterings at midnight.? 
 
 The very essence of Oriental hospitality, however, 
 is this family style of reception, which costs your host 
 neither coin nor trouble. I speak of the rare tracts in 
 which the old barbarous hospitality still lingers. 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 memo- 
 rial, with your entertainer ; he would be offended if you 
 offered it him openly as a-‘remuneration, and you give 
 
 1 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 different and as opposite as those of the Hinda 
 and the Christian.” (B.A. Irving’s Prize Essay on the Theory and 
 Practice of Caste.) Hence, nothing can be more terrible to a man 
 than expulsion from caste; the excommunication of our feudal times 
 was not a more dreadful form of living death. 
 
 2 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 
 everything 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 espionnage de- 
 vised by rulers could be so complete as that ‘self-imposed by the 
 Hindus. isos 
 
 <e. 
 
III.—The Nile Steamboat—The “ Little Asthmatic.” 39 
 
 _some trifling sums to the servants. Thus you will be 
 welcome wherever you go. If perchance you are detained 
 perforce in such a situation,—which may easily happen 
 to you, medical man,—you have only to make yourself 
 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 déténu. 
 
 _ But of all Orientals, the most antipathetical com- 
 panion toan Englishman is, I believe,an East-Indian. Like 
 the fox in the fable, fulsomely flattering at first, he grad- 
 ually becomes easily friendly, disagreeably familiar, 
 offensively rude, which ends by rousing the “spirit of the 
 British lion.” Nothing delights the Hindi so much as © 
 an opportunity of safely venting the spleen with which he 
 regards his victors! He will sit in the presence of a 
 
 1 The Calcutta Review (No. 41), noticing ‘‘ L’Inde sous la Domi- 
 nation Anglaise,’ by the Baron Barchou de Penhoén, delivers the 
 following sentiment: ‘‘ Whoever states, as the Baron B. de P. states 
 and repeats, again and again, that the natives generally entertain a 
 bad opinion of the Europeans generally, states what is decidedly 
 untrue.” The reader will observe that I differ as decidedly from 
 the Reviewer's opinion. Popular feeling towards the English in India 
 was ‘‘at first one of fear, afterwards of horror: Hindis and Hindis 
 (Moslems) considered the strangers a set of cow-eaters and fire- 
 drinkers, tetrze beluze ac molossis suis ferociores, who would fight like 
 Iblis, cheat their own fathers, and exchange with the same readiness 
 a broadside of shots and thrusts of boarding-pikes, or a bale of goods 
 and a bag of rupees.”” (Rev. Mr. Anderson—The English in Western 
 India.) We have risen in a degree above such a low standard of 
 estimation ; still, incredible as it may appear to the Frank himself, 
 it is no less true, that the Frank everywhere in the East is con- 
 sidered a contemptible being, and dangerous withal. As regards 
 Indian opinion concerning our government, my belief is, that in and 
 immediately about the three presidencies, where the people owe 
 everything to and hold everything by our rule, it is most popular, 
 
38 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 magistrate, or an officer, the very picture of cringing 
 submissiveness. But after leaving the room, he is as 
 different from his former self as a counsel in court from a 
 counsel at a concert, a sea captain at a club dinner from | 
 a sea captain on his quarter-deck. Then he will discover 
 that the English are not brave, nor clever, nor generous, 
 nor civilised, nor anything but surpassing rogues; that 
 every Official takes bribes, that their manners are utterly 
 offensive, and that they are rank infidels. Then he will 
 descant complacently upon the probability of a general 
 Bartholomew’s Day in the East, and look forward to the 
 hour when enlightened Young India will arise and drive 
 the ‘foul invader” from theland.* Then he will submit 
 his political opinions nakedly,that India should be wrested 
 from the Company and given to the Queen, or taken 
 from the Queen and given to the French. If the Indian 
 has been a European traveller, so much the worse for 
 you. He has blushed to own,—explaining, however, 
 conquest by bribery,—that 50,000 Englishmen hold 
 150,000,000 of his compatriots in thrall, and for aught 
 you know, republicanism may have become his idol. He 
 has lost all fear of the white face, and having been accus- 
 tomed to unburden his mind in 
 “ The land where, girt by friend or foe, 
 A man may say the thing he will,”— 
 
 he pursues the same course in other lands where it is 
 exceedingly misplaced. His doctrines of liberty and 
 
 At the same time I am convinced that in other places the people 
 would most willingly hail any change. And how can we hope it to 
 be otherwise,—we, a nation of strangers, aliens to the country’s cus- 
 toms and creed, who, even while resident in India, act the part 
 which absentees do in other lands? Where, in the history of the 
 world, do we read that such foreign dominion ever made itself loved ? 
 
 1 This was written three years before the Indian Mutiny. I alsa 
 sent into the Court of Directors a much stronger report—for whieh 
 J duly suffered. 
 
I1I.—The Nile Steamboat—The * Little Asthmatic. 39 
 
 equality he applies to you personally and practically, by 
 not rising when you enter or leave the room,—at first 
 you could scarcely induce him to sit down,—by not offer- 
 ing you his pipe, by turning away when you address him; © 
 in fact, by a variety of similar small affronts which none 
 knows better to manage skilfully and with almost im- 
 palpable gradations. If—and how he prays for it !—an 
 opportunity of refusing you anything presents itself, he 
 does it with an air. 
 ‘‘In rice strength, 
 In an Indian manliness,!” 
 
 say the Arabs. And the Persians apply the following 
 pithy tale to their neighbours. ‘ Brother,” said the 
 leopard to the jackal, ‘‘I crave a few of thy cast-off 
 hairs; 1 want them for medicine ;? where can I find 
 them?” “ Wa’llahi!” replied the jackal, ‘‘ I don’t exactly 
 know—I seldom change my coat—I wander about the 
 hills. Allah is bounteous,® brother! hairs are not so 
 easily shed.” 
 
 Woe to the unhappy Englishman, Pasha, or private 
 soldier, who must serve an Eastern lord! Worst of all, 
 if the master be an Indian, who, hating all Europeans,‘ 
 
 1 In the Arabic ‘‘Muruwwat,”’ generosity, the noble part of human 
 nature, the qualities which make a man. 
 
 2 ‘‘For medicine,” means for an especial purpose, an urgent occa- 
 sion. 
 
 3 ‘Allah Karim!” said to a beggar when you do not intend to be 
 bountiful. : 
 
 4 Read an account of Tip Sahib’s treatment of his French em- 
 ployés. If Rangit Singh behaved better to his European officers, it 
 was only on account of his paramount fear and hatred of the British. 
 The Panjabi story of the old lion’s death is amusing enough, con- 
 trasted with that Anglomania »f which so much has been said and 
 
 -written. When the Sikh king, they declare, heard of our success in 
 Afghdnistan—he had allowed us a passage through his dominions, as 
 ingress into a deadly trap—his spirits (metaphorically and literally) 
 failed him; he had not the heari to drink, he sickened and he died. 
 
40 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 adds an especial spite to Oriental coarseness, treachery, 
 and tyranny. Even the experiment of associating with 
 them is almost too hard to bear. But a useful deduction 
 may be drawn from such observations; and as few have 
 had greater experience than myself, I venture to express 
 my opinion with confidence, however unpopular or un- 
 fashionable it may be. 
 
 I am convinced that the natives. of India cannot 
 respect a European who mixes with them familiarly, or 
 especially who imitates their customs, manners, and 
 dress. The tight pantaloons, the authoritative voice, the 
 pococurante manner, and the broken Hindustani impose 
 upon them—have a weight which learning and honesty, 
 which wit and courage, have not. This is to them the 
 master’s attitude: they bend to it like those Scythian 
 slaves that faced the sword but fled from the horsewhip. 
 Such would never be the case amongst a brave people, 
 the Afghan for instance; and for the same reason it is not 
 so, we read, with ‘‘ White Plume,” the North American 
 Indian. ‘‘ The free trapper combines in the eye of an In- 
 dian (American) girl, all that is dashing and heroic in a 
 warrior of her own race, whose gait and garb and bravery 
 he emulates, with all that is gallant and glorious in the 
 white man.” There is but one cause for this phenome- 
 non; the ‘‘imbelles Indi” are still, with few exceptions,} 
 a cowardly and slavish people, who would raise them- 
 selves by depreciating those superior to them in the scale 
 of creation. The Afghans and American aborigines, being 
 chivalrous races, rather exaggerate the valour of their 
 foes, because by so doing they exalt their own.? 
 
 1 The Rajputs, for instance, ‘‘whose land has ever been the 
 focus of Indian chivalry, and the home of Indian heroes."’ 
 
 2 As my support against the possible, or rather the prob- © 
 able, imputation of ‘‘extreme opinions,”’ I hold up the honoured 
 name of the late Sir Henry Elliot (Preface to the Biographical 
 Index to the Historians of Mohammedan India). ‘These idle 
 
GHAPTER IV: 
 LIFE IN THE WAKALAH. 
 
 Tue ‘ 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 merchandise, and shops of different kinds 
 —tailors, cobblers, bakers, tobacconists, fruiterers, and 
 others. A roofless gallery or a covered verandah, into 
 which all the apartments open, runs round the first and 
 sometimes the second story: the latter, however, is 
 usually exposed to the sun and wind. The accommoda- 
 tions consist of sets of two or three rooms, generally an 
 inner oneand anouter; thelatter contains a hearth for cook- 
 ing, a bathing-place, and similar necessaries. The stair- 
 cases are high, narrow, and exceedingly 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 
 ‘vapourers (bombastic Babis, and other such political ranters), should 
 learn that the sacred spark of patriotism is exotic here, and can 
 never fall on a mine that can explode; for history will show 
 them that certain peculiarities of physical, as well as moral organi- 
 sation, neither to be strengthened by diet nor improved by educa- 
 tion, have hitherto prevented their ever attempting a national inde- 
 pendence; which will continue to exist to them but asa name, and 
 as an offscouring of college declamations.”’ 
 
42 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 inns where cat used to be prepared for playing the part 
 pf jugged hare. The interior is unfurnished; even the 
 pegs upon which clothes are hung have been pulled down 
 for fire-wood: the walls are bare but for stains, thick 
 cobwebs depend in festoons from the blackened rafters of 
 the ceiling, and the stone floor would disgrace 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 framework. In the court- 
 yard the poorer sort of travellers consort with tethered 
 beasts of burden, beggars howl, and slaves lie basking 
 and scratching themselves upon mountainous heaps of 
 cotton bales and other merchandise. 
 
 This is not a tempting picture, yetis 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 
 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 Jam4liyah, a Greek quarter, 
 swarming with drunken Christians, and therefore about 
 as fashionable as Oxford Street or Covent Garden. 
 Even for this I had to wait a week. The pilgrims were 
 flocking to Cairo, and to none other would the prudent 
 hotel keepers open their doors, for the following sufficient 
 reasons. When you enter a Wakalah, 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 cele- 
 brated for making travellers il] ; and I had to pay eighteen 
 piastres for the key and eighteen ditto per mensem fo1 
 
IV.—Life in the Wahkalah. 43 
 
 rent, besides five piastres to the man who swept and 
 washed the place. So that for this month my house-hire 
 amounted to nearly four pence a day. 
 
 But I was fortunate enough in choosing the Jama- 
 liyah 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 forty-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 humour he 
 had, delighting in “ quizzing,”’ but 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 fervour of gratitude, after 
 he had discovered my profession. I was fairly taken in 
 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 
 ophthalmia: it is a purge, a blister, and a drop in the 
 eye! Is it for fever? well! a purge and kinakina 
 (quinine). For dysentery? a purge and extract of opium. 
 Wa llahi! I am as good a physician as the best of you,” 
 he would add with a broad grin, “if I only knew the 
 Dirham-birhams,'—drams and drachms,—and a few break- 
 jaw Arabic names of. diseases.” 
 
 Haji Wali? therefore emphatically advised me to 
 
 1 The second is an imitative word, called in Arabic grammar 
 Tabi’a, as ‘‘ Zayd Bayd,” ‘‘ Zayd and others ;’’ so used, it denotes 
 contempt for drachms and similar parts of drug-craft. 
 
 2 This familiar abbreviation of Wali al-Din was the name 
 assumed by the enterprising traveller, Dr. Wallin. 
 
44 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 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 frequently, we dined together, and passed the 
 evening in a Mosque, or some other place of public pas- 
 time. Coyly at first, but less guardedly as we grew 
 bolder, wesmoked the forbidden weed ‘ Hashish,!” con- 
 versing lengthily the while about that world of which I 
 had seen so much. Originally from Russia, he also had 
 been a traveller, and in his wanderings he hadcast off most 
 of the prejudices of his people. ‘I believe in Allah and 
 his Prophet, and in nothing else,” was his sturdy creed; © 
 he rejected alchemy, jinnis 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 Darwaysh’s gown, the 
 large blue pantaloons, and the short shirt; in fact all con- 
 nection with Persia and the Persians. ‘‘If you persist in 
 being an ’Ajami,” said the Haji, ‘‘ you will get yourself into 
 trouble; in Egypt you will be cursed; in Arabia you 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 deliberation about 
 
 1 Bythe Indians called Bhang, the Persians Bang, the Hottentots 
 Dakha, and the natives of Barbary Fastkh. Even the Siberians, we 
 are told, intoxicate themselves by the vapour 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 apothe- 
 cary’s shelves. Some adventurous individuals at Paris, after the 
 perusal of Monte Christo, attempted an ‘‘ orgie’’ in one of the cafés, 
 but with poor success. 
 
IV.—Life in the Wakalah. 45 
 
 the choice of nations, I became a ‘‘ Pathan.!” Born in India 
 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 Per- 
 sian, Hindustani and Arabic, all of which I knew suffi- 
 ciently well to pass muster; any trifling inaccuracy was 
 charged upon my long residence at Rangoon. This was 
 an important step; the first question at the shop, on the 
 camel, and in the Mosque, is ‘‘ What is thy name?’ the 
 second, ‘‘ Whence comest thou?” This is not generally 
 impertinent, 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?’’—equivalent to enquiring, Auglicé, in what church 
 his mother was married,—and escape your difficulties 
 under cover of the storm. But thisis rarely necessary. I 
 assumed the polite, pliant manners of an Indian physician, 
 and the dress of a small Effendi (or gentleman), still, how- 
 ever, representing myself to bea Darwaysh, and frequenting 
 the places where Darwayshes congregate. ‘‘ What busi- 
 ness,” asked the Haji, ‘‘have those reverend men with 
 politics or statistics, or any of the information which you 
 are collecting? Call yourself a religious wanderer 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 Al-Islam. Thus you will persuade them that you are a 
 
 1 The Indian name of an Afghan, supposed to be a corruption of 
 the Arabic Fat’han (a conqueror), or a derivation from the Hindu- 
 stani paithna, to penetrate (into the hostile ranks). It is an honour- 
 able term in Arabia, where ‘“‘ Khurasani" (a native of Khorasan), 
 leads men to suspect a Persian, and the other generic appellation of 
 the Afghan tribes ‘‘ Sulaymani,”’ adescendant from Solomon, reminds 
 the people of their proverb, ‘‘ Sulaym4ni hérami ! '’—* the Afghans arg 
 ruffians !”' 
 
46 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 man of rank under a cloud, and you will receive much 
 more civility than perhaps you deserve,” concluded my 
 friend with a dry laugh. The remark proved his sagacity ; 
 and after ample experience I had not to repent having 
 been guided by his advice. 
 
 Haji Wali, by profession a merchant at Alexandria, © 
 had accompanied Khudabakhsh, the Indian, to Cairo on 
 law-business. He soon explained his affairs to me, and 
 as his case brought out certain Oriental peculiarities in a 
 striking light, with his permission I offer a few of its 
 details. | 
 My friend was defendant in a suit instituted against 
 him in H.B.M.’s Consular Court, Cairo, by one Mohammed 
 Shafi’a, a scoundrel of the first water. This man lived, 
 and lived well, by setting up in business at places where 
 his name was not known; he enticed the unwary by 
 artful displays of capital; and, after succeeding in 
 getting credit, he changed residence, carrying off all he 
 could lay hands upon. But swindling is a profession 
 of personal danger in uncivilised countries, where law 
 punishes pauper debtors by a short imprisonment ; 
 and where the cheated prefer to gratify their revenge 
 by the cudgel or the knife. So Mohammed Shafi’a, 
 after a few narrow escapes, hit upon a prime ex- 
 pedient. Though known to be a native of Bokhara—he 
 actually signed himself so in his letters, and his appear- 
 ance at once bespoke his origin,—he determined to protect 
 himself by a British passport. Our officials are some- 
 times careless enough in distributing these documents, 
 and by so doing they expose themselves to a certain loss 
 of reputation at Eastern courts’; still Mohammed Shafi’a 
 
 1 For the simple reason that no Eastern power confers such an 
 obligation except for value received. In old times, when official 
 honour was not so rigorous as it is now, the creditors of Eastern 
 powers and principalities would present high sums to British Resi- - 
 gents and others for the privilege of being enrolled in the list of their 
 
IV.— Life in the Wakalah. 47 
 
 found some difficulties in effecting his fraud. To recount 
 all his Reynardisms would weary the reader ; suffice it to 
 say that by proper management of the subalterns in the 
 consulate, he succeeded without ruining himself. Armed 
 with this new defence, he started boldly for Jeddah on the 
 
 ' Arabian coast. Having entered into partnership with 
 
 Haji Wali, whose confidence he had won by prayers, 
 fastings, and pilgrimages, he openly trafficked in slaves, 
 sending them to Alexandria for sale, and writing with 
 matchless impudence to his correspondent that he would 
 dispose of them in person, but for fear: of losing his 
 British passport and protection. 
 
 Presently an unlucky adventure embroiled this 
 worthy British subject with Faraj Ydsuf, the principal 
 merchant of Jeddah, and also an English protégé. Fear- 
 ing so powerful an adversary, Mohammed Shafi’a packed 
 up his spoils and departed for Egypt. Presently he 
 quarrels with his former partner, thinking hima soft man, 
 and claims from him a debt of £165. He supports his 
 pretensions by a document and four witnesses, who are 
 ready to swear that the receipt in question was “ signed, 
 sealed, and delivered” by Haji Wali. The latter adduces 
 his books to show that accounts have been settled, and 
 can prove that the witnesses in question are paupers, 
 therefore, not legal; moreover, that each has received 
 from the plaintiff two dollars, the price of perjury. 
 
 subjects or servants. This they made profitable; for their claims, 
 however exorbitant, when backed by a name of fear, were certain 
 to be admitted, unless the Resident’s conscience would allow of his 
 being persuaded by weightier arguments of a similar nature to aban- 
 don his protégé. It is almost needless to remark that nothing of 
 the kind can occur in the present day, and at the same time that 
 throughout the Eastern world it is firmly believed that such things 
 areof daily occurrence. Ill fame descends to distant generations; 
 whilst good deeds, if they blossom, as we are told, in the dust. are at 
 least as short-lived as they are sweet. 
 
+e. Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Now had such a suit been carried into a Turkish 
 court of justice, it would very sensibly have been settled 
 by the bastinado, for Haji Wali was a respectable mer- 
 chant, and Mohammed Shafi’a a notorious swindler. But 
 the latter was a British subject, which notably influenced 
 the question. The more to annoy his adversary, he went 
 up to Cairo, and began proceedings there, hoping by this 
 acute step to receive part payment of his demand. 
 
 Arrived at Cairo, Mohammed Shafi’a applied himself 
 stoutly to the task of bribing all who could be useful to 
 him, distributing shawls and piastres with great generosity. 
 He secured the services of an e‘ficient lawyer; and, de- 
 termining to enlist heaven itself in his cause, he passed 
 the Ramazan ostentatiously; he fasted, and he slaughtered 
 sheep to feed the poor. 
 
 Meanwhile Haji Wali, a simple tauthe telling man, 
 who could never master the rudiments of that art which 
 teaches man to blow hot and to blow cold with the same 
 breath, had been persuaded to visit Cairo by Khuda- 
 bakhsh, the wily Indian, who promised to introduce him 
 to influential persons, and to receive him in his house 
 till he could provide himself with a lodging at the Wak- 
 alah. But Mohammed Shafi’a, who had once been in 
 partnership with the Indian, and who possibly knew more 
 than was fit to meet the publicear, found this out; and, partly 
 by begging, partly by bullying, persuaded Khudabakhsh 
 to eS the influential introductions to himself. Then 
 the Hakim! Abdullah—your humble servant—appears 
 upon the scene: he has travelled in Feringistan, he has 
 seen many men and their cities, he becomes an intimate 
 and an adviser of the Haji, and he finds out evil passages 
 in Mohammed Shafi’a’s life. Upon which Khudabakhsh 
 ashamed, or rather afraid of his duplicity, collects his 
 Indian friends. The *fakim Abdullah draws up a peti- 
 
 I TA doctor, a learned man ° not to be confounded with Hakim, a 
 rvler. 
 
IV.—Life in the Wakalah. 49 
 
 tion addressed to Mr. Walne (H.B.M’s Consul) by the 
 Indian merchants and others resident at Cairo, informing 
 him of Mohammed Shafi’a’s birth, character, and occu- 
 pation as a vendor of slaves, offering proof of all assertions, 
 and praying him for the sake of their good name to take 
 ‘away his passport. And all the Indians affix their seals 
 to this paper. Then Mohammed Shafi’a threatens to 
 waylay and to beat the Haji. The Haji, not loud or hector- 
 ingly, but with a composed smile, advises his friends to 
 hold him off, 
 
 One would suppose that such a document would have 
 elicited some inquiry. 
 
 But Haji Wali was a Persian protégé, and proceeds 
 ings between the Consulates had commenced before the 
 petition was presented. The pseudo-British subject, hav- 
 ing been acknowledged as a real one, must be supported. 
 Consuls, like kings, may err, but must not own to error 
 No notice was taken of the Indian petition; worse still, 
 no inquiry into the slave-affair was set on foot’; and it was 
 discovered that the passport having been granted by a 
 Consul-General could not with official etiquette be resumed 
 by a Consul.? 
 
 ’ I It may be as well to remark that our slave jaws require reform 
 throughout the East, their severity, like Draco’s Code, defeating their 
 purpose. In Egypt, for instance, they require modification. Con- 
 stitute the offence a misdemeanour, not a felony, inflict a fine (say 
 £100), half of which should be given to the informer, and make the im- 
 prisonment either a short one, or, what would be better still, let it bedone 
 away with, except in cases of non-payment; and finally, let the Consul 
 or some other magistrate residing at the place have power to- inflict 
 the penalty of the law, instead of being obliged, as at present, to 
 transmit offenders to Malta for trial. As the law now stands, our 
 officials are unwilling to carry its rigours into effect ; they therefore. 
 easily lend an ear to the standard excuse—ignorance—in order to 
 have an opportunity of decently dismissing a man, with a warning 
 not to do it again. 
 
 2 Yet at the time there was at Alexandria an acting. Consul-Gene- 
 ‘ral, to whom the case could with strict propriety have been reterred. 
 
Xe) Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Thus matters were destined to proceed as they began. 
 Mohammed Shafi’a had offered 5,000 piastres to the 
 Persian Consul’s interpreter; this of course was refused, 
 but still somehow or other all the Haji’s affairs seemed 
 to go wrong. His statements were mistranslated, his 
 accounts were misunderstood, and the suit was allowed to 
 drag on to a suspicious length. When I left Cairo in 
 July, Haji Wali had been kept away nearly two months 
 from his business and family, though both parties—for 
 the plaintiff's purse was rapidly thinning—appeared eager 
 to settle the difference by arbitration: when I returned 
 from Arabia in October, matters were almost 7m statu quo 
 anté, and when I started for India in January, the pro- 
 ceedings had not closed. 
 
 Such is a brief history, but too common, of a case in 
 which the subject of an Eastern state has to contend 
 against British influence. It is doubtless a point of hon- 
 our to defend our protégés from injustice, but the higher 
 principle should rest upon the base of common honesty. 
 The worst part of such a case is, that the injured party 
 has no redress. 
 
 “Fiat injustitia, ruat coelum," 
 
 is the motto of his “natural protectors,” who would vio- 
 late every law to gratify the false pride of a petty English 
 official. And, saving the rare exceptions where rank or 
 wealth command consideration, with what face, to use the 
 native phrase, would a hapless Turk appeal to the higher 
 powers, our ministers or our Parliament ? 
 After lodging myself in the Wakalah, my first object 
 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 ser- 
 mon complete the work. Here, there is no such Royal 
 
 ’ 
 
IV.—Life in the Wakalah. 51 
 
 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. Herecovers; 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 
 they 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 life, he naturally asks you for the means of 
 preserving it. Moreover, in none of the Eastern lan-- 
 guages with which I am acquainted is there a single term 
 conveying the meaning of our ‘gratitude,’ and none 
 but Germans? have ideas unexplainable by words. But 
 you must not condemn this absence of a virtue with- 
 out considering the cause. An Oriental deems that he 
 has the 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 thank- 
 ful 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 ex- 
 pressed by ‘Allah increase thy weal!” or the selfish wish 
 that your shadow (with which you protect him and his 
 fellows) may never be less. And this is probably the last 
 you hear of him. 
 
 There is a discomfort in such proceedings, a reason- 
 
 1 Johann Gottlieb Fichte expressly declares that the scope of his 
 system has never been explained by words, and that it even admits 
 not of being so explained. To make his opinions intelligible, he 
 would express them by a system of figures, each of which must have 
 a known and positive value. 
 
52 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 able, a metaphysical coldness, uglily contrasting in 
 theory with the genial warmth which a little more heart 
 would infuse into them. In theory, I say, not in practice. 
 Human nature feels kindness is displayed to return it in 
 kind. But Easterns do not carry out the idea of such 
 obligations as we do. 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 friend, a great man when 
 you were an equal; not to be contradicted, where shortly 
 before every one gave his opinion freely? You must 
 be unamiable if these considerations deter vou from bene- 
 fiting 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 upon the 
 patient’s servants attending you; he must also pro- 
 vide and pay 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 dismount 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 thee be the peace and the 
 mercy of Allah, and his blessing!’ To the invalid you 
 say, ‘‘ There is nothing the matter, please Allah, except 
 the health ;” to which the proper answer—for here every 
 
IV.—Life wm the Wakalah. 53 
 
 sign of ceremony has its countersign’—is, ‘¢ May Allah 
 give thee health!” Then you 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 returns 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 something 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 complaint 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 discover them, taking for the 
 Same as much praise to yourself as does the practising 
 phrenologist for a similar simple exercise of the reason- 
 ing faculties. The disease, to be respectable, must in- 
 variably be connected with one of the four temperaments, 
 or the four elements, or the ‘‘humours of Hippocrates.” 
 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 honour, that none will brave 
 your displeasure. If you would pass for a native prac- 
 titioner, you must finally proceed to the most uncomfort- 
 able part of your visit, bargaining for fees. Nothing more 
 effectually arouses suspicion than disinterestedness in a 
 doctor. I once cured a rich Hazramaut merchant of 
 rheumatism, and neglected to make him pay for treat- 
 ment; he carried off 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 
 
 1 M. C. de Perceval (Arabic Grammar), and Lane (Mod. Egyp- 
 tians, Chapter 8 ¢t passim), give specimens. , 
 
54 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 another illness,” said my friend, the Haji, when he heard 
 of it. Properly speaking, the fee for a visit to a respect- 
 able 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 dy-: 
 sentery, and £20 for the sciatica. But you will rarely get 
 it. The Eastern pays a doctor’s billas an Oirishman 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 com- 
 plaints, 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 refuse to treat the second disorder, which con- 
 duct may bring the refractory one to his senses. ‘ Dat 
 Galenus opes,”” however, is a Western apothegm: the 
 utmost ‘‘Jalintis” can do for you here is to provide you 
 with the necessaries and comforts of life. Whatever you 
 prescribe must be solid and material, and if you accom- 
 pany it with something painful, such as rubbing to 
 scarification with a horse-brush, so much the better. 
 Easterns, like our peasants in Europe, wish the doctor to 
 *‘ sive 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 
 bastinado; patients are beneficially baked in a bread- 
 oven at Baghdad; and an Egyptian at Alexandria, whose 
 quartan resisted the strongest appliances of European 
 physic, was effectually 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, flavoured with assafcetida, which in 
 the case of the dyspeptic rich often suffice, if they will but. 
 
IV.—Life m the Wakalah. 55 
 
 diet themselves—you are careful to say, ‘‘ In the name of 
 Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.” And after the 
 patient has been dosed, ‘‘ Praise be to Allah, the Curer, 
 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 Merciful, 
 and blessings and peace be upon our Lord the Apostle, and his 
 family, and his companions one and all! But afterwards let 
 him take bees-honey and cinnamon and album grecum, 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.2 Verily its effects are wonderful. And let him abstain 
 from flesh, fish, vegetables, sweetmeats, flatulent food, acids 
 of ali descriptions, as well as the major ablution, and live in 
 perfect quiet. So shall he be cured by the help of the King, 
 the Healer.2 And The Peace.*” 
 
 The diet, I need scarcely say, should be rigorous ; 
 nothing 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 
 Hindi or a Hindu ‘‘ takes medicine,” he prepares himself 
 for it by diet and rest two or three days before adhibition, 
 and as gradually, after the dose, he relapses into his usual 
 habits; if he break through the régime it is concluded 
 that fatal results must ensue. The ancient Egyptians 
 we learn from Herodotus devoted a certain number of 
 days in. each month to the use of alteratives, and the 
 
 1 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. ‘‘] am Alpha and 
 Omega, the first and the last.” 
 
 2 ‘‘Ala-rik,” that is to say, fasting—the first thing in the 
 morning. . 
 
 3 The Almighty. 4 W’'as-salam, 7.¢. adieu. 
 
56 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 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 un- 
 dress, and so carefully guard against cold that they even 
 drink tepid water. When the Afghan princes find it ne- 
 cessary to employ Chob-Chini, (the Jin-seng,’ or China 
 
 -_-———_ 
 
 1 From M. Huc we learn that Jin-seng is the most considerable 
 article of Manchurian commerce, and that throughout China there is 
 no chemist’s shop unprovided with more or less of it. He adds: 
 ‘The Chinese report marvels of the Jin-seng, and no doubt it is for 
 Chinese organisation a tonic of very great effect tor old and weak 
 persons; but its nature is too heating, the Chinese physicians admit, 
 for the European temperament, already in their opinion too hot. 
 The price is enormous, and doubtless its dearness contributes with a 
 people like the Chinese to raise its celebrity so high. The rich and 
 the Mandarins probably use it only because it is above the reach of 
 other people, and out of pure ostentation.”” It is the principal tonic 
 used throughout Central Asia, and was well known in Europe when 
 Sarsaparilla arose to dispute with it the palm of popularity. In India, 
 Persia, and Afghanistan, it is called chob-chini,—the ‘ Chinese 
 wood.” The preparations are in two forms, 1. Sufiat, or powder ; 
 2. Kahwah, or decoction. The former is compound of Radix China 
 Orient, with gum mastich and sugar-candy, equal parts; about a 
 dram of this compound is taken once a day, early in the morning. 
 For the decoction one ounce of fine parings is boiled for a quarter of 
 an hour in a quart of water. When the liquid assumes a red colour 
 it is taken off the fire and left to cool. Furthermore, there are two 
 methods of adhibiting the chob-chini: 1. Band; 2. Khola. The 
 first is when the patient confines himself to a garden, listening to 
 music, enjoying the breeze, the song of birds, and the bubbling ot 
 a flowing stream. He avoids everything likely to trouble and annoy 
 him ; he will not even open a letter, and the doctor forbids anyone 
 to contradict him. Some grandees in central Asia will go through 
 a course of forty days in every second year; it reminds one ot 
 Epicurus’ style of treatment,—the downy bed, the garlands of flowers, 
 the good wine, and the beautiful singing girl, and is doubtless at least 
 as efficacious in curing as the sweet relaxation of Grafenberg or 
 Malvern. So says Socrates, according to the Anatomist of Melan- 
 choly, 
 
1V.—Life in the Wakalah. 57 
 
 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 ot 
 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 to the end of 
 it, that no one may be able to add to or take from its con- 
 tents. And when you send medicine to a patient of rank, 
 who is sure to have enemies, you adopt some similar pre- 
 caution against the box or the bottle being opened. One 
 ot the Pashas whom I attended,—a brave soldier who had 
 been a favourite 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 sud- 
 den and fatal cramps in the stomach. In the case of the 
 doctor it is common prudence to adopt these precautions, 
 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 to thrive they must be 
 Indians, Chinese, or Maghrabis. 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 is its name; deservedly perhaps, for 
 skill in simples and dietetics. Besides which the Indian 
 
 “*Oculum non curabis sine toto capite, 
 Nec caput sine toto corpore, 
 Nec totum corpus sine animo.” 
 The “ Khola"’ signifies that you take the tonic without other pre- 
 cautions than the avoiding acids, salt, and pepper, and choosing 
 summer time, as cold is supposed to induce rheumatism. 
 
53 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. ° 
 
 may deal in charms and spells,—things to which the lati- 
 tude gives such force that even Europeans learn to. put 
 faith in them. The traveller who, on the banks of the 
 Seine, scoffs at Sights and Sounds, Table-turning and — 
 Spirit-rapping, sees in the wilds of Tartary and Thibet a 
 something supernatural and diabolical in the bungling 
 Sie-fa of the Bokte."| Some sensible men, who pass for 
 philosophers among their friends, have been caught by 
 the incantations of the turbanded and bearded Cairo magi- 
 cian. In our West African colonies the phrase ‘‘ growing 
 black ’’ was applied to colonists, who, after a term of 
 residence, became thoroughly imbued with the supersti- 
 tions of the land. And there are not wanting old Anglo- 
 Indians, intelligent men, that place firm trust in tales and 
 tenets too puerile even for the. Hindus to believe. As a 
 “ Hindi” I could use animal magnetism, taking care, 
 however, to give the science a specious supernatural ap- 
 pearance. Haji Wali, 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,? and people will 
 ask, where are your drugs, and what business have you 
 with charms?” It is useless to say that I followed his 
 counsel; yet patients would consider themselves my 
 
 1 Certain Lamas who, we learn from M. Huc, 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, &c., &c. The devil may 
 “have a great deal to do with the matter ’’’ in Tartary, for all I know; 
 but I can assure M. Huc, that the Rufa’i Darwayshes in India and the 
 Sa’adiyah at Cairo perform exactly the same feats. Their jugglery, 
 seen through the smoke of incense, and amidst the enthusiasm of a 
 crowd, is tolerably dexterous, and no more. 
 pane | Abholy man. The word has a singular signification in a plural 
 form, “ honoris causa." 
 
IV.—Life in the Wakalah. 59 
 
 Murids (disciples), and delighted in kissing the hand of the. 
 Sahib Nafas* or minor saint. 
 
 The Haji repaid me for my docility by vaunting me 
 everywhere as the very phoenix of physicians. My first 
 successes were in the Wakalah; opposite to me there 
 lived an Arab slave dealer, whose Abyssinians constantly 
 fell sick. A tender race, they suffer when first trans- 
 ported to Egypt from many complaints, especially con- 
 sumption, dysentery and varicose veins. I succeeded in 
 curing one girl. Asshe was worth at least fifteen pounds, 
 the gratitude of her owner was great, and I had to dose 
 half a dozen others in order to cure them of the pernicious 
 and price-lowering habit of snoring. Living in rooms 
 opposite these slave girls, and seeing them at all hours of 
 the day and night, I had frequent opportunities of study- 
 ing them. They were average specimens of the steato- 
 pygous Abyssinian breed, broad-shouldered, thin-flanked, 
 fine-limbed, and with haunches of a prodigious size. None 
 of them had handsome features, but the short curly hair 
 that stands on end being concealed under a kerchief, there 
 was something pretty in the brow, eyes, and upper part 
 of the nose, coarse and sensual in the pendent lips, large 
 jowl and projecting mouth, whilst the whole had a com- 
 bination of piquancy with sweetness. Their style of 
 flirtation was peculiar. 
 
 ‘* How beautiful thou art, O Maryam !—what eyes! 
 —what—” 
 
 1 A title literally meaning the ‘‘ Master of Breath,” one who can 
 cure ailments, physical as well as spiritual, by breathing upon them— 
 a practice well known to mesmerists. The reader will allow me to 
 observe, (in self-defence, otherwise he might look suspiciously upon 
 so credulous a narrator), that when speaking of animal magnetism, 
 as a thing established, I allude to the lower phenomena, rejecting the 
 discussion of all disputed points, as the existence of a magnetic Aura, 
 and ot all its unintelligibilities—Prevision, Levitation, Introvision, 
 and other divisions of Clairvoyance. . 
 
60 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 “Then why,’—would respond the lady—‘* don’t you 
 buy me ?” 
 
 ‘“‘ We are of one faith—of one creed—formed to form 
 éach other’s happiness.” 
 
 ‘‘ Then why don’t you buy me?” 
 
 ‘“* Conceive, O Maryam, the blessing of two hearts—” 
 
 ‘* Then why don’t you buy me?” 
 and so on. Most effectual gag: to Cupid’s eloquence ! 
 Yet was not the plain-spoken Maryam’s reply without its 
 moral. How often is it our fate, in the West as in the 
 East, to see in bright eyes and to hear from rosy lips an 
 implied, if not an expressed, ‘‘ Why don’t you buy me ?” 
 or, worse still, ‘‘ Why can’t you buy me?” 
 
 All I required in return for my services from the 
 slave-dealer, whose brutal countenance and manners were 
 truly repugnant, was to take me about the town, and ex- 
 plain to me certain mysteries in his craft, which know- 
 ledge might be useful in time to come. Little did he sus- 
 pect who his interrogator was, and freely in his un- 
 suspiciousness he entered upon the subject of slave 
 hunting in the Somalicountry, and Zanzibar, of all things 
 the most interesting tome. I have, however, nothing newto 
 report concerning the present state of bondsmen in Egypt. 
 England has already learned that slaves are not neces- 
 sarily the most wretched and degraded of men. wis 
 have been bold enough to tell the British public that, 
 the generality of Oriental countries,’ the serf fares S 
 
 i= —_—-- 
 
 I ‘In the generality, not in all. "Nothing, for instance, can be 
 more disgraceful to human nature than the state of praedial slavery, 
 or serfs attached to the glebe, when Malabar was under the dominion 
 of the ‘mild Hindu.” And as a rule in the East it is only the 
 domestic slaves who taste the sweets of slavery. Yet there is 
 truth in Sonnini’s terrible remark: ‘‘The severe treatment under 
 which the slaves languish in the West Indies is the shameful pre- 
 rogative of civilisation, and is unknown to those nations among 
 whom barbarism is reported to hold sway.’’ (Travels in Upper and 
 Lower Egypt, vol. ii.) 
 
LV.—Life in the Wakalah. 61 
 
 better than the servant, or indeed than the poorer orders 
 of freemen. ‘The laws of Mahomet enjoin his followers 
 to treat slaves with the greatest mildness, and the Mos- 
 lems are in general scrupulous observers of the Apostle’s 
 recommendation. Slaves are considered members of the 
 - family, and in houses where free servants are also kept, 
 they seldom do any other work than filling the pipes, 
 presenting the coffee, accompanying their master when 
 going out, rubbing his feet when he takes his nap in 
 the afternoon, and driving away the flies from him. 
 When a slave is not satisfied, he can legally compel his 
 master to sell him. He has no care for food, lodging, 
 clothes and washing, and has no taxes to pay; he is 
 exempt from military service and soccage, and in spite of 
 his bondage is freer than the freest Fellah in Egypt.” 
 This is, I believe, a true statement, but of course it in no- 
 wise affects the question of slavery in the abstract. A 
 certain amount of reputation was the consequence of cur- 
 ing the Abyssinian girls: my friend Haji Wali carefully 
 told the news to all the town, and before fifteen days were 
 over, I found myself obliged to decline extending a prac- 
 tice which threatened me with fame. 
 Servants are most troublesome things to all English- 
 men in Egypt, but especially to one travelling as a 
 respectable native, and therefore expected to have slaves. 
 After much deliberation; 1 resolved to take a Berberi,? 
 
 eee ps As - = 
 
 1 The author has forgotten to mention one of the principal ad- 
 vantages of slaves, namely, the prospect of arriving at the highest 
 rank of the empire. The Pasha of the Syrian caravan with which I 
 travelled to Damascus, had been the slave of a slave, and he is but a 
 solitary instance of cases perpetually occuring in all Moslem lands. 
 
 "Crest un homme de bonne famille,” said a Turkish officer in Egypt, 
 i] a été acheté.” 
 
 2 A “Barbarian” from Nubia and Upper Egypt. Some authori- 
 ties, Mr. Lane for instance, attribute the good reputation of these 
 people to their superior cunning. Sonnini says, ‘‘ they are intelligent 
 and handy servants, but knaves.’’’ Others believe in them. As far as I 
 
62 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 and accordingly summoned a Shaykh—there is a Shaykh 
 for everything down to thieves in “the East,” (ia 
 Egypt since the days of Diodorus Siculus), and made 
 known my want. The list of sine quad nons was necessarily 
 rather an extensive one,—good health and a readiness to 
 travel anywhere, a little skill in cooking, sewing and 
 washing, willingness to fight, and a habit of regular 
 prayers. After a day’s delay the Shaykh brought me a 
 specimen of his choosing, a, broad-shouldered, bandy- 
 legged fellow, with the usual bull-dog expression of the 
 Berberis, in his case rendered doubly expressive by the 
 ‘drooping of an eyelid—an accident brought about with 
 acrid juice in order to avoid conscription. He responded 
 sturdily to all my questions. Some Egyptian donkey 
 boys and men were making a noise in the room at the 
 time, and the calm ferocity with which he ejected them 
 commanded my approval. When a needle, thread, and 
 an unhemmed napkin were handed to him, he sat down, 
 held the edge of the cloth between his big toe and its 
 neighbour, and finished the work in quite a superior style. 
 Walking out, he armed himself with a Kurbaj, which he 
 used, now lightly, then heavily, upon all laden animals, 
 biped and quadruped, that came in the way. His con- 
 duct proving equally satisfactory in the kitchen, after 
 getting security from him, and having his name registered 
 by the Shaykh,’ I closed with him for eighty piastres a 
 
 could find out, they were generally esteemed more honest than the 
 Egyptians, and they certainly possess a certain sense of honour un. 
 known to their northern brethren. ‘‘ Berberi”’ is a term of respect; 
 ‘Masri’ (corrupted from Misri) in the mouth of a Badawi or an 
 Arab of Arabia is a reproach. ‘ He shall be called an Egyptian,” 
 means ‘he shall belong to a degraded race. 
 
 1 Who becomes responsible, and must pay for any theft his pro- 
 tégé maycommit. Berberis, being generally ‘‘ les Suisses’’ of respect- 
 able establishments, areexpected to be honest. But I can assert from 
 experience that, as a native, you will never recover the value of a 
 stolen article without having recourse to the police. For his valuahie 
 
IV.—Life in the Wakalah. 62 
 
 month. But Ali the Berberi and I were destined to part. 
 Before a fortnight he stabbed his fellow servant—a Surat 
 lad, who wishing to return home forced his services upon 
 me—and for this trick he received, with his dismissal, 400 
 blows on the feet by order of the Zabit, or police magis- 
 trate. After this failure I tried a number of servants, Egyp- 
 tians, Sa’idis,! and clean and unclean eating? Berberis. 
 Recommended by different Shaykhs, all had some fatal 
 defect ; one cheated recklessly, another robbed me, a third 
 drank, a fourth was always in scrapes for infringing the 
 Julian edict, and the last, a long-legged Nubian, after 
 remaining two days in the house, dismissed me for ex- 
 
 security, the Shaykh demands a small fee (7 or 8 piastres), which, 
 despite the urgent remonstrances of protector and protégé, you 
 deduct from the latter’s wages. The question of pay is a momentous 
 one; too much always spoils a good servant, too little leaves you 
 without one. An Egyptian of the middle class would pay his Berberi 
 about 4o piastres a month, besides board, lodging, some small perqui- 
 sites, and presents on certain occasions. This, however, will not 
 induce a man to travel, especially to cross the sea. 
 
 - x A man from the Sa’id or Upper Egypt. 
 
 2 A favourite way of annoying the Berberis is to repeat the say- 
 ing, ‘‘ we have eaten theclean, we have eaten the unclean,’’—meaning, 
 that they are by no means cunning in the difference between right 
 and wrong, pure and impure. I will relate the origin of the saying, 
 as I heard it differently, from Mansfield Parkyns, (Life in Abyssinia, 
 chap. 31.) A Berberi, said my informant, had been carefully fattening 
 a fine sheep for a feast, when his cottage was burned by an accident. 
 In the ashes he found roasted meat, which looked tempting to a hungry 
 man: he called his neighbours, and all sat down to make merry over 
 the mishap; presently they came to the head, which proved to be 
 that of a dog, some enemy having doubtless stolen the sheep and put 
 the impure animal in its place. Whereupon, sadly perplexed, all the 
 Berberis went to their priest, and dolefully related the circumstance, 
 expecting absolution, as the offence was involuntary. ‘‘ You have 
 eaten filth,"’ said the man of Allah. ‘‘ Well,” replied the Berberis, 
 falling upon him with their fists, “filth pr not, we have eaten it. ' 
 The Berberi, 1 must remark, is the ‘‘ Paddy” of this part of the 
 world, celebrated for bulls and blunders. 
 
64 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 pressing a determination to travel by sea from Suez to 
 Yambu’. I kept one man; he complained that he was 
 worked to death: two—they did nothing but fight; and 
 three—they left me, as Mr. Elwes said of old, to serve 
 myself. At.last, thoroughly tired of Egyptian domestics, 
 and one servant being really sufficient for comfort, as well 
 as suitable to my assumed rank, I determined to keep 
 only the Indian boy. He had all the defects of his na- 
 tion; a brave at Cairo, he was an arrant coward at Al- 
 Madinah; -the Badawin despised him heartily for his 
 effeminacy in making his camel kneel to dismount, and he 
 could not keep his hands from picking and stealing. But 
 the choice had its advantages: his swarthy skin and 
 chubby features made the Arabs always call him an Abys- 
 sinian slave, which, as it favoured my disguise, I did 
 not care to contradict ; he served well, he was amenable 
 to discipline, and being completely dependent upon me, he 
 was therefore less likely to watch and especially to prate 
 about my proceedings. As master and man we performed 
 the pilgrimage together; but, on my return to Egypt 
 after the pilgrimage, Shaykh (become Haji) Nar, finding 
 me to be a Sahib,’ changed for the worse. He would not 
 work, and reserved all his energy for. the purpose of pil- 
 fering, which he practised so audaciously upon my 
 -friends, as well as upon myself, that he could not be kept 
 in the house. 
 
 Perhaps the reader may be curious to see the neces- 
 sary expenses of a bachelor residing at Cairo. He must 
 observe, however, in the following list that I was not a 
 strict economist, and, besides that, | was a stranger in 
 the country: inhabitants and old settlers would live as 
 well for little more than two-thirds the sum. 
 
 1 The generic name given by Indians to English officials. 
 
IV.—Life in the Wakalah. 65 
 
 Piastres. Faddah. 
 
 House rent at 18 piastres per mensem- » ~- o 24 
 Servant at 80 piastres per do. - - - 2 20 
 Breakfast for Bee ; ; ; ' “ : = 
 pa coens Water melon (now 5 piastres) - 1 9) 
 
 : Two rolls of bread - - - Oo 10 
 
 2 lbs. of meat - - - - 2 20 
 
 Two rolls of bread - - ye 10 
 
 Dinner. Vegetables - - - - oO 20 
 Rice - - - : - - Oo 5 
 
 Oil and clarified butter - ats o 
 
 A skin of Nile water: - ° a det o 
 
 Sundries. Tobacco! - - - I o 
 Hammam (hot bath) - - «+ 3 20 
 
 Totalsy =i 5a2 50 
 
 Equal to about two shillings and sixpence. 
 
 1 There are four kinds of tobacco smoked in Egypt. The first 
 and best is the well-known Latakia, generally called ‘' Jabali,” 
 either from a small seaport town about three hours’ journey south 
 of Latakia, or more probably because grown on the hills near the 
 ancient Laodicea. Pure, it is-known by its blackish colour, fine 
 shredding, absence of stalk, and an undescribable odour, to me 
 resembling that of creosote; the leaf, too, is small, so that when 
 made into cigars it must be covered over with a slip of the yellow 
 Turkish tobacco called Bafra. Except at the highest houses un- 
 adulterated Latakia is not to be had in Cairo. Yet, mixed as it is, 
 no other growth exceeds it in flavour and fragrance. Miss Martineau 
 smoked it, we are told, without inconvenience, and it differs from our 
 Shag, Bird’s-eye, and Returns, in degree, as does Chateau Margeau 
 from a bottle of cheap strong Spanish wine. To bring out its flavour, 
 the connoisseur smokes it in long pipes of cherry, jasmine, maple, or 
 rosewood, and these require a servant skilled in the arts of cleaning 
 and filling thém. The best Jabali at Cairo costs about seven piastres 
 the pound; after which a small sum must be paid to the Farram or 
 chopper, who prepares it fcr use. 
 
 2nd. Sari (Tyrian), or Shami, or Sury4ni, grown in Syria, an inferior 
 growth, of a lighter colour than Latakia, and with a greenish tinge; 
 when cut, its value is aboui three piastres per pound. Somesmokers 
 _mix this leaf with Jabali, which, to my taste, spoils the flavour of the 
 fatter without improving the former. The strongest kind, called 
 VOL. 1. R ; 
 
66 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 In these days who at Cairo without a Shaykh? I 
 thought it right to conform to popular custom, and accord- 
 ingly, after having secured a servant, my efforts were 
 directed to finding a teacher; the pretext being that as 
 an Indian doctor I wanted to read Arabic works on medi- 
 cine,.as well as to perfect myself in divinity and pro- 
 nunciation.’ My theological studies were in the Shafe’i 
 school for two reasons: in the first place, it is the least 
 rigorous of the Four Orthodox, and, secondly, it most 
 resembles the Shi’ah heresy, with which long intercourse 
 
 Korani or Jabayl, is generally used for cigarettes; it costs, when of 
 first-rate quality, about five piastres per pound. 
 
 3rd. Tumbak, or Persian tobacco, called Hijazi, because im- 
 ported from the Hijaz, where everybody smokes it, and supposed to 
 come from Shiraz, Kazeran, and other celebrated places in Persia. 
 It is all but impossible to buy this article unadulterated, except from 
 the caravans returning after the pilgrimage. The Egyptians mix it 
 with native growths, which ruins its flavour and gives it an acridity 
 that ‘‘catches the throat,’’ whereas good tumbak never yet made a 
 man cough. Yet the taste of this tobacco, even when second-rate, is 
 so fascinating to some smokers that they will use no other. To be 
 used it should be wetted and squeezed, and it is invariably inhaled 
 through water into the lungs: almost every town has its favourite 
 description of pipe, and these are of all kinds, from the pauper’s 
 rough cocoa-nut mounted with two reeds, to the prince’s golden bowl 
 set with the finest stones. Tumbak is cheap, costing about four 
 piastres a pound, but large quantities of it are used. 
 
 4th. Hummi, as the word signifies, a ‘‘hot’’ variety of the tum- 
 bak, grown in Al-Yaman and other countries. It is placed in the tile 
 on the bari or cocoa-nut pipe, unwetted, and has a very acrid flavour. 
 Being supposed to produce intoxication, or rather a swimming in the 
 head, hummi gives its votaries a bad name: respectable men would 
 answer ‘‘no’’ with rage if asked whether they are smoking it, and 
 when a fellow tells you that he has seen better days, but that now he 
 smokes Hummi in a buri, you understand him that his misfortunes 
 have affected either his brain or his morality. Hence it is that this 
 tobacco is never put into pipes intended for smoking the other kinds. 
 The price of Hummi is about five piastres per pound. 
 
 1 A study essential to the learned, as in some particular portions — 
 of the Koran a mispronunciation becomes a sin. 
 
1V.—Life im the Wakalah. 67 
 
 with Persians had made me familiar... My choice of 
 doctrine, however, confirmed those around me in their 
 conviction that I was a rank. heretic, for the ’Ajami, 
 taught by his religion to conceal offensive tenets? in 
 lands where the open expression would be dangerous, 
 always represents himself to be a Shafe’i. This, together 
 with the original mistake of appearing publicly at Alex- 
 andria as a *‘ Mirza” ina Persian dress, caused me infinite 
 small annoyance at Cairo, in spite of all precautions and 
 contrivances. And throughout my journey, even in 
 Arabia, though I drew my knife every time an offensive 
 hint was thrown out, the ill-fame clung to me like the 
 shirt of Nessus. 
 
 It was not long before I happened to hit upon a 
 proper teacher, in the person of Shaykh Mohammed al- 
 Attar, or the ‘* Druggist.’”’ He had known prosperity, hav- 
 ing once been a Khatib (preacher) in one of Mohammed 
 Ali’s mosques. But His Highness the late Pasha had 
 dismissed him, which disastrous event, with its sub- 
 sequent train of misfortunes, he dates from the melan- 
 choly day when he took to himself a wife. He talks 
 of her abroad as a stern and rigid master dealing with a 
 naughty slave, though, by the look that accompanies his 
 rhodomontade, I am convinced that at home he is the 
 very model of ‘‘ managed men.” His dismissal was the 
 reason that compelled him to fall back upon the trade of 
 a druggist, the refuge for the once wealthy, though now 
 destitute, Sages of Egypt. 
 
 His little shop in the Jamaliyah Quarter is a perfect 
 gem of Nilotic queerness. A hole, about five feet long 
 
 1 The Shafe’i, to quote but one point of similarity, abuse Yazid, 
 the Syrian tyrant, who caused the death of the Imam Husayn: this 
 expression of indignation is forbidden by the Hanafi doctors, who 
 rigidly order their disciples to ‘judge not.”’ 
 
 2 A systematic concealment of doctrine, and profession of popular 
 tenets, technically called by the Shi’ahs ‘Takiyah ’ the literal 
 meaning of the word is “ fear,”’ or ‘' caution.” : 
 
63 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 and six deep, pierced in the wall of some house, it is 
 divided into two compartments separated by a thin par- 
 tition of wood, and communicating by a kind of arch cut 
 in the boards. The inner box, germ of a back parlour, 
 acts as store-room, as the pile of empty old baskets tossed 
 in dusty confusion upon the dirty floor shows. In the 
 front is displayed the stock in trade, a matting full of 
 Persian tobacco and pipe-bowls of red clay, a palm-leaf 
 bag containing vile coffee and large lumps of coarse, 
 whity-brown sugar wrapped up in browner paper. On 
 the shelves and ledges are rows of well-thumbed wooden 
 boxes, labelled with the greatest carelessness, pepper for 
 rhubarb, arsenic for Tafl, or wash-clay, and sulphate of 
 iron where sal-ammoniac should be. There is also a 
 square case containing, under lock and key, small change 
 and some choice articles of commerce, damaged per- 
 fumes, bad antimony for the eyes, and pernicious rouge. 
 And dangling close above it is a rusty pair of scales, ill 
 poised enough for Egyptian Themis herself to use. To 
 hooks over the shop-front are suspended reeds for pipes, 
 tallow candles, dirty wax tapers and cigarette paper ; 
 instead of plate-glass windows and brass-handled doors, 
 a ragged net keeps away the flies when the master is in, 
 and the thieves when he goes out to recite in the Hasa- 
 nayn Mosque his daily chapter ‘‘ Ya Sin.’”” A wooden 
 shutter which closes down at night-time, and by day two 
 palm-stick stools intensely dirty and full of fleas, occupying 
 the place of the Mastabah or earthen bench,” which accom- © 
 modated purchasers, complete the furniture of my pre- 
 ceptor’s establishment. 
 
 1 One of the most esteemed chapters of the Koran, frequently 
 recited as a Wazifah or daily task by religious Moslems in Egypt. 
 
 2 The Mastabah here is a long earthen bench plastered over with 
 clay, and raised about two feet from the ground, so as to bring the 
 purchaser’s head to a level with the shop. Mohammed Ali ordered 
 the. people to remove them, as they narrowed the streets; their place 
 is now supplied by ‘‘ Kafas,"’ cages or stools of wicker-work. 
 
IV.—Life in the Wakalah. 69 
 
 There he sits, or rather lies (for verily I believe he 
 sleeps through three-fourths of the day), a thin old man 
 about fifty-eight,’ with features once handsome and re- 
 gular; a sallow face, shaven head, deeply wrinkled cheeks, 
 eyes hopelessly bleared, and a rough grey beard ignorant 
 of oil and comb. His turband, though large, is brown 
 with wear; his coat and small-clothes display many a 
 hole; and, though his face and hands must be frequently 
 washed preparatory to devotion, still they have the quality 
 of looking always unclean. It is wonderful how fierce 
 and gruff he is to the little boys and girls who flock to | 
 him grasping farthings for pepper and sugar. On such 
 occasions I sit admiring to see him, when forced to exer- 
 tion, wheel about on his place, making a pivot of that 
 portion of our organisation which mainly distinguishes 
 our species from the other families of the Simiadze, to 
 reach some distant drawer, or to pull down a case from 
 its accustomed shelf. How does he manage to say his 
 prayers, to kneel and to prostrate himself upon that two 
 feet of ragged rug, scarcely sufficient for a British infant 
 to lie upon? He hopelessly owns that he knows nothing 
 of his craft, and the seats before his shop are seldom 
 occupied. His great pleasure appears to be when the 
 Haji and I sit by him a few minutes in the evening, 
 bringing with us pipes, which he assists us to smoke, 
 and ordering coffee, which he insists upon sweetening 
 with a lump of sugar from his little store. There we 
 make him talk and laugh, and occasionally quote a few 
 lines strongly savouring of the jovial: we provoke him 
 to long stories about the love borne him in his student- 
 days by the great and holy Shaykh Abd al-Rahman, and 
 the antipathy with which he was regarded by the equally 
 
 1 A great age in Lower Egypt, where but few reach the rath 
 lustre. Even the ancients observed that the old Egyptians, despite 
 their attention to diet and physic, were the most short-lived, and the 
 Britons, despite their barbarism, the longest lived of men. 
 
70 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, 
 
 great and holy Shakh Nasr al-Din, his memorable single 
 imprisonment for contumacy,’ and the temperate but 
 effective lecture, beginning with ‘O almost entirely desti- 
 tute of shame!” delivered on that occasion in presence of 
 other under-graduates by the Right Reverend principal 
 of his college. Then we consult him upon matters of 
 doctrine, and quiz him tenderly about his powers of dor- 
 mition, and flatter him, or rather his age, with such 
 phrases as, ‘‘ The water from thy hand is of the Waters of 
 Zemzem ;” or, ‘* We have sought thee todeserve the Bless- 
 ings of the Wise upon our undertakings.” Sometimes, 
 with interested motives it must be owned, we induce him 
 to accompany us to the Hammam,’ where he insists upon 
 paying the smallest sum, quarrelling with everything and 
 
 1 This is the ‘‘ imposition” of Oxford and Cambridge. 
 
 2 The Hammam, or hot bath, being a kind of religious estab- 
 lishment, is one of the class of things—so uncomfortably numerous in 
 Eastern countries—left ‘ala jud’ak, ‘‘to thy generosity.” Conse- 
 quently, you are pretty sure to have something disagreeable there, 
 which you would vainly attempt to avoid by liberality. The best 
 way to deal with all such extortioners, with the Lawingi (undresser) 
 of a Cairo Hammam, or the ‘‘jarvey '’ of a London Hansom, is to 
 find out the fare, and never to go beyond it—never to be generous. 
 The Hammam has been too often noticed to bear another descrip- 
 tion: one point, however, connected with it I must be allowed 
 to notice. Mr. -Lane (Modern Egyptians) asserts that a Moslem 
 should not pray nor recite the Koran in it, as the bath is believed to 
 be a favourite resort of Jinnis (or genii). On the contrary, it is the 
 custom of some sects to recite a Ruk’atayn (two-bow) prayer 
 immediately after religious ablution in the hot cistern. This, how- 
 ever, is makvith, or improper without being sinful, to the followers of 
 Abt Hanifah. As a general rule, throughout Al-Islam, the Farz 
 (obligatory) prayers may be recited everywhere, no matter how im- 
 pure the place may be: but those belonging to the classes sunnat 
 (traditionary) and xafilah (supererogatory) are makvuh, though not 
 actually unlawful, in certain localities. I venture this remark on 
 account of the extreme accuracy of the work referred to. A wonder- 
 ful contrast to the generality of Oriental books, it amply i geile a 
 revision in the rate places requiring care. 
 
IV.—Life im the Wakalah. a 
 
 everybody, and giving the greatest trouble. We are 
 generally his only visitors; acquaintances he appears to 
 have few, and no friends; he must have had them once, 
 for he was rich, but is not so now, so they have fallen 
 away from the poor old man. 
 
 When the Shaykh Mohammed sits with me, or I 
 climb up into his little shop for the purpose of receiving 
 a lesson from him, he is quite at his ease, reading when 
 he likes, or making me read, and generally beginning 
 each lecture with some such preamble as this’ :— 
 
 “* Aywad! aywa! aywa!?’—Even so, even so, even so! 
 we take refuge with Allah from Satan the Stoned! In 
 the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, 
 and the Blessings of Allah upon our Lord Mohammed, 
 and his Family and his Companions one and all! Thus 
 saith the author, may Almighty Allah have mercy 
 upon him! ‘Section I. of chapter two, upon the orders 
 of prayer,’ &c.” 
 
 He becomes fiercely sarcastic when I differ from 
 him in opinion, especially upon a point of grammar, or 
 the theology over which his beard has grown grey. 
 
 **Subhan’ Allah! (Allah be glorified !*) | What 
 words are these ? If thou beright, enlarge thy turband,*” 
 (z.¢., set up as a learned man), ‘and throw away. thy 
 
 1 Europeans so seldom see the regular old Shaykh, whose place 
 is now taken by polite young men educated in England or France, 
 that this scene may be new even to those who have studied of late 
 years on the banks of the Nile. 
 
 2 This word is often used to signify simply ‘‘ yes.’’ It is cor- 
 rupted from Ay wa'llahi, ‘‘ Yes, by Allah.”’ In pure Arabic ‘‘ ay” or 
 “I” is synonymous with our “yes” or ‘‘ay’’; and “Allah”’ in 
 those countries enters somehow into every other phrase. 
 
 3 This is, of course, ironical: ‘‘Allah be praised for creating 
 such a prodigy of learning as thou art !’’ 
 
 4 The larger the turband the greater are the individual's preten- 
 sions to religious knowledge and respectability of demeanour. This 
 is the custom in Egypt, Turkey, Persia, and many other parts of the 
 Moslem world. . 
 
72 Pilgrimage to and Al-Madinah Meccah. 
 
 drugs, for verily it is better to quicken men’s souls 
 than to destroy their bodies, O Abdullah !” 
 
 Oriental-like, he revels in giving good counsel. 
 
 ‘Thou art always writing, O my brave!’” (this is: 
 said on the few occasions when I venture to make a note 
 in my book), “what evil habit is this? Surely thou 
 hast learned it in the lands of the Frank. Repent!” 
 
 He loathes my giving medical advice gratis. 
 
 ‘“‘Thou hast two servants to feed, O my son! The 
 doctors of Egypt never write A, B, without a reward. 
 Wherefore art thou ashamed? Better go and sit upon 
 the mountain? at once” (1.2, go to the desert), ‘and 
 say thy prayers day and night!” 
 
 And finally, he is prodigal of preaching upon the 
 subject of household expenses. 
 
 ‘¢ Thy servant did write down two pounds of flesh yes- 
 terday! What words arethese,O he?* Dost thou never 
 say, ‘Guard us, Allah, from the sin of extravagance ?’” 
 
 He delights also in abruptly interrupting a serious 
 subject when it begins to weigh upon his spirits. For 
 instance, 
 
 «‘ Now the waters of ablution being of seven aiftcredt 
 kinds, it results that hast thou a wife >—No ?—Then 
 verily thou must buy thee a female slave, O youth! 
 This conduct is not right, and men will say of thee 
 Repentance: I take refuge with Allah‘ ‘of a truth 
 his mouth watereth for the spouses of other Moslems.’ ” 
 
 1 Ya gad’a, as the Egyptians pronounce it, is used exactly like 
 the ‘‘mon brave”’ of France, and our ‘‘ my good man.” 
 
 2 The“ mountain” in Egypt and Arabia is what the “‘ jungle”’ is 
 in India. When informed that ‘‘ you come from the mountain,” you 
 understand that you are considered a mere clodhopper: when 
 asserting that you will ‘sit upon the mountain,”’ you hint to your 
 hearers an intention of turning anchorite or magician. 
 
 3 Ya hi, a common interpellative, not, perhaps, of the politest 
 description. 
 
 4 A religious formula used when compelled to mention anything 
 abominable or polluting to the lips of a pious man. 
 
LV.—Life in the Wakalah. 73 
 
 But sometimes he nods over a difficult passage under 
 my very eyes, or he reads it over a dozen times in the 
 wantonness of idleness, or he takes what school-boys cal! 
 a long “shot” most shamelessly at the signification. 
 When this happens I lose my temper, and raise my 
 voice, and shout, “‘ Verily there is no power nor might 
 save in Allah, the High, the Great!” Then he looks at 
 me, and with passing meekness whispers— 
 
 ‘Fear Allah, O man!” 
 
CHAPTER IN, 
 THE RAMAZANe 
 
 Tus year the Ramazan befell in June, and a fearful 
 infliction was that “ blessed month,” making the Moslem 
 unhealthy and unamiable. For the space of sixteen 
 consecutive hours and a quarter, we were forbidden to 
 eat, drink, smoke, snuff, and even to swallow our saliva 
 designedly. I say forbidden, for although the highest 
 orders of Turks,—the class is popularly described as 
 
 “Turco fino 
 Mangia porco é beve vino,"’"— 
 may break the ordinance in strict privacy, popular opinion 
 would condemn any open infraction of it with uncommon 
 severity. In this, as in most human things, how many 
 are there who hold that 
 
 ‘‘ Pécher en secret n’est pas pécher, 
 Ce n'est que l’éclat qui fait le crime”’ ? 
 
 The middle and lower ranks observe the dite of 
 the season, however arduous, with exceeding zeal: of 
 all who suffered severely from such total abstinence, I 
 found but one patient who would eat even to save his 
 life. And among the vulgar, sinners who habitually 
 drink when they should pray, will fast and perform their ~ 
 devotions through the Ramazan. 
 
 Like the Italian, the Anglo-Catholic, and the Greek 
 fasts, the chief effect of the ‘* blessed month” upon True 
 Believers is to darken their tempers into positive gloom. 
 
V.—The Ramazan. 75 
 
 Their voices, never of the softest, acquire, especially after 
 noon, a terribly harsh and creaking tone. ‘The men curse 
 one another’ and beatthe women. The women slap and 
 abuse the children, and these in their turn cruelly entreat, 
 and use bad language to, the dogs and cats. You can 
 scarcely spend ten minutes in any populous part of the city 
 without hearing some violent dispute. The “‘ Karakan,” or 
 station-houses, are filled with lords who have administered 
 an undue dose of chastisement to their ladies, and with 
 ladies who have scratched, bitten, and otherwise injured 
 the bodies of their lords. The Mosques are crowded 
 with a sulky, grumbling population, making themselves 
 offensive to one another on earth whilst working their 
 way to heaven; and in the shade, under the outer walls, 
 the little boys who have been expelled the church 
 attempt to forget their miseries in spiritless play. In 
 the bazars and streets, pale long-drawn faces, looking for 
 the most part intolerably cross, catch your eye, and at 
 this season a stranger will sometimes meet with positive 
 incivility. A shopkeeper, for instance, usually says when 
 he rejects an insufficient offer, “* Yaftah Allah,”—‘“ Allah 
 opens.’ During the Ramazan, he will grumble about the 
 bore of Ghashim, or “‘ Johnny raws,” and gruffly tell you 
 not to stand there wasting his time. But as a rule the 
 shops are either shut or destitute of shopmen, merchants 
 will not purchase, and students will not study. In fine, 
 
 1 Of course all quarrelling, abuse, and evil words are strictly 
 forbidden to the Moslem during Ramazan. If one believer insult 
 another, the latter should repeat ‘‘I am fasting”’ three times before 
 venturing himself to reply. Such is the wise law. But human 
 nature in Egypt, as elsewhere, is always ready to sacrifice the spirit 
 to the letter, rigidly to obey the physical part of an ordinance, and 
 to cast away the moral, as if it were the husk and not the kernel. 
 
 _ 2 Allah opens (the door of daily bread) is a polite way of inform- 
 ing a man that you and he are not likely to do business; in other 
 words, that you are not in want of his money. 
 
 A 
 
76 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 the Ramazan, for many classes, is one-twelfth of the year 
 wantonly thrown away. 
 
 The following is the routine of a fast day. About 
 halfan hour after midnight, the gun sounds its warning 
 to faithful men that it is time to prepare for the ‘* Sahar,” 
 (early breakfast) or morning meal. My servant then 
 wakes me, if I have slept; brings water for ablution, 
 spreads the Sufrah ' (or leather cloth) ; and places before 
 me certain remnants of the evening’s meal. It is some 
 time before the stomach becomes accustomed to such 
 hours, but in matters of appetite, habit is everything, 
 and for health’s sake one should strive to eat as plentifully 
 as possible. Then sounds the Salam, or Blessings on the 
 Prophet,? an introduction to the Call of Morning Prayer. 
 Smoking sundry pipes with tenderness, as if taking leave 
 of a friend; and until the second gun, fired at about 
 half-past two A.M., gives the Imsak,*—the order to abstain 
 from food,—I wait the Azan,* which in this month is 
 ‘called somewhat earlier than usual. Then, after a cere- 
 mony termed the Niyat‘ (purpose) of fasting, I say my 
 
 1 The Sufrah is a piece of leather well tanned, and generally of a 
 yellow colour, bordered with black. It is circular, has a few small 
 pouches for knives or spoons, and, by means of a thong run through 
 rings in the periphery, can be readily converted into a bag for carrying 
 provisions on a journey. Figuratively it is used for the meal itself. 
 ‘‘Sufrah hazir '’ means that dinner is upon the table. 
 
 2 The Salam at this hour of the morning is confined to the devo- 
 tions of Ramazan. The curious reader may consult Lane’s Modern 
 Egyptians, chap. 25, for a long and accurate interpretation of these 
 words. 
 
 3 The summons to prayer. 
 
 4 In the Mohammedan church every act of devotion must be 
 preceded by what is called its Niyat, or purpose. This intention 
 must be either mentally conceived, or, as the more general rule is, 
 audibly expressed. For instance, the worshipper will begin with 
 ‘IT purpose to pray the four-bows of mid-day prayer to Allah the 
 Almighty,” and then he will proceed to the act of worship. Moslems 
 of the Shafe’i faith must perform the Niyat of fasting every night 
 
V.—The Ramazan. 77 
 
 prayers, and prepare for repose.! At 7 a.m. the labours 
 of the day begin for the working classes of society; 
 the rich spend the night in revelling, and rest in down 
 from dawn till noon. 
 
 The first thing on rising is to perform the Wuzu, of 
 lesser ablution, which invariably follows sleep in a re- 
 clining: position ; without this it would be improper to 
 pray, to enter the Mosques, to approach a religious man, 
 or to touch the Koran. A few pauper patients usually 
 visit me at this hour, report the phenomena of their com- 
 plaints,—which they do, by the bye, with unpleasant 
 minuteness of detail,—and receive fresh instructions. At 
 9g A.M. Shaykh Mohammed enters, with “ lecture”’ written 
 upon his wrinkled brow; or I pick him up on the way, 
 and proceed straight to the Mosque Al-Azhar. After 
 three hours’ hard reading, with little interruption from 
 bystanders—this is long vacation, most of the students 
 being at home—comes the call to mid-day prayer. The 
 founder of Al-Islam ordained but few devotions for the 
 morning, which is the business part of the Eastern day ; 
 but during the afternoon and evening they succeed one 
 another rapidly, and their length increases. It is then 
 time to visit my rich patients, and afterwards, by way of 
 accustoming myself to the sun, to wander among the 
 bookshops for an hour or two, or simply to idle in the 
 street. At 3 p.m. I return home, recite the afternoon 
 prayers, and re-apply myself to study. 
 
 This is the worst part of the day. In Egypt the 
 summer nights and mornings are, generally speaking, 
 for the ensuing day; the MAlikis, on the other hand, “ purpose”’ 
 abstinence but once for the thirty days of Ramazan. Lane telis a 
 pleasant tale of a thief in the Mosque saying, ‘‘I purpose (before 
 prayer) to carry off this nice pair of new shoes !”’ 
 
 1 Many go to sleep immediately after the Imsak, or about a 
 quarter of an hour.before the dawn prayer, and do not perform their 
 morning devotions till they awake, But this is not, strictly speaking, 
 correct. 
 
98 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 pleasant, but the forenoons are sultry, and the afternoons 
 areserious. A wind wafting the fine dust and furnace-heat 
 of the desert blows over the city; the ground returns with © 
 interest the showers of caloric from above, and not a 
 cloud or a vapour breaks the dreary expanse of splendour 
 on high. There being no such comforts as Indian tatties, 
 and few but the wealthiest houses boasting glass windows, 
 the interior of your room is somewhat more fiery than the 
 street. Weakened with fasting, the body feels the heat 
 trebly, and the disordered stomach almost affects the 
 brain. Every minute is counted with morbid fixity of 
 idea as it passes on towards the blessed sunset, especially 
 by those whose terrible lot is manual labour at such a 
 season. A few try to forget their afternoon miseries in 
 slumber, but most people take the Kaylilah, or Siesta, 
 shortly after the meridian, holding it unwholesome to 
 sleep late in the day. 
 
 As the Maghrib, the sunset hour, approaches—and 
 how slowly it comes !—the town seems to recover from a 
 trance. People flock to the windows and balconies, in 
 order to watch the moment of their release. Some pray, 
 others tell their beads; while others, gathering together 
 in groups or paying visits, exert themselves to while away 
 the lagging time. 
 
 O Gladness! at length it sounds, that gun from the 
 citadel. Simultaneously rises the sweet cry of the 
 Mu’ezzin, calling men to prayer, and the second cannon 
 booms from the Abbasiyah Palace,1—‘ Al Fitar! Al 
 
 1 When the late Pasha of Egypt (H.H. Abbds Hilmi) came to 
 power, he built a large pile of palaceclose outside the walls of Cairo, on 
 the direction of Suez, and induced his courtiers to follow his example. 
 This was done readily enough, for Asiatics, like Europeans, enjoy the 
 fine air of the desert after the rank atmosphere of towns and cities. 
 if the successor of His Highness does not follow the usual Oriental 
 method of wiping away all vestiges of the predecessor, except his 
 grave, there will be, at no distant period, a second Cairo on the site 
 of the Abbasiyah. 
 
| “79 
 Fitar |!” fast-breaking! fast-breaking! shout the people, 
 and a hum of joy rises from the silent city. Your acute 
 ears waste not a moment in conveying the delightful 
 intelligence to your parched tongue, empty stomach, and 
 languid limbs. You exhaust a pot full of water, no 
 matter its size. You clap hurried hands! for a pipe; you 
 order coffee; and provided with these comforts, you sit 
 down, and calmly contemplate the coming pleasures of 
 the evening. 
 
 Poor men eat heartily at once. The rich break their 
 fast with a light meal,—a little bread and fruit, fresh or 
 dry, especially water-melon, sweetmeats, or such digestible 
 dishes as ** Muhallabah,”—a thin jelly of milk, starch, 
 and rice-flour. They then smoke a pipe, drink a cup of 
 coffee or a glass of sherbet, and recite the evening prayers ; 
 for the devotions of this hour are delicate things, and 
 while smoking a first pipe after sixteen hours’ abstinence, 
 time easily slips away. Then they sit down to the 
 Fatar (breakfast), the meal of the twenty-four hours, and 
 eat plentifully, if they would avoid illness. 
 
 There are many ways of spending a Ramazan even- 
 ing. The Egyptians have a Reece? like ours of the 
 Salernitan school : 
 
 V. 
 
 rt One of our wants is a history of the bell and its succedanai. 
 Strict Moslems have an aversion to all modifications of this instru- 
 ment, striking clocks, gongs, &c., because they were considered by 
 the Prophet peculiar to the devotions of Christians. He, therefore, 
 instituted the Azan, or call to prayer, and his followers still clap their 
 hands when we should ring for a servant. The symbolical meaning 
 of the bell, as shown in the sistrum of Isis, seems to be the move- 
 ment and mixture of the elements, which is denoted by clattering 
 noise. ‘‘ Hence,’’ observes a learned antiquary, ‘‘the ringing of 
 bells and clattering of plates of metal were used in all lustrations, 
 sacrifices, &c."’ We find them amongst the Jews, worn by the high 
 priest; the Greeks attached them to images of Priapus, and the 
 Buddhists of Thibet still use them in their worship, as do the 
 Catholics of Rome when elevating the Host, 
 
80 — Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 ** After Al-Ghada rest, if it be but for two moments: 
 After Al-Asha1 walk, if it be but two steps.” 
 
 The streets are now crowded with a good-humoured 
 throng of strollers; the many bent on pleasure, the few 
 wending their way to Mosque, where the Imam recites 
 ‘‘Tarawih” prayers.2. They saunter about, the accus- 
 tomed pipe in hand, shopping, for the stalls are open till 
 a late hour; or they sit in crowds at the coffee-house 
 entrance, smoking Shishas,® (water-pipes), chatting, and 
 
 listening to story-tellers, singers and itinerant preachers. 
 ’ Here a bare-footed girl trills and quavers, accompanied by 
 a noisy tambourine and a “‘ scrannel pipe”’ of abominable 
 discordance, in honour of a perverse saint whose corpse 
 insisted upon being buried inside some respectable man’s 
 dwelling-house.* The scene reminds you strongly of the 
 Sonneurs of Brittany and the Zampognari from the Abruz- 
 zian Highlands bagpiping before the Madonna. ‘There 
 a tall, gaunt Maghrabi displays upon a square yard of 
 
 1 Al-Ghada is the early dinner: Al-Asha, the supper, eaten 
 shortly after sunset. (See Lane’s Modern Egyptians, Chap. 5.) 
 
 2 Extra prayers repeated in the month of Ramazan, (Lane, 
 Chap. 25, ‘‘ Tarawih.”) They take about an hour, consisting of 23 
 prostrations, with the Salam (or blessing on the Prophet) after every 
 second prostration. 
 
 3 The Shisha, or Egyptian and Syrian water-pipe, is too well 
 known to require any description. It is filled with a kind of tobacco 
 called Tumbak, for which see Chap. 4 of this Volume. 
 
 4 Strangers often wonder to see a kind of cemetery let into a 
 dwelling-house in a crowded street. The reason is, that some obsti- 
 nate saint has insisted upon being buried there, by the simple process 
 of weighing so heavily in his bier, that the bearers have been obliged 
 to place him on the pavement. Of course, no good Moslem would 
 object to have his ground floor occupied by the corpse of a holy man. 
 The reader will not forget, that in Europe statues have the whims 
 which dead bodies exhibit in Egypt. So, according to the Abbé 
 Marche, the little statue of Our Lady, lately found in the forest of 
 Pennacom, ‘became, notwithstanding her small size, heavy as a 
 mountain, and would not consent to be removed Ry any one but the 
 chaplain of the chateau.” . 
 
V.—The Ramazan. 81 
 
 ditty paper certain lines and blots, supposed to represent 
 the venerable Ka’abah, and collects coppers to defray the 
 expenses of his pilgrimage. A steady stream of loungers 
 sets through the principal thoroughfares towards the 
 Azbakiyah Gardens, which skirt the Frank quarter ; there 
 they sit in the moonlight, listening to Greek and Turkish 
 bands, or making merry with cakes, toasted grains, 
 coffee, sugared-drinks, and the broad pleasantries of Kara 
 Gytz' (the local Punch and Judy). Here the scene is less 
 thoroughly Oriental than within the city; but the appear- 
 ance of Frank dress amongst the varieties of Eastern cos- 
 tume, the moon-lit sky, and the light mist hanging over 
 the deep shade of the Acacia trees—whose rich scented 
 yellow-white blossoms are popularly compared to the old 
 Pasha’s beard?—make it passing picturesque. And the 
 traveller from the far East remarks with wonder the 
 presence of certain ladies, whose only mark of modesty is 
 the Burka or face-veil: upon this laxity the police looks 
 with lenient eyes, inasmuch as, until very lately, it paid 
 a respectable tax to the state.’ 
 
 Returning to the Moslem quarter, you are bewildered 
 
 1 Europeans compare ‘‘ Kara Gyuz’’ to our Chinese shadows. 
 Fle is the Turkish ‘‘ Punch,” and his pleasantries may remind the 
 ‘traveller of what he has read concerning the Mimesand Fescennine 
 performances of the Romans. On more than one occasion, Kara 
 Gyuz has been reported to the police for scandalously jibing and 
 deriding consuls, Frank merchants, and even Turkish dignitaries. 
 
 2 Mohammed Ali drained and planted the Azbakiyah, which, 
 before his day, was covered with water and mud long after the inun- 
 dation hadceased. The Egyptians extract a perfume, an aphrodisiac, 
 which they call ‘‘ Fitnah,”’ from this kind of Acacia. 
 
 3 All ‘‘ Agapemones”’ are at this time suppressed, by order of His 
 Highness (Abbas Pasha), whese august mother occasionally insisted 
 upon banishing whole colleges of Ambubaiz to Upper Egypt. As 
 might be expected, this proceeding had a most injurivas effect upon 
 the morals of society. I wasonce at Cairo during the ruler’s absence 
 on a tour up tothe Nile; his departure was the signai for the general 
 celebration of Cotyttia, 
 
82 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 by its variety of sounds. Everyone talks, and talking 
 here is always in extremes, either in a whisper, or in a 
 scream; gesticulation excites the lungs, and strangers 
 cannot persuade themselves that men so converse without 
 being or becoming furious. All the street cries, too, are 
 in the soprano key. ‘In thy protection! in thy protec- 
 tion!” shouts a Fellah peasant to a sentinel, whois flogging 
 him towards the station-house, followed by a tail of 
 women, screaming, ‘‘ Ya Gharati—ya Dahwati—ya Has- 
 rati—ya Nidamati—O my calamity! O my shame!” 
 The boys have elected a Pasha, whom they are conduct- 
 ing in procession, with wisps of straw for Mash’als, or 
 cressets, and outrunners, all huzzaing with ten-schoolboy 
 power. ‘‘O thy right! O thy left! O thy face! O thy 
 heel! O thy back, thy back!” cries the panting footman, 
 who, huge torch on shoulder, runs before the grandee’s 
 carriage ; ‘‘ Bless the Prophet and get out of the way!” 
 ‘OQ Allah bless him!” respond the good Moslems, some 
 shrinking up to the walls to avoid the stick, others rush- 
 ing across the road, so as to give themselves every chance 
 of being knocked down. ‘The donkey boy beats his ass 
 with a heavy palm-cudgel,—he fears no treadmill here,— 
 cursing him at the top of his voice for a ‘‘ pander,” a 
 ‘‘ Jew,” a “Christian,” and a ‘‘son of the One-eyed, 
 whose portion is Eternal Punishment.” ‘‘ O chick pease ! 
 O pips !”’ sings the vendor of parched grains, rattling the 
 unsavoury load in his basket. ‘Out of the way, and 
 say, ‘There is one God,’”’ pants the industrious water- 
 carrier, laden with a skin, fit burden for a buffalo. 
 ‘* Sweet-water, and gladden thy soul, O lemonade!” pipes 
 the seller of that luxury, clanging his brass cups together. 
 Then come the beggars, intensely Oriental. ‘ My supper 
 is in Allah’s hands, my supper is in Allah’s hands! what- 
 ever thou givest, that will go with thee!” chaunts the 
 old vagrant, whose wallet perhaps contains more provi- 
 sion than the basket of many a regpectable shopkeeper. 
 
V.—The Ramazan. | 83 
 
 * Na’al abtik’— curse thy father—O brother of a naughty 
 sister!” is the response of some petulant Greek to the 
 touch of the old man’s staff. ‘‘ The grave is darkness, 
 and good deeds are its lamp!” sing the blind women, 
 rapping two sticks together: “upon Allah! upon Allah! 
 -O daughter!” cry the bystanders, when the obstinate 
 ‘“‘ bint’? (daughter) of sixty years seizes their hands, and 
 will not let go without extorting a farthing. ‘* Bring the 
 sweet” (7.¢. fire), ‘and take the full,’® (¢.e.. empty cup), 
 euphuistically cry the long-moustached, fierce-browed 
 Arnauts to the coffee-house keeper, who stands by them 
 charmed by the rhyming repartee that flows so readily 
 from their lips. 
 
 ‘*‘ Hanzen,”’ may it be pleasant to thee !* is the signal 
 for encounter. | 
 
 I For La’an abik, curse thy father. Soin Europe pious men have 
 sworn per diem, instead of pey Deum, and ‘‘ drat’ acts for something 
 stronger. 
 
 2 A daughter, a girl. In Egypt, every woman expects to be 
 addressed as ‘‘O lady!” ‘“‘O female-pilgrim !’’ ‘‘O bride!’’ or, ‘‘O 
 - daughter !’’ even though she be on the wrong side of fifty. In Syria 
 and in Arabia, you may say ‘“y’al mara!’’ (O woman); but if you 
 attempt it near the Nile, the answer of the offended fair one will be 
 “may Allah cut out thy heart!’ or, ‘the woman, please Allah, in 
 thine eye!’ And if you want a violent quarrel, ‘‘ y’al agiz!’’ (O old 
 woman!) pronounced drawlingly,—y’al ago-o-00z,—is sure to satisfy 
 -you. On the plains of Sorrento, in my day, it was always customary, 
 when speaking to a peasant girl, to call her ‘‘bella fé,” (beautiful 
 woman), whilst the worst of insults was ‘ vecchiarella.’’ So the 
 Spanish Calesero, under the most trying circumstances, calls his 
 mule ‘‘ Vieja, rivieja,” (old, veryold). Age, it appears, is as unpopular 
 in Southern Europe as in Egypt. 
 
 3 ‘‘Fire’’ is called the ‘‘sweet’’ by euphuism, as to name it 
 directly would be ill-omened. Soin the Moslem law, flame and water 
 being the instruments of Allah’s wrath, are forbidden to be used by 
 temporal rulers. The ‘‘full’’ means an empty coffee cup, as we say 
 in India Mez barhao (‘‘ increase the table,’’) when ordering a servant 
 to remove the dishes. 
 
 4 Or “‘ pleasurably and health” : Hanien is a word taken from the 
 
84 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 ‘‘ Thou drinkest for ten,” replies the other, instead of 
 returning the usual religious salutation. 
 
 ‘‘T am the cock and thou art the hen!” is the re- 
 joinder,—a tart one. 
 
 ‘‘ Nay, I am the thick one and thou art the thin!” 
 resumes the first speaker, and so on till they come to 
 equivoques which will not bear a literal English trans- 
 lation. 
 
 And sometimes, high above the hubbub, rises the melo- 
 dious voice of the blind mu’ezzin, who, from his balcony 
 in the beetling tower rings forth, “¢‘ Hie ye to devotion! 
 Hie ye to salvation.” And (at morning-prayer time) he 
 adds: ‘Devotion is better than sleep! Devotion is 
 better than sleep!” Then good Moslems piously stand 
 up, and mutter, previous to prayer, ‘“*‘ Here am I at Thy 
 call, O Allah! here am I at Thy call!” 
 
 Sometimes I walked with my friend to the citadel, 
 and sat upon a high wall, one of the outworks of 
 Mohammed Ali’s Mosque, enjoying a view which, seen 
 by night, when the summer moon is near the full, has a 
 charm no power of language can embody. Or escaping 
 from ‘‘ stifled Cairo’s filth,”’ we passed, through the Gate 
 of Victory, into the wilderness beyond the City of the 
 Dead.? Seated upon some mound of ruins, we inhaled 
 
 Koran. The proper answer to this is ‘‘ May Allah cause thee to have: 
 pleasure !”” Hanna-kumi'llah, not ‘ Allah yahannik!’’ which I have 
 heard abominably perverted by Arnaut and other ruffians. 
 
 1 This in these days must be said comparatively: Ibrahim 
 Pasha’s order, that every housekeeper should keep the space before 
 his house properly swept and cleaned, has made Cairo the least filthy 
 city in the East. 
 
 2 Here lies the Swiss Burckhardt, who enjoyed a wonderful 
 immunity from censure, until a certain pseudo-orientalist of the pres- 
 ent day seized the opportunity of using the ‘unscrupulous tra- 
 veller’s’’ information, and of abusing his memory. Some years ago, 
 the sum of £20 (I am informed) was collected, in order-to raise a 
 fitting monument over the discoverer of Petra'’s humble graye 
 
V.—The Ramazan. 85 
 
 the fine air of the Desert, inspiriting as a cordial, when 
 star-light and dew-mists diversified a scene, which, by 
 day, is one broad sea of yellow loam with billows of 
 chalk rock, thinly covered by a film-like spray of sand 
 surging and floating in the fiery wind. There, within a 
 mile of crowded life, all is desolate; the town walls seem 
 crumbling to decay, the hovels are tenantless, and the 
 paths untrodden; behind you lies the Wild, before you, the 
 thousand tomb-stones, ghastly in their whiteness; while 
 beyond them the tall dark forms of the Mamluk Soldans’ 
 towers rise from the low and hollow ground like the spirits 
 of kings guarding ghostly subjects in the Shadowy Realm. 
 Nor less weird than the scene are the sounds !—the 
 hyzena’s laugh, the howl of the wild dog, and the screech 
 of the low-flying owl. Or we spent the evening at some 
 Takiyah' (Darwayshes’ Oratory), generally preferring that 
 called the ‘‘ Gulshani,” near the Muayyid Mosque outside 
 
 the Mutawalli’s saintly door. There is nothing attractive 
 ints appearance. You mount a flight of ragged steps, 
 and enter a low verandah enclosing an open stuccoed 
 terrace, where stands the holy man’s domed tomb: the 
 two stories contain small dark rooms in which the Dar- 
 wayshes dwell, and the ground-floor doors open into the 
 
 Some objection, however, was started, because Moslems are supposed 
 to claim Burckhardt as one of their own saints. Only hear the 
 Egyptian account of his death! After returning from Al-Hijaz, he 
 taught Tajwid (Koran chaunting) in the Azhar Mosque, where the 
 learned, suspecting him to be at heart an infidel, examined his 
 person, and found the formula of the Mohammedan faith written 
 in token of abhorrence upon the soles of his feet. Thereupon, the 
 principal of the Mosque, in a transport of holy indignation, did 
 decapitate him with one blow of the sword. It only remains to be 
 observed, that nothing can be more ridiculous than the popular 
 belief, except it be our hesitating to offend the prejudices of such 
 believers. 
 
 1 A Takiyah is a place where Darwayshes have rooms, and per- 
 form their devotions, 
 
86 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 verandah. During the fast-month, Zikrs! are rarely per- 
 
 formed in the Takiyahs: the inmates pray there in con- 
 
 gregations, or they sit conversing upon benches in the 
 shade. And a curious medley of men they are, composed 
 of the choicest vagabonds from every nation of Al-Islam. 
 Beyond this I must not describe the Takiyah or the 
 doings there, for the ‘‘ path” of the Darwaysh may not 
 be trodden by feet profane. 
 
 Curious to see something of my old friends the Per- 
 sians, I called with Haji Wali upon one Mirza Husayn, 
 who by virtue of his dignity as ‘‘ Shahbandar?” (he calls 
 himself ‘‘ Consul-General”’), ranks with the dozen little 
 quasi-diplomatic kings of Cairo. He suspends over his 
 lofty gate a sign-board in which the Lion and the Sun 
 (Iran’s proud ensign) are by some Egyptian limner’s art 
 metamorphosed into a preternatural tabby cat grasping 
 a scimitar, with the jolly fat face of a ‘“‘ gay” young lady, 
 curls and all complete, resting fondly upon her pet’s con- 
 
 a 
 
 cave back. This high dignitary’s reception room was a _ 
 
 court-yard sub dio: fronting the door were benches and 
 cushions composing the Sadr or high place, with the 
 parallel rows of Diwans spread down the less dignified 
 sides, and a line of naked boards, the lowest seats, ranged 
 along the door-wall. In the middle stood three little 
 tables supporting three huge lanterns—as is their size so 
 is the owner’s dignity—each of which contained three of 
 the largest spermaceti candles. 
 
 The Haji and I entering took our seats upon the 
 side benches with humility, and exchanged salutations 
 with the great man on the Sadr. When the Darbar or 
 levee was full, in stalked the Mirza, and all arose as he 
 calmly divested himself of his shoes; and with all due 
 
 1 Certain forms of worship peculiar to Darwayshes. For a 
 
 description see Lane (Modern Egyptians, ch. 24). 
 2 Shahbandar, Harbour-King, is here equivalent to our ‘‘ Consul.” 
 
V.—The Ramazan. 87 
 
 solemnity ascended his proper cushion. Heis a short, thin 
 man about thirty-five, with regular features and the usual 
 preposterous lamb-skin cap and beard, two peaked black 
 cones at least four feet in length, measured from the tips, 
 resting on a slender basement of pale yellow face. After 
 a quarter of an hour of ceremonies, polite mutterings and 
 low bendings with the right hand on the left breast, the 
 Mirza’s pipe was handed to him first, in token of his 
 dignity—at Teheran he was probably an under-clerk in 
 some government office. In due time we were all served 
 with Kaliains? (Persian hookahs) and coffee by the ser- 
 vants, who made royal congés whenever they passed the 
 great man; and more than once the janissary, in dignity 
 of belt and crooked sabre, entered the court to quicken 
 our awe. 
 
 The conversation was the usual Oriental thing. It 
 is, for instance, understood that you have seen strange 
 things in strange lands. 
 
 “« Voyaging—is—victory,’’ quotes the Mirza; the 
 quotation is a hackneyed one, but it steps forth majestic 
 as to pause and emphasis. 
 
 “Verily,” you reply with equal ponderousness of 
 pronunciation and novelty of citation, ‘“‘in leaving home 
 one learns life, yet a journey is a bit of Jahannam.” 
 
 Or if you are a physician the ‘lew commun” will be, 
 
  Little-learn'’d doctors the body destroy : 
 Little-learn’d parsons the soul destroy.”’ 
 
 To which you will make answer, if you would pass 
 
 for a man of belles lettves, by the well-known lines, 
 
 “ Of a truth, the physician hath power with drugs, 
 Which, long as the patient hath life, may relieve him ; 
 But the tale of our days being duly told, 
 
 The doctor is daft, and his drugs deceive him.”’ 
 
 After sitting there with dignity, like the rest of the 
 guests, I took my leave, delighted with the truly Persian 
 
 1 Written “ Ghalayé an." 
 
88 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 ‘¢apparatus” of the scene. The Mirza, having no salary, 
 lives by fees extorted from his subjects, who pay rather 
 than lack protection; and his dragoman for a counter-fee 
 will sell their interests shamelessly. He is a hidalgo of 
 blue blood in pride, pompousness and poverty. ‘There is 
 not a sheet of writing-paper in the ‘‘ Consulate ’—when 
 they want one a farthing is sent to the grocer’s—yet the 
 Consul drives out in an old carriage with four outriders, 
 two tall-capped men preceding and two following the 
 crazy vehicle. And the Egyptians laugh heartily at this 
 display, being accustomed by Mohammed Ali to consider 
 all such parade obsolete. 
 
 About half-an-hour before midnight sounds the Abrar’ 
 or call to prayer, at which time the latest wanderers 
 return home to prepare for the Sahur, their dawn meal. 
 You are careful on the way to address each sentinel with 
 a ‘* Peace be upon thee!” especially if you have no 
 lantern, otherwise you may chance to sleep in the guard- 
 house. And, chemin faisant, you cannot but stop to gaze 
 at streets as little like what civilised Europe understands 
 by that name as is an Egyptian temple to the new Houses 
 of Parliament. 
 
 There are certain scenes, cannily termed ‘ Ken- 
 speckle,” which print themselves upon Memory, and 
 which endure as long as Memory lasts,—a thunder-cloud 
 bursting upon the Alps, a night of stormy darkness off 
 the Cape, an African tornado, and, perhaps, most awful 
 of all, a solitary journey over the sandy Desert. 
 
 Of this class is a stroll through the thoroughfares 
 of old Cairo by night. Allis squalor in the brilliancy of 
 noon-day. In darkness you see nothing but a silhouette. 
 When, however, the moon is high in the heavens, and 
 the summer stars rain light upon God’s world, there is 
 ES not of earth in the view. A eluapee at the 
 
 mem en rr 
 
 ~ 
 
 z See Lane eri allots Reypthla, an 24). 
 
V.—The Ramazan. 89 
 
 strip of pale blue sky above scarcely reveals three ells 
 of breadth: in many places the interval is less: here 
 the copings meet, and there the outriggings of the houses 
 seem to interlace. Now they are parted by a pencil of 
 - snowy sheen, then by a flood of silvery splendour; while 
 under the projecting cornices and the huge hanging 
 balcony-windows of fantastic wood-work, supported by 
 gigantic brackets and corbels, and under deep verandahs, 
 and gateways, vast enough for Behemoth to pass through, 
 and in blind wynds and long cul-de-sacs, lie patches of thick 
 darkness, made visible by the dimmest of oil lamps. The 
 arch is a favourite feature: in one place you see it a 
 mere skeleton-rib opening into some huge deserted hall ; 
 in another the ogre is full of fretted stone and wood 
 carved like lace-work. Not a line is straight, the tall 
 dead walls of the Mosques slope over their massy but- 
 tresses, and the thin minarets seem about to fal] across 
 your path. The cornices project crookedly from the 
 houses, while the great gables stand merely by force of 
 cohesion. And that the Line of Beauty may not be 
 wanting, the graceful bending form of the palm, on 
 whose topmost feathers, quivering in the cool night 
 breeze, the moonbeam glistens, springs from a gloomy 
 mound, or from the darkness of a mass of houses almost 
 level with the ground. Briefly, the whole view is so 
 strange, so fantastic, so ghostly, that it seems prepos- 
 _terous to imagine that in such places human beings like 
 ourselves can be born, and live through life, and carry out 
 the command ‘ increase and multiply,” and die. 
 
CHAPTER Vin 
 THE MOSQUE. 
 
 WHEN the Byzantine Christians, after overthrowing ,. 
 the temples of Paganism, meditated re-building and re- 
 modelling them, poverty of invention and artistic impotence 
 reduced them to group the spoils in a heterogeneous 
 mass.1 The sea-ports of Egypt and the plains and moun- 
 tains of Syria abounding in pillars of granite, syenite and 
 precious marbles, in Pharaonic, Grecian, and Roman 
 statuary, and in all manner of structural ornaments, the 
 architects were at no loss for material. Their Syncretism, 
 the result of chance and precipitancy, of extravagance 
 and incuriousness, fell under eyes too ignorant to be 
 hurt by the hybrid irregularity : it was perpetuated in the 
 so-called Saracenic style, a plagiarism from the Byzantine,? 
 and it was reiterated in the Gothic, an offshoot from the . 
 Saracenic.®? This fact’ accounts in the Gothic style for 
 its manifold incongruities of architecture, and for the 
 phenomenon,—not solely attributable to the buildings 
 
 1 In the capitals of the columns, for instance. 
 
 2 This direct derivation is readily detected in the Mosques at Old 
 Cairo. 
 
 3 The roof supported by arches resting on pillars, was unknown 
 to classic antiquity, and in the earliest ages of Al-Islam, the cloisters 
 were neither arched nor domed. A modern writer justly observes, 
 ‘A compound of arcade and colonnade was suggested to the archi- 
 tects of the Middle Ages by the command that ancient buildings gave 
 them of marble columns.”’ | 
 
VI.—The Mosque. gl 
 
 having been erected piecemeal,—of its most classic period 
 being that of its greatest irregularity. 
 
 Such ‘ architectural lawlessness,” such disregard for 
 - symmetry,—the result, I believe, of an imperfect ‘‘amal- 
 _ gamation and enrichment,’”—may doubtless be defended. 
 upon the grounds both of cause and of effect. Archi- 
 tecture is of the imitative arts, and Nature, the Myrio- 
 morphous, everywhere delighting in variety, appears to 
 abhor nothing so much as perfect similarity and pre- 
 cise uniformity. To copy her exactly we must therefore 
 seek that general analogy compatible with individual 
 variety; in fact, we should avoid the over-display of 
 order and regularity. And again, it may beasserted that, 
 however incongruous these disorderly forms may appear 
 to the conventional eye, we find it easy to surmount our 
 first antipathy. Perhaps we end in admiring them the 
 more, as we love those faces in which irregularity of 
 feature is compensated for by diversity and piquancy 
 of expression. 
 
 There is nothing, I believe, new in the Arab Mosque; 
 it is an unconscious revival of the forms used from the 
 eatliest ages to denote by symbolism the worship of the 
 generative and the creative gods. The reader will excuse 
 me if I only glance at a subject of which the investigation 
 would require a volume, and which, discussed at greater 
 length, would be out of place in such a narrative as this. 
 
 The first Mosque in Al-Islam was erected by 
 Mohammed at Kuba, near Al-Madinah: shortly after- 
 wards, when he entered Meccah as a conqueror, he 
 destroyed the three hundred and sixty idols of the Arab 
 Pantheon, and thus purified that venerable building from 
 its abominations. He had probably observed in Syrian 
 Bostra the two forms appropriated by the Christians to 
 their places of worship, the cross and the parallelogramic 
 Basilica; he therefore preferred for the prayers of the 
 “Saving Faith” a square,—some authors say, with, others 
 
92 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 without, a cloister. At length in the reign of Al-Walfd 
 (A.H. 90) the cupola, the niche, and the minaret made 
 their appearance; and what is called the Saracenic style 
 became for ever the order of the Moslem world. : 
 
 The Hindus I believe to have been the first who 
 symbolised by an equilateral triangle their peculiar cult, 
 the Yoni-Linga: in their temple architecture, it became 
 either a conoid or a perfect pyramid. Egypt denoted it 
 by the obelisk, peculiar to that country; and the form 
 appeared in different parts of the world: thus in Eng- 
 land it was a mere upright stone, and in Ireland a round 
 tower. This we might expect to see. D’Hancarville 
 and Brotier have successfully traced the worship itself, in 
 its different modifications, to all people: the symbol would 
 therefore be found everywhere. The old Arab minaret 
 is a plain cylindrical or polygonal tower, without balcony 
 or stages, widely different from the Turkish, modern 
 Egyptian, and Hijazi combinations of tube and prism, 
 happily compared by a French traveller to ‘‘ une chandelle 
 coiffée Wun étergnoiy.” And finally the ancient minaret, 
 made solid as all Gothic architecture is, and provided 
 with a belfry, became the spire and steeple of our ances- 
 tors. 
 
 From time immemorial, in hot and rainy lands, a 
 hypzthral court, either round or square, surrounded by a 
 covered portico, was used for the double purpose of church 
 and mart,—a place where God and Mammon were wor- 
 shipped turn by turn. In some places we find rings of 
 stones, like the Persian Pyrcetheia; in others, circular 
 concave buildings representing the vault of heaven, where 
 Fire, the divine symbol, was worshipped; and in Arabia, 
 columinar aisles, which, surmounted by the splendid blue 
 vault, resemble the palm-grove. The Greeks adopted 
 this idea in the fanes of Creator Bacchus; and at Pozzuoli, 
 near Naples, it may be seen in the building: vulgarly 
 called the Temple of Serapis. . It was equally well known 
 
Vi.—The Mosque. 93 
 
 to the Kelts: in some places the Temenos was a circle, 
 in others a quadrangle. And such to the present day is 
 the Mosque of Al-Islam. 
 
 Even the Riwak or porches surrounding the area in 
 the Mosque are revivals of older forms. ‘ The range of 
 square buildings which enclose the temple of Serapis are 
 not, properly speaking, parts of the fane, but apartments 
 of the priests, places for victims, and sacred utensils, and 
 chapels dedicated to subordinate deities, introduced by a 
 more complicated and corrupt worship, and probably un- 
 known to the founders of the original edifice.’ The 
 cloisters in the Mosque became cells, used as lecture 
 rooms, and stores for books bequeathed to the college. 
 They are unequal, because some are required to be of 
 larger, others to be of smaller, dimensions. The same 
 reason causes difference of size when the building is 
 distributed into four hyposteles opening upon the area: 
 the porch in the direction of the Ka’abah, where wor- 
 shippers mostly congregate, demands greater depth 
 than the other three. The wings were not unfrequently 
 made unequal, either from want of building materials, or 
 because the same extent of accommodation was not re- 
 quired in both. Thecolumns were of different substances ; 
 some of handsome marble, others of rough stone meanly 
 plastered over, with dissimilar capitals, vulgarly cut 
 shafts of various sizes; here with a pediment, there with- 
 out, now turned upside down, then joined together by 
 halves in the centre, and almost invariably nescient of 
 intercolumnar rule. ‘This is the result of Byzantine syn- 
 cretism, carelessly and ignorantly grafted upon Arab 
 ideas of the natural and the sublime. Loving and ad- 
 miring the great, or rather the big in plan,’ they care 
 
 1 ‘* The Oriental mind,” says a clever writer on Indian subjects, 
 ‘thas achieved everything save real greatness of aim and execution.” 
 That the Arab mind always aimed, and still aims, at the physically 
 great is sufficiently evident. Nothing affords the. Meccans greater 
 
g4 Pilgrimage to “Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 little for the execution of mere details, and they have not 
 the acumen to discern the effect which clumsy workman- 
 ship, crooked lines, and visible joints,—parts apparently 
 insignificant,—exercise upon the whole of an edifice. 
 Their use of colours was a false taste, commonly 
 displayed by mankind in their religious houses, and 
 statues of the gods. The Hindus paint their pagodas, 
 inside and outside; and rub vermilion, in token of honour, 
 over their deities. The Persian Colossi of Kaiomars and 
 his consort on the Balkh road and the Sphinx of Egypt, 
 as well as the temples of the Nile, still show traces of 
 artificial complexion. The fanes in classic Greece have 
 been dyed. In the Forum Romanum, one of the finest 
 buildings, still bears stains of the Tyrian purple. And 
 to mention no other instances, in the churches and 
 belfries of Modern Italy, we see alternate bands of 
 white and black material so disposed as to give them 
 the appearance of giant zebras. The origin of ‘ Arab- 
 esque’? ornament must be referred to one of the 
 principles of Al-Islam. The Moslem, forbidden by his 
 law to decorate his Mosque with statuary and pictures,’ 
 supplied their place with quotations from the Koran, and 
 inscriptions, ‘‘ plastic metaphysics,” of marvellous per- 
 
 pride than the vast size of their temple. Nothing is more humiliating 
 to the people of Al-Madinah than the comparative smallness of their 
 Mosque. Still, with a few exceptions, Arab greatness is the vulgar 
 great, not the grand. 
 
 1 That is to say, imitations of the human form. All the doctors 
 of Al-Islam, however, differ on this head: some absolutely forbidding 
 any delineation of what has life, under pain of being cast into hell; 
 others permitting pictures even of the bodies, though not of the 
 faces, of men. -The Arabs are the strictest of Misiconists; yet even 
 they allow plans and pictures of the Holy Shrines. Other nations 
 are comparatively lax. The Alhambra abounds in paintings and fres- 
 coes. The Persians never object to depict in books and on walls the 
 battles of Rustam, and the Turks preserve in the Seraglio treasury 
 of Constantinople portraits, by Greeks and other artists, of their 
 Sultans in regular succession. . ; 
 
VI.—The Mosque. 95 
 
 plexity. His alphabet lent itself to the purpose, and 
 hence probably arose that almost inconceivable variety 
 of lace-like fretwork, of incrustations, of Arabesques, and ot 
 geometric flowers, in which his eye delights to iose itself. 
 
 The Meccan Mosque became a model to the world 
 of Al-Islam, and the nations that embraced the new faith 
 copied the consecrated building, as religiously as Christen- 
 dom produced imitations of the Holy Sepulchre.? The 
 Mosque of Omar at Jerusalem, of Amra at Babylon on 
 the Nile, and of Taylan at Cairo were erected, with some 
 trifling improvements, such as arched cloisters and in- 
 scribed cornices, upon the plan of the Ka’abah. From 
 Egypt and Palestine the.ichnography spread far and 
 wide. It was modified, as might be expected, by national 
 taste; what in Arabia was simple and elegant became 
 highly ornate in Spain,’ florid in Turkey, sturdy in Syria, 
 and effeminate in India. Still divergence of detail had 
 not, even after the lapse of twelve centuries, materially 
 altered the fundamental form. 
 
 1 This is at least a purer taste than that of our Gothic architects, 
 who ornamented their cathedrals with statuary so inappropriate as to 
 suggest to the antiquary remains of the worship of the Hellespontine 
 god. ; 
 2 At Bruges, Bologna, (St. Stefano), and Nurnberg, there are, if I 
 recollect right, imitations of the Holy Sepulchre, although. the 
 palmer’ might not detect the resemblance at first sight. That in 
 the Church of Jerusalem at Bruges was built by a merchant, who trav- 
 elled three times to Palestine in order to ensure correctness, and totally 
 failed. ‘‘ Arabart,”’ says a writer in the ‘‘ Athenzeum,”’ “ sprang from 
 the Koran, as the Gothic did from the Bible.’”’ He should have 
 _remembered, that Arab art, in its present shape, was borrowed by 
 Al-Walid from the Greeks, and, perhaps, in part from the Persians 
 and the Hindus, but that the model buildings existed at Meccah, and 
 in Al-Yaman, centuries before the people had ‘ luxurious shawls and 
 weavings of Cashmere” to suggest mural decoration. 
 
 3 See Théophile Gautier’s admirable description of the Mosque 
 at Cordova. 
 
96 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Perhaps no Eastern city affords more numerous or 
 more accessible specimens of Mosque architecture than 
 Cairo. Between 300 and 400 places of worship;! some 
 stately piles, others ruinous hovels, many new, more 
 decaying and earthquake-shaken, with minarets that rival 
 in obliquity the Pisan monster, are open to the traveller’s 
 inspection. And Europeans by following the advice of 
 their hotel-keeper have penetrated, and can penetrate, 
 into any one they please.’ If architecture be really what 
 I believe it to be, the highest expression of a people’s 
 artistic feeling,—highest because it includes all others,— 
 to compare the several styles of the different epochs, to 
 observe how each monarch building his own Mosque, and 
 calling it by his own name, identified the manner of the 
 monument with himself, and to trace the gradual decadence 
 of art through one thousand two hundred years, down 
 to the present day, must be a work of no ordinary inter- 
 est to Orientalists. The limits of my plan, however, 
 compel me to place only the heads of the argument before 
 the reader. May I be allowed to express a hope that 
 it will induce some learned traveller to investigate a 
 subject in every way worthy his attention ? 
 
 The desecrated Jami’ Taylin (ninth century) is simple 
 and massive, yet elegant, and in some of its details pecu- 
 liar.® One of the four colonnades‘ still remains un- 
 
 1 Joseph Pitts, of Exeter, declares that Cairo contained in his 
 day (A.D. 1678-93) 5 or 6000 Mosques, public and private; at the 
 same time he corrects Mr. Collins, who enumérated 6000 public, and 
 20,000 particular buildings, and M. de Thevenot, who (Part I. p. 129), 
 supplied the city with 23,000! 
 
 2 In Niebuhr’s time, a Christian passing one of the very holy 
 buildings on foot was liable to be seized and circumcised. All Mosques 
 may now be entered with certain precautions. When at Cairo, 
 I heard occasionally of a Frank being spat at and insulted, but the 
 instances were rare . 
 
 3 The “ Handbook” contains the story curtent among thé learned 
 concerning the remarkable shape of the minaret. 
 
 4 The columns support pointed arches, which, therefore, were 
 
VI.—The Mosque. 97 
 
 oceupied by paupers to show the original magnificence of 
 the building ; the other porches are walled up, and inha- 
 bited. In the centre of a quadrangle about 100 paces 
 square isa domed building springing from a square which 
 _eccupies the proper place of the Ka’abah. This ‘‘ Jami?” 
 Cathedral is interesting as a point of comparison. If it 
 be an exact copy of the Meccan temple as it stood in 
 A.D. 879, it shows that the latter has greatly altered in 
 this our modern day. 
 
 Next in date to the Taylun Mosque is that of the 
 Sultan al-Hakim, third Caliph of the Fatimites, and 
 founder of the Druze mysteries. The minarets are re-. 
 markable in shape, as well as size: they are unprovided 
 with the usual outer gallery, they are based upon a 
 cube of masonry, and they are pierced above with aper- 
 tures apparently meaningless. A learned Cairene in- 
 formed me that these spires were devised by the eccentric 
 monarch to disperse, like large censers, fragrant smoke 
 over the city during the hours of prayer. The Azhar and 
 Hasanayn? Mosques are simple and artless piles, cele- 
 brated for sanctity, but remarkable for nothing save 
 ugliness. Few buildings, however, are statelier in appear- 
 
 known at Cairo 200 years before they were introduced into England. 
 By the discoveries of M. Mariette, it is now ascertained that the 
 Egyptians were perfectly acquainted with the round arch and: key- 
 stone at a period antecedent to the architectural existence of Greece. 
 
 1 A ‘Jami’”’ is a place where people assemble to pray—a house 
 of public worship. A ‘‘ Masjid" is any place of prayer, private or 
 public. From ‘ Masjid ’’ we derive our ‘* Mosque”’: its changes on 
 the road to Europe are almost as remarkable as that described in the 
 ‘Satiric lines,— 
 
 “ Alfana vient d’equus, sans doute, 
 Mais il faut avouer aussi, 
 Qu en venant de la jusqu’ici 
 Tl a bien changé sur la route.” 
 
 2 So called, because supposed to contain relics of Hasan and 
 VOL. I. E 
 
° 
 
 98 Pilevimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 ance, or give a nobler idea of both founder and architect 
 than that which bears Sultan Hasan’s name. The 
 stranger stands awe-struck before walls high towering 
 without a single break, a hypzthral court severe in mas- 
 culine beauty, a gateway that. might suit the palace gf 
 the Titans, and a lofty minaret of massive grandeur. 
 This Mosque (finished about A.D. I 363), with its fortress _ 
 aspect, owns no more relationship to the efforts of a later 
 | 
 | 
 
 age than does Canterbury Cathedral to an Anglo-Indian 
 “Gothic.” For dignified beauty and refined taste, the 
 Mosque and tomb of Kaid Bey and the other Mamluk 
 kings are admirable. Even in their present state, pic- 
 turesqueness presides over decay, and the traveller has 
 seldom seen aught more striking than the rich light of | 
 the stained glass pouring through the first shades of | 
 evening upon the marble floor. | 
 The modern Mosques must be visited to see Egyptian | 
 architecture in its decline and fall. That of Sittna Zaynab | 
 (our Lady Zaynab), founded by Murad Bey, the Mamluk, | 
 and interrupted by the French invasion, shows, even in | 
 its completion, some lingering traces of taste. But. 
 nothing can be more offensive than the building which 
 every tourist flogs donkey in his hurry to see—old Mo-| 
 hammed Ali’s “ Folly ” in the citadel. Its Greek architect | 
 has toiled to caricature a Mosque to emulate the glories, 
 of our English ‘Oriental Pavilion.” Outside, as 
 Monckton Milnes sings, | 
 ‘The shining minarets, thin and high,” | 
 are so thin, so high above the lumpy domes, that they 
 
 ES ee 
 Husayn, the martyred grandsons of Mohammed. ‘The tradition is} 
 little credited, and the Persians ostentatiously avoid visiting the) 
 place. ‘‘ You are the first ‘Ajami that ever said the Fatihah at this), 
 holy spot,” quoth the Mujawir, or guardian of the tomb, after com- 
 
 pelling me, almost by force, to repeat the formula, which he recited} 
 
 with the prospect of a few piastres. | 
 
Vi.—The Mosque. 99 
 
 look like the spindles of crouching crones, and are placed 
 in full sight of Sultan Hasan the Giant, so as to derive 
 all the disadvantages of the contrast. Is the pointed 
 arch forgotten by man, that this hapless building should 
 be disgraced by large and small parallelograms of glass 
 and wood,’ so placed and so formed as to give its 
 exterior the appearance of a European theatre coiffé with 
 Oriental cupolas? Outside as well as inside, money has 
 been lavished upon alabaster full of flaws; round the 
 bases of pillars run gilt bands; in places the walls are 
 painted with streaks to resemble marble, and the wood- 
 work is overlaid with tinsel gold. After a glance at these 
 abominations, one cannot be surprised to hear the old 
 men of Egypt lament that, in spite of European educa- 
 tion, and of prizes encouraging geometry and architecture, 
 modern art offers a melancholy contrast to antiquity. It 
 is said that H. H. Abbas Pasha proposes to erect for 
 himself a Mosque that shall far surpass the boast of the 
 last generation. I venture to hope that his architect 
 will light the ‘“‘sacred fire” from Sultan Hasan’s, not 
 from Mohammed Ali’s, Turco-Grecian splendours. The 
 former is like the genuine Osmanli of past ages, fierce, 
 cold, with a stalwart frame, index of a strong mind— 
 there was a sullen grandeur about the man. The latter 
 ‘is the pert and puny modern Turk in pantaloons, frock 
 _ coat and Fez, ill-dressed, ill-conditioned, and ill-bred, body 
 _ and soul. 
 
 1 This is becoming the fashion for young Egyptians, who will 
 readily receive a pair of common green persiennes in exchange for fine 
 old windows of elaborately carved wood. ‘They are as sensible in a 
 variety of other small matters. Natives of a hot climate generally 
 wear slippers of red and yellow leather, because they are cool and 
 comfortable: on the banks of the Nile, the old chaussure is gradually 
 yielding to black shoes, which biister the feet with heat, but are 
 European, and, therefore, bon ton. It must, however, be confessed 
 that the fine old. carved wood-work of the windows was removed 
 because it was found to be dangerous in cases of fire 
 
100 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 We will now enter the Mosque Al-Azhar. At the 
 dwarf wooden railing we take off our slippers, hold them 
 in the left hand, sole to sole, that no dirt may fall from 
 them, and cross the threshold with the right foot, ejacu- 
 lating Bismillah, &c. Next we repair to the Mayza’ah, 
 or large tank, for ablution, without which it is unlawful 
 to appear in the House of Allah. We then seek some 
 proper place for devotion, place our slippers on some other 
 object in front of us to warn the lounger, and perform a 
 two-bow prayer in honour of the Mosque.’ This done, 
 we may wander about, and inspect the several objects of 
 curlosity. 
 
 The moon shines splendidly upon a vast open court, 
 paved with stones which are polished like glass by the 
 feet of the Faithful. There is darkness in the body of the 
 building, a large oblong hall, at least twice too lengthy 
 for its height, supported by a forest of pillars, thin, poor- 
 looking, crooked marble columns, planted avenue-like, 
 upon torn and dirty matting. A few oil lamps shed 
 doubtful light over scanty groups, who are debating some 
 point of grammar, or are listening to the words of wisdom — 
 that fall from the mouth of a W4’iz.2 Presently they will | 
 leave the hypostyle, and throw themselves upon the flags | 
 of the quadrangle, where they may enjoy the open air. 
 and avoid some fleas. It is now ‘long vacation”: so the | 
 holy building has become a kind of Caravanserai for tra- | 
 
 1 Irreligious men neglect this act of propriety. There are — 
 many in Egypt who will habitually transgress one of the funda- | 
 mental orders of their faith, namely, never to pray when in a state | 
 of religious impurity. In popular Avgot, prayer without ablution 
 is called Salat Mamlikiyah, or “ slaves’ prayers,” because such men | 
 perform their devotions only in order to avoid the master’s staff. 
 Others will touch the Koran when impure, a circumstance, which | 
 highly disgusts Indian Moslems. | 
 
 2 An “adviser,” or “lect *rer,""-—any learned man who, generally | 
 in the months of Ramazan and Muharram, after the Friday service | 
 and sermon, delivers a discourse upon the principles of Al-islam.” | 
 
VI.—The Mosque. Io! 
 
 vellers; perhaps a score of nations meet in it; there is 
 _a confusion of tongues, and the din at times is deafening. 
 Around the court runs a tolerably well-built colonnade, 
 whose entablature is garnished with crimson arabesques, 
 and in the inner wall are pierced apartments, now closed 
 with plank doors. Of the Riwak, as the porches are 
 called, the Azhar contains twenty-four, one for each re- 
 cogniseéd nation in Al-Islam, and of these fifteen are still 
 open to students.’ Inside them we find nothing but 
 matting and a pile of large dingy wooden boxes, which 
 once contained the college library; they are now, generally 
 speaking, empty.’ 
 
 There is nothing worth seeing in the cluster of little 
 dark chambers that form the remainder of the Azhar. 
 Even the Zawiyat al-Umya4n (or the Blind men’s Oratory), 
 a place where so many ‘town and gown rows” have 
 emanated, is rendered interesting only by the fanaticism 
 of its inmates, and the certainty that, if recognised in this 
 
 _1 Amongst them is a foundation for Jawischolars. Some of our 
 authors, by a curious mistake, have confounded Moslem Jawa (by 
 the Egyptians pronounced Gawa), with ‘‘ Goa,” the Christian colony 
 of the Portuguese. 
 
 2 Cairo was once celebrated for its magnificent collections of 
 books. Besides private libraries, each large Mosque had its biblio- 
 theca, every MS. of which was marked with the word ‘‘Wakf" 
 (entailed bequest), or ‘* Wukifa I’Illahi Ta’4la’’ (bequeathed to God 
 Almighty). But Cairo has now for years supplied other countries 
 with books, and the decay of religious zeal has encouraged the 
 ‘unprincipled to steal and sell MSS. marked with the warning words. 
 The Hijaz, in particular, has been inundated with books from Egypt. 
 Cairo has still some large libraries, but most of them are private 
 property, and the proprietors will not readily lend or give access to 
 their treasures. The principal opportunity of buying books is dur- 
 ing the month Ramazan, when they are publicly sold in the Azhar 
 Mosque. ‘The Orientalist will, however, meet with many disappoint- 
 ments ; besides the difficulty of discovering good works, he will find 
 in the booksellers, scribes, ef hoc genus omne, a finished race of scoun- 
 drels. baa’ . 
 
102 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 sanctum, we shall run the gauntlet under the staves of 
 its proprietors, the angry blind. 
 
 The Azhar is the grand collegiate Mosque of this. 
 
 city,—the Christ Church, in fact, of Cairo,—once cele- 
 brated throughout the world of Al-Islam. It was built, 
 I was told, originally in poor style by one Jauhar al- 
 Kaid,! originally the slave of a Moorish merchant, in 
 consequence of a dream that ordered him to ‘“‘erect a 
 place whence the light of science should shine upon 
 Al-Islam.” 
 
 It gradually increased by ‘ Wakf?” (entailed be- 
 quests) of lands, money, and books; and pious rulers 
 made a point of adding to its size and wealth. Of late 
 years it has considerably declined, the result of sequestra- 
 tions, and of the diminished esteem in which the purely 
 religious sciences are now held in the land of Egypt.® 
 Yet it is calculated that between 2000 and 3000 students 
 of all nations and ages receive instruction here gratis. 
 
 1 Lane (Mod. Egyptians) has rectified Baron von Hammer- 
 Purgstall’s mistake concerning the word “Azhar”; our English 
 Orientalist translates it the ‘splendid Mosque.’’ I would venture to 
 add, that the epithet must be understood in a spiritual and not in a 
 material sense. Wilkinson attributes the erection of the building to 
 Jauhar al-Kaid, general under Al-Moaz, about “A.D. 970. Wilson 
 ascribes it partly to Al-Moaz the Fatimite (a.pD. 973), partly to his 
 general and successor, Al-Hakim (?). 
 
 2 Wakf, property become mortmain. My friend Yacoub Artin 
 declares that the whole Nile Valley has parcel by parcel been made 
 Wakf at some time or other, and then retaken. 
 
 3 If I may venture to judge, after the experience of a few 
 months, there is now a re-action in favour of the old system. 
 Mohammed Ali managed to make his preparatory, polytechnic, and 
 other schools, thoroughly distasteful to the people, and mothers 
 blinded their children, to prevent their being deveted for life to 
 infidel studies. The printing-press, contrasting in hideousness with 
 the beauty of the written character, and the contemptible Arabic 
 style of the various works translated by order of government from 
 the European languages, have placed arms in the hands of the 
 orthodox -party. 
 
 ) 
 : 
 | 
 
 | 
 | 
 } 
 i 
 
VI.—The Mosque - - 103 
 
 Each one is provided with bread, in @ quantity deter- 
 mined by the amount of endowment, at the Riwak set apart 
 for his nation,! with some article of clothing on festival 
 days, and a few piastres once a year. The professors, 
 _ who are about 150 in number, may not take fees from 
 their pupils; some lecture on account of the religious 
 merit of the action, others to gain the high title of 
 ‘‘ Teacher in Al Azhar.?” Six officials receive stipends 
 from the government,—the Shaykh al-Jami’ or dean, the 
 Shaykh al-Sakka, who regulates the provision of water 
 for ablution, and others that pay, be called heads of 
 departments. 
 
 The following is the course of study in the Azhar. 
 The school-boy of four or five years’ standing has been 
 taught, by a liberal application of the maxim “ the Green 
 Rod is of the Trees of Paradise,” to chant the Koran with- 
 out understanding it, the elementary rules of arithmetic, 
 and, if he is destined to be a learned man, the art of writ- 
 ing.* He then registers his name in Al-Azhar, and applies 
 
 “I Finding the Indian Riwak closed, and hearing that an endow- 
 ment still belonged to it, I called twice upon the Shaykh or Dean, 
 wishing to claim the stipend as a precedent. But I failed in finding 
 him at home, and was obliged to start hurriedly for Suez. The 
 Indians now generally study in the Sulaymdniyah, or Afghan 
 College. 
 
 2 As the attending of lectures is not compulsory, the result is 
 that the lecturer is always worth listening to. May I commend this 
 consideration to our college reformers at home? In my day, men 
 were compelled to waste—notoriously to waste—an hour or two 
 every morning, for the purpose of putting a few pounds sterling into 
 the pocket of some droning Don. 
 
 3 The would-be calligrapher must go toa Constantinople Khwajah 
 (schoolmaster), and after writing about two hours a day regularly 
 _ through a year or two, he will become, if he has the necessary dis- 
 position, a skilful penman. This acquirement is but little valued in 
 the present day, as almost nothing is to be gained by it. The Turks 
 particularly excel in the ornamental character called ‘‘Suls.” I 
 have seen some Korans beautifully written ; and the late Pasha gave 
 an impetus to this branch of industry, by forbidding, under the 
 
104, Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 himself to the branches of study most cultivated in Al- 
 Islam, namely Nahw (syntax), Fikh (the law), Hadis 
 (the traditions of the Prophet), and Tafsir, or Exposition 
 of the Koran. 
 
 The young Egyptian reads at the same time 
 Sarf, or Inflexion, and Nahw (syntax). But as Arabic is 
 his mother-tongue, he is not required to study the former 
 so deeply as are the Turks, the Persians, and the Indians. 
 If he desire, however, to be a proficient, he must carefully 
 peruse five books in Sarf,’ and six in Nahw.? 
 
 plea of religious scruples, the importation of the incorrect Korans 
 cheaply lithographed by the Persians at Bombay. The Persians 
 surpass the Turks in all but the Suls writing. Of late years, the 
 Pashas of Cairo have employed a gentleman from Khorasan, whose 
 travelling name is ‘‘ Mirza Sanglakh” to decorate their Mosques 
 with inscriptions. I was favoured with a specimen of his art, and 
 do not hesitate to rank him the first of his age, and second to 
 none amongst the ancients but those Raphaels of calligraphy, Mir 
 of Shir4z, and Rahman of Herdt. The Egyptians and Arabs, 
 generally speaking, write a coarse and clumsy hand, and, as usual 
 in the East, the higher the rank of the writer is, the worse his scrawl 
 becomes. 
 
 1 The popular volumes are, 1. Al-Amsilah, showing the simple 
 conjugation of the triliteral verb; 2. Bisi’a, the work of some un- 
 known author, explaining the formation of the verb into increased 
 infinities, the quadrilateral verb, &c.; 3. The Maksa’a, a well-known 
 book written by the great Imam Abu’ Hanifah; 4. The ‘Izzi,” an 
 explanatory treatise, the work of a Turk, ‘Izzat Effendi.” And 
 lastly, the Marah of Ahmad al-Sa'fidi. These five tracts are bound 
 together in a little volume, printed at the government establishment. 
 Al-Amsilah is explained in Turkish, to teach boys the art of ‘ parsing”; 
 Egyptians generally confine themselves in Al-Sarf to the Izzi, and the 
 Lamiyat al-Af’4l of-the grammarian Ibn Malik. 
 
 2 First, the well-known ‘' Ajrumiyah " (printed by M. Vaucelle), 
 and its commentary, Al-Kafrawi. Thirdly, the Alfiyah (Thousand | 
 Distichs) of Ibn Malik, written in verse for mnemonic purposes, but | 
 thereby rendered so difficult as to require the lengthy commentary | 
 of Al-Ashmimi. The fifth is the well-known work called the Katr | 
 al-Nid4 (the Dew Drop), celebrated from Cairo to Kabul; and last 
 of all the ‘ Azhari.” =| 
 
VI.—The Mosque. 105 
 
 Master of grammar, our student now applies himself 
 to its proper end and purpose, Divinity. Of the four. 
 
 schools those of Abu Hanifah and Al-Shafe’i are most 
 
 common in Cairo; the followers of Ibn Malik abound only 
 in Southern Egypt and the Berberah country, and the 
 
 -Hanbali is almost unknown. The theologian begins with 
 
 what is called a Matn or text, a short, dry, and often ob- 
 scure treatise, a mere string of precepts; in fact, the 
 
 skeleton of the subject. This he learns by repeated per- 
 
 usal, till he can quote almost every passage litevatim. He 
 then passes to its Sharh,” or commentary, generally the 
 work of some other savant, who explains the difficulty of 
 the text, amplifies its Laconicisms, enters into exceptional 
 cases, and deals with principles and reasons, as well as 
 with mere precept. A difficult work will sometimes re- 
 quire ‘‘ Hashiyah,” or ‘‘ marginal notes”; but this aid has 
 a bad name :— 
 * Who readeth with note, 
 But learneth by rote,” 
 
 says a popular dogerel. The reason is, that the student’s 
 
 _ reasoning powers being little exercised, he learns to depend 
 
 upon the dixit of a master rather than to think for himself. 
 It also leads to the neglect of another practice, highly 
 advocated by the Eastern pedagogue. 
 “ The lecture is one. be 
 The dispute (upon the subject of the lecture) is one thousand.” 
 
 In order to become a Fakih, or. divine of distinguished 
 fame, the follower of Abu Hanifah must peruse about ten 
 volumes,’ some of huge size, written in a diffuse style; 
 
 1 I know little of the Hanafi school; but the name of the fol- 
 lowing popular works were given to me by men upon whose learning 
 Icoulddepend. The book first read is the text, called Marah al-Falah, 
 containing about twenty pages, and its commentary, which is about 
 six times longer. Then comes the Matn al-Kanz, a brief text of from 
 35 to 40 pages, followed by three long Sharh. The shortest of these, 
 “‘Al-Tai,”’ contains 500 pages; the next, ‘‘Mull4 Miskin,” at least goo; 
 and the ‘Sharh Ayni’” nearly 2000. To these succeeds the Text 
 
106 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 the Shafe’i’s reading is not quite so extensive.’ Theo- 
 logy is much studied, because it leads directly to the gain- 
 ing of daily bread, as priest or tutor; and other scientific 
 pursuits are neglected for the opposite reason. 
 
 The theologian in Egypt, as in other parts of Al- 
 Islam, must have a superficial knowledge of the Prophet’s 
 traditions. Of these there are eight well known collec- 
 tions,” but only the first three are generally read. 
 
 School-boys are instructed, almost when in their 
 infancy, to intone the Koran; at the university they are 
 
 « Al-Durar,” the work of the celebrated Khusraw, (200 pages), with a 
 large commentary by the same author ; and last is the Matn Tanwir 
 Al-Abs4r, containing about 500 pages, and its Sharh, a work upwards 
 of four times the size. Manyof these books may be found—especially 
 ‘ when the MS. is an old one—with Hashiyah, or marginal notes, but 
 most men write them for themselves, so that there is no generally 
 used collection. "The above-mentioned are the works containing a full 
 course of theological study; it is rare, however, to find a man who 
 reads beyond the ‘* Al-Kanz,”’ with the shortest of its commentaries, 
 the ‘ Al-Tai.” 
 
 1 He begins with a little text BA Fecy after the name of its author, 
 Abu Shuja’a of Isfahan, and proceeds to its commentary, a book of 
 about 250 pages, by Ibn Kasim of Ghazzah (Gaza). There is another 
 Sharh, nearly four times larger than this, ‘‘ Al-Khatib ’’; it is seldom. 
 read. Then comes Al-Tahrir, the work of Zakariya al-Ansdri,—a 
 celebrated divine buried in the Mosque of Al-Shafe’i,—and its com- 
 mentary by the same author, a goodly MS. of 600 pages. Most 
 ' students here cry: ‘‘Enough!"’ The ambitious pass on to AI- 
 
 Minhaj and its commentary, (1600 pages). Nor need they stop at 
 this point. A man may addle his brains over Moslem theology, as 
 upon Aristotle’s schoolmen, till his eyesight fails eee ar Se: subjects 
 are all but interminable. 
 
 2 The three best known are the Arbain al-Nawawi, and the 
 -Sahihayn—*‘ the two (universally acknowledged to be) trustworthy,""— 
 
 Al-Muslim and Al-Bokhéri, celebrated divines. The others are 
 
 -Al-Jami’ al-Saghir, ‘‘ the smaller collection,” so called to distinguish 
 it from a rarer book, Al-Jami al-Kabir, the ‘‘ greater collection” ; 
 both are the work of Al-Siyati. The full course concludes with 
 Al-Shif4, Shamil, and the labours of Kazi Ayydz. 
 
VI.—The Mosque. to” 
 
 taught a more exact system of chanting. The style 
 called ‘* Hafs” is most common in Egypt, as it is indeed 
 throughout the Moslem world. And after learning to 
 read the holy volume, some savans are ambitious enough 
 to wish to understand it: under these circumstances they 
 must dive into the ’Ilm al-Tafsir,’ or the Exegesis of 
 the Koran. 
 Our student is now a perfect Fakih or Mulla.2 But 
 
 = 
 
 1 Two Tafsirs are known ali over the modern world. The 
 smaller one is called Jalalani (‘ the two Jalals,” i.e. the joint work of 
 Jalal al-Siyuti and Jalal al-Mahalli), and fills two stout volumes 
 octavo. The larger is the Exposition of Al-Bayzdwi, which is sup- 
 posed to contain the whole subject. Some few divines read Al- 
 Khazin. 
 
 2 To conclude the list of Moslem studies, not purely religious. 
 
 Al-Mantik (or logic) is little valued; it is read when judged ad- 
 visable, after Al-Nahw, from which it flows, and before Ma’ani 
 Bayan (rhetoric) to which it leads. In Egypt, students are generally 
 directed to fortify their memories, and give themselves a logical turn 
 of mind, by application to Al-Jabr (algebra). The only logical works 
 known are the Isaghiji (the cicaydéyy of Porphyry), Al-Shamsiyah, 
 the book Al-Sullam, with its Sharh Al-Akhzari, and, lastly, Kazi 
 Mir, Equally neglected are the Tawdarikh (history) and the Hikmat 
 (or philosophy), once so ardently cultivated by Moslem savans; 
 indeed, it is now all but impossible to get books upon these subjects. 
 For upwards of six weeks, I ransacked the stalls and the bazar, in 
 order to find some one of the multitudinous annals of Al-Hijaz, 
 without seeing for sale anything but the fourth volume of a large bio- 
 graphical work called al-Akd al-Samin fi Tarikh al-Balad al-Amin. 
 
 The 'Ilm al-’Araz, or Prosody, is not among the Arabs, as with 
 us, a chapter hung on to the tail of grammar. It is a long and 
 difficult study, prosecuted only by those who wish to distinguish 
 themselves in ‘'‘ Arabiyat,’’"—the poetry and the eloquence of the 
 ancient and modern Arabs. The poems generally studied, with the 
 aid of commentaries, which impress every verse upon the memory, 
 are the Bardah and the Hamziyah, well-known odes by Mohammed 
 of Abiasir. They abound in obsolete words, and are useful at 
 funerals, as on other solemn occasions. The Banat Su’ddi, by Ka’ab 
 al-Ahbar (or Akhbar), a companion of the Apostle, and the Diwan 
 ’Umar ibn F4riz, a celebrated mystic, are also learned compositions. 
 Few attempt the bulky volume of Al-Mutanabbi—though many 
 
t08 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 the poor fellow has no scholarship or fellowship—no easy 
 tutorship—no fat living to look forward to. After wasting. 
 
 ees 
 
 place it open upon the sofa,—fewer still the tenebrous compositions 
 of Al-Hariri; nor do the modern Egyptians admire those fragments 
 of ancient Arab poets, which seem so sweetly simple to the Européan 
 ear. The change of faith has altered the national taste to such an 
 extent, that the decent bard must now sing of woman in the mascu- 
 line gender. For which reason, a host of modern poetasters can 
 attract the public ear, which is deaf to the voices of the ‘‘ Golden 
 Song.” 
 
 In the exact sciences, the Egyptian Moslems, a backward race 
 according to European estimation, are far superior to the Persians 
 and the Moslems of India. Some of them become tolerable arith- 
 meticians, though very inferior to the Coptic Christians; they have 
 good and simple treatises on algebra, and still display some of their 
 ancestors’ facility in the acquisition of geometry. The 'Ilm al- 
 Mikét, or ‘‘ Calendar-calculating,’’ was at one time publicly taught 
 in the Azhar; the printing-press has doomed that study to death. 
 
 The natural sciences find but scant favour on the banks of the 
 Nile. Astronomy is still astrology, geography a heap of names, and 
 natural history a mass of fables. Alchemy, geomancy, and sum- 
 moning of fiends, are pet pursuits; but the former has so bad a name, 
 that even amongst friends it is always alluded to as,’Ilm al-Kaf,—the 
 “science of K," so called from the initial letter of the word ‘‘Kimiya.” 
 Of the state of therapeutics I have already treated at length. 
 
 Aided by the finest of ears, and flexible organs of articulation, 
 the Egyptian appears to possess many of the elements of a good 
 linguist. The stranger wonders to hear a Cairene donkey-boy 
 shouting sentences in three or four European dialects, with a pro- 
 nunciation as pure as his own. How far this people succeed in 
 higher branches of language, my scanty experience does not enable 
 me to determine. But even for students of Arabic, nothing can be 
 more imperfect than those useful implements, Vocabularies and Dic- 
 tionaries. The Cairenes have, it is true, the Kamits of Fayrazdbadi, 
 but it has never been printedin Egypt; it is therefore rare, and when 
 found, lost pages and clerical errors combined with the intrinsic diffi- 
 culty of the style, exemplify the saying of Golius, that the most learned 
 Orientalist must act the part of a diviner, before he can perform that 
 of interpreter. They have another Lexicon, the Sihah, and an 
 abbreviation of the same, the Sihah al-Saghir (or the lesser), both of 
 them liable to the same objections as the Kamus. For the benefit 
 of the numerous students of Turkish and Persian, short grammars 
 
VI.—The Mosque. 109 
 
 seven years, or twice seven years, over his studies, and 
 reading till his brain is dizzy, his digestion gone, and his 
 eyes half blind, he must either starve upon college alms, 
 or squat, like my old Shaykh Mohammed, in a druggist’s 
 shop, or become pedagogue and preacher in some country 
 place, on the pay of £8 per annum. With such prospects 
 it is wonderful how the Azhar can present any attrac- 
 tions; but the southern man is essentially an idler, and 
 many become Olemé, like Capuchins, in order to do no- 
 thing. A favoured few rise to the degree of Mudarris 
 (professors), and thence emerge Kazis and Muftis. This 
 is another inducement tomatriculate; every undergraduate 
 having an eye upon the Kazi-ship, with as much chance 
 of obtaining it as the country pavocco has of becoming a 
 cardinal. Others again devote themselves to laical pur- 
 suits, degenerate into Wakils (lawyers), or seek their for- 
 tunes as Katibs—public or private accountants. 
 
 To conclude this part of the subject, I cannot agree 
 with Dr. Bowring when he harshly says, upon the subject 
 of Moslem education: ‘The instruction given by the 
 Doctors of the Law in the religious schools, for the forma- 
 tion of the Mohammedan priesthood, is of the most 
 worthless character.”* His opinion is equally open toa 
 
 and vocabularies have been printed at a cheap price, but the former 
 are upon the model of Arabic, a language essentially different in 
 formation, and the latter are mere strings of words. 
 
 As a specimen of the state of periodical literature, I may quote 
 the history of the ‘‘ Bulak Independent,” as Europeans facetiously 
 call it. When Mohammed Ali, determining to have an “ organ,” 
 directed an officer to be editor of a weekly paper, the officer replied, 
 that no one would read it, and consequently that no one would pay 
 for it. The Pasha remedied this by an order that a subscription 
 should be struck off from the pay of all employés, European and 
 Egyptian, whose salary amounted to a certain sum. “ Upun which 
 the editor accepted the task, but being paid before his work was 
 published, he of course never supplied his subscribers. with their 
 copies. 
 
 1 Would not a superficial, hasty, and somewhat prejudiced 
 
110 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 objection with that of those who depreciate the law itself - 
 because it deals rather in precepts than in principle, in 
 ceremonies and ordinances rather than in ethics and 
 esthetics. Both are what Eastern faiths and Eastern 
 training have ever been,—both are eminently adapted for 
 the Oriental mind. When the people learn to appreciate 
 ethics, and to understand psychics and esthetics, the 
 demand will create a supply. Meanwhile they leave 
 transcendentalism to their poets and philosophers, and 
 they busy themselves with preparing for heaven by 
 practising the only part of their faith now intelligible 
 to them—the Material. 
 
 It is not to be supposed that a nation in this stage of 
 civilisation could be so fervently devout as the Egyptians 
 are, without the bad leaven of bigotry. The same tongue 
 which is employed in blessing Allah, is, it is conceived, 
 doing its work equally well in cursing Allah’s enemies. 
 Wherefore the Kafir is denounced by every sex, age, 
 class, and condition, by the man of the world,’ as by the 
 boy at school; and out of, as well as in, the Mosque. If 
 you ask your friend who is the person with a black tur- 
 band, he replies, 
 
 ‘A Christian. Allah make his Countenance cold !” 
 
 If you inquire of your servant, who are the people 
 singing in the next house, it is ten to one that his answer 
 will be, 
 
 “Jews. May their lot be Jahannam!” 
 
 It appears unintelligible, still it is not less true, that 
 Egyptians who have lived as servants under European 
 roofs for FORE retain the liveliest loathing for the manners 
 
 Egyptian or Persian say exactly the same thing about the “zeicus 
 of Christ Church and Trinity College ? 
 
 1 And when the man of the world, as sometimes happens, pro- 
 fesses to see no difference in the forms of faith, or whispers that his 
 residence in Europe has made him friendly to the Christian religion, 
 you will be justified in concluding his opinions to be latitudinarian. 
 
VI.—The Mosque. Ill 
 
 and customs of their masters. Few Franks, save those 
 who have mixed with the Egyptians in Oriental disguise, 
 are aware of their repugnance to, and contempt for, 
 Europeans—so well is the feeling veiled under the garb of 
 innate politeness, and so great is their reserve when con- 
 versing with those of strange religions. I had a good 
 opportunity of ascertaining the truth when the first rumour 
 of a Russian war arose. Almost every able-bodied man 
 spoke of hastening to the Jihad,—a crusade, or holy war,— 
 and the only thing that looked like apprehension was the 
 too eager depreciation of their foes. All seemed delighted 
 with the idea of French co-operation, for, somehow or 
 other, the Frenchman is everywhere popular. When 
 speaking of England, they were not equally easy: heads 
 were rolled, pious sentences were ejaculated, and finally out 
 came the old Eastern cry, ‘Of atruth they are Shaytans, 
 those English.”’ The Austrians are despised, because 
 the East knows nothing of them since the days when Os- 
 manli hosts threatened the gates of Vienna. The Greeks 
 are-hated as clever scoundrels, ever ready to do Al-Islam . 
 a mischief. The Maltese, the greatest of cowards off their 
 own ground, are regarded with a profound contempt: 
 these are the protégés which bring the British nation 
 into disrepute at Cairo. And Italians are known chiefly 
 as ‘‘istvuttovi” and ‘‘distvuttori”*—doctors, druggists, and 
 pedagogues. 
 
 Yet Egyptian human nature is, like human nature 
 everywhere, contradictory. Hating and despising Euro- 
 peans, they still long for European rule. This people ad- 
 
 1 Lknow only one class in Egypt favourable to the English,—the 
 donkey boys,—and they found our claim to the possession of the 
 country upon a base scarcely admissible by those skilled in casuistry, 
 namely, that we hire more asses than any other nation. 
 
 2 The story is, that Mohammed Ali used to offer his flocks Of 
 _ foreigners their choice of two professions,‘ destruction,” that is to 
 say, physic, or “ instruction.”’ 
 
“112 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 mire an iron-handed and lion-hearted despotism; they 
 hate a timid and a grinding tyranny.’ Of all foreigners, 
 they would prefer the French yoke,—a circumstance which 
 I attribute to the diplomatic skill and national dignity of 
 our neighbours across the Channel.? But whateyer 
 European nation secures Egypt will win a treasure. 
 Moated on the north and south by seas, with a glacis of 
 impassable deserts to the eastward and westward, cap- 
 able of supporting an army of 180,000 men, of paying a 
 
 1 Of this instances abound. Lately an order was issued to tax 
 the villages of the Badawin settled upon the edge of the Western 
 desert, who, even in Mohammed Ali’s time, were allowed to live free 
 of assessment. The Aulad ’Ali, inhabitants of a little village near 
 the Pyramids, refused to pay, and turned out with their matchlocks, 
 defying the Pasha. The government then insisted upon their leaving 
 their houses, and living under hair-cloth like Badawin, since they 
 claimed the privileges of Badawin. The sturdy fellows at once 
 pitched their tents, and when I returned to Cairo (in December, 1853), 
 they had deserted their village. I could offer a score of such cases, 
 proving the present debased condition of Egypt. 
 
 2 At Constantinople the French were the first to break through 
 the shameful degradation to which the ambassadors of infidel powers 
 were bribed, by 300 or 4oo rations a day, to submit. M. de Saint 
 Priest refused to give up his sword. General Sebastianiinsisted upon 
 wearing his military boots; and the Republican Aubert Dubajet 
 rejected the dinner, and the rich dress, with which “ the naked and 
 hungry barbarian who ventured to rub his brow upon the Sublime 
 Porte,’ was fed and clothed before being admitted to the presence, 
 saying that the ambassadors of France wanted neither this nor that. 
 At Cairo, M. Sabatier, the French Consul-general, has had the merit 
 of doing away with some customs prejudicial to the dignity of his 
 nation. The next English envoy will, if anxious so to distinguish 
 himself, have an excellent opportunity. It is usual, after the first 
 audience, for the Pasha to send, in token of honour, a sorry steed to 
 the new comer. This custom is a mere relic of the days when 
 Mohammed the Second threatened to stable his charger in St. Peter’s, 
 and when a ride through the streets of Cairo exposed the Inspector- 
 general Tott, and his suite, to lapidation and an ‘“‘avanie.”’ Tosenda 
 good horse is to imply degradation, but to offer a bad one is a pesi- 
 tive insult. 
 
VI.—The Mosque. 113 
 
 heavy tribute, and yet able to show a considerable sur- 
 plus of revenue, this country in western hands will com- 
 mand India, and by a ship-canal between Pelusium and 
 Suez would open the whole of Eastern Africa.’ 
 
 There is no longer much to fear from the fanaticism 
 of the people, and a little prudence would suffice to com- 
 mand the interests of the Mosque.? The chiefs of corpora- 
 tions,’ in the present state of popular feeling, would offer 
 
 1 As this canal has become a question of national interest, its 
 advisability is surrounded with all the circumstance of unsupported 
 assertion and bold denial. The English want a railroad, which would 
 confine the use of Egypt to themselves. The French desire a canal 
 that would admit the hardy cruisers of the Mediterranean into the 
 Red Sea. The cosmopolite will hope that both projects may be 
 carried out. Even in the seventh century Omar forbade Amru to cut 
 the Isthmus of Suez for fear of opening Arabia to Christian vessels. 
 As regards the feasibility of the ship-canal, I heard M. Linant de 
 Bellefonds— the best authority upon all such subjects in Egypt—-ex- 
 pressly assert, after levelling and surveying the line, that he should 
 have no difficulty in making it. ‘The canal is now a fact. As late 
 as April, 1864, Lord Palmerston informed the House of Commons 
 that labourers might be more usefully employed in cultivating cotton 
 than in ‘‘ digging a canal through a sandy desert, and in making two 
 harbours in deep mud and shallow water.” It is, however, under- 
 stood that the Premier was the only one of his Cabinet who took 
 this view. Mr. Robert Stephenson, C.E., certainly regretted before 
 his death the opinion which he had been induced to express by 
 desire. 
 
 2 There are at present about eighteen influential Shaykhs at 
 Cairo, too fanatic to listen to reason. These it would be necessary to 
 banish. Good information about what goes on in each Mosque, espec- 
 ially on Fridays, when the priests preach to the people, and a guard 
 of honour placed at the gates of the Kazi, the three Muftis, and the 
 Shaykh of the Azhar, are simple precautions sufficient to keep the 
 
 -Olema in order. 
 
 3 These Rakaiz Al-’ Usab, as they are called, are the most influen- 
 tial part of the immense mass of dark intrigue which Cairo, like 
 most Oriental cities, conceals beneath the light surface. They gene- 
 rally appear in the ostensible state of barbers and dyers. Secretly, 
 they preside over their different factions, and form a kind of small 
 
114 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 even less difficulty to an invader or a foreign ruler than 
 the Olema. Briefly, Egypt is the most tempting prize 
 which the East holds out to the ambition of Europe, not 
 excepted even the Golden Horn. 
 
 Vehm. ‘The French used to pay these men, but Napoleon, detecting 
 them in stirring up the people, whilst appearing to maintain public 
 tranquillity, shot eighteen or twenty (about half their number), and 
 thereby improved the conduct of the rest. They are to be managed, 
 as Sir Charles Napier governed Sind,—by keeping a watchful eye 
 upon them, a free administration of military law, disarming the popu- 
 lation, and forbidding large bodies of men to assemble. 
 
CHAR TiiCs, Vile 
 PREPARATIONS TO QUIT CAIRO. 
 
 At length the slow ‘month of blessings” passed 
 away. We rejoiced like Romans finishing their Quar- 
 esima, whena salvo of artillery from the citadel announced 
 the end of our Lenten woes. On the last day of Ramazan 
 all gave alms to the poor, at the rate of a piastre and a 
 half for each member of the household—slave, servant, 
 and master. The next day, first of the three composing the 
 Bayram or Ge (the Lesser Festival), we arose before dawn, 
 performed our ablutions, and repaired to the Mosque, 
 to recite the peculiar prayer of the season, and to hear 
 the sermon which bade us be “merry and wise.” After 
 which we ate and drank heartily; then, with pipes and 
 tobacco-pouches in hand, we sauntered out to enjoy the 
 contemplation of smiling faces and street scenery. 
 
 The favourite resort on this occasion is the large 
 cemetery beyond the Bab al-Nasr*—that stern, old, 
 massive gateway which opens upon the Suez road. 
 There we found a scene of jollity. Tents and ambulant 
 coffee-houses were full of men equipped in their—anglicé 
 
 ‘I Festival. It lasts the three first days of ShawwéAl, the month 
 immediately following Ramazan, and therefore, among Moslems, cor- 
 responds with our Paschal holidays, which succeed Lent. It is 
 called the ‘‘ Lesser Festival,” the ‘Greater’ being in Zi’l Hijjah, 
 the pilgrimage-month. 
 
 2 In Chap. V. of this Volume, I have mentioned this cemetery 
 as Burckhardt’s last resting-place. 
 
116 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 —'¢Sunday best,” listening to singers and musicians, 
 smoking, chatting, and looking at jugglers, buffoons, 
 snake-charmers, Dar way sles, ape-leaders, and dancing 
 boys habited in women’s attire. Eating-stalls and lolli- 
 pop-shops, booths full of playthings, and sheds | for 
 lemonade and syrups, lined the roads, and disputed with 
 swings and merry-go-rounds the regards of the little 
 Moslems and Moslemahs. ‘The chief item of the crowd, 
 fair Cairenes, carried in their hands huge palm branches, 
 intending to ornament therewith the tombs of parents 
 and friends. Yet, even on this solemn occasion, there is, 
 they say, not a little flirtation and love-making; parties 
 of policemen are posted, with orders to interrupt all such 
 irregularities, with a long cane; but their vigilance is 
 notoriously unequal to the task. I could not help ob- 
 serving that frequent pairs, doubtless cousins or other 
 relations, wandered to unusual distances among the 
 sand-hills, and that sometimes the confusion of a dis- 
 tant bastinado struck the ear. These trifles did not, 
 however, by any means interfere with the general joy. 
 Every one wore something new; most people were in 
 the fresh suits of finery intended to last through the 
 year; and so strong is personal vanity in the breasts of 
 Orientals, men and women, young and old, that from 
 Cairo to Calcutta it would be difficult to find a sad heart 
 undera handsome coat. The men swaggered, the women 
 minced their steps, rolled their eyes, and were eternally 
 arranging, and coquetting with their head-veils. The 
 little boys strutting about foully abused any one of their 
 number who might have a richer suit than his neigh- 
 bours. And the little girls ogled every one in the ecstacy 
 of conceit, and glanced contemptuously at other little 
 girls their rivals. 
 
 Weary of the country, the Haji and I wandered about 
 the city, paying visits, which at this time are like new- 
 year calls in continental Europe. 1 can describe the. 
 
VII.—Preparations to Quit Cairo. 117 
 
 operation of calling in Egypt only as the discussion of 
 pipes and coffee in one place, and of coffee and pipes 
 in another. But on this occasion, whenever we meet 
 a friend we throw ourselves upon each other’s breast, 
 placing right arms over left shoulders, and vice versd, 
 squeezing like wrestlers, with intermittent hugs, then 
 laying cheek to cheek delicately, at the same time making 
 the loud noise of many kisses in the air.) Thé com- 
 pliment of the season is, ‘‘ Kull’4m antum bil khayr” 
 
 —‘‘ Every year may you be well! ”’—in fact, our ‘‘ Many 
 ‘happy returns of the day!” After this come abundant 
 good wishes, and kindly prophecies ; and froma “ religious 
 person”’ a blessing, and a short prayer. To complete 
 the resemblance between a Moslem and a Christian 
 festival, we have dishes of the day, fish, Shurayk, the 
 cross-bun, and a peculiarly indigestible cake, called in 
 Egypt Kahk,? the plum-pudding of Al-Islam. 
 
 This year’s Id was made gloomy, comparatively speak- 
 ing, by the state of politics. Report of war with Russia, 
 with France, with England, who was going to land 
 ‘three million men at Suez, and with Infideldom in general, 
 rang through Egypt, and the city of Mars® became un- 
 usually martial. The government armouries, arsenals, 
 and manufactories, were crowded with kidnapped work- 
 men. ‘Those who purposed a pilgrimage feared forcible 
 detention. Wherever men gathered together, in the 
 Mosques, for instance, or the coffee-houses, the police 
 
 r You are bound also to meet even your enemies in the most 
 friendly way—for which mortification you afterwards hate them more 
 cordially than before. 
 
 2 Persian. 
 
 3 With due deference to the many of a different opinion, I believe 
 “ Kdhirah"’ (corrupted through the Italian into Cairo) to mean, not 
 the ‘‘victorious,’”’ but the ‘‘City of Kahir,’’ ur Mars the Planet. It 
 was so called because, as Richardson has informed the world, it was 
 founded in AD. 968 by one jauhar, a Dalmatian renegade before 
 mentioned, when the warlike planet was in the ascendant. 
 
118 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. | 
 
 closed the doors, and made forcible capture of the able- | 
 bodied. This proceeding, almost as barbarous as our 
 impressment law, filled the main streets with detach- | 
 ments of squalid-looking wretches, marching to be made 
 soldiers, with collars round their necks and irons on their 
 wrists. The dismal impression of the scene was deepened 
 by crowds of women, who, habited in mourning, and scat- 
 tering dust and mud over their rent garments, followed 
 their sons, brothers, and husbands, with cries and shrieks. 
 The death-wail is a peculiar way of cheering on the 
 patriot departing pyo patvid mov, and the origin of the 
 custom is characteristic of the people. The principal | 
 public amusements allowed to Oriental women are those | 
 that come under the general name of ‘ Fantasia,”— | 
 birth-feasts, marriage festivals, and funerals. And the | 
 early campaigns of Mohammed Ali’s family in Syria, | 
 and Al-Hijaz having, in many cases, deprived the be- | 
 reaved of their sex-right to “‘ keen” for the dead, they have 
 now determined not to waste the opportunity, but to | 
 revel in the luxury of woe at the live man’s wake.’ 
 
 Another cloud hung, over Cairo. Rumours of con- | 
 spiracy were afloat. The Jews and Christians,—here as | 
 ready to take alarm as the English in Italy,—trembled at | 
 the fancied preparations for insurrection, massacre, and | 
 plunder. And even the Moslems whispered that some | 
 hundred desperadoes had resolved to fire the city, be- | 
 ginning with the bankers’ quarter, and to spoil the wealthy | 
 Egyptians. Of course H.H. Abbas Pasha was absent | 
 at the time, and, even had he been at Cairo, his presence 
 would have been of little use: the ruler can do nothing 
 
 cS 
 
 1 ‘‘ There were no weeping women; no neighbours came in to sit | 
 down in the ashes, as they might have done had the soldier died at 
 home; there was nd Nubian dance for the dead, no Egyptian song of 
 the women lauding the memory of the deceased, and beseeching him 
 to tell why he had left them alone in the world to weep.''—(Letier 
 from Widdin, March 25, 1854, describing a Turkish soldier's funeral.) 
 
VII.—Preparations to Quit Catro. 119 
 
 towards restoring confidence to a panic-stricken Oriental 
 nation. 
 
 At the end of the [d, as a counter-irritant to political 
 excitement, the police magistrates began to bully the 
 people. ‘There is a standing order in the chief cities of 
 Egypt, that all who stir abroad after dark without a 
 lantern shall pass the night in the station-house.’ But 
 at Cairo, in certain quarters, the Azbakiyah? for instance, 
 a little laxity is usually allowed. Before I left the capital 
 the licence was withdrawn, and the sudden strictness 
 caused many ludicrous scenes. 
 
 If by chance you (clad in Oriental garb) had sent on 
 your lantern to a friend’s house by your servant, and had 
 leisurely followed it five minutes after the hour of eight, 
 you were sure to be met, stopped, collared, questioned, 
 and captured by the patrol. You probably punched three 
 or four of them, but found the dozen too strong for you. 
 Held tightly by the sleeves, skirts, and collar of your 
 wide outer garment, you were hurried away on a plane 
 of about nine inches above the ground, your feet mostly 
 treading the air. You were dragged along with a rapidity 
 which scarcely permitted you to answer strings of ques- 
 tions concerning your name, nation, dwelling, faith, pro- 
 fession, and self in general,—especially concerning the 
 present state of your purse. If you lent an ear to the 
 
 -voice of the charmer that began by asking a crown to 
 
 release you, and gradually came down to two-pence half- 
 _ penny, you fell into a simple trap; the butt-end of a 
 musket applied a posteviori, immediately after the transfer 
 
 of property, convicted you of wilful waste. But if, more 
 
 ‘sensibly, you pretended to have forgotten your purse, you 
 
 1 Captain Haines wisely introduced the custom into ‘Aden. T 
 wonder that it is not made universal in the cities of India, where so 
 much iniquity is perpetrated under the shadow of night. 
 
 2 Thereasom being that respectable Europeans, and the passengers 
 by the Overland Mail, jive and lodge in this quarter. 
 
120 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 were reviled, and dragged with increased violence of 
 shaking to the office of the Zabit, or police magistrate. 
 You were spun through the large archway leading to the 
 court, every fellow in uniform giving you, as you passed, a 
 Kafa, “cuff,” on the back of the neck. Despite your rage, 
 you were forced up the stairs to a long gallery full of people 
 in a predicament like your own. Again your name, na- 
 tion,—I suppose you to be masquerading,—offence, and 
 other particulars were asked, and carefully noted in a folio 
 by a ferocious-looking clerk. If you knew.no better, you 
 were summarily thrust into the Hasil or condemned cell, 
 to pass the night with pickpockets or ruffians, pell-mell. 
 But if an adept in such matters, you insisted upon being 
 conducted before the ‘“‘ Pasha of the Night,” and, the 
 clerk fearing to refuse, you were hurried to the great 
 man’s office, hoping for justice, and dealing out ideal 
 vengeance to your captors,—the patrol. Here you found 
 the dignitary sitting with pen, ink, and paper before him, 
 and pipe and coffee-cup in hand,.upon a wide Diwan of 
 dingy chintz, in a large dimly-lit room, with two guards 
 by his side, and a semi-circle of recent seizures vocif- 
 erating before him. When your turn came, you were 
 carefully collared, and led up to,the presence, as if even 
 at that awful moment you were mutinously and murder- 
 ously disposed. The Pasha, looking at you with a vicious 
 sneer, turned up his nose, ejaculated ‘*’Ajami,” and pre-. 
 scribed the bastinado. You observed that the mere fact 
 of being a Persian did not give mankind a right to cap- 
 ture, imprison, and punish you; you declared moreover 
 that you were no Persian, but an Indian under British 
 protection. The Pasha, a man accustomed to obedience, 
 then stared at you, to frighten you, and you, we will 
 suppose, stared at him, till, with an oath, he turned to 
 the patrol, and asked them your offence. They all simul- 
 taneously swore—-by Allah!—that you had been found 
 without a lantern, dead-drunk, beating respectable people, 
 
VII.—Preparations to Quit Cairo. 121 
 
 breaking into houses, invading and robbing harims, 
 You openly told the Pasha that they were eating abomina- 
 tions; upon which he directed one of his guards to smell 
 your breath,—the charge of drunkenness being tangible. 
 The fellow, a comrade of your capturers, advanced his 
 nose to your lips; as might be expected, cried ‘ Kikh,” 
 contorted his countenance, and answered, by the beard 
 of ‘“‘ Effendina'” that he perceived a pestilent odour of 
 distilled waters. This announcement probably elicited a 
 grim grin from the ‘“ Pasha of the Night,” who loves 
 Curacoa, and who is not indifferent to the charms of 
 Cognac. Then by his favour, for you improved the occa- 
 sion, you were allowed to spend the hours of darkness on 
 a wooden bench, in the adjacent long gallery, together 
 with certain little parasites, for which polite language has 
 no name.’ In the morning the janissary of your Consulate 
 was sent for: he came, and claimed you; you were led 
 off criminally; again you gave your name and address, 
 and if your offence was merely sending on your lantern, 
 you were dismissed with advice to be more careful in 
 future. And assuredly your first step was towards the 
 Hammam. | 
 
 But if, on the other hand, you had declared yourself 
 a European, you would either have been dismissed at 
 once, or sent to your Consul, who is here judge, jury, and 
 jailor. Egyptian authority has of late years lost half its 
 prestige. When Mr. Lane first settled at Cairo, all 
 Europeans accused of aggression against Moslems were, 
 he tells us, surrendered to the Turkish magistrates. Now, 
 the native powers have no jurisdiction over strangers, 
 
 rt ‘Our lord,” i.e. H.H. the Pasha. ‘ Kikh”’ is an interjection 
 noting disapproval, or disgust,—"' Fie!’ or ‘‘Ugh!” 
 
 2 Shortly after the Ramazan of 1853, the Consul, I am told, 
 obtained an order that British subjects should be sent directly from 
 the police office, at all hours of the night, tothe Consulate. This was 
 a most sensible measure. 
 
122 Pilevimage to Al-Madinah and Meceah. 
 
 nor can the police enter their houses. If the West would | 
 raise the character of its Eastern co-religionists, it will 
 be forced to push the system a point further, and to allow | 
 all bond-fide Christian subjects to register their names at 
 the different Consulates whose protection they might 
 prefer. This is what Russia has so “ unwarrantably and 
 outrageously’ attempted. We confine ourselves to a 
 lesser injustice, which deprives Eastern states of their 
 right as independent Powers to arrest, and to judge 
 foreigners, who for interest or convenience settle in taeir 
 dominions. But we still shudder at the right of arrogating 
 any such claim over the born lieges of Oriental Powers. 
 What, however, would be the result were Great Britain to 
 authorise her sons resident at Paris, or Florence, to refuse 
 attendance at a French or an Italian court of justice, and 
 to demand that the police should never force the doors of 
 an English subject? 1 commend this consideration to all 
 those who ‘stickle for abstract rights” when the interest 
 and progress of others are concerned, and who become 
 somewhat latitudinarian and concrete in cases where 
 their own welfare and aggrandisement are at stake. 
 Besides patients, | made some pleasant acquaint- 
 ances at Cairo. Antun Zananire, a young Syrian of 
 considerable attainments as a linguist, paid me the com- 
 pliment. of permitting me to see the fair face of his 
 ‘Harim.” Mr. Hatchadur Nury, an Armenian gentle- 
 man, well known in Bombay, amongst other acts of kind- 
 ness, introduced me to one of his compatriots, Khwajah 
 Yusuf, whose advice was most usefultome. The Khwajah 
 had wandered far and wide, picking up everywhere 
 some scrap of strange knowledge, and his history was a 
 romance. Expelled from Cairo for a youthful peccadillo, 
 he started upon his travels, qualified himself for sanctity 
 at Meccah and Al-Madinah, became a religious beggar 
 at Baghdad, studied French at Paris, and finally settled 
 
| VII.—Preparations. to Quit Cairo. 123 
 
 down as a professor of languages,! under an amnesty, at 
 Cairo. In his house I saw an Armenian marriage. The 
 occasion was-memorable: after the gloom and same- 
 ness of Moslem society, nothing could be more glad- 
 dening than the unveiled face of a pretty woman.. Some 
 of the guests were undeniably charming brunettes, with 
 the blackest possible locks, and the brightest conceivable 
 eyes. Only one pretty girl wore the national costume ;? 
 yet they all smoked chibuks and sat upon the Diwans, 
 and, as they entered the room, they kissed with a sweet 
 simplicity the hands of the priest, and of the other old 
 | gentlemen present. 
 
 Among the number of my acquaintances was a 
 Meccan boy, Mohammed al-Basytni, from whom | bought 
 ‘the pilgrim-garb called ‘‘Al-Ihram”’ and the Kafan or 
 shroud, with which the Moslem usually starts upon such 
 ja journey as mine. He, being in his way homewards 
 after a visit to Constantinople, was most anxious to 
 accompany me in the character of a ‘‘companion.”’ 
 But he had travelled too much to suit me; he had visited 
 India, he had seen Englishmen, and he had lived with the 
 *“ Nawab Bali” of Surat. Moreover, he showed signs 
 of over-wisdom. He had been a regular visitor, till I 
 cured one of his friends of an ophthalmia, after which 
 
 x Most Eastern nations, owing to their fine ear for sounds, are 
 quick at picking up languages; but the Armenian is here, what the 
 Russian is in the West, the facile princeps of conversational linguists. 
 I have frequently heard them speak with the purest accent, and 
 admirable phraseology, besides their mother tongue, Turkish, Arabic, 
 Persian, and Hindustani, nor do they evince less aptitude for 
 acquiring the Occidental languages. 
 | 2 It has been too frequently treated of, to leave room for a fresh 
 
 description Though pretty and picturesque, it is open to the re- 
 proach of Moslem dressing, namely, that the in-door toilette admits 
 of a display of bust, and is generally so scanty and flimsy that it is 
 unfit .o meet the. eye-of a stranger This, probably the effect of 
 geciuding women, has now become a cause for concealing them. 
 
124 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 he gave me his address at Meccah, and was seen no 
 more. Haji Wali described him and his party to be 
 ‘Nas jarrar” (extractors), and certainly he had not 
 misjudged them. But the sequel will prove how dey 
 Mensch -denkt und Gott lenkt; and as the boy, Mo- 
 hammed, eventually did become my companion throughout 
 the Pilgrimage, I will place him before the reader as 
 summarily as possible. 
 
 He is a beardless youth, of about eighteen, choco- 
 late-brown, with high features, and a bold profile; his 
 bony and decided Meccan cast of face is lit up by the 
 peculiar Egyptian eye, which seems to descend from 
 generation to generation.. His figure is short and 
 broad, with a tendency to be obese, the result of a strong 
 stomach and the power of sleeping at discretion. He 
 can read a little, write his name, and is uncommonly 
 clever at a bargain. Meccah had taught him to speak 
 excellent Arabic, to understand the literary dialect, to be 
 eloquent in abuse, and to be profound at Prayer and 
 Pilgrimage. Constantinople had given him a taste for| 
 Anacreontic singing, and female society of the question- 
 able kind, a love of strong waters,—the hypocrite looked 
 positively scandalised when I first suggested the subject, 
 ——and an off-hand latitudinarian mode of dealing with 
 serious subjects in general. I found him to be the 
 youngest son of a widow, whose doting fondness had 
 moulded his disposition; he was selfish gaa affectionate, 
 as spoiled children usually are, volatile, easily offended 
 and as easily pacified (the Oriental), coveting other men’s 
 goods, and profuse of his own (the Arab), with a match- 
 less intrepidity of countenance (the traveller), brazen 
 lunged, not more than half brave, exceedingly astute, 
 with an acute sense of honour, especially where his 
 
 I He was. erdm the. Danks of the Nile, as his cognomen, al- 
 Basyuni proves, but his family, f was told, had been settled for threg 
 or four generations at Meccah. 
 
VII.—Preparattons to Quit Cairo. 125 
 
 relations were concerned (the individual), I have 
 seen him in a fit of fury because some one cursed his 
 father; and he and I nearly parted because on one oc- 
 casion I applied to him an epithet which, etymologically 
 ‘considered, might be exceedingly insulting to a high- 
 minded brother, but which in popular parlance signifies 
 nothing. This ‘ pormt d’honneuy”’ was the boy Mohammed’s 
 strong point. 
 
 During the Ramazan I laid in my stores for the 
 journey. These consisted of tea, coffee, loaf-sugar, rice, 
 dates, biscuit, oil, vinegar, tobacco, lanterns, and cooking 
 pots, a small bell-shaped tent, costing twelve shillings, 
 and three water-skins for the Desert.!. The provisions 
 were placed in a “ Kafas”’ or hamper artistically made of 
 palm sticks, and in a huge Sahhdarah, or wooden box, 
 about three feet each way, covered with leather or skin, 
 and provided with a small lid fitting into the top.2. The 
 
 1 Almost all the articles of food were so far useful, that they 
 served every one of the party at least as much as they did their owner. 
 My friends drank my coffee, smoked my tobacco, and ate my rice. I 
 bought better tea at Meccah than at Cairo, and found as good sugar 
 there. It would have been wiser to lay in a small stock merely for 
 the voyage to Yambu’, in which case there might have been more 
 economy. But I followed the advice of those interested in setting 
 me wrong. Turks and Egyptians always go pilgrimaging with a large 
 outfit, as notably as the East-Indian cadet of the present day, and 
 your outfitter at Cairo, as well as Cornhill, is sure to supply you with 
 a variety of superfluities. The tent was useful to me; so were the 
 water-skins, which I preferred to barrels, as being more portable, and 
 less liable to leak. Good skins cost about a dollar each; they should 
 be bought new, and always kept half full of water. 
 
 2, This shape secures the lid, which otherwise, on account of the 
 weight of the box, would infallibly be torn off, or burst open. Like 
 _ the Kafas, the Sahharah should be well padlocked, and if the owner 
 be a saving man, he does not entrust his keys toaservant. I gave 
 away my Kafas at Yambu’, because it had been crushed during the 
 sea-voyage, and I was obliged to leave the Sahharah at Al-Madinah, 
 as my Badawi camel-shaykh positively refused to carry it to Meccah, 
 
 ‘go that both these articles were well nigh useless ‘to me. The Kafas 
 
126 Pilgviniage to Al-Madinak and Meccah, 
 
 former, together with my green box containing medicines, 
 and saddle-bags full of clothes, hung on one side of the 
 camel, a counterpoise to the big Sahharah on the other 
 flank ; the Badawin, like muleteers, always requiring a 
 balance of weight. On the top of the load was placed trans- 
 versely a Shibriyah or cot, on which Shaykh Nur squatted 
 like a large crow. This worthy had strutted out into the 
 streets armed with a pair of horse-pistols and a sword 
 almost as long as himself. No sooner did the mischievous 
 boys of Cairo—they are as bad as the gamins of Paris 
 and London—catch sight of him than they began to 
 scream with laughter at the sight of the “ Hindi (Indian) 
 in arms,” till, like a vagrant owl pursued by a flight of 
 larks, he ran back into the Caravanserai. 
 
 Having spent all my ready money at Cairo, I was 
 obliged to renew the supply. My native acquaintances 
 advised me to take at least eighty. pounds sterling, and 
 considering the expense of outfit for Desert travelling, 
 the sum did not appear excessive. I should have found 
 some difficulty in raising the money had it not been for 
 the kindness of a friend at Alexandria, John Thurburn, 
 now, I regret to say, no more, and Mr. Sam Shepheard, 
 then of Shepheard’s Hotel, Cairo, presently a landed 
 proprietor near Rugby, and now also gone. My Indians 
 scrutinised the diminutive square of paper! — the 
 
 cost four shillings, and the Sahharah about twelve. When these large 
 boxes are really strong and good, they are worth about a pound ster- 
 ling each. 
 
 1 At my final interview with the committee of the Royal Geo- 
 graphical Society, one member, Sir Woodbine Parish, advised an 
 order to be made out on the Society’s bankers; another, Sir Roderick 
 Murchison, kindly offered to give me one on his own, Coutts & Co. : 
 but I, having more experience in Oriental travelling, begged only to 
 be furnished with a diminutive piece of paper, permitting me to draw 
 upon the Society. It was at once given by Dr. Shaw, the Secretary, 
 and it proved of much use eventually, It was purposely made as small 
 as possible, in order to fit into a talisman case. But the traveller must 
 
VII.—Preparations to Quit Cairo. 127 
 
 letter of credit—as a raven may sometimes be seen 
 peering, with head askance, into the interior of a suspected 
 marrow-bone. ‘*Can this be a bond-fide draft?” they 
 mentally inquired. And finally they offered, politely, to 
 write to England for me, to draw the money, and to for- 
 ward it in a sealed bag directed ‘‘ Al-Madinah.” I need 
 scarcely say that such a style of transmission would, in 
 the case of precious metals, have left no possible chance 
 of its safe arrival. When the difficulty was overcome, I 
 _ bougnt fifty pounds’ worth of German dollars (Maria 
 _ Theresas), and invested the rest in English and Turkish 
 _ sovereigns... The gold I myself carried; part of the 
 silver I sewed up in Shaykh Nur’s leather waistbelt, and 
 part was packed in the boxes, for this reason,—when 
 Badawin begin plundering a respectable man, if they find 
 a certain amount of ready money in his baggage, they do 
 not search his person. If they find none they proceed to a 
 bodily inspection, and if his waist-belt be empty they 
 are rather disposed to rip open his stomach, in the 
 belief that he must have some peculiarly ingenious way 
 of secreting valuables. Having passed through this 
 trouble I immediately fell into another. My hardly- 
 earned Alexandrian passport required a double visa, one 
 at the Police office, the other at the Consul’s. After return- 
 ing to Egypt, I found it was the practice of travellers 
 
 bear in mind, that if his letters of credit be addressed to Orientals, 
 the sheet of paper should always be large, and grand-looking. These 
 people have no faith in notes,—commercial, epistolary, or diplomatic. 
 
 1 Before leaving Cairo, I bought English sovereigns for 112, and 
 sold them in Arabia for 122 piastres. ‘‘ Aba Takahs,” (pataks, or 
 Spanish pillar-dollars), as they are called in Al-Hijaz, cost me 24 
 piastres, and in the Holy City were worth 28. The “ Sinku” (French 
 five franc piece) is bought for 22 piastres in Egypt, and sells at 24 in 
 Arabia. The silver Majidi costs 20 at Cairo, and is worth 22 in the 
 Red Sea, and finally I gained 3 piastres upon the gold “ Ghazi" of 
 to. Such was the rate of exchange in 1853. It varies, however, 
 perpetually, and in 1863 may be totally different. 
 
128 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 who required any civility from Dr. Walne, then the Eng- 
 lish official at Cairo, to enter the ‘“‘ Presence ”’ furnished 
 with an order from the Foreign Office. 
 
 I had neglected the precaution, and had ample 
 reason to regret having done so. Failing at the British 
 Consulate, and unwilling to leave Cairo without being 
 “en végle,”"—the Egyptians warned me that Suez was a 
 place of obstacles to pilgrims,'—I was obliged to look 
 elsewhere for protection. My friend Haji Wali was the 
 first consulted ; after a long discussion he offered to take 
 me to his Consul, the Persian, and to find out for what 
 sum | could become a temporary subject of the Shah. 
 We went to the sign of the ‘‘ Lion and the Sun,” and we 
 found the dragoman,’ a subtle Syrian Christian, who, 
 
 1 The reason of this will be explained in a future chapter. 
 
 2 The Consular dragoman is one of the greatest abuses I know. 
 The tribe is, for the most part, Levantine and Christian, and its con- 
 nections are extensive. The father will perhaps be interpreter to 
 the English, the son to the French Consulate. By this means the 
 most privy affairs will become known to every member of the depart- 
 ment, except the head, and eventually to that best of spy-trainers, 
 the Turkish government. This explains how a subordinate, whose 
 pay is £200 per annum, and who spends double that sum, can 
 afford, after twelve or thirteen years’ service, to purchase a house 
 for £2,000 and tu furnish it for as much more. Besides which, the 
 condition, the ideas, and the very nature of these dragomans are 
 completely Oriental The most timid and cringing of men, they dare 
 not take the proper tone with a government to which, in case of the 
 expulsion of a Consul, they and their families would become subject. 
 And their prepossessions are utterly Oriental. Hanna Massara, 
 dragoman to the Consul-General at Cairo, in my presence and before 
 others, advocated the secret murder of a Moslem girl who had fled 
 with a Greek, on the grounds that an adulteress must always be put 
 to death, either publicly ur under the rose. Yet this man is an ‘old: 
 and tried servant ° of ine State. Such evils might be in part miti- 
 gated by employing fngiish youths, of whom an ample supply, if 
 there were any demand, would soon be forthcoming. This measure 
 has been advocated by the best authorities, but without success. 
 Most probably, the reason of the neglect is the diffculty how to 
 begin, or where tu end, the Augeas labour of Consular reform. 
 
' VII.—Preparations to Quit Cairo. " 129 
 
 after a rigid inquiry into the state of my purse (my 
 country was no consideration at all‘), introduced me to 
 the Great Man. I have described this personage once 
 already, and he merits not a second notice. The inter- 
 view was truly ludicrous. He treated us with exceed- 
 ing hauteur, motioned me to sit almost out of hearing, 
 and after rolling his head in profound silence for nearly 
 a quarter of an hour, vouchsafed the information that 
 though my father might be a Shirazi, and my mother an 
 Afghan, he had not the honour of my acquaintance. 
 His companion, a large old Persian with Polyphemean 
 eyebrows and a mulberry beard, put some gruff and dis- 
 couraging questions. I quoted the verses 
 ‘“‘ He is a man who benefits his fellow men, 
 
 Not he who says ‘why?’ and ‘ wherefore?’ and ‘ how much?’”’ 
 upon which an imperious wave of the arm directed me to 
 return to the dragoman, who had the effrontery to ask 
 me four pounds sterling for a Persian passport. I offered 
 one. He derided my offer, and I went away perplexed. 
 On -my return to Cairo some months afterwards, he sent 
 to say that had he known meas an Englishman, I should 
 have had the document gratis,—a civility for which he 
 was duly thanked. 
 
 At last my Shaykh Mohammed hit upon the plan. 
 “Thou art,” said he, ‘‘an Afghan; I will fetch hither the 
 principal of the Afghan college at the Azhar, and he, if 
 
 i Ina previous chapter I have alluded to the species of protec- 
 tion formerly common in the East. Europe, it is to be feared, is not 
 yet immaculate in this respect, and men say that were a list of 
 
 protected’ ifurnished by the different Consulates at Cairo, it would 
 be a curiot$document. As no one, Egyptian or foreigner, would, if 
 
 -he could possibly help it, be subject to the Egyptian government, 
 large sums might be raised by the simple process of naturalising 
 strangers. At the Persian Consulate r1o dollars—the century for the 
 Consul, and the decade for his dragoman—have been paid for pro- 
 tection. A stern fact this for those who advocate the self-government 
 of the childish East. 
 
 RYOL. 1. : 
 
130 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 thou make it worth his while,” (this in a whisper) ‘ will 
 be thy friend.” The case was looking desperate; my 
 preceptor was urged to lose no time. 
 
 Presently Shaykh Mohammed returned in company | 
 
 with the principal, a little, thin, ragged-bearded, one-eyed, 
 hare-lipped divine, dressed in very dirty clothes, of non- 
 descript cut. Born at Maskat of Afghan parents, and 
 brought up at Meccah, he was a kind of cosmopolite, 
 speaking five languages fluently, and full of reminiscences 
 of toil and travel. He refused pipes and coffee, professing 
 to be ascetically disposed: but he ate more than half my 
 dinner, to reassure me, I presume, should I have been 
 fearful that abstinence might injure his health. We 
 then chatted in sundry tongues. I offered certain pre- 
 sents of books, which were rejected (such articles being 
 valueless), and the Shaykh Abd al-Wahhab having ex- 
 pressed his satisfaction at my account of myself, told me 
 to call for him at the Azhar Mosque next Morning. 
 Accordingly at six p.m. Shaykh Mohammed and 
 Abdullah Khan,'—the latter equipped in a gigantic 
 sprigged-muslin turband, so as to pass for a student of 
 theology,—repaired to Al-Azhar. Passing through the 
 open quadrangle, we entered the large hall which forms 
 the body of the Mosque. In the northern wall was adwarf 
 door, leading by breakneck stairs to a pigeon-hole, the 
 study of the learned Afghan Shaykh. We found him 
 ensconced behind piles of musty and greasy manuscripts, 
 surrounded by scholars and scribes, with whom he was 
 cheapening books. He had not much business to trans- 
 
 act; but long before he was ready, the stifling atmosphere - 
 
 drove us out of the study, and we repaired to the hall. 
 Presently the Shaykh joined us, and we all rode on 
 
 to the citadel, and waited in a Mosque till the office hour | 
 
 struck. When the doors were opened we went into the 
 
 er 
 1 Khan is a title assumed in India and other countries by all 
 Afghans, and Pathans, their descendants, simple as well as gentle. 
 
VII.—Prepavations to Quit Cairo, 131 
 
 ‘‘ Diwan,” and sat patiently till the Shaykh found an 
 opportunity of putting ina word. The officials were two 
 in number; one an old invalid, very thin and sickly- 
 looking, dressed in the Turco-European style, whose hand 
 _ was being severely kissed by a troop of religious beggars, 
 to whom he had done some small favours ; the other was 
 a stout young clerk, whose duty it was to engross, and 
 not to have his hand kissed. 
 
 My name and other essentials were required, and no 
 objections were offered, for who holier than the Shaykh Abd 
 al-Wahhab ibn Yinus al-Sulaymani? The clerk filled 
 up a printed paper in the Turkish language, apparently 
 borrowed from the European method for spoiling the 
 traveller; certified me, upon the Shaylkh’s security, to be © 
 one Abdullah, the son of Ydsuf (Joseph), originally from 
 Kabul, described my person, and, in exchange for five 
 piastres, handed me the document. I received it with 
 joy. 
 
 With bows, and benedictions, and many wishes that 
 Allah might make it the officials’ fate to become pilgrims, 
 we left the office, and returned towards Al-Azhar. When 
 we had nearly reached the Mosque, Shaykh Mohammed 
 lagged behind, and made the sign. I drew near the 
 Afghan, and asked for his hand. He took the hint, and 
 muttering, ‘It is no matter !”—“ It is not necessary !”— 
 ‘¢ By Allah it is not required!” extended his fingers, and 
 brought the “musculus guineorum” to bear upon three 
 dollars. | 
 
 Poor man! I believe it was his necessity that con- 
 sented to be paid for the doing a common act of Moslem 
 charity; he had a wife and children, and the calling of an 
 - Alim? is no longer worth much in Egypt. 
 
 My departure from Cairo was hastened by an acci- 
 dent.. I lost my reputation by a little misfortune that 
 happened in this wise. 
 
 1 A theologian, a learned man. 
 
132 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 At Haji Wali’s room in the Caravanserai, I met 
 a Yuzb4shi, or captain of Albanian Irregulars, who 
 was in Egypt on leave from Al-Hijaz. He was a tall, 
 bony, and broad-shouldered mountaineer, about forty 
 years old, with the large bombé brow, the fierce eyes, thin 
 lips, lean jaws, and peaky chin of his race. His musta- 
 chios were enormously long and tapering, and the rest of 
 his face, like his head, was close shaven. His Fustan* was 
 none of the cleanest; nor was the red cap, which he wore 
 rakishly pulled over his frowning forehead, quite free 
 from stains. Not permitted to carry the favourite pistols, 
 he contented himself with sticking his right hand in the 
 empty belt, and stalking about the house with a most 
 military mien. Yet he was as little of a bully as carpet 
 knight, that same Ali Agha; his body showed many a 
 grisly scar, and one of his shin bones had been broken 
 by a Turkish bullet, when he was playing tricks on the 
 Albanian hills,—an accident inducing a limp, which he 
 attempted to conceal by a heavy swagger. When he 
 spoke, his voice was affectedly gruff; he hada sad knack 
 of sneering, and I never saw him thoroughly sober. 
 
 Our acquaintance began with a kind of storm, which 
 blew over, and left fine weather. I was showing Haji 
 Wali my pistols with Damascene barrels when Ali Agha 
 entered the room. He sat down before me with a grin, 
 which said intelligibly enough, ‘‘ What business have you 
 with weapons ?”—snatched the arm out of my hand, and 
 began to inspect it as a connoisseur. Not admiring this 
 procedure, I wrenched it away from him, and, addressing 
 myself to Haji Wali, proceeded quietly with my disserta- 
 tion. The captain of Irregulars and I then looked at 
 each other. He cocked his cap on one side, in token of 
 excited pugnacity. Itwirled my moustachios to display 
 a kindred emotion. Had he been armed, and in Al-Hijaz, 
 
 Ee nn er 
 
 1 The stiff, white, plaited kilt worn by Albanians. 
 
VII.—Prepavations to Quit Cairo. 133 
 
 we should have fought it out at once, for the Arnauts are 
 “‘teyvibilt colla pistola,” as the Italians say, meaning that 
 upon the least provocation they pull out a horse-pistol, 
 ‘and fire it in the face of friend or foe. Of course, the only 
 way under these circumstances is to anticipate them; but 
 even this desperate prevention seldom saves a stranger, 
 as whenever there is danger, these men go about in 
 pairs. I never met with a more reckless brood. Upon 
 the line of march Albanian troops are not allowed 
 ammunition; for otherwise there would be half a dozen 
 duels a day. When they quarrel over their cups, it is 
 the fashion for each man to draw a pistol, and to place it 
 against his opponent’s breast. The weapons being kept 
 accurately clean, seldom miss fire, and if one combatant 
 draw trigger before the other, he would immediately be 
 shot down by the bystanders.’ In Egypt these men,— 
 who are used as Irregulars, and are often quartered upon 
 the hapless villagers, when unable or unwilling to pay 
 taxes,—were the terror of the population. On many 
 occasions they have quarrelled with foreigners, and in- 
 sulted European women. In Al-Hijaz their recklessness 
 -awes even the Badawin. The townspeople say of them 
 that, ‘‘tripe-sellers, and bath-servants, at Stambul, they 
 become Pharaohs (tyrants, ruffians,) in Arabia.” At 
 Jeddah the Arnauts have amused themselves with firing 
 at the English Consul, Mr. Ogilvie, when he walked upon 
 his terrace. And this man-shooting appears a favourite 
 sport with them: at Cairo numerous stories illustrate the 
 sang froid with which they used to knock over the camel- 
 drivers, if any one dared to ride past their barracks. 
 The Albanians vaunt their skill in using weapons, and 
 their pretensions impose upon Arabs as well as Egyptians; 
 yet I have never found them wonderful with any arm 
 
 1 Those curious about the manners of these desperadoes may 
 consult the pages of Giovanni Finati (Murray, London, 1830), and [ 
 will be answerable that he exaggerates nothing. 
 
{34 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 (the pistol alone excepted); and our officers, who have 
 visited their native hills, speak of them as tolerable but 
 by no means first-rate rifle shots. | 
 
 The captain of Irregulars being unhappily debarred 
 the pleasure of shooting me, after looking fierce for a time, 
 rose, and walked majestically out of the room. A day or 
 two afterwards, he called upon me civilly enough, sat 
 down, drank a cup of coffee, smoked a pipe, and began to 
 converse. But as he knew about a hundred Arabic 
 words, and I as many Turkish, our conversation was 
 carried on under difficulties. Presently he asked me ina 
 whisper for “*’Araki.”! I replied that there was none in 
 the house, which induced a sneer and an ejaculation - 
 sounding like ‘‘ Himar,”’ (ass,) the slang synonym amongst 
 fast Moslems for water-drinker. After rising to depart, he 
 seized me waggishly, with an eye to a trial of strength. 
 Thinking that an Indian doctor and a temperance man 
 would not be very dangerous, he exposed himself to what 
 is professionally termed a ‘“ cross-buttock,” and had his 
 “nut” come in contact with the stone floor instead of my 
 bed, he might not have drunk for many a day. The fall 
 had a good effect upon his temper. He jumped up, 
 
 1 Vulgarly Raki, the cognac of Egypt and Turkey. Generically 
 the word means any spirit ; specifically, it is applied to that extracted 
 from dates, or dried grapes. The latter is more expensive than the 
 former, and costs from 5 to 7 piastres the bottle. It whitens the 
 water like Eau de Cologne, and being considered a stomachic, is 
 patronised by Europeans as much as by Asiatics. In the Azbakiyah 
 gardens at Cairo, the traveller is astonished by perpetual “‘shouts"’ 
 for ‘‘Sciroppo di gomma,” as if all the Western population was 
 afflicted with sore throat. The reason is that spirituous liquors in a 
 
 -Moslem land must not be sold in places of public resort; so the 
 infidel asks for a ‘syrup of gum," and obtains a “dram” of ’Araki. 
 The favourite way of drinking it, is to swallow it neat, aad to wash 
 it down with a mouthful of cold water. Taken in this way it acts 
 like the ‘petit verre d'absinthe.” Egyptian women {slight in it, 
 and Eastern topers of all classes and sexes prefer it to trandy and 
 cognac, the smell of which, betng strange, is offensive to thzm. 
 
V1II.—Prepavations to Quit Cairo. 135 
 
 patted my head, called for another pipe, and sat down to 
 show me his wounds, and to boast of his exploits. I 
 could not help remarking a ring of English gold, with a 
 bezel of bloodstone, sitting strangely upon his coarse, 
 - sun-stained hand. Hedeclared that it had been snatched 
 by him from a Konsdl (Consul) at Jeddah, and he 
 volubly related, in a mixture of Albanian, Turkish, and 
 Arabic, the history of his acquisition. He begged me 
 to supply him with a little poison that ‘* would not lie,” 
 for the purpose of quieting a troublesome enemy, and he 
 carefully stowed away in his pouch five grains of calomel, 
 which I gave him for that laudable purpose. Before 
 taking leave he pressed me strongly to go and drink 
 with him; I refused to do so during the day, but, wishing 
 to see how these men sacrifice to Bacchus, promised com- 
 pliance that night. About nine o’clock, when the Cara- 
 vanserai was quiet, I took a pipe, and a_ tobacco- 
 pouch,! stuck my dagger in my belt, and slipped into Ali 
 Agha’s room. He was sitting on a bed spread upon the 
 ground: in front of him stood four wax candles (all 
 Orientals hate drinking in any but a bright light), and a 
 tray containing a basin of stuff like soup maigre, a dish 
 of cold stewed meat, and two bowls of Salatah,? sliced 
 cucumber, and curds. The ‘materials’ peeped out of 
 an iron pot filled with water; one was a long, thin, white- 
 glass flask of ’Araki, the other a bottle of some strong 
 
 1 When Egyptians of the middle classes call upon one another, 
 the visitor always carries with him his tobacco-pouch, which he 
 hands to the servant, who fills his pipe. 
 
 2 The ‘‘Salatah"’ is made as follows. Take a cucumber, pare, 
 slice and place it in a plate, sprinkling it over with salt. After a few 
 minutes, season it abundantly with pepper, and put it in a bowl 
 containing some peppercorns, and about a pint of curds. When the 
 dish is properly mixed, a live coal is placed upon the top of the 
 compound to make it bind, as the Arabs say. It is considered a cooling 
 dish, and is esteemed by the abstemious, as well as by the toper. 
 
136 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 perfume. Both were wrapped up in wet rags, the usual 
 refrigerator. 
 Ali Agha welcomed me politely, and seeing me 
 admire the preparations, bade me beware how I suspected 
 an Albanian of not knowing how to drink; he made me 
 sit by him on the bed, threw his dagger to a handy dis- 
 tance, signalled me to do the same, and prepared to begin 
 the bout. Taking up a little tumbler, in shape like those 
 from which French postilions used to drink la goutte, he 
 inspected it narrowly, wiped out the interior with his 
 forefinger, filled it to the brim, and offered it to his guest? 
 with a bow. I received it with a low salam, swallowed 
 its contents at once, turned it upside down in proof of 
 fair play, replaced it upon the floor, with a jaunty move- 
 ment of the arm, somewhat like a pugilist delivering a 
 ‘‘rounder,” bowed again, and requested him to help him- 
 self. The same ceremony followed on his part. Im- 
 mediately after each glass,—and rapidly the cup went 
 about,—we swallowed a draught of water, and ate a 
 spoonful of the meat or the Salatah in order to cool our 
 palates. Then we re-applied ourselves to our pipes, 
 emitting huge puffs, a sign of being “fast” men, and 
 looked facetiously at each other,—drinking being con- 
 sidered by Moslems a funny and pleasant sort of sin. 
 The Albanian captain was at least half seas over 
 when we began the bout, yet he continued to fill and to 
 drain without showing the least progress towards ebriety. 
 I in vain for a time expected the bad-masti (as the Persians 
 call it,) the horse play, and the gross facetiz, which gene- 
 
 1 These Albanians are at most half Asiatic as regards manner. 
 In the East generally, the host drinks of the cup, and dips his hand 
 into the dish before his guest, for the same reason that the master of 
 the house precedes his visitor over the threshold. Both actions 
 denote that no treachery is frcended, and to reverse them, as amongst 
 us, would be a gross breach of custom, likely to excite the liveliest 
 suspicions. 
 
VII.—Preparations to Quit Cairo. 137 
 
 cally accompany southern and eastern tipsiness. Ali 
 Agha, indeed, occasionally took up the bottle of perfume, 
 filled the palm of his right hand, and dashed it in my 
 face: I followed his example, but our pleasantries went 
 no further. 
 
 Presently my companion started a grand project, 
 namely, that I should entice the respectable Haji Wali 
 into the room, where we might force him to drink. The 
 idea was facetious; it was making a Bow-street magis- 
 trate polkat a casino. I started upto fetch the Haji; and 
 when I returned with him Ali Agha was found in a new 
 stage of ‘‘freshness.” He had stuck a green-leaved 
 twig upright in the floor, and had so turned over a gugglet 
 of water, that its contents trickled slowly, in a tiny 
 stream under the verdure; whilst he was sitting before it 
 mentally gazing, with an outward show of grim Quixotic 
 tenderness, upon the shady trees and the cool rills of his 
 fatherland. Possibly he had peopled the place with 
 “young barbarians at play ;” for verily I thought that a 
 tear ‘‘ which had no business there” was glistening in 
 his stony eye. 
 
 The appearance of Haji Wali suddenly changed the 
 scene. Ali Agha jumped up, seized the visitor by the 
 shoulder, compelled him to sit down, and, ecstasied by 
 the old man’s horror at the scene, filled a tumbler, and 
 with the usual grotesque grimaces insisted upon its being 
 drunk off. Haji Walistoutly refused; then Ali Agha put 
 it to his own lips, and drained it, with a hurt feeling and 
 reproachful aspect. We made our unconvivial friend 
 smoke a few puffs, and then we returned to the charge. 
 In vain the Haji protested that throughout life he had 
 avoided the deadly sin; in vain he promised to drink 
 with us to-morrow,—in vain he quoted the Koran, and 
 alternately coaxed, and threatened us with the police. We 
 were inexorable. At last the Haji started upon his feet, 
 _ and rushed away, regardless of any thing but escape, 
 
138 Pilgrimage to Al-Madimah and Meccah. 
 
 leaving his Tarbush, his slippers, and his pipe, in the 
 hands of the enemy. The host did not dare to pursue 
 his recreant guest beyond the door, but returning he 
 carefully sprinkled the polluting liquid on the cap, pipe, 
 and shoes, and called the Haji an ass in every tongue he 
 knew. 
 
 Then we applied ourselves to supper, and dis- 
 patched the soup, the stew, and the Salatah. A few 
 tumblers and pipes were exhausted to obviate indigestion, 
 when. Ali Agha arose majestically, and said that he 
 required a troop ot dancing girls to gladden his eyes with 
 a ballet. 
 
 I represented that such persons are no longer ad- 
 mitted into Caravanserais.1 He inquired, with calm 
 ferocity, ‘‘who hath forbidden it?” I replied ‘the 
 Pasha ;” upon which Ali Agha quietly removed his cap, 
 brushed it with his dexter fore-arm, fitted it on his fore- 
 head, raking forwards, twisted his mustachios to the sharp 
 point of a single hair, shouldered his pipe, and moved 
 towards the door, vowing that he would make the Pasha 
 himself come, and dance before us. 
 
 I foresaw a brawl, and felt thankful that my boon 
 companion had forgotten his dagger. Prudence whis- 
 pered me to return to my room, to bolt the door, and to 
 go to bed, but conscience suggested that it would be un- 
 fair to abandon the Albanian in his present helpless state. 
 I followed him into the outer gallery, pulling him, and 
 begging him, as a despairing wife might urge a drunken 
 husband, to return home. And he, like the British hus- 
 band, being greatly irritated by the unjovial advice, 
 instantly belaboured with his pipe-stick® the first person 
 
 1 Formerly these places, like the coffee-houses, were crowded 
 with bad characters. Of late years the latter have been refused 
 admittance, but it would be as easy to bar the door to gnats and 
 flies. They appear as ‘ foot-pages,’’ as washerwomen, as beggars; 
 
 in fact, they evade the law with ingenuity and impunity. 
 2 Isma’il Pasha was murdered by Malik: Nimr, chiel of Shendy — 
 
VII.—Pvreparations to Quit Cairo. 139 
 
 he met in the gallery, and sent him flying down the 
 stairs with fearful shouts of ‘‘O Egyptians! O ye ac- 
 cursed! O genus of Pharaoh! O race of dogs! O 
 ' Egyptians!” 
 
 He then burst open a door with his shoulder, and 
 reeled into a room where two aged dames were placidly 
 reposing by the side of their spouses, who were basket- 
 makers, They immediately awoke, seeing a stranger, 
 and, hearing his foul words, they retorted with a hot 
 volley of vituperation. 
 
 Put to flight by the old women’s tongues, Ali Agha, 
 in spite of all my endeavours, reeled down the stairs, and 
 fell upon the sleeping form of the night porter, whose 
 blood he vowed to drink—the Oriental form of threaten- 
 ing ‘‘spiflication.” Happily for the assaulted, the Agha’s 
 servant, a sturdy Albanian lad, was lying on a mat in 
 the doorway close by. Roused by the tumult, he jumped 
 up, and found the captain in a state of fury. Apparently 
 the man was used to the master’s mood. Without delay 
 he told us all to assist, and we lending a helping hand, 
 half dragged and half carried the Albanian to his room. 
 Yet even in this ignoble plight, he shouted with all the 
 force of his lungs the old war-cry, ‘‘O Egyptians! O race 
 of dogs! I have dishonoured all Sikandariyah—all 
 Kahirah—all Suways.'” And in this vaunting frame of 
 mind he was put to bed. No Welsh undergraduate at 
 Oxford, under similar circumstances, ever gave more 
 trouble. 
 
 ‘You had better start on your pilgrimage at once,” 
 
 for striking him with a chibuk across the face. Travellers would do 
 _well to remember, that in these lands the pipe-stick and the slipper 
 disgrace a man, whereas a whip or a rod would not doso. The 
 probable reason of this is, that the two articles of domestic use are 
 applied slightingly, not seriously, to the purposes of punishment. 
 1 Anglicé, Alexandria, Cairo, and Suez,—an extensive field of 
 operations. 
 
¥40 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 said Haji Wali, meeting me the next morning with a 
 ** soguenard ” smile. 
 
 He was right. Throughout the Caravanserai nothing 
 was talked of for nearly a week but the wickedness of the 
 captain of Albanian Irregulars, and the hypocrisy of the 
 staid Indian doctor. Thus it was, gentle reader, that I lost 
 my reputation of being a ‘serious person” at Cairo. 
 And all I have to show for it is the personal experience 
 of an Albanian drinking-bout. 
 
 I wasted but little time in taking leave of my friends. 
 telling them, by way of precaution, that my destination 
 was Meccah vid Jeddah, and firmly determining, if pos- 
 sible, to. make Al-Madinah wid Yambu’. ‘ Conceal,” 
 ‘says the Arab’s proverb, ‘“‘ Thy Tenets, thy ghee and 
 thy Travelling.” 
 
CHARTER RiaV Chi 
 FROM CAIRO TO SUEZ. 
 
 SHayvkH NassAr, a Badawi of Tur (Mount Sinai,) 
 being on his way homewards, agreed to let me have two 
 dromedaries for the sum of fifty piastres, or about ten 
 shillings, each. Being desirous to set out with a certain 
 display of respectability, I accepted these terms: a man 
 of humble pretensions would have travelled with a single 
 animal, and a camel-man running behind him. But, 
 besides ostentation, I wanted my attendant to be mounted, 
 that we might make a forced march in order to ascertain 
 how much a four years’ life of European effeminacy had 
 impaired my powers of endurance. The reader may 
 believe the assertion that there are few better tests than 
 an eighty-four mile ride in mid-summer, on a bad wooden 
 saddle, borne by a worse dromedary, across the Suez 
 Desert. Even the Squire famed for being copper-sheeted 
 might not have disdained a trial of the kind. 
 
 I started my Indian boy and heavy luggage for Suez 
 two days before the end of the Id,—laden camels gene- 
 ‘rally taking fifty-five or sixty hours to do the journey, 
 and I spent the intermediate time with Haji Wali. He 
 advised me to mount about 3 p.M., so that I might arrive 
 at Suez on the evening of the next day, and assisted me 
 
 1 The proper hire of a return dromedary from Cairo to Suez is 
 forty piastres, But every man is charged in proportion to his rank, 
 and Europeans generally pay about double. 
 
142, Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 in making due preparations of water, tobacco, and pro- 
 visions. Early on the morning of departure the Afghan 
 Shaykh came to the Caravanserai, and breakfasted with 
 us, ‘because Allah willed it.” After a copious meal 
 he bestowed upon me a stately benediction, and would 
 have embraced me, but I humbly bent over his hand: 
 sad to relate, immediately that his back was turned, 
 Haji Wali raised his forefinger to a right angle with 
 the palm (chaff), and burst into a shout of irreverent 
 laughter. At three o’clock Nassar, the Badawi, came to 
 announce that the dromedaries were saddled. I dressed 
 myself, sticking a pistol in my belt, and passing the crim- 
 son silk cord of the ‘* Hamail” or pocket Koran over my 
 shoulder, in token of being a pilgrim. Then distributing 
 a few trifling presents to friends and servants, and accom- 
 panied by the Shaykh Mohammed and Haji Wali, I de- 
 scended the stairs with an important gait. Inthe courtyard 
 squatted the camels, (dromedaries they could not be called,) 
 and I found that a second driver was going to accompany 
 us. I objected to this, as the extra Badawi would, of 
 course, expect to be fed by me; but Nassar swore that the 
 man was his brother, and as you rarely gain by small 
 disputes with these people, he was allowed to have his 
 Own way. 
 
 Then came the preparatory leave-takings. Haji 
 Wali embraced me heartily, and so did my poor old Shaykh, 
 who, despite his decrepitude and my objections, insisted 
 upon accompanying me to the city gate. I mounted the 
 camel, crossed my legs before the pommel—stirrups 
 are not used in Egypt’—and, preceding my friend, de- 
 
 Tete mena eer Pe Wwe ee 
 
 1 The tender traveller had better provide himself with a pair of 
 stirrups, but he will often find, when on camel back, that his legs 
 are more numbed by hanging down, than by the Arab way of 
 crossing them before and beneath the pommel. He must, however, 
 be careful to inspect his saddle, and, should bars of wood not suit 
 him, to have them covered with stuffed leather. And again, for my 
 
~~ 
 
 VIII.—F vom Caivo to Suez. 143 
 
 scended the street leading towards the Desert. As we 
 emerged from the huge gateway of the Caravanserai all 
 the bystanders, except only the porter, who believed me 
 to be a Persian, and had seen me with the drunken 
 
 captain, exclaimed, ‘‘ Allah bless thee, Y’al-H4jj,' and - 
 
 restore thee to thy country and thy friends!” And 
 passing through the Bab al-Nasr, where I addressed the 
 salutation of peace to the sentry, and to the officer com- 
 manding the guard, both gave me God-speed with great 
 cordiality’—the pilgrim’s blessing in Asia, like the old 
 woman’s in Europe, being supposed to possess peculiar 
 efficacy. Outside the gate my friends took a final leave 
 of me, and I will not deny having felt a tightening of 
 heart as their honest faces and forms faded in the 
 distance. 
 
 But Shaykh Nassar switches his camel’s shoulder, 
 and appears inclined to take the lead. This is a trial of 
 manliness. There is no time for emotion. Not a moment 
 can be spared, even for a retrospect. I kick my drome- 
 dary, who steps out into a jog-trot. The Badawin with 
 a loud ringing laugh attempt to give me the go-by. I 
 resist, and we continue like children till the camels are at 
 their speed, though we have eighty-four miles before us, 
 and above us an atmosphere like a furnace blast. The 
 road is deserted at this hour, otherwise grave Moslem 
 
 part, I would prefer riding acamel with a nose-ring,—Mongol and 
 Sindian fashion,—to holding him, as the Egyptians do, with a halter, 
 or to guiding him,—Wahhabiwise,—with a stick. 
 
 1 “O pilgrim!” The Egyptians write the word Hajj, and pro- 
 nounce Hagg. In Persia, India, and Turkey, it becomes Haji. 
 These are mere varieties of form, derived from one and the same 
 Arabic root. 
 
 2 The Egyptians and Arabs will not address ‘‘Salam” to an 
 infidel , the Moslems of India have no such objection. This, on the 
 banks of the Nile, is the revival of an old prejudice. Alexander of 
 Alexandria, in his circular letter, describes the Arian héretics as 
 men whom it is not lawful to salute, or to bid God-speed.” 
 
F44 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 travellers would have believed the police to be nearer than 
 convenient to us. | | 
 Presently we drew rein, and exchanged our pace for 
 one more seasonable, whilst the sun began to tell on man 
 and beast. High raised as we were above the ground, 
 the reflected heat struck us sensibly, and the glare of a 
 macadamized road added a few extra degrees of caloric.} 
 The Badawin, to refresh themselves, prepare to smoke. 
 They fill my chibuk, light it with a flint and steel, and 
 cotton dipped in a solution of gunpowder, and pass it 
 over tome.? After a few puffs I return it to them, and 
 they use it turn by turn. Then they begin to while 
 away the tedium of the road by asking questions, which 
 passe-temps is not easily exhausted; for they are never 
 satisfied till they know as much of you as you do of your- 
 self. They next resort to talking about victuals; for with 
 this hungry race, food, as a topic of conversation, takes 
 the place of money in happier lands. And lastly, even 
 this engrossing subject being exhausted for the moment, 
 1 It is Prince Pickler Muskau, if I recollect rightly, who men- 
 tions that in his casea pair of dark spectacles produced a marked 
 difference of apparent temperature, whilst travelling over the sultry 
 sand of the Desert. I have often remarked the same phenomenon. 
 The Arabs, doubtless for some reason of the kind, always draw their 
 head-kerchiefs, like hoods, far over their brows, and cover up their 
 mouths, even when the sun and wind are behind them. Inhabitants 
 of the Desert are to be recognised by the net-work of wrinkles traced 
 
 in the skin round the orbits, the result of half-closing their eyelids: 
 but this is done to temper the intensity of the light. 
 
 2 Their own pipe-tubes were of coarse wood, in shape somewhat 
 resembling the German porcelain pipe. The bowl was of soft stone, 
 apparently steatite, which, when fresh, is easily fashioned with a 
 knife. In Arabia the Badawin, and even the townspeople, use on 
 journeys an earthen tube from five to six inches shorter than the — 
 - English “clay,” thicker in the tube, with a large bowl, and coloured 
 yellowish-red. It contains a handful of tobacco, and the smoker 
 emits puffs like a chimney. In some of these articles the bow] forms 
 a rectangle with the tube; in others, the whole is an unbroken 
 curve, like the old Turkish Meerschaum, 
 
VIII.—Fvom Cairo to Suez. 145 
 
 ‘they take refuge in singing; and, monotonous and dron- 
 ing as it is, their Modinha has yet an artless plaintiveness, 
 which admirably suits the singer and the scenery. If 
 you listen to the words, you will surely hear allusions 
 to bright verdure, cool shades, bubbling rills, or some- 
 thing which hereabouts man hath not, and yet which his 
 soul desires. 
 
 And now while Nassar and his brother are chaunting 
 a duet,—the refrain being, 
 
 * W’al arz mablal bi matar,” 
 ‘* And the earth wet with rain,”"— 
 
 I must crave leave to say a few words, despite the trite- 
 ness of the subject, about the modern Sinaitic race of 
 Arabs. 
 
 Besides the tribes occupying the northern parts of 
 the peninsula, five chief clans are enumerated by Burck- 
 hardt.1 Nassar, and other authorities at Suez, divided 
 them into six, namely :— 
 
 1. Karashi, who, like the Gara in Eastern Arabia, 
 claim an apocryphal origin from the great Koraysh tribe. 
 
 2. Salihi, the principal family of the Sinaitic Badawin. 
 
 3. Arimi: according to Burckhardt this clan is merely 
 a sub-family of the Saw4lihahs. 
 
 4. Sadi. Burckhardt calls them Walad Sa’id and 
 derives them also from the Sawalihahs. 
 
 5. Aliki; and lastly, the 
 
 6. Muzaynah, generally pronounced M’zaynah. This 
 clan claims tobe an off-shoot from the great Juhaynah tribe 
 inhabiting the coasts and inner barrens about Yambu’, © 
 According to oral tradition, five persons, the ancestors 
 of the present Muzaynah race, were forced by a blood- 
 feud to fly their native country. They landed at the 
 Shurim,? or creek-ports, and have now spread them- 
 x See Wallin’s papers, published in the Journals of the Royal 
 
 Geographical Society. 
 2 Shurum, (plural of Sharm, a creek), a word prefixed to the 
 proper names of three small ports in the Sinaitic peninsula. 
 
146 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 selves over the Eastern parts of the so-called ‘‘Sinaitic 
 peninsula. In Al-Hijaz the Muzaynah is an old an 
 noble tribe. It produced Ka’ab al-Ahbar, the celebrate 
 poet, to whom Mohammed gave the cloak which th 
 Ottomans believe to have been taken by Sultan Salir 
 from Egypt, and to have been converted under th 
 name of Khirkah Sharif, into the national Orifamme. 
 
 There are some interesting ethnographical point 
 about these Sinaitic clans—interesting at least to thos 
 who would trace the genealogy of the great Arabia: 
 family. Any one who knows the Badawin can see tha 
 the Muzaynah are pure blood. Their brows are broad 
 their faces narrow, their features regular, and their eye 
 of a moderate size; whereas the other Tawarah! (Sinaitic 
 clans are as palpably Egyptian. They have preserved tha 
 roundness of face which may still be seen in the Sphin: 
 as in the modern Copt, and their eyes have that peculia 
 size, shape, and look, which the old Egyptian painter 
 attempted to express by giving to the profile, the forn 
 of the full, organ. Upon this feature, so characteristic o 
 the Nilotic race, I would lay great stress. No travelle 
 familiar with the true Egyptian eye,—long, almond-shaped 
 deeply’ fringed, slightly raised at the outer corner an 
 dipping in front like the Chinese,2—can ever mistake it 
 It is to be seen in half-castes, and, as I have befor 
 remarked, families originally from the banks of the Nile 
 but settled for generations in the Holy Land of Al-Hijaz 
 retain the peculiarity. 
 
 I therefore believe the Turi Badawin to be an impuri 
 
 1 Tawarah, plural of Tiri, an inhabitant of Tar or Sinai. 
 
 2 This feature did not escape the practised eyeof Denon. “ Eyes 
 _ long, almond-shaped, half shut, and languishing, and turned up al 
 the outer corner, as if habitually fatigued by the light and heat o: 
 the’sun; cheeks round, &c.,"’ (Voyage en Egypt). The learned French. 
 man’s description of the ancient Egyptians applies in most points te 
 the Turi Badawin. fy 
 
VIII.—From Cairo to Suez. 147 
 
 face, Syro-Egyptian,' whereas their neighbour the Hyazi 
 s the pure Syrian or Mesopotamian. 
 
 A wonderful change has taken place in the Tawarah 
 tribes, whilome pourtrayed by Sir John Mandeville as 
 ‘folke fulle of alle evylle condiciouns.” Niebuhr notes 
 he trouble they gave him, and their perpetual hankering 
 or both murder and pillage. Even in the late Mo- 
 vammed Ali’s early reign, no governor of Suez dared 
 o flog, or to lay hands upon, a Turi, whatever offence 
 1e might have committed within the walls of the town. 
 Now the Wild Man’s sword is taken from him, before he 
 s allowed to enter the gates,? and my old acquaintance, 
 la’afar Bey, would think no more of belabouring a 
 Badawi than of flogging a Fellah.® Such is the result of | 
 
 1 ‘ Andhe”’ (Ishmael) ‘‘dwelt in the wilderness of Paran,”’ (Wady 
 Firan ?) ‘‘and his mother took him a wife, out of the land of Egypt,” 
 (Gen. xxi. 21). I wonder that some geographers have attempted to 
 identify Massa, the son of Ishmael, (Gen. xxv. 14), with Meccah, 
 when in verse 18 of the same chapter we read, ‘‘ And they’”’ (the 
 twelve princes, sons of Ishmael) ‘‘dwelt from Havilah unto Shur.” This 
 asserts, as clearly as language can, that the posterity of, or the race 
 typified by, Ishmael,—the Syro-Egyptian,—occupied only the northern 
 oarts of the peninsula. Their habitat is not even included in Arabia 
 oy those writers who bound the country on the north by an imaginary 
 ine drawn from Ras Mohammed to the mouths of the Euphrates. 
 The late Dr. J. Wilson (‘‘Lands of the Bible’’), repeated by Eliot 
 Warburton (‘‘Crescent and Cross’’), lays stress upon the Tawarah 
 radition, that they are Bent Isré'il converted to Al-Islam, 
 sonsidering it a fulfilment of the prophecy, ‘‘that a remnant of 
 {[srael shall dwell in Edom.”’ With due deference to so illustrious 
 an Orientalist and Biblical scholar as was Dr. Wilson, I believe that 
 nost modern Moslems, being ignorant that Jacob was the first called 
 “ prince with God,” apply the term Benu-Isra’il to all the posterity 
 xf Abraham, not to Jews only. 
 
 2 In 1879 the Gates of Suez are a thing of the past; and it is 
 not easy to find where they formerly stood. 
 
 3 In the mouth of a Turk, no epithet is more contemptuous than 
 that of ‘' Fellah ibn Fellaih,’’"—" boor, son of aboor !’’ The Osmanlis 
 ave, as usual, a semi-religious tradition to account for the superiority 
 bf their nation over the Egyptians. When the learned doctor, Abi 
 
148 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Mohammed Ali’s vigorous policy, and such the effects | 
 even semi- cipilisttions when its influence is brought : 
 bear direct upon barbarism. 
 
 To conclude this subject, the Tawarah still reta 
 many characteristics of the Badawi race. The most goo 
 humoured and sociable of men, they delight in a jes 
 and may readily be managed by kindness and courtes 
 Yet they are passionate, nice upon points of honou 
 revengeful, and easily offended, where their peculiar pr 
 judices are misunderstood. I have always found the: 
 pleasant companions, and deserving of respect, for the 
 hearts are good, and their courage is beyond a doub 
 Those travellers who complain of their insolence ar 
 extortion may have been either ignorant of their lat 
 guage or offensive to them by assumption of superorit 
 —in the Desert man meets man,—or physically unfitte 
 to acquire their esteem. 
 
 We journeyed on till near sunset through tk 
 wilderness without ennui. It is strange how the min 
 can be amused by scenery that presents so few objects 1 
 occupy it. But in such a country every slight modific: 
 tion of form or colour rivets observation: the senses a1 
 sharpened, and the perceptive faculties, prone to slee 
 over a confused mass of natural objects, act vigorous! 
 when excited by the capability of embracing each detai 
 Moreover, Desert views are eminently suggestive; the 
 Abdullah Mohammed bin Idris al-Shafe’i, returned from Meccah | 
 the banks of the Nile, he mounted, it is said, a donkey belonging 1 
 one of the Asinarii of Bulak. Arriving at the Caravanserai, he gar 
 the man ample fare, whereupon the Egyptian, putting forth his han 
 and saying ‘‘hat"’ (give!) called for more. The doctor doubled tk 
 fee; still the double was demanded. At last the divine’s purse wz 
 exhausted, and the proprietor of the donkey waxed insolent. 
 wandering Turk seeing this, took all the money from the Egyptia1 
 paid him his due, solemnly kicked him, and returned the rest to A 
 Shafe’i, who asked him his name—'t Osmdn'’—and his nation- 
 
 the ‘* Osmanli,’"—blessed him, and prophesied to his countryme 
 supremacy over the Fellahs and donkey boys of Egypt. 
 
VIII.—Frvom Cairo to Suez. 149 
 
 ppeal to the Future, not to the Past: they arouse because 
 ney are by no means memorial. To the solitary way- 
 rer there is an interest in the Wilderness unknown to 
 ape seas and Alpine glaciers, and even to the rolling 
 -rairie,—the effect of continued excitement on the mind, 
 timulating its powers to their pitch. Above, through a 
 ky terrible in its stainless beauty, and the splendours of 
 pitiless blinding glare, the Samin! caresses you like a 
 on with flaming breath. Around lie drifted sand-heaps, 
 pon which each puff of wind leaves its trace in solid 
 javes, flayed rocks, the very skeletons of mountains, 
 nd hard unbroken plains, over which he who rides is 
 purred by the idea that the bursting of a water-skin, or 
 he pricking of a camel’s hoof, would be a certain death 
 f torture,—a haggard land infested with wild beasts, 
 nd wilder men,—a region whose very fountains murmur 
 he warning words “Drink and away!” What can 
 @ more exciting? what more sublime? Man’s heart 
 ounds in his breast at the thought of measuring his 
 uny force with Nature’s might, and of emerging 
 riumphant from the trial. This explains the Arab’s pro- 
 erb, ‘“* Voyaging is victory.” In the Desert, even more 
 han upon ,the ocean, there is present death: hardship 
 ; there, and piracies, and shipwreck, solitary, not in 
 rowds, where, as the Persians say, ‘‘ Death is a Festival”; 
 —and this sense of danger, never absent, invests the 
 cene of travel with an interest not its own. 
 
 Let the traveller who suspects exaggeration leave 
 he Suez road for an hour or two, and gallop northwards 
 ver the sands: in the drear silence, the solitude, and the 
 antastic desolation of the place, he will feel what the 
 Desert may be. ; 
 
 And then the Oases,? and little lines of fertility— 
 
 1 From Samm, the poison-wind. Vulgar, and most erroneously 
 alled the Simoon. ; 
 2 Hugh Murray derives this word from the Egyptian, and quoting 
 
I 50 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 how soft and how beautiful !—even though the Wady a 
 Ward (the Vale of Flowers) be the name of some ster 
 flat upon which a handful of wild shrubs blossom whil 
 struggling through a cold season’s ephemeral existenc: 
 In such circumstances the mind is influenced through th 
 body. Though your mouth glows, and your skin 3 
 parched, yet you feel no languor, the effect of humi 
 heat; your lungs are lightened, your sight brighten: 
 your memory recovers its tone, and your spirits becom 
 exuberant; your fancy and imagination are powerfull 
 aroused, and the wildness and sublimity of the scene 
 around you stir up all the energies of your soul—whethe 
 for exertion, danger, or strife. Your morale improves ; yo 
 become frank and cordial, hospitable and single-minded 
 the hypocritical politeness and the slavery of civilisa 
 tion are left behind you in the city. Your senses ar 
 quickened : they require no stimulants but air and exer 
 cise,—in the Desert spirituous liquors excite only disgust 
 There is a keen enjoyment in mere animal existence 
 The sharp appetite disposes of the most indigestible food 
 Strabo and Abulfeda makes it synonymous with Auasis and Hyasis. — 
 believe it to be a mere corruption of the Arabic Wady (.¢ o\q) or Wah 
 Nothing can be more incorrect than the vulgar idea of an Arabia 
 Oasis, except it be the popular conception of an Arabian Desert 
 One reads of “isles of the sandy sea,” but one never sees them 
 The real ‘‘ Wady "' is, generally speaking, a rocky valley bisected bi 
 the bed of a mountain torrent, dry during the hot season. In sucl 
 places the Badawin love to encamp, because they find food anc 
 drink,—water being always procurable by digging. When the suppl; 
 is perennial, the Wady becomes the site of a village. ~The Desert i: 
 as unaptly compared to a “sandy sea." Most of the wilds of Arabi: 
 resemble the tract between Suez and Cairo; only the former are o 
 primary formation, whereas the others are of a later date. Sand. 
 heaps are found in every Desert, but sand-plains are a local feature 
 not the general face of the country. The Wilderness, east of the Nile 
 is mostly a hard dry earth, which requires only a monsoon to become 
 highly productive: even where silicious sand covers the plain, the 
 
 waters of a torrent, depositing humus or vegetable mould, bind the 
 particles together, and fit it for the reception of seed. 
 
VIII.—From Cairo to Suez. 151 
 
 ithe sand is softer than a bed of down, and the purity of 
 the air suddenly puts to flight a dire cohort of diseases. 
 |Hence it is that both sexes, and every age, the most 
 material as well as the most imaginative of minds, the 
 ltamest citizen, the parson, the old maid, the peaceful 
 student, the spoiled child of civilisation, all feel their 
 hearts dilate, and their pulses beat strong, as they look 
 idown from their dromedaries upon the glorious Desert. 
 Where do we hear of a traveller being disappointed by 
 it? It is another illustration of the ancient truth that 
 Nature returns to man, however unworthily he has treated 
 her. And believe me, when once your tastes have con- 
 formed to the tranquillity of such travel, you will suffer 
 ‘real pain in returning to the turmoil of civilisation. You 
 will anticipate the bustle and the confusion of artificial 
 life, its luxury and its false pleasures, with repugnance. 
 Depressed in spirits, you will for a time after your return 
 feel incapable of mental or bodily exertion. The air of 
 cities will suffocate you, and the care-worn and cadaverous 
 countenances of citizens will haunt you like a vision of 
 judgment.? 
 
 As the black shadow mounted in the Eastern sky,? I 
 turned off the road, and was suddenly saluted by a figure 
 rising from a little hollow with an “‘ As’ Salamu ’alaykum” 
 of truly Arab sound.® I looked at the speaker for a 
 moment without recognising him. He then advanced 
 with voluble expressions of joy, invited me to sup, seized 
 
 1 Theintelligent reader willeasily understand that I am speaking 
 of the Desert in the temperate season, not during the summer heats, 
 when the whole is one vast furnace, nor in winter, when the Sarsar 
 wind cuts like an Italian Tramontana. 
 
 2 This, as a general rule in Al-Islam, is a sign that the Maghrib 
 or evening prayer must not bedelayed. The Shafe’i school performs 
 its devotions immediately after the sun has disappeared. 
 
 3 This salutation of peace is so differently pronounced by every 
 Eastern nation that the observing traveller will easily make of it a 
 shibboleth. 
 
152 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 my camel’s halter without waiting for an answe 
  nakh’d?” it (7.e. forced it to kneel), led me hurriedly | 
 a carpet spread in a sandy hollow, pulled off my slipper 
 gave me cold water for ablution, told me that he ha 
 mistaken me at a distance for a “‘ Sherif” (or Prince) : 
 the Arabs, but was delighted to find himself in error; an 
 urged me to hurry over ablution, otherwise that nigl 
 would come on before we could say our prayers. It we 
 Mohammed al-Basyuni, the Meccan boy of whom I ha 
 bought my pilgrim-garb at Cairo. There I had refuse 
 his companionship, but here for reasons of his own—or 
 of them was an utter want of money,—he would take n 
 excuse. When he prayed, he stood behind me,? thereb 
 proving pliancy of conscience, for he suspected me fro1 
 the first of being at least a heretic. 
 
 After prayer he lighted a pipe, and immediatel 
 placed the snake-like tube in my hand; this is an argt 
 ment which the tired traveller can rarely resist. He the 
 began to rummage my saddle-bags; he drew forth store 
 of provisions, rolls, water-melons, boiled eggs, and date; 
 and whilst lighting the fire and boiling the coffee, he mar 
 aged to distribute hisown stock, which was neither plentifi 
 nor first-rate, to the camel-men. Shaykh Nassar an 
 his brother looked aghast at this movement, but the bo 
 was inexorable. They tried a few rough hints, which h 
 noticed by singing a Hindustani couplet that asserts th 
 impropriety of anointing rats’ heads with jasmine oi 
 They suspected abuse, and waxed cross; he acknow 
 ledged this by deriding them. ‘I have heard of Nasr! 
 and Nasirs and Mansirs, but may Allah spare me th 
 
 1 To ‘‘nakh”’ in vulgar, as in classical, Arabic is to gurgle “ Ikh 
 ikh!”’ in the bottom of one’s throat till the camel kneels down. W. 
 bave no English word for this proceeding ; but Anglo-Oriental trav} 
 ellers are rapidly naturalising the ‘‘ nakh."’ 
 
 2 There are many qualifications necessary for an Imam—a leade : 
 of prayer; the first condition, of course, is orthodoxy, 
 
VIII.—Fvom Catro to Suez. 153 
 
 ortification of a Nassar!” said the boy, relying upon 
 y support. And I urged him on, wanting to see how 
 e city Arab treats the countryman. He then took my 
 bacco-pouch fromthe angry Badawin, and in a stage- 
 hisper reproved me for entrusting it to such thieves ; 
 sisting, at the same time, upon drinking all the coffee, 
 ‘that the poor guides had to prepare some for them- 
 lves. He improved every opportunity of making mis- 
 tief. ‘*We have eaten water-melon!” cried Nassar, 
 itting its receptacle in token of repletion. ‘* Dost thou 
 ‘ar, my lord, how they grumble ?—the impudent 
 fhans!”’ remarked Mohammed—‘ We have eaten water- 
 don! that is to say, we ought to have eaten meat!” 
 he Badawin, completely out of temper, told him not to 
 ust himself among their hills. He seized a sword, and 
 wan capering about after the fashion of the East-Indian 
 hool of arms, and boasted that he would attack single- 
 inded the whole clan, which elicited an ironical ‘‘ Allah! 
 llah !” from the hearers. 
 
 After an hour most amusingly spent in this way, I 
 ose, and insisted upon mounting, much to the dissatis- 
 ction of my guides, who wished to sleep there. Shaykh 
 assar and his brother had reckoned upon living gratis, 
 r at least three days, judging it improbable that a 
 ft Effendi would hurry himself. When they saw the 
 ir vision dissolve, they began to finesse: they induced 
 je camel-man, who ran by the side of Mohammed’s drom- 
 lary, to precede the animal—a favourite manceuvre to 
 levent overspeed. Ordered to fall back, the man pleaded 
 ltigue, and inability to walk. The boy Mohammed im- 
 ediately asked if I had any objection to dismount one 
 my guides, and to let his weary attendant ride for an 
 mur or so. I at once assented, and the Badawin obeyed 
 e with ominous grumblings. When we resumed our 
 arch the melancholy Arabs had no song left in them; 
 qereas Mohammed chaunted vociferously, and quoted 
 
154 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and. Meccah. 
 
 bad Hindustani and worse Persian till silence was forcibl 
 imposed upon him. The camel-men lagged behind, it 
 order to prevent my dromedary advancing too fast, an 
 the boy’s guide, after dismounting, would stride along i: 
 front of us, under pretext of showing the way. Ands 
 we jogged on, now walking, then trotting, till the drome 
 daries began to grunt with fatigue, and the Arab 
 clamoured for a halt. 
 
 At midnight we reached the Central Station, and la’ 
 down under its walls to take a little rest. The dews fe 
 heavily, wetting the sheets that covered us; but wh 
 cares for such trifles in the Desert? The moon shon 
 bright; the breeze blew coolly, and the jackal sang , 
 lullaby which lost no time in inducing the soundest sleer 
 As the Wolf’s Tail? showed in the heavens we arose 
 Grey mists floating over the hills northwards gave th 
 Dar al-Bayda,® the Pasha’s Palace, the look of som 
 old feudal castle. There was a haze in the atmos 
 phere, which beautified even the face of Desolatior 
 The swift flying Kata‘ sprang in noisy coveys fror 
 the road, and a stray gazelle paced daintily over th 
 stony plain. As we passed by the Pilgrims’ tree, 
 1 “ The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night, 
 (Psalm cxxi. 6). Easterns still believe firmly in the evil effects ¢ 
 
 moonlight upon the human frame,—from Sind to Abyssinia, th 
 traveller will hear tales of wonder concerning it. | 
 
 2 The Dum i Gurg, or wolf's tail, is the Persian name for th 
 first brushes of grey light which appear as forerunners of dawn. 
 
 3 Dar al-Bayda is a palace belonging to H.H. Abbas Pashé 
 This ‘‘ white house " was formerly called the ‘‘ red house,""—I beliey, 
 from the colour of its windows,—but the name was changed, as bein 
 not particularly good-omened. 
 
 4 The Tetrao Kata or sand-grouse, (Pterocles melanogaster; i 
 Sind called the rock pigeon), is a fast-flying bird, not unlike 
 grey partridge whilst upon the wing. When, therefore, Shanfar 
 boasts ‘‘ The ash-coloured Katas can only drink my leavings, afte 
 hastening all night toslake their thirst in the morning,” it is a hyper 
 bole to express exceeding swiftness. 
 
Vill.—F yom Cairo to Suez. 155 
 
 dded another rag to its coat of tatters! We then 
 ivoked the aid of the holy saint Al-DakrGri? from his 
 ‘eam-coloured abode, mounted our camels, and resumed 
 1e march in real earnest. The dawn passed away in its 
 slicious coolness, and sultry morning came on. Then 
 ay glared in its fierceness, and the noontide sun made the 
 lain glow with terrible heat. Still we pressed onwards. 
 
 At 3 P.M. we turned off the road into a dry water-course, 
 hich is not far from No. 13 Station. The sand was 
 otted with the dried-up leaves of the Datura, and strongly 
 erfumed by “Shih,” a kind of Absinthe (Avtemisia),° 
 1e sweetest herb of the Desert. A Mimosa was there, 
 ad although its shade at this season is little better than 
 
 1 I have already, when writing upon the subject of Sind, alluded 
 ) this system as prevalent throughout Al-Islam, and professed, like 
 Ir. Lane, ignorance of its origin and object. In Huc’s travels, we 
 re told that the Tartars worship mountain spirits by raising an 
 Obo,’-—dry branches hung with bones and strips of cloth, and 
 lanted in enormous heaps of stones. Park, also, in Western Africa, 
 onformed to the example of his companions, in adding a charm or 
 ired of cloth on a tree (at the entrance of the Wilderness), which was 
 smpletely covered with these guardian symbols. And, finally, the 
 arikh Tabari mentions it as a practice of the Pagan Arabs, and 
 ilks of evil spirits residing in the date-tree.. May not, then, the 
 ractice in Al-Islam be one of the many débris of fetish-worship 
 hich entered into the heterogeneous formation of the Saving Faith ? 
 ome believe that the Prophet permitted the practice, and explain 
 1e peculiar name of the expedition called Zat al-Rika’a (place of 
 areds of cloth), by supposing it to be a term for a tree to which the 
 loslems hung their ex-voto rags. 
 2 Thesaint lies under a little white-washed dome, springing from 
 square of low walls—a form of sepulchre now common to AIl- 
 lijaz, Egypt, and the shores and islands of the Red Sea. As regards 
 is name my informants told meit was that of a Hijazi Shaykh. The 
 ibject is by no means interesting; but the exact traveller will find 
 1e word written Takroore, and otherwise explained by Sir vente 
 Vilkinson. 
 3 Called by the Arabs Shih (_.3), which the dictionaries trans- 
 
 ite “ wormwood of Pontus." We find Wallin in his works speaking 
 f Ferashat al-shih, or wormwood carpets. 
 
156 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 a cocoa tree’s,' the Badawin would not neglect it. W 
 lay down upon the sand, to rést among a party of Mag 
 rabi pilgrims travelling to Suez. These wretches, wl 
 wereabout a dozen in number, appeared to be of the lowe 
 class; their garments consisted of a Barnus-cloak and 
 pair of sandals; their sole weapon a long knife, and the 
 only stock a bag of dry provisions. Each had his lar 
 wooden bowl, but none carried water with him. It w; 
 impossible to help pitying their state, nor could I eat, se: 
 ing them hungry, thirsty, and way-worn. So Nass 
 served out about a pint of water anda little bread to eax 
 man. Then they asked for more. None was to be ha 
 so they cried out that money would do as well. I hz 
 determined upon being generous to the extent of a fe 
 pence. Custom, as well as inclination, was in favour 
 
 the act; but when the alms became a demand, and tl 
 demand was backed by fierce looks and a derisive snee 
 and a kind of reference to their knives, gentle Chari 
 took the alarm and fled. My pistols kept them at ba 
 for they were only making an attempt to intimidate, an 
 though I took the precaution of sitting apart from ther 
 there was no real danger. The Suez road, by the wi 
 regulations of Mohammed Ali, has become as safe 
 
 European travellers as that between Hampstead a1 
 Highgate; and even Easterns have little to fear but wh 
 their fears create. My Indian servant was full of tl 
 dangers he had run, but I did not believe in them. 
 
 afterwards heard that the place where the Maghrat 
 attempted to frighten what they thought a timid Tu 
 was notorious for plunder and murder. Here the spu 
 of two opposite hills almost meet upon the plain, 
 favourable ground for Badawi ambuscade. Of the Mag 
 
 1 Weare told in verse of ‘a cocoa’s feathery shade," and so 
 Pombre d'un cocotiey. But to realise the prose picture, let the hor 
 reader, choosing some sultry August day, fasten a large fan to a lo} 
 pole, and enjoy himself under it. 
 
VIII.—From Cairo to Suez. 157 
 
 ‘abis I shall have more to say when relating my voyage 
 n the Pilgrim Ship: they were the only travellers from 
 whom we experienced the least annoyance. Numerous 
 yarties of Turks, Arabs, and Afghans, and a few East- 
 Indians! were on the same errand as ourselves. All, as 
 we passed them, welcomed us with the friendly saluta- 
 ion that becomes men engaged in a labour of religion. 
 About half an hour before sunset, I turned off the 
 ‘oad leftwards; and, under pretext of watering the drome- 
 laries, rode up to inspect the fort Al-’Ajradi It is a 
 quadrangle with round towers at the gateway and at the 
 sorners, newly built of stone and mortar; the material is 
 already full of crevices, and would not stand before a 
 Welve-pounder. Without guns.or gunners, it is occupied 
 sy about a dozen Fellahs, who act as_ hereditary 
 *Ghafirs,” (guardians); they were expecting at that 
 ime to be reinforced by a party of Bashi Buzuks— 
 [rregulars from Cairo. The people of the country were 
 letermined that an English fleet would soon appear in 
 he Red Sea, and this fort is by them ridiculously con- 
 sidered the key of Suez. As usual in these Vauban- 
 
 1 On a subsequent occasion, I met a party of Panjabis, who haa 
 walked from Meccah to Cairo in search of ‘‘ Abt Tabilah,” (General 
 Avitabile), whom report had led to the banks of the Nile. Some 
 were young, others had white beards—all were weary and wayworn ; 
 but the saddest sight was an old woman, so decrepit that she could 
 scarcely walk. The poor fellows were travelling on foot, carrying 
 their wallets, with a few pence in their pockets, utterly ignorant of 
 route and road, and actually determined in this plight to make Lahore 
 by Baghdad, Bashir, and Karachi. Such—so incredible—is Indian 
 improvidence ! 
 
 2 Upon this word Cacography has done her worst—" Haji Rood”’ 
 may serve for aspecimen. My informants told me that Al-'Ajrudi is 
 the name of a Hijazi Shaykh whose mortal remains repose under a 
 ittle dome near the fort. This, if it be true, completely nullifies the 
 sfforts of Etymology to discern in it a distinct allusion to ‘‘the over- 
 throw of Pharaoh’s chariots, whose Hebrew appellation, ‘ Ageloot, 
 bears some resemblance to this modern name." 
 
158 | Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 jacking lands, the well supplying the stronghold is in ¢ 
 detached and distant building, which can be approachec 
 by an enemy with the greatest security. Over the gate 
 way was an ancient inscription reversed; the water wa: 
 brackish, and of bad quality.? : | 
 
 We resumed our way: Suez now stood near. In th 
 blue distance rose the castellated peaks of Jabal Rahal 
 and the wide sand-tracts over which lies the land-routi 
 to Al-Hijaz. Before us the sight ever dear to Englisl 
 eyes,—a strip of sea gloriously azure, with a gallan 
 steamer walking the waters. On the right-hand side th 
 broad slopes of Jabal Mukattam, a range of hills whicl 
 flanks the road all the way from Cairo. It was at thi 
 hour a spectacle not easily to be forgotten. The nea 
 range of chalk and sandstone wore a russet suit, gil 
 where the last rays of the sun seamed it with light, anc 
 the deep folds were shaded with the richest purple; whils 
 the background of the higher hills, Jabal Tawari, gene 
 rally known as Abt Dardj (the Father of Steps), wa: 
 sky-blue streaked with the lightest plum colour. Wi 
 drew up at a small building called Bir Suways (Well o 
 Suez); and, under pretext of watering the cattle, I sat fo 
 half an hour admiring the charms of the Desert. Thi 
 eye never tires of such loveliness of hue, and the memory 
 of the hideousness of this range, when a sun in fron 
 exposed each gaunt and barren feature, supplied thi 
 evening view with another element of attraction. 
 
 It was already night when we passed through thi 
 tumbling six-windowed gateway of Suez; and still re 
 mained the task of finding my servant and effects. Afte 
 
 1 The only sweet water in Suez is brought on camel back fron 
 the Nile, across the Desert. The ‘‘ Bir Suez" is fit for beasts only 
 the 'Uytiin Masa (Moses’ Wells) on the Eastern side, and that belov 
 Abu Daraj, on the Western shore of the Suez Gulf, are but litth 
 better. The want of sweet water is the reason why no Hammam i 
 found at Suez. 
 
VIII.—From Cairo to Suez. 159 
 
 vandering in and out of every Wakalah in the village, 
 luring which peregrination the boy Mohammed proved 
 iimself so useful that I determined at all risks to make 
 im my companion, we accidentally heard that a Hindi 
 iad taken lodgings at a hostelry bearing the name of 
 irjis al-Zahr.! On arriving there our satisfaction was 
 iminished by the intelligence that the same Hindi, after 
 ocking the door, had gone out with his friends to a ship 
 n the harbour ; in fact, that he had made all preparations 
 or running away. I dismounted, and tried to persuade 
 he porter to break open the wooden bolt, but he abso- 
 utely refused, and threatened the police. Meanwhile 
 Mohammed had found a party of friends, men of Al- 
 fiadinah, returning to the pilgrimage after a begging tour 
 hrough Egypt and Turkey. The meeting was charac- 
 etised by vociferous inquiries, loud guffaws and warm 
 mbraces. I was invited to share their supper and their 
 lormitory,—an uncovered platform projecting from the 
 allery over the square court below,—but I had neither 
 ppetite nor spirits enough to be sociable. The porter, 
 fter much persuasion, showed me an empty room, in 
 vhich I spread my carpet. That wasasad night. My 
 ighty-four mile ride had made every bone ache; I had 
 ost epidermis, and the sun had seared every portion of 
 kin exposed to it. So, lamenting my degeneracy and the 
 ll effects of four years’ domicile in Europe, and equally 
 isquieted in mind about the fate of my goods and 
 hattels, I fell into an uncomfortable sleep. 
 
 ae ee eee ee ee 
 
 1 The ‘“‘George"’: so called after its owner, a Copt, Consular 
 \gent for Belgium. There are 36 Caravanserais at Suez, 33 small 
 mes for merchandise, and 3 for travellers; of these the best is that 
 if Sayyid Hashim. The pilgrim, however, must not expect much 
 omfort or convenience, even at Sayyid Hashim’s. 
 
CHAPTERS 
 
 SUEZ, 
 
 Earty on the morning after my arrival, I arose, and 
 consulted my new acquaintances about the means ol 
 recovering the missing property. They unanimously 
 advised a visit to the governor, whom, however, they 
 described to be a ‘‘ Kalb ibn kalb,” (dog, son of a dog, 
 who never returned Moslems’ salutations, and whe 
 thought all men dirt to be trodden under foot by the 
 Turks. The boy Mohammed showed his savoir faive by 
 extracting from his huge Sahar4-box a fine embroidered 
 cap, and a grand peach-coloured coat, with which I was 
 instantly invested; he dressed himself with similar magnif- 
 icence, and we then set out to the “ palace.” 
 
 Ja’afar Bey,—he has since been deposed,—then occu- 
 pied the position of judge, officer commanding, collector 
 of customs, and magistrate of Suez. He was a Mir-liw4, 
 or brigadier-general, and had some reputation as a 
 soldier, together with a slight tincture of European 
 science and language. The large old Turk received me| 
 most superciliously, disdained all return of salam, and,| 
 fixing upon me two little eyes like gimlets, demanded my) 
 business. I stated that one Shaykh Nur, my Hindi ser.} 
 vant, had played me false; therefore I required permission] 
 to break into the room supposed to contain my effects,| 
 He asked my profession. I replied the medical. This] 
 led hirn to inquire if I had any medicine for the eyes, and 
 
IX .—Suez. - 161 
 
 being answered in the affirmative, he sent a messenger 
 with me to enforce obedience on the part of the porter. 
 The obnoxious measure was, however, unnecessary. As 
 we entered the Caravanserai, there appeared at the door 
 the black face of Shaykh Nur, looking, though accom- 
 panied by sundry fellow-countrymen, uncommonly as if 
 he merited and expected the bamboo. He had, by his 
 own account, been seduced into the festivities of a coal- 
 hulk, manned by Lascars, and the vehemence of his self- 
 accusation saved him from the chastisement which I had 
 determined to administer. 
 
 I must now briefly describe the party of Meccah and 
 Madinah men into which fate threw me: their names will 
 so frequently appear in the following pages, that a few 
 words about their natures will not be misplaced. 
 
 First of allcomes Omar £ffendi,—so called in honour, 
 —a Daghistani or East-Circassian, the grandson of a 
 Hanafi Mufti at Al-Madinah, and the son of a Shaykh 
 Rakb, an officer whose duty it is to lead dromedary-cara- 
 vans. He sits upon his cot, a small, short, plump body, 
 of yellow complexion and bilious temperament, grey-eyed, 
 soft-featured, and utterly beardless,—which affects his 
 feelings,—he looks fifteen, and he owns to twenty-eight. 
 His manners are those of a student; he dresses respect- 
 ably, prays regularly, hates the fair sex, like an Arab, 
 whose affections and aversions are always in extremes; is 
 “serious,” has a mild demeanour, an humble gait, and a 
 soft, slow voice. When roused he becomes furious as a 
 Bengal tiger. His parents have urged him to marry, and 
 1e, like Kamar al-ZamAn, has informed his father that he is 
 “a person of great age, but little sense.’”’ Urged moreover 
 dy a melancholy turn of mind, and the want of leisure 
 ‘or study at Al-Madinah, he fled the paternal domicile, 
 ind entered himself a pauper T4lib ’ilm (student) in the 
 Azhar Mosque. His disconsolate friends and afflicted 
 ‘elations sent a confidential man to fetch him home, by 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
162 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 force should it be necessary; he has yielded, and is now 
 awaiting the first opportunity of travelling gratis, if pos- 
 sible, to Al-Madinah. ; 
 
 That confidential man is a negro-servant, called 
 
 Sa’ad, notorious in his native city as Al-Jinni, the Demon. | 
 
 Born and bred a slave in Omar Effendi’s family, he 
 - obtained manumission, became a soldier in Al-Hijaz, 
 was dissatisfied with pay perpetually in arrears, turned 
 merchant, and wandered far and wide, to Russia, to 
 Gibraltar, and to Baghdad. He is the pure African, 
 noisily merry at one moment, at another silently sulky; 
 affectionate and abusive, brave and boastful, reckless and 
 crafty, exceedingly quarrelsome, and unscrupulous to the 
 last degree. The bright side of his character is his love 
 and respect for the young master, Omar Effendi; yet 
 even him he will scold in a paroxysm of fury, and steal 
 from him whatever he can lay his hands on. He is 
 generous with his goods, but is ever borrowing and never 
 paying money; he dresses like a beggar, with the dirtiest 
 Tarbush upon his tufty poll, and only a cotton shirt over 
 
 his sooty skin; whilst his two boxes are full of handsome 
 
 apparel for himself and the three ladies, his wives, at Al- 
 Madinah. He knows no fear but for those boxes. Fre- 
 quently during our search for a vessel he forced himself 
 into Ja’afar Bey’s presence, and there he demeaned himseli 
 so impudently, that we expected to see him lamed by the 
 bastinado; his forwardness, however, only amused the 
 
 dignitary. He wanders all day about the bazar, talking | 
 
 about freight and passage, for he has resolved, cost what 
 it will, to travel free, and, with doggedness like his, he 
 must succeed. 
 
 Shaykh Hamid al-Samman derives his cognomen, | 
 
 the “‘ Clarified-Butter-Seller,” from a celebrated saint and 
 Sufi-of the Kadiriyah order, who left a long line of holy 
 descendants at Al-Madinah. This Shaykh squats upon a 
 
 box full of presents for the “daighter of his paternal uncle” | 
 
LX .—Suez. 163 
 
 (his wife), a perfect specimen of the town Arab. His poll 
 ‘is crowned with a rough Shfshah or tuft of hair?; 
 his face is of a dirty brown, his little goatee straggles 
 untrimmed; his feet are bare, and his only garment is 
 an exceedingly unclean ochre-coloured blouse, tucked 
 into a leathern girdle beneath it. He will not pray, 
 because he is unwilling to take pure clothes out of his 
 box; but he smokes when he can get other people's 
 tobacco, and groans between the whiffs, conjugating the 
 verb all day, for he is of active mind. He can pick out 
 his letters, and he keeps in his bosom a little dog’s-eared 
 MS. full of serious romances and silly prayers, old and 
 exceedingly ill written; this he will draw forth at times, 
 peep into for a moment, devoutly kiss, and restore to its 
 proper place with the veneration of the vulgar for a 
 book. He can sing all manner of songs, slaughter a 
 sheep with dexterity, deliver a grand call to prayer, 
 shave, cook, fight; and he excels in the science of vitupera- 
 tion : like Sa’ad, he never performs his devotions, except 
 
 1 When travelling, the Shushah is allowed to spread over the 
 greatest portion of the scalp, to act as a protection against the 
 sun; and the hair being shaved off about two inches all round the 
 head, leaves a large circular patch. Nothing can be uglier than such 
 tonsure, and it is contrary to the strict law of the Apostle, who 
 ordered a clean shave, or a general growth of the hair. The Arab, 
 however, knows by experience, that though habitual exposure of the 
 scalp to a burning sun may harden the skull, it seldom fails to 
 damage its precious contents. He, therefore, wears a Shushah dur- 
 ing his wanderings, and removes it on his return» home. Abu 
 Hanifah, if I am rightly informed, wrote a treatise advocating 
 the growth of a long lock of hair on the Nasiyah, or crown of 
 the head, lest the decapitated Moslem’s mouth or beard be exposed 
 to defilement by an impure hand. This would justify the comparing 
 fit to the ‘' chivalry-lock,’’ by which the American brave facilitates 
 ithe removal of his own scalp. But I am at a loss to discover the 
 forigin of our old idea, that the ‘‘angel of death will, on the last day, 
 fbear all true believers, by this important tuft of hair on the crown, 
 
 to Paradise.” Probably this office has been attributed to the Shushah 
 by the ignorance of the W. st 
 
164 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 when necessary to ‘keep: up appearances,” and though 
 he has sworn to perish before he forgets his vow to the 
 ‘daughter of his uncle,” I shrewdly suspect he is no 
 better than he should be. His brow crumples at the 
 word wine, but there is quite another expression about 
 the region of the mouth; Stambul, where he has lived 
 some months, without learning ten words of Turkish, is 
 a notable place for displacing prejudice. And finally, he 
 has not more than a piastre or two in his pocket, for he 
 has squandered the large presents given to him at Cairo 
 and Constantinople by noble ladies, to whom he acted as 
 master of the ceremonies at the tomb of the Apostle. 
 Stretched on a carpet, smoking a Persian Kaliun 
 all day, lies Salih Shakkar, a Turk on the father’s, and 
 an Arab on the mother’s side, born at Al-Madinah. This 
 lanky youth may be sixteen years old, but he has the 
 ideas of forty-six; he is thoroughly greedy, selfish, and un- 
 generous; coldly supercilious as a Turk, and energetically 
 avaricious as an Arab. He prays more often, and dresses 
 more respectably, than the descendant of the Clarified- 
 Butter-Seller; he affects the Constantinople style of 
 toilette, and his light yellow complexion makes people con- 
 sider him a ‘superior person.” We were intimate 
 enough on the road, when he borrowed from me a little 
 money. But at Al-Madinah he cut me pitilessly, as a 
 «town man” does a continental acquaintance accidentally 
 met in Hyde Park; and of course he tried, though in vain, 
 to evade repaying his debt. He had a tincture of letters 
 and appeared to have studied critically the subject 0 
 “largesse.” ‘‘ The Generous is Allah's friend, aye, thougt 
 he be a Sinner, and the Miser is Allah’s Foe, aye, thougl 
 he be a Saint,” was a venerable saying always in hi: 
 mouth. He also informed me that Pharaoh, althougl 
 the quintessence of impiety, is mentioned by name in tht 
 Koran, by reason of his liberality; whereas Nimrod 
 another monster of iniquity, is only alluded to, becausi 
 
TX .—Suez. 165 
 
 he was a stingy tyrant. It is almost needless to declare 
 that Salih Shakkar was, as the East-Indians say, a very 
 “‘fly-sucker.’”” There were two other men of Al-Madinah 
 in the Wakalah Jirgis ;-but I omit description, as we left 
 them, they being penniless, at Suez. One of them, Mo- 
 hammed Shiklibha, I afterwards met at Meccah, and 
 seldom have I seen a more honest and warm-hearted 
 fellow. When we were embarking at Suez, he fell upon 
 Hamid’s bosom, and both of them wept bitterly, at the 
 prospect of parting even for a few days. 
 
 All the individuals above.mentioned lost no time in 
 opening the question of a loan. It was a lesson in 
 Oriental metaphysics to see their condition. They hada 
 twelve days’ voyage, and a four days’ journey before 
 them; boxes to carry, custom-houses to face, and 
 stomachs to fill; yet the whole party could scarcely, I 
 believe, muster two dollars of ready money. Their boxes 
 were full of valuables, arms, clothes, pipes, slippers, 
 sweetmeats, and other “notions”; but nothing short of 
 starvation would have induced them to pledge the smallest 
 article. 
 
 Foreseeing that their company would be an ad- 
 vantage, I hearkened favourably to the honeyed request 
 for a few crowns. The boy Mohammed obtained six 
 dollars; Hamid about five pounds, as I intended to 
 make his house at Al-Madinah my home; Omar Effendi 
 three dollars; Sa’ad the Demon two—lI gave the money to 
 him at Yambu’,—and Salih Shakkar fifty piastres. But 
 since in these lands, as a rule, no one ever lends coins, 
 or, borrowing, ever returns them, I took care to exact 
 service from the first, to take two rich coats from the 
 econd, a handsome pipe from the third, a “bala” or 
 ataghan from the fourth, and from the fifth an imitation 
 Cashmere shawl. After which, we sat down and drew 
 
 1“ Makhi-chis,” equivalent to our “ skia-flint.” 
 
166 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 out the agreement. It was favourable to me: I lent 
 them Egyptian money, and bargained for repayment in 
 the currency of Al-Hijaz, thereby gaining the exchange, 
 which is sometimes sixteen per cent. This was done, 
 not so much for the sake of profit, as with the view of 
 becoming a Hatim,’ by a ‘‘ never mind” on settling day. 
 My companions having received these small sums, became 
 affectionate and eloquent in my praise: they asked me to 
 make one of their number at meals for the future, over- 
 whelmed me with questions, insisted upon a present of 
 sweetmeats, detected in me a great man under a cloud,— 
 perhaps my claims to being a Darwaysh assisted them to 
 this discovery,—and declared that I should perforce be 
 their guest at Meccah and Al-Madinah. On alloccasions 
 precedence was forced upon me; my opinion was the first. 
 ‘consulted, and no project was settled without my con- 
 currence: briefly, Abdullah the Darwaysh suddenly found, 
 himself a person of consequence. This elevation led me. 
 into an imprudence which might have cost me dear; 
 aroused the only suspicion about me ever expressed 
 during the summer’s tour. My friends had looked at my 
 clothes, overhauled my medicine chest, and criticised my 
 pistols; they sneered at my copper-cased watch,’ and 
 remembered having seen a compass at Constantinople. 
 Therefore I imagined they would think little about a 
 sextant. This was a mistake. The boy Mohammed, I 
 
 t A well-known Arab chieftain, whose name has come to stand 
 for generosity itself. 
 
 2 This being an indispensable instrument for measuring distances, | 
 I had it divested of gold case, and provided with a facing carefully 
 stained and figured with Arabic numerals. In countries where few 
 can judge of a watch by its works, it is as well to secure its safety by 
 making the exterior look as mean as possible. The watches worn by 
 respectable people in Al-Hijaz are almost always old silver pieces, of 
 the turnip shape, with hunting cases and an outer étwi of thick leather. 
 Mostly they are of Swiss or German manufacture, and they find 
 their way into Arabia vid Constantinople and Cairo, 
 
[X.—S ez. 167 
 
 jaiterwards learned,! waited only my leaving the room t& 
 jdeclare that the would-be Haji was one of the Infidels 
 from India, and a council sat to discuss the case. For- 
 tunately tor me, Omar Effendi had looked over a letter 
 which I had written to Haji Wali that morning, and he 
 nad at various times received categorical replies to certain 
 jquestions in high theology. He felt himself justified in 
 declaring, ex cathedvad, the boy Mohammed's position per- 
 jfectly untenable. And Shaykh Hamid, who looked 
 \forward to being my host, guide, and debtor in general, 
 jand probably cared scantily for catechism or creed, swore 
 jthat the light of Al-Islam was upon my countenance, 
 jand, consequently, that the bby Mohammed was a pauper, 
 ja ‘‘takir,” an owl, a cut-off one,? a stranger, and a Wah- 
 jhabi (heretic), for daring to impugn the faith of a brother 
 jbeliever.2. The.scene ended with a general abuse of-the 
 facute youth, who was told on all sides that he had no 
 jshame, and was directed to ‘‘fear Allah.” I was struck 
 jwith the expression of my friends’ countenances when 
 they saw the sextant, and, determining with a sigh to 
 
 1 On my return to Cairo, Omar Effendi, whom I met accidentally 
 jin the streets, related the story tome. I never owned having played 
 a part, to avoid shocking his prejudices; and though he must have 
 {suspected me,—for the general report was, that an Englishman, dis- 
 guised as a Persian, had performed the pilgrimage, measured the 
 country, and sketched the buildings,—he had the gentlemanly feeling 
 never to allude to the past. We parted, when I went to India, on 
 the best of terms. 
 
 _ 2 Munkati’a—one cut off (from the pleasures and comforts of 
 
 jlife). In Al-Hijaz, as in England, any allusion to poverty is highly 
 joffensive. 
 ) 3 The Koran expressly forbids a Moslem to discredit the word of 
 any man who professes his belief in the Saving Faith. The greatest 
 joffence of the Wahhabis is their habit of designating all Moslems 
 that belong to any but their own sect by the opprobrious name-of 
 Kafirs or infidels. This, however, is only the Koranic precept; in 
 practice a much less trustful spirit prevails. 
 
£68 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 leave it pehind, I prayed five times a day for nearly a 
 week. 
 
 We all agreed not to lose an hour in securing places 
 on board some vessel bound for Yambu’; and my com- 
 panions, hearing that my passport as a British Indian 
 was scarcely en rdgle, earnestly advised me to have it 
 signed by the governor without delay, whilst they occupied 
 themselves about the harbour. They warned me that if 
 I displayed the Turkish Tazkirah given me at the citadel 
 of Cairo, I should infallibly be ordered to await the cara- 
 van, and lose their society and friendship. Pilgrims 
 arriving at Alexandria, be it known to the reader, are 
 divided into bodies, and distributed by nicans of passports 
 to the three great roads, namely, Suez, Kusayr (Cosseir), 
 and the Hajj route by land round the Gulf of al-’-Akabah. 
 Aftér the division has once been made, government turns 
 a deaf ear to the representations of individuals. The Bey 
 of Suez has an order to obstruct pilgrims as much as 
 possible till the end of the season, when they are hurried 
 down that way, lest they should arrive at Meccah too 
 late! As most of the Egyptian high officials have boats, 
 which sail up the Nile laden with pilgrims and return 
 freighted with corn, the government naturally does its 
 utmost to force the delays and discomforts of this line 
 upon strangers.” And as those who travel by the Hajj 
 route must spend money in the Egyptian territories at 
 least fifteen days longer than they would if allowed to 
 
 1 Towards the end of the season, poor pilgrims are forwarded 
 gratis, by order of government. But, to make such liberality as 
 inexpensive as possible, the Pasha compels ship-owners to carry one 
 pilgrim per 9 ardebs (about 5 bushels each), in small, and 1 per 11 in 
 large vessels. 
 
 2 I was informed by a Prussian gentleman, holding an official 
 appointment under His Highness the Pasha, at Cairo, that 300,000 
 ardebs of grain were annually exported from Kusayr to Jeddah. 
 The rest is brought down the Nile for consumption in Lower Egypt, 
 and export to tiiru ve. 
 
TX .—Suez. 169 
 
 embark at once from Suez, the Bey very properly 
 assists them in the former and obstructs them in the 
 latter case. Knowing these facts, I felt that a difficulty 
 was at hand. The first thing was to take Shaykh Nur’s 
 passport, which was en végle, and my own, which was not, 
 to the Bey for signature. He turned the papers over and 
 over, as if unable to read them, and raised false hopes 
 high by referring me to his clerk. The under-official at 
 once saw the irregularity of the document, asked me why 
 it had not been visé at Cairo, swore that under such 
 circumstances nothing would induce the Bey to let me 
 proceed; and, when I tried persuasion, waxed insolent. 
 I feared that it would be necéssary to travel wid Cosseir, 
 for which there was scarcely time, or to transfer myself 
 on camel-back to the harbour of Tur, and there to await 
 the chance of finding a place in some half-filled vessel to 
 Al-Hijaz,—which would have been relying upon an acci- 
 dent. My last hope at Suez was to obtain assistance 
 from Mr. West, then H.B.M.’s Vice-Consul, and since 
 made Consul. I therefore took the boy Mohammed with 
 me, choosing him on purpose, and excusing the step to 
 my companions by concocting an artful fable about my 
 having been, in Afghanistan, a benefactor to the British 
 nation. We proceeded to the Consulate. Mr. W tst, who 
 ‘had been told by imprudent Augustus Bernal tv expect 
 me, saw through the disguise, despite jargon assumed to 
 satisfy official scruples, and nothing could be kinder than 
 ‘the part he took. His clerk was directed to place himself 
 ‘in communication with the Bey’s factotum; and, when ob- 
 jections to signing the Alexandrian Tazkirah were offered, 
 the Vice-Consul said that he would, at his own risk, give 
 me a fresh passport as a British subject from Suez to 
 ‘Arabia. His firmness prevailed: on the second day, 
 the documents were returned to me in a satisfactory 
 state. I take a pleasure in owning this obligation to 
 Mr. West: in the course of my wanderings, I have often 
 
170 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 received from him open-hearted hospitality and the most 
 friendly attentions. } 
 
 Whilst these passport difficulties were being solved, 
 the rest of the party was as busy in settling about pas-| 
 sage and passage-money. The peculiar rules of the port 
 of Suez require a few words of explanation.’ ‘ About 
 thirty-five years ago” (i.e. about 1818 a.p.), “the ship- 
 owners proposed to the then government, with the view 
 of keeping up freight, a Farzah, or system of rotation. 
 It might be supposed that the Pasha, whose object noto- 
 riously was to retain all monoplies in his own hanas, 
 would have refused his sanction to such a measure. But 
 it so happened in those days that all the court had ships 
 at Suez: Ibrahim Pasha alone owned four or five. 
 Consequently, they expected to share profits with the 
 merchants, and thus to be compensated for the want of 
 port-dues. From that time forward all the vessels in the 
 harbour were registered, and ordered to sail in rotation. 
 This arrangement benefits the owner of the craft ‘en 
 départ,’ giving him in his turn a temporary monopoly, 
 with the advantage of a full market; and freight is so 
 high that a single trip often clears off the expense of 
 building and the risk of losing the ship—a sensible succe- 
 daneum for insurance companies. On the contrary, the 
 public must always be a loser by the ‘Farzah.’ Two ol 
 a trade do not agree elsewhere; but at Suez even the 
 Christian and the Moslem shipowner are bound by a) 
 fraternal tie, in the shape of this rotation system. It injures) 
 the general merchant and the Red Sea trader, not only by 
 
 1 The account here offered to the reader was kindly supplied to 
 me by Henry Levick, Esq. (late Vice-Consul, and afterwards Post-| 
 master at Suez), and it may be depended upon, as coming from a 
 resident of 16 years’ standing. All the passages marked with in- 
 verted commas are extracts from a letter with which that gentleman 
 favoured me. ‘The information is obsolete now, but it may be 
 ‘interesting as a specimen of the things that were. . 
 
TX .—Suez. 171 
 
 perpetuating high freight,’ but also by causing at one 
 period of the year a break in the routine of sales and in the 
 supplies of goods for the great Jeddah market.? At this 
 moment (Nov. 1853), the vessel to which the turn belongs 
 happens to be a large one; there is a deficiency of export 
 te Al-Hijaz,—her owner will of course wait any length of 
 time for a full cargo; consequently no vessel with mer- 
 chandise has left Suez for the last seventy-two days. Those 
 who have bought goods for the Jeddah market at three 
 months’ credit will therefore have to meet their acceptances 
 for merchandise still warehoused at the Egyptian port. 
 This strange contrast to free-trade principle is another 
 proof that protection benefits only one party, the pro- 
 tected, while it is detrimental to the interests of the other 
 party, the public.” To these remarks of Mr. Levick’s, I 
 have only to add that the government supports the Farzah 
 with all the energy of protectionists. A letter from Mr. 
 (now Sir) John Drummond Hay was insufficient to induce 
 the Bey of Suez to break through the rule of rotation in 
 favour of certain princes from Morocco. The recom- 
 mendations of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe met with no 
 better fate; and all Mr. West’s good will could not pro- 
 
 1 The rate of freight is at present (1853) about forty shillings per 
 ton—very near the same paid by the P. and O. Company for coals 
 carried from Newcastle vid the Cape to Suez. Were the ‘ Farzah”’ 
 abolished, freight to Jeddah would speedily fall to 15 or 16 shillings 
 per ton. Passengers from Suez to Jeddah are sometimes charged 
 as much as 6 or even 8 dollars for standing room—personal baggage 
 forming another pretext for extortion—and the higher orders of 
 pilgrims, occupying a small portion of the cabin, pay about 12 dollars. 
 These first and second class fares would speedily be reduced, by 
 abolishing protection, to 3 and 6 dollars. Note to Second Edition.— 
 The ‘‘ Farzah,” I may here observe, has been abolished by Sa'id 
 Pasha since the publication of these lines: the effects of ‘free trade" 
 are exactly what were predicted by Mr. Levick. 
 
 2 The principal trade from Suez is to Jeddah, Kusayr supplying 
 Yambu’. ‘The latter place, however, imports from Suez wheat, 
 beans, cheese, biscuit, and other provisions for return pilgrims, 
 
 +. 
 
172 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 cure me a vessel out of her turn.! We were forced ta 
 rely upon our own exertions, and the activity of Sa’ad 
 the Demon. This worthy, after sundry delays and differ- 
 ences, mostly caused by his own determination to travel 
 gratis, and to make us pay too much, finally closed with 
 the owner of the ‘“‘ Golden Thread.?”” He took places for 
 us upon the poop,—the most eligible part of the vessel at 
 this season of the year; he premised that we should not 
 be very comfortable, as we were to be crowded with 
 Maghrabi pilgrims, but that ‘Allah makes all things 
 easy!” Though not penetrated with the conviction that 
 this would happen in our case, I paid for two deck 
 passages eighteen Riyals*® (dollars), and my companions 
 seven each, whilst Sa’ad secretly entered himself as an able 
 seaman. Mohammed Shiklibha we were obliged to leave 
 behind, as he could not, or might not afford the expense, 
 and none of us might afford it for him. Had I known 
 him to be the honest, true-hearted fellow he was—his 
 kindness at Meccah quite won my heart—I should not 
 have grudged the small charity. 
 
 1 My friends were strenuous in their exertions for me to make 
 interest with Mr. West. In the first place, we should have paid less 
 for the whole of a privileged vessel, than we did for our wretched 
 quarters on the deck of the pilgrim-ship; and, secondly, we might 
 have touched at any port we pleased, so as to do a little business in 
 the way of commerce. 
 
 2 Afterwards called by Sir R. F. Burton the ‘Golden Wire.” 
 —ED. 
 
 3 For the “Sath,” or poop, the sum paid by each was seven 
 Riyals. I was, therefore, notably cheated by Sa’ad the Demon. The 
 unhappy women in the ‘‘Kamrah,” or cabin, bought suffocation at 
 the_rate of 6 dollars each, as I was afterwards informed, and the 
 third class, in the ‘‘ Taht,” or amidships and forward, contributed 
 from 3 to 5 Riyals. But, as usual on these occasions, there was no 
 prix fixe; every man was either ovevcharged or undercharged, 
 according to his means or his necessities. We had to purchase our 
 own water, but the ship was to supply us with fuel for cooking. We 
 paid nothing extra for luggage, and we mee an old Maghrabi 
 woman graiis for gcod luck. ‘ 
 
 . 
 
LheeSnezox r73 
 
 Nothing more comfortless than our days and nights 
 in the “‘George”’ Inn. The ragged walls of our rooms 
 were clammy with dirt, the smoky rafters foul with cob- 
 webs, and the floor, bestrewed with kit, in terrible con- 
 fusion, was black with hosts of cockroaches, ants, and flies. 
 Pigeons nestled on the shelf, cooing amatory ditties the 
 live-long day, and cats like tigers crawled through a hole 
 in the door, making night hideous with their caterwaul- 
 ings. Now a curious goat, then an inquisitive jackass, 
 would walk stealthily into the room, remark that it was 
 tenanted, and retreat with dignified demeanour, and the 
 mosquitos sang Io Pans over our prostrate forms 
 throughout the twenty-four hours. I spare the reader the 
 enumeration of the other Egyptian plagues that infested 
 the place. After the first day’s trial, we determined to 
 spend the hours of light in the passages, lying upon our 
 boxes or rugs, smoking, wrangling, and inspecting one 
 -another’s chests. The latter occupation was a fertile 
 source of disputes, for nothing was more common than 
 for a friend to seize an article belonging to another, and 
 to swear by the Apostle’s beard that he admired it, and, 
 therefore, would not return it. The boy Mohammed and ~ 
 Shaykh Nur, who had been intimates the first day, 
 differed in opinion on the second, and on the third came 
 to pushing each other against the wall. Sometimes we 
 went into the Bazar, a shady street flanked with poor little 
 shops, or we sat in the coffee-house,’ drinking hot saltish 
 water tinged with burnt bean, or we prayed in one of 
 three tumble-down old Mosques, or we squatted upon the 
 pier, lamenting the want of Hammams, and bathing in 
 _ the tepid sea. I presently came to the conclusion that 
 
 1 We were still at Suez, where we could do as we pleased. But 
 respectable Arabs in theirdiwn country, unlike Egyptians, are seldom 
 to be seen in the places of public resort. ‘‘Go to the coffee-house 
 and sing there!’ is a reproach sometimes addressed to those who 
 have a habit of humming in decent society. 
 
 2 It was only my prestige as physician that persuaded my friend 
 
174 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meecah. 
 
 Suez asa ‘“‘ watering-place”’ is duller even than Dover. The 
 only society we found, excepting an occasional visitor, 
 was that of a party of Egyptian women, who with their 
 husbands and families occupied some rooms adjoining 
 ours. At first they were fierce, and used bad language, 
 when the boy Mohammed and I,—whilst Omar Effendi 
 was engaged in prayer, and the rest were wandering about 
 the town,—ventured to linger in the cool passage, where 
 they congregated, or to address a facetious phrase to them. 
 But hearing that I was a Hakim-bashi—for fame had 
 promoted meto the rank ofa ‘“ Physician General” at Suez 
 —all discovered some ailments. They began prudently 
 with requesting me to display the effects of my drugs by 
 dosing myself, but they ended submissively by swallow- 
 ing the nauseous compounds. To this succeeded a 
 primitive form of flirtation, which mainly consisted of the 
 demand direct. The most charming of the party was one 
 FattGmah’, a plump-personed dame, fast verging upon 
 her thirtieth year, fond of a little flattery, and possessing, 
 like all her people, a most voluble tongue. The refrain 
 of every conversation was ‘“‘ Marry me, O Fattumah! O 
 daughter! O female pilgrim!” In vain the lady would 
 reply, with a coquettish movement of the sides, a toss 
 of the head, and a flirting manipulation of her head-veil, 
 
 to join me in these bathings. As a general rule, the Western Arabs 
 avoid cold water, from a belief that it causes fever. When Mr. C. 
 Cole, H.B.M.’s Vice-Consul, arrived at Jeddah, the people of the 
 place, seeing that he kept up his Indian habits, advised him strongly 
 to drop them. He refused; but unhappily he soon caught a fever, 
 which confirmed them all in their belief. When Arabs wish to cool 
 the skin after a journey, they wash witha kind of fuller’s earth called 
 “Tafi,” or with a thin paste of henna, and then anoint the body 
 with oil or butter. 
 
 r An incrementative form of the name “ Fatimah,” very common 
 in Egypt. Fatimah would mean a ‘ weaner ''—Fattimah, a ‘‘ great 
 weaner.’’ By the same barbarism Khadijah becomes ‘‘ Khaddigah” ; — 
 Aminah, ‘“‘Amminah”’; and Nafisah, ‘‘ Naffasah,”’ on the banks of the 
 Nile. r 
 
1X .—Suez. muy 175 
 
 “Tam mated, O young man!”—it was agreed that she, 
 being a person of polyandrous propensities, could support 
 the weight of at least three matrimonial engagements. 
 Sometimes the entrance of the male Fellahs? interrupted 
 these little discussions, but people of our respectability 
 and nation were not to be imposed upon by such hus- 
 bands. In their presence we only varied the style of 
 conversation — inquiring the amount of ‘‘Mahr,” or 
 marriage settlement, deriding the cheapness of woman- 
 hood in Egypt, and requiring to be furnished on the spot 
 with brides at the rate of ten shillings a head.2 More 
 often the amiable Fattumah—the fair sex in this country, 
 though passing frail, have the best tempers in the world— 
 would laugh at our impertinences. Sometimes vexed by 
 our imitating her Egyptian accent,. te reeta her ges- 
 tures, and depreciating her country-women,® she would 
 wax wroth, and order us to be gone, and stretch out her 
 forefinger—a sign that she wished to put out our eyes, or 
 adjure Allah to cut the hearts out of our bosoms. Then 
 
 1 The palmy days of the Egyptian husband, when he might use 
 the stick, the sword, or the sack with impunity, are, in civilised places 
 at least, now gone by. The wife has only to complain to the Kazi, 
 or to the governor, and she is certain of redress. This is right in 
 the abstract, but in practice it acts badly. The fair sex is so unruly 
 in this country, that strong measures are necessary to coerce it, and 
 in the arts of deceit men have here little or no chance against 
 women. 
 
 2 The amount of settlement being, among Moslems as among 
 Christians, the test of a bride’s value,—moral and physical,—it will 
 readily be understood that our demand was more facetious than 
 complimentary. 
 
 3 The term Misriyah (an Egyptian woman) means in Al-Hijaz 
 
 -and the countries about it, a depraved character. Even the men 
 own unwillingly to being Egyptians, for the free-born never forget 
 that the banks of the Nile have for centuries been ruled by the slaves 
 of slaves. ‘‘ Heshall becailed an Egyptian,” isa denunciation which 
 has been strikingly fulfilled, though the country. be no longer the 
 “basest of kingdoms. ‘ 
 
176 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, 
 
 the “Marry me, O Fattumah, O daughter, O female 
 pilgrim!” would give way to Y’al Ago-o-oz! (O old woman 
 and decrepit !) ‘“‘O daughter of sixty sires, and fit only to 
 carry wood to market !”—whereupon would burst a storm 
 of wrath, at the tail of which all of us, like children, 
 starting upon our feet, rushed out of one another’s way. 
 But—* gui se dispute, s’adove”—when we again met all 
 would be forgotten, and the old tale be told over de novo. 
 This was the amusement of the day. At night we men, 
 assembling upon the little terrace, drank tea, recited 
 stories, read books, talked of our travels, and indulged 
 in various pleasantries. The great joke was the boy 
 Mohammed’s abusing all his companions to their faces 
 in Hindustani, which none but Shaykh Nur and I could 
 understand; the others, however, guessed his intention, 
 and revenged themselves by retorts of the style un- 
 courteous in the purest Hijazi. 
 
 I proceed to offer a few more extracts from Mr. 
 Levick’s letter about Suez and the Suezians. ‘It appears 
 that the number of pilgrims who pass through Suez to 
 Meccah has of late been steadily on the decrease. When 
 I first came here (in 1838) the pilgrims who annually em- 
 barked at this port amounted to between 10,000 and 
 12,000, the shipping was more numerous, and the mer- 
 chants were more affluent. I have ascertained from a 
 special register kept in the government archives that in 
 the Moslem year 1268 (4.p. 1851-52) the exact number 
 that passed through was 4893.” 
 
 “In 1269 A. H, (A.D. 1852-53) it had shrunk to 3136, 
 The natives assign the falling off to various causes, which 
 
 1 In those days merchants depended solely upon the native trade 
 and the passage of pilgrims. The pecuniary advantage attending 
 what is called the Overland transit benefits chiefly the lowest orders, 
 camel-men, sailors, porters, and others of the same class. Sixteen 
 years ago the hire of a boat from the harbour to the roadstead was a 
 piastre and a half: now it is at least five. 
 
TX ,—Suez. ey) 
 
 I attribute chiefly to the indirect effect of European 
 civilisation upon the Moslem powers immediately in 
 contact with it. The heterogeneous mass of pilgrims 
 is composed of people of all classes, colours, and cos- 
 tumes. One sees among them, not only the natives of 
 countries contiguous to Egypt, but also a large proportion 
 of Central Asians from Bokhara, Persia, Circassia, 
 Turkey, and the Crimea, who prefer this route by way of 
 Constantinople to the difficult, expensive and dangerous 
 caravan-line through the Desert from Damascus and 
 Baghdad. The West sends us Moors, Algerines, and 
 Tunisians, and Inner Africa a mass of sable Takrouri,' 
 and others from Bornou, the Sudan,? Ghadamah near the 
 Niger, and Jabarti from the Habash.®” 
 
 “The Suez ship-builders are an influential body of 
 men, originally Candiots and Alexandrians. When Mo- 
 hammed Ali fitted out his fleet for the Hijaz war, he 
 transported a number of Greeks to Suez, and the children 
 now exercise their fathers’ craft. There are at present 
 three great builders at this place. Their principal diffi- 
 
 1 This word, says Mansfield Parkyns (Life in Abyssinia), is applied 
 to the wandering filgvin from Darfar, Dar Borghi, Baydrimah, 
 Fellatah, and Western Africa. He mentions, however, a tribe called 
 “ Tokrouri,” settled in Abyssinia near Nimr’s country, but he does 
 not appear to know that the ancient Arab settlement in Western 
 Africa, ‘‘Al-Takrar,” (Sakatu ?) which has handed down its name to 
 a large posterity of small kingdoms, will be found in Al-Idrisi (1. 
 climate, 1. section,); but I do not agree with the learned translator 
 in writing the word ‘'Tokrour.” Burckhardt often alludes in his 
 benevolent way to the ‘respectable and industrious Tekrourys.”’ 
 I shall have occasion to mention them at a future time. 
 
 2 The Sudan (Blackland) in Arabia is applied to Upper Nubia, 
 Senaar, Kordofan, and the parts adjacent. 
 
 3 Not only in Ghiz, but also in Arabic, the mother of Ghiz, the 
 word ‘‘ Habash,”’ whence our ‘‘ Abyssinians,’’ means a rabble, a 
 mixture of people. Abyssinian Moslems are called by the Arabs 
 * Jabarti.’ 
 
178 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 culty is the want of material. Teak comes from India! 
 vid Jeddah, and Venetian boards, owing to the expense of 
 camel-transport, are a hundred per cent. dearer here than 
 at Alexandria. Trieste and Turkey supply spars, and 
 Jeddah canvas: the sail-makers are Suez men, and the 
 crews a mongrel mixture of Arabs and Egyptians; the 
 Rais, or captain, being almost invariably, if the vessel be 
 a large one, a Yambu’ man. There are two kinds of 
 craft, distinguished from each other by tonnage, not by 
 build. The Baghlah? (buggalow), is a vessel above fifty 
 tons burden, the Sambak (a classical term) from fifteen to 
 fifty. The shipowner bribes the Amir al-Bahr, or port- 
 captain, and the Nazir al-Safayn, or the captain com- 
 manding the government vessels, to rate his ship as high 
 as possible; if he pay the price, he will be allowed nine 
 ardebs to the ton.’ The number of ships belonging to 
 the port of Suez amounts to 92; they vary from 25 to 
 250 tons. The departures in a.H. 1269 (1852 and 1853) 
 were 38, so that each vessel, after returning from a trip, 
 is laid up for about two years. Throughout the passage 
 of the pilgrims,—that is to say, during four months,—the 
 departures average twice a week; during the remainder 
 of the year from six to ten vessels may leave the port. 
 The homeward trade is carried on principally in Jeddah 
 bottoms, which are allowed to convey goods to Suez, 
 but not to take in return cargo there: they must not 
 interfere with, nor may they partake in any way of the 
 benefits of the rotation system.‘” 
 
 1 There is no such thing as a tree, except the date, the rane 
 and the mimosa on the western shores of the Red Sea. 
 
 2 This word, which in Arabic is the feminine form of “‘ Baghl,"", 
 a mule, is in Egypt, as in India, pronounced and written by foreigners 
 ‘“buggalow."’ Some worthy Anglo-Indians have further corrupted it 
 to ‘‘ bungalow.” 
 
 3 ‘‘ The ardeb, like most measures in this country of commercia, 
 confusion, varies greatly according to the grain for which it is ne 
 As a general rule, it may be assumed at 300 lbs.” 
 
 4 Return Arab boats, at arty but the pilgrim season, with little 
 
 al 
 
LX .—Suez. 179 
 
 _- “During the present year the imports were contained 
 in 41,395 packages, the exports in 15,988. Specie makes 
 up in some manner for this preponderance of imports: a 
 sum of from £30,000 to £40,000, in crown, or Maria 
 Theresa, dollars annually leaves Egypt for Arabia, 
 Abyssinia, and other parts of Africa. I value the im- 
 ports at about £350,000; the export trade to Jeddah at 
 £300,000 per annum. The former consists principally of 
 coffee and gum-arabic; of these there were respectively 
 17,460 and 15,132 bales, the aggregate value of each 
 article being from £75,000 to £80,000, and the total 
 amount £160,000. In the previous year the imports were 
 contained in 36,840 packages, the exports in 13,498: of 
 the staple articles—coffee and gum-arabic—they were 
 respectively 15,499 and 14,129 bales, each bale being 
 valued at about £5. Next in importance comes wax from 
 Al-Yaman and the Hijaz, mother-of-pearl! from the Red 
 Sea, sent to England in rough, pepper from Malabar, 
 cloves brought by Moslem pilgrims from Java, Borneo, 
 and Singapore,? cherry pipe-sticks from Persia and 
 Bussora, and Persian or Surat ‘Timbak’ (tobacco). These 
 I value at £20,000 per annum. There were also (a.pD. 
 1853) of cloves 708 packages, and of Malabar pepper 
 948: the cost of these two might be £7,000. Minor 
 articles of exportation are,—general spiceries (ginger, car- 
 difficulty obtain permission to carry passengers, but not cargo. Two 
 gentlemen, in whose pleasant society I once travelled from Cairo to 
 Suez,—M. Charles Didier and the Abbé Hamilton,—paid the small 
 sum of 1000 piastres, (say £10) for the whole of a moderate ee 
 * Sambuk " returning to Jeddah. 
 
 1 Mother-of-pearl is taken to Jerusalem, and there made into 
 chaplets, saints’ figures, and crucifixes for Christian pilgrims. At 
 Meccah it is worked into rosaries for the Hajis. In Europe, cabinet 
 and ornamental work cause a considerable demand for it. Some 
 good pearls are procurable in the Red Sea. I have seen a drop of 
 fair size and colour sold for seven dollars. 
 
 2 I was told at Meccah that the pilgrimage is attended by about 
 2000 natives of Java and the adjoining islands. 
 
180 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 damoms, &c.); Eastern perfumes, such as aloes-wood, 
 attar of rose, attar of pink and others; tamarinds from 
 India and Al-Yaman, Banca tin, hides supplied by the 
 nomade Badawin, senna leaves from Al-Yaman and the 
 Hijaz, and blue chequered cotton Malayahs (women’s 
 mantillas), manufactured in southern Arabia. The total 
 value of these smaller imports may be £20,000 per 
 annum.” . 
 
 ‘‘ The exports chiefly consist of English and native 
 ‘grey domestics,’ bleached Madipilams, Paisley lappets, 
 and muslins for turbands; the remainder being Manchester 
 prints, antimony, Syrian soap, iron in bars, and comnion 
 ironmongery, Venetian or Trieste beads, used as orna- 
 ments in Arabia and Abyssinia, writing paper, Tar- 
 bushes, Papushes (slippers), and other minor articles of 
 dress and ornament.” 
 
 ‘The average annual temperature of the year at 
 Suez is 67° Fahrenheit. The extremes of heat and cold 
 are found in January and August; during the former 
 month the thermometer ranges from a minimum of 38° to 
 a maximum of 68°; during the latter the variation extends 
 from 68° to 102°, or even to 104°, when the heat becomes 
 oppressive. Departures from these extremes are rare. 
 I never remember to have seen the thermometer rise 
 above 108° during the severest Khamsin, or to have sunk 
 below 34° in the rawest wintry wind. Violent storms 
 come up from the south in March. Kain is very variable’: 
 
 1 The following popular puerilities will serve to show how fond 
 barbarians are of explaining the natural by the supernatural. The 
 Moslems of Egypt thus account for the absence of St. Swithin from 
 their drought-stricken lands. When Jacob lost his Benjamin, he 
 cursed the land of Misraim, declaring that it should know no rain; 
 Joseph on the other hand blessed it, asserting that it should never 
 want water. So the Sind Hindus believe that Hiranyakasipu, the 
 demon-tyrant of Multan, finding Magha-Raja (the Cloud King) trouble- 
 some in his dominions, bound him with chains, and only released him 
 upon his oath not to trouble the Unhappy Valley with his presence. 
 
TX .—Suez. | 181 
 
 soiietimes three years have passed without a shower, 
 whereas in 1841 torrents poured for nine successive days, 
 deluging the town, and causing many buildings to fall.” 
 
 The population of Suez now numbers about 4,800. 
 As usual in Mohammedan countries no census is taken 
 here. Some therefore estimate the pogulation at 6,000. 
 _ Sixteen years ago it was supposed to be under 3,000. 
 After that time it rapidly increased till 1850, when a fatal 
 attack of cholera reduced it to about half its previous 
 number. The average mortality is about twelve a month. 
 The endemic diseases are fevers of typhoid and inter- 
 mittent types in spring, when strong northerly winds 
 cause the waters of the bay to recede,? and leave a 
 miasma-breeding swamp exposed to the rays of the sun. 
 In the months of October and November febrile attacks 
 are violent ; ophthalmia more so. The eye-disease is not 
 so general here as at Cairo, but the symptoms are more 
 acute; in some years it becomes a virulent epidemic, 
 which ends either in total blindness or in a partial 
 opacity of the cornea, inducing dimness of vision, and a 
 permanent weakness of the eyes. In one month three of 
 my acquaintances lost their sight. Dysenteries are also 
 common, and so are bad boils, or rather ulcers. The 
 cold season is not unwholesome, and at this period the 
 
 I would suggest to those Egyptian travellers who believe that the fall 
 of rain has been materially increased at Cairo of late, by plantations 
 of trees, to turn over the volumes of their predecesors ; they will find 
 almost every one complaining of the discomforts of rain. In Sind 
 it appears certain that during the last few years there has been at 
 times almost a monsoon ; this novel phenomenon the natives attribute 
 to the presence of their conquerors, concerning whom it cannot be 
 said that they have wooded the country to any extent. 
 
 1 This may appear a large mortality; but at Alexandria it is said © 
 the population is renewed every fourteen years. 
 
 2 During these North winds the sandy bar is exposed, and allows 
 men to cross, which may explain the passage of the Israelites, for 
 those who do not believe the Legend to be a Myth. Similarly at Jed- 
 dah, the bars are covered during the South and bare during the North 
 winds. 
 
182 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 pure air of the Desert restores and invigorates the heat- 
 wasted frame.” | 
 
 “The walls, gates, and defences of Suez areina 
 ruinous state, being no longer wanted to keep out the 
 Sinaitic Badawin. The houses are about 500 in number, 
 but many of the natives prefer occupying the upper 
 stories of the Wakalahs, the rooms on the ground floor 
 serving for stores to certain merchandise, wood, dates, 
 cotton, &c. The Suezians live well, and their bazar is 
 abundantly stocked with meat and clarified butter brought 
 from Sinai, and fowls, corn, and vegetables from the 
 Sharkiyah province; fruit is supplied by Cairo as well as 
 by the Sharkiyah, and wheat conveyed down the Nile in 
 flood to the capital is carried on camel-back across the 
 Desert. At sunrise they eat the Fatur, or breakfast, 
 which in summer consists of a ‘ fatirah,’ a kind of muffin, 
 or of bread and treacle. In winter it is more substan- 
 tial, being generally a mixture of lentils and rice,! with 
 clarified butter poured over it, and a ‘kitchen’ of pickled 
 lime or stewed onions. At this season they greatly enjoy 
 the ‘fal mudammas’ (boiled horse-beans),? eaten with 
 an abundance of linseed oil, into which they steep bits 
 of bread. The beans form, with carbon-generating 
 matter, a highly nutritive diet, which, if the stomach 
 can digest it,—the pulse is never shelled,—gives great 
 strength. About the middle of the day comes ‘Al- 
 Ghada,’ a light dinner of wheaten bread, with dates, 
 onions or cheese: in the hot season melons and cool- 
 
 1 This mixture, called in India Kichhri, has become common in 
 Al-Hijaz as well as at Suez. ‘ Al-Kajari’’ is the corruption, which 
 denotes its foreign origin, and renders its name pronounceable to 
 ‘Arabs. 
 
 2 Beans, an abomination to the ancient Egyptians, who were for- 
 bidden even to sow them, may now be called the common “ kitchen” 
 of the country. The Badawin, who believe in nothing but flesh, milk, 
 and dates, deride the bean-eaters, but they do not consider the food 
 so disgusting as onions. 
 
1X.—Suer. 183 
 
 ing fruits are preferred, especially by those who have 
 to face the sun. ‘Al-Asha,’ or supper, is served about 
 half an hour after sunset ; at this meal all but the poorest 
 - classes eat meat. Their favourite flesh, as usual in this 
 part of the world, is mutton; beef and goat are little 
 prized.” . 
 
 The peopie of Suez are a finer and fairer race 
 than the Cairenes. The former have more the ap- 
 pearance of Arabs: their dress is more picturesque, their 
 eyes are carefully darkened with Kohl, and they wear 
 sandals, not slippers. They are, according to all accounts, 
 a turbulent and somewhat fanatic set, fond of quarrels, 
 and slightly addicted to ‘‘pronunciamentos.” The genetal 
 programme of one of these latter diversions is said 
 to be as follows. The boys will first be sent by their 
 fathers about the town in a disorderly mob, and ordered 
 to cry out ‘*Long live the Sultan!” with its usual sequel, 
 ‘Death to the Infidels!” The Infidels, Christians or 
 others, must hear and may happen to resent this; or 
 possibly the governor, foreseeing a disturbance, orders an 
 ingenuous youth or two to be imprisoned, or to be caned 
 by the police. Whereupon some person, rendered in- 
 fluentiai by wealth or religious reputation, publicly 
 complains that the Christians are all in all, and that in 
 these evil days Al-Islam is going to destruction. On this 
 occasion the speaker conducts himself with such insolence, 
 that the governor perforce consigns him to confinement, 
 which exasperates the populace still more. Secret meet- 
 ings are now convened, and in them the chiefs of 
 corporations assume a prominent position. If the 
 disturbance be intended by its main-spring to subside 
 quictly, the conspirators are allowed to take their own 
 way; they will drink copiously, become lions about 
 midnight, and recover their hare-hearts before noon next 
 
 , 1 Here concludes Mr. Levick’s letter. For the following observa- 
 tions I alone am answerable. 
 
184 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah ‘and Meccah. 
 
 day. But if mischief be intended, a case of bloodshed is 
 brought about, and then nothing can arrest the torrent 
 of popular rage. The Egyptian, with all his good 
 humour, merriment, and nonchalance, is notorious for 
 doggedness, when, as the popular phrase is, his ‘ blood is 
 up.” And this, indeed, is his chief merit as a soldier. 
 He has a certain mechanical dexterity in the use of arms, 
 and an Egyptian regiment will fire a volley as correctly 
 as a battalion at Chobham. But when the head, and 
 not the hands, is required, he notably fails. The reason 
 of his superiority in the field is his peculiar stubborness, 
 and this, together with his powers of digestion and o: 
 enduring hardship on the line of march, is the quality 
 that makes him terrible to his old conqueror, the Turk. 
 
 1 The government takes care to prevent bloodshed in the towns 
 by disarming the country people, and by positively forbidding the 
 carrying of weapons. Moreover, with a wise severity, it punishes all 
 parties concerned in a quarrel, where blood is drawn, with a heavy 
 fine and the bastinado de rigueur. Hence it is never safe, except asa 
 European, to strike a man, and the Egyptians generally confine them- 
 selves to collaring and pushing each other against the walls. Even in 
 the case of receiving gross abuse, you cannot notice it as you would 
 elsewhere. You must take two witnesses,—respectable men,—and 
 prove the offence before the Zabit, who alone can punish the offender. 
 
 2 NoTE To Tuirp (1873) Epirion.—I revisited Suez in Septem- 
 ber, 1869, and found it altered for the better. The population had 
 risen from 6,000 to 20,000. The tumble-down gateway was still there, 
 but of the old houses—including the “‘ George Inn,” whose front had 
 been repaired—I recognised only four, and they looked mean by the 
 side of the fine new buildings. In a few years ancient Suez will be 
 no more. The bazars are not so full of filth and flies, now that 
 pilgrims pass straight through and hardly even encamp. The sweet 
 water Canal renders a Hammam possible; coffee is no longer hot 
 saltish water, and presently irrigation will cover with fields and 
 gardens the desert plain extending to the feet of Jabal Atakah. The 
 noble works of the Canal Maritime, which should in justice be called 
 _ the “‘ Lesseps Canal,"’ shall soon transform Clysma into a modern 
 and civilised city. The railway station, close to the hotel, the new 
 British hospital, the noisy Greek casino, the Frankish shops, the 
 
IX .—Suez. 185 
 
 puffing steamers, and the ringing of morning bells, gave me a novel 
 impression. Even the climate has been changed by filling up the 
 Timsch Lakes. Briefly, the hat is now at home in Suez. 
 
 NoTE to FourtH (1879) Epirron.—The forecast in the last 
 paragraph has not been fulfilled. I again visited Suez in 1877-78, 
 and found that it had been ruined by the Canal leaving it out of line. 
 In fact, another Suez is growing up about the ‘' New Docks,” while 
 the old town is falling to pieces. For this and other Egyptian 
 matters, see ‘‘ The Gold Mines of Midian” (by Sir Richard Burtc.1) 
 
CHAPIE RA 
 THE PILGRIM SHIP. 
 
 Tue larger craft anchor some three or four miles 
 from the Suez pier, so that it is necessary to drop down: 
 in a skiff or shore-boat. 
 
 Immense was the confusion at the eventful hour of 
 our departure. Suppose us gathered upon the beach, on 
 the morning of a fiery July day, carefully watching our 
 hurriedly-packed goods and chattels, surrounded by a 
 mob of idlers, who are not too proud to pick up waifs and 
 strays ; whilst pilgrims are rushing about apparently mad; 
 and friends are weeping, acquaintances are vociferating 
 adieux ; boatmen are demanding fees, shopmen are claim- 
 ing debts; women are shrieking and talking with inconceiv- 
 able power, and children are crying,—in short, for an hour 
 or so we Stand in the thick of ahuman storm. To confound , 
 confusion, the boatmen have moored their skiff half a dozen 
 yards away from the shore, lest the porters should be 
 unable to make more than double their fare from the — 
 Hajis. Againthe Turkish women make a hideous noise, 
 as they are carried off struggling vainly in brawny arms; 
 the children howl because their mothers howl; and the 
 men scold and swear, because in such scenes none may 
 be silent. The moment we had embarked, each indi- 
 vidual found that he or she had missed something of vital 
 importance,—a pipe, a child, a box, or a water-melon; 
 and raturally all the servants were in the bazars, when 
 
X.—The Pilgrim Ship. 187 
 
 they should have been in the boat. Briefly, despite 
 the rage of the sailors, who feared being too late for a 
 second trip, we stood for some time on the beach before 
 putting off. 
 
 _ From the shore we poled to the little pier, where 
 sat the Bey in person to perform a final examination of 
 our passports. Several were detected without the necessary 
 document. Some were bastinadoed, others were peremp- 
 torily ordered back to Cairo, and the rest were allowed to 
 proceed. At about 104.M. (6th July) we hoisted sail, and ran 
 down the channel leading to theroadstead. Onour way we 
 had a specimen of what we might expect from our fellow- 
 passengers, the Maghrabi.’ A boat crowded with these 
 
 1 Men of the Maghrab, or Western Africa; the vulgar plural is 
 Maghrabin, generally written ‘‘ Mogrebyn."". May not the singular 
 form of this word have given rise to the Latin ‘‘ Maurus,”’ by elision 
 of the Ghayn, to Italians an unpronounceable consonant? From 
 Maurus comes the Portuguese ‘‘ Moro,” and our ‘' Moor."" When 
 Vasco de Gama reached Calicut, he found there a tribe of Arab 
 colonists, who in religion and in language were the same as the people 
 of Northern Africa,—for this reason hecalled them ‘‘ Moors." This 
 was explained long ago by Vincent (Periplus, lib. 3), and lately by 
 Prichard (Natural History of Man). I repeat it because it has been 
 my fate to hear, at a meeting of a learned society in London, a 
 gentleman declare, that in Eastern Africa he found a people calling 
 themselves Moors. Maghrabin—Westerns,—then would be opposed to 
 Sharkiyin, Easterns, the origin of cur ‘‘ Saracen.’’ From Gibbon 
 downwards many have discussed the history of this word; but few 
 expected in the nineteenth century to see a writer on Eastern subjects 
 assert, with Sir John Mandeville, that these people ‘‘ properly, ben 
 clept Sarrazins of Sarra.’’ The learned M. Jomard, who never takes 
 such original views of things, asks a curious question :—'' Mais com- 
 ment un son aussi distinct que le Chine oe aurait-il pu se confondre 
 avec le Syn up et, pour un mot aussi connu que charg; comment 
 aurait-on pu se tromper a l’omission des points?” Simply because 
 the word Saracens came to us through the Greeks (Ptolemy uses 
 it), who have no such sound as sh in their language, and through 
 the Italian which, hostile to the harsh sibilants of Oriental dialects, 
 generally melts sh down into s. So the historical word Hashshash- 
 iyin—hemp-drinker,—civilised by the Italians Into ‘'assassino," 
 
188 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 ruffians ran alongside of us, and, before we could organise 
 a defence, about a score of them poured into our vessel. 
 They carried things too with a high hand, laughed at us, 
 and seemed quite ready to fight. My Indian boy, who 
 happened to let slip the word ‘‘ Muarras,” narrowly 
 escaped a blow with a palm stick, which would have 
 felled a camel. They outnumbered us, and they were 
 armed; so that, on this occasion, we were obliged to put 
 up with their insolence. 
 
 Our Pilgrim Ship, the Silk al-Zahab, or the ‘‘ Golden 
 Wire,” was a Sambuk, of about 400 ardebs (fifty tons), 
 with narrow, wedge-like bows, a clean water-line, a sharp 
 keel, and undecked, except upon the poop, which was 
 high enough to act as a sail in a gale of wind. She 
 carried two masts, raking imminently forwards, the main 
 being considerably larger than the mizzen; the former 
 was provided with a huge triangular latine, very deep in 
 the tack, but the second sail was unaccountably wanting. 
 She had no means of reefing, no compass, no log, no 
 sounding lines, no spare ropes, nor even the suspicion of 
 a chart: in her box-like cabin and ribbed hold there was 
 something which savoured of close connection between 
 her model and that of the Indian Toni,’ or ‘*dug-out.” 
 
 became, as all know, an expression of European use. But if any © 
 one adverse to ‘etymological fancies’? objects to my deriving Maurus 
 from ‘* Maghrab,” let him remember Johnson’s successfully tracing 
 the course of the metamorphosis of ‘‘dies”’ into ‘‘jour.’’ An even 
 more peculiar change we may discover in the word ‘ elephant.” 
 “ Pilu” in Sanscrit, became ‘pil’ in old Persian, which ignores 
 short final vowels; ‘fil,’ and, with the article, ‘‘ Al-fil,”” in Arabic, 
 which supplies the place of p (an unknown letter to it), by f£; and 
 elephas in Greek, which is fond of adding ‘‘as”’ to Arabic words, as 
 in the cases of Aretas (Haris) and Obodas (Obayd). ‘‘A name,”’ 
 says Humboldt, ‘‘often becoming a historical monument, and the 
 etymological analysis of language, however it may be divided, is 
 attended by valuable results.” 
 
 i The Toni or Indian canoe is the hollowed-out trunk of a 
 tree,-near Bombay generally a mango. It must have been the first © 
 
X.—The Pilgrim Ship. 189 
 
 Such, probably, were the craft which carried old Sesostris 
 across the Red Sea to Deir; such were the cruisers 
 which once every three years left Ezion-Geber for 
 Tarshish; such the transports of which 130 were re- 
 quired to convey A‘lius Gallus, with his 10,000 men. 
 ‘‘ Bakhshish” was the last as well as the first odious 
 sound I heard in Egypt. The owner of the shore-boat 
 would not allow us to climb the sides of our vessel before 
 paying him his fare, and when we did so, he asked for 
 Bakhshish. If Easterns would only imitate the example 
 of Europeans,—I never yet saw an Englishman give 
 Bakhshish to a soul,—the nuisance would soon be done 
 away with. But on this occasion all my companions 
 complied with the request, and at times it is unpleasant 
 to be singular. The first look at the interior of our 
 vessel showed a hopeless sight; Ali Murad, the greedy 
 owner, had promised to take sixty passengers in the hold, 
 but had stretched the number to ninety-seven. Piles of 
 boxes and luggage in every shape and form filled the ship 
 from stem to stern, and a torrent of Hajis were pouring 
 over the sides like ants into the East-Indian sugar-basin. 
 The poop, too, where we had taken our places, was 
 covered with goods, and a number of pilgrims had estab- 
 lished themselves there by might, not by right. 
 
 Presently, to our satisfaction, appeared Sa’ad the 
 Demon, equipped as an able seaman, and looking most 
 unlike the proprietor of two large boxes full of valuable 
 merchandise. This energetic individual instantly pre- 
 pared for action. With our little party to back him, he 
 speedily cleared the poop of intruders and their stuff by 
 the simple process of pushing or rather throwing them 
 off it into the pit below. We then settled down as 
 comfortably as we could; three Syrians, a married Turk 
 with his wife and family, the Rais or captain of the vessel, 
 
 step in advance from that simplest form of naval architecture, the 
 Catamaran” of Madras and Aden. 
 
190 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 with a portion of his crew, and our seven selves, com- 
 posing a total of eighteen human beings, upon a space 
 certainly not exceeding ten feet by eight. The cabin—a 
 miserable box about the size of the poop, and three feet 
 high—was stuffed, like the hold of a slave ship, with 
 fifteen wretches, children and women, and the other 
 ninety-seven were disposed upon the luggage or squatted 
 on the bulwarks. Having some experience in such 
 matters, and being favoured by fortune, I found a spare 
 bed-frame slung to the ship’s side; and giving a dollar 
 to its owner, a sailor—who flattered himself that, because 
 it was his, he would sleep upon it,—I instantly appro- 
 priated it, preferring any hardship outside, to the condition 
 of a packed herring inside, the place of torment. | 
 
 Our Maghrabis were fine-looking animals from the. 
 deserts about Tripoli and Tunis; so savage that, but a 
 few weeks ago, they had gazed at the cock-boat, and 
 wondered how long it would be growing to the size 
 of the ship that was to take them to Alexandria. 
 Most of them were sturdy young fellows, round-headed, 
 broad-shouldered, tall and large-limbed, with frowning 
 eyes, and voices in a perpetual roar. Their manners were — 
 rude, and their faces full of fierce contempt or insolent 
 familiarity. A few old men were there, with countenances 
 expressive of intense ferocity; women as savage and full _ 
 of fight as men; and handsome boys with shrill voices, | 
 and hands always upon their daggers. The women were 
 mere bundles of dirty white rags. The males were clad 
 in ‘*Burnus”—brown or striped woollen cloaks with — 
 hoods ; they had neither turband nor tarbush, trusting to _ 
 their thick curly hair or to the prodigious hardness of | 
 their scalps as a defence against the sun; and there was _ 
 not a slipper nor a shoe amongst the party. Of course 
 all were armed; but, fortunately for us, none had any- 
 thing more formidable than a cut-and-thrust dagger about 
 ten inches long. These Maghrabis travel in hordes under — 
 
| X.—The Pilgrim Ship. | 191 
 
 ‘a leader who obtains the temporary title of ‘‘ Maula,”— 
 the master. He has generally performed a pilgrimage or 
 two, and has collected a stock of superficial information 
 which secures for him the respect of his followers, and 
 the profound contempt of the heaven-made Ciceroni of 
 Meccah and Al-Madinah. No people endure greater 
 hardships when upon the pilgrimage than these Africans, 
 who trust almost entirely to alms and to other such dis- 
 pensations of Providence. It is not therefore to be 
 wondered at that they rob whenever an opportunity pre- 
 sents itself. Several cases of theft occurred on board the 
 ‘‘ Golden Wire’; and as such plunderers seldom allow 
 themselves to be baulked by insufficient defence, they are 
 accused, perhaps deservedly, of having committed some 
 revolting murders. 
 
 The first thing to be done after gaining standing- 
 room was to fight for greater comfort; and never a 
 Holyhead packet in the olden time showed a finer scene 
 of pugnacity than did our pilgrim ship. A few Turks, 
 ragged old men from Anatolia and Caramania, were 
 ‘mixed up with the Maghrabis, and the former began the 
 war by contemptuously elbowing and scolding their wild 
 neighbours. The Maghrabis, under their leader, ‘‘ Maula 
 Ali,” a burly savage, in whom I detected a ridiculous 
 resemblance to the Rev. Charles Delafosse, an old and 
 well-remembered schoolmaster, retorted so willingly that 
 in a few minutes nothing was to be seen but a confused 
 mass of humanity, each item indiscriminately punching 
 and pulling, scratching and biting, butting and trampling, 
 with cries of rage, and all the accompaniments of a proper 
 fray, whatever was obnoxious to such operations. One 
 of our party on the poop, a Syrian, somewhat incautiously 
 leapt down to aid his countrymen by restoring order. 
 He sank immediately below the surface of the living 
 mass: and when we fished him out, his forehead was cut 
 open, half his beard had disappeared, and a fine sharp set 
 
192 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Ce 
 
 o1 teeth belonging to some Maghrabi had left their mark 
 in the calf of his leg. The enemy showed no love of fair 
 play, and never appeared contented unless five or six of 
 them were setting upon a singleman. This made matters 
 worse. ‘The weaker of course drew their daggers, and a 
 few bad wounds were soon given and received. Ina few 
 minutes five men were completely disabled, and the victors 
 began to dread the consequences of their victory. 
 
 Then the fighting stopped, and, as many could not 
 find places, it was agreed that a deputation should wait 
 upon Ali Murad, the owner, to inform him of the crowded 
 state of the vessel. After keeping us in expectation at 
 least three hours, he appeared in a row-boat, preserving 
 a respectful distance, and informed us that any one who 
 pleased might quit the ship and take back his fare. 
 This left the case exactly as it was before; none would 
 abandon his party to go on shore: so Ali Murad rowed 
 off towards Suez, giving us a parting injunction to be 
 good, and not fight; to trust in Allah, and that Allah | 
 would make all things easy to us. His departure was the 
 signal for a second fray, which in its accidents differed a 
 little from the first. During the previous disturbance we 
 kept our places with weapons in our hands. This time 
 we were summoned by the Maghrabis to relieve their 
 difficulties, by taking about half a dozen of them on the | 
 poop. Sa’ad the Demon at once rose with an oath, and 
 threw amongst us a bundle of « Nabbit goodly ashen 
 staves six feet long, thick as a man’s wrist, well greased, 
 and tried in many a rough bout. He shouted to us 
 ‘Defend yourselves if you don’t wish to be the meat of. 
 the Maghrabis!”’ and to the enemy— Dogs and sons of | 
 dogs! now shall you see what the children of the Arab | 
 are.” “Tam Omar of Daghistan!” “I am Abdullah 
 the son of Joseph!” “Iam Sa’ad the Demon!” we ex- 
 claimed, “ renowning it” by this display of name and- 
 patronymic. To do our enemies justice, they showed no 
 
X.—The Pilgvim Ship. 193 
 
 sign of flinching; they swarmed towards the poop like 
 angry hornets, and encouraged each other with cries 
 of ‘ Allaho akbar!” But we had a vantage-ground 
 about four feet above them, and their palm-sticks and 
 short daggers could do nothing against our terrible quarter- 
 staves. In vain the ‘‘ Jacquerie,” tried to scale the poop 
 and to overpower us by numbers; their courage only 
 secured them more broken heads. 
 
 At first I began to lay on load with main morte, 
 really fearing to kill some one with such a weapon; but 
 it soon became evident that the Maghrabis’ heads and 
 shoulders could bear and did require the utmost exertion 
 of strength. Presently a thought struck me. A large 
 earthen jar full of drinking water,'—in its heavy frame of 
 wood the weight might have been 100 lbs.,—stood upon 
 the edge of the poop, and the thick of the fray took place 
 beneath. Seeing an opportunity, I crept up to the jar, 
 and, without attracting attention, rolled it down by a 
 smart push with the shoulder upon the swarm of 
 assailants. The fall caused a shriller shriek to rise above 
 the ordinary din, for heads, limbs, and bodies were sorely 
 bruised by the weight, scratched by the broken potsherds, 
 and wetted by the sudden discharge. A fear that some- 
 thing worse might be coming made the Maghrabis slink 
 off towards the end of the vessel. After a few minutes, 
 we, sitting in grave silence, received a deputation of 
 individuals in whity-brown Burnus, spotted and striped 
 with what Mephistopheles calls a ‘‘ curious juice.” They 
 solicited peace, which we granted upon the condition that 
 they would:pledge themselves to keep it. Our heads, 
 shoulders, and hands were penitentially kissed, and _pre- 
 sently the fellows returned to bind up their hurts in dirty 
 
 1 In these vessels each traveller, unless a previous bargain be 
 made, is expected to provide his own water and firewood. The 
 best way, however, is, when the old wooden box called a tank is 
 sound, to pay the captain for providing water, and to keep the key. 
 VOL. I. H 
 
194 — Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 rags. We owed this victory entirely to our own exer- 
 tions, and the meek Omar was by far the fiercest of 
 the party. Our Rais, as we afterwards learned, was an 
 old fool who could do nothing but call for the Fatihah,’ 
 claim Bakhshish at every place where we moored for the 
 night, and spend his leisure hours in the ‘ Caccia del 
 Mediterraneo.” ‘Our crew consisted of half a dozen 
 Egyptian lads, who, not being able to defend themselves, 
 were periodically chastised by the Maghrabis, especially 
 when any attempt was made to cook, to fetch water, or 
 to prepare a pipe.” 
 
 At length, about 3 p.m. on the 6th July, 1853, we 
 shook out the sail, and, as it bellied in the favourable 
 wind, we recited the Fatihah with upraised hands which 
 we afterwards drew down our faces. As the ‘* Golden 
 Wire” started from her place, I could not help casting 
 one wistful look upon the British flag floating over the 
 Consulate. But the momentary regret was stifled by the 
 heart-bounding which prospects of an adventure excite, 
 and by the real pleasure of leaving Egypt. I had lived 
 there a stranger in the land, and a hapless life it hac 
 peen: in the streets every man’s face, as he looked upor 
 the Persian, was the face of a foe. Whenever I came ir 
 contact with the native officials,‘ insolence marked the 
 
 1 The ‘ opener’’—the first chapter of the Koran, which Mos: 
 lems recite as Christians do the Lord's Prayer; it is also used or 
 occasions of danger, the beginnings of journeys, to bind contracts, &c 
 
 2 These Maghrabis, like the Somalis, the Wahhabis of the desert, 
 and certain other barbarous races, unaccustomed to tobacco, appeared 
 to hate the smell of a pipe. 
 
 3 The hands are raised in order to catch the blessing that is sup. 
 posed to descend from heaven upon the devotee; and the meaning o 
 drawing the palms down the face is symbolically to transfer the bene 
 diction to every part of the body. 
 
 4 Asis the case under all despotic governments, nothing can be 
 more intentionally offensive than the official manners of a superior tc 
 his inferior in Egypt. The Indians charge their European fellow 
 subjects with insolence of demeanour and coarseness of langtvage 
 
AX.—The Pilgrim Ship. 195 
 
 event; and the circumstance of living within hail of my 
 fellow-countrymen, and yet finding it impossible to enjoy 
 their society, still throws a gloom over the memory of my 
 first sojourn in Egypt. 
 
 _ The ships of the Red Sea—infamous region of rocks, 
 reeis, and shoals—cruise along the coast by day, and at 
 night lay-to in the first cove they find; they do not sail 
 when it blows hard, and as in winter time the weather is 
 ‘often stormy and the light of day does not last long, the 
 ‘voyage is intolerably slow. At sunset we stayed our 
 adventurous course; and, still within sight of Suez, com- 
 fortably anchored under the lee of Jabal Atakah, the 
 ** Mountain of Deliverance,?” the butt-end of Jabal Joshi. 
 We were now on classic waters. The Eastern shore was 
 dotted with the little grove of palm-trees which clusters 
 around the Uyun Musa, or Moses’ Wells; and on the 
 west, between two towering ridges, lay the mouth of the 
 valley (Badiyah, or Wady Tawarik, or Wady Musa) down 
 which, according to Father Sicard,° the Israelites fled to 
 
 As far as my experience goes, our roughness and brusquerie are mere 
 politeness compared with what passes between Easterns. At the 
 same time it must be owned that I have seen the worst of it. 
 
 1 It was far safer and more expeditious in Al-Adrisi’s day (a.p. 
 1154), when the captain used to sit on the poop “furnished with 
 numerous and useful instruments’’; when he “sounded the shallows, 
 and by his knowledge of the depths could direct the helmsman 
 where to steer.” 
 
 2 In the East it is usual, when commencing a voyage or a journey, 
 to make a short day’s work, in order to be at a convenient distance 
 for returning, in case of any essential article having been forgotten. 
 
 _ 3 A Jesuit missionary who visited the place in a.p. 1720, and 
 described it in a well-known volume. As every eminent author, 
 |however, monopolises a ‘crossing,’ and since the head of the Suez 
 creek, as is shown by its old watermark, has materially changed 
 within no very distant period, it is no wonder that the question is 
 still sub judice, and that there it will remain most probably till the end 
 of time. The Christians have two equally favourite lines: the Mos- 
 lems patronise one so impossible, that it has had attractions enough 
 
196 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, 
 
 the Sea of Sedge.!’ The view was by no means deficient 
 in a sort of barbarous splendour. Verdure there was none, 
 but under the violet and orange tints of the sky the chalky 
 rocks became heaps of topazes, and the brown-burnt 
 ridges masses of amethyst. The rising mists, here silvery 
 white, there deeply rosy, and the bright blue of the 
 waves,’ lining long strips of golden sand, compensated for 
 the want of softness by a semblance of savage gorgeous- 
 ness. | 
 
 Next morning (7th July), before the cerulean hue had 
 vanished from the hills, we set sail. It was not long before 
 we came to a proper sense of our position. The box con- 
 taining my store of provisions, and, worse still, my 
 opium, was at the bottom of the hold, perfectly un- 
 approachable; we had, therefore, the pleasure of break- 
 ing our fast on “ Mare’s skin,’* and a species of biscuit, 
 hard as a stone and quite as tasteless. During the day, 
 whilst insufferable splendour reigned above, the dashing) 
 of the waters below kept my nest in a state of perpetual 
 drench. At night rose a cold, bright moon, with dews 
 falling so thick and clammy that the skin felt as though 
 it would never be dry again. Itis, also, by no means pleas- 
 
 to fix their choice. It extends from Zafaran Point to Hammam 
 Bluffs, ten miles of deep water. 
 
 1 The Hebrew name of this part of the Red Sea. Ina communi- 
 cation lately made to the Royal Geographical Society, I gave my 
 reasons for believing that the Greeks borrowed their Erythraean Sea 
 from the Arabic ‘‘ Sea of Himyar.”’ 
 
 2 Most travellers remark that they have never seen a brighter 
 blue than that of the Red Sea. It was the observation of an early 
 age that ‘‘the Rede Sea is not more rede than any other sea, but in| 
 some place thereof is the gravelle rede, and therefore men clepen it 
 the Rede Sea.” 
 
 3 Jild al-Faras (or Kamar al-Din), a composition of apricot paste, 
 dried, spread out, and folded into sheets, exactly resembling the 
 article after which it is named. Turks and Arabs use it when travel- 
 ling; they dissolve it in water, and eat it as a relish with bread or 
 
 biscuit 
 
 Ee ata Do Re OY mia atin 
 
X.—The Pilgvim Ship. 197 
 
 ant to sléep upon a broken cot about four feet long by two 
 broad, with the certainty that a false movement would 
 throw you overboard, and a conviction that if you do fall 
 
 | from a Sambuk under sail, no mortal power can save'you. 
 
 And as under all circumstances in the East, dozing is 
 
 : one’s chief occupation, the reader will understand that the 
 want of it left me in utter, utter idleness. 
 
 The gale was light that day, and the sunbeams were 
 fire ; our crew preferred crouching in the shade of the sail 
 to taking advantage of what wind there was. In spite of 
 our impatience we made but little way. near evening 
 time we anchored on a tongue of sand, about two miles 
 distant from the well-known and picturesque heights 
 called by the Arabs Hammam Faraitn,’ which 
 
 —‘ like giants stand 
 
 To sentinel enchanted land." 
 The strip of coarse quartz and sandstone gravel is ob- 
 viously the offspring of some mountain torrent; it 
 stretches southwards, being probably disposed in that 
 direction by the currents of the sea as they receive the 
 deposit. The distance of the ‘‘Hammam Bluffs” pre- 
 vented my visiting them, which circumstance I regretted 
 the less as they have been described by pens equal to the 
 task. 
 
 That evening we enjoyed ourselves upon clean sand, 
 whose surface, drifted by the wind into small yellow 
 waves, was easily converted by a little digging and heap- 
 ing up, into the coolest and most comfortable of couches. 
 Indeed, after the canescent heat of the day, and the 
 ‘tossing of our ill-conditioned vessel, we should have 
 ‘been contented with lodgings far less luxurious. Fuel 
 was readily collected, and while some bathed, others 
 
 1 ‘' Pharaoh’s hot baths,"’ which in our maps are called ‘‘ Hum- 
 mum Bluffs.” They are truly ‘“‘enchanted land" in Moslem fable: 
 a volume would scarcely contain the legends that have been told and 
 written about them. (See Note 1, p. ro, ante.) 
 
198 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 erected a hearth—three large stones and a hole open to 
 leeward—lit the fire and put the pot on to boil. Shaykh 
 Nur had fortunately a line; we had been successful in 
 fishing; a little rice also had been bought; with this 
 boiled, and rock-cod broiled upon the charcoal, we made 
 a dinner that caused every one to forget the sore griev- 
 ance of ‘‘Mare’s skin” and stone-hard biscuit. A few 
 Maghrabis had ventured on shore, the Rais having 
 terrified the others by threatening them with those 
 ‘“‘ bogies,” the Badawin—and they offered us Kuskusu! 
 in exchange for fish. As evening fell, we determined, 
 before sleeping, to work upon their “morale” as effec- 
 tually as we had attacked their physique. Shaykh 
 Hamid stood up and indulged them with the Azan, or 
 call to prayers, pronounced after the fashion of Al- 
 Madinah.? They performed their devotions in lines 
 ranged behind us as a token of respect, and when wor- 
 ship was over we were questioned about the Holy City 
 till we grew tired of answering. Again our heads and 
 shoulders, our hands and knees,’ were kissed, but this 
 time in devotion, not in penitence. My companions 
 could scarcely understand half the rugged words which 
 the Maghrabis used,* as their dialect was fresh from the 
 
 1 One of the numerous species of what the Italians generally 
 call ‘‘ Pasta.’’ The material is wheaten or barley flour rolled into 
 small round grains. In Barbary it is cooked bysteaming, and served 
 up with hard boiled eggs and mutton, sprinkled with red pepper. 
 These Badawi Maghrabis merely boiled it. 
 
 2 The Azan is differently pronounced, though similarly worded 
 by every orthodox nation in Al-Islam. 
 
 3 The usual way of kissing the knee is to place the finger tips 
 upon it, and then to raise them to the mouth. It is an action 
 denoting great humility, and the condescending superior who is not 
 an immediate master returns the compliment in the same way. : 
 
 4 The Maghrabi dialect is known to be the harshest and most 
 guttural form of Arabic. It owes this unenviable superiority to its 
 frequency of ‘‘Sukun,"’ or the quiescence of one or more conson- 
 ants ;—'' K’lab,"’ for instance, for ‘‘ Kilab,"" and “\'Msik"’ ior “ Amsik." 
 
X.—The Pilgrim Ship. | 199 
 
 distant Desert. Still we succeeded in making ourselves jn- 
 telligible to them, vaunting our dignity as the Sons of 
 the Prophet, and the sanctity of our land which should 
 protect its children from every description of fraud and 
 violence. We benignantly promised to be their guides at 
 Al-Madinah, and the boy Mohammed would conduct 
 their devotions at Meccah, always provided that they re- 
 pented their past misdeeds, avoided any repetition of the 
 Same, and promised to perform the duties of good and 
 faithful pilgrims. Presently the Rais joined our party, 
 and the usual story-telling began. The old man knew 
 the name of each hill, and had a legend for every nook 
 and corner in sight. He dwelt at length upon the life of 
 Abu Zulaymah, the patron saint of these seas, whose 
 little tomb stands at no great distance from our bivouac 
 place, and told us how he sits watching over the satety of 
 pious mariners in a cave among the neighbouring rocks, 
 and sipping his coffee, which is brought in a raw state 
 from Meccah by green birds, and prepared in the usual 
 way by the hands of ministering angels. He showed us 
 the spot where the terrible king of Egypt, when close 
 upon the heels of the children of Israel, was whelmed in 
 the “hell of waters,’”’ and he warned us that next day 
 our way would be through breakers, and reefs, and dan- 
 gerous currents, over whose troubled depths, since that 
 awful day, the Ifrit of the storm has never ceased to flap 
 his sable wing. The wincing of the hearers proved that 
 the shaft of the old man’s words was sharp; but as night 
 was advancing, we unrolled our rugs, and fell asleep upon 
 the sand, all of us happy, for we had fed and drunk, and 
 
 ‘Thus it is that vowels, the soft and liquid part of language, disappear, 
 leaving in their place a barbarous sounding mass of consonants. 
 
 1 Burckhardt mentions the Arab legend that the spirits of the 
 drowned Egyptians may be seen moving at the bottom of the sea, 
 and Finati adds that they are ever busy recruiting their numbers witb 
 shipwrecked mariners. 
 
200 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 —the homo sapiens is a hopeful animal—we made sure that 
 on the morrow the Ifrit would be merciful, and allow us 
 to eat fresh dates at the harbour of Tur. | 
 
 Fair visions of dates doomed to the Limbo of things 
 which should have been! The grey dawn (8th July) looked 
 down upon us in difficulties. The water is deep near this 
 coast; we had anchored at high tide close to the shore, and 
 the ebb had left us high anddry. When this fact became 
 apparent, a storm was upon the point of breaking. The 
 Maghrabis, but for our interference, would have bas- 
 tinadoed the Rais, who, they said with some reason, 
 ought to have known better. When this phase of feeling 
 passed away, they applied themselves to physical efforts. 
 All except the women and children, who stood on the 
 shore encouraging their relatives with shrill quaverings, 
 threw themselves into the water; some pushed, others 
 applied their shoulders to the vessel’s side, and all used 
 their lungs with might and main. But the “Golden 
 Wire” was firmly fixed, and their exertions were too ir- 
 regular, Muscular force failed, upon which they changed 
 their tactics. At the suggestion of their “‘ Maula,” they 
 prepared to burn incense in honour of the Shaykh Abu 
 Zulaymah. The material not being forthcoming, they 
 used coffee, which perhaps accounts for the shortcomings 
 of that holy man. After this the Rais remembered that 
 their previous exertions had not begun under the auspices 
 of the Fatihah. Therefore they prayed, and then re- 
 applied themselves to work. Still they failed. Finally, 
 each man called aloud upon his own particular saint or 
 spiritual guide, and rushed forward as if he alone sufficed 
 for the exploit. Shaykh Hamid unwisely quoted the 
 name, and begged the assistance, of his great ancestor, 
 the ‘“ Claritied-Butter-Seiler”; the obdurate ‘Golden 
 Wire” was not moved, and Hamid retired in rete 
 confusion. 
 
 It was now about nine a.m., and the water had risen. 
 
X.—The Pilgrim Ship. 20% 
 
 considerably. My morning had been passed in watching 
 the influx of the tide, and the grotesque efforts of the 
 Maghrabis. When the vessel showed some symptoms of 
 unsteadiness, I arose, walked gravely up to her, ranged 
 the pilgrims around her with their shoulders to the sides, 
 and told them to heave with might when they heard 
 me invoke the revered name of my patron saint. I raised 
 my hands and voice; ‘Ya Piran Pir! Ya Abd al-Kadir 
 Jilani?” was the signal. Each Maghrabi worked like an 
 Atlas, the ‘Golden Wire” canted half over, and, sliding 
 heavily through the sand, once more floated off into deep 
 water. This was generally voted a minor miracle, and 
 the Effendi was respected—for.a day or two. 
 
 The wind was fair, but we had all to re-embark, an 
 operation which went on till noon. After starting I re- 
 marked the natural cause which gives this Birkat Faraun— 
 ‘‘Pharaoh’s Bay,”—a bad name. Here the gulf narrows; 
 and the winds, which rush down the clefts and valleys of 
 the lofty mountains on the Eastern and Western shores, 
 meeting tides and counter-currents, cause a perpetual 
 commotion. That day the foam-tipped waves repcatedly 
 washed over my cot, by no means diminishing its dis- 
 comforts. In the evening, or rather late in the afternoon, 
 we anchored, to our infinite disgust, under a ridge of 
 rocks, behind which lies the plain of Tur. The Rais 
 deterred all from going on shore by terrible stories about 
 the Badawin that haunt the place, besides which there 
 was no sand to sleep upon. We remained, therefore, on 
 
 board that night; and, making sail early the next morning, 
 we threaded through reefs and sand-banks about noon 
 
 into the intricate and dangerous entrance of Tur. 
 
 Nothing can be meaner than the present appearance 
 of the old Pheenician colony, although its position as a 
 
 a 
 
 ee 
 
 t I thus called upon a celebrated Sufi or mystic, whom many 
 East-Indian Mosilems_reverence.as the Arabs do their Prophet. In 
 
 Appendix 1. the curious reader will find. Abd al-Kadir again mentioned 
 
202 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and M eccah, 
 
 harbour, and its plentiful supply of fruit and fresh water, 
 make it one of the most frequented places on the coast. 
 The only remains of any antiquity—except the wells—are 
 the fortifications which the Portuguese erected to keep 
 out the Badawin. The little town lies upon a plain that 
 stretches with a gradual rise from the sea to the lofty 
 
 mountain-axis of the Sinaitic group. The country around 
 reminded me strongly of maritime Sind; a flat of clay 
 and sand. clothed with sparse turfs of Salsole, and 
 
 bearing strong signs of a (geologically speaking) recent 
 origin. The town is inhabited principally by Greek 
 and other Christians,’ who live by selling water and 
 provisions to ships. A fleecy cloud hung lightly over 
 the majestic head of Jabal Tur, about eventide, and 
 the outlines of the giant hills stood “ picked out ” from 
 the clear blue sky. Our Rais, weather-wise man, warned 
 us that these were indications of a gale, and that, in case 
 of rough weather, he did not intend to leave Tur. I was 
 not sorry to hear this. We had passed a pleasant day, 
 drinking sweet water, and eabing the dates, grapes, and 
 ‘pomegranates, which the people of the place carry down 
 to the beach for the benefit of hungry pilgrims. Besides 
 which, there were various sights to see, and with these 
 we might profitably spend the morrow. We therefore 
 pitched the tent upon the sand, and busied ourselves with 
 
 1 Those people are descendants of Syrians and Greeks that 
 fled from Candia, Scios, the Ionian Islands, and Palestine to escape 
 the persecutions of the Turks. They now wear the Arab dress, and 
 speak the language of the country, but they are easily to be distin- 
 guished from the Moslems by the expression of their countenances 
 and sometimes by their blue eyes and light hair. There are also a 
 few families calling themselves Jabaliyah, or mountaineers. Origin- 
 ally they were 100 households, sent by Justinian to serve the convent 
 of St. Catherine, and to defend it against the Berbers. Sultan Kansuh 
 al-Ghori, called by European writers Campson Gaury, the Mamluk 
 King of Egypt, in a.D. 1501, admitted these people into the Moslem 
 
 community on condition of their continuing the menial service they 
 
 bad afforded to the monks. 
 
X.—The Pilgrim Ship. 203 
 
 extricating a box of provisions: the labour was rendered 
 lighter by the absence of the Maghrabis, someof whom were 
 wandering about the beach, whilst others had gone off to 
 fill their bags with fresh water. We found their surliness 
 insufferable; even when we were passing from poop to 
 forecastle, landing or boarding, they grumbled forth their 
 dissatisfaction. 
 
 Our Rais was not mistaken in his prediction. The 
 fleecy cloud on Tur’s tops had given true warning. When 
 morning (9th July) broke, we found the wind strong, and the 
 sea white withfoam. Most of us thought lightly of these 
 terrors, but our valorous captain swore that he dared not 
 for his life cross in such a storm the mouth of ill-omened 
 Akabah. We breakfasted, therefore, and afterwards set 
 out to visit Moses’ Hot Baths, mounted on wretched 
 donkeys with pack-saddles, ignorant of stirrups, and with- 
 out tails, whilst we ourselves suffered generally from boils, 
 which, as usual upon a journey, make their appearance 
 in localities the most inconvenient. Our road lay north- 
 ward across the plain towards a long narrow strip of date 
 ground, surrounded by a ruinous mud wall. After a ride 
 of two or three miles, we entered the gardens, and came 
 suddenly upon the Hammam. It is a prim little Cockney 
 bungalow, built by Abbas Pasha of Egypt for his own 
 accommodation; glaringly whitewashed, and garnished 
 with diwans and calico curtains.of a gorgeous hue. The 
 guardian had been warned of our visit, and was present 
 to supply us with bathing-cloths and other necessaries. 
 One by one we entered the cistern, which is now in an 
 inner room. The water is about four feet deep, warm 
 jn winter, cool in summer, of a saltish-bitter taste, but 
 celebrated for its invigorating qualities, when applied 
 externally. On one side of the calcareous rock, near the 
 ground, is the hole opened for the spring by Moses’ rod, 
 which must have been like the ‘‘mast of some tall 
 
204 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Ammiral!”; and near it are the marks of Moses’ nails— 
 deep indentations in the stone, which were probably left 
 there by some extinct Saurian. Our Cicerone informed 
 us that formerly the finger-marks existed, and that they 
 were long enough for a man to lie in. The same func- 
 tionary attributed the sanitary properties of the spring to 
 the blessings of the Prophet, and, when asked why Moses 
 had not made sweet water to flow, informed us that the 
 Great Lawgiver had intended the spring for bathing in, 
 not for drinking. We sat with him, eating the small 
 yellow dates of Tur, which are delicious, melting like 
 honey in the mouth, and leaving a surpassing arviéve gout. 
 After finishing sundry pipes and cups of coffee, we gave 
 the bath-man a few piastres, and, mounting our donkeys, | 
 started eastward for the Bir Musa,? which we reached in 
 half an hour. It is a fine old work, built round and domed 
 over with roughly squared stones, very like what may be 
 Seen in some rustic parts of Southern England. The) 
 sides of the pit were so rugged that a man could climb 
 down them, and at the bottom was a pool of water, sweet 
 and abundant. We had intended to stay there, and to 
 dine al fresco, but the hated faces of our companions, the 
 Maghrabis, meeting us at the entrance, nipped that pro- 
 ject in the bud. Accordingly we retired from the burning 
 
 1 Adam’s “forehead (says the Tarikh Tabari) brushed the skies, 
 but this height being inconvenient, the Lord abridged it to t100 
 cubits. The Moslems firmly believe in Anakim. Josephus informs 
 us that Moses was of ‘divine form and great tallness”’; the Arabs 
 specify his stature,—300 cubits. They have, moreover, found his | 
 grave in some parts of the country S.E, of the Dead Sea, and make 
 cups of a kind of bitumen called ‘‘ Moses’ Stones.’’ This people 
 nescit ignorave—it will know everything. 
 
 2 ‘*Moses’ Well.”” Ihave no argument except the untrustworthy 
 traditions of the Badawin, either for or against this having been the 
 identical well near which Moses sat when he fled from the face of 
 Pharaoh to the land of Midian. One thing is certain, namely, that 
 in this part of Arabia, as also at Aden, the wells are of a very ancient — 
 date 
 
X.—The Pilgrim Ship. | 205 
 
 sun toa neighbouring coffee-house—a shed of palm leaves 
 kept by a Tur man, and there, seated on mats, we 
 demolished the contents of our basket. Whilst we were 
 eating, some Badawin came in and joined us, when 
 invited so to do. They were poorly dressed, and all 
 armed with knives and cheap sabres, hanging to leathern 
 ‘bandoleers: in language and demeanour they showed 
 few remains of their old ferocity. As late as Mohammed 
 Ali’s time these people were noted wreckers, and formerly 
 they were dreaded pirates: now they are lions with their 
 fangs and claws drawn. 
 
 In the even, when we returned to our tent, a Syrian, 
 one of our party on the poop, came out to meet us with 
 the information that several large vessels had arrived from 
 Suez, comparatively speaking, empty, and that the cap- 
 tain of one of them would land us at Yambw’ for three 
 dollars a head. The proposal was tempting. But 
 presently it became apparent that my companions were 
 unwilling to shift their precious boxes, and moreover, 
 that I should have to pay for those who could not or 
 would not pay for themselves,—that is to say, for the 
 whole party. As sucha display of wealth would have been 
 unadvisable, I dismissed the idea with a sigh. Amongst 
 the large vessels was one freighted with Persian pilgrims, 
 a most disagreeable race of men on a journey or a voyage. 
 They would not land at first, because they feared the 
 Badawin. They would not take water from the town 
 people, because some of these were Christians. More- 
 over, they insisted upon making their own call to prayer, 
 which heretical proceeding—it admits five extra words— 
 our party, orthodox Moslems, would rather have died 
 than have permitted. When their crier, a small wizen- 
 faced man, began the Azan with a voice 
 
 ‘‘in quel tenore 
 Che fa il cappon quando talvolta canta,”’ 
 
 we received it with a shout of derision, and some, hastily 
 
206 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 snatching up their weapons, offered him an opportunity 
 of martyrdom. The Maghrabis, too, hearing that the 
 Persians were Rafaz (heretics) crowded fiercely round to 
 doa little Jihad, or Fighting for the Faith. The long- 
 bearded men took the alarm. They were twice ‘the 
 number of our small party, and therefore they had been in 
 the habit of strutting about with nonchalance, and looking 
 at us fixedly, and otherwise demeaning themselves in an 
 indecorous way. But when it came to the point, they 
 showed the white feather. These Persians accompanied 
 us to the end of our voyage. As they approached the 
 Holy Land, visions of the ““Nabbut” caused a change for 
 the better in. their manners. At Mahar they meekly 
 endured a variety of insults, and at Yambu’ they cringed 
 to us like dogs. | | 
 
GHAPPEER: XI. 
 TO YAMBU. 
 
 On the rrth July, 1853, about dawn, we left Tur, 
 after a pleasant halt, with the unpleasant certainty of not 
 touching ground for thirty-six hours. I passed the time 
 in steadfast contemplation of the web of my umbrella, 
 and in making the following meteorological remarks. 
 
 Morning.—The air is mild and balmy as that of an 
 Italian spring ; thick mists roll down the valleys along 
 the sea, and a haze like mother-o’-pearl crowns the head- 
 lands. The distant rocks show Titanic walls, lofty don- 
 jons, huge projecting bastions, and moats full of deep 
 shade. At their base runs a sea of amethyst, and as 
 earth receives the first touches of light, their summits, 
 almost transparent, mingle with the jasper tints of the 
 sky. Nothing can be more delicious than this hour. But 
 
 as 
 ‘les plus. belles choses 
 
 Ont le pire destin,”’ 
 so lovely Morning soon fades. The sun bursts up from 
 behind the main, a fierce enemy, a foe that will force every 
 one to crouch before him. He dyes the sky orange, and 
 the sea “‘incarnadine,” where its violet surface is stained 
 by his rays, and he mercilessly puts to flight the mists and 
 haze and the little agate-coloured masses of cloud that were 
 before floating in the firmament. The atmosphere is sO 
 clear that now and then a planet is visible. For the two 
 
 “ 
 
 -—-- ~ 
 
208 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 hours following sunrise the rays are endurable; after that © 
 they become a fiery ordeal. The morning beams oppress 
 you with a feeling of sickness; their steady glow, re- 
 flected by the glaring waters, blinds your eyes, blisters 
 your skin, and parches your mouth: you now become a 
 monomaniac; you do nothing but count the slow hours 
 that must “‘ minute by” before you can be relieved. 
 
 Midday.—The wind, reverberated by the glowing hills 
 is like the blast of a lime-kiln. All colour melts away 
 with the canescence from above. ‘The sky is a dead 
 milk-white, and the mirror-like sea so reflects the tint 
 that you can scarcely distinguish the line of the horizon. 
 After noon the wind sleeps upon the reeking shore ; there 
 is a deep stillness; the only sound heard is the melan- 
 choly flapping of the sail. Men are not so much sleeping | 
 as half-senseless; they feel as if a few more degrees of 
 heat would be death. 
 
 Sunset.—The enemy sinks behind the deep cerulean 
 sea, under a canopy of gigantic rainbow which covers ~ 
 half the face of heaven. Nearest to the horizon is an 
 arch of tawny orange; above it another of the brightest 
 gold, and based upon these a semi-circle of tender sea- 
 green blends with a score of delicate gradations into the 
 sapphire sky. Across the rainbow the sun throws its rays 
 in the form of giant wheel-spokes tinged with a beautiful 
 pink. The Eastern sky is mantled with a purple flush that - 
 picks out the forms of the hazy Desert and the sharp-cut_ 
 Hills. Language is a thing too cold, too poor, to express 
 the harmony and the majesty of this hour, which is as 
 evanescent, however, as it is lovely. Night falls rapidly, 
 when suddenly the appearance of the Zodiacal Light? re- 
 1 The reader who has travelled in the East will feel that I am not 
 exaggerating. And to convince those who know it only by descrip- 
 tion, I will refer them to any account of our early campaigns in Sind, 
 where many a European soldier has been. taken up stone dead: after 
 
 slecping an hour or two in the nate sun. 
 2 The Zodiacal Light ed Red. Sea, and in Bombay, i is fay 
 
X!I.—To Yambu. 209 
 
 ‘stores the scene to what it was. Again the grey hills and 
 ‘the grim rocks become rosy or golden, the palms green, 
 the sands saffron, and the sea wears a lilac surface of 
 dimpling waves. But after a quarter of an hour all fades 
 once more; the cliffs are naked and ghastly under the 
 ‘moon, whose light falling upon this wilderness of white 
 crags and pinnacles is most strange—most mysterious. 
 Night.—The horizon is all darkness, and the sea 
 reflects the white visage of the night-sun as in a mirror of 
 steel. Inthe air we see giant columns of pallid light, 
 distinct, based upon the indigo-coloured waves, and 
 standing with their heads lost in endless space. The 
 stars glitter with exceeding brilliance.* At this hour are 
 “river and hill and wood, 
 
 With all the numberless goings on of life, 
 
 Inaudible as dreams "; 
 while the planets look down upon you with the faces of 
 smiling friends. You feel the ‘sweet influence of the 
 Pleiades.” You are bound by the ‘‘bond of Orion.” Hes- 
 perus bears with him a thousand things. In communion 
 with them your hours pass swiftly by, till the heavy dews 
 warn you to cover up your face and sleep. And with 
 one look at a certain little Star in the north, under which 
 lies all that makes life worth living through—surely it 
 is a venial superstition to sleep with your eyes towards 
 that Kiblah!—you fall into oblivion. 
 
 Those thirty-six hours were a trial even to the hard- 
 headed Badawin. ‘The Syrian and his two friends fell 
 ill. Omar Effendi, it is true, had the courage to say his 
 
 brighter than in England. I suppose this is the ‘ after-glow' 
 described by Miss Martineau and other travellers: ‘ flashes of light 
 like coruscations of the Aurora Borealis in pyramidal form" would 
 exactly describe the phenomenon. It varies, however, greatly, and 
 often for some days together is scarcely visible. 
 
 _4 Niebuhr considers that the stars are brighter in Norway than 
 ‘in the Arabian deseris ; 1 never saw them so bright as on the Neil- 
 gherry hills 
 
210 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 sunset prayers, but the exertion so altered him that he 
 looked another man. Salih Shakkar in despair ate dates 
 till threatened with a dysentery. Sa’ad the Demon had 
 rigged out for himself a cot three feet long, which, arched 
 over with bent bamboo, and covered with cloaks, he had 
 slung on to the larboard side; but the loud grumbling which | 
 _proceeded from his nest proved that his precaution had 
 not been a cure. Even the boy Mohammed forgot to 
 chatter, to scold, to smoke, and to make himself gen- 
 erally disagreeable. The Turkish baby appeared to be 
 dying, and was not strong enough to wail. How the poor 
 mother stood her trials so well, made every one wonder. 
 The most pleasant trait in my companions’ characters was 
 the consideration they showed to her, and their attention 
 to her children. Whenever one of the party drew forth 
 a little delicacy—a few dates or a pomegranate—they 
 gave away a share of it to the children, and most of them 
 took their turns to nurse the baby. This was genuine 
 politeness—kindness of heart. It would be well for those 
 who sweepingly accuse Easterns of want of gallantry, to 
 contrast this trait of character with the savage scenes of 
 civilisation that take place among the ‘ Overlands” at 
 Cairo and Suez.! No foreigner could be present for the 
 first time without bearing away the lasting impression 
 that the sons of Great Britain are model barbarians.” 
 On board the “ Golden Wire” Salih Shakkar was the 
 sole base exception to the general geniality of my com- 
 panions. 
 
 As the sun starts towards the West, falling harm- 
 lessly upon our heads, we arise, still faint and dizzy, 
 calling for water—which before we had not the strength 
 
 Tish i doe Bit Se a ae ee 
 1 Written in the days of the vans, which preceded the Railway. 
 2 On one occasion I was obliged personally to exert myseif to 
 -prevent a party of ladies being thrust into an oid and bad tracsit- 
 van: the ruder sex having stationed itself at some distance from tbe 
 starting-place in order to seize upon the best. Lid yrade 
 
XI.—To Yambu'. ati 
 
 to drink—and pipes, and coffee, and similar luxuries. 
 Our primitive kitchen is a square wooden box, lined with 
 clay, and filled with sand, upon which three or four large 
 stones are placed to form a hearth. Preparations are 
 now made for the evening meal, which is of the simplest 
 description. A little rice, a few dates, or an onion, will 
 keep a man alive in our position ; a single “ good dinner ” 
 would justify long odds against his seeing the next even- 
 ing. Moreover, it is impossible in such cases to have an 
 appetite—fortunately, as our store of provisions is a scanty 
 one. Arabs consider it desirable on a journey to eat 
 hot food once in the twenty-four hours; so we determine 
 to cook, despite all difficulties. The operation, however, 
 is by no means satisfactory ; twenty expectants surround 
 the single fire, and there is sure to be a quarrel amongst 
 them every five minutes. 
 
 As the breeze, cooled by the dew, begins to fan our 
 parched faces, we recover our spirits amazingly. Songs 
 are sung; tales are told; and rough jests are bandied 
 about till, not unfrequently, Oriental sensitiveness is sorely 
 tried. Or, if we see the prospect of storm or calm, 
 we draw forth, and piously peruse, a ‘‘ Hizb al-Bahr.”’ 
 As this prayer is supposed to make all safe upon the 
 ocean wave, I will not selfishly withhold it from the 
 British reader. To draw forth all its virtues, the reciter 
 should receive it from the hands of his Murshid or 
 spiritual guide, and study it during the Chillah, or forty 
 days of fast, of which, I venture to observe, few Sons of 
 Bull are capable. 
 
 *O Allah, O Exalted, O Almighty, O All-pitiful, O 
 All-powerful, Thou art my God, and sufficeth to me the 
 knowledge of it! Glorified be the Lord my Lord, and 
 glorified be the Faith my Faith! Thou givest Victory 
 to whom Thou pleasest, and Thou art the Glorious, the 
 Merciful! We pray Thee for Safety in our goings forth and 
 pur standings still, in our Words and our Designs, in our 
 
212 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Dangers of Temptation and Doubt, and the secret Designs — 
 of our Hearts. Subject unto us this Sea, even as Thou 
 didst subject the Deep to Musa” (Moses), ‘‘and as Thou 
 didst subject the Fire to Ibrahim?” (Abraham), ‘‘ and as 
 Thou didst subject the Iron to Datid?” (David), ‘‘and as” 
 Thou didst subject the Wind and the Devils and Jinnis 
 and Mankind to Sulayman®” (Solomon), ‘‘and as Thou 
 didst subject the Moon and Al-Burak to Mohammed, upon 
 whom be Allah’s Mercy and His Blessing! And subject 
 unto us all the Seas in Earth and Heaven, in Thy visible 
 and in Thine invisible Worlds, the Sea of this Life, and 
 the Sea of Futurity. O Thou who reignest over every- 
 thing, and unto whom all Things return, Khyas! Khyas! - 
 Khyas‘!” 
 
 And lastly, we lie down upon our cribs, wrapped up 
 in thickly padded cotton coverlets ; we forget the troubles 
 of the past day, and we care nought for the discomforts 
 of that to come. 
 
 Late on the evening of the 11th July we passed in 
 sight of the narrow mouth of Al-’Akabah, whose famosi 
 vupes are a terror to the voyagers of these latitudes. Like 
 the Gulf of Cambay, here a tempest is said to be always 
 brewing, and men raise their hands to pray as they cross 
 it. We had no storm that day from without, but a fierce 
 one was about to burst within our ship. The essence of 
 Oriental discipline is personal respect based upon fear. 
 Therefore it often happens that the commanding officer, 
 
 1 Abraham, for breaking his father’s idols, was cast by Nimrod 
 into a fiery furnace, which forthwith became a garden of roses. (See 
 Chapter xxi. of the Koran, called ‘‘ the Prophets.’’) 
 
 2 David worked as an armourer, but the steel was as wax in his 
 hands. 
 
 3 Solomon reigned over the three orders of created beings: the 
 fable of his flying carpet is well known. (See Chapter xxvii. of the 
 Koran, called ‘the Ant.”’) - . 
 
 4 These are mystic words, and entirely beyond the’ reach of dic- 
 tionaries and vocabularies. 
 
X1I.—~-To Yambu’. 213 
 
 if a mild old gentleman, is the last person whose com- 
 mand is obeyed,—his only privilege being that of sitting 
 apart from his inferiors. And such was the case with our 
 Rais. On the present occasion, irritated by the refusal 
 of the Maghrabis to stand out of the steerman’s way, 
 and excited by the prospect of losing sight of shore for a 
 whole day, he threatened one of the fellows with his 
 slipper. It required all our exertions, even to a display 
 of the dreaded quarter-staves, to calm the consequent ex- 
 citement. After passing Al-’Akabah, we saw nothing but 
 sea and sky, and we spent a weary night and day tossing 
 upon the waters, our only exercise; every face bright- 
 ened as, about sunset on the 12th July, we suddenly 
 glided into the mooring-place. 
 
 Marsa (anchorage) Damghah,' or rather Dumayghah, 
 is scarcely visible from the sea. An islet of limestone 
 rock defends the entrance, leaving a narrow passage to 
 the south. It is not before he enters that the mariner 
 discovers the extent and the depth of this creek, which 
 indents far into the land, and offers 15 to 20 feet of fine 
 clear anchorage which no swell can reach. Inside it 
 looks more like a lake, and at night its colour is gloriously 
 blue as Geneva itself. I could not help calling to mind, 
 after dinner, the old school lines— 
 
 “Est in secessu longo locus; insula portum 
 Efficit objectu laterum ; quibus omnis ab alto 
 Frangitur, inque sinus scindit sese unda reductos. 
 
 Nothing was wanted but the ‘“‘ atrum nemus.” Where 
 however, shall we find such luxuries in arid Arabia ? 
 
 The Rais, as usual, attempted to deter us from land- 
 ing, by romancing about the ‘*‘ Bedoynes and Ascopards,”’ 
 representing them to be ‘“folke ryghte felonouse and 
 foule and of cursed kynde.” To which we replied by 
 shouldering our Nabbuts and scrambling into the cock- 
 
 1 In Moresby’s Survey, ‘‘Sherm Demerah,” the creek of De« 
 merah. Ali Bey calls it Demeg. 
 
2i4 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah aud Meccah. 
 
 boat. On shore we saw a few wretched-looking beings, 
 Juhaynah! or Hutaym, seated upon heaps of dried wood, 
 which they sold to travellers; and three boat-loads of 
 Syrian pilgrims who had preceded us. We often envied 
 them their small swift craft, with their double latine sails 
 disposed in ‘‘ hare-ears”’ which, about eventide in the far 
 distance, looked like a white gull alighting upon the purple 
 wave; and they justified our jealousy by arriving at 
 Yambu’ two days before us. The pilgrims had bivouacked 
 upon the beach, and were engaged in drinking their after- 
 dinner coffee. They received us with all the rights of 
 hospitality, as natives of Al-Madinah should everywhere 
 be received ; we sat an hour with them, ate a little fruit, 
 satisfied our thirst, smoked their pipes, and when taking 
 leave blessed them. Then returning to the vessel we fed, — 
 and lost no time in falling asleep. 
 
 The dawn of the next day saw our sail flapping in 
 the idle air. And it was not without difficulty that in 
 the course of the forenoon we entered Wijh Harbour, 
 distant from Dumayghah but very few miles. Al-Wijh 
 is also a natural anchorage, in no way differing from that 
 where we passed the night, except in being smaller and 
 shallower and less secure. From this place to Cairo the 
 road is safe. The town is a collection of round huts 
 meanly built of round stones, and clustering upon a piece 
 of elevated rock on the northern side of the creek. It is 
 
 1 See ‘“‘The Land of Midian (Revisited)"’ for a plan of Al- 
 Dumayghah, and a description of Al-Wijh (al-Bahr) These men of 
 the Beni Jahaynah, or ‘‘Juhaynah” tribe—the ‘ Beni Kalb,” as 
 they are also called,—must not be trusted. They extend from the 
 plains north of Yambu’ into the Sinaitic Peninsula. They boast no 
 connection with the great tribe Al-Harb; but they are of noble race, 
 are celebrated for fighting, and, it is said, have good horses. The 
 specimens we saw at Marsa Dumayghah were poor ones, they had 
 few clothes, and no arms except the usual Jambiyah (crooked dagger). 
 By their civility and their cringing style of address it was easy to seo 
 they had been corrupted by intercourse with strangers. 
 
X1I.—To Yambu’. - 215 
 
 distant about six miles from the inland fort of the same 
 name, which receives the Egyptian caravan, and which 
 thrives, like its port, by selling water and provisions to 
 pilgrims. The little bazar, almost washed by every high 
 tide, provided us with mutton, rice, baked bread, and the 
 other necessaries of life at a moderate rate. Luxuries 
 also were to be found: a druggist sold me an ounce of 
 opium at a Chinese price. 
 
 With reeling limbs we landed at Al-Wijh,' and find- 
 ing a large coffee-house above and near the beach, we 
 installed ourselves there. But the Persians who preceded 
 us had occupied all the shady places outside, and were 
 correcting their teeth with their case knives; we were 
 forced to content ourselves with the interior. It was a 
 building of artless construction, consisting of little but a 
 roof supported by wooden posts, roughly hewn from date 
 trees: round the tamped earthen floor ran a raised bench 
 of unbaked brick, forming a diwan for mats and sleeping- 
 rugs. Inthe centre a huge square Mastabah, or platform, 
 answered a similar purpose. Here and there appeared 
 attempts at long and side walls, but. these superfluities had 
 been allowed to admit daylight through large gaps. In 
 ‘one corner stood the apparatus of the “ Kahwahji,” an 
 altar-like elevation, also of earthen-work, containing a 
 hole for a charcoal fire, upon which were three huge coffee- 
 pots dirtily tinned. Near it were ranged the Shishas, or 
 Egyptian hookahs, old, exceedingly unclean, and worn by 
 age and hard work. A wooden framework, pierced with 
 circular apertures, supported a number of porous earthen- 
 ware gullehs (gargoulettes, or monkey jars) full of cold, 
 sweet water; the charge for each was, as usual in Al- 
 Hijaz, five paras. Such was the furniture of the café, 
 and the only relief to the barrenness of the view was a 
 fine mellowing atmosphere composed of smoke, steam, 
 
 ge Po ee ee ee Oe eee 
 1 It is written Wish and Wejh; by Ali Bey Vadjch and Wadjih ; 
 Wodjeh and Wosh by Burckhardt ; and Wedge by Moresby. - 
 
216 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 flies, and gnats in about equal proportions. I have been 
 diffuse in my description of the coffee-house, as it was a 
 type of its class: from Alexandria to Aden the traveller — 
 will everywhere meet with buildings of the same kind. 
 
 Our happiness in this Paradise—for such it was to 
 us after the “Golden Wire ’’—was nearly sacrificed by 
 Sa’ad the Demon, whose abominable temper led him 
 at once into a quarrel with the master of the café. 
 And the latter, an ill-looking, squint-eyed, low-browed, 
 broad-shouldered fellow, showed himself nowise unwilling 
 to meet the Demon half way. The two worthies, after a 
 brief bandying of bad words, seized each other’s throats 
 leisurely, so as to give the spectators time and encourage- 
 ment to interfere. But when friends and acquaintances 
 were hanging on to both heroes so firmly that they could 
 not move hand or arm, their wrath, as usual, rose, till it 
 was terrible to see. The little village resounded with the 
 war, and many a sturdy knave rushed in, sword or 
 cudgel in hand, so as not to lose the sport. During the 
 heat of the fray, a pistol which was in Omar Effendi’s 
 hand went off—accidentally of course—and the ball 
 passed so close to the tins containing the black and 
 muddy Mocha, that it drew the attention of all parties. 
 As if by magic, the storm was lulled. A friend recog-— 
 nised Sa’ad the Demon, and swore that he was no black 
 slave, but a soldier at Al-Madinah—‘‘ no waiter, but a 
 Knight Templar.” This caused him to be looked upon as 
 rather a distinguished man, and he proved his right to the 
 honour by insisting that his late enemy should feed with 
 him, and when the other decorously hung back, by drag- 
 ging him to dinner with loud cries. 
 
 My alias that day was severely tried. Besides the 
 Persian pilgrims, a number of nondescripts who came 
 in the same vessel were hanging about the coffee-house; 
 lying down, smoking, drinking water, bathing and pick- 
 ing their teeth with their daggers. One inquisitive man 
 
XI.—To Yambu’. 217 
 
 was always at my side. He called himself a Pathan 
 (Afghan settled in India); he could speak five or six 
 languages, he knew a number of people everywhere, and 
 hehad travelled far and wide over Central Asia. These fel- 
 lows are always good detectors of anincognito. I avoided 
 answering his question about my native place, and after 
 telling him that I had no longer name or nation, being a 
 Darwaysh, I asked him, when he insisted upon my having 
 been born somewhere, to guess for himself. To my joy 
 he claimed me for a brother Pathan, and in course of 
 conversation he declared himself to be the nephew of an 
 Afghan merchant, a gallant old man who had been civil 
 to me at Cairo. We then sat smoking together with 
 ‘effusion.” Becoming confidential, he complained that 
 he, a Sunni, or orthodox Moslem, had been abused, mal- 
 treated, and beaten by his fellow-travellers, the heretical 
 Persian pilgrims. I naturally offered to arm my party, to 
 take up our cudgels, and to revenge my compatriot. This 
 thoroughly Sulaymanian style of doing business could not 
 fail to make him sure of his man. He declined, however, 
 wisely remembering that he had nearly a fortnight of the 
 Persians’ society still to endure. But he promised him- 
 self the gratification, when he reached Meccah, of 
 sheathing his Charay? in the chief offender’s heart. 
 
 At 8 a.m. on the 14th July we left Al-Wijh, after pass- 
 ing a night, tolerably comfortable by contrast, in the coffee- 
 house. We took with us the stores necessary, for though 
 our Rais had promised to anchor under Jabal Hassani that 
 evening, no qne believed him. We sailed among ledges of 
 rock, golden sands, green weeds, and in some places 
 through yellow lines of what appeared to me at a distance 
 foam after a storm. All day a sailor sat upon the mast- 
 head, looking at the water, which was transparent as blue 
 glass, and shouting out the direction. This precaution 
 was somewhat stultified by the roar of voices, which never 
 
 1 The terrible Afghan knife. 
 
218 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 failed to mingle with the warning, but we wore every half 
 hour, and we did not run aground... About midday we 
 passed by Shaykh Hasan al-Marabit’s tomb. It is the 
 usual domed and whitewashed building, surrounded by 
 the hovels of its guardians, standing upon a low flat island 
 of yellow rock, vividly reminding me of certain scenes in 
 Sind. Its dreary position attracts to it the attention of 
 passing travellers; the dead saint has a prayer and a 
 Fatihah for the good of his soul, and the live sinner wends 
 his way with religious refreshment. | 
 Near sunset the wind came on to blow freshly, and 
 _ we cast anchor together with the Persian pilgrims upon 
 a rock, This was one of the celebrated coral reefs of the 
 Red Sea, and the sight justified Forskal’s emphatic de- 
 scription—luxus lususque nature. It was a huge ledge 
 or platform rising but little above the level of the deep; 
 the water-side was perpendicular as the wall of a fort; 
 and, whilst a frigate might have floated within a yard of it, 
 every ripple dashed over the reef, replenishing the little 
 basins and hollows in the surface. The colour of the © 
 waves near it was a vivid amethyst. In the distance the 
 eye rested upon what appeared to be meadows of brilliant 
 flowers resembling those of earth, only far brighter and 
 more lovely. Nor was this Land of the Sea wholly deso- 
 late. Gulls and terns here swam the tide;. there, seated 
 upon the coral, devoured their prey. In the air, troops of 
 birds contended noisily for a dead flying fish,’ and in the 
 deep water they chased a shoal, which, in fright and 
 hurry to escape the pursuers, veiled the surface with 
 
 1 These the Arabs, in the vulgar tongue, call Jarad al-Bahr, ‘‘ sea 
 locusts’’; as they term the shrimp Burghat al-Bahr, or the sea-flea. 
 Such compound words, palpably derived from land objects, prove the 
 present Ichthyophagi and the Badawin living on the coast to be a race 
 originally from the interior. Pure and ancient Arabs still have at 
 least one uncompounded word to express every object familiar to 
 them, and it is in this point that the genius of the language chiefly 
 shows itself. | 
 
XI.—To Yambu’. 219 
 
 spray and foam. Andas night came on the scene shifted, 
 displaying fresh beauties. Shadows clothed the back- 
 ground, whose features, dimly revealed, allowed full scope 
 to the imagination. In the forepart of the picture lay the 
 sea, shining under the rays of the moon with a metallic 
 lustre; while its border, where the wavelets dashed upon 
 the reef, was lit by what the Arabs call the ‘jewels of 
 the deep?’’—brilliant flashes of phosphoric light giving an 
 idea of splendour which Art would vainly strive to imitate. 
 Altogether it was a bit of fairyland, a spot for nymphs 
 and sea-gods to disport upon: you might have heard, 
 without astonishment, old Proteus calling his flocks with 
 the writhed conch; ‘and Aphrodite seated in her shell 
 would have been only a fit and proper climax for its love- 
 liness. 
 
 But—as philosophically remarked by Sir Cauline the 
 Knyghte— 
 
 “Every whyte must have its blacke, 
 And every sweete its soure— ”’ 
 
 this charming coral reef was nearly being the scene of an 
 ugly accident. The breeze from seaward set us slowly 
 but steadily towards the reef, a fact of which we soon 
 became conscious. Our anchor was not dragging; it 
 had not rope enough to touch the bottom, and vainly we 
 sought for more. In fact the ‘*Golden Wire” was as 
 disgracefully deficient in all the appliances of safety, as 
 any English merchantman in the nineteenth century,—a 
 circumstance which accounts for the shipwrecks and for 
 the terrible loss of life perpetually occurring about the Pil- 
 grimage-season in these seas. Had she struck upon the 
 razor-like edges of the coral-reef, she would have melted 
 
 1 The Arab superstition is, that these flashes of light are jewels 
 made to adorn the necks and hair of the mermaids and mermen. 
 When removed from their native elements the gems fade and dis- 
 appear. If I remember right, there is some idea similar to this 
 among the Scotch, and other Northern people. 
 
220 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 ~ away like a sugar-plum in the ripple, for the tide was: 
 rising at thetime. Having nothing better to do, we began 
 to make as much noise as possible. Fortunately for us, 
 the Rais commanding the Persian’s boat was an Arab — 
 from Jeddah; and more than once we had treated him 
 with great civility. Guessing the cause of our distress, 
 he sent two sailors overboard with a cable; they swam 
 gallantly up to us; and ina few minutes we were safely 
 moored to the stern of our useful neighbour. Which done, 
 we applied ourselves to the grateful task of beating our 
 Rais, and richly had he deserved it. Before noon, when 
 the wind was shifting, he had not once given himself the 
 trouble to wear; and when the breeze was falling, he 
 preferred dosing to taking advantage of what little wind 
 remained. With energy we might have been moored that 
 night comfortably under the side of Hassani Island, 
 instead of floating about on an unquiet sea with a lee- 
 shore of coral-reef within a few. yards of our counter. 
 
 At dawn the next day (15th July) we started. We 
 made Jabal Hassani’ about noon, and an hour or so 
 before sunset we glided into Marsa Mah4r. Our rest- 
 ing-place resembled Marsa Dumayghah at an humble 
 distance; the sides of the cove, however, were bolder 
 and more precipitous. The limestone rocks presented 
 a peculiar appearance; in some parts the base and 
 walls had crumbled away, leaving a coping to pro- 
 ject like a canopy; in others the wind and rain 
 had cut deep holes, and pierced the friable material 
 with caverns that looked lke the work of art. There 
 was a pretty opening of backwood at the bottom of the 
 
 1 The word Jabal will frequently occur in these pages. It is 
 applied by the Arabs to any rising ground or heap of rocks, and, 
 therefore, must not always be transiated ‘‘ Mountain.” In the latter 
 sense, it has found its way into some of the Mediterranean dialects. 
 Gibraltar is Jabal al-Tarik, and “‘ Mt. Ethne that men clepen Mounte 
 Gybelle” is “Monte Gibello,”—the mountain, par excellence. 
 
XI.—To Yambu’. 221 
 
 cove; and palm trees in the blue distance gladdened our 
 eyes, which pined for the sight of something green. The 
 Rais, as usual, would have terrified us with a description 
 of the Hutaym tribe that holds these parts, and I knew 
 
 from Welsted and Moresby that it is a debased race. 
 
 But forty-eight hours of cramps on board ship would 
 -make a man think lightly of a much more imminent 
 
 danger. 
 
 Wading to shore we cut our feet with the sharp 
 rocks, I remember to have felt the acute pain of some- 
 thing running into my toe: but after looking at the place 
 and extracting what appeared to be a bit of thorn,! I dis- 
 missed the subject, little guessing the trouble it was to 
 give me. Having scaled the rocky side of the cove, we 
 found some half-naked Arabs lying in the shade; they 
 were unarmed, and had nothing about them except their 
 villainous countenances wherewith to terrify the most 
 timid. These men still live in limestone caves, like the 
 Thamud tribe of tradition; also they are Ichthyophagi, 
 existing without any other subsistence but what the sea 
 affords. They were unable to provide us with dates, flesh, 
 or milk, but they sold usa kind of fish called in India 
 ‘¢ Bui”: broiled upon the embers, it proved delicious. 
 
 After we had eaten and drunk and smoked, we began 
 to make merry; and the Persians, who, fearing to come 
 on shore, had kept to their conveyance, appeared proper 
 butts for the wit of some of our party: one of us stood 
 up and pronounced the orthodox call to prayer, after which 
 the rest joined in a polemical hymn, exalting the virtues 
 
 1 It was most probably a prickle of the ‘ egg-fruit,” or Echinus, 
 sO common in these seas, generally supposed to be poisonous. I 
 found it impossible to cure my foot in Al-Hijaz, and every remedy 
 seemed to make it worse. ‘This was as much theeffect of the climate 
 
 _ of Arabia, as of the hardships and privations of a pilgrimage. After 
 
 my return to Egypt in the autumn, the wound healed readily with- 
 out medical treatment. 
 
g22 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 and dignity of the first three Caliphs.*. Then, as general 
 
 on such occasions, the matter was made personal by | 
 
 informing the Persians in a kind of rhyme sung by the 
 Meccan gamuins, that they were the “slippers of Ali and 
 the dogs of Omar.” But as they were too frightened to 
 reply, my companions gathered up their cooking utensils, 
 and returned to the ‘*Golden Wire,” melancholy, like 
 disappointed candidates for the honours of Donnybrook. 
 Our next day was silent and weary, for we were all 
 surly, and heartily sick of being on board ship. We should 
 have made Yambw’ in the evening but for the laziness of 
 the Rais. Having duly beaten him, we anchored on the 
 open coast, insufficiently protected by a reef, and almost 
 in sight of our destination. In the distance rose Jabal 
 Radhwah or Radhwa,? one of the “‘ Mountains of Paradise*” 
 
 in which honoured Arabia abounds. It is celebrated by 
 
 poetry as well as by piety. 
 
 ‘*Did Radhwah strive to support my woes, 
 Radhwah itself would be crushed by the weight,’ 
 
 says Antar.‘ It supplies Al-Madinah with hones. I 
 
 heard much of its valleys and fruits and bubbling springs, - 
 
 but afterwards I learned to rank these tales with the super- 
 stitious legends which are attached to it. Gazing at its 
 
 bare and ghastly heights, one of our party, whose wit — 
 
 was soured by the want of fresh bread, surlily remarked 
 that such a heap of ugliness deserved ejection from 
 heaven,—an irreverence too public to escape general 
 
 denunciation. We waded on shore, cooked there, and 
 
 1 Abu Bakr, Omar, and Osman. 
 
 2 I have found both these forms of writing the word in books; 
 Moresby, or rather Mr. Rassam, erroneously spells it ‘‘ Ridwah.” 
 
 3 In a future chapter, when describing a visit to Mt. Ohod, near 
 Al-Madinah, I shall enter into some details about these ‘‘ Mountains 
 of Paradise.” 
 
 4 The translator, however, erroneously informs us, in a foot- 
 note, that Radhwah is a mountain near Meccah. 
 
 ww 
 
X1I.—To Yambu’. | 223 
 
 passed the night; we were short of fresh water, which, 
 combined with other grievances, made us as surly as 
 bears. Sa’ad the Demon was especially vicious; his eyes 
 gazed fixedly on the ground, his lips protruded till you 
 might have held up his face by them, his mouth was gar- 
 ‘nished with bad wrinkles, and he never opened it but he 
 grumbled out a wicked word. He solaced himself that 
 evening by crawling slowly on all-fours over the boy 
 Mohammed, taking scrupulous care to place one knee upon 
 the sleeper’s face. The youth awoke in a fiery rage: we 
 all roared with laughter; and the sulky Negro, after 
 savouring the success of his spite, grimly, as but half 
 satisfied, rolled himself, like a hedgehog, into a bail; and, 
 resolving to be offensive even in his forgetfulness, snored 
 violently all night. 
 
 We slept upon the sands and arose before dawn 
 (July 17), determined to make the Rais start in time that 
 day. A slip of land separated us from.our haven, but 
 the. wind was foul, and by reason of rocks and shoals, we 
 had to make a considerable détour. 
 
 It was about noon on the twelfth day after our 
 departure from Suez, when, after slowly beating up the 
 narrow creek leading to Yambu’ harbour, we sprang into 
 a shore-boat and felt new life when bidding an eternal 
 adieu to the vile “‘Golden Wire.” 
 
 I might have escaped much of this hardship and 
 suffering by hiring a vessel to myself. There would then 
 have been a cabin to retire into at night, and shade from 
 the sun; moreover, the voyage would have lasted five, not 
 twelve, days. But I wished to witness the scenes on 
 
 board a pilgrim ship,—scenes so much talked of by the 
 Moslem palmer home-returned. Moreover, the hire was 
 exorbitant, ranging from £40 ito £50, and it would have 
 led toa greater expenditure, as the man who can afford to 
 take a boat must pay in proportion during his land 
 
224 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 journey. In these countries you perforce go on as you 
 begin: to ‘break one’s expenditure,” that is to say, to 
 reitrench expenses, is considered all but impossible. We 
 have now left the land of Egypt. | 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 THE HALT AT YAMBU’, 
 
 Tue heat of the sun, the heavy dews, and the fre- 
 quent washings of the waves, had so affected my foot, 
 that on landing at Yambu’ I could scarcely place it upon 
 the ground. But traveller’s duty was to be done; so, 
 leaning upon my “‘slave’s” shoulder, I started at once to 
 see the town, whilst Shaykh Hamid and the others of 
 our party proceeded to the custom-house. 
 
 ‘Yanbu’a al-Bahr, Yambuw’ or Fountain of the Sea,} 
 identified, by Abyssinian Bruce, with the Iambia village 
 of Ptolemy, is a place of considerable importance, and 
 shares with others the title of ‘Gate of the Holy City.” 
 
 t is the third quarter of the caravan road? from Cairo to 
 Meccah; and here, as well as at Al-Badr, pilgrims fre- 
 quently leave behind them, in hired warehouses, goods 
 too heavy to be transported in haste, or too valuable to 
 risk in dangerous times. Yambu’ being the port of Al- 
 
 1 Yanbu’a in Arabic is ‘‘a Fountain.” Yanbu’a of the Sea is so 
 called to distinguish it from ‘‘ Yanbu’a of the Palm-Grounds,” a village 
 at the foot of the mountains, about 18 or 20 miles distant from the 
 sea-port. epey places it one day’s journey E.4.N.E. from Yanbu’a 
 al-Bahr, ahd describes it as a pleasant place in a fertile valley. It is 
 now known as Yambu’a al-Nakhil. See ‘‘The Land of Midian 
 (Revisited).”’ 
 
 2 The first quarter of the Cairo caravan is Al-Akabah ; the second 
 is the Manhal Salmah (Salmah’s place for watering camels) ; the 
 third is Yambu’; and the fourth Meccah. 
 
 WOL, I. t 
 
226 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Madinah, as Jeddah is of Meccah, is supported by a 
 considerable transport trade and extensive imports from 
 the harbours on the Western coasts of the Red Sea; it 
 supplies its chief town with grain, dates, and henna. 
 Here the Sultan’s dominion is supposed to begin, whilst 
 the authority of the Pasha of Egypt ceases; there is no 
 Nizam, or Regular Army, however, in the town,’ and the 
 governor is a Sharif or Arab chief. I met him in the 
 great bazar; he is a fine young man of light complexion 
 and the usual high profile, handsomely dressed, with a 
 - Cashmere turband, armed to the extent of sword and 
 dagger, and followed by two large, fierce- mae Negro. 
 slaves leaning upon enormous Nabbuts. 
 
 The town itself is in no wise remarkable. Built on 
 the edge of a sunburnt plain that extends between the 
 mountains and the sea, it fronts the northern extremity 
 of a narrow winding creek. Viewed from the harbour, it 
 is a long line of buildings, whose painful whiteness is set 
 off by a sky-like cobalt and a sea-like indigo; behind it 
 lies the flat, here of a bistre-brown, there of a lively 
 tawny; whilst the background is formed by dismal Radh- 
 wah, 
 
 ‘‘ Barren and bare, unsightly, unadorned.” 
 Outside the walls are a few little domes and tombs, 
 which by no means merit attention. Inside, the streets 
 are wide; and each habitation -is placed at an unsociable 
 distance from its neighbour, except near the port and the 
 bazars, where ground is valuable. The houses are 
 roughly built of limestone and coralline, and their walls 
 a of fossils crumble hike almond cake; they have huge 
 
 1 The Nizam, as Europeans now know, is the regular Turkish 
 iafantry. In Al-Hijaz, these troops are not stationed in small towns 
 like Yambu’. At such places a party of Irregular horse, for the pur- 
 pose of escorting travellers, is deemed sufficient. The Yambu’ police 
 seems to consist of the Sharif’s sturdy negroes. In Ali Bey’s time 
 Yambu’ belonged to the Sharif ef Meccah, and was garrisoned by 
 hima. 
 
XII.—The Halt at Yambu’. 227 
 
 hanging windows, and look mean after those in the Mos- 
 lem quarters of Cairo. There is a ‘‘Suk,” or market- 
 street of the usual form, a long narrow lane darkened by 
 
 a covering of palm leaves, with little shops let into the 
 walls of the houses on both sides. The cafés, which 
 abound here, have already been described in the last 
 
 chapter; they are rendered dirty in the extreme by travel- 
 lers, and it is impossible to sit in them without a fan to 
 drive away the flies. The custom-house fronts the land- 
 ing-place upon the harbour; it is managed by Turkish 
 officials,—men dressed in Tarbushes, who repose the live- 
 long day upon the Diwans near the windows. In the case 
 of us travellers they had a very simple way of doing 
 business, charging each person of the party three piastres 
 for each large box, but by no means troubling themselves 
 to meddle with the contents.’ Yambu’ also boasts of a 
 Hammam or hot bath, a mere date-leaf shed, tenanted by 
 
 an old Turk, who, with his surly Albanian assistant, lives 
 
 by “cleaning” pilgrims and travellers. Some whitc- 
 
 ~washed Mosques and Minarets of exceedingly simple form, 
 -a Wakalah or two for the reception of merchants, and a 
 
 saint’s tomb, complete the list of public buildings. 
 
 In one point Yambu’ claims superiority over most 
 other towns in this part of Al-Hijaz. Those who can 
 afford the luxury drink sweet rain-water, collected amongst 
 the hills in tanks and cisterns, and brought on camel- 
 back to the town. Two sources are especially praised, the 
 Ayn al-Birkat and the Ayn Ali, which suffice to supply 
 the whole population: the brackish water of the wells 
 
 is confined to coarser purposes. Some of the old people 
 
 here, as at Suez, are said to prefer the drink to which 
 
 1 This, as far as I could learn, is the only tax which the Sultan’s 
 government derives from the northern Hijaz ; the people declare it to 
 be, as one might expect at this distance from the capital, liable to 
 gross peculation. When the Wahhabis held Yambu’, they assessed it, 
 
 like all other places; for which reason their name is held in the 
 
 liveliest abhorrence. 
 
228 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 years of habit have accustomed them, and it isa standing 
 joke that, arrived at Cairo, they salt the water of the Nile 
 to make it palatable. 
 
 The population of Yambu’—one of the most bigoted 
 and quarrelsome races in Al-Hijaz—strikes the eye after 
 arriving from Egypt, as decidedly a new feature. The 
 Shaykh or gentleman is over-armed and over-dressed, 
 as Fashion, the Tyrant of the Desert as well as of 
 the Court, dictates to a person of his consequence. The 
 civilised traveller from Al-Madinah sticks in his waist-_ 
 shawl a loaded pistol,! garnished with crimson silk cord, 
 but he partially conceals the butt-end under the flap of 
 his jacket. The Irregular soldier struts down the street 
 a small armoury of weapons: one look at the man’s 
 countenance suffices to tell you what he is. Here and 
 there stalk grim Badawin, wild as their native wastes, 
 and in all the dignity of pride and dirt; they also are 
 armed to the teeth, and even the presence of the police- 
 man’s quarterstaff? cannot keep their swords in their 
 scabbards. What we should call the peaceful part of the 
 population never leave the house without the ‘* Nabbut” 
 over the right shoulder, and the larger, the longer, and the 
 heavier the weapon is, the more gallantry does the bearer 
 claim. The people of Yambu’ practise the use of this 
 implement diligently; they become expert in delivering 
 
 —- 
 SS SSS, 
 
 1 Civilians usually stick one pistol in the belt; soldiers and fight- 
 ing men two, or more, with all the necessary concomitants of pouches, 
 turnscrews, and long iron ramrods, which, opening with a screw, dis- 
 close a long thin pair of pincers, wherewith fire is put upon the 
 chibuk. 
 
 2 The weapons with which nations are to be managed form a 
 curious consideration. The Englishman tamely endures a staff, which 
 would make a Frenchman mad with anger; anda Frenchman respects 
 a sabre, which would fill an Englishman’s bosom with civilian spleen, 
 You order the Egyptian to strip and be flogged; he makes no objec- 
 tion to seeing his blood flow in this way; but were a cutting weapon 
 used, his friends would stop at nothing in their fury. 
 
AIT.—The Halt at Yambw, 229 
 
 a head-blow so violent as to break through any guard, 
 and with it they always decide their trivial quarrels.’ 
 The dress of the women differs but little from that of the 
 ‘Egyptians, except in the face veil,? which is generally 
 white. There is an independent bearing about the Yambu’ 
 men, strange in the East; they are proud without inso- 
 lence, and they look manly without blustering. Their walk 
 partakes somewhat ofthe nature of a swagger, owing, per- 
 haps, to the shape of the sandals, not a little assisted by 
 the self-esteem of the wearer, but there is nothing offen- 
 sive in it: moreover, the population has a healthy appear- 
 ance, and, fresh from Egypt, I could not help noticing 
 their freedom from ophthalmic disease. The children, 
 too, appear vigorous, nor are they here kept in that state 
 of filth to which fear of the Evil Eye devotes them in the 
 Valley of the Nile. 
 
 My companions found me in a coffee-house, where I 
 had sat down to rest from the fatigue of halting on my 
 wounded foot through the town. They had passed their 
 boxes through the custom-house, and were now inquiring 
 in all directions, ‘‘Where’s the Effendi?” After sitting 
 for half an hour, we rose to depart, when an old Arab 
 merchant, whom I had met at Suez, politely insisted 
 
 1 In Arabia, generally, the wound is less considered by justice 
 and revenge, than the instrument with which it was inflicted. Sticks 
 and stones are held to be venial weapons: guns and pistols, swords 
 and dagvers, are felonious. 
 
 2 Europeans inveigh against this article.—which 
 represents the ‘ loup’’ of Louis XIV.’s time,— for 
 its hideousness and jealous concealment of charms 
 made to be admired. It is, on the contrary, the 
 most coquettish article of woman's attire, except- 
 i) ing, perhaps, the Lisam of Constantinople. It con- 
 Filey ceals coarse skins, fleshy noses, wide mouths, and 
 
 #) vanishing chins, whilst it sets off to best advantage 
 what in these lands is almost always lustrous and 
 liquid—the eye. Who has not remarked this at a 
 masquerade ball ? é 
 
230 Pilevimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 upon paying for my coffee, still a mark of attention in 
 Arabia as it was whilome in France. We then went to a 
 
 Wakalah, near the bazar, in which my companions had 
 
 secured an airy upper room on the terrace opposite the 
 sea, and tolerably free from Yambu’s plague, the flies. 
 It had been tenanted by a party of travellers, who were 
 introduced to me as Omar Effendi’s brothers; he had by 
 accident met them in the streets the day before their 
 start for Constantinople, where they were travelling to 
 receive the Ikram.!. The family was, as I have said 
 before, from Daghistan (Circassia), and the male mem- 
 bers still showed unequivocal signs of a northern origin, 
 in light yellowish skins, grey eyes fringed with dark 
 lashes, red lips, and a very scant beard. They were 
 broad-shouldered, large-limbed men, distinguished only 
 by a peculiar surliness of countenance; perhaps their 
 expression was the result of their suspecting me; for 
 I observed them narrowly watching every movement 
 during Wwuzu and prayers. This was a good oppor- 
 tunity for displaying the perfect nonchalance of a True 
 Believer; and my efforts were, I believe, successful, for 
 afterwards they seemed to treat me as a mere stranger, 
 from whom they could expect nothing, and who there- 
 fore was hardly worth their notice. 
 
 On the afternoon of the day of our arrival we sent 
 for a Mukharrij,? (hirer of conveyance) and began to 
 treat for camels. One Amm Jamal, a _ respectable 
 native of Al-Madinah who was on his way home, under- 
 took to be the spokesman; after a long palaver (for 
 
 future chapter. 
 2 The Shaykh, or agent of the camels, without whose assistance 
 it would be difficult to hire beasts. He brings the Badawin with 
 
 him; talks them over to fair terms; sees the ‘‘Arbiin,” or earnest-— 
 
 money, delivered to them; and is answerable for their not failing ia 
 their engagement. 
 
 1 Acertain stipend allowed by the Sultan to citizens of the Hara- 
 mayn (Meccah and Al-Madinah). It will be treated of at length in a 
 
XII,—The Halt at Yambu’. 231 
 
 the Shaykh of the camels and his attendant Badawin 
 were men that fought for farthings, and we were not 
 far inferior to them), a bargain was struck. We 
 
 agreed to pay three dollars for each beast; half in 
 
 ready money, the other half after reaching our desti- 
 
 nation, 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 beast, 
 and that if it broke down on the road, its place should be 
 supplied by another as good. My friends could not 
 dissemble their uneasiness, when informed by the Muk- 
 harry 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 200 and 300 devils on a Razzia near Al- 
 
 Madinah; we gave them the Salam, but they would not 
 
 reply, although we were all on dromedaries. Then they 
 asked us if we were men of Al-Madinah, and we replied 
 
 -*Yes;’ and lastly, they wanted to know the end of our 
 
 journey; so we said Bir Abbas.” The Badawin who 
 had accompanied the Daghistanis belonged to some tribe 
 unconnected with the Hazimi: the spokesman rolled his 
 head, as much as to say ‘Allah has preserved us!” 
 And a young Indian of the party—I shrewdly suspect 
 him of having stolen my pen-knife that night—displayed 
 
 1 The not returning Salam" was a sign on the part of the 
 Badawin that they were out to fight, and not to make friends; and 
 
 -the dromedary riders, who generally travel without much to rob, 
 
 thought this behaviour a declaration of desperate designs. The 
 Badawin asked if they were Al-Madinah 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 neighbouring, instead of Yambu’, a distant post, because 
 
 those who travel on a long journey, being supposed to have more 
 
 funds with them, are more likely to be molested. 
 
232 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 the cowardice of a “Miyan,!” by looking aghast at the 
 memory of his imminent and deadly risk. “ 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, 
 however, 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 companions. 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 Diwan, and we squatted together round a 
 large cauldron of boiled rice, containing square masses 
 of mutton, the whole covered with clarified butter. 
 Sa’ad the Demon 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 hada 
 boisterous greeting; and, to judge from his whisperings, 
 he must have been in every one’s privacy and confidence. 
 Conversation over pipes and coffee was prolonged to 
 ten p.m.,a late hour in these lands; then we prayed the 
 
 1 ‘‘ Miyan,” the Hindustani word for ‘Sir,’”’ is known to the 
 Badawin all over Al-Hijaz; they always address Indian Moslems 
 with this word, which has become contemptuous, on account of the 
 low esteem in which the race is held. 
 
 2 That is to say, sneaks and cowards. I was astonished to see 
 our Maghrabi fellow-passengers in the bazar at Yambu’ cringing and 
 bowing to us, more like courtiers than Badawin. Such, however, is 
 the effect of a strange place upon Orientals generally. In the Per- 
 sians such humility was excusable; in no part of Al-Hijaz are they 
 for a moment safe from abuse and blows. 
 
 ——— 
 
AII.—The Halt at Yambu’. 233 
 
 Isha! (or vespers), 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’ 
 provisions for the journey ; repacked our boxes, polished 
 _and loaded our arms, and attired ourselves appropriately 
 for the road. By the advice of Amm Jamal? I dressed 
 as an Arab, in order to avoid paying the Jizyat, a capita- 
 tion tax® which, upon this road, the settled tribes extort 
 from stranger travellers; and he warned me not to speak 
 any language but Arabic, even to my ‘‘slave,” in the 
 vicinity of a village. I bought for my own convenience 
 a Shugduf or litter‘ for which I paid two dollars. Itisa 
 
 1 The night prayer. 
 
 2 ‘“‘Amm” means literally a paternal uncle. In the Hijaz it is 
 prefixed to the names of respectable men, who may also be addressed 
 “Ya Amm Jamal!’ (O Uncle Jamal!) Tosay “Ya Ammi!” (O my 
 Uncle!) is more familiar, and would generally be used by a superior 
 addressing an inferior. 
 
 3 Jizyat properly means the capitation tax levied on Infidels; in 
 this land of intense pride, the Badawin, and even the town-chiefs, 
 apply the opprobrious term to blackmail extorted from travellers, 
 even of their own creed. 
 
 4 The Shugduf of Al-Hijaz differs greatly from that used in 
 Syria and other countries. It is composed of two corded cots 5 feet 
 long, slung horizontally, about half-way 
 down, and parallei with the camel's sides. 
 These cots have short legs, and at thehalt 
 may be used as bedsteads; the two are 
 connected together by loose ropes, at- 
 tached to the inner long sides of the 
 framework, and these are thrown over 
 the camel’s packsaddle. Thick twigs 
 inserted in the ends and the outer long 
 sides of the framework, are bent over 
 the top, bower-fashion, to support 
 matting, carpets, and any other pro- 
 tection against the sun. There is an 
 opening in this kind of wicker-work in 
 front (towards the camel’s head), through : 
 which you creep ; anda similar one behind creates 9, draught of wind. 
 
 The Mahmi, en déshabille. 
 
234 ° Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 vehicle appropriated to women and children, fathers of 
 families, married men, ‘“‘ Shelebis,’”” and generally to 
 those who are too effeminate to ride. My reason for 
 choosing a litter 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 voci- 
 ferating about the unconscionable weight, the owners of 
 the goods swearing that a child could carry such weight, 
 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 
 were placed standing in the streets. But, as usual with 
 Oriental travellers, all the men dispersed about the town: 
 we did not mount before it was late in the afternoon. 
 
 I must now take the liberty of presenting to the 
 reader an Arab Shaykh fully equipped for travelling.’ 
 Nothing can be more picturesque than the costume, and 
 Outside, towards the camel's tail, are pockets containing gullehs, or 
 earthenware bottles, of cooled water. Inside, attached to the wicker- 
 work, are large provision pouches, similar to those used in old- 
 fashioned travelling chariots. At the bottom are spread the two beds. 
 The greatest disadvantage of the Shugduf is the difficulty of keeping 
 balance. Two men ride in it, and their weights must be made to tally. 
 Moreover, it is liable to be caught and torn by thorn trees, to be blown 
 off in a gale of wind ; and its awkwardness causes the camel repeated 
 falls, which are most likely to smash it. Yet itis not necessarily an 
 uncomfortable machine. ‘Those for sale in the bazar are, of course, 
 worthless, being made of badly seasoned wood. But private litters 
 are sometimes pleasant vehicles, with turned and painted framework, 
 silk cordage, and valuable carpets. ‘The often described “* Mahmil” is 
 nothing but a Syrian Shugduf, Eh ornamented. 
 
 phe Exquisites. 
 3 It is the same rule with the Arab, op the road as at home; the 
 
eT ah Be. 8, 237 
 XI1.—The Halt at Yan =& 
 > ae Ss. *sibebind 
 it is with regret that we see it exchang, neo 
 and more civilised parts for any other. © ee 
 or the shaven scalps are surmounted by a\ e 
 
 ‘skull-cap, over which is a Kifiyah—a large squ. 
 
 of silk and cotton mixed, and generally of a 
 
 colour with a bright yellow border, from which ad 
 crimson silk twists ending in little tassels that reach the 
 wearer’s waist. Doubled into a triangle, and bound with 
 an Aakal' or fillet of rope, a skein of yarn or a twist of 
 wool, the kerchief fits the head close behind: it pro- 
 jects over the forehead, shading the eyes, and giving 
 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. This veiling the features is 
 technically called Lisém: 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 Sav.’ 
 ‘In hot weather it is supposed to keep the Samun, in cold 
 weather the catarrh, from the lungs. 
 
 more he is dressed the greater is his respectability. For this reason, 
 you see Sharifs and other men of high family, riding or walking in 
 their warm camel's hair robes on the hottest days. Another super- 
 stition of the Arabs is this, that thick clothes avert the evil effects 
 of the sun’s beams, by keeping out heat. 
 
 1 Sharifs and other great men sometimes bind a white turband or 
 a Cashmere shaw! round the kerchief, to keep it in its place. The 
 Aakal varies in every part of the country. 
 Here it is a twist of dyed wool, there a bit of 
 common rope, three or four feet long. Some 
 of the Arab tribes usea circlet of wood, com- 
 posed..of little round pieces, the size of a 
 ‘\ shillin 7, joined side by side, and inlaid with 
 mother-of-pearl. The Eastern Arabs wear a 
 large circle of brown wool, almost a turband 
 in itself. In Barbary, they twist bright- 
 coloured cloth round a rope, and adorn it 
 with thick golden thread. 
 2 Generally written ‘ Thar,” the blood-revenge right, acknow- 
 edged by law and custom. (See Chapter xxiv: post.) 
 
234 ° Pilgrgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 vehicl-+ he body dress is simply a Kamis or cotton shirt: 
 s-ught sleeved, opening in front, and adorned round the 
 waist and collar, and down the breast, with embroidery | 
 like net-work; it extends from neck to foot. Some wear 
 wide trousers, but the Badawin consider such things | 
 effeminate, 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 in many patterns, and of all materials 
 from pure silk to coarse sheep’s wool; some prefer it 
 brown, others white, others striped: in Al-Hijaz the 
 favourite hue is white, 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 confines 
 the Kamis at the waist, and supports the silver-hilted 
 Jambiyah? or crooked dag- 
 ger: the picturesque Arab 
 sandal* completes the 
 costume. Finally, the 
 
 1 Gold, however, as well as silk, I may be excused for repeating, 
 is a forbidden article of ornament to the Moslem. 
 
 2 The silver-hilted dagger is a sign of dignity: ‘‘I would silver 
 my dagger,” in idiomatic Hijazi, means, ‘‘I would raise myself in 
 the world.” j 
 
 3 Niebuhr has accurately described this article. It is still worn 
 in the Madras army, though long discarded from the other presi- 
 dencies ; the main difference betwe. ot ‘the Indian and the Arab sandal 
 is, that the former has a ring, into which the big toe is inserted, and 
 the latter a thong, which is clasped between the big toe and its neigh- 
 bour. Both of them are equally uncomfortable, and equally injurious 
 to soldiers, whose legs fight as muchas do their arms. They abrade 
 the skin wherever the straps touch, expose the feet to the sun, wind, 
 and rain, and admit thoras and flints to the toes and toe-najls. In 
 Arabia, the traveller may wear, if he pleases, slippers, but they are 
 
XII.—The Halt at Yambu’. 237 
 
 Shaykh’s arms are a sword and a matchlock slung behind 
 his back; in his right hand he carries a short javelin’ ora 
 light crooked stick, about two feet and a half long, called 
 _a Mas’hab, used for guiding camels. 
 
 The poorer clans of Arabs twist round their waist, 
 
 considered townsman-like and effeminate. They must be of the 
 usual colours, red or yellow. Black shoes, though almost universally 
 worn by the Turks at Cairo and Constantinople, would most probably 
 excite suspicion in Al-Hijaz. 
 
 1 The Mizrak, as it is called, is peculiar to certain tribes, as the 
 Karashi and the Lahyami, and some, like the Hudayli near Meccah, 
 make very pretty as well as very useful darts. The head is 15 or 16 
 inches long, nowhere broader than an inch, and tapering gradually to 
 a fine point; its shape is two shallow prisms joined at their bases, 
 and its socket, round like that of all lances, measures a little less 
 than 2 inches. The lower third of the blade only is adorned with 
 bars, lozenges, and cones of brass let into the iron in zig-zag and 
 other figures. The shaft is of hard pliant wood—I do not know of 
 what tree—well seasoned with grease and use; it is 23 inches long, 
 and strengthened and adorned at distances of half an inch apart by 
 bands of fine brass wire, about one inch and a half long. The heel 
 of the weapon is a blunt spike 14 inches long, used to stick it in 
 the ground, and this, as well as the lower third of the blade, is 
 ornamented with brass work. Being well balanced, the Mizrak isa 
 highly efficient weapon for throwing in hunting, and by its hand- 
 some appearance adds not a little to the bearer’s dignity. But the 
 stranger must be careful how he so arms himself. Unless he be 
 undistinguishable from a Badawi, by carrying a weapon peculiar to 
 certain clans, he will expose himself to suspicion, or to laughter. 
 And to offend an Arab of Al-Hijaz mortally, you have only to say 
 bluntly, “‘ Sell me thy spear.” The proper style of address to the 
 man whose necessities compel him to break through one of his 
 ‘points d’honneur,” is to say, “ Give me that javelin, and I will 
 satisfy thee ;"" after which he will haggle for each copper piece as 
 though you were cheapening a sheep. 
 
 2 The Mas’hab is of almond, generally brought from Syria; at 
 the thick end is a kind of crook, formed by cutting off a bit of the 
 larger branch from which the stick grows. This crook is afterwards 
 cut into the shape useful to seize a camel’s nose-ring, or a horse’s 
 bridle. Arabs of all degrees are fond of carrying these sticks. [It 
 is also called Maghin.] : 
 
238 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, — 
 
 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 this scarf, and a bandoleer slung over the shoulders 
 carries the cartridge-case, powder-flask, flint and steel, 
 priming-horn, and other necessaries. With the traveller, 
 the waist is an elaborate affair. Next to the skin is 
 worn the money-pouch, concealed by the Kamis; the 
 latter is girt with a waist shawl, over which is strapped 
 a leathern belt.1. 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 
 
 1 This article, the Silahlik of the Turks, is composed of several 
 oblong pieces of leather cut out to fit the front part of the body; 
 between each fold there is room enough to stick a weapon ; a substan- 
 tial strap fastens it round the waist, and it serves to defend the 
 sash or the shirt from iron mould, and the stains of gunpowder, 
 It is made of all kinds of material, from plain Morocco leather to 
 the richest velvet embroidered with gold. 
 
 2 It is as well to have a good pair of Turkish barrels and stocks, 
 fitted up with locks of European manufacture; those made by 
 natives of these countries can never be depended upon. The same 
 will apply to the gun or rifle, Upon the whole, it is more prudent 
 to have flint locks. Copper caps are now sold in the bazars of 
 Meccah and Al-Madinah, where a Colt’s “‘six-shooter”’ might excite 
 attention for a day; but were the owner in a position to despise 
 notoriety, he might display it everywhere without danger. One of 
 our guards, who was killed on the road, had a double-barrelled. 
 English fowling-piece. Still, when doubts must not be aroused, the 
 traveller will do well to avoid, even in the civilised Hijaz, suspicious 
 appearances in his weapons. I carried in a secret pocket a small 
 pistol with a spring dagger, upon which dependence could be placed, 
 and I was careful never to show it, discharging it and loading it 
 always in the dark. Some men wear a little dagger strapped round 
 the leg, below the knee. Its use is this: when the enemy gets you 
 under, he can prevent you bringing your hand up to the weapon in 
 your waist-belt ; but before he cuts your throat, you may slip your 
 fingers down to the knee, and persuade him to stop by a stab in the 
 perineum. This knee dagger is required only in very dangerous 
 places. The article I chiefly accused myself of forgetting was a 
 
XII.—The Halt at Yamba’. 239 
 
 iron ramrod with pincers inside; a little leathern pouch 
 fastened to the waist-strap on the right side contains 
 cartridge, wadding, and flask of priming powder. The 
 sword hangs over the shoulder by crimson silk cords 
 and huge tassels': well-dressed men apply the same 
 showy ornaments to their pistols. In the hand may be 
 borne 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 be respected; for 
 the knightly care of arms is here a sign of manliness. 
 Pilgrims, especially those from Turkey, carry, I 
 have said, a “‘ Hamail,” to denote their holy errand. This 
 is a pocket Koran, in a handsome gold-embroidered crim- 
 son 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 depend below the waist-belt. 
 For this I substituted a most useful article. To all 
 appearance a ‘* Hamail,” it had inside three compart- 
 ments; one for my watch and compass, the second for 
 ready money, and the third contained penknife, pencils, 
 and slips of paper, which I could hold concealed in the 
 hollow of my hand. These were for writing and drawing: 
 opportunities of making a “fair copy” into the diary- 
 book,? are never wanting to the acute traveller. He 
 
 stout English clasp-knife, with a large handle, a blade like an 
 ‘‘ Arkansas toothpick,” and possessing the other useful appliances of 
 picker, fleam, tweezers, lancet, and punch. 
 
 1 Called ‘‘Habak’’: these cords are made in great quantities at 
 
 - Cairo, which possesses a special bazar for them, and are exported to 
 all the neighbouring countries, where their price considerably in- 
 creases. A handsome pistol-cord, with its tassels, costs about 12 
 shillings in Egypt; at Meccah, or Al-Madinah, the same would fetch 
 upwards of a pound sterling. 
 
 2 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 without 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 tha 
 
240 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 must, however, beware of sketching before the Badawin, 
 who would certainly proceed to extreme measures, sus- 
 pecting him to be a spy or a sorcerer. Nothing so 
 effectually puzzles these people asthe Frankish habit of put- 
 ting everything on paper; theirimaginationsareset at work, 
 and then the worst may be expected from them. The 
 only safe way of writing in presence of a Badawi would 
 be when drawing out a horoscope or preparing a charm ; 
 ‘he also objects not, if you can warm his heart upon the 
 subject, to seeing you take notes in a book of genealogies. 
 You might begin with, “And you, men of Harb, on 
 what origin do you pride yourselves?” And while the 
 listeners became fluent upon the, to.them, all-interesting 
 
 writing on a loose slip of paper to my companions, and astonished 
 them with the strange character derived from Solomon and Alex- 
 ander, the Lord of the Two Horns, which we Afghans still use. 
 For a short trip a pencil suffices; on long journeys ink is necessary ; 
 the latter article should be English, not Eastern, which is washed 
 out clean the first time your luggage is thoroughly soaked with rain. 
 The traveller may use either the Persian or the brass Egyptian ink- 
 stand; the latter, however, is preferable, being stronger and less 
 likely to break. But, unless he be capable of writing and reading a 
 letter correctly, it would be unadvisable to stick such an article in 
 the waist-belt, as this gives out publicly that he is a scribe. When 
 sketching, the pencil is the best, because the simplest and shortest 
 mode of operation is required. Important lines should afterwards be 
 marked with ink, as ‘fixing’ is impossible on such journeys. For 
 prudence sake, when my sketches were made, I cut up the paper 
 into square pieces, numbered them for future reference, and hid 
 them in the tin canisters that contained my medicines. 
 
 t Anaccident of this kind happened not long ago, in Hazramaut, 
 to a German traveller who shall be nameless. He had the morti 
 fication to see his sketch-book, the labour of months, summarily 
 appropriated and destroyed by the Arabs. I was told by a Hazra- 
 maut man at Cairo, and by several at Aden, that the gentleman had 
 at the time a narrow escape with his life; the Badawin wished to 
 put him to death as a spy, sent by the Frank to ensorceley their 
 country, but the Shaykhs forbade bloodshed, and merely deported 
 the offender. Travellers caught sketching are not often treated with 
 sich forhearance. 
 
AlI.—The Halt at Yambu. | 241 
 
 theme, you could put down whatever you please upon 
 the margin. The townspeople are more liberal, and 
 years ago the Holy Shrines have been drawn, surveyed 
 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 Wakalah, we 
 found the camels standing loaded in the street, and 
 shifting their ground in token of impatience.1_ My Shug- 
 duf, 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-man told me I 
 must climb up the animal’s neck, and so creep into the 
 vehicle. But my foot disabling me from such exertion, I 
 insisted upon their bringing the beast to squat, which 
 they did grumblingly.?. We took leave of Omar Effendi’s 
 brothers and their dependents, who insisted upon paying 
 us’ the compliment of accompanying us to the gate. 
 Then we mounted and started, which was a signal for all 
 our party to disperse once more. Some heard the report 
 of a vessel having arrived from Suez, with Mohammed 
 Shiklibha and other friends on board; these hurried 
 down to the harbour for a parting word. Others, 
 declaring they had forgotten some necessaries for the 
 way, ran off to spend one last hour in gossip 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 of ‘‘ Wassit, ya hé !— 
 
 t All Arabs assert that it pains the loaded camel’s feet to stand 
 still, and, certainly, the ‘‘fidgettiness ’’ of the animal to start, looks 
 as if he had some reason to prefer walking. 
 
 2 It often strains the camel to rise with a full Shugduf on his 
 back, besides which the motion is certain to destroy the vehicle ina 
 few days. Those who ire unable to climb up the camel’s neck 
 usually carry with them a short ladder. 
 
242 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Go in the middle of the road, O He!” and “Jannib, 
 yal Jammél'!—Keep to the side, O camel-man!” 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. While 
 standing here, Shaykh Hamid vaunted the strong walls 
 and turrets of Yambu’, which he said were superior to 
 those of Jeddah’: they kept Sa’ud, the Wahhabi, at bay 
 in A.D. 1802, but would scarcely, I should say, resist a 
 field battery in A.D. 1853. 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 atmos- 
 phere of the town. My companions, as Arabs will do 
 on such occasions, began to sing. 
 
 1 Wassit means, ‘‘ goin the middle of the road”’; Jannib, ‘* keep 
 clear of the sides.’’ These words are fair specimens of how much 
 may be said by two Arabic syllables. Ya hu (O, he) is an address 
 common in Arabia as in Egypt, and Y'al Jammal (O camel-man) is 
 perhaps a little more civil. 
 
 2 The rivalry between the Sons of the two Holy Cities extends 
 even to these parts: the Madanis contending for Yambu’, the Mece 
 cans for Jeddah. 
 
CHAPTER, XIII, 
 FROM YAMBU’ 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 Radh- 
 wah on the left, and the sea on the right hand; the land 
 was desert,—thatisto 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 light of a glorious moon, nearly at the 
 full, I was able to see the country tolerably well. 
 
 Our party consisted of twelve camels, and we trav- 
 elled in Indian file, head tied to tail, with but one out- 
 rider, Omar Effendi, whose rank required him to mount a: 
 dromedary with showy trappings. Immediately in front 
 of me was Amm Jamal, whom I had to reprove for asking 
 the boy Mohammed, ‘Where have you picked up that 
 Hindi, (Indian)?” ‘Are we, the Afghans, the Indian- 
 slayers,’ become Indians?” I vociferated with indignation, 
 and brought the thing home to his feelings, by asking 
 him how he, an Arab, would like to.be called an Egyptian, 
 —a Fellah? The rest of the party was behind, sitting or 
 dozing upon the rough platforms made by the lids of the 
 two huge boxes slung to the sides of their camels. Only 
 one old woman, Al-Sitt Maryam (the lady Mary), return- 
 
 1 Alluding to the celebrated mountain, the ‘ Hindu-kush," 
 whence the Afghans sallied forth to lay waste India. 
 
244 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 ing to Al-Madinah, her adopted country, after a visit toa 
 sister at Cairo, allowed herself the luxury of a half-dollar _ 
 Shibriyah or cot, fastened crosswise over the animal’s 
 load. Moreover, all the party, except Omar Effendi, 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 chibuks without mouth-pieces, and 
 tobacco-pouches of greasy leather. Though the country 
 hereabouts is perfectly safe, all had their arms in readiness, 
 and the unusual silence that succeeded to the singing,— 
 even Sa’ad the Demon held his tongue,—was sufficient to 
 show how much they feared for their property. After 
 a slow march of two hours facing the moon, we turned 
 somewhat towards the North-East, and began to pass 
 over undulating ground, in which a steady rise was per- 
 ceptible. 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.1 The camels were nakh’d?; the boxes were taken 
 off and piled together as a precaution against invisible 
 robbers; my little 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. (July 19), and after congrat- 
 ulating one another upon being once more in the “dear 
 Desert,” we proceeded in exhilarated mood to light the 
 fire for pipes and breakfast. The meal—a biscuit, a 
 little rice, and a cup of milkless tea—was soon dis- 
 patched, after which I proceeded to inspect our position. 
 
 er 
 
 1 Throughout this work I have estimated the pace of a Hijazi_ 
 camel, laden and walking in caravan line, under ordinary circum- 
 stances, at two geographical miles an hour. A sandy plain or a 
 rocky pass might make a difference of half a mile each way, but not 
 more. 
 
 2 See Chap. VIII., page 152, note r, ante. 
 
AIII.—From Yambw to Biv Abbas. 245 
 
 About a mile to the westward lay the little village 
 Al-Musahhal,' a group of miserable mud hovels. On the 
 south was a strip of bright blue sea, and all around, an 
 tron plain producing naught but stones and grasshoppers, 
 and 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 simmering and quivering atmos- 
 phere showed ; moreover the heavy dews of these regions, 
 forming in large drops upon the plants and stones, con- 
 centrate the morning rays upon them like a system of 
 burning-glasses. After making these few observations I 
 followed the example of my companions, and returned 
 to sleep. 
 
 At two P.M. we were roused to a dinner as simple as the 
 breakfast had been. Boiled rice with an abundance of 
 _ the clarified butter? in which Easterns delight, some frag- 
 ments of Kahk* or soft biscuit, and stale bread‘ anda 
 handful of stoned and pressed date-paste, called ’Ajwah, 
 formed the menu. Our potations began before dinner 
 with a vile-tasted but wholesome drink called Akit,° 
 
 t The reader must be warned that these little villages in Arabia, 
 asin Sind and Baluchistan, 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’). 
 
 2 Here called Samn, the Indian ghee. 
 
 3 The ‘‘ Kahk” in this country is a light and pleasant bread made 
 of ground wheat, kneaded with milk, leavened with sour bean flour, 
 and finally baked in an oven, not, as usual, in the East, upon an iron 
 plate. The Kahk of Egypt is a kind of cake. 
 
 4 Stale unleavened bread is much relished by Easterns, who say 
 that keeping it on journeys makes it sweet. To prevent its becoming 
 mouldy, they cut it up into little bits, and, at the risk of hardening it 
 to the consistence of wood, they dry it by exposure to the air. 
 
 5 This Akit has different names in all parts of Arabia; even in 
 
246 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 dried sour milk dissolved in water; at the meal we drank 
 the leather-flavoured element, 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 as after a shower of 
 rain. Whilst we were eating, a Badawi 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.’” 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 oppro- 
 brium and a disgrace. Possibly the origin of the preju- 
 
 Al-Hijaz it is known by the name of Mazir, as well as ‘‘Igt,’’ (the 
 corruption of Akit). When very sour, it is called ‘‘Saribah,” and 
 when dried, without boiling, ‘‘Jamidah.’’ 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 withclarified butter, and drink it melted 
 in water. It is considered a cooling and refreshing beverage, but 
 boasts few attractions to the stranger. The Baluchis and wild 
 tribes of Sindians call this preparation of milk “ Krat,’’ and make 
 it in the same way as the Badawin do. 
 
 1 In Arabic and Hebrew, milk; the Maltese give the word a very 
 different signification, and the Egyptians, like the Syrians, confine 
 their use of it to sour milk or curds—calling sweet milk ‘“laban 
 halib,” or simply ‘ halib.” 
 
 2 In a previous work (History of Sind), I have remarked that 
 there exists some curious similarity in language and customs between 
 the Arabs and the various races occupying the broad ranges of hills 
 that separate India from Persia. Amongst these must be numbered 
 the prejudice alluded to above. The lamented Dr. Stocks, of Bombay, 
 who travelled arnongst and observed the Brahui and the Baluchi 
 nomads in the Pashin valley, informed me that, though they will 
 give milk in exchange for other commodities, yet they consider 
 it a disgrace to make money by it. This, methinks, is too conven- 
 tional a point of honour to have sprung up spontaneously in two 
 countries so distant, and apparently so unconnected. 
 
 | 
 
ALII.—F rom Yambu’ to Biv Abbas. 247 
 
 dice 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 
 - civilised Meccah, except Egyptians, a people supposed to 
 _ be utterly without honour. As a general rule in the 
 Hijaz,' milk abounds in the spring, but at all other times 
 of the year it is difficult to be procured. The Badawi 
 woman managed, however, tosend me back a cupful. 
 
 | At three P.M. we were ready to start, and all saw, with 
 unspeakable gratification, a huge black nimbus rise from 
 the shoulder of Mount Radhwah, 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, like the breath of a volcano, blew over the 
 plain, and the air was filled with particles of sand. 
 This is the ‘dry storm” of Arabia; it appears to depend 
 upon some electrical phenomena which it would be de- 
 sirable to investigate.’ When we had loaded and mounted, 
 my camel-men, 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 Badawi society, my wonder diminished. 
 The men were Beni-Harb of the great Hijazi 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 of their ancestral qualities but greed of gain, re- 
 vengefulness, pugnacity, and a frantic kind of bravery, 
 displayed on rare occasions. Their nobility, however, 
 did not prevent my quoting the Prophet’s saying, “‘Of a 
 truth, the worst names among the Arabs are the Beni- 
 
 tr At Aden, as well as in Sind, these dry storms abound, and 
 there the work of meteorological investigation would be easier than 
 in Al-Hijaz. 
 
248 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Kalb and the Beni-Harb,!” whilst 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 char- 
 acter in which they knew me, despite my Arab dress— 
 is a privileged person. The outer man of these Fight- 
 Sons was contemptible; small chocolate-coloured beings, 
 stunted and thin, with mops of course bushy hair burned 
 brown by the sun, straggling beards, vicious eyes, frown- 
 ing brows, screaming voices, and well-made, but atten- 
 uated, limbs. On their heads were Kufiyahs in the 
 last stage of wear: a tattered shirt, indigo-dyed, and 
 girt with a bit of common rope, composed their 
 clothing; and their feet were protected from the stones 
 by soles of thick leather, kept in place by narrow thongs 
 tied to the ankle. Both were armed, one with a match- 
 lock, and a Shintiyan? in a leathern scabbard, slung over 
 
 the shoulder, the other with a Nabbut, and both showed at 
 _ the waist the Arab’s invariable companion, the Jambiyah 
 (dagger). These ragged fellows, however, had their pride. 
 They would eat with me, and not disdain, like certain 
 self-styled Caballeros, to ask for more; but of work they 
 would do none. No promise of “ Bakhshish,” potent as 
 
 Sane SERSRERRneneneeeeeeeee ee 
 
 1 ‘ Beni-Kalb,” (or Juhaynah, Chap. X.), would mean the “‘ Dogs’- 
 Sons ’’—‘' Beni-Harb,” the “ Sons of Fight.” 
 
 2 The Shintiyan is the common sword-blade of the Badawin ; in 
 Western Arabia, it is called Majar (from the Magyars ?), and is said 
 to be of German manufacture. Good old weapons of the proper 
 curve, marked like Andrew Ferraras with a certain number of lines 
 down their length, will fetch, even in Arabia, from £7 to £8. The 
 modern and cheap ones cost about ros. Excellent weapons abound 
 in this country, the reason being that there is a 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 al- 
 Khaymah, was defeated with slaughter by Sir Lionel Smith's expedi- 
 
 tion, the victors found many valuable old Furopean blades in the 
 hands ot the slain. i | 
 
X1II1.—From Yambu to Bir Abosa. 249 
 
 tne speil of that word is, would induce them to assist in 
 pitching my tent: they even expected Shaykh Nur to 
 cook for them, and J had almost to use violence, for even 
 the just excuse of a sore foot was insufficient to procure 
 the privilege of mounting my Shugduf while the camel 
 was sitting. it was, they said, the custom of the country 
 from time immemorial to use a ladder when legs would 
 not act. i agreed with them, but objected that I had no 
 tadder. At last, wearied with their thick-headedness, I 
 snatched the nose-string of the camel, and by main force 
 made it kneel. 
 
 Our party was now strong enough. We had about 
 200 beasts carrying grain, attended by their proprietors, 
 truculent looking as the contrabandistas of the Pyrenees. 
 The escort was composed of seven Irregular Turkish 
 cavalry, tolerably mounted, and supplied each with an 
 armoury in epitome. They were privily derided by our 
 party, who, being Arabs, had a sneaking fondness for 
 the Badawin, however loth 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, before sitting 
 down to smoke, said their prayers—a pious exercise 
 in which they did not engage for three days afterwards, 
 when they met certain acquaintances at Al-Hamra. As 
 evening came on, we emerged from a scrub of Acacia 
 and Tamarisk and turned due East, traversing an open 
 country with a perceptible rise. Scarcely was it dark 
 before the cry of ‘‘Harami” (thieves) rose loud in the 
 rear, causing such confusion as one may see in a boat in 
 the Bay of Naples when suddenly neared by a water- 
 
250 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 spout. All the camel-men brandished their huge staves, 
 and rushed back vociferating in the direction of the 
 robbers. They were followed by the horsemen; and 
 truly, had the thieves possessed the usual acuteness of 
 the profession, they might have driven off the camels in 
 our van with safety and convenience.1 But these con- 
 temptible beings were only half a dozen in number, and 
 they had lighted their matchlocks, which drew a bullet 
 or two in their direction. 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 com- 
 panions, perfect barometers of fair and foul tidings, fell 
 to zero. For nine hours we-journeyed through a bril- 
 liant moonlight, and as the first grey streak appeared in 
 the Eastern sky we entered a scanty “* Mtsyal,?”’ or 
 Fiumara, strewed with pebbles and rounded stones, about 
 half a mile in breadth, and flanked by almost perpen- 
 dicular 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 
 
 Sade Ss Noh ke NE UREA RE LET Sete ws 
 1 The way of carrying off a camel in this country is to loosen | 
 
 him, and then to hang on heavily to his tail, which causes him to 
 start at full gallop. 
 
 2 The Arabic Misyal, Masyal, Masil, or Masilah, is the Indian 
 Nullah and the Sicilian “ Fiumara,” a hill water-course, which rolls a 
 torrent during and after rain, and is either partially or wholly dry at 
 other seasons,—the stream flowing slowly underground. In England 
 we want the feature, and therefore there is no single word to express 
 it. Our “ River” is an imperfect way of conveying the idea. 
 
 3 Generalisation is not the forte of the Arabic language. ‘ Al- 
 Kulzum”’ (the Red Sea), for instance, will be unintelligible to the 
 native of Jeddah; call it the Sea of Jeddah, and you at once explain 
 yourself ; so the Badawin will have names for each separate part, but 
 no single cne to express the whole. This might be explained by their 
 ignorance of anything but details. The same thing is observable, 
 however, in the writings of the Arabian geographers when they ceme 
 to treat of the objects near home. 
 
XI11.—F rom Yambw te Biv Abbas. 251 
 
 water-course here has its proper name or rather names, 
 The ingenuity shown by the Badawin in distinguishing 
 between localities the most similar, is the result of a 
 _ high organization of the perceptive faculties, perfected 
 by the practice of observing a recurrence of landscape 
 features few in number and varying but little amongst 
 themselves. After travelling two hours up this torrent 
 bed, winding in an Easterly direction, and crossing some 
 ‘“‘ Harrah,” or ridges of rock, ‘‘ Ria,” steep descents,’ 
 “ Kitaah,” patch of stony flat, ard bits of ** Sahil,” dwarf 
 plain, we found ourselves pet eight a.M., after a march 
 of about thirty-four miles, at Bir Sa’id (Sas id’s Well), 
 our destination. 
 
 I had been led to expect at the ‘“ Well,” a pastoral 
 scene, wild flowers, flocks and flowing waters; 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 exceeding hardihood braved the sun for a season. 
 Not a 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 Al-Ward—the Vale of 
 Flowers. Heindulgesin sweet recollections of Indian lakes 
 beautiful with the Lotus, and Persian plains upon which 
 Narcissus is the meanest of grasses. Heseesa plain like 
 swish-work, where knobs of granite act daisies; and 
 where, at every fifty yards, some hapless bud or blossom 
 is 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 natur- 
 
 1 About the classic “ Harrah, "T shall have m more to say at a future 
 time. The word “ Ria” in literary and in vulgar Arabic is almost 
 synonymous with Akabah, a steep descent, a path between hills or a 
 mountain road. 
 
252 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 ally 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., July 20th, and 
 we started, with water jars in our hands, through a storm 
 of Samun. 
 
 We travelled five hours in a North-Easterly course up 
 a diagonal valley,’ through a country fantastic in its deso- 
 lation—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 for its 
 root. The road wound among mountains, rocks and 
 hills of granite, and over broken ground, flanked by huge 
 blocks and boulders piled up as if man’s art had aided 
 Nature to disfigure herself. Vast clefts seamed like scars 
 the hideous face of earth; here they widened into dark 
 caves, there they were choked with glistening drift 
 sand. Nota 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 Badawin were 
 lurking among the rocks, I decided that these Badawin 
 were the creatures of their fears. Above, a sky like 
 polished blue steel, with a tremendous blaze of yellow 
 light, glared upon us without the thinnest veil of mist 
 cloud. Below, the brass-coloured circle scorched the face 
 and dazzled the eyes, mocking them the while with offers 
 of water that was but air. The distant prospect was 
 more attractive than the near view, because it borrowed 
 a bright azure tinge from the intervening atmosphere; 
 but the jagged peaks and the perpendicular streaks of 
 shadow down the flanks of the mountainous background 
 
 EE — eee 
 
 1 Valleys may be divided into three kinds. 1. Longitudinal, ¢.<. 
 parallel to the axis of their ridges; 2. Transversal or perpendicular 
 to the same; and, 3. Diagonal, which form an acute or an obtuse 
 angle with the main chain of mountains. 
 
( 
 
 XIII.—From Yambw to Bw Abbas. 253 
 
 showed that yet in store for us was no change for the 
 Detter. 
 
 Between ro and 11 P.M., we reached human habita- 
 tions—a phenomenon unseen since we left Al-Musahhal— 
 
 in the shape of a long straggling village. It is called 
 
 Al-Hamra, from the redness of the sands near which it 
 is built, or Al-Wasitah, the “half-way,” because it is the 
 middle station between Yambu’ and Al-Madinah. It is 
 therefore considerably out of place in Burckhardt’s map ; 
 and those who copy from him make it much nearer the 
 sea-port than it really is. We wandered nearly an hour 
 in search of an encamping station, for the surly villa- 
 gers ordered us off every flatter bit of ground, without, 
 howeyer, deigning to show us where our jaded beasts might 
 rest. At last, after long 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 was invited to follow the general example; 
 but I absolutely declined the vicinity of so many steaming 
 and snoring fellow-travellers. Some wonder was excited 
 by the Afghan Haji’s obstinacy and recklessness; but re- 
 sistance to these people 1s sometimes ben placé, and a man 
 from Kabul is allowed to say and to do strange things. 
 In answer to their warnings of nightly peril, I placed a 
 drawn sword by my side’ and a cocked pistol under my 
 pillow, the saddle-bag: acarpet spread upon the cool loose 
 sand formed by no means an uncomfortable couch, and 
 upon it I enjoyed a sound sleep till day-break. 
 
 Rising at dawn (July 21), I proceeded tovisit the vil- 
 lage. It is built upon a narrow shelf at the top of a pre- 
 
 cipitous hill to the North, and on the South runs a sandy 
 
 1 This act, by the bye, I afterwards learned to bea greater act 
 of imprudence than the sleeping alone. Nothing renders the Arab 
 thief so active as the chance of stealing a good weapon. 
 
254 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Fiumara about halfa milebroad. On all sides are rocksand 
 mountains rough and stony; so you find yourself in another 
 of those punch-bowls which the Arabs seem to consider 
 choice sites for settlements.1. The Fiumara, hereabouts 
 very winding, threads the high grounds all the way 
 down from the plateau of Al-Madinah: during the 
 rainy season it becomes a raging torrent, carrying west- 
 wards to the Red Sea the drainage of a hundred hills. 
 Water of good quality is readily found in it by digging a 
 few feet below the surface at the angles where the stream 
 forms the deepest hollows, and in some places the stony 
 sides give out bubbling springs.? 
 
 Al-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 
 occasionally boast a bit of plank fora shutter. It appears 
 thickly populated in the parts where the walls are stand- 
 ing, but, like all settlements in the Holy Land, Al-Hijaz,} it 
 aboundsin ruins. It is well supplied with provisions, which 
 are here cheaper than at Al-Madinah,—a circumstance 
 that induced Sa’ad the Demon to overload his hapless 
 camel with a sack of wheat. In thevillage area few shops 
 where grain, huge plantains, ready-made bread, rice, 
 
 1 Probably, because water is usually found in such places. In 
 the wild parts of the country, wells are generally protected by some 
 fortified building, for men consider themselves safe from an enemy 
 until their supply of water is cut off. 
 
 2 Near Al-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. 
 
 3 As far as I could discover, the reason of the ruinous state of 
 the country at present is the effect of the old Wahhabi and Egyptian 
 wars in the early part of the present century, and the misrule of the 
 Turks. In Arabia the depopulation of a village or a district is not to 
 be remedied, as in other countries, by an influx of strangers; the 
 land still belongs to the survivors of the tribe, and trespass would be 
 visited with a bloody revenge. 
 
XIT.—From Vambw to Bir Abbas. 255 
 
 clarified butter, and other edibles are to be purchased. 
 Palm orchards of considerable extent supply it with dates. 
 The bazar is, like the generality of such places in the 
 . villages of Eastern Arabia, a long lane, here covered with 
 _ matting, there open to the sun, and the narrow streets— 
 if they may be so called—are full of dust and glare. 
 Near 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. The building consists of 
 an outer wall of hewn stone, loopholed for musketry, and 
 surmounted by ‘ Shavarif,” ‘‘vemparts coquets,’”’ about as 
 useful against artillery as the sugar gallery round a 
 Twelfth-cake. Nothing would be easier than to take the 
 place: a false attack would draw off the attention of the 
 defenders, who in these latitudes know nothing of sentry- 
 duty, whilst scaling - ladders or a bag full of powder 
 - would command a ready entrance into the other side. 
 Around the Al-Hamra fort are clusters of palm-leaf huts, 
 where the soldiery lounge and smoke, and near it is the 
 usual coffee-house, a 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. The morning was spent in watching certain 
 Badawin, who, matchlock in hand, had climbed the hills 
 in pursuit of a troop of cranes: not one bird was hit of 
 the many fired at—a circumstance which did not say 
 much for their vaunted marksmanship. Before break- 
 fast I bought a moderately sized sheep for a dollar. 
 
 1 Without these forts the Turks, at least so said my companions, 
 could never hold the country against the Badawin. There is a little 
 amour propre in the assertion, but upon the whole it is true. There 
 are no Mohammed Alis, Jazzars, and Ibrahim Pachas in these days. 
 
256 Pilgrimage te Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Shaykh Hamid ‘haldled’" (butchered) it, according to 
 rule, and my companions soon prepared a feast of boiled 
 mutton. But that sheep proved a ‘“ bone of contention.” 
 The boy Mohammed had, in a fit of economy, sold its 
 head to a Badawi for three piastres, and the others, dis- 
 appointed in their anticipations of ‘‘haggis,” lost temper. 
 With the ‘Demon’s” voluble tongue and impudent 
 countenance in the van, they opened such a volley of 
 raillery and sarcasm upon the young ‘‘tripe-seller,” that 
 he in his turn became excited—furious. I had some 
 difficulty to keep the peace, for it did not suit my 
 interests that they should quarrel. But to do the Arabs 
 justice, nothing is easier for a man who knows them 
 than to work upon their good feelings. ‘‘ He is a stranger 
 in your country—a guest!” acted as a charm; they 
 listened patiently to Mohammed’s gross abuse, only 
 promising to answer him when in Ais land, that is to 
 say, near Meccah. But what especially soured our day 
 was the report that Sa’ad, 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 coffee-house added 
 fuel to the fire of our impatience. 
 
 A few particulars about this Schiridorkalis of Al- 
 Hijaz? may not be unacceptable. He is the chief of the 
 Sumaydah and the Mahamid, two influential sub-families 
 of the Hamidah, the principal family of the Beni-Harb 
 tribe of Badawin. He therefore aspired to rule all the 
 Hamidah, and through them the Beni-Harb, in which 
 case he would have been, de facto, monarch of the Holy 
 Land. But the Sharif of Meccah, and Ahmad Pasha, 
 
 1 To “halal” is to kill an aniinal according to Moslem rites: a 
 word is wanted to express the act, and we cannot do better than to 
 borrow it from tle people to whom the practice belongs. 
 
 2 He is now dead, and has been succeeded by a son worse than 
 himself, 
 
AIII.—Fvom Yambw to Bir Abbas. Ae) 
 
 the Turkish governor of the chief city, for some politi- 
 cal reason degraded him, and raised up a rival in the 
 person of Shaykh Fahd, another ruffian of a similar 
 stamp, who calls himself chief of the Beni-Amr, the 
 third sub-family of the Hamidah family. Hence all kinds 
 of confusion. Sa’ad’s people, who number it is said 
 5000, resent, with Arab asperity, the insult offered to 
 their chief, and beat Fahd’s, who do not amount to 800. 
 Fahd, supported by the government, cuts off Sa’ad’s 
 supplies. Both are equally wild and reckless, and—no- 
 where doth the glorious goddess, Liberty, show a more 
 brazen face than in this Eastern 
 ‘‘Inviolate land of the brave and the free ;" 
 
 both seize the opportunity of shooting troopers, of 
 plundering travellers, and of closing the roads. This 
 state of things continued till I left the Hijaz, when the 
 Sharif of Meccah proposed, it was said, to take the field 
 in person against the arch-robber. And, as will after- 
 wards be seen in these pages, Sa’ad, had the audacity to 
 turn back the Sultan’s Mahmil or litter—the ensign of 
 Imperial power—and to shut the road against its cortége, 
 because the Pashas of Al-Madinah and of the Damascus 
 caravan would not guarantee his restitution to his former 
 dignity. That such vermin is allowed to exist proves the 
 imbecility of the Turkish government. The Sultan pays 
 pensions in corn and cloth to the very chiefs who arm 
 their varlets against him; and the Pashas, after purloin- 
 ing all they can, hand over to their enemies the means of 
 resistance. It is more than probable, that Abd al-Majid 
 has never heard a word of truth concerning Al-Hijaz, 
 and that-fulsome courtiers persuade him that men there 
 tremble at his name. His government, however, is 
 desirous, if report speaks truth, of thrusting Al-Hijaz 
 upon the Egyptian, who on his side would willingly pay 
 a large sum to avert such calamity. The Holy Land 
 drains off Turkish gold and blood in abundance, and the 
 VOL. |. K 
 
258 - Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 lords of the country hold in it a contemptible position. 
 If they catch a thief, they dare not hang hims)>; they 
 must pay black-mail, and yet be shot at in every pass. 
 They affect superiority over the Arabs, hate them, and 
 are despised by them. Such in Al-Hijaz are the effects 
 of the charter of Gulkhanah, a panacea, like Holloway’s 
 Pills, for all the evils to which Turkish, Arab, Syrian, 
 Greek, Egyptian, Persian, Armenian, Kurd, and Al- 
 banian flesh is heir to. Such the results of the Tanzimat, 
 the silliest copy of Europe’s folly—bureaucracy and 
 centralisation—that the pen of empirical statecraft ever 
 traced. Under a strong-handed and strong-hearted 
 despotism, like Mohammed Ali’s, Al-Hijaz, in one genera- 
 tion, might be purged of its pests. By a proper use of 
 the blood feud; by vigorously supporting the Weaker 
 against the stronger classes; by regularly defeating every 
 Badawi who earns a name for himself; and, above all, 
 by the exercise of unsparing, unflinching justice,? the 
 few thousands of half-naked bandits, who now make the 
 land a fighting field, would soon sink into utter insignifi- 
 
 — 
 
 1 The greatest of all its errors was that of appointing to the 
 provinces, instead of the single Pasha of the olden time, three 
 ‘different governors, civil, military, and fiscal, all depending upon the 
 supreme council at Constantinople. Thus each province has three 
 plunderers instead of one, and its affairs are referred to a body 
 that can take no interest in it. 
 
 2 Ziy4d bin Abihi was sent by Al-Mu’dwiyah, the Caliph, to reform 
 Al-Basrah, a den of thieves ; he made aspeech, noticed that he meant 
 to rule with the sword, and advised all offenders to leave the city. 
 The inhabitants were forbidden under pain of death to appear 
 in the streets after evening prayers, and dispositions were made to 
 secure the execution of the penalty. Two hundred persons were put 
 to death by the patrol during the first night, only five during the 
 second, and not a drap of blood was shed afterwards. By similar 
 severity, the French put an end to assassination at Naples, and the 
 Austrians at Leghorn. We may deplore the necessity of. having 
 recourse to such means, but it is a silly practice to salve the wound 
 which requires the knife. 
 
XIII.—Frvom Yanbw to Biv Abbas. 259 
 
 cance. But to effect such end, the Turks require the 
 old stratocracy, which, bloody as it was, worked with far 
 less misery than the charter and the new code. What 
 Milton calls 
 The solid rule of civil government" 
 
 has done wonders for the race that nurtured and brought 
 to perfection an idea spontaneous to their organisation. 
 The world has yet to learn that the admirable exotic 
 will thrive amongst the country gentlemen of Monomo- 
 tapa or the ragged nobility of Al-Hijaz.1 And it requires 
 no prophetic eye to foresee the day when the Wabhhabis or 
 the Badawin, rising en masse, will rid the land of its 
 feeble conquerors.? 
 
 Sa’ad, the Old Man of the Mountains, was described 
 to me as a little brown Badawi; contemptible in appear- 
 ance, but remarkable for courage and ready wit. He 
 has for treachery a keen scent, which he requires to keep 
 in exercise. A blood feud with Abd al-Muttalib, the 
 present Sharif of Meccah, who slew his nephew, and 
 the hostility of several Sultans, has rendered his life 
 eventful. He lost all his teeth by poison, which 
 would have killed him, had he not, after swallowing 
 _ the potion, corrected it by drinking off a large pot- 
 
 full of clarified butter. Since that time he has lived 
 entirely upon fruits, which he gathers for himself, and 
 
 1 These remarks were written in 1853: I see no reason to change 
 them in 1878. 
 
 2 A weak monarch, a degenerate government, a state whose cor- 
 ruption is evidenced by moral decay, a revenue bolstered up by a 
 system of treasury paper, which even the public offices discount at 
 from three to six per cent., an army accustomed to be beaten, and dis- 
 organised provinces; these, together with the proceedings of a ruth- 
 less and advancing enemy, form the points of comparison between 
 the Constantinople of the present day and the Byzantine metropolis 
 eight hundred years ago. Fate has marked upon the Ottoman 
 Empirein Europe “‘delenda est’: we are now witnessing the efforts of 
 human energy and ingenuity to avert or to evade the fal. 
 
260 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 coffee which he prepares with his own hands. In Sultan 
 Mahmud’s time he received from Constantinople a 
 gorgeous purse, which he was told to open, as it con- 
 tained something for his private inspection. Suspect- 
 ing 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. Whether this far-known story be 
 “true or only well found,” it is certain that Shaykh Sa’ad 
 now fears the Turks, even ‘when they bring gifts.” 
 The Sultan sends, or is supposed to send him, presents of 
 fine horses, robes of honour, 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 
 he distributes the grain amongst his clansmen. Of his 
 character, men, as usual, tell two tales: some praise his 
 charity, and call 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, revengeful and avaricious. The truth probably lies 
 between these two extremes, but I observed that those ot 
 my companions who spoke most highly of the robber 
 chief when at a distance seemed to be in the sudort freddr 
 whilst under the shadow of his hills. 
 
 Al-Hamra is the third station from Al-Madinah in 
 the Darb Sultani, the ‘“‘Sultan’s” or ** High Road,” the 
 Westerly line leading to Meccah along the sea-coast. 
 When the robbers permit, the pilgrims prefer this route 
 on account of its superior climate, the facility of pro- 
 curing water and supplies, the vicinity of the sea, and the 
 circumstance of its passing through ‘‘Badr,” the scene 
 of the Prophet’s principal military exploits (a.H. 2). After 
 mid-day, on the 21st July, when we had made up our 
 minds that Fate had determined we should halt at Al- 
 Hamra, a caravan arrived from Meccah; and the new 
 travellers had interest to procure an escort, and permission 
 
AlII.—Fyvom Yambu to Biv Abbas. 261 
 
 to proceed without delay towards Al-Madinah. The 
 good news filled us with joy. A little after four 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. An hour afterwards we 
 started in an Easterly direction. 
 
 My companions having found friends and relations in 
 the Meccan caravan,—the boy Mohammed’s elder brother, 
 about whom more anon, was of the number,—were 
 full of news and excitement. At sunset they prayed with 
 unction: even Sa’ad and Hamid had not the face to sit 
 their camels during the halt, when all around were 
 washing, sanding themselves,’ and busy with their devo- 
 tions. We then ate our suppers, remounted, and started 
 once more. Shortly after night set in, we came to a 
 ‘sudden halt. A dozen different reports rose to account 
 for this circumstance, which was occasioned by a band of 
 Badawin, who had manned a gorge, and sent forward a 
 ‘‘ parliamentary,” ordering us forthwith to stop. They 
 at first demanded money to let us pass; but at last, 
 hearing that we were 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 return to 
 whence they came. Upon this, our escort, 200 men, 
 wheeled their horses round and galloped back to their 
 barracks. 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 supposed water trickled from the rock. The fellow 
 had attempted a sneer at my expense when the fray was 
 impending. ‘* Why don’t you load your pistols, Effendi,” 
 
 1 When water cannot be obtained for ablution before prayers, 
 Moslems clap the palms of their hands upon the sand; and draw them 
 down the face and both fore-arms. This operatiori, which is per- 
 formed once or twice--it varies in Generei schools—is called 
 Tayammum. 
 
262 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah 
 
 he cried, “and get out of your litter, and show fight ? 
 *‘ Because,” I replied as loudly, ‘tin my country, when 
 dogs run at us, we thrash them with sticks.” This 
 stopped Mansur’s mouth for a time, but he and I were 
 never friends. Like the lowest orders of Orientals, he 
 required to be ill-treated ; gentleness and condescension 
 he seemed to consider a proof of cowardice or of imbe- 
 cility. I began with kindness, but was soon compelled 
 to use hard words at first, and then threats, which, though 
 he heard them with frowns and mutterings, proguced 
 manifest symptoms of improvement. 
 
 “‘ Oignez vilain, il vous poindra! 
 
 Poignez vilain, il vous oindra!”’ 
 
 says the old French proverb, and the axiom is more 
 valuable in the East even than in the West. 
 
 Our night's jo urney had no other incident. We 
 travelled over rising ground with the moon full in our 
 faces; and, about midnight, we passed through another long 
 straggling line of villages, called Jadaydah,’* or Al-Khayf? 
 The principal part of it lies on the left of the road going 
 to Al-Madinah; it has a fort like that of Al-Hamra, 
 springs of tolerable drinking water, a Nakhil or date- 
 ground, and a celebrated (dead) saint, Abd al-Rahim al- 
 Burai. A little beyond it lies the Bughaz® or defile, 
 where in a.D. 1811 Tussan Bey and his 8000 Turks were 
 totally defeated by 25,000 Harbi Badawin and Wahhabis. é 
 
 1 I write this word as my companions pronounced it. “Burck- 
 hardt similarly gives it ‘‘Djedeyde,”’ and Asi Bey “ Djideida.” 
 Giovanni Fiuati wrongly calls the place ‘‘ Jedeed Bughaz,’’ which 
 Mr. Bankes, his editor, rightly translates the ‘‘ new opening or pass."’ 
 
 2 Al-Khayf is a common name for places in this part of Arabia. 
 The word literally means a declivity or a place built upon a declivity. 
 
 3 Bughaz means in Turkish the fauces, the throat, and signifies 
 also here a gorge, or a mountain pass. It is the word now commonly 
 used in Al-Hijaz for the classical ‘‘Nakb,"” or ‘‘ Mazik."’ Vincent 
 (Periplus) errs in deriving the word from the Italian ‘‘ Bocca.” 
 
 4 Giovanni Finati, who was: present at this hard-fought field 
 
XITI.—From Yambw to Biv Abbas. 263 
 
 This is a famous attacking-point of the Beni-Harb. In 
 former times both Jazzar Pasha, thecelebrated “butcher” 
 of Syria, and Abdullah Pasha of Damascus, were baffled 
 at the gorge of Jadaydah’; and this year the commander of 
 the Syrian caravan, afraid of risking an attack at a place 
 so ill-omened, avoided it by marching upon Meccah vid the 
 Desert road of Nijd. At four a.m., having travelled about 
 twenty-four miles due East, we encamped at Bir Abbas, 
 
 as a soldier in Tussun’s army, gives a lively description of the disas- 
 trous ‘“‘day of Jadaydah"’ in vol. i. of his work. 
 
 1 This Abdullah, Pasha of Damascus, led the caravan in a.p. 
 1756. When the Shaykhs of the Harb tribe came to receive their 
 black-mail, he cut off their heads, and sent the trophies to Stambul. 
 During the next season the Harb were paralysed by the blow, but in 
 the third year they levied 80,000 men, attacked the caravan, pillaged it, 
 and slew every Turk that fell into their hands. 
 
CHAPTER = XIV. 
 FROM BIR ABBAS TO AL-MADINAH. 
 
 Tue 22nd July was a grand trial of temper to 
 our little party. The position of Bir Abbas exactly 
 resembles that of Al-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, stationed here to hold 
 the place and to escort travellers, with a coffee-shed, and 
 a hut or two, called a bazar, but no village. Our 
 encamping ground was a bed of loose sand, with which 
 the violent Samum filled the air; not a tree or a bush 
 was in sight; a species of hardy locust and swarms of 
 flies were the only remnants of animal life: the scene 
 was a caricature of Sind. 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 
 painful. Again my companions, after breakfasting, 
 hurried to the coffee-house, and returned one after the 
 other with dispiriting reports. Then they either quar- 
 relled desperately about nothing, or they threw them- 
 selves on their rugs, pretending to sleep in very 
 sulkiness. The lady Maryam soundly rated her surly 
 son for refusing to fill her chibuk for the twelfth time 
 that morning, with the usual religious phrases, ‘Allah 
 direct thee into the right way, O my son!”—meaning 
 that he was going to the bad,—and ‘‘O my calamity, thy 
 mother is a lone woman, O Allah!”—equivalent to the 
 
AIV.—F rom Bir Abbas to Al-Madinah, 265 
 
 European parental plaint about grey hairs being brought 
 down in sorrow to the grave. Before noon a small © 
 caravan which followed us came in with two dead bodies, 
 _—a trooper shot by the Badawin, and an Albanian 
 killed by sun-stroke, or the fiery wind.’ Shortly after 
 mid-day a Caravan, travelling in an opposite direction, 
 passed by us; it was composed chiefly of Indian pilgrims, 
 habited in correct costume, and hurrying towards Meccah 
 in hot haste. They had been allowed to pass unmolested, 
 because probably a pound sterling could not have been 
 collected from a hundred pockets, and Sa’ad the Robber 
 sometimes does a cheap good deed. But our party, 
 
 1 The natives of Al-Hijaz assured me that in their Allah-favoured 
 land, the Samum never kills a man. I ‘doubt the fact.” This 
 Arnaut’s body was swollen and decomposing rapidly, the true 
 diagnostic of death by the poison-wind. (See Ibn Batuta’s voyage, 
 ‘“Kabul.”) However, as troopers drink hard, the Arabs may still be 
 right, the Samum doing half the work, arrack the rest. -I travelled 
 ‘during the months of July, August, and September, and yet never 
 found myself inconvenienced by the ‘ poison-wind”’ sufficiently to 
 make me tie my Kufiyah, Badawi-fashion, across my mouth. At 
 the same time I can believe that to an invalid it would be trying, and 
 that a man almost worn out by hunger and fatigue would receive 
 from it a coup degrdce. Niebuhr attributes the extraordinary mortality 
 of his companions, amongst other causes, to a want of stimulants. 
 Though these might doubtless be useful in the cold weather, or in the 
 mountains of Al-Yaman, for men habituated to them from early 
 youth, yet nothing, I believe, would be more fatal than strong drink 
 when travelling through the Desert in summer heat. The common 
 beverage should be water or lemonade; the strongest stimulants 
 coffee or tea. It is what the natives of the country do, and doubt- 
 less it is wise to take their example. The Duke of Wellington’s 
 dictum about the healthiness of India to an abstemious man does not 
 require to be quoted. Were it more generally followed, we should 
 have less of sunzstroke and sudden ceath in our Indian armies, when 
 soldiers, ted with beef and brandy, are called out to face. the violent 
 heat. . At the same time it must be remembered, that foul and stag- 
 _ fant water, abounding in organic matter, is. the. cause of half the 
 “diarrhcea and dysentry which prove so fatal to travellers “in thése 
 ‘regions. To the water-drinker, therefore, a pocket- ae is indis- 
 vensable. : sat 
 
266 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah.’ 
 
 having valuables with them, did not seem to gather heart 
 from this event. In the evening we all went out to see 
 some Arab Shaykhs who were travelling to Bir Abbas in 
 order to receive their salaries. Without such dowceurs, it 
 is popularly said and believed, no stone walls could 
 enable a Turk to hold Al-Hijaz against the hill-men. 
 Such was our system in Afghanistan—most unwise, 
 teaching im linine the subject to despise rulers subject to 
 blackmail. Besides which, these highly paid Shaykhs do 
 no good. When a fight takes place or a road is shut, 
 they profess inability to restrain their clansmen; and the 
 richer they are, of course the more formidable they 
 become. The party looked well; they were Harb, 
 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 from Al-Shark.’ Preceded by 
 their half-naked clansmen, carrying spears twelve or 
 thirteen 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 the Nakis 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, ragged- 
 looking as their clothes; and each trooper was armed 
 
 1 Al-Shark, ‘the East, "is the popular name in the Hijaz for the 
 Western region as far as Baghdad and Bassorah, especially Nijd. The 
 latter province supplies the Holy Land with its choicest horses and 
 camels. The great heats of the parts near the Red Sea appear pre- 
 
 "judicial to animal generation; whereas the lofty table-lands and the 
 ‘broad pastures of Nijd, combined with the attention paid by the 
 people to purity of blood, have rendered it the greatest breeding 
 country in Arabia. 
 
al 
 
 AIV.—From Biv Abbas to Al-Madinah. 267 
 
 in his own way, though all had swords, pistols and 
 matchlocks, or firelocks of some kind. But they rode 
 hard as Galway ‘“buckeens,” and there was a gallant 
 reckless look about the fellows which prepossessed me 
 ‘strongly in their favour. Their animals, too, though 
 notable *‘ screws,” were well trained, and their accoutre- 
 ments were intended for use, not show. I watched their 
 manceuvres with curiosity. They left their cantonments 
 one by one, and, at the sound of the tom-tom, by degrees 
 formed a ‘‘plump” or ‘‘ herse ’—column? it could not be 
 called—all huddled together in confusion. Presently the 
 little kettle-drum changed its noteand the parade its aspect. 
 All the serried body dispersed as would Light Infantry, 
 now continuing their advance, then hanging back, then 
 making a rush, and all the time keeping up a hot 4re 
 upon the enemy. At another signal they suddenly put 
 their horses to full speed, and, closing upon the centre, 
 again advanced in a dense mass. After three-quarters 
 of an hour parading, sometimes charging singly, often in 
 bodies, to the right, to the left, and straight in front, halt- 
 ing when requisite, and occasionally retreating, Parthian- 
 like, the Arnauts turned en masse towards their lines. 
 As they neared them, all broke off and galloped in, 
 ventve &@ tevye, discharging their shotted guns with much 
 recklessness against objects assumed to denote the enemy. 
 But ball-cartridge seemed to be plentiful hereabouts ; 
 during thé whole of this and the next day, I remarked 
 that bullets, notched for noise, were fired away in mere fun.? 
 
 x I mean acivilised column. ‘‘Herse’’ is the old military name 
 for a column opposed to ‘‘ Haye,” a line. So we read that at far-famed 
 Cressy the French fought en battaille a haye, the English drawn up 
 en herse. This appears to have been the national predilection of that 
 day. In later times, we and vur neighbours changed style, ‘the 
 French preferring heavy columns, the English extending themselves 
 into lines. ; 
 
 a The Albanians, delighting in the noise of musketry, notch the 
 ball in crder to make it sing the louder. When fighting, they often 
 
268 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and M eccal. 
 
 Barbarous. as these movements may appear to the 
 Cavalry Martinet of the ‘‘ good old school,” yet to some- 
 thing of the kind will the tactics of that arm of the service, 
 I humbly opine, return, when the perfect use of the rifle, 
 the revolver, and field artillery shall have made the 
 present necessarily slow system fatal. Also, if we 
 adopt the common sense opinion of a modern writer,’ and 
 determine that ‘individual prowess, skill in single com- 
 bats, good horsemanship, and sharp swords render cavalry 
 formidable,” these semi-barbarians are wiser in their 
 generation than the civilised, who never practise arms 
 (properly socalled), whose riding-drill never made a good 
 rider, whose horses are over-weighted, and whose swords 
 are worthless. They have yet another point of superiority 
 over us; they cultivate the individuality of the soldier, 
 whilst we strive to make him a mere automaton. In 
 the days of European chivalry, battles were a system of 
 well-fought duels. This was succeeded by the age of 
 discipline, when, to use the language of Rabelais, ‘* men 
 seemed rather a consort of organ-pipes, or mutual concord 
 of the wheels of a clock, than an infantry and cavalry, or 
 army of soldiers.” Our aim should now be to combine 
 the merits of both systems; to make men individually 
 
 adopt the excellent plan—excellent, when rifles are not procurable— 
 of driving 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 death. Round balls are apt 
 to pass into and out of savages without killing them, and many an 
 Afghan, after being shot or run through the body, has mortally 
 wounded his English adversary before falling. It is false philan- 
 thropy, also, to suppose that in battle, especially when a campaign is 
 commencing, it is sufficient to maim, not to kill, the enemy. Nothing 
 encourages men to fight so much, as a good chance of escaping with 
 a wound—especially a flesh wound. I venture to hope that the 
 reader will not charge these sentiments with cruelty. He who ren- 
 ders warfare fatal to all engaged in it will be the greatest benefactor 
 the world has yet known. . 
 1 The late Captain Nolan. 
 
XIV.—From Bir Abbas to Al-Madinah. 26g 
 
 excellent in the use of weapons, and still train them to 
 act naturally and habitually in concert. The French 
 have given a model to Europe in the Chasseurs de 
 Vincennes,—a body capable of most perfect combination, 
 -yet never more truly excellent than when each man is 
 fighting alone. We, I suppose, shall imitate them at 
 some future time. 
 
 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. They communicated the 
 intelligence, 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 Badawin, after 
 _ battling out the night, would be less warlike the next 
 day; the others, however, by no means agreed in opinion 
 with me. At Yambu’ the whole party had boasted loudly 
 that the people of Al-Madinah could keep their Badawin 
 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 conspicuous when peril was only pos- 
 sible. The change was charitably to be explained by 
 the presence of their valuables; the ‘ Sahkharahs,” like’ 
 conscience, making cowards of them all. But the young 
 Meccan, who, having sent on his box by sea from Yambu’ 
 
 1 The first symptom of improvement will bea general training to 
 the Bayonet exercise. The British is, and for years has been, the 
 only army in Europe that does not learn the use of this weapon: 
 how long does it intend to be the sole authority on the side of ignor- 
 ance? We laughed at the Calabrese levies, who in the French war 
 threw away their muskets and drew their stilettos; and we cannot 
 understand why the Indian would always prefer a sabre to a rifle. 
 Yet we read without disgust of our men being compelled, by want of © 
 proper training, to ‘“‘club their muskets” in hand-to-hand fights,— 
 when they have in the bayonet the most formidable of offensive 
 
 weapons,—and of the Kafirs and other savages wresting the piece, 
 after drawing off its fire, from its unhappy possessor’s grasp. 
 
240 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 to Jeddah, felt merry, like the empty traveller, would not 
 lose the opportunity to pay off old scores. He taunted 
 the Madinites till they stamped and raved with fury. At 
 last, fearing some violence, and feeling answerable for the 
 boy’s safety to his family, I seized him by the nape of his 
 neck and the upper posterior portion of his nether 
 garments, and drove him before me into the tent. : 
 
 When the hubbub had subsided, and all sat after sup- 
 per smoking the pipe of peace in the cool night air, I re- 
 joined my companions, and found them talking, as usual, 
 about old Shaykh Sa’ad. The scene was appropriate for 
 the subject. In the distance rose the blue peak said to be 
 his eyrie, and the place was pointed out with fearful mean- 
 ing. As it is inaccessible to strangers, report has con- 
 verted it into another garden of Iram. A glance, how- 
 ever, at its position and formation satisfied me that the 
 bubbling springs, the deep forests, and the orchards of 
 apple-trees, quinces and pomegranates, with which my 
 companions furnished it, were a ‘‘ myth,” whilst some 
 experience of Arab ignorance of the art of defence 
 suggested to me strong doubts about the existence of an 
 impregnable fortress on the hill-top. The mountains, 
 however, looked beautiful in the moonlight, and distance 
 gave them a semblance of mystery well suited to the 
 themes which they inspired. 
 
 That night I slept within my Shugduf, for it would 
 have been mere madness to sleep on the open plain in a 
 place so infested by banditti. The being armed is but a 
 poor precaution near this robbers’ den. If you wound a 
 man in the very act of plundering, an exorbitant sum 
 must be paid for blood-money. If you kill him, even to 
 save your life, then adieu to any chance of escaping 
 destruction. Roused three or four times during the 
 night by jackals and dogs prowling about our little camp, 
 I observed that my companions, who had agreed 
 amongst themselves to keep watch by turns, had all 
 
AIV.—From Biv Abbas to Al-Madinah. 271 
 
 fallen into a sound sleep. However, when we awoke in 
 the morning, the usual inspection of goods and chattels 
 showed that nothing was gone. , 
 
 The next day (July 23rd) was a forced halt, a sore 
 - stimulant to the traveller’s ill-humour; and the sun, the 
 sand, the dust, the furious Samum, and the want of certain 
 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 being 
 resolved to push forward by any conveyance that could 
 be procured, I offered ten dollars fora fresh dromedary to 
 take me on to Al-Madinah. Shaykh Hamid also declared 
 he would leave his box in charge of a friend and accom- 
 pany me. Sa’ad the Demon 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, like a boy of the world as he was, never lost 
 an opportunity of making mischief—inst7ntly communi- 
 cated to me, and it brought on a furious dispute. Sa’ad was 
 reproved and apologised for by the rest of the party; and 
 presently he himself was pacified, principally, 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 Al-Madinah, 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 many 
 by-paths that traverse them: the project was amply 
 discussed, and duly rejected. 
 
 We passed the day in the usual manner; all crowded 
 
 1 I began to treat it hydropathically with a cooling bandage, but 
 my companions declared that the water was poisoning the wound, 
 and truly it seemed to get worse every day. This idea is prevalent 
 throughout Al-Hijaz; even the Badawin, after once washing a. cut 
 or a sore, never allow air or-water to touch it. 
 
272 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 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 Badawin did not drive their animals 
 away to any distance. At last, about 11 p.m., as the moon 
 was beginning to peep over the Eastern veil of rock, was 
 heard the glad sound of the little kettle-drum calling the 
 Albanian troopers to mount and march. In the dticaebst | 
 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 dreaded Hawadmid.! By dint of much 
 manceuvring, arms in hand,—Shaykh Hamid and the 
 “Demon” took the prominent parts,—we, though the 
 last comers, managed to secure places about the middle 
 of the line. On such occasions all push forward reck- 
 lessly, as an English mob in the strife of sight-seeing ; the 
 rear, being left unguarded, is the place of danger, and none 
 seeks the honour of occupying it. 
 
 We travelled that night up the Fiumara in an Easterly 
 direction, and at early dawn (July 24th) found ourselves in 
 an ill-famed gorge called Shuab al-Hajj,? the “ Pilgrimage 
 Pass.” The loudest talkers became silent as we neared 
 it, and their countenances showed apprehension written 
 in legible characters. Presently from the high precipi. 
 
 - 1 Hawamid is the plural of Hamidah, Shaykh Sa'ad’s tribe. a 
 -- --2-Shuab properly means a path through mountains, or.a water: 
 “course between hills. It is generally used in Arabia fora‘ “Valley,” 
 and sometimes instead-of Nakb, or the Turkish Bughaz; a“! Pass," 
 
AIV.—From Bir Abbas to Al-Madinah. 2°73 
 
 tous cliff on our left, thin blue curls of smoke—somehow 
 or other they caught every eye—rose in the air; and in- 
 stantly afterwards rang the sharp cracks of the hill- 
 ~ men’s matchlocks, echoed by the rocks on the right. My 
 Shugduf had been broken by the camel’s falling during 
 the night, so I called out to Mansur that we had better 
 splice the framework with a bit of rope: he looked up, 
 saw me laughing, and with an ejaculation of disgust dis- 
 appeared. A number of Badawin were to be seen 
 swarming like hornets over the crests of the hills, boys 
 as well as men carrying huge weapons, and climbing 
 with the agility of cats. They took up comfortable 
 places on the cut-throat eminence, and began firing upon 
 us with perfect convenience to themselves. The height 
 of the hills and the glare of the rising sun prevented my 
 seeing objects very distinctly, but my companions 
 pointed out to me places where the rock had been scarped, 
 and where a kind of rough stone breastwork—the Sangah of » 
 Afghanistan—had been piled up as a defence, anda rest for 
 thelong barrelofthematchlock. It wasuselesstochallenge 
 the Badawin to come down and fight us like men upon 
 the plain; they will do this on the Eastern coast of 
 Arabia, but rarely, if ever, in Al-Hijaz. And it was 
 equally unprofitable for our escort to fire upon a foe en- 
 sconced 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 overpower a Caravan, and in such acasenota 
 soul’ would have escaped. As it was, the Badawin 
 directed their fire principally against the Albanians. 
 Some of these called for assistance to the party of 
 Shaykhs that accompanied us from Bir Abbas; but the 
 dignified old men, dismounting and squatting in council 
 round their pipes, came to the conclusion that, as the 
 robbers would probably turn a deaf ear to their words, 
 they had better spare themselves the trouble of speaking. 
 
274 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 We had therefore nothing-to do but to blaze away as 
 much powder, and to veil ourselves in as inuch smoke, as | 
 possible; the result of the affair was that we lost twelve | 
 men, besides camels and other beasts of burden. Though | 
 the bandits showed no symptoms of bravery, and | 
 confined themselves to slaughtering the enemy from their | 
 hill-top, my companions Beanres to “ehasidey this question- | 
 able affair a most gallant exploit. | 
 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 
 Martyrs,” because here are supposed to be buried forty 
 braves that fell in one of Mohammed’s many skirmishes. — 
 Some authorities consider it the cemetery of the people 
 of Wady Sayyalah.1. 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 Badawin graves, each an oval of rough stones lying 
 beneath the thorn trees on the left of and a little off the 
 road. Another half hour took us to a favourite halting. 
 place, Bir al-Hindi,’ so called from some forgotten Indian 
 
 r Others attribute these graves to the Beni Salim, or Salmah, 
 an extinct race of Hijazi Badawin. Near Shuhada is Jabal Warkan, 
 one of the mountains of Paradise, also called Irk al- -Zabyat, or 
 Thread of the Winding Torrent. The Prophet named it “ Hamt,” 
 (sultriness), when he passed through it on his way to the Battle of 
 Badr. Healso called the valley ‘* Sajasaj,” (plural of Sajsaj, a temper- 
 ate situation), declared it was a valley of heaven, that 70 prophets 
 had prayed there before himself, that Moses with 70,000 Israelites 
 had traversed it on his way to Meccah, and that, before the Resur- 
 rection day, Isa bin Maryam should pass through it with the inten- 
 tion of performing the Greater and the Lesser Pilgrimages. = are 
 the past and such the future honours of the place. 
 
 2 The Indians sink wells in Arabia for the same reason which 
 impels them o dig tanks at home,—'‘nam ke waste,'’—‘ for the -pur- 
 pose of name"; thereby denoting, together with a laudable desire 
 
X1IV.—From Biv Abbas to Al-Madinah. 275 
 
 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 Northwards 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 dan- 
 gerous than between eight and ninea.m. Still we hurried 
 on. It was not before eleven 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 limestone. The well was at least 
 two miles distant, and not a hovel was in sight; a few 
 Badawi children belonging to an outcast tribe fed their 
 
 _starveling goats upon the hills. This place is called 
 _‘*Suwaykah”’; it is, I was told, that celebrated in the 
 
 history of the Arabs.’ Yet not for this reason did my com- 
 rades look lovingly upon its horrors : their boxes were 
 safe and with the eye of imagination they could now behold 
 their homes. 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. 
 
 a ie en ere 
 
 ' for posthumous fame, a notable lack of ingenuity in securing it. 
 
 a 
 
 For it generally happens that before the third generation has fallen, 
 the well and the tank have either lost their original names, or have 
 exchanged them for others newer and better known. 
 
 1 Suwaykah derives its name from the circumstance that in the 
 Be dna. or third, year of the Hijrah (Hégira), Mohammed here 
 attacked Abu Sufiyan, who was out on a foray with 200 men. The 
 
 Infidels, in their headlong fight, lightened their beasts by emptying 
 
 their bags of ‘‘ Sawik.’’ This is the old and modern Arabic name 
 
 ' for a dish of green grain, toasted, pounded, mixed with dates or 
 
 sugar, and eaten on journeys when it is found difficult tocook. Such 
 is the present signification of the word: M. C. de Perceval (vol. iii., 
 p. 84) gives it a different and a now unknown meaning. And our 
 popular authors erroneously call the aftair the ‘‘ War of the Meal- 
 
 sacks.” 
 
276 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 We pitched the tent under a villainous Mimosa, 
 
 the tree whose shade is compared by poetic Badawin 
 to the false friend who deserts you in your utmost 
 need. I enlivened the hot dull day by a final affair 
 with Sa’ad the Demon. His alacrity at Yambu’ ob- 
 tained for him the loan of a couple of dollars: he 
 had bought grain at Al-Hamra, and now we were 
 near Al-Madinah: sfill 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 labour of a year. 
 to recovering a sixpence, I resolved to act asa native of 
 the country, placed in my position, would; and by dint of 
 sheer dunning and demanding pledges, to recover my 
 property. About noon Sa’ad the Demon, after a furiousrush, 
 bare-headed, through the burning sun, flung the two dollars 
 down upon my carpet : however, he presently recovered 
 temper, and, as subsequent events showed, I had chosen 
 the right part. Had he not been forced torepay his debt, 
 he would have despised me asa “freshman,” and would 
 have coveted 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 sup- 
 ported his burden the more philosophically, because, as he 
 notably calculated, every dollar saved at Al-Madinah 
 would be spent under his stewardship at Meccah. : 
 At four p.m. (July 24th) we left Suwaykah, all of us in the 
 crossest of humours, and travelled ina N.E. direction. So 
 ‘out oftemper ’’ weremy companions, that at sunset, of the 
 whole party, Omar Effendi was the only one who would eat 
 supper. Therest sat upon the ground, pouting, grumbling, 
 and—they had been allowed to exhaust my stock of 
 Latakia—smoking Syrian tobacco as if it were a grievance. 
 Such a game at naughty children, I have seldom seen 
 played even by Oriental men. The boy Mohammed 
 
XIV.—Fyvom Biv Abbas to Al-Madinah. 277 
 
 privily remarked to me that the camel-men’s beards were 
 now in his fist,—meaning that we were out of their kins- 
 ‘men, the Harb’s, reach. He soon found an opportunity 
 to quarrel with them; and, because one of his questions 
 “was not answered in the shortest possible time, he pro- 
 ceeded to abuse them in language which sent their hands 
 flying in the direction of their swords. Despite, however, 
 this threatening demeanour, the youth, knowing that he 
 now could safely go to any lengths, continued his ill words, 
 and Mansur’s face was so comically furious, that I felt too 
 much amused to interfere. At last the camel-men dis- 
 appeared, 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 montuve: 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}? withered be their hands! palsied be their 
 fingers! the foul mustachioed fellows, basest of the Arabs 
 that ever hammered tent-peg, sneaking cats, goats of Al- 
 Akhfash !2. Truly I will torture them the torture of the 
 oil, the mines of infamy! the cold of countenance!*” 
 The Badawi brotherhood of the camel-men looked at him 
 wickedly, muttering the while,—“ By Allah! andby Allah! 
 
 1 A popular but not a bad pun— Harb"’ (Fight), becomes, by 
 the alteration of the H, ‘‘ Harb” (Flight). 
 
 2 The old Arabic proverb is ‘‘ A greater wiseacre than the goat 
 of Akhfash"’; it is seldom intelligible to the vulgar. 
 
 3 That is to say, ‘I will burn them (metaphorically) as the fiery 
 wick consumes the oil,’’—a most idiomatic Hijazi threat. 
 
 4 A“ cold- of-countenance"’ isa fool. Arabs use the word ‘cold’ 
 in a peculiar way. ‘ May Allah refrigerate thy countenance !’” 7. é. 
 may it show misery and want. ‘“ By Allah, a cold speech ! ! that is’ 
 to say, a silly or an abusive tirade. 
 
278, Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. { 
 
 and by Allah! O boy, we will flog thee like a hound when ; 
 we catch thee in the Desert!” All our party called upon 
 him to desist, but his temper had got completely the upper 
 hand over his discretion, and he expressed himself in such 
 classic and idiomatic Hijazi, that I had not the heart to 
 stop him. Some days after our arrival at Al-Madinah, 
 Shaykh Hamid warned 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 
 to them even the mild epithet **O jackass!” And in the 
 quiet of the city the boy Mohammed, like a sobered man 
 shuddering at dangers braved when drunk, hearkened 
 with discomposure and penitence to his friend’s words. 
 The only immediate consequence of his abuse was that my 
 broken Shugduf became a mere ruin, and we passed the 
 dark hours perched like two birds upon the only entire 
 bits of framework the cots contained. 
 
 The sun had nearly risen (July 25th) before I shook off _ 
 the lethargic effects of such a night. Allaround me were - 
 hurrying their camels, regardless of rough ground, and not 
 
 a soul spoke a word tohisneighbour. ‘ Arethererobbers 
 
 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 al-Akik,? of which, : 
 **O my friend, this is Akik, then stand by it, 
 Endeavouring to be distracted by love, if not really a lover,” 8 
 
 OS 
 x1 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 
 
 (i.e. their feet). 
 
 2 Writers mention two Al-Akik. The superior comprises the — 
 
 whole site of Al-Madinah, extending from the Western Ridge, men- 
 tioned below, to the cemetery Al-Bakia. The inferior is the Fiumara 
 here alluded to; it is on the Meccan road, about four miles S.W. of 
 Al-Madinah, and its waters fall into the Al;Hamra torrent. It is 
 called the ‘‘ Blessed Valley ' because the Prophet was ordered by an 
 angel to pray in it. 
 
 3 The esoteric meaning of this couplet is, “ Man! thisis a lovely — 
 
XIV.—From Bir Abbas to Al-Madinah. 279 
 
 and a thousand other such 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 vege- 
 tablemummies, Half an hour after leaving the ‘ Blessed 
 
 ‘Valley’ we came toa huge flight of steps roughly cut in a 
 
 long broad line of black scoriaceous basalt. This is termed 
 the Mudarraj or flight of steps over the western ridge of 
 the so-called Al-Harratayn.’ It is holy ground; for the 
 Apostle spoke well of it. Arrived at the top, we passed 
 through a lane of dark lava, with steep banks on both 
 sides, and after a few at tahee a full view of the city sud- 
 denly 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. 
 
 “OQ Allah! this is the Harim (sanctuary) of Thy 
 Apostle; 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, the Seal of Prophecy, with Blessings in number 
 
 portion of God’s creation: then stand by it, and here s learn to love 
 the perfections of thy Supreme l’riend.”’ 
 
 x Al-Harratayn for Al-Harratani, the oblique case of the dual and 
 plural noun being universally used for the nominative in colloquial 
 Arabic. The other one of the Two Ridges will be described in a 
 future part of this Book. 
 
 _2 The city is first seen from the top of the valley called Nakb, or 
 Shuab Ali, close to the Wady al-Akik, a long narrow pass, about five 
 miles from Al-Madinah. Here, according to some, was the Mosque 
 Zu’l Halifah, where the Prophet put on the Pilgrim’s garb when 
 travelling to Meccah. It is also called ‘The Mosque of the Tree,’ 
 because near it grew a fruit tree under which the Prophet twice sat. 
 Iba Jubayr considers that the Harim (or sacred precincts of Al- 
 Madinah) is the space enclosed by three points, Zu’l Halifah, Mount 
 
 - Ohod, and the Mosque of Kuba. To the present day pilgrims doff 
 
 their worldly garments at Zu’! Halifah. 
 
280 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 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 Mankind?!” 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 Nijd, and the Lightning 
 
 flasheth bright in the Firmament of Al-Hijaz!” 
 
 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 religious enthusiasm. I now under- 
 stood the full value of a phrase in the Moslem ritual, 
 ‘‘And when his” (the pilgrim’s) ‘eyes shall fall upon 
 the Trees of Al-Madinah, let him raise his Voice and bless 
 
 _ 
 
 the Apostle 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 com- 
 panions, and truly I believe that for some minutes my 
 enthusiasm rose as high as theirs. But presently when 
 we remounted,’ the traveller returned strong upon me: 
 I made a rough sketch of the town, put questions about 
 the principal buildings, and in fact collected materials for 
 the next chapter. 
 
 1 That is to say, ‘‘throughout all ages and all nations." The 
 Arabs divide the world into two great bodies: first themselves, and, 
 secondly, *’Ajami,"’ é.¢. all that are not Arabs. Similar bi-partitions 
 are the Hindus and Mlenchhas, the Jews and Gentiles, the Greeks 
 and Barbarians, &c., &c. 
 
 _ 2 Robust religious men, especially those belonging to the school 
 
 of Al-Malik, enter into Al-Madinah, after the example of Ali, on — 
 
 “foot, ‘reverently, as the pilgrims approach Meccah, 
 
XIV.—From Bir bas to Al-Madinah. 281 
 
 The distance traversed that night was about twenty- 
 two miles in a direction varying from easterly to north- 
 easterly. We reached Al-Madinah 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.’ 
 
 1 Barbosa makes three days’ journey from Yambu’ to Al- 
 Madinah, D’Herbelot eight, and Ovington six. The usual time is 
 from four to five days. A fertile source of error to home geo- 
 graphers, computing distances in Arabia, is their neglecting the 
 difference between the slow camel travelling and the fast dromedary 
 riding. 
 
 The following is a synopsis of our stations :— 
 
 Miles. 
 1. From Yambu’, 18th July, to Musahhal, N.E. . . . ay 
 2. From Musabhal, roth July, to Bir Sa’id,S.andE. . 34764 miles 
 3. From Bir Sa’id, 2oth July, to Al-Hamra, DE’ 14) 
 4. From Al-Hamra, 21st July, to Bir Abbas, E. . . . 24 
 5. From Bir Abbas, 23rd July, to Suwaykah, E. . . . 22; 68miler 
 6. From Suwaykah, 24th July, to Al-Madinah, N. and E. 22 
 
 Total English miles . . 132 
 
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PART II. 
 
 —— 
 
 AL-MADINAH. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THROUGH THE SUBURB OF AL-MADINAH 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 gained from the morning mists a giant 
 stature, and the earth was stained with purple and gold. 
 Before us lay a spacious plain, bounded in front by the 
 undulating ground of Nijd: on the left was a grim pile 
 of rocks, the celebrated Mount Ohod, with a clump of 
 verdure and a white dome or two nestling at its base. 
 Rightwards, broad streaks of lilac-coloured mists, here 
 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, dis- 
 tant about two miles, lay Al-Madinah; at first sight it 
 appeared a large place, but a closer inspection proved 
 the impression to be erroneous. A tortuous 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 minarets of a pretty 
 Turkish building, a “ Takiyah,” erected by the late Mo- 
 hammed Ali for the reception of Darwaysh travellers ; on 
 the right by a long low line of white-washed buildings garn- 
 
286 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 ished with ugly square windows, an iniitation of civilised 
 barracks. Beginning from the left hand, as we sat upon 
 the ridge, the remarkable features of the town thus pre- 
 sented themselves in succession. Outside, among the 
 palm trees to the north of the city, were the picturesque 
 ruins of a large old Sabi/, or public fountain; and, between 
 this and the enceinte, stood a conspicuous building, in the 
 Turkish pavilion style—the Governor’s palace. On the 
 north-west angle of the town-wall is a tall white-washed 
 fort, partly built upon an outcropping mass of rock: its 
 ramparts and embrasures give it a modern and European 
 appearance, which contrasts strangely with its truly 
 Oriental history.1. In the suburb ‘ Al-Manakhah,” the 
 ‘‘ kneeling-place of camels,” the bran-new domes and 
 minarets of the Five Mosques stand brightly out from 
 the dull grey mass of house and ground. And behind, 
 in the most Easterly part of the city, remarkable 
 from afar, is the gem of Al-Madinah,—the four tall 
 substantial towers, and the flashing green Dome under 
 which the Apostle’s remains rest.2 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, Al-Bakia. 
 From that point southwards begins the mass of palm 
 groves celebrated in Al-Islam as the “Trees of Al- 
 
 1 In the East, wherever there is a compound of fort and city, 
 that place has certainly been in the habit of being divided against 
 itself. Surat in Western India is a well-known instance. I must 
 refer the reader to Burckhardt (Travels in Arabia, vol. ii., page 281, 
 and onwards) for a detailed account of the feuds and affrays between 
 the “‘ Agha of the Castle” and the ‘Agha of the Town.” Their day 
 has now gone by,—for the moment. . 
 
 2 Sir John Mandeville, writing in the r4qth century, informed 
 Europe that ‘‘ Machomet lyeth in the Cytee of Methone."” In the 
 roth century, Mr. Halliwell, his editor, teaches us ina foot-note that 
 ‘‘Methone’’ is Meceah! It is strange how often this gross mis- 
 take is still made by respectable authors in France as well as in 
 England} 
 
XV.—Through the Suburb to Hanid’s House. 287 
 
 Madinah.” The foreground is well fitted to set off such 
 a view ; fields of black basaltic scorize showing clear signs 
 of a volcanic origin, are broken up into huge blocks and 
 
 boulders, through which a descent, tolerably steep for 
 
 camels, winds down into the plain. 
 
 5 
 
 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, em- 
 
 bracing, and skaking 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 Persians, and their manners 
 are far more demonstrative than those of the Indians. 
 The respectable Maryam’s younger son, a pleasant con- 
 trast 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 exchangea kiss ; and, 
 generally, when near relatives or intimates, or school 
 companions, met, the fountains of their eyes were 
 opened. Friends and comrades greeted one another, 
 regardless of rank or fortune, with affectionate embraces, 
 and an abundance of queries, which neither party seemed 
 
 ,to think of answering. The general mode of saluting 
 
 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 ‘yam satis” suggested itself to both parties. Inferiors 
 
 recognized their superiors by attempting to kiss hands, 
 
 which were violently snatched away ; whilst mere acquaint- 
 ances gave each other a cordial ‘‘poignée 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 Jiarat 
 
288 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 (Quarter), Al-Ambariyah, the principal in the Manakhah 
 suburb. The thoroughfare is 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 astonished to see on both sides of the way, in so 
 small a place, 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, Al-Sayh,' which in some parts appeared 
 about fifty feet broad, with banks showing a_ high and 
 deeply indented water-mark. Here the road abuts 
 upon an open space called the ‘‘ Barr al-Manakhah,?”’ or 
 more concisely Al-Barr, ‘the Plain.” Straightforward 
 a line leads directly into the Bab al-Misri, the Egyptian 
 gate of the city. But we turned off to the right; and, 
 after advancing a few yards, we found ourselves at the 
 entrance of our friend Hamid’s house. 
 
 The Shaykh had preceded us early that morning, in 
 order to prepare an apartment for his guests, and to re- 
 ceive the first loud congratulations and embraces of his 
 mother and the ‘‘daughter of his uncle.*”” Apparently he 
 had not concluded this pleasing duty 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 appear- 
 ance this morning. The razor had passed over his head 
 
 ee ee a ee a ee ee. ee ee 
 
 1 This torrent is called Al-Sayh,—‘‘the Running Water, — 
 which, properly speaking, is the name of a well-wooded Wady out- 
 side the town, in the direction of Kuba. 
 
 2 ‘‘Manakhah”’ is a place where camels kneel down; it is a deriva- 
 tion from the better known root to ‘‘Nakh,"’ or cause the animal to 
 kneel. . 
 
 3 Arabs, and, indeed, most Orientals, are generally received after 
 returning from a journey, with shrill cries of joy by all the fair part 
 of the household, and they do not like strangers to hear this demon- 
 stration 
 
XV.—Through the Suburb to Hamid’s House. 289 
 
 and face’; the former was now surmounted by a muslin 
 turband of goodly size, wound round a new embroidered 
 
 _cap; and the latter, besides being clean, boasted of neat 
 
 little moustaches turned up like two commas, whilst a 
 
 _well-trimmed goat’s beard narrowed until it resembled 
 
 ae 
 
 what our grammars call an ‘‘exclamation point.” The 
 dirty, torn shirt, with the bits of rope round the loins, had 
 been exchanged for a Jubbah or outer cloak of light pink 
 merinos, a long-sleeved Caftan of rich flowered stuff, a fine 
 shirt of Halaili,? silk and cotton, and a sash of plaid pattern, 
 
 _ elaborately fringed at both ends, and, for better display, 
 
 wound round two-thirds of his body. His pantaloons 
 were also of Halaili, with tasteful edgings about the ankles 
 like a ‘‘ pantilette’s,” while his bare and sun-burnt feet 
 had undergone a thorough purification before - being 
 encased in new Mizz® (inner slippers), and Papush (outer 
 slippers), of bright lemon-coloured leather of the newest 
 and most fashionable Constantinopolitan cut. In one 
 of his now delicate hands the Shaykh bore a mother-. 
 of-pearl rosary, token of piety ; in the other a hand- 
 some pipe with a jasmine stick, and an expensive 
 amber mouth-piece; his tobacco pouch, dangling 
 from his waist, like the little purse in the bosom 
 pocket of his coat, was of broadcloth richly em- 
 broidered with gold. In course of time I saw that all 
 
 1 An Eastern Barber is not content to pass the razor over hairy 
 spots: he must scrape the forehead, trim the eyebrows, clean the 
 cheeks, run the blade rapidly over the nose, correct the upper and 
 
 under lines of the mustaches, parting them in the centre, and so on. 
 
 2 Halailisis a cotton stuff, with long stripes of white silk, a 
 favourite material amongst the city Arabs. At Constantinople, 
 where thé best is sold, the piece, which will cut into two shirts, 
 costs about thirty shillings. 
 
 3 The “ Mizz” (in colloquial Arabic Misd) are the tight-fitting 
 inner slippers of soft Cordovan leather, worn as stockings inside the 
 slipper ; they are always clean, so they may be retained in the Mosque 
 or on the Diwan (divan or sofa). 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
290 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 my companions had metamorphosed themselves in an 
 equally remarkable manner. As men of sense they 
 appeared in tatters where they were, or when they wished 
 to be, unknown, and in fine linen where and when the world 
 judged their prosperity by their attire. Their grand suits 
 of clothes, therefore, were worn only for a few days after 
 returning from the journey, by way of proof that the wearer 
 had wandered to some purpose; they were afterwards 
 laid up in lavender, and reserved for choice occasions, as 
 old ladies in Europe store up their state dresses. 
 
 The Shaykh, whose manners had changed with his 
 garments, from the vulgar and boisterous to a certain 
 staid courtesy, took my hand, and led me up to the 
 Majlis! (parlour), which was swept and garnished, with 
 all due apparatus, for the forthcoming 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 dejectedness 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 traveller the very day he returns, that is to say, 
 if amity is to endure. The pipes therefore stood ready 
 filled, the Diwans were duly spread, and the coffee* was 
 being boiled upon a brazier in the passage. 
 
 1 The Majlis (‘the Place of Sitting '’) is the drawing or reception 
 room; it is usually in the first story of the house, below the apart- 
 ments of the women. 
 
 2 The coffee drank at Al-Madinah is generally of a good quality. 
 In Egypt that 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 Jahannam.” To effect this desideratum, 
 
XV.—Thvough the Suburb to Hamid’s House. 291 
 
 Scarcely had I taken my place at the cool window- 
 sill,—it was the best in the room,—when the visitors 
 ‘began to pour in, and the Shaykh rose to welcome and 
 embracethem. They sat down, smoked, chatted politics, 
 asked all manner of questions about the other wayfarers 
 ‘and absent friends; drank coffee; and, after half 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 congés to the rest of the assembly ; 
 smoked, took their coffee, as it were, under protest, and 
 
 glided out of the room as quietly as they crept in. 
 
 The great people, generally busy and consequential 
 individuals, upon whose countenances were writ large 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, monopolised the 
 conversation; and, departing in a dignified manner, 
 expected all to stand on the occasion. 
 
 The Jihad (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! Al-Islam!” 
 
 therefore, they toast the grain to blackness, boil it to bitterness, and 
 then drink scalding stuff of the consistency of water-gruel. At Al- 
 Madinah, on the contrary,—as indeed in the houses of the better 
 classes even in Egypt,—the grain is carefully picked, and that the 
 flavour 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. Those who admire the ‘‘ Kaimak,” 
 froth, do not use a second vessel. The Arabs seldom drink more ne 
 one cup of coffee at a time, but with many the time is every half 
 hour of the day. T he coffee- husk or ‘' Kishr’’ of Al- Yaman. is here 
 unknown 
 
2g2 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 The Czar could not be expected to take such a step 
 without a little hesitation, but ‘Allah smites the faces of 
 the Infidels!” Abd al-Majid would dispose of the 
 “Moskow!” in a short time; after which he would turn | 
 his victorious army against all theidolaters of Feringistan, 
 beginning with the English, the French, and the Arwam » 
 or Greeks.2 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 Maskat. The Badawin had decided that there 
 was to be an ‘Arab contingent,” and had been. looking 
 forward to the spoils of Europe: this 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 wrong. 
 
 The Samman is a great family, in i eeiBeeR as in 
 dignity ; from 8 a.m. till mid-day therefore the Majlis was 
 crowded with people, and politeness delayed our break- 
 fasts until an unconscionable hour. 
 
 To the plague of strangers succeeded that of children. 
 No sooner did the parlour become, comparatively speaking, 
 vacant than they rushed in em masse, treading upon our 
 toes, making the noise of a nursery of madlings, pulling 
 to pieces everything they could lay their hands upon, and 
 using language that would have alarmed an old man-o’- 
 war’s-man.® In fact, no one can conceive the plague but 
 
 ee te 
 
 ate eee = 
 
 x The common name for the Russians in Egypt and Al-Hijaz. 
 
 2 The Greeks are well known at Al-Madinah, and several of the 
 historians complain that some of the minor holy places had fallen 
 into the hands of this race, (Moslems, or pretended Moslems, I pre- 
 sume), who prevented people visiting them. It is curious that the 
 impostor Cagliostro should have hit upon the truth when he located 
 Greeks at Al-Madinah 
 
 3 Parents and full-grown men amuse themselves with grossly 
 
XV.-—-Through the Suburb to Hamid’s House. 293 
 
 those who have studied the ‘ enfans tevvibles’’ which India 
 sends home in cargoes. 
 
 One urchin, scarcely three years old, told me, because 
 I objected to his perching upon my wounded foot, 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. 
 “By a few taunts, I made the little wretch furious 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, chin in hand, to 
 see the Effendi subject to such indignity ; and it was not 
 without trouble that I saved the offender from 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 neighbour’s head; fortunately, it 
 was on half-cock, and the trigger was stiff. Then a 
 serious and majestic boy about six years old, with an ink- 
 stand in his belt, in token of his receiving a literary educa- 
 tion, seized my pipe and began to smoke it with huge 
 puffs. Iventured laughingly to institute a comparison be- 
 tween the length of 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 ‘‘bouldness”’ soon appeared. ‘The boys, in- 
 stead 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 like Anglo- 
 Saxons in the house, whilst abroad they were always 
 
 _ — 
 
 abusing children, almost as soon as they can speak, in order to excite 
 their rage, and to judge of their dispositions. This supplies the 
 infant population with a large stock-in-trade of ribaldry. They 
 literally lisp in bad language. 
 
 oy. 
 
294 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 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- 
 ness as to inform my host in plain words—how inconceiv- 
 ably wretched the boy Mohammed was thereby rendered ! 
 —that I was hungry, thirsty, and sleepy, and that I 
 wanted to be alone before visiting the Harim. The good- 
 natured Shaykh, who was preparing to go out at once in 
 order to pray before 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 
 stowed away. During the forenoon, in the presence 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 gener- 
 osity is appealed to by those whom a refusal offends, and 
 he must allow himself to be plundered with the best pos- 
 
 sible grace. Hamid therefore prudently suffered all to 
 
 depart before exhibiting his spoils; which, to judge by 
 the exclamations of delight which they elicited from femi- 
 nine lips, proved highly satisfactory to those most con- 
 cerned. | 
 
 After sleeping, we all set out in a body to the Harim, 
 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 from Hamid, amongst other articles of 
 clothing, an exceedingly gaudy embroidered coat. As for 
 Shaykh Nur, he had brushed up his Tarbush, and, by 
 means of some cast-off dresses of mine, had made himself 
 look like a respectable Abyssinian slave, in a nondescript 
 toilette, half Turkish, half Indian. I propose to reserve 
 
XV.—Through the Suburb to Hamid’s House. 295 
 
 the ceremony of Ziyarat, or Visitation, for another chap-. 
 ter, and to conclude this with a short account of our style: 
 
 -of living at the Shaykh’s hospitable house. 
 
 —-” 
 
 Hamid’s abode is a small corner building, open on 
 the North and East to the Barr al-Manakhah: the ground 
 floor shows only a kind of vestibule, in which coarse 
 articles, like old Shugdufs, mats and bits of sacking, are 
 lying about ; the rest are devoted to purposes of sewer- 
 age. Ascending 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 Majlis, and another converted intoa 
 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,! or large copper 
 water-pot, and other conveniences for purification. On 
 the second floor is the kitchen, which I did not inspect, - 
 it being as usual occupied by the ‘‘ Harim.” 
 
 The Majlis has dwarf windows, or rather apertures 
 in the northern and eastern walls, with rude wooden 
 shutters and reed blinds; the embrasures being garnished 
 with cushions, where you sit, morning and evening, to 
 enjoy thecool air. The ceiling is of date-sticks laid across 
 palm-rafters stained red, and the walls are of rough 
 scoriz, burnt bricks, and wood-work cemented with lime. 
 The only signs of furniture in the sitting-room are a 
 Diwan? round the sides and a carpet in the centre. A 
 
 nm a a 
 
 1 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. 
 
 2 It is wonderful that this most comfortable, inexpensive, and 
 ornamental style of furnishing a room, has not been oftener imitated 
 in India and the hot countries of Europe. The Diwan—it must not 
 be confounded with the leathern perversion which obtains that name 
 in our club smoxing-rvoms-— is a line of flat cushions ranged round 
 the room, either piaced upon the ground, or on wood:n benches, or 
 on astep of masonry, varying in height according to the fashion of 
 
296 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 huge wooden box, like a seaman’s chest, occupies one of 
 the corners. In the southern wall there is a Suffah, or 
 little shelf of common stone, sunk under a single arch; 
 upon this are placed articles in hourly use, perfume- 
 bottles, coffee-cups, a stray book or two, and sometimes 
 a turband, to be out of the children’s way. Two hooks on 
 the western wall, hung jealously high up, hold a pair of 
 pistols with handsome crimson cords and tassels, and 
 half a dozen cherry-stick pipes. The centre of the room 
 is never without one or more Shishas! (water pipes), and 
 in the corner is a large copper brazier containing fire, 
 with all the utensils for making coffee either disposed 
 upon its broad brim or lying about the floor. The passage, 
 like the stairs, is spread over with hard black earth, and 
 is regularly watered twice a day during the hot weather. 
 
 The household consisted of Hamid’s mother, wife, 
 some nephews and nieces, small children who ran about 
 na half-wild and more than half-nude state, and two 
 African slave girls. When the Damascus Caravan came 
 
 the day. When such foundation is used, it should be about a yard 
 in breadth, and slope very gently from the outer edge towards the 
 wall, for the greater convenience of reclining. Cotton-stuffed pillows, 
 covered with chintz for summer, and silk for winter, are placed 
 against the wall, and can be moved to make a luxurious heap; their 
 covers are generally all of the same colour, except those at the end. 
 The seat of honour is denoted by a small square cotton-stuffed silk 
 Coverlet, placed in one of the corners, which the position of the 
 windows determines, the place of distinction being on the left of the 
 host. Thus in Egypt you have a neatly-furnished room for £5 or £6. 
 1 The Madinah Shisha is a large cocoa-nut, with a tall wooden 
 stem, both garnished with brass ornaments; some trifling differences 
 in the latter distinguish it from the Meccah pipe. Both are incon- 
 veniently mounted upon small brass tripods, and are easily over- 
 turned, scattering fire and water over the carpets. The ‘‘lay,” or 
 snakes, are the substantial manufacture of Al-Yaman. Some grandees 
 at Al-Madinah have glass Turkish Shishas and Constantinople snakes, 
 which are of admirable elegance, compared with the clumsy and 
 unsightly Arab inventions. (See page 80, ante.) / 
 
XV.—Through the Suburb to Hamid’s House. 297 
 
 in, it was further reinforced by the arrival of his three 
 younger brothers. 
 
 Though the house was not grand, it was made lively 
 by the varied views out of the Majlis’ windows. From 
 the East, you looked upon the square Al-Barr, the town 
 walls and houses beyond it, the Egyptian gate, the lofty 
 minarets of the Harim, and the distant outlines of Jabal 
 Ohod.? The north commanded a prospect of Mohammed’s 
 Mosque, one of the Khamsah Masajid,? or the five sub- 
 urban Mosques’; of part of the fort-wall; and, when the 
 Damascus Caravan came in, of the gay scene of the 
 “Prado” beneath. 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 specimen of how the middle classes are 
 lodged at Al-Madinah. The upper ranks affect Turkish 
 and Egyptian luxuries in their homes, as I had an oppor- 
 tunity of seeing at Omar Effendi’s house in the “ Barr ;”’ 
 and in these countries the abodes of the poor are every- 
 where very similar. : 
 
 Our life in Shaykh Hamid’s house was quiet, but not 
 disagreeable. I never once set eyes upon the face of 
 woman, 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 voices to reply to me; 
 still they never threw off a certain appearance of shame.‘ 
 
 1 From this window I sketched the walls and the Egyptian 
 gate of Al-Madinah. 
 
 2 ‘' Five mosques.” . 
 
 3 This Mosque must not be confounded with the Harim. It is 
 described in Chapter XV. 
 
 4 Their voices are strangely soft and -delicate, considering the 
 appearance of the organs from which they proceed. Possibly this 
 may be a characteristic of the African: races; it is remarkable 
 amotigst the Somali women. 
 
298 . Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 I 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 
 afterwards happened to an ancient dame at Meccah, 
 came and sat by my side. 
 
 When lying during mid-day in the gallery, I often saw 
 parties of women mount the stairs to the Gynzconitis, 
 and sometimes an individual would stand to shake a 
 muffled hand! with Hamid, to gossip awhile, and to put 
 some questions concerning absent friends; but they 
 were most decorously wrapped up, nor did they ever deign 
 to dévoger, 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 Harim or one of the Holy 
 Places outside the city. Returning before the sun became 
 intolerable, we sat together, and with conversation, 
 Shishas, and Chibuks,* coffee, and cold water perfumed 
 with mastich-smoke,®’ we whiled away the time till our 
 
 Se ee ee we en ee ae ee ee enn ee 
 
 1 After touching the isn of a strange woman, it is not lawful in 
 Al-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. 
 
 2 Nafukku'r rik, literally, ‘‘Let us open the saliva,” is most 
 ‘idiomatic Hijazi for the first morsel eaten in the morning. Hence it 
 is called Fakkur’ rik, also Gura and Tasbih: the Egyptians call it 
 “ Al-Fatur.”” 
 
 3 Orientals he oe begin a eating an ‘‘akratisma”’ in ths 
 morning before they will smoke a pipe, or drink acup of coffee; they 
 have also an insuperable prejudice against the internal use of cold 
 water at this hour. 
 
 _+. 4 The tobacco generally smoked here is Syrian, which is brotgist 
 down in large quantities by the Damascuscaravan. Latakia is more 
 expensive, and generally too dry to retain its favour 
 
 § The interior of the water jar is here perfumed eh the emek 
 
XV.—Through the Suburb to Hamid’s House 299 
 
 *¢ Ariston,” a dinner which appeared at the primitive hour 
 of 11 A.M. ‘The meal, here called Al-Ghada, was served 
 _in the Majlis on a large copper tray, sent from the upper 
 apartments. Ejaculating ‘‘Bismillah”—the Moslem 
 “‘ orace ’—we all sat round it, and dipped equal hands in 
 the dishes set before us. We had usually unleavened 
 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 
 pomegranates. 
 
 After dinner I used invariably to find some excuse— 
 such as the habit of a ‘‘ Kaylilah'” (mid-day siesta) or the 
 being a **Saftidawi?’’—a person of melancholy tempera- 
 ment—to have a rug spread in the dark passage behind 
 
 of mastich, exactly as described by Lane, (Mod. Epyptians, vol. i. ch. 
 5). I found at Al-Madinah the prejudice alluded to by Sonnini, 
 namely, that the fumes of the gum are prejudicial, and sometimes 
 fatal to invalids. 
 
 1 Kaylulah is the half hour’s siesta about noon. It is a Sunnat, 
 and the Prophet said of it, ‘‘ Kilu, fa inna ’sh’ Shayatina 14 ‘Takil,’— 
 '*Take the mid-day siesta, for, verily, the demons sleep not at this 
 hour.” ‘Aylilah’’ is slumbering after morning prayers (our ‘' beauty 
 sleep’’), which causes heaviness and inability to work. Ghayluilah is 
 the sleeping about 9 a.M., the effect of whichis poverty and wretched- 
 ness. Kaylailah (with the guttural kaf) is sleeping before evening 
 prayers, a practice reprobated in every part of the East. And, finally, 
 Faylalah is sleeping immediately after sunset,—also considered highly 
 detrimental. 
 
 2 The Arabs, who suffer greatly from melancholia, are kind te 
 people 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 over- 
 working the brain, in a hot dry atmosphere. I have remarked, that 
 in Arabia students are subject to it, and that amongst their philoso- 
 phers and literary men, there is scarcely an individual who was not 
 spoken of as a ‘“Saudawi.” My friend Omar Effendi used te com- 
 plain, that at times his temperament drove him out of the house,— 
 so much did he dislike the sound of the human voice,—to pass the 
 day seated upon some eminence in the vicinity of the city. 
 
300 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 the Majlis ; and there to lie reading, dozing, smoking, or 
 writing, en cachetie, in complete déshabille, all through the 
 worst part of the day, from noon to sunset. 
 
 Then came the hour for receiving or paying visits. 
 We still kept up an intimacy with Omar Effendi and 
 Sa’ad the Demon, although Salih Skakkar and Amm 
 Jamal, either disliking our society, or perhaps thinking 
 our sphere of life too humble for their dignity, did not 
 appear once in Hamid’s house. The evening prayers 
 ensued, either at home, or in the Harim, followed by our 
 Asha or ‘‘deipnon,” another substantial meal like the 
 dinner, but more plentiful, of bread, meat, vegetables, 
 plain rice and fruits, concluding with the invariable pipes 
 and coffee. 
 
 To pass our sotvée, we occasionally dressed in common 
 clothes, shouldered a Nabbut,} and went to the café ; some- 
 times on 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 
 making 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 
 Al-Madinah, 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, 
 
 1 This habit of going out at night in common clothes, with a 
 Nabbut upon one’s shoulders, is, as far as I could discover, popular at 
 Al-Madinah, 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 respect- 
 able people there; though oftentimes there was a suspicion of a 
 disguise. 
 
XV.—Thvough the Suburb to Hand's House. 301 
 
 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 
 the headstall, would advance with kangaroo-leaps towards 
 a neighbour against whom it hada private grudge. Their 
 heads would touch for a moment ; then came a snort and 
 a whinny, 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 breaking of halters and 
 heel-ropes ; after which, a ‘‘ stampede” scoured the plain, 
 galloping, rearing, kicking, biting, snorting, pawing, and 
 screaming, with the dogs barking sympathetically, and 
 the horse-keepers shouting in hot pursuit. 
 
 It was a strange sight to see by moonlight the forms 
 of these ‘*demon steeds” exaggerated by the shades ; 
 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 
 a l’oittvance, wherever the battle-field might be. 
 
 The dogs at Al-Madinah 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 regula- 
 tions, which brings down all the posse comitatus upon the 
 unhappy straggler who ventures into a strange quarter of 
 the town. They certainly met in Al-Barr upon common 
 
 1 Burckhardt (Travels in Arabia, vol. ii., p. 268) remarks that 
 Al-Madinah is the only town in the East from which dogs are ex- 
 cluded. This was probably as much a relic of Wahhabi-ism, (that 
 sect hating even to look at a dog), as arising from apprehension of 
 the Mosque being polluted by canine intrusion. I have seen one or 
 two of these animals in the town, but I was told, that when they 
 enter it in any numbers, the police-magistrate issues orders to have 
 them ejected. 
 
302 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 ground, to decide the differences which must arise in so 
 artificial a state of canine society. 
 
 Having had many opportunities of watching them, I 
 can positively assert that they were divided into two 
 parties, which fought with a skill and an acharnement that 
 astounded me. Sometimes when one side gave way, and 
 as the retreat was degenerating into a sauve qui peut, some 
 proud warrior, a dog-hero, would sacrifice himself for the 
 public weal, and with gnashing teeth and howls of rage 
 encounter the assaults of the insolent victors until his 
 flying friends had time to recover heart. ° Such an one my 
 companions called ‘‘ Mubariz.’” At other times, some 
 huge animal, an Ajax of his kind, would plunge into 
 the ring with frantic yells, roll over one dog, snap at a 
 second, worry a third for a minute or two, and then dash 
 off to a distant part, where a thicker field required his 
 presence. This uncommon sagacity has been remarked 
 by the Arabs, who look on amused at their battles. 
 Current in Al-Hijaz are also certain superstitions about 
 the dog resembling ours ; only, as usual, more poetical 
 and less grotesque. Most people believe that when the 
 animal howls without apparent cause in the neighbour- 
 hood of a house, it forbodes death to one of the inmates ; 
 for the dog they say can distinguish the awful form of 
 Azrail, the Angel of Death, hovering over the doomed 
 abode, whereas man’s ae sight is dull and dim by 
 reason of his sins. 
 
 When the Damascus Caravan entered Al-Madinah, 
 our day became a little more amusing. From the windows 
 of Shaykh Hamid’s house there was a perpetual succession 
 ofstrangescenes. A Persian nobleman, also, had pitched 
 his tents so near the door, that the whole course of his 
 private life became public and patent to the boy Moham- 
 
 1 The ‘‘Mubariz”’ is the single combatant, the champion of the 
 Arabian classical and chivalrous times. 
 
XV.—Through the Suburb to Hamid’s House. — 303 
 
 med, 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,— 
 thereby showing that, as his beard was not grown, she 
 considered him a mere boy. 
 
 JT willask her to marry me,” said Mohammed, “ and 
 thereby rouse her shame ! ” 
 
 He did so, but, unhappy youth! the fair Persian never 
 even ceased fanning herself. 
 
 The boy Mohammed was for once confounded, 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 A VISIT TO THE PROPHET’S TOMB. 
 
 Having performed the greater ablution, and used 
 the toothstick as directed, and dressed ourselves in white 
 clothes, which the Apostle 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 want- 
 ing an ear, with accoutrements to match, a 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 Badawin, 
 who, like the Indians, despise the ass. 
 
 ‘‘ Honourable is the riding of a horse to the rider, 
 
 But the mule is a dishonour, and the donkey 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 Badawin therefore settled among themselves, audibly 
 enough, that I was an Osmanli, who of course could not 
 understand Arabic, and they put the question generally, 
 
 ‘* By what curse of Allah had they been subjected 
 to ass-riders ?” 
 
 But Shaykh Hamid is lecturing me upon the subject 
 of the Mosque. 
 
 The Masjid Al-Nabawi, or the Prophet’s Mosque, is 
 one of the Haramayn, or the ‘two sanctuaries” of Al- 
 
XVI.—A Visit to the Prophet's Tomb. 305 
 
 Islam, and is the second of the three? most venerable 
 _ places of worship in the world; the other two being the 
 
 Masjid al-Harim at Meccah (connected with Abraham) 
 and the Masjid al-Aksa of Jerusalem (the peculiar place 
 of Solomon). A Hadfis or traditional saying of Moham- 
 med asserts, **One prayer in this my Mosque is more 
 efficacious than a thousand in other places, save only the 
 Masjid al-Harim.?” It is therefore the visitor’s duty, as 
 long as he stays at Al-Madinah, to pray there the five times 
 per diem, to pass the day in it reading the Koran, and the 
 night, if possible, in watching and devotion. 
 
 A visit to the Masjid al-Nabawi, and the holy spots 
 within it, is technically called ‘* Ziyarat” or Visitation.® 
 An essential difference is made between this rite and 
 Hajj or pilgrimage. The latter is obligatory by Koranic 
 _ order upon every Moslem once in his life: the former is 
 only a meritorious action. ‘‘ Tawaf,” or circumambula- 
 tion of the House of Allah at Meccah, must never be 
 performed at the Apostle’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 Ka’abah; or rub the face with dust collected 
 near the sepulchre; and those who prostrate themselves 
 before it, like certain ignorant Indians, are held to be 
 
 1 Others add a fourth, namely, the Masjid al-Takwa, at Kuba. 
 
 2 The Moslem divines, however, naively remind their readers, 
 that they are not to pray once in the Al-Madinah Mosque, and 
 neglect the other 999,as if absolved from the necessity of them. 
 The passage in the text merely promises 1000 blessings upon that 
 man’s devotion who prays at the Prophet’s Mosque. 
 
 3 The visitor, who approaches the Sepulchre as a matter of re- 
 ligious ceremony, is called ‘“‘Zdir,” his conductor ‘‘ Muzawwir,” 
 
 whereas the pilgrim at Meccah becomes a ‘Haji. The Imam 
 Malik disapproved of a Moslem'’s saying, “I have visited the 
 _ Prophet's tomb,” preferring him to express himself thus—I have 
 visited the Prophet."" Others again dislike the latter formula, de- 
 claring the Prophet too venerable to be so visited by Amr and Zayd. 
 
306 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 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 the learned and religious have settled, one 
 would have thought, accurately enough the spiritual 
 rank and dignity fi the Masjid al- Nabaua. But man- 
 kind, especially in the East, must always be in ex- 
 tremes.. The orthodox school of Al-Malik holds Al- 
 Madinah, on account of the sanctity of, and the religious 
 benefits to be derived from, Mohammed’s tomb, more 
 honourable than Meccah. Some declare that the 
 Apostle preferred his place of refuge, blessing it as Abra- 
 ham did -Meccah. Moreover, as a tradition declares 
 that every man’s body is drawn from the ground in 
 which -he is buried, Al-Madinah evidently had the 
 honour of supplying materials for the Apostle’s person. 
 Others, like Omar, were uncertain which to prefer. The ~ 
 Wahhabis, on the other hand, rejecting the Intercession 
 of the Apostle 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 visitors from distant 
 countries to enter Al-Madinah.’ 
 
 The general consensus of Al-Islam admits the superi- 
 ority of the Bayt Allah (‘‘ House of God”) at Meccah to 
 the whole world; and declares Al-Madinah to be more 
 venerable than every part of Meccah, and consequently 
 all the earth, except only the Bayt Allah. This last is a 
 juste miliew view by no means in favour with the inhabi- 
 tants of either place. In the meanwhile the Meccans 
 claim unlimited superiority over the Madani: the Madani 
 over the M eccans, 
 
 i In-a.p. th de they prevented, Ali. Bey y_ (the ‘Spaniard Badia) 
 from entering. Al- Madinab. and it appears that he had reason to con- 
 gratulate himself upon escaping withons severe punishment. 
 
XVI.—A Visit to the Prophet's Tomb. 307 
 
 Passing through muddy streets,—they had been 
 freshly watered before evening time,—I came suddenty 
 upon the Mosque. Like that at Meccah, the approach is 
 choked up by ignoble buildings, some actually touching 
 _ the holy ‘‘ enceinte,” others separated by a lane compared 
 with which the road round St. Paul’sis a Vatican Square.! 
 There is no outer front, no general prospect of the Pro- 
 phet’s Mosque; consequently, asa building, it has neither 
 beauty nor dignity. | 
 
 And entering the Bab al-Rahmah*—the Gate of Pity, 
 —-by a 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 Temple, grand and simple, the expression of a 
 single sublime idea: the longer I looked at it, the more 
 it suggested the resemblance of a museum of second-rate 
 art, an old Curiosity-shop, full of ornaments that are not 
 accessories, and decorated with pauper splendour. 
 
 The Masjid al-Nabi is a parallelogram about four 
 hundred and twenty feet in length by three hundred and 
 forty broad, the direction of the long walls being nearly 
 north and south. As usual in Al-Islam, it is a hype- 
 thral building with a spacious central area, called Al- 
 Sahn, Al-Hosh, Al-Haswah, or Al-Ramlah,’ surrounded 
 by a peristyle with numerous rows of pillars like the col- 
 onnades of an Italian cloister. The arcades or porticoes 
 are flat-ceilinged, domed above with the small Media 
 
 1 Nothing in the Spanish cathedrals suggests their Oriental origin 
 and the taste of the people, more than the way in wiich they are 
 hedged in by secular buildings. 
 
 2 Theceremony of Ziyarat, however, begins:at the Bab al-Salam.- 
 We rode up to this gate only in order to avoid the sun. 
 
 3 Haswahis a place covered with gravel: Ramlah, one which is 
 sanded over. Both are equally applicable, and applied to the areas 
 of Mosques. Al-Sahn is the general word; Al-Hosh is occasionally 
 used, but is more properly applied to the court-yard of a dwelling- 
 house. 
 
 = 
 
308 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Naranja, or half-orarnge 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 Majidi Riwak, so 
 called from the then reigning Sultan.! The Western long 
 wall is occupied by the Riwak of the Rahmah Gate; the 
 Eastern by that of the Bab al-Nisa, the ‘* Women’s 
 Entrance.?” 
 
 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 
 Al-Rauzah® (the Garden), the adytum containing all that 
 is venerable in the building. These four Riwaks, arched 
 externally, are supported internally by pillars of different 
 shape and material, varying from fine porphyry to dirty 
 plaster. The Southern, where the sepulchre or cenotaph 
 stands, is paved with handsome slabs of white marble and 
 marquetry work, here and there covered with coarse 
 matting, and above this by unclean carpets, well worn by 
 faithful feet.‘ 
 
 But this is not the time for Tafarruj or lionising. 
 
 . 1 This Riwak was begun about five or six years ago by Abd 
 
 al-Majid. To judge from the size of the columns, and the other pre- 
 parations which encumber the ground, this part of the building will 
 surpass all the rest But the people of Al-Madinah assured me that 
 it will not be finished for some time,—a prophecy likely to be 
 fulfilled by the present state of Turkish finance. 
 
 2 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. 
 
 3 It is so called by the figure synecdoche: it contains the Rauzah 
 or the Prophet's Garden, and therefore the whole portico do 
 that honoured name. 
 
 4 These carpets are swept by the eunuchs, who let out the office 
 for a certain fee to pilgrims, every morning, immediately after sun- 
 rise. Their diligence, however, does by no means prevent the 
 presence of certain little parasites, concerning which politeness is 
 dumb 
 
XVI.—A Visit to the Prophet's Tomb. - 309 
 
 Shaykh Hamid warns me, witha nudge, that other things 
 are expected of a Zair (visitor). He leads me to the Bab 
 al-Salam, fighting his way through a troop of beggars, 
 and inquires markedly if I am religiously 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 dexter 
 feet,2 we pace slowly forwards down the line called the 
 Muwajihat al-Sharifah, or ‘tthe Illustrous Fronting,” 
 which, divided off like an aisle, runs parallel with the 
 Southern wall of the Mosque. On my right hand walks 
 the Shaykh, who recites aloud the following prayer, 
 making me repeat it after him.® It is literally rendered, 
 as, indeed, are all the formule, and the reader is requested 
 to excuse the barbarous fidelity of the translation. 
 
 ‘In the Name of Allah and inthe faith of Allah’s 
 Apostle! 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‘!” Then follow blessings upon the 
 Apostle, 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 al-Sharifah. On the left 
 hand is a dwarf wall, about the height of a man, painted 
 with ith arabesques, and pierced with four small doors which 
 
 I “1 Because if not pure, ablution is performed at the well in the 
 _centreof the hypethra. Zairs are ordered to visit the Mosque per- 
 _ fumed, and in their best clothes, and the Hanafi school deems it 
 lawful on this occasion only to wear dresses of pure silk. 
 
 2 In this Mosque, as in all others, it is proper to enter with the 
 right foot, and to retire with the left. 
 
 3 I must warn the reader that almost every Muzawwir has his 
 own litany, which descends from father to son: moreover, all the 
 books differ ai leasi as much as do the ora! authorities. 
 
 4 That is to say, ''over the world, the flesh, and the devil."’ 
 
310 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah aud Meccah. 
 
 open into the Muwajihat. In this barrier are sundry 
 small erections, the niche called the Mihrab Sulaymani,} 
 the Mambar, or pulpit, and the Mihrab al-Nabawi.? 
 
 The two niches are of beautiful mosaic, richly worked 
 with various coloured marbles, and the pulpit is a graceful 
 collection of slender columns, elegant tracery, and inscrip- 
 tions admirably carved. Arrived at the Western small 
 door in the dwarf wall, we entered the celebrated spot 
 called Al-Rauzah, after a saying of the Apostle’s, 
 ‘‘Between my Tomb and my Pulpit is a Garden of the 
 Gardensof Paradise.’ On the North and West sides it is 
 
 1 This by strangers is called the Masalla Shafe’i, or the Place of 
 Prayer of the Shafe’i school. It was sent from Constantinople about 
 100 years ago, by Sultan Sulayman the Magnificent. He built the 
 Sulaymaniyah minaret, and has immortalised his name at AI- 
 Madinah, as well as at Meccah, by the number of his donations to 
 the shrine, 
 
 2 Here is supposed to have been one of the Prophet's favourite 
 stations of prayer. It. is commonly called the Musalla Hanafi, 
 because now appropriated by that school. 
 
 3 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 Al-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 al-Manakhah) is a Garden of the Gardens of 
 Paradise.”” Others again, ‘‘Between.my house and my pulpit isa 
 Garden of the Gardens of Paradise.” A third tradition—‘t Between 
 my tomband my pulpit is a Garden of the Gardens of Paradise, 
 and verily my pulpit is in my Full Cistern,” or ‘upon a Full 
 Cistern of the Cisterns of Paradise,’’ has given rise to a new super- 
 stition. ‘‘Tara,’’ according to some commentators, alludes especially 
 to the cistern Al-Kausar; consequently this Rauzah is, like the black 
 stone at Meccah, bond fide, a bit of Paradise, and on the day of resur- 
 rection, 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 Mohammedan of the present day is especially informed that on 
 no account must he here tell lies, or even perjure himself. Thus 
 
XVI.—A Visit to the Prophet's Tomb. 311 
 
 not divided from the rest. of the portico; on the South 
 runs the dwarf wall, and on the East it is limited by the 
 west end of the lattice-work containing the tomb. 
 : Accompanied by my Muzawwir I entered the Rauzah, 
 and was placed by him with the Mukabbariyah' behind 
 me, fronting Meccah, with my right shoulder opposite to, 
 and about twenty feet distant from, the dexter pillar of 
 the Apostle’s Pulpit.2 There, after saying the afternoon 
 prayers,® I performed the usual two bows in honour of the 
 temple,‘ and at the end of them recited the hundred and 
 ninth and the hundred and twelfth chapters of the Koran— 
 the “Kul, ya ayyuha’l-Kafiruna,” and the ‘Surat al- 
 Ikhlas,” called also the “Kul, Huw’ Allah,” or the 
 Declaration of Unity; and may be thus translated: 
 
 ««Say, He is the one God! 
 
 ‘¢The eternal God! 
 
 ‘‘He begets not, nor is He begot! 
 
 thé Rauzah must be respected as much as the interior of the Bayt 
 Allah at Meccah. 
 
 1 This is a stone desk on four iltaie where the uballighs (or 
 clerks) recite the Ikamah, the call to divine service. It was presented 
 to the Mosque by Kaid-Bey, the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. 
 
 2 I shall have something to say about this pulpit when entering 
 into the history of the Harim. 
 
 3 The afternoon prayers being Farz, or obligatory, were recited, 
 pecause we feared that evening might come on before the ceremony 
 of Ziyarat (visitation) concluded, and thus the time for Al-Asr (after- 
 noon 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 Muzawwir was right to see it executed. 
 
 4 This two-bow prayer, which generally is recited in honour 
 of the Mosque, is here, say divines, addressed especially ta 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 ot the Maliki school, however, maks ‘the 
 ceremony of Ziyarat to precede the prayer to the Deity. 
 
312 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 ‘¢ And unto Him the like is not.” 
 
 After which was performed a single Sujdah (Prostra- 
 tion) 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 
 generosity. But not wishin& to be distracted by them, 
 before leaving Hamid’s house I had changed two dollars, 
 and had given the coin to the boy Mohammed, who 
 accompanied me, strictly charging him to make that sum 
 last 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 couwp-d’@il upon the 
 Rauzah. ea 
 
 _. The “Garden” is the most elaborate part of the 
 Mosque. Little can be said in its praise by day, whenit 
 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 to the height of a man with gaudy 
 and unnatural vegetation in arabesque. It is disfigured 
 by handsome branched candelabras of cut crystal, the 
 work, I believe, of a London house, and presented to the 
 shrine by the late Abbas Pasha of Egypt.? 
 
 The only admirable feature of the view is the light 
 
 1 The Sujdah is a single ‘‘ prostration”’ with the forehead touch- 
 ing the ground. It is performed from a sitting position, after the 
 Dua. or supplication that concludes the two-bow prayer. Some 
 
 _. of the Olema, especially those of the Shafe’i school, permit this 
 
 ..“Sujdah of thanks’ to be performed before the two-bow prayer 
 
 .. if the visitor have any notable reason to be grateful. 
 
 2 The candies are still sent from Cairo, 
 
XVI.—A Visit to the Prophet's Tomb. 313 
 
 cast by the windows of stained glass! in the Southern wall. 
 Its peculiar background, the railing of the tomb, a splendid 
 -filigree-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 illumina- 
 tions falling upon crowds of visitors in handsome attire, 
 with the richest and the noblest of the city sitting in con- 
 gregation when service is performed,’ becomes less critical. 
 Still the scene must be viewed with Moslem bias, and 
 until a man is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of 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, and retraced my steps. After 
 passing through another small door in the dwarf wall that 
 bounds the Muwayjihah, we did not turn to the right, which 
 would have led us to the Bab al-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 Apostle! O ye who believe, bless him, 
 
 1 These windows are a present from Kaid-Bey, the Mamluk 
 Sultan of Egypt. 
 
 2 These oil lamps are a present from the Sultan. 
 
 3 The five daily liturgies are here recited by Imams, and every 
 one presses to the spot on account of its peculiar sanctity. 
 
 4 In Moslem theology '‘ Salat”? from Allah means mercy, from 
 _ the angels intercession for pardon, and from mankind blessing. The 
 act of blessing the Prophet is one of peculiar efficacy in a religious 
 point of view. Cases are quoted of sinners being actually snatched 
 from hell by a glorious figure, the personification of the blessings 
 which 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 judg- 
 ment, Also when a Moslem blesses Mohammed at Al-Madinah, his 
 
314 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, 
 
 and salute Him with Honour!” At the end ofthis prayer, 
 we arrived at the Mausoleum, which requires some descrip- 
 tion before the reader can understand the nature of our 
 proceedings there. 
 
 The Hujrah' or ‘* Chamber ” as it is called, from the 
 circumstance of its having been Ayishah’s room, is an 
 irregular square of from fifty to fifty-five feet in the South- 
 East corner of the building, and separated on all sides 
 from the walls of the Mosque by a passage about twenty- 
 six feet broad on the South side, and twenty on the East. 
 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 Adora- 
 tion! May Allah’s Wrath fall heavy upon the People 
 who make the Tombs of their Prophets Places of 
 Prayer*!”’ 
 
 ne eee eo ee a re ee ne ee Ae 
 
 sins are not written down for three days,—thus allowing ample 
 margin for repentance,—by the recording angel. Al-Malakayn (the 
 two Angels), or Kiram al-Katibin (the Generous Writers), are mere 
 personifications of the good principle 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 II. (command. 6), we are told that 
 “every man has two angels, one of godliness, the other of iniquity,” 
 who endeavour to secure his allegiance,—a superstition seemingly 
 founded upon the dualism of the old Persians Medizval Europe, 
 which borrowed so much from the East at the time of the Crusades, 
 degraded these angels into good and bad fairies for children’s stories. 
 1 Burckhardt writes this word Hedjra (which means “flight’’) 
 Noris M. Caussin de Perceval’s ‘‘El Hadjarat’’ less erroneous. At 
 Madinah it is invariably called Al-Hujrah—the chamber. Thechief 
 difficulty in distinguishing the two words, meaning “chamber” and 
 “flight,” arises from our only having one / to represent the hard 
 and soft 4 of Arabic, #,s~ and i,s*. In the case of common saints, the 
 screen or railing round the cenotaph is called a ‘‘ Maksurah.” 
 
 2 Yet Mohammed enjoined his followers to frequent graveyards. 
 “Visit graves; of a verity they shall make you think of futurity!" 
 
AVI. 
 
 A Visit to the Prophet’s Tomb. 315 
 
 Inside there are, or are supposed to be, three tombs 
 facing the South, surrounded by stone walls without any 
 _ aperture, or, as others say, by strong planking.’ What- 
 ever this material may be, it is hung outside with a cur- 
 _ tain, somewhat like a large four-post bed. The external 
 railing is separated by a dark narrow passage from the 
 inner, which it surrounds ; and is of iron filigree painted - 
 of a vivid grass green,—with a view to thegarden. Here 
 carefully inserted in the verdure, and doubly bright by 
 contrast, is the gilt or burnished brass work forming the 
 long and graceful letters of the Suls character, and dis- 
 posed into the Moslem creed, the Profession of Unity, and 
 similar religious sentences. ° 
 
 On the South side, for greater honour, 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 Romanchurches. It has four gates: that 
 to the South is the Bab al-Muwajihah ; Eastward is the 
 gate of our Lady Fatimah ; westward the Babal-Taubah 
 (of Repentance), opening into the Rauzah or garden ; 
 and to the North, the Bab al-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 treasures there 
 deposited ; and the eunuchs who sweep the floor, light 
 
 And again, ‘‘ Whoso visiteth his two parents’ grave, or one of the two, 
 every Friday, he shall be written a pious child, even though he might 
 have been in the world, before that, a disobedient." 
 
 1 The truth is no one knows what is there. I have even hearda 
 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, 
 
316 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, 
 
 the lamps, and carry away the presents sometimes thrown 
 in here by devotees.’ 
 
 In the Southern side of the fence are ehree 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 Apostle’s head. 
 The most Westerly of these is supposed to front Moham- 
 med’s tomb, wherefore it is called the Shubak al-Nabi, or 
 the Prophet’s window. The next, on the right as you 
 front it, is Abu Bakr’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 Moslems crown 
 this gem of the building with a pillar of heavenly light, 
 which directs from three days’ distance the pilgrims’ steps 
 towards Al-Madinah. But alas! none save holy men 
 (and perhaps, odylic sensitives), whose material organs 
 are piercing as their spiritual vision, may be allowed the 
 privilege of beholding this poetic splendour. 
 
 Arrived at the Shubak al-Nabi, Hamid took his stand 
 about six feet or so out of reach of the railing, and at that 
 respectful distance from, and facing? the Hazirah (or pre- 
 
 i a ee eee 
 
 ee 
 
 1° The peculiar place where the guardians of the tomb sit and 
 confabulate is the Dakkat al-AghAwat (eunuch’s bench) or Al-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 Mosque by a dwarf wall, inclosing the ‘‘ Khasafat al- 
 Sultan,’’ the place where Fakihs are perpetually engaged in Khitmahs, 
 or perusals of the Koran, on behalf of the reigning Sultan. 
 
 2 The ancient practice of Al-Islam during the recitation of the 
 following benedictions was to face Meccah, the back being turned 
 towards the tomb, and to form a mental image of the Prophet, sup- 
 posing him to be in front. Al-Kirmani and other doctors prefer this 
 as the more venerable custom, but in these days it is completely ex- . 
 ploded, and the purist would probably he soundly bastinadoed by — 
 the eunuchs for attempting it. 
 
XVI.—A Visit to the Prophet’s Tomb. 317 
 
 sence), with hands raised as in prayer, he recited the 
 following supplication in a low voice, 
 telling me in a stage whisper to repeat 
 it after him with awe, and fear, and ¢ 
 love :— 
 
 ‘¢ Peace be upon Thee, O Apostle 
 of Allah, and the Mercy of Allah and 
 his Blessings ! Peace be upon Thee, 
 O Apostle of Allah! Peace be upon 
 Thee, O Friend of Allah! Peace be 
 upon Thee, O best of Allah’s Creation | 2: Mohammed. — 
 
 2a. Abu Bakr. 
 Peace be upon Thee, O pure Creature 3- Omar. 
 
 of Allah! Peace be upon Thee, O 5: Arne dotted spice left 
 Chief of Prophets! Peace be upon SS eavisaa 
 Thee, O Seal of the Prophets! Peace be upon Thee, O 
 Prince of the Pious! Peace be upon Thee, O Apostle of 
 the Lord of the (three) Worlds! Peace be upon Thee, 
 and upon Thy Family, and upon Thy pure Wives! 
 Peace be upon Thee, and upon all Thy Companions | 
 Peace be upon Thee, and upon all the Prophets, and upon 
 those sent to preach Allah’s Word !_ Peace be upon Thee, 
 and upon all Allah’s righteous Worshippers! Peace be 
 upon Thee, O thou Bringer of Glad Tidings! Peace be 
 upon Thee, O Bearer of Threats! Peace be upon Thee, 
 O thou bright Lamp! Peace be upon Thee, O thou 
 Apostle of Mercy !_ Peace be upon Thee, O Ruler of Thy 
 Faith ! Peace be upon Thee, O Opener of Grief! Peace 
 be upon Thee! and Allah bless Thee! and Allah repay 
 Thee for us, O Thou Apostle of Allah ! the choicest of 
 ‘Blessings with which He ever blessed Prophet! Allah 
 bless Thee as often as Mentioners have mentioned 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 weescaped Error by meansof Thee, and were made 
 to see after Blindness, and after Ignorance were directed 
 
318 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 into the Right Way. I bear Witness that there is no god — 
 but the God (Allah), and I testify that Thou art His Ser- 
 vant, and His Apostle, and His Faithful Follower, and 
 Best Creature. And I bear Witness, O Apostle of Allah ! 
 that Thou hast delivered 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 (7.¢. to 
 the hour of death). And we Thy Friends, O Apostle of 
 Allah! appear before Thee, Travellers from distant lands 
 and far Countries, through Dangers and Difficulties, in the © 
 Times of Darkness, and in the Hours of Day, longing to 
 give Thee Thy Rights (i.e. to honour Thee by benediction 
 and visitation), and to obtain the Blessings of Thine Inter- 
 cession, 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 Apostle of Allah, Intercession ! Intercession ! Interces- 
 sion?! O Allah, bless Mohammed and Mohammed’s 
 Family, and give Him Superiority and high Rank, even 
 as Thou didst promise Him, and graciously allow us to 
 conclude this Visitation. I deposit on this spot, and near 
 Thee, O Apostle of God, my everlasting Profession (of - 
 faith) from this our Day, to the Day of Judgment, that 
 there is no god but Allah, and that our Lord Mohammed 
 is His Servant and His Apostle.2 Amen! O Lord of 
 the (three) Worlds! *” } 
 
 ee ee. ee ate ee ee 
 
 1 This is the usual introduction to a quotation from the Koran. 
 2 It may easily be conceived how offensive this must be to the 
 Wahhabis, who consider it blasphemy to assert that a mere man can 
 Siand between the Creator and the creature on the last day. 
 
 3 This is called the Testification. Like the Fatihah, it is re- 
 peated at every holy place and tomb visited at Al-Madinah, _ 
 
 4 Burckhardt mentions that in his day, ‘among other favours 
 
XVI.—A Visit to the Prophet's Tomb. 319 
 
 After which, performing Ziyarat' for ourselves, we 
 repeated the Fatihah or ‘‘opening” chapter of the Koran. 
 
 “In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compas- 
 sionate ! 
 
 ‘«« Praise be to Allah, who the (three) Worlds made. 
 
 ‘‘ The Merciful, the Compassionate. 
 
 ‘The King of the Day of Faith. 
 
 ‘«« Thee (alone) do we worship, and of Thee(alone) do 
 we ask Aid. 
 
 *‘ Guide us to the Path that is straight— 
 
 ‘““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, Jinnis, 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 Apostle’s | 
 tomb. : 
 
 supplicated 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 @ discrétion, but 
 on no account to say less than ‘‘ Peace be upon Thee, O Apostle of 
 Allah'’—this being the gist of the ceremony. 
 
 1 Though performing Ziyarat for myself, I had promised my old 
 Shaykh at Cairo to recite a Fatihah in his name at the Prophet's 
 tomb; so a double recitation fell to my lot. If acting Zair for 
 another person (acommon custom, we read, even in the days of Al- 
 Walid, the Caliph of Damascus), you are bound to mention your 
 principal’s name at the beginning of the benediction, thus: ‘‘ Peace 
 be upon Thee, O Apostle of Allah from such an one, the son of such an 
 one, who wants Thine Intercession, and begs for Pardon and Mercy.” 
 Most Zairs recite Fatihahs for all their friends and relations at the 
 tomb. ; 
 
 2 I have endeavoured in this translation to imitate the imperfect 
 ~hyme of the original Arabic. Such an attempt, however, is full of 
 difficulties: the Arabic is a language in which, like Italian, it is 
 almost impossible not to rhyme. 
 
320 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Hamid then stepped about a foot and half to the 
 right, and I followed his example, so as to place myself. 
 exactly opposite the second aperture in the grating called 
 Abu Bakr’s window. There, making a sign towards the 
 mausoleum, we addressed its inmate, as follows :— 
 
 ‘‘ Peace be upon Thee, O Abu Bakr, O Thou Truth- 
 ful One! Peace be upon Thee, O Caliph of Allah’s 
 Apostle over his People! Peace be upon Thee, O Com- 
 panion of the Cave, and Friend in Travel! Peace be 
 upon Thee, O Thou Banner of the Fugitives and the 
 Auxiliaries! I testify Thou didst ever stand firm in the 
 right Way, and wast a Smiter of the Infidel, and a Bene- 
 factor to Thine own people. Allah grant Thee through 
 His Apostle Weal! We pray Almighty God to cause us 
 to die in Thy Friendship, and to raise us up in Company 
 with His Apostle and Thyself, even as He hath merci- 
 fully 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 ad- 
 dressed the just Caliph in these words :— 
 
 «‘ Peace be upon Thee, O Omar! O Thou Just One! 
 Thou Prince of True Believers! Peace be upon Thee, 
 who spakest with Truth, and who madest Thy Word 
 agree with the Strong Book! (the Koran): O Thou Faruk! 
 (the Separator).?- O Thou Faithful One! who girdedst thy 
 Loins with the Apostle, and the First Believers, and with 
 them didst make up the full Number forty,® and thus 
 causedst to be accomplished the Apostle’s Prayer,’ and 
 
 1 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 Fatihah. 
 
 2 Faruk,—the separator,—a title of Omar. 
 
 3 When the number of the 4sh4) or “Companions” was thirty- 
 nine, they were suddenly joined by Omar, who thus became the 
 fortieth. 
 
 4 Itis said that Mohammed prayed long for the conversion of 
 
XVI ar Visit to the Prophet’s Tomb. 32 
 
 then didst return to Thy God a Martyr leaving the World 
 with Praise! Allah grant Thee, through his Apostle 
 and his Caliph and his Followers, the best of Good, and 
 may Allah feel in Thee plenary Satisfaction !” 
 
 Shaykh Hamid, after wrenching a beggar or two 
 from my shoulders, then permitted me to draw near to 
 the little window, called the Apostle’s, and to look in. 
 Mere my proceedings were watched with suspicious 
 eyes. The Persians have sometimes managed to pollute the 
 part near Abu Bakr’s and Omar’sgraves by tossing through 
 the aperture what is externally a handsome shawl in- 
 tended as a present for the tomb.’ After straining my 
 eyes for a time, I saw a curtain,? or rather hangings, with 
 
 Omar to Al-Islam, knowing his sterling qualities, and the aid he 
 would lend to the establishment of the faith. 
 
 1 This foolish fanaticism has lost many an innocent life, for the 
 Arabs on these occasions seize their sabres, and cut down every Per- 
 sian they meet. Still, bigoted Shi’ahs persist in practising and applaud- 
 ing it, and the man who can boast at Shiraz of having defiled 
 Abu Bakr’s, Omar’s, or Osman’s tomb becomes at oncea lion and a 
 hero. I suspect that on some occasions when the people of Al- 
 Madinah are anxious for an ‘‘avanie,” they get up some charge of 
 the kind against the Persians. So the Meccans have sometimes 
 found these people guilty of defiling the house of Allah—at which In- 
 fidel act a Shi’ah would shudder as much asa Sunni. This style of 
 sacrilege is, we read, of ancient date in Arabia. Nafil, the Hijazi, 
 polluted the Kilis (Christian church) erected by Abrahah of Sanaa to 
 outshine the Ka’abah, and draw off worshippers from Meccah. The 
 outrage caused the celebrated ‘‘affair of the Elephant.” (See 
 D'Herbeiot, Bibl. Or., v. ‘‘ Abrahah.”’) 
 
 2 Burckhardt, with his usual accuracy, asserts that a new curtain 
 is sent whensthe old one is decayed, or when a new Sultan ascends 
 the throne,‘and those authors err who, like Maundrell, declare the 
 curtain tobe removed every year. The Damascus Caravan conveys, 
 together with its Mahmil or emblem of royalty, the new Kiswah (or 
 ‘‘ sarment '’) when required forthe tomb. Itis 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 splendours which pour from the 
 VOL, I. M 
 
322 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 three inscriptions in long gold letters, informing readers 
 that behind them lie Allah’s Apostle and the first two 
 Caliphs. 
 
 The exact place of Mohammed’s tomb is moreover 
 distinguished by a large pearl rosary, and a peculiar orna- 
 ment, the celebrated Kaukab-al-Duyri, or constellation of 
 pearls, suspended to the curtain breast-high.! This is 
 described to be a “brilliant star set in diamonds and 
 pearls,” placed in the dark that man’s eye may be able 
 to bearitssplendours: the vulgar believe it to bea “ jewel 
 of the jewels of Paradise.” To me it greatly resembled © 
 the round glass stoppers used for the humbler sort of 
 decanters; but I thought the same of the Koh-i-Nur. 
 Moreover I never saw it quite near enough to judge fairly, 
 and I did not think fit to pay an exorbitant sum for the 
 privilege of entering the inner passage of the baldaquin.? 
 
 tomb. The Kiswah isa black, purple, or green brocade, embroi- 
 dered 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 labour, not the poor dull work of machinery. It contains the 
 formula of the Moslem faith in the cursive style of the Suls char- 
 acter, seventy-two varieties of which are enumerated by calligraphists. 
 Nothing can be more elegant or appropriate than its appearance. © 
 The old curtain is usually distributed amongst the officers of the 
 Mosque, and sold in bits to pilgrims; in same distant Moslem coun- 
 tries, the possessor of such a relic would be considered a saint. When 
 treating of the history of the Mosque, some remarks will be offered 
 about the origin of the curtain. 
 
 1 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 conflagration which destroyed the Mosque. 
 
 2 The eunuchs of the tomb have the privilege of admitting 
 strangers. In this passage are preserved the treasures of the place; 
 they area ‘“‘ Bayt Malal-Muslimin,” or public treasury of the Moslems; 
 therefore to be employed by the Caliph (¢.¢. the reigning Sultan) for 
 the exigencies of the faith. The amount is said to be enormous, 
 which I doubt. 
 
XVI.—A Visit to the Prophet’s Tomb. 323 
 
 Altogether the coup-d’eil had nothing to recommend it by 
 day. At night, when the lamps, pane in this passage, 
 shed a dim iiigh upon the mosaic-work of the marble 
 floors, upon the glittering inscriptions, and the massive 
 hangings, the scene is more impressive. 
 
 Never having seen the Tomb,! I must depict it from 
 books,—by no means an easy task. Most of the historians 
 are silent after describing the inner walls of the Hujrah, 
 Al-Kalkashandi declares i eo lapidem nobilem continere 
 sepulchva A postolt, Abubecr et Omar, circumcinctum peribole in 
 modum conclavis fere usque ad tectum assurgente, que velo serico 
 nigvo obligatur. ‘This author, then, agrees with my Persian 
 friends, who declare the sepulchre to be a marble slab. 
 Ibn Jubayr, who travelled in a.H. 580, relates that the 
 Apostle’s coffin is a box of ebony (abnus) covered with 
 sandal-wood, and plated with silver ; itis placed, he says, 
 behind a curtain, and surrounded by an iron grating. 
 Al-Samanhudi,' quoted by Burckhardt, declares that the 
 curtain covers a square building of black stones, in the 
 interior of which are the tombs of Mohammed and.of his 
 two immediate successors. He adds that the tombs are 
 
 1 And I might add, never having seen one who has seen it. Nie- 
 
 buhr is utterly incorrect in his hearsay description of it. It is not 
 ‘enclosed within iron railings for fear lest the people might surreptit- 
 iously offer worship to the ashes of the Prophet.” The tomb is not 
 ‘tof plain mason-work in the form of achest,” nor does any one be- 
 lieve that it is ‘placed within or between two other tombs, in which 
 rest the ashes of the first two Caliphs.’’ The traveller appears to 
 have lent a credulous ear tothe eminent Arab merchant, who told 
 him that a guard was placed over the tomb to prevent the populace 
 ‘scraping dirt from about it, and preserving it as a relic. 
 2 Burckhardt writes this author’s name E] Samhoudy, and in 
 this he is followed by all our popular book-makers. Moslems have 
 three ways of spelling it: r. Al-Samhudi, 2. Al-Samahnudi, and 3. 
 Al-Samanhudi. I prefer the latter, believing that the learned Shaykh, 
 Nur al-Din Ali bin Abdullah al-Hasini (or Al-Husayni) was origin- 
 ally from Samanhud in Egypt, the ancient Sebennitis. He died in 
 ‘4-H. gtr, and was buried in the Bakia cemetery. 
 
324  ~+‘Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 deep holes; and that the coffin which contains the Apostle 
 is cased with silver, and has on the top a marble slab 
 inscribed ‘Bismillah! Allahumma salli alayh!” (‘In the 
 name of Allah! Allah have Mercy upon Him?!”’) 
 
 The Apostle’s body, it should be remembered, lies, 
 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 
 consequently the body lies with the head almost due West 
 and the feet due East. Close behind him is placed 
 Abu Bakr, whose face fronts the Apostle’s shoulder *®; and, 
 lastly, Omar holds the same position with respect to his 
 predecessor. 
 
 The places they are usually supposed 
 to occupy, then, would be thus disposed. 
 But Moslem historians are not agreed 
 'even upon go simple a point as this. 
 
 1 Burckhardt, however, must be in error when he says ‘‘ The 
 tombs are also covered with precious stuffs, and in the shape of cata- 
 falques, 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 super- 
 natural light. Moreover the historians of Al-Madinah all quote tales 
 of certain visions of the Apostle, directing his tomb to be cleared of 
 dust that had fallen upon it from above, in which case some man cele- 
 brated for piety and purity was let through a hole in the voof, by cords, 
 down to the tomb, with directions to wipe it with his beard. This 
 style of ingress is explained by another assertion of Al-Samanhudi, 
 quoted by Burckhardt. “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 his- 
 tory, who himself entered it, saw 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.” . 
 
 2 Upon this point authors greatly disagree. Ibn Jubayr, for in- 
 stance, say that Abu Bakr’s head is opposite the Apostle’s feet, and- 
 that Omar's face is on a level with Abu Bakr’s shoulder. , 
 
 ? 
 
AVI.-—A Visit to the Prophet’s Tomb. 325 
 
 ; Lag 
 Many prefer this position, in line C™—7 —some thus, in 
 es 
 - PRP ee al ia : Cr) Fee 
 unicorn cC—  —andotherstherightangle.’ fis) 
 
 It is popularly asserted that in the Hujrah there is 
 
 now spare place for only a single grave, reserved for Isa 
 
 bin Maryam after his second coming. The historians of 
 Al-Islam are full of tales proving that though many of 
 their earlier saints, as Osman the Caliph and Hasan the 
 Imam, were desirous of being buried there; and that 
 although Ayishah, to whom the room belonged, willingly 
 acceded to their wishes, son of man has as yet been 
 unable to occupy it. 
 
 After the Fatihah pronounced at Omar’s tomb, and 
 the short inspection of the Hujrah, Shaykh Hamid led 
 me round the south-east corner of the baldaquin.? Turning 
 
 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) believes that the mass of rock popularly described as 
 hanging unsupported in the Mosque of Omar at Jerusalem was con- 
 founded by Christians, who could not have seen either of these 
 Moslem shrines, with the Apostle’s Tomb at Al-Madinah. 
 
 2 Some Moslems end their Ziyarat at the Apostle’s Tomb; others, 
 instead of advancing, as I did, return to the Apostle’s window, pray, 
 and beg pardon for their parents and themselves, and ask all they de- 
 sire, concluding with prayers tothe Almighty. Thence they repair to 
 the Rauzah or Garden, and standing at the column called after Abu 
 Lubabah, pray a two-bow prayer there; concluding with the 
 
 Dua,” or benediction upon the Apostle, 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 God, verily we have heard Thy Word, and we come for 
 Intercession to Thy Apostle from our own Sins, repenting our Errors, 
 and confessing our Shortcomings and Transgressions! O Allah, pity 
 us, anc by the Dignity of Thy Apostle raise our Place, (in the Heavenly 
 Kingdom)! O Allah, pardon our Brotkes 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 
 
326 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 towards the north, we stopped at what is commonly 
 called the Mahbat Jibrail (‘*Place of the Archangel 
 Gabriel’s Descent with the Heavenly Revelations”), or 
 simply Al-Malaikah—the Angels. It is a small window 
 
 in the Eastern wall of the Mosque; we turned our backs © 
 
 upon it, and fronting the Hujrah, recited the following 
 prayer :—. 
 
 «Peace be upon You, O Angels of Allah, the Mukar- 
 rabin (cherubs), and the Musharrifin (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 Com- 
 passionate One! perfect our Light, and pardon our Sins, 
 and accept Penitence for our Offences, and cause us to die 
 among the Holy! Peace be upon 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. 
 
 Thee, O Apostle of Allah!’ seventy times, when an angel will reply, 
 
 “Allah bless thee, O thou blesser."” Then he should sit before the 
 Pulpit, and mentally conceive in it the Apostle 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 sinsthere. Secondly, 
 he stands in prayer at Ali’s Pillar in front of the form. And, lastly, 
 he repairs to the Ustuwanat al-Ashab (the Companions’ 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 Apostle. After which, he proceeds to visit the rest of the 
 holy places. . 
 
 1 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 Saviour's place. They also hold 
 to the second coming of the Lordin the flesh, as a forerunner to 
 Mohar-med, who shall reappear shortly before the day of jaagment. 
 Bartema ‘Appendix 2) relates a Story concerning the Saviour s 
 future tomb 
 
 Se 
 
“XVI.—A Visit to the Prophet's Tomb. Boe 
 
 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” 1 delicacy. The Eastern side of the Hujrah, 
 here turning a little Westward, interrupts the shape of the 
 square, in order to give this spot the appearance of dis- 
 connection with the rest ofthe 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 with 
 her son Hassan 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 upon Thee, Daughter of the Apostle of 
 Allah! Peace be upon Thee, Daughter of the Prophet 
 of Allah! Peace be upon Thee, thou Daughter of Mustafa! 
 Peace beupon Thee, thou Mother of the Shurafa!? (seed 
 of Mohammed.) Peace be upon Thee, O Lady amongst 
 Women! Peace be upon Thee, O fifth of the Ahl al-Kisa!® 
 Peace be upon Thee, O Zahra and Batil!4 (Pure and Vir- 
 
 1 This epithet will be explained below. The reader must bear in 
 mind, that this part of the Harim was formerly the house of Ali and 
 Fatimah ; it was separated from the Hujrah—the abode of Moham- 
 med and Ayishah—only by a narrow brick wall, with a window in it, 
 which was never shut. Omar Bin Abd al-Aziz enclosed it in the 
 mosque, by order of Al-Walid, a.H. go. 
 
 2 Plural of Sharif, a descendant of Mohammed. 
 
 3 The “ people of the garment,” so called, because on one occasion 
 the Apostle wrapped his cloak around himself, hts daughter, his son- 
 in-law, and his two grandsons, thereby separating them in dignity 
 from other Moslems. 
 
 4 Burckhardt translates“ Zahra ‘bright blooming Fatimah." 
 This i believe tu be che iiterai meaniug of the epithet. When thus 
 applied, however, it denotes “virginem ro reropyria nescientem,” 
 
328 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 gin). Peace be upon Thee,O Daughter ofthe Apostle! Peace 
 be upon Thee, O Spouse of our Lord Ali al-Murtaza! 
 Peace be upon Thee, O Mother of Hasan and Husayn, 
 the two Moons, the two Lights, the two Pearls, the two 
 Princes of the Youth of Heaven, and Coolness of the: 
 Eyes! (i.e. joy and gladness) of true Believers! Peace be 
 upon Thee, and upon Thy Sire, Al-Mustafa, and Thy 
 Husband, our Lord Ali! Allah honour his Face, and Thy 
 Face, and Thy Father’s Face in Paradise, and Thy two 
 Sons, the Hasanayn! And the Mercy of Allah and His 
 Blessings !”’ 
 
 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 wing ; 
 and, advancing a few paces, we fronted to the North, and 
 recited a prayer in honour of Hamzah, and of the martyrs 
 who lie buried at the foot of Mount Ohod.? We then 
 turned to the right, and, fronting the Easterly wall, prayed 
 for the souls of the blessed whose mortal spirits repose 
 within Al-Bakia’s hallowed circuit.® 
 
 After this we returned to the Southern wall of the 
 Mosque, and, facing towards Meccah, we recited the 
 following supplication:—‘*O Allah! (three times repeated) 
 0 Compassionate! O Beneficent! O Requiter (of gocd and 
 
 in which state of purity the daughter of the Apostle is supposed to 
 have lived. For the same reason she is called Al-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 Al-Islam. 
 
 1 Meaning ‘‘ joy and gladness in the sight of true believers." 
 
 2 The prayer is now omitted, in order to avoid the PrpeHeign of 
 it when describing a visit to Mount Ohod. 
 
 3 The prayers usually recited here are especially in honour of 
 Abbas, Hasan, (Ali, called) Zayn al-Abidin, Osman, the Lady 
 Halimah, the Martyrs, and the Mothers of the Moslems, (i.e. the 
 Apostle’s wives), buried in the holy cemetery. When yeh a 
 visit to Al-Bakia, they will be translated at full length. 
 
XVI,—A Visit to the Prophet's Tomb. 329 
 
 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 Affairs, 
 and broaden our Breasts, (gladden our hearts), and receive 
 our Prostration, and requite us according to our good 
 ‘Deeds, and turn not against us our evil Deeds, 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 (pilgrims), and the Ghuzzat 
 (fighters for the faith), and the Zawwar’ (visitors to the 
 tomb), 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!” 
 
 From the Southern wall we returned to the ‘‘ Apostle’s 
 Window,” where we recited the following tetrastich and 
 prayer :— | 
 
 “O Mustafa! verily, I stand at Thy door, 
 A man, weak and fearful, by reason of my sins: 
 
 If Thou aid me not, O Apostle of Allah! 
 I die—for, in the world there is none generous as Thou art!" 
 
 ‘“‘ Ofa Truth, Allah and His Angels bless the Apostle ! 
 O Ye who believe, bless Him and salute Him with saluta- 
 tion!? O Allah! verily I implore Thy Pardon and sup- 
 plicate Thine Aid in this Worldas inthe next! O Allah! 
 O Allah ! abandon us not in this Holy Place to the conse- 
 quences 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 Apostles, Commissioned (to preach the 
 word), and laud be to Allah, the Lord of the (three) 
 Worlds !” 
 Weturned away from the Hujrah, and after gratifying 
 
 - 1 Hujjaj is the plural of Hajj—pilgrims; Ghuzzat, of Ghazi— 
 crusaders ; and Zawwar of Zair—visitors to Mohammed’s tomh. 
 2" Taslim" is “to say Salam” to a person. 
 
330 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. ie: 
 
 a meek-looking but exceedingly importunate Hindi beggar, 
 who insisted on stunning me with the Chapter Y, S.,’ we 
 fronted Southwards, and taking care that our backs should 
 not be in a line with the Apostle’s face, stood opposite the 
 niche called Mihrab Osman. There Hamid proceeded 
 with another supplication. ‘“O Allah! (three times 
 repeated), O Safeguard of the Fearful, and Defender of 
 those who trust in Thee, and Pitier of the Weak, the 
 Poor, and the Destitute! accept us, O Beneficent! and 
 pardon us, O Merciful! and receive our Penitence, O 
 Compassionate ! and have Mercy upon us, O Forgiver ! 
 —for verily none but Thou canst remit Sin! Ofa Truth 
 Thou alone knowest the hidden, and veilest Man’s Trans- 
 gressions : veil, then, our Offences, and pardon our Sins, 
 and broaden our Breasts, and cause our last Words at the 
 Supreme Hour of Life to be the Words, ‘ There is no god 
 but Allah,? and ovr Lord Mohammed is the Apostle 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 
 Intercession, our Lord Mohammed and His Family, and 
 His Companions One and All !” 
 
 Lastly, we returned to the Garden,’ and prayed another : 
 two-bow prayer, ending, as we began, with the worship 
 of the Creator. 
 
 % * * * * % 
 
 1 The YA Sin (Y, S), tl the 36th chapter of the Koran, frequently 
 recited by those whose profession it is to say such masses for. the 
 benefit of living, as well as of dead, sinners. Most educated Mos- 
 lems commit it to memory. 
 
 2 Or more correctly, ‘* There is no [lah but Allah,” that is, 
 " There is no god but the God." 
 
 3 Some Zairs, after praying at the Caliph Osman’s niche, leave 
 the Mosque, especially when the ‘‘ Jama’at,”’ or public worship, is not 
 being performed in the Rauzah. Othe) s,as we did, pray aione in the 
 Garden, and many authors prefer this conclusion to Visitation, for 
 the reason above given. 
 
AVI,—A Visit to the Prophet’s Tomb. 331 
 
 Unfortunately for me, the boy Mohammed had donned 
 that grand embroidered coat. At the end of the ceremony 
 
 ‘the Aghds, 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 Al-Rauzah tooffer me the congratulation 
 Ziyavatak Mubdvak— Blessed be thy Visitation,”—and to 
 demand fees. Then came the Sakka, or water-carrier of 
 the Mosque well, Zemzem,' offering a tinned saucer filled 
 from the holy source. And lastly I was beset by beggars. 
 
 Some were 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, who, 
 as Sons of the Hoiy City, demanded from the Faithful 
 that support with which they could not provide them- 
 selves. Having been compelled by my companions, 
 highly against my inclination, to become a man of rank, 
 I was obliged to pay in proportion, and my almoner 
 in the handsome coat, as usual, took a kind of 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.? 
 
 1 This has become a generic uame for a Well situated within the 
 walls of a Mosque 
 
 2 As might be expected, i3 more a man pays, the higher he 
 estimates his own dignity. %. a, Indians have spent as much as 
 soo dollars during a first visi Others have ‘‘made Maulids,” 
 i. ¢ , feasted all the pour connecieé ‘th the temple with rice, meat, 
 
332 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, 
 
 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 circumam- 
 bulation at the Bab al-Salam,! the Gate of Salvation, 
 the South-Western entrance pierced in the long wall 
 of the Mosque. It is a fine archway handsomely 
 encrusted with marble and glazed tiles ; the many gilt 
 inscriptions on its sides give it, especially at night-time, 
 an appearance of considerable splendour. The portcullis- 
 like doors are of wood, strengthened with brass plates, and 
 nails of the same metal. Outside this gate isa 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 their 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 al- 
 Rahmah, the Gate of Pity, which admits the dead 
 bodies of the Faithful when carried to be prayed over in 
 the Mosque. ‘There is nothing remarkable in its appear- 
 ance; in common with the other gates it has huge folding 
 doors, iron-bound, an external flight of steps, anda few 
 modern inscriptions. 
 
 The Bab Majidi, or Gate of the Sultan Abd al-Majid, 
 stands in the centre of the Northern wall; like its portico, 
 it is unfinished, but its present appearance promises that 
 it will eclipse all except the Bab al-Salam. ) 
 
 The Bab al-Nisa, or Gate of Women, is in the 
 Eastern wall opposite the Bab al-Rahmah, with which it 
 is connected by the “ Farsh al-Hajar,” a broad band of 
 stone, two or three steps below the level of the portico, 
 
 &c., whilst others brought rare re and expensive presents for the 
 officials. Such generosity, however, is becoming rare in these ur- 
 worthy days. 
 
 1 This gate was anciently called the. Bab al- Atakah, “of Deliver: 
 ance.” 
 
XVI.—A Visit to the Prophet's Tomb. rey 
 
 and slightly raised above the Sahn or the hypeethral por- 
 tion 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 
 foundation of the buildings around it. The doors are 
 closed by the attendant eunuchs immediately after the 
 night prayers, except during the blessed month A\i- 
 Ramazan and in the pilgrimage season, when pious 
 visitors pay considerable fees there to pass the night in 
 meditation and prayer. 
 
 The minarets are five in number; but one, the 
 Shikayliyah, at the North-West angle of the building, has 
 been levelled, and is still in process of being rebuilt. The 
 Munar Bab al-Salam stands by the gate ofthat name: it 
 is a tall, handsome tower, surmounted by a large ball or 
 cone? of brass gilt or burnished. The Munar Bab al- 
 Rahmabh, 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 
 conical ‘¢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 
 substantial stone-tower dividedinto three stages; the two 
 
 1 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 archangel once passed through it, is 
 generally called in books Bab al-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. 
 
 .. 2 By some wonderful process the ‘' Printer’s Devil" converted, 
 in the first edition, this ‘‘ ball or cone" into ‘bull or cow,” 
 
334° Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 lower portions are polygonal, the upper cylindrical, 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 be upon the spot where Belal, the Apostle’s 
 loud-lunged crier, called the first Moslems to prayer,’ 
 springs the Munar Raisiyah, so called because it is ap- 
 propriated to the Ruasa or chiefs of the Mu’ezzins. Like 
 the Sulaymaniyah, it consists of three parts: the first and 
 second stages are polygonal; and the third, a cylinder, 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. To these 
 and to the galleries on all festive occasions, such as the 
 arrival of the Damascus caravan, are hung oil-lamps—a 
 poor attempt at illumination, which may rationally © 
 explain the origin of the Madinite 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 bizarre and misplaced. 
 But after a few days I found that my eye grew accustomed 
 to them, and I had no difficulty in appreciating their 
 massive proportions and lofty forms. 
 
 Equally irregular are the Riwaks, or porches, sur- 
 rounding the hypethral 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 
 
 1 Belal, the loud-lunged crier, stood, we are informed, by Moslem 
 historians, upon a part ofthe 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. : 
 
XVI.—A Visit to the Prophet’s Tomb. 335 
 
 rough stone, plastered over and painted with the most 
 vulgar of arabesques,—vermilion and black in irregular 
 _ patches and broad streaks, like the stage-face ofa London 
 clown.! Their size, moreover, is different, the Southern 
 colonnade being composed of pillars palpably larger than 
 those in the other parts of the Mosque. Scarcely any 
 two shafts own similar capitals; 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 lawlessness ” there is not 
 a redeeming point. 
 
 Of these unpraisable pillars three are celebrated in 
 the annals of Al-Islam, for which reason their names are 
 painted upon them, and five others enjoy the honour of 
 distinctive appellations. The first is called Al-Mukhallak, 
 because, on some occasion of impurity, it was anointed 
 with a perfume called Khaluk. It is near the Mihrab al- 
 Nabawi, on the right of the place where the Imam prays; 
 and it notes the spot where, before the invention of the 
 Pulpit, the Apostle, leaning upon the Ustuwanat al-Han- 
 nanah—the Weeping Pillar?—used to recite the Khutbah 
 or Friday sermon. | 
 
 ‘The second stands third from the Pulpit, and third 
 from the Hujrah. It is called the Pillar of Ayishah, also 
 the Ustuwanat al-Kurah, or the Column of Lots, because 
 the Apostle, according to the testimony of his favourite 
 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 Pillar of the Muh4jirin or Fugitives, and 
 others mention it as Al-Mukhallak—the Perfumed. 
 
 Twenty cubits distant from Ayishah’s Pillar, and the 
 
 1 This abomination may be seen in Egypt on many of the tombs, 
 —those outside the Bal al-Nasr at Cairo, for instance. 
 
 2 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, 
 
336 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 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 Al-Madinah, one of the Auxili- 
 aries and a companion of Mohammed, originally it is said — 
 a Jew, according to others of the Beni Amr bin Auf of 
 the Austribe. Being sent for by his kinsmen or his allies, 
 the Beni Kurayzah, at that time capitulating to 
 Mohammed, he was consulted by the distracted men, 
 women, and children, who threw themselves at his feet, 
 and begged of him to intercede for them with the offended 
 Apostle. 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 with a huge chain to the date-tree in whose place 
 the column now stands, vowing to continue there until 
 Allah and the Apostle accepted his penitence—a circum- 
 stance which did not take place till the tenth day, when 
 his hearing was gone and he had almost lost his sight. 
 The less celebrated pillars are the Ustuwanat al- 
 Sarir, or Column of the Cot, where the Apostle was wont 
 to sit meditating on his humble couch-frame of date- 
 sticks. The Ustuwanat Ali notes the spot where the 
 fourth Caliph used to pray and watch near his father-in- 
 law at night. At the Ustuwanat al-Wufud, as its name 
 denotes, the Apostle received envoys, couriers, and 
 emissaries from foreign places. The Ustuwanat al- 
 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 al-Bair, ‘‘the Pole of the Beast of Burden,’ I 
 have been unable to find an explanation. _ = 
 The four Riwaks, or porches, of the Madinah Mosque 
 Open upon a hypethral court of parallelogramic shape. 
 
XVI.—A Visit to the Prophet’s Tomb. 337 
 
 The only remarkable object in it! is a square of wooden 
 railing enclosing a place full of well-watered earth, called 
 _the Garden of our Lady Fatimah. It now contains a 
 dozen date-trees—in Ibn Jubayr’s time there were fificen. 
 Their fruit is sent by the eunuchs as presents to the 
 Sultan and the great men of Al-Islam; it ishighly valued 
 by the vulgar, but the Olema do not think much of its 
 claims to importance. Among the palms are the vener- 
 able remains of a Sidr, or Lote tree,®? whose produce 
 is sold for inordinate 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 un- 
 common in Mosques, as the traveller who passes through 
 Cairo can convince himself. They form a pretty and an 
 appropriate feature in a building erected for the worship 
 of Him ‘Who spread the Earth with Carpets of Flowers 
 and drew shady Trees from the dead Ground.” A tradi- 
 tion of the Apostle also declares that ‘Acceptable is 
 Devotion in the Garden and in the Orchard.” 
 
 1 The little domed building which figures in the native sketches, 
 and in all our prints of the Al-Madinah Mosque, was taken down 
 three or four yearsago. It occupied part of the centre of the square, 
 and was called Kubbat al-Zayt—Dome of Oil; or Kubbat al-Shama— 
 Dome of Candles,—from its use as a store-room for lamps and wax 
 candles. 
 
 2 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 hypzthral 
 court. The vulgar are in the habit of eating a certain kind of date, 
 ** Al-Sayhani,” in the Mosque, and of throwing the stones about; 
 this practice is violently denounced by the Olema. 
 
 3 Rhamnus Nabeca, Forsk. The fruit, called Nabak, is eaten, 
 - and the leaves are used for the purpose of washing dead bodies. The 
 visitor is not forbidden to take fruit or water as presents from Al- 
 Madinah, but it is unlawful for him to carry away earth, or stones, 
 or cakes of dust, made for sale to the ignorant. 
 
338 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 At the South-East angle of this enclosure, under a 
 wooden roof supported by pillars of the same material, 
 stands the Zemzem, generally called the Bir al-Nabi, or 
 “the Apostle’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” (wholesome) water’ as any in 
 Al-Madinah,—a fact which he accounted for by sup- 
 posing a subterraneous passage? which connects it with 
 the great Zemzem at Meccah. Others, again, believe 
 that it is filled by a vein of water springing directly 
 under the Apostle’s grave: 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 Al-Madinah. 
 
 Between this Zemzem well and the Eastern Riwalk 3 is 
 the Stoa, or Academia, of the Prophet’s city. Inthe cool 
 mornings and evenings the ground is strewed with pro- 
 fessors, who teach the young idea, as an eminent orientalist 
 hath it, to shout rather than to shoot.* A few feet to the 
 South of the palm garden is a moveable 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 isa 
 
 1 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. 
 
 2 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 Al- 
 Madinah, amongst other tales of short cuts known only to certain 
 Badawi families, a man told me of a shaft leading from his native 
 city to Hazramaut: according to him, it existed in the times of the 
 Prophet, and was a journey of only three days! 
 
 3 The Mosque Library is kept in large chests near the Bab al- — 
 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.', 
 
 | 
 | 
 
XVI.—A Visit to the Prophet's Tomb. 339 
 
 Shajar Kanadil, a large brass chandelier, 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 is the Sunnat or practice derived from the Apostle, 
 
 when taking leave of the Meccan Temple. 
 
 To conclude this long chapter. Although every Mos- 
 lem, learned and simple, firmly believes that Mohammed’s 
 remains are interred in the Hujrah at Al-Madinah, I cannot 
 
 help suspecting that the place is doubtful as that of the 
 
 Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. It must be remembered 
 that a tumult followed the announcement of the Apostle’s 
 death, when the people, as often happens, 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 Al-Madinah : in the ardour of which, 
 according to the Shi’ahs, the house of Aliand Fatimah— 
 within a few feet of the spot where the tomb of the Apostle 
 is now placed—was threatened with fire, and Abu Bakr 
 was elected Caliph that same evening. If anyone 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 Al-Madinah. To quote no other, three 
 several localities claim the honour of containing the Lady 
 Fatimah’s mortal spoils, although one might suppose that 
 the daughter of the Apostle and the mother of the Imams 
 would not be laid in an unknown grave. My reasons for 
 incredulity are the following : 
 1 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 pastor of Si 
 
 popular superstitions? 
 
340 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 From the earliest days the shape of the Apostle’s tomb 
 has never been generally known in Al-Islam. For this 
 reason it is that graves are made convex in some countries, | 
 and flat in others. Had there been a Sunnat,! such would | 
 not have been the case. | 
 
 The accounts of the learned are Pris Shad Al. : 
 Samanhudi, 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. Either, then, 
 the mortal remains of the Apostle had, despite Moslem 
 superst:t’on,® mingled with the dust, (a probable circum- 
 
 } ‘ke sunnat is the custom or practice of the Apostle, rigidly 
 conformed to by every good and orthodox Moslem. 
 
 2 The reader will bear in mind that I am quoting from Burck- 
 hardt. \hen in Al-Hijazand at Cairo, I vainly endeavoured to buy 
 a copy of Al-Samanhudi. One was shown to me at Al-Madinah; 
 unhappily, it bore the word Wakf (bequeathed), and belonged to the 
 Mosque. I was scarcely allowed time to read it. (See p. 102, ante.) 
 
 3 In Moslem law, prophets, martyrs, and saints, are not supposed 
 to be dead; their property, therefore, remains their own: The Olema 
 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 
 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 undergo corruption. On the contrary, their 
 faces are blooming, their eyes bright, and blood would issue from 
 their bodies if wounded. Al-Islam, as will afterwards appear, 
 abounds in traditions of the ancient tombs of saints and martyrs, 
 when accidentally opened, exposing 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 Sharif Ghalib, the father of the 
 present Prince of Meccah. In his lifetime he was reviled as a wicked 
 tyrant. But some years after his death, his body was found unde- 
 composed ; he then became a saint, and men now pray at his tomb 
 Perhaps his tyranny was no drawback to his holy reputation. La 
 
AVI.—A Visit to the Prophet's Tomb. 34t 
 
 stance after nearly nine hundred years’ interment), or, what 
 _is more likely, they had been removed by the Shi’ah schis- 
 matics who for centuries had charge of the sepulchre.’ 
 
 And lastly, I cannot but look upon the tale of the 
 blinding light which surrounds the Apostle’s tomb, current 
 
 'for ages past and still 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 favoured investigator. In offering the 
 
 above remarks, I am far from wishing to throw a doubt 
 
 “upon an established point of history. But where a sus- 
 
 ” 
 
 picion of fable arises from popular ‘ facts,” a knowledge 
 of man and of his manners teaches us to regard it with 
 favouring eye.” 
 
 Brinvilliers was declared after execution, by her confessor and the 
 
 people generally, a saint ;—simply, I presume, because of the enormity 
 
 _ of her crimes. 
 
 1 Note To TuH1rD EpiT10N.—I have lately been assured by Mo- 
 hammed al-Halabi, Shaykh al-Olema of Damascus, that he was per- 
 mitted by the Aghawat to pass through the gold-plated door leading 
 into the Hujrah, and that he saw no trace of a sepulchre. 
 
 2 I was careful to make a ground-plan of the Prophet’s Mosque, 
 as Burckhardt was prevented by severe illness from so doing. It 
 will give the reader a fair idea of the main point, though, in certain 
 minor details, it is not to be trusted. Some of my papers and 
 sketches, which by precaution I had placed among my medicines, after 
 cutting them into squares, numbering them, and rolling them care- 
 fully up, were damaged by the breaking of a bottle. The plan of 
 Al-Madinah is slightly altered from-Burckhardt’s. Nothing can be 
 
 ‘more ludicrous than the views of the Holy City, as printed in our 
 
 popular works. They are of the style ‘‘ bird’s-eye,” and present a 
 curious perspective. They despise distance like the Chinese,— 
 pictorially audacious; the Harrah, or ridge in the foreground appears 
 to be 200’yards, instead of three or four miles, distant from the town. 
 They strip the place of its suburb Al-Manakhah, in order to show 
 the enceinte, omit the fort, and the gardens north and south of the 
 
 city, enlarge the Mosquetwenty-fold for dignity, and make it occupy 
 
 the whole centre of the city, instead of a small corner in the south- 
 
342 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 east quarter. They place, for symmetry, towers only at the angles 
 of the walls, instead of all along the curtain, and gather upand press — 
 into the same field all the venerable and interesting features cf the 
 country, those behind the artist’s back, and at his sides, as well as | 
 what appears in front. Such are the Turkish lithographs. At 
 Meccah, some Indians support themselves by depicting the holy 
 shrines ; their works area truly Oriental mixture of ground plan and 
 elevation, drawn with pen and ink, and brightened with the most 
 vivid colours—grotesque enough, but less unintelligible than the 
 more ambitious imitations of European art. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 AN ESSAY TOWARDS THE HISTORY OF THE PROPHET’S 
 MOSQUE. 
 
 Inn Appas has informed the world that when the 
 eighty individuals composing Noah’s family issued from 
 the ark, they settled at a place distant ten marches and 
 twelve parasangs! (thirty-six to forty-eight miles) from 
 Babel or Babylon. There they increased and multiplied, 
 and spread into a mighty empire. At length under the 
 rule of Namrud (Nimrod), son of Kanaan (Canaan), son 
 of Ham, they lapsed from the worship of the true God : 
 -a miracle dispersed them into distant parts of the earth, 
 and they were further broken up by the one primeval 
 language being divided into seventy-two dialects. 
 
 A tribe called Aulad Sam bin Nuh (the children of 
 Shem), or Amalikah and Amalik,? from their ancestor 
 Amlak bin Arfakhshad bin Sam bin Nuh, was inspired 
 
 1 In Oriental geography the parasang still, as in the days of 
 Pliny, greatly varies, from 1500 to 6000 yards. Captain Francklin, 
 whose opinion is generally taken, makes it (in his Tour to Persia) a 
 measure of about four miles (Preface to Ibn Haukal, by Sir Gore 
 Ouseley). 
 
 2 M.C. de Perceval (Essai sur l’Histoive des Avabes avant I’Islam- 
 isme), makes Amlak son of Laoud (Lud), son of Shem, or, according 
 to others, son of Ham. That learned writer identifies the Amalik 
 with the Phoenicians, the Amalekites, the Canaanites, and the 
 -Hyksos. He alludes, also, to an ancient tradition ye makes them 
 wo have colonised Barbary in Africa. 
 
344 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 with a knowledge of the Arabic tongue’: it settled at Al. 
 Madinah, and was the first to cultivate the ground and 
 to plant palm-trees. In course of time these people ex- 
 tended over the whole tract between the seas of Al-Hijaz 
 (the Red Sea) and Al-Oman, (north-western part of the 
 Indian Ocean), and they became the progenitors of the 
 Jababirah? (tyrants or ‘“‘giants”) of Syria, as well as the 
 Farainah (Pharaohs) of Egypt.* Under these Amalik such 
 
 a te ee ee 
 
 1 The Dabistan al-Mazahib relates a tradition that the Almighty, 
 
 when addressing the angels in command, uses the Arabic tongue, but 
 
 when speaking in mercy or beneficence, the Deri dialect of Persian. 
 2 These were the giants who fought against Israel in Palestine. 
 3 In this wild tradition we find a confirmation of the sound 
 geographical opinion which makes Arabia ‘‘ Une des pépiniéres du 
 genre humain '’ (M. Jomard). It must be remembered that the 
 theatre of all earliest civilisation has been a fertile valley with a 
 navigable stream, like Sind, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. The ex- 
 istence of such a spot in Arabia would have altered every page of her 
 nistory; she would then have become a centre, not a source, of 
 civilisation. Strabo's Malothes river in Al-Yaman is therefore a myth. 
 As it is, the immense population of the peninsula—still thick, even in 
 the deserts—has, from the earliest ages, been impelled by drought, 
 famine, or desire of conquest, to emigrate into happier regions. Ali 
 history mentions two main streams which took their rise in the wilds. 
 The first set to the North-East, through Persia, Mekran, Baluchistan, 
 Sind, and the Afghan Mountains, as far as Samarkand, Bokhara, 
 and Tibet; the other, flowing towards the North-West, passed 
 through Egypt and Barbary into Etruria, Spain, the Isles of the 
 Mediterranean, and Southern France. There are two minor emigra- 
 tions chronicled in history, and written in the indelible characters of 
 physiognomy and philology. One of these set in an exiguous but 
 perennial stream towards India, especially Malabar, where, mixing 
 with the people of the country, the Arab merchants became the pro- 
 genitors of the Moplah race. The other was a partial emigration, 
 also for commercial purposes, to the coast of Berberah, in Eastern 
 Africa, where, mixing with the Galla tribes, the people of Hazramaut 
 became the sires of the extensive Somali and Sawahil nations. Thus 
 we have from Arabia four different lines of emigration, tending 
 
 N.E. and S.E., N.W. and S.W. At some future time I hope to — 
 
 develop this curious but somewhat obscure portion of Arabian 
 history. It bears upon a most interesting subject, and serves to ex- 
 plain, by the consanguinity of races, the marvellous celerity with 
 
XVII.—History of the Prophet's Mosque. 345 
 
 ‘was the age of man that during the space of four hundred 
 years a bier would not be seen, nor “ keening ” be heard, 
 in their cities. 
 
 - The last king of the Amalik, “Arkam bin al-Arkam,’” 
 was, according to most authors, slain by an army of the 
 children of Israel sent by Moses after the Exodus,’ with 
 orders thoroughly to purge Meccah and Al-Madinah of 
 their Infidel inhabitants. All the tribe was destroyed, with 
 the exception of the women, the children, and a youth of 
 the royal family, whose extraordinary beauty persuaded 
 the invaders to spare him pending a reference to the 
 Prophet. When the army returned, they found that 
 Moses had died during the expedition, and they were re- 
 ceived with reproaches by the people for having violated 
 his é€xpress command. The soldiers, unwilling to live 
 with their own nation under this reproach, returned to Al- 
 Hijaz, and settled there. 
 
 ~~ Moslem authors are agreed that after the Amalik the 
 Benu Israel ruled in the Holy Land of Arabia, but the 
 learned in history are not agreed upon the cause of their 
 emigration. According to some, when Moses was re- 
 turning from a pilgrimage to Meccah, a multitude of his 
 followers, seeing in Al-Madinah the signs of the city 
 which, according to the Taurat, or Pentateuch, should 
 hear the preaching of the last Prophet, settled there, and 
 were joined by many Badawin of the neighbourhood who 
 
 which the faith of Al-Islam spread from the Pillars of Hercules to 
 the confines of China—embracing part of Southern Europe, the 
 whole of Northern and a portion of Central Africa, and at least 
 three-fourths of the continent of Asia. 
 
 1 Of this name M. C. de Perceval remarks, ‘* Le mot Arcam était 
 une désignation commune 4 tous ces rois.” He identifies it with 
 Rekem (Numbers xxxi. 8), one of the kings of the Midianites; and 
 recognises in the preservation of the royal youth the history of Agag 
 and Samuel. 
 
 2 And some most ignorantly add, ‘‘after the entrance of Moses 
 into the Promised Land." : : 
 
346 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 conformed to the law of Moses. Ibn Shaybab also 
 informs us that when Moses and Aaron were wending 
 northwards from Meccah, they, being in fear of certain 
 Jews settled at Al-Madinah, did not enter the city,} but 
 pitched their tents on Mount Ohod. Aaron being about 
 to die, Moses dug his tomb, and said, ‘ Brother, thine hour 
 is come! turn thy face to the next world!" Aaron 
 entered the grave, lay at full length, and immediately 
 expired; upon which the Jewish lawgiver covered him 
 with earth, and wceat his way towards the Promised 
 Land. 
 
 Abu Hurayrah asserted that the Benu Israel, after 
 long searching, settled in Al-Madinah, because, when 
 driven from Palestine by the invasion of Bukht al-Nasr 
 (Nebuchadnezzar), they found in their books that the 
 last Prophet would manifest himself in a town of the 
 towns of Arabiyah,’ called Zat Nakhl, or the “ Place of 
 Palm trees.”” Some of the sons of Aaron occupied the 
 city; other tribes settled at Khaybar,‘ and in the neigh- 
 
 1 In those days, we are told, the Jews, abandoning their original 
 settlement in Al-Ghabbah or the low lands to the N. of the town, 
 migrated to the highest portions of the Madinah plain on the S, and 
 E., and the lands of the neighbourhood of the Kuba Mosque. 
 
 2 When describing Ohod, I shall have occasion to allude to 
 Aaron’s dome, which occupies the highest part. Few authorities, 
 however, believe that Aaron was buried there; his grave, undera 
 small stone cupola, is shown over the summit of Mount Hor, in the 
 Sinaitic Peninsula, and is much visited by devotees. 
 
 3 It must be remembered that many of the Moslem geographers 
 
 derive the word “‘ Arabia” from a tract of land in the neighbourhood 
 of Al-Madinah. 
 
 4 Khaybar in Hebrew is supposed to signify a castle. D'Herbelot 
 makes it to meana pact orassociation of the Jews against the Moslems, 
 This fort appears to be one of the latest as well as the earliest of the 
 Hebrew settlements in Al-Hijaz. Benjamin of Tudela asserts that 
 there were 50,000 Jews resident at their old colony, Bartema in a.p, 
 1703 found remnants of the people there, but his account of them is 
 disfigured by fable. In Niebuhr’s time the Beni Khaybar had inde. 
 
XVII.—History of the Prophet's Mosque. 347 
 
 bourhood, building ‘“ Utum,” or square, flat-roofed, stone 
 castles for habitation and defence. They left an order te 
 their descendants that Mohammed should be favourably 
 received, but Allah hardened their hearts unto their own 
 destruction. Like asses they turned their backs upon 
 ‘Allah’s mercy, and the consequence is, that they have 
 been rooted out of the land. 
 
 The Tarikh Tabari declares that when Bukht al- 
 Nasr,? after destroying Jerusalem, attacked and slew the 
 king of Egypt, who had given an asylum to a remnant of 
 the house of Israel, the persecuted fugitives made their 
 way into Al-Hijaz, settled near Yasrib (Al-Madinah), 
 where they founded several towns, Khaybar, Fadak, 
 Wady al-Subu, Wady al-Kura, Kurayzah, and many 
 others. Itappears, then, by the concurrence of historians, 
 that the Tews at an early time either colonised, or sup- 
 planted the Amalik at, Al-Madinah. 
 
 -At lengit the Israelites fell away from the worship of 
 the one Gud, whe raised up against them the Arab tribes 
 of Aus ana Khazraj, the progenitors of modern Ansar. 
 Both these tribes claimed a kindred origin, and 
 
 LE ene ee 
 pendent Shaykhs, and were divided into three tribes, viz., the Benu 
 Masad, the Benu Shahan, and the Benu Anizah (this latter, however, 
 is a Moslem name), who were isolated and hated by the other Jews, 
 and therefore the traveller supposes them to have been Karaites. 
 In Burckhardt’s day the race seemsto have been entirely rooted out. 
 I made many inquiries, and all assured me that there is not a single 
 Jewish family sow ir Khaybar It is indeed the popular boast in Al- 
 Hijaz, that, with the exception of Jeddah (and perhaps Yambu’, 
 where the Prophs: never set his foot), there is nota town in the country 
 harbouring an Infidel This has now become a point of fanatic 
 honour, but ¢f history may be trusted, it has become so only lately. 
 
 1 When the Arabs see the ass turn ‘ail to the wind and rain, they 
 exclaim, ‘Lo! he turneth his back upon the mercy of Allah!” 
 
 2 M. C. de Perceval quotes Judith, ii. 13, 26, and Jeremiah, 
 xlix. 28, to prove that Holofernes, the general of Nebuchadnezzar 
 the First, laid waste the land of Midian and other parts of Northern 
 Arabia. 
 
348 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Al-Yaman as the land of their nativity. The circumstances. 
 of their emigration are thus described. The descendants of 
 Yarab bin Kahtan bin Shalik bin Arkfakhshad bin Sam bin 
 Nuh, kinsmen to the Amalik, inhabited in prosperity the 
 land of Saba.!’ Their sway extended two months’ journey 
 from the dyke of Mareb,? near the modern capital of 
 Al-Yaman, as far as Syria, and incredible tales are told of 
 their hospitality and of the fertility of theirland. As usual, 
 their hearts were perverted by prosperity. They begged 
 Allah to relieve them from the troubles of extended em- 
 pire and the duties of hospitality by diminishing their 
 possessions. The consequence of their impious suppli- 
 cations was the well-known Flood of Iram. | 
 
 The chief of the descendants of Kahtan bin Saba, one 
 of the ruling families in Al-Yaman, was one Amru bin Amin 
 Ma al-Sama,* called ‘*Al-Muzaykayh”’ from his rending 
 in pieces every garment once worn. His wife Tarikah 
 Himyariah, being skilled in divination, foresaw the fatal 
 event, and warned her husband, who, unwilling to break 
 from his tribe without an excuse, contrived the following 
 stratagem. He privily ordered his adopted son, anorphan, 
 
 1 Saba in Southern Arabia. 
 
 2 The erection of this dyke is variously attributed to Lukman the 
 Elder (of the tribe of Ad) and to Sababin Yashjab. It burst accord- 
 ing to some, beneath the weight of a flood; according to others, 
 it was miraculously undermined by rats. A learned Indian Shaykh 
 has mistaken the Arabic word “ Jurdd,” a large kind of mouse 
 or rat, for ‘‘Jarad,’’ a locust, and he makes the wall to have 
 sunk under a ‘‘ bari Malakh,” »- weight oflocusts! No eventis more 
 celebrated in the history of pagan Arabia than this, or more trust- 
 worthy, despite the exaggeration of the details —the dyke *s ‘said to 
 have been four miles long by four broad —and the fantasti carvels 
 which are said to have accompanied its bursting Ther ius have 
 lately been visited by M. Arnaud, a French traveller who communi- 
 cated his discovery -c the French Asiatic Society in 1845. 
 
 3 Maal-Sama, <3: water (or ‘‘the splendour ) of heaven,’ is, 
 generally speaking, a *«minine name amongst the pagan Arabs; 3 pos 
 sibly it is here intended as a matronymis, 
 
XVII.—History of the Prophet’s Mosque. 349 
 
 to dispute with him, and to strike him in the face at a feast 
 composed of the principal persons in the kingdom. The 
 _ disgrace of such a scene afforded him a pretext for selling 
 off his property, and, followed by his thirteen sons,—all 
 borne to him by his wife Tarikah,—and others of the 
 tribe, Amru emigrated Northwards. The little party, thus 
 preserved from the Yamanian Deluge, was destined by 
 Allah to become the forefathers of the Auxiliaries of his 
 chosen Apostle. 
 
 All the children of Amru thus dispersed into different 
 parts of Arabia. His eldest son, Salabah bin Amru, 
 chose Al-Hijaz, settled at Al-Madinah, then in the hands 
 of the impious Benu Israel, and became the father of the 
 Aus and Khazraj. In course of time, the new comers 
 were made by Allah an instrument of vengeance against 
 the disobedient Jews. Of the latter people, the two tribes 
 Kurayzah and Nazir claimed certain feudal rights (well 
 known to Europe) upon all occasions of Arab marriages. 
 The Aus and the Khazraj, after enduring this indignity 
 for a time, at length had recourse to one of their kinsmen 
 who, when the family dispersed, had settled in Syria. 
 Abu Jubaylah, thus summoned, marched an army to Al- 
 Madinah, avenged the honour of his blood, and destroyed 
 the power of the Jews, who from that moment became 
 Mawali, or clients to the Arabs. 
 
 For a time the tribes of Aus and Khazraj, freed from 
 the common enemy, lived in peace and harmony. At 
 last they fell into feuds and fought with fratricidal strife, 
 until the coming of the Prophet effected a reconciliation 
 between them. This did not take place, however, before 
 the Khazraj received, at the battle of Buas (about a.p. 
 615), a decided defeat from the Aus. 
 
 It is also related, to prove how Al-Madinah was pre- 
 destined to a high fate, that nearly three centuries before 
 the siege of the town by Abu Jubaylah, the Tobba al- 
 
350 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Asghar’ marched Northward, at the requisition of the Aus ~ 
 and Khazraj tribes, in order to punish the Jews; or, 
 according to others, at the request of the Jews to revenge 
 them upon the Aus and Khazraj. After capturing the 
 town, he left one of his sons to govern it, and marched 
 onwards to conquer Syria and Al-Irak. 
 
 Suddenly informed that the people of Al-Madinah had 
 treacherously murdered their new prince, the exasperated 
 Tobba returned and attacked the place ; and, when his 
 horse was killed under him, he swore that he would never - 
 decamp before razing it to the ground. Whereupon two 
 Jewish priests, Ka’ab and Assayd, went over to him and 
 informed him that it was not in the power of man to 
 destroy the town, it being preserved by Allah, as their 
 books proved, for the refuge of His Prophet, the descen- 
 dant of Ishmael.? 
 
 The Tobba Judaized. Taking four hundied of the 
 priests with him, he departed from Al- Madinah, performed 
 pilgrimage to the Ka’abah of Meccah, which he invested 
 with a splendid covering*®; and, after erecting a house 
 
 1 This expedition to Al-Madinah is mentioned by all the pre-Islam- 
 . atic historians, but persons and dates are involved in the greatest 
 confusion. Some authors mention two different expeditions by dif- 
 ferent Tobbas; others only one, attributing it differently, however, 
 to two Tobbas,—Abu Karb in the 3rd century of the Christian era, and 
 Tobba al-Asghar, the last of that dynasty, whoreigned, according to 
 some, in A.D. 300, according to others in a.p. 448. M.C.de Perceval 
 places the event about a. p. 206, and asserts that the Ausand Khazraj 
 did not emigrate to Al-Madinah before a.p. 300. The word Tobba or 
 Tubba, I have been informed by some of the modern Arabs, is still 
 used in the Himyaritic dialect of Arabic to signify ‘‘the Great’ or 
 “the Chief.” 
 
 2 Nothing is more remarkable in the annals of the Arabs than 
 their efforts to prove the Ishmaelitic descent of Mohammed; at the 
 same time no historic question is more open to doubt. 
 
 3 If this be true it proves that the Jews of Al-Hijaz had in those 
 days superstitious reverence for the Ka'abah; otherwise the Tobba, 
 after conforming to the law of Moses, would not have shown it this 
 
XVII _—History of the Prophet's Mosque. 351 
 
 for the expected Prophet, he returned to his capital in Al- 
 Y.aman, where he abolished idolatry by the ordeal of fire. 
 - He treated his priestly guests with particular attention, 
 ‘and on his death-bed he wrote the following tetrastich :— 
 “T testify of Ahmad that he of a truth 
 
 Is a prophet from Allah, the Maker of souls. 
 
 Be my age extended into his age, 
 
 I would be to him a Wazir and a cousin.” 
 Then sealing the paper he committed it to the.charge of the 
 High Priest, with a solemn injunction to deliver the letter, 
 should an opportunity offer, into the hands of the great 
 Prophet ; and that, if the day be distant, the missive 
 should be handed down from generation to generation till 
 it reached the person to whom it was addressed. The 
 house founded by him at Al-Madinah was committed to a 
 priest of whose descendants was Abu Ayytb the Ansari, 
 the first person over whose threshold the Apostle passed 
 when he ended the Flight. Abu Ayyub had also charge 
 of the Tobba’s letter, so that aftér three or four centuries, 
 it arrived at its destination. 
 
 Al-Madinah was ever well inclined to Mohammed. In? 
 
 mark of respect. Moreover there is a legend that the same Rabbis 
 dissuaded the Tobba from plundering the sacred place when he was 
 treacherously advised so to do by the Benu Hudayl Arabs. I have lately 
 perused ‘‘ The Worship of Ba’alim in Israel," based upon the work of 
 Dr. R. Dozy, “ The Israelites in Mecca.:’ By Dr. H. Oort. Trans- 
 lated from the Dutch, and enlarged, with Notes and Appendices, by 
 the Right Rey. John William Colenso, D.D. (Longmans.) I see no 
 reason why Meccah or Beccah should be made to mean “A Slaugh- 
 ter'’’; why the Ka’abah should be founded by the Simeonites ; why 
 the Hajj should be the Feast of Truntpets; and other assertions in 
 _ which everything seems to be taken for granted except etymology, 
 which is tortured into confession. If Meccah had been founded by 
 the Simeonites, why did the Persians and the Hindus respect it ? 
 
 1 It is curious that Abdullah, Mohammed’s father, died and was 
 buried at Al-Madinah, and that his mother Aminah’s tomb is at Abwa, 
 on the Madinah road. Here, too, his great-grandfather Hashim 
 married Salma Al-Mutadalliyah, before him espoused to Uhayhah, 
 of the Aus tribe. Shaybah, generally called Abd al-Muttalib, the 
 
352 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 the early part of his career, the emissaries of a tribe called 
 the Benu Abd al-Ashhal came from that town to Meccah, 
 in order to make a treaty with the Kuraysh, and, the 
 Apostle seized the opportunity of preaching Al-Islam to 
 them. His words were seconded by Ayyds bin Ma’az, a 
 youth of the tribe, and opposed by the chiefs of the 
 embassy ; who, however, returned home without pledging 
 themselves to either party.! Shortly afterwards a body of 
 the Aus and the Khazraj came to the pilgrimage of 
 Meccah : when Mohammed began preaching to them, 
 they recognised the person so long expected by the Jews, 
 and swore to him an oath which is called in Moslem history 
 the ‘* First Fealty of the Steep.?” | 
 
 After the six individuals who had thus pledged them- 
 selves returned to their native city, the event being duly 
 bruited abroad caused such an effect that, when the next 
 pilgrimage season came, twelve, or according to others 
 forty persons, led by As’ed bin Zarahah, accompanied the 
 original converts, and in the same place swore the ‘“‘ Second 
 Fealty of the Steep.” The Prophet dismissed them in 
 company with one Musab bin Umayr, a Meccan, charged 
 to teach them the Koran and their religious duties, which 
 in those times consisted only of prayer and the Profession 
 of Unity. They arrived at Al-Madinah on a Friday, and 
 this was the first day on which the city witnessed the 
 public devotions of the Moslems. 
 
 After some persecutions, Musab had’ the fortune to 
 convert a cousin of As’ad bin Zararah, a chief of the Aus, 
 Sa’ad bin Ma’az, whose opposition had been of the fiercest. 
 He persuaded his tribe, the Benu Abd al-Ashhal, to break 
 
 Prophet’s grandfather, was the son of Salma, and was bred at Al- ~ 
 Madinah. 
 1 Ayyas bin Ma’az died, it is said, a Moslem. 
 2 ‘ Bayat al-Akabat al-il4." It is so called because this oath 
 was sworn at a place called Al-Akabah (the Mountain-road), near 
 Muna. A Mosque was afterwards built there to commemorate the 
 event. 
 
XVII.—History of the Prophet's M osque. 353 
 
 their idols and openly to profess Al-Islam. The next 
 season, Musab having made many converts, some say 
 seventy, others three hundred, marched from Al-Madinah 
 to Meccah for their pilgrimage ; and there induced his 
 followers to meet the Prophet at midnight upon the Steep 
 near Muna. Mohammed preached to them their duties 
 towards Allah and himself, especially insisting upon the 
 necessity of warring down infidelity. They pleaded 
 ancient treaties with the Jews of Al-Madinah, and showed 
 apprehension lest the Apostle, after bringing them into 
 disgrace with their fellows, should desert them and return 
 to the faith of his kinsmen, the Kuraysh. Mohammed, 
 smiling, comforted them with the assurance that he was 
 with them, body and soul, for ever. Upon this they 
 asked him what would be their reward if slain. He re- 
 pled, ‘‘Gardens ’neath which the streams flow,’’—that 
 is to say, Paradise. 
 
 -Then, in spite of the advice of Al-Abbas, Mohammed’s 
 uncle, who was loud in his denunciations, they bade the 
 Preacher stretch out his hand, and upon it swore the oath 
 known as the “ Great Fealty of the Steep.” After com- 
 forting them with an Ayat, or Koranic verse, which pro- 
 mised heaven, the Apostle divided his followers into. 
 twelve bodies ; and placing a chief at the head of each,! 
 dismissed them to their homes. He rejected the offer 
 made by one of the party—namely, to slay all the idolaters 
 present at the pilgrimage—saying that Allah had favoured 
 him with no such order. For the same reason he refused 
 their invitation to visit Al-Madinah, which was the prin- 
 cipal object of their mission ; and he then took an affec- 
 tionate leave of them. 
 
 1 Some Moslem writers suppose that Mohammed singled out 
 twelve men as apostles, and called them Nakil, in imitation of the 
 example of our Saviour. Other Moslems ignore both the fact and 
 the intention. M. C. de Perceval gives the names of these Nakils in 
 vol. iii. p. 8. 
 
 VOL, I. N 
 
354 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Two months and a half after the events above detailed, 
 Mohammed received the inspired tidings that Al-Madinah 
 of the Hijaz was his predestined asylum. In anticipation 
 of the order, for as yet the time had not been revealed, he 
 sent forward his friends, among whom were Omar, Talhah, 
 
 and Hamzah, retaining with him Abu Bakr*andAli. The | 
 
 particulars of the Flight, that eventful accident to Al- 
 Islam, are too well known to require mention here ; 
 besides which they belong rather to the category of 
 general than of Madinite history. 
 
 Mohammed was escorted into Al-Madinah by one 
 Buraydat al-Aslami and eighty men of the same tribe, 
 who had been offered by the Kuraysh a hundred camels 
 for the capture of the fugitives. But Buraydat, after 
 listening to their terms, accidentally entered into conver- 
 sation with Mohammed ; and no sooner did he hear the 
 name of his interlocutor, than he professed the faith of Al- 
 
 Islam. He then prepared for the Apostle a standard by 
 attaching his turband to a spear, and anxiously inquired 
 what house was to be honoured by the presence of Allah’s” 
 
 chosen servant. ‘ Whichever,” replied Mohammed, 
 ‘this she-camel? is ordered to show me.” At the last 
 
 1 Orthodox Moslems do not fail to quote this circumstance | 
 
 | 
 | 
 
 | 
 
 in honour of the first Caliph, upon whom moreover they bestow the 
 title of “Friend of the Cave.’ The Shi’ahs, on the other hand, 
 
 hating Abu Bakr, see in it a symptom of treachery, and declare that 
 the Prophet feared to let the ‘‘ Old Hyena,”’ as they opprobriously term 
 the venerable successor, out of his sight for fear lest he should act 
 as spy to the Kuraysh. The voice of history and of common sense is 
 against the Shi'ahs. M.C.de Perceval justly remarks, that Abu Bakr 
 and Omar were men truly worthy of their great predecessor. 
 
 2 This animal’s name, according to some, was Al-Kaswa (‘the 
 tips of whose ears are cropped”’) ; according to others Al-Jada’a (‘‘one 
 mutilated in the ear, hand, nose, or lip’). The Prophet bought her 
 for 800 dirhams, on the day before his flight, from Abu Bakr, who had 
 fattened two fine animals of his own breeding. The camel was 
 offered as a gift, but Mohammed insisted upon paying its price, 
 because, say the Moslem casuists, he being engaged in the work of 
 
XVII.—History of the Prophet's Mosque. 355 
 
 falting-place, he accidentally met some of his disciples 
 returning from a trading voyage to Syria ; they dressed 
 him and his companion Abu Bakr in white clothing 
 which, it is said, caused the people of Kuba to pay 
 a mistaken reverence to the latter. The Moslems of 
 Al-Madinah were in the habit of repairing every morning 
 to the heights near the city, looking out for the Apostle ; 
 and, when the sun waxed hot, they returned home. One 
 day, about noon, a Jew, who discovered the retinue from 
 afar, suddenly warned the nearest party of Ansar, or 
 Auxiliaries of Al-Madinah, that the fugitive was come. 
 They snatched up their arms and hurried from their houses 
 to meet him. 
 
 Mohammed’s she-camel advanced to the centre of the 
 then flourishing town of Kuba. There she suddenly knelt 
 upon a place which is now consecrated ground ; at that 
 time it was an open space, belonging, they say, to Abu 
 Ayyub the Ansari, who had a house there near the abodes 
 of the Benu Amr bin Auf. This event happened on the 
 first day of the week, the twelfth of the month Rabia al- 
 Awwal’ (June 28, a.p. 622), in the first year of the Flight: 
 for which reason Monday, which also witnessed the birth, 
 the mission, and the death of the Prophet, is an auspicious 
 day to Al-Islam. 
 
 _ After halting two days in the house of Kulsum bin 
 Fladmah at Kuba, and there laying the foundation of the 
 
 God would receive no aid from man. According to M. C. de 
 Perceval, the Prophet preached from the back of Al-Kaswa the cele- 
 brated pilgrimage sermon at Arafat on the 8th March, a.p. 632. 
 
 1 The Prophet is generally supposed to have started from Meccah 
 on the first of the same month, on a Fridayor a Monday. This dis- 
 _ crepancy is supposed to arise from the fact that Mohammed fled his 
 house in Meccah on a Friday, passed three days in the cave on Jabal 
 Saur, and finally left it for Al-Madinah on Monday, which therefore, 
 according to Moslem divines, was the first day of the “ Hijrah.” 
 _ But the 2ra now commences on the rst of the previous Muharram, 
 _an arrangement made seventeen years after the date of the flight by 
 Omar the Caliph, with the concurrence of Ali. 
 
356 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meceah. 
 
 first Mosque upon the lines where his she-camel trod, the 
 Apostle was joined by Ali, who had remained at Meccah, 
 for the purpose of returning certain trusts and deposits 
 committed to Mohammed’scharge. He waited three days 
 longer ; on Friday morning (the 16th Rabia al-Awwal, 
 A.H. I,=2nd July, a.D. 622), about sunrise he mounted Al- 
 Kaswa, and, accompanied by a throng of armed Ansar 
 on foot and on horseback, he took the way tothe city. At 
 the hour of public prayer, he halted in the Wady or valley 
 near Kuba, upon the spot where the Masjid al-Jum’ah now 
 stands, performed his devotions, and preached an eloquent 
 sermon. Hethenremounted. Numbers pressed forward 
 to offer him hospitality ; he blessed them, and bade them 
 stand out of the way, declaring that Al-Kaswa would halt 
 of her own accord at the predestined spot. He then 
 advanced to where the Apostle’s pulpit now stands. There 
 the she-camel knelt, and the rider exclaimed, as one 
 inspired, ‘*‘This is our place, if Almighty Allah please!” 
 
 Descending from Al-Kaswa, he recited, ‘*O Lord, 
 cause me to alight a good Alighting, and Thou art the 
 Best of those who cause to alight!” Presently the camel 
 rose unaided, advanced a few steps, and then, according 
 to some, returning, sat down upon her former seat; 
 according to others, she knelt at the door of Abu Ayyub 
 al-Ansari, whose abode in those days was the nearest to 
 the halting-place. The descendant of the Jewish High 
 Priest in the time of the Tobbas, with the Apostle’s per- 
 mission, took the baggage off the camel, and carried it 
 into his house. Then ensued great rejoicings. The 
 Abyssinians came and played with their spears. The 
 
 1 The distance from Kuba to Al-Madinah is little more than 
 three miles, for which six hours—Friday prayers being about noon— 
 may be considered an inordinately long time. But our author 
 might urge as a reason that the multitude of people upon a narrow 
 road rendered the Prophet's advance a slow one, and some historians 
 relate that he spent several hours in conversation with the Beni 
 Salim 
 
X VII.—History of the Prophet’s Mosque. 357 
 
 maidens of the Benu Najjar tribe sang and beat their 
 kettle-drums. And all the wives of the Ansar celebrated 
 
 . with shrill cries of joy the auspicious event; whilst the 
 
 males, young and old, freemen and slaves, shouted with 
 
 _ effusion, ‘‘ Allah’s Messenger is come! Allah’s Messenger 
 
 is here!” 
 
 Mohammed caused Abu Ayyub and his wife to 
 remove into the upper story, contenting himself with the 
 humbler lower rooms. This was done for the greater 
 convenience of receiving visitors without troubling the 
 family; but the master of the house was thereby rendered 
 uncomfortable in mind. His various remarks about the 
 Apostle’s diet and domestic habits, especially his avoiding 
 leeks, onions, and garlic,'are gravely chronicled by Moslem 
 authors. 
 
 After spending seven months, more or less, at the 
 house of Abu Ayyub, Mohammed, now surrounded by his 
 wives and family, built, close to the Mosque, huts for 
 their reception. The ground was sold to him by Sahal 
 and Suhayl, two orphans of the Benu Najjar,? a noble 
 family ofthe Khazraj. Some time afterwards one Harisat 
 bin al-Nu’uman presented to the Prophet all his houses in 
 the vicinity of the temple. In those days the habitations 
 of the Arabs were made of a framework of Jarid or palm 
 sticks, covered over with a cloth of camel’s hair, a curtain 
 of similar stuff forming the door. The more splendid had 
 wails of unbaked brick, and roofs of palm fronds plastered 
 
 1 Mohammed never would eat these strong smelling vegetables on 
 account of his converse with the angels, even as modern “ Spirit-. 
 
 nalists’’ refuse to smoke tobacco; at the same time he allowed his 
 
 _ followers to do so, except when appearing in his presence, entering 
 a Mosque, or joining in public prayers. The pious Moslem still eats 
 
 his onions with these limitations. Some sects, however, as the Wah- 
 habis, considering them abominable, avoid them on all occasions. 
 
 2 The name of the tribe literally means ‘sons of a carpenter ''’; 
 hence the error of the learned and violent Humphrey Prideaux, cor- 
 rected by Sale. 
 
358 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 over with mud or clay. Of this description were the 
 abodes of Mohammed’s family.e Most of them were built 
 on the North and East of the Mosque, which had open 
 ground on the Western side; and the doors looked towards 
 the place of prayer. In course of time, all, except 
 Abu Bakr! and Ali, were ordered to close their doors, and 
 even Omar was refused the favour of having a window 
 opening into the temple. 
 
 Presently the Jews of Al-Madinah, offended by the 
 conduct of Abdullah bin Salam, their most learned priest 
 and a descendant from the Patriarch Joseph, who had 
 become a convert to the Moslem dispensation, began to 
 plot against Mohammed. They were headed by Hajj bin 
 Akhtah, and his brother Yasir bin Akhtah, and were 
 joined by many of the Aus and the Khazraj. The events 
 that followed this combination of the Munafikun, or 
 Hypocrites, under their chief, Abdullah, belong to the 
 domain of Arabian history.® 
 
 Mohammed spent the last ten years of his life at Al- 
 Madinah. He died on Monday, some say at nine A.M., 
 others at noon, othersa little after, on the twelfth of Rabia 
 al-Awwal in the eleventh year of the Hijrah. When his 
 family and companions debated where he should be buried, 
 Aliadvised Al-Madinah, aad Abu Bakr, Ayishah’s cham- 
 
 1 Some say that Abu Bakr had ro abode near the Mosque. But 
 it is generally agreed upon, that he hal many houses, one in Al-Bakia, 
 another in the higher parts of Al-Madinah, and among them a hut on 
 the spot between the present gates called Salam and Rahmah. 
 
 2 Itis clear from the fact above stated, that in those days the 
 Jews of Arabia were ina state of excitement, hourly expecting the © 
 
 * Advent of their Messiah, and that Mohammed believed himself to be 
 the person appointed to complete the law of Moses. | 
 
 3 In many minor details the above differs from the received — 
 accounts of Pre-Islamitic and early Mohammedan history. Let the 
 blame be borne by the learned Shaykh Abd al-Hakk al-Muhaddis of 
 Delhi, and his compilation, the ‘ Jazb al-Kulab ila Diyar al-Manhib— 
 {the ‘‘ Drawing of Hearts towards the Holy Parts”). From the multi-_ 
 tude of versions at last comes correctness. 
 
 | 
 
XVII.—RHistory of the Prophet's Mosque. 359 
 
 ber, quoting a saying of the deceased that prophets and 
 martyrs are always interred where they happen to die. 
 The Apostle was placed, it is said, under the bed where 
 he had given up the ghost, by Ali and the two sons of 
 Abbas, who dug the grave. With the life of Mo- 
 hammed the interest of Al-Madinah ceases, or rather 
 is concentrated in the history of its temple. Since 
 then the city has passed through the hands of the 
 Caliphs, the Sharifs of Meccah, the Sultans of Con- 
 stantinople, the Wahhabis, and the Egyptians. It 
 has now reverted to the Sultan, whose government is 
 beginning to believe that, in these days when religious 
 prestige is of little value, the great Khan’s title, ‘‘ Servant 
 of the Holy Shrines,” is purchased at too high a price. 
 As has before been observed, the Turks now struggle for 
 existence in Al-Hijaz with a soldier ever in arrears, and 
 officers unequal to the task of managing an unruly people. 
 The pensions are but partly paid,! and they are not likely 
 to increase with years. It is probably a mere considera- 
 tion of interest that prevents the people rising en masse, 
 
 1 A Firman from the Porte, dated 13th February, 1841, provides 
 for the paying of these pensions regularly. ‘It being customary to 
 send every year from Egypt provisions in kind to the two Holy Cities, 
 the provisions and other articles, whatever they may be, which have 
 upto this time been sent to this place, shall continue to be sent 
 thither.” Formerly the Holy Land had immense property in Egypt, 
 and indeed in all partsof Al-Islam. About thirty years ago, Mohammed 
 Ali Pasha bought up all the Wakf (church property), agreeing to pay 
 for its produce, which he rated at five piastres the ardeb, when it 
 was worth three times as much. Even that was not regularly paid. 
 The Sultan has taken advantage of the present crisis to put down 
 Wakf in Turkey. The Holy Land, therefore, will gradually lose all 
 its land and house property, and will soon be compelled to depend 
 entirely upon the presents of the pilgrims, and the Sadakah, or alms, 
 _ which are still sent to it by the pious Moslems of distant regions. As 
 _ might be supposed, both the Meccans and the Madani loudly bewail 
 their hard fates, and by no means approve of the Ikram, the modern 
  succedaneum for an extensive and regularly paid revenue. At a 
 future time, I shall recur to this subject. 
 
360 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 and re-asserting the liberties of their country. And Ihave 
 
 heard from authentic sources that the Wahhabis look 
 forward to the day when a fresh crusade will enable them 
 to purge the land of its abominations in the shape of 
 silver and gold. 
 
 The Masjid al-Nabi, or Prophet’s Mosque, is the 
 second in Al-Islam in point of seniority, and the second, 
 or, according to others, the first in dignity, ranking with 
 the Ka’abah itself. It is erected around the spot where 
 the she-camel, Al-Kaswa, knelt down by the order of 
 Heaven. At that time the land wasa palm grove and a 
 Mirbad, or place where dates are dried. Mohammed, 
 ordered to erect a place of worship there, sent for the 
 youths to whom it belonged, and certain Ansar, or 
 Auxiliaries, their guardians; the ground was offered to him 
 in free gift, but he insisted upon purchasing it, paying more 
 than its value. Having caused the soil to be levelled and 
 the trees to be felled, he laid the foundation of the first 
 Mosque. 
 
 In those times of primitive simplicity its walls were 
 made of rough stone and unbaked bricks: trunks of date- 
 trees supported a palm-stick roof, concerning which the 
 Archangel Gabriel delivered an order that it should not 
 be higher than seven cubits, the elevation of Moses’s 
 temple. All ornament was strictly forbidden. The 
 Ansar, or men of Al-Madinah, and the Muhajirin, or 
 Fugitives from Meccah, carried the building materials in 
 their arms from the cemetery Al-Bakia, near the well of 
 Ayyub, north of the spot where Ibrahim’s Mosque now 
 stands, and the Apostle was to be seen aiding them in 
 their labours, and reciting for their encouragement, 
 
 ‘©O Allah! there is no good but the good of futurity, 
 Then have mercy upon my Ansar and Muhajirin!” 
 
 The length of this Mosque was fifty-four cubits from North 
 
 to South, and sixty-three in breadth, and it was hemmed 
 in by houses on all sides save the Western. Till the seven- 
 
 ‘wig 
 
AVII.—History of the Prophet's Mosque. 361 
 
 teenth month of the new era the congregation faced 
 towards the Northern wall. After that time a fresh revela- 
 tion turned them in the direction of Meccah, Southwards: 
 on which occasion the Archangel Gabriel descended and 
 miraculously opened through the hills and wilds a view 
 of the Ka’abah, that there might be no difficulty in ascer- 
 taining its true position. 
 
 After the capture of Khaybar in a.u. 7, the Prophet 
 and his first three successors restored the Mosque, but 
 Moslem historians do not consider this a second founda- 
 tion. Mohammed laid the first brick, and Abu Hurayrah 
 declares that he saw him carry heaps of building materials 
 piled up to his breast. The Caliphs, each in the turn of 
 his succession, placed a brick close to that laid by the 
 Prophet, and aided him in raising the walls. Al-Tabrani 
 relates that one of the Ansar had a house adjacent which 
 - Mohammed wished to make part of the place of prayer; 
 the proprietor was promised in exchange for it a home 
 in Paradise, which he gently rejected, pleading poverty. 
 _ His excuse was admitted, and Osman, after purchasing 
 the place for ten thousand dirhams, gave it tothe Apostle 
 on the long credit originally offered. 
 
 This Mosque was a square of a hundred cubits. 
 Like the former building, it had three doors: one on the 
 South side, where the Mihrab al-Nabawi, or the ‘‘ Proph: 
 et’s Niche,” now is; another in the place of the present 
 Bab al-Rahmah; and the third at the Bab Osman, now 
 called the Gate of Gabriel. Instead of a Mihrab or 
 prayer-niche,'a large block of stone directed the congre 
 gation; at first it was placed against the Northern wall 
 
 1 The prayer-niche and the minaret both date their existence | 
 from the days of Al-Walid, the builder of the third Mosque. At this 
 age of their empire, the Moslems had travelled far and had seen art 
 
 in various lands; it is therefore not without a shadow of reason that 
 the Hindus charge them with having borrowed their two favourite 
 symbols, and transformed them into an arch and a tower. 
 
362 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 of the Mosque, and it was removed to the Southern when 
 Meccah became the Kiblah. 
 
 In the beginning the Prophet, whilst preaching the 
 Khutbah or Friday sermon, leaned when fatigued against 
 a post.) The Mambar,” or pulpit, was the invention ofa 
 Madinah man, of the Benu Najjar. It was a wooden 
 frame, two cubits long by one broad, with three steps, 
 each one span high; on the topmost of these the Prophet 
 sat when he required rest. The pulpit assumed its pres- 
 ent form about a.H. go, during the artistic reign of Al- 
 Walid. 
 
 In this Mosque Mohammed spent the greater part of 
 the day® with his companions, conversing, instructing, and 
 
 manmmrmiamibannn te he 
 1 The Ustawanat al-Hannanah, or ‘“ Weeping-Post.” See page 
 335, chapter XVI., ante. 
 
 2 As usual, there are doubts about the invention of this article. 
 It was covered with cloth by the Caliph Osman, or, as others 
 say, by Al-Mu’4wiyah, who, deterred by a solar eclipse from 
 carrying out his project of removing it to Damascus, placed it upon 
 a new framework, elevated six steps above the ground. Al-Mahdi 
 wished to raise the Mambar six steps higher, but was forbidden so 
 to do by the Imam Malik. The Abbasides changed the pulpit; and 
 converted the Prophet's original seat into combs, which were pre- 
 served as relics. Some historians declare that the original Mam- 
 bar was burnt with the Mosquein a.H. 654. In Ibn Jubayr’s time 
 (a.H. 580), it was customary for visitors to place their right 
 hands upon a bit of old wood, inserted into one of the pillars 
 of the pulpit; this was supposed to be a remnant of the ‘ weep- 
 ing-post.” Every Sultan added some ornament to the Mam- 
 bar, and at one time it was made of white marble, covered over with 
 a dome of the ‘‘eight metals.’ It is now a handsome structure, 
 apparently of wood, painted and gilt of the usual elegant form, 
 which has been compared by some travellers with the suggesta of 
 Roman Catholic churches. { have been explicit about this pulpit, 
 hoping that, next time the knotty question of Apostolic seats comes 
 upon the fapis, our popular authors will not confound a Curule chair 
 with a Moslem Mambar. Of the latter article, Lane (Mod. — 
 Egyptians, chap. iii.) gave a sketch in the ‘‘ Interior of a Mosque.” ~ 
 
 3 The Prophet is said to have had a dwelling-house in the — 
 Ambariyah, or the Western quarter of the Manakhah suburb, and © 
 
X VII.—History of the Prophet's Mosque. 363 
 
 comforting the poor. Hard by were the abodes of his 
 wives, his family, and his principal friends. Here he 
 _ prayed, at the call of the Azan, or devotion-cry, from the 
 roof. Here he received worldly envoys and embassies, 
 and the heavenly messages conveyed by the Archangel 
 Gabriel. And within a few yards of the hallowed spot, 
 he died, and found a grave. 
 
 The theatre of events so important to Al-Islam could 
 not be allowed—especially as no divine decree forbade 
 the change—to remain in its pristine lowliness. The first 
 Caliph contented himself with merely restoring some of - 
 the palm pillars, which had fallen to the ground: Omar, 
 the second successor, surrounded the Hujrah, or Ayishah’s 
 chamber, in which the Prophet was buried, with a mud 
 wall; and in a.H. 17, he enlarged the Mosque to 140 
 cubits by 120, taking in ground on all sides except the 
 Eastern, where stood the abodes of the ‘* Mothers of the 
 Moslems.!” Outside the Northern wall he erected a 
 Suffah, called Al-Batha—a raised bench of wood, earth, 
 or stone, upon which the people might recreate them- 
 selves with conversation and quoting poetry, for the 
 Mosque was now becoming place of peculiar reverence 
 to men.? 
 
 The second Masjid was erected a.H. 29, by the third 
 Caliph, Osman, who, regardless of the clamours of the 
 people, overthrew the old walls and extended the building 
 
 here, according to some, he lodged Mariyah, the ( Coptic girl. As 
 pilgrims do not usually visit the place, and nothing of the original 
 building can be now remaining, I did not trouble myself about it. 
 
 1 Meaning the Prophet’s fifteen te twenty-five wives. Their 
 number is not settled. He left nine wives and two concubines. It 
 was this title after the Koranic order (chap, xxxiii. v. 53) which 
 rendered their widowhood eternal; no Arap would willingly marry 
 a woman whom he has caJJed mother or sister. 
 
 2 Authors mention a piace outside the ™u hern wall called Al- 
 Suffah, which was assigned by Mohamiacd a habitation to 
 houseless believers; trom which circumstauce ..  paupers derived 
 “the title of Ashab al-Suffah, ‘‘Companions of tne Sofa." 
 
364 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 greatly towards the North, and a little towards the West; 
 but he did not remove the Eastern limit on account of 
 the private houses. He made the roof of Indian teak,’ 
 and the walls of hewn and carved stone. These 
 innovations caused some excitement, which he allayed 
 by quoting a tradition of the Prophet, with one of which 
 he appears perpetually to have been prepared. The 
 saying in question was, according to some, ‘* Were this my 
 Mosque extended to Safa’’—a hill in Meccah—* it verily 
 would still be my Mosque”’; according to others, ‘‘ Were 
 the Prophet’s Mosque extended to Zu’l Halifah? it would 
 still be his.”” But Osman’s skill in the quotation of tra- 
 dition did not prevent the new building being in part a 
 cause of his death. It was finished on the first Muharram, 
 A.H. 30. 
 
 At length, Al-Islam, grown splendid and powerful, 
 determined to surpass other nations in the magnificence 
 of its public buildings.® In a.u. 88, Al-Walid‘ the First, 
 twelfth Caliph of the Benu Ummayah race, after build- 
 ing, or rather restoring, the noble ‘‘ Jami’ al-Ammawi” 
 (cathedral of the Ommiades) at Damascus, determined to 
 
 1 So I translate the Arabicised word ‘‘ Sj.” 
 
 2 Aplace about five miles from Al-Madinah, on the Meccan way 
 See Chap. XIV. 
 
 3 And curious to say Al-Islam still has the ee cathedral 
 in the world—St. Sophia’s at Constantinople. Next to this ranks 
 St. Peter’s at Rome; thirdly, I believe, the ‘‘ Jumma Masjid,” or 
 cathedral of the old Moslem city Bijapur in India; the fourth is St. 
 Paul's, London, 
 
 4 It is to this monarch that the Saracenic Mosque-architecture 
 mainly owes its present form. As will be seen, he had every advan- 
 tage of borrowing from Christian, Persian, and even Indian art. 
 From the first he took the dome, from the second the cloister—it 
 might have been naturalised in Arabia before his time—and possibly 
 from the third the minaret and the prayer-niche. The latterappears 
 to be a peculiarly Hindu feature i: sacred buildings, intended to con- — 
 tain the idol, and to support the lamps, flowers, and other: offerings . 
 placed before it. é 
 
AVII.—History of the Prophet's Mosque. 365 
 
 display his liberality at Al-Madinah. The governer of 
 the place, Umar bin Abd Al-Aziz, was directed to buy 
 ‘for seven thousand Dinars (ducats) all the hovels of raw 
 brick that hedged in the Eastern side of the old Mosque. 
 They were inhabited by descendants of the Prophet and 
 of the early Caliphs, and in more than one case, the 
 ejection of the holy tenantry was effected with consider- 
 able difficulty. Some of the women—ever the . most 
 obstinate on such occasions—refused to take money, and 
 Omar was forced to the objectionable measure of turning 
 them out of doors with exposed faces! in full day. The 
 Greek Emperor, applied to by the magnificent Caliph, 
 sent immense presents, silver lamp chains, valuable curi- 
 osities,’ forty loads of small cut stones for pietva-dura, and 
 a sum of eighty thousand Dinars, or, as others say, 
 forty thousand Miskals of gold. He also despatched 
 forty Coptic and forty Greek artists to carve the marble 
 pillars and the casings of the walls, and to superintend 
 the gilding and the mosaic work. One of these Christians 
 was beheaded for sculpturing a hog on the Kiblah wall; 
 and another, in an attempt to defile the roof, fell to the 
 ground, and his brains were dashed out. The remainder 
 Islamized, but this did not prevent the older Arabs mur- 
 muring that their Mosque had been turned into a Kanisah, 
 a Christian idol-house. 
 
 The Hujrah, or chamber, where, by Mohammed's 
 permission, Azrail, the Angel of Death, separated his 
 
 after Mohammed's marriage with Zaynab, his wives were secluded 
 behind the Hijab, Pardah, or curtain. A verse of the Koran directed 
 the Moslems toconverse with them behind this veil. Hencethe general 
 practice of Al-Islam: now it is considered highly disgraceful in any 
 Moslem to make a Moslemah expose her face, and she will frequently 
 found a threat upon the prejudice. A battle has been prevented by 
 this means, and occasionally an insurrection has been caused by it. 
 
 - 2 Amongst which some authors enumerate the goblet and the 
 mirror of Kisra. 
 
366 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 soul from his body, whilst his head was lying in the lap 
 of Ayishah, his favourite wife, was now for the first time 
 taken into the Mosque. The raw-brick enceinte! which 
 surrounded the three graves was exchanged for one of 
 carved stone, enclosed by an outer precinct with a nar- 
 row passage betwéen.? These double walls were either 
 without a door, or had only a small blocked-up wicket on — 
 the Northern side, and from that day (a.H. go), no one, 
 says Al-Samanhudi, has been able to approach the 
 sepulchre.? A minaret was erected at each corner of the 
 Mosque. The building was enlarged to 200 cubits by 
 167, and was finished in a.H. gt. When Al-Walid, the 
 Caliph, visited it in state, he inquired of his lieutenant 
 why greater magnificence had not been displayed in the 
 erection ; upon which Omar, the governor, informed him, 
 
 1 The outer wall, built by Al-Walid, remained till a.H. 550, when 
 Jamal al-Din of Isafahan, Wazir to Nur al-Din Shahid Mahmud bin 
 Zangi, supplied its place by a grating of open sandal woodwork, or, 
 as others say, of iron. About the same time, Sayyid Abu 'l Hayja 
 sent from Egypt a sheet of white brocade, embroidered in red silk 
 with the chapter Y. S., in order to cover the inner wall. This was 
 mounted on the accession of Al-Mustazi bi'llah, the Caliph, after 
 which it became the custom for every Sultan to renew the offering. 
 And in a.H. 688, Kalaun of Egypt built the outer network of brass 
 as it now is, and surmounted it with the Green Dome. 
 
 2 The inner wall, erected by Al-Walid, seems to have resisted the 
 fire which in a.H. 654 burnt the Mosque tothe ground. Also, in a.H. 
 886, when the building was consumed by lightning, the Hujrah was 
 spared by the devouring element. 
 
 3 After the Prophet'sdeath and burial, Ayishah continued tooccupy 
 the same room, without even a curtain between her and the tomb. 
 At last, vexed by the crowds of visitors, she partitioned off the hal. 
 lowed spot with a wall. She visited the grave unveiled as long as her 
 father Abu Bakr only was placed behind the Prophet; but when 
 Omar's corpse was added, she always covered her face. 
 
 4 One of these, the minaret at the Bab-al-Salam, was soon after- 
 wards overthrown by Al-Walid’s brother Sulayman, because it shaded 
 the house of Marwan, where he lodged during his visit to Al-Madinah 
 in the cold season. 
 
XVII _—History of the Prophet’s Mosque. 367 
 
 to his astonishment, that the walls alone had cost forty- 
 five thousand ducats.’ 
 
 The fourth Mosque was arbhtea in A.H. 191, by Al- 
 Mahdi, third prince of the Benu Abbas or Baghdad 
 Caliphs-—celebrated in history only for spending enor- 
 mous sums upon a pilgrimage. He enlarged the building 
 by adding ten handsome pillars of carved marble, with 
 gilt capitals, on the Northern side. In a.n. 202, Al- 
 Ma’amutn made further additions to this Mosque. It was 
 from Al-Mahdi’s Masjid that Al-Hakim bi’Amri ’llah, the 
 third Fatimite Caliph of Egypt, and the deity of the 
 Druze sect, determined to steal the bodies of the Prophet 
 and his two companions. About a.u. 412, he sent emis- 
 saries to Al-Madinah: the attempt, however, failed, and 
 the would-be violators of the tomb lost their lives. It 
 is generally supposed that Al-Hakim’s object was to 
 transfer the Visitation to his own capital; but in one so 
 manifestly insane it is difficult to discover the spring of 
 action. Two Christians, habited like Maghrabi pilgrims, 
 in A.H. 550, dug a mine from a neighbouring house into the 
 temple. They were discovered, beheaded, and burned to 
 ashes. In relating these events the Moslem historians 
 mix up many foolish preternaturalisms with credible 
 matter. At last, to prevent a recurrence of such sacri- 
 legious attempts, Al-Malik al-Adil Nur al-Din of the 
 Baharite Mamluk Sultans, or, according to others, Suitan 
 Nur al-Din Shahid Mahmud bin Zangi, who, warned by 
 a vision of the Apostle, had started for Al-Madinah only 
 in time to discover the two Christians, surrounded the 
 holy place with a deep trench filled with molten lead. 
 By this means Abu Bakr and Omar, who had run con- 
 siderable risks of their own, have ever since been us 
 to occupy their last homes dlerutbad: 
 
 In a.H. 654, the fifth Mosque was erected in conse- 
 quence of a fire, which some authors attribute to a 
 
 t The dinar (denarius) was a: gold. piece, a ducat, a sequin, - 
 
368 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 volcano that broke out close to the town in terrible 
 eruption’; others, with more fanaticism and less proba- 
 bility, to the schismatic Benu Husayn, then the guardians 
 of the tomb. On this occasion the Hujrah was saved, 
 together with the old and venerable copies of the Koran 
 there deposited, especially the Cufic MSS., written by 
 Osman, the third Caliph. The piety of three sovereigns, 
 Al-Mustasim (last Caliph of Baghdad), Al-Muzaffar 
 Shems al-Din Yusuf, chief of Al-Yaman, and Al-Zahir 
 Beybars, Baharite Sultan of Egypt, completed the work 
 in A.H. 688. This building was enlarged and beautified 
 by the princes of Egypt, and lasted upwards of two 
 hundred years. 
 
 The sixth Mosque was built, almost as it now stands, 
 by Kaid-Bey, nineteenth Sultan of the Circassian Mam- 
 luk kings of Egypt, in a.u. 888: it is now therefore more 
 than four centuries old. Al-Mustasim’s Mosque had 
 been struck by lightning during a storm; thirteen men 
 were killed at prayers, and the destroying element spared 
 nothing but the interior of the Hujrah.? The railing and 
 dome were restored; niches and a pulpit were sent from 
 Cairo, and the gates and minarets were distributed as 
 they are now. Not content with this, Kaid-Bey estab- 
 lished ‘‘ Wakf” (bequests) and pensions, and introduced 
 order among the attendants on the tomb. In the tenth 
 century, Sultan Sulayman the Magnificent paved with 
 fine white marble the Rauzah or garden, which Kaid-Bey, 
 not daring to alter, had left of earth, and erected the fine 
 minaret that bears his name. 
 
 1 I purpose to touch upon this event in a future chapter, when 
 describing my route from Al-Madinah to Meccah. 
 
 2 ‘‘On this occasion,”’ says Al-Samanhudi, quoted by Burckhardt, 
 ‘‘the interior of the Hujrah was cleared, and three deep graves were 
 found in the inside, full of rubbish, but the author of this history, 
 who himself entered it, saw no traces of tombs.” Yet in another 
 place he, an eye-witness, had declared that the coffin containing the 
 dust of Mohammed was cased with silver. I repeat these details. 
 
XVII.—History of the Prophet's Mosque. 369 
 
 During the dominion of the later Sultans, and of 
 Mohammed Ali, a few trifling presents, of lamps, carpets, 
 wax candles and chandeliers, and a few immaterial altera- 
 tions, have been made. The present head of Al-Islam is, 
 _as I have before said, rebuilding one of the minarets and 
 the Northern colonnade of the temple. 
 
 Such is the history of the Mosque’s prosperity. | 
 
 During the siege of Al-Madinah by the Wahhabis,! 
 the principal people seized and divided amongst them- 
 selves the treasures of the tomb, which must have been 
 considerable. When the town surrendered, Sa’ud, accom- 
 panied by his principal officers, entered the Hujrah, but, 
 terrified by dreams, he did not penetrate behind the 
 curtain, or attempt to see the tomb. He plundered, 
 however, the treasures in the passage, the ‘* Kaukab al- 
 Durri?” (or pearl star), and the ornaments sent as presents 
 from every part of Al-Islam. Part of these he sold, it is 
 said, for 150,000 Riyals (dollars), «o Ghalib, Sharif of 
 Meccah, and the rest he carried with him to Daraiyah, his 
 capital.? An accident prevented any further desecration of 
 the building. The greedy Wahhabis, allured by the appear- 
 ance of the golden or gilt globes and crescents surmounting 
 the green dome, attempted to throw down the latter. 
 Two of their number, it is said, were killed by falling 
 
 1 Burckhardt has given a full account of this event in his history 
 of the Wahhabis. 
 
 2 See Chapter XVI, ante. 
 
 3 My predecessor estimates the whole treasury in those days to 
 have been worth 300,000 Riyals,—a small sum, if we consider the 
 length of time during which it was accumulating. The chiefs of the 
 town appropriated 1 cwt. of golden vessels, worth at most 50,000 
 dollars, and Sa’ud sold part of the plunder to Ghalib for 100,000 
 (I was told one-third more), reserving for himself about the same 
 
 amount of pearls and corals. Burckhardt supposes that the governors 
 of Al-Madinah, who were often independent chiefs, and sometimes 
 guardians of the tombs, made occasional draughts upon the generosity 
 of the Faithful. 
 
370 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 from the slippery roof,! and the rest, struck by superstitious 
 fears, abandoned the work of destruction. They injured, 
 however, the prosperity of the place by taxing the 
 inhabitants, by interrupting the annual remittances, and 
 by forbidding visitors to approach the tomb. They are 
 spoken of with abhorrence by the people, who quote a 
 peculiarly bad trait in their characters, namely, that in 
 return for any small religious assistance of prayer or 
 recitation, they were in the habit of giving a few grains 
 of gunpowder, or something equally valuable, instead of 
 ‘*stone-dollars.?” 
 
 When Abdullah, son of Sa’ud, had concluded in a.p. | 
 1815 a treaty of peace with Tussun Pasha, the Egyptiap 
 General bought back from the townspeople, for 10,000 
 Riyals, all the golden vessels that had not been melted 
 down, and restored the treasure to its original place. | 
 This I have heard denied ; at the same time it rests upon 
 credible evidence. Amongst Orientals the events of the 
 last generation are, usually speaking, imperfectly remem- 
 bered, and the Olema are well acquainted with the history 
 of vicissitudes which took place 1200 years ago, when 
 profoundly ignorant of what their grandfathers witnessed. 
 Many incredible tales also I heard concerning the present 
 wealth of the Al-Madinah Mosque: this must be expected | 
 when the exaggeration is considered likely to confer 
 honour upon the exaggerator. 
 
 The establishment attached to the Al-Madinah | 
 Mosque is greatly altered since Burckhardt’s time,® the | 
 result of the increasing influence of the Turkish half- 
 
 1 I inquired in vain about the substance that covered the dome. 
 Some told me it was tinfoil; others supposed it to be rivetted with _ 
 green tiles. | 
 
 2 The Badawi calls a sound dollar ‘‘ Kirsh Hajar,” or “ Riyal 
 Hajar,"’ a ‘stone dollar.” . 
 
 3 At the same time his account is still carefully copied by our 
 popular and general authors, who, it is presumed, could easily become 
 better informed. 
 
A VII.—History of the Prophet's Mosque. 375 
 
 breeds. It is still extensive, because in the first place the 
 principle of divided labour is a favourite throughout the 
 East, and secondly because the Sons of the Holy Cities 
 naturally desire to extract as much as they can from the 
 Sons of other cities with the least amount of work. The 
 substance of the following account was given to me by 
 Omar Effendi, and I compared it with the information of 
 others upon whom I could rely. 
 
 The principal of the Mosque, or Shaykh al-Harim, ~ 
 is no longer a neuter.! The present is a Turkish Pasha, 
 Osman, appointed from Constantinople with a salary of 
 about 30,000 piastres a month. His Naib or deputy is a 
 black eunuch, the chief of the Aghawat,? upon a pay of 
 5000 piastres. The present principal of this college is 
 one Tayfur Agha, a slave of Esma Sultanah, sister to the 
 late Sultan Mahmud. The chief treasurer is called the 
 Mudir al-Harim; he keeps an eye upon the Khaznadar, 
 or treasurer, whose salary is 2000 piastres. The Mustas- 
 lim is the chief of the Katibs, or writers who settle the 
 
 1 The Persians in remote times, as we learn from Herodotus (lib. 
 6), were waited upon by eunuchs, and some attribute to them the 
 invention. Ammianus Marcellinus (lib. 14) ascribes the origin to 
 Semiramis. In Al-Islam, the employment of such persons about the 
 Mosque is a ‘‘ Bida’ah” or custom unknown in the time of the Pro- 
 phet. It is said to have arisen from the following three considera- 
 tions: 1. These people are concentrated in their professions; 2. They 
 must see and touch strange women at the shrines; and 3. The 
 shrines are ‘‘ Harim," or sacred, having adyta which are kept secret 
 from the prying eyes of men, and, therefore, should be served by 
 eunuchs. It is strange that the Roman Catholic church, as well as 
 the Moslem Mosque, should have admitted such an abomination. 
 
 2 One of these gentry, if called ‘‘ Tawdshi,’’—his generic name,— 
 'would certainly insult a stranger. The polite form of address to one 
 of them is ‘‘Agha’’—Master,—in the plural ‘‘Aghawat.” In partibus, 
 they exact the greatest respect frorm men, and the title of the Eunuch - 
 of the Tomb is worthaconsiderablesumtothem. The eunuchs of Al- 
 ‘Madinah are more numerous and better paid than those of Meccah‘ 
 they are generally the slaves of rich men at Constantinople, and 
 prefer this city on account of its climate. 
 
372 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 accounts of the Mosque; his payis 1500, and under him 
 is a Nakib or assistant upon 1000 piastres. There are 
 three Shaykhs of the eunuchs who receive from 700 
 ‘to 1000 piastres a month each. The eunuchs, about 
 
 a hundred and twenty in number, are divided into) 
 
 three orders. The Bawwabin, or porters, open the 
 doors of the Mosque. The Khubziyah sweep the purer 
 parts of the temple, and the lowest order, popularly 
 called ‘‘Battalin,’ clean away all impurities, beat 
 those found sleeping, and act as beadles, a duty here 
 which involves considerable use of the cane. These men 
 receive as perquisites presents from each visitor when 
 they offer him the usual congratulation, and for other 
 small favours, such as permitting strangers to light the 
 lamps,’ or to sweep the floor. Their pay varies from 250 
 
 to 500 piastres a month: they are looked upon as honour- 
 
 able men, and are, generally speaking, married, some of 
 them indulging in three or four wives,—which would have 
 aroused Juvenal’s bile. The Agha’s character is curious 
 and exceptional as his outward conformation. Discon- 
 nected with humanity, he is cruel, fierce, brave, and 
 capable of any villany. His frame is unnaturally long 
 and lean, especially the arms and legs, with high 
 shoulders, protruding joints, and a face by contrast 
 
 extraordinarily large ; he is unusually expert in the use 
 
 of weapons, and sitting well ‘‘ home,” he rides to admira- 
 
 tion, his hoarse, thick voice investing him with all the 
 
 circumstances of command. 
 Besides the eunuchs, there are a number of free ser- 
 vants, called Farrashin, attached to the Mosque; almost 
 
 all the middle and lower class of citizens belong to this _ 
 
 order. They are divided into parties of thirty each, and 
 
 are changed every week, those on duty receiving a Ghazi 
 
 or twenty-two piastres for their services. Their business 
 
 1 The “Sons of the City," however, are always allowed to da 
 
 such service gratis; if, indeed, they are not paid for it. 
 
X VII.—History of the Prophet's Mosque. 373 
 
 is to dust, and to spread the carpets, to put oil and wicks 
 into the lamps which the eunuchs let down from the ceil- 
 ing, and, generally speaking, diligently to do nothing. 
 Finally, the menial establishment of the Mosque con- 
 sists of a Shaykh al-Sakka (chief of the water-carriers), 
 under whom are from forty-five to fifty men who sprinkle 
 the floors, water the garden, and, for a consideration, 
 supply a cupful of brackish liquid to visitors. 
 
 The literary establishment is even more extensive 
 than the executive and the menial. There is a Kazi, or 
 chief judge, sent every year from Constantinople. After 
 twelve months at Al-Madinah, he passes on to Meccah, 
 and returns home after a similar term of service in the 
 second Holy City. Under him are three Mutftis,! of the 
 Hanafi, the Shafe’i, and the Maliki schools ; the fourth, or 
 Hanbali, is not represented here or at Cairo.2, Each of 
 these officers receives as pay about two hundred and fifty 
 piastres amonth. The Ruasa,*as the Mu’ezzins (prayer- 
 callers) here call themselves, are extensively represented ; 
 there are forty-eight or forty-nine of the lowest order, pre- 
 sided over by six Kubar or Masters, and these again are 
 under the Shaykh al-Ruasa, who alone has the privilege 
 of calling to prayers from the Raisiyah minaret. The 
 Shaykh receives a hundred and fifty piastres, the chiefs 
 about a hundred, and the common criers sixty ; there are 
 
 | 1 Others told me that there were only two muftis at Al-Madinah, 
 
 namely, those of the Hanafi and Shafe’i schools. If this betrue, it 
 proves the insignificance of the followers of Malik, which personage, 
 like others, is less known in his own town than elsewhere. 
 
 2 The Hanbali school is nowhere cominon except in Nijd, and 
 the lands Eastward as far as Al-Hasa. At present it labours under a 
 sort of imputation, being supposed to have thrown out a bad offshoot, 
 the Wahhabis. 
 
 3 ‘‘ Ruasa”’ is the plural of Rais, a chief or president. It is the 
 term yenerally applied in Arabia to the captain of a vessel, and in Al- 
 Yama it often means a barber, in virtue, I presume, of its root— 
 Ras, the head. 
 
374 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 forty-five Khatibs, who preach and pray before the con- 
 gregation on Fridays for a hundred and twenty piastres a 
 month ; they are under the Shaykh al-Khutaba. About 
 the same sum is given to seventy-five Imams, who recite 
 the five ordinary prayers of every day in the Mosque ; the 
 Shaykh al-Aimmat is their superior.! 
 
 Almost all the citizens of Al-Madinah who have not 
 some official charge about the temple qualify themselves 
 to act as Muzawwirs. They begin as boys to learn the : 
 formula of prayer, and the conducting of visitors ; and 
 partly by begging, partly by boldness, they often pick up 
 a tolerable livelihood at an early age. The Muzawwir will 
 often receive strangers into his house, as was done to me, 
 and direct their devotions during the whole time of their | 
 stay. For such service he requires a sum of money pro-| 
 portioned to his guests’ circumstances, but this fee does 
 not end the connexion. If the Muzawwir visit the home 
 of his Zair, he expects to be treated with the utmost hos- 
 pitality, and to depart with a handsome present. A reli- 
 gious visitor will often transmit to his cicerone at Meccah 
 and at Al-Madinah yearly sums to purchase for himself a 
 prayer at the Ka’abah and the Prophet’s Tomb. The 
 remittance is usually wrapped up in paper, and placed in 
 a sealed leathern bag, somewhat like a portfolio, upon 
 which is worked the name of the person entitled to receive 
 it. It is then given in charge either to a trustworthy ! 
 pilgrim, or to the public treasurer, who accompanies the 
 principal caravans. 
 
 I could procure no exact information about the amount 
 of money forwarded every year from Constantinople and 
 Cairo to Al-Madinah ; the only point upon which men 
 seemed to agree was that they were defrauded of half their 
 dues. When the Sadaka and Aukaf (thealmsand bequests) © 
 arrive at the town, they are committed by the Surrah, or 
 
 1 Some say that the Egyptian distinction between the Imam é 
 Khatib and the Imam igi does not obtain at Al-Madinah. 
 
XVII.—History of the Prophet's Mosque. 375 
 
 |financier of the caravan, to the Muftis, the chief of the 
 
 Khatibs, and the Kazi’s clerk. These officers form a com- 
 
 jmittee, and after reckoning the total of the families entitled 
 |to pensions, divide the money amongst them, according to 
 |the number in each household, and the rank of the pen- 
 \sioners. They are divided into five orders :— 
 
 The Olema, or learned, and the Mudarrisin, who pro- 
 fess, lecture, or teach adults in the Harim. 
 
 The Imams and Khatibs. 
 
 The descendants of the Prophet. 
 
 The Fukaha, poor divines, pedadogues, gerund- 
 grinders, who teach boys to read the Koran. 
 
 The Awam, or nobile vulgus of the Holy City, including 
 the Ahali, or burghers of the town, and the Mujawirin, or 
 those settled in the place. 
 
 Omar Effendi belonged to the second order, and he ~ 
 
 informed me that his share varied from three to fifteen 
 Riyals per annum. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 AL-MADINAH. 
 
 it is equally difficult to define, politically and geo- 
 graphically, the limits of Al-Hijaz. Whilst some authors, 
 as Abulfeda,’ fix its Northern frontier at Aylah (Fort Al- 
 ‘Akabah) and the Desert, making Al-Yaman its Southern 
 limit, others include in it only the tract of land lying 
 between Meccah and Al-Madinah. The country has no 
 natural boundaries, and its political limits change with 
 every generation ; perhaps, therefore, the best distribution 
 of its frontier would be that which includes all the property 
 called Holy Land, making Yambu’ the Northern, and Jed- 
 dah the Southern extremes, while a line drawn through Al- 
 Madinah, Suwayrkiyah, and Jabal Kora—the mountain of 
 Taif—might represent its Eastern boundary. Thus Al- 
 Hijaz would be an irregular parallelogram, about two 
 hundred and fifty miles in length, with a maximum 
 breadth of one hundred and fifty miles. 
 
 Two meanings are assigned to the name of this 
 venerated region. Most authorities make it mean the 
 ‘‘ Separator,” the “ Barrier,” between Nijd and Tahamah,? 
 or between Ai-Yaman and Syria. According to others, it 
 signifies the ‘‘ colligated,” +.e. by mountains. It is tobe 
 observed that the people of the country, especially the 
 Badawin, distinguish the lowlands from the high regions 
 
 1 To the East he limits Al-Hijaz by Yamamah (which some include 
 in it), Nijd, and the Syrian desert, and to the West by the Red Sea. 
 The Greeks, not without reason, included it in their Arabia Petrzea. 
 Niebuhr places the Southern boundary at Hali, a little town south 
 
 of Al-Hijaz to the South 
 2 Or, according to others, between A]-Yaman and Syria, 
 
XVIII,—Al-Madinah. 377 
 
 by different names ; the former are called Tahamat al- 
 Hijaz—the sea coast of Al-Hijaz, as we should say in 
 India, ‘‘below the Ghauts;”’ the latter is known peculiarly 
 as Al-Hijaz.! 
 
 Madinat al-Nabi,? the Prophet’s City, or, as it is 
 
 —— 
 
 1 If you ask a Badawi near Meccah, whence his fruit comes, he 
 will reply ‘“‘min Al-Hijaz,” ‘from the Hijaz,’’ meaning from the 
 ‘mountainous part of the country about Taif. This would be an 
 argument in favour of those who make the word to signify a ‘‘ place 
 tied together,” (by mountains). It is notorious that the Badawin are 
 the people who best preserve the use of old and disputed words; for 
 which reason they were constantly referred to by the learned in the 
 _palmy days of Moslem philology. ‘‘ Al-Hijaz,” also, in this signifi- 
 cation, well describes the country, a succession of ridges and mountain 
 _chains ; whereas sucha name as ‘‘the barrier’? would appear to be 
 rather the work of some geographer in his study. Thus Al-Nijd was 
 so called from its high and open lands, and, briefly, in this part of 
 the world, names are most frequently derived from some physical and 
 material peculiarity uf soil or climate. 
 2 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 
 ‘Al-Madinah could not fail to be rich in nomenclature. A Hadis 
 declares, ‘“‘to Al-Madinah belong ten names’: books, however, 
 enumerate nearly a hundred, of which a few will suffice as a speci- 
 men. Tabah, Tibah, Taibah, Tayyibah, and Mutayyibah, (from the 
 root ‘‘Tib,”’ ‘good,’ ‘‘sweet,’’ or ‘‘lawful,’’) allude to the physical excel- 
 lencies of Al-Madinah as regards climate—the perfume of the 
 Prophet's tomb, and of the red rose, which was a thorn before it blos- 
 somed by the sweat of his brow—and to its being free from all moral 
 impurity, such asthe presence of Infidels, or worshippers of idols. 
 Monammed declared that he was ordered by Allah to change the name 
 cf the place to Tabah, from Yasribor Asrib. The latter, according to 
 some, was a proper name of a son of Noah; others apply it originally 
 to a place west of Mount Ohod, not to Al-Madinah itself; and quote 
 the piural form of the word, ‘‘Asarib,” (‘‘spots abounding in palms and 
 fountains,"’) as a proof that it does not belong exclusively to a person. 
 However this may be, the inauspicious signification of Yasrib, whose 
 root is ‘‘ Sarab,"’ (destruction,) and the notorious use of the name by 
 the Pagan Acabs, have combined to make it, like the other heathen 
 designation, Al-Ghalabah, obsolete, and the pious Moslem who pro- 
 nounces tne word is careful to purify his mouth by repeating ten 
 times the name ‘‘Al-Madinah."’ Barah and Barrah allude to its 
 
378 | Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah 
 
 usually called for brevity, Al-Madinah, the City, is situated 
 on the borders of Nijd, upon the vast plateau of high land 
 
 obedience and purity; Hasunah to its beauty; Khayrah and Khay- 
 yarah to its goodness; Mahabbah, Habibah and Mahbubah, to the 
 favour it found in the eyes of the Prophet; whilst Jabirah, Jabbarah, — 
 and Jabarah, (from the root Jabr, joining or breaking), at once denote _ 
 its good influence upon the fortunes of the Faithful and its evil effects 
 _ upon the Infidel. ‘ Al-Iman,” (the Faith,) is the name under which 
 it is hinted at in the Koran. It is called Shafiyah (the Healer), on 
 account of the curative effects of earth found in its neighbourhood ; 
 Nasirah, the Saving, and Asimah, the Preserving, because Moham- 
 med and his companions were there secure from the fury of their 
 foes; Fazihah, the Detector; from its exposing the Infidel and the 
 hypocrite; Muslimah and Muminah, the Faithful City; Mubarakah, 
 the Blessed; Mahburah, the Happy; and Mahturah, the Gifted. 
 Mahrusah, the Guarded ; and Mahfuzah, the Preserved, allude to the 
 belief that an angel sits in each of its ten main streets, to watch over — 
 the town, and to prevent “ Antichrist ” entering therein. “ Al- 
 Dajjal,”’ as this personage is called, will arise in the East and will 
 peregrinate the earth ; but he will be unable to penetrate into Meccah; 
 and on approaching Jabal Ohod, in sight of Al-Madinah, he will turn 
 off towards his death-place, Al-Sham (Damascus). In the Taurat or 
 Pentateuch, the town is called Mukaddasah, the Holy, or Marhumah 
 the Pitied, in allusion to the mission of Mohammed ; Marzukah, the 
 Fed, is a favourable augury of plenty to it, and Miskinah, the Poor, 
 hints that it is independent of treasure of gold or store of silver to 
 keep up its dignity. Al-Makarr, means the Residence or the Place 
 of Quiet; Makinat, the Firmly-fixed, (in the right faith); Al-Harim, 
 the Sacred or Inviolable ; and, finally, Al-Balad, the Town, and Al- 
 Madinah, the City by excellence. So an inhabitant calls himself Al- 
 Madani, whilst the natives of other and less-favoured ‘* Madinahs”’ 
 affix Madini to their names. Its titles are Arz-Allah, Allah’s Land; 
 Arz al-Hijrah, the Land of Exile; Akkalat al-Buldan, the Eater of 
 Towns; and Akkalat al-Kura, the Eater of Villages, on account of 
 its superiority, even as Meccah is entitled Umm al-Kura, the Mother 
 of Villages; Bayt Rasul Allah, House of Allah’s Prophet; Jazirat al- 
 Arab, Isle of the Arab; and Harim Rasul Allah, the Sanctuary of 
 Allah's Prophet. In books and letters it has sometimes the title of 
 Madinah Musharrafah, the Exalted; more often that of Madinah 
 Munawwarah, the Enlightened—sc!. by the lamp of faith and the 
 column of light supposed to be based upon the Prophet's tomb. The 
 Moslems are not the only people who lay claim to Al-Madinah. 
 
 € 
 
 According to some authors—and the legend is more credible than " 
 
X VITI.—Al-Madinah. 379 
 
 which forms central Arabia. The limits of the sanctuary 
 called the Huddd al-Harim, as defined by the Apostle, 
 may still serve to mark out thecity’s plain. Northwards, 
 at a distance of about three miles, is Jabal Ohod, or, 
 according to others, Jabal Saur, a hill somewhat beyond 
 Ohod ; these are the last ribs of the vast tertiary and 
 primitive chine! which, extending from Taurus to near 
 Adea, and from Aden again to Maskat, fringes the Arabian 
 
 trapezium. To the South-west the plain is bounded by 
 
 ridges of scoriaceous basalt, and by a buttress of rock 
 called Jabal Ayr, like Ohod, about three miles distant 
 from the town. Westward, according to some authors, 
 is the Mosque Zu'l-Halifah. On the East there are no 
 natural landmarks, nor even artificial, like the ‘ Ala- 
 mayn” at Meccah; an imaginary line, therefore, is 
 drawn, forming an irregular circle of which the town is 
 the centre, with a diameter from ten to twelve miles. 
 Such is the sanctuary.? Geographically considered, the 
 
 first sight it would appear—the old Guebres had in Arabia and Persia 
 seven large fire temples, each dedicated toa planet. At ‘‘ Mahdinah,” 
 as they pervert the word, was an image of the Moon, wherefore the 
 place was originally called the ‘‘ Religion of the Moon.’ These 
 Guebres, amongst other sacred spots. claim Meccah, where they say 
 Saturn and the Moon were conjointly venerated; Jerusalem, the 
 Tomb of Ali at Najaf, that of Hosayn at Kerbela,and others. These 
 pretensions of course the Moslems deny with insistance, which does 
 not prevent certain symptoms of old and decayed faith peeping out 
 in localities where their presence, if duly understood, would be con- 
 sidered an abomination. This curious fact is abundantly evident 
 in Sind, and I have already alluded to it (History of Sind). 
 
 1 Such is its formation in Al-Hijaz. 
 
 2 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 latrine nearer to Al-Madinah 
 than Jabal Ayr, a distance of about three miles. He also forbids 
 slaying wild animals, but at the same time he specifies no punish- 
 ment for the offence. Some do not allow the felling of trees, 
 alleging that the Prophet enjoined their preservation as an ornament 
 to the city, and a pleasure to visitors. Al-Khattabi, on the contrary, 
 permits people to cut wood, and this is certainly the general practice. 
 
380 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 plain is bounded, on the East, with a thin line of lov 
 dark hills, traversed by the Darb al-Sharki, or the “ East-h 
 ern road,” through Al-Nijd to Meccah: Southwards, the}! 
 plateau is open, and almost perfectly level as far as the} 
 eye can see. 
 
 Al-Madinah dates its origin doubtless from ancient 
 times, and the cause of its prosperity is evident in the 
 abundant supply of water, a necessary generally scarce in 
 Arabia. The formation of the plateau is in some places 
 salt sand, but usually a white chalk, and a loamy clay, 
 which even by the roughest manipulation makes tolerable 
 bricks. Limealsoabounds. The town is situated upon a} 
 gently-shelving part of the plain, the lowest portion of 
 which, to judge from the versant, is at the southern base 
 of Mount Ohod, hence called Al-Safilah, and the highest 
 at the Awali, or plains about Kuba, and the East. | 
 
 The Southern and South-Eastern walls of the suburb 
 are sometimes carried away by violent *¢ Sayl,” or tor-| 
 rents, which, after rain, sweep down from the Western as | 
 
 EE | 
 All authors strenuously forbid 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 honour, | 
 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 inter- | 
 cede for, and aid, all those who die, and are buried, at Al-Madinah. | 
 Therefore, the Imam Malik made but one pilgrimage to Meccah, | 
 fearing to leave his bones in any other cemetery but Al-Bakia. 
 There is, however, much debate concerning the comparative sanctity _ 
 of Al-Madinah and Meccah. Some say Mohammed preferred 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, Al-Madinah, it is evident, had the honour of 
 supplying materials for the Prophet's person. Others, like Omar, 
 
 were uncertain in favour of which city to decide. Others openly 
 
 assert the pre-eminence of Meccah; the general consensus of Al-Islam 
 
 preferring Al-Madinah to Meccah, save only the Bayt Allah in the & 
 latter city. ‘This last is a juste-milicu view, by nO meansin favour with 7 
 the inhabitants of either place. In the meanwhile the Meccans claim _ 
 unlimited superiority over the Madani; the Madani over the Meccans. _ 
 
X VIII.—Al-Madinah. 381 
 
 yell as from the Eastern highlands. The water-flow is 
 owards Al-Ghabbah, lowlands in the Northern and 
 Nestern hills, a little beyond Mount Ohod. This basin 
 eceives the drainage of the mountains and the plain ; 
 ecording ‘to some absorbing it, according to others col- 
 ecting it till of sufficient volume to ficw off to the sea. 
 Nater, though abundant, is rarely of good quality. 
 n the days of the Prophet, the Madani consumed the 
 sroduce of wells, seven of which are still celebrated by the 
 yeople.1 Historians relate that Omar, the second Caliph, 
 wrovided the town with drinking-water from the Northern 
 varts of the plains by means of an aqueduct. The modern 
 ity is supplied by a source called the Ayn al-Zarka or 
 \zure Spring,? which arises some say at the foot of Mount 
 \yr, others, with greater probability, in the date-groves 
 ~ Kuba. Its waters were first brought to Al-Madinah 
 yy Marwan, governor in Al-Mu’awiyah’s day. It now 
 lows down a subterraneous canal, about thirty feet below 
 he surface ; in places the water is exposed to the air, and 
 
 1 These seven wells will be noticed in Chapter XIX., post. 
 
 21 translate Al-Zarka ‘‘azure,’’ although Sir G. Wilkinson 
 emarks, apropos of the Bahr al-Azrak, generally translated by us the 
 ‘Blue Nile,” that, ‘‘ when the Arabs wish to say dark or jet black, 
 hey use the word ‘Azrak.’"’ It is true that Azrak is often applied to 
 ndeterminate dark hues, but ‘* Aswad,” not Azrak, is the opposite to 
 \byaz, ‘‘ white.” Moreover, Al-Zarka in the feminine is applied to 
 vomen with light blue eyes; this would be no distinctive appellation 
 f it signified black eyes, the almost universal colour. Zarka of 
 Yamamah is the name of a celebrated heroine in Arab story, and the 
 turious reader, who wishes to see how much the West is indebted to 
 he East, even for the materials of legend, will do well to peruse her 
 hort history in Major Price’s ‘‘Essay,’’ or M. C. de Perceval’s 
 ‘ Essai,” &c., vol. i., p. 101. Both of these writers, however, assert 
 hat Zarka’s eyes, when cut out, were found to contain fibres 
 jlackened by the use of Kohl, and they attribute to her the invention of 
 his pigment. I have often heard the legend from the Arabs, who 
 leclare that she painted her eyes with ‘‘Ismid,” a yellow metal, of 
 what kind I have never been able to determine, although its name i5 
 verywhere known. 
 
382 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 steps lead to it for the convenience of the inhabitants 
 this was the work of Sultan Sulayman the Magnificen 
 After passing through the town it turns to the North-wes) 
 its course being marked by a line of circular walls breas 
 high, like the Kariz of Afghanistan, placed at unequ:| 
 distances, and resembling wells : it then loses itself in th 
 Nakhil or palm-groves. During my stay at Al-Madinal 
 I always drank this water, which appeared to me, a 
 the citizens declared it to be, sweet and wholesome, 
 There are many wells in the town, as water is foun 
 at about twenty feet below the surface of the soil: fey 
 produce anything fit for drinking, some being salt am 
 others bitter. As usual in the hilly countries of thi 
 East, the wide beds and Fiumaras, even in the dr 
 season, will supply travellers for a day or two with ai 
 abundance of water, filtrated through, and, in some cases 
 flowing beneath the sand. 
 
 The climate of the plain is celebrated for a long, and 
 comparatively speaking, a rigorous winter; a populai 
 saying records the opinion of the Apostle “that he whe 
 patiently endures the cold of Al-Madinah and the heat oi 
 Meccah, merits a reward in Paradise.” Iceis not seen in 
 the town, but may frequently be met with, it is said, on 
 Jabal Ohod; fires are lighted in the houses during 
 winter, and palsies attack those who at this season im: 
 prudently bathe in unwarmed water. The fair com- 
 plexions of the people prove that this account of the 
 brumal rigours is not exaggerated. Chilly and violent 
 winds from the Eastern Desert are much dreaded, and 
 though Ohod screens the town on the North and North- 
 East, a gap in the mountains to the North-West fills the 
 
 1 Burckhardt confounds the Ayn al-Zarka with the Bir al- 
 Khatim, or Kuba well, of whose produce the surplus only mixes. 
 with it, and he complains loudly of the ‘detestable water of 
 Madinah.” But he was ill at the time, otherwise he would not have 
 
 condemned it so strongly after eulogising the salt-bitter produce of 
 the Meccan Zemzem. P 
 
AVITII. 
 
 Al-Madinah. 383 
 
 air at times with raw and comfortless blasts. The rains 
 begin in October, and last with considerable intervals 
 through six months; the clouds, gathered by the hill-tops 
 and the trees near the town, discharge themselves with 
 violence, and about the equinoxes, thunder-storms are 
 common. At such times the Barr al-Manakhah, or the 
 Open space between the town and the suburbs, is a sheet 
 of water, and the land near the Southern and the South- 
 Eastern wall of the faubourg becomes a pool. Rain, how- 
 ever, is not considered unhealthy here; and the people, un- 
 like the Meccans and the Cairenes, expect it with pleasure, 
 Betatise it improves their date-trees and fruit planta- 
 tions.! In winter it usually rains at night, in spring during 
 the morning, and in summer about evening time. This 
 is the case throughout Al-Hijaz, as explained by the poet 
 ‘Labid in these lines, which describe the desolate site of 
 an old encampment :— 
 “Tt (the place) hath been fertilised by the first spring showers of the 
 constellations, and hath been swept by 2 
 - The incessant torrents of the thunder-clouds, falling in heavy and 
 in gentle rains, 
 From each night-cloud, and heavily dropping morning-cloud, 
 And the even-cloud, whose crashings are re-echoed from around." 
 And the European reader will observe that the Arabs 
 generally reckon three seasons, including our autumn, in 
 their summer. The hot weather at Al-Madinah appeared 
 to me as extreme as the hibernal cold is described to be, 
 but the air was dry, and the open plain prevented the 
 faint and stagnant sultriness which distinguishes Meccah. 
 Moreover, though the afternoons were close, the nights 
 and the mornings were cool and dewy. At this season 
 the citizens sleep on the house-tops, or on the ground 
 
 1 The people of Nijd, as Wallin informs us, believe that the more 
 the palms are watered, the more syrup will the fruit produce; they 
 therefore inundate the ground, as often as possible. At Al-Jauf, 
 where the date is peculiarly good, the trees are watered regularly 
 every third or fourth day. 
 
384 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, 
 
 outside their doors. Strangers must follow this example} 
 with considerable circumspection ; the open air is safe} 
 in the Desert, but in cities it causes, to the unaccustomed, | 
 violent catarrhs and febrile affections. | 
 
 I collect the following notes upon the diseases and | 
 medical treatment of the Northern Hijaz. Al-Madinah| 
 has been visited four times by the Rih al-Asfar! (yellow 
 wind), or Asiatic Cholera, which is said to have com-| 
 mitted great ravages, sometimes carrying off whole house- | 
 holds. In the Rahmat al-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 Al-Madinah, that the Taun, | 
 or plague, has never passed her frontier.2. The Judari, or 
 smallpox, 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 
 time it"sometimes sweeps through Arabia and the Somali 
 
 1 Properly meaning the Yellow Wind or Air. The antiquity of the | 
 word and its origin are still disputed. 
 
 2 Burckhardt (Tvavels in Arabia, vol. ii.) informs us, that in 
 A.D. 1815, when Meccah, Yambu’, and Jeddah suffered severely from | 
 the plague, Al-Madinah and the open country between the two sea- 
 ports escaped. | 
 
 3 Conjecture, however, goes a litcle too far when it discovers 
 small-pox in the Tayr Ababil, the ‘‘ swallow birds,"’ which, according 
 to the Koran, destroyed the host of Abrahat al-Ashram. Major | 
 Price (Essay) may be right in making Ababil the plural of Abilah, a | 
 vesicle; but it appears to me that the former is an Arabic and. the | 
 latter a Persian word, which have no connection whatever. M.C.de | 
 Perceval, quoting the Sirat al-Rasul, which says that at that time | 
 small-pox first appeared in Arabia, ascribes the destruction of the | 
 host of Al-Yaman to an epidemic and a violent tempest. Thestrangest | 
 part of the story is, that although it occurred at Meccah, about two 
 months before Mohammed's birth, and, therefore, within the memory _ 
 of many living at the time, the Prophet alludes to it in the Koran a 
 a miracle. | 
 
XVITI.—A1-Madinah. 385 
 
 country with desolating violence. In the town of Al- 
 Madinah it is fatal to children, many of whom, however, 
 are in these days inoculated!: amongst the Badawin, old 
 men die of it, but adults are rarely victims, either in the 
 City or in the Desert. The nurse closes up the room 
 whilst the sun is up, and carefully excludes the night 
 air, believing that, as the disease is “hot,?” a breath of 
 wind will kill the patient. During the hours of darkness, 
 a lighted candle or lamp is always placed by the side of 
 the 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 (antimony) drunk in water, and the same is drawn 
 along the breadth of the eyelid, to prevent blindness. 
 The diet is Adas (lentils),® and a peculiar kind of date, 
 called Tamr al-Birni. On the twenty-first day the 
 patient is washed with salt and tepid water. 
 
 Ophthalmia is rare.‘ In the summer, quotidian and 
 
 OR ee re ee, ee ee ee 
 
 — 
 
 rr re a ee ee 
 
 t In Al-Yaman, weare told by Niebuhr, arude form of inoculation— 
 the mother pricking the child’s arm with a thorn—has been known 
 from time immemorial. My Madinah friend assured me that only 
 during the Jast generation, this practice has been introduced amongst 
 the Badawin of Al-Hijaz. 
 
 2 Orientals divide their diseases, as they do remedies and articles 
 of diet, into hot, cold, and temperate. 
 
 3 This grain is cheaper than rice on the banks of the Nile—a fact 
 which enlightened England, now paying a hundred times its value 
 for “‘ Revalenta Arabica," apparently ignores. 
 
 4 Herodotus (Euierpe) has two allusions to eye disease, which 
 seems to have afflicted the Egyptians from the most ancient times. 
 Sesostris:ths 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 clean- 
 liness of the people, and the attention paid to the canals and drainage, 
 probably prevented this malarious disease becoming the scourge which 
 itisnow. The similarity of the soil and the climate of Egypt to those of 
 VOL. I, O 
 
386 - Pilgrmage to Al-Madmah and Meccah. 
 
 tertian fevers (Hummah Salis) are not uncommon, and | 
 if accompanied by emetism, they are frequently fatal. | 
 
 at arte Pan 
 Upper Sind, 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 dryness to excessive damp checking the invisible perspiration 
 of the circumorbital 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 Al-Hijaz, who live in an atmosphere of blaze and 
 sand, seldom lose their sight. The Egyptian usually catches ophthal.- | 
 mia in his childhood. It begins with simple conjunctivitis, caused | 
 by constitutional predisposition, exposure, 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 sane 
 organ becomes affected sympathetically. As before, simple disease of 
 the conjunctiva passes into purulent ophthalmia. The man, after 
 waiting a while, will go to the doctor and show a large cicatrix in 
 each eye, the result of an ulcerated cornea. Physic can do nothing 
 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 Mu’ezzin, or by en- 
 gaging himself as ‘ Yamaniyah,”’ or chaunter, at funerals. His 
 children are thus predisposed to the paternal complaint, and gradually 
 the race becomes tender-eyed. Most travellers have observed that 
 imported African slaves seldom become blind either in Egypt or in 
 Sind. Few Englishmen settled in Egypt lose their sight, except they 
 be medical men, who cannot afford time to nurse the early symptoms. 
 The use of coffee and of water as beverages has much to do with this. 
 In the days of hard drinking our Egyptian army suffered severely, 
 and the Austrian army in Tuscany showed how often blindness is 
 caused by importing Northern habits into Southern countries. Many 
 Europeans in Egypt wash their eyes with cold water, especially after 
 walking, and some use oncea day a mildly astringent or cooling wash, 
 as Goulard’s lotion or vinegar and water. They avoid letting flies 
 settle upon their eyes, and are of opinion that the evening dews are 
 prejudicial, and that sleeping with open windows lays the foundation 
 of disease. Generally when leaving a hot room, especially a Nile. 
 poat cabin, for the cold damp night air, the more prudent are carefu 
 
A VITI.—Al-Madinah. 387 
 
 The attack generally begins with the Naffazah, or cold fit, 
 and is followed by Al-Hummah, the hot stage. The 
 principal remedies are cooling drinks, such as Sikanjabin 
 (oxymel) and syrups. After the fever the face and body 
 frequently swell, and indurated lumps appear on the legs 
 and stomach. There are also low fevers, called simply 
 IIummah ; they are usually treated by burning charms 
 in the patient’s room. Jaundice and bilious complaints 
 are common, and the former is popularly cured in a 
 peculiar way. The sick man looks into a pot full of 
 water, whilst the exorciser, 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 looses the com- 
 
 _ to bathe and to wipe the eyes and forehead as a preparation for change 
 
 of atmosphere. During my short practice in Egypt I found the 
 greatest advantage from the employment of counter-irritants,— 
 blisters and Pommade Emétisé,—applied to the temples and behind 
 the ears. Native practitioners greatly err by confining their patients 
 in dark rooms, thereby injuring the general health and laying the 
 foundation of chronic disease. They are ignorant that, unless the 
 optic nerve be affected, the stimulus of light is beneficial to the eye. 
 And the people by their dress favour the effects of glare and dust. 
 The Tarbush, no longer surrounded as of old by a huge turband, is 
 the least efficient of protectors, and the comparative rarity of 
 ophthalmic disease among the women, who wear veils, proves that 
 the exposure is one of its co-efficient causes. 
 
 1 This invention dates from the most ancient times, and both in 
 the East and in the West has been used by the weird brotherhood to 
 produce the appearances of the absent and the dead, to discover 
 treasure, to detect thieves, to cure disease, and to learn the secrets of 
 the unknown world. The Hindus called it Anjan, and formed it by 
 applying lamp-black, made of a certain root, and mixed with oil 
 to the palm of a footling child, male or female. The Greeks used oil 
 poured intoaboy’shand. Cornelius Agrippahad acrystal mirror, which 
 material also served the Counts de Saint Germain and Cagliostro. Dr. 
 Dee's ‘‘ show-stone" was a bit of cannel coal. The modern Sindians 
 know the art by the name of Gahno or Vinyano; there, as in 
 Southern Persia, ink is rubbed upon the seer’s thumb-nail. The 
 people of Northern Africa are considered skilful in this science, and I 
 
388 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 plaint. Dysenteries frequently occur in the fruit season, 
 when the greedy Arabs devour all manner of unripe 
 
 a 
 have a Maghrabi magic formula for inking the hand of a “ boy, a black 
 slave girl, a virgin, or a pregnant woman,” which differs materially 
 from those generally known. The modern Egyptians call it Zarb al- 
 Mandal, and there is scarcely a man in Cairo who does not know 
 something about it. In selecting subjects to hold the ink, they 
 observe the right hand, and reject ali who have not what is called in 
 palmistry the “linea media naturalis’’ straight and deeply cut. 
 Even the barbarous Finns look into a glass of brandy, and the natives 
 of Australia gaze ata kind ofshining stone. Lady Blessington’s crystal 
 ball is fresh in the memory of the present generation, and most men 
 have heardof Electro-Biology and the Cairo magician. Uponthis latter 
 subject, a vexed one, I must venture a few remarks. In the first 
 account of the magician by Mr. Lane, we have a fair and dispassionate 
 recital of certain magical, mystical, or mesmeric phenomena, which | 
 ‘excited considerable curiosity and interest thoughout the civilised 
 world.” As usual in such matters, the civilised world was wholly 
 ignorant of what was going on at home ; otherwise, in London, Paris, 
 and New York, they might have found dozens studying the science. 
 But a few years before, Dr. Herklots had described the same practice 
 in India, filling three goodly pages ; but he called his work ‘“ Qanoon- 
 j-Islam,"” and, consequently, despite its excellencies, it fell still-born 
 from the press. Lady H. Stanhope frequently declared ‘the spell 
 by which the face of an absent person is thrown upon a mirror to be 
 within the reach of the humblest and most contemptible of magi- 
 cians; but the civilised world did not care to believe a prophetess. 
 All, however, were aroused by Mr. Lane’s discovery, and determined 
 to decide the question by the ordeal of reason. Accordingly, in A.D. 
 1844, Mr. Lane, aided by Lord Nugent and others, discovered that a 
 coarse and stupid fraud’ had been perpetrated upon him by Osman — 
 Effendi, the Scotchman. In 1845, Sir G. Wilkinson remarked of this 
 rationalism, ‘‘ The explanation lately offered, that Osman Effendi was 
 in collusion with the magician, is neither fair on him nor satisfactory, | 
 as he was not present when those cases occurred which were made so | 
 much of in Europe,” and he proposed “leading questions and acci- 
 dents" as the word of the riddle. Eothen attributed the whole affair | 
 to “shots,” as schoolboys call them, and ranked success under the 
 head of Paley’s ‘tentative miracles.” A writer in the Quarterly ex- 
 plained them by suggesting the probability of divers (impossible) optical 
 combinations, and, lest the part of belief should have been left unre: | 
 presented, Miss Martineau was enabled to see clear signs of mes- 
 
 meric action, and by the decisive experiment of self, discovered the 
 
 ae | 
 
AVIII.—Al-Madinah. 389 
 
 peaches, grapes, and pomegranates. The popular treat- 
 ment is by the actual cautery; the scientific affect the 
 use of drastics and astringent simples, and the Bizr 
 al-Kutn (cotton-seed), toasted, pounded, and drunk in 
 warm water. Almost every one here, as in Egypt, 
 suffers more or less from hemorrhoids ; they are treated 
 by dietetics—eggs and leeks—and by a variety of drugs, 
 Myrobalans, Lisan-al-Hamal (Arnoglossum), etc. But the 
 patient looks with horror at the scissors and the knife, so 
 that they seldom succeed in obtaining a radical cure. The 
 Filaria Medinensis, locally called ‘* Farantit,” is no longer 
 common at the place which gave it its European name. 
 At Yambu’, however, the people suffer much from the Vena 
 appearing in the legs. The complaint is treated here as 
 in India and in Abyssinia: when the tumour bursts, and 
 the worm shows, it is extracted by being gradually 
 wound round a splinter of wood. NHydrophobia is rare, 
 and the people have many superstitions about it. They 
 suppose that a bit of meat falls from the sky, and that a 
 dog eating it becomes mad. I was assured by respectable 
 persons, that when a man is bitten, they shut him up 
 with food, in a solitary chamber, for four days, and that 
 if at the end of that time he still howls like a dog, they 
 expel the Ghul (demon) from him, by pouring over him 
 boiling water mixed with ashes—a certain cure I can 
 zasily believe. The only description of leprosy known in 
 Al-Hijaz is that called “Al-Baras”: it appears in white 
 patches on the skin, seldom attacks any but the poorer 
 tlasses, and is considered incurable. Wounds are treated 
 by Markham, or ointments, especially by the ‘* Balesan,” 
 
 or Balm of Meccah; a cloth is tied round the limb, and 
 
 Magic to be an ‘affair of mesmerism.” Melancholy to relate, 
 after all this philosophy, the herd of travellers at Cairo is still divided 
 in opinion about the magician, some holding his performance to be 
 "all humbug," others darkly hinting that ‘there may be something 
 in it.” 
 
390 Pilgrimage to Al-Madimah and Meccah. 
 
 not removed till the wound heals, which amongst this 
 people of simple life, generally takes place by first inten- 
 tion. Ulcers are common in Al-Hijaz, as indeed all over 
 Arabia. We read of them in ancient times. In A.D. 
 504, the poet and warrior, Amr al-Kays, died of this 
 dreadful disease, and it is related that when Mohammed 
 Abu Si Mohammed, in a.H. 132, conquered Al-Yaman with 
 an army from Al-Hijaz, he found the people suffering 
 from sloughing and mortifying sores, SO terrible to look 
 upon that he ordered the sufferers to be burnt alive 
 Fortunately for the patients, the conqueror died suddenly 
 before his inhuman mandate was executed. These sores 
 here, as in Al-Yaman,’ are worst when upon the shir 
 bones; they eat deep into the leg, and the patient die: 
 of fever and gangrene. They are treated on first ap 
 pearance by the actual cautery, and, when practicable 
 by cutting off the joint; the drugs popularly applied ar 
 Tutiya (tutty) and verdigris. There is no cure but rest 
 a generous diet, and change of air. 
 
 By the above short account it will be seen that th 
 Arabs are no longer the most skilful physicians in th 
 world. They have, however, one great advantage in thei 
 practice, and they are sensible enough to make free us 
 of it. As the children of almost all the respectabl 
 citizens are brought up in the Desert, the camp become 
 to them a native village. In cases of severe wounds ¢ 
 chronic diseases, the patient is ordered off to the Blac 
 Tents, where he lives as a Badawi, drinking camel; 
 milk (a diet for the first three or four days highly cathartic 
 and doing nothing. This has been the practice from tim 
 immemorial in Arabia, whereas Europe is only beginnin| 
 to systematise the adhibition of air, exercise, and simp) 
 living. And even now we are obliged to veil it under th 
 garb of charlatanry—to call it a “milk-cure” in Switze 
 
 fo ee 
 1 They distinguish, however, between the Hijaz ‘“‘Nasur’’ an 
 the “ Jurh al-Yamani,” or the “ Yaman Ulcer.” | 
 
XVITI.—Al-Madinah. 391 
 
 land, 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. 
 
 Al-Madinah consists of three parts,—a town, a fort, 
 and a suburb little smaller than the body of the place. The 
 town itself is about one-third larger than Suez, or nearly 
 half the size of Meccah. It is a walled enclosure forming 
 an irregular oval with four gates. The Bab al-Shami, or 
 “Syrian Gate,” in the North-West side of the enceinte, 
 leads towards Jabal Ohod, Hamzah’s burial-place, and the 
 mountains. In the Eastern wall, the Bab al-Jum’ah, or 
 Friday Gate, opens upon the Nijd road and the cemetery, 
 Al-Bakia. Between the Shami and the Jum’ah gates, 
 towards the North, is the Bab al-Ziyafah (of Hospitality); 
 and Westwards the Bab al-Misri (Egyptian) opens upon 
 the plain called the Barral-Manakhah. The Eastern and 
 the Egyptian gates are fine massive buildings, with double 
 towers close together, painted with broad bands of red, 
 yellow, and other colors, not unlike that old entrance of 
 the Cairo citadel which opens upon the Ramayliyah plain. 
 They may be compared with the gateway towers of the 
 old Norman castles—Arques, for instance. In their 
 shady and well-watered interiors, soldiers keep guard, 
 camel-men dispute, and numerous idlers congregate, to 
 enjoy the luxuries of coolness and of companionship. Be- 
 yond this gate, in the street leading to the Mosque, is 
 the great bazar. Outside it lie the Suk al-Khuzayriyah, 
 Or greengrocers’ market, and the Suk al-Habbabah, or 
 the grain bazar, with a fair sprinkling of coffee-houses. 
 These markets are long masses of palm-leaf huts, 
 blackened in the sun and wind, of a mean and squalid 
 appearance, detracting greatly froin the appearance of 
 the gates. Amongst them there is a little domed and 
 whitewashed building, which * was told is a Sabil or 
 public fountain. In the days of the Prophet the town 
 
392 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 was not walled. Even in Al-Idrisi’s time (twelfth cen- 
 tury), and as late as Bartema’s (eighteenth century), the 
 fortifications were mounds of earth, made by order of 
 Kasim al-Daulat al-Ghori, who re-populated the town 
 and provided for its inhabitants. 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 “Mazghal” (or ‘‘Matras”) long. 
 loopholes, and ‘“Shararif” or trefoil-shaped crenelles: 
 in order to secure a flanking fire, semicircular towers, also 
 loopholed 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 Mosque. Thereare few public build- 
 ings. The principal Wakalahs are four in number; 
 one is the Wakalat Bab Salam near the Harim, another 
 the Wakalat Jabarti, and two are inside the Misri gate; 
 they all belong to Arab citizens. These Caravanserais 
 are used principally as stores, rarely for dwelling-places 
 like those of Cairo; travellers, therefore, must hire houses 
 at a considerable expense, or pitch tents to the detriment 
 of health and to their extreme discomfort. The other 
 public buildings are a few mean coffee-houses and an 
 excellent bath in the Harat Zarawan, inside the town: 
 far superior to the unclean establishments of Cairo, it 
 borrows something from the luxury of Stambul. The 
 houses are, for the East, well built, flat-roofed and double- 
 storied; the materials generally used are a basaltic scoria, 
 burnt brick, and palm wood. The best enclose spacious 
 courtyards and small gardens with wells, where water 
 basins and date trees gladden the owners’ eyes. The 
 latticed balconies, first seen by the overland European 
 traveller at Malia, are here common, and the windows are 
 
X VIII.—Al-Madinah. 393 
 
 mere apertures in the wali, garnished, as usual in Arab 
 cities, with a shutter of planking. Al-Madinah fell rapidly 
 under the Wabhabis, but after their retreat, it soon rose 
 again, and now it is probably as comfortable and flourish- 
 ing a little 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; but I have nothing to relate of them save their 
 names. 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 rooo. I consider both accounts exag- 
 gerated; the former might contain 800, and the Manakhah 
 ‘perhaps 500; at the same time I must confess not to have 
 ‘counted them, and Captain Sadlier (in a.p. 1819) de- 
 clares that the Turks, who had just made a kind of 
 census, reckoned 6000 houses and a population of 18,000 
 souls. Assuming the population to be 16,000 (Burck- 
 hardt raises it as high as 20,000), of which gooo occupy 
 the city, and 7ooo the suburbs and the fort, this would 
 give a little more than twelve inhabitants to each house, a 
 fair estimate for an Arab town, where the abodes are large 
 and slaves abound.! 
 
 The castle joins on to the North-West angle of the city 
 enceinte, and the wall of its Eastern outwork is pierced for 
 
 1 afterwards received the following information from Mr. Charles 
 Cole, H.B.M. Vice-Consulat Jeddah, a gentleman well acquainted with 
 Western Arabia, and having access to official information: ‘‘ The popu- 
 lation of Al-Madinah is from 16,000 to 18,000, and the Nizam troops 
 ‘in garrison 400. Meccah contains about 45,000 inhabitants, Yambu’ 
 from 6000 to 7000, Jeddah about 2500 (this I think is too low), and 
 ‘Taif 8000. Most of the troops are stationed at Meccah and at Jeddah. 
 In Al Hijaz there is a total force ot five battalions, each of which 
 posh to contain 800 men; they may amount to 3500, with 500 artil- 
 ery, and 4500 irregulars, though the muster rolls bear 6000. The 
 Government pays in paper fer all supplies, (even for water for the 
 -troops,) and the paper sells at the rate of forty piastres per cent." 
 
394 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 a communication through a court strewed with guns and 
 warlike apparatus, between the Manakhah Suburb and 
 the Bab al-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 whitewashed walls make it a conspicuous object, 
 and guns pointed in all directions, especially upon the 
 town, project from their 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 Bad- 
 awin and the Wahhabis. The garrison consisted of a Nisf 
 Urtah,' or half battalion (four hundred men) of Nizam 
 infantry, commanded by a Pasha ; his authority also 
 extends to a Sanjak, or about five hundted Kurdish and 
 Albanian Bash-Buzuks, whose duty it is to escort 
 caravans, to convey treasures, and to be shot at in the 
 Passes. The Madani, who, as usual with Orientals, 
 take a personal pride in their castle, speak of it with 
 much exaggeration. Commanded by a high line of rocks 
 on the North-West, and built as it is in most places with- 
 out moat, glacis, earthwork, or outworks, a few shells 
 and a single battery of sieye guns would soon render it 
 untenable. In ancient times it has more than once been 
 held by a party at feud with the town, for whose mimic 
 battles the Barr al-Manakhah was a fitting field. North- 
 ward from the fort, on the road to Ohod, but still within 
 fire, is a long many-windowed building, formerly Da’ud 
 Pasha’s palace. In my time it had been bought by 
 Abbas Pasha of Egypt. | 
 
 1 The Urtah or battalion here varies from 800 to 1000 men. Of 
 these, four form one Alai or regiment, and thirty-six Alai an Urdu or 
 
 camp. This word Urdu, pronounced ‘ Ordoo,” is the origin of our 
 “horde ” 
 
X VITI.—Al-Madinah. 395 
 
 The suburbs lie to the South and West of the town. 
 Southwards they are separated from the enceinte by a 
 wide road, called the Darb al-Janazah, the Road of Biers, 
 so called because the corpses of certain schismatics, who 
 may not pass through the city, are carried this way to 
 their own cemetery near the Bab al-Jumah, or Eastern 
 Gate. Westwards, between Al-Madinah and its faubourg, 
 lies the plain of Al-Manakhah, about three-quarters of a 
 mile long, by three hundred yards broad. The straggling 
 suburbs occupy more ground than the city: fronting the 
 enceinte they are without 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 only large one, a poor copy of the Bab 
 al-Nasr at Cairo, is the Ambari or Western entrance, 
 through which we passed into Al-Madinah. The suburb 
 contains no buildings of any consequence, except the 
 Khaskiyah, or official residence of the Muhafiz (governor), 
 a plain building near the Barr al-Manakhah, and the 
 Khamsah Masajid, or the Five Mosques, which every 
 Zair is expected to visit. They are 
 
 The Prophet’s Mosque in the Manakhah. 
 
 Abu Bakr’s near the Ayn al-Zarka. 
 
 Ali's Mosque in the Zukak al-Tayyar of the 
 Manakhah. Some authors call this the ‘ Musalla al-Id,” 
 because the Prophet here prayed the Festival Prayer. 
 
 Omar’s Mosque, near the Bab Kuba of the Manak- 
 hah, and close to the little torrent called Al-Sayh. 
 
 Belal’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 
 Manakhah stands upon a spot formerly occupied, some 
 say, by the Jami Ghamamah. Others believe it to be 
 founded upon the Musalla al-Nabi, a place where the 
 
396 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Apostle recited the first Festival prayers after his arrival at 
 Al-Madinah, and used frequently to pray, and to address 
 those of his followers who lived far from the Harim,} 
 or Sanctuary. It is a trim modern building of cut stone 
 and lime in regular layers, of parallelogramic shape, 
 surmounted by one large and four small cupolas. These 
 are all whitewashed; and the principal is capped with a 
 large crescent, or rather a trident, rising from a series of 
 gilt globes: the other domes crown the several corners. 
 The minaret is of the usual Turkish shape, with a conical 
 roof, and a single gallery for the Mu’ezzin. An Acacia- 
 tree or two on the Eastern side, and behind it a wall-like 
 line of mud houses, finish the coup-d’eil; the interior of 
 this building is as simple as isthe exterior. And here I 
 may remark that the Arabs have little idea of splendour, 
 either in their public or in their private architecture. 
 Whatever strikes the traveller’s eye in Al-Hijazis 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 dis- 
 turbance 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 Al- 
 Madinah, as well as at Meccah, 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 of neglect suffice to level the proudest pile 
 
 with the dust. 
 
 The suburbs tothe South of Al-Madinah areacollection | 
 
 prayers is a Garden of the Gardens of Paradise,"’ has led divines to 
 
 measure the distance: it is said to be rooo cubits from the Bab Salam 
 
 of the Harim to this Musalla. 
 
 aaa aaa 
 
 1 One of the traditions, ‘Between my house and my place of | 
 
XVI. —Al-Madinah. 399 
 
 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 tenements opening 
 into them. These enclosures contain the cattle of the 
 inhabitants; they have strong wooden doors, shut at 
 night to prevent ‘lifting,’ and they are capable of being 
 stoutly defended. The inhabitants of the suburb are for 
 the most part Badawi settlers, and a race of schismatics 
 who will be noticed in another chapter. Beyond these 
 suburbs, to the South, as well as to the North and North- 
 east, lie gardens and extensive plantations of palm-trees. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 & RIDE TO THE MOSQUE OF KUBA. 
 
 ‘Tue principal places of pious visitation in the vicinity 
 of Al-Madinah are the Mosques of Kuba, the Cemetery 
 Al-Bakia, and the martyr Hamzah’s tomb, at the foot of 
 Mount Ohod. These the Zair is directed by all the Olema 
 to visit, and on the holy ground to pray Allah fora 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 Muzaw- — 
 
 wir, was by my side, mounted upon an ass more miserable 
 than I had yet seen. The boy Mohammed had procured 
 for me a Meccan dromedary, with splendid trappings, a 
 saddle with burnished metal peaks before and behind, 
 covered with a huge sheepskin died crimson, and girthed 
 over fine saddle-bags, 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 colours—yellow, red, 
 
 and golden flowers, apparently sewed on a field of bright — 
 green silk—which cost me so dear in the Harim. He _ 
 
 was armed, as indeed allcf us were, in readiness for the 
 Badawin, and he anxiously awaited opportunities of dis- 
 charging his pistol. Our course lay from Shaykh 
 Hamid's house in the Manakhah, along and up the 
 
 | 
 § 
 
XIX.—A Ride to the Mosque of Kuba. 399 
 
 Fiumara, ‘Al-Sayh,” and through the Bab Kuba, a little 
 gate in the suburb wall, where, by-the-bye,my mounted 
 companion was nearly trampled down by a rush of half- 
 wild camels. Outside the town, in this direction, South- 
 ward, is a plain of clay, mixed with chalk, and here and 
 there with sand, whence protrude blocks and little ridges 
 of basalt. As far as Kuba, and the Harrah ridge to the 
 West, the earth is sweet and makes excellent gugglets.’ 
 Immediately outside the gate I saw a kiln, where they 
 were burning tolerable bricks. Shortly after leaving the 
 suburb, an Indian, who joined our party upon the road, 
 pointed out on the left of the way what he declared was 
 the place of the celebrated Khandak, or Moat, the Torres 
 Vedras of Arabian History.? 
 
 Presently the Nakhil, or palm plantations, began. 
 Nothing lovelier to the eye, weary with hot red glare, 
 than the rich green waving crops and the cool shade, the 
 ‘¢food of vision,” as the Arabs call it, and ‘‘ pure water to 
 the parched throat.” For hours I could have sat and 
 looked at it. The air was soft and balmy; a perfumed 
 breeze, strange luxury in Al-Hijaz, wandered amongst 
 the date fronds; there were fresh flowers and bright foliage; 
 in fact, at Midsummer, every beautiful feature of Spring. 
 Nothing more delightful to the ear than the warbling of 
 the small birds, that sweet familiar sound; the splashing 
 of tiny cascades from the wells into the wooden troughs, 
 
 1 The Baradiyah or gugglets of Al-Madinah are large and heavy, 
 of a reddish-grey colour, and celebrated for cooling water, a property 
 not possessed by those of Meccan fabric. 
 
 2 I afterwards found reason to doubt this location. Ibn Jubayr 
 (r2th century), places it an arrow-shot from the Westward wall of Al- 
 Madinah, and seems to have seen it. M.C.de Perceval states, I 
 know not upon whose authority, that it was dug to protect the North- 
 west, the North, and the North-eastern sides of the town: this is 
 rendered highly improbable by the features of the ground. The 
 learned are generally agreed that all traces of the moat had disap- 
 peared before our 15th century 
 
400 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 and the musical song of the water-wheels.. Travellers— 
 young travellers—in the East talk of the “dismal grating,” 
 the “ mournful monotony,” and the ‘ melancholy creaking 
 of these dismal machines.” To the veteran wanderer 
 their sound is delightful from association, reminding him 
 of fields and water-courses, and hospitable villages, and 
 
 plentiful crops. The expatriated Nubian, for instance, 
 
 listens to the water-wheel with as deep emotion as the 
 Ranz des Vaches ever excited in the hearts of Switzer 
 mercenary at Naples, or “‘ Lochaber no more,” among a 
 regiment of Highlanders in the West Indies. | 
 
 The date-trees of Al-Madinah merit their celebrity. 
 Their stately columnar stems, here, seems 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 fruits; 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 a hundred and thirty-nine varie- 
 ties 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 Al-Shelebi ; it is 
 packed in skins, or in flat round boxes covered with paper, 
 somewhat in the manner of French prunes, and sent as 
 présents to the remotest parts of the Moslem world. 
 The fruit is about two inches long, with a small stone, 
 
 rt In Egypt, the lower branches of the date are lopped off about — 
 
 Christmas time to increase the flavour of the fruit; and ‘the people 
 believe that without this ‘‘Taklim,”’ as it iscalled, the tree would die. 
 In Upper Egypt, however, as at Al-Madinah, the fronds are left un- 
 touched. 7 
 
 2 The visitor from Al-Madinah would be badly received by the 
 women of his family, if he did not present them on his return with a 
 few boxes of dates, some strings of the same fruit, and skins full of 
 henna powder. Even the Olema allow such articles to be carried 
 away, although they strictly forbid keepsakes of earth or stone. 
 
 : 
 
XIX.—A Ride to the Mosque of Kuba. 40! 
 
 and has a peculiar aromatic flavour 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 is said to be not so productive as 
 the other species. The Ajwah' date is eaten, but not sold, 
 because a tradition of the Prophet declares, that whoso 
 breaketh his fast every day with six or seven of these 
 fruits, need fear neither poison-nor magic. The third 
 kind, Al-Hilwah, also a large date, derives a name 
 from its exceeding sweetness: of this palm the Moslems 
 relate that the Prophet planted a stone, which in a 
 few minutes grew up and bore fruit. Next comes 
 Al-Birni, of which was said, ‘It causeth sickness to 
 depart, and there is no sickness in it.” The Wahshi on 
 one occasion bent its head, and ‘“‘salamed” to Mohammed 
 as he ate its fruit, for which reason even now its lofty tuft 
 turns earthwards. The Sayhani (Crier) is so called, 
 because when the founder of Al-Islam, holding Ali’s hand, 
 happened to pass beneath, it cried, *“ ‘his is Mohammed 
 the Prince of Prophets, and this is Ali the Prince of the - 
 Pious, and the Progenitor of the Immaculate Imams.?2” 
 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 Eiercirr: The Khuzayriyah is thus 
 named because it preserves its green colour, even when 
 ripe ; itis dried and preserved asa curiosity. The Jabali 
 is the common fruit: the poorest kinds are the Laun and 
 
 1 This fruit must not be confounded with the enucleated conserve 
 of dates, which in Arabia, as in Egypt, is known by the name of 
 Ajwah. The Arabs infinitely despise the stuff sold at Alexandria and 
 Cairo, declaring that it is fit only for cows. The Ajwah of the Oases, 
 particularly of Siwah, is of excellent quality. 
 
 2 So in A.D. 1272 the Crucifix spoke to St. Thomas Aquinas 
 Superstitions are of no age or country. 
 
 VOL I. 
 
402 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 the Hilayah, costing from four to seven piastres per mudd. 
 
 I cannot say that the dates of Al-Madinah are finer 
 than those of Meccah, although it is highly heretical to 
 hold such tenet. The produce of the former city was the 
 favourite food of the Prophet, who invariably broke his 
 fast with it: a circumstance which invests it with a 
 certain degree of relic-sanctity. The citizens delight in 
 speaking of dates as an Irishman does of potatoes, with a 
 manner of familiar fondness: they eat them for medicine 
 as well as for food; ‘‘ Rutab,” or wet dates, being held to 
 be the most saving, as it is doubtless the most savoury, of 
 remedies. The fruit is prepared in a great variety of 
 ways: the favourite dish is a broil with clarified butter, 
 extremely 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 
 mentioned the ‘‘ Kulladat al-Sham?” (necklace of Sham). 
 The unripe fruit is dipped in boiling water to preserve its 
 gamboge colour, strung upon a thick thread and hung 
 out in the air to dry. These strings are worn all over 
 Al-Hijaz as necklaces by children, who seldom fail to 
 munch the ornament when not in fear of slappings; and 
 they are sent as presents to distant countries. 
 
 1 At Al-Madinah— ae 
 12 Dirhams (drams) make 1 Wukkiyah (ounce). 
 
 20 Wukkiyah » 1 Ratl (pound). 
 
 33 Wukkiyah and 3 (drams) ,, 1 Wukkah (less than 2 lbs). 
 4 Wukkah »- i. Mudd, 
 
 24 Mudd » 1 Ardeb. 
 
 This Ratl, or pound, is the larger one applied to particular articles of 
 cammerce—such as meat, vegetables, and clarified butter; coffee, 
 rice, soap, &c., are sold by the smaller Ratl of Meccah, equal to 140 
 dirhams In. Egypt, the Ratl is 144 Dirhams or 12 Wukkiyahs,— 
 about 1 ib. 2 oz. and 8 dwts. troy. 
 
 2 ‘' Necklace of Syria.” I was told they derive this name from 
 the place where they are made. ‘Al-Safra" (on tie Meccah road) 
 being also cailed Al-Sham (Damascus). 
 
XIX.—A Ride to the Mosque of Kuba. 403 
 
 January and February are the time for the mascula- 
 tion'of the palm. The ‘‘ Nakhwali,” as he is called, opens 
 
 the female flower, and having inserted the inverted male 
 
 blossom, binds them together : this operation is performed, 
 as in Egypt, upon each cluster.2. The fruit is ripe about 
 the middle of May, and the gathering of it forms the 
 Arabs’ ‘‘vendemmia.” The people make merry the more 
 readily because their favourite diet is liable to a variety 
 uf 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 ef 
 
 | life, is often subject to Siohpléte failure. 
 
 One of the reasons for the excellence of Madinah 
 dates is 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 
 
 Ce 
 
 where moisture is procurable. The palms scattered over 
 
 the other parts of the 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 Al- Madinah 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 cot- 
 toned over with dew, and the broad leaves of the castor 
 plant, glistening in the sun, protected us from the morning 
 
 1 This is a translation of the Arab word ‘* Tazkir,’’ which is cer- 
 tainly more appropriate than our ‘‘ caprification "’ applied to dates. 
 2 The male tree is known by its sterility. Ia some countries 
 
 only the fecundating pollei. is scattered over the femmaie Nower, and 
 
 this doubtless mrst have beep Nature's iuetnud ct lnpreguating the 
 date. 
 
404 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 rays. The ground on both sides of the way was sunken, 
 the earth being disposed in heaps at the foot of the fences, 
 an arrangement which facilitates irrigation, by giving a 
 fall to the water, and in some cases affords a richer soi! 
 than the surface. This part of the Madinah plain, how- 
 ever, 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 efflor- 
 escence which denotes 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 
 nsmall quantities. Here and there patches of ‘* Barsim,” 
 or Egyptian clover, glitter brightly in the sunbeams. 
 The principal vegetables are Badanjan (Egg-plant), the 
 Bamiyah (a kind of esculent hibiscus, called Bhendi in 
 India), and Mulukhiyah (Corchoris olitovius), a mucilagi- 
 nous spinage common throughout this part of the East. 
 These three are eaten by citizens of every rank ; they 
 are, in fact, the potatoes and the greens of Arabia. 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 five descriptions of vines, the 
 best of which is Al-Sharifi, a long white grape of a flavour 
 somewhat resembling the produce of Tuscany.’ Next to 
 it, and very similar, is Al-Birni. The Hijaziis a round 
 fruit, sweet, but insipid, which is also the reproach of the 
 Sawadi, or black grape. . And lastly, the Raziki is a small 
 white fruit, with a diminutive stone. The Nebek, Lote, 
 
 1 The resemblance is probably produced by the similarity of 
 treatment. At Al-Madinah, as in Italy, the vine is ‘‘ married"’ to 
 some tall tree, which, selfish as a husband, appropriates to itself i? 
 best of everything,—sun, brecze, and rain. 
 
 “a 
 
 . 
 
XIX.—A Ride to the Mosque of Kuba. 405 
 
 or Jujube, is here a fine large tree with a dark green leaf, 
 roundish and polished like the olive ; it is armed witha 
 short, curved, and sharp thorn,! and bears a pale straw- 
 coloured berry, about the size of the gooseberry, with red 
 streaks on the side next the sun. Little can be said in 
 favour of the fruit, which has been compared successively 
 by disappointed ‘‘ Lotus eaters?” toa bad plum, an unripe 
 cherry, and an insipid apple. It is, however, a favourite 
 with the people of Al-Madinah, who have reckoned many 
 varieties of the fruit : Hindi (Indian), Baladi (‘‘native”’), 
 Tamri (date-like), and others. There are a few peaches, 
 hard like the Egyptian, 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 is the Shami (Syrian) : 
 it is red outside, very sweet, and costs one piastre : the 
 Turki is large, and of a white colour : and the Misri has 
 a greenish rind, and a somewhat sub-acid and harsh 
 
 flavour ; the latter are sold at one-fourth the price of the 
 
 best. I never saw in the East, except at Meccah, finer 
 fruits than the Shami: almost stoneless like those of 
 Maskat, they are delicately perfumed, and as large as an 
 infant’s head. Al-Madinah is celebrated, like Taif, for its 
 * Rubb Rumman,” a thick pomegranate syrup, drunk 
 
 1 This thorn (the Rhamnus Nabeca, or Zizyphus Spina Christi) 
 
 is supposed to be that which crowned the Saviour’s head. There 
 
 are Mimosas in Syria; but no tree, save the fabled Zakhum, could 
 
 _ produce the terrible apparatus with which certain French painters of 
 
 the modern school have attempted to heighten the terrors of the 
 scene. 
 
 z For what reason I am entirely unable to guess, our dictionaries 
 translate the word Sidr (the literary name of the tree that bears the 
 Nebek) ‘“‘ Lote-tree.’”’ No wonder that believers in ‘ Homeric writ ” 
 
 feel their anger aroused by so poor a realisation of the beautiful 
 
 -myth. 
 3 The only pears in Al-Hijaz, I believe, are to be found at Taif, 
 to which place they were transplanted from Egypt. 
 
406 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 with water during the hot weather, and esteemed cooling 
 and wholesome. 
 
 After threading our way through the es an 
 operation 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, chapels and towers with trees between, 
 and foul lanes, heaps of rubbish, and barking dogs,—the 
 usual material ofa Hijazi village. Having dismounted, we 
 gave our animals in charge of a dozen infant Badawin, 
 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 intercourse 
 with fellow-creatures so fearfully and wonderfully re- 
 sembling the tailless baboon. Their bodies, unlike those 
 of Egyptian children, were slim’ and straight, but their 
 ribs stood out with curious distinctness; the colour of the 
 skin was that oily lamp-black seen upon the face of a 
 European sweep; and the elf-locks, thatching the cocoa- 
 nut heads, had been stained by the sun, wind, and rain to 
 that reddish-brown hue which Hindu romances have 
 appropriated to their Rakshasas or demons. Each anatomy 
 carried in his armsa stark-naked miniature of himself, 
 fierce-looking babies with faces all eyes, and the strong 
 little wretches were still able to extend the right hand 
 and exert their lungs with direful clamour. Their mothers. 
 were fit progenitors for such progeny: iong, 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 lips darker than the epidermis, hollow 
 staring eyes, sparkling as if to light up the extreme 
 
 1 Travellers always remark the curious pot-bellied children on 
 
 the banks ofthe Nile. This conformation is admired by the Egyptians, 
 who consider it a sign of strength and a promise of fine growth. 
 
XIX.—A Ride to the Mosque of Kuba. 407 
 
 ugliness around, and voices screaming as though in a 
 perennial rage, invested them with all the “charms of 
 Sycorax.” These ‘“Houris of Jahannam” were habited 
 in long night-gowns dyed blue to conceal want of washing, 
 and the squalid children had about a yard of the same 
 material wrapped round their waists 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-favoured, morally as well as physically, of all the 
 breed. 
 
 Before entering the Mosqué of Al-Kuba? it will be 
 necessary to call to mind some passages of its past his- 
 tory. When the Apostle’s she-camel, Al-Kaswa, as he 
 was approaching Al-Madinah after the flight from Meccah, 
 knelt down here, he desired his companions to mount the 
 animal. Abu Bakr and Omar? did so; still she sat upon 
 the ground; but when Ali obeyed the order, she arose. 
 The Apostle 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 Al-Islam. Mohammed laid the first 
 prick, and with an “ Anzah,” or iron-shod javelin, marked 
 out the direction of prayer®: each of his successors fol- 
 lowed his example. According to most historians, the 
 
 1 I believe Kuba to be about three miles S. S. E. of Al-Madinah ; 
 but Al-Idrisi, Ibn Haukal, and Ibn Jubayr all agree in saying two 
 miles. 
 
 2 Osman, the fourth Companion, was absent at this time, not 
 having returned from the first or Little Flight to Abyssinia. 
 
 3 Some believe that in this Mosque the direction of prayer was 
 altered from Jerusalem to Meccah, and they declare, as will presently 
 be seen, that the Archangel Gabriel himself pointed out the new line. 
 M. C. de Perceval forgets his usual accuracy when he asserts * le 
 Mihrab de la Mosquée de Médine, qui fut d’abord placé au Nord, fut 
 transféré au Midi: et la Mosquée prit le nom de ‘ Masjid-el-Kiblatayn,' 
 Mosquée des deux Kiblah."" In the first place, the Mihrab is the in- 
 vention of a later date, about ninety years; and, secondly, the title of 
 Al-Kiblatyn is never now given to the Mosque of Al-Madinah, 
 
408 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 land belonged to Abu Ayyub the Ansari, the Apostle’s 
 host ; for which reason the “Bayt Ayyub,” his descen- 
 dants, still perform the service of the Mosque, keep the 
 key, and share with the Bawwabs, or porters, the alms 
 and fees here offered by the Faithful. Others declared 
 that the ground was the property of one Linah, a woman 
 who was in the habit of tethering her ass there! The 
 Apostle used to visit it every Saturday? on foot, and always 
 made a point of praying the dawn-prayer there on the 
 17th Ramazan.* A number of traditions testify to its 
 dignity: of these, two are especially significant. The 
 first assures all Moslems that a prayer at Kuba is equal 
 to a Lesser Pilgrimage at Meccah in religious efficacy; 
 and the second declares that such devotion is more ac- 
 ceptable to the Deity than prostrations at the Bayt al- 
 Mukuddas (Jerusalem). Moreover, sundry miracles took 
 place here, and a verset of the Koran descended from 
 heaven. For which reasons the Mosque was much 
 respected by Omar, who, once finding it empty, swept it 
 himself with a broom of thorns, and expressed his wonder 
 at the lukewarmness of Moslem piety. It was originally 
 a square building of very small size; Osman enlarged it 
 n 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 al-Hamid, father of 
 
 1 This degrading report caused certain hypocrites to build a 
 xind of rival chapel called the Mosque Zarar. It was burnt to the 
 ground shortly after its erection, and all known of it is, that it stood 
 near Kuba. 
 
 2 Some say on Monday, probably because on that day Mohammed 
 alighted at Kuba. But the present practice of Al-Islam, handed down 
 from generation to generation, is to visit it on the Saturday. 
 
 3 There is on this day at Kubaa regular Ziyarat or visitation. 
 Phe people pray in the Harim of Al-Madinah, after which they re- 
 pair to the Kuba Mosque, and go through the ceremonies which in 
 religious efficacy equal an Umrah or Lesser pilgrimage. In books I 
 have read that the 15th of Ramazan is the proper day. 
 
XIX.—A Ride to the Mosque of Kuba. 409 
 
 the Sultan Mahmud, erected a minaret of Turkish shape 
 and a neat structure of cut stone, whose crenelles make 
 it look more like a place of defence than of prayer. It 
 has, however, no pretentions to grandeur. To the South 
 a small and narrow Riwak (porch), with unpretending 
 columns, looks out Northwards 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 there- 
 fore 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 Musalla al-Nabi (the 
 Prophet’s place of Prayer)!: after Shaykh Nur and Hamid 
 had forcibly cleared that auspicious spot of a devout In- 
 dian, and had spread a rug upon the dirty matting, we 
 performed a two-bow prayer, in front of a pillar into which 
 a diminutive marble Mihrab or niche had been inserted 
 by way of memento. Then came the Dua, or supplica- 
 tion, which was as follows : 
 
 ‘©O Allah! bless and preserve, and increase, and per- 
 petuate, and benefit, and be propitous 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 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 Fatihah, 
 and we drew our palms as usual down our faces. 
 
 We then moved away tothe South-Eastern corner of 
 the edifice, and stood before a Mihrab in the Southern wall, 
 
 t This is believed to be the spot where the Prophet performed his 
 first Rukat, or prayer-bow. 
 
410 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 It iscalled ‘‘ Takat al-Kashf” or ‘“ Niche of Disclosure,” 
 by those who believe that as the Prophet was standing 
 undecided about the direction of Meccah, the Archangel 
 Gabriel removed all obstructions to his vision. There 
 again we went through the two-bow prayer, the Supplica- 
 tion, the Testification, and the Fatihah, under difficulties, 
 for people mobbed us excessively. During our devotions, 
 I vainly attempted to decipher a Cufic inscription fixed in 
 the wall above and on the right of the Mihrab,—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 
 al-Nakah,” or the ‘ Place of kneeling of the she-Drome- 
 dary.’” This, the exact spot where Al-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 in 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 al-Ayat,?” or the ‘ Place of Signs.” Here 
 was revealed to Mohammed a passage in the Koran 
 especially 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 live Men who love to be 
 
 1 ‘*Mabrak” is the locative noun from the triliteral root 
 ‘‘Baraka—he blessed, or he (the camel) knelt upon the ground.” 
 Perhaps this philological connection may have determined Moham- 
 med to consider the kneeling of the dromedary a sign that Allah had 
 blessed the spot. 
 
 2‘ Ayat" here means a verset of the Koran. Some authors 
 
 apply the above quoted lines to the Prophet's Mosque at Al-Madinah 
 exclusively, others to both buildings. 
 
XIX.—A Ride to the Mosque of Kuba. 4il 
 
 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 Benef- 
 cence?” when the people offered him an explanation of 
 their personal cleanliness which I do not care to repeat. 
 The temple of Kuba from that day took a fresh title— 
 Masjid al-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 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 Fatimah. 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 Al-Madinah and at Meccah the traveller’s hand 
 must be perpetually in his pouch: no stranger in Paris or in 
 London is more surely or more severely takenin. 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. My only friend was the boy 
 Mohammed, who displayed a fiery economy that brought 
 him into considerable disrepute with his countrymen. 
 They saw with emotion that he was preaching parsimony 
 to me solely that I might have more money to spend at 
 Meccah under hisauspices. This being palpably the case, 
 I threw all the blame of penuriousness upon the young 
 Machiavel’s shoulders, and resolved, as he had taken charge 
 of my finances at Al-Madinah, 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 
 
412 Pilgrimage to Ai-Madinah and Meccah, 
 
 fellows,” we passed through some lanes lined with beggars 
 and Badawi children, till we came toa 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 Mountainat the pilgrimage season, 
 stood there, saw through 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 mesquin appearance of all within prevented my 
 regretting the necessity of economy. In India or in Sind 
 every village would have a better Mosque. Our last visit 
 was to a fourth chapel, the Masjid Ali, so termed because 
 the Apostle’s son-in-law had a house upon this spot.! After 
 praying there—and terribly hot the little hole was !—we 
 repaired to the last place of visitation at Kuba—a large 
 deep well called the Bir al-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 
 Isat 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 “ Kayf.” The heat was over- 
 powering, though it was only nine o’clock, the sound of 
 the stream was soothing, that water-wheel was creakinga 
 lullaby, and the limes and 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,” 
 
 1 Ibn Jubayr informs us that Abu Bakr, Pee and Omar had 
 habitations at Kuba. 
 
NIX.—~A Ride to the Mosque of Kuba. 413 
 
 looking upon the valley of the Lianne, with its glaucous 
 ‘seas and grey skies, and banks here and there white with 
 ‘snow. 
 
 The Bir al-Aris,socalled after a Jew of Al-Madinah, 
 is one which the Apostle 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, according to Abulfeda and Yakut, 
 ‘dropped from his finger the prophetic ring which, engraved 
 ‘in three lines with ‘“*‘ Mohammed—Apostle—(of) Allah,” 
 had served to seal the letters sent to neighbouring kings, 
 ‘and had descended to the first three successors.” The 
 
 precious article was not recovered after three days’ search, 
 and the well was thenceforward called Bir al-Khatim—of 
 ‘the Seal Ring. It is also called the Bir al-Taflat—of 
 
 Saliva’—becausethe Prophet honoured it by expectoration, 
 as, by-the-bye, he seems to have done to almost all the 
 wellsin Al-Madinah. The effect of the operation upon the 
 Bir al-Aris, says 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 
 
 L 
 | 
 
 ‘lukewarm draught drawn for me by Shaykh Hamid. In 
 
 - Mohammed’s days the total number of wells is recorded to 
 
 1 Some authors mention a second Bir al-Aris, belonging in part 
 to the Caliph Osman. According to Yakut, “Aris” is the Hebrew or 
 
 ~ Syriac word for a peasant ; he quotes the plural form Arisan and 
 
 : 
 
 Ardrisah. 
 
 2 Others assert, with less probability, that the article in question 
 was lost by one Ma’akah, a favourite of Osman. As that ill-fated 
 Caliph’s troubles began at the time of this accident, the ring is gener- 
 ally compared to Solomon’s. Our popular authors, who assert that 
 Mohammed himself lost the ring, are greatly in error. 
 
 3 According to some authors, Mchammed 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. Ibn Jubayr applies 
 the epithet Bir Al-Taflat peculiarly to the Aris well: many other 
 authors are not so exact. 
 
414 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah: 
 
 have been twenty: most of them have long since disap- 
 peared ; but there still remain seven, whose waters were 
 drunk by the Prophet, and which, in consequence, the 
 Zair is directed to visit.’ They are known by the classical 
 title of Saba Abar, or the seven wells, and their names are 
 included in this couplet : 
 
 ‘‘Aris and Ghars, and Rumah and Buza’at 
 And Busat, with Bayruha and Ihn.’"2 
 A eet USeRNNNNW IED Dea 
 1 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 blessings of God. 
 
 2 Some alter the 3rd, the 5th, and the 7th names to Bir al-Nabi, 
 a well in the Kuba gardens, Bir al-Ghurbal, and Bir al-Fukayyir, 
 where the Prophet, together with Salman the Persian and others of 
 his companions, planted date trees. The Bir al-Aris has already 
 been described. The Bir al-Ghars, Gharas or Ghurs, so called, it is 
 said, from the place where it was sunk, about half a mile N.E. of the 
 Kuba Mosque, is a large well with an abundance of water. Moham- 
 med used to perform ablution on its brink, and directed Ali to wash 
 his corpse with seven skins full of the water. The Bir Rumah isa 
 large well with aspring at the bottom, dug in the Wady al-Akik, to 
 the north of the Mosque Al-Kiblatayn. It is called “ Kalib Mazni" 
 (the old well of Mazni), in this tradition ; “ the best of old wells is the 
 old well of Mazni.” And ancient it must be if the legend say true, 
 that when Abu Karb besieged Al-Madinah (a.p. 495), he was relieved 
 of sickness by drinking its produce. Some assert that it afforded the 
 only sweet water in Al-Madinah when the Prophet arrived there. 
 The town becoming crowded by an influx of visitors, this water 
 was sold by its owner, a man of the Benu Ghaffar tribe, or according 
 to others, by one Mazni, a Jew. Osman at last bought it by paying 
 upwards of too camels. The Bir Buza’at, or Biza’at, or Bisa’at, is in 
 the Nakhil or palm plantations, outside the Bab al-Shami or North- 
 western gate of Al-Madinah on the right of the road leading to Ohod. 
 Whoever washes in its waters three times shall be healed. The Bir 
 Busat is near the Bakia cemetery, on the left of the ruad leading to 
 Kuba. The Prophet used to bathe in the water, and he declared it 
 healthy to the skin. The Bir Bayruha, under whose trees the Prophet 
 was fond of sitting, lies outside the Bab Dar al-Ziyafah, leading to 
 Mount Ohod. The Kamus gives the word “ Bayruha upon the 
 measure of Fayluha.’ Some authorities upon the subject cf eiyarat,. 
 write Bayruha, “ Bir Ha,’’—the weil of Ha, and variousiy suppose 
 
XIX.—A Ride to the Mosque of Kuba. 415 
 
 After my sleep, which was allowed to last until a pipe or 
 two of Latakia had gone round the party, we remounted 
 our animals. Returning towards Al-Madinah, my com- 
 panions, pointed out to me, on the left of the village, a 
 garden called Al-Madshuniyah. It contains a quarry of 
 the yellow loam or bole-earth, called by the Arabs, Tafl, by 
 the Persians, Gil-i-Sarshui, and by the Sindians, 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 Badawi of the Benu Haris tribe, of fever, by wash- 
 ing him with a pot of Tafl dissolved in water, and hence 
 the earth of Al-Madinah derived its healing 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 peculiar state described by 
 ‘‘chlorosis.”’ 
 
 Ha" to be the name of a man, a woman, oraplace. Yahut men- 
 tions other pronunciations: ‘‘ Bariha,” ‘ Bariha,” ‘Bayriha,” &c 
 The Bir Ihn is in a large garden &. of Kuba. Little is said in books 
 about this weli, and the people of Al-Madinah do not know the name 
 
CHAPTER XxX, 
 
 THE VISITATION OF HAMZAH’S TOMB, 
 
 On the morning of Sunday, the twenty-third Zu'l 
 
 Ka’adah (28th August, 1853), arrived from Al-Sham, or 
 Damascus,’ the great Caravan popularly called Hajj al- 
 Shami, the ‘Damascus pilgrimage,” as the Egyptian 
 Cafila is Al-Misri,? or the Cairo pilgrimage. It is the 
 main stream which carries off all the small cur- 
 rents that, at this season of general movement, flow from 
 Central Asia towards the great centre of the Islamitic 
 
 world, and in 1853 it amounted to about seven thousand — 
 
 souls. The arrival 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 
 thirdly, 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 about; and, moreover, the great caravan 
 
 had been one day late, generally arriving on the morning 
 
 of the twenty-second Zu’l Ka’adah.® 
 
 1 This city derives its names, the ‘‘ Great Gate of Pilgrimage," 
 and the ‘‘ Key of the Prophet’s Tomb” from its being the gathering- 
 place of this caravan. 
 
 2 The Egyptians corruptly pronounce “Al-Misr," ¢4. Cairo, as 
 
 * ‘AL Wiaee é: 
 
 3 Note to Fourts Enition.—I reprint the following fromthe / 
 
 lustvated News in proof that the literati of England have still something | 
 
 A 
 fe 
 
 Ly 
 
 | 
 Thy 
 
 q 
 
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 A 
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XX.—The Visitation of Hamzah's Tomb. 417 
 
 During the night three of Shaykh Hamid’s brothers, 
 who had entered as Muzawwirs with the Hajj, came 
 suddenly to the house: they leaprd 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 al-Manakhah, from a dusty waste 
 dotted with a few Badawi hair-tents, had assumed all the 
 various shapes and the colours 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 
 variety, the vivacity, and the intense picturesqueness of 
 the scene. In one night had sprung up a town of tents 
 of every size, colour, and shape; round, square, and 
 oblong ; open and closed,—from the shawl-lined and gilt- 
 itopped pavilion of the Pasha, with all the luxurious 
 appurtenances of the Harim, to its neighbour the little 
 dirty green ‘rowtie” of the tobacco-seller. They were 
 pitched in admirable order: here ranged in a long line, 
 
 to learn :—"' On the ist instant the annual ceremony of the departure 
 (of the Suré-emini with the Imperial gifts for the Prophet's tomb at 
 Mecca took place in front of the palace at Constantinople. The Levant 
 Herald states that the presents, which consist, beside the large money 
 donation, of rich shawls and gold-woven stuffs, were brought out of 
 the Imperial apartments and packed in presence of the Sultan, on 
 two beautiful camels, which, after the delivery of the usual prayers, 
 were then led in grand procession, accompanied by all the high 
 officers of state, to the landing-place at Cabatash, where the Sure- 
 emini and camels were embarked on a Government steamer and 
 ferried overto Scutari. There the holy functionary will remain some 
 days, tilljtie® faithful’ of the capital and those who have come from 
 the interior have joined him, when the caravan will start for Damas- 
 Cus. At this latter city the grand rendezvous takes place, and, that 
 accomplished, the great caravan sets out for Mecca under the Emir- 
 el-Hadj of the year. The Imperial presents on this occasion cose 
 more than £20,000.” 
 
 mew. ft. P 
 
418 | Pilovimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 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 Al-Hijaz appeared mere pony-camels, jingling 
 large bells, and bearing Shugdufs’ (litters) like miniature 
 green tents, swaying and tossing upon their backs ; 
 gorgeous Takht-rawan, or litters carried between camels 
 or mules with scarlet and brass trappings; Badawin 
 bestriding naked-backed “‘ Daluls*” (dromedaries), and 
 clinging like apes to the hairy humps; Arnaut, Kurd, 
 and Turkish Irregular Cavalry, fiercer looking in their 
 mirth than Roman peasants in their rage; fainting 
 Persian pilgrims, forcing their stubborn camels to kneel, 
 or,dismounted grumbling from jaded donkeys ; tied 
 sherbet sellers, and ambulant tobacconists crying their 
 goods ; country-people driving flocks of sheep and goats 
 with infinite clamour through lines of horses eos 
 snorting and biting and kicking and rearing; towns- 
 people seeking their friends ; returned travellers exchang- 
 ing affectionate salutes; devout Hajis jostling one 
 another, running under the legs of camels, and tumbling 
 over the tents’ ropes in their hurry to reach the Harim ; 
 cannon roaring from the citadel ; shopmen,-water-carriers, 
 and fruit vendors fighting over their bargains ; boys 
 with loud screams bullying heretics; a well-mounted 
 
 1 The Syrian Shugduf differs entirely from that of Al-Hijaz. 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 Hijazi litter, and yet a 
 Syrian camel-man would as surely refuse to put one of the latter 
 upon his beast's back, as the Hijazi to carry a Syrian litter. Ses 
 p. 223, ante. 
 
 2 This is the Arabic modern word, synonymous with the Eeyptial 
 Hajin, namely, a she-dromedary. The word ‘‘Nakah,’ at present 
 popular in Al-Hijaz, means a she-dromedary kept for breeding as well 
 as for riding. 
 
AX.—The Visitation of Hamzah's Tomb. 419 
 
 party of fine old Arab Shaykhs of the Hamidah clan, 
 preceded by their varlets, performing the Arzah or war 
 dance,—compared with which thy Pyrenean bear’s per- 
 formance 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 coloured rags floating in the wind, 
 tossing their long spears tufted with ostrich ‘feathers high 
 in the air, feckless where they fall; servants seeking 
 their masters, and masters their tents, with vain cries of 
 Ya Mohammed’; grandees riding mules or stalking on 
 foot, preceded - 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 neo! 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 He 
 weapons of the crowd, and the brass balls of tent and 
 litter; and—lI 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 Harim, we mounted our donkeys; and, 
 armed with pistols and knives, we set out from the city. 
 Our party was large. Sa’ad the Demon had offered to 
 accompany us, and the bustle around kept him in the best 
 of humours; 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 
 
 x One might as sensibly cry out ‘‘ John”’ in an English theatre. 
 
 2 Respectable men in Al-Hijaz, when they meet friends, ac- 
 quaintances, or superiors, consider it only polite to dismount troma 
 donkey. 
 
420 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Mohammed and my “slave,” and Shaykh Hamid was 
 attended by half a dozen relations. To avoid the crush 
 of the Barr al-Manakhah, we made a détowy Westwards, 
 over the bridge and down the course of the torrent-bed 
 ‘© Al-Sayh.” We then passed along the Southern wall of 
 the castle, traversed its Eastern outwork, and issued from 
 the Bab al-Shami. 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 montuve. With some difficulty, but without any 
 more serious accident than a fall or two, we found our- 
 selves in the space beyond and northward of the city. 
 This also was covered with travellers and tents, amongst 
 which on an eminence to the left of the road, rose con- 
 spicuous the bright green pavilion of the Emir Al-Hajj, 
 the commandant of the Caravan.’ Hard by, half its 
 ‘height surrounded by a Kanat or tent wall, stood the 
 Syrian or Sultan’s Mahmil (litter), all glittering with 
 green and gilding and gold, and around it were pitched 
 the handsome habitations of the principal officers and 
 grandees of the pilgrimage. On the right hand lay ex- 
 tensive 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 Al-Sabak, or Dome of Precedence, where the 
 Prophet’s warrior friends used to display their horseman- 
 
 1 The title of the Pasha who has the privilege of conducting the 
 Caravan. It is a lucrative as well as an honourable employment, for 
 the Emir enjoys the droit daubaine, 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 under- 
 taking a pilgrimage Ly this line of country, without having at least 
 {£80 in ready money with him. ‘The first person who bore the titic of 
 Emir Al-Hajj was Abu Bakr, who, in the ninth year of the Hijrah, — 
 led 300 Moslems from Al-Madinah to the Meccan pilgrimage. On 
 this occasion idolaters and infidels were for the first time expelled 
 the Holy City. 
 
A A i tt nti AC ALL A 
 
 ————— LS _aZ_ 
 
 XX.—The Visitation of Hamzah’s Tomb. 42% 
 
 ship; the second the Makan, or burial-place of Sayyidna 
 Zaki al-Din, one of Mohammed's f _ultitudinous descend- 
 ants. 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 Harrahs! (ridges) near." 
 And of this holy hill the Apostle declared, ‘‘Ohod is a 
 Mountain which loves Us and which We love: it is upon 
 the Gate of Heaven*;” adding, 
 
 1 ‘‘ Harrah” from Harr (heat) is the generic name of lava, porous 
 basalt, scoriz, greenstone, schiste, and others supposed to be of 
 igneous origin. It is also used to denote a ridge or hill of such forma- 
 tion. One Harrah has already been mentioned in Chapter XV. The 
 second is on the road to Ohod. There is a third Harrah, called Al- 
 Wakin or Al-Zahrah, about one mile Eastward of Al-Madinah. Here 
 the Prophet wept, predicting that the last men of his faith would be 
 foully slain. The prophecy was fulfilled in the days of Yazid, when 
 the people of Al-Madinah filled their assembly with slippers and 
 | turbands to show that on account of his abominations they had cast 
 
 off their allegiance as a garment. The ‘Accursed"’ sent an aged 
 sinner, Muslim bin Akbah al-Marai, who, though a cripple, defeated 
 the Madani in a battle called the ‘‘ Affair of the Ridge,” slaying of 
 them 10,000 citizens, 1700 learned and great men, 700 teachers of the 
 Koran, and 97 Karashi nobles. This happened in the month of Zu’l 
 Hijjah, a.u. 63. For three days the city was plundered, the streets 
 ran blood, dogs ate human flesh in the Mosque, and no fewer than rooo 
 women were insulted. It was long before Al-Madinah recovered from 
 this fatal blow, which old Muslim declared would open to him the 
 gates of Paradise. The occurrence is now forgotten at Al-Madinah, 
 though it will live in history. The people know not the place, and 
 even the books are doubtful whether this Harrah be not upon the spot 
 where the Khandak or moat was. 
 
 2 Meaning that on the Day of Resurrection it shall be so treated. 
 Many, however, suppose Ohod to be oneof the four hills of Paradise. 
 The other three, according to Al-Tabrani from Amr bin Auf, are Sinai, 
 Lebanon, and Mount Warkan on the Meccan road. Others suppose 
 Ohod to be one of the six mountains which afforded materials for the 
 Kaabah, viz., Abu Kubays, Sinai, Kuds (at Jerusalem), Warkan and 
 
422 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 «¢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 Para- 
 dise: whereas Jabal Ayr, its neighbour, having been 
 so ill-judged as to refuse the Prophet water on an 
 occasion while he thirsted, will be cast incontinently into 
 Jahannam. Moslem divines, be it observed, ascribe to 
 Mohammed miraculous authority over animals, vegetables, 
 and minerals, as well as over men, angels, and jinnis. 
 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 Al-Islam. According to the old Persians, the sphere 
 has an active soul. Some sects of Hindus believe ‘‘mother 
 earth,” upon whose bosom we little parasites crawl, to be 
 a living being. This was a dogma also amongst the 
 ancient Egyptians, who denoted it by a peculiar symbol, 
 —the globe with human legs. Hence the ‘“* Makrokos- 
 mos” of the plagiaristic Greeks, the animal on a large 
 scale, whose diminutive was the ‘‘ Mikrokosmos __man. 
 Tota natuva, repeats Malpighi, existit in minimis. Amongst 
 the Romans, Tellus or Terra was a female deity, 
 anthropomorphised according to their syncretic system, 
 which furnished with strange gods their Pantheon, but 
 forgot to append the scroll explaining the inner sense of 
 Radhwah near Yambu’. Also it is said that when the Lord con- 
 versed with Moses on Sinai, the mountain burst into six pieces, 
 three of which flew to Al-Madinah, Ohod, Warkan and Radhwah, 
 and three to Meccalt, Hira (now popularly called Jabal Nur), Sabir, 
 (the old name for Jabal Muna), and Saur. . 
 
 1 Ayr" means a ‘ wild ass,” whereas Ohod is derived from — 
 Ahad, “‘one,""—so called because fated to be the place of victory to 
 those who worship one God. The very names, say Moslem divines, 
 make it abundantly evident that even as the men of Al-Madinah were ~ 
 of two parties, friendly and hostile to the Prophet, so were these 
 mountains. 
 
A X.—The Visitation of Hamzah’s Tomb. 423 
 
 the symbol. And some modern philosophers, Kepler, 
 Blackmore, and others, have not scrupled to own their 
 belief in a doctrine which as long as ‘“‘ Life” is a mere 
 word on man’s tongue, can neither be proved nor disproved. 
 The Mohammedans, as usual, exaggerate the dogma,— 
 a Hadis related by Abu Hurayrah casts on the day of 
 judgment the sun and the moon into hell fire. 
 
 Jabal Ohod owes its present reputation to a cave 
 which sheltered the Apostle when pursued by his enemies’; 
 to certain springs of which he drank,’ and especially to its 
 being the scene of a battle celebrated in Al-Islam. On 
 Saturday, the 11th Shawwal, in the third year of the 
 Hijrah (26th January, a.p. 625), Mohammed with seven 
 hundred men engaged three thousand 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 Harun, the 
 dome erected over Aaron’s remains. It is now, I was 
 told, in a ruinous condition, and is placed upon the “ pin- 
 nacle of seven hills®” in a position somewhat like that 
 of certain buildings on St. Angelo in the Bay of Naples. 
 Alluding to the toil of reaching it, the Madani quote a 
 facetious rhyme inscribed upon the wall by one of thetr 
 number who had wasted his breath:— 
 
 “ Malun ibn Malun 
 Man tala’a Kubbat Harun!” 
 Anglicé, “*The man must bea ruffian who climbs up to 
 Aaron’s dome.” Devout Moslems visit Ohod every 
 Thursday morning after the dawn devotions in the 
 
 1 This Cave is a Place of Visitation, but I did not go there, as it 
 is on the Northern flank of the hill, and all assured me that it con- 
 tained nothing worth seeing. Many ignore it altogether. 
 
 2 Ohod, it is said, sent forth in the Prophet’s day 360 springs, of 
 which ten or twelve now remain. 
 
 3 Meaning that the visitor must ascend several smaller eminences. 
 The time occupied is from eight to nine hours, but I should not 
 advise my successor to attempt it in the hot weather. 
 
424 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 Harim; pray for the Martyrs; and, after going through 
 the ceremonies, return to the Harim in time for mid-day 
 worship. On the 12th of Rajab, Zairs come out in large 
 bodies from the city, encamp on the plain for three or 
 four days, and pass the time in feasting, jollity, and de- 
 votion, as is usual at pilgrimages and at saints’ festivals in 
 general. 
 
 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 whitewashed 
 walls, within which devotees pray. On the outside front- 
 ing Al-Madinah is a seat like a chair of rough stones. 
 Here I was placed by my Muzawwir, who recited an 
 insignificant supplication to be repeated after him. At 
 its end with the Fatihah and accompaniments, we re- 
 mounted our asses and resumed our way. ‘Travelling 
 onwards, we came in sight of the second Harrah 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 
 refiect in miniature those of Kuba; and presently we 
 arrived at what explained the presence of verdure and 
 vegetable life,—a deep Fiumara full of loose sand and 
 large stones denoting animpetuous stream. It flows along 
 the Southern base of Ohod, said to be part of the plain of — 
 Al-Madinah, and it collects the drainage of the high lands 
 lying to the South and South-east. The bed becomes 
 impassable after rain, and sometimes the torrents over-— 
 flow the neighbouring gardens. By the direction of this 
 Fiumara I judged that it must supply the Ghabbah or — 
 “basin” in the hills north of the plain. Good authori-— 
 
 x 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 é 
 books, or you are a magician seeking a talisman. 
 
AX .—The Visitation to Hamzah’s Tomb. 425 
 
 ties, however, informed me that a/’irge volume of water 
 will not stand there, but flows down the beds that wind 
 through the Ghats westward of Al-Madinah, and falls 
 into the sea near the harbour of Wijh. . To the south of 
 the Fiumara is a village on an eminence, containing 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 Ham- 
 zah’s tomb. Our donkeys presently 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 Al-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 hisidols in the centre. It is distant about 
 three miles from Al-Madinah, in a Northerly direction.’ 
 All the visitor sees is hard gravelly ground, covered 
 with little heaps of various coloured granite, red sand- 
 stone, and bits of porphyry, to denote the different places 
 where the martyrs fell, and were 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 wall. Reeking with heat, its surface pro- 
 Madinah. Al-Idrisi calls it the nearest hill, andcalculates the distance 
 at 6000 paces. Golius gives two leagues to Ohod and Ayr, which is 
 much too far. In our popular accounts, ‘‘ Mohammed posted himself . 
 upon the hill of Ohod, about six miles from Al-Madinah,” two 
 mistakes. 
 
 2 They are said to be seventy, but the heaps appeared to /ne at 
 least three times more numercus. ~ 
 
426 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccal. 
 
 duces not one green shrub or stunted tree; neither bird 
 nor 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 
 away my eyes from it. 
 
 To the left of the road North of the Fiumara, and lead- 
 ing to the mountains, stands Hamzah’s Mosque, which, 
 like the Harim of Al-Madinah, isa Mausoleum as well as 
 afane. It is a small strongly built square of hewn stone, - 
 with a dome covering the solitary hypostyle 
 to the South, and the usual minaret. The 
 Westward wing is a Zawiyah or oratory,} 
 frequented by the celebrated Sufi and 
 Saint, Mohammed al-Samman, the 
 ‘“‘Clarified Butter-Seller,” one of whose 
 
 , Mastabah. 
 
 a. Entrance. _ blood, the reader will remember, stood by 
 3 Passage leading to my side in the person of Shaykh Hamid. 
 sagt Ae, On the Eastern side of the building a half 
 6. Hamzah's Tomb. j j : ra 
 OTe en iah ena Wing projects; and a small door opens to- 
 
 palm trees. the South, upon a Mastabah or stone 
 bench five or six feet high: this 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, with huge platforms for the 
 accommodation of travellers. Beyond, towards the moun- - 
 tains, are the small edifices presently to be described. 
 
 Some Turkish women were sitting veiled upon the 
 shady platform opposite the Martyrs’ Mosque. At a_ 
 little distance their husbands, and the servants holding 
 horses and asses, lay upon the ground, and a large crowd 
 of Badawin, boys, girls, and old women, had gathered 
 around to beg, draw water, and sell dry dates. They 
 
 1”A Zawiyah in Northern Africa resembles the Takiyah of India, © 
 Persia, and Egypt, being a monastery for Darwayshes who reside there — 
 singly or in numbers. A Mosque, and sometimes, according to the 
 excellent practice of Al-Islam, a school, are attached to it. j 
 
XX.—The Visitation of Hamzah's Tomb. 427 
 
 were awaiting the guardian, who hed not yet acknow- 
 ledged the summons. 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 standing in the burning sun, we repeated the 
 following prayer: ‘Peace be upon Thee, O our Lord 
 Hamzah! O Paternal Uncle of Allah’s Apostle! O 
 Paternal Uncle of Allah’s Prophet! Peace be upon Thee, 
 O Paternal Uncle of Mustafa! Peace be upon Thee, O 
 Prince of the Martyrs! O Prince of the Happy! Peace 
 be upon Thee, O Lion of Allah! O Lion of His Prophet!” 
 After which, we asked Hamzah and his companions tc 
 lend us their aid in obtaining for us and ours pardon, 
 worldly prosperity and future happiness. Scarcely had 
 we finished, when, mounted ona high-trotting dromedary, 
 appeared the emissary of Mohammed Kalifah, descend- 
 ant of Al-Abbas, who keeps the key of the Mosque, and 
 who 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 sitting together in spiritual 
 
 1 Some historians relate that forty-six years after the battle of 
 Ohod, the tombs were laid bare by a torrent, when the corpses ap- 
 peared in their winding-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, 
 
428 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 ) 
 
 converse, and profane eye must not fall upon the scene. | 
 ‘What grand pictures these imaginative Arabs see! ‘Con-| 
 ceive the majestic figures of the saints—for the soul with 
 Mohammedans is like the old European spirit, a some-| 
 thing 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 gloom 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 apparitional old women, | 
 with streaming hair, and dressed in blue mantles; when 
 Scotland sees a shroud about a person, showing his 
 approaching death; when France has her loup-garous, 
 vevenants, and poules du Vendvedr Saint (i.e. hens 
 hatched on Good Friday supposed to change colour 
 every year): as long as the Holy Coat cures devotees at 
 Tréves, Madonnas wink at Rimini, San Januario melts 
 at Naples, and Addolorate and Estatiche make converts 
 to hysteria at Rome: whilst the Virgin manifests herself 
 to children on the Alps and in France, whilst Germany 
 sends forth Psychography, whilst Europe, the civilised, 
 the enlightened, the sceptical, dotes over clairvoyance 
 and table-turning, and whilst even hard-headed America 
 believes in ‘‘ mediums,” in ‘ snail-telegraphs,” and 
 “‘ spirit- rappings,”’— I must hold the men of Al- 
 Madinah to be as wise, and their superstition to 
 be as respectable, as that of others. But the reali- 
 ties of Hamzah’s Mosque have little to recom- 
 mend them. ‘The building is like that of Kuba, only 
 smaller: and the hypostyle is hung with oil lamps and 
 ostrich eggs, the usual paltry furniture of an Arab 
 
 that if the body be not decomposed within a year, it shows that the 
 ‘soul is not where it should be. 
 
 1 In fairness I must confess to believing in the reality of these 
 phenomena, but not in their “spiritual” origin, 
 
AX.—The Visitation of Hamzah’s Tomb. 429 
 
 mausoleum. On the walls are a few modern inscriptions 
 ‘and framed poetry, written in a calligraphic hand. 
 | Beneath the Riwak lies Hamzah, under a mass of black 
 basaltic stone,’ resembling that of Aden, only more porous. 
 ‘and scoriaceous, convex at the top, like a heap of earth, 
 | without the Kiswah,? or cover ofa saint’s tomb, and railed 
 fround with wooden bars. At his head, or westward, 
 lies Abdullah bin Jaysh, a name little known to fame, 
 under a plain whitewashed tomb, also convex; and in 
 the courtyard is a similar pile, erected over the remains 
 of Shammas bin Osman, 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 
 honour of entering it. But the guardian promised that 
 the chapters Y.S. and Al-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 can- 
 not quote against me a certain popular proverb concern- 
 ing 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 
 respectful distance, for the Turkish Hayjis cried out that 
 their women were engaged in ablution—a large Sahrij or 
 ‘tank, built of cut stone with steps, and intended to detain 
 
 1 In Ibn Jubayr’s time the tomb was red. 
 
 2 In the common tombs of martyrs, saints, and holy men, this 
 | covering is usually of green cloth, with long white letters sewn upon 
 it. I forgot to ask whether it was temporarily absent from Hamzah’s 
 grave. . 
 
 3 All these erections are new. In Burckhardt’s time they were 
 mere heaps of earth, with a few loose stones placed around them. I 
 do not know what has become of the third martyr, said to have been 
 interred near Hamzah. Possibiy some day he may reappear: mean- 
 
 while ¢he peopie of Al-Madinah are so wealthy in saints, that they 
 _ can well afford to lose sight of one. 
 
4.30 Pilgvimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 the overflowing waters of the torrent. The next place| 
 we prayed at was a small square, enclosed with dwarf 
 whitewashed walls, containing a few graves denoted by 
 ovals of loose stones thinly spread upon the ground.) 
 This is primitive Arab simplicity. The Badawin 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 (zz. like the hump of a | 
 camel), or more generally left Musattah (level). I there- | 
 fore suppose that the latter 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 preservation. Here the 
 Prophet prayed, and it is called the Kubbat al-Sanaya, | 
 «Dome of the Front Teeth,” from the following circum- | 
 stance. Five Infidels were bound by oath to slay Mo- | 
 hammed 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 Shaykh Hamid showed me the impression of 
 a tooth®: he kissed it with peculiar reverence, and so did I. 
 But the boy Mohammed being by me objurgated—for I 
 
 1 Formerly in this place was shown a slab with the mark of a 
 aman’s head—like St. Peter’s at Rome—where the Prophet had 
 rested. Now it seems to have disappeared, and the tooth has suc- 
 -ceeded to its honours. 
 
 2 Some historians say that four teeth were knocked out by this 
 stone. This appears an exaggeration. 
 
XX.—The Visitation of Hamzah’s Tomb. 432 
 
 remarked in him a jaunty demeanour combined with neg- 
 Jectfulness of ceremonies — saluted it sulkily, muttering 
 the while hints about the holiness of his birthplace 
 exempting him from the trouble of stooping. Already 
 he had. appeared at the Harim without his Jubbah, and 
 with ungirt loins—in waistcoat and shirt-sleeves. More- 
 _ over, he had conducted himself indecorously by nudging 
 Shaykh Hamid’s sides during divine service. Feeling 
 that the youth’s “moral man” was, like his physical, 
 under my charge, and determined to arrest a course of 
 conduct which must have ended in obtaining for me, 
 the master, the reputation of a‘‘son of Belial,” I in- 
 sisted upon his joining us in the customary two- 
 bow prayers. And Sa’ad the Demon, taking my side of 
 the question 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 inscription blessing the Companions of the 
 Prophet. The unhappy Abu Bakr’s name had been half 
 effaced by some fanatic Shi’ah, 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: 
 “Tam weary of my life (Umr), because it bears the name of 
 
 Umar,”1 
 
 We English wanderers are beginning to be shamed out 
 of our “‘vulgar” 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.p. 1879. And Easterns appear never to 
 
 eee 
 
 1 {n Persian characters the word Umr, life, and Umar, the name 
 of the hated caliph, are written in the same way; which explains the 
 pun. 
 
: 
 432 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. | 
 
 enter a building with a white wall without inditing upon it 
 platitudes in verse and prose. Influenced by these con- 
 siderations, I drew forth a pencil and inscribed in the 
 Kubbat al-Sanaya, 
 
 | 
 | 
 rane) 
 de 
 SHE 
 pe Gn 
 | 
 
 “ Abdullah, the servant of Allah.” 
 (A.H.) 1269. 
 
 Issuing from the dome, we turned a few paces to the 
 left, passed northwards, and thus blessed the Martyrs of 
 Ohod : 
 
 ‘* Peace be upon Ye, O Martyrs! Peace be upon 
 Ye, O Blessed! ye Pious! ye Pure! who fought upon 
 Allah’s Path the good Fight, who worshipped your Lord 
 until He brought you to Certainty.1 Peace be upon You 
 of whom Allah said (viz., in the Koran), ‘ Verily repute 
 not them slain on God’s Path (7.e., warring with Infidels); 
 nay, rather they are alive, and there is no Fear upon 
 them, nor are they sorrowful!’ Peace be upon Ye, O 
 Martyrs of Ohod ! One and All, and the Mercy of Allah 
 and His Blessings.” 
 
 Then again we moved a few paces forward and went 
 through a similar ceremony, supposing ourselves to be in 
 the cave that sheltered the Apostle. After which, return- 
 ing towards the torrent-bed by the way we came, we 
 stood a small distance from a cupola called Kubbat al- | 
 Masra. It resembles that of the “ Front-teeth,” and 
 notes, as its name proves, the place where the gallant 
 
 1 That is to say, ‘' to the hour of death.” 
 
XX.—The Visitation of Hamzah’s Tomb. 433 
 
 Hanrzah fell by the spear of Wahshi the slave. We 
 “faced towards it and finished the ceremonies of this 
 _Ziyarat by a Supplication, the Testification, and the 
 Fatinah. 
 
 In the evening I went with my friends to the 
 Harim. fhe minaret galleries were hung with lamps, 
 and the inside of the temple was illuminated. It was 
 
 1 When Jubayr bin Mutim was marching to Ohod, according to the 
 Rauzat al-Safa, in revenge for the death of his uncle Taymah, he offered 
 manumission to his slave Wahshi, who was noted for the use of the 
 Abyssinian spear, if he slew Hamzah. The slave sat in ambush behind 
 a rock, and when the hero had despatched one Siba’a bin Abd al- 
 Ayiz, of Meccah, he threw a javelin which pierced his navel and 
 came out of his back. The wounded man advanced towards his 
 assassin, who escaped. Hamzah then fell, and his friends coming up, 
 tound him dead. Wahshi waited till he saw an opportunity, drew 
 the javelin from the body, and mutilated it, in order to present 
 
 rophies tothe ferocious Hinda (mother of Mu’awiyah), whose father 
 Utbah had been slain by Hamzah. Theamazon insisted upon seeing 
 the corpse: having presented her necklace and bracelets to Wahshi, 
 she supplied their place with the nose, the ears, and other parts of 
 the dead hero. After mangling the body in a disgusting manner, she 
 ended by tearing open the stomach and biting the liver, whence she 
 was called ‘‘ Akkalat al-Akbad.'’’ When Mohammed saw the state of 
 his father’s brother, he was sadly moved. Presently comforted by 
 the inspirations brought by Gabriel, he cried, ‘ It is written among 
 the people of the seven Heavens, Hamzah, son of Muttalib, is the 
 Lion of Allah, and the Lion of his Prophet,” and ordered him to be 
 shrouded and prayed over him, beginning, says the Jazb al-Kulub, 
 with seventy repetitions of ‘‘ Allah Akbar.’’ Ali had brought in his 
 shield some water for Mohammed, from a Mahras or stone trough, 
 _ which stood near the scene of action (M. C. de Perceval translates it 
 ‘‘un creux de rocher formant un bassin naturel”). But the Prophet 
 refused to drink it, and washed with it the blood from the face of him 
 ‘‘ martyred by the side of the Mahras.”’ It was of the Moslems slain 
 at Ohod, according toAbu Da’ud, that the Prophet declared that their 
 souls should be carried in the crops of green birds, that they might 
 drink of the waters and taste the fruits of Paradise, and nestle beneath 
 the golden lamps that hang from the celestial ceiling. He also for- 
 bade, on this occasion, the stil] popular practice of mutilating an 
 
  enemy’s corpse. 
 VOL. 1. Q 
 
434 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 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 performing 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 overwhelmed with emotion. The boys and 
 the beggars were inspired with fresh energy, the Aghawat 
 were gruffer and surlier than I had ever -een them, and 
 the young men about town walked and talked with a 
 freer and an easier demeanour than usual. My old 
 friends the Persians—there were about 1200 of them in 
 the Hajj Caravan—attracted my attention. The door- 
 keepers stopped them with curses as they were about 
 to enter, and all claimed from each the sum of five 
 piastres, whilst other Moslems were allowed to enter 
 the Mosque free. Unhappy men! they had lost all 
 the Shiraz swagger, their mustachios dropped pitiably, 
 their eyes would not look any one in the face, and 
 not a head bore a cap stuck upon it crookedly. When- 
 ever an ‘’Ajami,” whatever might be his rank, stood 
 in the way of an Arab or a Turk, he was rudely 
 thrust aside, with abuse muttered 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 Bakr aud 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 
 
 1 The Prophet preferred women and young boys to pray privately, 
 and in some parts of Al-Islam they are not allowed to join a congre- 
 gation. At Al-Madinah, however, it is no longer, as in Burckhardt’s 
 time, ‘thought very indecorous in women to enter the Mosque.” 
 
XX.—The Visitation of Hamzah’s Tomb. 435 
 
 mourning death, whilst the others listened to him with 
 
 - breathless attention. Sometimes their emotion was too 
 
 é 
 
 strong to be repressed. ‘‘ Ay Fatimah! Ay Muzlumah ! 
 
 Way ! way !—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 weep- 
 ing silently like children, sometimes shrieking like hysteric 
 girls, and utterly careless to conceala grief so coarse 
 and grisly, at the same time so true and real, that I 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—the Persian slave who stabbed Omar 
 in the Mosque—and praying for his eternal happiness in the 
 presence of the murdered man ! Sticks and stones, how- 
 ever, and not unfrequently the knife and.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, denote the wild storm of 
 wrath within. They generally, too, manage to discharge 
 some part of their passionin 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 blessthe Pope. “ O Allah! 
 jell him !” meekly responds the’ Persian, changing the 
 benediction to a curse most intelligible to, and most 
 delicious in, his fellows’ ears.* ‘ 
 
 wet soe ee 
 
 1 I have heard of a Persian being beaten to death, because in 
 stead of saying ‘‘Peace be with thee, Ya Omar,’ he insisted upon 
 saying ‘‘Peace be with thee, Ya Humér (O ass!)’’ A favourite trick 
 is to change “ Razi Allahu anhu—may Allah be satisfied with him|"— 
 
436 Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. 
 
 An evening hour in the steamy heat of the Harim was 
 equal to half a dozen afternoons; and I left it resolved 
 never to revisit it till the Hajj departed from Al-Madinah. 
 It was only prudent not to see much of the ’Ajamis; 
 and as I did so somewhat ostentatiously, my companions 
 discovered that the Shaykh Abdullah, having slain many 
 of those heretics in some war or other, was avoiding them 
 to escape retaliation. In proof of my generalistic quali- 
 ties, 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@ V’outvance. I took 
 care not to contradict the report. 
 
 to ‘*Razi Allahu Aan.’ This last word is not to be found in Richard- 
 son, but any ‘‘Luti’’ from Shiraz or Isfahan can make it intelligible 
 to the curious linguist. 
 
 END OF VOLUME JI, 
 
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