[p.242] instance of leprosy, in a Bedouin at Tayf. The elephantiasis and
Guinea-worm are not uncommon, especially the former, of which I have
seen many frightful cases. It is said that stone in the bladder is
frequent at Mekka, caused, perhaps, by the peculiar quality of the
water; to the badness of which many other diseases also may be ascribed
in this hot country, where such quantities of it are daily drunk. I
heard that the only surgeons who knew how to perform the operation of
extracting the stone from the bladder, are Bedouins of the tribe of Beni
Sad, who live in the mountains, about thirty miles south of Tayf. In
time of peace, some of them repair annually to Mekka, to perform this
operation, the knowledge of which they consider as a secret hereditary
in some families of their tribe. They are said to use a common razor,
and, in general, with success.
Sores on the legs, especially on the shin-bone, are extremely common
both at Mekka and Djidda; but more so at the latter place, where the
dampness of the atmosphere renders their cure much more difficult;
indeed, in that damp climate, the smallest scratch, or bite of any
insect, if neglected, becomes a sore, and soon after an open wound:
nothing is more common than to see persons walking in the streets,
having on their legs sores of this kind, which, if neglected, often
corrode the bone. As their cure demands patience, and, above all,
repose, the lower classes seldom apply the proper remedies in time; and
when they have increased to such a state as to render their application
indispensably necessary, no good surgeons are to be found; fever ensues,
and many of the patients die. I believe that one-fourth of the
population of Djidda is constantly afflicted with ulcers on their legs;
the bad nature of these sores is further aggravated by the use of
seawater for ablutions.
During my stay at Mekka, I seldom enjoyed perfect good health. I was
twice attacked by fever; and, after the departure of the Syrian Hadj, by
a violent diarrha, from which I had scarcely recovered when I set out
for Medina. In those days, even when I was free from disease, I felt
great lassitude, a depression of spirits, and a total want of appetite.
During the five days of the Hadj, I was luckily in good
[p.243] health, though I was under great apprehensions from the
consequences of taking the ihram. My strength was greatly diminished,
and it required much effort, whenever I left my room, to walk about.
I attributed my illness chiefly to bad water, previous experience having
taught me that my constitution is very susceptible of the want of good
light water, that prime article of life in eastern countries. Brackish
water in the Desert is perhaps salutary to travellers: heated as they
are by the journey, and often labouring under obstructions from the
quality of their food on the road, it acts as a gentle aperient, and
thus supplies the place of medicinal draughts; but the contrary is the
case when the same water is used during a continued sedentary residence,
when long habit only can accustom the stomach to receive it. Had I found
myself in better health and spirits, I should probably have visited some
of the neighbouring valleys to the south, or passed a few months among
the Bedouins of the Hedjaz; but the worst effect of ill health upon a
traveller, is the pusillanimity which accompanies it, and the
apprehensions with which it fills the mind, of fatigues and dangers,
that, under other circumstances, would be thought undeserving of notice.
The current price of provisions at Mekka in December, 1814, was as
follows:--
Piastres. Paras.
1 lb. of beef .......................... 2 10
1 lb. of mutton ........................ 20
1 lb. of camels flesh ................. 10
1 lb. of butter ........................ 5
1 lb. of fresh unsalted cheese ......... 3
A fowl ................................. 6
An egg ................................. 0 8
1 lb. of milk .......................... 2
1 lb. of vegetables, viz. leek, spinach,
turnips, radishes, calabashes, egg-
plants, green onions, petrosiles, &c.... 0 30
[p.244]
Piastres. Paras.
A small, round, flat loaf of bread ..... 0 20
1 lb. of dry biscuits .................. 0 32
1 lb. of raisins from Tayf ............. 1 20
1 lb. of dates ......................... 0 25
1 lb. of sugar (Indian) ................ 2 10
1 lb. of coffee ........................ 2 20
A pomegranate .......................... 0 15
An orange .............................. 0 15
A lemon, (the size of a walnut, the
Same species as the Egyptian lemon) 0 10
1 lb. of good Syrian tobacco ........... 6
1 lb. of common tobacco ................ 1 30
1 lb. of tombac, or tobacco for the
Persian pipe ........................ 3
1 keyle of wheat ....................... 3
1 do. of flour ......................... 3 20
1 do. of Indian rice ................... 3
1 do. Of lentils from Egypt ............ 2 30
1 do. Of dried locusts ................. 1
A skin of water ........................ 1 20
As much wood as will cook two dishes ... 0 20
A labourer for the day ................. 3
A porter for going in town the distance
Of half a mile ...................... 1
Common wages of servants,[FN#1] besides
Clothes and food, per month ........ 30
Wages of craftsmen, as smiths, carpen-
ters, &c. per day, besides food ..........5
N.B. The Spanish dollar was worth from nine to twelve piastres during my
residence at Mekka, changing its value almost daily.
[p.245] One piastre equal to forty paras or diwanys, as they are called
in the Hedjaz. The pound, or rotolo, of Mekka, has a hundred and forty-
four drams. The Egyptian erdeb, equivalent to about fifteen English
bushels, is divided here into fifty keyles or measures. At Medina the
erdeb is divided into ninety-six keyles. The pound of Djidda is nearly
double that of Mekka.
[The Mekkawys have only slaves; but many Egyptians are ready to
enter into the service of hadjys. The most common servants in the
families of Mekka are the younger sons or some poor relations.]
[p.246] THE HADJ, OR PILGRIMAGE.
THE time has passed (and, probably for ever,) when hadjys or pilgrims,
from all regions of the Muselman world, came every year in multitudes,
that they might visit devotionally the sacred places of the Hedjaz. An
increasing indifference to their religion, and an increase of expense
attending the journey, now deter the greater part of the Mohammedans
from complying with that law of the Koran, which enjoins to every Moslim
who can afford it, the performance of a pilgrimage to Mekka, once at
least in his life. To those whom indispensable occupations confine to
their homes, the law permits a substitution of prayers; but even with
this injunction few people now comply, or it is evaded by giving a few
dollars to some hadjy, who, taking from several persons commissions of
the same kind, includes all their names in the addition consequently
made to the prayers recited by him at the places of holy visit. When
Muselman zeal was more ardent, the difficulties of the journey being
held to increase the merit of it, became with many an additional
incitement to join the caravans, and to perform the whole journey by
land; but at present, most of the pilgrims do not join any regular Hadj
caravan, but reach Djidda by sea from Egypt, or the Persian Gulf;
commercial and lucrative speculations being the chief inducements to
this journey.
In 1814, many hadjys had arrived at Mekka, three or four months previous
to the prescribed time of the pilgrimage. To pass the Ramadhan in this
holy city, is a great inducement with such as can afford the expense, to
hasten their arrival, and prolong their residence in it.
[p.247] About the time when the regular caravans were expected, at least
four thousand pilgrims from Turkey, who had come by sea, were already
assembled at Mekka, and perhaps half that number from other distant
quarters of the Mohammedan world. Of the five or six regular caravans
which, formerly, always arrived at Mekka a few days before the Hadj, two
only made their appearance this year; these were from Syria and Egypt;
the latter composed entirely of people belonging to the retinue of the
commander of the Hadj, and his troops; no pilgrims having come by land
from Cairo, though the road was safe.
The Syrian caravan has always been the strongest, since the time when
the Khalifes, in person, accompanied the pilgrims from Baghdad. It. sets
out from Constantinople, and collects the pilgrims of Northern Asia in
its passage through Anatolia and Syria, until it reaches Damascus, where
it remains for several weeks. During the whole of the route from
Constantinople to Damascus, every care is taken for the safety and
convenience of the caravan; it is accompanied from town to town by the
armed forces of the governors; at every station caravansaries and public
fountains have been constructed by former Sultans, to accommodate it on
its passage, which is attended so far with continual festivities and
rejoicings. At Damascus, it is necessary to prepare for a journey of
thirty days, across the Desert to Medina; and the camels which had
transported it thus far, must be changed, the Anatolian camel not being
able to bear the fatigues of such a journey. Almost every town in the
eastern part of Syria furnishes its beasts for the purpose; and the
great Bedouin Sheikhs of the frontiers of that country contract largely
for camels with the government of Damascus. Their number must be
supposed very great, even if the caravan be but thinly attended, when it
is considered that besides those carrying water and provisions for the
hadjys and soldiers, their horses, and the spare camels brought to
supply such as may fail on the road, daily food for the camels
themselves must be similarly transported; as well as provisions, which
are deposited in castles on the Hadj route, to form a supply for the
return. The Bedouins take good care that the camels shall not be
overloaded, that the numbers wanted may thus be increased. In 1814,
though the caravan consisted of not more than
[p.248] four or five thousand persons, including soldiers and servants,
it had fifteen thousand camels. [El Fasy relates that, when the mother of
Motasem bIllah, the last of the Abassides, performed the pilgrimage in
A.H. 631, her caravan was composed of one hundred and twenty thousand
camels. When Solyman Ibn Abd el Melek performed the pilgrimage in A.H.
97, nine hundred camels were employed in the transport of his wardrobe
only. It is observable that none of the Othman Emperors of
Constantinople ever performed the pilgrimage in person. The Khalife El
Mohdy Abou Abdallah Mohammed expended on his pilgrimage in A.H. 160,
thirty millions of dirhems. He carried with him an immense number of
gowns to distribute as presents. He built fine houses at every station
from Baghdad to Mekka, and caused them to be splendidly furnished; he
also erected mile-stones along the whole route, and was the first
Khalife who carried snow with him, to cool sherbet on the road, in which
he was imitated by many of his successors. Haroun el Rasheid, who
performed the pilgrimage nine times, spent, in one of his visits, one
million and fifty thousand dynars in presents to the Mekkawys and the
poor hadjys. El Melek Nasir eddyn Abou el Maaly, Sultan of Egypt,
carried with him, on his pilgrimage in A.H. 719, five hundred camels,
for the transport of sweetmeats and confectionary only; and two hundred
and eighty for pomegranates, almonds, and other fruits: in his
travelling larder were one thousand geese, and three thousand fowls.
Vide Makrisis Treatise Man Hadj myn el Kholafa.]
The Syrian caravan is very well regulated, though, as in all matters of
oriental government, the abuses and exceptions are numerous. The Pasha
of Damascus, or one of his principal officers, always accompanies this
caravan, and gives the signal for encamping and starting, by firing a
musket. On the route, a troop of horsemen ride in front, and another in
the rear, to bring up the stragglers. The different parties of hadjys,
distinguished by their provinces or towns, keep close together ; and
each knows its never-varying station in the caravan, which is determined
by the geographical proximity of the place from whence it comes. When
they encamp, the same order is constantly observed; thus the people from
Aleppo always encamp close by those of Homs, &c. This regulation is very
necessary to prevent disorder in night-marches. [In our authors Syrian
Travels, (p. 242.) the reader will find some further remarks on this
Hadj-caravan, and in the Appendix to that volume (No. 3.) an account of
the route between Damascus and Mekka.--ED.]
The hadjys usually contract for the journey with a Mekowem, one who
speculates in the furnishing of camels and provisions to the Hadj.
[p.249] From twenty to thirty pilgrims are under the care of the same
Mekowem, who has his tents and servants, and saves the hadjys from all
fatigue and trouble on the road: their tent, coffee, water, breakfast,
and dinner are prepared for them, and they need not take the slightest
trouble about packing and loading. If a camel should die, the Mekowem
must find another; and, however great may be the want of provisions on
the road, he must furnish his passengers with their daily meals. In
1814, the hire of one Mekowem, and the boarding at his table, was one
hundred and fifty dollars from Damascus to Medina, and fifty dollars
more from Medina to Mekka. Out of these two hundred dollars, sixty were
given by the Mekowem to a man who led the camel by the halter during the
night-marches; a precaution necessary in so great a caravan, when the
rider usually sleeps, and the animal might otherwise easily wander from
the path. In addition to the stipulated hire, the Mekowem always
receives some presents from his pilgrims. On the return to Syria, the
sum is something less, as many camels then go unloaded.
Few travellers choose to perform the journey at their own risk, or upon
their own camels; for if they are not particularly protected by the
soldiery, or the chief of the caravan, they find it difficult to escape
the ill-treatment of the Mekowem at watering-places, as well as on the
march; the latter endeavouring to check, by every means in their power,
the practice of traveling independent of them, so that it is rarely done
except by rich hadjys, who have the means of forming a party of their
own amounting to forty or fifty individuals.
At night, torches are lighted, and the daily distance is usually
performed between three oclock in the afternoon, and an hour or two
after sun-rise on the following day. The Bedouins who carry provisions
for the troops, travel by day only, and in advance of the caravan, the
encampment of which they pass in the morning, and are overtaken in turn,
and passed by the caravan on the following night, at their own resting-
place. The journey with these Bedouins is less fatiguing than with the
great body of the caravan, as a regular nights rest is obtained; but
their bad character deters most pilgrims from joining them.
[p.250] At every watering-place on the route are a small castle and a
large tank, at which the camels water. The castles are garrisoned by a
few persons, who remain during the whole year to guard the provisions
deposited there. It is at these watering-places, which belong to the
Bedouins, that the Sheikhs of the tribes meet the caravan, and receive
the accustomed tribute. Water is plentiful on the route: the stations
are no where more distant than eleven or twelve hours march; and in
winter, pools of rain-water are frequently found. Those pilgrims who can
travel with a litter, or on commodious camel-saddles, may sleep at
night, and perform the journey with little inconvenience; but of those
whom poverty, or the desire of soon acquiring a large sum of money,
induces to follow the caravan on foot, or to hire themselves as
servants, many die on the road from fatigue.
The Egyptian caravan, which starts from Cairo, is under the same
regulations as the Syrian, but seldom equals the latter in numbers,
being composed of Egyptians only, besides the military escort. Its route
is more dangerous and fatiguing than that of the Syrian caravan; the
road along the shore of the Red Sea leading through the territories of
wild and warlike tribes of Bedouins, who frequently endeavour to cut off
a part of the caravan by open force. The watering-places too are much
fewer on this route than on the other; three days frequently intervening
between the wells, which are, besides, seldom copious, and, with the
exception of two or three, are of bad brackish water. In 1814, this
caravan was composed of soldiers only with the retinue of the sacred
camel, and some public officers; all the Egyptian pilgrims having
preferred taking the route by Suez. In 1816, several grandees of Cairo
joined the Hadj, one of whom had one hundred and ten camels for the
transport of his baggage and retinue, and eight tents: his travelling
expenses in going and coming must have amounted to ten thousand pounds.
There were also about five hundred peasants, with their women, from
upper and lower Egypt, who were less afraid of the fatigues and dangers
of the Desert than of the Sea. I saw with them a party of public women
and dancing-girls, whose tents and equipage were among the most splendid
in the
[p.251] caravan. Female hadjys of a similar class accompany the Syrian
caravan also.
The Persian Hadj, which used to set out from Baghdad, and come through
Nedjed to Mekka, was discontinued about the time when the Wahabys
stopped the Syrian Hadj. After Abdullah ibn Saoud had made peace with
Tousoun Pasha in 1815, it ventured to cross the Desert, and passed by
Derayeh unmolested; but within four days journey of Mekka, it was
attacked by the Beni Shammar, a tribe which had remained neuter during
the war between Tousoun and the Wahabys. The caravan then returned to
Derayeh; through the intercession of Saoud, the goods of which it had
been plundered were restored; and he sent a party of his own people to
escort it to the holy city.
The Persian caravan is usually escorted by the Ageyl Arabs, of Baghdad.
As its pilgrims are known to be sectaries, they are exposed to great
extortions on the road: Saoud exacted a heavy capitation-tax from them,
as did Sherif Ghaleb at Mekka, amounting in latter times to thirty
sequins per head. Persian hadjys are all persons of property, and no
pilgrims suffer so much imposition as they during the whole route. Great
numbers of them come by sea: they embark at Bassora for Mokha, and if
they fall in with the trade-wind, run straight to Djidda; if not, they
form themselves into a caravan, and come by land along the coast of
Yemen. In 1814, when I was present at the Hadj, the few Persians who
came by land, had passed through Baghdad to Syria, and had followed the
Syrian caravan, accompanied by Baghdad camel-drivers.
It deserves notice here, that the Persians were not always permitted to
come to the holy city; being notorious heretics, who conceal their
doctrines only during the Hadj, that they may not give offence to the
Sunnys. In 1634, a few years after the temple of Mekka had been rebuilt,
Sultan Murad IV. commanded that no Persian of the sect of Aly should be
allowed to perform the pilgrimage, or enter the Beittullah. This
prohibition was complied with for several years; but the money expended
by the Persians soon re-opened the way to Arafat
[p.252] and the Kaaba. We learn from Asamy, that, in 1625, a sectary of
Aly was impaled alive at Mekka, because he would not abjure his creed.
The Moggrebyn Hadj caravan has for many years ceased to be regular. It
is usually accompanied by a relative of the King of Morocco, and
proceeds from his residence by slow marches towards Tunis and Tripoly,
collecting additional pilgrims in every district through which it
passes. Its route from Tripoly is along the shores of the Syrtis to
Derne, and from thence along the coast of Egypt, passing either by
Alexandria, or taking the direction of the Natron lakes straight for
Cairo, from whence it follows the common pilgrim-route. This caravan
returning from Mekka always visits Medina, which the Egyptian Hadj never
does, and sometimes extends its route by land as far as Jerusalem. Few
troops accompany it; but its pilgrims are well armed, and ready to
defend themselves: of the two other great caravans, no body fights but
the escort.
The last Moggrebyn caravan passed through Egypt in 1811; the Wahabys
permitted them to visit Mekka, as they saw that they were free from
those scandalous practices with which they upbraided the Egyptians and
Syrians; but the caravan experienced many misfortunes on its return,
from enemies, and from a want of guides, and provisions, in consequence
of which many of its people died. The pilgrims from Barbary arrive now
usually by sea at Alexandria, and re-embark at Suez, in parties of fifty
or a hundred at a time. Although poorly dressed, they have generally
sufficient money to defray their expenses, and few of them are beggars;
of this class, however, I saw a small party, Arabs from Draa, on the
S.E. side of Mount Atlas, who had set out with the Egyptian caravan by
land in September, 1816. They told me that they had obtained a. free
passage by sea from Tunis to Alexandria. One of them was a Bedouin of
the Shilouh nation, whose encampment, when he left it, was at twenty
days journey from Tombuctou.
In the Moggrebyn caravan also are generally found some natives of the
island of Djerba, or Girba, who are strongly suspected of being
sectaries of Aly; and some of whom are often stationary at Cairo,
[p.253] inhabiting the quarter called Teyloun, and keeping themselves
wholly separate from all other Moggrebyns established in the town. But
the far greater part of the caravan is from the kingdom of Marocco.
I believe that two thousand is the largest yearly number of Barbary
pilgrims. The last caravans comprised altogether from six to eight
thousand men.
Two Yemen pilgrim caravans used to arrive at Mekka, in former times, by
land. The one called Hadj el Kebsy, started from Sada, in Yemen, and
took its course along the mountains to Tayf and to Mekka. Two
itineraries of this caravan, with some notices on it, will be found in
the Appendix. The other, which was formed of natives of Yemen, and of
Persians and Indians who had arrived in the harbours of that country,
came along the coast. This caravan was discontinued about 1803, and has
not yet been re-established. It was once considerable, and rich in
merchandize and coffee; and sometimes enjoyed the honour of being
accompanied by the Imams of Yemen. Like the Syrian and Egyptian
caravans, it had a particular place assigned for its camp near Mekka,
where a large stone tank was built to supply it with water.
I have seen the route of an Indian pilgrim caravan, laid down in several
maps as starting from Maskat, and coming by Nedjed to Mekka; but I could
obtain no information respecting it; that such, however, existed
formerly, appears from the frequent mention of it made by the historian
Asamy. Those persons whom I questioned assured me that no such caravan
had arrived within their memory; but I believe that, in the time of
peace, Indian, Persian, and Arab beggars, in small parties, sometimes
arrive in the Hedjaz by the above route.
Before the power of the Sherifs was broken by the chief Sherif Serour,
the former extorted from every caravan that came to Mekka considerable
sums, besides the surra to which they were entitled. As soon as they
heard of the near approach of a caravan, they issued from Mekka with all
their armed retinue and their Bedouin friends, and often disputed with
the leaders of the caravan for several days before the amount of the
tribute was settled.
To the regular caravans above mentioned, must be added large bodies of
Bedouins, which resort to Mekka, during peace, from every part of the
Desert; for even among the least religious Bedouins, the title of hadjy
is respected: Nedjed sends its pilgrims, as do also the Southern
Bedouins. When the Wahabys were in possession of Mekka, hosts of these
sectaries came to Arafat, as much, perhaps, for the purpose of paying
their court to the chief, who, it was known, liked to see his Arabs
collected there, as from religious motives. The last time the Wahabys
performed the Hadj was in 1811, shortly after the first defeat of
Tousoun Pasha at Djedeyde: they were accompanied by large bodies of
Bedouins of Kahtan, Asyr, with others from the most interior part of the
Desert. The plunder taken from the Turkish army was sold to the Mekkawys
in the market at Arafat. I shall here observe that Aly Bey el Abassy has
made a strange mistake with respect to the host of Wahabys, whom he saw
entering Mekka at the time of the pilgrimage; for he fancied that they
came to take possession of the town, and flattered himself that he was
present at the first conquest of Mekka by the Wahabys, while every child
in the place could have informed him that this event happened three
years before his arrival in the Hedjaz.
At present, as I have already mentioned, most of the hadjys arrive by
sea at Djidda: those who come from the north embark at Suez or Cosseir,
and among them are a large proportion of the Barbary pilgrims, many
Turks from Anatolia and European Turkey, Syrians, and numerous dervishes
from Persia, Tartary, and the realms watered by the Indus. The want of
shipping on the Red Sea, occasioned by the increased demand for ships to
accommodate the Turkish army of the Hedjaz, renders the passage
precarious; and they sometimes lose the opportunity, and arrive too late
for the pilgrimage, as happened to a party in 1814, who reached Mekka
three days after the Hadj, having been long detained at Suez. From the
bad quality of the vessels, and their crowded state, the passage is very
disagreeable, and often dangerous. Nothing has yet been done by Mohammed
Aly Pasha to make this voyage more commodious to the pilgrims; but, on
the contrary, be has laid a tax upon them, by forcing a contract for
their passage to Djidda
[p.255] at a high price, (it was eighteen dollars a head in 1814), with
his governor at Suez, who distributed them on board the Arab ships, and
paid to the masters of the vessels only six dollars per head. Formerly
hadjys were permitted to carry with them from Suez as great a quantity
of provisions as they chose, part of which they afterwards sold in the
Hedjaz to some profit; but at present none can embark with more than
what is barely sufficient for his own consumption during the pilgrimage.
The advantage of carrying along with them their provisions, chiefly
butter, flour, biscuits, and dried flesh, purchased at cheap prices in
Egypt, for the whole journey, was a principal reason for preferring a
sea voyage; for those who go by land must purchase all their provisions
at Mekka, where the prices are high.
If the foreign pilgrims, on their arrival at Cairo, cannot hear of any
ships lying in the harbour of Suez, they often pursue their way up the
Nile as far as Genne, and from thence cross the Desert to Cosseir, from
whence it is but a short voyage to Djidda. In returning from the Hedjaz,
this Cosseir route is preferred by the greater part of the Turkish
hadjys. The natives of Upper Egypt go by Cosseir; likewise many negro
pilgrims, after having followed the banks of the Nile from Sennar down
to Genne. The usual fare for hadjys from Cosseir to Djidda, is from six
to eight dollars.
In the last days of the Mamelouks, when they held possession of Upper
Egypt, while the lower was conquered by Mohammed Aly, many Turkish
hadjys who repaired to the Hedjaz in small parties, though it was then
in the hands of the Wahabys, suffered much illtreatment from the
Mamelouks, on their return to Egypt; many of them were stripped and
slain in their passage down the Nile. The sanguinary Greek, Hassan Beg
el Yahoudy, boasted of having himself killed five hundred of them. These
massacres of inoffensive pilgrims furnished Mohammed Aly with an excuse
for his treachery in putting the Mamelouks to death at the castle of
Cairo.
Other pilgrims arrive by sea from Yemen and the East India, namely,
Mohammedan Hindous, and Malays; Cashmerians, and people from Guzerat;
Persians, from the Persian Gulf; Arabians, from Bassora, Maskat, Oman,
Hadramaut; and those from the coasts
[p.256] of Melinda and Mombaza, who are comprised under the generic name
of the people of the Sowahel, i.e. the level coast; Abyssinian Moslims,
and many negro pilgrims, who come by the same route. All Moslims
dwelling on the coasts of the ocean are certain of finding, towards the
period of the Hadj, some ship departing from a neighbouring harbour for
the Red Sea; but the greater number arrive with the regular Indian fleet
in May, and remain at Mekka or Medina till the time of the Hadj; soon
after which, they embark on board country ships at Djidda for Yemen,
where they wait till the period of the trade-winds to pass the Bab el
Mandeb. Multitudes of beggars come to Mekka from the above-mentioned
countries; they get a free passage from charitable individuals in their
own country, or the cost of it is defrayed by those who employ them as
their proxies in performing the Hadj; but when they land, they are
thrown entirely upon the charity of other hadjys; and the alms they
collect, must serve to carry them back to their homes.
Few pilgrims, except the mendicants, arrive without bringing some
productions of their respective countries for sale; and this remark is
applicable as well to the merchants, with whom commercial pursuits are
the main object, as to those who are actuated by religious zeal for to
the latter, the profits derived from selling a few native articles at
Mekka, diminish, in some degree, the heavy expenses of the journey. The
Moggrebyns, for example, bring their red bonnets and woollen cloaks; the
European Turks, shoes and slippers, hardware, embroidered stuffs,
sweetmeats, amber, trinkets of European manufacture, knit silk purses,
&c.; the Turks of Anatolia bring carpets, silks, and Angora shawls; the
Persians, cashmere shawls and large silk handkerchiefs; the Afghans,
tooth-brushes, called Mesouak Kattary, made of the spongy boughs of a
tree growing in Bokhara, beads of a yellow soap-stone, and plain, coarse
shawls, manufactured in their own country; the Indians, the numerous
productions of their rich and extensive region; the people of Yemen,
snakes for the Persian pipes, sandals, and various other works in
leather; and the Africans bring various articles adapted to the slave-
trade. The hadjys are, however, often disappointed in their expectations
of gain; want of money makes
[p.257] them hastily sell their little adventures at the public
auctions, and often obliges them to accept very low prices.
Of all the poor pilgrims who arrive in the Hedjaz, none bear a more
respectable character for industry than the Negroes, or Tekrourys, as
they are called here. All the poorer class of Indians turn beggars as
soon as they are landed at Djidda. Many Syrians and Egyptians follow the
same trade; but not so the Negroes. I have already stated in a former
journal, that the latter reach the Hedjaz by the three harbours of
Massouah, Souakin, and Cosseir. Those who come by Sennar and Abyssinia
to Massoua, are all paupers. The small sum of one dollar carries them
from Massoua to the opposite coast of Yemen; and they usually land at
Hodeyda. Here they wait for the arrival of a sufficient number of their
countrymen, to form a small caravan, and then ascend the mountains of
Yemen, along the fertile valleys of which, inhabited by hospitable
Arabs, they beg their way to Djidda or to Mekka. [In 1813, a party of
Tekrourys, about sixty in number, having taken that road, the Arabs of
those mountains, who are Wahabys, and who had often seen black slaves
among the Turkish soldiers, conceived that the negro hadjys were in the
habit of entering into the service of the Turks. To prevent the party
then passing from being ever opposed to them, they waylaid the poor
Tekrourys on the road, and killed many of them.] If rich enough to spare
two dollars, they obtain, perhaps, a passage from Massoua direct to
Djidda, where they meet with such of their countrymen as may have landed
there from Souakin or Cosseir. Immediately on their arrival at Djidda or
Mekka, they apply themselves to labour: some serve as porters, for the
transport of goods and corn from the ships to the warehouses; others
hire themselves to clean the court-yards, fetch wood from the
neighbouring mountains, for the supply of which the inhabitants of
Djidda and Mekka are exclusively indebted to them, as none of their own
lazy poor will undertake that labour, although four piastres a day may
be gained by it. At Mekka, they make small hearths of clay, (kanoun,)
which they paint with yellow and red; these are bought by the hadjys,
who boil their coffee-pots upon them. Some manufacture small baskets and
mats of date-leaves, or prepare the intoxicating drink called bouza; and
others serve as water-carriers: in short, when any occasion requires
manual
[p.258] labour, a Tekroury from the market is always employed. If any of
them is attacked by disease, his companions attend upon him, and defray
his expenses. I have seen very few of them ask for charity, except on
the first days after their arrival, before they have been able to obtain
employment. From Mekka, they either travel by land, or sometimes make a
sea voyage by way of Yembo to Medina, where they again supply the town
with fire-wood. Indeed, the hadjys would be much at a loss in the
Hedjaz, if they could not command the laborious services of these
blacks. During the Wahaby conquest, they continued to perform the
pilgrimage; and it is said that Saoud expressed a particular esteem for
them. [Makrisi states, in his treatise on the Khalifes who performed the
Hadj, that in A.H. 724, a negro king called Mousa arrived at Cairo on
his way to Mekka, and was splendidly entertained by Kalaoun, then Sultan
of Egypt. He had with him, according to Makrisi, fourteen thousand
chosen female slaves.]
When these negroes have completed the Hadj, and the visit to Mekka, they
repair to Djidda, where they continue to work till an opportunity offers
of sailing to Souakin; for very few, if any, return by way of Abyssinia.
On leaving the Hedjaz, they all possess a sufficient sum of money, saved
from the profits of their industry, to purchase some small adventure,
or, at least, to provide, on their reaching Souakin, for a more
comfortable passage through the Desert than that which they experienced
on their outward journey, and then proceed homewards by Shendy and
Cordofan. Many of them, however, instead of returning on the completion
of the pilgrimage, disperse over Arabia, visit the mosque at Jerusalem,
or Ibrahims (Abraham s) tomb at Hebron, and thus remain absent from
their home for many years, subsisting always upon the product of their
own labour.
The benefactors to the Kaaba have enriched the temple of Mekka, and the
idle persons employed in it; but no one has thought of forming any
establishment for facilitating the pilgrimage of the poor negroes and
Indians, or of procuring for them a free passage across the gulf to the
Hedjaz; the expense of which, amounting to a dollar or two, is that
which they feel most heavily. They often arrive in the harbours of the
African side of the gulf, after having spent the
[p.259] little they had taken with them from home, or having been robbed
of it on the journey; and finding, perhaps, no means there of earning as
much as will pay their passage across the Red Sea, are obliged to wait
till the return of their richer companions from the Hedjaz, who
charitably pay for their passage.
The poor Indians afford a complete contrast, both in appearance and
character, to the negroes: more wretched countenances can hardly be
imagined; they seem to have lost not only all energy, but even hope.
With bodies which appear scarcely capable of withstanding a gust of
wind, and voices equally feeble, they would be worthy objects of
commiseration, did not daily experience prove that they delight to
appear in this plight, because it secures to them the alms of the
charitable, and exempts them from labour. The streets of Mekka are
crowded with them; the most decrepid make their doleful appeals to the
passenger, lying at full length on their backs in the middle of the
street; the gates of the mosque are always beset with them; every
coffee-house and water-stand is a station for some of them; and no hadjy
can purchase provisions in the markets, without being importuned by
Indians soliciting a portion of them. I saw among them one of those
devotees who are so common in the north of India and in Persia: one of
his arms was held up straight over his head, and so fixed by long habit,
that it could not be placed in any other situation. From the curiosity
which he excited, I was led to suppose that such characters seldom find
their way to the Hedjaz.
Dervishes of every sect and order in the Turkish empire are found among
the pilgrims; many of them madmen, or at least assuming the appearance
of insanity, which causes them to be much respected by the hadjys, and
fills their pockets with money. The behaviour of some of them is so
violent, and at the same time so cunning, that even the least charitably
disposed hadjys give willingly something to escape from them. They
mostly come from other countries; for among the Arabians themselves
there are fewer crazy of these people than in other parts of the east.
Egypt chiefly abounds with them; and almost every village in the valley
of the Nile furnishes some Masloub, or
[p.260] reputed madman, whom the inhabitants regard as an inspired
being, and a blessing sent to them from heaven. [In 1813, the Christian
community of Gous, in Upper Egypt, had the honour of possessing an
insane youth, who walked about the bazars quite naked. But the Moslims
of the place growing jealous, seized him one night, and converted him by
circumcision into a Mohammedan saint.]
The arrival of strangers from all parts of the Mohammedan world, from
Tombuctou to Samarkand, and from Georgia to Borneo, would render Djidda
a most desirable residence for an inquisitive European traveller, who,
by affording assistance to poor hadjys, and spending a small sum in
provisions for them, would attract large numbers to his house, and might
thus collect much information respecting the most distant and unknown
parts of Africa and Asia. All, except the higher classes of Mekkawys,
let out their houses during the Hadj, and demand from their under-
tenants as much for a few weeks or months as they pay to the proprietor
for a whole year. I paid for one room with a small kitchen and a by-
place for my slave, fifteen dollars for six weeks, which equalled the
annual rent of the whole house received by the landlord; and I should
have been obliged to pay the same price if I had taken it only during
the fortnight preceding and following the Hadj. The house in which I
hired these rooms was divided into several lodgings, and was let
altogether to different hadjys at one hundred and twenty dollars, the
owners having retired into apartments so mean that strangers would not
occupy them.
Of the numerous pilgrims who arrive at Mekka before the caravan, some
are professed merchants; many others bring a few articles for sale,
which they dispose of without trouble. They then pass the interval of
time before the Hadj very pleasantly; free from cares and apprehensions,
and enjoying that supreme happiness of an Asiatic, the dolce far
niente[.] Except those of a very high rank, the pilgrims live together
in a state of freedom and equality. They keep but few servants: many,
indeed, have none, and divide among themselves the various duties of
house-keeping, such as bringing the provisions from market and cooking
them, although accustomed at home to the
[p.261] services of an attendant. The freedom and oblivion of care which
accompany travelling, render it a period of enjoyment among the people
of the East as among Europeans; and the same kind of happiness results
from their residence at Mekka, where reading the Koran, smoking in the
streets or coffee-houses, praying or conversing in the mosque, are added
to the indulgence of their pride in being near the holy house, and to
the anticipation of the honours attached to the title of hadjy for the
remainder of their lives; besides the gratification of religious
feelings, and the hopes of futurity, which influence many of the
pilgrims. The hadjys who come by the caravans pass their time very
differently. As soon as they have finished their tedious journey, they
must undergo the fatiguing ceremonies of visiting the Kaaba and Omra;
immediately after which, they are hurried away to Arafat and Mekka, and,
still heated from the effects of the journey, are exposed to the keen
air of the Hedjaz mountains under the slight and inadequate covering of
the ihram: then returning to Mekka, they have only a few days left to
recruit their strength, and to make their repeated visits to the
Beitullah, when the caravan sets off on its return; and thus the whole
pilgrimage is a severe trial of bodily strength, and a continual series
of fatigues and privations. This mode of visiting the holy city is,
however, in accordance with the opinions of many most learned Moslim
divines, who thought that a long residence in the Hedjaz, however
meritorious the intention, is little conducive to true belief, since the
daily sight of the holy places weakened the first impressions made by
them. Notwithstanding the general decline of Muselman zeal, there are
still found Mohammedans whose devotion induces them to visit repeatedly
the holy places. I knew Turks established at Cairo, who, even while the
Wahaby faith predominated in the Hedjaz, went every year by way of
Cosseir to Mekka; and there are a few individuals who reside constantly
in that city, that they may pass the remainder of their days in pious
duties and abstraction from the world. During my stay, a Turkish grandee
arrived from Constantinople; he had been Kahwadjy Bashy to Sultan Selym;
and the present Grand Signior had permitted him to go, that he might die
in the sacred territory, where his arrival was announced by princely
donations to the mosque.
[p.262] The Syrian and Egyptian caravans always arrive at fixed periods;
generally a day or two before the departure of the Hadj for Arafat. Both
caravans usually pass by Beder, on the same day, or with an interval of
one day only. The Syrian caravan coming from Medina, and the Egyptian
from Yembo el Nakhel, prosecute their route from Beder to Mekka, at a
short distance from each other. On the 5th of the month of Zul Hadj,
A.H. 1229, or the 21st of November, 1814, the approach of the Syrian
caravan was announced by one of its Mekowem, who came galloping into the
town, to win the prize which is always awarded to the Sabbák, or him who
brings the first tidings of the safe arrival of that caravan. The loud
acclamations of the mob followed him to the governors house, where his
horse expired the moment he dismounted. The news was the more important,
as nothing had been heard of this Hadj, and rumours had even been
circulated of the Bedouins having plundered it on the road to the north
of Medina. Two hours after, many other persons belonging to it arrived;
and in the night the whole body came up, and encamped, with the Pasha of
Damascus at their head, in the plain of Sheikh Mahmoud.
Early the next morning, the Egyptian caravan also arrived. The heavy
baggage and the camels were sent to the usual place of encampment of the
Egyptian Hadj, in the Moabede; but the Mahmal, or holy camel, remained
at Sheikh Mahmoud, that it might pass from thence in procession next day
through the town. Mohammed Aly Pasha arrived unexpectedly this morning
from Tayf, to be present at the Hadj, and to inspect the cavalry which
had come with the Egyptian caravan, a reinforcement that strongly
excited his hopes of success against the Wahabys. He was dressed in a
very handsome ihram, having two large entirely white cashmirene shawls
wrapped round his loins and shoulders: his head was bare; but an officer
held over it an umbrella to protect him from the sun, while riding
through the streets. On the same morning, all the hadjys resident at
Mekka took the ihram at their own lodgings, with the usual ceremonies,
preparatory to their setting out for Arafat; and at mid-day they
assembled in the mosque, where a short sermon was preached on the
occasion. The hadjys who had come with the caravan had already
[p.263] taken the ihram at Asfan, two stations in advance of Mekka; but
a great number of them, especially the servants and camel-drivers, did
not throw off their ordinary dresses, and even appeared in them at
Arafat, without causing either surprise or indignation. There is no
religious police or inquisition here; and every body is left to the
dictates of his conscience, either to observe or neglect the precepts of
the canonical law.
Great bustle prevailed this evening in the town. Every body was
preparing for his journey to Arafat; Syrian hadjys came to engage
lodgings, to inquire about the state of the markets, and to pay their
first visits to the Kaaba. A number of pedlars and petty shopkeepers
left the town to establish themselves at Arafat, and to be ready there
for the accommodation of the pilgrims. A number of camel-drivers from
Syria and Egypt led their unloaded camels through the streets, offering
to let them out to the hadjys going to Arafat. The rate of hire this
year was very moderate, on account of the great number of beasts of
burden: I engaged two of these camels, for the journey of four days to
Arafat and back again, for three dollars.
On the 8th of Zul Hadj, early in the morning, the Syrian Hadj passed in
procession through the town, accompanied by all its soldiers, and
carrying the Mahmal in front. All its baggage was left at Sheikh
Mahmoud, excepting the tents that were to be pitched at Arafat. Most of
the hadjys were mounted in the Shebrye, a sort of palankeen placed upon
the camel. The great people, and the Pasha of Damascus himself, rode in
takhtrouans, a kind of closed [l]itter or box carried by two camels, one
before and the other behind, and forming a very commodious conveyance,
except that it is necessary always to have a ladder, by means of which
one may mount or descend. The camels heads were decorated with
feathers, tassels, and bells; but their heads, bent down towards the
ground, showed how much they were fatigued by their journey. While these
passed, the streets were lined by people of all classes, who greeted the
caravan with loud acclamations and praise. The martial music of the
Pasha of Damascus, a dozen of fine caparisoned horses led in front of
his litter, and the rich takhtrouans in which his women rode,
particularly attracted attention.
[p.264] Soon after the Syrians had passed, the Egyptian procession
followed, consisting of its Mahmal or sacred camel, (for each of the
caravans carries one,) and the Shebryes of the public officers, who
always accompany the Hadj; but not a single private pilgrim was to be
seen in its suite. The good appearance of the soldiers who were with
them, the splendour of the Mahmal, and of the equipage of the Emir el
Hadj, who was a commander of the Turkish horsemen called Delhis, drew
from the Mekkawys many signs of approbation, such as had been given to
those who immediately preceded them. Both caravans continued their route
to Arafat without stopping.
Before mid-day, all the hadjys who had resided for some time at Mekka,
likewise mounted their camels, and crowded the streets as they pressed
forward to follow the Hadj. They were joined by the far greater part of
the population of Mekka, who make it a rule to go every year to Arafat;
and by a similar portion of the population of Djidda, who had been
assembled here for some time. During five or six days, the gates of
Djidda, thus deserted by so many people, remain shut.
I left my lodgings on foot, after mid-day, with a companion and a slave-
boy mounted on two camels, which I had hired from a Syrian driver, a
native of Homs. It is thought meritorious to make the six hours journey
to Arafat on foot, particularly if the pilgrim goes barefooted. Many
hadjys did so; and I preferred this mode, because I had led a very
sedentary life for some months. We were several hours before we could
reach the outskirts of the town beyond the Moabede, so great was the
crowd of camels; and many accidents happened. Of the half-naked hadjys,
all dressed in the white ihram, some sat reading the Koran upon their
camels; some ejaculated loud prayers; whilst others cursed their
drivers, and quarrelled with those near them, who were choking up the
passage. Beyond the town the road widens, and we passed on through the
valleys, at a very slow march, for two hours, to Wady Muna, in the
narrow entrance of which great confusion again occurred. The law enjoins
that the hadjys shall recite five prayers at Muna, Mohammed having
always done so; that is to say, that they shall arrive there at noon, in
time for the mid-day prayer, and remaining
[p.265] until the next morning, shall perform the prayers of the Aszer,
of Mogreb, and of Ashe, and that of the dawn on the ensuing day. The
inconvenience, however, arising from a delay on the route has led to the
neglect of this precept for some time past; and the Hadj now passes
Muna, on its way to Arafat, without halting.
In advance of Muna, we had the mosque of Mozdelife to our right, whither
many pilgrims went to recite the Salat el Aszer and Salat el Mogreb; but
the caravan continued its march. Beyond Mozdelife, we again entered the
mountains by the pass called El Mazoumeyn, on the eastern side of which
we issued towards the plain of Arafat. Here the pilgrims passed between
the two pillars called Alameyn, and, on approaching the vicinity of
Djebel Arafat, dispersed over the plain in search of their place of
encampment. I reached the camp about three hours after sun-set; but the
last stragglers did not arrive till midnight. Numberless fires were seen
lighted on an extent of ground of three or four miles in length; and
high and brilliant clusters of lamps marked the different places of
encampment of Mohammed Aly, Soleyman Pasha, and the Emir el Hadj of the
Egyptian caravan. Hadjys were seen in every direction wandering among
the tents in search of their companions, whom they had lost in the
confusion on the road; and it was several hours before the noise and
clamour had subsided. Few persons slept during that night: the devotees
sat up praying, and their loud chants were particularly distinguished on
the side of the Syrian encampment; the merry Mekkawys formed themselves
into parties, singing the jovial songs called djok, accompanied by
clapping of hands; and the coffee-houses scattered over the plain were
crowded the whole night with customers.
The night was dark and cold, and a few drops of rain fell. I had formed
a resting-place for myself by means of a large carpet tied to the back
part of a Mekkawys tent; and having walked about for the greater part
of the night, I had just disposed myself to sleep, when two guns, fired
by the Syrian and Egyptian Hadj, announced the approaching dawn of the
day of pilgrimage, and summoned the faithful to prepare for their
morning prayers.
To illustrate the following account, a plan of Arafat is annexed;
[p.266] and the figures and marks of reference which it contains are
explained below. [not included]
At sun-rise on the 9th of Zul Hadj, every pilgrim issued from his tent,
to walk over the plains, and take a view of the busy crowds assembled
there. Long streets of tents, fitted up as bazars, furnished all kinds
of provisions. The Syrian and Egyptian cavalry were exercised by their
chiefs early in the morning, while thousands of camels were seen feeding
upon the dry shrubs of the plain all round the camp. I walked to Mount
Arafat, to enjoy from its summit a more distinct view of the whole. This
granite hill, which is also called Djebel er Rahme, or the Mountain of
Mercy, rises on the north-east side of the plain, close to the mountains
which encompass it, but separated from them by a rocky valley; it is
about a mile, or a mile and a half in circuit; its sides are sloping,
and its summit is nearly two hundred feet above the level of the plain.
On the eastern side broad stone steps lead up to the top, and a broad
unpaved path, on the western, over rude masses of granite, with which
its declivity is covered. After mounting about forty steps, we find a
spot a little on the left, called Modaa Seydna Adam, or the place of
prayer of our Lord Adam, where, it is related, that the father of
mankind used to stand while praying; for here it was, according to
Mohammedan tradition, that the angel Gabriel first instructed Adam how
to adore his Creator. A marble slab, bearing an inscription in modern
characters, is fixed in the side of the mountain. On reaching about the
sixtieth step, we come to a
[p.267] small paved platform to our right, on a level spot of the hill,
where the preacher stands who admonishes the pilgrims on the afternoon
of this day, as I shall hereafter mention. Thus high, the steps are so
broad and easy that a horse or camel may ascend, but higher up they
become more steep and uneven. On the summit the place is shown where
Mohammed used to take his station during the Hadj; a small chapel
formerly stood over it; but this was destroyed by the Wahabys: here the
pilgrims usually pray two rikats, in salutation of Arafat. The steps and
the summit are covered with handkerchiefs to receive their pious gifts,
and each family of the Mekkawys or Bedouins of the tribe of Koreysh, in
whose territory Arafat lies, has its particular spot assigned to it for
this purpose. The summit commands a very extensive and singular
prospect. I brought my compass to take a circle of bearings; but the
crowd was so great, that I could not use it. Towards the western
extremity of the plain are seen Bir Bazan and the Aalameyn; somewhat
nearer, southwards, the mosque called Djama Nimre, or Djama Seydna
Ibrahim; and on the south-east, a small house where the Sherif used to
lodge during the pilgrimage. From thence an elevated rocky ground in the
plain extends towards Arafat. On the eastern side of the mountain, and
close to its foot, are the ruins of a small mosque, built on rocky
ground, called Djama el Szakhrat, where Mohammed was accustomed to pray,
and where the pilgrims make four prostrations in memory of the prophet.
Several large reservoirs lined with stone are dispersed over the plain;
two or three are close to the foot of Arafat, and there are some near
the house of the Sherifs: they are filled from the same fine aqueduct
which supplies Mekka, and the head of which is about one hour and a half
distant, in the eastern mountains. The canal is left open here for the
convenience of pilgrims, and is conducted round the three sides of the
mountains, passing by Modaa Seydna Adam. [At the close of the sixteenth
century, according to Kotobeddyn, the whole plain of Arafat was
cultivated.]
From the summit of Arafat, I counted about three thousand tents
dispersed over the plain, of which two thirds belonged to the two
[p.268] Hadj caravans, and to the suite and soldiers of Mohammed Aly;
the rest to the Arabs of the Sherif, the Bedouin hadjys, and the people
of Mekka and Djidda. These assembled multitudes were for the greater
number, like myself, without tents. The two caravans were encamped
without much order, each party of pilgrims or soldiers having pitched
its tents in large circles or dowars, in the midst of which many of
their camels were reposing. The plain contained, dispersed in different
parts, from twenty to twenty-five thousand camels, twelve thousand of
which belonged to the Syrian Hadj, and from five to six thousand to the
Egyptian; besides about three thousand, purchased by Mohammed Aly from
the Bedouins in the Syrian Deserts, and brought to Mekka with the Hadj,
to convey the pilgrims to this place, previously to being used for the
transport of army-provisions to Tayf.
The Syrian Hadj was encamped on the south and south-west side of the
mountain; the Egyptian on the south-east. Around the house of the
Sherif, Yahya himself was encamped with his Bedouin troops, and in its
neighbourhood were all the Hedjaz people. Here it was that the two Yemen
caravans used formerly to take their station. Mohammed Aly, and Soleyman
Pasha of Damascus, as well as several of their officers, had very
handsome tents; but the most magnificent of all was that of the wife of
Mohammed Aly, the mother of Tousoun Pasha, and Ibrahim Pasha, who had
lately arrived from Cairo for the Hadj, with a truly royal equipage,
five hundred camels being necessary to transport her baggage from Djidda
to Mekka. Her tent was in fact an encampment consisting of a dozen tents
of different sizes, inhabited by her women; the whole enclosed by a wall
of linen cloth, eight hundred paces in circuit, the single entrance to
which was guarded by eunuchs in splendid dresses. Around this enclosure
were pitched the tents of the men who formed her numerous suite. The
beautiful embroidery on the exterior of this linen palace, with the
various colours displayed in every part of it, constituted an object
which reminded me of some descriptions in the Arabian Tales of the
Thousand and One Nights. Among the rich equipages of the other hadjys,
or of the Mekka people, none were so conspicuous as that belonging to
the family of Djeylany, the merchant, whose tents, pitched
[p.269] in a semicircle, rivalled in beauty those of the two Pashas, and
far exceeded those of Sherif Yahya. In other parts of the East, a
merchant would as soon think of buying a rope for his own neck, as of
displaying his wealth in the presence of a Pasha; but Djeylany has not
yet laid aside the customs which the Mekkawys learned under their old
government, particularly that of Sherif Ghaleb, who seldom exercised
extortion upon single individuals; and they now rely on the promises of
Mohammed Aly, that he will respect their property.
During the whole morning, there were repeated discharges of the
artillery which both Pashas had brought with them. A few pilgrims had
taken up their quarters on Djebel Arafat itself, where some small
cavern, or impending block of granite, afforded them shelter from the
sun. It is a belief generally entertained in the East, and strengthened
by many boasting hadjys on their return home, that all the pilgrims, on
this day, encamp upon Mount Arafat; and that the mountain possesses the
miraculous property of expansion, so as to admit an indefinite number of
the faithful upon its summit. The law ordains that the wakfe, or
position of the Hadj, should be on Djebel Arafat; but it wisely provides
against any impossibility, by declaring that the plain in the immediate
neighbourhood of the mountain may be regarded as comprised under the
term mountain, or Djebel Arafat.
I estimated the number of persons assembled here at about seventy
thousand. The camp was from three to four miles long, and between one
and two in breadth. There is, perhaps, no spot on earth where, in so
small a place, such a diversity of languages are heard; I reckoned about
forty, and have no doubt that there were many more. It appeared to me as
if I were here placed in a holy temple of travellers only; and never did
I at any time feel a more ardent wish to be able to penetrate once into
the inmost recesses of the countries of many of those persons whom I now
saw before me, fondly imagining that I might have no more difficulty in
reaching their homes, than what they had experienced in their journey to
this spot.
When the attention is engrossed by such a multitude of new objects, time
passes rapidly away. I had only descended from Mount
[p.270] Arafat, and had walked for some time about the camp, here and
there entering into conversation with pilgrims; inquiring at the Syrian
camp after some of my friends; and among the Syrian Bedouins, for news
from their deserts, when mid-day had already passed. The prayers of this
period of the day ought to be performed either within, or in the
immediate neighbourhood of, the mosque of Nimre, whither the two Pashas
had repaired for that purpose. The far greater number of hadjys,
however, dispense with this observance, and many of them with the mid-
day prayers altogether; for no one concerns himself whether his
neighbour is punctual or not in the performance of the prescribed rites.
After mid-day, the pilgrims are to wash and purify the body, by means of
the entire ablution prescribed by the law, and called Ghossel, for which
purpose chiefly, the numerous tents in the plain have been constructed;
but the weather was cloudy, and rather cold, which induced nine-tenths
of the pilgrims, shivering as they were already under the thin covering
of the ihram, to omit the rite also, and to content themselves with the
ordinary ablution. The time of Aszer (or about three oclock, P.M.)
approached, when that ceremony of the Hadj takes place, for which the
whole assembly had come hither. The pilgrims now pressed forward towards
the mountain of Arafat, and covered its sides from top to bottom. At the
precise time of Aszer, the preacher took his stand upon the platform on
the mountain, and began to address the multitude. This sermon, which
lasts till sun-set, constitutes the holy ceremony of the Hadj called
Khotbet el Wakfe; and no pilgrim, although he may have visited all the
holy places of Mekka, is entitled to the name of hadjy, unless he has
been present on this occasion. As Aszer approached, therefore, all the
tents were struck, every thing was packed up, the caravans began to
load, and the pilgrims belonging to them mounted their camels, and
crowded round the mountain, to be within sight of the preacher, which is
sufficient, as the greater part of the multitude is necessarily too
distant to hear him. The two Pashas, with their whole cavalry drawn up
in two squadrons behind them, took their post in the rear of the deep
lines of camels of the hadjys, to which those of the people of the
Hedjaz were also joined; and here they waited in solemn and respectful