Note 194 — THE STORY OF THE THREE SHARPERS.[17] (continued 3)

Four including the door-keeper. The Darwayshes were suspected of kidnapping, a practice common in the East, especially with holy men. I have noticed in my Pilgrimage (vols. ii. 273; iii. 327), that both at Meccah and at Al-Medinah the cheeks of babes are decorated with the locally called “Masháli” = three parallel gashes drawn by the barber with the razor down the fleshy portion of each cheek, from the exterior angles of the eyes almost to the corners of the mouth. According to the citizens, this “Tashrít” is a modern practice distinctly opposed to the doctrine of Al-Islam; but, like the tattooing of girls, it is intended to save the children from being carried off, for good luck, by kidnapping pilgrims, especially Persians.