Front matter (continued 3)

The town of Tayf is situated in the midst of a sandy plain, about four hours in circuit, overgrown with shombs, and encompassed by low mountains, called Djebal Ghazoan. These are subordinate ridges of the great chain, which, continuing for four or five hours farther east, are then lost in the plain. Tayf is an irregular square, of thirty-five minutes quick walking in circum­ference; it is inclosed with a wall and a ditch, newly constructed by Othman el Medhayfe. The wall has three gates, and is defended by several towers; but it is much less solid than the walls of Djidda, Medina, and Yembo, being in few places more than eighteen inches thick. On the west side, within the town, and forming a part of its wall, stands the castle, upon a rocky elevated site. It was built by Sherif Ghaleb, and has no claim to the title of a castle, except that it is larger than the other buildings in the town, and that its stone walls are stronger. Though it is now half ruined, Mohammed Aly had made this castle his head­quarters. The houses of the town are mostly small, but well built with stone: the sitting-rooms are on the upper floor; at least I saw no saloons on the ground-floor, as usual in Turkey. The streets are broader than those in most eastern towns. The only public place is in front of the castle, a large open space which serves for a market.

At present, Tayf may be described as in a state of ruin, for but few houses are in complete repair. Many of the buildings were destroyed by the Wahabys, when they took the town, in 1802; and as it has been almost abandoned since that period, every thing is hastening to decay. I saw two small mosques; the best, that of the Henoud, or Indians. The tomb of El Abbas, which had a good dome over it, and was often visited by pilgrims, has been entirely

[p.85] destroyed by the Wahabys. Excepting four or five buildings, now inhabited by the principal officers of the Pasha, I saw none above the most common size.

Tayf is supplied with water from two copious wells, one of which is within the walls, and the other just before one of the gates. The water is well-tasted, but heavy. The town is celebrated all over Arabia for its beautiful gardens; but these are situated at the foot of the mountains which encircle the sandy plain. I did not see any gardens, nor even a single tree within the walls; and the immediate neighbourhood is entirely destitute of verdure, which renders a residence here as melancholy as in any other city of Arabia. The nearest gardens appeared to be on the S.W. side, at the distance of about half or three quarters of an hour: on that side also stands a deserted suburb, separated from the town, with some date-trees among its ruins; it was abandoned long before the invasion of the Wahabys.

I did not visit any of the gardens. In some of them are small pavilions, where the people of Tayf pass their festive hours; the most noted of them are Wady Methna, Wady Selame, and Wady Shemal. The gardens are watered by wells and by rivulets, which descend from the mountains. Numerous fruit-trees are found here, together with fields of wheat and barley. The fruits which I tasted at Tayf were grapes of a very large size and delicious flavour, figs, quinces, and pomegranates; but all the other sorts mentioned at Djebel Kora are likewise found here. The gardens of Tayf are renowned also for the abundance of their roses, which, like the grapes, are transported to all parts of the Hedjaz. To these gardens all the great merchants of Mekka formerly retired in summer; and here the Sherif himself often passed a part of the hot season: they had all their houses and establishments here, and therefore lost considerable property, when Tayf was plundered by the Wahabys.

The indigenous inhabitants of Tayf are Arabs, of the tribe of

[p.86] Thekyf, [Of the Thekyf tribes are El Hamde, Beni Mohammed, and Themale.—Vide Assamy.] who have become settlers: in their possession are all the gardens adjoining the town, and most of the provision-shops within its walls. A few Mekkawys are also settled here, but the far greater part of the foreigners are Indians by origin. As at Djidda, these people, although born in Arabia, and in some instances established here for several generations, still preserve the dress and manners of the Indian Muselmans: some of them are merchants; but the greater part are druggists, whose trade is of much more importance in the Hedjaz than in other countries, from the general predilection of all classes for drugs, perfumes, &c. There are, I believe, no wholesale merchants in Tayf; I counted in all about fifty shops. Before the Wahaby invasion, this was a commercial town, to which the Arabs of the country around, at the distance of many days journey, resorted, that they might pur­chase articles of dress; while those of the mountains brought caravans of wheat and barley: it was also a considerable entrepôt for coffee, brought on camels from the mountains of Yemen by Be­douins, who thus eluded the heavy duties levied in the harbours of the Arabian coast. Every thing denotes great misery in the town. At present, the only imports from the interior are dates, brought by the Ateybe Arabs from the many fruitful plantations in their territory. The principal streets abound with beggars, amongst whom are many Indians, who must often be exposed to perish from absolute hunger; for, during my residence, it required at least two piastres, (which, according to the actual exchange, was equal to about one-sixth of a dollar, or ten-pence) to procure bread enough for a mans daily subsistence. Caravans of provisions arrived every week, but the want of camels did not allow of a suffi­cient importation from the coast to lower the price of food; and although the common class lived principally upon dates, and thus

JOURNEY TO MEKKA

[p.87] consumed none of the provisions brought hither from Mekka; yet I learned from good authority that there was only a supply for ten days in Tayf for the Turkish army.

In the time of the Sherif, this town was governed by an officer of his appointment, named Hakem, himself a sherif, and who nar­rowly escaped the sword of the Wahabys. He has been restored to his office by Mohammed Aly; but it is at present merely honorary. Several sherif families of Mekka are settled here; and the mode of living, the dress, and manners, appear to be the same as at Mekka; but I had few opportunities of making observations on this subject.

September 7th. I set out early in the morning from Tayf for Mekka, by the same road which I had come. There is, as I have already mentioned, a more northern route, by which caravans may avoid the difficulties of passing Djebel Kora. The first station from Mekka, on that road, is Zeyme, short of which, about ten miles, are several steep ascents. Zeyme is a half-ruined castle, at the eastern extremity of Wady Lymoun, with copious springs of run­ning water. Wady Lymoun is a fertile valley, which extends for several hours in the direction of Wady Fatme; it has many date­plantations, and formerly the ground was cultivated; but this, I believe, has ceased since the Wahaby invasion: its fruit-gardens, too, have been ruined. This is the last stage of the Eastern-Syrian Hadj route, or that which lies to the east of the Great Hedjaz chain, running from Medina to Mekka. To the S.E. or E.S.E. of Wady Lymoun, is another fertile valley, called Wady Medyk, where some sherifs are settled, and where Sherif Ghaleb possessed landed property.

From Zeyme, the road to Tayf leads, on the second day, from Mekka to Seyl, a rivulet so called, flowing across a plain, which is without trees, but affords abundance of rich pasture. At Seyl, the road enters a mountainous tract, through which is a difficult and very narrow passage of about six hours. The station of

[p.88] this day is Akrab, situated in the upper plain, at about three hours distance from Tayf, to the northward, and on the same level with it: thus a traveller reaches Tayf on the fourth day from Mekka. This route was now impassable, except to large and well-protected caravans, the hostile Arabs of the Ateybe tribe having frequently made inroads on that side, and plundered small caravans.

Not far from Tayf I overtook three Arnaut soldiers, each, like myself, mounted on an ass. At Tayf they had exchanged their money, getting thirteen piastres of the Cairo mint for one Spanish dollar, which at Djidda was worth but eleven; they had, therefore, made a common purse of one thousand dollars, and travelled from Djidda to Tayf, whenever the road was secure, for the sake of the two piastres which they gained upon each dollar. They carried the money, sewed in bags, upon their asses; and having forgotten, perhaps, to leave out any cash for travelling expenses, they joined me, finding that my travelling sack was well stocked with provi­sions, and left me to pay for our joint expenses on the road, when­ever we stopped at the coffee-huts. But they were good- humoured companions, and the expense was not thrown away.

In passing by Wady Mohram, I assumed the ihram, as being now for the first time about to visit Mekka and its temple. The ihram consists of two pieces of linen, or woollen, or cotton cloth, one of which is wrapped round the loins, and the other thrown over the neck and shoulders, so as to leave part of the right arm uncovered. Every garment must be laid aside before this is put on. Any piece of stuff will answer the purpose; but the law ordains that there shall be no seams in it, nor any silk or orna­ments; and white is considered preferable to any other colour. White Indian cambric is usually employed for the purpose; but rich hadjys use, instead of it, white Cashmere shawls, which have not flowered borders. The head remains totally uncovered. It is not permitted to have the head shaved, in conformity with the oriental habits, until it is permitted also to lay aside the ihram.

[p.89] The instep must likewise be uncovered: those, accordingly, who wear shoes, either cut a piece out of the upper leather, or have shoes made on purpose, such as the Turkish hadjys usually bring with them from Constantinople. Like most of the natives, I wore sandals while dressed in the ihram.

Old-age and disease are excuses for keeping the head covered; but this indulgence must be purchased by giving alms to the poor. The suns rays become extremely troublesome to persons bare­headed; but although the law forbids that the head should be protected by any thing in immediate contact with it, there is no prohibition against the use of umbrellas, and with these most of the northern hadjys are provided, while the natives either brave the suns rays, or merely tie a rag to a stick, and make a little shade, by turning it towards the sun.

Whether assumed in summer or in winter, the ihram is equally inconvenient and prejudicial to health, particularly among the northern Mohammedans, who, accustomed to thick woollen clothes, are at this period obliged to leave them off for many days; yet the religious zeal of some who visit the Hedjaz is so ardent, that if they arrive even several months previous to the Hadj, they vow on taking the ihram, in approaching Mekka, not to throw it off till after the completion of their pilgrimage to Arafat; and thus they remain for months covered, night and day, only with this thin cloak; [The Arabian historians relate that Haroun Errashid and his wife Zobeyda once performed the pilgrimage on foot, from Baghdad to Mekka, clothed only with the ihram; that at every station of the caravan there was a castle, with apartments splendidly furnished; and that the whole road was covered daily with carpets, on which they walked.] for the law forbids any other covering even at night; but with this few hadjys strictly comply.

When the ancient Arabs performed their pilgrimage to the idols at Mekka, they also took the ihram; but that pilgrimage was fixed to a certain period of the year, probably autumn; for although the Arabs computed by lunar months, they inserted one month every

[p.90] three years; and thus the month of the pilgrimage did not vary in its season, as at present. The intercalation of a month, established two hundred years before Islam, was prohibited by the Koran, which ordained that the same pilgrimage should be continued, in honour of the living God, which had before been performed in honour of idols, but that it should be fixed to a lunar month; thus its period became irregular, and in the space of thirty-three years was gradually changed from the depth of winter to the height of summer.

The person covered by the ihram, or, as he is called, El Mohrem, is not obliged to abstain from particular kinds of food, as ancient Arabians, who, during the time of wearing it, did not taste butter among other things; but he is enjoined to behave decently, not to curse, or quarrel, not to kill any animal, not even a flea on his body, nor to communicate with the other sex. The ihram of the women consists of a cloak which they wrap completely about them, with a veil so close that not even their eyes can be seen: according to the law, their hands and ankles must be covered, but this rule they generally disregard.

Although my companions, the soldiers, were going to Mekka, as well as myself, they did not think it necessary to take the ihram, which, as I have already said, the law prescribes at all times of the year to every one travelling towards the sacred city.

We remained an hour on the delightful summit of Djebel Kora, and towards the evening descended the mountain. A shower of rain obliged us to seek shelter in a spacious cavern by the side of the road, which is used on similar occasions by shepherds of the Hodheyl tribe; and we arrived after sun-set at the coffee-huts, before mentioned, on the mountain- side, where the caravans from Mekka alight. Here we kindled a large fire, and hired an earthen pot of the Arabs, in which we boiled some rice for our supper. The long days march, the rain, and my light covering, brought on a slight fever; but I kept myself well covered during the night, and was in good health the next morning. The change of air, during my journey to Tayf, and the comparatively cooler climate of that place

[p.91] had already completely recovered me from the effects of my severe illness at Djidda. During the night, the Kadhy of Mekka arrived from Tayf.

September 8th. At day-break, I went to visit the Kadhy, whom I found smoking his pipe and drinking coffee; availing himself of the privilege granted to travellers in Ramadhan, of dispensing with the fast. According to our agreement at Tayf, I was to join him here on his way to Mekka; I could not therefore avoid joining him; but I was extremely averse to continuing with him, because he would probably carry me to his house at Mekka, where I should be again placed in a situation similar to that which had proved so uncomfortable at Tayf. He seemed, however, willing to avoid the trouble and expense of a guest; for when I expressed some appre­hensions that my tired ass would be unable to keep pace with his fine mule, he immediately answered, that he hoped, at all events, to meet me again at Mekka. I departed, therefore, with the soldiers, leaving the Kadhy to repose a little longer. We passed the mid-day hours at the coffee-hut called Shedad, where several Bedouins were amusing themselves by shooting at a mark. They gave proofs of great dexterity, often hitting a piastre, which I placed at about forty yards distance. Except coffee and water, nothing is to be procured in any of the huts on this road; the coffee is not served up in single cups, as usual in most parts of the Levant; but, whoever asks for it, has a small earthen pot of hot coffee set before him, containing from ten to fifteen cups: this quantity the traveller often drinks three or four times a day. These pots are called mashrabe. (See their form in the outlines annexed.) [Illustration not included].

Into the mouth of the pot is stuck a bunch of dry herbs, through which the liquid is poured. I have already noticed the immoderate

[p.92] use of coffee in this part of Arabia, and it is said to prevail still more in the south, and towards the vicinity of the coffee country.

On the road from Shedad, which lies along the lower plains, between sharp mountains, we were surprised by a most violent shower of rain and hail, which obliged us to halt. In a very short time the water poured down in torrents from the mountains and when the hail ceased, after about an hour, we found that the rain, which still continued, had covered the Wady Noman with a sheet of water three feet deep, while streams of nearly five feet in breadth crossed the road with an impetuosity which rendered it impossible for us to pass them. In this situation we could neither advance nor retreat, knowing that similar currents would have been formed in our rear we therefore took post on the side of the mountain, where we were sure of not being washed away, and where we could wait in security till the subsiding of the storm. The mountains, however, soon pre­sented on their sides innumerable cascades, and the inundation became general; while the rain, accompanied with thunder and lightning, continued with undiminished violence. I saw the Kadhy, who had quitted Shedad soon after us, at some distance, separated from our party by a deep torrent, while several of his women, mounted upon mules, were also obliged to remain at a distance from him. We continued in this disagreeable situation for about three hours, when the rain ceased and the torrents soon diminished; but our asses could with difficulty be brought to attempt the slippery ground still covered with water, and we were at last obliged to alight and drive them before us, till we reached a more elevated surface. The Kadhy and his whole party were under the necessity of doing the same. Night now overtook us, and the cloudy sky involved us in complete darkness; but after an adventurous walk of three or four hours, stumbling or falling almost at every step, we reached the coffee-houses of Arafat, to the great satisfaction of my companions, the soldiers, who had entertained apprehensions for their money­bags. I was not less pleased myself, being much in want of a fire after such a drenching, with only the scanty covering of the ihram.

ARRIVAL AT MEKKA

[p.93] The coffee-houses, unfortunately, had also been inundated; we could not find a dry place on which to sit, and with some difficulty a fire was lighted in one of the small and more weather-proof huts of the Arabs, into which the Kadhy, with a few of his people and myself, crept, and boiled our coffee; in another hut were his women, crying from the severity of the cold. He not wishing that they should be exposed to the consequences of such a nights lodging, mounted again, after a stay of half an hour, and proceeded towards Mekka, leaving me and my party in possession of the fire, by the side of which, after some time, we contrived to make ourselves com­fortable.

September 9th. We set out early, and found that the storm of yesterday had not extended farther than the plain of Arafat. Such storms and inundations are frequent in this country, where the seasons seem to be much less regular than in other places under the same latitude. I heard that in the Upper Mountains, and at Tayf, the rainy season, although not so regular as under the tropics in Africa, is yet more steady than in the low country of Mekka and Djidda, where, even in the midst of summer, the sky is often clouded by storms and rain. The historians of Mekka have recorded several dreadful inundations in that city; the most disastrous occurred in the years of the Hedjira 80, 184, 202, 280, 297, 549, 620, 802, 829. In some of these, the whole town of Mekka, and the Temple, as high as the black stone, were under water, and in all of them many houses were destroyed and lives lost. Assamy gives the details of an inundation which devastated Mekka in A.H. 1039, or in the year 1626 of our era, when five hundred lives were lost, and the Kaaba in the Temple was destroyed. Another dreadful inundation happened in 1672.

I arrived at Mekka about mid-day, when my companions went in search of their acquaintance among the soldiers, and left me to shift for myself, without knowing a single individual in the town, and without being recommended to any body but the Kadhy, whom, as I have already said, I wished to avoid.

MEKKA

[p.94] Whoever enters Mekka, whether pilgrim or not, is enjoined by the law to visit the Temple immediately, and not to attend to any worldly concern whatever, before he has done so. We crossed the line of shops and houses, up to the gates of the mosque, where my ass-driver took his fare and set me down: here I was accosted by half a dozen metowef, or guides to the holy places, who knew, from my being dressed in the ihram, that I intended to visit the Kaaba. I chose one of them as my guide, and, after having deposited my baggage in a neighbouring shop, entered the mosque at the gate called Bab-es-Salam, by which the new-comer is recommended to enter. The ceremonies to be performed in visiting the mosque are the following:—1. Certain religious rites to be practised in the interior of the temple; 2. The walk between Szafa and Meroua; 3. The visit to the Omra. These ceremonies ought to be repeated by every Moslem whenever he enters Mekka from a journey farther than two days distance, and they must again be more particularly performed at the time of the pilgrimage to Arafat. I shall here describe them as briefly as possible; a full detail and explanation of the Mohammedan law on this subject would be extremely tedious; indeed there exist many voluminous works in Arabic which treat of nothing else.

1. Rites to be performed in the Interior of the Temple.

At the entrance, under the colonnade, some prayers are recited on first sight of the Kaaba, and then two rikats, or four prostrations addressed to the divinity, in thanks for having reached the holy spot, and in salutation of the mosque itself; after which the pilgrim approaches the Kaaba by one of the paved ways to it, through the open area in which it stands. In passing under the insulated arch in front of the Kaaba, called Bab-es-Salam, certain prayers are said. Other prayers are recited in a low voice, and the visitor then places himself opposite to the black stone of the Kaaba, and prays two

[p.95] rikats; at the conclusion of which, the stone is touched with the right hand, or kissed, if there is no great pressure of people. The devotee then begins the Towaf, or walk round the Kaaba, keeping that building on his left hand. This ceremony is to be repeated seven times; the three first are in a quick pace, in imitation of the Prophet, whose enemies having reported that he was dangerously ill, he contradicted them by running thrice round the Kaaba at full speed. Every circuit must be accompanied with prescribed prayers, which are recited in a low voice, and appropriated to the different parts of the building that are passed: the black stone is kissed or touched at the conclusion of each circuit, as well as another stone, walled in at one corner of the black stone. When the seven circuits are finished, the visiter approaches the wall of the Kaaba, between the black stone and the door of the building, which space is called El Metzem. There, with widely outstretched arms, and with his breast closely pressed against the wall, he beseeches the Lord to pardon his sins. He then retires towards the neighbouring Mekam Ibrahim, and there prays two rikats, called Sunnet-et-towaf, after which he repairs to the adjoining well of Zemzem; and, after a short pious address in honour of the well, drinks as much of the water as he wishes, or as he can on occasions when the crowd is very great; and this completes the ceremonies to be observed within the temple.

I may here add, that the Towaf is a Muselman ceremony not exclusively practised in the temple at Mekka. In the summer of 1813, I was present at the annual festival of the patron saint of Kenne, in Upper Egypt, called Seid Abderrahman el Kennawy. Many thousands of the people of the country were assembled on the plain, in which stands the saints tomb, at a distance of one mile from the town. Each person, as he arrived, walked seven times round the small mosque which contains the tomb; and when the new covering intended to be laid over it for that year was brought in solemn procession, the whole assembly followed it seven times round the building, after which it was placed upon the tomb.

[p.96] 2. Walk between Szafa and Meroua.

My guide, who, during the whole of the ceremonies above men­tioned, had been close at my heels, reciting all the necessary prayers, which I repeated after him, now led me out of the mosque by the gate called Bab- es-Szafa. About fifty yards from the S.E. side of the mosque, on a slightly ascending ground, stand three small open arches, connected by an architrave above, having below three broad stone steps leading up to them.

This is called the Hill of Szafa: here, standing on the upper step, with his face turned towards the mosque, which is hidden from view by intervening houses, the pilgrim raises his hands towards heaven, addresses a short prayer to the Deity, and implores his assistance in the holy walk, or Say, as it is called; he then descends, to begin the walk, along a level street about six hundred paces in length, which the Arabian historians call Wady Szafa, leading towards Meroua, which is at its farther extremity, where stands a stone platform, ele­vated about six or eight feet above the level of the street, with several broad steps ascending to it. The visiter is enjoined to walk at a quick pace from Szafa to Meroua; and for a short space, which is marked by four stones or pilasters, called El Myleyn el Akhdereyn, built into the walls of the houses on both sides, he must run. Two of these stones seemed to be of a green colour; they exhibit nume­rous inscriptions; but these are so high in the walls, that it would be difficult to read them. Prayers are recited uninterruptedly in a loud voice during this walk. Persons who are unwell may ride, or be borne in a litter. On reaching Meroua, the pilgrim ascends the

ARRIVAL AT MEKKA

[p.97] steps, and, with uplifted hands, repeats a short prayer like that of Szaffa, to which place he must now return. The walk between the two places is to be repeated seven times, concluding at Meroua; four times from Szaffa to Meroua; and three times from Meroua to Szaffa.

3. The Visit to the Omra.

In the vicinity of Meroua are many barbers shops; into one of these the pilgrim enters, having completed the Say, and the barber shaves his head, reciting a particular prayer, which the pilgrim repeats after him. The Hanefys, one of the four orthodox sects of Moslims, shave only one- fourth part of the head; the other three-fourths continuing untouched till they return from the Omra. After the ceremony of shaving is finished, the visitor is at liberty to lay aside the ihram, and put on his ordinary dress; or, if he choose, he may go immediately from thence to the Omra, in which case he still wears the ihram, and says only two rikats on setting out. This, however, is seldom done, as the ceremonies of the Towaf and Say are sufficiently fatiguing to render repose desirable on their completion the visitor, therefore, dresses in his usual clothes; but the next or any following day, (the sooner the better,) he resumes the ihram, with the same ceremonies as are observed on first assuming it, and then proceeds to the Omra, a place one hour and a half from Mekka. Here he repeats two rikats in a small chapel, and returns to the city, chanting all the way the pious ejaculations called Telby, beginning with the words, Lebeyk, Alla humma, Lebeyk. He must now again perform the Towaf and the Say, have his head completely shaved, and lay aside the ihram, which closes those ceremonies. A visit to the Omra is enjoined by the law as absolutely necessary; but many individuals, notwithstanding, dispense with it. I went thither, on the third day after my arrival in the city, performing the walk in the night-time, which is the fashion during the hot season.

At the time of the Hadj, all these ceremonies must be repeated

[p.98] after returning from Wady Muna, and again on taking leave of Mekka. The Towaf, or walk round the Kaaba, should also be performed as often as convenient; and few foreigners live at Mekka, who do not make it a point to execute it twice daily; in the evening and before day- break.

Prior to the age of Mohammed, when idolatry prevailed in Arabia, the Kaaba was regarded as a sacred object, and visited with religious veneration by persons who performed the Towaf nearly in the same manner as their descendants do at present. The building, however, was, in those times, ornamented with three hundred and sixty idols, and there was a very important difference in the cere­mony; for men and women were then obliged to appear in a state of perfect nudity, that their sins might be thrown off with their garments. The Mohammedan Hadj or pilgrimage, and the visit to the Kaaba, are, therefore, nothing more than a continuation and con­firmation of the ancient custom. In like manner, Szafa and Meroua were esteemed by the old Arabians as holy places, which contained images of the gods Motam and Nehyk; and here the idolaters used to walk from the one place to the other, after their return from the pilgrimage to Arafat. Here, if we may believe Mohammedan tradition, Hadjer, the mother of Ismayl, wandered about in the Desert, after she had been driven from Abrahams house, that she might not witness the death of her infant son, whom she had laid down almost expiring from thirst; when the angel Gabriel appearing, struck the ground with his foot, which caused the well of Zemzem immediately to spring forth. In commemoration of the wanderings of Hadjer, who in her affliction had gone seven times between Szafa and Meroua, the walk from one place to the other is said to have been instituted.

El Azraky relates that, when the idolatrous Arabs had concluded the ceremonies of the Hadj at Arafat, all the different tribes that had been present, assembled, on their return to Mekka, at the holy place called Szafa, there to extol, in loud and impassioned strains, the glory of their ancestors, their battles, and the fame of their

[p.99] nation. From each tribe, in its turn, arose a poet who addressed the multitude. To our tribe, exclaimed he, belonged such and such eminent warriors and generous Arabs; and now, he added, we boast of others. He then recited their names, and sang their praises; concluding with a strain of heroic poetry, and an appeal to the other tribes, in words like the following:—Let him who denies the truth of what I have said, or who lays claim to as much glory, honour, and virtue as we do, prove it here! Some rival poet then arose, and celebrated in similar language the equal or superior glory attached to his own tribe, endeavouring, at the same time, to under­value or ridicule his rivals pretensions.

To allay the animosity and jealousies produced by this custom; or, perhaps, to break the independent spirit of his fierce Bedouins, Mohammed abolished it by a passage in the Koran, which says:—When you have completed the rites of the pilgrimage, remember God, as you formerly were wont to commemorate your forefathers, and with still greater fervency. Thus, probably, was removed the cause of many quarrels; but, at the same time, this stern lawgiver destroyed the influence which the songs of those rival national bards exercised over the martial virtues and literary genius of their countrymen.

The visit of the Omra was likewise an ancient custom. Mohammed retained the practice; and it is said that he frequently recited his evening prayers on that spot.

Having completed the fatiguing ceremonies of the Towaf and Say, I had a part of my head shaved, and remained sitting in the barbers shop, not knowing any other place of repose. I inquired after lodgings, but learned that the town was already full of pil­grims, and that many others, who were expected, had engaged apartments. After some time, however, I found a man who offered me a ready-furnished room: of this I took possession, and having no servant, boarded with the owner. He and his family, consisting of a wife and two children, retired into a small, open court-yard, on the side of my room. The landlord was a poor man from Medina,

MEKKA

[p.100] and by profession a Metowaf, or cicerone. Although his mode of living was much below that of even the second class of Mekkawys, yet it cost me fifteen piastres a day; and I found, after we parted, that several articles of dress had been pilfered from my travelling sack; but this was not all: on the feast-day he invited me to a splendid supper, in company with half a dozen of his friends, in my room, and on the following morning he presented me with a bill for the whole expense of this entertainment.

The thousands of lamps lighted during Ramadhan in the great mosque, rendered it the nightly resort of all foreigners at Mekka; here they took their walk, or sat conversing till after midnight. The scene presented altogether a spectacle which (excepting the absence of women) resembled rather an European midnight assemblage, than what I should have expected in the sanctuary of the Mohammedan religion. The night which closes Ramadhan, did not present those brilliant displays of rejoicing that are seen in other parts of the East; and the three subsequent days of the festival are equally devoid of public amusements. A few swinging machines were placed in the streets to amuse children, and some Egyptian jugglers exhibited their feats to multitudes assembled in the streets; but little else occurred to mark the feast, except a display of gaudy dresses, in which the Arabians surpass both Syrians and Egyptians.

I paid the visit, customary on occasion of this feast, to the Kadhy, and at the expiration of the third day, (on the 15th of September,) set out for Djidda, to complete my travelling equipments, which are more easily procured there than at Mekka. On my way to the coast, I was nearly made prisoner at Bahra by a flying corps of Wahabys. My stay at Djidda was prolonged to three weeks, chiefly in consequence of sore legs; a disease very prevalent on this unhealthy coast, where every bite of a gnat, if neglected, becomes a serious wound.

About the middle of October I returned to Mekka, accompanied by a slave whom I had purchased. This boy had been in the caravan with which I went from the Black Country to Sowakin, and was

[p.101] quite astonished at seeing me in a condition so superior to that in which he had before known me. I took with me a camel-load of provisions, mostly flour, biscuit, and butter, procured in Djidda at one third of the price demanded at Mekka, where, immediately on my arrival, I hired decent apartments in a quarter of the town not much frequented, called Haret el Mesfale. I had here the advantage of several large trees growing before my windows, the verdure of which, among the barren and sun-burnt rocks of Mekka, was to me more exhilarating than the finest landscape could have been under different circumstances. At this place I enjoyed an enviable freedom and independence, known only to the Kadhy and his followers, who soon after took their departure. The Pasha and his court remained at Tayf till the days of the Hadj. I frequented only such society as pleased me, and, mixing with a crowd of foreign pilgrims from all parts of the world, I was not liable to impertinent remarks or disagreeable inquiries. If any question arose about my origin (a circum­stance that rarely happened in a place which always abounds with strangers), I stated myself to be a reduced member of the Mamelouk corps of Egypt, and found it easy to avoid those persons whose intimate knowledge of that country might perhaps have enabled them to detect the falsehood. But there was little to be appre­hended even from the consequences of such detection; for the assumption of a false character is frequent among all eastern travellers, and especially at Mekka, where every one affects poverty in order to escape imposition, or being led into great expenses. During all my journies in the East, I never enjoyed such perfect ease as at Mekka; and I shall always retain a pleasing recollection of my residence there, although the state of my health did not permit me to benefit by all the advantages that my situation offered. I shall now proceed to describe the town, its inhabitants, and the pilgrimage, and then resume the narrative of my travels.

[p.102] DESCRIPTION OF MEKKA. [EXPLANATION OF THE PLAN. [not included]]

MEKKA is dignified among the Arabs with many lofty-sounding titles. The most common are Om el Kora (the mother of towns);

[p.103] El Mosherefe (the noble); Beled al Ameyn (the region of the faithful). Firuzabadi, the celebrated author of the Kamus, has composed a whole treatise on the different names of Mekka. This town is situated in a valley, narrow and sandy, the main direction of which is from north to south; but it inclines towards the north-west near the southern extremity of the town. In breadth this valley varies from one hundred to seven hundred paces, the chief part of the city being placed where the valley is most broad. In the narrower part are single rows of houses only, or detached shops. The town itself covers a space of about fifteen hundred paces in length, from the quarter called El Shebeyka to the extremity of the Mala; but the whole extent of ground comprehended under the denomination of Mekka, from the suburb called Djerouel (where is the entrance from Djidda) to the suburb called Moabede (on the Tayf road), amounts to three thousand five hundred paces. The mountains inclosing this valley (which, before the town was built, the Arabs had named Wady Mekka or Bekka) are from two to five hundred feet in height, completely barren and destitute of trees. The principal chain lies on the eastern side of the town: the valley slopes gently towards the south, where stands the quarter called El Mesfale (the low place). The rain-water from the town is lost towards the south of Mesfale in the open valley named Wady el Tarafeyn. Most of the town is situated in the valley itself; but there are also parts built on the sides of the mountains, principally of the eastern chain, where the primitive habitations of the Koreysh, and the ancient town appear to have been placed.

Mekka may be styled a handsome town: its streets are in general broader than those of eastern cities; the houses lofty, and built of stone; and the numerous windows that face the streets give them a more lively and European aspect than those of Egypt or Syria, where the houses present but few windows towards the exterior. Mekka (like Djidda) contains many houses three stories high; few at Mekka are white-washed; but the dark grey colour of the stone is much pre­ferable to the glaring white that offends the eye in Djidda. In most

[p.104] towns of the Levant the narrowness of a street contributes to its coolness; and in countries where wheel-carriages are not used, a space that allows two loaded camels to pass each other is deemed sufficient. At Mekka, however, it was necessary to leave the passages wide, for the innumerable visitors who here crowd together; and it is in the houses adapted for the reception of pilgrims and other sojourners, that the windows are so contrived as to command a view of the streets.

The city is open on every side; but the neighbouring mountains, if properly defended, would form a barrier of considerable strength against an enemy. In former times it had three walls to protect its extremities; one was built across the valley, at the street of Mala; another at the quarter of Shebeyka; and the third at the valley opening into the Mesfale. These walls were repaired in A.H. 816 and 828, and in a century after some traces of them still remained. [See Azraky, Fasy, and Kotobeddyn.]

The only public place in the body of the town is the ample square of the great mosque; no trees or gardens cheer the eye; and the scene is enlivened only during the Hadj by the great number of well-stored shops which are found in every quarter. Except four or five large houses belonging to the Sherif, two medreses or colleges (now converted into corn magazines), and the mosque, with some buildings and schools attached to it, Mekka cannot boast of any public edifices, and in this respect is, perhaps, more deficient than any other eastern city of the same size. Neither khans, for the accommodation of travellers, or for the deposit of merchandize, nor palaces of grandees, nor mosques, which adorn every quarter of other towns in the East, are here to be seen; and we may perhaps attribute this want of splendid buildings to the veneration which its inhabi­tants entertain for their temple; this prevents them from construct­ing any edifice which might possibly pretend to rival it.

he mode of building is the same as that adopted at Djidda, with the addition of windows looking towards the street; of these many project from the wall, and have their frame-work elaborately

[p.105] carved, or gaudily painted. Before them hang blinds made of slight reeds, which exclude flies and gnats while they admit fresh air. Every house has its terrace, the floor of which (composed of a preparation from lime-stone) is built with a slight inclination, so that the rain­water runs off through gutters into the street; for the rains here are so irregular that it is not worth while to collect the water of them in cisterns, as is done in Syria. The terraces are concealed from view by slight parapet walls; for throughout the east it is reckoned discreditable that a man should appear upon the terrace, whence he might be accused of looking at women in the neighbour­ing houses, as the females pass much of their time on the terraces, employed in various domestic occupations, such as drying corn, hanging up linen, &c. The Europeans of Aleppo alone enjoy the privilege of frequenting their terraces, which are often beautifully built of stone; here they resort during the summer evenings, and often to sup and pass the night. All the houses of the Mekkawys, except those of the principal and richest inhabitants, are constructed for the accommodation of lodgers, being divided into many apart­ments, separated from each other, and each consisting of a sitting­room and a small kitchen. Since the pilgrimage, which has begun to decline, (this happened before the Wahaby conquest,) many of the Mekkawys, no longer deriving profit from the letting of their lodgings, found themselves unable to afford the expense of repairs; and thus numerous buildings in the out-skirts have fallen completely into ruin, and the town itself exhibits in every street houses rapidly decaying. I saw only one of recent construction; it was in the quarter of El Shebeyka, belonged to a sherif, and cost, as report said, one hundred and fifty purses; such a house might have been built at Cairo for sixty purses.

The streets are all unpaved; and in summer time the sand and dust in them are as great a nuisance as the mud is in the rainy season, during which they are scarcely passable after a shower; for in the interior of the town the water does not run off, but remains till it is dried up. It may be ascribed to the destructive rains,

[p.106] which, though of shorter duration than in other tropical countries, fall with considerable violence, that no ancient buildings are found in Mekka. The mosque itself has undergone so many repairs under different sultans, that it may be called a modern structure; and of the houses, I do not think there exists one older than four centuries; it is not, therefore, in this place, that the traveller must look for interesting specimens of architecture or such beautiful remains of Saracenic structures as are still admired in Syria, Egypt, Barbary, and Spain. In this respect the ancient and far-famed Mekka is surpassed by the smallest provincial towns of Syria or Egypt. The same may be said with respect to Medina, and I suspect that the towns of Yemen are generally poor in architectural remains.

Mekka is deficient in those regulations of police which are customary in Eastern cities. The streets are totally dark at night, no lamps of any kind being lighted; its different quarters are without gates, differing in this respect also from most Eastern towns, where each quarter is regularly shut up after the last evening prayers. The town may therefore be crossed at any time of the night, and the same attention is not paid here to the security of merchants, as well as of husbands, (on whose account principally, the quarters are closed,) as in Syrian or Egyptian towns of equal magnitude. The dirt and sweepings of the houses are cast into the streets, where they soon become dust or mud according to the season. The same custom seems to have prevailed equally in ancient times; for I did not perceive in the skirts of the town any of those heaps of rubbish which are usually found near the large towns of Turkey.

With respect to water, the most important of all supplies, and that which always forms the first object of inquiry among Asiatics, Mekka is not much better provided than Djidda; there are but few cisterns for collecting rain, and the well-water is so brackish that it is used only for culinary purposes, except during the time of the pilgrimage, when the lowest class of hadjys drink it. The famous well of Zemzem, in the great mosque, is indeed sufficiently copious to supply the whole town; but, however holy, its water is heavy to

[p.107] the taste and impedes digestion; the poorer classes besides have not permission to fill their water-skins with it at pleasure. The best water in Mekka is brought by a conduit from the vicinity of Arafat, six or seven hours distant. The present government, instead of constructing similar works, neglects even the repairs and requisite cleansing of this aqueduct. It is wholly built of stone; and all those parts of it which appear above ground, are covered with a thick layer of stone and cement. I heard that it had not been cleaned during the last fifty years; the consequence of this negligence is, that the most of the water is lost in its passage to the city through apertures, or slowly forces its way through the obstructing sediment, though it flows in a full stream into the head of the aqueduct at Arafat. The supply which it affords in ordinary times is barely sufficient for the use of the inhabitants, and during the pilgrimage sweet water becomes an absolute scarcity; a small skin of water (two of which skins a person may carry) being then often sold for one shilling—a very high price among Arabs.

There are two places in the interior of Mekka where the aqueduct runs above ground; there the water is let off into small channels or fountains, at which some slaves of the Sherif are stationed, to exact a toll from persons filling their water-skins. In the time of the Hadj, these fountains are surrounded day and night by crowds of people quarrelling and fighting for access to the water. During the late siege the Wahabys cut off the supply of water from the aqueduct; and it was not till some time after, that the injury which this structure then received, was partially repaired.

The history of this aqueduct, a work of vast labour and magnitude, is given by the Arabian historians at great length. Zebeyda, the wife of Haroun-er-Rashid, first carried the spring, called Ayn Noman, from its source in Djebel Kora to the town. The spring of Ayn Arf from the foot of Djebel Shamekh to the north of Djebel Kora, which watered the fertile valley called Wady Honeyn, was next brought to join the Ayn Noman; and, finally, four other sources were added to the aqueduct—El Beroud, Zafaran, Meymoun, and Ayn Meshash.

[p.108] Subsequently it seems to have been obstructed; but in A.H. 643 it was repaired by Kokeboury, King of Arbela; again in 762, by order of Sultan Sayd Khadanbede; and a third time, but not completely, in 811, by the Sheri£ Hassan Ibn Adjelan, then reigning. Kaiabey, Sultan of Egypt, expended a large sum upon it in 879; and in 916, Kansoue el Ghoury, one of the last of the Zirkassian kings of Egypt, contributed to its repair: but the aqueduct was still often obstructed; and whenever that happened, the Mekkawys and Hadjys were ex­posed to great privations. In 931, Sultan Soleyman attempted to construct it anew; but the design was not completed. At last, his son, Selym Ibn Soleyman, or Selim II., after many years labour, and at enormous expense, excavated a passage through the rocks behind Arafat, and formed a new conduit, which alone now subsists. He succeeded in bringing water very abundantly to the town, in A.H. 979. The whole length of the aqueduct is seven or eight hours.

There is a small spring which oozes from under the rocks behind the great palace of the Sherif, called Beit el Sad; it is said to afford the best water in this country, but the supply is very scanty. The spring is inclosed, and appropriated wholly to the Sherifs family.

Beggars, and infirm or indigent hadjys, often intreat the passengers in the streets of Mekka for a draught of sweet water; they particularly surround the water-stands, which are seen in every corner, and where, for two paras in the time of the Hadj, and for one para, at other times, as much water may be obtained as will fill a jar.

I shall now proceed to describe the different quarters of Mekka, reserving an account of the great mosque to the last; and then add some notices respecting the inhabitants and government.

[p.109] QUARTERS OF MEKKA.

AT the entrance from the side of Djidda, in turning round the angle of a sandy and gravelly valley, the traveller sees two round watch-towers. They were constructed by the Sherif Ghaleb for the defence of his capital. Similar towers are seen at the other entrances of the town, and they are sufficiently spacious to contain about twenty men. As the hills approach very closely at the en­trance of the city, these towers command the passage. Here, it appears, was formerly a gate, the threshold of which only is now remaining, close to a small building, where the officers of the Sherif collected the duties on merchandize, &c. carried into the town. Here, also, is a row of shops, and low, ruined dwelling- houses, known by the appellation of Hareh, or the quarter El Djerouel. It comprises an encampment to the right, in which the Bedouins live who carry on the transport trade between Mekka and Djidda; they belong to the tribes of Harb, Metrefy, and Lahawy.

Beyond the Djerouel, the name of the street changes to that of Haret el Bab. This is a broad street, with several good houses, and leads into the quarter of El Shebeyka, which extends principally to the right, and is so called because the followers of Mohammed, in their wars with the Koreysh, were here attacked and closely pressed by their enemies. There are many good houses in Shebeyka, which is one of the cleanest and airiest quarters in the town. Many of the people of Djidda reside in it; and here also the Sherif Ghaleb has a good house, where his family, consisting of several young children

[p.110] and a grown-up daughter, continued to dwell after his deposition. The main street is lined with coffee-shops, from which the post sets out every evening, on asses, with the letters for Djidda. This is the only post for letters that I have seen in the East, besides that esta­blished among the Europeans at Cairo, between that city and Alex­andria; but the delivery of letters is there much less regular than it is at Mekka, where it is duly performed, and at the trifling expense of two paras upon each letter, and as much more for the person who distributes the letters received from Djidda.

In the coffee-shops just mentioned, live also the caravan-brokers, through whose agency the Bedouins let out their camels for the journey to Djidda and Medina.

On the western side of the Shebeyka, towards the mountain, is a large burying-ground, in which are dispersed huts and tents of Bedouins, and some miserable dwellings of the lowest class of public women: this is called El Khandaryse. Although tradition says that great numbers of the friends and adherents of Mohammed lie buried here, yet it has become unfashionable to deposit the dead in it; and all of the first and second classes of Mekkawys use the extensive cemeteries lying on the north of the town. There are few shops in the Shebeyka; and it does not contain many foreign inmates during the Hadj, being inhabited by persons in easy circumstances, who consider it disgraceful to let out apartments.

In proceeding from the Shebeyka along the broad street, nor­therly, we come to a bath, which, though by far the best of the three in Mekka, is inferior to those of other Asiatic cities, from the scarcity of water; it was built in A.H. 980, by Mohammed Pasha, the vizier of Sultan Soleyman II., and is one of the best structures in the town. [Vide Kotobeddyn.] It is frequented principally by foreigners, the native Arabs being little accustomed to the use of the bath, and choosing to perform the ablutions prescribed by their religion at their own dwellings.

The bath, together with several by-streets leading to the mosque, forms the quarter called Haret Bab el Omra, which is inhabited by

[p.111] a number of the guides called Metowef, and is full of pilgrims, espe­cially of those from Turkey. The streets are narrow, and excessively dirty; but the hadjys prefer the quarter, because it is the cheapest in the vicinity of the mosque, near which they are anxious to reside, that they may be sure of not missing the prayers; or, (as they add) that, if disturbed in their sleep, they may have the temple close at hand to dispel their bad dreams. Men are seen, in the middle of the night, running to the mosque in their sleeping-clothes; here they perform the walk round the Kaba, kiss the black stone, utter a short prayer, drink of the water of Zemzem, and then return to their beds. Near to the gate of the mosque called Bab Omra, from which this quarter takes its name, is a spacious building, originally a public school, but now occupied by Hassan Pasha, governor of Mekka. It is probably the Medrese mentioned by El Fasy, as having been built near Bab el Omra, in A.H. 814, by the orders of Mansour Ghyath Eddyn Atham Shah, the Lord of Bengal. In A.H. 519, the governor of Aden also ordered a Medrese to be built in this neighbourhood, which was called Dar-es-Selsale. In this quarter is one of the fountains of sweet water derived from the canal, and there are several wells of brackish water.

Returning from hence to the Shebeyka, and then turning southerly along different streets, composed of good buildings, but which are rapidly falling to decay, we descend by a slight slope into the street called Souk-es-Sogheyr, or the little market, which terminates at the gate of the great mosque, called Bab Ibrahim. The houses on both sides of this street are low, and inhabited by the lower classes. There is a continued range of shops, in which are sold all sorts of provisions, but principally grain, butter, and dates. In some of the shops locusts are sold by measure. The Souk is fre­quented chiefly by Bedouins of the southern part of Arabia, who bring hither charcoal. Some poor Negro pilgrims of Africa take up their abode also in the miserable huts and ruined houses of this part of the town, and have here established a market for firewood, which they collect in the surrounding mountains.

[p.112] The extremity of Souk-es-Sogheyr, towards the mountain, is called Haret el Hadjela, or Hadjela bil Tekyet Sadek; where stand a few tolerably good houses, inhabited by the eunuchs who guard the mosque, and who live there with their wives, for they are all married to black slaves. This is the lowest part of the town; and whenever great floods, during the rainy season, inundate the valley, the water rushes through this street, in its way to the open country. Some remains of the aqueduct are visible here; for when it was kept in good repair, its water, after supplying the town, was conducted this way into the southern valley, where it served to irrigate some fields.

The Souk-es-Sogheyr is sometimes comprehended in the Mesfale, or low place, the name of the quarter on the east and south sides of the Souk; but that name is more commonly applied exclusively to the latter district. The Mesfale is tolerably well built, and, like the Shebeyka, contains a few new houses; but that part of it which lies towards the great castle-hill is now almost entirely in ruins. It is inhabited by Arab and Bedouin merchants, who travel in time of peace to Yemen, principally to Mokhowa, from whence they import grain, coffee-beans, and dried grapes. It is also the residence of many poor Indians, established at Mekka; these let out their houses to their countrymen, who visit this city in the time of the Hadj. In the ruined dwellings, Negro pilgrims take up their temporary abode; some of these are settled in Mekka, and their wives prepare the intoxicating liquor made from durra, and called bouza, of which the meaner inhabitants are very fond. It was in the Mesfale, as I have already mentioned, that I took up my lodging on returning from Djidda, at first in the house of a Maggrebyn settler, from which I soon afterwards removed into that of a Yemen merchant close by. The person, whose apartment I hired, was from Szana in Yemen, a Metowef or guide by profession, and who occupied the first floor of the house, from which he removed, during my stay, into a corner on the ground-floor; the other parts of the dwelling were inhabited by the Maggrebyn landlord and his family, by a village sheikh from

[p.113] Egypt, who had come to the Hadj, accompanied by several fellahs, by a poor man from the Afghan country, or territory El Soleymanye, as it is now usually called; and by a hadjy or pilgrim from one of the Greek islands. In the house of the Yemen merchant, I found myself among a party of Maggrebyn pilgrims belonging to the Berber nation, or the Shilhy, who had come by sea to Egypt. There are few houses in this part of the town, where the same strange mixture of nations is not to be met with.

On the southern extremity of the Mesfale is a large ruined khan, which, even when new, must have been a mean building. It was destined for the accommodation of the pilgrim-caravan, which formerly arrived by land from Yemen, along the coast. Another Yemen pilgrim-caravan came along the mountains.

In issuing from the town on this side, we discover a watch-tower standing in the plain, similar in construction to those at the Djerouel entrance. A broad valley leads from hence, in a southern direction, to the small village of Hosseynye, two or three hours distant, where are some date-trees. Here the Sherif Ghaleb had a small pleasure-garden and a country-house; and he kept here a herd of buffaloes, brought from Egypt; but they did not prosper. From Hosseynye a road leads to Arafat, passing to the S. and S.E. of Mekka, two or three hours distant from which, on that road, is the small fertile valley and Arab settlement of Aabedye. The valley just mentioned is called El Tarafeyn; one mile beyond the present skirts of the city may be traced the ruins of former habitations; among them are several large, deep, and well-built cisterns, which, with little labour, might again be rendered fit for their original purpose of collecting rain-water. At a mile and a half from the city is a large stone tank, called Birket Madjen, built for the supplying of water to the Yemen caravan; I found some water in it, but it is falling rapidly to decay. Beyond this tank, the people of the Mesfale cultivate a few fields of cucumbers and different vegetables, immediately after the fall of the rains, when the ground has been copiously irrigated. Many Bedouin huts and tents of the tribes of Faham

[p.114] and Djehadele are scattered over this valley: their inhabitants earn a livelihood by collecting in the mountains grass and wild herbs, which they sell, when dry, in the Mekka market, twisted into bundles: they serve to feed horses, camels, and asses; but are so scarce and dear, that the daily feed for a horse costs from two to three piastres. These Bedouins also rear a few sheep; but although poor, they keep themselves quite distinct from the lower classes of the Mekkawys, whom they scorn to imitate in their habits of mendicity. Some few of them are water-carriers in the city.

On one summit of the western chain of the valley of Tarafeyn, just in front of the Mesfale, stood, prior to the invasion of the Wahabys, a small building with a dome, erected in honour of Omar, one of Mohammeds immediate successors, and therefore called Mekam Seydna Omar. It was completely ruined by the Wahabys.

Nearly on the summit of the opposite mountain stands the Great Castle, a very large and massy structure, surrounded by thick walls and solid towers. It commands the greatest part of the town, but is commanded by several higher summits. I heard that this castle owes its origin to the Sherif Serour, the predecessor of Ghaleb; but I believe it to be of a more ancient date. It is often mentioned by Asamy, in his history, as early as the fourteenth century; but he does not say who built it. No person might enter without per­mission from the governor of Mekka, and I did not think it either prudent, or worth the trouble, to apply for that favour. Ghaleb considerably strengthened and thoroughly repaired the building, and mounted it with heavy guns. It was said that he had made its principal magazines bomb-proof. It contains a large cistern and a small mosque; and might accommodate a garrison of about one thousand men. To Arabs it is an impregnable fortress; and so it is considered by the Mekkawys; even against Europeans, it might offer some resistance. The approach is by a steep narrow path.

Below the castle-hill, upon a small plain between the mountain and the Djebel Kobeys, stands the great palace of the reigning

[p.115] sherif, called Beit es Sade. This, too, is said to have been built by Serour; but I find it mentioned by Asamy in the account of trans­actions that occurred two hundred years ago. Its walls are very high and solid, and seem to have been intended for an outwork to the castle above it, with which, according to the reports of the Mekkawys, there is a subterranean communication. It is an irregular pile of building, and comprises many spacious courts and gloomy chambers, which have not been inhabited since Sherif Ghaleb fled before the enemy to Djidda: he then attempted to destroy it by fire; but it was too strongly built. The Turks, under Mohammed Aly, have converted it into a magazine of corn. In the adjacent plain, which was formerly the place of exercise for the Sherifs troops, I found a herd of camels, with the encampment of their drivers, who make a journey weekly to Djidda or Tayf. Here also many poor hadjys, who could not pay for lodgings, had erected their miserable tents, formed of a few rags spread upon sticks. The soldiers were busily occupied in destroying all the remaining ceilings of the palace, in quest of fire-wood.

In a narrow inlet in the mountain, to the north of the palace, and adjoining the above-mentioned plain, are numerous low huts built of brush-wood, the former abodes of Sherif Ghalebs slaves, who served as soldiers in his guard. The greater part of them fled after the Sherifs capture; and the huts now form barracks for about two hundred Arab soldiers, in the service of his successor, Sherif Yahya.

In turning from hence towards the mosque, on the right hand, we come to a small quarter, built on the declivity of the mountain, in which are many half-ruined houses: it is called Haret el Djyad, and is inhabited by poor people, and several of the lower servants of the Sherifs household. Asamy says that it derives its name from having been the post occupied by the horsemen who accompanied Toba, King of Yemen, in his expedition against Mekka; an event celebrated among the Moslim writers, for the miraculous destruction of the army. This is certainly one of the most ancient quarters of the town.

[p.116] Close by the mosque, on either side of the entrance to the above­mentioned plain, stands a palace of the Sherif; the northern consists of two stately houses, connected together, which are occupied by Sherif Yahya: his women reside in the opposite southern building, which was erected by Sherif Ghaleb, who in this favourite residence spent the greater part of his time, induced by its vicinity to the mosque, its central situation, and the large open space which it commands.

Continuing from this place, in a northern direction, parallel with the mosque, we enter the long street called Mesaa. The small by­streets to the right, in approaching the Mesaa, form the quarter of El Szafa, which takes its name from the holy place Szafa, already de­scribed. The houses surrounding this place are handsome buildings, and here the richest foreigners, in the time of the pilgrimage, take up their abode. In a large house here resides the Aga of the eunuchs belonging to the temple, together with all the eunuch boys, who are educated here, till they attain a sufficient age to allow of their living in private lodgings.

We now turn into the Mesaa, the straightest and longest street in Mekka, and one of the best built. It receives its name from the ceremony of the Say, which is performed in it, and which I have already described: from this circumstance, and its being full of shops, it is the most noisy and most frequented part of the town. The shops are of the same description as those enumerated in the account of Djidda, with the addition of a dozen of tin-men, who make tin bottles of all sizes, in which the pilgrims, upon their return, carry the water of Zemzem to their homes. The shops are generally magazines on the ground-floor of the houses, before which a stone bench is reared. Here the merchant sits, under the shade of a slight awning of mats fastened to long poles; this custom prevails throughout the Hedjaz. All the houses of the Mesaa are rented by Turkish pilgrims. On the arrival of a party of hadjys from Djidda, which happens almost every morning, for four or five months of the year, their baggage is usually deposited in this street, after which they pay their visit to the mosque,

[p.117] and then go in quest of lodgings; and in this manner I found the street crowded almost every day with new comers, newsmongers, and guides.

About the time of my stay at Mekka, the Mesaa resembled a Constantinopolitan bazar. Many shops were kept by Turks from Europe or Asia Minor, who sold various articles of Turkish dress, which had belonged to deceased hadjys, or to those who, being deficient in cash, had sold their wardrobe. Fine swords, good English watches, and beautiful copies of the Koran, the three most valuable articles in a Turkish pilgrims baggage, were continually offered for sale. Constantinopolitan pastry-cooks sold here pies and sweetmeats in the morning; roasted mutton, or kebabs, in the afternoon; and in the evening, a kind of jelly called mehalabye. Here, too, are nume­rous coffee-houses, crowded from three oclock in the morning until eleven oclock at night. The reader will be surprised to learn, that in two shops intoxicating liquors are publicly sold during the night, though not in the day-time: one liquor is prepared from fermented raisins, and although usually mixed with a good deal of water, is still so strong, that a few glasses of it produce intoxication. The other is a sort of bouza, mixed with spices, and called soubye. This beverage is known (although not made so strong) at Cairo.

The Mesaa is the place of punishment: there capital offenders are put to death. During my stay, a man was beheaded, by sentence of the Kadhy, for having robbed a Turkish pilgrim of about two hun­dred pounds sterling; this was the only instance of the kind which came to my knowledge, though thieves are said to abound in Mekka, while the Hadj continues. The history of Mekka, however, affords many instances of the most cruel punishments: in A.D. 1624, two thieves were flayed alive in this street; in 1629, a military chief of Yemen, who had been made prisoner by the reigning Sherif, had both his arms and shoulders perforated in many places, and lighted tapers put into the wounds; one of his feet was turned up, and fastened to his shoulder by an iron hook, and in this posture he was suspended two days on a tree in the Mala, till he died. The destruction

[p.118] of a mans sight, no uncommon punishment in other parts of the east, seems never to have been inflicted by the Hedjaz governors.

In the Mesaa, and annexed to the mosque, stands a handsome building, erected in A.H. 882, by Kaid Bey, Sultan of Egypt, in which he established a large public school, with seventy-two different apartments; he also furnished it with a valuable library. The historian Kotobeddyn, who, one hundred years afterwards, was librarian here, complains that only three hundred volumes remained in his time, the rest having been stolen by his unprincipled predecessors.

On the northern extremity of the Mesaa is the place called Merowa, the termination of the Say, as already described; this, as it now stands, was built in A.H. 801. Behind it is shown a house which was the original habitation of El Abbas, one of the many uncles of Mohammed. Near the Merowa are the barbers shops, in which pilgrims have their heads shaved after performing the Say. Here, too, public auctions are held every morning, where wearing-apparel, and goods of every description, are offered to the highest bidder: for the sake of the Turkish pilgrims, their language is used on these occasions; and there is scarcely a boy at Mekka who is not thus acquainted with, at least, the Turkish numerals. Near this place, too, is a public fountain, the work of the Othman Emperor Soleyman Ibn Selym: it is supplied from the Mekka aqueduct, and is crowded the whole day by hadjys, who come to fill their water-skins.

Eastward of the Mesaa, near its extremity at the Merowa, branches off a street called Soueyga, or the Little Market, which runs almost parallel with the east side of the mosque. Though narrow, it is the neatest street in the town, being regularly cleaned and sprinkled with water, which is not the case with any of the others. Here the rich India merchants expose their piece-goods for sale, and fine Cashmere shawls and muslins. There are upwards of twenty shops, in which are sold perfumes, sweet oils, Mekka balsam, (in an adulterated state,) aloe- wood, civet, &c. Few pilgrims return to their homes without

[p.119] carrying some presents for their families and friends; these are usually beads, perfumes, balm of Mekka, aloe-wood, which last is used throughout the east, in small pieces, placed upon the lighted tobacco in the pipe, producing an agreeable odour.

In other shops are sold strings of coral, and false pearls, rosaries made of aloe, sandal or kalembac wood, brilliant necklaces of cut cornelians, cornelians for seal-rings, and various kinds of China ware. These shops are all kept by Indians, and their merchandize is entirely of Indian production and manufacture. Against these Indians much prejudice is entertained in Arabia, from a general opinion that they are idolaters, who comply in outward appearance only with the rites of Mohammedism: they are supposed to be of the Ismayley sect; those mysterious devotees, of whom I have given some account in my journey to Lebanon, [See Travels in Syria, &c.] and whose name is, at Mekka, applied to those Indians. About a dozen of them reside here; the others arrive annually at the pilgrimage; they buy up old gold and silver, which they remit to Surat, from whence most of them come. Some have lived at Mekka for ten years, scrupulously performing every religious ceremony; they rent a large house, in which they live together, never allowing other strangers to occupy any part of it, even should several of the apartments be untenanted. Contrary to the practice of all other Mohammedans, these Indians never bring their women to the pilgrimage, although they could well afford the expense; and those residing, for however long a period, at Mekka have never been known to marry there; which is the more remarkable, as other natives of India, who live here for any length of time, usually take wives, although they may have been already married at home.

The same stories are prevalent respecting them, which are told of the Syrian Ismayleys, to my account of whom I must refer the reader. [See Travels in Syria and the Holy Land.] My endeavours to collect authentic information on the subject of their secret doctrines were as fruitless here as they had

[p.120] been in Syria, where it was vaguely reported that the chief seat of the Ismayleys was in India, and that they kept up regular correspondence between that country and Syria. A sect of Light- ­extinguishers is said to exist in India, as well as in Mesopotamia, and to them the Ismayleys of Syria and those of Mekka may, perhaps, belong. Those whom I saw at Mekka have rather the features of Persians than of Indians, and are taller and stouter men than Indians in general. [The people here mentioned by our author were probably some Parsees from Surat or Bombay.]

About the middle of the Soueyga, where the street is only four paces in breadth, are stone benches on each side. Here Abyssinian male and female slaves are exposed for sale; and as beauty is an universal attraction, these benches are always surrounded by hadjys, both old and young, who often pretend to bargain with the dealers, for the purpose of viewing the slave-girls, during a few moments, in some adjoining apartment. Many of these slaves are carried from hence to the northern parts of Turkey. The price of the handsomest was from one hundred and ten to one hundred and twenty dollars.

At the extremity of the Soueyga, the street is covered with a high vaulted roof of stone, supported on each side by several massy buildings, serving as warehouses to the wealthy merchants; they were the work of one Mohammed, Pasha of Damascus, who lived several centuries ago, and now belong to the mosque. This, being the coolest spot in the town during mid-day, is on that account the most frequented. In the Soueyga all the gentlemen hadjys take their morning and evening lounge, and smoke their pipes. I formed an acquaintance with one of the perfume- sellers, and daily passed an hour in the morning, and another in the afternoon, seated on the bench before his shop, smoking my nargyle, and treating my friend with coffee. Here I heard the news:—whether any great hadjy had arrived the preceding night; what law-suits had been carried before

[p.121] the Kadhy; what was going forward in Mohammed Alys army; or what great commercial bargains had been concluded. Sometimes European news would be discussed, such as the last fortunes of Bonaparte; for the pilgrims who arrived from Constantinople and Greece were continually bringing news from Europe. I usually spent the early part of each morning, and the later part of the evening, in walking about the town, and frequenting the coffee­houses in its extremities, where I might meet with Bedouins, and, by treating them with a cup of coffee, soon engage them to talk about their country and their nation. During the mid-day hours I staid at home: the first part of the night I passed in the great square of the mosque, where a cooling breeze always reigns; here, seated upon a carpet, which my slave spread for me, I indulged in recollections of far distant regions, while the pilgrims were busily engaged in praying and walking round the Kaaba.

At the eastern extremity of the Soueyga, the street changes its name into that of Shamye, which is applied also to several by-streets on either side, those on the right leading towards the mountain, and those on the left towards the mosque. At the further end the Shamye joins the quarter of Shebeyka and Bab el Omar. This is a well-built part of the town, chiefly inhabited by rich merchants, or by olemas attached to the mosque. There are few shops in the main street except during the pilgrimage, when many are opened, in which the Syrian merchants display the produce and manufactures of their country; a circumstance from which it derives its name. In these shops are found silk stuffs from Damascus and Aleppo; cambric manufactured in the district of Nablous; gold and silver thread from Aleppo; Bedouin handkerchiefs, called keffie, of Baghdad and Damascus fabric; silk from Lebanon; fine carpets from Anadolia and the Turkman Bedouins; abbas from Hamah; dried fruits and the kammereddyn from Damascus; pistacios from Aleppo, &c. Among all the Syrians at Mekka, I could never discover any indi­vidual whom I had known in his own country, except the son of the chief of Palmyra, who, however, did not recognise me. He had come

[p.122] with two or three hundred camels, to transport the baggage of the Pasha of Damascus.

In returning through the Shamye towards the Soueyga, we find, on the north side of these streets, a quarter called Garara, the most reputable of the town, and perhaps the best built, where the weal­thiest merchants have their houses. The two first merchants of the Hedjaz, Djeylany and Sakkat, live here for the greater part of the year, and only go to Djidda (where they also have establishments,) when the arrival of the Indian fleet demands their presence at that place. In the quarter of Garara, the women of Mohammed Aly Pasha, with a train of eunuchs attached to them, have now taken up their abode. The houses are all two or three stories high, many of them gaudily painted, and containing spacious apartments. Here Sherif Ghaleb built a palace, the finest of all those he possessed at Mekka, and resided in it principally during the winter months, when he divided his time between this mansion and that near the mosque. Some military chiefs have now taken up their quarters in this palace, which will soon be ruined. It is distinguished from the other houses of Mekka only by its size, and the number of windows; having neither a fine portico, nor any other display of architecture.

Near the palace, upon a hill which may be described as within the town, Ghaleb built a fort, flanked by strong towers, but of much smaller size than the great castle. When the Turkish army advanced towards the Hedjaz, he mounted it with guns, and stored it well with provisions; but the garrison, like that of the castle, dis­persed immediately after he was made prisoner. The hill upon which it stands is known by the name of Djebel Lala, and is often mentioned by Arabian poets. Opposite to this hill, in a S.E. direc­tion, upon the summit of a mountain beyond the precincts of the town, stands another small fort, which was also repaired by Ghaleb. It is called Djebel Hindy, from the circumstance of a great sheikh or devotee from Cashmere having been buried there. The tower is now inhabited by a few Indian families, who enjoy the advantage of an excellent cistern for rain-water. This mountain is also called by the

[p.123] present Mekkawys Djebel Keykaan—an appellation more ancient probably than that of Mekka itself. Azraky, however, places the Djebel Keykaan more to the north, and says that the name is derived from the cries and the clashing of arms of the Mekkawy army, which was stationed there, when the Yemen army, under Toba, had taken possession of the hill of Djyad. Between the two castle-hills, the space is filled with poor, half-ruined houses, which are principally inha­bited by the lowest class of Indians established at Mekka.

In turning eastward from the Garara, and passing the quarter called Rekoube, which, in point of building, nearly equals the Garara, although it is not reckoned so genteel a residence, we arrive at the great street called Modaa, which is a continuation of the Mesaa, and then retrace our steps through the latter to the vicinity of El Szafa, that we may survey the eastern quarters of the town.

Near the Szafa branches off a broad street, running almost parallel with the Modaa, to the east of it, called Geshashye. Here, among many smaller dwellings, are several well-built, and a few lofty edifices; a number of coffee-houses; several gunsmiths shops; and a bath. Here resides the Hakem, or superintendant of the police, who is the first officer under the Sherif at Mekka. Part of the street is built on the lower declivity of the eastern mountain, called Djebel Kobeys, to which narrow, dirty, and steep lanes lead up on that side. The Geshashye is a favourite quarter of the pilgrims, being broad, airy, and open to the northerly winds. I lived here during the last days of Ramadhan, in September, 1814, when I first arrived at Mekka from Tayf.

This street, as it proceeds, adopts the name of Haret Souk el Leyl, which comprises an extensive quarter on the East, where the Moled e Nebby, or Prophets birth-place, is shown, and which adjoins the Moamele, or establishment of the potteries. The by-streets close to the Moled are denominated Shab el Moled, or Rocks of the Moled, the ground which rises here being covered with stones.

The Moamele lies on the side of Djebel Kobeys, and comprises about a dozen furnaces, of which the chief productions are jars, especially

[p.124] those used in carrying the water of the celebrated well Zemzem. These Moamele jars, although prettily wrought, are too heavy, dif­fering in this respect from the beautiful pottery of Upper Egypt and Baghdad, which are so slight that an empty jar may be thrown down by a mere puff of wind. The Moamele alone supplies all the Hedjaz, at present, with these water-vessels; and few hadjys return to their homes without some jars, as specimens of Mekkawy ingenuity.

Farther on, the Souk el Leyl takes the name of El Ghazze, and so are called both sides of the main street, which still forms a continuation of the Geshashye. Several deep wells of brackish water are situated in this street. Here also are found the shops of carpenters, upholsterers from Turkey, undertakers, who make the seryrs, or stands, upon which the Mekkawys sleep, as well as those on which they are carried to the grave. Wholesale dealers in fruits and vegetables, which are brought from Tayf and Wady Fatme, here dispose of their stock to the retail dealers early in the morning. At the northern end of the Ghazze, where the street widens consi­derably, is held a daily market of camels and cows. On the east side, towards the mountain, and partly on its declivity, stands the quarter called Shab Aly, adjoining the Shab el Moled: here is shown the venerated place of Alys nativity. Both these quarters, called Shab, (i.e. rock,) are among the most ancient parts of the town, where the Koreysh formerly lived; they are even now inhabited principally by sherifs, and do not contain any shops. The houses are spacious, and in an airy situation.

Beyond the cattle-market in the Ghazze, the dwelling-houses terminate, and low shops and sheds occupy both sides of the street. This part is called Souk el Haddadeyn; and here blacksmiths and Turkish locksmiths have their shops. A little further, the street opens into that called Mala, which is itself a continuation of the Modaa, and forms the division between the eastern and western parts of the town, running due north along the slightly ascending slope of the valley. The Modaa and the Mala, (which latter means

[p.125] the High Place, in opposition to the Mesfale, or the low quarter,) are filled with shops on both sides. Here are found grocers, drug­gists, corn-merchants, tobacconists, haberdashers, sandal-makers, and a great number of dealers in old clothes. In the Modaa is a large corn magazine, formerly a public school; and there is another in the Mala. From these, the provision-caravans for the Turkish army at Tayf take their departure: public auctions are held in this place every morning. At the northern end of the Mala is a market, whi­ther Bedouins from all quarters bring their sheep for sale. Here, also, are the butchers shops, in which beef, mutton, and camels flesh are sold; and in the same street is a small chapel, or Mesdjed, [I believe this to be the Mesdjed mentioned by historians under the name of Mesdjed Rayet. El Azraky speaks of four or five other mosques at Mekka in his time.] for daily prayers, the great mosque being distant; but the Fridays prayers are always said in the latter. Towards this northern end of the Mala, where it joins the Souk el Haddadeyn, the stone houses terminate, and are succeeded by a single row of low shops and stands on each side, where provisions are sold to the eastern Bedouins, who come to Mekka for grain. Here is a coffee-house, called Kahwet el Hashashein, where are sold the intoxicating preparations of hashysh and bendj, which are mixed and smoked with tobacco. This house is frequented by all the lowest and most disorderly persons of the town. Sherif Ghaleb had imposed a heavy tax on the sale of hashysh, in order to discourage a practice directly violating the law.

The Mala is known also under the appellation of Haret el Naga, which is derived from the ancient name of Wady el Naga, given to this part of the valley of Mekka.

In the by-streets of the Modaa the richest Indian traders have their houses; here they receive customers, being too proud to open public shops or warehouses. An Indian of this quarter, originally from Surat, called El Shamsy, was esteemed the wealthiest man in the Hedjaz; yet his mercantile concerns were much less extensive than those of Djeylany, and several others. Though possessing

[p.126] several hundred thousand pounds sterling, this man bargained with me personally for nearly an hour and a half about a muslin shawl, not worth more than four dollars!

In the Modaa, a high, broad mole or embankment was thrown across the valley, with an iron gate, by Omar Ibn el Khatab, to resist the torrents flowing in this direction towards the mosque, during heavy rains. Some vestiges of it remained till the fourteenth century. While it existed, the pilgrims on arriving at Mekka used to enjoy from its summit the first sight of the Kaaba; there also they recited prayers, from which circumstance the street takes its name, Modaa meaning place of prayers.

Between the Modaa and Mala, on the one side, and the Ghazze and Geshashye on the other, are several quarters consisting of tole­rable buildings, but of extremely dirty and narrow streets, from which the filth is never removed, and fresh air is always excluded. Here we find the Zokak e Seiny, or Chinese street, where gold and silversmiths have their shops. They work in the coarsest manner, but are very much employed, principally in making silver rings for men and women—ornaments very generally used among the Arabs. To the south of this quarter is the Zokak el Hadjar (called also Zokak el Merfek), or the street of the stone, which comprises the birth-place of Fatme, the daughter of Mohammed; and of Abou Beker, the prophets successor in the Khalifat. This street takes its name from the hadjar, or stone, which used miraculously to greet Mohammed with the salutation of Salam aleyk, whenever he passed this way on his return from the Kaaba. It has been mute since the days of the prophet, but is still shown, projecting a little from the wall of a house, which, in honour of it has been white- washed.

We now return towards the Mala, a little beyond the spot where it joins the Ghazze. The shops terminate, and a broad, sandy plain commences, on which there are only a few detached coffee-houses. This may be called the extremity of the town. What lies farther towards the north, must be considered as forming part of the suburbs. Continuing along the plain, we find on each side of the

[p.127] road large birkets, or reservoirs of water, for the accommodation of the pilgrim-caravans: they can be filled from the aqueduct which passes this way towards the town. Of these birkets, one is for the Egyptian caravan; another for the Syrian: they were constructed in A.H. 821, are entirely cased with stone, and continue in a state of perfect repair. Similar monuments of the munificent Turkish Sul­tans are found at every station of the Hadj, from Medina as far as Damascus and Aleppo. Some of those which I saw to the southward of Damascus, appeared more solid in their construction than the birkets of Mekka: that appropriated to the Egyptian pilgrims is about one hundred and sixty feet square, and from thirty to thirty­five feet in depth. When the birket contains from eight to ten feet of water, the supply is deemed sufficient for the caravan. These reservoirs are never completely filled. As the aqueduct furnishes water but scantily, adjoining to the western birket are some acres, irrigated by means of a well, and producing vegetables. Near it, also, is a small mosque, called Djama è Soleymanye, in a state of decay, and no longer used for religious purposes; but serving, at present, to lodge a few Turkish soldiers. It belongs to the quarter named El Soleymanye, which extends from Djebel Lala close to the western mountain, as far as the cemeteries beyond the birkets. It does not contain any good houses; and I heard that it derives its name from the Soleymanye, as the Muselmans call the people of Kandahar, Afghanistan, Cashmere, and several other countries on this side of the Indus. It is said that some descendants of those people who were the original settlers, still reside here, mixed with many Indians. It appears, however, from Kotobeddyns history, that Sultan Solyman erected, about A.H. 980, a mosque in this quarter. The mosque at least may be supposed to have borrowed its name from the founder. The inhabitants of Soleymanye are Muselmans of the Hanefy sect, the first of the four orthodox divi­sions, and not disciples of Aly, like the Persians; many of whom come yearly to the Hadj of Mekka, either by sea from Bombay or Bassora, or by land, travelling as dervises, along the southern provinces of

[p.128] Persia to Baghdad, and through Mesopotamia and Syria to Egypt. I have seen many who had come by that route; they appeared to be men of a much better and more vigorous character than the gene­rality of Indians.

Opposite to this quarter El Soleymanye, on the eastern mountain, and adjoining the Ghazze and Shab Aly, is a half-ruined district, called Shab Aamer, inhabited by Bedouin pedlars of the Thekyf and Koreysh tribes, and by a few poor sherif families. In this quarter are some large mills, worked by horses, for the Turkish governor: the town, I believe, does not contain any others of considerable size. It is the custom at Mekka to use hand-mills, which are usually turned by the slaves of the family, or, among the poorer classes, by the women. Here, also, are the only places in Mekka (or perhaps in the Hedjaz) where linen and cotton are dyed with indigo and saffron: woollen cloth is not dyed here.

As numbers of the public women reside at Shab Aamer, this quarter is not ranked among the most respectable in Mekka. Sherif Ghaleb imposed a regular tax upon those females, and required an additional payment from such of them as, in the time of the pilgrim­age, followed the hadjys to Arafat. A similar tax is levied at Cairo, and in all the great provincial towns of Egypt. Mekka abounds with the frail sisterhood, whose numbers are increased during the Hadj by adventurers from foreign countries. They are somewhat more decorous than the public women in Egypt, and never appear in the streets without veils. Among them are many Abyssinian slaves, whose former masters, according to report, share the profits of their vocation. Some are slaves belonging to Mekkawys.