Chapter XX: —Of diuers thynges which chaunced to me in Mecha; and of Zida, (2)

[p.378] During their three days stay at Mina, scarce any Hagge (unless impotent) but thinks it his duty to pay his visit, once at least, to the temple at Mecca. They scarce cease running all the way thitherward, shewing their vehement desire to have a fresh sight of the Beat-Allah; which as soon as ever they come in sight of, they burst into tears for joy; and after having performed Towoaf for a while, and a few Erkaets, they return again to Mina. And when the three days of Byram are expired, they all, with their tents, &c., come back again to Mecca.

They say, that after the Hagges are gone from Mina to Mecca, God doth usually send a good shower of rain to wash away the filth and dung of the sacrifices there slain; and also that those vast numbers of little stones, which I told you the Hagges throw in defiance of the devil, are all carried away by the angels before the year comes about again. But I am sure I saw vast numbers of them that were thrown the year before, lie upon the ground. After they are returned to Mecca, they can tarry there no longer than the stated time, which is about ten or twelve days; during which time there is a great fair held, where are sold all manner of East India goods, and abundance of fine stones for rings and bracelets, &c., brought from Yeamane[FN#40]; also of China-ware and musk, and variety of other curiosities. Now is the time in which the Hagges are busily employed in buying, for they do not think it lawful to buy any thing till they have received the title of Hagge. Every one almost now buys a caffin, or shroud of fine linen, to be buried in (for they never use coffins for that purpose), which might have been procured at Algier, or their other respective homes, at a much cheaper rate; but they choose to buy it here, because they have the advantage of dipping it in the holy water, Zem Zem. They are very careful to carry the said

[p.379] caffin with them wherever they travel, whether by sea or land, that they may be sure to be buried therein.

The evening before they leave Mecca, every one must go to take their solemn leave of the Beat, entering at the gate called Babe el Salem, i.e. Welcome Gate, and having continued at Towoaf as long as they please, which many do till they are quite tired, and it being the last time of their paying their devotions to it, they do it with floods of tears, as being extremely unwilling to part and bid farewell; and having drank their fill of the water Zem Zem, they go to one side of the Beat, their backs being towards the door called by the name of Babe el Weedoh i.e., the Farewell Door, which is opposite to the welcome door; where, having performed two or three Erkaets, they get upon their legs and hold up their hands towards the Beat, making earnest petitions; and then keep going backward till they come to the above said farewell gate, being guided by some other, for they account it a very irreverent thing to turn their backs towards the Beat when they take leave of it. All the way as they retreat they continue petitioning, holding up their hands, with their eyes fixed upon the Beat, till they are out of sight of it; and so go to their lodgings weeping.

Ere I leave Mecca, I shall acquaint you with a passage of a Turk to me in the temple cloyster, in the night time, between Acsham-nomas, and Gega-nomas, i.e., between the evening and the night services. The Hagges do usually spend that time, or good part of it (which is about an hour and half), at Towoaf, and then sit down on the mats and rest themselves. This I did, and after I had sat a while, and for my more ease at last was lying on my back, with my feet towards the Beat, but at a distance as many others did, a Turk which sat by me, asked me what countryman I was; A Mogrebee (said I), i.e. one of the West. Pray, quoth he, how far west did you come? I told him from Gazair, i.e. Algier. Ah! replied he, have you taken so much

[p.380] pains, and been at so much cost, and now be guilty of this irreverent posture before the Beat Allah?

Here are many Moors, who get a beggarly livelihood by selling models of the temple unto strangers, and in being serviceable to the Pilgrims. Here are also several Effendies, or masters of learning, who daily expound out of the Alcoran, sitting in high chairs, and some of the learned Pilgrims, whilst they are here, do undertake the same.

Under the room of the Hanifees (which I mentioned before), people do usually gather together (between the hours of devotion), and sitting round cross-legged, it may be, twenty or thirty of them, they have a very large pair of Tessbeehs, or beads, each bead near as big as a mans fist, which they keep passing round, bead after bead, one to the other, all the time, using some devout expressions. I myself was once got in amongst them, and methought it was a pretty play enough for children,however, I was to appearance very devout.

There are likewise some dervises that get money here, as well as at other places, by burning of incense, swinging their censers as they go along before the people that are sitting; as this they do commonly on Friday, their Sabbath. In all other Gamiler or Mosques, when the Hattib is preaching, and the people all sitting still at their devotion, they are all in ranks, so that the dervise, without the least disturbance to any, walks between every rank, with his censer in one hand, and with the other takes his powdered incense out of a little pouch that hangs by his side.[FN#41]

But though this place, Mecca, is esteemed so very holy, yet it comes short of none for lewdness and debauchery. As for uncleanness, it is equal to Grand Cairo; and they will steal even in the temple itself.

[p.381] CHAPTER VIII. Of the Pilgrims return from Mecca: their visit made at Medina to Mahomets tomb there.

Having thus given you an account of the Turks pilgrimage to Mecca, and of their worship there (the manner and circumstances of which I have faithfully and punctually related, and may challenge the world to convict me of a known falsehood), I now come to take leave of the temple and town of Mecca. Having hired camels of the carriers, we set out, but we give as much for the hire of one from Mecca to Egypt, which is about forty days journey, as the real worth of it is, (viz.) about five or six pounds sterling. If it happen that the camel dies by the way, the carrier is to supply us with another; and therefore, those carriers[FN#42] who come from Egypt to Mecca with the Caravan, bring with them several spare camels; for there is hardly a night passeth but many die upon the road, for if a camel should chance to fall, it is seldom known that it is able to rise again; and if it should, they despair of its being capable of performing the journey, or ever being useful more. It is a common thing, therefore, when a camel once falls, to take off its burden and put it on another, and then kill it; which the poorer sort of the company eat. I myself have eaten of camels flesh, and it is very sweet and nourishing. If a camel tires, they even leave him upon the place. The first day we set out from Mecca, it was without any order at all, all hurly burly; but the next day every one laboured to get forward; and in order to it, there was many time much quarrelling and fighting. But after every one had taken his place in the Caravan, they orderly and peaceably kept the same place till they came to Grand Cairo. They travel four camels in a breast,

[p.382] which are all tied one after the other, like as in teams.[FN#43] The whole body is called a Caravan, which is divided into several cottors, or companies, each of which hath its name, and consists, it may be, of several thousand camels; and they move one cottor after another, like distinct troops. In the head of each cottor is some great gentleman or officer, who is carried in a thing like a horse-litter, borne by two camels, one before and the other behind, which is covered all over with sear-cloth, and over that again with green broad cloth, and set forth very handsomely. If the said great person hath a wife with him, she is carried in another of the same.[FN#44] In the head of every cottor there goes, likewise, a sumpter camel which carries his treasures, &c. This camel hath two bells, about the bigness of our market-bells, having one on each side, the sound of which may be heard a great way off. Some other of the camels have round bells about their necks, some about their legs, like those which our carriers put about their fore-horses necks; which together with the servants (who belong to the camels, and travel on foot) singing all night, make a pleasant noise, and the journey passes away delightfully. They say this musick make the camels brisk and lively. Thus they travel, in good order every day, till they come to Grand Cairo; and were it not for this order, you may guess what confusion would be amongst such a vast multitude.

They have lights by night (which is the chief time of travelling, because of the exceeding heat of the sun by day), which are carried on the tops of high poles, to direct the Hagges on their march.[FN#45] They are somewhat like

[p.382] iron stoves, into which they put short dry wood, which some of the camels are loaded with; it is carried in great sacks, which have an hole near the bottom, where the servants take it out, as they see the fires need a recruit. Every cottor hath one of these poles belonging to it, some of which have ten, some twelve, of these lights on their tops, or more or less; and they are likewise of different figures as well as numbers; one, perhaps, oval way, like a gate; another triangular, or like an N or M, &c., so that every one knows by them his respective cottor. They are carried in the front, and set up in the place where the Caravan is to pitch, before that comes up, at some distance from one another. They are also carried by day, not lighted, but yet by the figure and number of them, the Hagges are directed to what cottor they belong, as soldiers are, by their colours, where to rendezvous; and without such directions it would be impossible to avoid confusion in such a vast number of people.

Every day, viz. in the morning, they pitch their tents, and rest several hours. When the camels are unloaded the owners drive them to water, and give them their provender, &c. So that we had nothing to do with them, besides helping to load them.

As soon as our tents were pitched, my business was to make a little fire and get a pot of coffee. When we had ate some small matter and drank the coffee, we lay down to sleep. Between eleven and twelve we boiled something for dinner, and having dined, lay down again, till about four in the afternoon; when the trumpet was sounded which gave notice to every one to take down their tents, pack up their things, and load their camels in order to proceed on their journey. It takes up about two hours time ere they are in all their places again. At the time of Acsham-nomas, and also Gega-nomas, they make a halt, and perform their Sallah (so punctual

[p.384] are they in their worship), and then they travel till next morning. If water be scarce, what I call an imaginary Abdes[FN#46] will do. As for ancient men, it being very troublesome for such to alight off the camels, and get up again, it is lawful for them to defer these two times of nomas till the next day; but they will be sure to perform it then.

As for provisions, we bring enough out of Egypt to suffice us till we return thither again. At Mecca we compute how much will serve us for one day, and consequently, for the forty days journey to Egypt, and if we find we have more than we may well guess will suffice us for a long time, we sell the overplus at Mecca. There is a charity maintained by the Grand Seignior, for water to refresh the poor who travel on foot all the way; for there are many such undertake this journey (or pilgrimage) without any money, relying on the charity of the Hagges for subsistence, knowing that they largely extend it at such a time.

Every Hagge carries his provisions, water, bedding, &c., with him, and usually three or four diet together, and sometimes discharge a poor mans expenses the whole journey for his attendance on them. There was an Irish renegade, who was taken very young, insomuch that he had not only lost his Christian religion, but his native language also. This man had endured thirty years slavery in Spain, and in the French gallies, but was afterwards redeemed and came home to Algier. He was looked upon as a very pious man, and a great Zealot, by the Turks, for his not turning from the Mahommedan faith, notwithstanding the great temptations he had so to do. Some of my neighbours who intended for Mecca, the same year I went with my patroon thither, offered

[p.385] this renegado that if he would serve them on this journey they would defray his charges throughout. He gladly embraced the offer, and I remember when we arrived at Mecca he passionately told me, that God had delivered him out of hell upon earth (meaning his former slavery in France and Spain), and had brought him into a heaven upon earth, viz. Mecca. I admired much his zeal, but pitied his condition.

Their water they carry in goats skins, which they fasten to one side of their camels. It sometimes happens that no water is to be met with for two, three, or more days; but yet it is well known that a camel is a creature that can live long without drinking (God in his wise providence so ordering it: for otherwise it would be very difficult, if not impossible to travel through the parched deserts of Arabia).

In this journey many times the skulking, thievish, Arabs do much mischief to some of the Hagges; for in the night time they will steal upon them (especially such as are on the outside of the Caravan), and being taken to be some of the servants that belong to the carriers, or owners of the camels, they are not suspected. When they see an Hagge fast asleep (for it is usual for them to sleep on the road), they loose a camel before and behind, and one of the thieves leads it away with the Hagge upon its back asleep. Another of them in the meanwhile, pulls on the next camel to tie it to the camel from whence the halter of the other was cut; for if that camel be not fastened again to the leading camel, it will stop, and all that are behind will then stop of course, which might be the means of discovering the robbers. When they have gotten the stolen camel, with his rider, at a convenient distance from the Caravan, and think themselves out of danger, they awake the Hagge, and sometimes destroy him immediately; but at other times, being a little more

[p.386] inclined to mercy, they strip him naked, and let him return to the Caravan.[FN#47]

About the tenth easy days journey, after we come out of Mecca, we enter into Medina, the place where Mahomet lies entombed. Although it be (as I take it) two or three days journey out of the direct way from Mecca to Egypt, yet the Hagges pay their visit there for the space of two days, and come away the third.

Those Mahometans which live to the southward of Mecca, at the East Indies, and thereaway, are not bound to make a visit to Medina, but to Mecca only, because it would be so much out of their way. But such as come from Turkey, Tartary, Egypt, and Africa, think themselves obliged to do so.

Medina is but a little town, and poor, yet it is walled round,[FN#48] and hath in it a great Mosque, but nothing near so big as the temple at Mecca. In one corner of the Mosque is a place, built about fourteen or fifteen paces square. About this place are great windows,[FN#49] fenced with brass grates. In the inside it is decked with some lamps, and ornaments. It is arched all over head. (I find some relate, that there are no less than 3000 lamps about Mahomets tomb; but it is a mistake, for there are not, as I verily believe, an hundred; and I speak what I know, and have been an eye-witness of). In the middle of this place is the tomb of Mahomet, where the corpse of that bloody impostor is laid, which hath silk curtains all around it like a bed; which curtains are not costly nor beautiful. There is nothing of his tomb to be seen by any, by reason

[p.387] of the curtains round it, nor are any of the Hagges permitted to enter there.[FN#50] None go in but the Eunuchs, who keep watch over it, and they only light the lamps, which burn there by night, and to sweep and cleanse the place. All the privilege the Hagges have, is only to thrust in their hands at the windows,[FN#51] between the brass grates, and to petition the dead juggler, which they do with a wonderful deal of reverence, affection, and zeal. My patroon had his silk handkerchief stole out of his bosom, while he stood at his devotion here.

It is storied by some, that the coffin of Mahomet hangs up by the attractive virtue of a loadstone to the roof of the Mosque; but believe me it is a false story. When I looked through the brass gate, I saw as much as any of the Hagges; and the top of the curtains, which covered the tomb, were not half so high as the roof or arch, so that it is impossible his coffin should be hanging there. I never heard the Mahometans say anything like it. On the outside of this place, where Mahomets tomb is, are some sepulchres of their reputed saints; among which is one prepared for Jesus Christ, when he shall come again personally into the world; for they hold that Christ will come again in the flesh, forty years before the end of the world, to confirm the Mahometan faith, and say likewise, that our Saviour was not crucified in person, but in effigy, or one like him.

Medina is much supplied by the opposite Abyssine country, which is on the other side of the Red Sea: from thence they have corn and necessaries brought in ships: an odd sort of vessels as ever I saw, their sails being made of matting, such as they use in the houses and Mosques to tread upon.

[p.388] When we had taken our leave of Medina, the third day, and travelled about ten days more, we were met by a great many Arabians, who brought abundance of fruit to us, particularly raisins; but from whence I cannot tell.[FN#52] When we came within fifteen days journey of Grand Cairo, we were met by many people who came from thence, with their camels laden with presents for the Hagges, sent from their friends and relations, as sweetmeats, &c. But some of them came rather for profit, to sell fresh provisions to the Hagges, and trade with them.

About ten days before we got to Cairo, we came to a very long steep hill, called Ackaba, which the Hagges are usually much afraid how they shall be able to get up. Those who can will walk it. The poor camels, having no hoofs, find it very hard work, and many drop here. They were all untied, and we dealt gently with them, moving very slowly, and often halting. Before we came to this hill, I observed no descent, and when we were at the top there was none, but all plain as before.

We past by Mount Sinai by night, and, perhaps, when I was asleep; so that I had no prospect of it.

When we came within seven days journey of Cairo, we were met by abundance of people more, some hundreds, who came to welcome their friends and relations; but it being night, it was difficult to find those they wanted, and, therefore, as the Caravans past along they kept calling them aloud by their names, and by this means found them out. And when we were in three days journey of it, we had many camel-loads of the water of the Nile brought us to drink. But the day and night before we came to Cairo, thousands came out to meet us with extraordinary rejoicing. It is thirty-seven days journey from Mecca to Cairo, and three days we tarry by [p.389] the way, which together make us (as I said) forty days journey; and in all this way there is scarce any green thing to be met with, nor beast nor fowl to be seen or heard; nothing but sand and stones, excepting one place which we passed through by night; I suppose it was a village, where were some trees, and, we thought, gardens.

[FN#1] It is curious, as Crichton (Arabia, vol. ii. p. 208) observes, that Gibbon seems not to have seen or known anything of the little work published by Pitts on his return home. It is entitled A faithful Account of the Religion and the Manners of the Mahometans, in which is a particular Relation of their Pilgrimage to Mecca, the Place of Mahomets Birth, and Description of Medina, and of his Tomb there, &c., &c. My copy is the 4th edition, printed for T. Longman and R. Hett, London, A.D. 1708. The only remarkable feature in the getting up of the little octavo is, that the engraving headed the most sacred and antient Temple of the Mahometans at Mecca, is the reverse of the impression[.] [FN#2] Some years afterwards, Mr. Consul Baker, when waited upon by Pitts, in London, gave him a copy of the letter, with the following memorandum upon the back of itCopy of my letter to Consul Raye at Smyrna, to favour the escape of Joseph Pitts, an English renegade, from a squadron of Algier men-of-war. Had my kindness to him been discovered by the government of Algiers, my legs and arms had first been broken, and my carcass burnta danger hitherto not courted by any. [FN#3] The italics in the text are the authors. This is admirably characteristic of the man. Asiatic Christendom would not satisfy him. He seems to hate the damnable doctrines of the Papists, almost as much as those of the Moslems. [FN#4] He must have been accustomed to long days journeys. Al-Idrisi makes Jeddah forty miles from Meccah; I calculated about forty-four. [FN#5] Dalil, a guide, generally called at Meccah Muttawwif. [FN#6] Pitts Note,that before theyll provide for themselves, they serve God in their way. [FN#7] Abdast is the Turkish word, borrowed from the Persian, for Wuzu, the minor ablution. [FN#8] Rukaat, a bending. This two-bow prayer is in honour of the Mosque. [FN#9] This is the ceremony technically called Al-Sai, or running between Safa and Marwah. Burckhardt describes it accurately, vol. i. pp. 174, 175. [FN#10] Ihram, the pilgrim-garb. [FN#11] Now gold or gilt. [FN#12] This is an error. The stone is called Hajar Aswad, the Black Stone, or Hajar Asad, the Blessed Stone. Moreover, it did not change its colour on account of the sins of the people who kissed it. [FN#13] The Meccans, in effect, still make this a boast. [FN#14] Nothing more blindly prejudiced than this statement. Moslems turn towards Meccah, as Christians towards Jerusalem. [FN#15] As will afterwards be explained, all the four orthodox schools do not think it necessary to kiss the stone after each circumambulation. [FN#16] These are mere local traditions. The original Kaabah was composed of materials gathered from the six mountains of Paradise (chap. xx.) The present building is of grey granite quarried in a hill near Meccah. [FN#17] Now Jabal Nur. [FN#18] They come from the well-known Taif, which the country people call Hijaz, but never Habbash. The word Taif literally means the circumambulator. It is said that when Adam settled at Meccah, finding the country barren, he prayed to Allah to supply him with a bit of fertile land. Immediately appeared a mountain, which having performed Tawaf round the Kaabah, settled itself down eastward of Meccah. Hence, to the present day, Taif is called Kita min al-Sham, a piece of Syria, its fatherland. [FN#19] This is an error of printing for paces. [FN#20] (Pitts Note.) Not of massy gold, as a late French author (who, I am sure, was never there) says. The door is of wood, only plated over with silver; much less is the inside of the Beat ceiled with massy gold, as the same Frenchman asserts. I can assure the world it is no such thing. The door is of wood, thickly plated over with silver, in many parts gilt. And whatever hereabouts is gilt, the Meccans always call gold. (R.F.B.) [FN#21] This is no longer the case. Few women ever enter the Kaabah, on account of the personal danger they run there. [FN#22] More correctly, at three of the corners, and the fourth opposite the southern third of the western wall. [FN#23] It is deemed disrespectful to look at the ceiling, but pilgrims may turn their eyes in any other direction they please. [FN#24] There are now three. [FN#25] It is tucked up about six feet high. [FN#26] It is a close kind of grey granite, which takes a high polish from the pilgrims feet. [FN#27] Now iron posts. [FN#28] The Shafei school have not, and never had, a peculiar oratory like the other three schools. They pray near the well Zemzem. [FN#29] This place contains the stone which served Abraham for a scaffold when he was erecting the Kaabah. Some of our popular writers confound this stone with the Hajar al-Aswad. [FN#30] (Pitts Note.) The worthy Mons. Thevenot saith, that the waters of Meccah are bitter; but I never found them so, but as sweet and as good as any others, for aught as I could perceive. Pitts has just remarked that he found the waters of Zemzem brackish. To my taste it was a salt-bitter, which was exceedingly disagreeable. (R.F.B.) [FN#31] They are not so modest. 600,000 is the mystical number; others declare it to be incalculable. Oftentimes 70,000 have met at Arafat. [FN#32] The cupola has now disappeared; there is a tall pillar of masonry-work, whitewashed, rising from a plastered floor, for praying. [FN#33] On the 9th Zul Hijjah, or the Day of Arafat, the pilgrims, having taken their stations within the sacred limits, perform ablution about noon, and pray as directed at that hour. At three P.M., after again performing the usual devotions, or more frequently after neglecting them, they repair to the hill, and hear the sermon. [FN#34] At Muzdalifah. [FN#35] This, I need scarcely say, is speaking as a Christian. All Moslems believe that Ishmael, and not Isaac, was ordered to be sacrificed. The place to which Pitts alludes is still shown to pilgrims. [FN#36] (Pitts Note.) Monsieur de Thevenot saith, that they throw these stones at the Gibbel or Mount; but, indeed, it is otherwise; though I must needs say, he is very exact in almost every thing of Turkish matters; and I pay much deference to that great author. [FN#37] The Rami or Jaculator now usually says, as he casts each stone, In the name of Allah, and Allah is omnipotent (Raghman lish Shaytani wa Khizyatih), in token of abhorrence to Satan, and for his ignominy (I do this). [FN#38] The Arabic would mean stone the devil and slay him, unless wazbehe be an error for wa ashabih,and his companions. [FN#39] Even in the present day, men who have led wild lives in their youth, often date their reformation from the first pilgrimage. [FN#40] Al-Yaman, Southern Arabia, whose Akik, or cornelians were celebrated. [FN#41] This is still practised in Moslem countries, being considered a decent way of begging during public prayers, without interrupting them. [FN#42] These people will contract to board the pilgrim, and to provide him with a tent, as well as to convey his luggage. [FN#43] The usual way now is in Kitar, or in Indian file, each camels halter being tied to the tail of the beast that precedes him. Pitts cottor must be a kitar, but he uses the word in another of its numerous senses. [FN#44] This vehicle is the Takht-rawan of Arabia. [FN#45] He describes the Mashals still in use. Lane has sketched them, Mod. Egypt. chap. vi. [FN#46] Pitts means by imaginary Abdes, the sand ablution,lawful when water is wanted for sustaining life. [FN#47] As I shall explain at a future time, there are still some Hijazi Badawin whose young men, before entering life, risk everything in order to plunder a Haji. They care little for the value of the article stolen, the exploit consists in stealing it. [FN#48] The walls, therefore, were built between A.D. 1503 and A.D. 1680. [FN#49] These are not windows, but simply the inter-columnar spaces filled with grating. [FN#50] This account is perfectly correct. The Eunuchs, however, do not go into the tomb; they only light the lamps in, and sweep the passage round, the Sepulchre. [FN#51] These are the small apertures in the Southern grating. See Chap. xvi. [FN#52] The Caravan must have been near the harbour of Muwaylah, where supplies are abundant.

[p.390]APPENDIX VI.

GIOVANNI FINATI.

THE third pilgrim on our list is Giovanni Finati, who, under the Moslem name of Haji Mohammed, made the campaign against the Wahhabis for the recovery of Meccah and Al-Madinah. A native of Ferrara, the eldest of the four scions of a small landed proprietor, tenderly attached to his mother, and brought up most unwillingly for a holy vocation,to use his own words, instructed in all that course of frivolous and empty ceremonials and mysteries, which form a principal feature in the training of a priest for the Romish Church, in A.D. 1805, Giovanni Finatis name appeared in the list of Italian conscripts. After a few vain struggles with fate, he was marched to Milan, drilled and trained; the next year his division was ordered to the Tyrol, where the young man, brought up for the church, instantly deserted. Discovered in his native town, he was sent under circumstances of suitable indignity to join his regiment at Venice, where a general act of grace, promulgated on occasion of Napoleons short visit, preserved him from a platoon of infantry. His next move was to Spalato, in Dalmatia, where he marched under General Marmont to Cattaro, the last retreat of the hardy and warlike Montenegrins. At Budoa, a sea-port S.E. of Ragusa, having consulted an Albanian captain-merchant, Giovanni Finati, and fifteen other Italians

[p.391] including the sergeants wife, swore fidelity to one another, and deserted with all their arms and accoutrements. They passed into the Albanese territory, and were hospitably treated as soldiers, who had deserted from the infidel army in Dalmatia, by the Pasha, posted at Antivari to keep check upon the French operations. At first they were lodged in the Mosque, and the sergeants wife had been set apart from the rest; but as they refused to apostatize they were made common slaves, and worked at the quarries till their backs were sore. Under these circumstances, the sergeant discovering and promulgating his discovery that the Mahometans believe as we do in a god; and upon examination that we might find the differences from our mother church to be less than we had imagined,all at once came the determination of professing to be Mohammedans. Our Italian Candide took the name of Mahomet, and became pipe-bearer to a Turkish general officer in the garrison. This young man trusted the deserter to such an extent that the doors of the Harim were open to him[FN#1], and Giovanni Finati repaid his kindness by seducing Fatimah, a Georgian girl, his masters favourite wife. The garrison then removed to Scutari. Being of course hated by his fellow servants, the renegade at last fell into disgrace, and exchanging the pipe-stick for the hatchet, he became a hewer of wood. This degradation did not diminish poor Fatimahs affection: she continued to visit him, and to leave little presents and tokens for him in his room. But presently the girl proved likely to become a mother,their intercourse was more than suspected,Giovanni Finati had a dread of circumcision,[FN#2]

[p.392] so he came to the felon resolution of flying alone from Scutari. He happened to meet his original friend the captain-merchant, and in March, 1809, obtained from him a passage to Egypt, the Al-Dorado to which all poverty-struck Albanian adventurers were then flocking. At Alexandr[i]a the new Mahomet, after twice deserting from a Christian service, at the risk of life and honour, voluntarily enlisted as an Albanian private soldier in a Moslem land; the naïvete with which he admires and comments upon his conduct is a curious moral phenomenon. Thence he proceeded to Cairo, and became a Balik bash (corporal), in charge of six Albanian privates, of Mohammed Alis body-guard. Ensued a campaign against the Mamluks in Upper Egypt, and his being present at the massacre of those miscreants in the citadel of Cairo,he confined his part in the affair to plundering from the Beys a saddle richly mounted in silver gilt, and a slave girl with trinkets and money. He married the captive, and was stationed for six months at Matariyah (Heliopolis), with the force preparing to march upon Meccah, under Tussun Pasha. Here he suffered from thieves, and shot by mistake his Bim Bashi or sergeant, who was engaged in the unwonted and dangerous exercise of prayer in the dark. The affair was compromised by the amiable young commander-in-chief, who paid the blood money amounting to some thousand piastres. On the 6th October, 1811, the army started for Suez, where eighteen vessels waited to convey them to Yambu. Mahomet assisted at the capture of that port, and was fortunate enough to escape alive from the desperate action of Jadaydah.[FN#3] Rheumatism obliged him

[p.393] to return to Cairo, where he began by divorcing his wife for great levity of conduct. In the early part of 1814, Mahomet, inspired by the news of Mohammed Ali Pashas success in Al-Hijaz, joined a reinforcement of Albanians, travelled to Suez, touched at Yambu and at Jeddah, assisted at the siege and capture of Kunfudah, and was present at its recapture by the Wahhabis. Wounded, sick, harassed by the Badawin, and disgusted by his commanding officer, he determined to desert again, adding, as an excuse, not that the step, on my part at least, had the character of a complete desertion, since I intended to join the main body of the army; and to his mania for desertion we owe the following particulars concerning the city of Meccah.

Exulting in my escape, my mind was in a state to receive very strong impressions, and I was much struck with all I saw upon entering the city; for though it is neither large nor beautiful in itself, there is something in it that is calculated to impress a sort of awe, and it was the hour of noon when everything is very silent, except the Muezzins calling from the minarets.

The principal feature of the city is that celebrated sacred enclosure which is placed about the centre of it; it is a vast paved court with doorways opening into it from every side, and with a covered colonnade carried all round like a cloister, while in the midst of the open space stands the edifice called the Caaba, whose walls are entirely covered over on the outside with hangings of rich velvet,[FN#4] on which there are Arabic inscriptions embroidered in gold.

Facing one of its angles (for this little edifice is of

[p.394] a square form),[FN#5] there is a well which is called the well Zemzem, of which the water is considered so peculiarly holy that some of it is even sent annually to the Sultan at Constantinople; and no person who comes to Meccah, whether on pilgrimage or for mere worldly considerations, ever fails both to drink of it and to use it in his ablutions, since it is supposed to wipe out the stain of all past transgressions.

There is a stone also near the bottom of the building itself which all the visitants kiss as they pass round it, and the multitude of them has been so prodigious as to have worn the surface quite away.

Quite detached, but fronting to the Caaba, stand four pavilions (corresponding to the four sects of the Mahometan religion), adapted for the pilgrims; and though the concourse had of late years been from time to time much interrupted, there arrived just when I came to Meccah two Caravans of them, one Asiatic and one from the African side, amounting to not less than about 40,000 persons, who all seemed to be full of reverence towards the holy place.[FN#6]

After commenting on the crowded state of the city, the lodging of pilgrims in tents and huts, or on the bare ground outside the walls,[FN#7] and the extravagant prices of provisions, Haji Mahomet proceeds with his description.

Over and above the general ceremonies of the purification at the well, and of the kissing of the corner-stone,[FN#8]

[p.395]and of the walking round the Caaba a certain number of times in a devout manner, every one has also his own separate prayers to put up, and so to fulfil the conditions of his vow and the objects of his particular pilgrimage.

We have then an account of the Mosque-pigeons, for whom it is said, some pilgrims bring with them even from the most remote countries a small quantity of grain, with which they may take the opportunity of feeding these birds. This may have occurred in times of scarcity; the grain is now sold in the Mosque.

The superstitions and ceremonies of the place, we are told, are by no means completed within the city, for the pilgrims, after having performed their devotions for a certain time at the Caaba, at last in a sort of procession go to a place called Arafat, an eminence which stands detached in the centre of a valley; and in the way thither there is a part of the road for about the space of a mile where it is customary to run.[FN#9] The road also passes near a spot where was formerly a well which is superstitiously supposed to be something unholy and cursed by the Prophet himself. And for this reason, every pilgrim as he goes by it throws a stone; and the custom is so universal and has prevailed so long that none can be picked up in the neighbourhood, and it is necessary therefore to provide them from a distance, and some persons even bring them out of their own remote countries, thinking thereby to gain the greater favour in the sight of Heaven.[FN#10]

[p.396]Beyond this point stands a column,[FN#11] which is set up as the extreme limit of the pilgrimage, and this every pilgrim must have passed before sunrise; while all such as have not gone beyond it by that time must wait till the next year, if they wish to be entitled to the consideration and privileges of complete Hajis, since, without this circumstance, all the rest remains imperfect.

The hill of Arafat lying at a distance of seven hours from Meccah, it is necessary to set out very early in order to be there in time; many of the pilgrims, and especially the more devout amongst them, performing all the way on foot.

When they have reached the place[FN#12] all who have any money according to their means sacrifice a sheep, and the rich often furnish those who are poor and destitute with the means of buying one.

Such a quantity of sacrifices quite fills the whole open space with victims, and the poor flock from all the country round to have meat distributed to them.

After which, at the conclusion of the whole ceremony, all the names are registered by a scribe appointed for the purpose[FN#13]: and when this is finished the African

[p.397] and Asiatic Caravans part company and return to their own several countries, many detachments of the pilgrims visiting Medinah in the way.

Being desirous of enrolment in some new division of Mohammed Alis army, Finati overcame the difficulty of personal access to him by getting a memorial written in Turkish and standing at the window of a house joined on to the enclosure of the great temple. After the sixth day the Pasha observed him, and in the greatest rage imaginable desired a detailed account of the defeat at Kunfudah. Finati then received five hundred piastres and an order to join a corps at Taif, together with a strict charge of secre[c]y, since it was of importance that no reverse or check should be generally talked of. Before starting our author adds some singular particulars which escaped him in his account of Meccah.

Many of the pilgrims go through the ceremony of walking the entire circuit of the city upon the outside; and the order in which this is performed is as follows. The devoted first goes without the gates, and, after presenting himself there to the religious officer who presides, throws off all his clothes, and takes a sort of large wrapping garment in lieu of them to cover himself; upon which he sets off walking at a very quick pace, or rather running, to reach the nearest of the four corners of the city, a sort of guide going with him at the same rate all the way, who prompts certain ejaculations or prayers, which he ought to mention at particular spots as he passes; at every angle he finds a barber, who with wonderful quickness wets and shaves one quarter of his head, and so on; till he has reached the barber at the fourth angle, who completes the work. After which the

[p.398] pilgrim takes his clothes again, and has finished that act of devotion.[FN#14]

There is also near the holy city an eminence called the hill of light,[FN#15] as I imagine from its remarkable whiteness. Upon this the pilgrims have a custom of leaping while they repeat at the same time prayers and verses of the Koran. Many also resort to a lesser hill, about a mile distant from the city, on which there is a small Mosque, which is reputed as a place of great sanctity.

An annual ceremony takes place in the great temple itself which is worth mentioning before I quit the subject altogether.

I have already spoken of the little square building whose walls are covered with hangings of black and gold, and which is called the Caaba. Once in the year,[FN#16] and once only, this holy of holies is opened, and as there is nothing to prevent admission it appears surprising at first to see so few who are willing to go into the interior, and especially since this act is supposed to have great efficacy in the remission of all past sins. But the reason must be sought for in the conditions which are annexed, since he who enters is, in the first place, bound to exercise no gainful pursuit, or trade, or to work for his livelihood

[p.399] in any way whatever; and, next, he must submit patiently to all offences and injuries, and must never again touch anything that is impure or unholy.[FN#17]

One more remark with reference to the great scene of sacrifice at Arafat. Though the Pashas power in Arabia had been now for some time established, yet it was not complete or universal by any meansthe Wahhabees still retaining upon many sides a very considerable footing, so that open and unprotected places, even within half a days journey of Meccah, might be liable to surprise and violence.

For these reasons, our author informs us, a sufficient force was disposed round Arafat, and the prodigious multitude went and returned without molestation or insult.[FN#18]

[p.400] After the pilgrimage Haji Mahomet repaired to Taif. On the road he remarked a phenomenon observable in Al-Hijazthe lightness of the nights there. Finati attributes it to the southern position of the place. But, observing a perceptible twilight there, I was forced to seek further cause. May not the absence of vegetation, and the heat-absorbing nature of the soil,granite, quartz, and basalt,account for the phenomenon[FN#19]? The natives as usual, observing it, have invested its origin with the garb of fable.

It is not my intention to accompany Mahomet to the shameful defeat of Taraba, where Tussun Pasha lost three quarters of his army, or to the glorious victory of Bissel, where Mohammed Ali on the 10th January, 1815, broke 24,000 Wahhabis commanded by Faysal bin Saud. His account of this interesting campaign is not full or accurate like Mengins; still, being the tale of an eye-witness, it attracts attention. Nothing can be more graphic than his picture of the old conqueror sitting with exulting countenance upon the carpet where he had vowed to await death or victory, and surrounded by heaps of enemies heads.[FN#20]

Still less would it be to the purpose to describe the latter details of Haji Mahomets career, his return to Cairo, his accompanying Mr. Bankes to upper Egypt and Syria, and his various trips to Aleppo, Kurdistan, the

[p.401] Said, the great Oasis, Nabathaea, Sennaar, and Dongola. We concede to him the praise claimed by his translator, that he was a traveller to no ordinary extent; but beyond this we cannot go. He was so ignorant that he had forgotten to write[FN#21]; his curiosity and his powers of observation keep pace with his knowledge[FN#22]; his moral character as it appears in print is of that description which knows no sense of shame: it is not candour but sheer insensibility which makes him relate circumstantially his repeated desertions, his betrayal of Fatimah, and his various plunderings.