Two Hours After, Many Other Persons Belonging To It Arrived;
And In The Night The Whole Body Came Up, And Encamped, With The Pasha Of
Damascus At Their Head, In The Plain Of Sheikh Mahmoud.
Early the next morning, the Egyptian caravan also arrived.
The heavy
baggage and the camels were sent to the usual place of encampment of the
Egyptian Hadj, in the Moabede; but the Mahmal, or holy camel, remained
at Sheikh Mahmoud, that it might pass from thence in procession next day
through the town. Mohammed Aly Pasha arrived unexpectedly this morning
from Tayf, to be present at the Hadj, and to inspect the cavalry which
had come with the Egyptian caravan, a reinforcement that strongly
excited his hopes of success against the Wahabys. He was dressed in a
very handsome ihram, having two large entirely white cashmirene shawls
wrapped round his loins and shoulders: his head was bare; but an officer
held over it an umbrella to protect him from the sun, while riding
through the streets. On the same morning, all the hadjys resident at
Mekka took the ihram at their own lodgings, with the usual ceremonies,
preparatory to their setting out for Arafat; and at mid-day they
assembled in the mosque, where a short sermon was preached on the
occasion. The hadjys who had come with the caravan had already
[p.263] taken the ihram at Asfan, two stations in advance of Mekka; but
a great number of them, especially the servants and camel-drivers, did
not throw off their ordinary dresses, and even appeared in them at
Arafat, without causing either surprise or indignation. There is no
religious police or inquisition here; and every body is left to the
dictates of his conscience, either to observe or neglect the precepts of
the canonical law.
Great bustle prevailed this evening in the town. Every body was
preparing for his journey to Arafat; Syrian hadjys came to engage
lodgings, to inquire about the state of the markets, and to pay their
first visits to the Kaaba. A number of pedlars and petty shopkeepers
left the town to establish themselves at Arafat, and to be ready there
for the accommodation of the pilgrims. A number of camel-drivers from
Syria and Egypt led their unloaded camels through the streets, offering
to let them out to the hadjys going to Arafat. The rate of hire this
year was very moderate, on account of the great number of beasts of
burden: I engaged two of these camels, for the journey of four days to
Arafat and back again, for three dollars.
On the 8th of Zul Hadj, early in the morning, the Syrian Hadj passed in
procession through the town, accompanied by all its soldiers, and
carrying the Mahmal in front. All its baggage was left at Sheikh
Mahmoud, excepting the tents that were to be pitched at Arafat. Most of
the hadjys were mounted in the Shebrye, a sort of palankeen placed upon
the camel. The great people, and the Pasha of Damascus himself, rode in
takhtrouans, a kind of closed [l]itter or box carried by two camels, one
before and the other behind, and forming a very commodious conveyance,
except that it is necessary always to have a ladder, by means of which
one may mount or descend. The camels' heads were decorated with
feathers, tassels, and bells; but their heads, bent down towards the
ground, showed how much they were fatigued by their journey. While these
passed, the streets were lined by people of all classes, who greeted the
caravan with loud acclamations and praise. The martial music of the
Pasha of Damascus, a dozen of fine caparisoned horses led in front of
his litter, and the rich takhtrouans in which his women rode,
particularly attracted attention.
[p.264] Soon after the Syrians had passed, the Egyptian procession
followed, consisting of its Mahmal or sacred camel, (for each of the
caravans carries one,) and the Shebryes of the public officers, who
always accompany the Hadj; but not a single private pilgrim was to be
seen in its suite. The good appearance of the soldiers who were with
them, the splendour of the Mahmal, and of the equipage of the Emir el
Hadj, who was a commander of the Turkish horsemen called Delhis, drew
from the Mekkawys many signs of approbation, such as had been given to
those who immediately preceded them. Both caravans continued their route
to Arafat without stopping.
Before mid-day, all the hadjys who had resided for some time at Mekka,
likewise mounted their camels, and crowded the streets as they pressed
forward to follow the Hadj. They were joined by the far greater part of
the population of Mekka, who make it a rule to go every year to Arafat;
and by a similar portion of the population of Djidda, who had been
assembled here for some time. During five or six days, the gates of
Djidda, thus deserted by so many people, remain shut.
I left my lodgings on foot, after mid-day, with a companion and a slave-
boy mounted on two camels, which I had hired from a Syrian driver, a
native of Homs. It is thought meritorious to make the six hours' journey
to Arafat on foot, particularly if the pilgrim goes barefooted. Many
hadjys did so; and I preferred this mode, because I had led a very
sedentary life for some months. We were several hours before we could
reach the outskirts of the town beyond the Moabede, so great was the
crowd of camels; and many accidents happened. Of the half-naked hadjys,
all dressed in the white ihram, some sat reading the Koran upon their
camels; some ejaculated loud prayers; whilst others cursed their
drivers, and quarrelled with those near them, who were choking up the
passage. Beyond the town the road widens, and we passed on through the
valleys, at a very slow march, for two hours, to Wady Muna, in the
narrow entrance of which great confusion again occurred.
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