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.
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