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.
