 CHAPTER 22 PART 1 OF PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF A PILGRAMMATCH TO ALMA, DINA AND MECCA A Splendid Comet, blazing in the western sky, had aroused the apprehensions of the Madani. They all fell to predicting the usual disasters, war, famine, and pestilence, it being still an article of Muslim belief that the dead star foreshadows all manners of calamities. Men discussed the probability of Abd al-Majid's immediate disease, for here, as in Rome, when beggars die, there are no comets seen, the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. And in every strange atmospheric appearance about the time of the Hajj, the Hijazis are accustomed to retidings of the dreaded Ri al-Asfar, footnote, the cholera, c. 18, and a footnote. Whether the event is attributable to the Zuzubawa, the Lord of the Forlok, or whether it was a case of post-hoc, ergo-proptahoc, I would not commit myself, by deciding, but influenced by some cause or another, the hawa-zim and the hawa-meat sub-families of the Benu harb began to fight about this time with prodigious fury. These tribes are generally at feud, and the least provocation fanced their smouldering wrath into a flame. The hawa-meat number, it is said, between three and four thousand fighting men, and the hawa-zim not more than seven hundred, the latter, however, are considered a race of desperados, who pride themselves upon never retreating, and under their fiery shikes, Abbas and Abu Ali, they are a thorn in the side of their disproportionate foe. On the present occasion, a hawa-meat happened to strike the camel of a hazimi which had trespassed. Footnote, the word hawa-meat is plural of hawa-meat, hawa-zim of hazimi, and a footnote. Upon which the hazimi smote the hawa-meat, and called him a rough name. The Hamida instantly shot the hazimi, the tribes were called out, and they fought with asperity for some days. During the whole of the afternoon of Thursday, the thirtieth of August, the sound of firing amongst the mountains was distinctly heard in the city. Through the streets, parties of Badawin, sword and match-lock in hand, or merely carrying cordy-staffs on their shoulders, might be seen hurrying along, frantic at the chance of missing the fray. The townspeople cursed them privily, expressing a hope that the whole race of vermin might consume itself, and the pilgrims were in no small trepidation, fearing the desertion of their camelmen, and knowing what a blaze is kindled in this inflameable land by an ounce of gunpowder. I afterwards heard that the Badawin fought till night, and separated after losing on both sides ten men. This quarrel put an end to any lingering possibility of my prosecuting my journey to Muscat. Footnote, anciently there was a caravan from Muscat to Almadina, my friends could not tell me when the line had been given up, but all were agreed that for years they had not seen an omen caravan, the pilgrims preferring to enter Alhijaz via Jeddah. As originally intended, I had on the way from Yambu to Almadina privily made a friendship with the one Mujrim of the Benu Harp. The sinful, as his name, ancient and classical amongst the Arab, means, understood that I had some motive of secret interest to undertake the Perylius journey, he could not promise at first to guide me, as his speed lay between Yambu, Almadina, Mecca and Jeddah, but he offered to make all inquiries about the route and to bring me the result at noon-day, a time when the household was asleep. He had almost consented at last to travel with me about the end of August, in which case I should have slipped out of Hamid's house and started like a Badawi towards the Indian Ocean. But when the war commenced, Mujrim, who doubtless wished to stand by his breath began to show signs of recusancy in putting off the day of departure to the end of September. At last, when pressed, he frankly told me that no traveler, nay, nor the Badawi, could leave the city in that direction, even as far as historic Kaibar. Footnote, according to Abul Fader, Kaibar is six stations north-east of Almadina. It is four, according to Al Idrizi, but my informants assured me that camels go there easily, as the Tariq al-Kamisi says, in three days, I should place it eighty miles north-north-east of Almadina, in Burkitt's map, and those copied from it, Kaibar is placed about two degrees distant from Almadina, which I believe to be too far. Footnote, which information I afterwards are certain to be correct. It was impossible to start alone, and when in despair, I had recourse to Shaik Hamid, he seemed to think me mad for wishing to went northwards when all the world was hurrying towards the south. My disappointment was bitter at first, but consolation soon suggested itself. Under the most favourable circumstances, a Badawi trip from Almadina to Muscat, fifteen or sixteen hundred miles, would require at least ten months, whereas, under pain of losing my commission, Footnote, the parliamentary limit of an officer's leave from India is five years, if he overstay that period he forfeits his commission. End of Footnote. I was ordered to be at Bombay before the end of March. However, entering Arabia by Alidaz, as has before been said, I was obliged to leave behind all my instruments except a watch and a pocket compass, so the benefit rendered to geography by my trip would have been scanty. Still remained to me the comfort of reflecting that possibility at Mecca some opportunity of crossing the peninsula might present itself. At any rate, I had the certainty of seeing the strange wild country of the Hijaz and of being present at the ceremonies of the holy city. I must request the reader to bear with a visitation once more. We shall conclude it with a rite to al-Baqiyah. Footnote. The name means the place of many roots. It is also called Baqiyah al-Gharkat, the place of many roots of the tree Ramnos. Gharkat is translated in different ways. Some term it loat, others the tree of the Jews. End of Footnote. This venerable spot is frequented by the pious every day after the prayer at the prophet's tomb, and especially on Fridays. Our party started one morning on donkeys as usual, for my foot was not yet strong, along the Darb al-Janaza, round the southern wall of the town. The locomotion was decidedly slow, principally in consequence of the tent-robes, which the hudges had pinned down literally all over the plain, and falls whereby no means unfrequent. At last we arrived at the end of the Darb, where I committed myself by mistaking the decaying place of those miserable schismatics, the Nakavila, for al-Baqiyah, the glorious cemetery of the saints. Hamid corrected my blunder with tartness, to which I replied as tartly that in our country, Afghanistan, we burned the body of every heretic upon whom we could lay our hands. This truly Islamic custom was heard with general applause, and as the little dispute ended, we stood at the open gate of al-Baqiyah. Then having dismounted I sat down on a low duckka, or stone bench, within the walls, to obtain a general view, and to prepare for the most fatiguing of the visitations. There is a tradition that seventy thousand, or according to others, a hundred thousand saints, all with faces like full moons, shall cleave on the last day the yawning bosom of al-Baqiyah. Footnote. The same is said of the Makbara Ben-Salma, or Salim, a cemetery to the west of Almadina, below rising ground, called Jabal Sulla. It has long ago been deserted, c. 14. And a footnote. About ten thousand of the Ashab, companions of the prophets, and innumerable Sadat are here buried. Their graves are forgotten, because in the olden time tombstones were not placed over the last resting places of mankind. The first aflesh who shall rise is Muhammad, the second Abu Bakr, the third Umar, then the people of al-Baqiyah, amongst two Ms. Osman, the fourth Khalif, and then the Encollay of the Jannat al-Ma'allah, the Meccan Cemetery. The Hadis, whoever dies at the two Hanims, shall rise with the sur on the day of judgement, has made these spots priceless in value, and even upon earth they might be made a mine of wealth. Like the catacombs at Rome, al-Baqiyah is literally full of the order of sanctity, and a single item of the great aggregate here would render any other Muslim town famous. It is a pity that this people refuses to exhume its relics. The first person buried in al-Baqiyah was Osman bin Mazun, the first of the muhajirs who died at Almadina. In the month of Shaban, Anu Hegire III, the prophet kissed the forehead of the corpse and ordered it to be interred within sight of his abode. Footnote, in those days Almadina had no walls and was clear of houses on the east of the harem. End of footnote. In those days the field was covered with a tree gar-cut, the vegetation was cut down, the ground was levelled, and Osman was placed in the centre of the new cemetery. With his own hands Muhammad planted two large upright stones at the head and the feet of his faithful follower. Footnote, these stones were removed by al-Marwan who determined that Osman's grave should not be distinguished from his fellows, for this act the lieutenant of Muawiyah was reproved and blamed by pierced Muslims. End of footnote. And in process of time a dome covered the spot. Ibrahim, the prophet's infant second son, was laid by Osman's side, after which al-Baqiyyah became a celebrated cemetery. The burial place of the saints is an irregular oblong surrounded by walls which are connected with a suburb at their south-west angle. The Darb al-Janaza separates it from the ensign of the town, and the eastern desert road beginning from the Bab al-Juma, bounds it on the north. Around it palm plantations seem to flourish. It is small, considering the extensive use made of it, all that die at al-Madina, strangers as well as natives, except only heretics and schismatics, expect to be interred in it. It must be choked with corpses, which it could never contain, did not the Muslim style of burial greatly favour rapid decomposition, and it has all the inconveniences of intramural sepulture. The gate is small and ignoble, a mere doorway in the wall. Inside there are no flower pots, no tall trees, in fact none of the refinements which lightens the gloom of a Christian burial place. The buildings are simple, they might even be called mean. Almost all are the common Arab mosque, cleanly whitewashed and looking quite new. The ancient monuments were levelled to the ground by Sartre, the Wahabi, and his Puritan followers, who waged pitiless warfare against what must have appeared to them magnificent mausoleia, deeming as they did a loose heap of stones sufficient for grave. In Burkard's time the whole place was a confused accumulation of heaps of earth, white pits and rubbish, without a singular regular tombstone. The present erections owe the existence, I was told, to the liberality of the sultans Abd al-Hamid and Mahmud. A poor pilgrim has lately started on his last journey, and his corpse, unattended by friends or mourners, is carried upon the shoulders of hired burriers into the cemetery. Suddenly they stay their rapid steps and throw the body upon the ground. There is a lifelike pliability about it as it falls, and the tight ceremony so defined the outlines that the action makes me shudder. It looks almost as if the dead were conscious of what is about to occur. They have forgotten their tools. One man starts to fetch them, and three sit down to smoke. After a time a shallow grave is hastily scooped out. Footnote, it ought to be high enough for the tenant to sit upright when answering the interrogatory angels. And a footnote. The corpse is packed in it with such unseemly haste that earth touches it in all directions, cruel carelessness among Muslims who believe this to torture the sentient frame. Footnote, because of this superstition in every part of al-Islam some contrivance is made to prevent the earth pressing upon the body. And a footnote. One comfort suggests itself. The poor man, being a pilgrim, has died shait immatidem, earlong his spirit shall leave al-Baqiyah, and he on honey-dew shall feed and drink the milk of paradise. I entered the holy cemetery right foot forwards, as if it were a mosque, and barefooted, to avoid suspicion of being a heretic. For though the citizens wear their shoes in the Baqiyah, they are much offended at seeing the Persians follow their example. We begin by the general benediction. Footnote, this blessing is in Muhammad's words, as the beauty of the Arabic shows. Aisha relates that in the month Safar, Anohegire 11, one night the prophet who was beginning to suffer from the headache which caused his death arose from his couch, and walked out into the darkness, where a ponchi followed him in a fit of jealousy, thinking he might be about to visit some other wife. He went to al-Baqiyah, delivered the above benediction, which others give somewhat differently, raised his hands three times, and turned to go home. Aisha hurried back, but she could not conceal her agitation from her husband, who asked her what she had done. Upon her confessing her suspicions, he sternly informed her that he had gone forth, by order of the Archangel Gabriel, to bless and to intercede for the people of al-Baqiyah. Some authors relayed a more facetious termination of the colloquy, emcee de Percival, and a footnote. Peace be upon ye, O people of al-Baqiyah, peace be upon ye, O admitted to the presence of the Most High, receive ye what ye have been promised. Peace be upon ye, murders of al-Baqiyah, one and all, we, verily, if Allah please, are about to join you, O Allah, pardon us and them, and the mercy of God and His blessings. After which we recited the chapter, al-Iqlas and the testification, then raised her hands, mumbled the fatiyah, passed our palms down our faces, and went on. Walking down a rough narrow path, which leads from the western to the eastern extremity of al-Baqiyah, we entered the humble Muslim of the Caliph Osman, Osman al-Muslim, or the ill-treated, he is called by some Muslims. When he was slain, footnote, limping Osman, as the Persians contemptuously call him, was slain by rebels, and therefore became a murderer according to the Sunnis. The Shias justify the murder, saying it was the act of an ijma al-Muslimen, or the general consensus of al-Islam, which, in their opinion, ratifies an act of lynch law, and a footnote. His friends wished to bury him by the Prophet in the Hudra, and Aisha made no objection to the measure, but the people of Egypt became violent, swore that the corpse should neither be buried nor be prayed over, and only permitted it to be removed upon the threat of Habibah, one of the mothers of the Muslims and daughter of Abu Sufyan, to expose her countenance. During the night that followed his death, Osman was carried out by several of his friends to al-Baqiyah, from which, however, they were driven away, and obliged to deposit their burden in a garden eastward off and outside the St. Cemetery. It was called Hisson Co-Cup, and was looked upon as an inauspicious place of sepulchre, till Mawon included it in al-Baqiyah. We stood before Osman's monument, repeating, Peace be upon thee, O our Lord Osman, son of Afan. Footnote, this specifying the father Afan proves him to have been a Muslim, Abu Bakr's father, Qahafa and Umar's al-Qatab are not mentioned by name in the ceremonies of visitation. And a footnote, Peace be upon thee, O Caliph of Allah's Apostle. Peace be upon thee, O writer of Allah's Book. Peace be upon thee, in whose presence the angels are ashamed. Footnote, the Christian reader must remember that the Muslims rank angelic nature under certain conditions, below human nature. And a footnote, Peace be upon thee, O collector of the Quran. Peace be upon thee, O son-in-law of the Prophet. Peace be upon thee, O Lord of the Two Lights. The Two Daughters of Muhammad. Footnote, Osman married two daughters of the Prophet, a circumstance which the Sunnis quote as honourable to him. The Shias, on the contrary, declare that he killed them both by ill treatment. And a footnote, Peace be upon thee, who fought the battle of the faith. Allah be satisfied with thee, and caused thee to be satisfied and render heaven thy habitation. Peace be upon thee, and the mercy of Allah and his blessings. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the Three Worlds. This supplication concluded in the usual manner, after which we gave alms, and settled with ten piazzers, the demands of the Qadim. Footnote, these men are generally descendants of the saint whose tomb they own. They receive penjins from the mudir of the mosque, and retain all fees presented to them by visitors. Some families are respectively supported in this way. And a footnote, who takes charge of the tomb. This double dispersing process had to be repeated at each station. Then moving a few paces to the north, we faced eastwards, and performed the visitation of Abu Said al-Khazari, a sahib or companion of the Prophet, whose sepulcher lies outside al-Baqiyyah. The third place visited was a dome containing the tomb of our Lady Halima, the Badawi wet nurse who took charge of Muhammad. Footnote, this woman, according to some accounts, also saved Muhammad's life when an Arab kahin, or diviner, foreseeing that the child was destined to subvert the national faith, urged the bystanders to bury their swords in his bosom. The Sharif's of Mecca still entrust their children to the Badawi, that they may be hardened by the discipline of the desert. And the late Pasha of Egypt gave one of his sons in charge of the Anisar tribe, Niyakbar. Burkhet makes some sensible remarks about this custom, which cannot be too much praised. And a footnote. She's addressed thus, Peace be upon thee, O Halima, the auspicious. Footnote, al-Sahdiyah, a double and tender, it means auspicious, and also alludes to Halima's tribe, the Ben-Ossad. And a footnote. Peace be upon thee, who performed thy trust in suckling the breast of mankind. Peace be upon thee, O wet nurse of al-Mustafa, the chosen. Peace be upon thee, O wet nurse of al-Mujtaba, the accepted. Footnote, both these words are titles of the Prophet, al-Mustafa means the chosen, al-Mujtaba the accepted. And a footnote. May Allah be satisfied with thee, and cause thee to be satisfied and render heaven thy house and habitation, and verily we have come visiting thee, and by means of thee drawing near to Allah's Prophet, and through him to God, the Lord of the heavens and the earths. Footnote, there being, according to the Muslims, many heavens and many earths. And a footnote. After which, fronting the north, we stood before a lower enclosure, containing ovals of loose stones, disposed side by side. These are the matters of al-Baqiyyah, who received the crown of glory at the hands of al-Muslim, the general of the arch-heretic Yazid. Footnote, the Shafi school allows its disciples to curse al-Yazid, the son of Muawiyyah, whose cruelties to the descendants of the Prophet and crimes and vices have made him the Judas Iskariyat of al-Islam. I have heard Hanafi Muslims, especially Saeeds, revile him, but this is not strictly speaking correct. The Shias, of course, place no limits to the abuse of him. The first call a man Umar, then Shimmer, the slave of al-Husayn, and lastly Yazid, beyond which insult does not extend. And a footnote. The prayer he recited differs so little from that addressed to the matters of Uhud that I will not transcribe it. The fifth station is near the center of the cemetery at the tomb of Ibrahim, who died to the eternal regret of al-Islam, some say six months old, others in his second year. He was the son of Mariyyah, the Coptic girl, sent as a present to Muhammad by Jadi, the Mukhalkas or governor of Alexandria. The Prophet with his own hand piled earth upon the grave and sprinkled it with water. A ceremony then first performed, disposed small stones upon it and pronounced the final salutation, for which reason many holy men were buried in this part of the cemetery. Umar, being ambitious to lie in ground which has been honored by the apostles hands. Then we visited Al-Nafi Maula, son of Umar, generally called Imam Nafi Al-Khari, or the Quran Chanta, and near him the great doctor Imam Malik Imnanas, a native of Al-Madinah, and one of the most dutiful of her sons. The eighth station is at the tomb of Uqal bin Ali-Talib, brother of Ali. Footnote, Uqail or Akhil, as many write the name, died at Damascus during the Caliphate of Al-Muawiyyah, some say he was buried there, others that his corpse was transplanted to Al-Madinah and buried in a place where formerly his house, known as Da'Uqail, stood, and a footnote. Then we visited the spot where lie interred all the prophet's wives, Qadija, who lies at Mecca, alone accepted. Muhammad married fifteen wives, of whom nine survived him. After the mothers of the Muslims, we prayed at the tomb of Muhammad's daughters, said to be ten in number. End of Chapter 22, Part 1. Chapter 22, Part 2 of Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Mecca. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Carolyn. Chapter 22, Part 2 of Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Mecca, by Richard Francis Burton. A visit to the St. Cemetery. In compliment, probably, to the Hajj, the beggars musted strongly that morning at Al-Baqiyah. Along the walls and at the entrance of each building, squatted ancient dames, all engaged in anxious contemplation of every approaching face, and in pointing to dirty cotton napkins, spread upon the ground before them, and studded with a few coins, gold, silver or copper, according to the expectations of the proprietors. They raised their voices to demand larges, some promised to recite fatias, and the most audacious seized visitors by the skirts of their garments. Fakis, ready to write Y.S. or anything else demanded of them, covered the little heaps and eminences of the cemetery, all begging lustily, and looking as though they would murder you, when you told how beneficent is Allah, a polite form of declining to be charitable. At the doors of the tombs, old housewives, and some young ones also, struggled with you for your slippers as you doved them, and not unfrequently the charge of the pair was divided between two. Insight, when the boys were not loud enough or important enough for presents, they were urged on by the adults and seniors, the relatives of the kadims, and hangers on. Unfortunately for me, Shaikh Hamid was renowned for taking charge of wealthy pilgrims. The result was that my purse was lightened of three dollars. I must add that although at least fifty female voices loudly promised that morning, for the sum of ten parahs each, to supplicate Allah in behalf of my lame foot, no perceptible good came of their efforts. Before leaving Al-Baqiyyah we went to the eleventh station. Some are of opinion that the ceremonies of the Ziyarat formally did and still should begin here, but the order of visitation differs infinitely, and no two authors seem to agree. I was led by Shaikh Hamid, and indulged in no scribbles. And a footnote. The Kubat al-Labisa, or Dome of Abbas, originally built by the Abbasid Caliphs in Anuhegere, 519. It is a larger and handsomer building than its fellows, and it is situated on the right-hand side of the gate as you enter. The crowd of beggars at the door testifies to its importance. They were attracted by the Persians who assembled there in force to weep and pray. Crossing the threshold with some difficulty, I walked around a mass of tombs which occupies the centre of the building, leaving but a narrow passage between it and the walls. It is railed round, and covered over with several quichuars of green cloth worked with white letters. It looked like a confused heap, but it might have appeared irregular to me by the reason of the mob around. The eastern portion contains the body of Al-Hassan, the son of Ali and grandson of the Prophet. Birket makes a series of mistakes upon this subject. Hassan-i-Mali, whose trunk only lies buried here in Al-Bakir, his head having been sent to Cairo, where it is preserved in the fine mosque called Al-Hassanya. The mosque Al-Hassanain, the two Hassans, is supposed to contain only the head of Al-Hussain, which, when the crusaders took Ascolon, was brought from dense by Sultan Sali or Beybaas and conveyed to Cairo. As I have said before, the Persians in Egypt openly show their contempt of this tradition. It must be remembered that Al-Hassan died poisoned at Al-Madinah by his wife Jadda. Al-Hossain, on the other hand, was slain and decapitated at Kabila. According to the Shias, Zayn al-Abidin, obtained from Yazid, after a space of forty days, his father's head, and carried it back to Kabila. For rich reason, the event is known to the Persians as Chilleye Sarotan, the forty days of separation between the head and the trunk. They vehemently deny that the body lies in Kabila and the head at Cairo. Others again declare that Al-Hossain's head was sent by Yazid to Amir bin al-As, the governor of Al-Madinah, and was by him buried near Fatima's tomb. Nor are they wanting to declare that after Yazid's death the head was found in his treasury and was shrouded and buried at Damascus, such as the uncertainty which hangs over the early history of Al-Islam. And a footnote. The Imam Zayn al-Abidin, son of Al-Hossain, and great-grandson to the Prophet, the Imam Muhammad al-Bakr, fifth iman, son of Zayn al-Abidin, and his son, the Imam Afar al-Saddik, all four descendants of the Prophet, and buried in the same grave with Abbas Imnapt al-Mutalib, uncle to Muhammad. It is almost needless to say that these names are subject to great controversy. Al-Mussudi mentions that he was found in the inscribed stone declaring it to be the tomb of the Lady Fatima, of Hassan her brother, of Ali bin Hussain, of Muhammad bin Ali, and of Jafar bin Muhammad. Ibn Jubair, describing al-Bakia, mentions only two in this tomb. Abbas and Hassan, the head of the letter, he says, in the direction of the former's feet. Others relate that in it, about the ninth century of the hijra, was found a wooden box covered with fresh-looking red felt cloth with bright brass nails, and they believe it to have contained the corpse of Ali, placed here by his own son, Hassan. Standing opposite this mysterious tomb, we repeated, with the difficulty by reason of the Persian's weeping, the following supplication. Peace be upon ye, O family of the Prophet, O Lord Abbas, the free from impurity and uncleanness, and father's brother to the best of men, and thou too, O Lord Hassan, grandson of the Prophet, and though also, O Lord Zain al-Abidin. Footnote, the names of the fifth and sixth imams, Muhammad al-Bakia and Jafar al-Sadiq, were omitted by Hamid, as doubtful whether they are really buried here or not. End of footnote. Peace be upon ye, one and all, for verily, God hath been pleased to deliver you from all gale, and to purify you with all purity, the mercy of Allah and his blessings be upon ye, and verily, he is depraised, the mighty. After which, freeing ourselves from the hands of greedy boys, we turned round and faced the southern wall, close to which is a tomb attributed to the lady Fatima. Footnote. Muslim historians seem to delight in the obscurity which hangs over the lady's last resting place, as if it were an honor even for the receptable of her ashes to be concealed from the eyes of men. Some place her in the harem, relying upon this tradition. Fatima, feeling about to die, rose up joyfully, performed the greater ablution, dressed herself in pure garments, spread a mat upon the floor of her house near the Prophet's tomb, lay down fronting the quibla, placed her hand under her cheek, and said to her attendant, I am pure, and in a pure dress. Now let no one uncover my body, but bury me where I lie. When Ali returned, he found his wife dead, and complied with her last wishes. Omar bin Abdul-Aziz believed this tradition when he included the room in the mosque, and generally in Al-Islam Fatima is supposed to be buried in the harem. Those who suppose the Prophet's daughter to be buried in Al-Bakia rely upon a saying of the Imam Hassan, if men will not allow me to sleep beside my grandsire, place me in Al-Bakia by my mother. They give the following account of his death and burial. His body was bathed and shrouded by Ali and Omar Salma. Others say that Asma bin Umayiz, the wife of Abu Bakr, was present with Fatima, who at her last hour complained of being carried out, as was the custom of those days, to burial like a man. Asma promised to make her a covered beer, like a bright litter, of palm sticks in shape like what she had seen in Abyssinia, whereupon Fatima smiled for the first time after her father's death, and exacted from her a promise to allow no one entrance as long as her corpse was in the house. Aisha, shortly afterwards knocking at the door, was refused admittance by Asma. The former complained of this to her father, and declared that her stepmother had been making a bright litter to carry out the corpse. Abu Bakr went to the door, and when informed by his wife that all was the result of Fatima's orders, he returned home making no objection. The death of the Prophet's daughter was concealed by her own desire from high and low. She was buried at night, and no one accompanied her beer, or prayed at her grave except Ali and a few relatives. The Shias found a charge of irreverence and disrespect against Abu Bakr for absence on this occasion. The third place, which claims Fatima's honoured remains, is a small mosque in al-Bakia, south of the sepulchre of Abbas. It was called Bayt al-Husn, health of mourning, because here the lady passed the end of her days, lamenting the loss of her father. The tomb appears to have formerly been shown there. Now visitors pray, and pray only twice, at the Harim, and in the Kubbat al-Basiyah. End of footnote. I will not repeat the prayer. It's being the same as recited in the Harim. Issuing from the hot and crowded dome, we recovered our slippers after much trouble, and found that our growlments had suffered from the frantic gesticulations of the Persians. We then walked to the gate of al-Bakia, stood facing the cemetery upon an elevated piece of ground, and delivered the general benediction. O Allah, O Allah, O Allah, all full of mercy, all abounding in beneficence, load of length of days, and prosperity and goodness, O Thou, who when asked, grantest, and when prayed for aid, aidest, have mercy upon the companions of Thy prophet, of the Mujahirin, and the Ansar. Have mercy upon them, one and all. Have mercy upon Bdalla, bin Hanthal, and so on, specifying their names, and make paradise their resting place, the habitation, their dwelling, and their abode. O Allah, accept our Ziyarat, and supply our wants, and lighten our griefs, and restore us to our homes, and comfort our fears, and disappoint not our hopes and pardon us, for on no other do we rely, and let us depart in Thy faith, and after the practice of Thy prophet, and be Thou satisfied with us, O Allah. Forgive our past offenses, and leave us not to our evil natures, during the glance of an eye, or a lesser time, and pardon us, and pity us, and let us return to our houses and homes safe. It has, spiritually and physically, fortunate, abstaining from what is unlawful, re-established after our distresses, and belonging to the good, Thy servants upon whom is no fear, nor do they know distress. Repentance, O Lord, repentance, O merciful, repentance, O pitiful, repentance before death, and pardon after death. I beg pardon of Allah. Thanks be to Allah. Praise be to Allah. Amen, O Lord, of the three worlds. After which, issuing from al-Baqiyyah, footnote, the other celebrities in al-Baqiyyah are Fatima bint Asad, mother of Ali. She was buried with great religious pomp. The prophet shrouded her with his own garment to prevent hell from touching her. Duck her grave, lay down in it, that it might never squeeze her or be narrow to her. Assisted in carrying the beer, prayed over her, and proclaimed her certain of future felicity. Over her tomb was written, the grave hath not closed upon one like Fatima, daughter of Asad. Historians relate that Muhammad lay down in only four graves, first Kadija's at Mecca, second Kasim's, her son by him, third, that of Umruman, Aisha's mother, fourth, that of Abdullah al-Mazni, a friend and companion. Abd al-Raman bin Auf was entered near Osman bin Mazun. Aisha offered to bury him in her house near the prophet, but he replied that he did not wish to narrow her abode, and that he had promised to sleep by the side of his friend Mazun. I have already alluded to the belief that none has been able to occupy the spare place in the Hudra. Imhufasa al-Sami, who was one of the Asab al-Hijratain, who had accompanied both flights, the greater and the lesser, here died of a wound received at Uhut, and was buried in Shawwal. Anuhigire, three, one month after Osman bin Mazun. Abdullah bin Masud, who, according to others, is buried at Khufa, Sa'd im Zarara, entered near Osman bin Mazun. Sa'd bin Mas, who was buried by the prophet, he died of a wound received during the Battle of the Muad. Abd al-Raman al-Ausad, son of Umar the Caliph, he was generally known as Abu Shama, the father of Fat. He sickened and died after receiving from his father the religious flogging in Pudakti'e Kausa. Abu Sufyan bin Al-Haris, grandson of Abd al-Mutalib. He was buried near Abdullah bin Jafar al-Tayyar, popularly known as the most generous of the Arabs, and ni'uqail bin Abi Talib, the brother of Ali mentioned above. These are the principal names mentioned by popular authors. The curious reader will find in old histories a multitude of others whose graves are now utterly forgotten at Al-Madinah, and a footnote. We advanced northwards, leaving the city gate on the left hand, till we came to a small kuba, dome, close to the road. It is visited as containing the tomb of the prophet's paternal aunts, especially of Safiyah, daughter of Abd al-Mutalib, sister of Hamza, and one of the many herons of early Ali-Slam. Herring over our devotions here, for we were tired indeed, we applied to a sakka for water, and entered a little coffee-house near the gate of the town, after which we rode home. I have now described, at a wearying length I fear, the spots visited by every Zaire at Al-Madinah. The guidebooks mention altogether between fifty and fifty-five mosques and other holy places, most of which are now unknown even by name to the citizens. The most celebrated of these are the few following, which I describe from here say, about three miles to the north-west of the town, close to the Wadi Alakik, lies the mosque called Al-Kiblatain, the two directions of prayer. Some give this title to the Masjid al-Takwa at Kuba. Others assert that the prophet, after visiting and eating at the house of an old woman, named Um Mabshar, went to pray the midday prayer in the mosque of the Benu Salma. He had performed the prostration with his face toward Jerusalem, when suddenly, worn by revelation, he turned southwards and concluded his origins in that direction. Good note, this story is related in another way. Whilst Muhammad was praying the Asr on afternoon prayer at the Harim, he turned his face toward Mecca. Some of the companions ran instantly to all the mosques in fuming the people of the change. In many places they were not listened to, but the Benu Salma, who were at prayer instantly, faced southwards. To commemorate their obedience, the mosque was called Al-Kiblatain. End of footnote. I am told it is a mean dome without inner walls, outer enclosures or minaret. The Masjid Benu Zafar, some write the word Tifer, is also called Masjid al-Baghla, of the Shi Mio, because, according to Almatari, on the ridge of stone to the south of this mosque are the marks where the prophet leaned his arm and where the Shi Mio, Daldal, sent by the Mukaukas as a present with Maria, the Coptic girl, and Jafur, the donkey, placed its hooves. At the mosque was shown a slap upon which the prophet said hearing recitations from the Quran, and historians declare that by following his example many women have been blessed with offspring. I cannot say whether this valuable stone be still at the mosque Benu Tifer, but I perfectly remember that my friend Larkin had a mutilated swings in his garden at Alexandria, which was found equally efficacious. End of footnote. This mosque is to the east of Al-Baqiyya. The Masjid al-Duma, of Friday, or Al-Anika, of the Sandheeps, is in the valley near Kuba, where Muhammad prayed and preached on the first Friday after his flight from Mecca. The Masjid al-Fasik, of date liquor, is so-called because when Abu Ayyub and others of the Ansar were sitting with cups in their hands, they heard that intoxicating droughts were for the future forbidden, upon which they poured the liquor upon the ground. Here the Prophet prayed six days whilst he was engaged in wearing down the Benu Nazir Jews. The mosque derives its other name, al-Shams, of the Sun, because being erected on rising ground east of and near Kuba, it receives the first rays of morning light. To the eastward of the Masjid al-Fasik lies the Masjid al-Kursayah, erected on a spot where the Prophet descended to attack the Jewish tribe of that name. Returning from the battle of the Moat, way-worn and tired with fighting, he here sat down to wash and compass hair, when suddenly appeared to him the Archangel Gabriel in the figure of a horseman dressed in a coarselet and covered with dust. The angels of Allah, said the preternatural visitor, are still in arms or prophet, and it is Allah's will that their foot return to the stirrup. I go before thee to prepare a victory over the infidels, the sons of Kurazah. The legend adds that the dust raised by the angelic host was seen in the streets of Almadina, but that mortal eye fell not upon the horseman's form. The Prophet ordered his followers to sound the battle-call, gave his flag to Ali, the Arab token of appointing a commander-in-chief, and for twenty-five days invested the habitations of the enemy. This hapless tribe was exterminated, the sentence of death being passed upon them by Saad-e-Mas, an Aussie whom they constituted their judge because he belonged to an allied tribe. Six hundred men were beheaded in the marketplace of Almadina, their property was plundered, and their wives and children were reduced to slavery. Tantaneya religio potuit su aldare malorum. The Masjid Mashrabat Um Ibrahim, or Mosque of the Garden of Ibrahim's mother, is a place where Maria the Copt had a garden and became the mother of Ibrahim, the Prophet's second son. Footnote, Muhammad's eldest son was Qasim, who died in his infancy, and was buried at Mecca. Hence the Prophet's pandemic Abu Qasim, the sire of Qasim, and a footnote. It is a small building in what is called the Awali, or highest part of the Almadina plain, to the north of the Masjid Benu Quraiza, and near the eastern hara, or ridge. Footnote, Aisha used to relate that she was exceedingly jealous of the Coptic girl's beauty and of the Prophet's love for her. Muhammad seeing this removed Maria from the house of Harizat bin al-Nunan, in which she had placed her for the Awali of Almadina, where the mosque now is. Oriental authors used this term Awali, high grounds, to denote the plains of the eastward and southward of the city, opposed to al-Safila, the lower ground on the west and northwest. And a footnote, northwards of al-Bakia is, or was, a small building called the Masjid al-Ijaba, of granting, from the following circumstance. One day the Prophet stopped to perform his devotions at this place, which then belonged to the Benu Muawiyah of the tribe of Oz. He made a long du'a, or supplication, and then turning to his companions exclaimed, I have asked of Allah three favours, two healthy vouchsafed for me, but the third was refused. Those granted were that the Muslims might never be destroyed by famine or by deluge. The third was that they might not perish by internecine strife. The Masjid al-Fat of victory, vulgally called the Four Mosques, is situated in the Wadi al-Sahi. Footnote, I am very doubtful about this location of the Masjid al-Fat, and a footnote, which comes from the direction of Quba, and about half a mile to the east of al-Kiblatain. The largest is called the Masjid al-Fat, or al-Asab, of the troops, and is alluded to in the Quran. Here it is said the Prophet prayed for three days during the battle of the Muawiyah, also called the Affair al-Asab, the last fought with the infidel Quraish under Abu Sufyan. After three days of devotion, a cold and violent blast arose, with rain and sleet, and discomforted the foe. The Prophet's prayer, having been granted, it is supposed by ardent Muslims that no petition put up at the mosque al-Asab is ever neglected by Allah. The form of supplication is differently quoted by different authors. When al-Shafei was in trouble and fear of Harun al-Rashid, by the virtue of his formula he escaped all danger, I would willingly offer so valuable a prophylaxery to my readers, only it is of an unmanageable length. The doctors of al-Islam also greatly differ about the spot where the Prophet stood on this occasion. Most of them support the claims of the Masjid al-Fat, the most elevated of the four, to their distinction. Below, and to the south of the highest ground, is the Masjid Salman al-Farzi, the Persian, from whose brain emanated the bright idea of the moat. At the mature age of two hundred and fifty, some say three hundred and fifty, after spending his life in search of a religion from a magus fire worshipper. Footnote, a magus, a magician, one supposed to worship fire, the other rival sect of the time was Sabaian, who adored the heavenly bodies. And a footnote, becoming successively a Jew and Nazarene, he ended with being a Muslim and a companion of Muhammad. During his eventful career he had been ten times sold into slavery. Below Salman's Mosque is the Masjid Ali, and the smallest building of the south of the hill is called Masjid Abu Bakr. All these places owe their existence to al-Walid the caliph. They were repaired at times by his successes. The Masjid al-Raya of the Bana was originally built by al-Walid upon a place where the Prophet pitched his tent during the war of the moat. This caliph al-Zabab, after a hill upon which it stands, al-Raya is separated from the Masjid al-Fat by a rising round called Jabal Sulla or Jabal Sawab. Footnote, the mosque of reward in heaven. It is so called because during the war of the moat the Prophet used to live in a cave there, and afterwards he made it a frequent resort for prayer. Underfootnote, the former being on the eastern whilst the letter lies upon the western declivity of the hill. The position of this place is greatly admired as commanding the fairest view of the harem. About a mile and a half southeast of al-Bakir is a dome called Kuwait Islam, the strength of al-Islam. Here the apostle planted a dry palm-stick which grew up blossomed and bore fruit at once. Moreover, on one occasion when the Muslims were unable to perform the pilgrimage, Muhammad here produced the appearance of a Kaaba, an Arafat, and all the appurtenances of the Hajj. I must warn my readers not to condemn the founder of al-Islam for these purial inventions. The Masjid al-Nain lies south of Hamza's tomb. It is on a hill called Jabal al-Rumat, the Shooter's Hill, and here during the Battle of Uhud stood the arches of al-Islam. According to some, the Prince of Metis here received his death wound. Others placed that event at the Masjid al-Asqar or the Masjid al-Wadi. Footnote, Hamza's fall is now placed at the Kuwait al-Mazra and the footnote. Besides these fourteen, I find the names and nothing but the names of forty mosques. The reader loses little by my unwillingness to offer him a detailed list of such appellations as Masjid ben-Uabdala Shnal, Masjid ben-Uharisa, Masjid ben-Uharim, Masjid al-Fash, Masjid al-Sukya, Masjid ben-Ubayaza, Masjid ben-Uhatsma, cum multis alis ku'enung prescribre longum est. CHAPTER XXXII CHAPTER XXXIII OF PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF PILGRAMAGE TO ELMEDINA AND MEKKA CHAPTER XXXIII OF PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF PILGRAMAGE TO ELMEDINA AND MEKKA FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO VOLUNTEER PLEASE VISIT LIBREVOX.ORG CHAPTER XXXIII OF PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF PILGRAMAGE TO ELMEDINA AND MEKKA FOR RICHARD FRANCESBURYTON THE DEMASCUS CAROVAN THE DEMASCUS CAROVAN WAS TO SET OUT ON THE 27TH OF DULKAYDA FOR THE FIRST OF SEPTEMBER. I had intended to stay at El-Medina till the last moment and to accompany the Qaflat al-Tiyara for the flying caravan which usually leaves on the second of the al-Hijjah, two days after that of Damascus. FOOTNOAT. The Tiyara, or flying caravan, is lightly laden and travels by forced marches, and a footnote. Suddenly arose the rumor that there would be no Tiyara, and that all pilgrims must proceed with the Damascus caravan or await the Rakhab. This is a dromedary caravan in which each person carries only his saddlebags. He usually descends by the road called El-Khakt and makes Mecca on the fifth day. The Sharif Zaid, Zaid the robber's only friend, had paid him an unsuccessful visit. Shindra Hans demanded back his sheikhship in return for a safe conduct through his country. Otherwise, he said, I will cut the throat of every hand that ventures into the passes. The Sharif Zaid returned to El-Medina on the 25th of the Qaeda or 30th of August. Early on the morning of the next day, sheikh Hamid returned hurriedly from the bazaar, exclaiming, You must make ready at once, Effendi, there will be no Tiyara, all Hajjis start tomorrow. Allah will make it easy to you. Have you your water skins in order? You are to travel down the Derbe-Sharki, where you will not see water for three days. Poor Hamid looked horrestruck as he concluded this fearful announcement, which filled me with joy. Burkhard had visited and described the Derbe-Sultani, the road along the coast. But no European has yet traveled down the Haroon al-Rashid and the Lady Zubeda celebrated route through the Nejdi Desert. Not a moment, however, was lost. We expected to start early the next morning. The boy Mohammed went forth and bought for eighty piasters a shukduf, which lasted us through the pilgrimage, and for fifteen piasters a shibriya or ka to be occupied by a sheikh noor who did not relish sleeping on boxes. The youth was employed all day with sleeves tucked up and working like a porter, in covering the litter with matting and rugs, in mending broken parts, and in providing it with large pockets for provisions inside and outside, with pouches to contain the gugglets of cooled water. Meanwhile, sheikh noor and I, having inspected the water's skins, found that the rats had made considerable rents in two of them. There being no workmen procurable at this time for gold, I sat down to patch the damaged articles whilst noor was sent to lay in supplies for fourteen days. The journey is calculated at eleven days, but provisions are apt to spoil, and the Badawi Camelmen expect to be fed, besides which pilferers abound. By my companion's advice I took wheat flour, rice, turmeric, onions, dates, unleavened bread of two kinds, cheese, limes, tobacco, sugar, tea, and coffee. Hamid himself started upon the most important part of our business. All Camelmen are required upon a road where robberies are frequent and stabbings occasional, and where there is no law to prevent desertion or to limit new and exorbitant demands. After a time he returned, accompanied by a boy and a Badawi, a short, thin, well-built old man, with regular features, a white beard, and a cool, clear eye. His limbs, as usual, were scarred with wounds. The suit of the Rahla, a sub-family of the Hamid, a family of the Banu Harb, came in with a dignified demeanor, applied his dexter palm to ours, footnote. This Musafah, as it is called, is the Arab fashion of shaking hands. They apply the palms of the right hands flat to each other, without squeezing the fingers and then raise the hand to the forehead, and a footnote. Sat down, declined a pipe, accepted coffee, and after drinking it, looked at us to show that he was ready for negotiation. We open the proceedings with, we want men, not camels, and the conversation proceeded in the purest Hijazi. Footnote. On this occasion I heard three new words, Khareta, used to signify a single trip to Mecca, without return to Al-Madinah, Ta'arefa, going out from Mecca to Mount Arafa, and Tanzila, for the return from Mount Arafa to Mecca. And a footnote. In much discussion we agreed, if compelled to travel by the Darb al-Sharqi, to pay twenty dollars for two camels, footnote, and part of an extra animal which was to carry water for the party. Had we traveled by the Darb al-Sultani, we should have paid six and a half dollars instead of ten for each beast, and a footnote, and to advance Arbun or earnest money to have that amount, footnote. The system of advances as well as earnest money is common all over Arabia. In some places I didn't, for instance, I have heard two-thirds the price of a cargo of coffee being required from the purchaser, before the seller would undertake to furnish a single bale, and a footnote. The sheikh bound himself to provide us with good animals, which, moreover, were to be changed in case of accidents. He was also to supply his beasts with water, and to accompany us to Arafat and Bat, but absolutely refusing to carry my large chest. He declared that the tent under the Shukduf was burdened enough for one camel, and that the green box of drugs, the saddle-bags, the provisioned sacks, surmounted by Nour's cot, were amply sufficient for the other. On our part we bound ourselves to feed the sheikh and his son, supplying them either with raw or cooked provender, and upon our return to Mecca from Mount Arafat to pay the remaining hire with a discretionary present. It then addressed me to flowery praises of the old Badioui. After which, turning to the latter, he exclaimed, Thou will treat these friends well, O Mas'oud the Harbi. The ancients replied with a dignity that had no pomposity in it. Even as Abu Shawarib, or the father of Mustachios, behaved with us, so will we behave to him. Footnote. Most men of the Shafa'i school clip their Mustachios exceedingly short. Some clean shave the upper lip, the imperial, and the parts of the beard about the corners of the mouth, and the fore part of the cheeks. I neglected to do so, which soon won me the epithet recorded above, Abu Shawarib. Arabs are vastly given to nickname in God's creatures. Their habit is the effect of acute observation and the want of variety in proper names. Sonini appears not to like having been called the father of a nose. But there is nothing disrespectful in these personal illusions. In Arabia you must be the father of something, and it is better to be the father of a feature than a father of a cooking pot, or father of a strong smell, a buzzard, and a footnote. He then arose, bid us be prepared when departure-gun sounded, saluted us, and stalked out of the room, followed by his son, who, under pitex of dozing, had mentally made an inventory of every article in the room, ourselves especially included. When the Bedouin disappeared, Sheikh Hamid shook his head, advising me to give them plenty to eat, and never to allow twenty-four hours to elapse without dipping hand in the same dish with them, in order that the party might always be my lehin, on terms of salt, footnote. Salt among the Hindus is considered the essence and preserver of the seas. It was therefore used in their offerings to the gods. The old idea in Europe was, that salt is a body composed of various elements, into which it cannot be resolved by human means. Hence it became the type of an indissoluble tie between individuals. Homer calls salt sacred and divine, and whoever ate it with a stranger was supposed to become his friend. By the Greek authors as by the Arabs, hospitality and salt are words expressing a kindred idea. In describing the Bedouin of Al-Hijjahs, I shall have occasion to notice their peculiar notions about the salt law, and the footnote. He concluded with copious lectures upon the villainy of the Bedouin, and on their habit of drinking traveller's water, I was to place the skins on a camel in front and not behind, to hang them with their mouths carefully tied, and turned upwards, contrary to their general practice, always to keep a good store of liquid and at night to place it under the safeguard of the tent. In the afternoon, a man of Indian others dropped me to take leave. They found me in the midst of preparation, sewing sacks, fitting up a pipe, patching water bags, and packing medicines. My fellow traveller had brought me some pencils and a pen-knife, as forget-me-nots, for we were by no means sure of meeting again. Footnote The support of such articles show the march of progress in Al-Hijjahs. During the last generation, school-masters used for pencil-bits bar led beaten to a point. And a footnote. He hinted, however, at another escape from the paternal abode, and proposed, if possible, to join the dromedary caravan. Sheikh Hamid said the same. But I saw, by the expression of his face, that his mother and wife would not give him leave from home so soon after his return. Towards evening time, the barral manacha became a scene of exceeding confusion. The town of tents lay upon the ground. Camels were being laid in and were roaring under the weight of letters and cots, boxes and baggage. Horses and mules galloped about. Men were rushing wildly in all directions on worldly errands, or hurrying to pay a farewell visit to the Prophet's tomb. Men and children sat screaming on the ground, or ran to and fro, distracted, or called their vehicles to escape the danger of being crushed. Every now and then a random shot excited all into the belief that the departure gun had sounded. At times we heard a volley from the robbers' hills, which elicited a general groan. For the pilgrims were still to use their own phrase between fear and hope, and consequently still far from one of the two comforts. The two comforts are success and despair, the latter according to the Arabs being a more enviable state of feeling, than doubt or hope deferred, and a footnote. Then would sound a loud djinn, djinn, of the camel-bells, as the stately animals paced away with some grandees' guilt and emblazoned litter, a sharp plant of the dromedary, and the loud naeing of excited steeds. About an hour after sunset all our preparations were concluded, save only the shukduf at which the boy Muhammad still worked with, untiring zeal. He wisely remembered that he had to spend in it the best portion of a week and a half. The evening was hot, and we therefore died outside the house. I was told to repair to the harem for the Ziyarat El Wada, or the farewell visitations, but my decided objection to this step was that we were all to part. How soon, and when to meet again, we know not. My companion smiled, concerned, assuring me that the ceremony could be performed as well at a distance, as in the temple. Then sheikh Hamid made me pray a two-bow prayer, and afterwards, facing towards the harem to recite this supplication with raised hands, O Apostle of Allah, we beg thee to entreat Almighty Allah that he cut off no portion of the good resulting to us from this visit to thee and to thy harem. May he cause us to return safely and prosperous to our birthplaces, aid than us in the progeny he hath given us, and continue to us his benefits, and make us thankful for our daily bread. O Allah, let not this be the last of our visitation to thy Apostle's tomb. But if thou summon us before such blessing, verily in my death I bear witness as in my life. Here the forefinger of the right hand is extended, that the members of the body may take part with the tongue and the heart, that there is no God but Allah, one and without partner, and verily that our Lord Muhammad is his servant and his Apostle, O Allah grant us in this world wheel, and in the future wheel, and save us from the torments of Hellfire. Praise to thee, O Lord of glory, greater than man can describe, and peace be upon the Apostle and love to Allah the Lord of the three worlds. This concludes as usual the testification and the fatah, pious men on such occasions go to the Roda, where they strive, if possible, to shed a tear, a single drop being a sign of acceptance, give alms to the utmost of their ability, valpiety, repentance and obedience, and retire overwhelmed to grief at separating themselves from their prophet and intercessor. It is customary, too, before leaving Al-Madinah, to pass at least one night in vigils at the Hadam, and for learned men to read through the Quran once before the tomb. Then began the uncomfortable process of paying off little bills. The Eastern creditor, always for diverse reasons, waits the last moment before he claims his step. Sheikh Hamid had frequently hinted at his difficulties, the only means of escape from which he said, was to rely upon Allah. He had treated me so hospitably that I could not take back any part of the five dollars I lent to him in Suez. His three brothers received a dollar or two each, and one or two of his cousins hinted to some effect that such a proceeding would meet with their appropriation. The luggage was then carried down and disposed in packs upon the ground before the house, so as to be ready for loading at a moment's notice. Many flying parties of travelers had almost started on the high road, and late in the evening came a new report that the body of a caravan would march about midnight. We set up till two a.m., when, having heard no gun and having seen no camels, we lay down to sleep through the sultry remnant of the hours of darkness. Thus, gentle reader was spent my last night at Al Medina. I had reasons to congratulate myself upon having passed through the first danger. Makka is so near the coast that, in case of detection, the traveler might escape in a few hours to Jidda, where he would find an English vice-consul, protection from the Turkish authorities and possibly a British cruiser in the harbor. At Al Medina, discovery would entail a more serious consequence. The next risk to run was the journey between the two cities, where it would be easy for the local officials quietly to dispose of a suspected person by giving a dollar to a Bedouin. CHAPTER XXXIV Four roads lead from Al Medina to Makka. The Derba Sultani, or Sultan's Highway, follows the line of coast. This general passage has been minutely described by my exact predecessor. The Tariq Al Ghaber, a mountain path, is avoided by the Mahmal and the great caravans on account of its rugged passes, water bounds along the whole line, but there is not a single village and the Subh-Bedouin, who own the soil, are inveterate plunderers. The route called Wadi Al-Qura is a favourite with the dromedary caravans. On this road are two or three small settlements, regular wells and free passage through the Benu Amr tribe. The Derba Sarki, or Eastern Road, down which I travelled, owes its existence to the piety of Lady Zubayda, wife of Haruna Rashid. That magnificent princess dug wells from Baghdad to Al Medina, and built, we are told, a wall to direct pilgrims over the shifting sands. Footnote The distance from Baghdad to Al Medina is 180 parisangs, according to Abdel Kareem, Voyage de la Inde à la Mac, translated by M. Langles, Paris 1797. This book is a disappointment as it describes everything except Al Medina and Makka. These gaps are filled up by the translator with the earnest descriptions of other authors, not eyewitnesses, and a footnote. There is a fifth road, or rather mountain path, concerning which I can give no information. At 8 a.m., on Wednesday, the 26th of Al Qaeda, or 31st of August, 1853, as we were sitting at the window of Hamid's house after our early meal, suddenly appeared in hottest haste Masoud, or Kamal Sheikh. He was accompanied by his son, a bold boy about fourteen years of age, who fought sturdily about the weight of each package as it was thrown over the Kamal's back, and his nephew, an ugly, pockmarked lad, too lazy even to quarrel. We were ordered to lose no time in loading. All started into activity, and at 9 a.m. I found myself standing opposite the Egyptian gate surrounded by my friends, who had accompanied me thus far on foot, to take leave with due honour. After affectionate embraces and parting mementos, we mounted. The boy Muhammad and I in the litter, and Sheikh Noor in his cot. Then accompanied with some Turks and MacKins, from Masoud-owned a string of non-Kamals, who passed through the little gate near the castle, and shaped our course towards the north. On our right lay the palm groves, which concealed this part of the city. Far to the left rose the domes of Hamza's mosques, at the foot of Mount Ahad, and in front a band of road crowded with motley groups stretched over a barren stony plain. After an hour's slow march bending gradually from north to northeast, we fell into the Najd Hawe, and came to a place of renown called Al-Ghadeer, or the basin. Footnote. Here it is believed was fought the Battle of Boaz, celebrated in the pagan days of Al-Madinah, A.D. 615. Our dictionaries translate Ghadeer by pool, or stagnant water. Here it is applied to places where water stands for a short time after the rain. End of footnote. This is a depression conducting the drainage of the plain towards the northern hills. The scourge of Ahad still limited the prospect to the left. On the right was the Bir Rashid, well of Rashid, and the little white wash dome of Aliyah Al-Arayyes, a descendant from Zain Al-Abdin. The tomb is still a place of visitation. There we halted and turned to take farewell of the holy city. All the pilgrims dismounted and gazed at the venerable minarets in the green dome, spots upon which their memories would forever dwell with a fond and yearning interest. Remounting at noon, we crossed the Fumara, which runs according to Maish Kamal-sheikh, from north to south. We were therefore emerging from the Madinah basin. The sky began to be clouded, and although the air was still full of semoom, cold drops occasionally poured down from the hills. Arabs fear this. Bitter change of fears extremes. Extremes by change more fears. And called that a dangerous climate which is cold in the hot season and hot in the cold. Traveling over a rough and stony path dotted with Thornia Cassius, we arrived about 2 p.m. at the bed of Lava, heard of by Burkhardt. Footnote. Travels in Arabia, volume 2, page 217. The Swiss traveler was prevented by sickness from visiting it. The jet will go before the following account of a celebrated eruption, beginning on the Selkh or their last day of Jumad el Awal, and ending on the evening of the third of Jumad el Akher, a.h. 654. Terrible earthquakes, accompanied by a thundering noise, shook the town from 14 to 18 were observed each night. On the third of Jumad el Akher, after the Isha prayers, a fire burst out in the direction of Al-Hijaz eastward. It resembled a vast city with a torreted and battle-mental fort, in which men appeared drawing the flame about as it were whilst it roared, burned, and melted like a sea everything that came in its way. Presently red and bluish streams bursting from it ran close to El Medina, and at the same time the city was fanned by a cooling zephyr from the same direction. El-Kislani, an eyewitness, asserts that the brilliant light of the volcano made the face of the country as bright as day, and the interior of the haram was as if the sun shone upon it, so that men worked and required not of the sun and moon, the latter of which was also eclipsed. Several saw the light at Makkah, at Taima in Najd, six days' journey from El Medina, and at Dusrah of Syria, reminding men of the Prophet's saying, A fire shall burst forth from the direction of Al-Hijaz, its light shall make visible the necks of the camels at Dusrah. Historians relate that the length of the stream was four parasongs from 14 to 16 miles. It spread four miles, or 56 to the degree, and it stepped about nine feet. It flowed like a torrent with the waves of a sea. The rocks melted by its heat stood up as a wall, and for a time it prevented the passage of Bedouin, who, coming from that direction, used to annoy the citizens. Jamal Matari, one of the historians of El Medina, relates that the flames which destroyed the stones spared the trees, and he asserts that some men sent by the governor to inspect the fire felt no heat. Also that the feathers of an arrow shot into it were burned whilst the shaft remained whole. This he attributes to the sanctity of the trees within the haram. On the contrary, Al-Kislani asserts the fire to have been so vehement that no one could approach within two arrow flights, and that it melted the outer half of a rock beyond the limits of the sanctuary, leaving the inner parts unscathed. The Qaldi, the governor, and the citizens engaged in devotional exercises, and during the whole length of the Thursday and the Friday nights, all even the women and children with bare heads wept around the Prophet's tomb. Then the lava current turned northwards, a remarked on the way to a hut, signs of a lava field. This current ran, according to some, three entire months. Al-Kislani dates its beginning on Friday, six trimadilachir, and its cessation on Sunday, 27th Rajab. In this period of 52 days, he includes, it is supposed, the length of its extreme heat. That same year, AH 654 is infamous in Al Islam for other portents, such as the inundation of Baghdad by the Tigris, and the burning of the Prophet's mosque. In the next year, first appeared the Tartars who slew al-Murtalsim billah the Qalif, massacred the Muslims during more than a month, destroyed their books, monuments, and tombs, and stabled their war-steeves in the Mostansriya College. End of footnote. The aspect of the country was volcanic, abounding in basalts and scoriae, more or less porous, sand-veiled the black bed whose present dimensions by no means equal the descriptions of Arabian historians. I made diligent inquiries about the existence of active volcanoes in this part of Al-Hijaz and heard of none. At 5 p.m. traveling towards the east to enter the Bukhaz, or Pass, footnote. In this part of Al-Hijaz, they have many names for a pass. Naqab, Saghra, and Mazik are those best known. End of footnote. Which follows the course of a wide fumara, walled in by steep and barren hills, the portals of a region too wild, even for Bedouin. The torrent bed narrowed where the turns were abrupt, and the drift of heavy stones with a water mark from six to seven feet high showed that after rains, a violent stream runs from east and southeast to west and northwest. The fertilizing fluid is close to the surface, evidenced by a spare growth of acacia, camelgrass, and at some angles of the bed by the dome, or Theban palm, footnote. This is the palm, capped with large fan-shaped leaves, described by every traveler in Egypt and the Near East. End of footnote. I remarked what was technically called Hufra, hills dug for water in the sand, and the guide assured me that somewhere near there is a spring flowing from the rocks. After the long and sultry afternoon, beasts of burden begin to sink in numbers. The fresh carcasses of asses, ponies, and camels dotted the wayside, those that had been allowed to die were abandoned to the foul carrion birds, the Raham, or vulture, and the yellow-acab. And all whose throats had been properly cut were surrounded by troops of taqruri pilgrims. These half-starved treaches cut stakes from the choice portions and slung them over their shoulders till an opportunity of cooking might arrive. I never saw men more destitute. They carried wooden bowls which they filled with water by begging. Their only weapon was a small knife tied in a leathern sheath above the elbow, and their costume, an old skull cap, strips of leather-like sandals under the feet, and a long dirty shirt, or sometimes a mere rack covering the loins. Some more perfect savages, others had been fine-looking men, broad-shouldered, thin-flanked, and long-limbed. Many were lame by fatigue and by thorns, and looking at most of them, I fancied death depicted in their forms and features. After two hours, slow-marching up the fumara eastwards, we saw in front of us a wall of rock, and turning abruptly southwards, we left the bed and ascended rising ground. Already it was night. An hour, however, elapsed before we saw at a distance the twinkling fires and heard the watch cries of our camp. It was pitched in a hollow under hills in excellent order. The pashas pavilions surrounded by his soldiers and guards disposed in tents with sentinels regularly posted, protecting the outskirts of the encampment. One of our men, whom we had sent forward, met us on the way, and led us to an open place where we unloaded the camels, raised our canvas home, lighted fires, and prepared with supper for a good night's rest. Living as simple on such marches, the pouches inside and outside the shook dove contained provisions and water, with which you supply yourself when inclined. At certain hours of the day, ambulance vendors offer sherbet, lemonade, hot coffee, and water pipes admirably prepared. Footnote, the charge of a cup of coffee is one piaster and a half. A pipe bearer will engage himself for about one pound per mensum. He is always a veteran smoker, and in these regions, it is an axiom that the flavor of your pipe mainly depends upon the filler. For convenience, the Persian chalion is generally used. And a footnote. The archibooks may be smoked in the litter, but few care to do so during the samoon. The first thing, however, called for at the halting place is the pipe, and its delightfully soothing influence, followed by a cup of coffee and a 40 winks upon the sand, will awaken an appetite not to be roused by other means. How could waterten the traveller abuse a pipe? During the night halt, provisions are cooked, rice or kishri, a mixture of pulse and rice is eaten with chutney and lime pickle, or, occasionally, by tough mutton and indigestible goat. We arrive at Jaj Sharifa at 8 p.m., after a march of about 22 miles. Footnote. A day's journey in Arabia is generally reckoned at 24 or 25 Arab miles. A bullfida leaves the distance of a marhala or manzil or a station undetermined. A lidrizi reckons it at 30 miles, but speaks of short as well as long marches. The common literary measure of length are these. Thri qadam, a man's foot, equals one khatwa or pace. A thousand paces equals one meal or mile. Three miles equals one fersak or per sang, and four per sangs equals one berid or post. The burhan iqatiyah gives the table less. 24 finger breaths or six breaths of the clenched hand from 20 to 24 inches equals one gaz or yard. 1,000 yards equals one mile. Three miles equals one parsang. Some, called the 4,000 yards, measure aqara or the Indian cause, which, however, is sometimes less than 1,000 gaz. The only ideas of distance known to the Badoia Valhijaz are the fanciful sa'ad or hours and the uncertain manzil or halt. The former varies from two to three and a half miles and the latter from 15 to 25. End of footnote. This halting place is the rendezvous of caravans. It lies 50 degrees southeast of Almedina and belongs rather to Nege than to Alhijaz. At 3 a.m. on Thursday, September 1, we started up at the sound of the departure gun, struck the tent, loaded the camels, mounted and found our sub hurrying through a gloomy pass in the hills to secure a good place in the caravan. This is an object of some importance, as during the whole journey marching order must not be broken. We met with a host of minor accidents, camels falling, shucked of bumping against each other and plentiful abuse. Pertinaciously we hurried on till 6 a.m. at which hour we emerged from the black pass. The large crimson sun rose upon us, disclosing through purple mists a hollow of coarse yellow gravel based upon a hard whitish clay. About 5 miles broad by 12 long, it collects the water of the high grounds after rain and distributes the surplus through an exit towards the northwest, a gap in the low undulating hills around. Entering it, we dismounted, prayed, broke our fast, and after half an hour's halt, proceeded to cross its breath. The appearance of the caravan was most striking as it threaded its low weight over the smooth surface of the chubbed or low plain. Footnote. Chubbed is a low plain, me done or feyha or sathe, a plain generally, and batha is a low sandy flat, and a footnote. To judge by the eye, the host was composed of at fewest 7,000 souls, on foot, on horseback, in litters, or bestriding the splendid camels of Syria. Footnote. In Burkhard's day, there were 5,000 souls and 15,000 camels, Captain Sadlier, who travelled during the war, 1819, found the number reduced to 500. The extent of this caravan has been enormously exaggerated in Europe. I have heard of 15,000 and even 20,000 men. I include in the 7,000 about 1,200 Persians. They are no longer placed, as Abdul Karim relates, in the rear of caravan or post of danger, and a footnote. There were eight credations of pilgrims. The lowest hobbled with heavy staves, and came the riders of asses, of camels, and of mules. Respectable men, especially Arabs, were mounted on dromedaries, and the soldiers had horses. A lead animal was saddled for every groundee, ready whenever he might wish to leave his litter. Women, children, and invalids of the poor classes sat upon a hamil musattah. Rugs and cloths spread over the two large boxes, which formed the camel's load. Footnote. Lane has accurately described this article. In the hijaz it is sometimes made to resemble a little tent, and a footnote. Many occupied shibriyas, a few shukdus, and only the wealthy and the noble rode in tahtrawan, or litters, carried by camels or mules. Footnote. The vehicle mainly regulates the expense as it evidences a man's means. I have heard of a husband and wife leaving Alexandria with three months' provision and a sum of five pounds. They would mount a camel, large in public buildings when possible, probably be reduced to beggary, and possibly starve upon the road. On the other hand, the minimum expenditure for necessaries, not donations and luxuries, of a man who rides in a tahtrawan from Damascus and back would be about 1,200 pounds, and a footnote. The morning beams fell brightly upon the glancing arms which surrounded the stripped mahmal. Footnote. On the line of march, the mahmal stripped of its embroidered cover is carried on camelback, a mere freemood. Even the gilt silver balls and crescents are exchanged for similar articles in brass and a footnote. And upon the scarlet and gilt conveyances of the grandees, not the least beauty of the spectacle was its wondrous variety of detail. No man was dressed like his neighbor. No camel was capparicent. No horse was clothed in uniform as it were, and nothing stranger than the contrast. A band of half-naked taqroodi marching with a pasha's equippage and long-capped bearded persians conversing with torboujd and shaven turks. The plain even, at an early hour, reeked with vapors distilled by the fires of the Samoom. About noon, however, the air became cloudy and nothing of color remained, save that milky white haze dull but glaring whittle, which is the prevailing daytent in these regions. At midday we reached the narrowing of the basin, where from both sides, air or low hills, stretched their last pers into the plain, but after half a mile it again widened to upwards of two miles. At 2 p.m. Friday, September 2, we turned towards the south-west, ascended stony ground, and found ourselves one hour afterwards in a desolate rocky flat, distant about 24 miles of unusually winding road from our last station. Mahattat Ghorab, or the Raven station. Futnuk. Mahattat is a spot where luggage is taken down, i.e. a station, by some hijazes it is used in the sense of a halting place where you spend an hour or two, and a futnuk. Lies 10 degrees south-west from Jaash Sharifa in the irregular masses of hill on the frontier of Al-Hijaz, where the highlands of Nej begin. After pitching the tent, we prepared to recruit our supply of water, for my sir would warn me that his camels had not drunk for ninety hours, and that they would soon sink under the privation. The boy Muhammad, mounting a dromedary, set off with a sheikh and many water bags, giving me an opportunity of writing out my journal. They did not return home until after nightfall, a delay caused by many adventures. The wells are in a fumara as usual, about two miles distant from the halting place, and the soldiers, regular as well as irregular, occupied the water and exacted hard coin in exchange for it. The men are not to blame. They would die of starvation but for this resource. The boy Muhammad had been engaged in several quarrels, but after snapping his pistol at a Persian program's head, he came forth triumphant with two skins of sweetish water, for which we paid ten piasters. He was in his glory. There were many meccans in the caravan, among them his elder brother and several friends, the Sharif Zaid had sent. He said to ask why he did not travel with his compatriots. That evening he drank so copiously of clarified butter and ate dates with mashed flour and other abominations to such an extent that at night he prepared to give up the ghost. We passed a pleasant hour or two before sleeping. I began to like the old Sheikh Masoud, who seeing it entertained me with his genealogy, his battles, and his family affairs. The rest of a party could not prevent expressing contempt when they heard me putting frequent questions about torrents, hills, Bedouin, and the directions of places. Let the father of Mustachio's ask and learns that the old man he is friendly with the Bedouin and knows better than you all. Footnote. Khaliq Marl Bedouin is a favourite complementary saying among these people, and it means that you're no greasy burger. End of footnote. This reproof was intended to be bitter as the poet satire. All fools have an itching to deride, and pain would be upon the laughing side. It called for, however, another burst of merriment for the jurors, remembered my nickname, to have belonged to that pestilent heretic, Saoud Wahabi. On Saturday, the 3rd of September, the hateful signal can awoke us at 1 a.m. In Arab travel there is nothing more disagreeable than the satire or night march, and yet the people are inexorable about it. Choose early darkness or Diljah for your way fairings, said the Prophet. As the calamities of the earth, serpents and wild beasts appear not at night. I can scarcely find words to express the very horrors of the long dark march, during which the helpless traveller, fuming of a European with disappointment in his hopes of seeing the country, is compelled to sit upon the back of a creeping camel. The day sleep, too, is a kind of leathergy, and it is all but impossible to preserve an appetite during the hours of heat. At half past 5 a.m., after drowsily stumbling through hours of outer gloom, wintered a spacious basin, at least six miles broad, and limited by a circlet of low hill. It was overgrown with camel grass and acacia or chitin trees, mere vegetable mummies. In many places the water had left a mark, and here and there the ground was pitted with mudflakes. The remains of recently dried pools. After an hour's rapid march, retoiled over a rugged ridge, composed of broken and detached blocks of basalt and scurrier, fantastically piled together and dotted with thorny trees, Sheikh Masrood passed the time in walking to and fro along his line of camels, addressing us with a chalicum goudam, to the front of the litter, as we ascended, and a chalicum ora, to the rear, during the descent. It was wonderful to see the animals stepping from block to block with the sagacity of mountaineers, assuring themselves of their forefeet, before trusting all their weight to advance. Not a camel fell, either here or on any other ridge. They moaned, however, piteously, for the sudden turns of the path puzzled them. The ascents were painful, the descents were still more so. The rocks were sharp, deep holes yawned between the blocks, and occasionally an acacia caught the shuktaf, almost overthrowing the hapless bearer by the suddenness and the tenacity of its crutch. This passage took place during daylight, but we had many at night, which I shall neither forget nor describe. Descending the ridge, we entered another hill encircled basin of gravel and clay. In many places, basalt in piles and crumbling strata of hornblend chiste, disposed edgeways, green within and without blackened by sun and rain, cropped out of the ground. At half past ten, we found ourselves in an acacia barren, one of the things which pilgrims tread. Here, shuktafs are bodily pulled off the camel's back and broken upon the hard ground. The animals drop upon their knees, the whole line is deranged, and everyone losing temper attacks his Muslim brother. The road was flanked on the left by an iron wall of black basalt. Noon brought us to another ridge whence we descended into a second wooden basin surrounded by hills. Here the air was filled with those pillars of sand so graphically described by a Bessinian bruise. They scutted on the wings of the whirlwind over the plain. Huge yellow shafts with lofty heads horizontally bent backwards in the form of clouds, and on more than one occasion, camels were thrown down by them. It required little stretch of fancy to enter into the Arab superstition. These sand columns are supposed to be jinnies of the waist, which cannot be caught, a notion arising from the fitful movements of the electrical wind-eddy that arises in them. And as they advance, the biased Muslim stretches out his finger, exclaiming, iron, oh thou ill-omend one. Footnote. Even Europeans in popular parlance call them devils. End of footnote. During the four noon, we were troubled by the Samoom, which instead of promoting perspiration, chokes up and hardens the skin. The Arabs complain greatly of its violence on this line of road. Here I first remarked the difficulty with which the Bedouin bear thirst. Yellow thief, oh merciful lord. They exclaimed at times. And yet they behaved like men. Footnote. The Eastern Arabs ally the torments of thirst by a spoonful of clarified butter, carried on journeys in a leatherened bottle. Even every European traveler has some recipe of his own. One chews a musket bullet or a small stone. A second smears his legs with butter. Another eats a crust of dry bread, which exasperates the torments and afterwards brings relief. A fourth throws water over his face and hands or his legs and feet. A fifth smokes. And a sixth turns his dorsal region, raising his coattail to the fire. I have always found that the only remedy is to be patient and not to talk. The more you drink, the more you require to drink. Water or strong waters. But after the first two hours abstinence, you have mastered the overpowering feeling of thirst. And then to refrain is easy. And a footnote. I had ordered them to place the water camel in front so as to exercise due supervision. Sheikh Masoud and his son made only an occasional reference to the skins, but his nephew, a short, thin, pock-marked lad of 18, whose black skin and woolly head suggested the idea of a semi-African and ignoble origin was always drinking, except when he climbed the camel's back and dozing upon the damp load forgot his thirst. In vain we ordered, retarded, and we abused him. He would drink, he would sleep, but he would not work. At one p.m. we crossed the fumara. And an hour afterwards we pursued the course of a second. Masoud called this the Wadi al-Khunaq and assured me that it runs from the east and the southeast in a north and northwest direction to the Medina plain. Early in the afternoon we reached a diminutive flat on the fumara bank. Beyond it lies a mahjad or stony ground, black as usual in al-Hijaz. And over its length lay the road, white with dust and with the sand deposited by the camel's feet. Having arrived before the pasha, we did not know where to pitch. Many opining that the caravan would traverse the mahjad and help beyond it. We soon alighted, however, pitched the tent under a burning sun and were imitated by the rest of the party. Masoud called the place Hujriya. According to my computation it is 25 miles from Quraab and its direction is southeast 22 degrees. Late in the afternoon the boy Muhammad started with a dromedary to procure water from the higher part of the fumara. Here are some wells, still called Bir Harun after the great Caliph. The youth returned soon with two bags filled at an expense of nine piasters. This being the 28th Al Qaeda, many pilgrims visit themselves rather fruitlessly with endowers to sight the crescent moon. They failed, but we were consoled by seeing through a gap in the western hills a heavy cloud discharged its blessed load and a cool night was the result. We loitered on Sunday, the 4th September at Al-Hujriya, although the sheikh forewarned us of a long march, but there is a kind of discipline in these great caravans. A gun sounds the order to strike the tents. Footnote, we carry two small brass guns, which on the line of march were dismounted and placed upon camels. At the halt they were restored to their carriages. The Bedouin think much of these harmless articles to which I have seen a gunner apply a match thrice before he could induce a discharge. In a moral point of view, therefore, they are far more valuable than our 12 pounders and a footnote. And the second bit you move off with all speed. There are short halts of half an hour each at dawn, noon, the afternoon, and sunset for devotional purposes. And these are regulated by a cannon or a calvaryn. At such times, the Syrian and Persian servants who are admirably expert in their calling pitch their large green tents with gilt crescents for their dignitaries and their harems. The last resting place is known by the hurrying forward of these farrash or tent-laskers, who are determined to be the first on the ground and at the well. A discharge of three guns denotes the station. And when the caravan moves by night, a single cannon sounds three or four halts at irregular intervals. The principal officers were the Amir Hajj, one Asghar Ali Fasha, a veteran of whom my companions spoke slightly, because he had been the slave of a slave, probably the pipe-bearer of some Grandi who in his youth had been pipe-bearer to some other Grandi. Under him was a wakil or lieutenant who managed the executive. The Amir al-Surrah, called simply al-Surrah, or the purse, had charge of the caravan treasure and of remittances to the holy cities. And lastly, there was a commander of the forces Bashat al-Laskar. His host consisted of about a thousand irregular horsemen, bash-bhuzukhs, half bandits, half soldiers, each habited and armed after his own fashion, exceedingly dirty, picturesque-looking, brave, and in such a country of no use whatsoever. Leaving al-Hijriya at 7 a.m., we passed over the grim stone field by a detestable footpath and at nine o'clock struck into a broad fumara, which runs from the east towards the northwest. Its sandy bed is overgrown with acacia, the Asenna plant, different species of vifurbiae, the wild capyris, and the dome palm. Up this line we traveled the whole day. About 6 p.m. we came upon a basin at least 12 miles broad, which absorbs the water of the adjacent hills. Acustomed as I have been to Miraj, a long thin line of salt and fluorescence appearing at some distance on the plain below us, when the shades of evening invested the view, completely deceived me. Even the Arabs were divided in opinion, some thinking it was the effects of the rain which fell the day before, others were more acute. It is said that bees star never deceived by the Miraj, and this as far as my experience goes is correct. May not the reason be that most of them know the vicinity of water rather by smell than by sight? Upon the horizon beyond the plain rose dark fort-like masses of rock, which I must took for buildings. The more readily as the sheikh had warned me that we were approaching a populous place. At last descending a long steep hill, we entered upon the level ground, and discovered our error by the crunching sound of the camels feet upon large curling flakes of nitrous salt overlaying caked mud. Footnote hereabouts the Arabs call these places Bahermelch, or Sea of Salt, in other regions Baher Bilama, or Waterless Sea, and no footnote. The most civilized birds, the kite and the crow, warned us that we were in the vicinity of man. It was not, however, before eleven p.m. that we entered the confines of Swedeqiya. The fact was made patent to us by the stumbling and the falling of our dromedaries over the little ridges of dried clay disposing squares upon the fields. There were other obstacles, such as garden walls, wells and hovels, so that midnight had sped before our weary camels reached the resting place, and the rumor that we were to halt here the next day made us think lightly of present troubles. It proved, however, to be false. During the last four days I attentively observed the general face of the country. This line is a succession of low plains and basins, here quasi-circular, there irregularly oblong, surrounded by rolling hills and cut by fumaras which pass through the higher ground. The basins are divided by ridges and flats of basalt and greenstone, averaging from 100 to 200 feet in height. The general form is a huge prism, sometimes they are table-topped. From Almadina to Swedeqiya, the low beds of sandy fumaras abound. From Swedeqiya to Azarba, their place is taken by the Ghadir, or hollows in which water stagnates. And beyond Azarba, the traveller enters a region of water courses, tending west and southwest. The versant is generally from the east and southeast towards the west and northwest. Water obtained by digging is good where rain is fresh in the fumaras. Saltish, so as to taste at first unnaturally sweet in the plains, and bitter in the basins and lowlands, where nightly effloreses and rain has had time to become tainted. The landward faces of the hills are disposed at a sloping angle, contrasting strongly with the perpendicularity of their seaward sides. And I found no inner range corresponding with and parallel to the maritime chain. Nowhere had I seen a land which Earth's anatomy lies so barren or one richer in volcanic and primary formations. Footnote, being below red in geology, I submitted after my return to Bombay a few specimens collected on the way to a learned friend, Dr. Carter, secretary to the Bombay branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. His name is a guarantee of accuracy. End of footnote. Especially towards the south, the hills were abrupt and highly vertical, with black and barren flanks ribbed with furrows and fissures, with wide and formidable precipices and castellated summits like the work of man. The predominant formation was basalt, called the Arab's Hajar Jahannam or Hellstone. Here and there it is porous and cellular in some places compact and black, and in others coarse and gritty, of Atari color, and when fractured, shining with bright points. When blend is common at El Medina and throughout this part of Al-Hijaz, it crops out of the ground edgeways black and brittle. Greenstone, diorite, and actinolite are found, though not so abundantly as those above mentioned. The granites, called in Arabic swan, abound. Footnote, the Arabic language has a copious terminology for the mineral as well as the botanical productions of the country. With little alteration, it might be made to express all the requirements of our modern geology and the footnote. Some are large grained of a pink color and appear in blocks, which, flaking off under the influence of the atmosphere, form oidal blocks and boulders piled in irregular heaps. Others are gray and compact enough to take a high polish and cut. The cyanide is generally coarse. Although there is occasionally found a rich red variety of that stone, I did not see ureth or urethic porifree, except in small pieces, and the same may be said of the petrocelex and the milky and waxy quartz. Footnote, note to the third edition. This country may have contained gold, but the superficial formation has long been exhausted. At Cairo, I washed some sand brought from the eastern shore of the Red Sea north of Alouge and found it worth my while. I had a plan of working for the diggings, but HBM's consul Dr. Walm opined that gold was becoming too plentiful and would not assist me. This wise saying has since then been repeated to me by men who ought to have known better than Dr. Walm and a footnote. In some parts, particularly between Yambar and El Medina, there is an abundance of tawny yellow gnaes, markedly stratified. The transition formations are represented by a fine, calciferous sandstone of bright ochre color. It is used and maccato adorned by the exteriors of houses, bands of the stone being here and there inserted into the courses of masonry. There is also a small admixture of the greenish sandstone which abounds at Aden. The secondary formation is represented by a fine limestone in some places almost fit for the purpose of lithography and of course gypsum, often of atophacious nature. For the superficial accumulations of the country, I may refer the reader to any description of the desert between Cairo and Suez. End of Chapter 24.