They Were Without Any Provisions, And Had
Very Little Money; But Hearing That There Was A Caravan To Start For
Medina, They Thought They Should Be Able To Accompany It Thither.
Some
of them, who were Egyptians, intended to go to Yembo; others, who were
Syrians, had formed the plan
Of returning home through the Desert by the
Hedjaz route, and of begging their way along the Bedouin encampments,
not having money enough to pay for their passage by sea to Suez.
We left our resting-place at three o'clock P.M., and were one hour in
crossing the Wady to its northern side; from whence the Hadj road, on
which we travelled, rises gently between hills, through valleys full of
acacia-trees, in a direction N. 40 W. The rock is all granite of the
[p.294] gray and red species. At the end of two hours, the country
opens, the trees diminish, and the course changes to N. 55 W. Towards
sun-set I had walked a little way in front of the caravan, and being
tired, sat down under a tree to wait its approach; when five Bedouins
crept along the bushes towards me, and suddenly snatched up my stick,
the only weapon which was lying on the ground behind me. Their leader
said that I was, no doubt, a deserter from the Turkish army, and
therefore their lawful prize. I offered no resistance; but seeing them
much less determined than Bedouin robbers generally are, I concluded
that they were not free from fear. I told them, therefore, that I was a
hadjy, and belonged to a large caravan escorted by Harb Bedouins; that
they might wait a little before they stopped me, to assure themselves of
this fact by the arrival of the caravan; and that they had better not
offer me any violence, as our guides would no doubt know the
perpetrators, and would report it to those who had the power to punish
them. I felt assured that they had no intention of doing me any bodily
harm, and was under no apprehension, especially as I had only a
travelling dress and a few dollars to lose, should the worst happen. One
of them, an old man, advised his comrades to wait a little; for that it
would not be well to incur the consequences of robbing a hadjy. During
our parley, I looked impatiently for the caravan coming in sight; but it
had stopped behind for a quarter of an hour, to allow the travellers
time to perform the evening prayers, a daily practice among them, of
which. I was yet ignorant. This delay was very much against me, and I
expected every moment to be stripped, when, the tread of the camels
being at last heard, the Bedouins retreated as suddenly as they had
approached.
Although the road from Mekka to Medina was considered safe even for
caravans unarmed like ours, yet stragglers are always exposed; and had
it not been for the terror with which, a few days before, Mohammed Aly's
victory over the Wahabys had inspired all the neighbouring Bedouins, I
should probably have been punished for my imprudence in walking on
alone. We rode the greater part of the night, over a plain more gravelly
than sandy, where some ashour trees
[p.295] grow among the acacias, the same species (Asclepia gigantea)
which I have so often mentioned in my Nubian Travels. This ground is
called El Barka. After a seven hours' march, we stopped at El Kara.
January 17th. We slept a few hours during the night, a circumstance that
seldom occurred on this journey. El Kara is a black, flinty plain, with
low hills at a great distance to the east: it bears a few thorny trees,
but affords no water. I was struck by its great resemblance to the
Nubian Desert, south of Shigre. Although in the midst of winter, the
heat was intense the whole morning of our stay at Kara. Nobody in the
caravan had a tent, and I was more exposed than any person; all the
others being mounted on a shebrye, or shekdof, a sort of covered camel-
saddle, which affords some shelter from the sun, both while on the
camel, and when placed on the ground: the shebrye serves for one person,
and the shekdof for two-one sitting on each side of the camel. But I had
always preferred the open seat upon a loaded camel, as more commodious,
besides being more Arablike, and affording the advantage of mounting or
dismounting without the aid of the driver, and without stopping the
animal; which it is very difficult to effect with those machines on
their back, especially the shekdof, where both riders must keep
continually balancing each other.
I formed to-day a closer acquaintance with my fellow-travellers; for, in
small caravans, every one endeavours to be upon friendly terms with his
companions. They were Malays, or, as they are called in the Levant,
Jawas; and, with the exception of a few of them, who came from the coast
of Malacca, all British subjects, natives of Sumatra, Java, and the
coast of Malabar. The Malays come regularly to the Hadj, and often bring
their women with them, three of whom were in our caravan. Many remain
for years at Mekka, to study the Koran and the law, and are known among
the Indians in the Hedjaz as scrupulous adherents to the precepts, or at
least to the rites, of their religion. Few of them talk Arabic fluently;
but they all read the Koran, and, even when travelling, are engaged in
studying it. They defray the expenses of their journey by selling aloe-
wood, the best kind of which, called Ma Wardy, they told me, cost, in
their country,
[p.296] between three and four dollars per pound, and sells at Mekka at
between twenty and twenty-five dollars. Their broad, long features, and
prominent forehead, their short but stout stature, and their decayed
teeth, which present a striking contrast to the pearly teeth of the
Arabs, every where distinguish them, although they wear the common
Indian dress.
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