I Intended To Have Provided Him With The Means Of Returning To
Yembo, But I Fell Dangerously Ill Soon After My Arrival At Medina, And
Know Not What Afterwards Became Of Him.
Several pilgrims were begging for charity in the market of Rabegh.
These
poor people, in starting from Mekka for Medina with the great caravan,
fancy that they are sufficiently strong to bear the fatigues of that
journey, and know that, in travelling with the caravan, charitable
hadjys are to be found who will supply them with food and water; but the
long night-marches soon exhaust their strength, they linger behind on
the road, and, after great privations and delays, are obliged to proceed
on their journey by other opportunities. An Afghan pilgrim here joined
our party; he was an old man, of very extraordinary strength, and had
come the whole way from Kaboul to Mekka on foot, and intended to return
in the same manner. I regretted his slight acquaintance with Arabic, as
he seemed an intelligent man, and could no doubt have given me some
interesting information respecting his country.
January 20th. We left Rabegh at four P.M. Our road lay N. 8 W., in most
parts of black flint, interspersed with some hills of sand, upon which
were a few trees. Having enjoyed no repose whatever for the last two
days, I fell asleep upon my camel, and can only say, that after a ride
of eleven hours, over hilly and sandy ground, we alighted at
[p.304] Mastoura, a station of the Hadj. Two large and deep wells, cased
with stone, afford here a copious supply of good water. Near them stood
the tomb of a saint called Sheikh Madely, which had been demolished by
the Wahabys. About ten miles east of this is a high mountain, called
Djebel Ayoub, "Job's Mountain," overtopping the other summits of the
chain of which it forms a part, and covered in many spots with trees.
It is inhabited by the Owf tribe. The whole road from Kolleya to this
place is dangerous on account of the robberies of these Bedouins; and
the caravan never passes without losing some of its loads or camels. In
the time of the Wahabys it was completely secure; the Sheikhs of the
Harb, and the whole tribe being made responsible for all depredations
committed in their territory. The Wahabys, however, had not been able to
subdue the Owf in their own mountains; and a proof of their independence
appeared in the long hair which this tribe wore, contrary to the Wahaby
precept, which had established it as a universal law to shave the head
bare.
We found, at the wells of Mastoura, several flocks of camels and sheep,
which the Owf shepherds and shepherdesses were watering. I bought from
them a lamb for a few piastres and some tobacco, and divided it among
our guides and those who accompanied us on foot. The Malays came to ask
me for their share, giving me to understand that their compliance with
my entreaties in favour of their poor countryman, was deserving of
reward; but the Bedouins who were with us, saved me, by their taunting
reprimands, the trouble of answering them. Several tombs of hadjys were
seen near the wells, which the Wahabys had respected; for they seldom
injured any tombs that pride or bigotry had left unadorned.
January 21st. We set out at three o'clock P.M. The plain we crossed is
either flinty, or presents spots of cultivable clay. The direction was
north. After proceeding over a sandy plain, covered with low brush-wood
for two hours and a half, we had Djebel Ayoub about six miles distant:
then begins a lower ridge of mountains, running parallel to the road.
Here we quitted the great Hadj route, which turns off in a more westerly
direction, and we proceeded towards the mountains N. 15 E. to reach
Szafra by the nearest route. After a
[p.305] march of thirteen hours, over uneven ground and low hills, we
halted near day-break, in a sandy plain, by the well called Bir-es'-
Sheikh. It will have been observed, that our night marches were always
very long; but the rate of the camel's walk was very slow, scarcely more
than two miles an hour, or two and a quarter. Bir-es'-Sheikh is a well
between thirty and forty feet deep, and fifteen feet in diameter,
solidly cased with stone; the work of men who felt more anxiety for the
convenience of travellers to the holy cities, than the present chiefs of
the faithful evince. If pressed for time, the Hadj sometimes takes this
route; but it goes usually by Beder, where the Egyptian and Syrian
caravans, on their road to Mekka, follow each other, at the interval of
one day or two, their time of setting out upon the journey invariably
taking place on fixed days. We were now close to the great chain, which,
since we left Kholeys, had been on our right: a ridge of it, a few miles
north of Bir-es'-Sheikh, takes a westerly direction towards the sea, and
at its extremity lies Beder. We met Bedouins at this well also; they
were of the tribe of Beni Salem, or Sowaleme: our guides bought a sheep
of them, and roasted it in the Medjba, a hole dug in the sand, and
lined with small stones, which are heated; the flesh is laid upon them,
and then covered by cinders and the wet skin of the animal, and closely
shut up with sand and clay. In an hour and a half the meat is cooked,
and, as it loses none of its juices, has an excellent flavour.
January 22nd. We left the well at half-past three P.M. Route N. 10 W.
ascending over uneven ground. In an hour and a half we entered the
mountains, at the angle formed by the great chain on one side, and the
above-mentioned branch, which extends towards Beder, on the other.
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