[P.445] APPENDIX.
No. I.
Stations of the Pilgrim Caravan, called the "Hadj el Kebsy," through the
mountainous country between Mekka and Sanaa in Yemen.
MEKKA.
1st day. Shedad; some coffee-huts.
2. Kura, a small village on the summit of the mountain so called.
3. Tayf.
4. Abbasa, in the district of the Thekyf Arabs.
5. Melawy Djedara, district of the Beni Sad Arabs.
6. Mekhra, district of the Naszera Arabs. The principal village of the
Beni Sad tribe is Lagham, and of the Naszera tribe, Sour; distant one
day N. of the farthest limits of Zohran. In this district is also the
fortified village of Bedjeyle.
7. Esserrar, of the Thekyf Arabs.
8. Berahrah, on the N. extremity of Zohran, a district inhabited by
Arabs of the same name. This Zohran is one of the most fertile countries
in the mountainous chain, although its villages are separated from each
other by intervals of barren rock. It is inhabited by the Zohran tribes
of Beni Malek and Beni Ghamed. The Zohran chief, Bakhroudj, having
bravely resisted Mohammed Aly Pasha, was taken by surprise, in March
1815, and cruelly cut to pieces by that Turkish general's order.
9. Wady Aly, in the same district.
10. Meshnye, on the S. borders of Zohran.
11. Raghdan, a market-place of the Ghamed Arabs.
12. Korn el Maghsal, of the Ghamed Arabs.
13. Al Zahera, of the same Arabs. These two tribes of Zohran and Ghamed
possess the Hedjaz (viz. the mountains) and adjoining districts in
Tehama, or the Western plain [p.446] towards the sea, as well as the
Eastern upper plain. The chief place of the Ghamed tribe is Mokhowa, a
town not to be confounded with Mokha.
14. El Roheyta, of the powerful tribe of Shomran.
15. Adama, of the Shomran Arabs.
16. Tabala, of the Shomran Arabs, who extend over both sides of the
mountains in the W. and E. plain.
17. El Hasba, market of the Shomran Arabs.
18. El Asabely, a village of the Asabely tribe.
19. Beni Shefra, a market-place of the tribe so called, formerly united
with the Asabelys, but formed by the Wahaby chief into a distinct tribe.
20. Shat Ibn Aryf.
21. Sedouan: this place and Shat Ibn Aryf are inhabited by Arabs of the
tribe called Ahl Aryef.
22. El Matsa.
23. Ibn Maan, which with El Matsa belong to the Ibn Katlan Arabs.
24. Ibl, in the territory of the powerful tribe of Asyr.
25. Ibn el Shayr, of the Asyr tribe.
26. Dahban, of the Kahtan Arabs, one of the most powerful tribes of the
Eastern Desert.
27. Derb Ibn el Okeyda, a wady inhabited by the Refeydha tribe, who
belong to the Asyr. They are strong in horses.
28. Derb Selman, of the Refeydha tribe.
29. Wakasha, of the Abyda Arabs. In the district of Abyda is the town of
Aryn, in a very fertile territory. From Aryn southward the Arabs keep on
the mountains a few camels, but many sheep and goats, and are what the
Bedouins call Shouawy, or Ahl Shah, or Ahl Bul.
30. Wady Yaowd, of the Abyda Arabs.
31. Howd Ibn Zyad, of the Abyda Arabs.
32. Thohran, a district and market-place of the tribe of Wadaa.
33. Keradb, of the Wadaa tribe.
34. Roghafa, of the Sahhar Arabs.
35. Dohyan, of the Sahhar Arabs.
36. Sada, of the Sahhar tribe. From Sada the caravan, or Hadj el Kebsy,
takes its departure; it is so called from the Emir, or chief of the
Hadj, who is styled Kebsy. The pilgrims from all the interior parts of
Yemen assemble at Sada: it is a large town, but much decayed, famous in
Arabia Felix as the birth-place of Yabya Ibn Hosseyn, chief promoter of
the sect of Zeyd, which has numerous adherents in that country. Of late
a new saint has appeared at Sada; he is called Seyd Ahmed, and is much
revered by the Zyoud, or sect of Zeyd, who entitle him Woly, or Saint,
even during his life. Sada is governed by Arabs: the Wahaby influence
extended thus far. From Sada towards Sanaa the country is inhabited by
Arabs, under the dominion of the Imam of Sanaa.
37. Aashemye, of the Sofyan tribe.
38. A market-place, or Souk, of the Bekyl Arabs.
[p.447]
39. Another market-place of the same tribe. The Bekyl and Hashed Arabs
of this district serve in the army of the Imam of Sana; many of them go
to India, and are preferred by the native princes there to any other
class of soldiers: Tipoo Saheb had several hundred of them in his
service. They generally embark at Shaher, in Hadramaut; and their chief
destination at present is Guzerat and Cutch.
40. Ghoulet Adjyb, of the Hashed Arabs.
41. Reyda, of the Omran Arabs.
42. Ayal Sorah, of the Hamdan tribe.
43. Sanaa. From Mekka to Sanaa, forty-three days' very slow travelling:
for most of the pilgrims perform the whole journey on foot.
No. II.
Of the country through which the Kebsy pilgrims travel, and the
extraordinary customs of some Arabian tribes.
THE route of this pilgrimage lies wholly along the mountains of the
Hedjaz and Yemen, having the Eastern plain on one side, and Tehama, or
the sea-coast, on the other. The road often leads through difficult
passes on the very summit of the mountains. Water abounds, in wells,
springs, and rivulets: the entire tract of country is well peopled,
although not every where cultivated, enclosed fields and trees being
only found in the vicinity of water. There is a village at every station
of the Hadj: most of these villages are built of stone, and inhabited by
Arab tribes, originally of these mountains, and now spread over the
adjoining plains.
