Besides The Places Which I Have Described In The
Town, The Metowafs Accompany The Hadjys To All The Other Places Of
Resort In The Sacred District, And Are Ready To Perform Every Kind Of
Service In The City.
But their utility is more than counterbalanced by
their importunity and knavery.
They besiege the room of the hadjy from
sun-rise to sun-set; and will not allow him to do any thing without
obtruding their advice: they sit down with him to breakfast, dinner, and
supper; lead him into all possible expenses, that they may pocket a
share of them; suffer no opportunity to pass of asking him for money;
and woe to the poor ignorant Turk who employs them as his interpreter in
any mercantile concern. My first delyl was the man of Medina at whose
house I lodged during the last days of Ramadhan. On returning to Mekka a
second time, I unfortunately met him in the street; and though I was far
from giving him a hearty welcome, having sufficient reason to suspect
his honesty, he eagerly embraced me, and forthwith made my new lodgings
his home. At first he accompanied me every day in my walks round the
Kaaba, to recite the prayers used on that occasion: these, however, I
soon learned
[p.194] by heart, and therefore dispensed with his services on the
occasion. He sat down regularly at dinner with me, and often brought a
small basket, which he ordered my slave to fill with biscuits, meat
vegetables or fruit, and carried away with him.
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