When, In 1815,
The Plague Raged In The Hedjaz, An Event Which Had Never Before Been
Known, The Kadhy Of
Djidda, with the whole body of olemas, waited upon
the Turkish governor of the city, to desire him to demolish
A windmill
which some Greek Christians from Cairo had built withoutside one of the
gates, by order of Mohammed Aly. They were certain, they said, that the
hand of God had visited them on account of this violation of the sacred
territory by Christians. Some years ago an English ship was wrecked near
Djidda, and among various spoils obtained from the wreck by Sherif
Ghaleb was a large hog, an animal probably never before seen at Djidda:
this hog, turned loose in the town with two ostriches, became the terror
of all the sellers of bread and vegetables; for the mere touching of so
unclean an animal as the hog, even with the edge of the gown, renders
the Moslim impure, and unable to perform his prayers without previous
ablution. The animal was kept for six months, when it was offered by the
Sherif to an American captain for fifty dollars; but such a price being
of course refused, it soon after died of a surfeit, to the great
satisfaction of the inhabitants.
The Mekkawys, however, tolerate within their walls notorious heretics. I
have already mentioned the Ismaylys, an idolatrous sect from India, who
appear here in the garb of Moslims. The Persian hadjys, well known as
sectaries of Aly, and revilers of Mohammed and his immediate followers,
are not subjected to any particular inconveniences.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 291 of 669
Words from 79262 to 79526
of 182297
