Immediately On Their Arrival At Djidda Or
Mekka, They Apply Themselves To Labour:
Some serve as porters, for the
transport of goods and corn from the ships to the warehouses; others
hire
Themselves to clean the court-yards, fetch wood from the
neighbouring mountains, for the supply of which the inhabitants of
Djidda and Mekka are exclusively indebted to them, as none of their own
lazy poor will undertake that labour, although four piastres a day may
be gained by it. At Mekka, they make small hearths of clay, (kanoun,)
which they paint with yellow and red; these are bought by the hadjys,
who boil their coffee-pots upon them. Some manufacture small baskets and
mats of date-leaves, or prepare the intoxicating drink called bouza; and
others serve as water-carriers: in short, when any occasion requires
manual
[p.258] labour, a Tekroury from the market is always employed. If any of
them is attacked by disease, his companions attend upon him, and defray
his expenses. I have seen very few of them ask for charity, except on
the first days after their arrival, before they have been able to obtain
employment. From Mekka, they either travel by land, or sometimes make a
sea voyage by way of Yembo to Medina, where they again supply the town
with fire-wood. Indeed, the hadjys would be much at a loss in the
Hedjaz, if they could not command the laborious services of these
blacks. During the Wahaby conquest, they continued to perform the
pilgrimage; and it is said that Saoud expressed a particular esteem for
them.
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Page 359 of 669
Words from 97945 to 98210
of 182297
