The Syrian Caravan
Did Not Leave Mekka Till The 29th Of Zul Hadj; And The Incessant Labour
To Which Its Camels Had Been Subjected, Weakened Them So Much, That
Numbers Of Them Died On Their Return Through The Desert.
The caravans of
unloaded camels which were hourly leaving Mekka for Djidda, to take up
provisions there, facilitated the short journey to that place of those
hadjys who wished to return home by sea.
Having heard that the supply of money for which I had written to Cairo
on my first reaching Djidda, had been received there, I rode over in the
night of the 1st of December, and remained in that town six or seven
days. The hadjys who had, in the mean while, daily flocked into it on
their return from Mekka, were seen encamped in every quarter, and thus
it soon became as crowded as Mekka had just been. Among the ships in the
harbour, ready to take hadjy passengers on board, was a merchant-vessel
lately arrived from Bombay, belonging to a Persian house at that
presidency, and commanded by an English captain, who had beat up to
Djidda against the trade-winds, at this late season. I passed many
agreeable hours in the company of Captain Boag, on board his ship, and
regretted that my pursuits should call me away so soon. Two other
Europeans had arrived at Djidda about the same time, by way of Cairo;
the one an Englishman, who was going to India; the other a German
physician.
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