Several Hundreds Of These Carcases Lay Near The Reservoirs Of
The Hadj, And The Arabs Inhabiting That Part Of Mekka Never Walked Out
Without Stuffing Into Their Nostrils Small Pieces Of Cotton, Which They
Carried Suspended By A Thread Round The Neck.
[The Arabs in general, even
the Bedouins, are much more sensitive than the Europeans concerning the
slightest offensive smell.
This is one of the principal reasons why the
Bedouins never enter a town without repugnance. They entertain a belief
that bad smells affect the health by entering through the nostrils into
the lungs; and it is for this reason, more than for the disagreeable
sensation itself arising from the smell, that Arabs and Bedouins are
often seen covering their noses with the skirts of their turbans, in
walking through the streets.] But this was not all. At this time the
Mekkans are in the habit of emptying the privies of their houses; and,
too lazy to carry the contents beyond the precincts of the town, they
merely dig a hole in the street, before the door of the dwelling, and
there deposit them, covering the spot only with a layer of earth. The
consequences of such a practice may easily be imagined.
The feasts of nuptials and circumcision now take place, being always
celebrated immediately after the Hadj, as soon as the Mekkans are left
to themselves, and before the people have had time to spend the sums
gained during the residence of the pilgrims; but I saw many
[p.290] more funerals than nuptial processions.
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