But I Had
Always Preferred The Open Seat Upon A Loaded Camel, As More Commodious,
Besides Being More Arablike, And
Affording the advantage of mounting or
dismounting without the aid of the driver, and without stopping the
animal; which it
Is very difficult to effect with those machines on
their back, especially the shekdof, where both riders must keep
continually balancing each other.
I formed to-day a closer acquaintance with my fellow-travellers; for, in
small caravans, every one endeavours to be upon friendly terms with his
companions. They were Malays, or, as they are called in the Levant,
Jawas; and, with the exception of a few of them, who came from the coast
of Malacca, all British subjects, natives of Sumatra, Java, and the
coast of Malabar. The Malays come regularly to the Hadj, and often bring
their women with them, three of whom were in our caravan. Many remain
for years at Mekka, to study the Koran and the law, and are known among
the Indians in the Hedjaz as scrupulous adherents to the precepts, or at
least to the rites, of their religion. Few of them talk Arabic fluently;
but they all read the Koran, and, even when travelling, are engaged in
studying it. They defray the expenses of their journey by selling aloe-
wood, the best kind of which, called Ma Wardy, they told me, cost, in
their country,
[p.296] between three and four dollars per pound, and sells at Mekka at
between twenty and twenty-five dollars.
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Page 414 of 669
Words from 112906 to 113159
of 182297
