I Transported My
Baggage To Those Lodgings, Where I Was Called Upon By The Mezowar To
Visit The Mosque And The Holy Tomb Of Mohammed; It Being A Law Here, As
At Mekka, That A Traveller Arriving In The Town Must Fulfil This Duty,
Before He Undertakes The Most Trifling Business.
The ceremonies are here much easier and shorter than at Mekka, as will
be presently seen.
In a quarter of an hour I had gone through them, when
I was at liberty to return home to arrange my domestic affairs. My
Mezowar assisted me in the purchase of all necessary provisions, which
were not obtained without difficulty; Tousoun Pasha, the governor of the
town, having, by his inconsiderate measures, frightened away the
Bedouins and camel-drivers, who used to bring in provisions. Flour and
butter, however, those prime articles in an Eastern kitchen, were to be
had before sunset, though not found in the public market; but it was
three days before I could procure any coal, the want of which was
sensibly felt at this cold season of the year. Hearing that Yahya
Efendi, the physician of Tousoun Pasha, the same person who
[p.318] in July last had taken my bill upon Djidda, was here. I paid him
a visit next day, and showed him a letter received at Mekka, before I
had left that town, from my Cairo banker, mentioning the payment of the
bill, no news of which had yet reached Yahya himself. Much as this
gentleman's acquaintance had been of service to me on that occasion, a
good deal took place now to detract from it.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 447 of 669
Words from 121872 to 122143
of 182297
