There Are Few Shops In The Main Street Except During The
Pilgrimage, When Many Are Opened, In Which The Syrian Merchants Display
The Produce And Manufactures Of Their Country; A Circumstance From Which
It Derives Its Name.
In these shops are found silk stuffs from Damascus
and Aleppo; cambric manufactured in the district of Nablous; gold
And
silver thread from Aleppo; Bedouin handkerchiefs, called keffie, of
Baghdad and Damascus fabric; silk from Lebanon; fine carpets from
Anadolia and the Turkman Bedouins; abbas from Hamah; dried fruits and
the kammereddyn from Damascus; pistacios from Aleppo, &c. Among all the
Syrians at Mekka, I could never discover any indi-vidual whom I had
known in his own country, except the son of the chief of Palmyra, who,
however, did not recognise me. He had come
[p.122] with two or three hundred camels, to transport the baggage of
the Pasha of Damascus.
In returning through the Shamye towards the Soueyga, we find, on the
north side of these streets, a quarter called Garara, the most reputable
of the town, and perhaps the best built, where the weal-thiest merchants
have their houses. The two first merchants of the Hedjaz, Djeylany and
Sakkat, live here for the greater part of the year, and only go to
Djidda (where they also have establishments,) when the arrival of the
Indian fleet demands their presence at that place. In the quarter of
Garara, the women of Mohammed Aly Pasha, with a train of eunuchs
attached to them, have now taken up their abode. The houses are all two
or three stories high, many of them gaudily painted, and containing
spacious apartments. Here Sherif Ghaleb built a palace, the finest of
all those he possessed at Mekka, and resided in it principally during
the winter months, when he divided his time between this mansion and
that near the mosque. Some military chiefs have now taken up their
quarters in this palace, which will soon be ruined. It is distinguished
from the other houses of Mekka only by its size, and the number of
windows; having neither a fine portico, nor any other display of
architecture.
Near the palace, upon a hill which may be described as within the town,
Ghaleb built a fort, flanked by strong towers, but of much smaller size
than the great castle. When the Turkish army advanced towards the
Hedjaz, he mounted it with guns, and stored it well with provisions; but
the garrison, like that of the castle, dis-persed immediately after he
was made prisoner. The hill upon which it stands is known by the name of
Djebel Lala, and is often mentioned by Arabian poets. Opposite to this
hill, in a S.E. direc-tion, upon the summit of a mountain beyond the
precincts of the town, stands another small fort, which was also
repaired by Ghaleb. It is called Djebel Hindy, from the circumstance of
a great sheikh or devotee from Cashmere having been buried there. The
tower is now inhabited by a few Indian families, who enjoy the advantage
of an excellent cistern for rain-water.
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