All The Castles On The Syrian Hadj Route From Fedhein To Medina Are
Deserted.
At Maan are several springs, to which the town owes its
origin, and these, together with the circumstance of its being a station
of the Syrian Hadj, are the cause of its still existing.
The inhabitants
have scarcely any other means of subsistence than the profits which they
gain from the pilgrims in their way to and from Mekka, by buying up all
kinds of provisions at Hebron and Ghaza, and selling them with great
profit to the weary pilgrims; to whom the gardens and vineyards of Maan
are no less agreeable, than the wild herbs collected by the people of
Maan are to their camels. The pomgranates, apricots, and peaches of Maan
are of the finest quality. In years when a very numerous caravan passes,
pomgranates are sold at one piastre each, and every thing in the same
proportion. During
[p.437] the two days stay of the pilgrims, in going, and as many in
returning, the people of Maan earn as much as keeps them the whole year.
Maan is situated in the midst of a rocky country, not capable of
cultivation; the inhabitants therefore depend upon their neighbours of
Djebal and Shera for their provision of wheat and barley. At present,
owing to the discontinuance of the Syrian Hadj, they are scarcely able
to obtain money to purchase it. Many of them have commenced pedlars
among the Bedouins, and fabricators of different articles for their use,
especially sheep-skin furs, while others have emigrated to Tafyle and
Kerek.
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