They Are Very Careful To Carry The Said

[P.379] caffin with them wherever they travel, whether by sea or land, that they may be sure to be buried therein.

“The evening before they leave Mecca, every one must go to take their solemn leave of the Beat, entering at the gate called Babe el Salem, i.e. Welcome Gate, and having continued at Towoaf as long as they please, which many do till they are quite tired, and it being the last time of their paying their devotions to it, they do it with floods of tears, as being extremely unwilling to part and bid farewell; and having drank their fill of the water Zem Zem, they go to one side of the Beat, their backs being towards the door called by the name of Babe el Weedoh i.e., the Farewell Door, which is opposite to the welcome door; where, having performed two or three Erkaets, they get upon their legs and hold up their hands towards the Beat, making earnest petitions; and then keep going backward till they come to the above said farewell gate, being guided by some other, for they account it a very irreverent thing to turn their backs towards the Beat when they take leave of it. All the way as they retreat they continue petitioning, holding up their hands, with their eyes fixed upon the Beat, till they are out of sight of it; and so go to their lodgings weeping.

“Ere I leave Mecca, I shall acquaint you with a passage of a Turk to me in the temple cloyster, in the night time, between Acsham-nomas, and Gega-nomas, i.e., between the evening and the night services.

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