Xiii. Of This Work. [FN#4] “Black Cloth, According To Ali Bey; And I Believe He Is Correct.” So Mr. Bankes.

If Ali Bey meant broad-cloth, both are in error, as the specimen in my possession—a mixture of silk and cotton—proves. [FN#5] Ali Bey showed by his measurements that no two sides correspond exactly.

To all appearance the sides are equal, though it is certain they are not; the height exceeds the length and the breadth. [FN#6] Ali Bey (A.D. 1807) computes 80,000 men, 2,000 women, and 1,000 children at Arafat. Burckhardt (A.D. 1814) calculated it at 70,000. I do not think that in all there were more than 50,000 souls assembled together in 1853. [FN#7] Rich pilgrims always secure lodgings; the poorer class cannot afford them; therefore, the great Caravans from Egypt, Damascus, Baghdad, and other places, pitch on certain spots outside the city. [FN#8] An incorrect expression; the stone is fixed in a massive gold or silver gilt circle to the S.E. angle, but it is not part of the building. [FN#9] Ali Bey is correct in stating that the running is on the return from Arafat, directly after sunset. [FN#10] This sentence abounds in blunders. Sale, Ali Bey, and Burckhardt, all give correct accounts of the little pillar of masonry—it has nothing to do with the well—which denotes the place where Satan appeared to Abraham. The pilgrims do not throw one stone, but many.

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