extremely difficult and dangerous to traverse; secondly, because he wished to reach Mecca by the month of November, at the time of the annual pilgrimage, being convinced that the title of hadji, or pilgrim, would be a powerful protection and recommendation to him in any future journey through the interior of Africa. It was his first idea to have pushed on as far as Massouah, a port lying far to the south, on the Abyssinian coast of the Red Sea, and thence crossed to Mokha, or Mocha, in Arabia; and with this view he took his departure from Shendy with a caravan proceeding to Souakin on the Red Sea, which he proposed to accompany as far as Taka, whence he hoped to find means of reaching Massouah. It is a striking proof of his persevering and ardent courage, that when starting on this most adventurous enterprise, he had only four dollars in his pocket, and that, after selling his camel, he relied upon being able to beg if necessary, to Djidda, on which town he had a letter

his

way,

of credit.

This more extended scheme, however, he was not fated to carry out. The caravan, which left Shendy on the 17th of May, divided on the banks of the Atbara, or Astoboras, a tributary of the Nile, into two parties, one of which struck straight across the Desert to Souakin, and the other turned south to Taka. The latter, according to his original design, Burckhardt accompanied; but when arrived at Taka, which is a chief emporium for dhourra, the grain in principal request, and the almost universal medium of exchange throughout Nubia, he found there was no commercial intercourse between that place and Massouah, as he had been led to believe, and that, from the inhospitable and treacherous character of the intervening tribes, any attempt to penetrate through them alone was quite hopeless. He had no other alternative, therefore, but to relinquish the project, and proceed to Souakin, the road to which was comparatively safe and pleasant, and which he reached on the 26th of June. Here he was exposed to the danger even of losing his life, through the rapacity and violence of the Arab governor of the town, and the aga of Mohammed Ali, who then held a partial sovereignty over that and the other ports on the Red Sea, and averted it only by producing old firmans of the pasha, and of Ibrahim his son, which he had hitherto studiously concealed, through fear of being taken for a spy of those princes by the Nubians, who already foreboded the yoke that has since been imposed on them. In the latter of these documents he was described as "Our man, Ibrahim the Syrian," which had such an effect the aga, though his clothes were literally in rags, that functionary forthwith tendered him marks of great respect, invited him to reside in his house, and ultimately procured him a free passage to Djidda on board a small ship, overloaded with dhourra and passengers, chiefly black pilgrims on their way to Mecca. In this vessel, which was little more than an open boat, he embarked on

upon

that

the 6th of July; and after the usual creeping voyage of Arab navigators, who cast anchor in some bay on the coast every night, arrived at Djidda on the 18th of July 1814.

JOURNEY TO MECCA.

It is now we enter upon the most interesting portion of Burckhardt's travels, because, from the perfect success with which he maintained his disguise of a Mohammedan, he was enabled not only to visit the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina, into which none but true believers are permitted to enter, but also to witness and participate in all the ceremonies of the hadj, or pilgrimage, to those places of Moslem superstition-mysteries never before beheld by any but a true disciple of the prophet. The province of Arabia in which Mecca and Medina stand is distinguished by the name of the Hedjaz, or Holy Land, and it stretches from the 20th to the 26th degree of northern latitude. Besides these two cities, which are sanctified-the one as the birthplace, and the other as the burial-place of Mohammed-it contains the towns of Djidda, Yembo, Tayf, and others of lesser note. The two first are the ports of Mecca and Medina respectively. At the period of Burckhardt's visit, Mohammed Ali held military possession of the country, and was himself at Tayf. He had just repulsed the Wahabys, a powerful and fanatical tribe of the Nedjed in Eastern Arabia, who had previously conquered the whole Hedjaz, and, in the quality of reformers, destroyed many of the monuments in the temples of Mecca and Medina, which they viewed as savouring of idolatry. They had even interdicted the hadj, or pilgrimage, for the six years of their sway, although expressly enjoined upon his disciples by Mohammed in his Koran as necessary to salvation, and were consequently held in great detestation by the whole Moslem world, and by none more so than by the inhabitants of Mecca and Medina, who were principally dependent upon the sums spent by the pilgrims in their annual visit. These came from the most distant parts where Islamism prevailed: from European and Asiatic Turkey; from Morocco, Barbary, Egypt, and the countries in the south and east of Africa; and from Bagdad, Muscat, and India. They generally numbered from fifty to a hundred thousand, and arrived in five or six great caravans, of which the Syrian and Egyptian were the principal, they often comprising thirty thousand persons each. But from the interruption given by the Wahabys, and the increasing indifference to the precepts of their religion among the Mohammedans in general, the number has of late years considerably diminished, and will, in all probability, continue to dwindle, until the practice becomes as obsolete as the pilgrimage to Jerusalem among the Christians. Its prolonged observance may be in a great measure ascribed to the commercial character with which it is invested, few of the pilgrims arriving without bringing some productions of their respective countries for sale, and

11

taking back others in return-for Mohammed was too astute to prohibit trading during the pilgrimage—and thus, at cost of much personal fatigue, the pursuit of sanctity and profit is cunningly combined.*

In ordaining this pilgrimage, Mohammed did but perpetuate a custom already hallowed by its antiquity amongst his country. men. The temple of Mecca had been for ages an object of vene ration to the Pagan Arabs, who, at stated periods, resorted to worship at its shrine; and as it would have been difficult to eradicate this sentiment, Mohammed sagely incorporated it in his religion. The chief attraction of this temple was, and is, the Kaaba, which is believed to have been constructed in heaven two thousand years before the creation of the world, and there adored by the angels. Adam, who was the first true believer, erected the Kaaba upon earth on its present site, which is directly below the spot it occupied in heaven. He collected the stones from five holy mountains, and ten thousand angels were appointed to guard the structure from accident. The sons of Adam repaired the Kaaba, and after the deluge Abraham was ordered by the Almighty to reconstruct it. His son Ishmael, who, from his infancy, had resided with his mother Hagar, near the site of Mecca, assisted his father, and, on digging, they found the foundations which had been laid by Adam. Being in want of a stone to fix into the building, as a mark from which the towaf, or holy walk, round it was to commence, Ishmael went in search of one and on his way met the angel Gabriel, holding in his hand a stone, ever since an object of adoration, and famous s under the name of the "black stone," although originally white. Such is the legend handed down by tradition, and to which the Moslems yet give credence.

This Kaaba, notwithstanding its fabulous host of guardian angels, has been repeatedly destroyed both by fire and water, and was entirely rebuilt as it now stands in 1627. It is an oblong flat-roofed building, eighteen paces in length, fourteen in breadth, and from thirty-five to forty feet in height. It stands upon an elevated base of two feet, and has but one door, about seven feet from the ground, which is only opened on solemn occasions, and then entered by wooden steps. On its north-east corner, in the angle of the wall, is the "black stone," of an irregular oval shape, and about seven inches in diameter. It has at present the appearance of several smaller stones cemented

"Make provision for your journey, but the best provision is piety; and fear me, oh ye of understanding. It shall be no crime in you if ye seek an increase from the Lord by trading during the pilgrimage.' -Koran, Sale, vol. I., p. 36. Sale says "The pilgrimage to Mecca is so necessary a point of practice, that, according to a tradition of Mohammed, he who dies without performing it may as well die a Jew or a Christian."

The dimensions given by Sale are-Length, 24 cubits; breadth, 23 cubits; and height, 27 cubits.-Vol. I. sect. iv. p. 152.

together, as if broken into pieces and then united again, which may well have been the case from the numerous mishaps which have befallen the Kaaba. It is worn very smooth, from the millions of kisses and touches it has received, and is set in silver. Another sacred stone is inserted in the Kaaba on the south-east corner, which is only touched with the right hand by those frequenting the shrine. Below the water-spout, on the west side of the Kaaba, which is reported to be of pure gold, are two slabs, beneath which Ishmael and his mother Hagar are believed to be buried, and around them is a semi-circular wall, called El Hatym, the area itself being named Hedjer, and considered almost as sacred as the Kaaba. All the sides of the Kaaba are covered with a black silk stuff hanging down, and leaving the roof bare. This curtain or veil is called Kesona, and is renewed annually at the time of the hadj at the sultan's expense. Openings are left in it for the two sacred stones, which are thus exposed to the lips and hands of worshippers. The interior of the Kaaba consists of a single chamber, with two pillars supporting the roof, between which hang rows of golden lamps, and is hung with a drapery of red silk, interwoven with flowers and inscriptions. Round the outside runs a pavement of marble, about eight inches below the surrounding square, which is encircled by thirty-two slender gilt pillars or poles, between every two of which are suspended seven glass lamps, always lighted after sunset. Beyond the poles is a second pavement, about eight paces broad, somewhat elevated above the first, but of coarser work: then another, six inches higher, and eighteen paces broad, upon which stand several small buildings-namely, five makams, or oratories; the edifice above the well Zemzem, whose water is held to cure all diseases; the arch called Bab-es-salam, through which those who enter the temple for the first time must pass; and the mambar, or pulpit, formed of white marble, from which sermons are preached on Fridays and festivals. Four of the makams are appropriated to the four orthodox sects of Mohammedans, and the fifth contains the stone on which Abraham stood when he built the Kaaba, and which rose or sank as occasion required.

וויי

The Kaaba, with these edifices around it, stands almost in the centre of an oblong square, 250 paces long and 200 wide, enclosed on all sides by a colonnade or piazza, with pillars three and four deep, united by pointed arches, and surmounted, by domes or cupolas with gilded spires. Along the whole colonnade, on the four sides, lamps are suspended from the arches, some of which are lighted every night, and all during the nights of the feast of Ramadhan. Nineteen gates open into it, distributed without

دار

This well is represented to be the spring miraculously disclosed to Hagar in the Desert, when her son Ishmael was on the point of perishing from thirst. Mecca may be said to owe its existence to it, as it contains the only sweet water in the town, and gives a very copious supply.

order or symmetry; and seven paved causeways lead across the area to the Kaaba, which is more distinctly called the Beitullah, or House of God. The whole mosque, which is encompassed by a wall running round the colonnade, is styled Masjad al Haremthe Sacred or Inviolable Temple. It is only during the hours of prayer that it seems regarded as a consecrated place, being at other times a place of meeting for men of business to converse on their affairs, and many of the poorer hadjis, or pilgrims, take up their abode under the piazzas during the whole period of their stay in Mecca. Boys, too, play in the great square, and servants carry luggage across it to pass by the nearest route from one part of the town to the other. Women sell corn and dhourra within the enclosure, which pilgrims purchase to feed the pigeons that abound in the mosque, and are deemed sacred. The latter is not an uninteresting trait; for the Mohammedans generally are fond and careful of animals, and in this respect would shame many Christians. In several parts of the colonnade public schools are held, where young children are taught to spell and read, who add not a little to the prevailing clamour, especially as the stick of the schoolmaster is in almost constant action. Olemas, or doctors, harangue to groups, expounding the Koran and the law; and sheiks perambulate, offering their services to write out documents of every kind. Upon the whole, the desecration is complete; but it is by no means peculiar to the mosque at Mecca, being usual in all the great mosques of the East. At the times of public prayer the scene is very different, particularly at the evening prayer, which is most numerously attended. Then many thousands form in wide circles round the Kaaba as a common centre, before which each silently prostrates himself; the imaum, or priest, takes his post at the door of the Kaaba, and his genuflexions are imitated by the whole assembled multitude. This solemn spectacle is greatly heightened in effect by the indistinct light cast from the lamps around the Kaaba and the outer colonnade, which gives to it the essential character of sublimity.

The mosque of Mecca is endowed with large revenues, possessing property in almost every part of the Turkish empire, but they are now ill paid, and are comparatively trifling to what they used to be. Its principal support is derived from the Turkish sultan and the gifts of the pilgrims. The chief officer is the Nayb al Harem, the guardian who keeps the keys of the Kaaba. Next to him is the aga of the eunuchs, or towashye, who perform the duty of police officers in the temple, prevent disorders, and daily wash and sweep with large brooms the pavement round the Kaaba. They amount to above forty in number, and are usually presented by pashas and other persons of distinction. Most of them are negroes, but they enjoy, nevertheless, great consideration among the Meccans, and are much courted by the pilgrims. Besides these, numerous metowefs, or guides, are attached to the mosque, who escort the pilgrims, and