Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-09-12
TO MECCA.
Pilgrimage to the Holy City of the Mo-
hammedans Described by st. LOuisan.

|
OF Southern Asia and Europe. and
Northern Africa by thous ands Every
succeeding year sees long caravans ar
irving from every point of the compass
| "Once, while lying in the dry-dock at
Howrah, opposite Calcutta on the
HooglY river, making some repairs to
the iron steamer to which was then at
tached, we received a notice from our
agent that we were chartered to take
pilgrims to Jeddah, the seaport of, and
about sixty miles from, Mecca, and in a
few days were dropping down past Kid
rapore and the King of Ode's palaces, to
just below Garden Reach The next
morning after our arrival our cargo Of
| pilgrims commenced to arrive. Small
bundles or boxes, some of them beauti-
| fully studded with metals or inlaid with
pearls and precious stones, contained
at once their wealth and ward
robe. They came aboard stalking
silently, singly or in pairs,
| with nothing to say-some tall and fine
looking men, some small and delicate as
a female. and still few others deformed.
The color varied all the way from a jet
black to a very clear, almost white.
| Some wore huge turbans of white mus
| lin, cOiled round and round their heads
| IN many intricate folds, while others were
| unprotected save by the long black hair
which hung down over their shoulders.
| The majority Of them were completely
wrapped in their native cloth from head
to foot, while others were content with
| short piece wrapped once around the
waist and secured above the knee Near
| ly all wore shoes or sandals, and l no
| tlced more than once an American shoe
among the red and yellow high pointed
and curved native slippers.
"Our crew was as the general run of
crews, a little lax in their ideas of own
ership, and the idea that it could be
stealing to take anything away from the
coolies never entered their heads, and |
notice that they INDUCED in various re.
mar ks as our freight came over the side
as to the value of the respective boxes
and bundles carried by them. A special
| galley was erected on deck for cooking
purposes, and two native cooks presided
| "a good MOhammedan would not touch
any food prepared by the hand of an in
! fideD and boiled rice twice a day, which
, was served out to the faithful at nine
o'clock in the morning and four o'clock
in the afternoon. AS to sleeping quar-
tiers no pretension was made to provide
anything but space, and between the
times of eating and praying the upper
deck was nearly impossible and the
| lower one entirely so. At sunrise and
sunset the praying commenced, and, as
there was not room for all to perform
their devotions at the same time, they
had TO take spell and spell about, as
the sailors aptly termed it. The prayer
is, or seems to be, rather long affair,
and about as lively as some of the dances
performed by the HindOo girls.
Their head is first barred and their
hair put back, their shoes removed and
the feet washed, and then standing up
with their bare head and feet, their
arms crossed in a submissive manner
across the breast, they turn their eyes
| toward Mecca, and in a very discOnso.
late way seem to be apologizing to some
body for having done something Their
lips move for a few moments, and then a
most profound bow is inserted to give
| force to their late elOQuence. The bow
and silent prayer having been repeated
three times, they finally drop down on
their knees and touch the deck with their
forehead several times, their lips moving
continuously in silent prayer. Finally
they get down to business and PROSTATE
themselves at full length on the deck,
touching the lips and forehead, and in
! the fervency of their devotion become
totally oblivious to all surroundings.
Then they retreat in the same order step
by step, until they once more return to
the outside world looking sad and
sorry
"This sort of pantomime was kept up
all the passage until we entered the Red
Sea, and our salvation seekers were in
formed that the hills on our right were
Arabian and the native country of their
prophet. Then the bowling and scraping
increased tenfold. / almost fancied we
were loaded with jumping jacks, the
strings of which were fastened to the
piston rod of the engine.
''There had been several unsuccessful
attempts to relieve our passengers of
some of their wealth during the passage,
but they were too watchful; but the last
night on board, in the excitement of the
moment, their vigilance was for once re
Taxed. Long and constant they PRAYED,
and as the Gay died, and as the moon
rose and shed its glistaning rays over the
far distant shores, the placid sea and our
slow moving vessel, her decks covered
with hundreds of dark forms in white
raiment, beating their breasts, bowling
their heads and murmuring the name of
Allah l almost fancied myself looking
at characters forcibly elected from the
Arabian Nights. Long iuto the night
the prayers lasted, and eight bells pro.
claimed the hour of midnight before the
last one stretched himself upon the deck
tired out with the days excitement. One
| old fellow constantly carried a box
with him inlaid with brass, with large
brass hinges and handles, which was evi.
IDENTIFY heavy by the eXertion lie made to
lift it, and as evidently valuable by the
| Jealous care with which he guarded it.
All day long he carried it about with
him, and at night it was wrapped in his
tuTban and placed under his head. Two
or three attempts had been made in vain
by some of the crew to get possession of
it, but the old fellow was pretty shrewd.
and seemed always awake and always
with a tight grip on his treasure; he
| always lay in the midst of crowd, and
any attempt to force it away would have
brought summary justice down on the
thief. 1t was about | o'clock this last
morning, and was walking back and
forth on the bridge in charge, the Cap
tain having gone into the chart room for
a short nap, when l noticed one of the
men leading a small line aft from the
forecastle hatch. / saw that the quar-
ter master had her on her course, and
then stepped into the shadow of the
smokestack to see what was up Slow
ly he picked his way over the sleeping
forms until he arrived at the bra5s-bound
bog, when, STOPPING down, he quickly
and quietly made the end fast to one of
the handles and then hurried forward
down the hatchwaY. A moment after
the rope frightened and with a sudden
bound the box started forward at the
rate of forty miles an hour, with the
turban still olinging to it, and disap-
peared down the scuttle. The yell of
surprise and dismay that followed this
act of the drama changed the quiet deck
into pelf ct pandemonium, and it took
couple OF h0ars to get the pilgrims
quoted again. However the next day
we landed them all safe at Jeddah, and
the old victim regained his box, as the
thing was done more for fun than any
thing else.
"Jeddah is supposed to contain the
tomb Of Eve; at least place is shown the