The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-04-18
The Time Of the Pilgrims.

return. In the East, to-day, millions
Of peop'e2Hindoo and Mohammedan.
men, women and children-are toiling
On their homeward way from Nee a
and Medina in Arabia. and the Gauges
shrines in India, to all quarters of the
compass. No European has ever yet
started with party o Arabic devotees
rom their no Des, travelled with them
as they Travelled, lived as they lived,
and followed the wonderful pilgrim
sto y throu h from first to last. The
mar. alive OF the journey would be
equ lily picturesque and inter sting.
Astounding in passages OF quaint adven-
ture and dec pathOs. Whether in In
dia we set out rom the IA abs pal
or the ryot's hut, there, is b,lt
one road to follow, that which fro n
time immemorial has been consecrat,d
Y ilgrm's .eet, and which leads the
wayfaYer to Benares, Allahabad. and
Gaya, and passed by the wayside
thousand sacred shrines. In the cir
cumstances of he journey there would
e vast difference, for with the noble
cortege wou'd be witnessed the aston-
shing combination of magnificeny e and
squa'or that marks the dev { onal
progress of Hindoo prince. All day
long there would be the stately pro es-
sion of gorgeously bedizened Ox-wagons
and horsemen, the whole household
and retinue of the rajah on journey.
the lamor of greedy votaries of the
tie nples and akirs, the pompous dis
play of wealth and rank and piety,
boast nj pride and supersiitious humil-
ity. All night long from the splendid
tents would come the sounds of bar
barous sleep-murdering music, the
tinkling o. ankle bells. and the vocifer-
ated demands and thanks of the pious
and the poor who crowd without. w tn
the poor man the trav Ter would see
the s1me sight exactly, hear the same
sounds, v sit the same pre- Use spots !;
but he would be on foot. staff in his
hand, bag of parched grain at his
back, ever accompanied by the moving
dust, wit ,ripples and 81 k and mendi-
can,s jostling along toget' er. The day
would pass IN mOnOtOnous trudging,
broken at times by a halt before
shr ne, with noisy invocat ons, and the
night he spent under the sky in weary
sleep.
between the two extremes. however,
there is vast body of pilgrims-the
middl class of Hindoos who look for
ward TO the all i'm o. tant journey rs a
household holiday. both enjoyable in the
pre- ent and advantageous in the uture.
The women and children will all take
part in it, and year ter year money is
put by and preparati MS made Tor the
g eat undertaking. Months are Occu-
p ed in the actual travelling to and fro,
and if sickness intervene the whole fam
lily will remain at one or the other of the
sacred PLACES until recovery or death
sets them free again. Throughout the
long journey will re sprinkled episodes
of ad enture from wild beasts and r b.
beers. many laugh'er-moving incidents
also, but just as many miserable scenes
of d ath and crime. with perhaps on the
road or some hating place an outbreak
of one of those awful epidemics which
so frequently attack the pilgrim swarms.
But every day is frightened for all alike
with the er-present thought that each
step in advance is u step nearer to their
thrones of grace, and every step on the
homeward way made easy by the knowl-
edge of the good deed done and the
happiness stored up in recompense here
after.
Turning to the Mohammedans, we
find the scene almost the same. SINH
lar differences rank and circumstances,
with Their attendant inc dents of ~ ury
or misery, mark the onward course of
the never-rest NO crowd and the same
episodes of life, tragic or comic, break
the monotony of the pilgrimage.
In tracing the course of party of the
Faithful from the homes to the su-
preme mosque, the narrative, however,
would exceed n adventurous variety,
and even in picturesque romance, the
record of the Hindoo's pious Quincy.
For the hindoo is of India only; and
though he may have wandered for an
interval, he returns to his country, so
that his pilgrimage commences and
ends within the limits of Hindoo tan.
These are, it is true. vast enough; but
to the empire of Mohammed there are
no limits slve those of the earth. Upon
Mecca converge al the 70 DIS OF Africa,
Europe, and Asia. Travel is not for
hidden to Mohammedans, and they
have therefore sp cad far and wide; but
once IN his life cry man hopes TO turn
his feet toward the City of the Prophet,
to win eternal paradise by seeing 1.-THE
stone and well'' before he dies; and
from china and Central Africa, the
Asiatic khanates and the Eastern seas,
perennial streams OF pill grims are for
ever in flow and ebb. The undertake
ing, however, though in itself a formid-
able one, has lost something of its ter
rors for the greater number of the pious
by the conven ences offered by enter
prising contractors and ship-owners,
which greatly alleviate both the danger
and hardships of the journey. Whole
,aravans-Ghousands of men and wo
men together are now provisioned and
ca ried by contract from place to place
on land while regular hal ing stages
with lodging accommodations and
traders ores, enab' e the wayfarers to
recruit their strength and re lenish
their stock of small Injuries at conyeni-
ent intervals. Turks, negroes AMI
Malays. men from Greece and Barbary.
Cent al Africa and Palestine. Malacca
and Syria-all the countries and Islands
where Islam has its followers-crowd
together at the seaport nearest Mecca,
and for weeks the ships have been busy
di-charging and embarking their motley
freights.
Some: mes the pilgr ms have to take
passage by We sells not intended solely
for their benefit an this d. ase of their
Journey has heref re lee 1me familiar
to us. With a gravity and pers ence
that mott ing will disturb, the deTout
Mohanmedans attempt all day and
nigh to take advantage If the conven-
iences and comforts designed for the
tetter-paying class OF pass myers, en-
croach n on parts Ct the sh D sacred to