Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-04-05


the journey In person at the head of
enormous bands of faithful Worship
pers. Harun FL Rashid is said to have
made the piigrima ge nine times, and
on one visit to have spent million aud
nifty thousand dinars in presents to the
people OF Mecca and the poor phi
grims; and one Sultan of Egvpt is
reported to have had 500 camels for
the transport of sweetmeats and con-
tectlonery alone, aud $50 for various
kinds OF fruits. The Sultan of Turkey
being at present the Acknowledged
callph, the most imposing caravan to
Mecca is that which starts from Con-
stantInople, and travels all the way
overland by Damascus and through the
desert of Arabia. Though none of the
Ottomon sovereigns have ever made
the journey in person, the caravan is
under the charge of a high Turkish
othcer, and escorted by Imperial troops.
Passing through Asin Minor 1T collects
various streams of pilgrims, and then
makes a halt of some time at Damas-
Gus IN order to make preparations Cor a
Journey of thirty DAYS through
the desert. The main part O.
these preparations is the collecting of
sufficient number of camels for the
transport The number is necessarily
large, seeing that food, and in some
places even water, have to be carried,
not only for the pilgrims and soldiers,
but for the camels themselves; a supply
for the return journey being deposited
as they proceed. And il Is the interest
of the RedouIn sheiks of the frontier,
who contract with the Gov-
ernment for the supply of
camels, to swell the number as much as
possible. Burckhardt, in 1914, COM
puted that there were IS. 900 csmels in
caravan of 4,O0J or 5000 persons.
One may well believe, that in the earlier
times, when things were done on a
magnificent scale, the size of the cara
van must have been enormous. Arab
historians say that the mother of the
last of the Abbaside calipbs, who made
the pilgrimage in A a. 63l, had "A
caravan with 100, 900 camels. 1t Is a
laboi iOus and painful journey, the
stnges being regulated by the wells
and khans, which have been erected
for the convenience of the pilgrims.
convoy takes provisions IN sdyar ce,
depositing Il supply daily at the halting
place. and the caravan travels by night.
The fariuQ torches give a weird appear
ance to the moving mass, aud through
the blasting winds of the desert, that
try even the much e. during camel,
over slippery ground that brings the
jaied beast to his knees. through
thIckets of thorn trees that tear the
unwary rider from his seat, the mnlti-
tude creeps along; Its numbers thInned
ut times by the stealthy Bedouin who,
under cover of the night, will lead off a
| few of the camels into the darkness, or
/ 10y the fell hand of disease, which
/ strews the path with victims, whose de-
yotion has been stronger than their
| physical endurance. The true devotee,
! however, courts rather than shuus
! danger; and in former days the pIl-
| grims tOiled on for long distances over
( land, esteeming it a greater merit the
more painful the journey was made.
In modern times, partly from the
decay of devotion, and partly from
greater facilities of travel, the cara
vans are shorn OF a great deal of their
| former dignity. Besides the Syrian
caravan, there was the Egyptian,
almost rivnllIng it III numbers, and fol-
! lowing even more painful course,
! from Cairo, through the dry and In
/ hospitable region along the Red Sea.
Then there was the Persian caravan
coming from Bagdad in the East, and
/ that OF the Maghribin, or Westerns,
| gathering the pilgrims as it came east
ward from Morocco along the norti. ern
shores of Africa. In Arabia itself
there were caravans from Yemen, en-
bracing natives OF that district, as vel
as Indians and Persians who had come
| from that direction. When to these
we add the smaller streams of Bedouiu
| Arabs from the Interior, we get an idea
! Of the number and varied natlonallties
of the pilgrims, and the pomp with
which the great annual festival was
celebrated. Now, however, u great
number of the pilgrims lessen the
fatIgues of the Journey by availinR
themselves of steamboats,. Not only
do the Indian merchants, as of old,
come by sea TO Jiddah, but even pill
grims from Syria, Egypt, aud Wesi
Africa make the greater part of the
Journey by sea, and approach the holy
city also by the seaport. Mecca j:
| distant from Jiddah about fiIty-five
miles, and caravans, travelling very
slowly, make the journey in two nights
and a day. The town lies in bare,
rocky valley, whose utmost length Ii
about two miles and a half. and it:
breadth nowhere greater than three
Quarters of a mile. The valley slopes
steeply towards 1T southern end, neal
which the mosque Is situated, and Is
exposed to sudden and violent raiI
torrents, which on more than one oc'
casion have done damage to the holy
house. Mecca has u settled population
of not more than 10000, but II Is cap
able of accommodating three times thai
number, The people live by the pill
grimage. The mosque itself has en-
dowments IN all parts of the world
then there are stipends and subsldiei
sent to officials and others from Con
stantinople; and, above all, the pilgrims
spend large sums for lodging. service
and curiosities; so that during abou
three months the inhabitants secure {
comfortable living for the who'll
year.
There are several places OF interes
Ipointed out to the pilgrim at Mecca
such as the bIrthplaces of Mohammed
ALI, Fatima, and others, and the bur
iial-place OF KhadIjah. The visiting o
these is, however, a very subsldlar.
matter to the pilgrim, who comes, no
TO crafty a religious curiosity, but t
perform q sacred duty. He spend
the greater part of his stay at Mecca ii
the mosque, which has grown up "roun'
the Kaabs, the Black Stone, and tn
we'll Zemzem.
The Kaaba, as that name implies, l
\ building in the form of cu6e, al
though its sides are not of equal dlmen
sions, the length being about forty nv
feet. the breadth thirty, and the heigh
forty. 1t is built of the stone OF tn
neighborhood, with a fiat roof, and n
external orDamentation. According .
Arab authorities one angle OF the bulid
ing POINTS to the pole star, so tha' IN
front or face would he the northeas
vail It is covered with a veil
5rapery of black silken stun, EN-
, broidered in the same color wit
passages from the Koran aud
| Io,t tvo-tbirds of the height froI