Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-01-30

Whereupon, whipping out his greasy copy
of the sacred volume, he began to catechise
me with the air of one who would say,
| Nov you shall see me do UP this hereto"
But in my enforced leisure l had not
studied the Koran in vain. To every ques-
ton came pat answer in the very words
| of the prophet himself, till the priest, first
amazed and then convinced, thrust the
| book back into his bosom and embraced
me as true believer.
"Marhaba, marhaba" WELCOME, vel
I come1, he said, with a fervor more embar-
RAISING than his doubt. 'Icrave thy pardon
/ for my distrust. Thou art indeed a worthy
follower of our holy prophet. Would that
all his sons knew his words so we'll. Andnow
sit thee down. FL hamdu lillah. f4aise be
/ to heaven it hath fallen to our lot to rescue
a believer from the fangs of these wolves
Semmo [eat]" And forthwith we all set
to work with an appetite that the exercise
with the Koran had in no wise dulled.
1t required constant watchfulness, how
ever, to preserve me from lapsing into
Christian barbarities and heathenisms
Even Tabal had to be kept out of my inner
secrets, and as to Rance, though doubted
not her desire to be secret, I had careful
remembrance of the natural weakness Of a
woman's tongue.
Once satisfied with our credentials the
pilgrims made us as one of themselves.
When we spoke of their kindness to stren-
gers, they made ever the one answer:
Think We it is the will of God that any
true believer should be left to perish on the
way to the holy city? At the gathering of
the nations, when the angels shall render
their account of mems deeds, both good
and bad, what would be our recompense if
we were guilty of such a thing?' And
70, bo, -
that Christians who boast of their charity
might occasionally initiate with advantage
We travelled fast and made our destina-
ton without loss by sickness or violence.
No Bedouin molested as, because we were
1900 strong and our way lay through the
open, where the children of the desert sell
dom attack. We went by arid strips and
fertile pasture lands among focks and
herds and herdsmen that are today as they
were in the days of the patriarchs, and ap-
pear not to miss the blessings of civiliza-
ton. We paid eXtortionate tolls to legal
lied robbers for allowing us to pass where
all the world was free, and we halted for
rejection and prayers beside pleasant wells
that were in no fanciful sense the eye of
the landscape. 1.-THE Bedouin, living mostly
among torrid sands, very appropriately
calls water the eye of the landscapeJ And
ever as we drew nearer the holy city the
pace increased and the enthusiasm grew
We smote ourselves on the breast, ejacu-
lating fervid passages of the Koran, and
many would have dismounted and run, so
ardent and inspiring was their joy.
At last one evening, as we were winding
among short, stony ravines that edged
verdurous plain, the leaders raised an
ecstatic shout, and the rest of the caravan
crushing forward with beating hearts be-
held in a sort of valley below them the
minarets of Mecca cleaning in the sun like
a thousand points of fire, the great mosque
being conspicuous in the midst.
We descended like an avalanche in
storm of dust, every Moslem of us beside
himself with joy and awe and excitement,
and, reaching the foot of the declivity, we
burst into such n scene of commotion as
human eye could witness nowhere else I'M
der the wide cope of heaven.
We talk of Babel, but the credit of the
real confusion of tongues belongs to Mecca.
There were a hundred thousand strangers
in the city and, Judging by the ear, ten
times as many tongues and dialects. There
were faces of every imaginable hue and
shape from every known cline, and COS
TUNES that only mad tailor could realize
in deliriOus visions of the night. The elect
of the believers were there from Turkey
Timbuctoo, from Egypt, Palestine and the
dark heart of Africa, from Persia and the
regions of the Indus, from Hindoostan, Ma
lacca and the Asiatic isles and from many
fer separated places besides, gathered at
incalculable cost and indescribable trouble
and discomfort. to worship according to
the doctrines of Islam.
Yet the tumult was certainly not such as
one associates with acts of religion. Men
using the language of troopers in a rage
were hauling wildly at apathetic camels
that appeared to have all insuperable bias
in favor of standing still, and frantically
endeavoring to stuff them in holes and cor
ners that could not possibly accommodate
anything larger than a cat; horses were
rearing and backing and dancing; ladies
We're screaming in fear of having their lit
tiers upset and their sacred beauty exposed
to the public gaze; householders and visit
ors wrangled and gesticulated about the
value of lodgings, and over all were a mil
lion ear splitting cries that seemed to rise
out of the very earth.
We did not little ourselves to add to
the din and confusion, for we had a goodly
number of beasts to dispose of and voluble
tongues in our heads to argue against the
obstinacy of man and brute. 1t took sew
eral hours of trduous pulling and pushing
belongings b, Ised, but the enterprise was
at length accomplished just as the sun, the
only street lamp at Mecca. was dropping
out of sight. Then having dined sumptu-
ously on roast fowl, eggs, bread and coffee
rare delicacies after the hard fare of the
desert-we lay down to dream of the great
things that We're before us.
Anxious to show ourselves patterns of
piety and Strictness Tabal and | assumed
the hiram, which is the special mark of de
voutness. 1t consists of two pieces of linen
cloth, one of which is wrapped about tho
lOns like highland kilt and the other
thrown over the upper part of the body in
such a way rs to leave the right arm I'M
covered As no other garment, not even so
much "a a covering for the lIead, is permit
ted while it il worn, it makes an airy dress,
in he evening and ut early morn
ing, when the Mecca air is often as shrewd
AS shat of Edinburgh.
Thus we visited with our companions the
beitullah, or temple an imposing building
with more gates and minarets and courts
and domes and marble, granite and por-
phyry pillars than I had time to count.
Rance we were obliged to leave in the porch
with great crowd of her own sex, for the
Moslem will allow no woman, however
beautiful or pious or exalted, to set foot in
his temple. Thus the Mohammedan ladies,
less fortunate than their Christian sisters,
are denied the privilege of displaying the
latest fashions in church
Inside the pavenlents were full of men in
every posture of rapt devotion, some kneel-
ing, some sitting with bent heads, others
PROSTATE on the floor. At sight of these
we stopped for one minute, bowling low;
then with solemn, measured step, we adj
vanced five abreast upon the kaaba, keep
ing our eyes fast upon 1t. On reaching it
we stopped again, but only for an instant.
Proceeding at the same pace as before we
went round it seven times, reciting in low
voice certain prescribed verses from the !
Koran, only we interrupted ourselves at
each round to kiss the black stone which,
as all believed, was brought direct from
heaven by the angel Gabriel
Having done our duty by the kaaba and
the black stone we turned to the zemZem-