The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-23

FOUNTAIN, with platform and prayer mat,
80 tnat nothing may be wanting 10 the
piOus traveller. The walls are of alternate
courses of white aud black stone. and a
row of dark recesses forms gallery
round the first floor. Here some whole
sale business is done. but ruined arches,
ume-stained walls and neglected fountains
speak of decay. Many years have Sone
oy since the courtyard was packed with
the treasures of Bgbdad and Mecca, and
Constantinople, and Cairo; since the gal
lerieS resOunded with the talk of men
who had come from east and west and
south and north 10 the famous marts of
Damascus
The Emperor saw later in the day an
other evidence of those changes under
which Damascus lis waxed feeble" and is
taken from being a great city" He rode
through the Gate OF God past the Moslem
cemetery, 10 Meidan, where tho pilgrim
caravan starts for Mecca. In earlier days
before steamboats, called at Jeddah, all
pilgrims from Africa, Persia. Central Asia
and Turkey began their Journey from Mel
dan. The long street that leads TO the
plain, between rows of quaint houses.
shops, and ancient mosques, depends fol-
its prosperity on these annual gatherings,
and its prosperity is on the decline. A
pious Mussulman of the old school would
no more think of performing the Hal,
or pilgrimage, by steamboat than a Chris
tan would think of praying by machinery
He still tramps or rides from Meidan.
But the Mussulman of the Old school who
viii have none of these ''iniidel" aids 10
the sanctity of a green turban, is fasl
dying out. The Algerian, the Tuuisian, the
Persian, and even the Turk have aban-
dOned Damascus. Hence, in some measure
at any rate, the air of poverty and decay
in the street of the Hal.
Ii is none the lass a most fascinating
street, unlike any within the city bounds
The houses are fiat-roofed squares of
whitewashed mud pierced with narrow
windows, through which glance yelled
faces. The shops are many, and the goods
displayed on their shelves are various. but
grain seems TO be the principal article of
merchandise. There are scores of ware
houses, with heaps of grain. To-day the
heaps serve as couches. for women and
children crowd every corner and every
roof. The kurd, in his square cloak of felt
has driven his sheep into the courtyard
the Bedouin has halted mis- solemn process
sion of cameis to await the coming of the
Emperor His pilgrimage was short, yet
triumphant. The green flag of the Pro
phet was hung on the wall of the mosque
where the camel that carries the sacred
litter is fed. Riding slowly forward, his
majesty reached the plain, with its ruined
mosque and mud hamlet, where for many
generations Moslems have assembled for
that pilgrimage which is their baptism of
faith. He went as far as the meeting of the
two roads that stretch like sun-scorched
ribbons 10 the purple hills-the road to
the Hauran, fun of vague mystery of war
and wandering, and the road to Mecca
The Emperor is a mystic, and loves the
sights that quicken and color Imagination.
He gazed long and intently at the path
that leads across the Desert to the Noun
tain of Light and the Sacred City-the
Pantheon Of Moslems. Doubtless he saw in
his minds eye the endless procession that
treads the way to Mecca, the multitude of
the East who endure toll, and hunger, and
thirst-even death-in the hope of looking
upon the black stone which the Angel
Gabriel gave to Abraham.
There is no more poetic scene on earth
than Damascus viewed at a distance I'M
der evening light. Twice the Emperor
rode TO the village of Es-Salahiyeh in or
der TO gaze upon it's spendor and majesty
The spot on which he stood Is sacred to
Moslems. There Abraham was taught the
doctrine of the unity of God, and thither
for many generations have come dreamers
to lay their bones in the shadow of the
tomb of Muhi-ed-Din- ibu el-'Arabi, poet
and mystic. At the Emperor's feet
. stretched the city-white walls, studded
with gardens and domes and glittering
minarets, eneircled with an emerald belt
Away to the west. over a barren plain,
rose the mountains of Anti-Lebanon
against a solemn space of blue sky. Their
brown summit was bathed in a sea of
crimson light, that lost itself in the rent
sides and broke like waves of blood
against rugged peaks Volcanic Safa grew
black ana monstrous, and the mountains
of the Hauran haunted the horizon like
shrouded phantoms. Slowly the purple
shadows crept across the plain until the
sun descended behind a crimson cloud,
and a level line of twilight ran along the.
hill tops A dark veil was drawn over the
sky, but the city shone below, dome and
minaret rising strange and majestic out
of the shining space. And through the
silence of the night hoated the melancholy
cry of the Muezzin-'Allah is great. be-
neve that there is no God but Allah, and
Mahomet is the Prophet of Allah. Come
TO prayer"