The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-06-16
THE GREAT HAL.
Early Summer Pilgrimage of the Mos
 lems to Gain Immortality.

lems to Gain Immortality.
 As soon as winter is fairly over the I fever of travel seizes upon thousands of
 Moslem souls. All through the sum- mer one caravan after another will, from every part of the near east, be starting for one of the seven holy | places of Islam. These adored shrines, | mentioning them in the order of their
 sanctity, are Mecca, where Mohammed
 was born; Medina, the burial place of l the prophet; Nejef, in the EuphrateS, 1 where Ali was martyred; Kerbela, on l the banks of the same great river, where the earth is so sacred that bodies are brought by caravans for burial
 there in hundreds every year; Kaze-
 mein, the village close to Bagdad,
 where stands one of the loveliest of all mosques; Meshed, the holiest of all the
 cities of Persia, with it's glorious golden | domed mosque; Samara, in southeast I Russia reckoned sacred not by the
 Russian Greek church, but by the Mos- | lem Tartars, numerous in the region; and Kun, a village in Persia, near Te-- | heran, little known to the out side world,
 but revered by all Persians.
 When I first saw a lot of pilgrims
 crossing the Black Sea I was, like most other travellers, fascinated by their odd ways. They did not fail to arrange lit- tie sanctuaries by spreading their
 prayer rugs" in any little vacant spot
 on the deck, just before sunset But, of
 course, not one of their yelled women
 took any part in the abject prostrations
 iyo 1,o Ifrootioy, of Mnono
 Many of these pilgrims are at this
 moment traversing the Black Set, the
 Mediterranean Levant, the Red Sea and
 the Indian Ocean. Especially along the
 Red Sea, for weeks to come, will thou sands of "hajia," as they are called ever after making such religious expedi- ton, be voyaging to Jeddah, the port of
 Mecca, that praying center of the whole Moslem world, which lies in the lap of tr sand-wastes, sixty-five miles from the coast.
 The scene at Suez when a pilgrim craft is about starting is indescribable, but it can never be forgotten. The sto- lid Orientals are excitable enough when their experience appeals to their fanat- icism Those "hamals," or porters of giant strength who fight for the lug gage and infuriate the passengers by | extortionate claims, do much to start | the confusion. Women shriek and chill l dren cry, and men scald and swear in ] fine Oriental style. People who cannot | become "hajis'' are sullen and scowling; | friends are weeping and shrieking their farewells as well they may, for many who depart will never return.
 What is the great aim of these enthu- siasts who day after day in all parts of the near east throng the caravan routes or take sea passages where these are available? Their ideas are perfectly definite. They are chasing immortali- ty For the most part they are little enough concerned about the prospect of a safe return home. If they do they will have graduated in the great col- ege of sanctity, and will, as "haiis," be by all their acquaintances with unbounded admiration Those will be the happiest who have not only before the Black Stone in he Kaaba, or mystic mosque, in the Belt Allah" House of God) at Mecca, l put have also gone far into the desert 0 Medina to the prophets tomb.
 The ceremonies at these shrines are yivid and romantic in all their details lne of the most striking is that of the 'Stoning of the Great Devil" No pil- rim to Mecca would willingly miss hat. All set out soon after arriving at he Holy City, for the base of Holy Ararat," the beautiful mountain six niles out. where a vast encampment of i ents gleams under the radiant sky.
 The Shaitan el Kabir," or Devils Pil- ar. is a small, rough buttress near the f title village of Muna, at the foot of the l aountain. Early in the morning <, rowds gather for the stoning. This ceremony of liquidation is a very reli- ious observance. but a deadly one to lany of the participants. Snorting and tamping camels and dromedaries, caring Arab horses, struggling mules { nd asses trample under foot many l