The ATHENÆUM says:
“Those orthodox geographers who were startled by the American outsider’s successful walk into Africa will receive a hardly less severe shock on learning that the pilgrimage to Meccah has been performed by a youngster of five-and-twenty, apparently a sailor by profession, and with none of the special training enjoyed by his few predecessors.... The style of the work, if something eccentric and unconventional, is amusingly direct and natural, and the occasional digressions are as original and characteristic as the rest. His whole narrative, indeed, is a series of pictures.”
PUBLIC OPINION says:
“Mr. Keane has given an account of everything of interest that came under his notice when in Meccah during the pilgrim season 1877-8.... The precarious position of an unbeliever in any wholly Mohammedan town is well known, and Mr. Keane appears to have run many risks; but he has managed to give us his narrative in a modest style, free from all sorts of egotism; and any tale of Meccah that is within the comprehension of the general public will always find auditors.”
The GRAPHIC says:
“It deserves to succeed; for though full of incidents which seem marvellous even to Mr. Keane, it is rich in local colouring.... The book is well written, and deserves to be widely read. Like Captain Burton, Mr. Keane believes in the gold and precious stones of Arabia.”
The LITERARY WORLD says:
“His description of this place [the Haram] and of the ‘holy Kaabah’ is exceedingly full and interesting, and, were it possible, we should like to have given an extract from it. We give instead his description of Meccah.... The book is exceedingly readable, and helps us to a better understanding of modern Mohammedanism.”
The DAILY CHRONICLE says:
“The simplicity of the narrative precludes any idea of book-making; and the scenes described are so fresh that they will awaken considerable interest, and lead the readers to look anxiously for the fresh volume of adventure half promised by the author.”