swaying to and fro, Like waves of a great sea, that in mid shock Confound each other, white with foam and fear,
rushed down the hill with a Labbayk sounding like a blast, and took the road to Muna. Then I saw the scene which has given to this part of the ceremonies the name of Al-Dafa min Arafat,the Hurry from Arafat. Every man urged his beast with might and main: it was sunset; the plain bristled with tent-pegs, litters were crushed, pedestrians were trampled, camels were overthrown: single combats with sticks and other weapons took place; here a woman, there a child, and there an animal were lost; briefly, it was a chaotic confusion.
To my disgust, old Ali insisted upon bestowing his company upon me. He gave over his newly found mule to the boy Mohammed, bidding him take care of the beast, and mounted with me in the Shugduf. I had persuaded Shaykh Masud, with a dollar, to keep close in rear of the pretty Meccan; and I wanted to sketch the Holy Hill. The senior began to give orders about the camelI, counter-orders. The camel was halted. I urged it on: old Ali directed it to be stopped. Meanwhile the charming face that smiled at me from the litter grew dimmer and dimmer; the more I stormed, the less I was listened toa string of camels crossed our pathI lost sight of the beauty. Then we began to advance. Again, my determination to sketch seemed likely to fail before the Zemzemis little snakes eye. After a few minutes angry search for expedients, one suggested itself. Effendi! said old Ali, sit quiet; there is danger here. I tossed about like one suffering from evil conscience or from the
[p.200] colic. Effendi! shrieked the senior, what art thou doing? Thou wilt be the death of us. Wallah! I replied with a violent plunge, it is all thy fault! There! (another plunge)put thy beard out of the other opening, and Allah will make it easy to us. In the ecstasy of fear my tormentor turned his face, as he was bidden, towards the camels head. A second halt ensued, when I looked out of the aperture in rear, and made a rough drawing of the Mountain of Mercy.
At the Akhshabayn, double lines of camels, bristling with litters, clashed with a shock more noisy than the meeting of torrents. It was already dark: no man knew what he was doing. The guns roared their brazen notes, re-echoed far and wide by the harsh voices of the stony hills. A shower of rockets bursting in the air threw into still greater confusion the timorous mob of women and children. At the same time martial music rose from the masses of Nizam and the stouter-hearted pilgrims were not sparing of their Labbayk[FN#6] and id kum Mubarak[FN#7]May your Festival be happy!
After the pass of the Two Rugged Hills, the road widened, and old Ali, who, during the bumping, had been in a silent convulsion of terror, recovered speech and spirits. This change he evidenced by beginning to be troublesome once more. Again I resolved to be his equal. Exclaiming, My eyes are yellow with hunger! I seized a pot full of savoury meat which the old man had previously stored for supper, and, without further preamble, began to eat it greedily, at the same time ready to shout with laughter at the mumbling and grumbling sounds that proceeded from the darkness of the litter. We were at least three hours on the road before reaching
[p.201] Muzdalifah, and being fatigued, we resolved to pass the night there.[FN#8] The Mosque was brilliantly illuminated, but my hungry companions[FN#9] apparently thought more of supper and of sleep than of devotion.[FN#10] Whilst the tent was being raised, the Indians prepared our food, boiled our coffee, filled our pipes, and spread our rugs. Before sleeping each man collected for himself seven Jamrahbits of granite the size of a small bean.[FN#11] Then, weary with emotion and exertion, all lay down except the boy Mohammed, who preceded us to find encamping ground at Muna. Old Ali, in lending his mule, made the most stringent arrangements with the youth about the exact place and the exact hour of meetingan act of simplicity at which I could not but smile. The night was by no means peaceful or silent. Lines of camels passed us every ten minutes, and the shouting of travellers continued till near dawn. Pilgrims ought to have nighted at the Mosque, but, as in Burckhardts time, so in mine, baggage was considered to be in danger thereabouts, and consequently most of the devotees spent the sermon-hours in brooding over their boxes.
[FN#1] Ali Bey calls it Jami al-Rahmahof mercy. [FN#2] Here was a small chapel, which the Wahhabis were demolishing when Ali Bey was at Meccah. It has not been rebuilt. Upon this spot the Prophet, according to Burckhardt, used to stand during the ceremonies. [FN#3] Burckhardt gives this name to a place a little way on the left and about forty steps up the mountain. [FN#4] In Solomons time the Egyptian horse cost 150 silver shekels, which, if the greater shekel be meant, would still be about the average price, £18. Abbas, the late Pasha, did his best to buy first-rate Arab stallions: on one occasion he sent a mission to Al-Madinah for the sole purpose of fetching a rare work on farriery. Yet it is doubted whether he ever had a first-rate Nijdi. A Badawi sent to Cairo by one of the chiefs of Nijd, being shown by the viceroys order over the stables, on being asked his opinion of the blood, replied bluntly, to the great mans disgust, that they did not contain a single thoroughbred[.] He added an apology on the part of his laird for the animals he had brought from Arabia, saying, that neither Sultan nor Shaykh could procure colts of the best strain. For none of these horses would a staunch admirer of the long-legged monster called in England a thoroughbred give twenty pounds. They are mere rats, short and stunted, ragged and fleshless, with rough coats and a slouching walk. But the experienced glance notes at once the fine snake-like head, ears like reeds, wide and projecting nostrils, large eyes, fiery and soft alternately, broad brow, deep base of skull, wide chest, crooked tail, limbs padded with muscle, and long elastic pasterns. And the animal put out to speed soon displays the wondrous force of blood. In fact, when buying Arabs, there are only three things to be considered,blood, blood, and again blood. In Marco Polos time, Aden supplied the Indian market. The state of the tribes round the Eye of Yaman has effectually closed the road against horse-caravans for many years past. It is said that the Zu Mohammed and the Zu Hosayn, sub-families of the Benu Yam, a large tribe living around and north of Sanaa, in Al-Yaman, have a fine large breed called Al-Jaufi, and the clan Al-Aulaki, ([Arabic]), rear animals celebrated for swiftness and endurance. The other races are stunted, and some Arabs declare that the air of Al-Yaman causes a degeneracy in the first generation. The Badawin, on the contrary, uphold their superiority, and talk with the utmost contempt of the African horse. In India we now depend for Arab blood upon the Persian Gulf, and the consequences of monopoly display themselves in an increased price for inferior animals. Our studs are generally believed to be sinks for rupees. The Governments of India now object, it is said, to rearing, at a great cost, animals distinguished by nothing but ferocity. It is evident that Al-Hijaz never can stock the Indian market. Whether Al-Nijd will supply us when the transit becomes safer, is a consideration which time only can decide. Meanwhile it would be highly advisable to take steps for restoring the Aden trade by entering into closer relations with the Imam of Sanaa and the Badawi chiefs in the North of Al-Yaman. [FN#5] I obtained the following note upon the ceremonies of Wahhabi pilgrimage from one of their princes, Khalid Bey:The Wahhabi (who, it must be borne in mind, calls himself a Muwahhid, or Unitarian, in opposition to MushrikPolytheistany other sect but his own) at Meccah follows out his two principal tenets, public prayer for men daily, for women on Fridays, and rejection of the Prophets mediation. Imitating Mohammed, he spends the first night of pilgrimage at Muna, stands upon the hill Arafat, and, returning to Muna, passes three whole days there. He derides other Moslems, abridges and simplifies the Kaabah ceremonies, and, if possible, is guided in his devotions by one of his own sect. [FN#6] This cry is repeated till the pilgrim reaches Muna; not afterwards. [FN#7] Another phrase is Antum min al-aidinMay you be of the keepers of festival! [FN#8] Hanafis usually follow the Prophets example in nighting at Muzdalifah; in the evening after prayers they attend at the Mosque, listen to the discourse, and shed plentiful tears. Most Shafeis spend only a few hours at Muzdalifah. [FN#9] We failed to buy meat at Arafat, after noon, although the bazar was large and well stocked; it is usual to eat flesh there, consequently it is greedily bought up at an exorbitant price. [FN#10] Some sects consider the prayer at Muzdalifah a matter of vital importance. [FN#11] Jamrah is a small pebble; it is also called Hasa, in the plural, Hasayat.
[p.202] CHAPTER XXX.