MISCELLANEOUS. 



683 



permit to be taken out of the 

 country. 



Except the cities of Muscat, 

 Mecca, and Medineh, the Vaha- 

 bies are in possession of all Ara- 

 bia. For many years they refrain- 

 ed from attacking the holy cities ; 

 first, on account of their respect 

 for the house of God ; and, se- 

 condly, from their attachment to 

 the Shereef of Mecca, who pro- 

 fessed to be of their religion ; 

 thirdly, they derived much emo- 

 lument from the pilgrims who 

 passed through their dominions. 

 But lately, at the instigation of the 

 Turks, Abd al Aziz sent a large 

 army, under the command of his 

 son Saoud, into the sacred terri- 

 tory ; who after burning and lay- 

 ing waste the country, entered 

 Mecca, and broke down many of 

 the tombs and shrines; after which 

 he proceeded to Jedda, and laid 

 siege to it. The Shereef immedi- 

 ately took refuge on board a ship 

 anchored in the Red Sea; and the 

 people of the town having agreed 

 to pay a large sum of money, the 

 Vahabies proceeded to Oman. 

 Soon after their arrival in that pro- 

 vince, they were joined by a bro- 

 ther of the Sultan of Muscat, who 

 embraced the Vahaby religion, 

 and assumed the title of Imam al 

 Mussulmeen (Pontiff" of the Mus- 

 sulmans), and soon compelled all 

 the inhabitants of the open coun- 

 try to follow his example, and em- 

 brace the new faith. They have, in 

 consequence, thrown oft' their al- 

 legiance to the Saltan, whose au- 

 thority is now limited to the city 

 of Muscat and its environs. 



The people of Bussora and of 

 Hilla are in such apprehensions of 

 a visit from the Vahabies, that 

 they caimot pass a night iu com- 



fort; and the inhabitants of Nejif 

 and Kerbela having sent all their 

 valuable property to Kazemine for 

 security, tranquilly smoke their 

 pipes, till the day breaks, and 

 they are assured of safety. 



As the depredations of the Va- 

 habies have frequently been car- 

 ried to within a few miles of Bus- 

 sora, it is very probable they will 

 shortly render themselves masters 

 of that city. They have lately 

 conquered the tribe of Outub, 

 who are celebrated for their skill 

 in the art of ship-building and of 

 navigation, and have already com- 

 menced to form a maritime force. 

 Whenever they have effected this 

 point, they will soon be masters of 

 Bussora ; after which they will 

 easily capture Bagdad : and I have 

 no doubt, but that in a few years 

 they will be at the gates of Con- 

 stantinople. 



The sacrilegious plunder of the 

 holy cities of Mecca and Kerbela, 

 by the Vahabies, ought to have 

 roused the vengeance of the Turk- 

 ish emperor and of the king of 

 Persia, and to have induced them 

 to unite their forces for the extir- 

 pation of this wicked tribe, whose 

 insolence is now arrived at that 

 pitch, that, not content with the 

 sovereignty of Arabia, they have 

 had the audacity to write to both 

 those monarchs, inviting them to 

 embrace their religion. The fol- 

 lowing is a copy of the letter of 

 their general, or vicegerent, to 

 the king of Persia. 



<« We fly unto God for refuge 



against the accursed Satan. 



In the name of God, the 



Compassionate, the Merciful." 



" From Abd al Aziz, thief of 



