i88i] A JOURNEY IN THE HEjAZ 547 



thing to buy and sell. The development of Islam has 

 given the pecuniary interest of Mecca another turn ; 

 the pilgrims themselves, drawn from far lands in tens 

 of thousands, are the great source of profit to the Hejaz ; 

 and before the pilgrim trade the ancient traffic in skins 

 sinks into insignificance. Almost every one in Jeddah 

 and Mecca lives more or less off the Hajjy, and a good 

 Hajj is spoken of in the Hejaz as a good harvest would 

 be among us. With Mohammedanism as a religion a 

 monotheistic, and, in so far, a spiritual faith the pilgrim 

 age and the great feast have nothing to do. They were 

 retained and glorified under the new religion from the 

 particularistic standpoint of Mecca, which is the centre 

 not of the spiritual elements of Moslem faith, but of the 

 superstitions by which that faith is disfigured. It is not, 

 therefore, strange that in the Hejaz Mohammedanism 

 appears at its worst, that religion is prostituted to the 

 pursuit of gain, and that the holy city and its port of 

 Jeddah are notorious for the corruption of morals and 

 the practice of the grossest vices. 



We bivouacked in Okatz, under the lee of one of the 

 great rock masses. The night was bitterly cold, but the 

 air delightfully clear and dry. Starting in the morning 

 at half - past seven, we crossed the plain, and traversed 

 for about an hour a more broken country, with the small 

 hamlet of Embr. To our right lay a complicated region 

 of hills and wadies, in which are many fountains and 

 orchards. From one of these springs, named Rayyiha, 

 the Shereef , when resident at Taif, has his drinking water, 

 sending a train of camels weekly, a distance of three 

 hours journey, to fetch a supply. The Taif water is 

 itself very excellent, but that of the region of Rayyiha 

 is esteemed the best in the Hejaz. In water, as is well 

 known, the Arabs are great connoisseurs, and one is 

 constantly asked, in travelling, for one s opinion of the 

 relative sweetness of different sources. An hour from 

 Okatz the road takes a sharp rise, and presently crosses 



