216 THE MOHAMMEDAN PILGRIMAGE. 



called, and which can only be performed at a certain 

 time, the pilgrims take their journey, some on ca- 

 mels, others on mules or asses ; but the greater 

 number walk barefooted, wliich is esteemed the most 

 pious mode of travelling. The crowd is so vast, that 

 several hours elapse before they can clear the nar- 

 row outskirts of Mecca. Beyond the town a few 

 miles the road widens, in passing through the valley 

 of Muna, where the law enjoins certain prayers and 

 ceremonies (paring the nails, and cutting the hair) 

 to be observed. This march is necessarily attended 

 with great confusion. " Of the half-naked hajjis," 

 says Burckhardt, " all dressed in the white ihram, 

 some sat reading the Koran upon their camels ; 

 some ejaculating loud prayers ; while others cursed 

 their drivers, and quarrelled with those near them 

 who choked up the passage." 



Leaving Muna, the plain of Arafat opens through 

 a rocky defile in the mountains; on reaching which 

 the caravans and numerous detachments of pilgrims 

 disperse in quest of their respective places o"f en- 

 campment. It was about thi^e hours after sunset 

 when Burckhardt arrived ; but stragglers continued 

 to pour in till midnight. Numberless fires were 

 now seen lighted up over an extent of ground three 

 or four miles in length ; while high and brilliant 

 clusters of lamps marked the different places where 

 Mohammed Ali, Solyman Pasha, and other emirs of 

 f the haj, had pitched their tents. Pilgrims Avere seen 

 wandering in every direction from camp to camp^ 

 in search of their companions whom they had lost 

 on the road; and it was several hours before the 

 noise and clamour had subsided. Few persons 

 slept ; the devotees sat up praying and uttering their 

 loud chants ; the merry Meccawees formed them- 

 selves into parties, singing the jovial songs called 

 jok, accompanied by clapping of hands ; while the 

 coffee-tents were crowded the whole night with 

 customers. 



