TIU-: MOHAMMEDAN PJLGRIMAGF. 217 



The dawn was amioiiiiced by a discharge of mus- 

 ketr5% which summoned the faitl)lul to make ready 

 for Iheir morninj^: prayers. After sunrise Burck- 

 hardt ascended the summit of the mount, which 

 presented a very extensive and singular prospect. 

 Long- streets of tents, fitted up as bazars, furnished 

 the busy crowds with all kinds of provisions. The 

 Syrian and Egyptian cavalry were exercised by their 

 chiefs ; while thousands of camels were feeding on 

 the dry shrubs all around the camps. About 3000 

 tents were dispersed over the plain ; though the 

 greater number of the assembled multitudes had no 

 such accommodation. The caravans were placed 

 without order ; and many of them in the form of 

 large circles or dowars, in the inside of which their 

 camels reposed. 



Of these encampments the most rich and magnifi- 

 cent were those of Yahia, the sherilTof Mecca, the 

 pasha of Damascus, the viceroy of Egypt, and more 

 particularly his wife, who had lately arrived from 

 Cairo. Her equipage included a dozen tents of dif- 

 ferent sizes, inhabited by her women : the whole 

 was surrounded with a wall of linen cloth 800 paces 

 in circuit, the sole entrance to which was guarded 

 by eunuchs in splendid dresses. Around this enclo- 

 sure were pitched the tents of the men who formed 

 her numerous suite. The beautiful embroidery on 

 the exterior of this linen palace, with the various 

 colours displayed in every part of it, must have re- 

 minded the spectator of the gorgeous descriptions 

 in the Tales of the Thousand and One Nights. Some 

 of the Mecca merchants, especially the family of 

 Jelani, had very elegant tents ; this being almost 

 the only occasion when the Arabian grandees ever 

 venture to display their wealth in the presence of a 

 pasha. 



Burckhardt estimated the whole persons assem- 

 bled on the plain at about 70,000 ; and the number 

 of camels from 20,000 to 25,000 This seems af 



Vol, II.— T 



