218 THE MOHAMMEDAN PILGRIMAGE. 



favourite number with the Mohammedans ; but it is 

 deserving of remark, that he is the third traveller 

 who has made the same calculation. Pitts and All 

 Bey mention this as being the smallest number that 

 must necessarily attend at any pilgrimage on Mount 

 Arafat ; and, in every case where there are fewer, 

 angels are sent down from heaven to make up the 

 deficiency, Burckhardt's 70,000 appears a tolerable 

 assemblage, even without the addition of celestial 

 recruits ; yet he says that two only of the five or 

 six regular caravans had made their appearance that 

 year. When the Spanish Mussulman performed 

 this ceremony, he reckoned the number of hajjis at 

 80,000 men, 2000 women, and 1000 children ; who 

 must have presented a curious spectacle, with their 

 60,000 or 70,000 camels, asses, and horses, marching 

 through the narrow valley in a cloud of dust, carry- 

 ing a forest of lances, guns, swivels, and other arms, 

 and forcing their passage along as they best could. 



The law ordains that the true position of the haj 

 should be on Arafat ; but it wisely provides against 

 any possibility arising from its scanty dimensions, 

 by declaring that the mountain includes the plain 

 in the immediate neighbourhood. A similar provi- 

 sion is made with regard to the great mosque, which 

 can accommodate at prayers about 35,000 persons. 

 There is, however, an opinion prevalent at Mecca, 

 founded on a holy tradition, that it is capable of con- 

 taining any number of the faithful — even the whole 

 Mohammedan community, who might all enter at 

 once, and find ample room. The guardian angels 

 are gifted with the power of invisibly extending the 

 limits of the building, or diminishing the size of the 

 worshipper ; but in modern times there is no occa- 

 sion for this miracle, as the temple is never half 

 filled, and seldom visited, even during the haj, by 

 more than 10;000 individuals at once. 



About three o'clock the chief ceremony of the day 

 takes place, that of the khoteb or sermon, which is 



