170 HEJAZ. 



(your highness) ; and the meanest of the peopld 

 considered it no violation of etiquette to represent 

 their grievances personally and boldly though re- 

 spectfully to demand redress. No large body of 

 regular troops was kept up, except a few Mamlouks 

 or Georgians as a body-guard ; and when war was 

 determired upon, he summoned his adherents and 

 partisans to meet the emergency ; but they received 

 no regular pay. 



The dress of this great functionary is the same 

 as that of all the chiefs of the sheriff families at 

 Mecca, consisting usually of a silk gown, over which 

 is thrown a white abba of the finest manufacture 

 of El Hassa ; the head is enveloped in a Cashmere 

 shawl, and the feet in sandals, or yellow slippers. 

 When he rides out on state occasions, he holds 

 in his hand a short slender stick, called metrek ; 

 and over him a horseman carries the umbrella or 



canopy. 



To present an account of the sheriffs of Mecca 

 were only to describe the petty wars of rival fac- 

 tions. Burckhardt shrank from the task of tracing 

 their intricate pedigrees, and the historical notice 

 of them given by D'Ohsson is chargeable with sev 

 eral errors. About the middle of the last century 

 the sovereignty was held by Mesaad ; and after hi* 

 death (in 1770) it was seized by Hossein, the leadei- 

 of an adverse party, but again returned to his fam 

 ily in the person of Serour, who slew his rival in 

 battle (1773), and whose name is still venerated in 

 Hejaz on account of his extraordinary courage and 

 sagacity, which were frequently called into exercise 

 in repressing the turbulence and depredations of th(» 

 inferior chiefs. His death, which happened in 1786 

 was bewailed as a public calamity, and his remains 

 were followed to the grave by the whole population 

 of Mecca. Two of his brothers aspired to the su 

 preme power, of which Abdelmain kept possession 

 for five days only, when the younger brother, Gha 



