THE MOHAMMEDAN PILGRIMAGE. 207 



It is usually accompanied by a relative of the king, 

 and proceeds from his capital by slow marches to- 

 wards Tunis and Tripoli, thence along the Mediter- 

 ranean shores to Alexandria or Cairo, collecting the 

 hajjis in every district through which it passes. Ye- 

 men sent two caravans ; one from Saade, which 

 took its course along the mountains to Tai'f, and the 

 other travelled by the coast, taking up such of the 

 Persians and Indians as had arrived in the harbours 

 of the country. A caravan of Indian pilgrims is said 

 to have started from Muscat and travelled through 

 Nejed ; but this route, it appears, has been long dis- 

 continued. Of late the greater portion of the hajjis 

 do not travel with the regular caravans, but arrive 

 by sea at Jidda. Those from the north, including 

 Turks, Tartars, Syrians, Moors, and Africans, em- 

 bark at Suez or Cosseir; but the wretched and 

 crowded state of the vessels renders the passage 

 disagreeable and often dangerous. Crowds of devo- 

 tees arrive in the opposite direction from Yemen, 

 the borders of Persia, Java, Sumatra, and the distant 

 realms watered by the Indus : these comprise Hin- 

 doos and Malays — people from Cashmere and Guze- 

 rat — Arabs from Bussora, Oman, and Hadramaut — 

 natives of Nubia and Upper Egypt — and those from 

 the coasts of Melinda and IMombaza. All Moslems 

 dwelling near the ocean are certain of finding, to- 

 wards the period of the haj, ships departing from 

 some neighbouring harbour to the Red Sea ; but the 

 greater number come with the regular Indian fleet. 

 From all these regions swarms of beggars flock to 

 Mecca ; they get a free passage from charitable in- 

 dividuals among their own countrymen, or their ex- 

 pense is defrayed by those who employ them as 

 proxies in performing the indispensable duties of the 

 pilgrimage. But on landing they are thrown en- 

 tirely on the benevolence of the hajjis, and the alms 

 they collect must serve to carry them back to their 

 homes. All the poorer class of Indians turn mendi- 



