THE MOHAMMEDAN PILGRIMAGE. 245 



clusters of lamps marked the different places where 

 Mohammed All, Solyman Pasha, and other emirs 

 of the haj, had pitched their tents. Pilgrims were 

 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 j the devotees sat up praying and uttering their 

 loud chants; the merry Mecca wees formed them- 

 selves into parties, singing the jovial songs called/oX;, 

 accompanied by clapping of hands ; while the coffee- 

 tents were crowded the whole night with customers. 



The dawn was announced by a discharge of mus- 

 ketry, which summoned the Faithful to make ready 

 for their morning 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 bazaars furnished 

 the busy crowds with all kinds of provisions. The 

 Syrian and Egyptian cavalry were exercised by 

 their chiefs ; while thousands of camels were feed- 

 ing 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 doivars, in the inside of which their 

 camels reposed. 



Of these encampments the most rich and magni- 

 ficent were those of Yahia, the sheriff of Mecca, the 

 Pasha of Damascus, the Viceroy of Egypt, and more 

 particularly of his wife, who had lately arrived from 

 Cairo. Her equipage included a dozen tents of 

 different sizes, inhabited by her women : the whole 



