THE MOHAMMEDAN PILGRIMAGE. 



with a rope and a noose ; a stick being fixed trans, 

 versely to the lower end, which is let down from a 

 window about forty feet from the ground. 



The only habitual frequenters of the convent are the 

 Bedouins. They are never indeed admitted within 

 the walls ; but they have established the custom, that 

 whoever amongst them, whether man, woman, or 

 child, comes here, must be supplied with bread for 

 breakfast and supper, which is lowered down in a 

 basket. Scarcely a day passes that the inmates 

 have not to feed thirty or forty persons ; and during 

 the last century the demand was still heavier, as the 

 Arabs had a privilege to call for a dish of cooked 

 meat in addition to their allowance of bread. In 

 consequence of this practice disputes continually 

 happen : if the Bedouins are not satisfied with the 

 distribution of food or fuel, they assail the monks, 

 lay waste the garden, and throw stones or even fire 

 their muskets from the surrounding heights into 

 the convent. The priests in their turn are some- 

 times obliged to retaliate, for they have a well-fur- 

 nished armoury and two small cannon ; but they 

 take great care never to kill any of their assailants. 

 Notwithstanding the daily claims on their cha- 

 rity, the expenses of the monastery are supposed to 

 be very moderate. The yearly consumption of corn 

 Burckhardt estimates at 2500 bushels, and their 

 annual expenditure at 1000 sterling. A consi- 

 derable revenue must arise from their possessions 

 abroad ; for besides the convent at Cairo, which 

 contains a prior and about fifty monks, they have 

 establishments and landed property in many other 

 parts of the East, especially in the Archipelago and 

 at Candia. They have also a small church at Cal- 

 cutta, and another at Surat. 



