THE GKEAT MOSQUE. 293 



so that the least breath of air, causes it to wave in 

 slow undulating movements, hailed with prayer by the 

 kneeling crowd around. They believe that it is caused 

 by the wings of guardian angels who will transport the 

 Caaba to Paradise when the last trumpet sounds. 



At a little distance from this building, is the Zem- 

 zem well, and while some of the pilgrims are standing 

 by its mouth waiting to be served, or walking round 

 the Caaba, or stooping to kiss the stone, other scenes 

 may be observed in the cloisters and the square ; and 

 as in the Temple at Jerusalem, these are not all of the 

 most edifying nature. Children are playing at games, 

 or feeding the wild pigeons whom long immunity has 

 rendered tame. Numerous schools are going on, the 

 boys chanting in a loud voice, and the master's baton 

 sometimes falling on their backs. In another corner, 

 a religious lecture is being delivered. Men of all 

 nations are clustered in separate groups ; the Persian 

 heretics with their caps mounting to heaven, and their 

 beards descending to the earth ; the Tartar, with ob- 

 lique eyes and rounded limbs, and light silk handker- 

 chief tied round his brow ; Turks with shaven faces, 

 and in red caps : the lean Indian pauper, begging with 

 a miserable whine ; and one or two wealthy Hindoo 

 merchants not guiltless of dinners given to infidels, and 

 of iced champagne. At the same time, an active 

 business is being done ' in sacred keepsakes ; rosaries 

 made of camel bone, bottles of Zemzem water, dust col- 

 lected from behind the veil, toothsticks made of a 

 fibrous root, such as that which Mahomet himself was 

 wont to use, and coarsely executed pictures of the 

 Caaba. Mecca itself, like most cities frequented by 

 strangers, whether pilgrims or mariners, is not an abode 

 of righteousness and virtue. As the Tartars say of it, 



