248 Dervishes and Hadjis. 



spirituous drinks, they succeed but too frequently in their 

 wicked attempts. What surprised me most was that these 

 wretched people were regarded as eminently religious, of 

 whom it was thought that, from their love to God and the 

 Prophet, they had become mad, and stupefied themselves in 

 order that in their excited state they might be nearer the 

 beings whom they loved so well. 



Speaking of dervishes, we may mention a class of hypo- 

 crites, who, under the pretence of carrying out sacred vows, 

 indulge in their desire to travel, and after their return assume, 

 under the title of Hadji Pilgrims, authority and a good social 

 position. The Koran says : " Hidju. ala be'z'ti min isti-taatun 

 Sebila " — " Wander to my house (Kaaba) if circumstances 

 permit.-''' These ' c circumstances " are reduced to the following 

 seven conditions by the commentators : — The pilgrimage must 

 be undertaken with, 1st, sufficient money for travelling ex- 

 penses ; 2nd, bodily health ; 3rd, in an unmarried state; 4th, 

 without leaving debts behind ; 5th, in times of peace ; 6th, 

 overland and without danger ; and, 7th, and by persons who 

 have reached the age of puberty. That our good Tartars ill 

 observe these conditions will be evident to all who have some 

 idea about the countries situated between Oxus and Taxartus. 

 In Persia people go to Kerbela, Meshed, or Mekka, only when 

 sufficient funds enable them to do it comfortably. In Central 

 Asia, on the contrary, it is always the poorest class who under- 

 take pilgrimages. A certain taste for adventure, coupled 

 with religious enthusiasm, are the two motives which prompt 

 the inhabitants of Central Asia to start from the remote East 

 for the tomb of their Prophet. True, they do not suffer any 

 material losses, for a beggar's bag is a money-bag ; but they 

 frequently lose what is most precious to them — their life — as 

 every year at least one-third of the pilgrims from Turkistan 

 die from exposure to the climate. 



This sacred, or profane, desire to travel, braves all danger ; 

 this vague thought of tearing himself away from his family, and 

 friends, and countrymen, to see the wide world, surrounds the 

 hadjis with a certain poetry. I have lived weeks with my 

 companions, and yet it always interested me to behold them, 

 palm-staff in hand, as a sacred memento of Arabia, vigorously 

 making their way over the deep sand or mud. They were 

 returning happily to their homes ; but how many did I meet 

 who had only commenced their long and tedious journey, and 

 yet they were equally happy. On my road from Samarkand 

 to Teheran I had as a companion a native of Chinese Tartary, 

 who, in total ignorance of the route he had to take, asked me 

 every evening, even when we were yet at Meshed, whether 

 we should see to-morrow, or at the farthest after to-morrow. 



