Dervishes and Hadjis. 249 



the minarets of Mekka ? The poor fellow had no idea how 

 much he would have to endure before he reached his destina- 

 tion. However, this should not surprise us, when we remem- 

 ber that during the time of the Crusades so many honest Teu- 

 tons undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and after two or 

 three days' journey hoped to behold the walls of Jerusalem.* 



The routes to Arabia adopted by the pious Tartars are the 

 following, viz., 1, Yarkend, Kilian, Tibet, Kashmir ;f 2, through 

 Southern Siberia, Karyan, and Constantinople ; 3, through 

 Afghanistan and India to Djedda ; 1, through Persia, Bagdad, 

 and Damascus. None of these routes is a comfortable one, 

 and the amount of danger to be incurred is very much depen- 

 dant upon the season of the year and the political state of the 

 countries through which they pass. The travellers form 

 themselves in larger or smaller companies, and elect a chief 

 (Ghaush) from amongst themselves, who also fills amongst them 

 the office of Imam (the person who first says the prayers to be 

 repeated by the rest), and who enjoys a considerable supe- 

 riority over his companions. A visit to the Kaaba and 

 the tomb of the Prophet (which may be paid at any season) 

 is not so much the culminating point of the whole pilgrimage 

 as the ascent of Mount Arafat. This can be made only once a 

 year, viz., on the Kurban festival (10th Zil, Hidji), which is 

 nothing more or less than the sacrifice of Abraham and Isaac 

 dramatised. All those who have taken part in this festival, 

 and have joined in the cry, " Lebeik, Allah ! " (Command, 

 oh God) — in allusion to Abraham's implicit obedience — are 

 regarded as genuine hadjis. This cry of " Lebeik ! lebeik ! " 

 uttered at the most solemn moment of the whole pilgrimage, 

 seems also to have the deepest impression upon the pilgrim 

 himself. My travelling companions, whenever they became 

 excited, or were in a happy mood of mind, always alluded to 

 it j and the stillness of the Tartaric deserts was often broken 

 by this memento of the stony districts of Arabia. 



However painful and heartrending separation from home 

 may be when so long and dangerous a journey has to be 

 undertaken, the joy which the hadjis experienced on their 

 return fully counterbalances it. Friends and relations, in- 

 formed of their near arrival, go out to meet them several days 

 in advance. Hymns are sung, and tears of joy are shed when 

 the hadji makes his entry into his native place. Every one 

 wants to embrace him, to touch him, for the atmosphere of 



* See N63selt's Geschichte fur Tochter schulen I, who also states that 

 many pilgrims, ignorant of the road, allowed themselves to be led by a frightened 

 goose which ran before them. 



t From Yarkend (Jarkend) to Kilian, on the boundary line, are three days' 

 journey j from there by way of Tagarma and Kadun to Thibet, twenty days ; 

 and thence to Kashmir, fifteen days. 



