Photograph by Charles L. Moser 

 TWILIGHT ON THE SHORES OE THE RED SEA 



cated and pious Moslem here in Cairo 

 assured me only a few months ago that 

 when he went on pilgrimage and took 

 pictures of the city his life was endan- 

 gered more than once by the fanaticism 

 of the inhabitants. However, there are 

 many who believe that the opening of the 

 Hejaz Railway, especially as a branch is 

 to he carried to Jiddah, the breaking up 

 of Turkish power in Arabia, and the es- 

 tablishment of the new kingdom will 

 mean the removal of restrictions against 

 non-Moslems. 



On a recent visit to Jiddah, the port of 

 Mecca, I was able not only to take some 

 good photographs myself of that port of 

 entry and learn particulars in regard to 

 the pilgrim traffic, but I sent a telegram 

 to Mecca to a leading Moslem photogra- 

 pher, whose establishment is not far 

 from the Ka'aba itself, and received by 

 registered post a number of beautiful 

 photographs which I am glad to share 

 with the readers of the National Geo- 

 graphic Magazine. 



Jiddah is a town of about 50,000 in- 

 habitants, of whom 100 are Europeans. 

 It has only four leading mosques, but 30 

 inns, and one large enough to be called a 



hotel. None of them, however, is a fit 

 place for the European tourist. 



ONLY INDUSTRY IS ELELCING pilgrims 



The only industry of Jiddah is fleecing 

 pilgrims. Cisterns are kept near every 

 house and filled with rain water, which 

 is sold in the pilgrim season at a high 

 price. At one time the governor of the 

 Hejaz laid pipes from a spring of water 

 10 kilometers from the town, but when 

 the pipes were worn out the people op- 

 posed the reconstruction of this public 

 utility, as it interfered with their per- 

 quisite of water-selling. The Turkish 

 Government itself receives as revenue 

 from the pilgrims about $250,000 every 

 year, and it is a well-known fact that the 

 slave trade, both here and at Mecca, is 

 still carried on. Many of the pilgrims 

 from the Sudan and Somaliland do not 

 scruple to sell even their own children in 

 these slave markets ! 



The mixture of races in Hejaz prov- 

 ince for so many centuries has not been 

 conducive to morals or good government. 

 No one who has read the account of so- 

 cial life at Mecca, as given bv Hurgronje 

 and other travelers, including Moslem 



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