MECCA THE MYSTIC 



163 



pilgrims themselves, can doubt the need 

 for social reform in this city. Mecca is 

 the microcosm of Islam in its religious 

 life and aspirations. According to Hur- 

 gronje, "It is Islam, the official religion, 

 which brings together and amalgamates 

 all the heterogeneous constituents ot 

 Meccan life. On the other hand, this 

 society itself welds into a chaotic whole 

 the prejudices and superstitions of all 

 countries." In other words, Mecca is the 

 sink-hole of Islam. All witnesses agree 

 as to the flagrant immorality which per- 

 vaded the streets, and even the mosque, 

 of the sacred city, the prevalence of the 

 slave trade, the fleecing of pilgrims, and 

 the corruption of the late Turkish Gov- 

 ernment. 



The Turkish prison is an indication of 

 the backward state of prison reform in 

 this part of the world. The prisoners 

 were kept in wooden stocks in dark 

 rooms and there was no sanitation what- 

 soever, with the temperature in the shade f 

 often no degrees Fahrenheit. No food 

 was provided by the government, and un- 

 less a man's friends or kindly charity 

 intervened he was apt to die of starva- 

 tion. All the machinery of government 

 moved clumsily at so great a distance 

 from the Sublime Porte. 



EVERY PILGRIM HIS OWN POSTMAN 



Although there is a telegraph service 

 between Mecca and Jiddah, the wires are 

 often out of order, and most of the tele- 

 grams received during the pilgrim season 

 fail to reach the addresses. The post- 

 office at Mecca under Turkish regime was 

 certainly unique. A recent writer tells us 

 how "the sacks of letters are thrown out 

 into the narrow street leading to the post- 

 office and there sorted by the pilgrims 

 themselves, who open them and take their 

 letters and those of their friends also." 

 A similar system prevailed at Medina, 

 Yenbo, and Jiddah. All this may be 

 changing under King Husein, who has 

 already taken steps to join the Interna- 

 tional Postal Union and has had stamps 

 printed in Egypt bearing the inscription 

 "Hejaz Post." 



The commerce of Mecca is entirely in 

 the hands of foreigners, mostly Indians, 

 who sell rosaries, carpets, and silk stuffs. 



One of the main occupations of the sil- 

 versmiths is the manufacture of rings, 

 which are supposed to be constructed 

 from silver that was once part of the 

 sacred temple doors, and are reputed to 

 be an effective remedy for certain ills 

 Most of the natives, however, earn their 

 living as guides to the pilgrims and grow 

 wealthy during the season. If each of 

 the pilgrims spends $25, which is a low 

 average, the aggregate income of the cit\ 

 would be $5,000,000; so one is not sur- 

 prised to see a number of stately houses 

 at Mecca and the display of considerable 

 wealth. 



The earliest settlements at Mecca were 

 undoubtedly due to the fact that the cara- 

 van trade from South Arabia northward 

 found here a stopping place near the 

 spring of Zem Zem, long before the time 

 of Mohammed, just as the early Roman 

 settlements at Wiesbaden and other places 

 in Germany were so located because of 

 the medicinal waters. 



The sacred mosque, Mesjid el Haram 

 with the Ka'aba as its center, is located 

 in the middle of the city. Mecca lies in 

 a hot, sandy valley, absolutely without 

 verdure and surrounded by rocky, barren 

 hills, destitute of trees or even shrubs. 

 The valley is about 300 feet wide and 

 4,000 feet long and slopes toward the 

 south. The Ka'aba, or House of God 

 (Beit Allah), is located in the bed of the 

 valley. All the streets slope toward it 

 and it stands, as it were, in the pit of a 

 theater. 



THE BEACK STONE, MECCA'S OLDEST 

 TREASURE 



The houses in Mecca are built of dark 

 stone and are elevated in order to accom- 

 modate as many pilgrims as possible 

 The streets are nearly all unpaved. In 

 the summer they are full of dust, and in 

 the rainy season — which, fortunately, is 

 not frequent — they are black with mud. 



Strangely enough, although the city is 

 poorly provided with water except for 

 the famous spring of Zem Zem, Mecca 

 has suffered more than once from de- 

 structive floods, which, tearing down the 

 narrow valley, have destroyed buildings 

 and damaged even the Ka'aba. A terri- 

 ble inundation took place on the 23d of 



