Photograph by Charles E. Mos 



A KHAT CARRIER OF YEMEN 



'"About ii o'clock in the morning the khat camels come winding leisurely along the 

 isthmus road from the interior." The khat plant grows far removed from the salt air of 

 the sea and requires a cool, even temperature, nourishing at elevations between 4.000 and 

 6,000 feet. 



an aerolite and owes its reputation to its 

 fall from the sky. Moslem historians do 

 not deny that it was an object of worship 

 before Islam. In Moslem tradition it is 

 connected with the history of the patri- 

 archs, beginning as far back as Adam. 



The word Ka'aba signifies a cube, al- 

 though the measurements, according to 

 Ali Bey, one of the earliest writers who 

 gives us a scientific account of the pilgrim 

 ceremonies, do not justify its being called 

 so. Its height is 34 feet 4 inches, and the 

 four sides measure 38 feet 4 inches, 37 

 feet 2 inches, 31 feet 7 inches, and 29 



feet. The cloth covering is renewed every 

 year. At present it is made of silk and 

 cotton tissue woven at El Khurunfish, a 

 factory in Cairo. The time of departure 

 of the annual procession which takes it to 

 Mecca is one of the great feast days in 

 Cairo. 



Formerly, we are told, the whole of the 

 Koran was interwoven into the Ka'aba 

 covering. Now the inscription contains 

 the words, "Verily, the first house found- 

 ed for mankind to worship in is that at 

 Mecca, a blessing and a direction to all 

 Christians." Seven other short chapters 



165 



