55 
Part L Travels into the L e v a n t. 
Body fliould - march faft ; for they muft often flop to load the Camels whofe 
loads have fallen off, to unload thofe that fall or die, or to bury their Dead,- 
and a thoufand fuch other accidents ^ and when one Camel ftops,alî the reft muft 
wait. They Travel commonly (as I faid) in the Night-time with Links, that 
they may avoid the heat. In this Journey they find but little water, and that 
exceeding bad too : As for frefli Provifions, they find none, and eat only what 
^hey carry along with them : But the worft thing they meet v/ith in the 
Journey, are certain hot Winds, which ftifle the breath, and in a fhort time Perhaps, the 
kill a great many people. The Prince of Turns cold me, that in one day feveral smieiwhkb 
hundreds died of that Wind, and that he himfelf was much afraid that he fliould -^«f/»"'" , 
have been one of the-number. In fine, in this expedition there died fix thoufand, Kl^'fT ''t- 
what of F3tigue,Thirft,and thefe hot Winds. In thalyJourney,People are to be tuvS. 
feen riding on Camels, and finging Verfes of the Alcoran, who fuddenly fall down How many 
dead. Thofe who return with life, are fo altered and extenuated, that tljey ciied in the 
can hardly be known i and neverthelefs vaft numbers of People from all Parts fc"?^^ 
yearly perform that Pilgrimage, and there paiTes not a year wherein Women 
and little Children do not make it. They who have performed that Journey, 
are called Adgi, that is to fay, Pilgrims, meaning though, only the Pilgrimage Adgh 
of the Kiaabe, and they are much refpefted by all as long as they live, and 
highly credited. The Emir-Jdge gains much by this Journey,for the Goods of The Gain of 
all that die, belong to him,' belides a vaft deal of other profits that he makes the Emir-Adge 
on feveral occafions j and it is thought that every expedition, he gets above an 
hundred thoufand Piaftres -, but this year, he got above three hundred thoufand, 
for many people died. The greateft Prerogative of this Office is, that during 
the whole expedition, he is abfolute Mafter of the Field , and adminifters 
Juftice as he thinks fit. ^ 
Having in my hands another exad Defcription of^Mecha, befides what now 
I have given -, and confidering that few or no Travellers have fpoken of it with 
any certainty, I thought it would not be amifs to add it to the former, and 
make a particular Chapter thereof. 
CHAP. XXL 
Of Mecha and Medina. 
MEcha is feven and thirty days Journey from Caire, and all over Defarts ^ Mecba. 
it is a days Journey from the Red-Sea ^ the Port of it is called GidJe, Qj^e. 
which is a little Town, wherein are two Caftles on the two fides of the Port, 
one on each fide, and the Turks fay that Eve lyes buried there ; they fhew 
her Sepulchre, which is in length thirty eight or forty fteps of a Man's walk, 
and hath no other Ornament, but a Stone at each end. 
Mecha is about the bignefs of Marfeilles, in the middle whereof is the Kiaabe Kiuk. 
or BeytHlUh, that is to fay, the Houfe of God, which (the Turks fay ; was s^^'^^'^'^''' 
firft built by the Patriarch Abraham : This Houfe is about fifteen foot in length, 
eleven or twelve in breadth, and about five fathom high. The Threfhold of 
the Door is as high from the ground as a Man can reach his hand, being within 
filled up even with the Threfhold. The Door is about a fathom and an half high, 
and a fathom wide, and is in the corner to the left hand, when one faces the 
Houfe : This Door is of beaten Silver, and opens with two leaves ; they go 
up to it by a Ladder fupported by four Wheels, two wherof are faftened to 
the lower end of the Ladder, and the other two to two wooden Pofts about 
the middle of it, by means of which Wheels the Ladder is run to the wall, when 
any body is to entier into the Beytdlah. 
This Houfe has a flat ROof, fupported by three Pillars of an Odogone Fi- 
gure, which are of Aloss'Wooây as big as the Body of a Man, and about three 
X 2 Fathom 
