154 
in November 1803, by a man who engaged in his ser- 
vice in order to be ready to dispatch him more easily, 
and who had the boldness to conceive his plan and wait 
a long time for its maturity. 
Saaoud the son of Abdelaaziz afterwards mounted the 
throne, and devoted much of his attention to extending 
and consolidating his dominion upon the shores of the 
Persian Gulph. He succeeded in putting the Imam of 
Muscat under his dependence, and making himself 
master of Medina, in 1804. The great caravan from 
Damascus in 1805 could not obtain a passage but by 
heavy sacrifices; and Saaoud signified to the Pacha of 
Damascus, Emir el Hagi, or the Prince of the Pilgrims, 
that this caravan should no longer come under the pro* 
tection of the Turks, or bring the rich carpet that the 
Grand Seignior sends every year to cover the sepulchre 
of the Prophet, a thing looked upon as a great sin by 
the Wehhabites. In short, he required that the whole 
caravan should be composed absolutely of pilgrims 
alone, without troops, arms, flags, or any other trophies 
or ornaments, and without music or women. 
Notwithstanding this declaration of Saaoud, the cara- 
van of Damascus wished to make the pilgrimage in the 
following year, 1S06, without strictly conforming to 
the ordinances of the conqueror; but it had hardly ar- 
rived at the gates of Medina, when it was obliged to 
retire in disorder, persecuted and annoyed by the 
Wehhabites, who occupied the city and the neighbour- 
hood. 
In short, the events -which. I related in the preceding 
Chapter passed under my own eyes; and the result of 
them is, that Saaoud finds himself at this moment ab- 
solute master of all the Arabias, except Mokha, and 
some other walled towns in Yemen, or Arabia Felix, 
