Travels In Arabia

J >> John Lewis Burckhardt >> Travels In Arabia

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[p.234] gives a bribe to the judge, which the governor shares or
connives at, in return for the Kadhy's compliance with his interests in
other cases. The fees of court are enormous, and generally swallow up
one fourth of the sum in litigation; while the court is deaf to the
clearest right, if not supported by largesses to the Kadhy and the swarm
of officers and servants who surround his seat. These disorders are
countenanced by the Porte: the office of Kadhy is there publicly sold to
the best bidder, with the understanding that he is to remunerate himself
by the perquisites of his administration.

In those countries where Arabs flock to his court, the Kadhy, who
generally knows but little of the Arabic language, is in the hands of
his interpreter, whose office is usually permanent, and who instructs
every new Kadhy in the modes of bribery current in the place, and takes
a full share of the harvest. The barefaced acts of injustice and
shameless briberies daily occurring in the Mehkames, or halls of
justice, would seem almost incredible to an European, and especially an
Englishman.

The Kadhy of Mekka has shared the fate of his brother judges in other
parts of the empire, and has been for many years so completely under the
influence of the Sherif, that all suits were carried directly before his
tribunal, and the Kadhy was thus reduced to spend his time in
unprofitable leisure. I was informed by the Kadhy himself, that the
Grand Signior, in consideration of the trifling emoluments of the
situation, had, for some time back, been in the habit of paying to the
Kadhy of Mekka one hundred purses per annum out of his treasury. Since
the conquest of Mohammed Aly, the Kadhy has recovered his importance, in
the same proportion as the influence of the Sherif has been diminished.
When I was at Mekka, all law-suits were decided in the Mehkame. Mohammed
Aly seldom interposed his authority, as he wished to conciliate the
good-will of the Arabs, and the Kadhy himself seems to have received
from him very strict orders to act with circumspection; for justice was,
at this time, tolerably well administered, at least in comparison with
other tribunals; and the inhabitants were not averse to the new order of
things. The Kadhy of Mekka appoints to the law-offices of Djidda and
Tayf, which are filled

[p.235] by Arabs, not Turks. In law-suits of importance, the Muftis of
the four orthodox sects have considerable influence on the decision.

The income of the Sherif is derived principally from the customs paid at
Djidda, which, as I have already mentioned, instead of being, according
to the intention of the Turkish government, divided between himself and
the Pasha of Djidda, were seized wholly by the late Sherifs, and are now
in the hands of Mohammed Aly. The customs of Djidda, properly the same
as those levied in every other part of the Turkish empire, were much
increased by Ghaleb, which was the principal reason why the whole body
of merchants opposes him. He had also engrossed too large a share of the
commerce to himself. Eight dows belonging to him were constantly
employed in the coffee-trade between Yemen, Djidda, and Egypt; and when
the sale of that article was slow, he obliged the merchants to purchase
his cargoes for ready money at the market-price, in order to send off
the sooner his returns of dollars to Yemen. Two of the largest of his
vessels (one an English-built ship of three or four hundred tons,
purchased at Bombay,) made a voyage annually to the East Indies, and the
cargoes which they brought home were either sold to the Hadj at Mekka,
or were divided among the merchants of Djidda, who were forced to
purchase them.

Besides the port of Djidda, that of Yembo, where the Sherif kept a
governor, was subjected to similar duties. He also levied a tax as well
upon all cattle and provisions carried from the interior of the country
into Djidda, as upon those carried into Mekka, Tayf, and Yembo, except
what came with the two great hadj-caravans from the north, which passed
every where duty-free. The inhabitants of Mekka and Djidda pay no other
taxes than those just mentioned, their houses, persons, and property
being free from all other imposts; an advantage which they have never
sufficiently acknowledged, though they might have readily drawn a
comparison between themselves and their neighbours of Syria and Egypt.
The other branches of the Sherif's revenues were the profits derived
from the sale of provisions at Mekka, of which, although he did not
monopolize them like Mohammed Aly, yet he had always such a considerable
stock on hand, as enabled him to

[p.236] influence the daily prices; the capitation-tax on all Persian
hadjys, whether coming by land from Baghdad, or by the way of the Red
Sea and Yemen; and presents to a considerable amount, either offered to
him gratuitously, or extorted from the rich hadjys of all
countries. [Formerly, when the Sherifs of Mekka were more powerful, they
levied a tribute upon the two great pilgrim-caravans, similar to that
exacted by the Bedouins on the road. Abou Nima, in A.H. 654, took from
every camel of the Yemen caravan thirty dirhems, and fifty upon every
one in the Egyptian caravan.]

Of the money sent from Constantinople to the holy city, temple, &c. a
large portion was appropriated by the Sherif to his own treasury; and it
is said that he regularly shared in all the presents which were made to
the mosque. Ghaleb possessed considerable landed property; many of the
gardens round Tayf, and of the plantations in the valley of Hosseynye,
Wady Fatme, Wady Lymoun, and Wady Medyk, belonged to him. At Djidda he
had many houses and caravansaries, which he let out to foreigners; and
so far resembled his successor Mohammed Aly, that the most trifling
profit became a matter of consideration with him, his attention being
constantly directed towards the acquiring of wealth. The annual revenue
of Ghaleb, during the plenitude of his power, may have amounted to about
three hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling; but, since the
occupation of the Hedjaz by the Wahabys, it has probably not exceeded
half that sum.

As Ghaleb was a merchant and land-owner, and procured all the articles
of consumption at the first hand, the maintenance of his household, with
his women and slaves, did not, I should imagine, require above twenty
thousand pounds sterling per annum. In time of peace the Sherif kept a
small permanent force, not exceeding five hundred men, of whom about one
hundred were in garrison at Djidda, fifty at Tayf, as many at Yembo, and
the rest at Mekka: of this body about eight hundred were cavalry, in
addition to his own mounted household. Many of the soldiers were his
domestic slaves; but the greater part were Bedouins from different parts
of Arabia; those from Yemen, the mountains of Asyr, and Nedjed, being
the most numerous. Their pay was from eight to twelve dollars per month;

[p.237] and they were commanded by Sherifs, whom they obeyed as Bedouins
obey their leader during war, that is to say, that, trained to no
regular exercise, they accompanied the Sherif whenever he took a ride
out of the town, and on returning fired off their guns, according to the
Arabian custom, in leaping wildly about. The arms of the infantry were a
matchlock and crooked knife; the horsemen had a lance.

When Ghaleb engaged in war, this force was increased by the accession of
many Sherifs and their retinues, who received no pay, but occasional
presents, and a share in the booty acquired; these wars being generally
directed against some Bedouin tribes, whose cattle was the sole object
of invasion. Upon these occasions, the Sherif was joined also by other
Bedouins, who returned with their Sheikhs to their homes, as soon as the
expedition was terminated. On the breaking out of the Wahaby war, and
when the Wahabys began to make successful attacks upon the Hedjaz,
Ghaleb found it necessary to increase his standing force; he therefore
added to it a number of black slaves, thereby augmenting it to eight
hundred, following, in this respect, the practice of his predecessors,
who always considered their own purchased slaves as the most faithful
men under their command; [During the last century, the Sherifs of Mekka
constantly kept a small corps of Georgian Mamelouks as their body
guard.] he also enlisted additional numbers of Bedouins, and had, during
the whole of the contest, generally from two to three thousand men; a
number thought fully sufficient to guard his cities. Whenever he planned
an attack on the Wahabys, he collected his allies among the Bedouins,
and advanced several times towards Nedjed with an united force of ten
thousand men. When those allies were obliged, successively, to yield to
the invaders, and the southern Bedouins, on whom Ghaleb always
principally depended, were conquered by the great exertions and activity
of Othman el Medhayfe, Ghaleb found himself alone, with his few troops,
unable to prolong the contest, and was soon driven to extremities and
obliged to submit, though he still kept a corps of troops in his pay,
after Saoud had obtained firm possession of the Hedjaz, and conducted
his affairs with such consummate

[p.238] skill, as to maintain his authority, and command the respect of
the Wahabys.

The expenses attending the increased forces of the Sherif during the
Wahaby war, were considerable; it was necessary to make donations to the
Sherif and the Bedouins, to keep them in his interest; but it happened,
for once, that his interests were equally their own; and Bedouins,
though never tired of asking for presents, are generally content with
small sums. It may hence be easily conceived that Ghaleb never, during
any period of his reign, lived up to the amount of his income; and it
was a general, and, I believe, well-founded opinion in the Hedjaz, that
during the twenty-seven years of his official life, he had amassed a
large treasure in money. When Mohammed Aly seized his person, the amount
of the whole of his disposable property found at Mekka and Djidda, was
calculated at about two hundred thousand or two hundred and fifty
thousand pounds sterling; and it was presumed that he had either
secreted his treasure in the castle of Mekka, or sent it to his friends
in India, while Mohammed Aly was making preparations for his attack. It
is most probable that he employed both modes of secreting his wealth,
and thus made another addition to the large sums daily buried in the
East, by persons in authority, as well as by private individuals. But
such is the bad use to which Eastern rulers apply their riches, that the
public prosperity of the country suffers little by the loss. [The
prevalence of the practice of concealing riches in Turkey, and the cause
of it, will at once appear from the following account of a circumstance
which happened in 1813, at Cairo. Mohammed Aly having demanded 15,000
purses from the Copts employed in the finances of Egypt, they divided
the sum among themselves; and Moallem Felteos, an old man, who had been
in former times a chief financier, was assessed at twelve hundred
purses, or about 18,000l. sterling: this he refused to pay, alleging his
poverty; but, after long parleys, at last offered to give two hundred
purses. The Pasha sent for him, threatened, and, seeing him obstinate,
ordered him to be beaten: after receiving five hundred strokes with the
stick, and being nearly half dead, be swore that he could pay no more
than two hundred purses. Mohammed Aly thought he was telling the truth;
but his son, Ibrahim Pasha, who happened to be present, said that he was
sure the man had more money. Felteos, therefore, received three hundred
additional strokes, after which he confessed that he was possessed of
the sum demanded, and promised to pay it. He was then permitted to
[p.239] return home; and at the end of a fortnight, being so much
recovered from the effects of his beating that he could walk about,
commissioners were sent to his house from the Pasha, labourers were
called, and Felteos descended with them into the privy of his house, at
the bottom of which they removed a large stone which closed up a small
passage containing a vaulted niche, where two iron chests were
deposited. On opening these, two thousand purses in sequins were found,
twelve hundred of which the Pasha took, and left the remainder to the
owner, who died three months after, not in consequence of the blows he
had received, but of grief for the loss of his money. Had he been able
secretly to remove the treasure, he would probably have done so, had not
a guard been posted in his house immediately on his promising to pay;
the Pasha suspecting that the money was concealed in some secret spot,
according to a practice general in the East.]

[p.240] CLIMATE AND DISEASES OF MEKKA AND DJIDDA.

THE climate of Mekka is sultry and unwholesome; the rocks which enclose
its narrow valley, intercept the wind, especially that from the north,
and reflect the rays of the sun with redoubled heat. In the months of
August, September, and October, the heat is excessive: during my
residence at Mekka a suffocating hot wind pervaded the atmosphere for
five successive days in September. The rainy season usually begins in
December; but the rains are not uninterrupted, as in other tropical
countries falling only at intervals of five or six days but then with
great violence. Showers are not unfrequent, even in summer: the Mekkawys
say that the clouds coming from the sea-side are those which copiously
irrigate the ground; while those which come from the East, or the high
mountains, produce only mere showers, or gushes. The want of rain is
very frequently felt here: I was told that four successive years of
copious rains are seldom experienced; which is, probably, the main
reason why all the Bedouins in this neighbourhood are poor, the greater
part of their cattle dying in years of drought, from want of pasturage.

The air of Mekka is generally very dry. Dews begin to fall in the month
of January, after a few heavy showers of rain: the contrary is the case
at Djidda, where the atmosphere, even during the greatest heat, is damp,
arising from the sea vapours, and the numerous marshes on that low
coast. The dampness of the air is there so great, that in the month of
September, in a hot and perfectly clear day, I found my

[p.241] upper gown wet completely through, from being two hours in the
open air. There are heavy dews also by night, during that month and in
October; thick fogs appeared on the coast, in the evening and morning.
During the summer months, the wind blows generally between east and
south, seldom veering to the west, but sometimes to the north. In
September, the regular northerly winds set in, and continue during the
whole winter. In the Hedjaz, as on the sea-coast of Egypt, the north-
east wind is more damp than any other; and during its prevalence, the
stone pavement in the interior of the houses always appeared as if
covered with moisture.

The diseases prevalent in both towns are much the same; and the coast of
the Hedjaz is perhaps among the most unhealthy countries of the East.
Intermittent fevers are extremely common, as are likewise dysenteries,
which usually terminate in swellings of the abdomen, and often prove
fatal. Few persons pass a whole year without a slight attack of these
disorders; and no stranger settles at Mekka or Djidda, without being
obliged to submit, during the first months of his residence, to one of
these distempers; a fact, of which ample proof was afforded in the
Turkish army, under Mohammed Aly Pacha. Inflammatory fevers are less
frequent at Djidda than at Mekka; but the former place is often visited
with a putrid fever, which, as the inhabitants told me, sometimes
appeared to be contagious; fifty persons having been known to die of it
in one day. Asamy and Fasy mention frequent epidemical diseases at
Mekka: in A.H. 671, a pestilence broke out, which carried off fifty
persons a day; and in 749, 793, and 829, others also infected the town:
in the latter year two thousand persons died. These authors, however,
never mention the plague; nor had it made its appearance in the Hedjaz
within the memory of the oldest inhabitants; whence a belief was
entertained, that the Almighty protected this holy province from its
ravages; but, in the spring of 1815, it broke out with great violence,
as I shall mention in another place, and Mekka and Djidda lost, perhaps,
one-sixth of their population.

Ophthalmia is very little known in the Hedjaz. I saw a single

[p.242] instance of leprosy, in a Bedouin at Tayf. The elephantiasis and
Guinea-worm are not uncommon, especially the former, of which I have
seen many frightful cases. It is said that stone in the bladder is
frequent at Mekka, caused, perhaps, by the peculiar quality of the
water; to the badness of which many other diseases also may be ascribed
in this hot country, where such quantities of it are daily drunk. I
heard that the only surgeons who knew how to perform the operation of
extracting the stone from the bladder, are Bedouins of the tribe of Beni
Sad, who live in the mountains, about thirty miles south of Tayf. In
time of peace, some of them repair annually to Mekka, to perform this
operation, the knowledge of which they consider as a secret hereditary
in some families of their tribe. They are said to use a common razor,
and, in general, with success.

Sores on the legs, especially on the shin-bone, are extremely common
both at Mekka and Djidda; but more so at the latter place, where the
dampness of the atmosphere renders their cure much more difficult;
indeed, in that damp climate, the smallest scratch, or bite of any
insect, if neglected, becomes a sore, and soon after an open wound:
nothing is more common than to see persons walking in the streets,
having on their legs sores of this kind, which, if neglected, often
corrode the bone. As their cure demands patience, and, above all,
repose, the lower classes seldom apply the proper remedies in time; and
when they have increased to such a state as to render their application
indispensably necessary, no good surgeons are to be found; fever ensues,
and many of the patients die. I believe that one-fourth of the
population of Djidda is constantly afflicted with ulcers on their legs;
the bad nature of these sores is further aggravated by the use of
seawater for ablutions.

During my stay at Mekka, I seldom enjoyed perfect good health. I was
twice attacked by fever; and, after the departure of the Syrian Hadj, by
a violent diarrhoea, from which I had scarcely recovered when I set out
for Medina. In those days, even when I was free from disease, I felt
great lassitude, a depression of spirits, and a total want of appetite.
During the five days of the Hadj, I was luckily in good

[p.243] health, though I was under great apprehensions from the
consequences of taking the ihram. My strength was greatly diminished,
and it required much effort, whenever I left my room, to walk about.

I attributed my illness chiefly to bad water, previous experience having
taught me that my constitution is very susceptible of the want of good
light water, that prime article of life in eastern countries. Brackish
water in the Desert is perhaps salutary to travellers: heated as they
are by the journey, and often labouring under obstructions from the
quality of their food on the road, it acts as a gentle aperient, and
thus supplies the place of medicinal draughts; but the contrary is the
case when the same water is used during a continued sedentary residence,
when long habit only can accustom the stomach to receive it. Had I found
myself in better health and spirits, I should probably have visited some
of the neighbouring valleys to the south, or passed a few months among
the Bedouins of the Hedjaz; but the worst effect of ill health upon a
traveller, is the pusillanimity which accompanies it, and the
apprehensions with which it fills the mind, of fatigues and dangers,
that, under other circumstances, would be thought undeserving of notice.

The current price of provisions at Mekka in December, 1814, was as
follows:--

Piastres. Paras.
1 lb. of beef .......................... 2 10
1 lb. of mutton ........................ 20
1 lb. of camel's flesh ................. 10
1 lb. of butter ........................ 5
1 lb. of fresh unsalted cheese ......... 3
A fowl ................................. 6
An egg ................................. 0 8
1 lb. of milk .......................... 2
1 lb. of vegetables, viz. leek, spinach,
turnips, radishes, calabashes, egg-
plants, green onions, petrosiles, &c.... 0 30

[p.244]

Piastres. Paras.
A small, round, flat loaf of bread ..... 0 20
1 lb. of dry biscuits .................. 0 32
1 lb. of raisins from Tayf ............. 1 20
1 lb. of dates ......................... 0 25
1 lb. of sugar (Indian) ................ 2 10
1 lb. of coffee ........................ 2 20
A pomegranate .......................... 0 15
An orange .............................. 0 15
A lemon, (the size of a walnut, the
Same species as the Egyptian lemon) 0 10
1 lb. of good Syrian tobacco ........... 6
1 lb. of common tobacco ................ 1 30
1 lb. of tombac, or tobacco for the
Persian pipe ........................ 3
1 keyle of wheat ....................... 3
1 do. of flour ......................... 3 20
1 do. of Indian rice ................... 3
1 do. Of lentils from Egypt ............ 2 30
1 do. Of dried locusts ................. 1
A skin of water ........................ 1 20
As much wood as will cook two dishes ... 0 20
A labourer for the day ................. 3
A porter for going in town the distance
Of half a mile ...................... 1
Common wages of servants,[FN#1] besides
Clothes and food, per month ........ 30
Wages of craftsmen, as smiths, carpen-
ters, &c. per day, besides food ..........5

N.B. The Spanish dollar was worth from nine to twelve piastres during my
residence at Mekka, changing its value almost daily.

[p.245] One piastre equal to forty paras or diwanys, as they are called
in the Hedjaz. The pound, or rotolo, of Mekka, has a hundred and forty-
four drams. The Egyptian erdeb, equivalent to about fifteen English
bushels, is divided here into fifty keyles or measures. At Medina the
erdeb is divided into ninety-six keyles. The pound of Djidda is nearly
double that of Mekka.
[The Mekkawys have only slaves; but many Egyptians are ready to
enter into the service of hadjys. The most common servants in the
families of Mekka are the younger sons or some poor relations.]

[p.246] THE HADJ, OR PILGRIMAGE.

THE time has passed (and, probably for ever,) when hadjys or pilgrims,
from all regions of the Muselman world, came every year in multitudes,
that they might visit devotionally the sacred places of the Hedjaz. An
increasing indifference to their religion, and an increase of expense
attending the journey, now deter the greater part of the Mohammedans
from complying with that law of the Koran, which enjoins to every Moslim
who can afford it, the performance of a pilgrimage to Mekka, once at
least in his life. To those whom indispensable occupations confine to
their homes, the law permits a substitution of prayers; but even with
this injunction few people now comply, or it is evaded by giving a few
dollars to some hadjy, who, taking from several persons commissions of
the same kind, includes all their names in the addition consequently
made to the prayers recited by him at the places of holy visit. When
Muselman zeal was more ardent, the difficulties of the journey being
held to increase the merit of it, became with many an additional
incitement to join the caravans, and to perform the whole journey by
land; but at present, most of the pilgrims do not join any regular Hadj
caravan, but reach Djidda by sea from Egypt, or the Persian Gulf;
commercial and lucrative speculations being the chief inducements to
this journey.

In 1814, many hadjys had arrived at Mekka, three or four months previous
to the prescribed time of the pilgrimage. To pass the Ramadhan in this
holy city, is a great inducement with such as can afford the expense, to
hasten their arrival, and prolong their residence in it.

[p.247] About the time when the regular caravans were expected, at least
four thousand pilgrims from Turkey, who had come by sea, were already
assembled at Mekka, and perhaps half that number from other distant
quarters of the Mohammedan world. Of the five or six regular caravans
which, formerly, always arrived at Mekka a few days before the Hadj, two
only made their appearance this year; these were from Syria and Egypt;
the latter composed entirely of people belonging to the retinue of the
commander of the Hadj, and his troops; no pilgrims having come by land
from Cairo, though the road was safe.