'Personal Narrative of a pilgrimmage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. Vol. II' [‎233] (264/568)

XXXII.—Life at Meccah, and the Umrah. 233
There is, however, little at Meccah to offend the eye.
As among certain nations further West, a layer of ashes
overspreads the fire: the mine is concealed by a green
turf fair to look upon. It is only when wandering by
starlight through the northern outskirts of the town that
citizens may be seen with light complexions and delicate
limbs, coarse turbands, and Egyptian woollen robes,
speaking disguise and the purpose of disguise. No one
within the memory of man has suffered the penalty of
immorality. Spirituous liquors are no longer sold, as in
Burckhardt's day, 1 in shops; and some Arnaut officers
assured me that they found considerable difficulty in
smuggling flasks of Araki from Jeddah.
The Meccan is a darker man than the Madinite.
The people explain this by the heat of the climate. I
rather believe it to be caused by the number of female
slaves that find their way into the market. Gallas, Sawa-
hilis, a few Somalis, and Abyssinians are embarked at
Suakin, Zayla, Tajurrah, and Berberah, carried in thou
sands to Jeddah, and the Holy City has the pick of every
batch. Thence the stream sets Northwards, a small cur
rent towards Al-Madinah, and the main line to Egypt
and Turkey. 2
Most Meccans have black concubines, and, as has
been said, the appearance of the Sharif is almost that of
a negro. I did not see one handsome man in the Holy
City, although some of the women appeared to me beauti
ful. The male profile is high and bony, the forehead recedes,
and the head rises unpleasantly towards the region of firm
ness. In most families male children, when forty days old,
are taken to the Ka'abah, prayed over, and carried home,
where the barber draws with a razor three parallel gashes
1 It must be remembered that my predecessor visited Meccah
when the Egyptian army, commanded by Mohammed Ali, held the
town.
2 In another place I have ventured a few observations concern-
mgthe easy suppression of this traffic.