File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎414r] (832/898)

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but it has not left yet It is now quite certain that the return of the big caravan was
due to the swindling of the cameimen by the King; he gave them a smlller share of
the spoil than he had promised.
The King is booming the route via Akaba. The “Kibla” publishes a tariff, and
declares that a Hedjaz steamer will leave Jeddah for Akaba every ten days and that
lars (and camels will meet the ship and trains the cars and camels. This rosy picture
is not justified by anything I have heard from the Amir Ali and Thabit ‘‘Pasha"
(Director-General of Quarantine), who have both been on the spot recently The Amir
Ah considers that he did wonders in getting 1,200 pilgrims from Medina to Ma’an in
twenty-five days. The journey each way took five to seven days or longer. Thabit
reports that if the track is improved it may be possible next year, when they get the
rolhug-stock now on order m Germany, to carry half as many passengers as the line
it ?• Car r7' P ro J ect ^ or formation of a motor transport companv failed, but
the Hedjaz Government have bought three lorries and some cars, and with these they
can carry about sixty persons at a time. These cars cannot carry a boat-load or train
load of pilgrims at a time, so either they will have to make several journeys or many
pilgrims must travel by camel. The tariff published in the “ Kibla ” gives the cost of
1st and 2nd class railway tickets, but I believe that there are only goods trucks running
at present. Khan Bahadur Pir Sadr-al-Din-al-Gilani, a dignitary from the Punjab,
certainly travelled in a goods truck, though it is always possible that this was just to
“foam him not to be an anti-Caliph Hussein toad. What Pir Sadr-al-Din complained
of most was the long wait of fourteen days for a train at Ma’an. He could have visited
Jerusalem m that time, but every day he was assured by the railway authorities and by
the Amir Ali that the train would really arrive the next day and that he would miss it
if he left Ma’an.
This is the tariff published in the “ Kibla ” :—
—
1 st Class.
2 nd Class.
£
£
£ s. d.
Steamer, Jeddah-Akaba single
Car, Akaba-Ma’an
2
6
4 0 0
Camel, „ „ .. „
(Mejidiyahs, about £l.)
Train, Ma’an-Medina .. „
10
. 10
7 10 0
Train, Medina-Amman .. „
11
8 10 0
1
3rd Class.
£
3
5
6
It is calculated that there were about 150,000 pilgrims at Arafat on pilgrimage
day, but in spite of this accumulation of human beings in very primitive conditions there
is again no trace of plague or cholera. The Quarantine Board at Alexandria have
declared the pilgrimage clean. The British delegate on the board telegraphed asking
whether there was any truth in the persistent rumours that there was an epidemic of
dysentery in the Hedjaz I replied that while both amoebic and bacillary dysentery
are fairly common, there is no ground whatever for thinking that it is worse than last
year. The death rate on pilgrimage day seems to have been high this year, but nearly
all the deaths were due to heat and lack of w^ater. I reported last month the shortage
of water at Mecca. My belief that the difficulty had been overcome was incorrect, and
pilgrims continued to have to pay high prices for brackish well-water. But it was on the
journey from Arafat to Mecca that the shortage was most serious. All pilgrims,
including the acting French consul, Sheikh Kellal, and our doctor, Munir-ed-Din, tell
pitiful tales of the old and weak falling by the roadside and dying for lack of w r ater,
while the younger and stronger hurried on pitilessly, fearing lest a like fate should befall
themselves. This lias not prevented King Hussein from publishing a report in the
<c Kibla ” saying that everything was perfect and all the pilgrims were delighted. The
truth is, that what with the failure of the main caravan to reach Medina and the death
of so many pilgrims in sight of their fellows, this has been a disastrous pilgrimage.
Pilgrims are arriving at Jeddah in a very exhausted state. My Netherlands colleague
reports that of 1,750 pilgrims who had booked by a steamer due to leave next day,
tw T enty-five died during the night. A death rate of over 1'4 within twenty-four hours
is startling.
In spite of this we have no emaciated Indians lying at the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. gate waiting for
a passage home. The deposit system seems to be working admirably so far as Jeddah
is concerned. Nearly every Indian pilgrim who arrives at Jeddah on his way home
[696 s—2] B 2