Pilgrims_ of about 1450, the cost of going from Venice to the Holy Land and back was 50 ducats.[280] One party of pilgrims of 1483 paid 42 ducats each on the understanding that they were allowed full time to see the Holy Places, and received two meals a day; the other party paid 45 ducats each, their meals including wine. The party of twenty persons in 1484 paid a thousand ducats, _i.e._ 50 ducats for each person. Half the money was paid at Venice before starting, the other half on arrival at Jaffa. A certain Zülnhart fell ill at Venice after paying his 25 ducats, and as he was unable to sail, his money was forfeited.[281] [Illustration: Fig. 21.—Ritter von Harff before St. Katherine.] From Jaffa the pilgrims visited Jerusalem, where he had the option of returning home _via_ Jaffa or going on to Sinai and Cairo. If he decided on this course he was allowed ten ducats on his return fare, and was provided by the Franciscans with an escort to Gaza. The charge for the round was twenty-three ducats, half of which was paid at Jerusalem, the other at Gaza. An agreement was drawn up in writing by the dragoman, the wording of which is much the same as the one that is drawn up at the present day. In the course of the fifteenth century Noe Bianchi, a Franciscan, wrote a guide book called _The Way from Venice to the Holy Sepulchre and Mount Sinai_, which contained practical advice for pilgrims. It estimated the cost of going the round from Venice to Jerusalem, Gaza, the convent, Cairo and back to Venice at two hundred ducats, _i.e._ one hundred for general expenses, fifty to serve in case of sickness, fifty for the sea-voyage. The pilgrim was advised to carry a mattress (_strapontino_), a barrel for water, a barrel for wine, and he was warned against discussing matters of faith with infidels. The chief danger which threatened the pilgrims was sickness. Many died on the way. The Italians in 1384, between Cairo and the convent, met nine Frenchmen; eleven out of their party of twenty had died on the way. In 1483 there was so much sickness in Gaza that many pilgrims gave up the thought of going to the convent; and the young Count Solms died on the way back (Fabri, ii. 446). There were other dangers. Arnold von Harff in 1497 saw the effect of a sandstorm which had cut off a caravan; the corpses of six hundred camels and of fifty men, mauled and rotting, strewed the roadside (p. 120). The pilgrims were often in dread of the Bedawyn, who swooped down on them clamouring for food, and calling for the payment of dues for crossing their territory. The shortage of food at the time was aggravated, no doubt, by the curtailed largess at the convent. The pilgrims of 1483 carried three times as much bread as they needed for themselves in order to meet all possible demands.