through liuto and luth, into lute. [FN#6] NOTE TO THIRD EDITION.—Since this was written there have been two deadly epidemics, which began, it is reported, at Muna. The victims, however, have never numbered 700,000, nor is “each pilgrim required to sacrifice one animal at the shrine of Mohammed,”(!) as we find it in “Cholera Prospects,” by Tilbury Fox, M.D. (Hardwicke). [FN#7] A scarf thrown over the head, with one end brought round under the chin and passed over the left shoulder composes the “Taylasan.” [FN#8] As late as Ibn Jubayr’s time the preacher was habited from head to foot in black; and two Mu’ezzins held black flags fixed in rings on both sides of the pulpit, with the staves propped upon the first step. [FN#9] Mr. Lane remarks, that the wooden sword is never held by the preacher but in a country that has been won from infidels by Moslems. Burckhardt more correctly traces the origin of the custom to the early days of Al-Islam, when the preachers found it necessary to be prepared for surprises. And all authors who, like Ibn Jubayr, described the Meccan ceremonies, mention the sword or staff. The curious reader will consult this most accurate of Moslem travellers; and a perusal of the pages will show that anciently the sermon differed considerably from, and was far more ceremonious than, the present Khutbah. [FN#10] The words were “Peace be upon ye! and the Mercy of Allah and His Blessings!” [p.227] CHAPTER XXXII. LIFE AT MECCAH, AND UMRAH, OR THE LITTLE PILGRIMAGE. MY few remaining days at Meccah sped pleasantly enough. Omar Effendi visited me regularly, and arranged to accompany me furtively to Cairo. I had already consulted Mohammed Shiklibha—who suddenly appeared at Muna, having dropped down from Suez to Jeddah, and having reached Meccah in time for pilgrimage—about the possibility of proceeding Eastward. The honest fellow’s eyebrows rose till they almost touched his turband, and he exclaimed in a roaring voice, “Wallah! Effendi! thou art surely mad.” Every day he brought me news of the different Caravans. The Badawin of Al-Hijaz were, he said, in a ferment caused by the reports of the Holy War, want of money, and rumours of quarrels between the Sharif and the Pasha: already they spoke of an attack upon Jeddah. Shaykh Mas’ud, the camel man, from whom I parted on the best of terms, seriously advised my remaining at Meccah for some months even before proceeding to Sana’a. Others gave the same counsel. Briefly I saw that my star was not then in the ascendant, and resolved to reserve myself for a more propitious conjuncture by returning to Egypt. The Turkish colonel and I had become as friendly as two men ignoring each other’s speech could be. He had derived benefit from some prescription; but, like all his countrymen, he was pining to leave Meccah.[FN#1] Whilst the