[p.203] world,) and believes no race of men equal to his own, nor any language so pure as the Syrian, though it is undoubtedly the worst dialect of the Arabic next to the Moggrebyn, is obliged to behave here with great modesty and circumspection, and at least to affect politeness. Although an Arab, he is reproached with dressing and living like a Turk; and to the epithet Shámy (Syrian) the idea is attached of a heavy, untutored clown. If the Arabians were to see the Turks in the countries where they are masters, their dislike towards them would be still greater; for it must be said, that their behaviour in the holy city is, in general, much more decent and conformable to the precepts of their religion, than in the countries from which they come. The Mekkawys believe that their city, with all the inhabitants, is under the especial care of Providence, and that they are so far favoured above all other nations. “This is Mekka! this is the city of God!” they exclaim, when any surprise is expressed at the greater part of them having remained in the town during the stagnation of trade and the absence of pilgrims: “None ever wants his daily bread [h]ere; none fears here the incursion of enemies.” That Saoud saved the town from pillage; that no plundering took place when the Turkish cavalry, under Mostafa Bey, recaptured it from the Wahabys; that the capture of Sherif Ghaleb led to no massacres within the precincts of Mekka, are to them so many visible miracles of the Almighty, to prove the truth of that passage of the Koran, (chap. 106.) in which it is said, “Let them adore the God of the house (the Kaaba), who feeds them in hunger, and secures them from all fear.” But they forget to look back to their own history, which mentions many terrible famines and sanguinary battles, that have happened in this sacred asylum. Indeed, the Hedjaz has suffered more from famine than, perhaps, any other Eastern country. The historians abound with descriptions of such lamentable events: I shall only mention one that happened in 1664, when, as Asamy relates, many people sold their own children at Mekka for a single measure of corn; and when, at Djidda, the populace fed publicly on human flesh. A Mekkawy related to me, that having once resolved to abandon the city, in consequence of the non-arrival of Turkish hadjys, who supplied [p.204] his means of subsistence, an angel appeared to him in his sleep on the night previous to his intended departure. The angel had a flaming sword in his hand, and stood upon the gate of Mekka, through which the dreamer was about to leave the town, and exclaimed, “Unbeliever, remain! the Mekkawys shall eat honey, while all the other people of the earth shall be content with barley bread!” In consequence of this vision he abandoned his project, and continued to live in the town.