sition. If they catch a thief, they dare not hang him. They must pay
blackmail, and yet be shot at in every pass. They affect superiority
over the Arabs, hate them, and are despised by them. Happily, we were
overtaken at El Hamra by a Meccan caravan which had influence to procure
a military escort; so we were able to proceed, with no serious
hindrance, to Bir Abbas.

In the evening of our first melancholy day at this hot, sandy, barren
spot, firearms were heard in the distance, betokening an engagement
between the troops and the Bedouins. It was not until the following
night that we were allowed to start. At dawn we entered an ill-famed
gorge called the Pilgrims' Pass. Presently, thin blue curls of smoke
rose from the cliffs on the left, and there rang out the sharp cracks of
the hillmen's matchlocks. From their perches on the rocks they fired
upon us with perfect comfort and no danger to themselves, aiming chiefly
at our Albanian escort. We had nothing to do but blaze away as much
powder, and veil ourselves in as much smoke as possible; we lost twelve
men in the affair, besides several of the animals.

We journeyed on through desolate mountain country, all of my companions
in the worst of tempers. I spent a whole day trying to recover from Saad
the Devil the money I had lent him at Suez. Ultimately, he flung the
money down before me without a word. But I had been right in my
persistence; had I not forced him to repay me he would have asked for
more. At last, after an abominably bad night's travelling, we climbed up
a flight of huge steps cut in black basalt. My companions pressed on
eagerly, speaking not a word. We passed through a lane of black scoria,
with steep banks on both sides.

"O, Allah! This is the sanctuary of the Prophet! O open the gates of Thy
mercy!" "O, Allah! Bless the last of Prophets with blessings in number
as the stars of heaven!" "Live for ever, O most excellent of Prophets!"
Such were the exclamations that burst from our party as the Holy City,
the burial place of Mohammed, lay before us in its fertile girdle of
gardens and orchards.

At our feet was a spacious plain, bounded in front by undulating ground;
on the left by the grim rocks of Mount Ohod; on the right by the gardens
of Kuba. On the north-west of the town wall was a tall white-washed
fort, partly built upon rock. In the suburb El Munakhah, near at hand,
rose the brand-new domes and minarets of the five mosques. Farther away
to the