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thrown And assuredl W : ^- ' - : ':;y : ...
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MiaBlBJFAGE TO EL-MEDINAH AND MBCCAH. ^s...
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The Manhood Of Newton. Memoir* Of The Li...
The warier wSl not expect in oar brief sp * oe any enact acoomt of the coSte ^ SfcDa ^ B & m * ar * umes ; we We endeavonred ^ to indi-SSh ^ ai ^ SS ^ a Sy studea * of the totox , of Science .
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W : ^ - ' - : ' : ; y : ¦ ' : ' ¦ ¦ ¦ ; ' ¦ ' " ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ' ¦ ; - . ( . jgg - ^ lap . LEADER . [ No . 279 ; SATUJKDAig ,
Miablbjfage To El-Medinah And Mbccah. ^S...
MiaBlBJFAGE TO EL-MEDINAH AND MBCCAH . ^ ssffssasisssr ta Sl - Marmah mi " ^ uZSfstz In these days of universal locomotion , when mankind seems to have become one great " tribe of the wandering foot and the weary breast , it is no easy taak to strike out a new lineof adventure , aad . emerge from tlie circle described by John Murray ' s red-bound radii . This feat , however , has been achieved by Lieutenant Barton , of the Bombay Army , a gentleman already fivourably known to t ^ British public by his History of Sindh , and ranking deservedly Mak in the long line of intelligent and enterprising explorers wlitfWe reflected so n > uch credit upon the Indian service- At present we ax ? in possession of his pilgrimage to Bl-Medinali , Mahomed s bunaLtJwe , bSwe areaiso pronusedere long the narrative of his journey 4 o
& eecab : 4 the birthplace of the Prophet . And »* most jicceptaDi ^<«"""» ™ Eastern literature % rfll the entire work-prove , if we may judge of the whole fer * he part actually published . For Mr ; Burton is no vulgar -tourist . He comprises within Kmself nearly aH the attributes required of an accomplished traveller , by the Citizen of the World : Not only are his lingual attainments of an unusually high order , but he is something of a naturalist , chymist ; and a physician , apparently well versed in both European and Oriental literature , and gifted with the faculty of acute observation . It would , therefore , have been strange had he not succeeded in producing an interesting work on a subject so little known as the holy cities of Arabia , and the town life of the Arab > . He has done more than this . He has established his name as the firsf authority in this conntry on all that belongs to the matter he has taken in hand . Assuming a Persian costume and character , he adapted himself with wonderful success to all the-usages and conventionalisms of Eastern life . Never discovered , and seldom even suspected , he was thus enabledto mingle with the crowd , and to survey the interior life of-the Orientals from a point of view never before accessible to a European , save to Burekbardt alone . And as we peruse the pages that record his
personal experiences , it is hard to disabuse ourselves of the idea that we are reading'of £ different woridr of on & that existed centuries before Europe arose otrtrof the slime of the oceans and whose inhabitants had been fixed inH & eiftprinieval condition bythe potent Tod of some wayward magician . ^ Veshould be glad enough to linger wiih our' antftor in Alexandria and Cairo , to join * him even in' that wearisome ride across the desert to Suez , to qKJpy A ynifo ^ nSm t \ it * . qnnnyannpw of the over-crowded pilgrim ship , again to journey in his company across thearid wastes that lie letween-Xambu and El-Mi & dmah f . and finally to make our orisons at the numerous shrines , sacred to piety or / superstition . But this agreeable task wouldfar . exceed the limits of a . weeklyreview ; . and it therefore only remains to us to select a few brief passages of-a character to interest that most capricioois and tetchy personage ^ the'goBeralireader . *' Aft * < Dairo Mr . Barton took Tip * bis abode in a wakalah—or caravanserai - ^ ass-ffeis best fenown to lovers of eastern novels : The following picture ; thicttigjk \ grap hic and true , is not particularly inviting : ¦—
The . Traktflfth , " as the caravanserai or khan is called in JEgypt , combines the offices offhotel , lodgjng-liouae , and store . It is at Cairo , as at Constantinople , a massive pile of fcrqfl < linga BT > Trf > VfT"c ft quadrangular" hosh ? . r or court-yard- On . . the ground-floor are rooms like caverns t for . merchandise , and shops of different kinds—tailors , cobblers , bakers * tobacconiatsy fruiterers , and others . A roofless gallery or a covered verandah , into which , all the apartments open , runs round . the first and sometimes the second story : the latter , however , . is , usually exposed to the sun and wind . The accommodations consist . of Beta of two or three rooms , generally an inner one and an outer ; this contains a hearth for . cooking , a bathing ) place , and . similar necessaries . Tlie staircases arc Hig h , narrow , and ex ! qeedihg ] y < dirty , dark at night and often in bad Tepair ; a goat
or donkey is tethered upon the different landings ; here and there a fresh skin is stretched . 'in process of tanning , and the smell reminds the veteran traveller of those closets in the old " French inns where cats used to he prepared for playing the part of jugged iiare ^ The . interior is unfurnished ; even the pegs upon which clothes are hung h & ve been palled down for firewood : tlie walls are bare but for stains , thick cobwebs depend iii festoons from the blackened rafters of the ceiling , and the stone floor would disgrace a civilised' prison : the windows are huge apertures carefully barred-with-vrood or . iron , and in rare places show remains of glass or paper pasted © yer . the jxame-w ork . In the court-yard the poorer sort of travellers consort with tethered beasts of burden , beggars howl , and the slaves Ho basking and scratching tliemselves . upoa mountainous neaps of cotton bales and other merchandise .
In . this * Egyptians hotel oar author—Abdullah-ibn-Xouiasouf—practi ced mestiaraeiona ? emftll : « calaj hjbiifirai patient bejng an . Ajbyesinian girl belonging , to nnAr « b slave-dealer " :--- A tender race , they 8 trffert * Wiien first transported 1 to Egypt from many complaints ^ especially ¦ conrnmrption , dysentery and varieose veins . I' succeeded in curing one girl . Ab sne-wns worth' at least iiW ^ en potmda , the gratitude of her ; owner was great ; and I Madtc- dbseKalf ' adbiwstt tttttfere in-order to < cure them of the pernicious and prioeloweting'habit of tworrttgi ISVmg in rooms opposite these slave girlsj and seeing them at all 'Hours of the 6 My and nightJ I ttad frequent opportunities of 1 studying thorn * They weir © average sperimens-of'tJre-stentopygous Abyflainbm Dreedi broad-shouldered , thin-franked , flaeHlinrbed , and ' wfth haunches of a prodigious « ize . Noreec * them had iiimiSsotno- ffentnree , Tint' < W snort 'curly ¦ hair that stands on end' being 'oonoealed under
a'k « rt * iiefi iJiere'was'flometfcliig ; pTetty ; * b tfte brow , ' eyes « nd opperpwrt ' of th « no «« , coarse and sensual ih'ttoe' )* mdemv lips ; lfcrge jowl 1 and jtrojwtAng ; month ,, whilst the yvtsolehad a ciwnMturtioil ^ ' piquancy ^ thsweetness ; Thteir * stylo of flirtation yr « peculiar . ^• Howliieaatifiil'tMoti art ) © 'BBaryam !—what eyeBi— -wnat >" "Tb ^ ettWhy /'' -would ' respw « d thtt "ikdifaf & onH'yoa ' bny rae ?"' " We are of one faith—of one creed—formed'ttvft * rm e « dh ^ HerViinppinoBBi " ** -ThtMt- why . donft yoai Uuy mo ?" - * < t } onc « dvBv O / M « ryaiU ) . the . hleB 8 ing of- two tieartsi '•' r , + } jFhmtrml * y donJt . yon huy-na «? " Andeo on . Hdm »'« ki »^ ae > 'e » dangi the few ^ Linfliction < ocf Jluj ^ ainaBiuu junontU , afilie
well observes , " for many classes wantonly thrown away . And assuredly , whatever may be its other good effects , its influence on the temper appears to be the reverse of soothing : — Like the Italian and Greek fasts , thechief ^ fifeet of the " blessed month" upon true believers is to darken their tempers into positive gloom . Their voices , never of the softest , acquire , especially after noon , a terrible harsh and creaking tone . _ . The men curse one another and beat the women . The women slop and abuse the children , and th « se in their turn cruelly entreat and use harsh language to the dogs and cats . You can scarcely spend ten minutes in any populous part of the city without hearing some violent dispute . The " Karakun , " or station-houses , are filled with lords who hnve
administered an undue dose of chastisement to their ladies , and with ladies who have scratched , bitten , and otherwise injured the bodies of their lords . The Mosques are crowded with a sulky , grumbling population , making themselves offensive to one another on earth , whilst working their way to heaven ; and in the shade , under the outer walls , the little boys who have been expelled tho church attempt to forget their miseries in spiritless play . In the bazars and streets , pale long-drawn facia , looking for the most part intolerably cross , catch your eye , and at this season a stranger will sometimes meet with positive incivility . The Egyptians profess great contempt for Europeans , though delighted at the idea of French co-operation in tlie Russiau war , " for , somehow or other , the Frenchman is everywhere popular . "
When speaking of England they were not equally easy : heads were rolled , pious sentences were ejaculated , and finally out ciinie the old Eastern cry , "Of a truth they are Shaitans , those English . " The Austriana are despised , because the East knows nothing of them since the days when Osmanlic hosts threatened the gates of Vienna . The war itself excites but little enthusiasm . The army is recruited by a . system of kidnapping , which the great Frederick would have envied . Wherever men gathered together , in the mosques , for instance , or the coffee-houseo , the police closed the doors , and made forcible capture of the able-bodied . This proceeding , almost as barbarous as our impressment law , filled the main streets with detachments of squalid looking wretches , marching with collars round their nocks and handcuffed to be made soldiers . The dismal impression of the scene was deepened by crowds of -women , who , habited in mourning-, and scattering dust and mud upon their rent garments , followed their sons , brothers , and husbands , with cries and shrieks . The Egyptian soldier is described as being brave , and even reckless when
once / airly roused . He is susceptible of disci p line , and learns the drill with as much-facility as our own peasants . But his marked superiority over the Turk is his peculiar stubbornness in the field , and his power ol' enduring hunger and fatigue . At El-Medinah , it was believed , that the Holy War had arisen fnltn the Czar ' s refusal to embrace Islnmism at the mandate of the Sultan . He had * ' offered tribute * and fealty , but the Sultan had exclaimed , 'No , by Allah ! El Islam ! ' " There was no doubt , however , but that the " Moskow" would be soon reduced to subjection , and then the victorious arms of the Moslem would be turned against all the idolatrous nations of Feringistan . " The Bedouins had decided that there was to be an Arab contingent , and had been looking forward to the spoils of Europe . " And in the meantime they kept themselves in exercise by constant bloodfeuds with one another .
The celebrated Mohammed AH , it seems , had determined to have a weekiy newspaper of his own , which the Europeans pleasantly designated as the BuXah Independent . And when the editor objected that he should find neither readers jior subscribers , the Pacha-deducted the subscription " from the pay of all employes , European and Egyptian , whose salary amounted to a certain sura . Upon which tho editor accepted the task , but , being paid before bis work was published , he , of course , never supplied his subscribers with their copies . " The Arab mosque Mr . Burton considers as " an unconscious revival of the forms used from the earliest ages to denote by symbolism the worship of the generative and tho creative gods . "
The Hindoos I believe to have been the first who symboUsed by an equilateral triangle their peculiar cult , tho Yoni-Lingain : in their temple architecture it became either a conoid or a perfect pyramid . Egypt denoted it by tho obelisk , peculiar to that country ; and the form appeared in different parts of the world : thus iu England it was a mere upright stone , and in Ireland a round tower . This wo might expect to see . D'Huncarvflle has euccesfully traced . the worship itself , iu its different modifications , to all' people : tlie symbol would therefore bo found everywhere . The old Arab minaret is a plain conoid or polygonal tower , without balcony or stages , widely different from the Turkish , modern Egyptian , and Hojazl combinutioixA of cylinder and prism , happily compared by a French traveller to ? ' une chandelle coijfde d ' tui iUignoir . " And finally tho ancient minaret , made solid as all Gothic architecture is , and provided -with a belfry , became the spire and pinnacle of our ancestors .
Some li"ht is incidentally thrown upon the expression used in the Gospel of St . Matthew , "He went up into a mountain to pray . " In Egypt and Arabia " the mountain" is synonymous with " tlie jungle" in India , nml simply means a retired , unpeopled , nnd uncultivated spot . The phrase , " I will sit upon the mountain , " indicates n . n intention to turn imchoritc or magician . The Arabs are naturally predisposed to a species of melancholia which inspires a distaste for society , anda longing for solitude . Students and others who work the brain arc peculiarly subject to Ihia a flection , ami few of their philosophers and literary men . escape its influence . Tho sound of the human , voice grates upon tho nervous system , and they go forth from the city to enjoy tho loneliness and quietude of some neighbouring
. The crown of thorns placed in mookery upon tho Saviour ' s hend is supposed to have been mnde from the Ncbck , or Jujube—Khainims Nnbecn , or Zizyphus spina Christi—" a fine largo tree with a dark green leaf , roundish , and polished like tho olive ; it is armed with a short , curved , nnd sharp thorn , and bears a-pale straw-coloured berry , about tlio size of « . gooseberry , with red streaks on the side next the sun . " And in a foot-noto our author remarks : — Tlierq aro Mimosas in Syria ; but no tree , » ave tho fabled Zakkum , couldtproducu the oterrible , apparatus with -which certain French palntoiB of , the . nuxlom school . have attempted 1 to heighten the terrors of the cwenei © hem-ore' quotation ; . And wo reluctantly tuko our lenve of Mr . Kurt on ' h valuable and interesting volumes : I » i ondoavourbng to-ttoeonnt 'by the uotisancuinity of raoea for the marvellous celerity with which tho Muhomodun iiui £ , starting from a , Biuull town in . the dusoxte of Arabiu , owwtipucAu no
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 28, 1855, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_28071855/page/18/
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