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Mohammed Aly seldom interposed his authority, as he wished to conciliate the good-will of the Arabs, and the Kadhy himself seems to have received from him very strict orders to act with circumspection; for justice was, at this time, tolerably well administered, at least in comparison with other tribunals; and the inhabitants were not averse to the new order of things.
These disorders are countenanced by the Porte: the office of Kadhy is there publicly sold to the best bidder, with the understanding that he is to remunerate himself by the perquisites of his administration.
I found his highness seated in a large saloon, with the Kadhy on one hand, and Hassan Pasha, the chief of the Arnaut soldiers, on the other; thirty or forty of his principal officers formed a half-circle about the sofa on which they sat; and a number of Bedouin sheikhs were squatted in the midst of the semicircle. I went up to the Pasha, gave him the "Salam Aleykum," and kissed his hand.
Mohammed Aly, who had heard his own women praise her beauty and accomplishments, obliged the Kadhy, much against his will, to part with her for the sum of fifty thousand piastres, and soon after presented her with the marriage contract. I can say little of any customs peculiar to the Medinans, having had so few opportunities of mixing with them.
Mohammed Aly, after his return to Cairo, Salt and Mr. Lee, His Majesty's and the Levant Company's consuls, as well as several English travellers of note who passed through Cairo, that he knew per-fectly well, in the Hedjaz, that I was no Moslem, but that his friendship for the English nation made him overlook the circum-stance, and permit me to impose upon the Kadhy.
I supped with the Kadhy, and afterwards performed the evening prayers in his company, when I took great care to chaunt as long a chapter of the Koran as my memory furnished at the moment; after which we both went to the Pasha, who again sat up a part of the night in private conversation with me, chiefly on political affairs, without ever introducing the subject of my private business.
On the 10th of the month of Zul Hadj, or the day of the feast called Nehar el Dhahye, or Nehar el Nahher, the morning gun awoke the pilgrims before dawn. At the first appearance of day-break, the Kadhy took his station upon the elevated platform which encloses the mosque of Mezdelfe, usually called Moshar el Haram, and began a sermon similar to that which he had preached the day before.
The Mesaa is the place of punishment: there capital offenders are put to death. During my stay, a man was beheaded, by sentence of the Kadhy, for having robbed a Turkish pilgrim of about two hun-dred pounds sterling; this was the only instance of the kind which came to my knowledge, though thieves are said to abound in Mekka, while the Hadj continues.
The Kadhy, the rich merchants of Mekka, and the grandees among the hadjys, likewise paid their respects to the Pashas, and each of their visits lasted about five minutes. An immense crowd was, at the same time, assembled in a wide semicircle round their open tents, to witness this brilliant sight.
At length the sun began to descend behind the western mountains; upon which the Kadhy, having shut his book, received a last greeting of "Lebeyk;" and the crowds rushed down the mountain, in order to quit Arafat. It is thought meritorious to accelerate the pace on this occasion; and many persons make it a complete race, called by the Arabs, Ad'dafa min Arafat.
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