United States or Myanmar ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
In a quarter of an hour I had gone through them, when I was at liberty to return home to arrange my domestic affairs. My Mezowar assisted me in the purchase of all necessary provisions, which were not obtained without difficulty; Tousoun Pasha, the governor of the town, having, by his inconsiderate measures, frightened away the Bedouins and camel-drivers, who used to bring in provisions.
The mistress of my lodgings, an old infirm woman, by birth an Egyptian, who during my stay took up her quarters in an upper story, from which she could speak to me without being seen, as it opened into my own room below, used to converse with me for half an hour every evening; and my cicerone, or Mezowar, paid me occasional visits, in order, as I strongly suspected, to seize upon part of my baggage in case of my death.
When he intends to visit the temple, the cicerone, or, as he is here called, Mezowar, leads him into the gate called Bab-es'-Salam, passing his right foot first over the threshold, which is the general custom in all mosques, and particularly insisted upon here.
With the help of a Mezowar, a professional class of men, similar to the delyls at Mekka, I procured, after some trouble, a good apartment in the principal market-street of the town, about fifty yards from the great mosque.
I transported my baggage to those lodgings, where I was called upon by the Mezowar to visit the mosque and the holy tomb of Mohammed; it being a law here, as at Mekka, that a traveller arriving in the town must fulfil this duty, before he undertakes the most trifling business. The ceremonies are here much easier and shorter than at Mekka, as will be presently seen.
Word Of The Day