MEGCA.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume V, Issue 48, 29 November 1890, Page 7

MEGCA.

There are about fifty thousand inhabitants in Mecca. The Hoating population reaches over one hundred thousand during the period of the annual pilgrimage. Mecca—than which no city, unless it be Medina, has preserved a more complete isolation from modern influences—has been unable to completely resist the inroads of Euro]>ean civilisation. Many will learn with astonishment that ‘ entire Mecca lives oft’the pilgrims.’ It has neither agriculture nor any special industry, nor any commerce, except slave traffic, outside of the trade which the pilgrimages bring. In a city so unique in every respect life naturally presents most curious and interesting features. Of particular interest is the account of the mixed character of the population and the various classes of which the city is composed. The annual pilgrimage always leaves behind a small percentage who eventually become citizens of Mecca. Since the pilgrims hail from every nook and corner of the Oriental world, these constant additions to the steady population of the city have brought about a mixture of ethnic elements for which it will be difficult to adduce a parallel. The city is made up of little groups, each with its own organization, each striving to maintain its identity in the general throng. There is a special sheik for the Egyptians, for the Turks, for those coming from Malay, for India and the like. These sheiks again form a close corporation under the leadership of a sheik of sheiks. The chief occupation of these sheiks is to take care of the pilgrims coming from their particular province, and which they generally do with an eye to their own profit. The slave trade flourishes briskly in Mecca. In consequence of the suppression of trade elsewhere Mecca has become a most important centre of that dreadful traffic. Africa, and chiefly the Soudan, furnishes the main contingent in slaves, but, in addition, many Circassians are brought to Mecca by way of Constantinople, and—which is rather surprising to learn—some come from British India and the Dutch colonies in East India. The lowest class is used for the hard, manual labour, for which the good Meccan has a strong aversion. The better ones are employed as domestic servants or in the bazaars.

Most interesting is the description of the slave market. On benches ranged along the wall sit the women, and only some of them veiled : squatting on the ground before them are the men, while the little boys and girls—and many children are sold at a tender age—are scattered about and innocent of their fate, are absorbed in play. The purchaser makes a selection, examines every part of the laxly as he would a horse—the teeth, arms, legs and the like—and then begins to wrangle with the dealer about the price. Still, the author assures us, that the scene is rather a gay <>ne. The women joke about the questions that their prospective masters put to them, ami are amused when the latter fall into the traps set by the cunning dealers. Our author cannot find sufficient words in which to praise the good treatment which the slaves received from the Meccans. He notes instances which are intended to show that Meccans are severer toward their own offspring than toward their slave boys. As far as the women are concerned, their connection with their master s family is so close that our author treats of them in the chapter devoted to the home life of the Meccans.

The architecture of Mecca is as mixed as the population. The handsome Government building erected by < Itliman Pasha might be mistaken for a Municipal Library ; other public buildings are in Homan style, while the colonnades that enclose the court of the Caaba, are of Syrian architecture. The dwelling-houses are usually three stories high, with a turreted roof, on which the inhabitants eat and sleep during the hot season.