rush from Arafât, (see p. 44,) consisted of adherents of one or other of the contending factions.
To return to our review of the narrative. Entering Meccah with the Hajj, Varthema proceeds to give an account of the city and its inhabitants, noticing par- ticularly the great number of foreigners who had arrived there from the east and west, "some for pur- poses of trade, and some on pilgrimage for the pardon of their sins"; and the various commodities which were imported by them from Africa, the western coast of India, and the Bay of Bengal. Next, he takes us into the Great Mosque, describing the Kä'abah and the well Zemzem, with the various ceremonies performed there; and thence he accompanies the pilgrims to Arafât, and returns with them in haste through the Valley of Mina, where he witnessed the customary lapidation of the "Great Devil."
d 2
xxxvi INTRODUCTION.
Considering that our author is the first European traveller on record who visited the holy places of the Muhammcdans, and taking into account how scanty must have been his previous knowledge of the history and distinctive doctrines of Islâm, his description of Meccah and of the Hajj may fairly claim to be regarded as a literary wonder. With but few excep- tions, his minutest details are confirmed by later and far more learned writers, whose investigations on the whole have added comparatively little to the know- ledge which we possess of the Mussulman pilgrimage through the pages of Varthema; and the occasional correspondence between some of his statements and those of Burckhardt is so striking, as to give rise to the conjecture that that enterprising traveller had perused his book either before or after his own journey into the Hijâz. Burton, whose eastern learning and personal experience of the Hajj constitute him a most competent judge, bestows this well merited encomium on our author's narrative:— "But all things consi- dered, Ludovico Barthema, for correctness of observ- ation and readiness of wit, stands in the foremost rank of the old oriental travellers."1
The Hajj over, Varthema being anxious to visit other countries, or disinclined to return by the same route he had come, meditated escape from his com- panions. Fortune favoured the design by throwing in his way a Mussulman trader who had been to Europe, and who agreed to aid him in the attempt,
1 Personal Narrative of a "Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah,
vol. ii. p. 352.
INTRODUCTION. xxxvii
on learning that he intended to manufacture "large mortars," to be used by the Moslems against the in- fidel Portuguese, and in consideration of having his goods passed free of duty out of Meccah, through our author's influence with the commander of the Mam- luks. He also furnished him with directions how to reach the court of the King of the Deccan, from which latter circumstance it is clear that Varthema had already contemplated a journey to India. Depart- ing himself with the caravan, the Mussulman con- fided his charge to the care of his wife, with instruc- tions to despatch him, on the following Friday, by the Indian Kâfila proceeding to Juddah. According to his own statement, Varthema succeeded in gaining the affections of his kind hostess and her young niece, both of whom held out strong inducements for him to remain; but he prudently "declined all their offers, on account of the present danger," and started towards the coast with the caravan, "to the no small regret of the said ladies, who made great lamenta- tions."
At Juddah, our traveller took refuge in a mosque, which was crowded with indigent pilgrims, and, fearing detection, pretended sickness, and even ab- stained from going abroad except by night in search of food. Nevertheless, his brief account of the place is quite correct, and judging from the number of vessels then in the harbour, which he estimates at one hundred, "great and small," the commerce of the port must have been much larger at that time than it is now,—a result mainly attributable to the
xxxviii INTRODUCTION.
Cape route having subsequently diverted much of the trade between India and Europe from its older channel viâ Egypt.
In his description of the voyage down the Red Sea, (which he naively remarks is not red,) during which the vessel only sailed by day owing to the numerous coral-reefs and shoals which lie off the coast, Varthema mentions their landing at Jâzân, now an unfrequented place, but at that time one of the principal ports of southern Arabia; then their skirmish with some wild Bedawin, who are as wild still; next, their touching at the island of Camrân, which he tells us was subject to the "Sultan of the Amanni," meaning the Imam of Sanaa, but whose territories were invaded a few years later by a combined Egyptian and Turkish army whose fleet anchored in that very place; and finally the passage through the Straits of Bâb el-Mandeb, and their safe arrival at Aden. Here, the day following, being sus- pected as a Christian spy in disguise, he was forth- with laden with irons, and placed in confinement together with another individual, apparently a fellow- passenger, whose name and country, however, do not transpire. Three days after, some refugees from a ship, which had been captured by the Portuguese, arriving at Aden, the suspicions of the inhabitants were confirmed, and it was only through the personal intervention of the deputy governor, who decided that the case should be referred to the Sultan, that they were saved from the vengeance of the infuriated inhabitants. Accordingly, after a delay of sixty-five
INTRODUCTION. xxxix
days, the two captives were mounted on one camel, still in chains, and sent under an escort to Radâä, eight days' journey from Aden, where they under- went a preliminary examination before the Sultan; but Varthema failing to pronounce the Muhamme- dan formula of faith, either through fear, or, as he says, "through the will of God," he and his com- panion were again cast into prison.
Leaving them there to chew the bitter cud of re- pentance, it will not be out of place to notice the coincidence connected with the proceedings of the Portuguese in the Indian seas at this period, and the misfortunes which they entailed on our enterprising traveller.
In a note on the text of this part of the narrative, I have adduced a passage from an Arabian historian, to the effect that in the year A.D. 1502, seven native vessels had been seized by the Franks between India and the island of Hormuz ; and most of the crews mur- dered. I am inclined to believe, however, that the case in which the refugees were concerned may be gathered more definitely, partly from Greene's Col~ lection, and partly from the journal of Thome Lopez. The former has the following: —
"Stephen de Garaa being arrived on the coast of India, near Mount Deli, to the north of Kananor, he met a ship of great bulk, called the Meri [probably Miri, i.e. state pro- perty,] belonging to the Sultan of Egypt, which was very richly laden, and full of Moors of quality, who were going to Mekka. The ship being taken after a vigorous resistance, the General went on board, and sending for the principal
xl INTRODUCTION.
Moors ordered them to produce such merchandizes as they had, threatening them, otherwise, to have them thrown into the sea. They pretended all their effects were at Kalekût; but one of them having been flung overboard, bound hand and foot, the rest, through fear, delivered their goods. All the children were carried into the General's ship, and the remainder of the plunder given to the sailors. After which, Stephen de Gama, by Don Vasco's order, set fire to the vessel ; but the Moors, having broken up the hatches under which they were confined, and quenched the flames with the water that was in the ship, Stephen was commanded to lay them aboard. The Moors, having been made desperate with the apprehension of their danger, received him with great resolution, and even attempted to burn the other ships.
" Night coming on, he was obliged to desist without doing his work ; but the General gave orders, that the vessel should be watched, that the passengers might not, by favour
