Page 273 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

254 COAST OF ARABIA. [CH.

The governors of Mecca and of Jiddah, the
Pasha who accompanied the Syrian caravan,
and many other people of distinction, were
swept off. So numerous were its victims,
that the living ceased to bury the dead
singly, but dug large pits, into which the
bodies were thrown by hundreds. Many
pilgrims became so stupified at the sudden­
ness of the event, that they were unable to

leave the city, while others hastily quitted it,
and, in consequence, the road from Mecca
to Jiddah was for several weeks afterwards
strewed with the dead and dying.
The disease followed the pilgrims in their
passage up the coast, attacking the inhabit­
ants of Yembo’, Suez, and Cairo, succes­
sively; and we found the halting-places of
the hajj boats strewed with numerous graves
of those who fell its victims.
In cold weather, the sky is for the most
part clear and cloudless. Generally speak­

ing, there is no want of rain, which falls in
heavy showers during the months of Novem­
ber, December, and January. So far, the
climate of this coast differs widely from that
of Egypt, where (though the distance be-