Page 403 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

376
BERBERA. [c u.

diffusion of the Mussulman religion through­

out the greater part of Africa, it is somewhat
strange that it has found so few converts on
the sea-coast, where the natives are in con­
stant communication with those of that
persuasion. Not more than a third of those

assembled at Berbera were Mussulmans,
the rest being idolaters and Christians. I
have been unable to discover the peculiar
tenets and ceremonies of the first, but have
met the latter occasionally on their way to
Jerusalem. In these countries, a pilgrim who
lias visited that city enjoys with his own sect
the same degree of respect and sanctity
which a Haji acquires with Mohammedans

from his sojourn at Mecca. Those I saw
were generally poor men, for their chiefs
rarely undertake these pilgrimages. They go
up by sea as far as Suez, where they dis­
embark, and perform the rest of the journey
on foot; a task in which six or eight months
I
are usually consumed.
They have no mosques in Berbera, but
at the distance of half a mile, there is a
small rude tomb which the idolatrous Siim^lis

occasionally visit, Here they make votive
offerings of ostriches’ eggs, which are sus-