JOURNEY TO MEKKA
[p.87] consumed none of the provisions brought hither from Mekka; yet I
learned from good authority that there was only a supply for ten days in
Tayf for the Turkish army.
In the time of the Sherif, this town was governed by an officer of his
appointment, named Hakem, himself a sherif, and who narrowly escaped
the sword of the Wahabys. He has been restored to his office by Mohammed
Aly; but it is at present merely honorary. Several sherif families of
Mekka are settled here; and the mode of living, the dress, and manners,
appear to be the same as at Mekka; but I had few opportunities of making
observations on this subject.
September 7th. I set out early in the morning from Tayf for Mekka, by
the same road which I had come. There is, as I have already mentioned, a
more northern route, by which caravans may avoid the difficulties of
passing Djebel Kora. The first station from Mekka, on that road, is
Zeyme, short of which, about ten miles, are several steep ascents. Zeyme
is a half-ruined castle, at the eastern extremity of Wady Lymoun, with
copious springs of running water. Wady Lymoun is a fertile valley,
which extends for several hours in the direction of Wady Fatme; it has
many dateplantations, and formerly the ground was cultivated; but this,
I believe, has ceased since the Wahaby invasion: its fruit-gardens, too,
have been ruined. This is the last stage of the Eastern-Syrian Hadj
route, or that which lies to the east of the Great Hedjaz chain, running
from Medina to Mekka. To the S.E. or E.S.E. of Wady Lymoun, is another
fertile valley, called Wady Medyk, where some sherifs are settled, and
where Sherif Ghaleb possessed landed property.