Abstract
FEW Christians have been to Mecca, and fewer still to Medina, or, if they have attempted the journey, have survived to tell the tale. Here is the story of how a young- man of twenty-six successfully accomplished the feat. Major Wavell, travelling in disguise via Beyrout and Damascus, reached Medina by the Hedjaz railway in 1908. After some weeks' stay in that city, where he had one or two narrow escapes from detection, he made his way by camel caravan to Yemba, on the coast, the overland route to Mecca being closed, owing to the rising of the Bedou tribes. From Yemba Major Wavell went by sea to Jiddah, and thence,reached Mecca. His stay in Mecca seems to have been safer than in Medina, but not without risks. The pilgrimage to Mina was made before the return to Jiddah and the departure for Egypt. The book is full of information; many pages glow with colour, and not one lacks fascination. As the author says of himself, he was “never averse to being where anything interesting is taking place.” That is the spirit in which he carried out this dangerous enterprise. His two companions were an Arab from Aleppo and a Mombasa Swahili. To avoid the chance of detection, he adopted the expedient of telling Arabs that his language was Swahili, and when he met natives of East Africa, of saying he was from Muscat and spoke only Arabic.
A Modern Pilgrim in Mecca.
By Major A. J. B. Wavell. New cheaper impression. With an introduction by Major Leonard Darwin. Pp. xv + 232. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1918.) Price 2s. 6d. net.
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A Modern Pilgrim in Mecca . Nature 102, 404 (1919). https://doi.org/10.1038/102404a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/102404a0