DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5295#0179
146 TItAVELS IN EGYPT, NUBIA,
provided with three mules for myself and servants, and an
ass for my baggage. I left Jaffa on the 28th, in the after-
noon, and set out for Ramla.
The dress of the muleteers, who are called Mocarris, is
worth describing, and seems peculiar to that class of people.
The turban is of coarse red or white linen, with the end of
fringe, hanging out on the left side behind : the sharweel, or
breeches, is large, descending to the knees, of green cloth,
with a waistcoat of the same colour; over which is a brown
frock without seam, of sackcloth, striped with black, varie-
gated behind at the shoulders with a mixture of black,
yellow, and red colours arranged in a triangle, the point
of which is half way down the back. The one who attended
me was a handsome well-made lad of nineteen years old, very
attentive and civil.
Ramla* is considered three hours distant from Jaffa, and
is the halting place for travellers to Jerusalem. Between the
first two places the country is open and Avell cultivatedf,
and the land excessively rich and fertile: the peasantry,
* According to Pococke, Ramla is the Arimathea of Joseph.
f The summer crops of the Syrians are sown in March and April, and
consist of sesamum, durra, tobacco, cotton, beans, and water-melons. The
winter crop of wheat and barley is sown in October. Volney, p. 301, vol. i.
English translation.
provided with three mules for myself and servants, and an
ass for my baggage. I left Jaffa on the 28th, in the after-
noon, and set out for Ramla.
The dress of the muleteers, who are called Mocarris, is
worth describing, and seems peculiar to that class of people.
The turban is of coarse red or white linen, with the end of
fringe, hanging out on the left side behind : the sharweel, or
breeches, is large, descending to the knees, of green cloth,
with a waistcoat of the same colour; over which is a brown
frock without seam, of sackcloth, striped with black, varie-
gated behind at the shoulders with a mixture of black,
yellow, and red colours arranged in a triangle, the point
of which is half way down the back. The one who attended
me was a handsome well-made lad of nineteen years old, very
attentive and civil.
Ramla* is considered three hours distant from Jaffa, and
is the halting place for travellers to Jerusalem. Between the
first two places the country is open and Avell cultivatedf,
and the land excessively rich and fertile: the peasantry,
* According to Pococke, Ramla is the Arimathea of Joseph.
f The summer crops of the Syrians are sown in March and April, and
consist of sesamum, durra, tobacco, cotton, beans, and water-melons. The
winter crop of wheat and barley is sown in October. Volney, p. 301, vol. i.
English translation.