THE STRICTEST MOHAMMEDANS 71
receive presents from the families concerned, but
are seldom paid in money. There are various de-
grees of holiness among them. Those who aspire to
the greatest sanctity never engage openly in trade,
but most of them are glad to do a little business when
the opportunity presents itself. All marry, and some
of the richer ones have as many as five wives.
A Sart who has made a pilgrimage to Mecca
enjoys a much greater degree of respect than is
shown to his less fortunate neighbours. He has
the right to be addressed as Had, and may wear a
white calat. In old times the way to Mecca lay
through Afghanistan and India, and at least two
years had to be allowed for the journey, which was
an extremely perilous one. Many pilgrims were
robbed and many murdered in Afghan territory,
whilst numbers died of cholera in India. Since the
Russians opened their railway, pilgrims have found
it a much easier route to go by way of Batoum,
Constantinople, and Damascus. Now that facilities
have so greatly increased, the number of pilgrims
has grown larger in proportion. I learned from the
Governor of Samarkand that at the present day up-
wards of ten thousand pilgrims start annually from
each of the governments of which Russian Turkestan
is composed. Each pilgrim carries a passport which
must be visee at Constantinople; it is made out for
six months. All who can do so aim to arrive in
Mecca before the great feast which follows Ramazan,