— the maner of sacrificing at mecha.

forasmuche as for the most parte noble spirites are delyted with nouelties of great and straunge thyngs, therefore, to satisfie their expectation, i wyll describe theyr maner of sacrifycyng. therefore, when they intend to sacrifice, some of them kyll three sheepe, some foure, and tenne; so that the butcherie sometyme so floweth with blood that in one sacrifice are slayne above three thousande sheepe. they are slayne at the rysyng of the sunne, and shortly after are distributed to the poore for god’s sake: for i sawe there a great and confounded multitude of poor people as to the number of 20 thousande. these make many and long dyches in the feeldes, where they keepe fyre with camels doong, and rost or seeth the fleshe that is geuen them, and eate it euen there. i beleue that these poore people came thither rather for hunger than for deuotion, which i thinke by this coniectur — that great abundance of cucumbers are brought thyther from arabia fælix, whiche they eate, castyng away the parynges without their houses or tabernacles, where a multitude of the sayde poore people geather them euen out of the myre and sande, and eate them, and are so greedie of these parynges that they fyght who may geather most.41 the daye folowing,42 their cadi (which are in place with them as with vs the preachers of god’s worde) ascended into a hygh mountayne, to preach to the people that remaineth beneath; and preached to them in theyr language the space of an houre. the summe of the sermon was, that with teares they should bewayle theyr sinnes, and beate their brestes with sighes and lamentation. and the preacher hymselfe with loude voyce spake these wordes, “o abraham beloued of god, o isaac chosen of god, and his friend, praye to god for the people of nabi.” when these woordes were sayde, sodenly were heard lamenting voyces. when the sermon was done, a rumor was spredde that a great armye of arabians, to the number of twentie thousande, were commyng. with which newes, they that kept the caraunas beyng greatly feared, with all speede, lyke madde men, fledde into the citie of mecha, and we agayne bearyng newes of the arabians approche, fledde also into the citie. but whyle wee were in the mydwaye between the mountayne and mecha, we came by a despicable wall, of the breadthe of foure cubites: the people passyng this wall, had couered the waye with stones, the cause whereof, they saye to be this: when abraham was commaunded to sacrifice his sonne, he wylled his sonne isaac to folowe hym to the place where he should execute the commaundement of god. as isaac went to follow his father, there appeared to him in the way a deuyl, in lykenesse of a fayre and freendly person, not farre from the sayde wall, and asked hym freendlye whyther he went. isaac answered that he went to his father who tarryed for him. to this the enemie of mankynde answered, that it was best for hym to tarrye, and yf that he went anye further, his father would sacrifice him. but isaac nothyng feareyng this aduertisement of the deuyl, went forward, that his father on hym myght execute the commaundement of god: and with this answere (as they saye) they deuyell departed. yet as isaac went forwarde, the diuell appeared to hym agayne in the lykenesse of an other frendlye person, and forbade hym as before. then isaac taking vp a stone in that place, hurlde it at the deuyl and wounded him in the forehead: in witnesse and remembraunce whereof, the people passyng that waye when they come neare the wall, are accustomed to cast stones agaynst it, and from thence go into the citie.43 as we went this way, the ayre was in maner darkened with a multitude of stock doues. they saye that these doues, are of the progenie of the doue that spake in the eare of mahumet, in lykenesse of the holye ghost.44 these are seene euery where, as in the villages, houses, tauernes and graniers of corne and ryse, and are so tame that one can scharsely dryue them away. to take them or kyll them is esteemed a thyng worthy death,45 and therefore a certayne pensyon is geuen to nourysshe them in the temple.