All were silent, only the pilgrim woman went on in measured tones, drawing in her breath.
Hsiian Tsang, the celebrated Chinese pilgrim, visited Benares in the 7th century A.D.
The most meritorious act that a pilgrim can perform is to walk from the sea to the source of the river and back along the opposite bank.
Commissioned by Mehemet Ali to inform him about the situation in Nejd brought about by the rising power of Abdallah Ibn Rashid, Wallin left Cairo in April 1845, and crossing the pilgrim road at Ma`an, pushed on across the Syrian desert to the Wadi Sirhan and the Jauf oasis, where he halted during the hot summer months.
But his community was certainly still in existence in the 4th century A.D., for it is especially mentioned by Fa Hien, the Chinese pilgrim (Legge's translation, p. 62).
