W.H.

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CONVICTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

The regular hours of work are from sun-rise to sun-set; but so few settlers get up to see that this time is kept, that a much shorter period is generally employed in labour.  The expense of maintaining a convict is rather a difficult calculation:  where there are many men, they are, of course, supported at much less per man than where there are but few, from being able to buy slop clothes, tea, and the other necessaries, at wholesale prices, of the importing merchant.  The waste, also, made by the convicts in their meat, &c. is a serious consideration:  the head and entrails of animals slaughtered for their use, and which an English labourer would be glad of, are thrown away as only fit for the dogs; nothing but the body and legs are deemed sufficiently good for these dainty characters.  Taking all expenses into consideration, I think that from 25l. to 30l. per man may be estimated as the annual cost—­Widowson’s Present State of Van Dieman’s Land.

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THROWING STONES AT THE DEVIL.

On arriving at Wady Muna, each nation encamped upon the spot which custom has assigned to it, at every returning Hadj.  After disposing of the baggage, the hadjys hastened to the ceremony of throwing stones at the devil.  It is said that, when Abraham or Ibrahim returned from the pilgrimage to Arafat, and arrived at Wady Muna, the devil Eblys presented himself before him at the entrance of the valley, to obstruct his passage; when the angel Gabriel, who accompanied the patriarch, advised him to throw stones at him, which he did, and after pelting him seven times, Eblys retired.  When Abraham reached the middle of the valley, he again appeared before him, and, for the last time, at its western extremity, and was both times repulsed by the same number of stones.  According to Azraky, the Pagan Arabs, in commemoration of this tradition, used to cast stones in this valley as they returned from the pilgrimage; and setup seven idols at Muna, of which there was one in each of the three spots where the devil appeared, at each of which they cast three stones.  Mohammed, who made this ceremony one of the chief duties of the hadjys, increased the number of stones to seven.  At the entrance of the valley, towards Mezdelfe, stands a rude stone pillar, or rather altar, between six or seven feet high, in the midst of the street, against which the first seven stones are thrown, as the place where the devil made his first stand:  towards the middle of the valley is a similar pillar, and at its western end a wall of stones, which is made to serve the same purpose.  The hadjys crowded in rapid succession round the first pillar, called “Djamrat el Awla;” and every one threw seven small stones successively upon it; they then passed to the second and third spots