A Midshipman Belonging To The
Indian Navy Having Gone On Shore For The Purpose Of Visiting The
Valley Before-Mentioned,
And straying away to some distance, attracted
by the beauty of the scenery, was suddenly surrounded by a party of
Bedouins, who robbed him of all he possessed, cutting off the buttons
from his clothes, under the idea that they were of gold - an impression
which obtains all over the coast, and which inspired the people who
made the last assault upon Aden with the hope of a rich booty.
The population of Makallah is estimated at about 4,600 people, of
various tribes and countries, the chief portion being either of the
Beni Hassan and Yafai tribes, together with Banians, Kurachies, and
emigrants from nearly all parts of the adjacent coasts. It carries
on rather a considerable trade in gums, hides, and drugs, which, with
coffee, form the exports, receiving in return iron, lead, manufactured
cloths, earthenware, and rice, from Bombay, and all the productions of
the neighbouring countries, slaves included, in which the traffic is
said to be very great.
The gentlemen who went on shore purchased very pretty and convenient
baskets, wrought in various colours, and also quantities of
sweetmeats, which are much in esteem in India; these are composed of
honey and flour, delicately made, the honey being converted into a
soft kind of paste, with a coating of the flour on the outside.
These sweetmeats were nicely packed in straw baskets, of a different
manufacture from those before-mentioned, and were very superior to
the common sort which is brought from the coast in small coarse
earthenware basins, exceedingly unattractive in their appearance.
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