Of These, Some Part Finds Its Way To Yemen And India; And About
One-Fourth Remains In The Hands Of The Mekkawys.
So profitable is this
trade, that the goods bought at Djidda from the merchants, who purchase
them out of the ships which arrive there from India, yield, when sold
wholesale at Mekka, during the Hadj, a clear gain of twenty to thirty
per cent., and of fifty per cent.
When sold in retail. It is not
surprising, therefore, that all the people of Mekka are merchants.
Whoever can make up a sum of a few hundred dollars, repairs to Djidda,
and lays it out on goods, which he exposes for sale during the
pilgrimage. Much profit is also fraudulently made: great numbers of
hadjys are ignorant of the Arabic language, and are consequently placed
in the hands of brokers or interpreters, who never fail to make them pay
dearly for their services; indeed, all Mekka seems united in the design
of cheating the pilgrims.
Formerly, when the caravans enjoyed perfect security on the road, goods
were chiefly transported by land to. Mekka: at present, few merchants
trust their property to the hazards of a passage across the Desert; they
rather forego the advantage of importing them into Mekka duty-free, the
great privilege possessed by the caravans, and carry them by sea to
Djidda, on which road all the hadjys of Africa and Turkey pay a double
duty; once in Egypt, and again at Djidda both duties are received by
Mohammed Aly.
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