Thus Every Pilgrimage Adds Fresh Numbers To The
Population Not Only Of Djidda, But Of Mekka Also, Which Is Indeed Very
Necessary, As In Both Towns The Number Of Deaths Is Far Greater Than
That Of Births.
The people of Djidda are almost entirely engaged in commerce, and pursue
no manufactures or trades but those of immediate necessity.
They are all
either sea-faring people, traders by sea, or engaged in the traffic with
Arabia. Djidda derives its opulence not only from being the port of
Mekka, but it may be considered as that of Egypt, of India, and of
Arabia; all the exports of those countries destined for Egypt first
passing through the hands of the Djidda merchants. Hence, it is probably
richer than any town of the same size in the Turkish dominions. Its
Arabian name, which means "rich," is therefore perfectly well bestowed.
The two greatest merchants in the place, Djeylany and Sakkat, both of
Maggrebin [Maggrebin, "inhabitants of the West," is the name given by all
the Eastern Arabs to the natives of the Barbary States.]
[p.16] origin, and whose grandfathers first settled here, are known to
possess from one hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand pounds
sterling. Several Indians have acquired capitals nearly equal, and there
are upwards of a dozen houses possessing from forty to fifty thousand
pounds sterling. Wholesale trade is carried on here with greater
facility and profit, and with less intrigue and fraud, than any where I
have seen in the Levant; the principal reason of which is, that almost
all the bargains are made for ready money, very little or no credit
being given. This, however, is not to be understood as implying any
thing favourable to the character of the merchants, who are as notorious
for their bad faith as they are for their large fortunes; but the nature
of the trade, and the established usage, render it a less troublesome
and intriguing business here than in any other country of the East.
The commerce of Djidda may be divided into two principal branches - the
coffee trade, and the Indian trade; with both of which that of Egypt is
connected. Ships laden with coffee arrive from Yemen all the year round,
without being restricted to any particular season. During the voyage,
they sail constantly near the coast, and are thus enabled to take
advantage of the land breezes during the season when no[r]therly winds
prevail, and render the voyage difficult in mid-channel. They dispose of
their cargoes for dollars, which are almost the only article that the
merchants of Yemen take in return. The coffee trade is liable to great
fluctuations, and may be considered a species of lottery, in which those
only embark who have large capitals at their command, and who can bear
occasionally great losses. The price of coffee at Djidda, being
regulated by the advices from Cairo, varies almost with the arrival of
every ship from Suez. The price at the latter place depending upon the
demand for Mocha coffee in Turkey, is thus equally fluctuating. When I
arrived at Djidda, coffee-beans were at thirty-five dollars a hundred-
weight; three weeks after they fell to twenty-four dollars, in
consequence of the
[p.17] peace between England and America, and the expectation that West-
India coffee would be again imported in large quantities at Smyrna and
Constantinople. From the hazardous nature of this trade, there are many
merchants who will not engage in it, except as agents; others send the
coffee on their own account to Cairo, where the chief part of the trade
is in the hands of the Hedjaz merchants residing there. Within the last
six years, the coffee trade between Arabia and the Mediterranean has
suffered greatly by the importation of West-India coffee into the ports
of Turkey. These were formerly supplied exclusively with Mocha coffee;
the use of which has been almost entirely superseded in European Turkey,
Asia Minor, and Syria, by that of the West Indies. The Pasha of Egypt,
however, has hitherto strictly prohibited the importation of West-India
coffee into his dominions.
The trade in India goods is much safer, and equally profitable. The
fleets, principally from Calcutta, Surat, and Bombay, reach Djidda in
the beginning of May, when they find the merchants already prepared for
them, having collected as many dollars and sequins as their
circumstances admit, that they may effect bargains in wholesale at the
very first arrival of the ships. Large sums are also sent hither by the
Cairo merchants to purchase goods on their account; but the cargoes for
the greater part are bought up by the merchants of Djidda, who
afterwards send them to Cairo to be sold for their own advantage. The
India fleets return in June or July, when the prices of every article
brought by them immediately rise; [The ships from Bengal leave Djidda in
June, those from Surat and Bombay in July or the beginning of August.
The Maskat and Bassora shipping, and the slave vessels from the
Mozambique coast, arrive at the same time.] and it commonly occurs that,
on the very day when the last ships sail, ten per cent. profit may be
obtained upon the first price. The merchants, however, unless pressed
for money, do not sell at this time, but keep their goods in warehouses
for four or five
[p.18] months, during which the price continues to rise; so that if they
choose to wait till the January or February following, they may
calculate with great security upon a gain of from thirty to forty per
cent; and if they transport a part of their goods to Mekka for sale to
the Hadj, their profits are still greater. It is the nature of this
commerce that renders Djidda so crowded during the stay of the fleet.
People repair hither from every port on the Red Sea, to purchase at the
first hand; and the merchants of Mekka, Yembo, and Djidda, scrape
together every dollar they possess, to lay them out in these
purchases.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 9 of 179
Words from 8215 to 9231
of 182297
