Page 154 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 4,5

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172 YEMEN

villages of Uganda. The town in general is dirty, insanitary, and
unhealthy. There is an open market for the exchange of the
natural products of the country—coffee, hides, skins—in an expanse
of sand outside the town ; the bazaars, within the walls, for sup­

plies of a general kind, are considerable and well stocked. In
the immediate neighbourhood of the town are extensive areas of
palm-grove and garden, but, immediately beyond, the surrounding
country is extremely sterile. The water-supply locally is exceedingly
poor; there are some brackish wells in the neighbourhood, but pure j
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water has to be brought from a distance of some miles.
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In normal times there is a fair-sized permanent garrison, and as
the town is the point of disembarkation of troops and the depot for
stations in the interior, it is always full of soldiers, even in time of
peace. In 1897 the population was estimated at over 50,000, but
no census has ever been taken. Bury (1913) estimates it at 42,000,
including a British Indian community of about 1,000 and 100 Euro­

peans, mostly Greeks who have shops. Somalis, Abyssinians, and
Arabs from the Hadhramaut are very numerous ; but Arabs from
the irdand highlands are surprisingly few. As to climate, from April
to September north-easterly winds prevail, and, for the rest of the
year, south-westerly. The heat, though great, is in consequence
not insupportable even in summer, and the climate of Hodeidah
compares favourably with that of Musawwa‘ on the opposite coast.
But the humidity is great, and many people suffer from ague and
rheumatism. Harris says, ‘ after a rainfall, or in the winter, when
the westerly winds are blowing, fever attacks the plain like an
epidemic.’
The lines of telegraphic communication are : (a) Hodeidah,

San‘a, Dhamar, Yerim, Ibb, Ta'izz, and Mocha ; (b) Hodeidah,
Beit el-Faqlh, Zebid, and Mocha ; (c) Hodeidah, Loheia, and Midi,
with a branch to Kamaran Island ; and (d) overland and cable
connexion with Perim. The trade of Hodeidah has been fully dealt
with (see pp. 158 and 159), but it may be added that the Khedivial
Mail Steamship Co. steamers call regularly every fortnight and the
Florio Rubattino about fortnightly.

L 2. Mocha, once the chief centre of the Yemen coffee trade, 1
lies in a small bay between two low points about a mile and a
quarter apart, on each of which are the ruins of a fort. Between
the forts the town-wall extends in a semicircle, in the centre of
which the principal gate, called the Bab esh-Shadli, gives access
to the town from the main Ta'izz and Hodeidah roads. Opposite
this gate, on the sea-front, is a stone jetty which is, however,
in a state of decay. The town covers about half a square mile

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