Page 16 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 4,5

trade and industries 103

. ()f .small importance compared with that of Jicldah, the harbour is
n,n ally visited by Egyptian, British,Turkish,and Austriansteamers.
nor
The revenue of the port is derived exclusively from the customs,
the duties being nominally fixed at 10 per cent. ; the imports arc •
mostly grain, collee, and articles of clothing. The other places
on the coast of Hejaz are of no commercial importance, and, with
one exception, are not ports of call for steamers; at Lith, in Southern
Hejaz, an Austrian Lloyd steamer used to call at intervals of about
three months on her passage from Loheia and Qunfudah.
Apart from its indispensable trade in provisions, Medina has
never acquired the commercial importance that Mecca owes to
the Hajj. For the Pilgrimage to Medina is not compulsory, and
only a small proportion of the Meccan pilgrims prolong their visit
so as to include the Prophet’s tomb, though visitors may come
there at any time of the year. The town-population of Medina
resembles that of Mecca in subsisting entirely on the Pilgrimage and
l he Turkish subsidy ; but the town also possesses a large agricultural
population (see p. 117), and is a considerable source of local supply.
The staple produce of Medina, as of all the oases of Hejaz, is the
date. Of the numerous varieties grown there, the best class of date
(.shelebi) is packed in skins and boxes, and exported to all parts of
the Mohammedan world. The helw date of El-‘Ala, soft and tasting
like honey, is also famous outside the limits of Hejaz ; it, too, is
stored in skins, where it begins to dry and crystallize, and is exported
m that form. A considerable proportion of the crop is carried to
Syria, in part by the Syrian Hajj ; the honey-date of El-‘Ala is
a favourite sweetmeat in Damascus. El-‘Ala and the other oases
are also great sources of date-supply to the Bedouins, and they main­
tain some traffic with them in corn and imported rice, The chief
traffic of Kheibar and Henakiyah is with Medina, merchants bringing
their ^oods to the former oasis regularly for the autumn fair. The
commercial connexions of Teima, on the other hand, run eastward,
i1^ eSj16n fr°m Jebel Shammar arriving there with Baghdad cloth-
iag and the light and cheaper Gulf calico ; coffee-pestles and mortars
of Linest°ne marble are also imported from Jauf. The only export
ro k °fses’ aPai>t from dates and the small trade in cereals, is Teima
nrV^n’ usec^ aH parts of Arabia ; it is said to be
■ uPPly *° ^ sea‘sa^ fr°m Wejh and other coastal sources of

B. Life
1.
*n Heiaz caim°t be summarized usefully under any
55 ot generalization, the majority of the urban centres being