Page 128 - Arabian Studies (I)

112 Arabian Studies I

In a letter to Mr. Hanys on the 14th, Mr. Dickinson asks his agent
at Bait al-FaqTh to try to complete his purchasing with a view to his
return to Mocha on the 25th, so that the Prince William may depart
on l July. As to the coffee seed,

if a little of the mould that is most natural to the Coffee Plant can
be got without inconveniency from the Places where the best Soil
grows, it would be acceptable.

15 to 22 June
By 22 June, the total of coffee bales has reached 2,814, but, having
had no recent information from Bait al-Faqih, Mr. Dickinson now
receives some bad news. Monsieur Miron, the French Second at Bait
al-FaqTh, reports that Mr. Hanys is seriously ill with a fever and
requests a doctor be sent to him. Mr. Dickinson obtains the services
of the Dutch doctor in Mocha and the latter departs for Bait al-FaqTh
on the following morning.

23 to 25 June
On 25 June, Mr. Hanys reports that his fever is abated. He is now
completing his purchases, but the price of coffee has risen to 130
Spanish dollars a Bahar.

26th June to 3rd July
By the 3rd of July Mr. Hanys has returned to Mocha. The Prince
William’s cargo quota of 3,000 bales has been exceeded, standing at
3,450 and Mr. Hanys brings with him information of the other
traders’ figures for the season. The largest buyers prove to be the
Turks, exporting from Luhaiyah and Hudaidah:

Exported from Lohayah for Juddah 6150 bales
Exported from Hudidah for Juddah 6450 bales
Exported from Hudidah for Bussereh (Basra) 900 bales

i! 4 July

On 4 July, Mr. Dickinson begins to prepare his final reports: one to
the East India Company’s Court of Directors in England, the other to
the Honorable Robert Conan Esquire, President of the Company at
Bombay, Surat, Persia, Arabia and the Malabar Coast, Governor and
Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty’s Castle and Island of Bombay.
They are lengthy documents, mostly repeating the information
contained under daily headings in the Diary. Some details, however,
have not previously been referred to fully, if at all: