Page 235 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

210 COAST OF ARABIA. [CH.

that port that llic dues have been paid there.
At Suez, an officer is placed on board each
boat bound to this port, to prevent smuggling,
which, during the Sherif’s time, was carried

on to a great extent. Customs are levied at
the same rate on dates, butter, and other pro­

visions : many of the boats visiting this port
take away large quantities of provisions for
the Jiddali market.
The imports, which consist of articles re­
quired for the consumption of Medina, Nejd,
and the northern parts of Hejaz, are mostly
grain, coffee, and articles of dress: the latter,
till within the last few years, were supplied
from the India market by the way of Jid-
dah; but Mohammed ’All, from causes that

will subsequently be more fully explained,
obliged the Yembo’ merchants to purchase
the manufactures of Egypt at his own price,
and does not permit the importation of any
Indian commodities under the severest penal­
ties. So rigorously is this regulation enforced,
that any cloth not bearing the Pasha’s stamp,
worn within the walls, is seizable. The
Pasha likewise holds the entire monopoly of
grain, which the merchants are obliged to