Page 253 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat
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234 COAST OF ARABIA. [ch.
ornament. During the season, which is from
the commencement of July to the latter end
of September, they hold an annual fair, to
which the inhabitants of the neighbouring
parts resort in great numbers, exchanging for
this surplus, salt-fish cured on the coast, and
grain, cloth, &c., procured from Jiddah. These
articles are retailed again to the Arabs of the
interior, so that the whole of the Harb tribes
are supplied from this port with the very few
foreign articles which they require. Many
others, attracted also by the cheapness of
food, reside here, during these months, on the
profits obtained from their fishing and the
pearls they may have collected, returning at
the close of the season to their former occu
pation. It was computed they amounted to
about five thousand men at the period of our
first visit. On our second arrival, in Septem
ber, there were not more than a fifth of that
number.