Page 395 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

308
BERBERA. fen.

from each boat was little less than from

thirty to fifty dollars, yet it did not influence
their visits, as was evident from the fact that
many vessels accomplished a third voyage,
between Berbera and Mokha the same season.
The Banians of Mokha, Hode'idha, &c.,
have each a partner residing here, to whom

the various articles are consigned, and in their
hands is the whole of the trade of the port.
Between Basrah in the Persian Gulf and
Ilodeidha in the Red Sea, almost every town
on the coast of Arabia contains several fami­
lies of this wily race, who confine themselves
exclusively to commercial pursuits, their first
object in all cases being to throw a veil of
mystery over their proceedings, and to ex­
clude other classes by every means in their
power from any participation in their gains.

Detested and despised as they are by the
Arabs, they have nevertheless, by their na-

tural shrewdness and address, been able, in
most instances, to effect their purpose ; and
at Bahrein, Maskat, and other ports, they
monopolise the whole of the pearl fishery,
amounting, it is supposed, to thirty or forty
lacs of rupees annually. At Berbera, i m a