Formerly, when the caravans enjoyed perfect security on the road, goods were chiefly transported by land to. Mekka: at present, few merchants trust their property to the hazards of a passage across the Desert; they rather forego the advantage of importing them into Mekka duty-free, the great privilege possessed by the caravans, and carry them by sea to Djidda, on which road all the hadjys of Africa and Turkey pay a double duty; once in Egypt, and again at Djidda both duties are received by Mohammed Aly. At present, therefore, the smaller traffic only is carried on by the caravans, which remain but a few days at Mekka. The shopkeepers and retail dealers of the city derive greater profits from them than the wholesale merchants. The principal business of the latter occurs during the months previous to the pilgrimage, when foreign merchants arrive by the way of Djidda, and have full leisure to settle their affairs before the Hadj takes place. In time of peace with the interior, there is a considerable trade [p.189] with the Bedouins, and especially with the inhabitants of the towns of Nedjed, who are in want of India goods, drugs, and articles of dress, which they procure either from Medina, or at a cheaper rate from Mekka. Coffee, so much used in the Desert, is imported by the people of Nedjed themselves, who send their own caravans to the coffee country of Yemen. The Mekkawys, especially those who are not sufficiently opulent to trade in India goods, (which require a good deal of ready cash, and lie sometimes long on hand,) employ their capital during the interval of the Hadj, in the traffic of corn and provisions. This was much more profitable formerly than it is at present; for Mohammed Aly having made these articles a monopoly, the people are now obliged to purchase the grain in Djidda, at the Pasha’s own price, and to be contented with a moderate gain on re-selling it at Mekka. After paying freight, however, it still leaves a profit of fifteen or twenty per cent.; and it is a species of traffic peculiarly attractive to the smaller capitals, as, the prices being very variable, it is a lottery by which money may sometimes be doubled in a short time. At the approach of the pilgrimage, every kind of provision rises in value; and, in a smaller proportion, every other article of trade. Those who have warehouses filled with corn, rice, and biscuits, are sure to obtain considerable profits. To provide food, during their stay, for an influx of population amounting to sixty thousand human beings, and for twenty thousand camels, together with provisions for their return homewards, is a matter of no small moment, and Mohammed Aly has not yet ventured to take the whole of it into his hands. Every Mekkawy possessing a few dollars, lays them out in the purchase of some kind of provision, which, when the Hadj approaches, he transports upon his ass from Djidda to Mekka.