Of These, Ten Belonged To The Governor.
They Trade With Berberah, Arabia, And Western India, And Are Navigated By
"Rajput" Or Hindu Pilots.
Provisions at Zayla are cheap; a family of six persons live well for about
30_l._ per annum.
The general food is mutton: a large sheep costs one
dollar, a small one half the price; camels' meat, beef, and in winter kid,
abound. Fish is rare, and fowls are not commonly eaten. Holcus, when dear,
sells at forty pounds per dollar, at seventy pounds when cheap. It is
usually levigated with slab and roller, and made into sour cakes. Some,
however, prefer the Arab form "balilah," boiled and mixed with ghee. Wheat
and rice are imported: the price varies from forty to sixty pounds the
Riyal or dollar. Of the former grain the people make a sweet cake called
Sabaya, resembling the Fatirah of Egypt: a favourite dish also is
"harisah"--flesh, rice flour, and boiled wheat, all finely pounded and
mixed together. Milk is not procurable during the hot weather; after rain
every house is full of it; the Bedouins bring it in skins and sell it for
a nominal sum.
Besides a large floating population, Zayla contains about 1500 souls. They
are comparatively a fine race of people, and suffer from little but fever
and an occasional ophthalmia. Their greatest hardship is the want of the
pure element: the Hissi or well, is about four miles distant from the
town, and all the pits within the walls supply brackish or bitter water,
fit only for external use.
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