I Heard From A Person
Who Had Means Of Knowing The Truth, And Who Had No Motive For Concealing
It
From me, that the amount of customs collected at Djidda in 1814 was
four hundred thousand dollars, equal to eight
Thousand purses, or four
millions of piastres, which would give an annual importation of about
four millions of dollars, a sum certainly below rather than above the
truth. Customs are levied after the same rate at the two gates of the
town, called Bab Mekka and Bab el Medina, upon all provisions coming
from the interior of the country, principally cattle, butter, and dates,
which, in time of peace, when the communication with the interior is
uninterrupted, becomes a matter of importance. Except these, the people
of the town pay no imposts whatever.
[p.50] During my residence, the Turks had made Djidda the principal
depot for their army. A large magazine of corn belonging to the Pasha,
received almost daily supplies from Egypt, and caravans were every day
despatched to Mekka and Tayf; the commerce of the town also was much
increased by the wants of the army and its followers. The police of the
place was well regulated; and the Pasha had given the strictest
injunctions to his troops that they should not commit excesses, as he
well knew that the high-minded Arabians do not so quietly submit to ill-
treatment as the enslaved Egyptians: whenever quarrels happened between
Arabs and Turks, the former generally had the advantage. No avanies (or
wanton act of oppression and injustice) had, under any pretence, been
exercised upon individuals, except in the occupation of a few of the
best houses by the Pasha as lodgings for his wives. The merchants
suffered, however, as in the sherif's time, from the arbitrary rates of
customs, and from the necessity of frequently purchasing all kinds of
merchandize from the Pasha, who, while he was in the Hedjaz, seemed to
be as eager in his mercantile as he was in his military pursuits. But
after an impartial view of the merits and demerits of both governments,
it may be said that the people of Djidda have certainly gained by the
Osmanlys; yet, strange to mention, not an Arab could be found, whether
rich or poor, sincerely attached to his new masters; and the termination
of the sherif's government was universally regretted. This must not be
attributed wholly to the usual levity of a mob, which is found among the
subjects of the Porte, even in a greater degree than among those of any
European nation. The Ottoman governors or Pashas are continually
changing, and every new one becoming a supreme ruler, gives ample cause
for complaints and private hatred and disgust; while their rapid
succession inspires the people with the hope of being soon rid of their
present despot, an event to which they look forward with pleasure, as
the first months of a new governor are generally marked by clemency and
justice.
[p.51] The Arabians are a very proud, high-spirited nation; and this may
be said even of those who inhabit the towns, however corrupted the true
Bedouin character may be among this degenerate race. They despise every
nation that does not speak the Arabic language, or that differs in
manners; they have, besides, been accustomed, for many years, to look
upon Turks as a very inferior people, who, whenever they entered the
Hedjaz, were overawed by the power of the sherif. The rigid ceremonial
of a Turkish court was not adapted to the character and established
notions of Mohammed Aly's new subjects. The sherif, in the height of his
power, resembled a great Bedouin Sheikh, who submits to be boldly and
often harshly addressed. A Turkish Pasha is approached with the most
abject forms of servitude. "Whenever the Sherif Ghaleb wanted a loan of
money," observed one of the first merchants of the Hedjaz to me, "he
sent for three or four of us; we sat in close discourse with him for a
couple of hours, often quarrelling loudly, and we always reduced the sum
to something much less than was at first demanded. When we went to him
on ordinary business, we spoke to him as I now speak to you; but the
Pasha keeps us standing before him in an humble attitude, like so many
Habesh (Abyssinian) slaves, and looks down upon us as if we were beings
of an inferior creation. I would rather," he concluded, "pay a fine to
the sherif than receive a favour from the Pasha."
The little knowledge which the Turks possess of the Arabic language,
their bad pronunciation of it even in reciting prayers from the Koran,
the ignorance of Arabia and its peculiarities which they betray in every
act, are so many additional causes to render them hateful or despicable
in the eyes of the Arabs. The Turks return an equal share of contempt
and dislike. Whoever does not speak the language of the Turkish soldier,
or does not dress like one, is considered as a fellah, or boor, a term
which they have been in the habit of applying to the Egyptian peasants,
as beings in the lowest
[p.52] state of servitude and oppression. Their hatred of the Arabian
race is greater, because they cannot indulge their tyrannical
disposition with impunity, as they are accustomed to do in Egypt, being
convinced by experience that an Arabian, when struck, will strike again.
The Arabians particularly accuse the Turks of treachery, in seizing the
sherif and sending him to Turkey after he had declared for the Pasha,
and permitted Djidda and Mekka to be occupied by the Turkish troops,
who, they assert, would never, without the assistance of the sherif,
have been able to make any progress in Arabia, much less to acquire a
firm footing therein.
The term khayn, "treacherous," is universally applied to every Turk in
Arabia, with that proud self-confidence of superiority, in this respect,
for which the Arabs are deservedly renowned.
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