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.
