At Medina Several Persons Engage In Small Commercial Transactions,
Chiefly Concerning Provisions; A Lucrative Branch Of Traffic, As The
Town Depends For Its Support Upon The Caravans From Yembo, Which Are
Seldom Regular, And This Circumstance Causes The Prices Of Provisions
Continually To Fluctuate.
The evil consequence of this is, that the
richer corn-dealers sometimes succeed in establishing a monopoly, no
grain remaining but in their warehouses, the petty traders having been
obliged to sell off.
Whenever the caravans are delayed for any
considerable time, corn rises to an enormous price; and as the chiefs of
the town are thus interested, it can scarcely be supposed that the
magistrates would interfere.
Next to the provision-trade, that with the neighbouring Bedouins is the
most considerable: they provide the town with butter, honey, (a very
essential article in Hedjaz cookery,) sheep, and charcoal; for which
they take, in return, corn and clothing. Their arrival at Medina is
likewise subject to great irregularity; and if two tribes happen to be
at war, the town is kept for a month at the mercy of the few substantial
merchants who happen to have a stock of those articles in hand. When I
first reached Medina, no butter was to be had in
[p.377] the market, and corn was fifty per cent dearer than at Yembo;
soon after, it was not to be had at all in the market: at another time
salt failed; the same happened with charcoal; and in general the
provision-market was very badly regulated. In other eastern towns, as at
Mekka and Djidda, a public officer, called Mohteseb, is appointed to
watch over the sale of provisions; to take care that they do not rise to
immoderate prices, and fix a maximum to all the victualling traders, so
that they may have a fair but not exorbitant profit. But this is not the
case at Medina, because the Mohteseb is there without any authority.
Corn is sold twenty per cent dearer in one part of the town than in
another, and the same with every other article, so that foreigners
unacquainted with the ways of the place are made to suffer materially.
During my stay, the communication with Yembo was kept up by a caravan of
about one hundred and fifty camels, which arrived at Medina every
fortnight, and by small parties of Bedouin traders with from five to ten
camels, which arrived every five or six days. The far greater part of
the loads was destined for the army of Tousoun Pasha; the rest consisted
of merchandize and provisions; but the latter were very inadequate to
the wants of the town. I heard from a well-informed person, that the
daily consumption of Medina was from thirty to forty erdebs, or twenty-
five to thirty-five Hedjaz camel-loads. The produce of the fields which
surround the town, is said to be barely sufficient for four months'
consumption; for the rest, therefore, it must depend upon Yembo, or
imports from Egypt.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 278 of 350
Words from 144612 to 145115
of 182297
