Since
The Conquest Of Mohammed Aly, The Kadhy Has Recovered His Importance, In
The Same Proportion As The Influence Of The Sherif Has Been Diminished.
When I Was At Mekka, All Law-Suits Were Decided In The Mehkame.
Mohammed
Aly seldom interposed his authority, as he wished to conciliate the
good-will of the Arabs, and the
Kadhy himself seems to have received
from him very strict orders to act with circumspection; for justice was,
at this time, tolerably well administered, at least in comparison with
other tribunals; and the inhabitants were not averse to the new order of
things. The Kadhy of Mekka appoints to the law-offices of Djidda and
Tayf, which are filled
[p.235] by Arabs, not Turks. In law-suits of importance, the Muftis of
the four orthodox sects have considerable influence on the decision.
The income of the Sherif is derived principally from the customs paid at
Djidda, which, as I have already mentioned, instead of being, according
to the intention of the Turkish government, divided between himself and
the Pasha of Djidda, were seized wholly by the late Sherifs, and are now
in the hands of Mohammed Aly. The customs of Djidda, properly the same
as those levied in every other part of the Turkish empire, were much
increased by Ghaleb, which was the principal reason why the whole body
of merchants opposes him. He had also engrossed too large a share of the
commerce to himself. Eight dows belonging to him were constantly
employed in the coffee-trade between Yemen, Djidda, and Egypt; and when
the sale of that article was slow, he obliged the merchants to purchase
his cargoes for ready money at the market-price, in order to send off
the sooner his returns of dollars to Yemen.
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