The people of Suez, and exacts
from every camel load that passes through the gates from two to four
dollars, for which he engages to ensure the passage through the desert;
when the caravan however was plundered in 1815, he never returned the
value of the goods to the owners.
The Arabs Terabein are the conductors of the caravans to Ghaza, and
Khalyl (Hebron), the latter of which is eight days distant. At this time
the freight per camel’s load was eighteen Patacks, or four dollars and a
half. These caravans bring the manufactures of Damascus, soap, glass-
ware, tobacco, and dried fruits, which are shipped at Suez for the
Hedjaz and Yemen.
The eastern part of the town of Suez is completely in ruins, but near
the shore are some well built Khans, and in the inhabited part of the
town are several good private houses. The aspect of Suez is that of an
Arabian, and not an Egyptian town, and even in the barren waste, which
surrounds it, it resembles Yembo and Djidda; the same motley crowds are
met with in the streets, and the greater part of the shop-keepers are
from Arabia or Syria. The air is bad, occasioned by the saline nature of
the earth, and the extensive low grounds on the north and north-east
sides, which are filled
[p.468] with stagnant waters by the tides.
