On the second day, the documents were returned to me in a
satisfactory state.
I take a pleasure in owning this obligation to Mr.
West: in the course of my wanderings, I have often
[p.170] received from him open-hearted hospitality and the most
friendly attentions.
Whilst these passport difficulties were being solved, the rest of the
party was as busy in settling about passage and passage-money. The
peculiar rules of the port of Suez require a few words of
explanation.[FN#10] "About thirty-five years ago" (i.e. about 1818
A.D.), "the ship-owners proposed to the then government, with the view
of keeping up freight, a Farzah, or system of rotation. It might be
supposed that the Pasha, whose object notoriously was to retain all
monoplies in his own hands, would have refused his sanction to such a
measure. But it so happened in those days that all the court had ships
at Suez: Ibrahim Pasha alone owned four or five. Consequently, they
expected to share profits with the merchants, and thus to be
compensated for the want of port-dues. From that time forward all the
vessels in the harbour were registered, and ordered to sail in
rotation. This arrangement benefits the owner of the craft ‘en depart,'
giving him in his turn a temporary monopoly, with the advantage of a
full market; and freight is so high that a single trip often clears off
the expense of building and the risk of losing the ship-a sensible
succedaneum for insurance companies.
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