New-York daily tribune., 1858-08-06
JIDDdIf.

Djidda, or Jidds, is mart. city OF Arsois, IN Il,
Aedaz being the port OF Meccs and one OF the chief
snrep0ts for foreign commerce in the peninsus Lst-
itude 2lo 80 AZ" NJ, longitude 39' =. Resident
population, according 10 Ali Bey, 1000; but this
number is often very much increased by tho ntu1 OF
strangers The inhabitants nearly sl foreigners,
or settlers from other parts Of Arabia only natives
being a few sheriff families attached exc'nslvsiy
to the offices Of religion and law. fiSe mosases,
poor and mean, the governors house, and sman CO
tie, mounting pine or ten guns, are the only PUBIC
buildings, except the khans, which are n1nerca' ~na
handsome. The houses in the town, en't OF
stone and madrepore, are, from the persnsoio
nature Of the material not very lasting; but IN the
suburbs they are huts constructed o' Teecs ana
brushw cod, inhabited principally by bedoains. hne
streets are unpaved; but Djdda is, notstus,sndIns
cleaner and in other respects superior - m0ss
cities of equal sze. II is one Of the holy places OF
Mohammcdapisn, and its ssnctity is Increased oy
the neghborhood Of the reputed tomo 2, Eve
rude stone structure, about two miles 70 Tao notn:
The surrounding country is bare desert, deshsats OF
running streams; and though we'll water Is easily
procursble it is generally bad. The inhabitaats collect
the rain in csterDs and the c0muonest necessass arc
brought from distance. Cora, rice, butter sugar To-
bscco OIL clothing &c., are imported In laSge guam
titles fro Egypt the Abyssinsn coast and tsIcsNng
butter even from Persis and India. Ddds depends,
therefore, for its existence upon its tsde, wh'cn s
very extensive and wholly OF the transit kiad From
the Interior dates ard the celebrated balm OF Mecca
are brought for shipment westward musk, civst asd
Icense are procured from Abyssniai musiss c'otns'
csmbrics teak timber, cocoanuts, cocoaout Oh pep
per ginger turmeIic shaws tissue, &C., are Drought
from India the Malsy IslaIds send spices, and What
s lot generally knownl young girls for sale q the
Mecca market The coffee trade, which, next 20 maj
Of graip was formerly the most important, has mncn
declined Of late partly owing tc the free admission Oh
All ercan produce TO the Mediterranean, bat princi-
psy 10 the impoltic exactions Of the Pshs oil Egypt
upcn H. brarch of commerce. trade 10 slaves s
carried on with the Mozambique coast; and Altogether
i is calculated that the Port Of Djidda employs ~
vessels, great and small. The imported articles
are conveyed by chips 10 Suez, whence they fod
their way to the Mediterranean ports, or by caravans
TO Mecca and Medina, from which cities they are
again dispersed TO Syria, Asia Minor sld Turkey.
The caravans 10 Mecca start daily, those TO hedhs
every 40 to 80 days; but beede the Djdds carries on
land trade, except occasionally with North Yemen
for corn. The duties upon corn were formerly q per
csnt-they are now double that amount; those upon
Indian goods from TO 10 per cent, according TO
quality; the trade in grain is m0uopOlized by tno
Egyptian Government Twice at least in every year
Diidds is inundated with Inhabitants. namely on the
arrival Of the Indian flee. about May) when mer'
chants from al quarters pour in to purchase st the
first hand and during the hadj, when pilgrims come
from all the African ports in vast numbers In 1881,
above 10000 pilgrims landed either st Djidds or
Yembo but mostly at the former. There Is no manu-
acture r the town everything, for use o. we'll - tor
consumption s imported, and the occupations Of the
poorer, as OF the richer inhabitants, consist amos
'NN'"''>'' " fMcprocb,s Ceousphi,sI Dictionary.