The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-04

! sion the King Of Cypr,s's ransom OF fi0o.0 900.
The venetans had enjoyed special privi-
leges in Egypt since the time OF El-Adil in
| 1908, WHO allowed tl"m TO build a mart
| OF their own at Alexandria; the concessions
to Venice were renewed thirty years later
The Pisans also had consul inthat town
On the other side Of the Nile country, that
is to say, on the Red Sea, were the ports of
Suez, Tor, koseyr, Aydhah, Dehlek and
Sawakin, where the Mamluk Sultans levied
customs of tenth al rdiorem The Indian
trade had greatly developed under the later
Mamluk Sutans. and there was much
rivalry and tariff war between the Egyp-
tian and the Arabian ports on the Red Sea,
in the effort to secure the heavy customs
| dues, which were eventually pressed beyond
the customary tenth. In 1929. forty vessels
from India and Persia paid e38,O 600 in duties
at Gidda. the port Of Mecca, which, like
Venbu, was then Egyptian. Nor were tho
government duties limited to imports,
There were certain monopolies sugar,
pepper. wood and metal work could bo
| sold only at government warehouses and
| at government prices subject to duties
Thus consignment Of pepper that was
bought at Cairo for fifty dinars (half-
guineas) was sold to Europeans at Alexan-
dria for 100 under government regulations
| The Venetians. after vain consular remon-
STRANGE. sent feet to Alexandria to bring
away all their merchants, and the Mamllk
Sultan. Bars-Vay, was obliged to reduce
his exorbitant terms.
How much store the Circassian Sultan
49, Al Ia l. l>zt- Tnxl.
Europe was demonstrated in the vigorous
effort made by one of them, El-Ghury
(called to the throne in 1901, and still COM
memorated by the street in Cairo that
bears his name). to crush the Portuguese
in the Arabian Sea, as soon az he realized
the danger to Egyptian commerce threat
ened by the rivalry Of the cape route. Until
the discovery Of the cape route in 1893.
and it's subsequent exploitation, the Mamhlk
masters Of Egypt. who were also usually
masters OF Syria, enjoyed the monopoly
Of the entire volume OF Indian trade with
the Levant; and Venice, by her commercial
treaties with them. was their sole agent
on the European continent Mr.. Cameron
British Consul at Port Said, has essayed
to estimate what this monopoly would
mean. An Arab merchant like Sinbad
the Sailor, would buy flOyO0O worth Of raw
silks, nutmegs, pepper, indigo, cloves and
mace at Calicut. and land them at Bassorah
or Suez. The sea route up the Persian
Gulf would be shorter than the voyage up
the Red Sea; but the caravan road from
Bassorah to Aleppo would be more perious
than the short land journey across Egypt.
At landing MIR. Cameron is speaking Of
a period when the canal reopened by Amr
had been choked upl, the customs would
amount to some E4.000, and the goods
would then be worth latter further addi-
ton had been made for freight and profit,
Ray, 10000. A second Arab merchant on
the Mediterranean coast Tor perhaps at
the wharves of Bulakl would sell the con-
signment for $4,000 to q Venetian, who
would have to pay another e., 900 in customs
dues before he could clear his cargo. Thus.
whether in customs or In tolls, or In presents
to local governors and escorts, about a
quarter of the f3s 900 paid by the Venetian
would have gone to the Mamluk Sultan and
aristocracy, merely for the privilege OF
transit" It was not. Of course, the Mamluk
Government alone that made large profits;
otherwise the traffic would soon have come
to an end The Cairo merchant who had
brought the precious bales from India and
the Spice Islands, or. at least, had bought
them from Indian traders at the Red Sea
ports, made his own fortune. too. The
Thousand and One Nights" are full OF
such successful ventures. The Second
Sheik. who led the Two Black Hounds,
describes how we then prepared mer-
chandise, and hired a ship, and embarked
our goods, and proceeded on our voyage
for the space of a whole month, at the end
of which we arrived at city where we sold
our merchandise. and for every piece Of
gold We gained ten" Our author opines
that such lucrative speculations were of
every day occurrence Moreover, the i'm
ports represented by these ventures did
not all go out of the capital: large part Of
them found their way into the bazaars.
to be disseminated among the people OF
Cairo, and to minister to the luxurious
tastes Of the thousands Of hangers-on ~
the Mamluk court. Prof. Lane-Poole tells
us that we can form but meagre notion
of the medieval funduk from the present
bazaars. A funduk. or khan, or wekio
there is little difference between the
three terms-is great collection o'
warehouses and shops, generally surround
ing a court, but sometimes more like
covered arcade. where merchants keep
their reserve stock OF wares, and where
traders find lodging for themselves and
stabling for their beasts. In the fifteenth
century. the khans Of Cairo were busy mar's
of merchants: and the Mamluk emrs. who
had clear ideas concerning the value of
house property. emulated one another in
building handsome wokalas. every room ~
which might be expect ed to bring in a sub
stantial rent. There. for instance. was
the khan OF Mesrur. one ofthe most famous;
Mesrur had been favorite slave Of Sa'adin.
and left the khan az a legacy for the benefit
Of the poor. The young man in the Story
of the Humpback put up there and stored
his merchandise, and. after n nights rest
took some of his goods and went 10 me
1kaysariya OF Garkas." another fano"
market Of medieval Cairo. dating fro'r
Fatimid days, TO sell to III" merchants.
DO as other merchants" said the Shels
Of the brokers to the stranger; sell NV
merchandise upon credit for certain
period, employing scrivener, witness
and money changer. and receive portion
Of the profits every Thursday and Monday
so shalt thou make Of every piece Of silver
two-besides thou wilt have leisure 10 "njov
the amusements Of Egypt and It's Nile
foIl 81, i.tf,a