2-982-226 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Jeddah, on the Red Sea, 1858. 'Jeddah, Djidda, or Jidda, is a port and city of Arabia, in El-Hedjaz, being the port of Mecca, and one of the chief entrepots for foreign commerce in the peninsula...It is one of the holy places of Mahometanism, and its sanctity is increased by the neighbourhood of the reputed tomb of Eve...Corn, rice, butter, sugar, tobacco, oil, clothing, &c., are imported in very large quantities from Egypt, the Abyssinian coast, and...even from Persia and India. Jeddah depends, therefore, for its existence upon its trade, which is very extensive, and wholly of the transit kind. From the interior dates and the celebrated balm of Mecca are brought for shipment westward; musk, civet, and incense are procured from Abyssinia; muslins, cloths, cambrics, teak timber, cocoanuts, cocoanut oil, pepper, ginger, turmeric, shawls, tissue, &c., are brought from India; the Malay Islands send spices and (what is not generally known) young girls for sale at the Mecca market...A trade in slaves is carried on with the Mozambique coast; and altogether it is calculated that the port of Jeddah employs 250 vessels, great and small'. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.