J I D 



754 



I L A 



Greenwich 39 16' 45". It is defended by a fort, and 

 surrounded by a ruinous wall, built in the year 1514. 

 Its harbour is very extensive, formed by numberless 

 reefs of Madrapore, extending about four miles from 

 the shore, and full of small islands and sunken rocks. 

 The entrance is sufficiently dangerous, but the pilots 

 are expert, steering safely by the eye alone, and easily 

 perceiving the rocks below the smooth surface, espe- 

 cially when the sun is behind the vessel. Between 

 these shoals and islands are deep channels, with a good 

 bottom, where ships may lie at anchorage in six or 

 twelve fathoms, and where the water is as smooth as 

 glass, in the heaviest gales. The surrounding country 

 is sandy, barren, and destitute of water, and the town 

 is very ill supplied with provisions. A desert plain to 

 the eastward is occupied by Bedouins, or country A- 

 rabs, who live in huts made of long bundles of bent 

 grass, or spartum, and who supply the inhabitants of 

 Jidda with milk and butter. The situation is as un- 

 wholesome as it is unproductive; and, besides several 

 stagnant pools in the vicinity, the north-west wind 

 which chiefly prevails, blowing along the direction of 

 the gulf, brings a great dampness through the greater 

 part of the year. The highest degree of the thermo- 

 meter observed by Mr Bruce in July was 97, and the 

 lowest 78. The barometer in June was between 26 

 &, and 25 7' ; wind north-west. The town of Jidda 

 derives all its celebrity, and even its existence, from its 

 vicinity to the city of Mecca, to which it is the nearest 

 sea-port, and the great receptacle of the India trade, 

 which arrives once a-year. The inhabitants of the 

 place, indeed, derive little advantage from this rich 

 traffic, which passes on to Mecca, and for which the 

 payments return to the ships, without leaving much 

 profit by the way to the townsmen. The influx of 

 strangers, on the contrary, raises the price of provi- 

 sions ; and the native traders, after the market is over, 

 which does not last above six weeks, retire to Yemen 

 and the neighbouring countries, where every article of 

 subsistence is found in abundance. Jidda, however, is 

 . also the great depot of all merchandize intended to be 

 carried to Suez for the demands of Egypt ; and great 

 multitudes of the inhabitants find employment in land- 

 ing and reshipping these goods, in providing warehou- 

 ses for their safe deposit, and in acting as factors in re- 

 ceiving and disposing of them. The English traders, 

 in 1777, made an attempt to carry their cargoes direct- 

 ly to Suez, without passing them through Jidda into 

 native vessels ; and this trade, which continued about 

 three years, was encouraged by the Egyptian Beys, as 

 the English merchants paid them twice as much impost 

 as the Jidda importers. But the Sheriffe of Mecca, who 

 draws the customs of the port of Jidda, procured an or- 



der from the Grand Seignior, that all vessels bound for 

 Egypt should stop at Jidda, and pay duty there; and 

 obliged the merchants, when once in his harbour, to 

 unship their goods, and send them forward to Suez in 

 other vessels. The Sultan secured a share of these pro- 

 fits, and regularly appointed a pasha, who resided ijp 

 the citadel of Jidda, and divided the receipts of the 

 custom-house with the Sheriffe's Vizier. During the 

 convulsions of Egypt, and the insurrections of the Wa- 

 chabees, the Sheriffe contriv-d to expel the representa- 

 tive of the Sultan, and to appropriate the whole duties 

 to himself. His extortions, however, in the name of 

 presents to himself and his servants, have caused a great 

 diminution of the trade formerly carried on by the Eng- 

 lish with Jidda; and many of the richest merchants 

 have retired from the place. The Sheriffe, made aware 

 of his folly by the reduction of his revenues, has be- 

 come more moderate in his demands. The duties re- 

 cently proposed, amount to about eight per cent, and 

 the presents to about half as much ; but a merchant, 

 when once in the harbour, from which he could scarce- 

 ly escape without a native pilot, could never be secure 

 against further demand*. See Bruce's Travels, vol. 

 ii. ; Parson's Travels; and Valentia's Travels, vol. iii. 



(-7) 



ILANTZ, in the Rhetian language Ilan or lion, a 

 town of Switzerland, in the territory of the Orisons, 

 and the capital of the division of the Grey League. The 

 town is situated in the widest part of the valley of the 

 same name, at the toot of the mountain Mundaun, or 

 Karlisberg. It is the first town that we meet with on 

 the Rhine, and is the only town in the world where the 

 Rhetian language is still spoken. It has two fauxbourgs, 

 viz. that of St Nicholas, and that of Portasura. The 

 bridge built over the Rhine is remarkable. The inha- 

 bitants profess the reformed religion. The women in 

 the neighbourhood are very much subject to the Goitre 

 necks. 



The tribunal of the Grey League meets at Ilantz, 

 Thousis, and Trons, in rotation; but it is at Ilantz 

 that the archives of the League are preserved. A great 

 fair for cattle is held at Ilantz. Excellent fish, about 

 22 pounds weight, are caught in the Rhine. 



At Rouvis, above Ilantz, on the left bank of the 

 Rhine, a mine of galasna, containing silver, has been 

 wrought. The mineral is contained in nests in the 

 gneiss. The mine of Rouvis, and one of yellow copper 

 at Ober-Sax, have been wrought since the year 1806 

 by M. Demengha. In descending the valley of Ilantz, 

 the rocks are composed of argillaceous schistus as far 

 as Tamino. See Ebel's Manuel d 'tine Voyageur en Suissc, 

 torn. iii. p. 227. 



ILAY. See ISLAV. 



Ilnr.tz, 

 IHy. 



