158 CIVIL HISTORY AND 



these bazaars attract attention j extended rows of 

 camels and asses,, the large coarse sheep of Abyssi- 

 nia, the small thin species of Arabia, the tall brown 

 goats ; the shops of the armourers, with their long 

 polished swordblades, daggers, spears, matchlocks, 

 and here and- there the half- worn shield of other 

 days then there are the cooks' shops, with their 

 hot cakes of bread, and their large coppers with 

 portions of meat and fowls swimming in ghee, and 

 ready for the traveller ; besides, there are the ca- 

 ravansaries and coffee-houses, with groups of towns- 

 men and traders reclining on couches of the date- 

 leaf, smoking their small hookahs, sipping their 

 kischer, and perpetually stroking their long beards. 

 The government of Mocha is one of the best in 

 the gift of the imam, owing to the large sums which 

 the dowlah is able to extort from the Banians and 

 foreign traders. Formerly an Arab of high rank 

 was appointed to the office ; but of late it has been 

 deemed more prudent to give it to a slave, who can 

 easily be removed, and from whom it is more safe 

 to take the profits of his situation. From the 

 avaricious temper of the local authorities, Niebuhr 

 and his companions experienced the most vexatious 

 treatment in the seizure of their baggage, and the 

 destruction of some of their valuable instruments. 

 Lord Valentia makes the same remark as to the 

 covetous and tyrannical character of the ruler of 

 Mocha, and ascribes to him a new method of ex- 

 torting money from the Banians, by confining them 

 in a room, and fumigating them with sulphur 

 till they complied with his demands. The dowlah 

 in 1823 is represented as a more amiable personage, 

 quiet and civil to Europeans, and not oppressive to 



