HISTORY OF THE WAHABEES. 309 



sustained an irreparable loss in the destruction of 

 Ras el Khyma, by the English expedition from 

 Bombay. 



Although the Wahabees had come to open hosti- 

 lities with the Turkish government, since they had 

 interrupted the haj-caravans and forbidden the 

 people to pray in their mosques for the welfare of 

 the sultan, yet the Porte had hitherto remained al- 

 most inactive. Yussuf, pasha of Damascus, in 1 809, 

 made indeed some faint preparations for attacking 

 the district of Jof. But this v r as merely a vain de- 

 monstration of his zeal, as the expedition never took 

 place. The immense deserts that extended between 

 the Syrian and Arabian capitals rendered it impos- 

 sible to transport sufficient provisions and ammuni- 

 tion for a regular campaign ; and made it obvious 

 that, if ever the Turkish influence was to be re- 

 stored over the holy cities, the eifort for dispossessing 

 the Wahabees must proceed from Egypt, on which 

 theHejazees almost exclusively depended for the com- 

 mon necessaries of life. The turbulent state of that 

 country, and the insubordination of the Mamlouk 

 Beys, for some time prevented Mohammed Ali, who 

 had been appointed pasha by the Porte in 1804, 

 from adopting any warlike measures against a fo- 

 reign enemy. Much might have been done, however, 

 towards the reduction of Hejaz, by merely shutting 

 the ports of Suez and Cosseir against the Arabian 

 shipping; but the viceroy, notwithstanding the 

 firmans from Constantinople, had too deep an in- 

 terest in the traffic of the Red Sea to sanction a pro- 

 hibitory system, which would have cut off the gains 

 that flowed into his coffers from that channel. 



Ambition at length overruled the passion of ava- 



