386 



SOCIAL STATE OF THE ARABS. 



Minor, and Syria, by that produced in the East 

 and West Indies ; but there is little doubt that it 

 will revive under the auspices of Mohammed Ali, 

 \vho may be said to command the entire commerce 

 of the Arabian Gulf, now that he has become the 

 independent sovereign of Egypt and Syria. With 

 this view he has already proposed to augment his 

 navy; to construct a canal from Suez to the Nile; to 

 establish regular marts on the Mediterranean coast ; 

 and open a communication between the Orontes and 

 the Euphrates. Should these mighty projects be car- 

 ried into effect, a few years may behold a total revo- 

 lution in the mercantile intercourse between the na- 

 tions of the East and the West. The annual exports 

 of coffee at present, from Jidda, Mocha, Hodeida, and 

 other contiguous ports, is estimated at 12,000 tons. 

 The duties on the best are 100 per cent., and fully 

 150 per cent, on the inferior sorts. Independently 

 of coffee,, the export-trade of Mocha is very consi- 

 derable in gum-arabic, myrrh, and frankincense. 

 Muscat carries on a valuable trade with India and 

 the Persian Gulf. Its inhabitants are reputed ex- 

 cellent seamen. 



There is one circumstance connected with the 

 commerce of Arabia that deserves notice, from the 

 attention which it has recently excited in this coun- 

 try ; we mean the communication with India by 

 steam conveyance. Two routes have been proposed, 

 both of which are practicable, but attended with 

 obstacles that it may be difficult to overcome. 

 One of these is by the Persian Gulf along the Eu- 

 phrates to Bir or Beles, and thence across the de- 

 sert to the Mediterranean at Scanderoon, or the 

 mouth of the Orontes, a distance of sixty- seven 

 miles. Captain Chesney, who surveyed that cele- 



