350 
MOCHA 
flowing scarf, and the turban with the ends hanging low on the back, 
adds greatly to the elegance of the dress. 
Without the walls of the town are two extensive villages 
embosomed in groves of date trees; the one is occupied by the 
Samaulies, the other by the Jews, who here carry on an extensive, 
but disgraceful trade, in a spirit which is extracted from the date 
tree ; although fiery and unwholesome, it is drunk by the Mussul- 
mauns in private, A more profitable trade is carried on by their 
females with the seamen ; a certain degree of mystery is pretended 
to, but in reality the fact is known and connived at by the Dola, 
not only for the sake of the profits which he receives, but as being 
an additional inducement to the Europeans to desert and become 
Mussulmauns. Ostensibly any connection between a Christian and 
an Arab woman is severely reprobated, and, if detected, the female 
suflPers a ludicrous punishment ; her head is shaved and blackened, 
she is led round the town on a jack-ass, exposed to the insults of the 
populace, and at length, is driven from the place. At night, how- 
ever, a dollar or two will induce one of the Dola's soldiers to con- 
duct a Christian to those females, who exist in abundance at Mocha 
for the use of the Mussulmauns, and he will stay quiet at the door 
to protect them from intrusion. These villages are not more 
cleanly than the town; and the gully, in which the river of Moosa 
has occasionally reached the sea, is filled with an accumulation of 
filth that, in a more moist country, would certainly breed a pesti- 
lence, though here it has no ill effect. 
The Arabs are in general a healthy race of people, fevers being 
very unusual, though severe colds are common during the cooler 
months. Ulcers are so prevalent, that it is rare to see a person with- 
