52 
slaves of Abyssinia and the negresses is so common, 
that upon the first day of my arrival one of the first 
things which the merchant asked me was, if he should 
purchase an Abyssinian female slave for me. I thanked 
him, but refused his offer; not that it would be pro- 
hibited by my law, but I considered myself as under 
a state of penitence during my pilgrimage. 
There are, it is said, about a hundred coasting ves- 
sels that trade from here to Suez, and the same num- 
ber which go to and from Mokha; but as there are 
many in general under repair, I believe the number 
may be reduced. A year never passes without several 
being lost upon the rocks in the Red Sea; but there 
are always some building at Suez, Djedda, or Mokha. 
These people were once much richer; but the war 
with the Wehhabites has impoverished them; because 
they have passed their nights and days during many 
years under arms. To this cause may also be added 
the war in Europe, which has paralyzed the commerce 
of the East; and the revolutions in Egypt, Arabia, 
Barbary, and also their own country, which have pre- 
vented or rendered difficult the pilgrimage of persons 
from the West. All those causes have powerfully influ- 
enced their happiness and riches. 
Without the wall of the town, upon the land side, 
are a number of houses, inhabited by very poor per- 
sons. 
Djedda is situated in a desert plain. The climate is 
inconstant. I observed the hygrometer to pass from 
great drought to extreme moisture in a short space of 
time. The north wind, traversing the deserts of Ara- 
bia, arrives in such a state of dryness, that the skin is 
parched: paper cracks as if it was in the mouth of an 
oven; and the air is always loaded with sand. If the 
