137 
by means of his own ships. No private ship can be 
loaded or unloaded until his are completed; and as 
these are the largest, best built, and best manned, they 
absorb the greatest part of the trade of the Red Sea, 
to the ruin of the merchants, who find themselves re- 
duced by these means to a state of slavery. 
The English are looked upon as the best friends of 
the Scherif, on account of the direct interest he enjoys 
by his traffic with the Indies through their means; not- 
withstanding which, he does not spare them, when he 
can oppress them. Last year an English ship, loaded 
with rice, put into Djedda. The captain having landed, 
found this article very cheap in the country; he there- 
fore resolved to go to another port; but the Scherif 
pretended that the captain ought to pay all the dues, as 
if he had landed and sold his cargo. After some very 
warm discussions, the captain was obliged to leave the 
port, in order to escape the rapacity of the Scherif. 
This same year another English ship, commanded 
by an English captain, and belonging to Mr. Petrucci, 
the English vice-consul at Rosetta, struck upon a rock. 
This gentleman is a particular friend of the Scherif's; 
for upon my arrival I presented a letter to the latter, 
which was written bv the former. The Arabs boarded 
the vessel, took possession of the cargo, and the gover- 
nor of Jenboa seized the hull and the rigging, which 
the captain showed me on shore on the sea coast, 
during my passage to Jenboa. The poor captain cried, 
and supplicated that they would return him at least 
something, but they would not hear him. He begged 
the governor to permit him to go on board to get some 
papers which he might find, but he was refused. At 
last he asked for a certificate of his misfortune, to justify 
himself to the owner of the ship, which was also denied 
Vol. II. S 
