PROVINCIAL WAREHOUSES.

433

which he does not consider it expedient to disclose. Perhaps he imagines no better means exist of habituating the Arabs to patient and laborious habits. Whatever his views may be, they are not the offspring of avarice, since he perceives that no accession to the revenue is derived from his weaving and spinning.

DCLXXXV. To proceed, however, with the monopoly. When the peasant has collected his produce, it must be immediately delivered in at the different shoonahs, or "warehouses," established in the several towns and provinces. It is seldom necessary to transport commodities to any great distance, as warehouses exist in all the districts in the country. When arrived at the shoonah, the articles are weighed or measured, and an order on the treasury is given for the money, at a price previously fixed by the council. This checque is received back from the peasant, at its full value, in payment of taxes; but the balance he generally re-sells at a discount, sometimes of twenty-five or thirty per cent., rather than make direct application to the treasury, always exceedingly dilatory in its proceedings. From these provincial shoonahs the goods are ordered down, as they may be wanted, to Alexandria, where they are dispersed among the different merchants; in his dealings with whom the Pasha observes the utmost good faith. If any injustice is clearly proved to have been committed by any of his officers, the evil, upon representation, is immediately redressed. Even in cases where the

434

MONOPOLY OF COFFEE.

merchants have suffered from their own imprudence, he has often mitigated their losses by giving them the preference in some other article, or showing them particular favours. But these matters are frequently mystified by the inferior officers, who, in imitation of the Pasha, likewise become monopolists in an inferior degree; and, as far as their influence extends, they are the worst of all. But this abuse exists to no great extent at present; for their character being in some degree improved, they have been led to think it disreputable to engage in such transactions.

DCLXXXVI. In the beginning of the summer of 1831, the Pasha undertook to monopolise the coffee trade with Yemen, which had hitherto remained in the hands of most respectable merchants. To encourage this branch of commerce, all other coffee had been prohibited in Egypt from time immemorial, being greatly inferior, both in perfume and flavour, to the Mokha berry. The result, however, of the monopoly was, that no supply of the article arrived, even for interior consumption; though previous to this period, not only was the market annually abundantly stocked for the home consumption, but a much larger quantity was introduced for exportation. In consequence of the suspension of the Mokha trade, the Pasha saw himself compelled to annul the regulation prohibiting the importation of coffee from the west; and American, and Mokha coffee from Europe, were imported, subject to a duty of two piastres per oke.* • Forty-four ounces.

EVILS OF THIS MEASURE.

435

Up to this time, the price of Mokha coffee in Egypt had been from thirteen to fifteen dollars per cantar, -one hundred and five pounds English; - but the monopoly price was fixed at from twenty to twentytwo dollars per cantar. There was, therefore, a prospect of a great accession of revenue; but experience soon proved that, while the tax was severely felt by the people, the treasury likewise suffered very considerably. In the first place, the Pasha lost all the transit duties; which, without taking into account the injury inflicted on the merchants formerly engaged in this traffic, much more than counterbalanced the extra profit derived from the monopoly; the quantity of coffee exported from Egypt having greatly exceeded what was retained for home consumption. Still further to increase the evil, however, it was now subjected, at Jidda, to a heavy custom-house duty, amounting to five dollars, or one pound sterling, per cantar. By no means the least inconvenience arising from this imprudent regulation, was, the necessity of transmitting to Mokha effective dollars for the purchase; and these, the Pasha was, moreover, compelled to send many months in advance, to secure the proper supply. This remittance, while the trade remained in the hands of the merchants, was chiefly made in goods, with profit to the country, and an increase of revenue to the treasury, arising from custom-house dues, &c. But the Pasha is deprived even of the slight advantages which might, perhaps, be derived from this exclusive trade, by the impossibility of finding competent, or even honest persons, to entrust with the transaction of

436

MONOPOLY OF SALT.

the business. In order to render the measure still more onerous and odious, his Highness condescends to engross even the retail sale, constituting himself the only coffee-dealer in Egypt; but, in proportion as the price of the article increased, the consumption diminished so that the monopoly has only operated as a burden to the country and a loss to the treasury. Were this obstruction removed, the stream of the Yemen trade would again flow through Egypt, its natural channel; the coffee brought by this route being extremely superior to that which is conveyed over the ocean; for, in the course of a long voyage, the saline air deprives it of the perfume in which chiefly consists the superiority of Mokha coffee over all other kinds. The time consumed in the voyage on the Red Sea does not exceed a fortnight; and in another month it may already be distributed through the various countries of Europe.

DCLXXXVII. Another of the Pasha's unpopular measures is the monopoly of salt, of which the Egyptians generally consume a great quantity. On the imposition of a very heavy tax, however, many villages, partly, perhaps, through poverty, partly through a spirit of resistance, entirely dropped the use of it; thereby causing a great deficiency in the revenue. For some time his Highness, notwithstanding his peculiar genius for finance, was considerably embarrassed by this novel kind of opposition: but the fertility of his invention is truly extraordinary; while the sagacious fellahs, charmed with their stratagem,

were congratulating themselves on what they regarded as a master-piece of policy, a number of government boats, laden with salt, were observed mooring under the villages. Presently the merchandise was disembarked, and piled in pyramidal heaps upon the plain. This done, an officer waited on the Sheïkh el Beled, informing him that his Highness, having ascertained the quantity of salt formerly consumed in his village, had forwarded the necessary supply; for the value of which he would be held responsible to government, whether the article were consumed or not!

DCLXXXVIII. Cotton constitutes a very important article in the commerce of the Pasha. A few years ago the cotton-tree, which had been cultivated to so great an extent by the ancient Egyptians, was only known as an ornamental shrub in the gardens of Cairo. The Pasha, however, learning its valuable properties, caused several experimental plantations to be made, and, these succeeding, turned his attention to its cultivation on a large scale. Two thousand fedans were planted in the provinces of Kelioub, Sharkiah, and Mansourah; and still more extensive plantations were afterwards made in various parts of Upper Egypt. It seems, however, to be commonly supposed, that the soil of Egypt is not adapted to the culture of cotton. Even among individuals otherwise well informed, extremely erroneous ideas prevail respecting the soil and climate best adapted to the growth of this valuable plant. Mr. Chaplin, in his examination before the House of