The kindness and attention of my countrymen did not leave me as long as I was on shore. They all did me the honour to attend me to the water edge. If others have experienced pride and presumption, from gentlemen of the East-Indies, I was most happily exempted from even the appearance of it at Jidda. Happy it would have been for me, if I had been more neglected.
All the quay of Jidda was lined with people to see the English salute, and along with my vessel there parted, at the same time, one bound to Masuah, which carried Mahomet Abd el cader, Governor of Dahalac, over to his government. Dahalac[194] is a large island, depending upon Masuah, but which has a separate firman, or commission, renewed every two years. This man was a Moor, a servant of the Naybe of Masuah, and he had been at Jidda to procure his firman from Metical Aga, while Mahomet Gibberti was to come with me, and was to bring it to the Naybe. This Abd el cader no sooner was arrived at Masuah, than, following the turn or his country for lying, he spread a report, that a great man, or prince, whom he left at Jidda, was coming speedily to Masuah; that he had brought great presents to the Sherriffe and Metical Aga; that, in return, he had received a large sum in _gold_ from the Sherriffe’s Vizir, Yousef Cabil; besides as much as he pleased from the English, who had done nothing but feast and regale him for the several months he had been at Jidda; and that, when he departed, as this great man was now going to visit the Imam in Arabia Felix, all the English ships hoisted their colours, and fired their cannon from morning to night, for three days successively, which was two days after he had sailed, and therefore what he could not possibly have seen. The consequence of all this was, the Naybe of Masuah expected that a man with immense treasures was coming to put himself into _his hands_. I look therefore upon the danger I escaped there as superior to all those put together, that I have ever been exposed to: of such material and bad consequence is the most contemptible of all weapons, the tongue of a liar and a fool!
Jidda is in lat. 28° 0´ 1´´ north, and in long. 39° 16´ 45´´ east of the meridian of Greenwich. Our weather there had few changes. The general wind was north-west, or more northerly. This blowing along the direction of the Gulf brought a great deal of damp along with it; and this damp increases as the season advances. Once in twelve or fourteen days, perhaps, we had a south wind, which was always dry. The highest degree of the barometer at Jidda, on the 5th of June, wind north, was 26° 6´, and the lowest on the 18th of same month, wind north-west, was 25° 7´. The highest degree of the thermometer was 97° on the 12th of July, wind north, the lowest was 78° wind north.