"The best houses are all facing the sea, and chiefly to the north of the
sea gate. The British factory is a large and lofty building, but has most
of the inconveniences of an Arab house.

"The town of Mocha is surrounded by a wall, which towards the sea is not
above sixteen feet high, though on the land side it may, in some places,
be thirty. In every part it is too thin to resist a cannon-ball, and the
batteries along shore are unable to bear the shock of firing the cannon
that are upon them.

"The climate of Mocha is extremely sultry,[2] owing to its vicinity to the
arid sands of Africa, over which the S.E. wind blows for so long a
continuance, as not to be cooled in its short passage over the sea below
the Straits Babel Mandel.

[2] From 90 to 95 deg. Fahr in July.

"Mocha, according to some learned natives, was not in existence four
hundred years ago; from which period we know nothing of it, till the
discoveries and conquests of the Portuguese in India opened the Red Sea to
the natives of Europe."

Mrs. Lushington, in her interesting _Journey from Calcutta to Europe_,
says, "the coffee-bean is cultivated in the interior, and is thence
brought to Mocha for exportation. The Arabs themselves use the husks,
which make but an inferior infusion. Every lady who pays a visit, carries
a small bag of coffee with her, which enables her 'to enjoy society
without putting her friends to expense.'"