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Hodeda

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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(Hodeida, Hadeda), a town in Arabia situated on the Red Sea coast 14° 48' N. and 42° 57' E. It lies on a beach of muddy sand exposed to the southerly and westerly winds. Steamers anchor more than a mile from shore, and merchandize has to be transhipped by means of sambuks or native boats. But Hodeda has become the chief centre of the maritime trade of Turkish Yemen, and has superseded Mokha as the great port of export of South Arabian coffee. The town is composed of stone-built houses of several storeys, and is surrounded, except on the sea face, by a fortified enceinte. The population is estimated at 33,000, and contains, besides the Arab inhabitants and the Turkish officials and garrison, a considerable foreign element, Greeks, Indians and African traders from the opposite coast. There are consulates of Great Britain, United States, France, Germany, Italy and Greece. The steam tonnage entering and clearing the port in 1904 amounted to 78,700 tons, the highest hitherto recorded. Regular services are maintained with Aden, and with Suez, Massowa and the other Red Sea ports. Large dhows bring dates from the Persian Gulf, and occasional steamers from Bombay call on their way to Jidda with cargoes of grain. The imports for 1904 amounted in value to £467,000, the chief items being piece goods, food grains and sugar; the exports amounted to £451,000, including coffee valued at £ 229,000.